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very pleased with the decision.
"I'm happy for Earls. I think they eventually did the responsible thing and have created a good example," she said.
"There is some responsibility for human beings to consider not only our intents, but also the effects of things that we do not intend.
"This was undignifying to take a medical condition that basically almost defines peoples' lives and use it to sell food products."
Ero said anyone thinking the case was "political correctness gone mad" should try to get to know someone suffering from albinism to better understand the condition.
"Most people have learned about the condition from pop culture. It's grossly exaggerated and grossly wrong."
She said people with albinism have this imposed on them on many levels, even being asked if they are vampires or have super powers.
A statement on the Earls website made it clear the restaurant chain does not agree with Ero's complaint.
Neverthless, all Earls menus will reflect the name change by April 24.Study recommendations include designing more structures that allow kids to actively engage with the environment, such as through manipulating tools or climbing trees.
One example: the Land, an “adventure playground” in North Wales. Inspired by the topography of a junkyard, the place is filled with muddy puddles, rubber tires, wooden pallets, and cement tubes—nary a slide or sandbox in sight. It gets a little wild. “If a 10-year-old lit a fire at an American playground, someone would call the police and the kid would be taken for counseling. At the Land, spontaneous fires are a frequent occurrence,” wrote The Atlantic’s Hanna Rosin last year. But the kids aren’t left to create mayhem entirely on their own: there’s a staff of adults who are trained to keep a close eye on the play and intervene when necessary. (Rosin reports that no kids have sustained injuries beyond a scraped knee.)
It’s the subject of a documentary by American filmmaker Erin Davis, who described her own childhood to The Atlantic last year:
I was fortunate to have had a very playful childhood in the American midwest. It included roaming through back yards with a crew of kids of various ages, making up our own games. Most adults I talk to have similar kinds of stories and believe that these were valuable experiences and meaningful times in their lives. I’m interested in the discrepancy between what we remember enjoying as kids, and what we tend to allow children to do once we’ve grown up.
Rosin, who visited the site with her own child, quotes Tim Gill, the author of the book No Fear, which interrogates our risk-averse ideology:
[We have] an idea that children are too fragile or unintelligent to assess the risk of any given situation. Now our working assumption is that children cannot be trusted to find their way around tricky physical or social and emotional situations.
That critique seems echoed by the recommendations of the authors of the new study, who wrote:
Given the progressive decline of risky play opportunities, there is a need for action to slow or reverse the trend in order to promote and preserve children’s health.
According to these experts, we need to allow, or even encourage, kids to cause a little mischief—for their own good.The controversy this week around the comments of a health economist, Jonathan Gruber, about President Obama’s health law has centered on his most explosive remarks, captured on video, about the “stupidity of the American voter” and the suggestion that the law was passed dishonestly. It was those blunt remarks that have Republicans in Congress talking about a new round of hearings to assail the law and, one imagines, a man who helped create its intellectual architecture.
But beyond his inflammatory comments, what substantive policy point was Mr. Gruber trying to make about the design of the Affordable Care Act, and how does it fit in with what is now the health care law of the land?
Referring to the Congressional Budget Office, Mr. Gruber said in an academic panel discussion last year (a tape of which surfaced this week): “This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure the C.B.O. did not score the mandate as taxes. If C.B.O. scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies.”
The line between what constitutes federal taxes or spending and what doesn’t is often debatable. If the government requires coal companies to pay lifetime health benefits for their employees, does that count as federal spending? What about federal rules requiring businesses to install (sometimes costly) ramps for wheelchair access?POMPANO BEACH (CBSMiami) – Roger Stone, the longtime advisor to President Donald Trump, said he was the victim of a hit-and-run driver Wednesday morning in Pompano Beach.
“They just came at us full force,” Stone told CBS4 News. “The driver then threw it in reverse and took off.”
Stone, who has previously admitted to having “back-channel” communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and who more recently acknowledged trading messages with the famed Russian hacker Guccifer 2.0, remains a central figure in the Congressional investigation into Russia’s attempts to influence the presidential election.
Stone was on his way to Orlando to promote his latest book on Trump when the accident occurred.
“Out of nowhere we were T-boned essentially by a late model 4-door what I’m now told was a Pontiac,” he said.
Stone said he was a passenger in the car and that the airbags deployed on his side and prevented him from being more seriously injured.
“I’m bruised but I’m OK,” he said, adding his vision is blurry.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed there was a hit-and-run crash at the time and location described by Stone.
The accident occurred at 10:45 am in Pompano Beach at NW 7th Avenue and 1st Street, according to the incident report obtained by CBS4 News.
The report states that a deputy was not dispatched to the accident until 11:56 a.m. – more than 70 minutes after the crash. The deputy arrived on the scene at 11:59 a.m.
The report makes no mention of Stone being a passenger in the vehicle.
Stone said the reason he was not listed as a passenger was because he left the scene when it became clear that a deputy was not being dispatched right away. Stone said after waiting a half hour he called an Uber to take him home while the driver of the car stayed behind.
Stone provided CBS4 News a copy of the Uber receipt showing that he was picked up at the scene of the accident at 11:08 a.m. and driven to his house in Fort Lauderdale.
CBS4 News spoke to two witnesses at the scene of the accident.
“He came out here real fast and he hit this guy and the he took off and went down Atlantic,” Ron Snowden said.
Snowden, who was shown a picture of Stone, aid he saw a man that resembled Stone at the scene talking on a cellphone waiting for police.
CBS4 News also spoke to the driver of the car, John Kakanis, who works as an aide to Stone on his book tour. He said Stone was in the passenger seat of the car at the time of the accident. He said he can’t recall if he told the deputy that Stone was in the car.
“I was pretty shaken,” he said.
Kakanis said he believed the car that hit him – a grey, four-door sedan, with tinted windows – did so deliberately.
“It looked kind of intentional,” he said.
The car then took off.
The incident report shows there was extensive damage to the passenger side of Kakanis’ car and that it had to be towed from the scene.
Stone claimed it was the second attempt on his life in the past six months. Stone previously claimed he was poisoned with polonium and became ill but recovered.
“I believe I was poisoned back around Christmas,” he said. “I know some people chortle and say this was a way for me to sell books.”
Stone, however, denied it was a stunt.
One reason why people are prone to doubt Stone is that he is a self-described master of political dirty tricks who got his start in the Nixon Administration.
Stone’s ties to both Trump and the ongoing scandal however, is not in doubt. Stone was a former business partner with Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager whose ties to Russia are also being scrutinized.
Asked if he thought the accident was tied to the Russian hacking scandal, Stone said, “It certainly could be.”
“You could make the case that the Russians want to off me because they do not want me to testify because it would show their hand. That would be obvious,” he said.
But Stone isn’t excluding the possibility it could be another group.
“It is more likely that someone would like it to look like the Russians tried to bump me off,” he said.
He added, “It happens on a day when the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee calls for me” to appear before the panel. (Earlier in the day, Congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, mentioned Stone by name.)
“I have to guess that somebody doesn’t want me to testify at those hearings,” he explained. “If I testify, it is going to prove that this whole narrative on which I believe surveillance of the president was based, i.e. that the Trump campaign was infiltrated by the Russians, is false.”
Stone said he looks forward to being able to testify. He said he has done nothing wrong.
“I would love to clear the air on this whole thing,” he said.
Several hours after Wednesday’s crash, Stone appeared on Alex Jones’ InfoWars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHYggucjo2kAt the end of June, outside the tiny California town of Warner Springs, Joe McConaughy took his first shower in days. The state might be suffering from a severe drought, but on the baseball diamond, the sprinklers were going. He wanted to jump in. He had been on the storied Pacific Crest Trail for just three days, but he had already covered more than 100 miles in the desert heat. He watched the sprinklers. Then he went for it.
At the beginning, at least, that was his best moment on the trail, he told his support crew. But it was still early. He had some 2,500 more miles to cover in order to reach Canada—and only 56 more days in which to do it.
This summer, at least six different people set out from the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail, all with the same ambitious goal—to set a new record for tracing the trail's 2,650 or so miles from one U.S. border to the other. As of 2013, the overall record—the fastest known time in which a human being has completed the trail—is 59 days, 8 hours and 14 minutes.
To break that record means hiking or running an average of 45 miles per day, every day, for almost two months.
At the end, there's no trophy. There's not even an official record book, or a set of hard-and-fast rules that govern these hikes. There's the just the knowledge that you've accomplished what you've set out to do and the recognition of a small community of people who know and care about these incredible athletic achievements.
But that community is growing, as more hikers and ultra-runners learn about the records and decide to try to set their own. It's only in the past decade or so that these records have been regularly tested, to begin with, and even then, a new record often stood for a good few years. Now, almost as soon as a hiker breaks a record, someone else is on the trail trying to beat the new one.
Moving that many miles, though, is incredibly hard, and even people who can accomplish feats that seem super-human—hiking 40, 50 miles in one day—can be defeated by the challenge of doing it day after day. Of the six hikers who aimed to set PCT records this summer, only two are still on the trail. After his first, 42-mile day on the trail, one hiker had to acknowledge the danger of an old IT band complaint; two went 100 miles in two to three days before dropping out; and a fourth went 400 miles in just nine days before deciding the heat and the mental toll were too much.
But McConaughy—who is hiking to raise money for medical research in memory of a cousin who died of cancer at age 2—is about six weeks in and still on track to break the supported record. He’s already crossed all of California, in just 35 days, 21 hours and 21 minutes, and is on his way through Oregon. If he can keep up his pace, he could beat the current record by mid-August.
So far, on his highest mileage day, he covered 61 miles. On his lowest, he covered 38—almost a marathon-and-a-half's worth of distance.
"This kid is amazing," says Jack Murphy, one of the members of his support crew, made up of college friends and friends-of-friends. "I don't know how he does what he does. We'll do a five-mile hike to meet him, and we'll be tired and complaining. He'll come in from a 15-mile run and tell us all the songs he made up on the trail. Every time he rolls into camp, I expect him to be quiet and exhausted, but he's still cracking jokes."
There's no guarantee, though. In 2012, one hiker made it through California in record time, only to hit a dangerous amount of snow in Oregon's Cascades and leave the trail. Earlier this summer, on the Appalachian Trail, another hiker was on track to set a new record on that path, until he hurt his foot and decided to take a few days’ rest. And the true challenge of these endeavors—more than the weather or risk of injury—is mental.
"A speed hike is absolutely the same as any hike, except it's intensified," says Heather Anderson, who goes by Anish on the trail. "The mileage is intensified, the lack of sleeping is intensified, the calorie deficit is intensified."
In the summer of 2013, before she set out to hike the 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) faster than anyone ever had before, Anderson announced her intentions on the Fastest Known Time forums, the closest thing there is to an official record-keeping body for hiking. "Let me begin by saying that I got on this adventure to challenge myself—to push beyond my perceived limits," she wrote. She had in mind, she wrote, to meet or beat the existing men's record—64 days, to make it from one border of the United States to the other. (There was no women's record.)
Anderson's first long hike was in 2003, on the Appalachian Trail (AT). She didn't know then about America's other long, iconic trails—the PCT, the Continental Divide Trail. But by 2005, when she was on the PCT, she ran into David Horton. An ultra-runner, Horton had first set an AT record in 1991 and was now speeding down the PCT with the same goal. "That was the first time I had heard of anyone trying to complete the trail for speed, not just to complete it," Anderson says. "The more you're out there, the more you become aware that other ways to use the trail exist."
She knew she was a strong hiker and that she liked long distances. After she had hiked the PCT and the Continental Divide Trail, completing the Triple Crown, she started running ultra-marathons, too. In 2013, she started out from the U.S.-Mexico border. It took her 60 days, 17 hours and 12 minutes to reach Canada. A new record—the fastest hike any man or woman had completed from one end of the trail to the other.
Just after she finished the trail, Josh Garrett, who, like Joe McConaughy, traveled with a support crew, set a new overall record—59 days, 8 hours and 14 minutes. Anderson holds the women's record and the "self-supported" record.
On long trails like the PCT and the AT, there are two main types of records—supported and self-supported. Supported hikers have a dedicated team—often of friends, family or other hikers who know the trail well—that meets them at pre-arranged points and provides food, supplies, comfort and companionship. Sometimes these teams have sponsors, as well: Garrett was backed by John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, and had sponsorships from gear and food companies, as well.
Self-supported hikers might have sponsors who pitch in gear or funding (although it's less common). But once they're on the trail, they are on their own. They travel incredibly light: they minimize the base weight of their packs—their sleeping gear, clothes, headlamp, water bottles and other essential gear—to nine, eight, six pounds. On the PCT, before self-supported hikers set out, they often locate post offices as close to the trail as possible and mail themselves resupply boxes of calorie-dense food (almond butter, Nutella, tortillas, ramen, dehydrated beans, energy bars) and gear like batteries and new shoes. (Walking so many miles, they wear out pairs of shoes in a matter of weeks.) When they camp for the night, it's a simple affair—often they'll set-up camp after it's dark, just off the trail, or even on it.
"I like to feel like I'm responsible for everything," Anderson says. "It's me vs. nature vs. myself. I want to do it just for myself, and by myself to see what I personally do."
The intricacies of these distinctions, though, are subject to much debate. "It's very much an amateur pursuit," says Jennifer Pharr Davis, who set the overall record for the Appalachian Trail in 2011—she took 46 days, 11 hours and 10 minutes to get from the trail's northern-most point in Maine to its southern-most point in Georgia. "The rules are undefined and confusing." For instance, if you're attempting to break a record, do you inform the current record holder of your attempt? If part of the trail is closed, does following the alternate route still count? If fans who are following your hike determine your location and bring you food, does that count as support? If you eat that food, are you disqualified from that record?
To the extent that these rules are agreed upon, it's by community consensus and by respecting the example of earlier record-setters. When Anderson set out on her 2013 hike, for instance, one of her goals was to establish a PCT women's record "in the same style as Scott Williamson's." Williamson is a trail legend—one hiker described him as "the Michael Jordan of the PCT." In 2004, he was the first person to "yo-yo" the trail, hiking it one way, then turning around and hiking back the other way, and in 2008, 2009 and 2011, he broke trail speed records. He still holds the men's self-supported record.
For Williamson, "self-supported" means a few things. It means carrying your own food, equipment and water. It means walking into towns to resupply and never getting into any vehicle during the duration of the record attempt. It means following the official PCT route, without deviations. It means not having pre-arranged support from other people.
Like Anderson, Matt Kirk, who holds the unsupported record on the Appalachian Trail (58 days, 9 hours and 40 minutes), looked to Williamson's example to set the rules for his own record attempt. “I feel like ultimately whoever participates in this plays a really important role in shaping the future of it," he says. The whole endeavor of setting trail records, Kirk points out, "is very new and still taking shape."
Williamson's approach derives from these trails' thru-hiker traditions, which have a sometimes uneasy relationship with record attempts, especially when the hiker comes from the ultra-running world. One main criticism: How can anyone really experience and enjoy the trail when they're moving along it so quickly?
Speed hikers (or, as Pharr Davis prefers, endurance hikers) say, though, that hiking fast is almost exactly like slower hiking—it's just more intense. In Kirk's experience, his perception of the landscape sharpened: Maine seemed foggier, the White Mountains gnarlier with rocks and roots. "I definitely felt more respect for the ruggedness of the terrain," he says. Hiking such long days also means starting early and often hiking through twilight—the times of the day when animals are out, too. "It's a wonderful time to be out," says Kirk. "That's why the animals are out. There's this really beautiful light, too. It does not lend itself well to photography; you have to experience it. You feel as though—this is something really special."
And, these hikers say, standing at an overlook and looking back at the ground you've covered never gets old. "When you do lots and lots of miles in day, you get to the top of the climb and see where you were this morning, and if it's a really long ways away, there's something really incredible about that," says Anderson. "You start tabulating the numbers. It's really mind boggling, but it makes you feel pretty bad ass about yourself."
"A lot of people go out and they're really, really fast, and they're really, really strong," says Jennifer Pharr Davis. But setting a record isn't necessarily about going fast; many of these record-setting hikes spool out at a pace of three or four miles per hours. The hikers simply keep moving for many more hours than most hikers do—and take only short, limited breaks. They start hiking early in the morning, around 5 or 6 a.m., and often they continue until after dark.
"It's this modern day parable of the tortoise and the hare," says Pharr Davis. "The stronger and faster person doesn't always win; the person who wins is smarter and more strategic, with the better support crew."
It's rare, too, for a hiker to set one of these records without having thru-hiked the trail before. Pharr Davis first hiked the AT as a 21-year-old and found, once she had finished and started working “a normal job,” that all she could think about was the trail. She fell into a routine of working and then taking time off to hike some of the longest trails in the world, both here and abroad. Even before setting her 2011 record, she had made hiking her business: she runs a company in Asheville, North Carolina, that organizes hikes, long and short, and has written two books about hiking the AT.
Deciding to try to break the overall record, then, wasn't about zooming through a trail she'd never hiked before, but challenging herself on a route she already knew and loved. "I wanted to experience the trail in different way," she says. "I'm glad there's no trophy at the end. You have to do it for a love of it."
But even without a trophy and without the promise of financial reward that some sports offer, trying to set a record does bring hikers recognition. During their hikes, they might become “trail celebrities,” the recipients of (not always welcome) attention from others on the trail, and once they've completed their goal, they're often asked to tell their stories, in talks or in books.
And these records inspire other endurance athletes to try to break them. The endurance runner Karl Meltzer, who has won more 100-mile races than anyone else, is now trying for the second time to break the Appalachian Trail record. His first attempt, in 2008, was highly publicized; this time, he'd like to head out quietly and see what happens.
"Jen's record is tough," he says. "I'm going to try to break it."
But whether they started out as hikers or runners, whether they go fast or slow, he argues, record attempters and thru-hikers have more in common than not. "We're all in the woods for the same reason," he says. "Because we like being in the woods."
These days, though, being out in nature doesn't necessarily mean disconnecting from the world. (This is, after all, an age in which you might get better cell phone reception on a mountain top than at a trailhead.) Hikers—even fast ones—keep blogs and update Facebook pages. Fans (and critics) follow along in forums. McConaughy's crew, which is making a documentary of his run, regularly posts videos, Facebook updates, photos and videos. If all goes well, they'll be on the trail for another three weeks, each day a few dozen miles closer to Canada.The JavaScript performance improvements that accompany iOS 4.3—boosting raw performance as much as 2.5x—don't appear to carry over to in-app browsers or Web apps saved to the home screen. Another bug appears to prevent Web apps saved to the home screen from properly using HTML5 caching for offline use or using asynchronous loading. While these issues may be bugs and have been reported to Apple, some developers believe it is a conspiracy to make Web apps perform worse than native apps, pushing developers towards the App Store. However, the issues could just as likely be technical problems as any concerted effort from Apple to put the squeeze on Web developers.
To understand the JavaScript performance problem, it's helpful to understand the major performance improvement Apple brought to MobileSafari's Nitro JavaScript engine. Using a technique called just-in-time compilation, the engine converts JavaScript code into native ARM machine code. The engine then changes the area in memory where the native code is stored from writeable (for data storage) to executable (for code) to run the code directly.
This dynamic code generation and execution is much faster than the previous JavaScript engine used in iOS 4.2. Using the SunSpider JS benchmark, MobileSafari took 10,278 milliseconds when we ran the test on iOS 4.2. On iOS 4.3, however, it ran in just 4,064ms—in other words, about 2.5 times faster.
By default, however, iOS doesn't allow execution of dynamically generated native code stored in writeable memory. This is a security feature, as overwriting memory with code and executing it is a common malware attack vector. But iOS doesn't prevent it from happening wholesale—permission to change memory space from writeable to executable can be enabled on a per-app basis, and it appears that permission has so far only been granted to MobileSafari.
Apps that include an embedded browser using UIWebView don't appear to have permission to execute code stored in writeable memory, so JavaScript runs at the same speed as it did in iOS 4.2. A similar issue exists for full-screen Web apps saved to the iOS SpringBoard. Those apps are opened and executed by WebSheet.app, not MobileSafari itself.
(We verified this by running various JavaScript benchmarks natively, as a saved Web app, and via Twitter's in-app browser. The benchmarks run via in-app browsers and via a Web app saved to the SpringBoard ran about as fast as they did on iOS 4.2.)
"It seems that people are attributing to malice what can easily be explained by history—iOS has never allowed user code to generate code on demand, and this has for years prevented JIT compilation from taking place," Miguel de Icaza, one of the lead developers behind both GNOME and Mono, told Ars. "So far, debuggers and Safari both get to use this functionality and they both get the special flag that lets them turn writable [memory] pages into executable pages. Third parties have never been able to get access to this—not Mono, not Java, not Lua, not JavaScript, or any other runtime, compiler, or library that generates native code dynamically."
Effectively, Web-based apps that don't run directly in MobileSafari don't perform slower than they did on iOS 4.2; they just don't perform any faster. However, other issues appear to affect the performance of full-screen Web apps besides the JavaScript execution speed. One is that HTML5 caching currently doesn't work properly in iOS 4.3. Web apps can use local caching that enables apps downloaded from the Web to continue to run offline. A bug in iOS 4.3 prevents these apps from running offline, even when the resources are cached properly.
Developers have also noticed that full-screen Web apps also don't take advantage of MobileSafari's ability to asynchronously load scripts, which can cause some performance issues—particularly for games. The underlying WebKit engine gained this ability late last year, so it's not entirely clear if this issue is a regression, or if it is just new to MobileSafari and hasn't yet been carried over to WebSheet.app.
Apple is aware of the issues, which are currently filed as bugs. But according to Matt Asay, who is vice president of business development for mobile Web framework maker Strobe, Apple supposedly has no plans to fix them. Instead, they are marked "not to be fixed by exec order," suggesting that a higher up at Apple is preventing engineers from fixing the problems. Asay characterized that scenario as "slimy" and "malicious," believing it is designed to make Web-based apps appear to perform poorer. That might persuade developers to create native apps that must be distributed via the App Store, where Apple has full control over what is approved or rejected.
Icaza, on the other hand, suspects the issues are legitimate technical problems, and that Web apps will eventually benefit from the JavaScript performance enhancements. "Since this is the first OS release with Nitro on the MobileSafari browser, it is probably safe to assume that this is merely a bug or limitation," he said.Senator Cory Bernardi says he thinks America could prosper under a Donald Trump government.
CONSERVATIVE Liberal backbencher Cory Bernardi believes Donald Trump could be the next US president.
In a surprise announcement, Senator Bernardi told Sky News in New York that Americans might do “pretty well” out of a Trump presidency.
Senator Bernardi said Trump was tapping into a well of discontent that politicians around the world would be wise to listen to.
His policies were about protecting America and standing up for people who felt dispossessed by mainstream politics.
The Australian Government has previously shied away from showing favouritism towards either party throughout the US election campaign, however Senator Bernardi is not the first politician to get involved.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop met with a key Trump adviser last Friday to discuss challenges the she thought the new Clinton or Trump administration would face, according to The Australian.
Senator Bernardi sought to quell fears over some of Trump’s controversial policies by insisting constraints within the system could block them.
“People will do and say things to get elected,” he told Sky News.
“There are structures and constraints that generally temper any of the more volatile attitudes.” Senator Bernardi insists Australia’s alliance with the US can withstand any personality.
His comments come as a Washington DC-based think tank warns Trump could unleash a trade war, plunge the US economy into recession and disrupt alliances with nations including “long-time ally Australia”.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics report, which assesses the trade agendas of the presidential candidates, criticises both for opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between 12 nations including Australia. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the US has urged Congress to approve the deal before Barack Obama leaves the White House while Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has met representatives from both the Trump and Hillary Clinton camps, urging them to reconsider.
Senator Bernardi made headlines last month when he secured support to change Australia’s racial discrimination laws.
In a move that was viewed as a test of Mr Turnbull’s authority within the Coalition, Senator Bernardi introduced a private members bill to remove the terms “insult” and offend” from the Racial Discrimination Act.You can draw a direct line from the hyperpower manifesto of the Project for the New American Century, which the neocons, abetted by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, used to prod an insecure and uninformed president into invading Iraq — a wildly misguided attempt to intimidate Arabs through the shock of overwhelming force. How’s that going for us?
After 9/11, the neocons captured one Republican president who was naïve about the world. Now, amid contagious Arab rage sparked on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, they have captured another would-be Republican president and vice president, both jejeune about the world.
Senor is emblematic of how much trouble America blundered into in the Middle East — trillions wasted, so many lives and limbs lost — because of how little we fathom the culture and sectarian politics. We’re still stumbling in the dark. We not only don’t know who our allies and enemies are, we don’t know who our allies’ and enemies’ allies and enemies are.
As the spokesman for Paul Bremer during the Iraq occupation, Senor helped perpetrate one of the biggest foreign policy bungles in American history. The clueless desert viceroys summarily disbanded the Iraqi Army, forced de-Baathification, stood frozen in denial as thugs looted ministries and museums, deluded themselves about the growing insurgency, and misled reporters with their Panglossian scenarios of progress.
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“Off the record, Paris is burning,” Senor told a group of reporters a year into the war. “On the record, security and stability are returning to Iraq.”
Before he played ventriloquist to Ryan, Senor did the same for Romney, ratcheting up the candidate’s irresponsible bellicosity on the Middle East. Senor was the key adviser on Romney’s disastrous trip to Israel in July, when Mittens infuriated the Palestinians by making a chuckleheaded claim about their culture.
Senor got out over his skis before Romney’s speech in Jerusalem, telling reporters that Mitt would say he respected Israel’s right to make a pre-emptive, unilateral attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
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While the Muslim world burned on Friday, Mitt was in New York with Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan confessing that he wears “as little as possible” to bed. With no global vision or historical perspective — he didn’t even remember during his Tampa convention to mention our troops or the years of war his party reigned over — Romney is simply kowtowing to the right again.
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Paul Wolfowitz, an Iraq war architect, weighed in on Fox News, slimily asserting that President Obama should not be allowed to “slither through” without a clear position on Libya.
Republicans are bananas on this one. They blame Obama for casting Hosni Mubarak overboard and contradict themselves by blaming him for not supporting the Arab Spring. One minute Romney parrots Bibi Netanyahu ’s position on Iran, the next Obama’s.
Romney’s cynical braying about Obama appeasement in the midst of the attack on the American diplomatic post in Libya and the murder of the brave ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was shameful. Richard Williamson, a Romney adviser, had the gall to tell The Washington Post, “There’s a pretty compelling story that if you had a President Romney, you’d be in a different situation.”
He’s right — a scarier situation. If President Romney acceded to Netanyahu’s outrageous demand for clear red lines on Iran, this global confrontation would be a tiny foretaste of the conflagration to come.
Cheney, described by Romney as a “person of wisdom and judgment,” is lurking. On Monday, he churlishly tried to deny President Obama credit for putting Osama in the cross hairs, cattily referring to a report that Obama had not gone to all his intelligence briefings.
Well, yes. W. got briefings, like the one that warned him on Aug. 6, 2001: “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” That didn’t work so well either, did it?A large polar and almost wholly aquatic tyrannosaurid from an alternate and frigid no K-pg scenario.~~~"This species (the largest of its clade) is descended from a species quite similar to Tyrannosaurus, but has clearly evolved a number of adapations for a lifestyle best described as a mix between that of a leopard seal and a polar bear. The legs are mostly embedded within the body which limits it to an awkward scooting motion when out of the water. In the water, however, it is highly maneuverable and can catch aquatic birds, fish, squid without difficulty. Particularly large individuals can even kill ichtyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and trunkoiforms (marine probiscideans similar to the cryptid Trunko). They are oviparous, swimming to more temperature regions and creating nests on islands free of permafrost. The eggs (usually 3-6) are closely monitored by the female (the male plays no role in parenting). Young are precocious and take to the water with the mother. She will remain in temperate waters until the offspring are about three old and a third of their full size. They are then abandoned and the mother returns to colder, icy waters.These dinosaurs have little to fear from predators for most of their range. Only in a few locations where the water is free of pack ice are they taken by large sharks and pliosaurs. Outside of breeding season they are solitary and territorial, engaging in brilliant underwater duels that leaves both combatants with nasty bites to the face and limbs. Fortunately the thick blubber of this species means that fatalities are uncommon. "Commission for queenserenity2012.deviantart.c…! Sorry about the wait!US President Barack Obama should use his remaining time in office wisely and “restore people's rights” by returning $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote in a letter to the White House.
Ahmadinejad – who served as president of Iran from 2005 to 2013 and is remembered for a number of notorious statements – personally sent the message to Obama, according to Tasnim news agency.
The emotional letter, delivered to the White House via the Swiss embassy in Tehran – which represents US diplomatic interests in Iran – urges Obama to “quickly fix” the issue surrounding frozen Iranian assets.
The letter, which begins with the traditional Islamic greeting “As-salamun alaykum,” was released by the Dolate-Bahar website, which is run by Ahmadinejad’s supporters.
Former Iranian president Ahmadinejad advises @POTUS Obama in a letter published on a website run by his supporters: pic.twitter.com/MO44luDVNV — Bozorgmehr
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"She said I was too young to be gassed, and she wanted to save me." But that night, Vera dreamt of her mother. "She told me, 'Veruska, you are eight months pregnant, and you don't do this, because (the fetus is) alive already and ready to leave. Believe in God and Hashem will be with you. Maybe a miracle will happen. But don't do it.'
"The next day, Vera gave the doctor her answer: she was going ahead with the birth. It happened on Dec. 21, in the barracks of Camp C. "I felt the pain and told the Block altester (the barrack's inmate supervisor) that I feel cramps and pain. She asked me to climb on the top of the bunk, and she came with me and she helped me to give birth to your mummy," Vera tells her granddaughter on the tape. "She knew how to do it, because she was the daughter of a doctor, so she had an idea about cleanliness and how to help a woman in labor. She brought hot water and clean sheets. She cooked a pair of scissors in hot water to sterilize them" before cutting the umbilical cord, she said. "So everything went quite easily." The infant weighed one kilogram, a little over two pounds "Mummy was so weak and so tiny, she didn't cry. So nobody knew she was born."
Three hours after giving birth, Vera had to leave her baby in the bunk and go outside in the cold for roll call.
Three hours after giving birth, Vera had to leave her baby in the bunk and go outside in the cold for roll call – what the Germans called the Appell.
Her daughter is still amazed she was able to do it. "What courage, what incredible strength she had to do that," Polgar said. "Remember, it was December. It was freezing, and they didn't have any coats or proper shoes, just wooden clogs that made them slip on the ice."
Just before the liberation, a final scare. Yelling "Schnell! Schnell!"(Quick! Quick!) the German guards herded surviving inmates like Vera into a tunnel beneath the camp and told them they would be exterminated. (It didn't happen, but to her dying day Vera retained a mortal fear of tunnels; once, trapped between stations in a stalled Toronto subway car, she lost her senses, screaming to be let out.)
After the scare, there was another miracle.
On the day of liberation another child was born at Auschwitz, Gyorgy Faludi.
His mother had helped Vera with her delivery; now Vera returned the favor.
The woman didn't have enough milk to suckle her son, so Vera did it. It was the beginning of a long friendship. The two families – Faludi with her son, Bein with her daughter – stuck together for the next few months of wandering back to Hungary. Vera nursed the two children and helped Faludi find her husband and return to their hometown, Miskolc. The war was over. Now the recovery began. After the liberation, no-one except Vera held up much hope that little Angela would live long.
In Budapest, Vera's mother's advice was to let the baby die. So, too, said the local doctors they consulted – until one of them did a closer examination."(He) held me up like a chicken, by the legs with my head down. He wanted to see if I'd try to pull my head up. And I did. And then he said 'We can let that baby live.'" Her biggest problem in those first few years were her bones. "They were very weak, and I wasn't allowed to walk. So they put me in a carriage, and my father took me back and forth to school that way," she said.
In the street, strangers used to stare." Everybody looked at me... and said 'That's a doll, not a baby.' They called my mother the crazy lady, because they thought she was only pretending to have a baby." Over time, though, with better nutrition and care, the child's bones got stronger, and at six she could finally walk unaided. The legacy of Angela's early years never disappeared completely. She's still tiny of stature, under five feet tall, and walks with a shuffling gait. But that doesn't seem to faze her. These days, she bustles back and forth to a computer class she takes in Montreal and doesn't seem handicapped by her physique – or her past.
Sixty years after her birth she's been thinking a lot about her mother. She remembers her on her death bed, 13 years ago in a Toronto hospital. It was a sad, cruel end to a remarkable life. Vera's body was ridden with cancer of the spine and lung. While she lay dying, paralyzed, she had visions of Auschwitz. "She would say 'Mengele is at the door,' " Polgar said. "It was horrible. There was not enough morphine to take the nightmare away even from her dying minutes."
Vera Polgar, previously Vera Bein, born Veronika Otvos, died at age 73 on Jan. 28, 1992 – a day after the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. "She did not want to die on Jan. 27," Polgar said. "She pulled the suffering through to the next day to die."
She remembers her mother for many things: the odds she overcame, the perseverance she embodied, the pain she concealed for so many years under a mask of optimism and a survivor's dream of renewal.
"She was very charming, never depressed," Polgar said. "But deep down, it was always there."
Like the ink in the number tattooed on her arm, the mark that Auschwitz left on Vera's psyche was indelible. Now, thanks to her daughter, so is her story.
© CanWest News Service 2005Good Golly!!
disinfect my hoohaw??? when did that become the only thing to do? Reply
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This makes me so, so, so sad. Reply
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The bit of this ad that makes me laugh hardest, every time it's posted, is "...the very source of objectionable odors is eliminated." 'Source', meaning, presumably, the entire vaginal canal. So really, they're being very honest about the fact that benzalkonium chloride in sufficient concentration will burn away your skin. Good on them. Reply
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When I first heard about this I thought it was some special douche formula Lysol made but it seems like it really means "douche with Lysol." That's pretty horrific. Reply
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Honey, if he's locking himself in the closet to avoid having sex with you.....it's not because you need to Lysol your vagina. Trust Uncle Mary.
Associated Spot: When you're leading a life of quiet desperation and don't want her to find out you've been beneath the boardwalk all day with other men...Lavoris!
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I would love to here from someone who tried this.
No, I will not ask my grandmother. Reply
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YES D: Reply
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Wow.
Yes, I know all these douching ads were also subtle hints at contraceptive use but DANG! Feminine odor was that big a marketing ticket back in the day? Reply
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Yup. I remember these from my childhood (and my parents steadfastly refused to explain them). Reply
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No greasy aftereffect? How would that even... Reply
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"Madge, you're still douching with lard? Get with the times and try Lysol, no greasy aftereffect and leaves you smelling as clean as a surgery."
Yes girls use lysol today, lest your husband spend more time at the 'lodge.' Reply
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I almost puked up my breakfast. Reply
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http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/03/remarkably-frank-lys.html
I feel like somehow this is weird? Or we're copying him? But the timestamp indicates otherwise......posted to boingboing.net by Cory Doctorow about 12 minutes later, no credit given.I feel like somehow this is weird? Or we're copying him? But the timestamp indicates otherwise... Reply
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wow....it seems someone is pilfering ads....i wonder if boingoing has a reporting place....i'll have to check that out....if someone is gonna pilfer an ad the least they could is give the community credit.... Reply
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LinkA provision snuck into the still-secret text of the Senate’s annual intelligence authorization would give the FBI the ability to demand individuals’ email data and possibly web-surfing history from their service providers without a warrant and in complete secrecy.
If passed, the change would expand the reach of the FBI’s already highly controversial national security letters. The FBI is currently allowed to get certain types of information with NSLs — most commonly, information about the name, address, and call data associated with a phone number or details about a bank account.
Since a 2008 Justice Department legal opinion, the FBI has not been allowed to use NSLs to demand “electronic communication transactional records,” such as email subject lines and other metadata, or URLs visited.
The spy bill passed the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, with the provision in it. The lone no vote came from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who wrote in a statement that one of the bill’s provisions “would allow any FBI field office to demand email records without a court order, a major expansion of federal surveillance powers.”
Wyden did not disclose exactly what the provision would allow, but his spokesperson suggested it might go beyond email records to things like web-surfing histories and other information about online behavior. “Senator Wyden is concerned it could be read that way,” Keith Chu said.
It’s unclear how or when the provision was added, although Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., — the committee’s chairman — and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have both offered bills in the past that would address what the FBI calls a gap and privacy advocates consider a serious threat to civil liberties.
“At this point, it should go without saying that the information the FBI wants to include in the statue is extremely revealing — URLs, for example, may reveal the content of a website that users have visited, their location, and so on,” Andrew Crocker, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote in an email to The Intercept.
“And it’s particularly sneaky because this bill is debated behind closed doors,” Robyn Greene, policy counsel at the Open Technology Institute, said in an interview.
In February, FBI Director James Comey testified during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats that the FBI’s inability to get email records with NSLs was a “typo” — and that fixing it was one of the FBI’s top legislative priorities.
Greene warned at the time: “Unless we push back against Comey now, before you know it, the long slow push for an [electronic communication transactional records] fix may just be unstoppable.”
The FBI used to think that it was, in fact, allowed to get email records with NSLs, and did so routinely until the Justice Department under George W. Bush told the bureau that it had interpreted its powers overly broadly.
Ever since, the FBI has tried to get that power and has been rejected, including during negotiations over the USA Freedom Act.
The FBI’s power to issue NSLs is actually derived from the Electronic Communications Privacy Act — a 1986 law that Congress is currently working to update to incorporate more protections for electronic communications — not fewer. The House unanimously passed the Email Privacy Act in late April, while the Senate is due to vote on its version this week.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is expected to offer an amendment that would mirror the provision in the intelligence bill.
Privacy advocates warn that adding it to the broadly supported reform effort would backfire.
“If [the provision] is added to ECPA, it’ll kill the bill,” Gabe Rottman, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s freedom, security, and technology project, wrote in an email to The Intercept. “If it passes independently, it’ll create a gaping loophole. Either way, it’s a big problem and a massive expansion of government surveillance authority.”
NSLs have a particularly controversial history. In 2008, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine blasted the FBI for using NSLs supported by weak evidence and documentation to collect information on Americans, some of which “implicated the target’s First Amendment rights.”
“NSLs have a sordid history. They’ve been abused in a number of ways, including … targeting of journalists and … use to collect an essentially unbounded amount of information,” Crocker wrote.
One thing that makes them particularly easy to abuse is that recipients of NSLs are subject to a gag order that forbids them from revealing the letters’ existence to anyone, much less the public.
Update: May 26, 2016
This story has been updated to provide a comment from Wyden’s office.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Auctioneer Philip Serrell describes the sale of Hitler's wife's knickers to Radio 4's PM
A pair of lilac knickers once owned by Hitler's wife Eva Braun have sold at auction for nearly £3,000.
The briefs, part of a collection that went under the hammer at the Philip Serrell auction house in Malvern, were expected to fetch around £400, but sold for £2,900.
A gold ring, a silver mirrored box and a silver holder still containing Eva Braun's bright red lipstick were also sold.
They were sold to a private collector.
See the latest news from Herefordshire and Worcestershire here.
The knickers, featuring a lace and ribbon trim, are embroidered with Eva Braun's initials.
Image copyright Philip Serrell Image caption A silver lipstick case sold for £360
The gold cluster ring, set with an opal surrounded by six rubies, sold for £1,250, while the silver lipstick case engraved with 'EB' sold for £360.
Meanwhile, a collection of early 20th century black and white photographs depicting Eva Braun, some with Adolf Hitler, sold for £100.
The auction house confirmed the lots were all sold to a collector based in the UK.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Eva Braun was Hitler's mistress. They got married shortly before their deaths in 1945
Sophie Jones, auctioneer and valuer at Philip Serrell, said an "array" of people bid on the items.
She said it was generally private collectors interested in the lots.
"It is generally people fascinated with that period of history," she said. "I think people who were bidding on them were private collectors more than dealers."
Many of the items at the auction, including the underwear, had certificates of authenticity from the relevant seller, she added.A Michigan woman and her three children apparently will lose their home because of only one missed property tax payment, even though the woman bought the house with cash and owns it.
The local government is refusing to back down, saying it sent several overdue tax notices to her, but the woman says all those letters went to banks or a title company and she never received them.
“To take my $164,000 house over less than $2,000, yeah I would say that’s extremely excessive,” Deborah Calley told West Michigan TV station Fox 17.
Kalamazoo County foreclosed on Calley’s home because she missed one property tax payment in 2011. She made the payments for 2012 and 2013 and told Channel 17 that she is willing to make up for the missed payment.
“When I paid the taxes in 2012 right there in Richland, no one said, ‘Oh, well you still owe money for 2011,’” Calley said. “So, I didn’t really have a clue. I thought I was right on time.”
Learn About The ‘Real Constitution’ And What The Founders Truly Intended
The situation is a nightmare because everything Calley has is tied up in the house in Richland Village, Michigan. She bought the house for cash, and she and her children moved in it after a car accident in 2008. The accident left Calley with brain damage and unable to drive. The home is within walking distance of schools and the grocery store.
“When you have sunk your whole life savings and your whole family’s future into a piece of property, it shouldn’t be able to go away over less than $2,000,” Calley said.
If the foreclosure goes through, the county can sell the home at auction, and Channel 17 reported that the county has already received an $80,000 bid. The county — not Calley — would get that money.
“I’m beginning to think this is about the money,” Calley said.
County Isn’t Budging
The county says it followed the law.
“In this case we followed the statute and pursuing foreclosure is appropriate,” Kalamazoo County attorney Thom Canny said.
Canny claims the county treasurer sent Calley seven certified letters alerting her to the missed payment, but Calley says the letters were sent to out-of-state banks and a title company.
The county contends it cannot stop the foreclosure because it followed state law. County Treasurer Mary Balkema and her deputy, Greg Vlietstra, went to the home and served a notice, but even that is disputed. Calley claims that she never saw the two or received the notice. In court testimony shown in a Fox 17 news story, Vlietstra said he couldn’t remember to whom he gave the notice.
“The county admitted in this case, under oath I might add, that the certified mail that was sent to Deb’s house came back,” Calley’s attorney, Ven Johnson, said. “In other words, she never accepted it. So, that means that the county knows it wasn’t successful.”
Johnson believes the officials may have given the certified letter to one of Calley’s young daughters. If that happened, the action was not legal because the children have no legal standing in such a case.
“This is an absolute abuse of power by the Kalamazoo County Treasurer’s office, plain and simple,” Johnson said. “This is a civil proceeding and it can be set aside by an agreement between the lawyers with the approval of the judge. All the judge cares about is that everything’s done legally and fairly and if Deb were to pay her taxes and the county would set aside the foreclosure it all would be fine.”
The fate of Calley’s home is now in the hands of a county judge who will make a ruling on the matter in early October.
The foreclosure of homes because of unpaid property taxes is a growing problem in Michigan, realtor Becky Doorlag told the TV station. Many people don’t know how or when to pay property taxes because such levies are usually paid by the mortgage company and not the homeowner. When the home has no mortgage, the property owner must pay the taxes directly.
Who is right here – the local government or the homeowner? Leave your reply in the section below:
Get $600 In Survival Blueprints … Absolutely Free!Witnesses
At 2.30 pm, Wednesday 12 September, Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster:
Professor William Walker, School of International Relations, University of St Andrews
Dr Phillips O'Brien, Scottish Centre for War Studies, University of Glasgow
Background
Ian Davidson MP, Chair of the Committee, said:
"Defence is a subject area where division and separation will definitely occur if Scotland leaves Britain.
It is clear that the British Army, the RAF, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines will remain, that Scottish shipyards will close, and many other defence jobs will be lost. Almost everything else is unclear. The committee will be identifying issues that need to be resolved before any vote takes place."
A major part of this is the question of the nuclear deterrent. It has been proposed that all the missiles, equipment and functions at Faslane – otherwise known as Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde - would have to be relocated out of a Separate Scotland. The Committee recently visited Faslane to look at the implications of this for Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Faslane is the Royal Navy's main presence in Scotland, and the nation's nuclear deterrent is based there. More than 6,500 civilians and Service personnel are employed on the site. It provides a base port to the ships and submarines of the Faslane Flotilla and supports dozens of other visiting vessels each year. Faslane is currently the base for all the Vanguard-class submarines which are the platform for the UK's nuclear deterrent—the Trident missiles.
Ian Davidson MP, Chair of the Committee, also said:
"We have been told that Faslane's facilities could be replicated at an existing English naval base, but that the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport is unique in the UK - it is equipped with highly specialised and sensitive equipment for safely moving and storing missiles and warheads, and building a replacement could take a decade or more.
The timeline for Separation is much shorter than that – which could mean that effectively the UK’s nuclear weapons will be based in a foreign country for many years. There are also of course huge cost implications of making such a transition. Alternatively, unilateral nuclear disarmament could be imposed upon the rest of the UK by a separate Scotland. This week’s session follows up on these wider defence issues."
As background to this session, the Committee is also holding a wide ranging private briefing with the Defence Academy around the possible implications of separation for defence matters in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Further information
Image: PAGEELONG defender Tom Stewart has taken to social media to clear up a "misunderstanding" that he set out to play a practical joke on journalists.
The 24-year-old trained with the Cats on Monday afternoon after claiming earlier in the day he had been sent home from the club due to a bout of gastro.
Stewart explained the situation in an Instagram post on Monday night.
"(I'm) very excited about the thought of a prelim this week," Stewart posted.
"Now about this food poisoning/gastro misunderstanding today. I wasn't feeling great yesterday and accidentally mixed up my words when speaking to the media today.
"(It was) a complete accident on my part and take full responsibility for the mishap.
"Just wanted to clear the air and make sure everyone is informed. Clearly need some more media training."
In a doorstop interview on Monday morning, Stewart told reporters he was leaving Simonds Stadium for the day to ensure the illness did not spread.
"Gastro, food poisoning... one or the other, so hope I'll be right," the first-year player said.
However, Stewart returned to the club for training later in the day and was not isolated from the players or staff leading to the conclusion he may have been making a practical joke.
Cats coach Chris Scott also clarified the matter to allay any concerns, saying it was "a misunderstanding but he's fine".
"He had a bit of gastro yesterday," Scott told Fox Footy on Monday night.
"The doctors at this time of year, in particular, get paranoid when anyone's got even a sniffle and they get removed from the playing group pretty quickly.
"So that happened yesterday … and in a pretty honest and raw moment he's walking out of the club, he got doorstopped and he's like, 'I've been a bit crook and been quarantined', which was absolutely true.
"But he was not so bad that he couldn't come back and train today."
Stewart's comments came just days after veteran defender Tom Lonergan missed Friday night's semi-final against Sydney due to food poisoning and led to speculation that illness might be spreading through the group ahead of the preliminary final.
"I think it's just us two at the moment … bit of quarantine," Stewart said.
Cats officials were understood to be bemused at the comments.
Stewart is nursing a tight hamstring after Friday night's win and would have to pass a test to be available for selection.
He said scans on his hamstring "came back positive" and he expected to be right to play in five days' time.
The Cats face Adelaide in a preliminary final on Friday night at Adelaide Oval.
When they played the Crows in round 18, Cats' defender Harry Taylor presented his Adelaide opponent Josh Jenkins with some ham he had kept in his sock after Jenkins missed the previous game with food poisoning when he ate a dodgy ham sandwich.
The Geelong team is scheduled to travel to Adelaide on Thursday afternoon.(Getty)
Researchers have been using all this fancy science jargon like "human influence," "observed warming" and "severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts" to describe the devastating effects of global warming on the Earth, making it that much easier for big corporations, government officials and other naysayers to deny that the planet is indeed warming. So, in hopes of bringing this climate change crisis down to the rest of humankind's level, a group of scientists penned letters describing how global warming and efforts to ignore or deny it makes them feel—and, well, they're feeling it.
Australian climate scientists shared their feelings about the rapidly warming planet with Joe Duggan, a master's student at the Australian National University's Centre for the Public Awareness of Science. Duggan told Mother Jones he "wanted to give scientists the chance to step away from the dry data and clinical prose that laypeople find so hard to engage with," noting on his site that he's "here to show that these scientists aren’t nameless, faceless boffins. They’re real people. They get it. And they want us to act."
From Dr Ailie Gallant of Monash University:
I feel nervous. I get worried and anxious, but also a little curious. The curiosity is a strange, paradoxical feeling that I sometimes feel guilty about. After all, this is the future of the people I love. I get frustrated a lot; by the knowns, the unknowns, and the lack of action. I get angry at the invalid opinions that are all-pervasive in this age of indiscriminant information, where evidence seems to play second fiddle to whomever can shout the loudest. I often feel like shouting But would that really help? I feel like they don’t listen anyway. After all, we’ve been shouting for years. I hate feeling helpless. I’m ashamed to say that, sometimes, my frustration leads to apathy. I hate feeling apathetic.
From Alex Sen Gupta of the University of South Wales:
I feel betrayed by our leaders who show no leadership and who place ideology above evidence, willing to say anything to peddle their agendas - leaders who are at best negligent and at worst complicit in allowing this to happen with full knowledge of likely consequences. I feel bemused. That scientists who have spent years or decades dedicated to understanding how it all works are given the same credibility as poleticians, [sic] media commentators and industry spokes people with obvious vested interests and whose only credential is their ability to read discredited blogs.
From Katrin Meissner of the Australian Research Council:
It scares me more than anything else. I see a group of people sitting in a boat, happily waving, taking pictures on the way, not knowing that this boat is floating right into a powerful and deadly waterfall. It is still time to pull out of the stream. We might lose some boat equipment but we might be able to save the people in the boat. But no one acts.
And in a letter to Earth, from Professor Brendan G. Mackey, PhD:
I’m really sorry about the last couple of 100 years - we’ve really stuffed things up haven’t we! I though we climate scientist might be able to save the day but alas no one really took as seriously. Everyone wants to keep opening new coal mines and for some reason that escapes me are happy to ignore the fact that natural gas is a fossil fuel. Well, no one can say we didn’t try!
You can find all the letters on Duggan's website, and if these #ClimateSads aren't enough to convince you that we're just a few outsourced factories away from our own doom, familiarize yourself with studies released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, all of which point to a terrifying future should humans fail to drastically reduce their carbon footprint, which we seem alarmingly incapable of doing.
[h/t Mother Jones]MUSLIM community leaders in Australia's biggest cities issued unified calls for calm today following the emergence of a fresh round of text messages calling for more protests this weekend.
Islamic leaders are calling for any rallies to be peaceful, and say they are holding sermons in mosques and talks with schools this week to spread the message that violent protests are not the Islamic or Australian way.
The calls follow the weekend's violent protest in the Sydney CBD involving clashes with police.
A man has been arrested over the smashing of a police car window, and a woman whose child was photographed with a placard calling for beheadings has come forward to authorities.
A 29-year-old former champion boxer charged with affray, one of seven men facing charges over the Sydney demonstration, said he would fight the charges.
Magistrate Clare Farnan is expected to hand down a decision on Ahmed Elomar's bail application later today.
Victorian Muslim leaders distanced themselves from a pro-Islam rally planned for Melbourne on Sunday.
Organisers of the protest said on Facebook that Islam needed defending because of the controversial video about the prophet Mohammed and last week's anti-terror raids in Melbourne.
''This is a call to Muslims and our supporters - if you condemn all of the above and are outraged by Islamophobia, then come along to this PEACEFUL protest,'' the post said.
The Let's Stop Islamophobia page said that last week's raids in south-east Melbourne were ''heavy-handed, racist and unnecessarily violent manner (sic)''.
It called for a protest on Sunday at 1pm at the State Library of Victoria.
Several people posted comments in support, including members of radical socialist and anti-Israel groups.
Victorian Board of Imams spokesman Sheikh Mohamadu Saleem called on Muslims not to attend the protest.
''We are not going to support any protest whatsoever,'' he said.
''We are not planning anything.''
Islamic Council of Victoria youth worker Mohammed Elleissy said that a young Muslim woman was behind the idea and he had spoken to her.
''She's incredibly young and it was obvious to me that she hadn't thought through fully the repercussions,'' he said.
''She is obsessed with having a peaceful protest as a gesture of 'doing something.''
''She also hadn't worked out how to keep it peaceful and was stumped when I asked her.''
A Victoria Police spokesman said the force was monitoring any possible incidents.
Yesterday, the mother whose young son held a sign calling for beheadings during Saturdays' Sydney protests turned herself in to police.
NSW Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward says the boy will stay with his parents.
"The police went back to the house and assessed the children and assessed that they were safe so that is where they remain," Ms Goward told ABC radio.
Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan says while he welcomes the mother's decision to go to police, he disapproves of the behaviour.
"That's something that we don't encourage within our community, it's something we condemn," he told reporters at Lakemba mosque in Sydney's west this morning.
Mr Dandan said he would try to talk to the mother, but added he had been told the boy may have found the sign on the street and was "caught up in the hype" during the demonstrations.
"Does a child really understand what's written on that placard?" he said.
Since the placard incident, video has come to light of an 8-year-old girl adressing a Muslim conference in Bankstown, in Sydney's west, on Saturday.
In it, she is heard calling for holy war and a world-wide Islamic state.
media_camera Eight-year-old Ruqaya speaks at the Khilafah Conference in Bankstown, Sydney. Picture: James Croucher
Watch the 'Jihad girl' video and read the story here
"Children as young as myself can be seen on the streets joining the uprisings, risking their lives to bring food, water and medicine to their wounded family members, some of them never returning to their mothers... Nobody is too young," she said.
Also this morning, a teenager was charged after being captured on camera smashing a police car with a milk crate during Sydney's riots.
Silma Ihram, a board member of the Australian Muslim Women's Association, said she did not believe such incidents were widespread as she fronted the Lakemba news conference with Mr Dandan on behalf of 25 Muslim groups.
"I don't believe that there is a radicalisation of children," she said.
Ms Ihram said that in a democratic nation, parents should feel free to take their children to demonstrations.
"We don't want to see a situation where people are afraid to take their children and participate," she said. "We are condemning in unequivocal terms the violence from Saturday as well as the offensive film.
Mr Dandan said he, like most Muslims, were very distressed by the weekend's events.
"This is a very minority group. It's an image we condemn and we are very distressed to see those images."
He said Islamic communities all over Sydney had been bombed with hate mail and death threats since the protest.
- with Nathan Klein, Lillian Saleh
Originally published as Calls for calm as new protests plannedThe Dwarfs
The Dwarfs are an ancient race, once masters of a mighty empire, vast swathes of which are now lost to them. Yet they are driven by the need for vengeance, and remain defiant and unbowed. Dwarfs are shorter and stouter than Men, and are known for their broad shoulders, magnificent beards and dauntless hardiness. The most defining characteristic of Dwarfs, however, is a gruff and stubborn nature. Their innate obstinacy is the stuff of legends and countless tales speak of both the great fortunes and the tragedies of this immovable resolve. This tenacity is reflected in the makeup and strength of their armies, which are expert proponents of the defensive style of fighting, with heavily-armoured and unshakeable infantry sheltering deadly ranged units and a fearsome array of finely-engineered artillery. They do however lack any cavalry and so, with one or two exceptions, are resolutely slow-moving.
Dwarfs do not forget grudges, indeed they harbour them, and there is no word for forgiveness in their language. Once someone has made an enemy of a Dwarf, they have made a foe that will last their lifetime and the lives of their descendants as well. Dwarfs record any slight or transgression against them and each stronghold has its own Book of Grudges. Positive accounts of the Dwarf’s tenacity speak of perseverance against all odds, a refusal to ever willingly accept defeat. Other sagas tell of dogged loyalty- of Dwarfs holding true to their word, honouring oaths despite vast dangers or the passage of centuries.
Rising high above the world in an endless series of jagged peaks, stand the Worlds Edge Mountains. Beneath these snow-covered pinnacles, the Dwarfs have dug into the bedrock of the world, carving out mines and halls into a kingdom, which they call the Karaz Ankor, meaning either ‘the Everlasting Realm’. Although many of the Dwarfen strongholds now lie in ruin and have become the lairs of evil creatures, the glories of their past are not forgotten by the Dwarf race. Within the stony heart of every Dwarf there resides a deep-set and burning desire to avenge the grudges of old and reclaim what was once their own.
Legendary Lords
Players choosing the Dwarfs will be able to select from the following Legendary Lords with which to lead their Grand Campaign.
High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer:
Thorgrim Grudgebearer is the current High King of the Dwarfen Race. Thorgrim is forever brooding on how to return his people to their former glory. As the ultimate ruler of his people, the Great Book of Grudges is entrusted to him. Tales of his deeds, and the long list of grudges already struck out, fill his grim warriors with a hope that the Dwarfs have long done without. Borne upon the Throne of Power and brandishing the Axe of Grimnir, Thorgrim is at the forefront of what the Dwarfs hope will be a great conquering - a new age of reckoning has begun. It is Thorgrim’s avowed wish to avenge every single entry in the voluminous tome…
Slayer King Ungrim Ironfist
Ungrim Ironfist is both a King and a Slayer, more than likely the last Slayer King of Karak Kadrin. As a Slayer he has sworn an oath to seek out death in battle against the deadliest foe he can find, but as a King, his oath is to defend and protect his people. So although Ungrim cannot seek death in true Slayer fashion, he grows ever more restless, leading the throng of Karak Kadrin into countless battles. It was Ungrim who slew the Dragon of Black Peak and who broke Queek Headtaker’s siege of King Belegar’s citadel in Karak Eight Peaks. The Slayer King has beaten Ogre mercenary Golfgang Maneater and held off a Chaos army in the Battle of High Pass. Most Dwarfs are amazed Ungrim has lived so long, and none think that a mighty death in battle can be very far away.
Play style
- The Dwarfs will suit players who prefer stability, dependability, defensive playstyles and earth-shattering firepower. A gunline defence, bolstered by small units of elite infantry, or a steady steamroller advance will typify most engagements, but be wary of flanking and baiting maneuverers which will easily shatter and draw out formations, exposing weaker support and ranged units to close combat.
- Dwarfs are unswervingly loyal; rebellions do not occur and high public order characterises all Dwarfen regions, making for a reliable powerbase from which to strike out. - Naturally, Dwarf forces have access to The Underway, a network of underground passages providing shortcuts through impassable or inhospitable terrain; though not without risk.
- All Dwarf players must be mindful of The Book of Grudges. Striking its entries brings benefits, but adding to its pages is easily done…
Key Units
-Ironbreakers
Ironbreakers are trained to fight in tight formation, wedged into the confines of narrow tunnels. There, they find defensible positions and let the enemy break upon their overlapping shields as waves crash into rocks. Impervious, implacable and unmoving, they form a living line that holds back the flood of terror that lurks in the dark below. For each battle fought under the light of sun or moon, the Ironbreakers will have fought dozens in the deep dark beneath the mountains.
- Irondrakes
It was the Engineers Guild that invented the Drake
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ich are clinging to their political lives.”
The NRSC, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, has not yet made expenditures in Kentucky. But McConnell has a huge war chest and a powerful set of Republican allies, which—combined with the state’s conservative bent—will make it difficult to oust him in November. At this point in the campaign, Grimes has been able to dodge the spotlight, with a light public schedule and few policy specifics. In some ways Grimes, 35, presents a difficult target for McConnell, who trails among female voters. But while she is the daughter of a prominent local Democratic leader, Grimes remains little known in the state. Over the next nine months, McConnell’s allies will attempt to tie her to Obama’s positions on health care and coal, which remain deeply unpopular in Kentucky.
McConnell’s spokeswoman told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the campaign was “very comfortable about where this race stands.”
Write to Alex Altman at [email protected] van Gaal has become the first manager of a major Premier League club to encourage his players to go to the European Under 21 Championships with England this summer.
The Manchester United boss wants Luke Shaw, Phil Jones and other United youngsters to be picked in Gareth Southgate's squad for the finals in the Czech Republic at the end of the season believing it will help further their careers.
'That tournament is a very good education and I said that as the coach of the Dutch national team as well,' said Van Gaal.
Louis van Gaal wants his Manchester United youngsters to feature at the Under 21 European championships
Phil Jones (left) and Luke Shaw are two United players who would be eligible to play for England's U21s
Van Gaal points to the success of his Holland side (including Daley Blind) at the World Cup as proof
PLAYERS ELIGIBLE FOR UNDER 21S Gareth Southgate could have as many as eight extra players available to select for the Under 21 European Championships next year: Raheem Sterling, Liverpool Jack Wilshere, Arsenal Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arsenal Calum Chambers, Arsenal Luke Shaw, Manchester United Phil Jones, Manchester United John Stones, Everton Ross Barkley, Everton
'My defenders at the World Cup (who reached the semi-finals) Stefan de Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Daley Blind had all played in the European Under 21 championship. It's a good experience not many players have.'
Van Gaal's support is in direct contrast to the reservations of fellow Premier League bosses Roberto Martinez and Arsene Wenger and will be a huge boost to The Football Association who are trying to make international competitions taken more seriously within English football.
Following England's qualification last week for the finals, Martinez questioned why England should call up his young star at Everton Ross Barkley for the tournament while Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has regularly opposed full internationals like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere dropping back into the U21s.
Former U21 manager Stuart Pearce recently hit out at Roy Hodgson for picking Swansea City midfielder Jonjo Shelvey for the full England squad after he'd turned down the chance to be with the U21s.
Pearce is convinced England's weak performances in junior competitions has had an impact on recent World Cup showings. In contrast, the German side that triumphed in Brazil was packed with U21 champions such as Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira, Mats Hummels and Mesut Ozil.
Van Gaal, who has worked with several top-class youngsters in his career including Patrick Kluivert, Andres Iniesta and Thomas Muller, has five United players in contention for the finals; £27million left-back Shaw who played in the play-off win against Croatia, Jones, brothers Michael and Will Keane, and Tyler Blackett.
And the Dutchman doesn't see any problem with young players extending their season.
Arsene Wenger is one of the managers who has come out and said he doesn't want his players going
Van Gaal has worked with several top youth stars, including Patrick Kluivert (centre) at Ajax
'I don't think it is even a question or worth having a discussion. But that's my view because I think all the players want to play.
'For me as a trainer-coach of a club, I am very happy that Shaw is playing with the U21s. He played for the U21s while (Adnan) Januzaj was on the bench for the Belgium senior team. That is not a benefit for him, it was a two-week holiday.
'He would have been better at the U21s. I think youngsters have to play. When they are free, they need to play. Shaw was also happy to be with the U21s as he needs match rhythm.
'So it was good for everyone – the national U21 team, for me and for Luke.'
England went to the last U21s final under Pearce in Israel without 17 eligible players and failed to qualify from their group.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Raheem Sterling would be eligible to play in the Czech Republic
Gareth South gate would be grateful to have several senior stars in his squad next summer
Roy Hodgson chats to Sterling prior to England's game against Estonia last week
Southgate is anxious to avoid a similar drain on resources next year but will only include players who have won full caps if they are mentally ready to rejoin the Under 21s.
Shaw, 19, went to the last World Cup in Hodgson's squad but would happily play for the junior team to try and help England win their first U21 title since 1984.
Raheem Sterling, Wilshere, Jones, John Stones, Barkley and Oxlade-Chamberlain are also young enough to be eligible but Van Gaal accepts you shouldn't force individual players to go if they themselves think they are fatigued.Mike VI's health has declined enough that he will no longer be allowed in the yard of his habitat for public viewing, his handlers said Monday.
LSU's live tiger mascot, whose body is riddled with cancerous tumors, will be kept inside in his night house in what his veterinarian described as a "hospice" setting. At some point, when Mike's veterinarian determines that the tiger is suffering, he will be "humanely euthanized."
Last week, Mike's LSU veterinarian David Baker announced that a previously diagnosed tumor has spread throughout the tiger's body. He said the 11-year-old tiger had only one or two months left to live.
In May, caretakers found a rare, lemon-sized tumor behind Mike's right eye that was determined to be a terminal. LSU Veterinary School in conjunction with Mary Bird Perkins-Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center treated Mike with stereotactic radiation therapy which initially shrank the tumor.
But a CT scan earlier this month found that the initial tumor resumed growth, and smaller, nodule-like tumors were found in Mike's leg, on his neck and throughout his lungs.
Not seeing the video below? Click here.
Last week, Mike was said to be in a comfortable condition and was allowed to remain in his yard for fans to say their goodbyes.
"As Dr. Baker said in the press conference, once Mike began to decline he would be transitioned to hospice care," said Ginger Guttner, a spokeswoman for the Veterinary school. "He will not be outside any more. Dr. Baker will continue to monitor him and will make the decision to humanely euthanize him when the time comes."
Baker previously said he's begun the search to find a live tiger cub to serve as LSU's new mascot.
Some hoping to pay one last visit to Mike were unable to do so because the tiger was already moved to hospice care.
Can't view the video? Click here.Thankfully there has lately been some more encouraging news about exercise and weight loss, including for women. In a study published late last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from Harvard University looked at the weight-change histories of more than 34,000 participants in a women’s health study. The women began the study middle-aged (at an average of about 54 years) and were followed for 13 years. During that time, the women gained, on average, six pounds. Some packed on considerably more. But a small subset gained far less, coming close to maintaining the body size with which they started the study. Those were the women who reported exercising almost every day for an hour or so. The exercise involved was not strenuous. “It was the equivalent of brisk walking,” says I-Min Lee, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the lead author of the study. But it was consistently engaged in over the years. “It wasn’t something the women started and stopped,” Lee says. “It was something they’d been doing for years.” The women who exercised also tended to have lower body weights to start with. All began the study with a body-mass index below 25, the high end of normal weight. “We didn’t look at this, but it’s probably safe to speculate that it’s easier and more pleasant to exercise if you’re not already heavy,” Lee says.
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On the other hand, if you can somehow pry off the pounds, exercise may be the most important element in keeping the weight off. “When you look at the results in the National Weight Control Registry,” Braun says, “you see over and over that exercise is one constant among people who’ve maintained their weight loss.” About 90 percent of the people in the registry who have shed pounds and kept them at bay worked out, a result also seen in recent studies. In one representative experiment from last year, 97 healthy, slightly overweight women were put on an 800-calorie diet until they lost an average of about 27 pounds each. Some of the women were then assigned to a walking program, some were put on a weight-training regimen and others were assigned no exercise; all returned to their old eating habits. Those who stuck with either of the exercise programs regained less weight than those who didn’t exercise and, even more striking, did not regain weight around their middles. The women who didn’t exercise regained their weight and preferentially packed on these new pounds around their abdomens. It’s well known that abdominal fat is particularly unhealthful, contributing significantly to metabolic disruptions and heart disease.
Scientists are “not really sure yet” just how and why exercise is so important in maintaining weight loss in people, Braun says. But in animal experiments, exercise seems to remodel the metabolic pathways that determine how the body stores and utilizes food. For a study published last summer, scientists at the University of Colorado at Denver fattened a group of male rats. The animals already had an inbred propensity to gain weight and, thanks to a high-fat diet laid out for them, they fulfilled that genetic destiny. After 16 weeks of eating as much as they wanted and lolling around in their cages, all were rotund. The scientists then switched them to a calorie-controlled, low-fat diet. The animals shed weight, dropping an average of about 14 percent of their corpulence.
Afterward the animals were put on a weight-maintenance diet. At the same time, half of them were required to run on a treadmill for about 30 minutes most days. The other half remained sedentary. For eight weeks, the rats were kept at their lower weights in order to establish a new base-line weight.
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Then the fun began. For the final eight weeks of the experiment, the rats were allowed to relapse, to eat as much food as they wanted. The rats that had not been running on the treadmill fell upon the food eagerly. Most regained the weight they lost and then some.
But the exercising rats metabolized calories differently. They tended to burn fat immediately after their meals, while the sedentary rats’ bodies preferentially burned carbohydrates and sent the fat off to be stored in fat cells. The running rats’ bodies, meanwhile, also produced signals suggesting that they were satiated and didn’t need more kibble. Although the treadmill exercisers regained some weight, their relapses were not as extreme. Exercise “re-established the homeostatic steady state between intake and expenditure to defend a lower body weight,” the study authors concluded. Running had remade the rats’ bodies so that they ate less.
Streaming through much of the science and advice about exercise and weight loss is a certain Puritan streak, a sense that exercise, to be effective in keeping you slim, must be of almost medicinal dosage — an hour a day, every day; plenty of brisk walking; frequent long runs on the treadmill. But the very latest science about exercise and weight loss has a gentler tone and a more achievable goal. “Emerging evidence suggests that unlike bouts of moderate-vigorous activity, low-intensity ambulation, standing, etc., may contribute to daily energy expenditure without triggering the caloric compensation effect,” Braun wrote in the American College of Sports Medicine newsletter.
In a completed but unpublished study conducted in his energy-metabolism lab, Braun and his colleagues had a group of volunteers spend an entire day sitting. If they needed to visit the bathroom or any other location, they spun over in a wheelchair. Meanwhile, in a second session, the same volunteers stood all day, “not doing anything in particular,” Braun says, “just standing.” The difference in energy expenditure was remarkable, representing “hundreds of calories,” Braun says, but with no increase among the upright in their blood levels of ghrelin or other appetite hormones. Standing, for both men and women, burned multiple calories but did not ignite hunger. One thing is going to become clear in the coming years, Braun says: if you want to lose weight, you don’t necessarily have to go for a long run. “Just get rid of your chair.”• Derek Warwick believes there is a desire on both sides to keep F1 race there • ‘Liberty don’t want to lose Silverstone and the British Grand Prix’
Derek Warwick, president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, the owners of Silverstone, has said he is confident there will be a long-term future for the British Grand Prix at the circuit after Liberty Media’s completion of its takeover of Formula One and the enthusiasm expressed for the meeting from the new chief executive, Chase Carey.
F1 needs brains, not just Brawn, to end Ecclestone-induced malaise | Richard Williams Read more
Silverstone had warned recently that it may have to drop the race after 2019 because of the potentially ruinous costs of hosting it. However, speaking on the subject since Liberty Media – which has now been renamed the Formula One Group – took over, Warwick was optimistic that a deal would be reached with the new owners.
“We cannot carry on the way we are,” Warwick said. “We have to look at different revenue streams, we have to look at a different contract to the one we have at the moment to extend beyond 2019. There will be a way because Liberty don’t want to lose Silverstone and the British Grand Prix and we don’t want to lose it, there has to be middle ground for all of us. If you have two willing partners there will be a way to move forward, we will find some common ground.”
Carey took over from Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday and immediately launched a charm offensive with positive messages about his group’s plans for F1. He insisted the British Grand Prix would remain on the calendar and made a point to emphasise that the classic European venues and the tradition they bring was what attracted new circuits into the sport.
However, he couched the assurances with the caveat that they would not be more “affordable” but rather that the aim would be to make them more successful and profitable.
Reducing the hosting fees then, one of the three biggest sources of income for F1, was not part of his plan for the future. The race fee is estimated to be £17m this year but the current contract includes an escalator clause that ensures it increases each year.
Warwick, who has spoken with the Formula One Group and will do so again in the near future, believes that although race fees may not change, there will be a framework around which the circuit can ensure the race’s future. “We are excited by the change of management,” he said.
“With Ross Brawn and Chase Carey and Liberty they won’t be a pushover, they are in it to make a return for their shareholders, we understand that but if we have an opportunity to make this work we will use it.
“We don’t think our sanction [race] fee will change, therefore we have to find a better way of increasing our revenue within the grand prix.
“Under our current contract the only way we can make money out of a grand prix other than concerts is ticket sales. Chase is saying other circuits have slightly different contracts to ours so there are other opportunities we can use to increase our revenue. He is saying he is going to change the way we can earn more money from the grand prix.
“Maybe we can have more pitwalks, bigger concerts, more sponsorship – maybe we can name corners. There are things we can change which we haven’t been be to do under the current contract.”
Warwick also cited corporate hospitality and the escalator clause as areas that could be examined. The track has new management in place now and having enjoyed record sales for both F1 and MotoGP in 2016 is already ahead of those sales at this time last year, when 139,000 fans attended the British Grand Prix. In those terms it is already one of the most successful in the world. The task to ensure it remains as such is one Warwick is eager to pursue, but he understands that the process is just beginning.
He said: “We can’t change these things overnight but that is why Ross is saying there is a three to five year plan. But we believe we will find a way now of going forward and finding a way to carry our contract on. Because it important to us, important to Liberty and its important to the British fans. To not have a British Grand Prix is just unthinkable.”
Bernie Ecclestone, Sir Martin Sorrell and executives to reap $40m in F1 selloff Read more
Despite having a difficult relationship with Ecclestone in his previous negotiations with the former chief executive, Warwick, who drove for Ecclestone’s Brabham in 1986, also expressed his sadness at his departure and paid tribute to what the former chief executive had achieved. “F1 would not be what it is today without Bernie Ecclestone,” he said. “We would still be working out of snap-on tool boxes at the end of the pit lane.
“His commitment, desire, focus and love for our sport has been unbelievable for 40 years. Although he and I and Silverstone have had some massive conversations over the last 10 years that has not changed my opinion of him. He is hard task master and he extracts as much as he can from his contracts but if we are prepared to sign them, that is us committing to the contract. There are a lot of people who are very saddened to know that he is not around any more.”
Nonetheless he also believed that Ecclestone’s departure was in Silverstone’s favour. “It was probably the right time for Bernie to step aside. It’s great we now have new opportunities and new energy to take us in a new direction. “It seems from initial conversations that Liberty are more flexible in looking at ways for the British Grand Prix to succeed.”Anne Middleton, a renowned expert on medieval literature and one of the first female professors to break into the UC Berkeley Department of English, died last fall at the age of 76. Campus faculty and students gathered Saturday afternoon to honor her memory.
Middleton worked in the Detroit school system, University of Michigan and UC Berkeley, where she stayed until her retirement in 2006. Middleton was a Florence Green Bixby Professor Emerita of English at UC Berkeley when she died in her sleep Nov. 23, 2016, shortly after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
The campus memorial, held at Wheeler Hall, included several speakers. Graduate students read written communications from those who could not make it to the service.
The first to speak was Middleton’s husband, Gene Rochlin. Rochlin and Middleton married in 1973 and were together for 43 years before her death. Rochlin described his wife as “warm, loving, generous, kind and thoughtful” and noted in particular her attention to detail. According to Rochlin, Middleton even had marginal notes in her groceries lists.
Arthur Bahr, Middleton’s last dissertation student before her retirement, remembered an occasion when he went to her office for guidance on his dissertation but instead found himself having an hour-long conversation about figure skating.
“That was very typical of Anne,” Bahr said. “You would think that you were just going to ask a simple question and, before you knew it, two hours had passed and you were just talking about things you never anticipated.”
According to Bahr, Middleton was more like a coach to him than an adviser — she encouraged him to keep going. He also said that keeping up with her in conversations was sometimes a challenge, as her mind was always “seven steps ahead.”
Bahr added that Middleton believed strongly that public schools were public goods. He said she was committed to the principle that public schools were not just “as good” as private schools but that they were even better.
“As teacher, department chair and very active member of the Academic Senate, she worked with fierce energy to ensure that Berkeley would outstrip all competitors in intellectual distinction,” said Steven Justice, a campus professor of English, in the memorial program.
Chancellor Carol Christ, who was the fourth female professor of English to teach at UC Berkeley, spoke fondly of Middleton during the memorial and said the two of them figured out how to be women in the department together. Christ emphasized Middleton’s “sheer brilliance” and “rhetorical electricity.”
Sascha von Meier, a graduate student of Middleton’s husband, was a frequent visitor to Middleton’s home and said she got to know Middleton well over discussions at her dining table. Von Meier said she was in awe of the way Middleton put words together, regardless of the subject matter.
“She was a great exemplar of a strong woman, a strong intellect,” Von Meier said. “She was just being herself and loving every minute of it.”
Contact Ella Colbert at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @colbert_ella.When Shifra de Benedictis-Kessner joined the Downtown Berkeley Association in 2011, one of the most important challenges to tackle was parking. "People just couldn't find spots in the core around BART," she said. "The perception in downtown Berkeley was that parking was awful." The association subsequently partnered with the city to overhaul parking downtown — by raising meter prices on the most popular streets where it was impossible to find a spot and lowering the rates in areas that typically had a high number of available spaces.
The concept was based on a simple principle of economics: Where demand is high, increase meter prices, and where demand is low, decrease the fees. That pricing scheme encourages high turnover on crowded streets (thereby increasing availability) while also incentivizing drivers to park in peripheral areas that are typically underused. According to the city's data and anecdotal reports from businesses, the new downtown parking program has worked well. "There has been an immense improvement. If you want to park right there, right then, you can," said de Benedictis-Kessner, who is now executive director of the Temescal Telegraph Business Improvement District.
Oakland's mayor's office is now proposing the same concept for commercial districts throughout the city, including Temescal, with the hopes of boosting small businesses by making it much easier for drivers to find parking in busy retail corridors. If the city can overcome the typical obstacles to this kind of parking policy reform — a lack of funding to conduct proper studies and loud resistance from businesses and residents who oppose all meter rate increases — it could bring important economic and environmental benefits to Oakland.
Spearheading the effort is Matt Nichols, Mayor Libby Schaaf's transportation and infrastructure policy director, who in 2013 led the parking revamp in Berkeley, where he formerly served as a principal transportation planner. Nichols also previously studied under UCLA urban planning professor Donald Shoup, who is the leading academic expert on this parking concept, known as "market-based pricing" or "demand-responsive parking" (see "Berkeley's Parking Solution," 12/11/13). Nichols recently helped write an Oakland grant proposal requesting $2 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area transit agency, which would enable the city to implement the progressive parking strategy in downtown, Uptown, Lake Merritt, Chinatown, Temescal, the Jack London district, and the Grand Lake district.
Cities, including Berkeley and San Francisco, have increasingly moved away from the conventional parking meter system in which all on-street locations in a district have the same prices and time limits. Instead, forward-thinking governments have launched market-based pricing systems, in which meter fees are established based on the needs and demands of drivers. That means helping shoppers and diners find convenient parking — not by building more garages or on-street parking spaces, but by setting fees in a way that encourages the most efficient use of the existing parking supply.
A key way to accomplish this is to flip the standard pricing model and make off-street parking garages cheaper than highly coveted on-street metered spots. That way, people who want to park for several hours will gravitate toward the affordable spots in nearby garages — which typically have high vacancy rates — thereby freeing up short-term spots in front of stores and restaurants for customers. The target "magic number," Nichols explained, is roughly 85 percent occupancy rate per block (meaning one or two empty spaces). That means if the block is constantly at 100 percent capacity, then prices need to go up, and if a block has a large number of open spots, then the city should decrease fees. This pricing model can also increase overall parking revenues through high turnover on more expensive on-street spots, and can also help support businesses, which, in turn, increases sales tax revenues for the city.
Once merchants see these programs in action, they are generally supportive, said Valerie Knepper, MTC's regional parking initiative manager and one of the officials reviewing Oakland's grant proposal. "The first response from some businesses is, 'If you charge for parking in front of my business, nobody will come here anymore,'" she said. "But this is actually a pro-business policy."
Most important, this pricing model can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the need for cars to drive in circles trying to find parking. When a large majority of motorists visiting a popular business district are forced to keep driving for five to ten minutes, the unnecessary pollution — not to mention, driver aggravation — can be substantial. Shoup's research has repeatedly demonstrated that when meter prices are too low, and time limits too long, parking becomes impossible to find, and as a result, a large percentage of on-street congestion and greenhouse gas emissions are directly attributable to cars searching for parking.
After Berkeley piloted market-based pricing in downtown, the Elmwood district, and a section of South Berkeley, the city estimated that it reduced the total vehicle miles traveled per day by 1,649 miles, which translates to 1.4 fewer tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. And when San Francisco applied demand-based pricing to roughly 6,000 on-street meters and 12,250 off-street spaces, the city experienced a 30-percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled. "It's kind of amazing how much traffic is actually people circling," said Nichols, noting that drivers looking for parking are also the most distracted and more likely to get into collisions.
In most of the business districts included in Oakland's proposal, the meter rates are uniformly two dollars per hour with a two-hour time limit. Nichols said it was too soon to say exactly how much prices and time limits would change in certain districts and said the city would approach each neighborhood differently based on studies of area trends. The project would build on a 2014 pilot that Schaaf, then a councilmember, launched in Montclair Village. There, the city raised prices to $2.50 per hour in high-demand streets and reduced the rates on peripheral blocks to one dollar per hour. Notably, the city incentivized drivers to use a nearby city-owned garage by offering spots for free for the first twenty minutes, followed by only two dollars per hour.
Daniel Swafford, executive director of the Montclair Village Association, the merchants' group, said that the system has helped divert parking to the garage, which has made it somewhat easier to park on-street. "They're utilizing spaces that are less important for folks who have to get in and get out," he said, adding that he thinks the city needs to raise on-street prices even higher, since it can still be challenging to find a spot on the main strip. In Berkeley, the city raised some meter rates on busy streets to $2.75 per hour while making city-owned garages only $1.50 or $2 per hour (and, in one lot, free for the first hour).
If MTC awards Oakland the grant, the city's first phase would focus on Civic Center and Old Oakland; Lake Merritt and Uptown; and Chinatown. It would also spend some of the funding to improve the Montclair program. The first phase would rely on a downtown parking study that the city's Public Works Agency recently completed. After collecting parking occupancy rates on a weekday afternoon, the city determined that while many downtown streets were crowded with parked cars (above 85 percent occupancy), there were many other streets, often nearby, that had a significant number of available spaces (below 65 percent occupancy). There were also four city-owned garages and lots that were below 65 percent occupancy. The city's proposal would establish "premium" zones with higher meter rates and "value" zones on the periphery and in garages with cheaper fees.
Phase two of the project — in Jack London, Temescal, and Grand Lake districts — would require further studies and outreach, Nichols said. And a third phase, which is not included in the MTC funding request, would focus on the commercial districts of Rockridge, Piedmont Avenue, and Fruitvale.
The MTC funding would also support a concept known as a "parking benefit district" in each area. That means setting up a system through which the city would reinvest a portion of parking revenues directly into the neighborhood, typically by allowing a merchants' group to dole out funds for certain streetscape improvements or other local projects. This feature is part of the Montclair Village pilot, though the city has not yet determined how much funding it will return to the business association for the first year. The grant proposal also features a number of "transportation demand management" (TDM) strategies, which are aimed at reducing driving and encouraging alternative modes of transit. That includes providing free transit passes to targeted groups of city and private employees in each district and other incentives designed to limit car use, such as subsidized bike-share memberships or preferential parking for carpool vehicles.
Oakland is seeking funding from MTC's Climate Initiatives Parking Management and TDM Grant Program, which will dole out a total of $6 million to projects across the Bay Area. Twenty agencies submitted initial project ideas, and MTC selected eleven of those, including Oakland, to write formal proposals. The funding requests call for nearly $10 million total, which means not every project will receive an award or their full request, according to MTC spokesperson John Goodwin. MTC will make final selections later this year and start distributing funds in early 2016.Have you ever thought about how ineffective different parts of our legal system are? I’ve often thought about how restraining orders are such a quaint throw-back to a time before technology: So-and-so might do such-and-such at the corner of there-and-there; best order them away. But restraining orders are pieces of paper. They seem almost naive: The cops aren’t psychic. They can’t necessarily tell whether the stalker is within two hundred feet of his victim, or if the wife-beater is getting too close to his ex. But what if they could?
The technology to track people wherever they go already exists, and has already been commercialized for use with the prison population. Prisoners who wear devices like BI’s “Exacutrack” are effectively on parole, and can be kept on arbitrarily restrictive schedules or risk being tracked down by their GPSes and held accountable. Unlike house arrest, they can still move from place to place as they hold down jobs, visit family, and so on, as long as that’s what they’re supposed to do. Show up at work on time, meet the supervising officer once a week, never get anywhere near the elementary school or the liquor store — or face the consequences.
The benefits of this system are plain. For one thing, it’s cheaper, and the ballooning prison population makes it reasonable to keep an eye on the balance book. Staffing an office that keeps an eye on the movements of anklet-equipped parolees is cheaper than maintaining and guarding an internment facility. Convicts released to the wider world can hold jobs – can be obliged to hold jobs – and thereby contribute to the economy, performing labor and paying taxes, rather than consuming thousands of dollars of public money annually. And, importantly, it keeps those people out of jail, where they would be at high risk of abuse and violence that does no good for the recidivism rate.
But there are hidden costs to wiring up criminals and sending them into the world.
On the one hand, the anklets are deterrents – not preventatives. If someone with an anklet on decides to wander off his prescribed path, there are minutes before a response team can swoop down. If the parolee can wreak mischief without deviating from acceptable routes – perhaps showing up to work on time only to attack his boss, or personally avoiding the street corner where cocaine is trafficked but getting a buddy to serve as a courier – then the anklet won’t get that information to the people who need it any faster. To say nothing of the fact that the device could be sheared off with a sharp object – setting off an alarm, yes, but also instantly cutting off the stream of information about its bearer’s movements.
And on the other hand, the anklets are simultaneously too punitive and not punitive enough. If they see more common use, victims and their families could resent the fact that anklet-wearers are walking around with so little visible interference in their lives. Angry wronged parties might demand harsher measures than mere geo-location monitoring, or at least longer times spent under surveillance than would have been endured behind bars.
But the monitoring is costly to the monitored, and if public opinion about it makes sentence terms skyrocket to compensate for its supposed lightness, people with minor rap sheets could find themselves tethered to Big Brother for the rest of their lives, always watched, always subject to questioning about where they went. (BI also sells “alcohol compliance” devices, so it’s not just about what addresses one visits, either.) Even the device itself isn’t quite harmless; it can’t be taken off, and rubs, endlessly, against one ring of skin; at least if it’s your parent or significant other tracking you, you can leave the phone behind. All of these considerations are smaller than the complete loss of freedom that incarceration represents, but it remains a forbidding sort of life sentence.
Overall and for many offenders, the anklets are an improvement over prison, in terms of burden on society and on convict both. Only impulses to optimize for punishment rather than harm reduction, and cavalier dismissal of the costs anklet-wearers still endure, could make this use of technology less than a strict improvement.
[Image credit: On the Fence with Ken Kalthoff]AP-GfK :
Americans want Democrats to control Congress after this fall’s elections, a shift from April, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Saturday. But the margin is thin and there’s a flashing yellow light for incumbents of both parties: Only about a third want their own lawmakers re-elected.
“I’m a new Democrat,” said Harley Smithson, 51, of Baltimore, who said he had recently switched from the GOP. “I want to be with a party that’s for something instead of against everything.”
The tenuous 45 percent to 40 percent preference for a Democratic Congress reverses the finding a month ago on the same question: 44 percent for Republicans and 41 percent for Democrats. The new readout came as the economy continued showing signs of improvement and the tumultuous battle over the health care law that President Barack Obama finally signed in March faded into the background…
Compared with the last AP-GfK poll in April, the survey showed Republicans losing some support among married women, a key component of many GOP victories. Democrats picked up ground among young and rural voters.
“I’m a new Democrat,” said Harley Smithson, 51, of Baltimore, who said he had recently switched from the GOP. “I want to be with a party that’s for something instead of against everything.”The images are frightening, surreal, sickening. A spill of polluted water from a closed gold mine turned the blue Animas River in Colorado’s southwest corner a vomit orange hue last week.
And while initial tests seemed to show fish could weather the hugely increased levels of toxic metals in the bright plume, the spill immediately dealt a body-blow to communities in the Four Corners region. Many communities, including the Navajo Nation, couldn’t drink the water and were desperately searching for alternate water sources. Rafting companies and anglers—both important to the local economy in and around Durango, Colo.—were ordered off the river. Without safe irrigation water, many farmers crops may dry up.
As High Country News’ Jonathan Thompson put it in his excellent article:
The Animas River courses through the middle of Durango, provides a portion of its drinking and irrigation water, and over the last few decades has become the recreational and aesthetic, wild, green heart of the city. The spill essentially stopped the heart’s beat.
And it may be years, if not decades, before the long-term impacts to the health of the Animas and the people and wildlife who use it are known.
The immediate cause of the spill was a botched effort by the EPA to shore up a dam holding polluted water from the inactive Gold King mine. Enter politicians attacking the EPA’s slow response and poor communications.
Some criticism of the EPA was deserved. And the agency still has a lot of work to do to ensure that people and businesses get the help they need to recover from this disaster.
A short video with footage of the spill.
AJ+/YouTube
But it’s important to remember that bashing the EPA won’t fix the bigger issue. The agency was not the ultimate cause of the pollution. It was the mining industry, which has a rich tradition of walking away from its messes. The Colorado River watershed is home to hundreds of abandoned mine sites, many of which are ticking toxic time bombs because they haven’t been properly cleaned up or reclaimed.
There’s a lot that could be done to address mine pollution. One long-discussed way to reduce the huge number of potential mine pollution accidents is to pass legislation
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each with their own unique abilities, which gain strength as you advance.This is the story of a little boy, on his journey to return the old fairy’s magical muffins. A strange curse was set on him: with each muffin he touches, he turns into a different creature. The old fairy promises to turn him back into a boy when he gets all the muffins back.FEATURES➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠➠Stunning 2.5D graphics, taking full advantage of the latest features in the Unity engine.Discover a colorful and enthralling world, with magical hand drawn artworkPlay as 18 different characters, each with their unique special attacksMake your way through swathes of dragons, turtles, werewolves, ghosts, bats, goblins and other cute fluffy creaturesLevel up, unlock new characters and upgrade their abilities6 perks will bring you extra abilities during your quests for the muffinsIn the end, you’ll have to prove your skills by defeating the evil lava kingPlay together with your Steam friends and enemies, in intense head-to-head matches.A Penn student would not recognize the Screaming Eagle as a cheese steak. A Drexel, Curtis or Temple kid would scoff. The sandwich is nothing like what you’d get at Pat’s or Geno’s, napped in Cheez Whiz and wrapped in waxed paper.
But the Screaming Eagle is an excellent sandwich all the same: fiery against the salt and fat, with a milky punch that allows the cheese and mayonnaise to become extensions of each other, dancers on the stage of bread. Lines to order them stretch throughout the college’s Corcoran Commons every day, students and administrators say, with rushes in the early evening and then again late. Nearly 80,000 are sold each academic year, according to Helen Wechsler, the director of B.C. Dining. This works out to an average of something like nine cheese steaks for every undergraduate.
Michael Kann, who is the associate director of food and beverage for the school, sent me the recipe. It proved to be bulletproof, sheet music for a weekend meal of uncommon flavor and deep satisfaction. Cheese steaks made at home may be terrifying to contemplate, but they are easy to complete. And serving them to middle-aged hacks with dim memories of college high jinks turns out to be just as successful as trying them out on Actual Youth, who inhale the things as if they were made of air.
I made two adjustments to Kann’s dispatch. I used Cheddar cheese in place of the white American. And I replaced the thin-shaved steak that is a hallmark of cheese steaks, whatever their geographic provenance, with skirt steak.
Doing so recalled Corinthians. When you are a child — ordering cheese steak in a college dining hall after waiting awkwardly in line for 10 minutes behind a group of girls that includes one you used to hook up with — thin-shaved steak may be a kind of ambrosia. But as an adult, it is just cheap meat and hard to find besides. Skirt steak sits in handsome folds at the butcher shop: thicker and more flavorful; expensive, yes,but better all-around. Pair it with melting Cheddar? That is actually ambrosial.
So I put a hard sear on these steaks, and I pulled them off the griddle still blue at their centers. Then I sliced the meat along the grain, thin as matchsticks, to create the tangle that is so important to an effective cheese steak, a nest for the cheese and toppings. I sautéed the result with caramelized onions, dark mushrooms, slack sweet peppers and loads of cheese and let everything melt together. I slathered warm sub rolls with mayonnaise cut through with chipotle, more heavily than you can imagine, still just enough. I assembled the sandwiches. And I served them with beer.
Photo
Cue moans and time-warp exultations of glee. The Screaming Eagle is simply too large and flavorful to qualify as anything approaching a healthful, balanced meal. It is more like a steakhouse dinner put into a blender and mixed with cheese, then heated through, doused in chili fire and poured over the bread basket. But to eat one once in a while, among friends or in families, is to experience something of the camaraderie of adolescent dining. It is to recall voracious late-night assaults upon hunger. It is to enter a memory loop, and to emerge sweating a little, with a big smile. (Concentrate on the flavor. Eat through the pain.)
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People should not eat like this every day, of course. No one can, really, and live. Most recognize that they cannot. Matthew Barrett, for one, who graduated from Boston College in 2009, is a dedicated cheese-steak enthusiast who said that the sandwiches rank “embarrassingly high on the list of things I miss” about school. When he was last on campus, for a weekend, he said he managed to consume three cheese steaks in the two days he was there.
But Barrett is 24 now, enrolled in law school, and said he is no longer living “the tub lifestyle.” Cheese steaks are now but an occasional pleasure, a reminder of his misspent, glorious youth. He said, “I had a salad today for lunch and it sucked so much.”
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Recipe: Screaming Eagle Cheese-Steak Sub
2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil, like canola
1 large white onion, peeled and sliced thin
2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced thin
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thin
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, or more to taste
2 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut into 6 equal-size sections
6 large sub rolls or Italian bread cut into 6 submarine-shaped pieces of 8 to 10 inches, sliced down the center
1/2 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, sliced thin.
1. To make toppings for sandwich: Heat a griddle or a large, heavy frying pan, ideally cast iron, over medium heat. Add oil to pan and, when it begins to shimmer, add the onion and peppers and stir to combine. Cook, stirring every so often, until they begin to soften and brown, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, remove and set aside. Wipe pan, add butter and repeat process with mushrooms. Cook until they have released their juices and are soft and glazed, about 6 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. To make chipotle mayonnaise: Combine mayonnaise and minced peppers in a small bowl and stir well to combine. (Leftover sauce may be covered and stored safely in the refrigerator for weeks.)
3. To make steaks: Heat griddle or frying pan over high heat until nearly smoking. Season meat aggressively with salt and pepper. Place steaks on griddle, working in batches if necessary, and cook for 3 minutes each side, until well browned but very rare. Remove to a serving platter and allow to rest.
4. To make sandwiches: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. When steaks are complete, slice them along the grain as thinly as possible. Place sub rolls in oven to warm. Return sliced steaks to griddle or frying pan, over medium heat, and add onions, peppers and mushrooms. Stir to combine, turn heat to low and cover with sliced cheese. Using tongs and a wide spatula, stir and pull to combine as cheese melts, approximately 3 minutes.
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5. To serve: Remove rolls from oven and spread chipotle mayonnaise on the interior of each serving. Fill each sub with a mixture of meat, vegetables and cheese. Serve immediately. Serves 6. Adapted from Michael Kann, associate director, B.C. Dining, Chestnut Hill, Mass.— A few months after a Chicago couple that was in Hillary Clinton’s campaign launch video invited the candidate to their wedding, they got married without her, reports CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov.
Jared Milrad and Nathan Johnson appeared in Hillary Clinton’s campaign launch video. They represented her support of gay marriage. On Sunday, they actually tied the knot.
They were surrounded by family and friends at Montrose Harbor this afternoon. Absent, though, was the presidential candidate. They sent her a Twitter invitation to their wedding today right after they publically appeared in her campaign announcement video. They say they were honored to be included in that and wanted to include her in their wedding day.
The couple says Clinton’s staff immediately got back to them with a sort of ‘we’ll see.’ In the end, she didn’t make it.
“She rightfully pointed out that if she came to the wedding, it might distract from our special day so we understand she supports us,” said Milrad.
Clinton did send them a congratulatory note.
Milrad and Johnson have been together for several years.
Being that they got married in a public space, Clinton’s attendance would have likely caused quite a security nightmare on an already really busy beach day.Taking place in Tokyo from April 29 to May 8 is Kosaten, a week-long event celebrating adidas’s forward-thinking approach to design, which is much indebted to the brand’s rich heritage. Led by the creative vision of Andy Chiu — who also oversees our The Sneaker Lab series — the event brings together pioneers and ambassadors from Originals’ lineup in a slew of talks and workshops. Here, tennis legend Stan Smith speaks on his connection with Japan and how Tokyo were the grounds where the American player won his first championship in 1970. Furthermore, Smith highlights how the sneaker has propelled from the tennis arena to become one of the most reworked models in the sneaker realm, with the likes of Raf Simons and Pharrell all putting their own flair to the stripped-back silhouette. Check out the snippet above and a video of the Kosaten opening below, and be sure to drop by the pop-up at BANK Gallery on Cat Street if you’re in town.As one of the most successful women to ever play the male-dominated game of chess, Nazi Paikidze is used to having her moves watched closely.
Her latest has drawn international attention: Paikidze announced last week that she will boycott February’s Women’s World Chess Championship in Iran because the players will have to wear hijabs.
Paikidze’s decision will deprive the tournament of one of the game’s brightest stars and biggest draws — the U.S. champion who once told a magazine she would “do everything I can to help more girls get into chess.”
Islamic coverings for women in public — required in Iran and some other nations such as Saudi Arabia — have increasingly become a target for both protests and struggles over Muslim identity. Some activists in Iran have launched online campaigns against the hijab rules, while other women continually test the boundaries by pushing back headscarves to near gravity-defying levels.
{snip}
“Some consider a hijab part of culture,” Paikidze said in an Instagram post announcing her decision. “But, I know that a lot of Iranian women are bravely protesting this forced law daily and risking a lot by doing so. That’s why I will NOT wear a hijab and support women’s oppression.”
Paikidze also launched a campaign on Change.org demanding that the World Chess Federation reconsider Iran as a host for the women’s championship.
“These issues reach far beyond the chess world,” the petition says. “While there has been social progress in Iran, women’s rights remain severely restricted. This is more than one event; it is a fight for women’s rights.”
The petition has been signed by more than 3,000 people.
{snip}
In a statement on its website, the WCF said: “It is not a [federation] regulation or requirement to wear a hijab during the event.” The statement says the organization does require participants to “respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times and be aware of your actions to ensure that they do not offend.”
{snip}
Original Article
Share ThisAlong with the Xiaomi Mi 5S, the company announced the Mi 5S Plus at the event held today in Beijing, China. While the Mi 5S is a flagship aimed at users who want a balanced compact smartphone, the Mi 5S Plus takes things to a whole new level, in almost every aspect.
DESIGN:
The Xiaomi Mi 5S Plus comes with the same all metal design as its smaller brother, however, it features a much larger display, to cater the needs of those who want something for entertainment and gaming. So, it’s kind of a bulked up version of the Mi 5S, featuring a large 5.7-inch display. However, you won’t feel its too big considering that it’s narrower than the iPhone 7 Plus. The company has actually done a good job of limiting its dimensions. Its light weight as well, 20 grams lighter than the iPhone 7 Plus.
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus Dimensions: 154.6mm x 77.9mm | Weight: 168 grams
The curved design should ensure better grip and the brushed metal body gives it a premium look. Like its sibling, you get 2.5D glass on the front. There are four color options, silver, dark gray, rose gold and gold.
What’s really interesting about the Mi 5S Plus’ design is the fingerprint sensor located at the back! The Mi 5S came with an ultrasonic under glass sensor on the front, but for some reason, the Plus variant features the sensor at the back. The company has not yet confirmed whether this rear placed sensor is an ultrasonic sensor as the Mi 5S.
SPECS:
The Xiaomi Mi 5S Plus comes with the powerful Snapdragon 821 chipset with two memory options 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM and 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM. The RAM is LPDDR4 and the storages are UFS 2.0 standard. With these high-end specs, the Mi 5S Plus manages to score a good 164,119 on AnTuTu v6.1.9.
The screen is of 5.7-inches with 1080p resolution (386ppi), 94% NTSC color gamut with high color saturation.
Once again, the camera is the highlight of the Mi 5S Plus. But unlike the Mi 5S, the phone features a dual camera setup on the device. The module consists of dual 13MP Sony sensor, one a standard RGB sensor which captures color information, and the other is a black and white sensor. The camera is said to be pretty good, especially because it uses ClearSight technology, thereby enhancing the rich details and limiting the noise in the images.
The camera module supports HDR, PDAF, RAW format, real time image filters and comes with dual tone LED flash. The Mi 5S Plus supports 4K video at 30 fps, 1080p / 720p video shooting at 30 fps and 720p slo-mo video shooting at 120 fps. Up front, you get a 4MP Ultrapixel sensor with 2um pixels, f/2.0 and 80-degree wide angle lens.
Here are some official camera samples:
Other features of the Mi 5S Plus include NFC (so support for Mi Pay), 4G+, and 3800mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0.
As for connectivity, the phone comes with 802.11 ac dual band Wi-Fi with MU MIMO tech, Wi-Fi display, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth HID, 4G+ and dual SIM dual standby with 3 x CA support. In addition, you also get an infrared port which is missing on the Mi 5S.
Supported LTE Bands:
FDD-LTE Band 1, 3, 5, 7
TDD-LTE Band 38, 39, 40, 31
PRICING:
The Xiaomi Mi 5S Plus is priced pretty aggressively, with the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage version retailing for 2299 Yuan ($345) and 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant retailing for 2599 Yuan ($390).
These are amazing prices for the specs that you get.
Both the Mi 5S and the Mi 5S Plus will go on sale on September 29 via JD.com and Xiaomi’s official store in China.Former Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella has launched a defamation action against a small Victorian country newspaper and a well-known former ABC journalist over a story claiming she shoved political rival Cathy McGowan at a photo opportunity during last year's election.
Ms Mirabella filed a writ in the Victorian County Court last week against Benalla Newspapers Pty Ltd, publisher of the Benalla Ensign, and former ABC presenter Libby Price, the paper's editor.
Cathy McGowan and Sophie Mirabella during a campaign event. Credit:Shana Morgan/Border Mail
The action centres around a story the Ensign ran on page four in April last year under the headline "Awkward encounter", which alleged that Ms Mirabella had "very publicly pushed" Ms McGowan at a photo opportunity.
The story, which was also published online, came in the lead-up to last year's federal election, in which both Ms Mirabella and Ms McGowan were competing for the regional seat of Indi.During a normal year, National Geographic reports, the saltwater wedge only makes it to 50 miles upstream. As of August 24, the Army Corps reports the leading edge of the Gulf waters to be 89.8 miles upstream. At 95 miles upstream, there is an intake pipe that supplies fresh water to New Orleans. This is a problem.
The intake pipe is not on the bottom of the river; the saltwater wedge would have to progress 20 or so miles beyond it before salinity becomes an issue. But saltwater could flow upwards at a rate of 2-3 miles per day under the right conditions. To ensure that doesn't happen, the Army Corps is building an $8.1 million underwater sill (shown in the diagram below) to stop the flow of the salt water, at a location 64 miles north of the mouth of the Mississippi.
Although the diagram doesn't quite show it, the corps has reported it might need up to 2.7 million cubic yards of dredged sediment to build the sill. You could fill more than half of the New Orleans Superdome with that amount of sludge. Once in place, it would halt the upward flow of the Gulf in two weeks. When the river output increases again, the sill will naturally degrade.
But there is another factor to contend with: Hurricane Isaac. The oncoming storm could affect the operation in two ways. One would mitigate the problem; the other would make it worse.
"There is no one size fits all answer to what effects a hurricane could have on the saltwater issue," Rachel Rodi, an Army Corps spokesperson told me via email. "Every storm is different and there are too many variables to pin down. For example: while the storm surge may temporarily raise salinity levels in the area, the rain associated with a land falling storm would make its way up the Mississippi River Valley, end up draining back into the river, and raise flows upstream that would help push the saltwater wedge back down river."
The Mississippi is more human-engineered than a natural river at this point. As Alexis Madrigal put it: "The Mississippi no longer fits the definition a river as 'a natural watercourse flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river.' Rather, the waterway has been shaped in many ways, big and small, to suit human needs."
But weather still matters, and effects the daily operations of the river. While it is a heavily engineered and meticulously maintained piece of transportation technology, at the end of the day, the mighty Mississippi is still beholden to floods, droughts, and hurricanes.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected] Arbus, Stripper with bare breasts sitting in her room, Atlantic City, N.J. 1961/Courtesy the Met Breuer
Diane Arbus always had a way with people. As a child she was so precocious, curious, and observant that she intimidated her own mother. As a teenager, she excelled in school with a mind so fine that an art teacher called her “an original.” As a young woman, she knew how to both seduce and submit to men in order to get what she wanted: attention, affection. Many who met her found her utterly fascinating, and she in turn was fascinated by the lives of others. “I love secrets, and I can find out anything,” she once said. And in many ways, she did.
Arbus was a titan of twentieth-century American photography, albeit an understated one, who in her too-brief career helped to crack open the world for closer inspection. (She died by her own hand in 1971 at the age of 48.) Like her predecessors and peers — Lisette Model, Berenice Abbott, Gary Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander, to name a few — she preferred the streets to the studio, documenting the world as it passed before her. Unlike some of them, she wasn’t interested in capturing her subjects anonymously, or on the sly. She wanted to connect with them, to know them, and to produce images possessed of something essential, something real about them. “diane arbus: in the beginning” is an extraordinary exhibition of the artist’s earliest photographs, taken as she was just going out into the world to come into her own.
The show spans seven years of work, from 1956, the year Arbus began taking photographs in earnest, to 1962, the year she moved from using a 35mm camera to a 2.25-inch Rolleiflex, which became her signature format. On view are almost one hundred photographs, two-thirds of which have never before been published — and all of which were printed by Arbus herself. This is not an incidental virtue; this is proof of the integrity propelling this exhibition, rare in an era burdened by the moral complications of posthumous printing. In 2007, Arbus’s daughters, Amy and Doon, placed their mother’s archives with the Met. Led by Jeff L. Rosenheim, Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs, the curatorial team clearly took their custodianship very seriously, handling her work and legacy with impeccable thought and care. Even the exhibition’s daring and decidedly eccentric installation makes its point beautifully. Each photo is hung on its own narrow, column-like wall. These walls are placed in staggered lines throughout the space, allowing audiences to perambulate around the room like Arbus once did throughout New York. One approaches each image as though it were its own encounter — singular, incomparable, though of a shared time and place.
Nineteen fifty-six was a pivotal year for Arbus. Although she and her husband, Allan, had achieved a certain level of success as fashion photographers, the business never suited her. Frivolous fantasies featuring fancy dresses were a stress and a bore, and for some time she’d felt herself pulled in another direction. She was far more compelled by the real world, in part because her privileged upbringing had kept her so far from it. “One of the things I felt I suffered from as a kid was that I never felt adversity,” she explained to Studs Terkel in a 1968 interview recorded in Arthur Lubow’s recent biography, Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer. “I was confirmed in the sense of unreality which I only could feel as unreality.” After dissolving her working relationship with Allan, she begged a spot in a photography class taught by Lisette Model, whom Arbus would always credit for giving her the confidence to capture what she alone saw.
Her newfound autonomy allowed her to wander, to follow whatever caught her eye, and to pay better, closer attention. She met her subjects by chance, and by choice. By 1958 she was making lists in her notebooks of who and what she might want to photograph: “weird women,” “dressing rm,” “morgue.” She took her camera with her everywhere: to 42nd Street, to Hubert’s Museum (which presented sideshow acts), to drag shows, to Coney Island, to the Lower East Side. Some of the exhibition’s most intriguing images are those Arbus took inside of movie theaters, which double as studies in light and shadow. At times, she pointed her camera at the audience illuminated by the projector’s beam (42nd Street movie theater audience, N.Y.C., Audience with projection booth, both 1958). At other times she photographed the screen, a document of sorts of the real-life presence of fiction (Kiss from “Baby Doll,” N.Y.C., 1956; Clouds on a screen at a drive-in movie N.J., 1961).
Arbus loved the grain of the photograph. In fact, Model remembered that the first works she brought to class were “nothing but grain.” Some of her early images are so soft as to be nearly-not-there, as though the artist wasn’t capturing her subjects so much as excavating them from the world, releasing them from its murk. One of the most exquisite works in the exhibition is Windblown headline on a dark pavement, N.Y.C. (1956). Although nothing more than a newspaper on a sidewalk — its headline blurred, its pages fluttering in the breeze — this garbage, this discarded bit of “old news” is presented as an apparition just materializing from the heavy shadows surrounding it.
The artist always titled her photographs succinctly, without pretense or poetry: Blonde receptionist behind a picture window; Couple arguing; Corpse with receding hairline and a toe tag; Stripper with bare breasts sitting in her dressing room. All is labeled as though she were cataloging specimens for study. Young man with paper bag at night, Coney Island, N.Y. (1957), for instance, gives nothing away regarding the subject’s proud pose, his wide, goofy grin, or the bright boardwalk lights beaming behind him. Perhaps she knew that words couldn’t compete with images — one of the reasons why Arbus’s photographs will always leave us speechless.
‘diane arbus: in the beginning’
The Met Breuer
945 Madison Avenue
212-731-1675, metmuseum.org
Through November 27UK Government Ministers Robin Walker and Alun Cairns will today (6 Nov) meet with a panel of Welsh businesses, universities and the voluntary and farming sectors in Cardiff as part of ongoing engagement on the opportunities and challenges of exiting the EU.
This meeting will follow an evidence session with the National Assembly for Wales where the ministers will answer questions on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
The visit is part of an ongoing programme of engagement with all parts of the UK on Brexit, and builds on recent visits to Wales by the First Secretary of State Damian Green, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.
Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:
As we continue to make decisive steps towards our exit from the EU, we are committed to bringing all of the UK with us – ensuring that every sector’s voice is heard and that every nation is able to flourish from day one of departure. The people of Wales want to make Brexit a success and both the Welsh Government and UK Government want the same thing - we want Wales to prosper and we want an agreement for the whole of the UK with the European Union. As we leave the EU, Wales will share the benefits of the UK’s new role as a strong, global, free-trading nation. That is why we are stepping up our engagement with key sectors in Wales throughout the exit process. I’m delighted to welcome Robin Walker to Cardiff today to continue those discussions.
Minister at the Department for Exiting the EU, Robin Walker said:
We are committed to securing a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom, enabling Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England to fully embrace the opportunities our EU exit offers. As we continue our unprecedented level of engagement on Brexit, I look forward to hearing from key sectors in Wales about their priorities for Brexit and to updating them on negotiations and the progress of the Withdrawal Bill.
The Withdrawal Bill is a key piece of legislation in the national interest which will convert EU law to UK law on exit day, ensuring we leave the EU with certainty, continuity and control. The Bill will enter committee stage on November 14th.
The Secretary of State for Wales established the Expert Panel to work with him to deliver a smooth and orderly exit from the EU in Wales. The third meeting today builds on the constructive conversations they have already had, helping to contribute to the UK’s negotiating position.
NOTESTwo different readers have written in this past week to complain about having their Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty accounts hijacked by scammers. The spike in fraud appears to be tied to a combination of password re-use and the release of a tool that automates the checking of account credentials at the Web site for the popular travel rewards program.
The mass compromise of Starwood accounts began in earnest less than a week ago. That roughly coincides with a Starwoods-specific account-checking tool that was released for free on Leakforums[dot]org, an English-language forum dedicated to helping (mostly low-skilled) misfits monetize compromised credentials from various online services, particularly e-retailers, cloud-based services and points or rewards accounts.
The tool is little more than a bit of code that automates the checking of account credentials stolen from other data breaches, to see if the stolen credentials also work at Starwoods.com. These types of account checking tools work because — despite constant advice to the contrary — a fair number of Internet users will rely on the same email address (username) and password pair for accounts at multiple sites.
The release of the account checking tool caused numerous Leakforums denizens to run the tool against various username and password lists stolen in previous data breaches. In less than 24 hours after its release, there were more than a half dozen Leakforums members selling compromised accounts. One seller advertised a Starwood account with 70,000 points for sale at just $3, while accounts with about 40,000 points sold for $1.50.
According to a tutorial posted on the forum, hijacked account buyers “cash out” their purchases by creating new Starwood accounts and then forcing the hijacked account to transfer its account balance to the new account. The reward points are then exchanged for gift cards that can be used as cash.
Starwood does offer customers the option to receive email or text message alerts when account changes are made. But the tutorial on Leakforums encourages buyers to change the email address, password and other contact information on the victim’s account, effectively locking out the legitimate user.
Chris Holdren, senior vice president of global and digital at Starwood Preferred Guest, said the attacks of the past week track closely to the fraud patterns that have hit other loyalty programs in recent months, including Hilton Honors.
“They appear to be using credentials from elsewhere and seeing how many of those match up to Starwood accounts to see how many hits they can get,” Holdren said.
Holdren added that Starwood users who have had their accounts hijacked will not lose points due to fraud, a claim that was backed up by at least one of the two readers who initially contacted KrebsOnSecurity about being victimized by fraudsters.
“Not one guest is going to lose even a single Starwood point through this activity,” Holdren said. “We have a very large team globally mobilized to combat it.”
Could companies like Starwood be doing a lot more to facilitate safer login procedures, such as 2-step authentication? Absolutely. Even so, far too many people re-use the same passwords at multiple sites that hold either their credit card information or points that can easily be redeemed for cash.
Tags: Chris Holdren, Hilton Honors fraud, Leakforums, Starwood Account fraudFirst published Sun Dec 3, 2006; substantive revision Tue Jun 16, 2015
The philosophical interest in quantum computing is threefold: First, from a social-historical perspective, quantum computing is a domain where experimentalists find themselves ahead of their fellow theorists. Indeed, quantum mysteries such as entanglement and nonlocality were historically considered a philosophical quibble, until physicists discovered that these mysteries might be harnessed to devise new efficient algorithms. But while the technology for isolating 5 or even 7 qubits (the basic unit of information in the quantum computer) is now within reach (Schrader et al. 2004, Knill et al. 2000), only a handful of quantum algorithms exist, and the question whether these can solve classically intractable computational problems is still open. Next, from a more philosophical perspective, advances in quantum computing may yield foundational benefits. It may turn out that the technological capabilities that allow us to isolate quantum systems by shielding them from the effects of decoherence for a period of time long enough to manipulate them will also allow us to make progress in some fundamental problems in the foundations of quantum theory itself. Indeed, the development and the implementation of efficient quantum algorithms may help us understand better the border between classical and quantum physics, hence elucidate an important problem, namely, the measurement problem, that so far resists a solution. Finally, the idea that abstract mathematical concepts such as complexity and (in)tractability may not only be translated into physics, but also re-written by physics bears directly on the autonomous character of computer science and the status of its theoretical entities—the so-called “computational kinds”. As such it is also relevant to the long-standing philosophical debate on the relationship between mathematics and the physical world.
Combining physics, mathematics and computer science, quantum computing has developed in the past two decades from a visionary idea to one of the most fascinating areas of quantum mechanics. The recent excitement in this lively and speculative domain of research was triggered by Peter Shor (1994) who showed how a quantum algorithm could exponentially “speed-up” classical computation and factor large numbers into primes much more rapidly (at least in terms of the number of computational steps involved) than any known classical algorithm. Shor’s algorithm was soon followed by several other algorithms that aimed to solve combinatorial and algebraic problems, and in the last few years theoretical study of quantum systems serving as computational devices has achieved tremendous progress. Common belief has it that the implementation of Shor’s algorithm on a large scale quantum computer would have devastating consequences for current cryptography protocols which rely on the premise that all known classical worst-case algorithms for factoring take time exponential in the length of their input (see, e.g., Preskill 2005). Consequently, experimentalists around the world are engaged in tremendous attempts to tackle the technological difficulties that await the realization of such a large scale quantum computer. But regardless whether these technological problems can be overcome (Unruh 1995, Ekert and Jozsa 1996, Haroche and Raimond 1996), it is noteworthy that no proof exists yet for the general superiority of quantum computers over their classical counterparts.
The mathematical model for a “universal” computer was defined long before the invention of computers and is called the Turing machine (Turing 1936). A Turing machine consists of an unbounded tape, a head that is capable of reading from the tape and of writing onto it and can occupy an infinite number of possible states, and an instruction table (a transition function). This table, given the head’s initial state and the input it reads from the tape in that state, determines (a) the symbol that the head will write on the tape, (b) the internal state it will occupy, and (c) the displacement of the head on the tape. In 1936 Turing showed that since one can encode the instruction table of a Turing machine \(T\) and express it as a binary number \(\#(T)\), there exists a universal Turing machine \(U\) that can simulate the instruction table of any Turing machine on any given input with at most a polynomial slowdown (i.e., the number of computational steps required by \(U\) to execute the original program \(T\) on the original input will be polynomially bounded in \(\#(T)\)). That the Turing machine model (what we nowadays call “an algorithm”) captures the concept of computability in its entirety is the essence of the Church-Turing thesis, according to which any effectively calculable function can be computed using a Turing machine. Admittedly, no counterexample to this thesis (which is the result of convergent ideas of Turing, Post, Kleene and Church) has yet been found. But since it identifies the class of computable functions with the class of those functions which are computable using a Turing machine, this thesis involves both a precise mathematical notion and an informal and intuitive notion, hence cannot be proved or disproved. Simple cardinality considerations show, however, that not all functions are Turing-computable (the set of all Turing machines is countable, while the set of all functions from the natural numbers to the natural numbers is not), and the discovery of this fact came as a complete surprise in the 1930s (Davis 1958).
Computability, or the question whether a function can be computed, is not the only question that interests computer scientists. The cost of computing a function is also of great importance, and this cost, also known as computational complexity, is measured naturally in the physical resources (e.g., time, space, energy) invested in order to solve the computational problem at hand. Computer scientists classify computational problems according to the way their cost function behaves as a function of their input size, \(n\) (the number of bits required to store the input) and in particular, whether it increases exponentially or polynomially with \(n\). Tractable problems are those which can be solved in polynomial cost, while intractable problems are those which can only be solved in an exponential cost (the former solutions are commonly regarded as efficient although an exponential-time algorithm could turn out to be more efficient than a polynomial-time algorithm for some range of input sizes). If we further relax the requirement that a solution to a computational problem be always correct, and allow probabilistic algorithms with a negligible probability of error
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who always goes for the obvious answer. Beckman will continually find herself looking for reasons to fire him, all while he bumbles upon the correct answers for cases. After the insanity test that Operation Bartowski is already putting her through, this does not bode well.
The Director and the guy in the middle of the Ring Elders are the same person.
as a hologram
Think about it... the Ring Elders is obviously a group of highly renowned leaders to the Ring, and the Director has been repeatedly said to be the agency's big cheese. There's also the fact that the Director meets Shawin a room very similar to the Ring Council Chamber. And when he speaks in "Chuck Versus the Mask", it really sounds like he's using a voice changer, so he obviously wouldn't have sounded like the Director we would "first meet" in "Chuck Versus the American Hero".
He finally got back to the present and, deciding he'd had enough of time travel, switched to another top-secret project, the Intersect. He was put in witness protection as "Stephen Bartowski" (note the initials!) when Roark went rogue.
Shaw is a timelord
He's been 'killed' how many times now? Plus there's a rule that someone has to be.
Stephen Bartowski is a timelord
He's been "working for himself" for centuries due to his long timelord life and is regenerating as we speak.
No one is a Time Lord...
...but they are Highlanders.
Chuck's mother is a Ring member
Still unsure... but in Season 4, looks like we're going to find out. She's being played by Linda Hamilton a.k.a. Sarah Connor
She was kidnapped by the Ring threatening the lives of Ellie and Chuck, forcing her to work for them; but when Chuck finds out, he puts her though a HeelFace Turn
Daniel Shaw The Big Bad in Season 4 will be
As of "Chuck Versus the Living Dead", he has downloaded an Intersect into his brain, pushing him into the position of Dragon-in-Chief.
, pushing him into the position of Dragon-in-Chief. As of "Chuck Versus the Ring, Part II", he's out (but probably not completely). There are so many other bad guys now, that anyone could be the 'Big'.
Alexei Volkoff is the fourth season's Big Bad, though that does not necessarily preclude Shaw's return.
Surprised that this one has not made it here yet. He is presently The Dragon, but considering how the Big Bad has changed between seasons (none in Season 1, Roark in Season 2, and Ring! Mark Sheppard in Season 3) he could very well end up in the Big Bad chair come next season.
Stephen Bartowski is not dead.
Sub-WMG: Ellie had something to do with it.
Schwartz and Fedak have stated in multiple interviews that Stephen is really, truly dead. But you never know...
That "cellular regeneration" thingy is such a Chekhov's Gun. It worked for Shaw, bet it can work for Stephen.
Season 4 theories regarding Orion's old enemies
Consider the elder Bartowski's words on this. "For the last twenty years, I've been a spy... for myself", which implies that, while he did work for the CIA, he may have been involved in several other personal endeavors (possibly involving many private interests and rival agencies) that may be more directly related to his constant paranoia and disappearances than just his involvement in the Intersect project. Whatever they are, they likely personally involve Chuck and Ellie as more than just pawns, since Mr. Bartowski mentioned that he had been actively protecting them from those involved with their mother
Hydra was marked "Identity: Hydra," just like Orion was. This implies that Orion was not the only code name Stephen Bartowski used - he may have had different identities for dealing with different opposing forces. As this identity's connection to Orion is presumably unknown in the spy community, and given Mr. Bartowski's tendency to avoid showing his face when operating under his code name, Chuck may take up the mantle to utilize Hydra's connections in his search for his mother. "Hydra" looks to be Volkoff's network.
I got the impression these "old friends" of Orion we saw the codenames for (Hydra, Phase Two, CYGNUS, The Aries Papers, The Triangulum (CAPTURED), The Fornax Group and that) weren't specifically a big bad evil group like the Ring but brilliant scientists/tech engineers etc who were going to use the intersect technology and whatever else they came up with for their own purposes. That they are currently all working separately on projects along with each hunting for Mrs. B., especially now that Orion is dead.
Chuck's Mother
I disagree. The search for Stephen Bartowski/Orion began with very little to go on. The end of Season 3 seems to give indication of a lot of information that's being imparted to Chuck right off the bat about their mother, if the files being seen at the end are any indication.
Seeing as she's being played by Linda Hamilton a.k.a. Sarah Connor odds are she's going to be an extremely difficult person to catch up to. Kind of like Carmen Sandiego.
odds are she's going to be an extremely difficult person to catch up to. Kind of like Carmen Sandiego. She returned home with Team Bartowski in "Chuck Versus the Push Mix".
The hunt for Chuck's mom and her joining Team Bartowski may start off seeming like a repeat of them finding his dad but I think she'll probably have some "darker" motives and possibly try to "save" them by having them be with her as she joins the enemy.
Anna will be turned against Morgan and Chuck by whatever group ends up being the Season 4 Big Bad
I like the idea but I think she'll turn back to the good side at the end of the episode.
"The Ring was eliminated!"
Casey's recommendation to have her tested resulted in her being recruited, but by an agent of The Ring, likely by the chef she ran off with in Hawaii. She came back to the Buy More to get back together with Morgan, and worm her way into Team Bartowski.
Shaw will finally get Killed Off for Real by Chuck.
If the decapitation happens, it will be the perfect chance to make a Highlander reference. AND IT WILL BE AWESOME.
It's as obvious as what we all thought was going to happen in the first place, but hey. I vote for Chuck to decapitate and/or gut him like a fish with a samurai sword.
The Intersect is an early version of Snow Crash
It can impart vast amounts of information to human beings through purely visual stimulus, but usually results in insanity or a comatose state. Even those who can handle the information overload will lose their mind before long without a device to regulate their system for them. By the time of the events in Snow Crash, it will either have been weaponized or become corrupted due to being tinkered with by people who didn't know what they were doing some time after the United States government fell apart.
Casey is Jewish.
Or at least knows Yiddish. He said oy gevalt, after all.
Sarah's spy will is a Chekhov's Gun that has yet to be fired
We get an entire episode where spy wills are a big plot element, and we not only see Sarah give hers to Chuck, but see him write his own. Given what is in a spy will, there is a very good chance that there will be something in there that Chuck flashes on. The writers can also be extra sadistic by adding something in there that might shake up the Chuck/Sarah relationship.
Sure Chuck will have to believe Sarah is dead in order to bring it out, but hey, there are plenty of ways for that to happen without her actually being dead.
Possibly confirmed, if you consider Agent X's Spy Will being recovered and revealing him to be Alexei Volkoff to be 'firing' the spy will gun. And then in Chuck Versus the Last Details Vivian kills Sarah. Well, probably not, but if they do want to do the whole 'everyone thinks Sarah's dead' bit, now would be the time to do it
Chuck's mom is on...
Her own side. She just doesn't know if she wants the family, and her country, or if she wants to helm Volkoff's group instead.
The box under the car Ellie is left is...
"Chuck Versus Phase Three" reveals that it's one of Orion's laptops. In "Chuck Versus the Leftovers", Ellie solves the data storage problem her dad posed, Devon gives Chuck the computer, and Chuck subsequently re-Intersects himself with it.
A supercomputer containing a gestalt of Orion as an AI.
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Sally grew up, married a con artist who reminds her of her dad, and produced a spy baby who looks almost exactly like Grandma Betty
If the show is given the opportunity to have a proper series finale, the show will end with a Distant Finale And the Adventure Continues where one of either Chuck/Sarah or Capt. Awesome/Ellie's grown up kids gets sucked into the spy life in a manner meant to echo how it began for Chuck back in season 1.
Chuck and Vivian have got the same mom.
And their eyes, too. And anyways, Vivian is, what, twentysome, and Mama B. has been working with Volkoff for a little over 20 years, so... The actress that plays Chuck's mother supports this as a possibility.
Stephen J. Bartowski is not dead.
Something about Clyde Decker's laugh at the end of "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger" when Chuck points out that he is just seems to say, "Oh, does he reeeeally believe that? Interesting. Either that, or... Perhaps he'll show up in the series finale, or a few episodes before that? It is the last hurrah for the show, and having Papa Bartowski show up for one more (or few?) appearance likely makes sense.
Spy life is kind of the family business, what with both the elder Bartowskis being spies and the way all of Chuck's family has gotten sucked into it at one point or another. I wouldn't be all that surprised if Chuck's grandparents were all spies, too. So it would make sense that their kids would get in on the action when they become old enough. It might be a stretch to actually show this all happening, but they could at least leave the show on a note where the audience is given the kind of spark needed to imagine what kind of adventures the next generation of Bartowskis might have.In order to infiltrate the next carnation of Volkoff Industries, Beckman needed someone relatively inexperienced to take the job and actually knew more about Vivian and the safe deposit box than she was letting on. Beckman chose Chuck's team because she knew Chuck had similarities to Vivian and could get her to work with the CIA. But then she purposely screwed her over by not letting her meet her dad (despite promising it earlier) so Vivian would decide to work for Volkoff Industries.The ages don't quite work out, but seriously—look at that hair! And if not, who is her mother?
Stephen J. Bartowski is dead, but will be revived.
He IS dead, but, he's brought back similarly to Shaw.
alternatively, his consciousness is uploaded into a new body via Intersect.
In the upcoming season, the Intersect will react poorly with Morgan's brain, which will be a problem because the team no longer has access to government resources
I like this idea a lot. Its true to canon, reminds us that Morgan is a pretty normal guy, and adds a lot of tension and conflict. Bonus points if Morgan doesn't tell anyone until its serious because he doesn't want them to worry about him
Kinda/sorta half-confirmed in "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips", but apparently invoked by whomever really sent those Intersect glasses.
In the final episode, Chuck will deliver a Badass Boast to Clyde Decker.
Jossed. Given that Decker's dead now, the boast would be pointless.
He'll start it with, "Hi. I'm Chuck. Here's a few things that you might need to know."
Those bugged Intersect glasses were sent not by Decker but Daniel Shaw.
Which would furthermore mean, of course... we haven't seen the last of him...
Casey was the one Who sent that hitman to kill Morgan at the end of "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips"
Decker visiting Chuck & crew and asking for Casey.
Jossed. Decker's visit was because Casey murdered his hit(wo)man.
After all, the trailer for the next episode shows
The series will end with the Intersect passing to Jeff.
Morgan is following the same arc as Chuck, which ended (sorta) with Chuck as a competent spy in his own right who doesn't need the Intersect.
Carmichael Industries wouldn't pass up a chance to have an Intersect on the team, since it's such an awesome resource.
Captain Awesome has been helping Jeff to stop being... you know, Jeff and start being a normal human being.
and start being a normal human being. Ipso facto, Jeff will join the team as the new Intersect in the series finale. Alternatively, Captain Awesome will become the new Intersect.
By the time series concludes, Casey & Gertrude will be a couple and be on good terms with Chuck & Sarah. Plus, Gertrude will "leave" Verbanski Corp. and join Carmichael Industries.
It would just be heartwarming to see that the winking and hints and nudges that we've seen every time the topic pops up pay off in this manner, and we see that the two become a couple by the end.
The person about to be let out of prison at the end of Chuck Versus the Curse isn't the man behind the overall plot to get Chuck and the team...
Yes, it may be Shaw being let out, and yes, he's been consistently a large threat to Chuck, but, let's consider the below points...: He's at least The Dragon to whoever the real mastermind is. Seems kinda early for the show to reveal the real Big Bad and rather blatantly in the "Next Time" promos... Let's face it, a computer virus that plans to wipe out all technology just to get Shaw out of prison, something not impressive on its own has to have a larger strategy behind it. Word of God states that next week's episode will have "the craziest cliffhanger ever done on the show", and it's doubtful that the NBC promo department would just spoil that cliffhanger in the teasers. If anything, it's possible that the real architect of the plan to terminate Chuck is just using Shaw as one part of the plan, while he formulates his ultimate strategy, which will take up the final few episodes after. There's a line in Versus the Curse where the Enemy Spy of The Week mentions that Gen. Beckman is "not her general''. Could the real Big Bad be another high-ranking CIA official?
Chuck still has the original home-brewed Intersect in his brain
Near the end of season 2, Stephen sabotages Roark's attempt to create an Intersect by building a device to remove the Intersect from Chuck's brain. This doesn't remove the early Intersect from Stephen's brain, even though his eyes were unprotected. When Chuck "reboots" in his battle with Shaw in season 3, it's revealed that he had an early Intersect in his brain from witnessing Stephen's work when he was a child — meaning that Intersect has been in his head since childhood and wasn't removed by Stephen's removal device either. It appears that Intersect removal is at least somewhat dependent on the specific version of the Intersect, so it's possible — even probable given the indications — that when the CIA forcibly removed the Intersect from Chuck they missed Stephen's original version, which they didn't even know was there. And since Chuck's "reboot" in his fight indicated that the original can have a supportive effect on later versions, this may be important.
The "baby" that's alluded to at the end of Chuck Versus the Santa Suit is...
An orphaned baby that's with another family after Sarah (unintentionally) orphaned the baby by killing their birth parents during a mission in Hungary.
The one Kidnapper in Chuck Versus The Bullet Train is Colonel Mitchell
The SGC is infiltrating Quinns Organisation to steal the Intersect and then load it with an Ancient Repositorium of Knowledge or (Atlantis Database) to create a safe way to access it.They just don't ask the CIA for a pristine copy because after the whole NID stuff they don't trust the intelligence community.In the finale they will also send in SG-12 and trying to switch Casey for Colonel Dixon for this purpose.They only don't know yet who will get the Ancient Intersect (O'Neill already said "No!" repeatedly and they all are ignoring McKay)
That drawing of Sarah and Chuck's post-spy life is a Chekhov's Work of Art
Under Quinn's orders, Sarah will come after Chuck, who then shows Sarah the drawing, which will help in restoring her memories to normal. They really emphasized the fact that she remembers the drawing the most, even with the tainted Intersect erasing her other memories, which makes one wonder.
Given the circumstances presented at the end of Chuck Versus the Bullet Train, my guess is that
The whole show is Just a Dream Chuck is having after being exposed to the intersect.
Because it just wouldn't be a WMG page without this theory. It is obvious that after having both his parents leave, being framed for cheating by his best friend, being kicked out of college and having his girlfriend stolen by his best friend, he would have some big psychological issues, working with Lester and Jeff for 5 years can't have helped either. When Chuck opens Bryce's email, the intersect overloads his brain and sends him into a coma, the intersect data mixes with the psychological issues in Chuck's head and his Carmichael fantasy to create the show.
Carina is Sarah's sister
Sarah's bridesmaid
In the episode where Carina first appears, Sarah mentions having a sister during her sunburn story. They have an antagonistic relationship yet know each other extremely well, including their past identities, and are close enough that Carina becomes. Even her line to Chuck, "I love taking what Sarah wants", sounds like The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry(NaturalNews) (Press Release) A Texas patent holder and inventor has launched a collection of 3D-printable objects that function as key components in a non-electric, home-based food grow system that can be operated for pennies. The story of the invention -- as well as the 3D-printable parts -- is available at the non-profit www.FoodRising.org website.The Food Rising Mini-Farm Grow Box grows enormous quantities of food without using electricity or soil. It requires no weeding and uses no pumps, motors or complex parts of any kind. It grows highly-nutritious, mineral-rich foods using about 1/20 the water of conventional agriculture and about half the space of soil gardening.Mike Adams, also known as the "Health Ranger," developed the system based on the work of Professor Kratky (see below) and gives away the 3D-printable parts via downloadable files at FoodRising.org. Adams is also distributing DIY videos that instruct people on how to build their own systems using inexpensive parts and common tools.All the 3D-downloadable parts are available now at:Pre-built systems are offered for sale at www.SupplySource.com and the t-glase filament needed to print out the parts is also available at www.SupplySource.com "The Maker movement is about empowering people with innovative, grassroots solutions that can substantially improve the quality of their lives," Adams explains. "This Food Rising Mini-Farm Grow System allows people to produce their own mineral-rich, better-than-organic foods for mere pennies."Mike Adams is a science lab director and food activist who tested numerous grow technologies (such as hydroponics and aquaponics) before developing the Food Rising Mini-Farm Grow Box. It's based on a concept taught by Univ. of Hawaii professor B. Kratky, and it's called a "constant bottom feeding non-circulation hydroponics" system.The system requires an automatic self-watering float valve to function correctly, so Adams designed a 3D-printable float valve that uses readily available parts to function: A pencil eraser, a paper clip, a garden hose washer and a discarded vitamin bottle. The 3D-printed parts can be printed from filament that's made partially out of recycled plastic landfill trash, allowing people to "transform trash into food production systems," explains Adams.All the parts and videos are available now at www.FoodRising.org Food Rising is a project of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center ( www.ConsumerWellness.org ) which is donating 250 grow systems to schools across America.President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are back to trading barbs with the press on several fronts, hinting at a potential overhaul of the White House briefings while sparring anew with reporters and publications that crossed them.
The president-elect started his day Thursday with a Twitter swipe at Vanity Fair, saying the magazine is in “big trouble.”
Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of @VanityFair Magazine. Way down, big trouble, dead! Graydon Carter, no talent, will be out! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2016
The tweet followed a string of critical pieces from the publication, including the article that topped their home page Thursday morning, under the headline: “Trump Grill could be the worst restaurant in America.”
This comes amid a clash with Julia Ioffe, a now-ex Politico writer set to join The Atlantic – after Ioffe tweeted regarding Ivanka Trump: “Either Trump is f---ing his daughter or he’s shirking nepotism laws. Which is worse?”
Politico swiftly cut ties with Ioffe, who subsequently deleted the tweet and apologized for the “crass joke.”
But her new employer could face repercussions. GotNews.com reported that a Trump source said the team now wants to cut off access to The Atlantic, amid other complaints about the magazine’s coverage of the administration-in-waiting.
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, meanwhile, touched off a Washington tizzy Wednesday after suggesting changes ahead for the traditional White House press briefings.
“I think that it’s important that we look at all of those traditions that are great, but quite frankly, as you know, don’t really make news and they're just sort of mundane, boring episodes,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt, specifically citing the daily briefings.
“It just so happens that we’re actually talking about those things right now,” Priebus said when asked about the plans for the press corps.
Priebus also said the “formalized reserved seating” in the briefing room is being discussed, claiming some of that started under the Obama administration.
Priebus, however, was called to task for that claim by both the White House and White House Correspondents' Association.
WHCA President Jeff Mason noted that news organizations have had assigned seats in that room “since those seats were installed in 1981.”
“That was not an Obama-era innovation as Mr. Priebus suggested. The WHCA assumed responsibility for assigning the seats in the briefing room over the last two decades at the request of both Republican and Democratic administrations, who were mindful of the potential appearance of playing favorites if they assigned the seats themselves. The WHCA looks forward to meeting with the incoming administration to address questions and concerns on both sides about exactly this sort of issue,” he said in a statement.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also said the Obama White House has not had control over the seating assignments.In protest against an Affirmative Action-like bill awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown's signature, U.C. Berkeley College Republicans announced plans to host a satirical Increase Diversity Bake Sale, selling racially price-adjusted pastries on campus, SFGate reported. The bake sale is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 10am.
The announcement, posted on the group's Facebook page, advertised a pricing structure, ranging from $2 per pastry for white men to $.25 per pastry for Native Americans, with a $.25 price break for women.
"Just like the CA Senate Bills 185 and 387 the phone bank supports, we will be considering race, gender, ethnicity, national/geographic origin and other relevant factors to ensure the equitable distribution of baked goods to our diverse student body," read the announcement. The post finished with a signoff: "Hope to see you all there! If you don't come, you're a racist!" In another post, the group explained that the bake sale is meant to be satirical.
But many students were not amused. "I'm ashamed to know that I go to the same school with people who would say stuff like this," said student Skyler Hogan-Van Sickle in a Facebook. "I'm really trying to figure out how someone can be this hateful."
While some students resorted to threats and name-calling, others questioned the logic behind the bake sale. On Facebook, student Keith Africano wrote:
If you're going to compare the Bake Sale to Affirmative Action…the only way it would be comparable is if the flour, oven, and all baking materials were stolen from the people that are required to pay the lowest prices. And if the baked goods from all prior bake sales were made for free by the minorities while white students reaped all the profits…which resulted in unequal opportunities to purchase baked goods in the current sale.
Others argued in favor of the bake sale as a means of expression. "In no way do I believe this group is trying to be racist," wrote student Dennis Kim on Facebook. "They are just trying to raise awareness on new legislation that may come to pass that will allow universities to select applicants based on race and sex."
According to the Daily Cal, a special meeting of the ASUC Senate has been called for Sunday evening to discuss both the bill and the bake sale.The role of the OC Human Relations Commission, and other non-profits, in pacifying unrest in working class communities on behalf of the Anaheim Police Department.
The recent emergence of a thread of e-mails that were exchanged between Anaheim PD Chief, John Welter and OC Human Relations Executive Director, Rusty Kennedy, during the Anaheim uprising crisis last summer, have exposed the OCHR as the epitome of a paid co-opted non-profit organization available and subservient to the interests of the police state. Even more revealing is the fact that some of the most notable, and arguably influential, OC non-profit administrators and politicians were cc’d in some of the e-mails that provided the police with intelligence from Anna Dr. residents.
The records made public by The Anaheim Investigator [1], a local citizen journalist, offer absolute proof of police and the non-profit complex corruption.
On July 24th, 2012, just days after Manuel Diaz was shot and killed by an Anaheim PD officer, Kennedy sent Chief Welter an e-mail titled “APD Shooting Follow-Up” in which his initiative and readiness to cooperate with the efforts of the police were obvious.
“I and my staff are completely available to you 24/7, let me know how we can help. If you would like another set of ears at the table as you process this and plan the community relations aspect, I can come over now.” Suggested Kennedy.
A briefing he sent to the OC Board of Supervisors was also included in the body of the e-mail.
“OC Human Relations Commission responded late Saturday afternoon to a growing fracas in Anaheim where a young man was shot and killed by the Anaheim police after a pursuit.”
“We dispatched a bilingual team that checked in with the APD on site, engaged community members and sought to be helpful, staying till the incident wound down. Then Again on Sunday we sent staff to the APD where a demonstration took place.”
About two weeks later, in the morning of August 10th, 2012, just as the APD completed Operation Halo in the Anna Dr. neighborhood, Kennedy sent an e-mail titled “Deployed OC Human Relations Staff” to inform Chief Welter and Lieutenant Jarret Young, OCHR’s Community Capacity Building Coordinator, Edgar Medina and Human Relations Specialist, Joyce Sanchez, were on their way to the site to talk to residents. He offered to “work community relations to share the accurate information available about what happened and the outcomes of (the) coordinated action.” Then he volunteered to “work some community relations” and reach out to share information with groups like OCCCO, OCCORD, and Los Amigos of OC.
That same afternoon, after the completion of the operation that resulted in dozens of supposed gang members arrested, Kennedy shared the findings of the OCHR canvassing team. Part of the conversation went as follows:
Kennedy:
“Edgar and Joyce just returned from a couple hours of canvassing the Anna Dr. as well as the nearby neighborhood where some of the arrests went down.”
“The neighborhoods have lots of young people and apparent gang activity. Many of the families were more than happy to talk to our team, but some of the youth avoided them.”
“Some of the associates of Manuel Diaz suggested that the raid was retaliation for the demonstrations and trash burning and rock throwing. Others felt the police were coming after those who were pictured in the videos and photos during the demonstrations breaking the law. Some of the youth might be more problematic tonight. Possibly lighting trash fires or blocking streets is possible. CONCERN. We are not sure how to manage potentially explosive gatherings in the neighborhood tonight and through the weekend.”
Chief Welter:
“Thanks. Have you shared your information and concern with Amin David. I’m not sure that he has any influence in the area. I also heard there are some community members who are organized through the Edison School”
Kennedy:
“John
Did you meant to send your reply to everybody, including Amin who is on this list? I was including some of the key leaders you and we have been in conversation with. I will check with staff to see if we have any contacts at Edison.
Rusty”
Chief Welter:
“Oops… Sorry I didn’t see Amin’s name on the list. I think the information you’re providing is very valuable. Did you plan on making any of this public? It could help other residents come forward if they see others trust to work with police. Thanks for you and your team for getting out there early. I hope ther are no arsons or property damage. We will be prepared to respond if there is any out of control violence this weekend. We will continue with our normal operations.”
Kennedy:
“John
I have been including all of the key leaders in the e-mails, and Edgar and Joyce have been open about our collaboration all in the hopes that we project an image of working together with you and your department.“
The “key leaders” that Kennedy referred to and who were included in an e-mail titled “Briefing from Anna Dr. and Neighborhood” were: Julio Pérez, Staff Director/Political Director at the OC Labor Federation and former Democrat candidate to the 69th Assembly District, Eric Altman, Executive Director of Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD), Deborah Phares, Executive Director of Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO), José Moreno, President of Los Amigos of OC, and Amin David founder and former chair of Los Amigos of OC.
Did these “leaders” not consider this blatant cooperation and breach of trust as something worthy of bringing to light and let Anna Dr. residents and community in general know? How much did they know and what else did they know?
We contacted the aforementioned persons to inquire about the e-mails they were cc’d on, and about additional information they could provide.
OCCCO’s Executive Director, Deborah Phares replied to us admitting to have received the e-mail in which Kennedy briefed Chief Welter and the other “leaders”.
”I remember being cc'd in an e-mail that gave a summary of conversations with residents on Ana Dr. I believe that Chief Welter was a part of the e-mail as well. I assume that this is the e-mail that you are referring to. I don't believe I responded. The staff member working in Anaheim at that time no longer works with us. I do not know if she met with Edgar.“ Said Phares.
She also mentioned Rusty Kennedy is currently an OCCCO board member and has a long history with the organization.
As of publication time, we haven’t gotten a response from Julio Pérez, Eric Altman, Amin David or Chief John Welter. José Moreno never replied to confirm the date we proposed after an initial contact.
Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, a community organizer, who at the time of the uprising was employed at OCCORD working in similar neighborhoods to Anna Dr., told The Rebel Press that neither he or any staff member at the Anaheim based non-profit knew about the e-mails his supervisor received from Kennedy.
“We (staff) were never told anything about this. OCCORD is asking municipal governments in Orange County for more transparency, like the Sunshine Ordinance in Santa ana, yet their CEO is not being transparent to his own staff, community leaders, and people in general. It seems hypocritical to me. Seeing this in retrospective, makes me sick. He (Eric Altaman) kept or is keeping important information to himself!” Said Tezcatlipoca.
We asked Kennedy whether it was regular procedure of OCHR to report and share information collected in canvassing campaigns with the APD and other non- profit organizations.
“This was not a campaign or anything that formal. In our current work we have been doing ‘Listening Sessions’ in African American churches over the past few months, we will write a report summarizing some of our learnings and publish it, and share it with decision makers at every level to help them understand the African American experience in OC. We hope this will build understanding in those who have not experienced racism, and sensitivity, and perhaps action to improve. We work closely with the Anaheim Police Chief and give him and his staff insight into the perceptions of the community; this includes cultural awareness training, police community reconciliation, and consultation. We help them to understand and have empathy for the residents that we meet. We work to increase the compassion of the department in working closely with the good neighbors of Anna Dr. against the gang violence that threatens their children.”
“I speak regularly with, and collaborate with OCCCO, OCCORD, Los Amigos, and occasionally with CLUE, Labor Federation, etc. as well as many others.” Said Kennedy.
Our questions about whether the OCHR had any type of business contract or received any monetary contributions from the APD, were ignored; however, the Anaheim Investigator gave us the answer on a recent post on his blog. An article and digitally scanned official city documents, obtained under provisions of the California Public Records, show that the OCHR received thousands of dollars to act as a proxy police agency. According to the piece:
“Financial records from the City of Anaheim show that since July 2006, OC Human Relations has received $67,955 from the Anaheim Police Department. Of that amount, $22,251, or 33% of the entire total, was disbursed between November 2011 and September 2012 alone. Several invoices and check request forms show even the monies the city uses to pay yearly dues to OC Human Relations comes out of the police budget, not the general fund. All payments were approved by Welter.”
An email sent on September 12th, 2012, in which Kennedy asks Welter for payment for the services he and his organization provided to the APD, is shown as part of the released records.
“John
I wanted to ask about our invoice for Police Community Reconciliation Services. Our first year agreement with you was for $5,000 and we completed that year on June 30, 2012. It is time for me to invoice for another year. I would like to go ahead and invoice you for the $5,000 for FY 2012-13 as we are into it already. Additionally, you mentioned that you wanted to pay us for the added crisis services that we rendered in connection with the deployment of our staff in the Anna Dr. neighborhood on the morning after the gang member joint action arrests, and perhaps some of the time for the pre-shift briefings that we started this morning and consultation and support for the special city council meeting at Anaheim high school. If you are open to that I would add to the $5,000 invoice for the PCRP (Police Community Reconciliation Program) staffed by James Armendaris, additional services rendered by our staff members: Edgar Medina, Joyce Sanchez, Don Han, Seema Bhakta, Alison Edwards and myself, for and additional $5,000.”
The set of documents also contains a Request for Check Form ordered by Chief Welter on September 12th, 2012, which granted a $10,000 payment to the OCHR in annual dues and fees for services related to the case of Manuel Diaz, the subsequent unrest in the city and Operation Halo.
“Annual fee for Police Community Reconciliation services FY 12/13 (Fiscal Year 2012-2013) and added crisis services rendered in connection with Anna Dr. neighborhood unrest and gang member arrests, etc.” reads the request description.
Papers also show Welter approved a $7, 251 check for city dues to OCHR earlier last year on March 13th, about a week after the killing of Martin Angel Hernandez by APD officer Dan Hurtado in the Ponderosa neighborhood. Another $5,000 payment was approved specifically for OCHR’s Police Community Reconciliation Program a few months earlier, on November 22nd, 2011.
On their website, the OCHR’s describes its Police Community Reconciliation Program as an “award winning” program that employs “neutral mediators” to reconcile civil society and the police. “An alternative to the traditional complaint/disciplinary process”, in their own words.
“The mediator is ‘the person in the middle’, an impartial third party who helps people to talk through and resolve their differences. Mediators explain the ground rules and the process, each side gets the opportunity to talk about what happened from their own perspective, and then the mediators guide the parties through the dialog process.” Reads an excerpt from the program.
An article 3 featured on their 2011-12 annual report about an event hosted by the APD and OCHR, intended to reconcile the police with the Ponderosa community after the fatal shooting of Martin Angel Hernandez, boasts the efficacy of the program in “helping make peace” in the neighborhood.
Commission “Saves Lives” In Anaheim.
When Angel Hernandez was shot to death by an Anaheim Police officer, rumors swirled in the community where he lived. One story was that the police had shot him in the leg then came up and put a gun to his head and shoot him point blank, execution style. The gang that Angel allegedly belonged to was rumored to have put out
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. Spalding called him the best catcher he had ever seen, and after bare-handed receiving took too much of a toll, White simply became the best third baseman in baseball. He won another championship with Detroit in 1887, batting.303 at the age of 39.
As for his own nickname, Deacon earned that by living a clean, upright, sin-free life, which was unusual in a day and age when ballplayers were often drunkards, reprobates or worse. There were even players who used a performance-enhancing elixir called Cerebrine, supposedly made from ox brains. Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin, who for a time played multiple seasons on teams with White, used something called "The Elixir of Brown-Sequard," made by an eponymous physiologist from monkey testosterone.
White was also honest and principled. When he and teammate Jack Rowe were sold to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in 1889, they refused to report unless they were paid additional money. Said White at the time: "We ain't worth it. Rowe's arm is gone. I'm over 40 and my fielding ain't so good, though I can still hit some. But I will say this. No man is going to sell my carcass unless I get half."
Deacon White did possess one other characteristic that set him apart -- and makes him the perfect representative for the Class of 2013. He fervently and steadfastly believed that the earth was flat. He would even try to convince teammates by tossing a ball high in the air directly over his head; when it landed at his feet, he saw that as proof that the earth was not rotating.
Of course, a man who clings to an anachronistic belief despite all evidence to the contrary is exactly what a similarly misguided organization deserves.
Nobody on the ballot this year was worthy? Really? Not Biggio or Piazza or Lee Smith? Not the guys the BBWAA once gave seven MVPs and seven Cy Young Awards to? Can we really trust an organization that harbors clowns who vote for Sele and Reggie Sanders while denying membership to Roger Angell because he writes for a (gasp!) magazine?
In a piece posted Monday by The Hardball Times, Chris Jaffe makes a persuasive argument that the threshold for induction should be lowered from a 75 percent vote to 50 percent. He points out that only one player who has gotten 50 percent didn't eventually get in: Gil Hodges. And he makes the strong, humanitarian appeal that deserving players should get to enjoy Cooperstown instead of having to wait for the dithering members of the BBWAA. How many more players like Deacon White and Ron Santo and Joe Gordon and Nellie Fox will get in after they shuffle off this mortal coil?
Wait, here's another slogan: Better late than never."Johnny is reprising the historic role of Tonto, and it seemed like a natural fit to officially welcome him into our Comanche family," LaDonna Harris, a Comanche and president of Americans for Indian Opporunity, said to the Indian Country website. "I reached out, and Johnny was very receptive to the idea. He seemed proud to receive the invitation, and we were honored that he so enthusiastically agreed."
Depp accepted the honor in a ceremony held on May 16 at Harris' home in Albuquerque. Per tradition, the 48-year-old actor came bearing gifts for those Comanches who attended as a sign of gratitude.
"Welcoming Johnny into the family in the traditional way was so fitting," Harris added. "He's a very thoughtful human being, and throughout his life and career, he has exhibited traits that are aligned with the values and worldview that Indigenous peoples share."
For starters, while doing the publicity rounds last year for The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the Kentucky-born Depp revealed that he had a great-grandmother who was a Cherokee. He also sports a tattoo of a Native American.
There was no immediate comment from Depp on his honor. The Lone Ranger hits theater on May 31, 2013.A protester hauled down flags at Confederation Building Tuesday, as Premier Dwight Ball held a meeting with Indigenous leaders on the controversial Muskrat Falls project inside.
Protesters rallied outside Confederation Building steps in St. John's, attempting to pressure the provincial government to make changes to the hydro-electric megaproject.
Protester removing flags at Confed building <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcnl?src=hash">#cbcnl</a> <a href="https://t.co/KSVffgeqE3">pic.twitter.com/KSVffgeqE3</a> —@CStokescbc
"Our government has been silent and ignorant long enough, they're no longer legitimate," said Adam Pitcher — also a frequent protester against the province's spring budget — as he removed the Union Jack.
"F--k colonialism, this is the end of colonialism."
Ball is meeting with of the Innu Nation, the Nunatsiavut Government and the NunatuKavut Community Council.
Protesters gathered at the Confederation Building in St. John's Tuesday in an attempt to address concerns about Muskrat Falls and possible methylmercury contamination. 1:20
The meeting is an attempt to address concerns about Muskrat Falls, particularly those about possible methylmercury contamination, which have gained national prominence since protesters began blockading the entrance and occupying the project site in Labrador.
The premier is expected to address the media Tuesday evening after the meeting has completed.
Dwight Ball returns to N.L., plans to meet with Indigenous groups
A Facebook page, Solidarity Rally Outside The Muskrat Falls Meeting, credits protesters and hunger strikers for causing the meeting to happen, and is calling for people to join a peaceful rally in support.
Muskrat Falls hunger strikers came from Labrador to protest at the Human Rights Monument on Elgin Street in Ottawa on the weekend. The protesters have released the conditions they say have to be met for them to end their hunger strikes. (Robyn Miller/CBC)
"Billy Gauthier, Delilah Saunders and Jerry Kohlmeister have brought their message to Ottawa," reads the Facebook page.
"Now, we in St. John's have a critical responsibility: to amplify the voices of the hunger strikers and land protectors and bring their message to the steps of the Confederation Building while the premier meets inside."
Gauthier, Saunders and Kohlmeister released a list of conditions Tuesday that would have to be met for them to end their hunger strikes:
An "evidence-based approach supported by peer-review science" to mitigate methylmercury concerns
An independent assessment of the need for first-phase flooding based on Nalcor's science and engineering reports. "If flooding is necessary flooding height and duration is kept to a minimum. First-phase flooding will be used to help inform second-phase of flooding," reads the list of conditions
The removal of soil to minimize methylmercury elevation as a result of the flooding
A commitment from the federal government to fulfil its regulatory obligations and participate in an integrated monitoring program.
"This is going to be the big issue for the province today," said Labrador MP Yvonne Jones from Ottawa on Tuesday.
Jones, who said that she had been acting as a communicator between the hunger strikers and the provincial government, said she is hopeful that an agreement can be reached at the meeting in St. John's.
But she says there's no chance the Muskrat Falls project can be cancelled.
Todd Russell meeting with protestors <a href="https://t.co/L2E9UIAEbR">pic.twitter.com/L2E9UIAEbR</a> —@CStokescbc
No going back
The Labrador MP was an MHA in 2012, when the project was being debated in the House of Assembly. She voted against it at the time, but says she now understands there is no going back.
She says she's looked at the financial analysis, and has realized there is no responsible way to leave Muskrat Falls unfinished.
"If you shut down Muskrat Falls as it is, the province is still going to be on the hook, and that means the taxpayers of the province will be on the hook to pay out all of these contracts and to meet their obligations," she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the Muskrat Falls project in Question Period on Tuesday. (CBC) "We have to finish the project, but we have to finish it knowing that we've taken every possible risk to mitigate human health issues as a result of this, and it can be done."
In Question Period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had confidence in the provincial government.
"We are ensuring that province continues to consult and engage on this project, with the full respect that we all expect will be shown towards Indigenous peoples in this country," he said.
Meanwhile, municipalities are calling for a spot at the meeting table. Labrador City Mayor Karen Oldford — also the president of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador — released a statement Tuesday saying she's disappointed municipal leaders were not invited to today's meeting.
The municipalities had selected Mayor Jamie Snook to bring their concerns to the table, but he was not invited. - Karen Oldford
"We wrote ministers [Perry] Trimper, [Siobhan] Coady, and [Eddie] Joyce as well as Premier Ball asking that municipal leaders be included in this important discussion," said Oldford in the statement.
"The municipalities had selected [Happy Valley-Goose Bay] Mayor Jamie Snook to bring their concerns to the table, but he was not invited."On Wednesday, Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) along with other members of the U.S. House of Representatives Progressive Caucus introduced their “Back to Work Budget” proposal at a noon press conference outside the House Budget Committee hearing room in the Capitol Building. Proponents say that the plan will invigorate the U.S. economy by creating 7 million jobs and reducing the national deficit by $4.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
According to a statement from the Progressive Caucus, the plan will result in a 5 percent unemployment rate in 3 years by “rebuilding roads and bridges, hiring teachers, nurses and firefighters, and rebuilding our nation’s schools.”
The budget plans to raise revenue by immediately allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for people making more than $250,000 per year, raising the tax rate on millionaires and billionaires from 45 to 49 percent and taxing investment gains at the same rate as wage income. The plan also proposes to end “corporate welfare” by closing loopholes that reward companies for sending production and profits overseas, as well as ending the billions of dollars in tax credits for oil companies and other major corporations that have shown record profits in recent years.
The plan intends to reduce defense spending to 2006 levels and enact a tax on financial transactions. Currently stock trading and other transactions between financial institutions are untaxed. Attaching a fee to securities transactions, currency transactions and other inter-bank exchanges would not only raise revenue, but hopefully reduce the kind of rampant, unchecked speculation that contributed to the 2008 financial crash.
In addition, the progressive budget hopes to lower health costs by instituting a public option for health insurance, negotiating drug prices and reducing fraud.
UPDATE: Raw Story spoke with Rep. Keith Ellison, who characterized the new budget as an ideological foil to the budget propsed by Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan.
“Every budget tells a story,” said Ellison. The story outlined in the Ryan budget plan is, in Ellison’s words, essentially, “Hey, rich people, we’ve got you covered.”
“We’re not going to contend with Paul Ryan in terms of who can impose austerity in a less harsh way,” he continued. “We’re going the other direction. We’re trying to put people back to work. A by-product of our bill is that we will do deficit reduction, $4.5 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.”
“This is the right budget,” he said. “This is the budget we should have.”Somerville: Phone lost at Raiders game returned by Rickey Henderson
Jessica Herrera says the man who answered her brother's lost phone was A's great Rickey Henderson. Jessica Herrera says the man who answered her brother's lost phone was A's great Rickey Henderson. Photo: Jessica Herrera Photo: Jessica Herrera Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Somerville: Phone lost at Raiders game returned by Rickey Henderson 1 / 7 Back to Gallery
This is a story about a lost phone. Why would I do a story about a lost phone? It's all because of who found it. Here's what Jessica Herrera sent me:
I wanted to share an amazing story that happened on Sunday, September 17th.
My brother and I went to the Raiders game and my brother lost his phone. You could imagine that I was irritated with him at that point because there are thousands of people all leaving the game and we are backtracking our steps to find his phone.
I called and texted his phone numerous times with no response or answer. At that point, I told him he is out of luck. Since there were so many people leaving, we decided to wait in the parking lot to let the traffic die down.
My brother asked me to call his phone again, so I did. To my surprise, a man answered it.
I informed him that he has my phone and am willing to meet him anywhere to pick it up from him.
The man informed me that he was in North Oakland, which was pretty far from the Coliseum, but he provided a place to meet off of Highway 13.
My brother's friend knew where the place was to meet him, so I told the man that I will call him when I get there.
Before we hung up, I asked the man for his name and he said "Rickey Henderson." (For those who don't know Rickey Henderson is a Hall of Fame player from the Oakland A's)
In complete disbelief of this information, I laughed at the man and said "yea, right!" But if you really are him, I'm going to take a lot of photos and get some autographs.' LOL.
The man ("Rickey") laughed as well and hung up. I told my brother and his friend about what this man said and we all laughed about it. So we get to the meeting place and I call "Rickey" to tell him that I am there. He said that he is almost there.
We are all waiting for the phone to show up and sure enough, in a black Escalade, it was Rickey Henderson!
We were all so excited to see him and actually meet him in person! He was so sweet and kind.
He took pictures with us and signed autographs for us. It was absolutely amazing!
We asked him how he found the telephone and he said that someone left the phone on his bumper.
LOL.
I am sending you this story because I would like Rickey Henderson to know how appreciative we are of him for being so humble, nice and actually willing to meet us to give the phone back.
Additionally, I just think this story is so amazing and random! This was LITERALLY one of the best experiences of our lives. We are Oakland natives who grew up watching him and we still live in Oakland.
-Jessica Herrera
Great story.
Way to go Rickey.
Frank Somerville is a contributor to SFGATE and anchors the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. news on KTVU. This post originally appeared on his Facebook page.Editor's note: We're watching President Barack Obama's final State of the Union; check back to our homepage for fact-checks. In the meantime, follow PolitiFact on Medium and view our annotations of Obama's speech.
On Tuesday night, President Barack Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address. The White House has advertised it as a "big picture" address that skips the usual legislative wish list.
In a video previewing his speech, Obama called himself "optimistic," saying he intends to talk about "what we all need to do together in the years to come, the big things that will guarantee an even stronger, better, more prosperous America for our kids." The White House website devoted to the speech previews the topics of the economy, climate change, foreign policy, health care and "social progress."
We’ll be fact-checking and annotating the speech Tuesday night. Here are some of the topics from our archives that we think Obama might mention.
Closing Guantanamo Bay
We’re tracking Obama’s 2008 campaign promises on our Obameter, a database of more than 500 campaign pledges. We’ve rated his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center as Stalled. Obama clearly wants to close the facility, but Congress continues to block that move. (We rate outcomes, not intentions on our Obameter.) In November, Obama signed an overall bill to fund defense that included limitations on closing Guantanamo.
Guns
Obama recently took new executive actions on guns in the wake of high-profile shootings and the refusal of Congress to pass legislation to more heavily regulate gun purchases. Obama’s actions are intended to beef up the firearms background check system and other gun regulations.
Obama has asked federal agencies to issue stricter directives for which kinds of gun sellers are required to be licensed and thus perform background checks. He has directed the hiring of additional employees to help enforce the background check system, and he has ordered the creation of new procedures for getting mental health information into the background system. Finally, he has directed the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security to research safe gun technology, such as "smart guns."
Fighting ISIS
Some of the harshest criticism of the Obama administration recently has come from Republican presidential candidates and is focused on the Islamic State or ISIS, a terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria. Republicans have called Obama’s strategy to fight ISIS "wrong" and "reckless."
PolitiFact recently examined the Republican presidential candidates’ positions on the Islamic State and found them fairly similar, especially when it came to military strategy. Most have called for the limited use of troops, but have been vague on details about how that might differ from the current deployment. Right now, there are 50 special ops but no combat troops in Syria and a task force of 200 servicemen, in addition to the 3,500 troops already in Iraq.
Climate change
Obama has been going solo on climate change ever since Congress failed to pass cap and trade legislation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in 2009. (We rated that Promise Broken on our Obameter.) In November 2014, Obama announced a major new agreement with China to curb emissions, which Republicans criticized but seemed unable to block. That set the table for a major international agreement among close to 200 countries, negotiated in Paris in December 2015.
Pacific trade agreement
One issue that has scrambled the partisan lines is the Trans Pacific Partnership, an agreement to lower tariffs and other trade barriers between the United States and other countries in the Pacific ( but not China ). Obama strongly supports the agreement, as do some Republicans, such as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. But Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton recently switched positions to oppose the deal; her primary opponent Bernie Sanders opposes it as well.
Criminal justice reform
Obama has long supported reforms to the criminal justice system to reduce the incarceration rate for nonviolent drug-related offenses, which have disproportionately affected African-Americans. Obama signed the the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced sentencing discrepancies between crack and powder cocaine-related crimes, and eliminated a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for crack possession. We rated his promise on our Obameter a Compromise, since the legislation reduced the disparity but did not eliminate it.
That may have had an impact on the federal prison population, which has declined in recent years, as we noted in a recent fact-check.
Iran nuclear agreementInformation filtered through social media on Saturday, April 2 that something was amiss at the Clark County Democratic delegate convention held in Nevada. Several days later, that something was still not entirely clear.
The puzzlement comes in part from the way a caucus system works as opposed to a primary. In primaries, voters cast their votes and a winner is determined. Delegates are then apportioned to the candidates.
The Nevada caucus is a multi-part system that began with precinct level caucusing in February. Hillary Clinton won that with a 53-47% advantage. Stage two came on April 2 when delegates met at the county level.
This article from The Moderate Voice helps explain why the Clark county convention became a something:
“ethically…county convention delegates should have remained true to the candidate they said that they were supporting in February, otherwise they would disenfranchise the people who voted for them as a delegate. However, these are non-binding affiliations.”
The activity at the Clark county convention will take on different meanings depending on whether you are a supporter of Independent Senator Bernie Sanders or his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It looks as though the chaos of April 2 can be divided into three main areas:
Sanders’ supporters prepared and coordinated a strategy for acquiring more delegates through a Reddit group. Some members of the Clark County Democratic Party, apparent supporters of Sanders, were involved in this pre-planning. A memo and email were sent to delegates which provided misinformation, and resulted in fewer Clinton delegates in attendance.
There was scant media coverage of the events other than an announcement that Sanders had “won” additional delegates. A newspaper also reported that Clinton’s legal team had filed a complaint regarding the something, though that is still not a fully developed news item.
Here then, are fragments of the chaos at the Clark County convention, as pieced together from social media.
The Daily News Bin was the first source with detailed information, posting an obviously biased headline and story on 2 April: Serial cheater Bernie Sanders tried to retroactively steal Nevada from Hillary Clinton today
By 10PM, the delegate count was completed and sporadic tweets began appearing. The video below shows the packed hall, the final count announcement, the impatience of Sanders’ supporters, as overheard in the videographer, and then cheering as the numbers are announced.
Tweets surfaced late Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday, as people tried to knit together the facts and exclude the rumors.
Number of irregularities in NV today that were very troubling but we dont expect outcome to alter fact that Clinton has more NV delegates — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) April 3, 2016
Among grave issues affecting County convention results in NV: notice went out to delegates wrongly saying they didn’t need to show up today — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) April 3, 2016
Another YouTube video, posted on a Sanders support channel, shows the Clark County Democratic Executive Committee attempting to hold an “emergency” meeting. There is protest by Christine Kramer, the credentials chair, who is responsible for selecting delegates for the Nevada state convention (stage 3 of the caucus process).
In the raw video, Kramer tells the videographer that she is being removed, complains about not being invited to the meeting, about it being unscheduled and at one point, protests about being touched as she is asked to leave. Kramer sits on the floor in protest, and calls for singing “We Shall Overcome.”
The entire scene lasts less than ten minutes. The committee breaks up. The videographer follows Executive Committee members, asking repeatedly if they are “trespassing,” even after being told the committee is locking up the building.
If you’re familiar with tactics of Sovereign Citizens when confronted by authorities, you’ll notice similarities in response. The “offended” or challenged individual tries to invoke legalities in an accusatory manner against the authority. The challenged person states his/her case, often videotaping the entire episode. The challenged person then resorts to some kind of action when all else fails.
Watch the video.
Here’s the description of the video published on the Bernie Sanders channel:
“Published on Apr 2, 2016
Christine Kramar has been removed as Clark County’s chair of credentials committee after an Emergency meeting by Hillary Clinton supporters on the executive board.
At the convention, she was removed from the convention center and is currently being arrested.” [emphasis added]
There is no confirmation that Kramer was arrested. However, Ralston Reports wrote that the Clinton campaign demanded her removal in a letter just prior to the Saturday convention (see below). Kramer was accused of “releasing confidential Clinton information to the Bernie Sanders campaign.”
Kramer admitted to sending out email but presented her activity as the tireless work of a volunteer who was “not part of the establishment,” a description associated with Bernie Sanders.
@Donna_West @HalloweenBlogs By her own words, she sent email. Also blocked Delegates from entering with sit-in pic.twitter.com/ZZSUgYFcbk — Peg (@IowaPeg) April 3, 2016
As the series of tweets indicate, delegates for Clinton accused Kramer and others of “rigging” the convention, blocking Clinton delegates from entering and refusing to recognize them for an official objection on the floor of the convention.
Other tweets showed the Bernie Sanders website and its detailed call to action, along with correct information regarding delegate attendance. A digital “invite” sent by Kramer stated that delegates did not need to show up. It is this crucial piece of misinformation that led to a higher attendance of Bernie supporters and the change in delegate count, which favored Sanders.
The juxtaposition between Kramer’s email and the call to action on the Sanders’ website support Clinton’s case:
The Sanders’ campaign had the correct instructions regarding attendance of delegates. The Sanders’ campaign was planning to mass individuals to take the place of any no-show Clinton delegates.
Lastly, a tweet from a Sanders supporter praises the overwhelming show of “new” Bernie delegates, per the website instructions. Kudos is given to the Reditt group, which links its involvement in the Clark County action.
@Debi129 Meanwhile, someone sent Hillary delegates THIS (& you DID need to be there all day Sat to be counted): pic.twitter.com/XirWmDjVZy — Lee in Iowa (@Lee_in_Iowa) April 3, 2016
Letter Demanding Removal of Christine Kramer:
Clark County Democratic Party Executive Board Chris Miller, Chair
6233 Dean Martin Dr.
Las Vegas, NV 89118 [email protected] Re: Removal of Christine Kramer as Credentials Chair Dear Chair Miller: I write as general counsel to Hillary for America to request the immediate removal of Christine Kramar as Credentials Chair of the Clark County Democratic Convention to take place this Saturday, April 2. Throughout Hillary for America’s attempts to engage with Ms. Kramar regarding the credentialing of convention delegates and other matters, Ms. Kramar has publicly engaged in a series of egregious, disruptive and biased behavior that irreparably undermines her credibility to administer a fair and successful convention on Saturday. First, in an email sent today, March 30, Ms. Kramar exposed confidential Hillary for America (“HFA”) campaign information and data by unilaterally adding a representative of Senator Sanders’ campaign into a chain of email correspondence between HFA, the Clark County Democratic Party and the Nevada State Democratic Party. As you know, the confidentiality and propriety of data is paramount to any campaign. Ms. Kramar’s carelessness – or worse – in exposing HFA’s data is plainly unacceptable and must not be tolerated. Second, in another email sent today to both campaigns, Ms. Kramar engaged in a series of unwarranted and inexcusable personal attacks against HFA representatives, and frivolously accused HFA of engaging in unethical practices in its preparation for Saturday’s convention. Indeed, it is apparent from Ms. Kramar’s email that she is advocating for positions in her role as credentials chair based on candidate-specific grounds, rather than making impartial decisions that are in the best interest of the tens of thousands of Clark County Democrats who turned out to caucus last month and who wish to participate as delegates to the Clark County Democratic Convention. Ms. Kramer’s behavior is at odds with the values of Nevada Democrats and the spirit of the primary campaign between Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders. In her latest email to both HFA and the Sanders campaign regarding the credentialing of delegates, Ms. Kramar issued HFA an ultimatum: either the county convention proceed on Saturday under the terms agreed upon by both campaigns or the convention be delayed for further discussion and resolution of various credentialing rules. To be clear: it is and always has been HFA’s position that the Clark County Democratic Convention proceed as scheduled and under the agreed-upon rules and procures. However, it is my strong belief that Ms. Kramar’s behavior demonstrate that she is not suited to administer the convention in an impartial way according to those rules and procedures. As a result, I respectfully request that this board immediately relieve Ms. Kramer from playing any role related to the credentialing of delegates or any other party procedures to take place at this Saturday’s county convention. Please do not hesitate to contact me if it would be helpful to discuss this matter further. Very truly yours,
Marc E. Elias
General Counsel to Hillary for AmericaApple took direct aim at Nvidia's Tegra 3---a processor for a new batch of superphones---as it launched its latest iPad. The problem: Apple showed a chart with 4X the performance of Tegra 3, but provided no benchmarks or footnotes.
Anyone used to the Intel-AMD benchmark wars knows that any chart has more footnotes than a commercial for antidepressants. That's why Apple's chart looked off. Nvidia was digesting Apple's iPad claims just like everyone else via live blogs (CNET, GDGT, Engadget, Techmeme).
Nice chart, but some benchmarks and footnotes would be nice. Credit: GDGT
Ken Brown, a spokesman for Nvidia, said that it was "certainly flattering" to be called out by Apple, but the performance claims are sketchy without more data. "We don't have the benchmark information," said Brown. "We have to understand what the application was that was used. Was it one or a variety of applications? What drivers were used? There are so many issues to get into with benchmark."
Will Apple provide those benchmarks? Doubtful. However, Nvidia plans to get a new iPad when they go on sale March 16 and do some comparisons tablet to tablet. "At some point it will become more clear what the performance really is," said Brown. "For now, Apple has a really generic statement."Leo Mazzone might be the best pitching coach in major league history. And no one will hire him.
It’s the top of the first inning, and Leo Mazzone is already rocking.
Each croak of the springs in Mazzone’s brown leather recliner is punctuated by a knock in the wooden frame, like an old screen door blowing open and shut.
Creeeak-clack. Creeeak-clack.
Watching the Braves play the Marlins on the 60-inch flat-screen in the den of his home on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina, Mazzone isn’t conscious of the nervous back-and-forth tick that became his accidental trademark during four decades in the dugout. He is focused instead on the mound and Miami right-hander Tom Koehler, who leans in against Atlanta leadoff man Jace Peterson.
First pitch: Fastball down and away. Called strike one.
“Perfect pitch,” says Mazzone. “Aimed for the catcher’s crotch, and he got it there.”
Creeeak-clack. Creeeak-clack.
Fastball at the knees. Strike two.
Creeeak-clack. Creeeak-clack.
Curveball inside. Ball one.
The pace of the rocking quickens. Creak-clack-creak-clack-creak-clack. The old pitching coach has spotted something. “Changed his arm slot,” he says. “Tried to overpower him.”
If there is one thing about the game today that will wear out Mazzone’s lounger, it’s the increased emphasis on power in pitching. He’s worked with 12-year-olds, who compete against the radar gun as much as the batter, and tried to get through to high school and college hurlers who’ve been taught that a scholarship or professional contract depends more on M-P-H than E-R-A. In the pros, speed is fetishized by teams and fans alike, the reading on each pitch displayed right alongside the score in the corner of the TV, a CG flame occasionally flaring up when a fastball reaches the high-90s or low-100s.
It makes for great entertainment, sure, but Mazzone says it also leads to pitchers becoming erratic and missing location. More importantly, their release is not as smooth, increasing the risk of arm injury. Mazzone believes the modern game’s infatuation with velocity is one of, if not the primary reason for the recent plague of Tommy John elbow-ligament replacement surgeries. “Now everybody seems to be getting a pass on all the sore arms,” he says. “I don’t get it. If we’d have had all the breakdowns that are happening now, there would have been a lot of pitching coaches fired.”
Mazzone held that job for more than 27 years, including almost 18 in the big leagues. He attributes his longevity to the success of the pitchers who were indoctrinated with his unorthodox philosophy of actually throwing more often between starts but with decreased intensity, concentrating, instead, on the feel and location of their pitches, controlling the lower outside part of the strike zone — down and away, down and away. The results are well known: In Mazzone’s 15-plus seasons with Atlanta, his staffs led the Braves to 14 straight division championships, combining for four individual ERA titles, nine individual 20-win seasons, six Cy Young Awards, and eventually, three plaques in Cooperstown. Less heralded is the number of careers that were salvaged under Mazzone’s watch and his reputation for taking care of his players — especially the starters, who rarely missed a turn. “Sure he had great pitchers,” says Steve Phillips, who was an executive for the rival New York Mets in the 1990s and early-2000s. “But he kept them on the field. He kept them healthy.” In almost two decades as major league pitching coach, Mazzone only had two starters, John Smoltz and Mike Hampton, play a full season under him and succumb to Tommy John, and they were both approaching their mid-30s.
These days, news of season-ending elbow surgeries is almost a weekly rite (through April there had already been 11 such announcements), and it’s not uncommon for a kid to go under the knife twice before he leaves his 20s. Today’s answer to this scourge is strict innings limits and pitch counts, even shutting down a perfectly healthy starter midseason — things Mazzone believes actually hurt more than help. “It’s pathetic,” he says. “An insult to my intelligence. A pitcher’s greatest teacher is innings pitched.”
This isn’t idle sniping from the rocking chair. Mazzone has made it clear to anyone who’ll listen that he’d love to be back on the bench or advising or even just visit spring camp and help straighten these organizations out. In 2010, he was on Sirius XM lobbying for pitching coach openings with both the Yankees and Mets. After the 2013 season, when Philadelphia’s Rich Dubee was fired, Mazzone took to Twitter: @Phillies I would be very interested in being your pitching coach. #championshipball.
The phone hasn’t rung. This is the eighth season since Baltimore fired Mazzone in 2007 that he watched Opening Day from his den. And here he is today, a 66-year-old man creak-clacking himself into a frenzy, imagining what advice he’d give Tom Kohler once he retired the side and got back to the bench.
After the Braves set down the Marlins in the bottom of the first, the rocking suddenly stops. “I’m pretty much done with this game,” Mazzone says, as he clicks the channel to cable news. These days he rarely sits through an entire game, unless it’s Opening Day, the playoffs, or maybe a marquee pitching matchup. “When you’ve watched from the dugout for 42 years,” he says, “TV is just not the same.”
Mazzone has been rocking since he was in his high chair, occasionally banging the back of his head against the kitchen wall in Westernport, Md., near the West Virginia border. Though the internal metronome is involuntary, Mazzone has come to understand what the motion indicates. “It means my wheels are turning,” he says. “When I’m not rocking, I’m bored. When I am, I’m ready to roll.”
Mazzone’s father, Tony Mazzone, kept his son busy. The World War II vet and former catcher set aside his own ball-playing dreams to support his family and filled his son’s head with the game at an early age, always making time after a day at the paper mill for a quick father-son catch. Tony Mazzone molded his son into a left-handed pitcher, teaching him to throw a curve, coaching him from age 9 in Little League through Pony League and into high school. “The first thing my dad ever told me was that there was only one way to have fun playing baseball,” says Mazzone. “And that’s to win.”
“He enjoyed beating you,” says Sam Perlozzo, a childhood friend who grew up competing against Mazzone. “Winning and striking you out meant the world to him.” That competitive fire made young Mazzone exactly the kind of pitcher who would drive Mazzone the pitching coach off his rocker — not changing speeds enough, relying on velocity, maxing out, and trying to overpower hitters. Nevertheless, Mazzone managed not to blow out his arm and rode a decent curveball to Triple-A. Over nine years between the Giants and A’s systems, Mazzone posted a record of 50-50 with a 3.63 ERA. In 1976, he showed up to Oakland spring camp ready to start his 10th season, but A’s exec Syd Thrift saw no future for Mazzone in the big leagues — as a player. “I knew very well that he had a great baseball aptitude, that extra sense about how to pitch and how to play,” Thrift told ESPN.com in 2005, a year before he died. “He was a very astute judge of what was going on in the present.” But when Thrift called Mazzone into his office to tell him about a managerial opening in independent Single-A Corpus Christi that he had heard about, the 27-year-old southpaw erupted. “He blew a gasket and called me all kinds of unusual names,” Thrift said. Mazzone returned the next day to apologize. He also asked about the job.
The transition from the field to the dugout did little to snuff out Mazzone’s fire. He was a vocal manager, known to argue with umpires, and even toss bases after being ejected. He won two straight independent league pennants in Corpus Christi before moving to the Carolina League, where his Kinston Eagles finished fifth, but pitched fairly well (3.65 team
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would make Webb less sharp at near-infrared wavelengths between 1 and 2 micrometers—no great loss, as ground-based telescopes already cover that part of the spectrum.
By 2006, all of Webb’s key technologies had been tested and proven viable. The final design was drawn up, and construction of components got underway. Meanwhile, NASA engineers began dreaming up the byzantine series of tests each separate component would have to pass—and the additional tests to be done as components were combined to form larger elements of the spacecraft. “As soon as we put two or three parts together, we test them,” says Scott Willoughby, who is in charge of the Webb effort at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California.
To put Webb’s enormous mirror through its paces, engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, completely refitted Chamber A, a huge cryo-vacuum chamber built to test the crew-carrying spacecraft of the Apollo program. For the instruments, they devised the peculiar tortures at Goddard.
The flight models of the instruments began arriving in 2012: four infrared imagers and spectrographs built by collaborators including the European Space Agency, a NASA/European consortium, the University of Arizona, and the Canadian Space Agency. Once the instruments were secured on their rigid framework, they were vigorously shaken to simulate the stresses of launch, as well as blasted with 150 decibels by loudspeaker horns as tall as a person. Next came the first cryo-vacuum test to simulate space conditions.
Problems emerged almost immediately. The heating and cooling caused the delicate multilayer semiconductor sandwiches that make up the infrared detectors to swell and crack. Another critical technology, the microshutter array in the near-infrared spectrograph, also succumbed. This is a device the size of four postage stamps with a grid of 250,000 tiny flaps that can be opened selectively so that the instrument can take separate spectra from, say, 100 galaxies in a single field of view—the first such multiobject spectrograph to fly in space. But the deafening noise of the acoustic chamber caused many of the flaps to jam.
Instrument teams and manufacturers scrambled to identify the problems and produce new parts. Meanwhile, testing went on. All the replacements came together in time for the recent CV3 test, and as the test ended in late January the signs were encouraging that the fixes had worked. “We’re quite pleased with the performance,” says astronomer Marcia Rieke of the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory in Tucson, principal investigator for the near-infrared camera. “We’re very close to ready for launch.”
While the instruments underwent their ordeal, white-clad engineers in a nearby clean room were painstakingly fitting the mirror segments onto their support, known as the backplane. Hollowed out on the back to reduce weight, each 1.3-meter-wide segment can be carried by a single person, and each has a particular destination on the backplane, depending on its precise optical qualities.
Now that the instruments have been tested and the mirror assembled, these two elements will be mated in March. Then the combined telescope and instrument package, collectively known as OTIS, will endure the shaker tables and acoustic chamber before being inserted into a specially built shipping container. In the dead of night, a truck will carry the container at just 8 kilometers per hour from Goddard to Joint Base Andrews, where it will be placed into a huge C-5 Galaxy transport plane, with just centimeters of clearance, for its flight to Houston.
The few months OTIS spends in Chamber A early next year will be the most critical it will face. Light sources on the ceiling will create an artificial universe, allowing NASA engineers to run light all the way through the system from main mirror to detectors for the first and only time in spacelike conditions. They will practice phasing up the mirror and will check out all observing modes of the four instruments. “Hubble didn’t do an end-to-end optical test. We’re not skipping that on this program,” Greenhouse says.
Then it’s back into the shipping container and another C-5 flight to Redondo Beach, where Northrop Grumman has been building the bus and sunshield. There the full observatory will take shape as the telescope and instruments are mated to these last two elements.
Now too large to fit inside a plane, Webb will make its final prelaunch journey by ship, down the California coast and through the Panama Canal to French Guiana—home of Europe’s spaceport, and a waiting Ariane 5 launcher, part of Europe’s contribution to the project. In October 2018, the Ariane will fling Webb toward L2, a gravitational balance point 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, directly away from the sun. The journey will take 29 days.
Webb will begin unfolding and deploying components almost as soon as it hits space. Deployment will be “3 weeks of terror,” Mountain says. “No one has done this before, ever.” First to deploy will be solar arrays and antennas to provide power and communications with Earth; then the sunshield will unfurl to begin cooling the telescope and instruments; finally, the secondary mirror will swing into position and the main mirror wings will snap into place. Once the mechanical gymnastics routine is finished, there will come the heart-stopping moment when the mirror first looks at the sky. Then the mirror has to be phased up, and the instruments cooled and all their modes tested. Commissioning is expected to take a full 6 months after launch.
“A whole chain of things have to be done to get that really good-looking star,” says Lee Feinberg, JWST telescope manager at Goddard. “But then we can really rest.”
Until then, the pressure will be unrelenting. But the builders of Webb say they do find time to reflect on what they are doing. Pierre Ferruit, JWST project scientist at the European Space Agency in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, recalls watching from the control room at Goddard during CV3 as technicians carried mirror segments into the clean room and fitted them to the backplane. “Even for someone working on the mission, it’s quite incredible,” he says. Rieke had the same sensation: “It’s just enchanting to be witnessing history.”
Open to see how Webb deploys in spaceOn 29 January 2015, Farooq Ahmad Dar, chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (R) (JKLF-R)—a faction of the JKLF—was on primetime television. He had come prepared as far as his appearance was concerned. He was clothed in an expensive pheran—a traditional Kashmiri gown made of wool—he seemed to have gone through a recent shave, and his hair was pomaded upwards. Dar’s slick spectacles were the finishing touch, helping him look the part he was at the studio to play.
Dar, along with a host of other panelists, was part of the famed Newshour on Times Now, and was engaging in an eloquent discourse on the politics of Kashmiri separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Earlier that day, Geelani had termed two terrorists who were killed in an encounter in south Kashmir as “martyrs.” This was the same encounter that resulted in the death of the Indian Army colonel MN Rai. Geelani has been making such statements for a long time now, and what he said that day is consistent with the pro-Pakistan approach he has cultivated for decades.
But while Geelani made special note of the deaths of the two terrorists, the martyrdom of Col. Rai escaped the attention of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and that of his social media managers. On 27 January—the day Rai died—they were busy making light of the disastrous handling of the rains during the Republic Day parade. Modi tweeted that day, addressing Barack Obama:
Putting aside the lack of acknowledgement on Twitter, not one member of the Modi government appeared to have the time to attend Col. Rai’s funeral in Delhi."It was a normal class," recalled Deandre Poole, in recalling an exercise that upended his academic career.
He had used the classroom activity before, and wasn't particularly worried about it. "I followed the directions from the instructor's guide," he said. The course at Florida Atlantic University was in intercultural communications, and the exercise involves having students write "Jesus" on a piece of paper, and then asking them to step on it. When they hesitate, the instructor has an opening to discuss symbols and their meaning.
In the last two weeks, that activity -- though recommended in the instructor's guide to a popular textbook -- has led to numerous press reports saying that Poole told his students to "stomp on Jesus," to criticism of the class from pundits nationwide and the governor of Florida, to a pledge by Florida Atlantic never to allow the exercise to be used again, to petitions seeking Poole's firing (he's on a one-year contract, off the tenure track) and to death threats so numerous that the university on Friday announced that Poole has been placed on paid leave because his safety could not be assured on campus.
During the last two weeks, Poole said, he had been told by the university not to discuss the case, and he hasn't. But on Sunday night, he responded to a request from Inside Higher Ed and gave his first interview. "It's time for me to speak up," he said.
First off, Poole wants people to know that he never told anyone to "stomp on Jesus," to quote the headline widely used in articles criticizing him. He said he asked people to step on the piece of paper.
Poole said that, as best he could tell, only one student in the course had an objection. That student -- whom Poole did not name in the interview, but who has come forward in local news reports saying he was suspended for objecting to the exercise -- refused to participate and then said repeatedly, Poole said, "How dare you disrespect someone's religion?"
After class, the student came up to him, and made that statement again, this time hitting his balled fist into his other hand and saying that "he wanted to hit me." While the student did not do so, Poole said he was alarmed and notified campus security and filed a report on the student.
That action, he said, not the student's objection to the exercise, is why the student briefly faced disciplinary action. (Poole's account of course differs from that of the student. Here's a local news article with the student's perspective. When Inside Higher Ed interviewed the student's lawyer last week about reports that a threat was made, the lawyer strongly denied this, and said that charge was a pretext to punish the student for objecting to the exercise.)
Much of the critical commentary about Poole has suggested that he is anti-Christian. In fact, he said, he has been connected to churches all of his life, has served as a Sunday school teacher, and understands the power of the word "Jesus" on a piece of paper because he cares deeply about Jesus.
“I am very religious,” he said. "I see how the name Jesus is symbolic. For people like myself, Jesus is my lord and savior. It's how I identify myself as a Christian."
He noted that the idea behind the exercise isn't that students will actually step on Jesus, but that most will pause and that their discomfort sets off the discussion. He said he saw at least one student who did step on the paper, and talked about not feeling much of a connection to Jesus. But he said most didn't, and that was fine with him. No students, he said, were forced to do anything.
Hate Mail and Death Threats
The past two weeks, Poole said, have been extremely stressful. "I wake up in the morning not knowing what the day is going to bring."
He said he has received hate mail and death threats, some of them coming in forms particularly hurtful to an African American. "One of the threats said that I might find myself hanging from a tree," he said.
Reporters knock on his door, and he has had some days that he did not feel safe at his home and so stayed elsewhere. "My safety has been in question. There are churches that want to march against me. There are people calling on the university to fire me." not continous? correct not continuous. -sj
"And it's all for doing my job. I was doing my job."
The university placed Poole on paid leave on Friday, citing safety concerns, and assigned other instructors to take over all of his courses. The university said that Poole will not be on campus, "to prevent further disruption to the day-to-day operations" of the institution.
A Defense of Instruction That May Offend
A statement released Sunday by the campus chapter of the United Faculty of Florida said that the university erred in banning a classroom practice because some had been offended. "Although it is never the intention of a faculty member to offend his/her students, at times controversial material might unintentionally do so. As a result, we then use the classroom to discuss the controversy in a forthright and honest manner. But offense alone never justifies immediate censorship of the material and/or the pedagogy. Galileo offended critics by claiming the earth was not the center of the solar system. Some groups continue to be offended by evolutionary theory. Offense, although to be avoided, sometimes accompanies the advancement of knowledge," said the statement.
"We find it outrageous that critics of Dr. Poole immediately condemn his exercise without fully knowing the facts. When the university administration unilaterally claims that such an assignment will not be taught again without the consultation of the faculty member involved as well as the faculty at large, they shred the principles of academic freedom that legitimate the existence of the university and guide genuine scholarly inquiry," it added. "It is time to defend academic freedom through the maelstrom of uninformed attacks since the controversy will eventually pass but the institution will remain. And the type of institution that remains will largely depend upon whether the core principles of academic freedom are preserved or not." (The union at FAU is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.)
Florida Atlantic did not respond to a request for comment on the statement.
Asked if he thought Florida Atlantic's response to the controversy had defended his academic freedom, Poole said "No." He pointed specifically to the university barring the use of an exercise for no reason other than that it had offended some people. “I think as a matter of academic freedom, professors should have leeway in how they present materials to their students, especially in any intercultural classroom," he said.
Will He Teach Again at Florida Atlantic?
The faculty union statement also raised the question of whether Poole will be able to return to his classes next semester. He is working on a one-year contract, and many have speculated that the university won't fire him, but will simply not renew the contract of an instructor who has been vilified by so many people. The faculty union statement said that if Poole isn't rehired, a message will have been sent.
"If Dr. Poole is dismissed from his teaching position for this incident, more is lost than simply a stellar instructor who has routinely received high praise from his students and supervisors," said the faculty statement. "Also lost will be the good faith of the faculty who placed their trust in an administration to defend the academic freedom that defines the university. Lost will be freedom of speech in the classroom to 'present and discuss academic subjects, frankly and forthrightly, without fear of censorship,' as is enshrined in our collective bargaining agreement. Lost will be the future scholars who will no longer want to work at an institution whose credibility has been tarnished. Lost will be the current scholars who leave our institution for others that respect academic freedom."
Poole said he has no idea if the university will renew his contract. But asked if he would like to return, he doesn't hesitate to say that he would. "I love my students and I want to continue to make a difference in their lives."A Case of multiple selections
Since IntelliJ IDEA 13.1 (and Android Studio versions based upon that), you can have multiple cursors in your IDE, similarly to what you can do in Sublime Text. To get multiple cursors, the easiest but least convenient way is to hold Alt-Shift and click where you want a new cursor.
But in here we’re all about the keyboard shortcuts, and so I’m happy to say, the IDE has got you covered there as well. A simple Ctrl-G (Alt-J on Win/Linux) will select the next occurrence of the token your cursor is on (or of the current selection). You can also do Ctrl-Shift-G (or Alt-Shift-J) to undo the last selection if you notice you’ve gotten too far. Lastly, Ctrl-Cmd-G (Ctrl-Shift-Alt-J for non-Mac users) will select all occurrences.
Once you have multiple cursors, you can simply start typing normally, and it’ll affect all the cursors. For example, you can move the cursors around, type new stuff, and so on:
But what has this to do with changing case?The Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate has just concluded, and Nye has emerged the clear winner. The event has been widely anticipated for weeks, and was available for free on YouTube. The recorded event can also be accessed on YouTube for a period of time. DVDs and downloads are also available for purchase on the Creation Museum’s website. Here is an in-depth recap and synopsis of the events as they unfolded, leading up to the dramatic victory of Nye, much to the delight of the secular community.
7:00 p.m: There’s a strange animated commercial for the Creation Museum. Ok, here comes Tom Foreman from CNN as the moderator. The stage looks good. The question that will be asked is “is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era.” Where are Nye and Ham?
7:01: Here they come! They shake hands and exchange what looks like pleasant words. Ham will go first because he won the coin toss. Foreman is doing introductions.
7:04: Ham gets five minutes for an opening statement. He says secularists have “highjacked” the word science. He’s carting out Stuart Burgess, a scientist and inventor… whoa… he jumps over to defining the word science. He says there are different types of science: observational and historical. Again he says the word science has been highjacked. Aaaand right on to the Bible verses. His main point here is that historical science is basically the Bible.
7:10: Nye’s turn. He’s counting bowties. Uh oh. He’s telling a story about bowties. Why is he doing that? Oh boy. Tuxedos… bow ties… his grandfather needed help tying a tie. Ohh it’s a joke. Ok. Now he’s talking about CSI. Ah, ok, he is explaining that there’s no such thing as “historical” science. That’s a Ken Ham construct, he says. Ham has a remarkable view about a worldwide flood. Nye asks if the story of the flood is reasonable. He’s moving on to fossil evidence and how there is no fossil evidence of the great flood. He says that we have to embrace science to keep up with technology and that Ham’s model is not viable.
7:15: Ham is carting out the small group of scientists who are young earth creationists: Raymond Damadian who invented the MRI scanner; Danny Falkner is into astronomy; Dr. Stuart Burgess invented some piece for a satellite. Ham admits that these scientists are “a small minority in the scientific world.” Burgess says that a lot of scientists are just afraid to speak out because of the “atheist lobby.” Again Ham is back on the “historical science” idea. He uses “historical geology” to illustrate this idea of historical science. “There’s a difference between what you observe and what you interpret with regard to the past,” says Ham. He explains that it’s a battle over philosophical world views and that you either believe God is the ultimate authority or man is the ultimate authority. He says kids are not being taught to think critically in schools and that there are different animal “kinds” and a “creation orchard”; and that observational science confirms this.
He says that the evolutionary tree is “belief” because we can’t see one “kind” changing into another. He says we can see and observe animals being different from each other and that’s observational science. Again, he says the word science and the word evolution have both been high jacked. Andrew Fabich is on screen giving his credentials and says he believes in creationism. Ham is excited to announce that the antiquated view which used to be taught was based on Darwin’s ideas about the highest race being Caucasian. He says that because this “foundation” of Darwin is wrong, all of Darwin’s ideas are wrong.
7:40- Still on Ham. Ham says you can’t observe the age of the earth and that students are being confused by terms. Ham says evolution is a belief, and that his beliefs stem from the Bible and what he can observe and see today. He says he admits his historical science idea is based on the Bible and that he takes Genesis as literal history. Now he’s quoting the Bible again and telling the story of the Bible and Jesus.
7:41: Jesus. More Jesus. More Jesus. Back to the difference between “historical” and “observational” science. Again he asserts that God is the ultimate authority. He says he wants children to be taught the right foundation. Back to Jesus dying on the cross… aaaand… his turn is over.
7:74: It’s Nye’s turn. Nye says thanks to Ham because he learned something from the presentation. He leads with a fossil and explains that we’re standing on millions of layers of ancient life. There is not enough time in 4,000 years for there to be millions of years of fossil layers present, he says. His colleagues drill out ice rods called snow ice and he finds 680,000 layers of winter/summer cycles within the layers. It’s impossible that the ice could have formed in 4,000 years. He’s showing trees that are 6,800 years old and 9,550 years old. How could those trees be there is there was a flood 4,000 years ago? he asks. Trees can’t survive under water.
He explains that scientists study and see exactly how long it takes sediment to turn to stone. He’s showing pictures of the Grand Canyon and says there should be a Grand Canyon on every continent if the flood had happened. He says as we look at fossils we are looking at the past. You never, ever find a higher animal mixed into the lower ones, but if the water drained away so fast after the flood, there would be many animals mixed together. He says scientists challenges one person to find one example of animals existing concurrently in fossils.
If there were just man and all other species, where would you put modern humans among all the animal skulls in fossil history? he asks. He says that if a giant wooden ship went aground safely in the Middle East, we would expect that some evidence of kangaroos traveling from the Middle East to Australia would be found in the last 4,000 years. There is no land bridge like the one claimed, and there are no fossils to support the creation theory. Nye says there are about 16 million species that exist today. If these species came from the 7,000 “kinds” as Ham claims, we would expect to find at least 11 new species every day. We would have seen these changes among us, but there is no evidence for that.
Inherent in the Ham’s view, says Nye, is that Noah’s family would have built a ship that would have housed 7,000 kinds of animals, and they would have had to feed those animals, but we can run a scientific test that disproves their ability to do so. A huge wooden ship was actually built many years ago, but that ship would twist in the sea, and in all the twisting, it leaked and eventually sank. The best ship builders in the world could not build a ship that would be viable.
“What we want in science is an ability to predict,” Nye says; a natural law that we can understand. He gives the example of the Tiktaalik which is an animal that is a cross between a lizard and a frog. Scientists predicted they would find it and they indeed discovered it where they thought they would. Nye is talking about “traditional fish sex” now, and is asking why does anybody have sex? The answer, he says, is your enemies. Your enemies are germs and parasites and the purpose for sexual reproduction is that it causes genes that are susceptible to fewer parasites.
He goes on to say that the explanation provided by evolution gives scientists the ability to make predictions, and he says it is generally agreed that the Big Bang happened 13.7 billion years ago. Oh no. It’s the periodic table of elements. He explains that elements come into being when stars explode and that it’s possible to tell exactly how old each fossil is and therefore how old the earth is. It is easy to observe these fossils and the animals represented therein, he says. He asks Ham how there can be billions of stars that are much older than 6,000 years old. How can we have rocks and trees that are “far, far, far older than you claim the earth is?” he asks.
He concludes with saying that the Constitution states we should promote science and pleads with Kentucky to not let students fall behind in science education.
Applause.
Here comes the five minute rebuttal. Ham goes first: He repeats that we can’t observe the age of the earth. He says his understanding of science is built on the Bible and that God created the world in six days. Adam, Abraham and Christ equals 6,000 years. He says different dating methods give different dates and that you can’t age date a rock. Then more Jesus, Jesus, the Bible, Christ. The Bible. Death is a result of man’s sin. Adam and Eve, Jesus. The Bible, the Bible, God, God, the Bible. There are hundreds of dating methods out there and they are all fallible, he says, and he claims that the word of God is the only fallible dating method.
Nye’s counter-rebuttal:
Nye says dating methods are very reliable and that using the Bible as a dating method is “troubling.” Nye says we can definitely observe the past and that’s all they do in astronomy. The heart of the disagreement, Nye says, is that Ham is using magical thinking and it’s not conventional mainstream science. He refutes Ham’s claim that animals were all vegetarians. He concludes by saying The Bible is not a science text and we should not use it as such.
Ham’s counter rebuttal:
Ham again carts out the small minority of creation scientists and says they agree with him. He says Nye is confusing terms. He says species did not get on the ark, but rather “kinds” did. He says Nye’s fossils illustrate his (Ham’s) point and that since we didn’t see the layers of fossils being laid down, we can’t say how old they are. It all comes down to interpretation, he says. He says Nye can’t claim Noah was unskilled because Nye never met him.
Nye’s counter rebuttal:
Nye says he is completely unsatisfied because Ham did not address his questions. In Ham’s view, Nye says, we would have 35-40 new species every day. Nye is skeptical of Noah being a great ship maker because he would have had to have superpowers to do so, and that’s not reasonable. Nye wants to know why we should accept Ham’s word for it that natural law completely changed 4,000 years ago but there is no record of it. Nye says that there are millions of religious people who do not accept creationism. What is to become of all those people who do not see it Ham’s way? He says if Ham can come up with any fossil to prove the theory he would love to see it and that we need scientists and engineers for the future so that we can continue to innovate. “We need innovation and that means science education,” he says.
Time for audience questions! The following is a synopsis of a sampling of questions and answers:
How do you account for celestial bodies?
Ham’s answer: the Bible accounts for it. God is all-powerful. More stuff about God. “Wow, what a God.”
Nye’s answer: Astronomy, natural laws, science.
How did the atoms that created the Big Bang get there?
Nye: It’s a mystery. We want to know, so let’s keep trying to find out. The universe is accelerating and we don’t know exactly why. “This is why we get up and go to work every day.”
Ham’s answer: “God created the heavens and the earth.” The Bible, the Bible, God, the Creator.
What evidence besides the Bible supports creationism?
Ham’s answer: Just because the majority says it’s true does not mean it is true, because the majority often gets it wrong. I made predictions and my prediction about one race was right. We are not scientifically able to prove it but we can investigate the present.
How did consciousness come from matter?
Nye’s answer: “We don’t know.” It’s a great mystery. We want to know and that’s what we are trying to find out.
Ham: The Bible. God. The Bible. God gave it to us. God’s glory.
What, if anything would ever change your mind?
Ham: I can’t prove it to you, but basically, God and Jesus. “The Bible is the word of God.” No one will ever convince him that the word of God is not true. Like, ever.
Nye: “We just need one piece of evidence like a fossil that swam from one level to another.” We would need evidence that rock layers could form in 4,000 years. Bring me any of those things and I would change my mind immediately.
What scientific evidence supports your view of the age of the earth?
Nye: Radiometric evidence, radioactivity. “If things were any other way, things would be different.” These are provable facts.
Ham: Scientists are just making assumptions and most of them contradict each other.
Can you explain the speed of continental drifting?
Ham: I’m not an expert in this area. Scientists are just making assumptions when they measure the rate at which continents drift.
Nye: We can measure sea floor spreading and we can measure exactly how continents drift.
What’s your favorite color?
Nye: Green
Ham: “Observational science, blue.”
Is there room for God in science?
Nye: Billions of religious people accept science. Everyone uses science. Using science is not all that connected to spiritual beliefs yet science and belief are compatible.
Ham: “God is necessary for science.”
Do you believe the entire Bible should be taken literally?
Ham: “I take the Bible naturally.” Some parts are more poetic and some is prophetic. God, God, God etc.
Nye: It seems like Ham is cherry picking.
What is the one thing upon which you base your belief?
Ham: the Bible. There’s no other book like it. It tells us everything we need to know. Man is a sinner. The Gospel…Jesus died on the cross. Salvation, Jesus, God, God, the Bible. The Bible, the Bible, the Bible. God will reveal himself to you.
Nye: “I base my beliefs on the information and the process that we call science. It fills me with joy. It is a wonderful and astonishing thing to me. If we abandon all that we have learned, if we let go of everything we have learned before us, if we stop looking for answers, we will be defeated…We have to embrace science education. We have to keep science education in science classes.”
In the Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate, the answer to those asking who won is: it’s clear Nye emerged the winner because he relied on a large amount of fossil and scientific evidence. Ham relied almost exclusively on the Bible and provided no fossil or scientific evidence whatsoever. As predicted, the debate was friendly and completely civil. In addition to this in depth synopsis and recap, the debate will be available at debatearchive.org for a few days, and on YouTube.
By: Rebecca Savastio
Source: Live debate between Bill Nye and Ken HamNephilengys malabarensis female with a severed male palp (red box) lodged in her epigynum after copulation, and a half-cannibalized male at her side. Image: Biol. Lett., doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.1202 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have known for some time that the male sex organ, called a palp, in orb-web spiders is often broken off during copulation with females; what hasn’t been so clear is why. Now, new research by Daiqin Li of the National University of Singapore and colleagues have found, as they describe in their paper published in Biology Letters, that by breaking off their palp, the male spiders ensure that more of their sperm enters the female after he runs away or is eaten by his partner.
Male orb-web spiders are several orders of magnitude smaller than the females, putting them at a great disadvantage regarding sexual liaisons since the females tend to break off copulation after just an average of seven seconds. Quite often they do so by grabbing the male and eating him. This quick copulation time isn’t really in the best interest of either party, so it appears nature has found a way to make things last longer; when copulation is broken off, so too is the palp, which continues to pump sperm into the female’s body for as long as twenty minutes.
To make this discovery, Li and his team captured 25 pairs of orb-web spiders, N. malabarensis and set them up to copulate on her web in a lab. In so doing they found that every single copulation session ended with at least some damage to the male palp, and in all but 12% of cases, it was severed completely. Each of the pairs was interrupted by the researches at different stages of copulation and dissected to see how much of the sperm from the male had made its way into the female and how much was still in the palp. In this way the team was able to see that sperm counts grew higher even after the palp had been broken off, clearly demonstrating that it was able to pump in more sperm all by itself.
Li and his team theorize that this ability to pump in more sperm after mating, referred to as remote copulation, likely increases the males’ chances of reproducing, as not only does more of his sperm make its way into her body, the broken palp left behind also creates a plug for several hours, preventing other males from mating with her.
Interestingly, the few palpless males (eunuchs) that evade being eaten, wind up serving as guards to help any offspring survive; yet another piece of evolutionary magic at work, furthering the males’ chances of producing heirs.
Explore further: Exposed: The strange sex life of spiders
More information: Remote copulation: male adaptation to female cannibalism, Biol. Lett., Published online before print February 1, 2012, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.1202
Abstract
Sexual cannibalism by females and associated male behaviours may be driven by sexual conflict. One such male behaviour is the eunuch phenomenon in spiders, caused by total genital emasculation, which is a seemingly maladaptive behaviour. Here, we provide the first empirical testing of an adaptive hypothesis to explain this behaviour, the remote copulation, in a highly sexually cannibalistic orb-web spider Nephilengys malabarensis. We demonstrate that sperm transfer continues from the severed male organ into female genitals after the male has been detached from copula. Remote copulation increases the total amount of sperm transferred, and thus probably enhances paternity. We conclude that the mechanism may have evolved in response to sexual cannibalism and female-controlled short copulation duration.Violence Breaks Out At Venezuela's National Assembly
Enlarge this image toggle caption Fernando Llano/AP Fernando Llano/AP
Updated 8:20 p.m. ET
Pro-government groups launched an attack on Venezuela's National Assembly in Caracas on Wednesday, beating opposition lawmakers with sticks and metal batons, reports The Associated Press and other media outlets.
Small explosions — possibly from fireworks — could be heard throughout the building, says Reuters.
Reporter John Otis tells NPR at least three lawmakers and two legislative aides were hospitalized.
Photographs taken at the scene showed bloodied protesters and lawmakers clashing with sticks and even the national flag as smoke fills the air.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Fernando Llano/AP Fernando Llano/AP
The BBC reports the violence unfolded after a crowd had been rallying outside the building for hours. AP video reveals dozens of protesters marching down a highway chanting and throwing objects.
Just before the attack, Vice President Tareck El Aissami made an unannounced visit to the legislature and urged the president's supporters to come and show their support, says the BBC.
Venezuela was celebrating its independence day on Wednesday and President Nicolás Maduro was giving a speech at a parade in another part of town during the melee, according to the BBC.
One of the injured lawmakers spoke to the AP from inside an ambulance while being treated for head wounds. "This doesn't hurt as much as watching how every day how we lose a little bit more of our country," Armando Arias said.
Venezuela is in the midst of an economic crisis, resulting in severe shortages of food and medicine. But it is also going through a political crisis, with the legislature accusing the president of running a dictatorship and plotting a coup. Often-violent anti-government protests have been roiling the country for months.
Last week a police helicopter was used to fire shots and drop grenades at the country's Supreme Court and Interior Ministry.
"I will never be an accomplice to acts of violence," said Maduro during a speech at a military parade on Wednesday, reports AP. But he also said the opposition doesn't do enough to control "terrorist attacks" against security forces by anti-government protesters.
The State Department said the U.S. condemns the attack as an "assault on the democratic principles cherished by the men and women who struggled for Venezuela's independence 206 years ago today."
The statement by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said:
"We call on the Venezuelan government to immediately provide for the protection of the National Assembly, ensure those injured in today's attack are able to receive medical attention, and bring the attackers to justice. We urge all sides in Venezuela to refrain from violence."
The statement also criticized "the Venezuelan government's increasing authoritarianism," and called for free elections and the release of political prisoners.Chaos descended on the Commons after a tractor trailer slammed into Simeons Restaurant around 4 p.m. on Friday.
Witnesses reported multiple injuries and there was a huge emergency response
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Bitcoins, there is a buy button on the app that offers them the choice to acquire some BTC through Paxful – A peer to peer marketplace.
The sign up process cannot be any easier: On the right of the home page, click on sign up and fill in the form. You only have to provide very basic information, nothing personal, your e-mail, a username, a password (twice) and solve a captcha to verify that you are a human (as usual).
You will receive a confirmation link to the e-mail you registered, and once get verified, you can proceed to log in. Then you have two choices: Answer questions or post your inquiries.
Answering questions
On the top of the site you can find a list of languages and flags, each one takes you to the active questions in that given language. By default, the site will load the English questions. The process of replying to questions is similar to that of sites like Yahoo Answers: You browse them, open the question and submit your answer. If you want to increase your chances of being picked as the best answer, try to make your answer be descriptive and specific; only the posters whose answers are chosen to be best will receive the tips, the other answers won’t be rewarded anything. The questions been tipped are shown as green at the top of the question list, to the left.
Posting inquiries
Do you remember where the sign up form is? You can find the form to post a new question in the same place, when you are logged in. There are only three mandatory fields: The language, the title and the reward, perhaps, to get the most out of the site you better fill the remaining three fields.
Perhaps, you will need first to deposit some BTC, remember that you have to offer a bounty for the help you will get. You can find your personal deposit address under your balance and user name, a handy “copy” shortcut can be found to the left of it.
To post a question first you have to choose the language that you will be posting in, at the moment you have 10 options. There is no control over this, but certainly you will want to pick the correct language, to get better answers. The “question” (title) explains itself, try to be as descriptive as possible, but keep it short. Then, add a description of what you want (the item, the range of prices you are expecting, the country it needs to be delivered to, etc.), add a few tags to help other users to find your question through the search box and attach a picture (preferably of the item you are looking for). Finally, specify the amount of BTC to be awarded (remember, the site won’t allow less than 0.1 mBTC here) and click on submit.
There is no time limit to select a best answer, so you are free to take your time to decide. Anyway, remember that if you take too long to choose one you will discourage other users from helping you in the future (especially if valid / complete answers have been given). You do not have to pick an answer if you are not satisfied with them, you can add comments to every answer, like requesting more detail or providing feedback.
Opinion on the site
Bitfortip has great potential, its owner (Panagiotis Pollis, Panagot on Bitcointalk.org) is always trying to improve the site and actively promoting it. The user base is relatively small as of now, especially in languages other than English. That does not mean that you are not going to get a good answer, from my personal experience (two questions asked) the results have been satisfactory. The site has already been around for more than a year and has plans of expansion.
Possible drawbacks include that if you do not receive an appropriate answer, you will have to deal with customer support to get a refund. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that you will be awarded for giving an excellent answer, as it happens on other sites (like Yahoo answers) many users forget about their questions and never return.
A nice feature is that open and closed questions are separated. There is also a link to check your own questions, which comes in handy if you want a quick check of your activity on the site. Bitfortip just included three categories (Fashion, Tech/Web and Instruction).0 Shares
Alton Sterling was killed by Baton Rouge police officer Blane Salamoni on July 5, 2016. The death of Sterling was followed by days of protest nation wide, as people were outraged by what they saw on video footage released by an onlooker. Sterlings killer officer Blane Salamoni was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation.
In recent weeks news reports released showed that Salamoni was being paid for extra duty, “administrative” work for the past year. Publisher of The Rouge Collection, Gary Chambers and Baton Rouge talk show host Eugene Collins filled public records request concerning Salamoni’s extra duty pay since the death of Alton Sterling. BRPD responded to the request and the information was startling.
Salamoni was given this administrative detail with Whitney Bank passed down from his mother, former BRPD captain Melissa Salamoni. The extra duty administrative detail pays Salamoni, $50 an hour, for two hours per week, per branch inside the city limits of Baton Rouge. This amounts to $700 per week from Whitney Bank paid to Salamoni, for at least a year. By our estimates Salamoni made an extra $36,400 in extra duty pay since he killed Alton Sterling. Based on his years of service in the department, we believe his base salary is in the range of $37, 861. Combining his base salary, with the projected extra duty pay, it is possible that Blane Salamoni, the sole shooter in the killing of Alton Sterling was allowed to earn $74,261 since killing Sterling.
Hancock Holding Co., the parent company of Mississippi-based Hancock Bank, bought the New Orleans-based Whitney Holding Corp. in a $1.5 billion stock deal. So Whitney Bank and Hancock Bank are one in the same.
The Rouge Collection reached out to Mayor Sharon Weston Broome for comment on these findings. Her spokesperson responded saying, “the mayor is not available for immediate comments at this moment.” This is a developing story and we will update this story throughout the day.
See public records request information in the link below.
Salamoni InfoBy By Kevin Jess Mar 4, 2011 in World Revisions to the New American Bible scheduled to be released March 9 (Ash Wednesday) is causing some controversy as it replaces words such as "booty" and "virgin" to reflect a more modern meaning. According to the In an interview with Reuters, Mary Sperry, who oversees Bible licensing for the bishops said, "The revisions more accurately reflect translations of ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament and the constant evolution of modern-day language." One of the changes in wording includes "holocaust," which tends to conjure images of the World War Two genocide of Jews, which has been changed to "burnt offerings." Another change is to the word "booty" which may bring up images of Jennifer Lopez today, has been changed to "spoils of war". One of the more controversial changes to the text is most likely found in the 1970 version of Isaiah 7:14 where it says "the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." The text is important since it foretells the birth of Jesus Christ. The new text replaces the word "virgin" with "the young woman", reports Sperry reportedly stated, "The bishops and the Bible are not signaling any sort of change in the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus. None whatsoever." No effort appears to be made to restore the Divine Name to this version of the scriptures. The Tetragrammaton (written from right to left) may be transliterated into English as YHWH (or, JHVH). It occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text printed in Biblia Hebraica and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Some also prefer the accepted Hebrew version of the divine name Yahweh. In the King James Version of Psalm 83:18 for instance, it reads, "That men may know that thou, whose name is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." The name was removed in the New King James Version to read, "That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth." The New American Bible uses this as the text in The New American Bible (NAB), one of the most popular translations of the Holy Scriptures is a Catholic Bible translation first published in 1970. It had its beginnings in the Confraternity Bible, which began to be translated from the original languages in 1948.According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the revisions are the combined work of nearly 50 scholars from many faiths and a committee of Roman Catholic bishops. The work began in 1994 and its completion represents the first new edition since 1970 reported Reuters In an interview with Reuters, Mary Sperry, who oversees Bible licensing for the bishops said, "The revisions more accurately reflect translations of ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament and the constant evolution of modern-day language."One of the changes in wording includes "holocaust," which tends to conjure images of the World War Two genocide of Jews, which has been changed to "burnt offerings." Another change is to the word "booty" which may bring up images of Jennifer Lopez today, has been changed to "spoils of war".One of the more controversial changes to the text is most likely found in the 1970 version of Isaiah 7:14 where it says "the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." The text is important since it foretells the birth of Jesus Christ. The new text replaces the word "virgin" with "the young woman", reports USA Today. The Hebrew word "almah" which translates into English to mean "maiden" was later translated into the Greek word parthénos which translates simply as "virgin".Sperry reportedly stated, "The bishops and the Bible are not signaling any sort of change in the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus. None whatsoever."No effort appears to be made to restore the Divine Name to this version of the scriptures. The Tetragrammaton (written from right to left) may be transliterated into English as YHWH (or, JHVH). It occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text printed in Biblia Hebraica and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Some also prefer the accepted Hebrew version of the divine name Yahweh.In the King James Version of Psalm 83:18 for instance, it reads, "That men may know that thou, whose name is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." The name was removed in the New King James Version to read, "That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth."The New American Bible uses this as the text in Psalm 83:19, "Show them you alone are the LORD, the Most High over all the earth." In the footnotes it is interesting to note, it says concerning this verse, "and may they be pursued until they acknowledge the name of Israel's God." More about New American Bible, divine name, Virgin, Booty, Jehovah More news from New American Bible divine name Virgin Booty Jehovah Yahweh Jennifer lopezMichael Nobbs and then physio David John stated in their reports that “a group of players (Punjab) were more focused on themselves than the team.” (Source: Express File)
There have always been whispers in Indian hockey circles about a Punjab clique and how it divided the team in factions, both on and off the field.
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Those allegations now figure in official reports submitted to Hockey India following India’s disastrous performances at the London Olympics in 2012 and the World League semifinals this year.
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The reports submitted by former coach Michael Nobbs, his support staff and two unnamed senior players were used as evidence by Hockey India in the probe that banned defender Gurbaj Singh for nine months in August for indiscipline and creating rift.
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The reports, examined by The Indian Express, say that the main reason for India’s worst-ever performance at an Olympics, when they ended last in London, was their failure to play as a team.
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Nobbs and then physio David John stated in their reports that “a group of players (Punjab) were more focused on themselves than the team” and added that Gurbaj along with India discards Rajpal Singh and Sarvanjit Singh were the “ringleaders”.
When contacted, Nobbs confirmed the authenticity of the report but did not wish to comment on it further. “I have said this earlier as well that there are players in the team who play not for the country but just to get the tag of being an Olympian. Having said that, the current group of young players is immensely talented and we hope they’ll play to their potential next year,” Nobbs told The Indian Express.
There are even suggestions in the reports that there were plans to injure a player so that Sarvanjit, who was a standby in the Olympic squad, could be a part of the main team.
“…Sarvanjit who came to David the Doctor and I individually and said we are going to have an injury and Manpreet (Singh) is going to cut his hand so that he (Sarvanjit) could play. This is a violation of the Olympic Code of Ethics,” Nobbs wrote in his report to Hockey India.
John added in his report that Manpreet, one of the key members of the current team, was distracted and “struggling with concentration”.
Nobbs, meanwhile, added: “Gurbaj, Sarvanjit were the ringleaders and had started to influence Manpreet’s and Dharamvir’s performance… The influence Gurbaj and Sarvanjit clearly has had an affect on Manpreet.”
Interestingly, Manpreet was not the only player who was approached by Sarvanjit. In an unnamed testimony, a certain ‘Athlete B’ said that forward Gurwinder Singh Chandi too was a target.
The unnamed athlete said: “I read newspaper reports regarding groupism in the team but it is totally wrong… Our team was like a family on and off the field. (But) Some days ago, I got news that Sarvanjit Singh told Gurwinder Chandi to injure his finger so that he will get chance to play at the Olympics. It is not good for the team.”
Another player, ‘Athlete A’, said in his report that a group of players — including Gurbaj, Chandi and Sarvanjit — would laugh at others after India lost matches. “The four of them became a group of their own and were very negative in their remarks after each match. They would laugh at us (after) losing, as if they were not a part of the team,” the player wrote.
The player also mentioned that excessive praise showered on current captain Sardar Singh did not go well with a few players and “there were mumbles heard”.
Taking strict action against the players, Hockey India had suspended Gurbaj for more than a year following the London Olympics and sidelined Sarvanjit.
The 27-year-old right-half, regarded as one of the best players in his position, returned to the side last year after tendering a written apology but finds himself in the dock again.
Jude Felix, who recently resigned as the national team’s assistant coach, echoed Nobbs and John’s sentiments.
In his report to Hockey India after the World League semifinals, which ended in July, Felix once again blamed Gurbaj for creating rifts within the team and accused him of groupism.
The federation consequently suspended him for nine months, virtually ending the right-half’s Rio Olympics ambitions next year.
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Hockey India president Narinder Batra insisted the current team is not a divided house. “Everything that happened at the London Olympics is documented with me. I could have made it public back then but I do not divulge internal team information as these are our internal issues. People criticized me, the federation and coaches but it’s okay. But after London Olympics till date, we have not allowed it to happen. If we get a feeling that something’s wrong, we check it immediately. In the last three years, the team has been playing as one,” Batra said.Football history was made rather quietly over the weekend in Texas.
During an Indoor Football League game between the Texas Revolution and the North Texas Crunch, 36-year-old Jennifer Welter got three carries, making her the first woman to play a non-kicking position in a pro football league.
Welter, who has starred at linebacker for a decade for the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Football Alliance, got her first carry midway through the third quarter. She took a handoff from two yards out of the end zone and scampered around the left tackle. But the 5-foot-2, 130 pound Welter was met by 6-4, 245-pound defensive lineman Cedric Hearvey for a one-yard loss.
Somehow, Welter was unfazed by the hit.
"I said, 'Is that all you got?'" Welter asked Hearvey. "I didn't want them to think I was intimidated."
Via Louis Ojeda Jr. of Fox Sports, here's a video of the play:
Welter had her number called twice more in goal line situations, but she wasn't able to score either time.
The Revolution beat the Crunch, 54-30, and Welter gained immense respect from both her team and her opponents.
“I’ve been impressed with her grit and her desire," Revolution coach Chris Williams said. “And even, in some cases, in the beginning I thought even delusional thoughts that she had about being able to play the game. But as I watched her, I’m impressed with how she comes to work every day."
After the game Welter said her effort wasn't necessarily meant to demonstrate that women can play with men, but to show that women are just as passionate about the sport and deserve a larger stage to showcase their talents.
“I'm an athlete, I’m competitive," she told For The Win. “But the bigger thing for me is obviously for little girls to see they can do everything just like little boys can."
In 1970, Pat Parlinkas was a kick holder for the Continental Football League's Orlando Panthers, so some might argue the distinction of Welter being the first woman to be a non-kicker. But there's no dispute that Welter was the first carry the ball on a play from scrimmage.PORTLAND, Ore. - President Obama went on the defensive today over his understanding of small business owners, saying Republicans "may have tipped a little bit over their skis" in their attempts to use his words against him.
"Earlier today Gov. Romney was at it again. He's been twisting my words around to suggest I don't value small business," Obama said of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee at a campaign fundraiser inside the Portland Convention Center, the second time in as many days he has hit back at the Republican attacks.
"In politics you have to endure certain amount of spin. Everybody does it; I understand it. Those are the games that are played in campaigns," he said. "Although I have to say, when people omit entire sentences from a speech and they start splicing and dicing, they may have tipped a little bit over their skis."
The president was referring to a new Romney TV ad and statements by the candidate and his surrogates that have taken out of context a line from one of Obama's speeches.
Republicans say Obama denigrated the success of small business owners on July 13 when he said, "If you've got a business, you didn't build that."
As their attacks have grown in volume, the president's campaign has begun to more aggressively and defensively point out that the "that" to which Obama was referring was the American infrastructure system.
"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business. you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet," Obama said in Roanoke, Va.
Romney and his campaign insist even the spirit of what Obama said shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the economy.
"President Obama said that business owners 'didn't build' their companies, and he meant it," Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams said in a statement to ABC News. "People across this country agree that government isn't responsible for building our nation's businesses. It's just the latest detached remark from an out of touch president who has consistently made life more difficult for job creators and middle-class workers."
Get more pure politics at ABC News.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com
The president's rebuttal to Romney on the issue of small businesses for a second straight day suggests heightened concern among Democrats that negative Republican portrayals of Obama might be taking hold.
"I believe with all my heart that it's the drive and ingenuity of Americans who start businesses that lead to their success," Obama said, testifying to his support for small business owners before a friendly crowd. "I believe in the ability for someone who's willing to work hard and turn idea into a profitable business, that's what makes us such a robust economy."
And as he did in a new campaign TV ad released earlier today, the president also tried to clarify his view on the role of government investment in public services and infrastructure as part of a plan to help businesses succeed.
"The idea that what it takes to give our people and businesses best possible chance at success involves individual initiative," he said, "But also us as a nation working together to create a platform for success.
"Mr. Romney disagrees with this, and he's entitled to his opinion. But the approach that he's talking about is not going to help small businesses and it's not going to create more markets for large businesses. He is wrong," Obama said. "We did not build this country on our own, we built it together. And if Mr. Romney doesn't understand that then he doesn't understand what it takes to grow this economy in the 21st century."BUFFALO, N.Y. – Patrick Cote didn’t get the opponent he was aiming for, but it may just have worked out for the best.
For his return to the octagon after a 10-month layoff, Cote (23-10 MMA, 10-10 UFC) had originally called out social media foe Jake Ellenberger. But, now set to take on former title challenger Thiago Alves (21-11 MMA, 13-8 UFC) at today’s UFC 210 event, Cote said the audience will certainly benefit from him not getting his way.
“For the fans, it’s 10 times better, me against Thiago,” Cote told MMAjunkie during a media day ahead of the pay-per-view main card bout, which takes place at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.. “Both are going to go forward, both are going to go exchange. It’s going to be fireworks everywhere. It’s 10 times better.
“Me against Ellenberger, it was more personal. That wasn’t about giving a good show, something like that. I just wanted to beat him. I still want to beat Alves, but I think it’s going to be a better fight.”
Alves is Cote’s chance to recover from a TKO loss to Donald Cerrone at last June’s UFC Fight Night 89. The setback, which snapped a three-fight winning streak that included TKOs over Joshua Burkman and Ben Saunders, served as a warning sign for a then “mentally tired” Cote.
The layoff since, Cote says, was beneficial in every aspect. Not only did he get elbow surgery, but he also took some much needed rest time amidst the birth of his baby. And now, feeling “better than ever,” the Quebec native is ready to do something to which he’s grown accustomed.
“I’m like the Cinderella Man,” Cote said. “Every time I’m going down, I go back on top. This is not a new situation for me. I’ve been there before. It’s OK. I’m taking one fight at a time – 37 years old. I’m in very good shape – physically, but more mentally, and that was the most important thing for me.”
Alves is in a tougher spot than Cote, as he looks to recover from back-to-back losses against Carlos Condit and, more recently, Jim Miller. A onetime welterweight title challenger, Alves has gone on a bumpy 4-5 UFC ride since that loss to then-champ Georges St-Pierre.
This will also mark Alves’ return to welterweight after a botched stab at the 155-pound division. As far as Cote can tell, however, the difference between their frames shouldn’t be a big factor unless the fight stretches on.
And he doesn’t see that happening.
“I know I’m probably going to be a bigger guy, I’m going to have a size advantage,” Cote said. “But at this point, with all the skills he has, I don’t think it’s going to make any difference. I have to beat him with my skills and with my good gameplan and with what I trained.
“If the fight goes a little bit later, in into the second or the third round, which I don’t think so, maybe it’s going to make a difference. But I don’t count on that.”
For more on UFC 210, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.The Boston Red Sox are rewarding their fans for sticking by the team through a second straight losing season by… raising ticket prices?
Yes, you read that correctly. The team announced on Thursday that the average ticket price will increase by 1.4 percent next season, raising the cost of what are already the most expensive seats in baseball. The Red Sox topped the list with an average ticket cost of $52.34 in 2015, finishing just ahead of the New York Yankees ($21.55) and nearly double the league average of $28.94.
From #RedSox: 1.4% average increase in ticket prices for ’16; ’15 prices will hold for select April, May, Sept. games purchased before 12/31 — Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) October 8, 2015
Prices will be held at their 2015 levels for tickets purchased before December 31, reports the Providence Journal. However, not all tickets will be available by that point. Fans will be able to purchase season tickets, tickets for groups of 20 or more, four-game Sox Pax, as well as select single-game tickets for games in April, May and September. Want seats for any other game that doesn’t meet this criteria? Too bad, you’ll need to wait until they become available, which won’t be until after the prices have gone up.
If you are looking for any small consolation, not every section will be raising its prices. If your favorite spot to catch a game at Fenway happens to be in the Budweiser right field roof deck, right field roof box terrace, upper bleachers or in one of the standing-room areas, then you’re in luck! Those are among the sections where prices are expected to remain the same next season. All told, prices will rise in 12 of the 22 non-premium seating categories.
The team’s press release was quick to point out that they had not raised ticket prices in four of the previous eight seasons, while conveniently leaving out the part about how the increases they have made still managed to keep them ahead of the pack in their sport.
The Red Sox not only have the most expensive tickets, they also have one of the smallest ballparks in the majors, with a capacity of under 38,000 seats. While this means that the ownership group can’t make as much off of ticket sales compared to teams with much larger parks, that’s not why they are raising prices. It’s a supply and demand issue. Even when the team is struggling, the Red Sox still manage to sell out many of their games. You’ll never see a half-filled Fenway the way you often see in places like Tampa Bay. The Red Sox have incentive to keep raising prices because they know fans will still buy them.
Most fans have fond childhood memories of an afternoon trip to Fenway Park. These days it’s getting harder and harder for families to afford to go to a game. You can call the owners greedy for lining their pockets with the hard-earned cash of their fans, but you can’t really blame them when there are so many people lining up to fork over their wallets to get a ticket. It’s just good business.San Dieguito Union High School District will no longer charge registration fees to adults looking to learn English as a second language, says associate superintendent Eric Dill.
The district's decision to stop charging the $40 fees came after a lawsuit was filed against the district by student Jennifer Chavez on November 3 of this year.
By charging enrollment fees, claimed the lawsuit, the district violated California's education code, which guarantees a person's right to a free education. The fees also dissuaded foreign-born residents from taking English courses.
California prohibits public school districts from charging fees. The rule applies to minors as well as adults who want to learn English as a second language, also known as ESL classes.
"Except as specified in this section, the governing board of the school district maintaining the class may require an adult enrolled in a class for adults to pay a fee for the class. Except as specified in Section 52613, the governing board of a school district shall not impose a charge of any kind for a class in English and citizenship or a class in an elementary subject."
Chavez signed up to take an English class on October 28 of this year. According to a screenshot taken during her registration, the district had the following message for students: "Before attending class, all students must register in person with the Adult School. There is a registration fee of $40 per semester (cash, Visa, or Mastercard)."
Chavez was not seeking monetary damages but asked the North County school district to stop charging the fees.
San Dieguito's administrators did just that.
"We discovered we were making improper charges for ESL classes in our Adult Ed program in October," said associate superintendent Dill. "We immediately ceased the charges and affirmatively refunded any students who had been charged. It is my understanding that all refunds have been processed.
"We have reviewed our print and web catalogs to ensure all charges have been removed."
Attorneys for Chavez did not respond to a request for comment and to answer whether their client plans to withdraw her lawsuit.
The story will be updated if/when a response comes.Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels: Germany duo are in the Golden Ball running
Four Germans are among the 10 nominees for the World Cup's Golden Ball - awarded to the tournament's best player.
Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and captain Philipp Lahm are all in the running for the prestigious FIFA honour.
Hummels and Kroos have scored twice each on Germany's run to the final, while Muller has five goals and is in the running for a second successive Golden Boot.
The current favourite for that trophy is Colombia's James Rodriguez, who scored six times before his country's quarter-final exit and is also a Golden Ball nominee.
Lionel Messi currently heads Sky Bet's Golden Ball odds at 11/8 followed by Muller (11/4), while Rodriguez is the only other player with single-figure odds at 9/2.
Neymar is the one Brazil player nominated, while Holland winger Arjen Robben is the sole non-German European in contention.
Three Argentines complete the list with Angel Di Maria and Javier Mascherano joining Messi.
The award - won by Uruguay's Diego Forlan four years ago - is voted for by a combination of FIFA's technical committee and media representatives.
FIFA has also announced the three nominees for the Golden Glove award for best goalkeeper: Germany's Manuel Neuer, Sergio Romero of Argentina and Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas.
And there are also three men in the running for the young player of the tournament award: Memphis Depay of Holland and France duo Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane.
The Sky Sports experts have been having their say on who should win the Golden Ball, while you can vote for your favourite in the poll below and also leave your comments.
Jamie Redknapp – James Rodriguez
James Rodriguez
I think this is a really simple question. I think James Rodriguez has been far and away the best player of the tournament. It’s not just for his goals, but for the quality that he’s shown throughout. For him to eclipse the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi shows you what a good player this young man is and I think it’s only a matter of time before we see him playing for Real Madrid or a team of that ilk. He has everything; great balance, great poise, he can see a pass and he can score a goal. He also looks like he could be in a boy band so he’s got it all!
Paul Merson – Javier Mascherano
Javier Mascherano
Javier Mascherano might not be near the top of the betting for player of the tournament, but I think he has been absolutely outstanding and hasn’t done anything wrong. If he doesn’t play well then Argentina struggle. Of course Lionel Messi is the matchwinner, but I think Mascherano is bigger for them and he will need to be man of the match for them to win the World Cup on Sunday. He steps back into defence when he has to and I can’t remember him giving the ball away too many times in the tournament. If Argentina win the World Cup then I think he deserves player of the tournament.The NDA government has issued separate show-cause notices to an English and two Hindi news channels for their coverage of the of Yakub Memon's execution on July 30, 2014, the Indian Express reports. The three channels have been given 15 days to explain why the government should not take action against them.
The government said that the three private channels had shown disrespect to the Supreme court's decision and also to the President of India's refusal to grant clemency to the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict.
On the day of the hanging, two Hindi channels aired of phone-in interviews of Chhota Shakeel, in which he claimed that justice has not prevailed in the Memon's case and he does not have faith in Indian Justice system. The English channel has come under the government's scanner for broadcasting Yakub Memon's lawyer's interview in which he questions the death penalty sentence given to Memon by saying that many countries had done away with capital punishment, the report says.
Sources told to the newspaper that the I&B ministry obtained the video clips aired from the Electronic Media and Monitoring Centre (EMMC). Quotes from these clips have been cited in the notice.
According to the report, the show-cause notices call on at least three sections of the Programme Code prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994. Section 1(d) prohibits carrying programmes which contain anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half-truths. Section 1(e) restricts broadcasting of programmes in the cable service which are supposed to encourage or incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order or which promote anti-national attitudes. Section 1(g) bars channels from carrying content which “contains aspersions against the integrity of the President and Judiciary”.
A committee of officials from the Home, External Affairs and Defence ministries will evaluate justifications provided by the channels and decide on the consequences. One channel has already submitted its response.Where to stay
Camping, which is still popular during the European F1 season, is the cheapest form of accommodation available. Take your tent or drive your camper van and experience immerse yourself in a weekend of Formula 1 action without leaving the track.
Another budget option is to stay in a hostel. Most F1 cities around the world offer hostel-style accommodation, which is particularly suited for the budget solo traveler or younger F1 fan. Be ready to share your room with other race fans and don’t expect luxury.
Budget hotels also appeal to many fans. A typical nightly price for a double room in a budget hotel in an F1 city over race weekend will run around $100-$150 USD. Be aware of location though, as you don’t want to book a great deal only to find that you are nowhere near public transport and need to spend a fortune on taxis to get to and from the circuit each day. There is no shortage of mid range and luxury hotel options for F1 travelers in host cities around the world. Expect to pay around $200-300 USD per night for a double room in a mid-range hotel and upwards of $500 USD per night for a five star hotel, depending on the location.
Many F1 circuits are located close to large cities, so a good trade off is to stay where there are better accommodation options, but with a longer daily commute to and from the circuit. Don’t forget that large accommodation booking sites often allow you to reserve a room with no down payment, and with free cancellation if your plans change and you can’t make it to the race. Airbnb is also worth considering for city races and is particularly popular in F1 destinations such as Australia, Canada and the USA.Members of Congress in Washington heard Monday that the Super Bowl is considered “the single largest human trafficking incident in the United States,” and that it’s “a breeding ground” and “magnet” for sexual exploitation. But is it really? That’s a matter of some debate.
A foreign affairs subcommittee met to discuss how New Jersey is preparing for a possible increase in forced prostitution around Sunday’s big game and learned that a “robust anti-trafficking plan,” is in place, according to the committee’s chair Chris Smith.
Flyers have been handed out to emergency services staff, law enforcement, and other front-line staff to help them recognize potential victims. More than 10,000 people have undergone formal training, rallies have been held to raise public awareness, and airline and hotel workers are on the lookout.
“In less than a week, New Jersey will be hosting the Super Bowl, and along with welcoming enthusiastic fans, the state also is preparing for a likely influx of both domestic and international traffickers,” Smith, who represents New Jersey in Congress, said at the hearing.
“Sadly, but almost certainly, they will bring with them sexually exploited trafficking victims — many of them from abroad — in an attempt to cash in
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adrenaline pushing him faster with each step as we walk from kiosk to kiosk in Nkolokoti-Kachere. Each kiosk we visit has the dreaded empty jerry cans placed under the taps, with lines of jerry cans behind, waiting for water to flow.
Photo courtesy of Water for People Working towards reliable access to water for EVERYONE, FOREVER is Sheik Kawinga, president of the Water User Association in Nkolokoti-Kachere, Malawi.
Empty jerry cans lining up behind dry taps is a bad sign anywhere – translation: water is not flowing through the system right now, and in this case water has not been running since yesterday.
Sheik is not the only one who is upset. Kiosk operators are unhappy too, because this means that they are losing revenue. Families are furious as they ponder alternatives — which are usually unsafe supplies — to meet pressing household water needs.
Getting There
Though there are frustrating parts to this puzzle, the improvements in Nkolokoti-Kachere are truly remarkable. Sheik does not lose sight of this.
In 2010, there were only 39 kiosks for this vast urban population, and 35 of these, or 90 percent of them, barely functioned. Or, if they did function, service was so irregular that people would be startled to see water actually pouring from broken taps.
Now, expectations have been raised. Water flows through 59 kiosks, and 46 of them, or 77 percent, have a level of service and supply that meets government standards. The remaining kiosks are not quite there – taps may exist, and kiosk operators may be in place, but demand is high and water flows too infrequently for anyone to be satisfied.
The challenge, in this case, is simple to explain but hard to solve: Blantyre still does not have enough water for all of its residents to have a regular supply, as is clearly demonstrated by the empty jerry cans that Sheik and I have seen today. Thus, there will still people who will walk past functioning kiosks that do not have enough water flowing through their veins to meet the entire community’s daily needs. In other words, because EVERYONE FOREVER has yet to be reached, the work here continues.
However, as we move onwards to the next kiosk, I smile, because the day is coming when we in the WASH community will no longer simplistically celebrate “access” and count taps as indicators of success. No, Sheik will not allow that, nor will his customers and employees. Their demands are, rightly, higher.
Sheik is demanding better service, and the Blantyre Water Board is working to meet that demand. The Water Board is looking to tap new water resources so that all residents have a reliable supply of water. As such, we are hopeful this challenge will be addressed. Taps mean nothing unless water flows through them regularly and families truly never need to use an unprotected source for their daily water needs.
I imagine Sheik will not stop pushing until that outcome is achieved.Formatting may be lacking as a result. If this article is un-readable please report it so that we may fix it.
Posted on May 22, 2012, Phil Hornshaw ‘There’s Not a Single Story’ in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (VIDEO)
Treyarch is making some pretty huge and meaningful changes with the way that Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s story will play out as compared to the rest of the series, and as Studio Head Mark Lamia puts it, “There’s a world that we’re creating.”
We caught up with Lamia at Activision’s pre-E3 showcase in Los Angeles earlier this month and had a chance to sit down with him to talk about Black Ops II’s narrative structure, which will include clear choices that players can make to influence the story, and for the first time, moments where failure is an option and will affect the outcome of the game.
“It’s important to note that we’re making a shooter and not an RPG,” Lamia said, “but the fact that there are branching storylines and that there’s depth and complexity in the narrative is something that we wanted to introduce so that it wasn’t just a linear narrative for Black Ops II.”
Check out our other Black Ops II coverage, including a rundown of all the new features we saw at the preview event, and an analysis of the innovation Treyarch is bringing to the series.
Check out the rest of the interview below and make sure to like, comment and subscribe to Game Front’s YouTube Channel.Don’t waste time seeking the “Ah-ha!” moment.
Borrow instead from the book of cliches that define a tenure as much as blowout-losses, marginal on-field progress, remarkable off-field progress and flat-out too much drama and not enough winning.
Butch Jones’ reign atop the University of Tennessee football program is over; he exits Rocky Top with a bumpy 34-27 ledger as the Vols’ head coach. He leaves, when his collections expire in a few years, nabbing approximately $26 million in salary and bonuses from Tennessee’s coffers — an nauseating tally of roughly $765,000 per win.
Jones’ tenure is over because, week by week, Volunteers’ football with Jones at the helm kept becoming a rapidly declining investment.
Or, back to that book of cliches, what goes around comes around. Conversations with five former Jones’ staffers on Sunday carry the same characteristic: Jones got what was coming to him.
Approximately 40 scholarship players are not around this Tennessee football program any longer after transferring to escape Jones’ temperamental and at times subversive tactics.
Just this season, two players are coping with physical and mental maladies the result of their teammates’ blows. Trey Smith is a few games from becoming surely a consensus Freshman All-America pick and likely All-SEC selection; he’s just a few games removed from surgery on his face to close up the cleat-gash from a teammate.
Shy Tuttle, likewise, is far too agile to be the guy Jones lied about by saying, “he fell on a helmet, and that’s the truth.” Tuttle’s eye is just now finishing healing from an altercation with a teammate as well.
Jones’ hires in recent years to key positions — especially that of strength and conditioning upon running off Dave Lawson and nutrition following the similar chase-off of Allison Maurer — are bedrock moves in his program’s crumbling foundation. Similarly, Jones couldn’t get along with his former VFL Coordinator, Antone Davis, a Tennessee legend, former All-American and first-round pick whose resignation due to a “hostile work environment from the head coach” isn’t yet two weeks old.
Nothing is worse than his decision to eschew several highly qualified offensive minds in order to promote Larry Scott from within to be his offensive coordinator this season — or for Jones’ final 10 games as Tennessee coach as it is. Scott’s very relatable to his players and an excellent recruiter; he is woefully overmatched in the rugged Southeastern Conference, where Tennessee resides near the league’s and nation’s bottom in all major offensive rankings among Power-5 schools.
Still, these obstacles are surmountable with equity and victories; Jones holds too little of both. There is no significant “ahead-of-the-curve” moment in his Tennessee history. A nice win against South Carolina in Year 1; come-from-ahead losses to Florida in Years 2 and 3, not to mention similar meltdowns against Arkansas and Oklahoma — three of those four games inside hallowed Neyland Stadium, no less — along the way.
Six players from last year’s 9-4 squad own distinction as the latest batch of Vols’ NFL Draft picks, prospects largely recruited or retained by Jones upon his arrival. Yet they own no hardware of significance — not at a place like Tennessee, which despite Jones’ rash of losses across the past season-and-a-half — 8-10 in his final 18 games, a losing streak to the last 11 SEC teams he’s faced — still rests among the nation’s 10-winningest programs all-time.
There isn’t just one element or event to signal the overdue end of the Butch Jones tenure at the University of Tennessee; there almost are too many to count.
It comes, however, better late than never.
So, I guess all’s well that ends well?
Time will tell.
WHAT’S NEXT
John Currie kept quiet in recent weeks, to the chagrin of fans and reporters alike, but make no mistake: Currie is weeks into his quest to find the person who will define his professional career. Yes, define his career; not merely at Tennessee but as an athletics administrator.
Sources across the past six weeks consistently tell me that Currie’s path to the future of the Vols’ football program stretches to the week following the Georgia game, when Bulldogs’ second-year coach Kirby Smart got another of those “ahead-of-the-curve” wins by whitewashing the Vols, 41-0, inside Neyland Stadium.
The overtures to Jon Gruden, a Super Bowl champion coach, the NFL’s most recognizable broadcast voice and one-time UT assistant coach in the 1980s, are very real and much further along than at any point in any of Tennessee’s previous courtships to the mega-star football mind.
Six different sources, ranging from current coaches to former all-time great Vols to college administrators, in the past 72-96 hours tell me that Gruden is far more seriously considering this Tennessee offer than ever before; so much so that Gruden is making some preliminary calls to coaches and other college athletics folks about potentially joining him in Knoxville.
Money is no issue; Currie very deliberately and wisely is the man behind this statement from Sunday’s press conference.
The roster, while in dire need of work, remains better than Jones’ arrival in December 2012. Credit Jones and the relentless work of the behind-the-scenes folks, as well Robert Gillespie most notably from the staff.
Academics, thanks to arguably the greatest director of student-athlete learning protocols anywhere in college athletics in UT’s Dr. Joe Scogin, owns the incredibly stable ground that Jones’ program otherwise lacks.
Too, do not ignore that Tennessee as a state is producing more talent than ever before — high-end talent, as just this past Saturday one-time Vols commitments Alontae Taylor and Cade Mays were Ohio State’s guests at the Buckeyes’ romp past Michigan State. OSU likewise has commitments from two of the Volunteer State’s best in running back Master Teague and offensive lineman Max Wray. Jackson Lampley and Trey Knox are just a couple of the state’s national recruits in upcoming classes.
Ultimately Gruden must not only choose to say yes but sign his name to a contract that makes it official. Next weekend he is allegedly on the verge of his third trip to Knoxville within the past few weeks in between his Monday Night Football obligations for ESPN, which pays Gruden approximately $6 million annually as its top NFL on-air personality.
It remains a situation that must be seen to be believed, but, if this was Santa Claus and his plate of chimney-side cookies, well, someone’s at least taken a drink of the milk.
If Gruden again rebuffs Tennessee’s advances, Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen and Central Florida’s Scott Frost emerge as two of the Vols’ likely top targets. Currie’s work in recent weeks includes extensive research on both candidates. Frost, like Chip Kelly, is on Florida’s very short list.
Oregon’s Willie Taggert and Memphis’ Mike Norvell are a couple of other names worth monitoring; similarly, pay attention to Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. His work both as a recruiter and defensive whiz has few parallels while my sources around the SEC insist Pruitt is on track to become a “big-time head coach, sooner than later.”
AdvertisementsA Long Beach man arrested Wednesday in connection with the sexual assault of a woman in 2013 may have additional victims, police said.
The 2013 attack allegedly occurred in August at the home of 52-year-old Steven DeSisto, according to a news release from the Long Beach Police Department.
DeSisto allegedly met the victim at a bar in the East Village district and when she became intoxicated, investigators said, he took her home and sexually assaulting her, the release stated.
“The victim awoke and then fled and contacted police,” said Marlene Arrona, Long Beach Police spokeswoman.
Desisto, the owner of Rocco’s Deli Italiano, was booked Wednesday on suspicion of sexual assault, drug possession and photographing an unconscious person, police said.
He was being held in the Long Beach City Jail on $2 million bail and was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.
“We have reason to believe there may be more victims,” Arrona said.
Anyone with information on DeSisto was urged to contact Long Beach Police Sex Crimes Detective Stacey Holdredge at 562-570-5513. Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), texting TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or visiting http://www.lacrimestoppers.org.Ottawa police are investigating after witnesses say six gunshots were fired into units at a south-end townhouse complex on Sunday morning.
The shots were heard at about 6 a.m. in the 3200 block of McCarthy Road near Paul Anka Drive, police said.
A witness told CBC News she was getting ready to leave her home when she saw two men. Moments later, according to the witness, a man fired his gun into a unit at the Quarry Co-op on McCarthy, which is empty.
"I saw two guys standing in front and kind of observed them for a couple of minutes because I was about to leave and I was a little nervous," said the witness, who spoke to CBC News on the condition that her name not be used. "And I saw the guy pull the gun from the right side pants pocket, and started shooting at the house in front of him.
"My reaction was, right away I started shaking like a leaf, I started screaming, picked up the phone, called 911. I was just frantic."
The family that lives next door to the empty unit said there were three bullet holes in their house, two in the living room wall and another in the wall of a six-year-old boy’s bedroom near where he was sleeping.
A family says this hole came from a bullet fired through their McCarthy Road townhouse unit in the morning of Aug. 17, 2014. (CBC) There were also two bullet holes in a third unit, according to a woman who lived there.
The witness said she hopes the co-operative housing complex will get more security cameras up and running, along with a neighbourhood watch program.
"My fear is that I was about to be standing, in seconds, beside these guys. What would their reaction have been to me? I would have been their only eyewitness," she said.
"There's a lot of young kids riding bicycles around here... so to do this in broad daylight, it's kind of scary."
Police have not released any further details but the guns and gangs unit is investigating.
Anyone with information should contact police at 613-236-1220, ext. 5050 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477.At least 42 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2017, representing the second consecutive decline from record highs early this decade. Fewer journalists died covering Middle East conflicts and the number of journalists murdered in reprisal for reporting eased, except in Mexico. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Published December 21, 2017
The number of journalists killed in relation to their work worldwide continued in 2017 to ease from record highs, in the absence of fresh military conflict and as the number of journalists murdered in reprisal for their work fell for the second year in a row. One exception was Mexico, where the number of journalists killed because of their reporting reached a historical high.
Globally, at least 42 journalists were killed in the line of duty from January 1 to December 15, 2017, the Committee to Protect Journalists found. The figure compares with at least 48 killed in the whole of 2016. CPJ is investigating the killing of another 20 journalists in 2017, but so far has not been able to confirm a link to journalistic work in those cases.
In the four years preceding 2016, the number of journalists’ deaths ranged from 61 to 74 annually as surging conflict in the Middle East resulted in fatalities for the press. Journalists who cover the region’s simmering wars continue to do so at grave risk. Iraq and Syria were the deadliest places for journalists in 2017, with at least eight and seven killed in each country, respectively. More journalists have been killed in Iraq--at least 186--than in any other country since CPJ began keeping detailed records in 1992.
Among those who died in Iraq in 2017 was Rudaw TV news anchor Shifa Gardi, who was killed on February 25 by a roadside bomb in western Mosul. She was on an assignment to investigate a mass grave where Islamic State militants had allegedly buried hundreds of civilians.
This year marked the first time in six years that Syria did not top the list of deadliest countries. Since late 2011, when civil unrest turned into clashes, at least 114 journalists have been killed. On March 12, Mohamed Abazied, a broadcast reporter known as George Samara, had just posted live video to Facebook of airstrikes in the city of Daraa when a rocket killed him. In the video, Abazied stands in an abandoned building and describes what he says are the sounds of Russian and Syrian planes bombing civilians, as someone else appears to warn him of a fighter plane approaching to attack. "Let them go ahead,” he responds. “Death is better than humiliation."
At least two journalists were also killed this year covering Yemen’s conflict. Both died on May 26 in the city of Taiz when a shell hit the building where they had taken cover from crossfire.
Away from conflict zones, Mexico was the deadliest country. At least six journalists were murdered there in reprisal for their work, making it the third worst nation for killings worldwide. The victims include Javier Valdez Cárdenas, CPJ’s 2011 International Press Freedom Award honoree, who was dragged from his car and shot dead in the northern city of Culiacán, near the editorial offices of Ríodoce, the investigative weekly he co-founded in 2003.
In Mexico, dozens of journalists have been murdered since CPJ began keeping records, but it is difficult to determine the motive due to the lack of credible investigations and the high level of violence and corruption. Local officials are often suspected of involvement. Of at least 95 journalists killed in Mexico since 1992, CPJ has determined journalism as the motive in 43 of them. The organization is currently investigating three murders in Mexico in 2017 to determine whether the deaths were related to the journalists’ work.
Globally, the number of journalists singled out for murder in reprisal for their reporting has declined for the past two years, with 17 as of December 15, 2017 compared with 18 in the whole of 2016. According to CPJ’s historical records, about two thirds of journalists killed are traditionally singled out for murder in retaliation for their work. The reason for the recent decline is unclear, and could be due to several factors including self-censorship, efforts to bring global attention to the issue of fighting impunity, and the use of other means, such as imprisonment, to silence critical journalists.
The decline in murders worldwide rendered all the more shocking the murder in October of Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died when the car she was driving in Malta exploded due to what investigators said was a remote-controlled bomb. Violence against the press is rare in Malta, which is a member of the European Union. Still, Caruana Galizia, who reported on corruption and wrote political commentary on her popular blog, had been subject to death threats and libel suits.
Also in the European Union, Swedish freelance reporter Kim Wall was killed in August after boarding an amateur-built submarine to interview its owner, Peter Madsen, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Madsen gave conflicting accounts of what happened and is in custody on murder charges. Wall’s death underscored the danger that freelancers face when they approach stories “on spec”--on the speculation that a news outlet will purchase the work and without the close supervision of editors who would monitor their whereabouts and safety. One-third of journalists killed worldwide in 2017 were freelancers.
At least four media workers were killed in 2017. The four died in an assault on Afghan state broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan on May 17.
Other findings from CPJ’s research:
Eight of the journalists killed this year, or 19 percent, were women. The historical average is about 7 percent.
Political groups, including Islamist militant organizations, were responsible for 45 percent of killings, compared with more than half last year.
Politics was the most dangerous beat, followed by war. Many journalists cover more than one beat.
Camera operator was the most dangerous job.
In line with historical trends, nine out of 10 journalists killed were local.
CPJ began compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths in 1992. CPJ staff members independently investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death. CPJ considers a case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in combat-related crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment such as covering a protest that turns violent.
If the motives in a killing are unclear, but it is possible that a journalist died in relation to his or her work, CPJ classifies the case as “unconfirmed” and continues to investigate.
CPJ’s list does not include journalists who died of illness or were killed in car or plane accidents unless the crash was caused by hostile action. Other press organizations using different criteria cite different numbers of deaths.
CPJ’s database of journalists killed in 2017 includes capsule reports on each victim and filters for examining trends in the data. CPJ also maintains a database of all journalists killed since 1992 and those who have gone missing or are imprisoned for their work.
Elana Beiser is editorial director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. She previously worked as an editor for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal in New York, London, Brussels, Singapore, and Hong Kong.Two weeks ago Local Motors announced the addition of Bre Pettis, Makerbot’s CEO and Founder, to their board of directors. This in itself was a major move for the vehicle manufacturer, seeking to produce 3D printed parts for their electric vehicles. However an announcement by the company today is even a bigger headline grabber.
This afternoon Local Motors announced that they, along with the Association For Manufacturing Technology, plan to build the world’s first 3D printed electric vehicle, and present it in just seven months at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, IL, on September 8-13.
The International Manufacturing Technology Show is held every two years, with the last show being held in 2012. At that time, Local Motors was present and wowed the crowds by building their Rally Fighter vehicle, from start to finish, in just 5 days. This year’s project will likely blow that away, if a success.
“IMTS is the perfect venue on which to showcase the next evolution of Local Motors’ World of Vehicle Innovations,“ said Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers. “To deliver the first co-created, locally relevant, 3D-printed vehicle on an international stage dedicated to celebrating cutting-edge manufacturing technology is powerful reinforcement of our commitment to driving the Third Industrial Revolution.”
The purpose of this project is to show the world how additive manufacturing, along with sustainable green tech can produce a reliable, safe, groundbreaking vehicle, while creating jobs, and reducing production costs significantly.
“Local Motors is undeniably the first disruptive entrant into the U.S. automotive industry in decades. The innovations they are driving in the design, manufacture and sale of vehicles has been empowering individual innovators since 2007. Partnering with them to deliver safer, more functional, lightweight and efficient vehicles via new, innovative manufacturing technologies is core to our commitment to bring global technology advancements to the local level,” stated Bonnie Gurney, Director of Communications for the Association For Manufacturing Technology.
More details on exactly how the vehicle will be manufactured will likely be released as we get closer to the show in September. Further details on the company can be found at their website in the meantime.
Discuss Local Motors, and this project.The 49 Most Innovative Organizations for Giving Back
Kudos to everyone who gives back. The world is a better place when organizations and individuals show compassion and respect to the other members of their community or environment.
Now, no one is going to quibble about your method of giving back. It doesn't really matter how you give back, it's just great that you are doing so.
Yet, there are some organizations that aren't just giving back, they are doing so in very innovative ways too. They are doing so in ways hitherto unimagined or at least untried.
We felt it important to single out these innovative organizations that are giving back to their community and to the world. We applaud their efforts, and we hope you do too.
We feel these are forty-nine of the most innovative organizations for giving back in existence today. (Why forty-nine? Why not?) To make our rundown, your organization had to be besides really innovative, a non-profit, inspirational, and very passionate.
Acumen
All About Equine Animal Rescue, Inc.
Angels for Hearts
Banyan Community
Beauty Bus
BEST Kids, Inc.
Byte Back
The Center, a Samaritan Center
Ceres Community Project
Chaplain Alliance
Collier Spay Neuter Clinic
Community Activism Law Alliance
Cool Kids Campaign
Design Impact
Diabetes Hands Foundation
Flying Fur Animal Rescue
Gift of Adoption Fund
Girls' Globe
Harlem Academy
Hope for Youth
Invisible Children
Kidznotes
Kingdom House
Laurel Advocacy & Referral Services, Inc.
Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
Mohonk Preserve
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
NC Green Power
Oklahoma Women's Coalition
One Simple Wish
Outside the Bowl
Pablove Foundation
Partnership with Native Americans
Paws 4 A Cure
Pawsitivity Service Dogs
Pencils of Promise
Per Diems Against Poverty
Pinups for Pitbulls
Possible
The Prison Scholar Fund
RED Arena
Second Chance Center for Animals
Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA
Soccer Without Borders
Teen Kitchen Project
Tell Every Amazing Lady About Ovarian Cancer
Together We Rise
Trinity River Mission
Unbridled Change
Wish of a Lifetime
top ^Keith Thurman has consistently shown his tremendous power by knocking out 18 of his first 19 opponents and since winning a world title in 2013, he has ascended to the very top of the sport’s elite class. The 26-year-old Clearwater, Florida native made three successful title defenses with wins over Jesus Soto Karass, Julio Diaz and Leonard Bundu. In his next bout, he debuted the Premier Boxing Champions series by defeating Robert Guerrero in a spectacular battle on March 7th. Thurman will return to the ring in his home state of Florida for the first time since 2009.
One of Brooklyn’s most respected fighters, Luis Collazo has earned another shot at the top of the welterweight division on July 11th. In April of this year, Collazo made a statement with a second round TKO of Christopher Degollado at Barclays Center. A world champion in 2005, Collazo has faced top fighters his whole career. Most notably in recent years, he delivered an electrifying second round knockout over Victor Ortiz in December 2014. Collazo will look to use his experience and guile to upset Keith Thurman.
The co-main event of the evening features an exciting matchup between undefeated top prospect Tony Harrison (21-0, 18 KOs) and quick fisted Willie Nelson (23-2-1, 13 KOs) in an event that will kick off live coverage of Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN.
At just 24-years-old, Harrison has made big noise recently as he brings a ten knockout win streak to his fight against Willie Nelson on July 11th. The Detroit-native has gotten off to a blazing start in 2015, already knocking out Antwone Smith and Pablo Munguia in impressive fashion. The supremely talented fighter now steps up in competition and hopes to keep his undefeated record intact when he faces Nelson.
A professional since 2006, Willie Nelson has the tools and experience to give Harrison more than just a tough test. The 28-year-old owns victories over previously unbeaten fighters John Jackson and Yudel Johnson plus experienced veterans Luciano Cuello and Michael Medina. The fighter out of Cleveland is coming off of a narrow defeat against top contender Vanes Martirosyan in October 2014.
*All fighters subject to change.
Official Fight Card:
Bruno Bredicean (Pro Debut) VS Randy Hedderick (0-3)
BANTAMWEIGHTS -- 6 Rounds
Antonio Russell [2-0 (2 KOs)] VS Jaxel Marrero (1-5-1)
SUPER WELTERWEIGHTS -- 6 Rounds
Manny Woods [13-3-1 (5 KOs)] VS Carlos Garcia [7-14-1 (7 KOs)]
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS -- 10 Rounds
Anthony Peterson [34-1 (22 KOs)] VS Ramesis Gil [8-11-5 (5 KOs)]
SUPER WELTERWEIGHTS -- 4 Rounds
Antonio Tarver Jr. [2-0 (2 KOs)] VS Julian Valerio 2-3 (1 KOs)
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS -- 10 Rounds
Walter Castillo [25-3 (18 KOs)] VS Amet Diaz [32-11 (23 KOs)]
LIGHTWEIGHTS -- 10 Rounds
Edner Cherry [33-6-2 (18 KOs)] VS Luis Cruz [21-3 (16 KOs)]
SUPER WELTERWEIGHTS -- 8 Rounds
Patryk Szymanski [13-0 (8 KOs)] VS Maurice Louishomme [8-2- (4 KOs)]
MIDDLEWEIGHTS -- 10 Rounds
Tony Harrison [21-0 (18 KOs)] VS Willie Nelson [23-2-1 (13 KOs)]
WBA WELTERWEIGHTS -- 12 Rounds
Keith Thurman [25-0 (21 KOs)] VS Luis Collazo [36-6 (19 KOs)]
*Fight card subject to changeOn Thursday, the United States Marshals Service posted a notice that it will be administering the sale of the over 29,600 bitcoins seized in the Silk Road case. At present exchange rates, those bitcoins are worth over $17.5 million.
Further Reading Feds ready to auction off $25 million in Silk Road Bitcoin
These bitcoins resided in six different wallets found on Silk Road servers and do not include the “bitcoins contained in wallet files that resided on certain computer hardware belonging to Ross William Ulbricht, that were seized on or about October 24, 2013.”
The USMS said that the first deadline for bidders will be 9am Eastern Time on June 16, 2014.
All bidders must complete the government’s Bidder Registration Form (PDF), which requires that you provide a copy of a government-issued ID as well as a $200,000 deposit sent by wire transfer from an American bank. The government added that the highest bidder will win, and he or she cannot finance its payment in installments—the winner must pay the full amount in cash.
The USMS added one final stipulation.
“The USMS will not sell to any person who is acting on behalf of or in concert with the Silk Road and/or Ross William Ulbricht, and bidders will be required to so certify,” the USMS stated.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York had previously announced that it would be selling the seized bitcoins back in January 2014.
Joshua Dratel, Ulbricht's attorney, told Ars that this auction is "designed to get maximum value for the property that was seized."
"However, I was not informed or consulted about the particular actions (and not saying I had a right to be), so I don't know the details of the decision-making as to why it happened right now," Dratel continued. "Also, noting again for clarity that Ross has filed a claim only for the bitcoins seized from his laptop (PDF), not those from the Silk Road servers."If you aren’t near one of the 30 theaters exclusively playing the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer starting Friday November 28, don’t watch that bootleg just yet.
The Force is with you on #BlackFriday when #TheForceAwakens teaser hits @iTunesTrailers. — Star Wars (@starwars) November 26, 2014
Yes, you read that right. The official Star Wars Twitter has revealed the trailer will be online via iTunes Trailers Friday. Read more about the Star Wars 7 trailer release below.
Okay, so you can see the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer on the big screen in one of 30 theaters or wait and see it on iTunes (link here). Now comes the next question. What time will it be uploaded?
Well you have to believe it would be sometime mid-morning on the West Coast. That will give fans in all time zones a chance to see it first in the theater, then go home and watch it again and again. Also, that’s the evening for Europe which will cover a nice big cross section of the globe.
In our FAQ post, we pointed out the inevitability of bootleg versions of the trailer if it was only playing in theaters. 30 screens in North America is such a small cross section of the entire world. Plus, the first announcement never specifically said it was only playing in theaters. By doing this, Lucasfilm and Disney avoid the need to police pirated versions of the trailer because you can download it and watch in high definition.
There’s was rumor that the version released on line will be shorter than the 88 second version in theaters. We long heard rumblings of a 60 second trailer and the idea was floated that the online version will be short a few scenes than the version in theaters. That is not the case. Lucasfilm has confirmed the trailer on iTunes will indeed be the same version seen in theaters.
So that’s that. Enjoy your turkey Thursday if you are in America and Friday, while you’re shopping, sit back and get ready to see the first teaser of the new Star Wars movie. What do you think about the Star Wars 7 trailer release?About
There isn't a whole lot to say. Do you like clowns? Crash test dummies? Do you just find it hard to imagine the two falling in love? We don't. This is a heart felt tale of two star crossed lovers, who manage to find love in a strange place, in the strangest of ways. We're really hoping to have this take off, since the project is meant to make love happen in both fantasy and reality.
Risks and challenges Our only real challenge is going to be the TSA/US Customs. Our female lead is from outside of the US, and if she isn't permitted entry, the entire project will need to be rethought. We can still make the movie, but there will need to be many changes made. We're hopeful that love will prevail. Learn about accountability on KickstarterBy Sillicur at Sunday, September 27, 2015 6:47:00 AM
Here is every PlayStation 4 title and confirmed release date, split into exclusives and cross-platform for 2015 and 2016. Games with confirmed release dates or specified months are sorted by date, while the rest are sorted alphabetically. Furthermore, games that are on the PS4 and PC, for example Street Fighter V are under “cross-platform” and not “exclusives”. DLC content, expansions or “game of the year” editions not listed.
Please keep in mind that release dates change, games get delayed and new titles are announced each month. Let us know if there is anything we have missed and we will add it to the list. Please note that where applicable we also list the PS3 and PlayStation Vita games.
2015 PlayStation 4 Exclusives
The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival – 25 September 2015 (PS3) Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance –9 October 2015 Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection – 9 October 2015 Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below –16 October 2015 (PS3) Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force – 5 November 2015 Sword Art Online: Lost Song – 13 November 2015 (PSVita) Atelier Sophie – 19 November 2015 (PS3, PSVita) Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax - 6 December 2015 Exist Archive (PSVita) Drawn to Death The Tomorrow Children
2015 PS4 cross-platform games
Rock Band 4 – 6 October 2015 Transformers: Devastation – 6 October 2015 (PS3) Super Meat Boy - 6 October 2015 (PS Vita) Minecraft: Story Mode – 13 October 2015 (PS3) The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition – 13 October 2015 Wasteland 2: Director's Cut – 13 October 2015 Back to the Future - 13 October 2015 Tales of Zestiria – 16 October 2015 (PS3) Dragon Fin Soup - 20 October 2015 (PS3, PSVita) Overlord: Fellowship of Evil – 20 October 2015 Guitar Hero Live – 20 October 2015 (PS3) Rebel Galaxy – 21 October 2015 Just Dance 2016 – 22 October 2015 (PS3) Assassin's Creed Syndicate – 23 October 2015 Fenix Rage – 23 October 2015 (PSVita) Crypt of the NecroDancer – 23 October 2015 (PSVita) Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition – 27 October 2015 WWE 2K16 – 27 October 2015 (PS3) Professional Farmer 2016 – 30 October 2015 (PS3) Earthlock: Festival of Magic - TBA October 2015 WRC 5 – TBA October 2015 (PS3, PSVita)
November 2015 releases:
Need for Speed – 3 November 2015 The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand
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and
(C) inserting before the period the following: `, and (B) an order under this section for a physical search targeted against an agent of a foreign power as defined in section 101(b)(1)(A) may be for the period specified in the application or for 120 days, whichever is less'.
(b) EXTENSION-
(1) IN GENERAL- Section 105(d)(2) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805(d)(2)) is amended by--
(A) inserting `(A)' after `except that'; and
(B) inserting before the period the following: `, and (B) an extension of an order under this Act for a surveillance targeted against an agent of a foreign power as defined in section 101(b)(1)(A) may be for a period not to exceed 1 year'.
(2) DEFINED TERM- Section 304(d)(2) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1824(d)(2) is amended by inserting after `not a United States person,' the following: `or against an agent of a foreign power as defined in section 101(b)(1)(A),'.
SEC. 208. DESIGNATION OF JUDGES.
Section 103(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)) is amended by--
(1) striking `seven district court judges' and inserting `11 district court judges'; and
(2) inserting `of whom no fewer than 3 shall reside within 20 miles of the District of Columbia' after `circuits'.
SEC. 209. SEIZURE OF VOICE-MAIL MESSAGES PURSUANT TO WARRANTS.
Title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 2510--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking beginning with `and such' and all that follows through `communication'; and
(B) in paragraph (14), by inserting `wire or' after `transmission of'; and
(2) in subsections (a) and (b) of section 2703--
(A) by striking `CONTENTS OF ELECTRONIC' and inserting `CONTENTS OF WIRE OR ELECTRONIC' each place it appears;
(B) by striking `contents of an electronic' and inserting `contents of a wire or electronic' each place it appears; and
(C) by striking `any electronic' and inserting `any wire or electronic' each place it appears.
SEC. 210. SCOPE OF SUBPOENAS FOR RECORDS OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS.
Section 2703(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code, as redesignated by section 212, is amended--
(1) by striking `entity the name, address, local and long distance telephone toll billing records, telephone number or other subscriber number or identity, and length of service of a subscriber' and inserting the following: `entity the--
`(A) name;
`(B) address;
`(C) local and long distance telephone connection records, or records of session times and durations;
`(D) length of service (including start date) and types of service utilized;
`(E) telephone or instrument number or other subscriber number or identity, including any temporarily assigned network address; and
`(F) means and source of payment for such service (including any credit card or bank account number),
of a subscriber'; and
(2) by striking `and the types of services the subscriber or customer utilized,'.
SEC. 211. CLARIFICATION OF SCOPE.
Section 631 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 551) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(2)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking `or';
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting `; or'; and
(C) by inserting at the end the following:
`(D) to a government entity as authorized under chapters 119, 121, or 206 of title 18, United States Code, except that such disclosure shall not include records revealing cable subscriber selection of video programming from a cable operator.'; and
(2) in subsection (h), by striking `A governmental entity' and inserting `Except as provided in subsection (c)(2)(D), a governmental entity'.
SEC. 212. EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND LIMB.
(a) DISCLOSURE OF CONTENTS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Section 2702 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking the section heading and inserting the following:
`Sec. 2702. Voluntary disclosure of customer communications or records';
(B) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking `and' at the end;
(ii) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking the period and inserting `; and'; and
(iii) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
`(3) a provider of remote computing service or electronic communication service to the public shall not knowingly divulge a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service (not including the contents of communications covered by paragraph (1) or (2)) to any governmental entity.';
(C) in subsection (b), by striking `EXCEPTIONS- A person or entity' and inserting `EXCEPTIONS FOR DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNICATIONS- A provider described in subsection (a)';
(D) in subsection (b)(6)--
(i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking `or';
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period and inserting `; or'; and
(iii) by adding after subparagraph (B) the following:
`(C) if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of the information without delay.'; and
(E) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
`(c) EXCEPTIONS FOR DISCLOSURE OF CUSTOMER RECORDS- A provider described in subsection (a) may divulge a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service (not including the contents of communications covered by subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2))--
`(1) as otherwise authorized in section 2703;
`(2) with the lawful consent of the customer or subscriber;
`(3) as may be necessarily incident to the rendition of the service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service;
`(4) to a governmental entity, if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person justifies disclosure of the information; or
`(5) to any person other than a governmental entity.'.
(2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of sections for chapter 121 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 2702 and inserting the following:
`2702. Voluntary disclosure of customer communications or records.'.
(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR GOVERNMENT ACCESS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking the section heading and inserting the following:
`Sec. 2703. Required disclosure of customer communications or records';
(B) in subsection (c) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
(C) in subsection (c)(1)--
(i) by striking `(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service may' and inserting `A governmental entity may require a provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service to';
(ii) by striking `covered by subsection (a) or (b) of this section) to any person other than a governmental entity.
`(B) A provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service shall disclose a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service (not including the contents of communications covered by subsection (a) or (b) of this section) to a governmental entity' and inserting `)';
(iii) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as paragraph (2);
(iv) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) as subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D), respectively;
(v) in subparagraph (D) (as redesignated) by striking the period and inserting `; or'; and
(vi) by inserting after subparagraph (D) (as redesignated) the following:
`(E) seeks information under paragraph (2).'; and
(D) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated) by striking `subparagraph (B)' and insert `paragraph (1)'.
(2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of sections for chapter 121 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 2703 and inserting the following:
`2703. Required disclosure of customer communications or records.'.
SEC. 213. AUTHORITY FOR DELAYING NOTICE OF THE EXECUTION OF A WARRANT.
Section 3103a of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting `(a) IN GENERAL-'before `In addition'; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
`(b) DELAY- With respect to the issuance of any warrant or court order under this section, or any other rule of law, to search for and seize any property or material that constitutes evidence of a criminal offense in violation of the laws of the United States, any notice required, or that may be required, to be given may be delayed if--
`(1) the court finds reasonable cause to believe that providing immediate notification of the execution of the warrant may have an adverse result (as defined in section 2705);
`(2) the warrant prohibits the seizure of any tangible property, any wire or electronic communication (as defined in section 2510), or, except as expressly provided in chapter 121, any stored wire or electronic information, except where the court finds reasonable necessity for the seizure; and
`(3) the warrant provides for the giving of such notice within a reasonable period of its execution, which period may thereafter be extended by the court for good cause shown.'.
SEC. 214. PEN REGISTER AND TRAP AND TRACE AUTHORITY UNDER FISA.
(a) APPLICATIONS AND ORDERS- Section 402 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1842) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking `for any investigation to gather foreign intelligence information or information concerning international terrorism' and inserting `for any investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution';
(2) by amending subsection (c)(2) to read as follows:
`(2) a certification by the applicant that the information likely to be obtained is foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or is relevant to an ongoing investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.';
(3) by striking subsection (c)(3); and
(4) by amending subsection (d)(2)(A) to read as follows:
`(A) shall specify--
`(i) the identity, if known, of the person who is the subject of the investigation;
`(ii) the identity, if known, of the person to whom is leased or in whose name is listed the telephone line or other facility to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached or applied;
`(iii) the attributes of the communications to which the order applies, such as the number or other identifier, and, if known, the location of the telephone line or other facility to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached or applied and, in the case of a trap and trace device, the geographic limits of the trap and trace order.'.
(b) AUTHORIZATION DURING EMERGENCIES- Section 403 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1843) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking `foreign intelligence information or information concerning international terrorism' and inserting `foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or information to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution'; and
(2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking `foreign intelligence information or information concerning international terrorism' and inserting `foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or information to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution'.
SEC. 215. ACCESS TO RECORDS AND OTHER ITEMS UNDER THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT.
Title V of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.) is amended by striking sections 501 through 503 and inserting the following:
`SEC. 501. ACCESS TO CERTAIN BUSINESS RECORDS FOR FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM INVESTIGATIONS.
`(a)(1) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or a designee of the Director (whose rank shall be no lower than Assistant Special Agent in Charge) may make an application for an order requiring the production of any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.
`(2) An investigation conducted under this section shall--
`(A) be conducted under guidelines approved by the Attorney General under Executive Order 12333 (or a successor order); and
`(B) not be conducted of a United States person solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
`(b) Each application under this section--
`(1) shall be made to--
`(A) a judge of the court established by section 103(a); or
`(B) a United States Magistrate Judge under chapter 43 of title 28, United States Code, who is publicly designated by the Chief Justice of the United States to have the power to hear applications and grant orders for the production of tangible things under this section on behalf of a judge of that court; and
`(2) shall specify that the records concerned are sought for an authorized investigation conducted in accordance with subsection (a)(2) to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.
`(c)(1) Upon an application made pursuant to this section, the judge shall enter an ex parte order as requested, or as modified, approving the release of records if the judge finds that the application meets the requirements of this section.
`(2) An order under this subsection shall not disclose that it is issued for purposes of an investigation described in subsection (a).
`(d) No person shall disclose to any other person (other than those persons necessary to produce the tangible things under this section) that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought or obtained tangible things under this section.
`(e) A person who, in good faith, produces tangible things under an order pursuant to this section shall not be liable to any other person for such production. Such production shall not be deemed to constitute a waiver of any privilege in any other proceeding or context.
`SEC. 502. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT.
`(a) On a semiannual basis, the Attorney General shall fully inform the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate concerning all requests for the production of tangible things under section 402.
`(b) On a semiannual basis, the Attorney General shall provide to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report setting forth with respect to the preceding 6-month period--
`(1) the total number of applications made for orders approving requests for the production of tangible things under section 402; and
`(2) the total number of such orders either granted, modified, or denied.'.
SEC. 216. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITIES RELATING TO USE OF PEN REGISTERS AND TRAP AND TRACE DEVICES.
(a) GENERAL LIMITATIONS- Section 3121(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting `or trap and trace device' after `pen register';
(2) by inserting `, routing, addressing,' after `dialing'; and
(3) by striking `call processing' and inserting `the processing and transmitting of wire or electronic communications so as not to include the contents of any wire or electronic communications'.
(b) ISSUANCE OF ORDERS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Section 3123(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
`(a) IN GENERAL-
`(1) ATTORNEY FOR THE GOVERNMENT- Upon an application made under section 3122(a)(1), the court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or trap and trace device anywhere within the United States, if the court finds that the attorney for the Government has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. The order, upon service of that order, shall apply to any person or entity providing wire or electronic communication service in the United States whose assistance may facilitate the execution of the order. Whenever such an order is served on any person or entity not specifically named in the order, upon request of such person or entity, the attorney for the Government or law enforcement or investigative officer that is serving the order shall provide written or electronic certification that the order applies to the person or entity being served.
`(2) STATE INVESTIGATIVE OR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER- Upon an application made under section 3122(a)(2), the court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or trap and trace device within the jurisdiction of the court, if the court finds that the State law enforcement or investigative officer has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.
`(3)(A) Where the law enforcement agency implementing an ex parte order under this subsection seeks to do so by installing and using its own pen register or trap and trace device on a packet-switched data network of a provider of electronic communication service to the public, the agency shall ensure that a record will be maintained which will identify--
`(i) any officer or officers who installed the device and any officer or officers who accessed the device to obtain information from the network;
`(ii) the date and time the device was installed, the date and time the device was uninstalled, and the date, time, and duration of each time the device is accessed to obtain information;
`(iii) the configuration of the device at the time of its installation and any subsequent modification thereof; and
`(iv) any information which has been collected by the device.
To the extent that the pen register or trap and trace device can be set automatically to record this information electronically, the record shall be maintained electronically throughout the installation and use of such device.
`(B) The record maintained under subparagraph (A) shall be provided ex parte and under seal to the court which entered the ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of the device within 30 days after termination of the order (including any extensions thereof).'.
(2) CONTENTS OF ORDER- Section 3123(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) by inserting `or other facility' after `telephone line'; and
(ii) by inserting before the semicolon at the end `or applied'; and
(B) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following:
`(C) the attributes of the communications to which the order applies, including the number or other identifier and, if known, the location of the telephone line or other facility to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached or applied, and, in the case of an order authorizing installation and use of a trap and trace device under subsection (a)(2), the geographic limits of the order; and'.
(3) NONDISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS- Section 3123(d)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by inserting `or other facility' after `the line'; and
(B) by striking `, or who has been ordered by the court' and inserting `or applied, or who is obligated by the order'.
(c) DEFINITIONS-
(1) COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION- Section 3127(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:
`(A) any district court of the United States (including a magistrate judge of such a court) or any United States court of appeals having jurisdiction over the offense being investigated; or'.
(2) PEN REGISTER- Section 3127(3) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking `electronic or other impulses' and all that follows through `is attached' and inserting `dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted, provided, however, that such information shall not include the contents of any communication'; and
(B) by inserting `or process' after `device' each place it appears.
(3) TRAP AND TRACE DEVICE- Section 3127(4) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking `of an instrument' and all that follows through the semicolon and inserting `or other dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication, provided, however, that such information shall not include the contents of any communication;'; and
(B) by inserting `or process' after `a device'.
(4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 3127(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking `and'; and
(B) by inserting `, and `contents' after `electronic communication service'.
(5) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT- Section 3124(d) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking `the terms of'.
(6) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 3124(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting `or other facility' after `the appropriate line'.
SEC. 217. INTERCEPTION OF COMPUTER TRESPASSER COMMUNICATIONS.
Chapter 119 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 2510--
(A) in paragraph (18), by striking `and' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (19), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (19) the following:
`(20) `protected computer' has the meaning set forth in section 1030; and
`(21) `computer trespasser'--
`(A) means a person who accesses a protected computer without authorization and thus has no reasonable expectation of privacy in any communication transmitted to, through, or from the protected computer; and
`(B) does not include a person known by the owner or operator of the protected computer to have an existing contractual relationship with the owner or operator of the protected computer for access to all or part of the protected computer.'; and
(2) in section 2511(2), by inserting at the end the following:
`(i) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person acting under color of law to intercept the wire or electronic communications of a computer trespasser transmitted to, through, or from the protected computer, if--
`(I) the owner or operator of the protected computer authorizes the interception of the computer trespasser's communications on the protected computer;
`(II) the person acting under color of law is lawfully engaged in an investigation;
`(III) the person acting under color of law has reasonable grounds to believe that the contents of the computer trespasser's communications will be relevant to the investigation; and
`(IV) such interception does not acquire communications other than those transmitted to or from the computer trespasser.'.
SEC. 218. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION.
Sections 104(a)(7)(B) and section 303(a)(7)(B) (50 U.S.C. 1804(a)(7)(B) and 1823(a)(7)(B)) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 are each amended by striking `the purpose' and inserting `a significant purpose'.
SEC. 219. SINGLE-JURISDICTION SEARCH WARRANTS FOR TERRORISM.
Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is amended by inserting after `executed' the following: `and (3) in an investigation of domestic terrorism or international terrorism (as defined in section 2331 of title 18, United States Code), by a Federal magistrate judge in any district in which activities related to the terrorism may have occurred, for a search of property or for a person within or outside the district'.
SEC. 220. NATIONWIDE SERVICE OF SEARCH WARRANTS FOR ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE.
(a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 121 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 2703, by striking `under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure' every place it appears and inserting `using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by a court with jurisdiction over the offense under investigation'; and
(2) in section 2711--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking `and';
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and inserting `; and'; and
(C) by inserting at the end the following:
`(3) the term `court of competent jurisdiction' has the meaning assigned by section 3127, and includes any Federal court within that definition, without geographic limitation.'.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 2703(d) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking `described in section 3127(2)(A)'.
SEC. 221. TRADE SANCTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-387; 114 Stat. 1549A-67) is amended--
(1) by amending section 904(2)(C) to read as follows:
`(C) used to facilitate the design, development, or production of chemical or biological weapons, missiles, or weapons of mass destruction.';
(2) in section 906(a)(1)--
(A) by inserting `, the Taliban or the territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban,' after `Cuba'; and
(B) by inserting `, or in the territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban,' after `within such country'; and
(3) in section 906(a)(2), by inserting `, or to any other entity in Syria or North Korea' after `Korea'.
(b) APPLICATION OF THE TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT- Nothing in the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 shall limit the application or scope of any law establishing criminal or civil penalties, including any executive order or regulation promulgated pursuant to such laws (or similar or successor laws), for the unlawful export of any agricultural commodity, medicine, or medical device to--
(1) a foreign organization, group, or person designated pursuant to Executive Order 12947 of January 23, 1995, as amended;
(2) a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132);
(3) a foreign organization, group, or person designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (September 23, 2001);
(4) any narcotics trafficking entity designated pursuant to Executive Order 12978 (October 21, 1995) or the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Public Law 106-120); or
(5) any foreign organization, group, or persons subject to any restriction for its involvement in weapons of mass destruction or missile proliferation.
SEC. 222. ASSISTANCE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.
Nothing in this Act shall impose any additional technical obligation or requirement on a provider of a wire or electronic communication service or other person to furnish facilities or technical assistance. A provider of a wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person who furnishes facilities or technical assistance pursuant to section 216 shall be reasonably compensated for such reasonable expenditures incurred in providing such facilities or assistance.
SEC. 223. CIVIL LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURES.
(a) Section 2520 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), after `entity', by inserting `, other than the United States,';
(2) by adding at the end the following:
`(f) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE- If a court or appropriate department or agency determines that the United States or any of its departments or agencies has violated any provision of this chapter, and the court or appropriate department or agency finds that the circumstances surrounding the violation raise serious questions about whether or not an officer or employee of the United States acted willfully or intentionally with respect to the violation, the department or agency shall, upon receipt of a true and correct copy of the decision and findings of the court or appropriate department or agency promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether disciplinary action against the officer or employee is warranted. If the head of the department or agency involved determines that disciplinary action is not warranted, he or she shall notify the Inspector General with jurisdiction over the department or agency concerned and shall provide the Inspector General with the reasons for such determination.'; and
(3) by adding a new subsection (g), as follows:
`(g) IMPROPER DISCLOSURE IS VIOLATION- Any willful disclosure or use by an investigative or law enforcement officer or governmental entity of information beyond the extent permitted by section 2517 is a violation of this chapter for purposes of section 2520(a).
(b) Section 2707 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), after `entity', by inserting `, other than the United States,';
(2) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
`(d) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE- If a court or appropriate department or agency determines that the United States or any of its departments or agencies has violated any provision of this chapter, and the court or appropriate department or agency finds that the circumstances surrounding the violation raise serious questions about whether or not an officer or employee of the United States acted willfully or intentionally with respect to the violation, the department or agency shall, upon receipt of a true and correct copy of the decision and findings of the court or appropriate department or agency promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether disciplinary action against the officer or employee is warranted. If the head of the department or agency involved determines that disciplinary action is not warranted, he or she shall notify the Inspector General with jurisdiction over the department or agency concerned and shall provide the Inspector General with the reasons for such determination.'; and
(3) by adding a new subsection (g), as follows:
`(g) IMPROPER DISCLOSURE- Any willful disclosure of a `record', as that term is defined in section 552a(a) of title 5, United States Code, obtained by an investigative or law enforcement officer, or a governmental entity, pursuant to section 2703 of this title, or from a device installed pursuant to section 3123 or 3125 of this title, that is not a disclosure made in the proper performance of the official functions of the officer or governmental entity making the disclosure, is a violation of this chapter. This provision shall not apply to information previously lawfully disclosed (prior to the commencement of any civil or administrative proceeding under this chapter) to the public by a Federal, State, or local governmental entity or by the plaintiff in a civil action under this chapter.'.
(c)(1) Chapter 121 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
`Sec. 2712. Civil actions against the United States
`(a) IN GENERAL- Any person who is aggrieved by any willful violation of this chapter or of chapter 119 of this title or of sections 106(a), 305(a), or 405(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) may commence an action in United States District Court against the United States to recover money damages. In any such action, if a person who is aggrieved successfully establishes such a violation of this chapter or of chapter 119 of this title or of the above specific provisions of title 50, the Court may assess as damages--
`(1) actual damages, but not less than $10,000, whichever amount is greater; and
`(2) litigation costs, reasonably incurred.
`(b) PROCEDURES- (1) Any action against the United States under this section may be commenced only after a claim is presented to the appropriate department or agency under the procedures of the Federal Tort Claims Act, as set forth in title 28, United States Code. `(2) Any action against the United States under this section shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within 2 years after such claim accrues or unless action is begun within 6 months after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented. The claim shall accrue on the date upon which the claimant first has a reasonable opportunity to discover the violation.'.
`(3) Any action under this section shall be tried to the court without a jury.
`(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the procedures set forth in section 106(f), 305(g), or 405(f) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) shall be the exclusive means by which materials governed by those sections may be reviewed.
`(5) An amount equal to any award against the United States under this section shall be reimbursed by the department or agency concerned to the fund described in section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, out of any appropriation, fund, or other account (excluding any part of such appropriation, fund, or account that is available for the enforcement of any Federal law) that is available for the operating expenses of the department or agency concerned.
`(c) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE- If a court or appropriate department or agency determines that the United States or any of its departments or agencies has violated any provision of this chapter, and the court or appropriate department or agency finds that the circumstances surrounding the violation raise serious questions about whether or not an officer or employee of the United States acted willfully or intentionally with respect to the possible violation, the department or agency shall, upon receipt of a true and correct copy of the decision and findings of the court or appropriate department or agency promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether disciplinary action against the officer or employee is warranted. If the head of the department or agency involved determines that disciplinary action is not warranted, he or she shall notify the Inspector General with jurisdiction over the department or agency concerned and shall provide the Inspector General with the reasons for such determination.
`(d) EXCLUSIVE REMEDY- Any action against the United States under this subsection shall be the exclusive remedy against the United States for any claims within the purview of this section.
`(e) STAY OF PROCEEDINGS- (1) Upon the motion of the United States, the court shall stay any action commenced under this section if the court determines that civil discovery will adversely affect the ability of the Government to conduct a related investigation or the prosecution of a related criminal case. Such a stay shall toll the limitations periods of paragraph (2) of subsection (b).
`(2) In this subsection, the terms `related criminal case' and `related investigation' mean an actual prosecution or investigation in progress at the time at which the request for the stay or any subsequent motion to lift the stay is made. In determining whether an investigation or a criminal case is related to an action commenced under this section, the court shall consider the degree of similarity between the parties, witnesses, facts, and circumstances involved in the 2 proceedings, without requiring that any one or more factors be identical.
`(3) In requesting a stay under paragraph (1), the Government may, in appropriate cases, submit evidence ex parte in order to avoid disclosing any matter that may adversely affect a related investigation or a related criminal case. If the Government makes such an ex parte submission, the plaintiff shall be given an opportunity to make a submission to the court, not ex parte, and the court may, in its discretion, request further information from either party.'.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 121 is amended to read as follows:
`2712. Civil action against the United States.'.
SEC. 224. SUNSET.
(a) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subsection (b), this title and the amendments made by this title (other than sections 203(a), 203(c), 205, 208, 210, 211, 213, 216, 219, 221, and 222, and the amendments made by those sections) shall cease to have effect on December 31, 2005.
(b) EXCEPTION- With respect to any particular foreign intelligence investigation that began before the date on which the provisions referred to in subsection (a) cease to have effect, or with respect to any particular offense or potential offense that began or occurred before the date on which such provisions cease to have effect, such provisions shall continue in effect.
SEC. 225. IMMUNITY FOR COMPLIANCE WITH FISA WIRETAP.
Section 105 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805) is amended by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
`(h) No cause of action shall lie in any court against any provider of a wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person (including any officer, employee, agent, or other
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The media has far too long coddled these whiny, religious minorities at the expense of too many jokes and too many laughs. This type of stuff has been kept off of public TV for too long, and needs to be far more prominently viewed on international, censorship free forums, such as YouTube. Human civilization has far advanced past the point where we need adult babies running around deciding what is 'appropriate' viewing for human beings perfectly capable of deciding for themselves what they want to watch and if it is enjoyable or funny. The right to be offended, is not a right, nor is the right to impose your own lack of humour or strict moral guidelines upon other freethinking individuals whom you have zero control over, or right to dictate their viewing habits.
As such, I hope the good people at Adult Swim, will recognize the potential for hours of delightful satire available with a program such as JFC, that with proper financing could blossom from a small web series to a truly ground breaking animated series in the footsteps of South Park, Family Guy or Robot Chicken.
Satire has been an important and vital tool in the evolution of society for as long as there has been entertainment. Childish, self-absorbed censorship has never proven to be achieve positive results, while common sense and freedom have a long and glorious track record of doing wonderful things for the progress of the species. The choice is pretty clear to me. I propose you ignore that other petition, and listen to this one instead.Ernesto Valverde has been unveiled as Barcelona manager
Ernesto Valverde admits a quick look at Barcelona's achievements was enough to convince him he had accepted "the most difficult but nicest challenge" of his career.
Valverde was officially presented as Barcelona's new coach on Thursday afternoon having earlier in the day put pen-to-paper on a two-year contract, with the option of a third, at the Nou Camp.
The 53-year-old counts Valencia, Villarreal, Espanyol, Olympiacos and Athletic Bilbao among his previous coaching posts, but says joining five-time European champions Barca has taken him to a different level.
He said in his first press conference: "When a team like Barcelona call you, you don't need to think too much about it.
"It's the most difficult challenge in my career but also the nicest. I have great confidence.
"The demands are very high and just by looking around the museum I understand the pressure that I have, and the results that my predecessors achieved were very high, great coaches in the history of football.
"I wanted a difficult challenge and of course this is one of the biggest, I've no doubt about that."
Valverde, who played for Barcelona under Johan Cruyff between 1988 and 1990, is well aware of the club's traditions, expectations and playing style.
Barcelona's new coach shakes hands with the club's president, Josep Maria Bartomeu
He said: "I'm conscious of Barca's style of football. I know it, I have to re-adapt to it.
"My idea is to help the players be better players, create team spirit and achieve results.
"All the coaches who have passed through here have been aware of the style but have put their personal stamp on things.
"The possibility of improving the team? It's a difficult question. I can have my ideas but I must be grateful to the work of my predecessor because Luis Enrique achieved great things.
"I think there are things I can do differently but it's something I must decide as we go."
Valverde takes over the Nou Camp reins from Enrique, who won nine trophies in his three years at the club but could only add the Copa del Rey at the end of his final season.Source: The city's Powerpoint presentation, embedded in this April 16 Apple Daily report.
1. The buildings are too big, dramatically increasing disaster risks
The five buildings of the overall complex (A, B, C, D, and E) were originally planned to occupy 95,800 ping (316,619 m^2), but were then expanded to occupy 149,000 ping (492,445 m^2). This overexpansion has made the Taipei Cultural and Sporting Complex an area with high degrees of hazard potential and disaster risk.
The original dome plan in 2004 was for 47,189 m^2 of building and 55,396 of empty space. In 2015, the plan is for 55,909 m^2 of building and just 38,044 of empty space, an empty space reduction of 17,352 m^2.
2. The structure of the dome and commercial zone creates a safety crisis
The lines of movement by people leaving the dome combine and narrow, which results in people having to stand and wait. The paths to leave the dome are tortuous for people on each level of the structure. They rise up and fall down in altitude, making it difficult to escape.
If there were a fire, the steel of the structure would conduct the high temperature, and it’s feared the structure would then be warped. Moreover, the fire-retardant wall is tortuous by design, and if there were an earthquake, it could be damaged, causing the fire and smoke to spread further.
3. The parking lots of each building of the complex are connected, making it easy for a fire to spread from one to another
A massive parking lot is planned under the Taipei Dome, one that could contain 3,800 scooters, 2,226 cars, 56 loading and unloading trucks, and 60 buses. In the case of a fire, it’s feared that the flames could spread across the parking lot to all the buildings in the complex.
4. Not enough empty space to accommodate all the evacuees
According to a computer simulation, this is the scene 60 minutes after evacuation, with blue representing spaces filled with people:
The sunken plazas of levels B2 and B3 are not covered and are unsafe. They cannot be considered space for outdoor evacuation. Farglory’s calculation of outdoor evacuation space does not subtract invalid space and has no way to actually accommodate the evacuation of 142,000 people. The wave of evacuees would be plugged inside the dome. At present the valid space for evacuation outdoors can only accommodate 60,000 people.
5. Fire trucks cannot enter
According to the design, as the 142,000 people evacuate outdoors, they will block the fire trucks trying to approach the building to put out the fire.
Hence, the city has formulated two major substitute plans:
A. Keep a modified Taipei Dome but not some of the other buildings.
46,022 m^2 of building space (44.8%) and 47,931m^2 of free space, capacity of 88,638 people.
B. Get rid of the Taipei Dome and make the area a public culture and performance space.
19,883 m^2 of building space (19.3%), 78,927 m^2 of free space, capacity of 78,927 people.
The Apple Daily’s report:
Taipei City hits Farglory in the face with 5 safety inspection problems
Today at 10 a.m., Taipei City released the results of its safety examination of the Farglory Taipei Dome. It announced that because the dome is surrounded by other buildings, like shops and hotels, there would not be enough room for evacuation of those inside in the case of an emergency.
On March 17, nine investigators from inside and outside the government conducted an on-site examination, and officials were sent to Japan twice to witness computer simulations of how an evacuation would proceed, Deputy Mayor Lin Chin-jung 林欽榮 indicated. SimTread software was used. Computer analysis proceeded for 37 days on the matter of whether the existing design for the building created points where evacuees would be stranded, and included 8-minute, 15-minute, and 60-minute situations.
Farglory response to Taipei City’s 5 problems: they’re already solved
Abridged translation of an April 16 UDN report.
The Taipei City Government today announced its report on the Taipei Dome safety inspection and presented five major fire safety problems. Farglory Group Assistant General Manager Tsai Chung-yi 蔡宗易 stated in response that these problems have already been resolved and asked the Taipei City Government to “seriously” read its plan. He expressed hope that the city government will inspect the Taipei Dome according to the law and said that if the company has violated any laws, it will take care of these issues itself.CHICAGO
Mayor Rob Ford may have left Toronto but he couldn’t shake controversy Tuesday.
Ford toured Chicago’s Millennium Park to kickoff the start of his two-day Team Toronto Business Mission but ended up shouting down questions about taxpayer-funds being used to help the high school football team he coaches.
And during a friendly chat with Chicago residents, he ended up mistakenly saying Manitoba was across from Detroit — rather than Windsor.
The mayor has spent the last week refusing to talk to reporters about allegations he used taxpayer-funded staff and resources for the youth football teams he coaches.
During a photo opportunity beside Millennium Park’s Cloud Gate, Ford at first ignored a question from a reporter who asked why Chris Fickel, a mayor’s office employee, drove a City of Toronto vehicle to a football practice Tuesday for the Don Bosco Eagles — the team the mayor coaches.
Asked a second time, Ford finally responded:
“A car that I paid for right?” Ford said. “Do your homework. I paid for it last year.”
George Christopoulos, Ford’s press secretary, then jumped in to cut off the questions.
“Thanks guys, the photo op is over,” he said.
Ford ignored follow-up questions asking him to clarify if he is misusing city funds.
“Am I going to be sleeping with you … tonight?” Ford asked a reporter while laughing. On his Sunday radio show, Ford said he expects to roll over in bed and find a reporter spying on him.
The reporter replied, “I hope not.”
“I hope not too. Go home,” Ford said. “Holy smokes.”
“How does this create jobs?”
Ford eventually walked away from reporters surrounded by his staff.
Christopoulos later clarified the mayor’s office budget was charged $2,706.14 for use of a city vehicle in 2011.
“The mayor has never believed taxpayers should pay for all political office expenses,” he said. “In 2011, he wrote a cheque for $4,000 to cover the cost of business cards, stationery, newspapers and car expenses.”
According to city records, Ford paid $1,078.92 towards the cost of the car in 2011. This year he has yet to reimburse the city for any costs for the taxpayer-funded vehicle.
Tuesday’s photo opportunity started out well enough with Ford marveling at the stainless steel, bean-shaped Cloud Gate sculpture and suggesting Toronto should have something similar, perhaps shaped like a football.
“This is really cool,” he told reporters.
Acting like he was in full election mode, Ford greeted tourists and Chicago residents in the park and handed out his business card.
When he asked one girl where in Canada she had visited, she said “the part where you go past Detroit and the river.”
“Oh, Manitoba,” Ford said. “Oh, you were in Manitoba and Winnipeg?”
Someone corrected him by pointing out Windsor is the Canadian city beside Detroit.
Another man sang the praises of Toronto to the mayor.
“We love your town. My wife and I have been there 30, 40 times,” he told Ford.
“It’s like Chicago, it’s a great walking town.”BY:
Newly elected Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said Friday that Republicans "don't give a shit about people," arguing their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act does not reflect American values.
Perez gave a fiery speech to gain Democratic support at the We Build the Resistance Rally in Newark, New Jersey, hosted by the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, where he denounced President Donald Trump's efforts to repeal Obamacare.
"It does not reflect our values as a nation," Perez said of Republican efforts to repeal former President Obama's landmark health care law. The House Republican replacement plan, according to Perez, was a "massive tax break for the wealthy" and "an age tax."
Alleging that Trump did not like the title "Trumpcare" for the Obamacare replacement bill, Perez said he had his own idea for what to call the legislation.
"You know what embodies the program: ‘I Don't Care,' because they don't give a shit about people," Perez said after dismissing "Trumpcare" and "Ryancare" as potential titles for the bill, which was never brought up for a vote.
Perez also touted the Women's March on Washington, D.C. that took place the day after Trump's inauguration, appearing to validate claims he heard from the event that Trump did not win the 2016 presidential election.
"January 20th was undeniably an important day in this country, but January 21st was far more important," Perez said in an apparent reference to Trump's inauguration and the Women's March.
"‘Donald Trump, you don't stand for our values.' That's what they said. ‘Donald Trump, you didn't win this election,'" Perez said in an effort to reiterate the protesters' messages.
Perez, who served as secretary of labor during the Obama administration, also said during the event that he opposes President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, and would filibuster his nomination if he was a senator.
Perez was elected DNC chair in February, beating out Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.), who was named deputy chair.President-elect Donald Trump’s camp says it can help rebuild the nation’s infrastructure – as well as create jobs with a revitalized construction industry – by using public-private partnership’s to build new projects.
Details are sketchy on Trump’s proposal that could employ tax benefits and special financing arrangements to induce investors, construction companies and governments to build. And Congress will certainly have its own ideas on the matter.
Orange County needs no introduction to this notion.
RELATED: Want affordable housing? Move to Trumpland!
We’ve got three toll roads – 91 Express Lanes, the 133/241/261 Foothill/Eastern and the 73 San Joaquin – that seem to fit the rough concept loosely discussed by Trump and some of his inner circle. All three local tolls roads were debt-financed projects in which public transportation options were added with relatively non-traditional construction and operational arrangements between private builders and government transportation agencies.
In the process, Orange County has seen the pros and cons of such road-building deals. Here are six lessons worth sharing.
ROADS GET BUILT
Nobody is reinventing the wheel with this proposal.
Orange County has proven that you can design, finance and build roads with cooperation between numerous parties.
Trump’s idea could be quickly up and running, assuming there’s congressional will to buy in and legitimate projects to build. It’s a comparatively simple formula for roads: plan, borrow money, build … then repay the debts with toll collections. At the core, it’s user financed.
DRIVERS USE THEM
It isn’t simply build-it-and-they-will-drive-it, even though Orange County’s tollways get plenty of use: Drivers took 108 million trips in the last fiscal year while paying $331 million in tolls.
That use is not because of any genius business strategy. Local freeways are so crowded that any additional lanes for traffic – even ones that cost significant cash to drive – will be used, especially at peak commuting hours.
Remember, it took years for Orange County’s masses to largely accept the concept of paying to drive. But you can only imagine how extra-bad local traffic would be without these roads.
MIXED POPULARITY
Not everyone is a fan of toll roads – and that’s both drivers and local policymakers.
That resistance will be a hurdle for any new fee-based infrastructure project. Expect significant push back from both local planners and drivers – not to mention neighbors of any proposed projects.
Those concerns, if nothing else, may scare off some potential industry partners or nudge those developers to ask for more generous terms for the work they do.
Drivers are skeptical, too, and in Orange County that meant toll roads initially drew less traffic than hoped for. That created various needs for additional and expensive financing tricks to pay off the original construction debts.
TOUGH BUSINESS
Selling toll roads is no easy task.
Drivers – for professional or personal trips – carefully watch their transportation budgets. And tolls, at least in Orange County, aren’t cheap.
If the product isn’t priced right, or the overall economy is cyclically challenged, Orange County tollway operators have learned their cash flow will fluctuate wildly.
Not only have Orange County’s toll roads faced severe financial pressures, similar byways in Texas and Illinois have ended up in bankruptcy. These deals are no slam-dunk money makers.
TRANSLATABLE?
OK. We know that using novel financing can work to build new roads.
Using such schemes with other forms of transportation – like rail or air – may translate well. But what of crafting other new public works? And what about the nation’s under-maintained, even crumbling, existing infrastructure?
How does a financing idea that’s essentially a lease program fix outdated bridges, transpiration terminals, hospitals or public safety facilities?
FOR THE POOR?
Orange County is a wealthy region where overpriced transportation like toll roads will be used.
Will similar infrastructure financing schemes work in regions with far less prosperity? Will investors want to bet on inner cities or rural America?
You can even make an argument that in Orange County the toll roads are little help to the region’s less fortunate. Well, unless you consider the reduction in traffic from toll-lane use as a quantifiable benefit.
Contact the writer: [email protected]—A grotesque scene captured on video early Sunday of a taxicab running over a young man in Montreal has led to charges being laid against the driver.
The incident happened before 4 a.m. Sunday in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont Royal borough, when an argument broke out between the cab driver and his clients.
The driver appeared in court Monday afternoon while the 23-year-old victim, who is in stable condition in hospital, could also be charged, along with another man, police said.
If the commentary by the person filming from a nearby building is to be believed, the conflict began when one of the men slammed the taxi door too hard.
The video begins with the car, a Toyota Camry, making a circle as the 23-year-old man kicks the driver’s side door. The arguing escalates and harsh words are exchanged. Someone throws what appears to be a broken piece of the vehicle at the cab’s back window. Other people enter the scene and begin to argue with the driver.
The young man then kicks the driver’s side door again, twice. The cabbie reverses, and the man kicks the door again. The driver then moves forward aggressively, narrowly missing some of the people assembled. “He’s sick,” someone can be heard saying.
A different man in a white baseball cap kicks the passenger door, pounds on the trunk and then hops on to and stomps on the roof and windshield.
It’s at this point that the 23-year-old, positioned at the front of the car, is hit and thrown to the ground as the cab hits the accelerator. Both the front and the back of the car can be seen to bounce as the tires roll over his body.Deliveroo, the London headquartered restaurant food delivery startup, has raised $385 million in new funding, giving it a valuation of “over $2 billion,” according to the company.
The Series F round is led by U.S. fund managers T. Rowe Price, and Fidelity — who have previously backed the likes of Facebook, AirBnB and Tesla — with existing investors DST Global, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, and Accel Partners also following on. Total funding for the European unicorn now sits at $860 million.
The new capital will be used by Deliveroo to invest in three aspects of its business:
The first is expansion of its “Editions” (previously called RooBox) programme, which sees it open delivery-only kitchens to enable partner restaurants to expand without any of the traditional upfront costs, whilst increasing food selection for customers and optimising delivery times.
Second, the company plans to continue to grow the size of its technology team who, amongst other things, work on Deliveroo’s “real-time logistics algorithm and artificial intelligence systems” to help improve the speed and number of deliveries that can be made in order to increase what are otherwise very thin margins for on-demand food delivery. Another aspect to its data science is working out where it should launch the next Editions kitchens and what type of food is in demand locally.
Third, Deliveroo says it wants to rapidly expand into new towns, cities and countries. “This will allow more people to order great food quickly to their door from their favourite local restaurants,” says the company.
Will Shu (pictured), founder and CEO of Deliveroo, said in a statement:
“I remember how excited I was carrying out our first delivery. I hoped that people would love being able to order great food from their favourite local restaurants straight to their front door. I am proud that just four years on, millions of people use Deliveroo in over 150 cities around the world. This is all thanks to the hard work of our riders, the great restaurants that we work with and our brilliant customers. So I am extremely pleased that our new investors share this vision and have decided to make such a significant investment in our future. With this funding we will invest further in our delivery-only kitchens Editions, in developing our technology and in taking Deliveroo to more towns and cities. This investment will take us to the next level and allow our riders to deliver ever more great food directly to people’s doors.”
Meanwhile, the company’s accounts for the year ending 31 December 2016 were recently filed, and although they are obviously already 9 months out of date, make for interesting reading. As Business Insider reports, Deliveroo grew a lot in 2016, with revenue up 611 per cent to £129 million. But losses were up too — a 300 per cent increase to £129 million. However, the figure to really watch is the food delivery company’s gross margin percentage, which sat at just 0.7 per cent.All of Israel’s Arabic schools went on strike Monday in solidarity with 47 church-run schools fighting for equal funding from the state in comparison to Jewish religious schools. The discrimination in education is a microcosm of an entire system of inequity.
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett published an op-ed last week marking the start of the new school year. “This is the first time I’ve reached this day with 2.2 million students under my responsibility, besides my own four children,” he wrote, promising to ensure that all schools had the tools “to bring you [the students] and the entire education system to new heights.”
The article might have been praiseworthy if the reality of Bennett’s policies were different. On the same day Bennett’s op-ed was published, 47 Arab church schools launched a strike in protest of the Education Ministry’s decreased funding of their institutions. These schools serve about 33,000 Christian, Muslim and Druze Arab children, and are among the highest-ranked in the country. The strike has now entered its second week, and was joined on Monday by all schools in the Arab sector for a one-day protest in solidarity.
The Israeli government has tried to dismiss the schools’ accusations by saying the church schools are “recognized but unofficial” and are treated fairly within that category. That is far from true. In the past several years, the Education Ministry shrunk its funding of these schools from under 75 percent of their budgets to almost 29 percent, while simultaneously restricting how much they can charge families for tuition. This starkly contrasts with Jewish religious schools in the same category, which have a Torah-oriented curriculum and are covered for 90 to 100 percent of their budgets.
Although the protests are focusing on the 47 church schools, the strike highlights the increasing frustration with the longstanding inequality between Arab and Jewish schools in Israel. For years, consecutive Israeli governments announced various plans to close the wide gaps between the education systems, but they are unlikely to be impactful or sustainable.
An entire system of inequality
The problem is that successive Israeli governments, and their plans to correct educational disparities, all failed to address one of the most important root causes of the inequality: that the Arab education system remains hostage to the state’s discriminatory politics. If influence in government is required to improve a community’s access to state resources, then Israel’s Arab citizens have little to no sway. There has never been an Arab party in a ruling Israeli coalition, and the Jewish parties in power never had much interest in meeting the Arab community’s education needs.
This indifference can be seen in the unequal allocation of resources to the Arab sector. Despite Arab towns and villages making up a disproportionate amount of Israel’s poorest communities, officials have been more inclined to allocate funds to Jewish communities, including settlements in the occupied territories, based more on political interests than social-economic need. The Education Ministry itself carries out the same policy: while Jewish students in early education received NIS 807 (~$200) in support from the ministry per month, Arab students received only NIS 693 (~$175) – 16 percent more for Jewish children than Arab children.
The discrimination is most severe in the Naqab (Negev), where the state’s refusal to recognize 35 Bedouin villages, and its intention to forcibly displace the residents, means that schools cannot be built in the villages, nor does the state provide buses to transport the children to schools in neighboring towns. Even in recognized villages, electricity, water, safe roads and other basic services are either lacking or absent, thus debilitating the quality of school facilities. It is therefore unsurprising that in 2014, for example, 75 percent of three- and four-year-old Bedouin children did not attend or did not have access to (state mandated) preschools, compared with only 5 percent of Jewish children in the same age bracket.
If you control education, you control the narrative
These structural obstacles are only part of the story. At the same time that equal resources are denied to Arab schools, the state has consistently targeted the content of the Arabic curriculum to prevent expressions of the Palestinian narrative in Arab public schools. To this day, Arab students do not formally learn about their community’s history outside of the Israeli narrative, relying instead upon their families or their own initiative to do so. Meanwhile, many teachers and students who wish to raise the subject in class are fearful that they may be reported on by informants for the Israeli authorities who monitor political activity at the schools — a practice that has existed since 1948.
The efforts to silence the Palestinian narrative in schools intensified under Netanyahu’s right-wing governments since 2009, promoting a culture of intimidation that views these expressions as punishable acts. The Nakba Law, for example, threatens to pull state funding from any institution that allows the commemoration of Israel’s independence day as a “national day of mourning,” which has led to crackdowns and pressure on students wanting to mark Nakba Day on school and university campuses.
More recently, Bennett joined Culture Minister Miri Regev’s campaign against Haifa’s Al-Midan Theatre by removing the play “A Parallel Time,” a story of a Palestinian prisoner who built an oud in his cell, from the list of cultural performances that schools could show to their students. Thus, far from “teaching more tolerance” as Bennett recently claimed in a New York Times op-ed, the Israeli government is in fact telling Arab citizens that their freedom of expression remains subordinate to the right wing’s nationalist values.
The Arab community has not been passive in the face of these historical and political obstacles. In fact, it has made major advancements in spite of them, while proposing practical solutions to budgetary issues and even the content of the Arabic education system. But these efforts are trapped both by the government’s bureaucratic neglect and the deliberate policies that stem from the state’s discriminatory politics, which views education for the minority as a conditioned privilege instead of their basic human right.
The current strike is therefore not just about restoring funding for church schools: it is a reminder that an Arab child’s education should not have to suffer from politicians who view him or her as unequal to their own children.It doesn't matter who you plan to vote for in November; it doesn't matter whether you are right, left, or in the middle; it doesn't matter if you're Republican, Democrat, Green, Libertarian, Transhumanist, or something else. To not let in one of the major 3rd Party candidates into the presidential debates happening at the end of September and early October is not only un-American, it's a betrayal of a free and fair election -- since media is so essential to our voting process.
While many candidates, including myself, would like to be in the presidential debates, there's only one candidate who is truly qualified and has strong polling numbers warranting inclusion: Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson. Johnson, who is polling in the low double digits nationally, is not new to politics. He's a former two-term Governor of New Mexico, a successful entrepreneur, and a well-known adventurer. His Facebook profile has over a million likes. Gary Johnson's Vice President, Bill Weld, is also a former governor and is highly respected in Washington -- and he should be included in the Vice Presidential debates, too.
I don't want to be that conspiracy theorist guy, but I'm wondering if something is afoot to try to keep Gary Johnson out of the debates -- possibly brought on by the Democrats and Republicans. I'm finding it hard to understand why any reasonable person or organization -- including the organizers of the presidential debates -- wouldn't want Johnson to be part of them. So far he hasn't been invited, despite the fact, in a recent poll, 62 percent of Americans said he should be included.
Rules of qualifying for the debate are set by polling nationally at 15 percent, but that seems biased to me. Rules should be set according to whether a candidate polls nationally above 5 percent and whether that candidate can technically win the election -- and in Johnson's case, there's a clear electoral path to winning the presidency since he's the only 3rd Party candidate that is going to be on all 50 state ballots.
Why are the debate organizers not listening? Ratings will surely be better with Johnson in them anyway. And America will learn something of multi-party democracy, as opposed to essentially a monopolistic 2-party political system.
"The Johnson/Weld campaign being denied access is a robbery of what the American people are looking for," says inventor & Gary Johnson proponent Charles Peralo. "In the last century, I can't name one national election in which both parties nominees had more people with a negative opinion over a positive one on them and be it Glenn Beck, Bill Maher, Cenk Uygur or John Stossel, they think the two established governors deserve a chance to make their voice heard along with over 60 percent of American's making this wish. What even holds more telling on the need for this voice is that America deserves to see a candidate they actually might enjoy and not see as a defense of the other parties nominee. For this, Gary Johnson and Bill Weld need to get access."
Times are changing in America. Inequality and racial tension are rising. Transhumanist technologies like artificial intelligence, bionics overcoming disabilities, and gene editing science challenge our outlook on humanity. Millions of taxis drivers and major multi-million dollar nonprofit organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) may not exist in 10 years since cars will self drive. Pizza companies are gearing up to deliver their pizzas by drones.
America and its people are adrift in a way we've never been before. Are two voices all we really want to choose from for the world's most important and powerful job? Gary Johnson and counterpart Bill Weld are the politicians who actually have governing experience, too. How can we sit back and just allow Clinton and Trump, two of the most disliked candidates in recent history, to face off when there's another candidate who technically can win the elections -- presumably only if allowed in the debates?
The main point here is that letting Gary Johnson into the debates isn't even about winning -- it's about getting a better perspective of what America is and where she's heading. To see with more clarity we need more voices -- at least one more voice.
If you care about America, and you care about a fair and open election, allow in the leading 3rd Party candidate to debate, who is Gary Johnson by a wide margin. He will force Clinton and Trump to address the real issues at hand for America, so that our country can have a profound conversation about how to truly improve itself.AMERICA WILL HAVE a new professional rugby competition from 2018 onwards, with Major League Rugby set to launch in the States.
The US has yet to successfully crack a professional league set-up, despite PRO Rugby showing early promise last year with internationals like Mils Muliaina and Pedrie Wannenburg, as well as several Irish players and coaches, involved.
However, PRO Rugby terminated all player contracts in December and came into dispute with USA Rugby, the governing body for rugby in the US. While PRO Rugby insist that their organisation is not defunct, they have not announced any future plans since.
Ireland and the All Blacks played in front of a vocal crowd in Chicago last year. Source: Photosport/Andrew Cornaga/INPHO
Major League Rugby is now set to step into the void, driven by existing USA Rugby-member teams.
The league has announced that it will launch next year with 10 teams. So far, teams have been confirmed in Glendale, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, Seattle, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.
A 10th host city is to be announced in the coming months, along with a schedule for the first season, as well as player contracting information.
Stating that the ML “will be the premier rugby competition in the United States,” organisers say they are keen to expand into new areas beyond 2018.
“By drawing on the best domestic talent, MLR will create an intense, fast-paced competition and a top-tier media product,” says their press release.
MLR will introduce rugby to the American sports mainstream, provide a focal point for millions of existing fans and bring even more new supporters to the game.
“Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and one of the most popular sports in the world, as evidenced by the strong reception it received at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
“Rugby’s rising domestic growth and wide-reaching global fan base combine to create a unique environment for a professional league to succeed in the American market.
“While hundreds of local clubs have helped the sport to take hold in the US during the past decade, Major League Rugby is poised to unite these fans under a common banner as rugby enters the American sports mainstream.”
Ireland played the US in Houston in 2013. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO
The MLR will hope to build on the existing strengths of the American rugby, particularly the deep passion for the sport among a hardcore following, while they will receive backing from unnamed private investors, “who believe that American rugby can thrive at the highest levels.”
It remains to be seen if MLR can deliver in terms of providing a sustainable and high-quality professional club rugby competition in the US in the coming years, but their goal of making US rugby “an influential player on the international scene” is laudable.
Many see the States as a potential hotbed and a nation where the possible growth of rugby could change the entire landscape of the sport.
The sheer scale of athletic talent in the States – much of it discarded after not reaching the NFL or other professional leagues – has always excited rugby coaches and clubs, with several having dipped into other sports looking for possible rugby stars.
A well-run professional league would certainly help to improve the quality of the US national team, currently ranked 17th in the world, and could also open up new opportunities for players and coaches of all nationalities.
Many in the rugby world will be watching with interest to note how Major League Rugby fares next year and beyond.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!Test 2671-01 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
The inside of SCP-2671's entire containment unit becoming covered completely with pictures of
itself in front of a white background. Each had a different size with an average of 5cm X 5cm. The pictures were painted instantaneously onto the walls of the cell via an unknown process.
Test 2671-02 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
SCP-2671 was turned completely upside down while floating 8 centimeters above it's pedestal for the period that the subject remained in the room, reverted to its normal position 10 seconds after the subject left the room.
Test 2671-03 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
The pedestal on which SCP-2671 was originally placed had been moved with nothing anchoring it to the right wall adjacent to the container's door. The four bolts attaching the pedestal to the cell floor were delicately balanced on top of each other on the top hat of SCP-2671; SCP-2671 was found placed on the floor.
Test 2671-04 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
SCP-2671 had been stretched over 40 times its normal width to have its ends touch the left and right walls to it, however its height and depth remained constant.
Test 2671-05 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
The inside of SCP-2671s containment chamber had become a glass room similar to that of the inside of SCP-2671 fluid bulb, however, it did not include any of its fluid. The background presented outside of the glass bulb depicted what is believed to be an enlarged version of bedroom in the [REDACTED] family home. The room contained what appeared to be paraphernalia relating to that of a 10 year old boy. The pedestal on which SCP-2671 was placed had a miniature steel replica of its containment chamber, constructed to.02% of the cell's actual scale.
Test 2671-06 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
The inside of SCP-2671's containment chamber became completely transparent, but seemed to
replicate the effect of one-way glass. Subjects inside the cell could see the personnel outside, but personnel on the outside saw the containment cell as normal.
Test 2671-07 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
Everything left unchanged inside SCP-2671's containment cell, except SCP-2671 itself, which had become animate and hopped slowly while making small vocalizations. Its calling and actions were similar to that of Cyanocitta Cristata. It did not at any time attempt to fly or escape the room, even when compelled out of the chamber with bird seed.
Test 2671-08 : Default Procedures, See Footnote 1.
Test Results
SCP-2671 showed no anomalous
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imitate a look of relief. “Can’t believe I didn’t notice it right away!” I lied again, carrying on the charade as I slung the sandy colored canvas backpack over my shoulder.
“Fuck me if I’m leaving empty handed to this shithead who stole my $500 North Face ski jacket,” I thought precariously.
I headed out into the hallway and then raced down the stairs, taking them five at a time.
I heard the desk attendant’s voice trailing behind me trying to keep up, “Buddy Man! Wait up… GOD DA–!”
The Indian man tripped on a piece of torn carpet.
I made it down the flight of stairs, sprinting through the turn wheel and past the front desk.
“Hey where’s the money!?” The other desk attendant snapped after me.
The first Indian was only then making it out of the stairwell, limping.
Not bothered to look at him, I kept running, “Sorry, didn’t find my wallet!”
I had already spent most of my cash by then, but, honestly, I probably wouldn’t have paid them anyway.
I think he said something back to me but it was drowned out by the noise of the city as I flew through the front doors.
I had severe tunnel vision as I headed directly to my truck, still parked out front.
After I fumbled with my keys for a few seconds, I opened the door and hopped in the driver’s seat. I tossed my new backpack behind the passenger seat, and pushed it deeply within the back seat’s foothold.
I glanced towards the front doors of the Henry Hotel to see if that front desk guy was still chasing me. Fortunately he wasn’t. I felt a small sensation of relief.
I closed my eyes and I let out a deep breath. And just as my panic was finally starting to subside, I was startled again when I hear the passenger door being opened. In my haste I didn’t lock the doors. I look over.
My first thought was of the desk attendant. However, the face I saw was not the face I was expecting–I immediately felt nearly all the blood in my body rush up through my neck, filling my face.
“I’ve been looking for you, bruh,” said Skeet.
Part 4 – The Shakedown
I specifically remember how dry my throat was. Because of this, I decided to limit my mode of communication to head nods and hand gestures for the next few minutes for fear of having my voice crack if I said anything aloud. If I was going to get out of this whole ordeal unharmed, I would have to appear at least somewhat tough, in Skeet’s mind at least. Or else I’d need to come up with a different way to placate this dangerous individual.
An ominous fog appeared from nowhere and hung heavy outside the truck’s windows.
Now, let’s just take a step back and rehash this situation we have here. It surely wasn’t at the time, but it’s almost comical to me now the scene that unfolded as I sat there. It’s more from a detached sense of wonderment that I even look back on this whole ordeal. It took a year passing for me to even really reflect on what happened throughout that day without having a small anxiety attack while thinking about it.
So there I sat. Frozen. Eyes wide.
In my field of vision, Skeet was on the left; the stolen backpack on the right, I could clearly see the two–both entities appearing blissfully unaware of one another.
Initially, I was so stunned and panicked because I had I instinctively assumed that Skeet had seen me leave the hotel with his precious backpack in hand. But, miraculously, that didn’t seem to be the case, so I thought.
My overt panic symptoms started to subside under the thought that there was a small chance that I may not be getting beaten to a pulp today afterall.
But, it still didn’t help that Skeet, the guy who I just learned robs and beats the shit out of people for a living, was sitting mere inches away from his own stolen backpack.
Unbeknownst to Skeet, there was dynamite and fire in our midst. I knew I was going to have to orchestrate some sort of beautifully coordinated ballet in order to prevent the two from mixing.
As one can probably imagine, I was on edge, and my feelings reflected the situation–the tension was palpable.
Looking at Skeet, I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear anything.
After a few moments of watching his teeth go up and down, I was finally able to comprehend the audible words.
His words sliced suddenly through my self-induced silence, “YO! Fool, are you fucking deaf?! Let me borrow ya phone! Don’t make me say it again.”
Skeet’s voice came back loud and clear. I shook my head to help snap out of my panic, now realizing with more certainty that he wasn’t aware I had just jacked him.
After his request for my phone, I remained quiet, but I instinctively looked down at my ashtray where my prized Iphone was propped out of. The ashtray in my Tacoma always fit that phone perfectly, thus acted as a makeshift phone holster.
Skeet saw my glance and immediately followed my line of sight. He snatched the phone up quickly, without saying a word.
I could hear the phone start to ring on the other side as he leaned my direction to speak again, “Yo, playa, my phone ran out of batteries and I just need to call my boy Trev. Where you go anyway? Thought you was going to the bathroom.”
He turned his attention back to my phone without waiting for an answer when Trev answered.
“Ayo, Trev, I’m up in front of the Henry in a blue truck, hurry up.”
Skeet then put the phone down—but in his own lap. I noticed this, but didn’t say anything.
After a while of waiting, Skeet’s dealer, Trev, showed up. He was a smaller kid, white, early twenties, light brown hair, overall pretty average and unremarkable. He actually looked kind of timid, although it may have just been Skeet’s presence. But, it didn’t help him that he had bad posture and wore a t-shirt that was several sizes too big for him.
Skeet told Trev to hop in.
“Hey Skeet,” I started, “You know, I really gotta get back to my house. I’m meeting up with someone and I’m already late,” I lied.
“You’ll be home soon mang,” Skeet replied, “This won’t take very long. We just need a ride over to the Plaza.”
Skeet kept tapping his fingers on his right knee as he sat next to me in the passenger seat.
“Alright, well, can I get my phone back though? I need to make a call,” I lied again.
“I’m almost done with it,” which was Skeet’s way of saying, “No, you can’t have your phone back.”
I tried to act oblivious to the situation unfolding as to not provoke Skeet further, but I knew the ordeal was getting serious, and little by little, out of my control.
I was beginning to get pretty nervous about the phone in particular. I would never had let him use it, on my own accord. I surely would have lied and said I didn’t have it with me or something similar.
It is important to know that around that time in my life, that phone was essentially my only lifeline to the outside world. It had all my contacts, so it was the only way I could get ahold of my main connections. Also, I relied heavily upon that phone to get public transit times when I wasn’t in my truck, which was a lot of the time. And lastly, and maybe most importantly, the phone doubled as my laptop. So, I needed it to search for jobs, which was more crucial than ever now that I was gainfully unemployed.
Not only for these reasons, but if something were to happen to that phone, I’d have no way of replacing it. If I remember correctly it was an iphone 4s, which was the newest model at the time. And with rent coming due, there was no way I could afford to replace it.
I told Trev that the back passenger side seat belt was broken. This way he would have to sit behind me, behind the driver side. I couldn’t risk him moving around near Skeet’s backpack on the other side, and Skeet possibly catching a glimpse of it. The mere thought of that happening made me shudder.
I stepped out of the truck to fold forward my seat down and let Trev in the back, it was a two-door, four-seat truck, with two fold-down seats in the back. Skeet was still sitting in the passenger side front seat.
After a second or two of directions from Skeet, we were on our way to the Plaza.
Skeet was mostly just being lazy because it really wasn’t that far, it probably would have been even quicker to walk.
After a few minutes of driving, we arrived in an expansive parking lot area behind the Plaza and Skeet directed me exactly where to park. He pointed towards a group of people sitting around a patch of dead roses near the back right corner.
I put the truck in park, but left the engine running. I didn’t want Skeet to get the idea that I was staying long. I rolled up both front windows while Skeet opened the front side door and stepped out onto the bleak pavement of the parking lot. I couldn’t help but notice that he still had my phone in his hand.
My backseat area is fairly small, so Trev maneuvered himself into the now vacant front seat to sit while we waited.
Skeet was still trying to get ahold of someone on my phone. Pacing back and forth alongside the rear of the vehicle, and nodded his head to the group of people we parked by. These were people that Skeet was apparently acquainted with.
Skeet told me that as soon as he got in touch with his ‘homie’, he’d be done, and I could be on my way.
Trev politely tried to make small talk with me. I tried to make it obvious that I was not in the mood. By that time, I was getting really nervous again.
I sat there waiting impatiently as Trev continued to gush in my right ear about how ‘fire’ the chiva he had been getting recently. I laughed casually to myself because, if you remember, this was supposed to be Skeet’s ‘main guy.’ It was clear to me by then that Trev was no more than a lowly middleman, if that.
“What a joker,” I thought to myself.
Skeet walked up to the passenger side window and motioned for me to roll it down.
Before he could even say anything, I cut in, “Skeet I need to leave now, you need to give me my phone back, and, Trev, you need to hop out.”
Trev started to whine something or other about how he thought maybe I could give him a ride back to the Sunset district when an ominous smile crept across Skeet’s face.
My gaze never left Skeet’s face; I knew he was up to something and I assumed that I was about to find out. I was correct.
“Ya, about that…” Skeet started, “I’m gonna need about $100 if you gonna be wantin’ ya phone back.”
Trev immediately stops his whining as he turned his head to get a look at Skeet, trying to gauge what was now going on.
A thick, dead silence hung forebodingly in the humid air of the truck.
“Skeet, come on man, I’ve given you rides, food, and free dope all day man.” I pleaded.
“No worries brudda,” Skeet smiled casually to himself, “I’ve been wantin’ me a new iphone anyway.”
“Skeet, not cool man, just give him his phone back. We need it to call my connect anyway,” Trev protested in my defense.
“He can get his phone back if he wants… for $100.” Skeet replied to Trev, ending in a high-pitched, mocking tone.
In that instance, I was close to boiling, “You are a fucking piece of shit scumbag. You know that?” I asked Skeet as I reached into my back pocket for my wallet.
I knew I had enough cash and I wanted nothing more than for this day to be over.
“It is what it isn’t—wait, it ain’t what it is? No, it is—ahhh fuck it, however that saying goes. Homie, we all gotta make money somehow,” He said quickly.
The dumbass meant to say, “It is what it is,” but the fool was so goddamn stupid he couldn’t even get that right. Not to say, “It is what it is,” is some sort of brilliant defense anyhow.
Skeet brushed some non-existent lint off his shoulder and continued, “And just so you don’t think to do anything stupid,” he gestured toward the group of people behind him, “All these fools back here got my back.”
I honestly don’t remember being too scared, so I don’t recall if I was shaking from fear or anger. I rested my arms on my lap to steady their movement. Slowly but steadily, I split my wallet and looked to see what I have inside: it was probably a little over $100.
“I only have $50 left, is that gonna be enough?” I asked Skeet.
“Yea that should do it. Now hand it over,” Skeet said firmly.
I handed Skeet the cash, and presented my open palm for the phone. Skeet ignored the gesture and carefully counted the money, then reached for his own wallet.
“Dude, Skeet, give him the phone, ya’ll made a deal.” Trev said somewhat naively.
I still wasn’t sure about Trev, but he sure seemed to be genuinely on my side, and I was happy for any help I could get at that point.
Growing more furious by the second, I asked Skeet if he was going to give me back the phone.
“The money is only half of what I want. I want the rest of the dope you got from that dude Jock,” said Skeet, while counting through the money once more before carefully placing the cash in his billfold.
“This motherfucker!” I thought angrily to myself.
Take my money, take my phone, hell, take the clothes off my back; but never, ever steal my mental fortitude, my anxiety blanket, my depression prevention, my medicine; in other words, don’t steal my dope.
My whole body was pretty much shaking uncontrollably as I sat there and did the mental math, weighing my options.
I thought to myself:
“Fight?
…
Forget the phone?
….
Fork over the heroin?
….
Hmmm…fight?”
…
Trev was another curve-ball I wasn’t sure about. Was he going to get out of my car willingly? Or, would he prove to be trouble as well? Up until that time, Trev was mainly trying to convince Skeet to give me back my phone, which was a good sign, but I didn’t know if he was on my team for sure.
I thought it over again. The value of the phone versus that of the remaining dope (versus fighting and most likely ending up in the hospital). Also, I had to consider the fact that he might try to shake me down further, even if I gave him the rest of my dope. That was surely a possibility worth considering.
“Once I give you the black, how do I even know you’ll give me the phone?” I asked Skeet.
I could almost see the cogs turning in Skeet’s head.
Apparently, this wasn’t a question that I was supposed to ask because he didn’t have an answer ready, and the shithead even seemed offended by the question.
“Are you…are you, you calling me a liar, bruh?” Skeet responded with his head tilted to the side, like a confused dog.
I rolled my eyes.
I knew I didn’t have much of a choice. Like I mentioned early, that phone was my lifeline and I undoubtedly needed it. I was just going to have to take the loss and hope beyond hope that Skeet would give me my phone back, possibly for the sole purpose of getting rid of me.
“Fine, just give me a fucking second.” I said as I reached into my center console and grabbed my faithful druggie kit–which happened to be a old black leather Ray-Ban sunglasses case; a special belonging of mine that had become my junkie talisman.
I opened the case and took out the heroin.
I had bought a ‘Mexican’ 8-ball off Jock earlier, about 3.2 grams, and the only amount that was gone was from what Skeet and I did earlier at my apartment, and the small bag I sold to Brian. So, there was probably still at least 2 grams left of the $100+ per gram stuff.
But, before I handed the black rock over to Skeet, I made sure to covertly fingernail a rather large piece off in case I couldn’t get any more dope that day. Also, I was most definitely going to need something to relax after this, surely.
I reluctantly handed the valuable chunk over to Skeet, as Trev looked on, wide-eyed.
All in all, Skeet now had me for close to $300 for the day, not including my jacket. And the second after I dropped that chunk of black into Skeet’s hand, by the look on his face, I knew he was going to try for more.
In prevention, I exclaimed, “Skeet, I don’t have anything else, no cash, no black. Just give me my phone…please!” I pleaded with Skeet.
“Come on man, he paid up, now do good on it,” Trev echoed.
Bathed in anger and frustration, I decided right then and there, that there was no possible outcome where Skeet was getting anything else from me. I decided I was going to go home in a body bag before Skeet procured another dollar of value from me.
As Skeet thought about what he was going to ask for next, I tried to think about what I was going to do.
I came up with a simple plan to get my phone back. I was still boiling, yet I wanted to be sly about my demeanor, rather than ostentatious.
The scenario was such as this: Skeet had his forearms rested on the door frame where the window was rolled down, leaning them into the car, both his arms hovering over Trevor’s lap. Skeet’s arms were crossed, so my Iphone was in his left hand, but on his right side.
I began the act, “Skeet, listen man,” seemingly leveling with him, “I’ve had a pretty bad day already, and just look what I’ve been dealing with…I think I broke my wrist when I was walking to the bathroom earlier.”
While I was talking, I leaned over the center console with my right arm extended towards Skeet, in front of Trev.
“Look,” I said, “do you see it?”
I turned my arm over and gave Skeet a good view of the underside of my wrist, right in front of his face, so it blocked some of his view.
Confused, Skeet’s eyes narrowed to get a good look at what I was trying to show him.
My eye’s were staring at my wrist also, wide and intently, as if to say, “Go on, look at this…”
At that very same moment, with my eyes still locked on my right wrist, my left hand snapped out of hiding–like a snake on its prey–and reached quickly but blindly for the phone in Skeet’s hand.
I hoped that my right hand was enough of a distraction before he could realize what was happening, and pull the phone away.
Before Skeet could even react, I was back sitting upright in my seat…holding my precious Iphone.
All the pent up frustration from that far in the day was released out of me in one enormous fell swoop, in the form of words and in a stream of the most verbally abusive firepower I could exude. Every racist, offensive, mean, vulgar sentence that came to mind, I threw at Skeet in those next few moments.
Skeet didn’t do anything but stand there, stunned.
He said something to the tune of, “Ya well I still got your money and dope bro,” yet it was easy to sense the defeat in his tone.
He was right, but given the fact that Skeet probably never intended on giving back my phone, it still felt gratifying.
I locked the doors, rolled up my window, and floored it.
I was almost to the edge of the parking lot when I slammed on my brakes. Tires screeching, I threw the truck into reverse, and sped backwards until Skeet came back into view.
Without saying a word, I reached back and grabbed the backpack behind Trev and showed it to Skeet, dancing it next to my face, with a shit-eating grin forming in the corner of my mouth.
The feeling of satisfaction I got from watching Skeet’s facial expression go from confusion to dread was almost worth the entire $300. I will never forget that moment.
As I sped out of the parking lot, I realized I still had one more person to deal with.
“Dude, I’m so sorry about that,” Trev said, “Sometimes he can be a real asshole, I don’t know what was up with him.”
I didn’t respond to that but instead asked him a question, “Can you still get ahold of the guy you know with fire?”
“Hell ya man, how much do you want?” he replied.
I didn’t want to spend the rest of my money, but we did come up a generous amount.
“Also,” I added, “if he can’t meet up in the next 20 minutes, I don’t want to do it. I’ve dealt with enough bullshit today.”
“Ok, can I use your phone to call him then? He lives right around here,” said Trev, with no hint of manipulation in his voice.
I was positive I could easily beat the shit out of this kid, so I had no qualms with handing over my phone. Besides, I had so much adrenaline running through me, and was so jacked up at the time, that this kid would have seriously been a moron to pull something sketchy on me.
Trev quickly got a hold of his guy and agreed upon a meetup spot. I asked for my phone back immediately and he gave it back, I put it in the center console, out of view. We drove a few blocks over back to the Mission area and parked across from a liquor store, about half of a block away from where we needed to meet the guy.
We also needed to make a quick pit-stop before the deal went down because we were short some supplies to shoot up. Some fresh water and some new cotton would do the trick, we had everything else ready.
We both headed into the liquor store. I walked around getting the things we needed and a few extras as Trev just waited outside the front doors, smoking a cigarette. I was feeling a little parched, so I was in front of the Arizona Iced Tea section when Trev popped his head in the store.
“Hey yo man, I think I see him down at the end of the street. I’m gonna go get him, aite?”
“Ok, sounds good dude, I’ll meet you back at the truck,” I replied.
“Wow, something that happened rather easily,” I thought to myself.
I thought that maybe my shitty day was finally turning around, after all.
I took my time picking out just the right drink. I was still riled up and it was a little bit hard to think straight. Not that it mattered, but I specifically remember picking out the Mango flavor Arizona Iced Tea before I headed to the cash register to pay.
I tried to use mostly the loose change I had grabbed from my truck, as to not cut into any of the drug money, so it took me a minute to pay the Asian store clerk. I was paying in mostly pennies and dimes. And the clerk seemed rather annoyed, but I couldn’t have cared less.
I headed back over to my truck, I hadn’t bothered to lock it on my way in, so I just opened to door and plopped down in the front seat. I took a really deep breath and let it out slowly, closing my eyes.
“What a day,” I consider to myself, “What a day.”
…10 minutes passed, then 15…
I started looking around to all the viewable street corners to see if I could get a view of Trev. Nothing.
Another 10 minutes passed…and another…
After about forty minutes, I decided I was going to call Trev to see what was taking him so long, only to quickly realize he didn’t have a phone, which is why he had been using mine, of course. I reached for my phone to pass the time.
A sudden panic filled me once again that day.
I searched through the center console, but it was not there. Nor in the ash tray, the side compartments, glove compartment, or under the seat.
To my horror, I started to realize there were other things in the car missing as well. My Dad’s kindle, which I kept in my favorite grey backpack, had been in the back seat, but not any longer.
My eyes noticed Skeet’s canvas backpack, still stuffed tightly in the foothold. I found it strange that he didn’t take that. Also, I had detox medications to help with withdrawals that were in the glovebox, but no longer there. Additionally, there should have been a portable speaker and nice pair of white headphones in the center console, but neither were there.
“NO.NO. NO… NO… NOOO!” I shouted to myself while banging my head against the steering wheel, letting off a few ‘honks’ in the process, “THIS IS NOT HAPPENING, THIS IS NOT HAPPENING,” I prayed aloud in desperation.
It was happening, and I was jacked (granted, due to my own stupidity) twice within an hour.
There is an interesting point you can get to with emotions like depression, fear, and sadness. It is where you feel so much of it, for so long, and in such great quantities, that there’s a point where you actually just sort of weirdly feel like you popped through the emotional spectrum, emerging on the other side. In other words, it was like feeling so low that I felt nothing else in the world could even hurt me. This feeling comes only sporadically in certain situations, but is actually, paradoxically, extremely empowering.
At that point, I was so absolutely numbed by the day’s activities that I was sort of wearing it as a metaphorical emotional shield.
I had decided that enough was enough. Trev was not going to get away with this, not like Rosie, or Skeet.
Well, honestly, I thought that he probably was going to get away with it…but not if there was anything I could do about it while I lived. I truly felt like I had nothing else to lose, and it was completely liberating.
I had to formulate a plan quickly.
I ran inside and begged the clerk to let me use the store’s phone for a quick call.
Thankfully, he obliged, and I dialed my phone number. It rang twice, then went to voicemail.
“Good,” I thought, “my phone is still on, Trev is probably still using it. My plan might just work.”
After I got back in my truck, I made a fist with my right hand and hit myself in the cheek as hard as possibly could. I took a second swing and this time drew a little blood. That should do. My plan was progressing.
The sun was starting to go down as I turned the ignition and floored it.
I was headed for the Bay Bridge.
Part 5 – The Chase
The truck was roaring as I raced through the East Bay, near Oakland, from one neighborhood to the next.
A short time later, the pervasive sound of the old V-6 engine sputtered out as I turned off the ignition at the end of my gravel driveway.
I made my way down the walkway to the front of the building, and I could see that my living room light was turned on.
“Good, this is good,” I said quietly to no one in particular.
My roommate being home was key to this plan. I hustled up to the front door, and entered. My roommate jolted from the couch when I burst in through the front door.
“Whoaa, what is–”
“Marco!” I cut him off, “I need your help. I need to borrow your phone.”
I was panting from my quick sprint up the stairs. I began to tell Marco what had just transpired.
He was on board after I briefly explained the situation. He was going to let me use his phone in order to access the ‘Find Your Iphone App’ and locate my phone.
So, we fired up the app on his phone. Both of us stared intently at the screen, as if the harder we watched the faster it would load.
Once the app appeared, I entered in my log-in information and on the next page tapped the button to locate my phone.
“That mother-fucker, “ I said aloud, “There he is…”
A lonely little blue dot was moving slowly across the screen. It was moving northward overlaid on the map of San Francisco.
Trev, if he still had the phone, was walking through the Tenderloin, right next to the middle of downtown San Francisco.
Before I headed back, I thought it would be a good idea to grab some sort of protection as well. I went into the kitchen and looked through my roommate Marco’s shiny array of cooking knives. I grabbed the 9-inch blade, the largest one in the set.
Marco asked wearily if he should come with me. But, in all honesty, he was the type of person to faint at the sight of a drop of blood from a paper cut. Not that I was a regular Rambo protégé myself, but Marco would undoubtedly get in the way and probably end up slowing me down.
I told him I’d be alright on my own and vanished through the door before he could object.
I kept checking the phone to make sure Trev was still using it, and to make sure he hadn’t turned it off yet. Sure enough, it was still there. The little blue dot was still floating through the Tenderloin as I mobbed through the East bay at twice the speed limit, headed towards the Bay Bridge once more that day.
When I got to the bridge, I reached again for my roommate’s phone. I dialed the number slowly and nervously.
“911, What’s your emergency?” I heard the polite, but professional, dispatcher say over the line.
I took a slight deep breath and responded cautiously, “I…I just got mugged.”
My story was that I was waiting on the sidewalk, leaning on against my truck while using my phone, when I was approached by a white male asking for money. When I declined to give him money, the male then hit me in the face with his fist. And, as I laid on the ground, the guy picked up my cell phone and also quickly went through my unlocked vehicle. After stealing a few valuables, he took off on foot.
I don’t remember exactly how the conversation went, but that was the gist of my story. The 911 operator had a few questions for me, and after I answered them I explained my current situation.
I explained how I was on my way back into the City to go after the guy, and how I was using my roommate’s phone to track the stolen phone on a map.
A couple more questions and the 9-1-1 operator put me on hold while she contacted the police.
When she came back, the first thing she said was for me NOT to go after the suspect myself. She was very adamant about that. She was going to have me meet with a police cruiser at Market and 8th. The police officers would take care of the situation from there.
At the time, I thought it was pretty awesome that they were sending police officers just because of a stolen phone. But having some time to reflect on the whole ordeal, I’ve come to realize they were most likely only sending the police officer’s because of the physical violence, and threat of future violence (i.e. me running after the thief in the ghetto). Also, I’m guessing they really didn’t want me going after the guy by myself in the most dangerous area in SF.
In other words, it really wasn’t even about the stolen phone to them. And in hindsight, I am actually lucky I worded everything the way I did on that 911 call, or else I might not have gotten that police cruiser to meet up with me. I’ve had friends who have had their phones stolen on public transit only to get the completely off-hands approach of, “You need to come into a police station to file a report,” from the 911 operator.
After speeding through the city I finally arrived at Market & 8th. I parked a couple blocks away and headed the rest of the way on foot.
When I finally got there, it was night time by then, and the cops were nowhere to be seen.
Market and 8th is usually a pretty bustling stolen goods market, but at that time there was not much going on. I paced back and forth, looking both directions down the street, listening for sirens.
The sirens never came but my head snapped around as I heard the sound of screeching tires behind me. A police cruiser with an SFPD logo on the side came to a sudden stop in the middle of the road on the west side of 8th Street.
I cautiously approached the vehicle.
“Hi, officers. I think–”
“Are you the guy who made the call about the assault and stolen property?” the officer getting out of the driver’s seat asked me.
“Yes, yes that was me.” I replied.
The officer gave me a kind of up-and-down look and said, “Ok then, hop in.”
I made my way into the back of the police cruiser, suddenly becoming more aware of the 9” blade I had sheathed in my front pocket. I made an effort to tell them about it, but before I could they cut me off with more questions.
After retelling the story the same way I told the dispatch person, the officers seemed content with the details.
“So, you’re following him with that other phone, right now?”
“Yes,” I said as I showed him through the middle window.
“Where is he now?” one of the officers asked.
I looked down at my roommate’s phone and pinched the screen to zoom-in.
“Looks like he’s at Leavenworth and Turk, heading…east.”
“Ok, hold that phone so I can see it while I drive,” The officer said as he reached back and opened a small sliding window in the middle of the partition.
The opening was just about wide enough for my arm to fit through.
I had to crouch sideways in the footwell. The middle partition was up to my shoulder, I was extending my arm as far as it would go through, with the phone out in front and facing the officer in the driver’s seat.
He flicked at one or two switches on his front control panel and the sirens went blazing as we rocketed off towards the Tenderloin.
I couldn’t help but think how awesome it was to actually have the cops on my side. It was certainly a strange feeling, since I usually am trying my utmost to avoid them. But, I was white, well-kept, and wore relatively nice clothes, so I’ll be damned if I have a tool at my disposal that I’m too ashamed to use. Fuck that non-sense. I was out there to inflict as much damage on Trev as possible, no matter my method.
Anyway, so there we went, racing through the TL, siren wailing. I was starting to fear that the siren would ward off Trev. But then I felt sort of stupid for thinking that, because it dawned on me that a police siren in the TL is like jazzy music in an elevator, you don’t even really pay attention to it.
The knife in my pocket was seriously starting to burn a hole in my pocket. If I know anything about cops, it is that they don’t like surprises and they appreciate having all the information upfront. Wanting to be clear that I was on their side, I spoke to the passenger side policeman:
“Hey, by the way, I just want you guys to know that I brought a knife with me.”
The officer raised an eyebrow and responds, “You should have told us before you got in the car. Take it out please.”
I did as instructed, with my left hand, my only available hand at that moment.
“Jesus Christ. Were you planning on butchering a cow while you were out?” The officer remarked incredulously.
“I just brought it in case, self defense, you know…?” I stammered.
I was unaware of this at the time, but apparently concealing a blade above a certain length (like the one I had) was a felony in SF. But, thankfully, it was clear to them that I didn’t have an ulterior motive with the blade; so they let it slide (they did end up confiscating it though, and I ended up having to buy my roommate a new one–a small price to pay, most definitely).
The scene that was unfolding before me must have looked comical if not downright improbable to the outside viewer.
There I was, turned sideways, jockeying the backseat of the police cruiser, one had reached through the partition showing the phone to the driver, while my left hand was waving around a recently sharpened 9” serrated cooking blade. Mind you, the car was going about 60 mph over the hilly terrain of San Francisco. So, I felt like I was trying desperately to stay balanced on one of those mechanical bulls you find at bars, doing my best just to hang on.
After one more hard right turn, my armpit digging painfully against the metal edges of the partition, the driver flipped a switch and the sirens went silent.
“We’re getting close,” He said, “If we are going to make an ID, we’re going to have to do it through you, not through the phone. So start looking out the window, and let us know if you see him.”
Up until that point in my life, believe it or not, I had never actually been in the back of a police cruiser. And I was surprised at how difficult it was to see out the windows. With all the protective plastics it had to prevent the window from being kicked out from the inside, it proved very difficult to see out clearly. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make a proper ID on Trev.
My eyes squinted, I tried very hard to look closely at every person walking along the sidewalk. It was
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about movies, yet don’t know your movie history. But, where are their television equivalents? The A.V. Club does a great job revisiting select classic television series, but its impractical to think many readers are going to follow suit and watch if they haven’t already. It’s one thing to carve out two hours of your day to watch ‘The Parallax View’ for the first time, it’s another to watch 635 episodes of ‘Gunsmoke.’
The case will be made that classic television isn’t as important as classic movies. This line of thinking is bullshit. Again, this isn’t an argument against the way we digest culture, it’s an argument that a part of culture is dying and no one seems to care. No one is arguing that ‘Citizen Kane’ doesn’t deserve its never-ending praise, but it’s a shame that less and less people can appreciate ‘The Bob Newhart Show,’ let alone ‘Newhart.’ (You’d think that the 'Newhart' finale would extend its shelf life, but speaking the name George Utley out loud draws a fair amount of blank stares.)
No one is ever going to forget Charles Foster Kane’s name. But, Dr. Bellows is already a lost cause.
Mike Ryan is senior editor for ScreenCrush. You can contact him directly on Twitter.PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Coahuila — Two agents from a special police unit known as Fuerza Coahuila have been arrested for the alleged kidnapping and extortion of a family of Central American migrants who were trying to get to Texas.
The police officers are accused of kidnapping and extorting the family by making promises of crossing them to Texas after a ransom was paid off. The agents had locked up the family at a stash house in this border city.
Sources within the Coahuila Attorney General’s Office (PGJE) confirmed to Breitbart Texas that this week that members of the PGJE Investigative Police Unit carried out a raid at the stash house where the Fuerza Coahuila members had allegedly been holding the family. The operation was kicked off after a Central American woman contacted authorities about the kidnapping of her family, The PGJE investigators arrested the two Fuerza Coahuila officers at the stash house.
The border city of Piedras Negras is used by drug cartels and human smuggling groups as a stepping point for entering Texas. The lack of border security in the area has allowed groups like Los Zetas — now called Cartel Del Noreste, to move ton quantities of cocaine and thousands of illegal immigrants with minimal difficulties.
The two police officers from Fuerza Coahuila whose names have not been publicly revealed were taken to the Piedras Negras state prison. Breitbart Texas was able to obtain an exclusive leaked photograph of one of the alleged kidnappers.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.M. Martinez” from Piedras Negras, Coahuila and Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz.Part I: Preparation
Part 2: The Fight
He hit me with a single leg coming up. I f*cking worked on that--I knew about that fight for like 16 weeks, four months. It was too long--too much preparing, too much training. It was too much where by the end of the training camp I was like, 'When is this fight going to get here?' But I worked on that [defense] 100, maybe 1,000 times. And he still hit me with it. I saw it coming too! He just sat up, and I knew it was coming, but I don't know. *laughs* He was just very good at that. I knew it was happening. I was prepared for it, and it didn't matter.
I think he's just a level above in the grappling. It's not a simple problem. It's not one thing they can just solve, you know? He gets in there, he has that really strong body lock that gets them down. His game is really simple, but it works. Simple pass, straight to mount or back, straight to the finish. It's nothing fancy, but it's just something he does really, really well.
Part 3: The Aftermath
So he'd hit me with something and I'd remember, 'Shit! This is MMA.' Scramble scramble scramble. Then he would go right back to jiu-jitsu. He was like, 'No. We're doing jiu-jitsu, and now I'm going to just ride you and I'm going to force you to do this.' OK, cool. I can stall here. Wham! Oh my god. How did he generate that much force? Scramble scramble scramble.
Part 4: Comparing Maia
And as he was pulling on my head, pulling across my throat to sink in the choke, I literally felt like he was ripping my abdominals open. Because he was extending backward. He pushed his hips down and away and he sunk the choke up and away. So my lower body's going one direction and my upper body's going in the other direction. It felt like he was literally pulling me apart. I tapped to the brutal, brutal abdominal pain. I was pretty messed up for a few days after that. I've never felt anything like that.
Part 5: Predicting Woodley vs. Maia
Demian Maia swings his right leg over the back of his adversary's neck. He juts the left leg over, locking his right foot in the crook of his left knee.He pulls on his foe's head. He squeezes. The opponent quits.It's a common image inside the UFC Octagon. That situation--or a close variation--played out nine times in Maia's UFC career thus far, a run spanning 25 fights and 10 years. A decade of dominance.Saturday, July 29, at UFC 214, Maia competes in his 26th bout inside the Octagon. He takes on UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, a powerhouse wrestler with one hell of a mean right hand.But there's not a style Maia hasn't conquered. He's submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, Division-I All-American wrestlers, and vicious strikers. You name the style, Maia's forced it to tap out.The 39-year-old Brazilian is a force on the mats unlike anything we've seen inside the eight-walled battle chamber, leaving 19 of the world's baddest dudes bewildered and stunned. He's forced them to say "that's enough" at an uncommon clip, making him one of the scariest fighters on earth.His success is rooted in one skill--grappling. A one-trick pony in a multi-faceted game, Maia is an oddity, a relic of days past.Can one man's grappling be that good? Is Maia that special?We reached out to five of Maia's past opponents in search of answers. The common threads became apparent.Yes, he is that good. And he's not.That is why he wins.Facing a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt of Maia's caliber is a daunting task, something that hangs like a thunderhead over each and every training session.To prepare for Maia is almost impossible. Fighters are done before they've weighed in.That's a problem--but it's one some foes have solved. Others weren't so lucky.I spent a little bit of time working on getting out of that body triangle, but I spent a lot more time doing scrambles before he got it in. I knew once he got it in, it's hard to get out, so it was all about preventative measures.Every time he got my back, I would go into some kind of roll or stand up. Never turn back and stay there. If Maia would spin to the back, the plan was to get out instantly. I think at one point he actually almost got my back, but I was able to spin out and ended up on top--which was a thing I drilled. I don't think it went exactly how I drilled, I really just like scrambled and rolled and it worked. *laughs*Going in, with our old coach and stuff like that, it was like, 'You can't go to the mat with him! Don't go to the mat with him!' So we worked a lot on getting back up, but in the fight, you know what? I didn't feel like it was--I remember he started to pass my guard at one point, and I kind of held him off and was able to strike a little bit. I don't know.He didn't feel like it is when you watch him. Like, holy shit, man, I can't believe he did what he did to Carlos Condit. You know? That was just amazing. That performance to me was amazing, because Carlos Condit is an animal. He's a fu*kin' beast.I felt comfortable with it [Maia's grappling]. Part of the advantage I had in the fight is that I trained with Checkmat, those Checkmat guys. So I'd seen some of his style, that Checkmat style and the stuff they do. So I knew what he was doing and where he was going as he was doing it. I just didn't have the strength or the energy to fight it. I was able to defend all the submissions and I saw everything coming. I saw where he was going. I just didn't have the oomph to put any effort into stopping it.I think being exposed to that Leo Vieira Checkmat style allowed me to kind of see what he was doing. So I wasn't surprised. I think he surprises a lot of people.When you fight somebody who is that good, you really can't prepare for it. Because who are you going to bring in that's an equal to Demian Maia? And how are you going to get up to his speed in a three- or four-month training camp? No. He's been doing this for 20 or 30 years.Before I made it to the UFC, I won quite a few fights by submission. The triangle was kind of my go-to move from the bottom. I won with a shoulder lock against a giant one time right there in the Roseland [Theater, in Portland, Oregon]. But once I made it into the UFC, my takedowns just weren't that good, because I didn't wrestle as a kid.And then working with Team Quest, everybody thinks, 'Oh yeah, you're Team Quest, you must be a great wrestler.' No. No. We didn't have any wrestling classes, any wrestling practices. We just had guys that were world champion wrestlers. So I would try to shoot a takedown on [Randy] Couture, [Matt] Lindland, [Dan] Henderson, Chael [Sonnen], and they would just stuff me and beat the hell out of me. So there was no way for me to actually work and build up that skill during those rounds with these guys.No fighter plans to lose. Against an opponent like Maia, the solution seems simple: Don't get taken down. Don't engage him in the grappling world. Just. Don't.Time and again, though, Maia makes it happen. He forces the fight to the ground, and from there, it's bad news almost every time.What sets Maia apart here is nothing flashy or otherworldly. To his opponents, that is precisely why his success is so amazing.He does the same thing every time. It's the same damn escape he does to absolutely everybody. He gets to half guard, bends your leg one way and reaches to your hip with the free hand and then swings around on top. We all know it's coming, but we can't stop it because he does it so incredibly well.(Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports)He's asking me, 'What's two plus two?' And I say four. Then he's like 'Oh, sorry, I switched it to two times two.' Wait, that's still four. So he says, 'No, it was two divided by two.' That's one. So he's changing the equations so quickly and I'm trying to answer them but now he's throwing in letters and doing algebra and geometry and I'm still back here doing pluses and minuses and he's off getting his graduation cap.The depth of his game, he really is'still waters run deep.' Because he's not overly flashy. He's had some great takedowns. When he took down Chael up against the cage, that was beautiful--landed right into a mounted triangle, which was incredible.I actually called him out after he beat Ed Herman. I called up Joe Silva and I said, 'I want Demian Maia. I think I can overcome him. He won't be able to take me down, I'm going to end up in his guard, and I'm going to hammer him with elbows.'But I wasn't able to avoid the takedown. He's not necessarily sneaky, but he's so aggressive with that forward pressure and throwing you off balance. I remember thinking, 'He's a southpaw, I need to keep my leg to the outside, keep my leg to the outside…' And as I'm thinking about that, he hit me with a shot and rushed in for the takedown. And I'm like, 'Goddammit, this is exactly where I don't want to be.'It's a combination of things [that makes him special]. One, he's really strong. He's also really persistent. When he goes for things, he just keeps going for them. He keeps hunting stuff down until he gets it. And obviously he's really technical as well. It's just that combination--he's strong, persistent, and technical, and a lot of guys in MMA don't know how to deal with it.I think he's really gone back to just focusing on jiu-jitsu. For a minute, he was kind of trying to be a striker. Then he decided to just stick with basic jiu-jitsu. Keep it simple. Get the takedown, straight into the submission.Persistence. If you're close enough to hit somebody, you're close enough to get taken down. That rule will never change. So if Woodley is putting hands on him, he's putting himself in a position to get taken down. Also, if Demian is able to use the cage--he's pretty good at putting people into the cage--then he gets takedowns and simple trips and sweeps. He'll even climb your back from the cage. I don't think he's going to hit a double leg and take Tyron Woodley down. I think he'll get it to a clinch situation, put him in the fence, tie him up, and get him to the ground eventually.I call it 'lazy technique.' Why put in the effort if you can easily do the same thing? Part of it is that Checkmat style. A lot of guys don't know what it is and they don't pay attention to it.You ask any fighter, 'Are you worried about what your opponent's going to do?' and they'll say the same thing. 'Nope. I'm not worried about him. He needs to worry about me. I'm just focusing on my game. If I have to worry about what he's going to do, I'll defeat myself.'So every fighter tells themselves that before every fight, but when it comes to Demian Maia, it's so clear what he's going to do that you can't help but think of anything else, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.If you're riding a bicycle and you see a pothole in the road, you think, 'OK, here comes that pothole. Gotta make sure I don't hit that pothole.' And you're staring at the pothole, zeroed in on the pothole. Well instead of looking where you want to go, you're staring where you don't want to go, and sure enough, you run right into that pothole.So we're all thinking, 'Man, jiu-jitsu, that's his only game. I just can't let him take me down.' That's what we're focusing on. And it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 'He's not going to get me, he's not going to get me.' And you're focused on that instead of just thinking, 'I'm going to hit him. I'm just going to work my game. I'm going to make this stuff happen.' You become too overwhelmed thinking of what he's going to do.I thought it would be a tough, grinding fight that wasn't going to be easy, because he's a far different fighter than most guys. Watching him, he's obviously very good at what he does, and it was what I expected. He's got good takedowns, good body locks, really hard to get him off you if he's on top.For some, the end comes swiftly, almost mercifully. Maia is perhaps the kindest sir in all of MMA, a true "martial artist" by definition.He'll submit you, then he'll give you a kiss on the cheek (or on the lips...Nate Quarry). He might even invite you to a seminar (...Neil Magny).Nineteen times inside the Octagon, Maia emerged victorious. Even those who have beaten him, like Shields, can attest: Doing so will not be easy. You will struggle. You will rely on the totality of your skills.And even then, Bruce Buffer might say the word "split" while announcing the final scores.It's great [to have a win over him] but I'd definitely feel better if I had submitted him or done it in a more dominant fashion. It's still great to beat Maia and better him on the ground, but in my mind I would've liked to have done it in even better fashion. Maybe someday we can rematch--either in a fight or a grappling match would be cool. Submission Underground would be pretty cool. *laughs*That's the thing--for a while, I think he wanted to become a more complete fighter. I think we all go through that. I was a wrestler/grappler, and I got to the UFC and even won my first whatever amount of fights in the UFC--that's what I did, and I did really well. Then it was like, 'I want to be more complete.' I want to be able to strike and do this and that. So I changed my focus and training. I maybe lost a little in the grappling area. I kind of stopped training that--not fully--but not as much and as hard at it.I watch the sport, I've been through it, I've seen Jim go through it, and I think Demian realized, 'This is what I'm good at. If I want to be world champion, it's not going to be by striking. I'm not going to go in and knock these guys out. I'm going to go in and submit them.' I think he's really concentrating on that aspect of his game again, like, 'Screw it. I don't care if people think I'm boring. I'm going to go in, and this is what I'm going to do.' And he's doing it fantastically. He goes in, and these guys, they don't have a chance on the mat. Zero. It's amazing to have that type of control.(Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)What really amazed me and what I did not comprehend about jiu-jitsu in MMA...it was just so phenomenal. It was like we were doing a grappling match.He'd be approaching a position and I'd be like, 'Cool. I'm going to shut that down so he can't continue this attack. I'll just stall right here.' Then all of a sudden, no. We're doing MMA. And he would hit me with a shot and I remember thinking, 'How the hell is he generating so much force with these punches? This is unbelievable.'Then he would go right back to jiu-jitsu. So it was like at any point when I thought we were doing jiu-jitsu, he would switch to MMA. And then I'd be like, 'Oh my god, I gotta cover.' And then he'd switch back to jiu-jitsu and just be a blanket on top of me. It was just really incredible to feel that energy.I really consider it such an honor to have fought him--if you can call it that because it went by so quickly--but he was just such an incredible competitor. Then the first words he said to me after the fight were 'I'm sorry.' He hugged me, he said, 'I'm sorry,' then he kissed me on the cheek. And I went to kiss him back on his cheek and as I did that, he turned his head and we ended up kissing on the lips. And it's on camera in front of millions of people.Strength comes from positioning, and I think his superior positioning is what gives him that illusion of such strength. When I fought him, I was really sick, so I didn't have any energy or strength myself to kind of fight him, but his positioning is good. He knows where to go, where to put you in a position where he knows what you're doing next. He's a hybrid type of fighter with his jiu-jitsu because his jiu-jitsu is more suited for MMA than a lot of other people's jiu-jitsu.I can tell you after studying Maia, for my fight and every one of his fights since, he's good at the in-between. You don't see very many guys who are like this. Fighting starts on the feet and most of the time it goes to the ground. Maia pulls himself to the ground with you on top and then looks for that same half guard sweep every single time and takes the guy's back. There's never been a fighter who gets their takedown by taking themselves down aside from Demian Maia.He has a good single leg, and we saw it in the [Jon] Fitch match, but he pulls you on top of him and looks for the reversal. It's an in-between type wrestling you don't see much. Ben Askren did it in amateur wrestling, but no one in MMA has ever done it where he puts himself in a bad spot to get where he wants to go.Maia isn't overly fast, overly strong or big, and when I fought him it was at 185, so he was small for the weight class, but the in-between stuff he does is very difficult to stop. He's working these small things to gain position and set up attacks that are very, very uncommon.Having felt the strength and expertise of Maia, his opponents are uniquely equipped to draw comparisons.Shields and Fitch, for instance, tout a couple lauded grappling-centric common opponents in Georges St-Pierre and Rousimar Palhares.Miller, meanwhile, competes in grappling tournaments, having faced elite black belts in that realm.They all agree: Maia is special.For straight jiu-jitsu, Maia is probably the best guy I've faced in MMA. I obviously lost the Palhares fight, but I thought I was handling him pretty easily until--no excuses--but I got gouged in my eyes and couldn't concentrate, but I feel like I wasn't having much trouble with him.Maia's right there. GSP has an underrated grappling game as well, but we didn't spend much time on the ground. He [GSP's] got great strength, great base, great balance. He's very hard to sweep. He's got great intuition and always knows when you're trying to sweep him. He's quick and knows where to go. He just naturally knows how to shift his weight.From a technical standpoint, he was smoother and more technical than any other fighter, grappling-wise, that I've faced. Jake Shields is very good, very technical, but he's got a lot of strength behind some of his positioning, whereas Maia isn't like that.A lot of these other guys are explosive or athletic. Maia is just persistent and constant. It's heavy pressure, but it doesn't feel like somebody's trying to muscle you around.[Jeff] Monson is obviously beastly strong. But, man, I rely a lot on attacking, just going after it and attacking. I think it puts some of these guys, they have to defend more, so they're not attacking, they're not moving forward as much. I think it slows them down a little bit. With Monson, I'd pull guard, and I didn't feel threatened at all on my back.I think a lot of these guys look at him, and none of these guys are attacking him and making him think. They're just defending. And when you're that good, you're already two steps ahead of a guy. They're not putting him in any position where he feels threatened. He'll attack, and he knows what they're going to defend with, so he'll move to the next thing and the next thing. If you don't throw a wrench in his game, you're never going to stop him.It was funny, everybody thinks I tapped to the rear-naked choke. That's not really the case. He was choking me. He had his forearm across my windpipe if I remember correctly, but he had the figure-four body lock on me.For Maia, it all comes down to Saturday night. He's accomplished damn near everything inside the realm of combat, but that UFC gold eludes him.He faced Anderson Silva for the middleweight title at UFC 112, eventually losing a unanimous decision. Now, seven years later, Maia's riding a seven-fight win streak, and he's at the top of the welterweight mountain. Woodley remains.If he pulls it off, he will notch his 20th UFC victory, and it will represent a special one. Coincidentally, the only people who have defeated Woodley inside the cage--Nate Marquardt, Rory MacDonald, and Jake Shields--have also defeated Maia.On paper, the powerful, younger, faster Woodley has the advantage. His takedown defense is phenomenal, and if Maia can't take him down...then what? According to our panel, though, that's a massive "if." Maia is alive in this fight. Don't be surprised if the words "and new" ring out in Anaheim late Saturday evening.It's a really tough one to pick, because they both have advantages. Maia clearly has a jiu-jitsu advantage, but Woodley has those big power punches. Will he be able to get in or not? It's hard to say. I think Maia's built a little more where he won't gas, but it's so much energy trying to take someone down who is that strong. There are so many factors. It's almost like a 50-50 fight.I think if Maia stays on him, just keeps shooting and sticking him to the cage, he might be able to take him down with a body lock or a single off the cage. I know Woodley's a much better wrestler, but sometimes you add the cage in and it's a little different. Plus I know Maia's been working a lot of wrestling his last couple camps.I've bet against Tyron Woodley so many times, and I'm always wrong. *laughs* But I don't know, man. I don't know. Demian Maia--I just think it's his time. I think it's his time. I think he does take Woodley down eventually, and on the mat, he's just been ridiculous. I don't think Tyron's got much there for him.I hate to give predictions because I'm usually so wrong I can't separate my emotion from the game itself. I lean toward a decision for Woodley, and I think it's going to be a boring fight. Woodley's going to be using a one- and two-punch combo, in and out, moving, bicycling around the cage so much that Demian's going to have a hard time really shutting him down and locking him into a position he can't escape. Then look for Woodley to shoot a takedown with maybe 10 seconds left, at the bell, so he can win the round. Then do that round after round.That said, I respect Maia so much. If he can get Woodley down, that would most likely be it. He would just have to worry about Woodley exploding from whatever position. If he's on his back, exploding to a turtle position then exploding up and away. Maia's so much slower. He's a grinder. I gotta give it to Woodley by a boring decision. Hopefully Maia won't see this and be like, 'I'm going to go choke that bitch again.'That's where Tyron Woodley has an advantage because he does have that explosiveness. But I don't know if he has the knowledge. You can be explosive and explode the wrong direction against someone like Maia and it's over. He's got one of the tools, and that's the explosiveness. But is he going to have the knowledge to know which way to explode? And then his cardio--is his cardio going to be able to do it for five rounds?It's similar to a Jake Shields game plan because you have to be explosive and fast and work hard all the way through the escape. If you stop halfway or give half effort or hesitate, you're just going to get dominated and put in an even worse position.Anyone who tells you Demian Maia can't win this fight doesn't know what they are talking about and isn't a fight fan.King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein (Arabic: عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين, ʿAbdullāh ath-thānī bin Al-Ḥusayn, born 30 January 1962) has been King of Jordan since 1999. He belongs to the Hashemite family, who have ruled Jordan since 1921 and claim agnatic descent from Muhammad's daughter Fatimah.
Abdullah was born in Amman as the first child of King Hussein and his second wife, British-born Princess Muna. As the King's eldest son, Abdullah was heir apparent until Hussein transferred the title to Abdullah's uncle, Prince Hassan, in 1965. Abdullah began his schooling in Amman, continuing his education abroad. He began his military career in 1980 as a training officer in the Jordanian Armed Forces, later assuming command of the country's Special Forces in 1994, and he became a major general in 1998. In 1993 Abdullah married Rania Al-Yassin (of Palestinian descent), and they have four children: Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem. A few weeks before his death in 1999, Hussein named Abdullah his heir, and Abdullah succeeded his father.
Abdullah, a constitutional monarch, liberalized the economy when he assumed the throne, and his reforms led to an economic boom which continued until 2008. During the following years Jordan's economy experienced hardship as it dealt with the effects of the Great Recession and spillover from the Arab Spring, including a cut in its petroleum supply and the collapse of trade with neighboring countries. In 2011, large-scale protests demanding reform erupted in the Arab world. Many of the protests led to civil wars in other countries, but Abdullah responded quickly to domestic unrest by replacing the government and introducing reforms to the constitution and laws governing public freedoms and elections. Proportional representation was reintroduced to the Jordanian parliament in the 2016 general election, a move which he said would eventually lead to establishing parliamentary governments. The reforms took place amid unprecedented challenges stemming from regional instability, including an influx of 1.4 million Syrian refugees into the natural resources-lacking country and the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Abdullah is popular locally and internationally for maintaining Jordanian stability, and is known for promoting interfaith dialogue and a moderate understanding of Islam. The third-longest-serving Arab leader, he was regarded by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center as the most influential Muslim in the world in 2016.[1] Abdullah is custodian of the Muslim and Christian sacred sites in Jerusalem, a position held by his dynasty since 1924.[2]
Early life [ edit ]
Prince Abdullah (age 2) and Prince Faisal with their parents, King Hussein and Princess Muna, in 1964
Abdullah was born on 30 January 1962 in Amman, to King Hussein, and Hussein's British-born second wife, Princess Muna.[3] He is the namesake of his great-grandfather, Abdullah I, who founded modern Jordan.[4][5] Abdullah's dynasty, the Hashemites, ruled Mecca for over 700 years—until the House of Saud conquered Mecca in 1925—and have ruled Jordan since 1921.[6][7] The Hashemites are the oldest ruling dynasty in the Muslim world.[1] According to family tradition, Abdullah is the 41st generation agnatic descendant of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and her husband, Ali, the fourth caliph.[3]
As Hussein's eldest son, Abdullah was heir apparent to the Jordanian throne under the 1952 constitution.[5][9] Due to political instability, King Hussein though it wise to appoint an adult heir instead, choosing Abdullah's uncle Prince Hassan, in 1965.[10][11] Abdullah began his schooling in 1966 at the Islamic Educational College in Amman, and continued at St Edmund's School in England. He attended high school at Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy in the United States.[3]
Abdullah has four brothers and six sisters—Princess Alia, Prince Faisal, Princess Aisha, Princess Zein, Princess Haya, Prince Ali, Prince Hamza, Prince Hashem, Princess Iman, Princess Raiyah—seven of whom are paternal half-siblings.[12]
Military career [ edit ]
He began his military career at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1980, while he was a training officer in the Jordanian Armed Forces.[3][13] After Sandhurst, Abdullah was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the British Army and served a year in Britain and West Germany as a troop commander in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars.[3]
Abdullah was admitted to Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1982, where he completed a one-year special-studies course in Middle Eastern affairs.[3] He joined the Royal Jordanian Army on his return home, serving as first lieutenant and then as platoon commander and assistant commander of a company in the 40th Armored Brigade.[14] Abdullah took a free-fall parachuting course in Jordan, and in 1985 he took the Armored Officer's Advanced Course at Fort Knox.[14] He became commander of a tank company in the 91st Armored Brigade, with the rank of captain.[14] Abdullah also served with the Royal Jordanian Air Force's anti-tank helicopter wing, where he was trained to fly Cobra attack helicopters.[14]
The prince then attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1987, undertaking advanced study and research in international affairs.[14] He returned home to serve as assistant commander of the 17th Royal Tank Battalion in 1989, later being promoted to major.[14] Abdullah attended a staff course at the British Staff College in 1990, and served the following year in the Office of the Inspector General of the Jordanian Armed Forces as the Armored Corps representative.[14] He commanded a battalion in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1992 and was promoted to colonel the following year, commanding the 40th Brigade.[14]
Abdullah met Rania Al-Yassin, a marketing employee at Apple Inc. in Amman, at a dinner organized by his sister Princess Aisha in January 1993.[15] They were engaged two months later, and the marriage was celebrated in June.[15]
In 1994 Abdullah assumed command of Jordan's Special Forces and other elite units as brigadier general, restructuring them into the Joint Special Operations Command two years later.[14] He became a major general, attended a course in defence resources management at the American Naval Postgraduate School[14] and commanded an elite special-forces manhunt in the pursuit of outlaws in 1998.[16] The operation reportedly ended successfully, with his name chanted on the streets of Amman.[16]
Reign [ edit ]
Accession and coronation [ edit ]
Abdullah joined his father on a number of missions, including meetings abroad with Soviet and American leaders.[17] He was occasionally King Hussein's regent during the 1990s but this duty was mainly performed by Hussein's younger brother, Crown Prince Hassan.[14] Abdullah led his father's delegation to Moscow for talks in 1987.[17] He frequently visited The Pentagon in Washington, where he lobbied for increased military assistance to Jordan.[17] The prince joined his father on trips to visit Hafez Al-Assad in Damascus and Saddam Hussein in Baghdad (before the 1990 Gulf War).[17] Abdullah commanded military exercises during Israeli military officials' visits to Jordan in 1997, and was sent to hand-deliver a message to Muammar Gaddafi in 1998.[17]
King Hussein frequently traveled to the United States for medical treatment after his diagnosis with cancer in 1992.[14] After Hussein returned from a six-month medical absence from Jordan in late 1998, he criticized his brother Hassan's management of Jordanian affairs in a public letter, accusing him of abusing his constitutional powers as regent.[14] On 24 January 1999, two weeks before his death, Hussein surprised everyone—including Abdullah who thought he would spend his life in the military—by replacing Hassan with his son as heir apparent.[14]
Abdullah swearing the oath in the Parliament at his accession, 7 February 1999
The king died of complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma on 7 February 1999.[18] His 47-year reign extended through four turbulent decades of the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Cold War.[18] Several hours after the announcement of his father's death, Abdullah appeared at an emergency session of the Jordanian parliament.[18] Hussein's two brothers, Hassan and Mohammed, walked ahead of him as he entered the assembly.[18] In Arabic, he swore the oath taken by his father almost fifty years earlier: "I swear by Almighty God to uphold the constitution and to be faithful to the nation".[18] Speaker of the Senate Zaid Al-Rifai opened the session with Al
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Mobile Game is a match-three style game available on all mobile devices. The game was created in close partnership with the production team of the Family Guy TV series, featuring many popular characters and delivering the humour that the series is known for. Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game features an original story geared towards adults, a first for the genre. The new title will also serve as an introduction to the genre for newcomers, revealing entertaining in-game character animations for each match made. There will be a number of game modes available, allowing players to serve characters drinks, battle against the Giant Chicken and more. In addition, new content will be added weekly, featuring regular episode tie-ins that introduce new storylines.
Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game is the second title developed by Jam City and FoxNext Games based off the Family Guy franchise. In 2014, the two teamed up to develop Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, a freemium title available on mobile devices. Since its launch, the game has been downloaded over ten million times on the Android market alone.
Jam City has developed a number of successful titles based off popular intellectual properties such as Charlie Brown and Marvel’s Avengers. The company is best known for being the creators of six of the top one hundred games available across Apple’s and Google’s US app stores. FoxNext Games, a division of Fox Entertainment, was formed to develop games based on Fox-owned intellectual properties. In addition to Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, FoxNext Games helped develop popular titles such as The Simpsons Tapped Out and Angry Birds Rio.By Katie Lange
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
Lots of veterans are looking for structure, purpose and a sense of community when they leave the military, and more and more are turning to farming to find it.
About 5 million veterans live in rural areas of the U.S. – a higher concentration than any other part of the country – so it makes sense that a viable career path after the military is to work in agriculture in some way.
But what if you’re not an experienced farmhand, or you don’t know how to start such a business?
Well, you’re in luck. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Defense are teaming up to expand the reach of the DoD’s Transition Assistance Program, which sees about 200,000 veterans a year and offers career training tools and incentives needed to start a farm or ranch.
“Rural America disproportionately sends its sons and daughters to serve in the military,” Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden said. “When service members return home, we want them to know that rural America has a place for them, no matter where they’re from.”
According to the USDA, lots of veterans have shown interest in agriculture, thinking that farm-related work can be a holistic way to ease back into civilian life. It’s also a way to put their logistical training to work, renew their sense of purpose, continue serving the community and even be their own bosses if they want to.
More: Hear Stories from Veteran Farmers
“Our transitioning service members leave the military with a variety of essential skills, including leadership and discipline that could be directly applied to a career in agriculture,” said Dr. Susan S. Kelly, Director of the DoD’s Transition to Veterans Program Office.
Getting Started
For anyone considering farming as a post-service career, the USDA’s website provides information on how to get started. One of the best ways to do so is by contacting your local USDA Service Center.
The DoD/USDA collaboration will make sure new farmers get the funding, training and technical assistance they need.
With the help of the Agricultural Act of 2014, veterans can get access to capital through the beginning farmer loan program, conservation programs, farm ownership loans or microloans, which are smaller loans for small or niche farms, like those that raise alpacas or make maple syrup.
In the past six years, the USDA has given $438 million in farm loans that have helped more than 6,480 veterans buy farmland and equipment, as well as make repairs and upgrades. The microloan program has given more than $22.6 million in support to more than 1,000 veterans.
There’s also the Homegrown by Heroes program through the Farmer Veteran Coalition, which is supported by the USDA. It celebrates local products that have been grown, raised or produced by farming U.S. veterans. The program, which started nationwide about two years ago, has since expanded to include more than 250 members in 43 states.
Whether you came from the country or just want to end up there after your military career is over, these options are definitely something to look into!
Follow the Department of Defense on Facebook and Twitter!
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Disclaimer: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of this website or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DOD website.Yes folks, the amazing just happened: somebody has customised a golf cart to look like the ‘Tumbler’ Batmobile, and it’s up for sale. Sound the Batmobile klaxon!
It’s being offered up by Prestige Imports in Miami for the sum of $49,950 - £29,500 in real money - which is, frankly, a bit of a bargain. Why so? Because it’s a golf cart that looks like a Batmobile.
It sports quad rear tyres, a pretend turbine exhaust system and even matte black paneling with mounts all round to mimic its big brother from the Christopher Nolan Bat trilogy.
Of course, there isn’t a 5.7-litre Chevy V8 packing 400bhp running underneath, but a tiny little electric motor and automatic transmission - remember, you’re just moving between golf posts with your golf bats, not hunting down Gotham’s most deranged criminals.
But there are a pair of sports seats inside, a steering wheel with a mini Bat logo in the centre cap, and visible suspension mounts and coils on the exterior. We have an immediate and inexplicable desire to drive this thing while humming the Batman theme tune out loud.
Prestige Imports is based near North Miami Beach. We suggest you head down there immediately and purchase this fine item - or indeed, click here for the listing. And ignore the grumbling from the members with their 1983 Jag Sovereigns parked outside. You’ll be the one driving a BATMOBILE GOLF CART.
Want more Batman? Click here for TG’s brief history of the Batmobile
Pics courtesy of Prestige ImportsThis Minecraft enchanting quick-start seed has a valuable right by the game start point – a temple that has an enchanted book with 4 enchantments: Silk Touch I, Respiration II, Protection III and Knockback II. Beyond the four enchantments the desert temple also holds 7 gold, 19 bones, an emerald, a saddle and iron horse armor. There’s rotten flesh, too (pretty sure no one is interested in that, though!). The seed itself is beautiful, too.
As soon as we spawned we knew it was a keeper (even before finding the desert temple loot). You spawn on a sand beach, and desert extends into the landscape. On each side down the coast you can see savannah biome, too. Moving inland you’ll quickly see the desert temple (94 66 -168). There’s also a couple of desert wells, but we found nothing of note beneath them. Once you’ve acquired what you want from the temple there’s plenty to explore. We won’t spoil it, but as you continue to explore you’ll find great diversity in biomes and resources. Seems like a great survival adventure seed. Hope you enjoy it!
Minecraft Seed: -838329079
Seed Verified with Version: 1.8.1
Minecraft In-Game Screenshots
Enchanted Book Enchantments
Silk Touch I : Mined blocks drop themselves instead of the usual items (allows collection of blocks that are normally unobtainable)
: Mined blocks drop themselves instead of the usual items (allows collection of blocks that are normally unobtainable) Respiration II : Extends underwater breathing time
: Extends underwater breathing time Protection III : Reduces most damage
: Reduces most damage Knockback II: Increases knockback
Learn more about enchanting on the Minecraft Gamepedia Wiki.If you’re looking to create your own monster post-production machine for less, then you’ll definitely want to check out these links!
Many tech-savvy post-production people have experimented with building their own monster Hackintosh or Windows machines. Here’s a quick roundup of some great resources for building a machine that can handle all your HD video needs, be they video editing, color grading, or creating complex motion graphics and 3D work.
Building a Powerful Windows Machine
Dave Dugdale from Learning Video walks you through how he created his first monster post-production machine with Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve Lite in mind. These videos are pretty long, but if you truly want to understand what you’re doing before spending the cash, they’re definitely worth a watch. Building a machine like Dugdale’s will cost you $2385. If you just want a parts list — well, here you go!
Handling RED RAW
Speed Tests
Building The Monster
Understanding Disk Setup
Building a Hackintosh
If you’re married to Mac, then building your own Hackintosh tower is a viable option. Obviously you don’t have any warranty or support, but you’re going to save a lot of money. We’ve previously blogged about it here on PremiumBeat with some really great links to Lifehacker and No Film School which are definitely worth checking out. Also, Apple Insider has a great piece on the state of Apple and the future of the Mac Pro here.
Ever tried building your own machine? Share your experience in the comments below!Brace yourselves: the Facebook “Dislike” button is coming.
Despite previously saying the social network wasn’t planning to build a “dislike” button, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed during a Tuesday Q&A session that his company has indeed been working on one.
“I think people have asked about the dislike button for many years,” Zuckerberg said. “Today is a special day because today is the day I can say we’re working on it and shipping it.”
The exact form a “Dislike” button may take is still up in the air. “What [users] really want is the ability to express empathy,” Zuckerberg added. “Not every moment is a good moment.”
Facebook has long shied away from building a “Dislike” button over concerns it would invite rampant negativity. “That isn’t what we’re here to build in the world,” Zuckerberg said.Software development is a fast moving profession and it’s near impossible to stay up to date with all of the changes, new libraries, and great open-source projects that are coming out on what feels like an hourly basis. That’s where great podcasts come in to keep you not only up to date on your development specialty but also give you an understanding of what is going on in other areas of the industry, so you remain a well rounded technologist. In the interest of fairness, I am going to exclude my own show Coder Radio from this list but I would of course encourage you to give it a shot as well as all of the other great Jupiter Broadcasting productions. So here are my five must listens in no particular order!
Linux Action Show: Though this is more of a general Linux development show, it’s the best source for Linux coverage on the web today. Even developers who aren’t focused on the FOSS / Linux space, should at least listen to LAS to maintain a level of knowledge on the platform to hold up a casual conversation with a Linux-focused developer.
The Bike Shed: Focusing on web development with a specific focus on Ruby, Rails, and all things JavaScript, this show gives a good overall look at the web development landscape from the perspective of developers working at a high-end development consultancy — the show is produced and hosted by members of the Thoughtbot team.
.Net Rocks: This is one of the classic developer shows and it’s still great. Even though I imagine that many of you reading this aren’t work on.Net / Microsoft technologies, this show will still manages to be accessible. This is an absolute must listen for those of you who may have some prejudices or just simply be out of touch with what is going on with Microsoft developers.
Accidental Tech Podcast: ATP is a show hosted by some very deep and thoughtful Apple fans who also happen to be developers. I’m positioning it that way, because like LAS, ATP isn’t designed as a developer show, but they do often showcase development topics. I find this show especially valuable, because I rarely agree with the hosts when it comes to development topics or their general outlook on technology as well as what makes software valuable. It’s this challenge to some of my held beliefs that I find valuable and while my outlook has continued to diverge from theirs, there is still tremendous value in being challenged and I recommend that all of you subscribe to at least one show where your options will be challenged.
One More Thing: OK, so I told you there’d be four but I have a fifth. I just launched a YouTube Channel that focuses on open-source and mobile development tips for the enterprise sector. I hope you’ll check it out!
There you have it – my four must listens and a bonus! Let me know what you think on Twitter and take a look at my company Buccaneer Tech INC!“Two adventurer clubs, alliances of three teams each, prepare for a long distance airship race by collecting fuel to build steam pressure, installing gears to engage rotors, and climbing aboard for takeoff. The airship best prepared for flight when the launch timer reaches zero wins” (2017 FIRST Robotics Competition STEAMWORKS Game Animation*). Designed by two FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) alumni, volunteers, and mentors, along with two current FIRST students, this LEGO set is a scale model of half of the field for FIRST STEAMWORKS, the 2017 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC, http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc) game.
For those of you that support this idea (thank you in advance!) and have an association with an FRC team, please comment which team you support on this page. We would like to gather some basic demographics of who supports this set from the FIRST community. Please comment with an S if you are a student, M for mentor, P for parent or O for Other. (i.e Support from Team 810 M). Please share this project to your fellow teammates as well as on social media (Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Chief Delphi, etc.).
Official FIRST Game Reveal Video:
This set includes:
Half of the field
1 Airship
1 Boiler
2.5 Hopper Stations
1 Alliance Wall
3 mock robots of the Red Alliance with three crew members and two pilot Minifigures
3 mock robots of the Blue Alliance with three crew members and two pilot Minifigures
50 units of fuel
22 gears
Minifigures of two of the FIRST founders: Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers
This set contains the elements needed to replicate at least half of the playing field (Red Alliance is shown in the images). The set would also include the parts necessary to make the other half of the field (Blue Alliance). By getting two sets, a person can completely replicate the field.
The central element to this set is the Airship. At the beginning of the match, the airship is missing gears to activate the one central rotor and three smaller rotors. This Lego model, similar to the real field, allows the gears to be attached to the rail of the Airship. Two pilots receive gears from their robots through one of three lifts located on the bottom portion of the Airship. The robot may start with a gear at the beginning of the match and receive more through the loading stations. The Airship also contains three ropes that can be utilized at the end of the match for robots to lift themselves into the air and contact a touchpad, which is also shown in this model.
The Airship needs fuel. Teams can provide it by having their robots transfer fuel into the boilers through one of two goals. The boiler is located right next to the player station and is also able to recycle fuel back to the teams. The fuel can be received from the loading stations, as well as from hoppers that are found on the perimeter of the field.
The alliance wall contains three player stations and a loading station for the opposing alliance. The player station is where the crew members control their robots. On top of each player station is the banner, an emblem of the team situated there. From the alliance walls, crew members can load gears and fuel into the loading station, as well as receive recycled fuel from the boiler.
Six example robots are included in this set. Three robots are for the Red Alliance, and three robots are for the Blue Alliance. These robots are loosely based on the game reveal video. One can even design their own STEAMWORKS bot to complete the challenges in the LEGO model, just like in the FRC game!
FIRST changes lives. It is an organization that has inspired young people to be generational leaders and innovators, particularly in STEM fields, with its signature Sport of the Mind since 1992.
FIRST and LEGO already have a strong partnership through FIRST LEGO League Junior (http://www.juniorfirstlegoleague.org/) and the FIRST LEGO League (http://www.firstlegoleague.org/). Adapting LEGOs to promote another FIRST event is a logical step and one we know can capture the minds not only of FIRST fanatics but also of young builders. Both FIRST and LEGO foster creativity. Furthermore, the availability of LEGO field models for FRC teams in future years could be key in helping them visualize and strategize the tasks at hand.
“Ready your robot, fly your banner, and prepare to take flight” (2017 FIRST Robotics Competition STEAMWORKS Game Animation*). Please consider taking a moment to share this project on social media, as well! Every post to platforms, like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and beyond, helps the set gain notoriety! Let’s work together to make this set concept a reality!
There are three other contributors to this set: Robopetzer, dmelcer9, and TheAndrewcpu. All four of us give our explicit permission to use our work (as shown above) in this set.
* “2017 FIRST Robotics Competition STEAMWORKS Game Animation.” YouTube, uploaded by FIRST Robotics Competition, 7 January 2017,Ridership on Washington’s Metrorail was significantly lower the morning of President 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’s inauguration than both of Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaWith low birth rate, America needs future migrants 4 ways Hillary looms over the 2020 race Obama goes viral after sporting black bomber jacket with '44' on sleeve at basketball game MORE's inaugurations, the agency said Friday.
There were 193,000 trips taken by 11 a.m. on Friday, Metro said in a tweet. In contrast, there were 317,000 trips taken by the same time on the day of Obama’s second inauguration in 2013.
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Ridership the morning of Obama’s first inauguration ceremony in 2009 was 513,000 — more than double Friday morning's.
Ridership was 197,000 on the morning of George W. Bush's second swearing-in in 2005.
It was around 48 degrees with slight drizzle and clouds during Friday's ceremony.
Metrorail opened one hour earlier, beginning at 4 a.m., on Inauguration Day. The system operated at rush-hour service levels until 9 a.m.
Five Metro stations near the National Mall were closed for security: Archives, Mt. Vernon Square, Federal Triangle, Smithsonian and Pentagon.
Metro Ridership: As of 11am, 193k trips taken so far today. (11am 1/20/13 = 317k, 11am 1/20/09 = 513k, 11am 1/20/05 = 197k) #wmata — Metro (@wmata) January 20, 2017Unleash the machine within with this Cyborg Rash Guard, designed for form as well as function. Reinforced, with a chafe-free flatlock seam construction, you’ll feel like this biomechanical layer is melded to your skin, for exceptional mobility and freedom in movement. The wide neck offers total comfort, and you’ll be protected against friction, microbes and the sun with an excellent UVF 30+ rating.
Moisture wicking technology and anti-odour materials ensure you’ll remain dry and fresh, whether you’re hunting down a target or engaging in close-combat. You gear will be protected with an ergonomic utility pocket, large enough for an iPhone 6 – even cyborgs need to communicate.
This biomech rash guard is designed to flatter the wearer's silhouette drawing attention to the shoulders and chest and accentuate the V-taper.
Size Guide here and Shipping information here.
Click here to explore the Cyborg's story.Im here to talk about the CLYW x Luftverk Titanium Tundra.
This one is the AMS 2488 Hardcoat version. I think I have spent enough time with it exclusively to feel like I can talk about it as though I know what I am talking about.
preface OK, so just GETTING this thing is a story and a half, and I wont go into the details of the trials and tribulations I had to endure to get it. The friends that helped me, the miles I drove, money spent before I could even try to buy it.
I 100% would not be here writing this right now had it not been from the help of a forum buddy (now real life friend). Thank you!!!
First up. SPECS!!!
Finishes: Raw/AMS2488
Weight: 65.0g
Width: 43.1mm
Diameter: 55.2mm
Response: Snow Tires
Bearing: Stainless Centering/Full Ceramic (for AMS2488 only)
Limited: AMS2488 x 25 Raw x 30
Price for AMS2488: 350USD
Price for Raw: 290USD
(originally filmed for instagram which prefers vertical filming)
As of this writing, the Tundra was created by a one time collab between the artistic pruveyers of fine return tops (CLYW) and the Master of Titanium (Luftverk) that both came together to create a hybrid of both the companies best designs and attributes. This involved taking the cup of the elegant Octavia showing off a lighter hub, having its center concave, to center up horizontal finger spins for max stability and spin times. (side note, this also makes for a very short axle)
Also there is a decent area to pull of some great inner thumb grinds due to the cup’s lip.
Having its cup like this allows for minimal center weight. This resolves in a serious speed boost and stability. Tipping the scales at 64.7g, it’s light and its play reflects this lightness without being too “airy.” It can change direction effortlessly, has a lead foot on the gas pedal in a dragster. The quickness it can get to speed and the lack of resistance in stopping from said speed is more than noticible. It seems like it is breaking physics somehow, like collective pitch RC helicopters being able to fly upside down and make such sharp turns its startling, this is how the Tundra plays. This is by far the fastest and most nimble yoyo ive ever had the pleasure of throwing.
There is no thud on the bottom of the string, but it does have a presence. One of grace and precision, speed and stability.
In the hand you can feel the other parent of this offspring. Something that harkens back to an older time, a time where Puffin2s were in alot more hands than it is today. However it only feels that way at the rim. Going deeper into the body of the throw you can sense the curves and familiarity of the Chief, going deeper towards the bearing we find a step from the Borealis’ design, giving way to the Snow Tires that we all love so much. Not much to add other than these are pretty much a perfect response system. CLYW is really on top of their game. I ended up taking out the white Snow Tires and putting in blue ones, more suiting for the “tundra” scheme.
The bearing is a Full Ceramic concave type in shape, seems a slightly lower wall than KonKave, feels closer to Pixel bearings in the bind. A very subtle difference but one I wanted to note.
I have never had a full ceramic bearing before, so this was all new to me. Being able to use water to clean it is very handy. Not needing lube is nice too, but I did add some thin to quiet it down just a tad. Ceramic Hybrids are louder than steel when dry, but full ceramics are even louder than hybrids. So while it wasnt necessary, I wanted to for the sake of others around me when Im throwing. I dont want to bug em.
Taking the bearing out to lube it made me marvel at how this kind of thing could even exist. Truly a feat of engineering magnificence. I mean LOOK AT IT!
Speaking of its sound, I have to put this in here. There is something special about Titanium yoyos. No doubt. Anyone who has thrown one will tell you there is just something about them. The sound will inevetible come up. The ring of the Ti a it grazes the string, or your fingernail is a bell straight from where the Angels live. And I did mention the hiss of ceramic bearings, but it gets even better when you mix these two certain things together.
A full ceramic bearing inside a Ti yoyo can make a resonance that creates a harmonic or overtone above the hiss. A hypnotic and ethereal sound that seems to emanate from beyond. I put my favorite (pixel) bearing in it and it felt weird, heavy, and lost its magical overtones. I put the Full ceramic in my favorite non Ti throw (Manatee) and it played alright, sounded hissy, but also had lost its overtones. Maybe I was imagining things?
Nope. I put it all back how it was and hear for yourself. This is just a tiny sample.
be sure your volume is up, this is not a loud snippet
The finish on this masterpiece is also unique. It is a special Ti ano called AMS2488. This is a hard coating used in the military, aerospace, and medical industries as a dry lubricant to reduce friction without needing maintenance or additional lubes used in the future. This is an interesting and labor intensive process that involves multiple sessions and blasting treatments as there is a residue that happens during the ano that cant just be wiped off. So its quite the ordeal. The finished product is outstanding to say the least. Not in color or visual flair, but in feel and performance.
It feels like Teflon! Slick and smooth, and one of the more grind friendly finishes. Even in high humidity or sweaty hands, this beast glides on. Only one yoyo I have seen do better at grinds, and that is my first run Manatee.
The packaging is also suiting. Since there seemed to have no expense spared in the creation of this, its only fitting that the packaging also has the same love, attention, and flair found in the yoyo. From the outer sleeve, to the box, to the stained wood cover, you can just feel it. Premium. The commemorative Patch is perfect, even the foam cut out for the string, every part was though of.
You might already know also that most of the limited run was destroyed(!!) by the anodizers which made demand even higher and supply even lower. There might be a B-grade release but this is not confirmed. Only 30 Raw, 25 HardCoat, and something like 6 or 7 colored (green and pink) made it out alive and for sale. Half went to Worlds 2016 and the other half was sold online about a week later. The online sales sold out within 30 seconds. The table at Worlds was sold out of Tundra before Jeffery (Luftverk) could even arrive to the venue!
My friend got me the first one from behind the table, the first one sold to the public, and it was the last one off the line.
;D
All in all I’m very lucky, and on the hunt for another one. Mostly to keep one pristine because the other will be near by, ready to be thrown or being thrown at any time. Ive not stopped throwing it for weeks now.
I just hope they make more of them. Not a revamp, not a v2, just another run. Because more people need to be able to throw these. Its simply not fair. I understand that the price is high compared to most yoyos in the market, but this yoyo is good enough to be one of your only yoyos. 4 quarters over a hundred pennies eh? This is one quarter worth getting.
So, if you are still reading this, Thank you for making it this far!
TL/DR - It plays plays something from space. It sounds like something from Heaven. It looks like something from a centerfold.
Thanks again,
InvaderDust
ONE MONTH AFTER FIRST THROW
Guys, this thing is serious. I knew it was good, but wow. Its off the charts. It just so smooth, so sleek, so futuristic looking.
The Tundra just plays SO fast but has zero problems going as slow as you can go. The tings and hums it makes during play makes me smile everytime. I just love it. Without a doubt or hesitation, my #1 favorite throw of all time. I did hear that there will be a “Fools Gold” drop of the others, that thats good news for everyone out there looking to get one, (and you should be!) so good luck!
Final thought.
Every throw is like chasing the dragon. I just need one more bind…
Do you have a mint AMS Tundra for sale? PM me, I got you.A general view of Taman Rimba Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — City Hall (DBKL) must explain how a section of Taman Rimba Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail was allowed to become the site of high-end serviced apartments, said a local MCA leader.
The chairman of the MCA branch of Petaling Jaya Utara Tan Gim Tuan said this was because the contested area had been officially identified as a public park and that taxpayers’ funds were also used to maintain the site.
He said it was imperative that DBKL explain how a commercial entity came to possess the land along with the necessary approval to use it for commercial purposes.
“It was earmarked as a sprawling green lung recreational park for city folks to ‘relax and enjoy Mother Nature’. Ten years later until today, the policy still stands,” he said in a statement.
Tan added that Putrajaya introduced the National Urbanisation Policy that stipulated the requirement for two hectares of open space for every 1,000 residents, which he said was maintained in the National Urbanisation Policy 2.
On Sunday, over 300 people attended a sit-in protest at the park after they discovered that DBKL gave the developer permission to build a showroom for the project, despite an ongoing lawsuit to stop the development.
This was also after Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor pledged to leave the park untouched. Residents were additionally upset that the minister has not responded to attempts for another meeting following a forum on November 3.
The land in question was surreptitiously alienated to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan — the welfare arm of Tengku Adnan’s Federal Territories Ministry — and approved for mixed development.
On August 11, five residents and five management bodies jointly filed for judicial review of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and its mayor’s decisions on the proposed development.
The hearing date for the actual lawsuit has yet to be fixed, with the High Court set to hear on December 13 the plaintiffs’ application for an order to freeze any action arising from the conditional planning permission and development order granted until the lawsuit ends.Virginia lawmakers unanimously passed a bill that will allow families to be able to legally buy medical marijuana for treating epileptic seizures in the state in 2017.
Lengthy discussion and negotiation paved the way for passage of the bill, SB701, which allows the processing and manufacturing of Cannabidiol oil and THC-A—marijuana oils that are both low in THC, the compound that provides the high in cannabis.
“Providing this medication to Virginians is absolutely the right thing to do,” said Senator Dave Marsden, the sponsor of the legislation.“THCa and CBD oils have shown the ability to help alleviate the number and severity of seizures from intractable epilepsy and help so many families live a quality life.”
RELATED: Marijuana Fills Dire Medical Needs of Families; Science, States Try to Catch Up
The state last year legalized possession of the two marijuana oils for intractable epilepsy patients and their caregivers, but failed to provide any way for patients to obtain the oils without breaking federal and state laws. This legislation provides the solution by requiring the Board of Pharmacy to create regulations to safely and securely provide the oils. Once the Board of Pharmacy creates the regulations they will be brought back before the legislature next year for final approval. Processing and distribution of the oils would not begin until sometime in 2017.
CHECK OUT: Congress Quietly Ends Federal Medical Marijuana Prohibition
“This is a huge step for Virginia, a first in the nation concept that will provide the medications in the safest most secure fashion and shows once again that Virginia leads the way,” exclaimed Sen. Marsden.
Virginia is one of 40 states with medical marijuana laws and, according to the latest report on Medical Cannabis Access in the U.S. by the group, Americans for Safe Access, is one of the seventeen states that limits use to CBD and THCa oils for certain conditions.
Activists and legislators from across the country will be discussing these types of laws and other medical cannabis topics at ASA’s 4th Annual Medical Cannabis Unity Conference in Washington, DC later this month.
“We are grateful to the Virginia General Assembly for allowing this first step towards helping epilepsy patients and their families to obtain a safe and reliable treatment in the Commonwealth without breaking laws,” said Beth Collins, ASA director of communications and outreach.
The bill now goes to the Governor’s desk, where he is expected to sign the legislation.
SHARE the Breakthrough in Medical Law…Although the Saudis have promised a high-level committee to investigate civilian deaths from their airstrikes in Yemen, they continue to strike civilian targets with countless deaths and destructions.
For instance, among those recently killed in an airstrike on an abandon cement factory were “people in parked cars, a grocery store owner, a pharmacist and shoppers.” The nationalist insurgents, the Houthis, have also unfortunately contributed to the increased casualties as they try to repel the invaders and defeat the local groups opposed to them.
The civil war in Yemen, compounded by the Saudi invasion, has so far displaced 2.3 million people. It has left 5,700 dead, among them 2,500 civilians. Two thirds of the deaths have resulted from airstrikes. And 82% of the population requires assistance and medical supplies. The United States fears that 14.4 million Yemenis are at risk of “severe hunger.”
To add to the misery of the Yemeni people, the United States just approved the sale of weapons to the Saudis worth $1.3 billion. Among the weaponry are air-to-ground ordinances that included 22,000 bombs. From 2010 to 2014, the United States sold $90 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia. Initially, among the U.S. weapons sold to the Saudis were the internationally banned cluster bombs.
The Saudis have feared Yemen for a long time. They worry that the Houthis and their allies will destabilize the Saudi regime and export revolutionary zeal to the Saudi people. The fear of losing their power is why the Saudi royals, with the help of the majority Sunni regimes in the Gulf, launched an air and ground war against Yemen. Riyadh hopes to reinstate the former government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansoor Hadi and make Yemen a satellite country of Saudi Arabia. Facing an onslaught by the highly equipped Saudi forces with American help, the Houthis were obliged to ally with the unsavory former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to defend Yemen. Although calls for talks have gone nowhere, a new effort is underway to hold negotiations in Europe under the auspices of the UN.
The Saudis have made the poorly supported claim that they are fighting a proxy war with Iran in Yemen. Unfortunately, the Obama administration parrots these lies in its official statements, which the major media then repeat. The Saudis and the Gulf States have conjured up Iranian’s involvement in order to justify their war on Yemen. In the meantime, al-Qaeda is deepening its roots and widening its reach in and around the country.
US support for the Saudi regime has continued despite the invasion and the resulting humanitarian disaster. The United States provides the Saudis with intelligence and helps to enforce the current naval blockade. Moreover, in January, Secretary John Kerry said, “We have as solid a relationship, as clear an alliance, and as strong a friendship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as we ever had, and nothing has changed.” Kerry’s level of support for the Saudis contrasts sharply with the U.S. claims of supporting freedom, democracy, and human rights worldwide.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. The Saudis and the Gulf states are some of the richest countries in the world. And yet the Saudis, the Gulf States, and the United States are destroying Yemen, which had been a potential outpost of democracy in the region. Again, the United States derailed a potential democracy to serve a totalitarian regime, the Saudi Arabia.
The United States bears the moral and legal responsibility for facilitating a potential genocide in Yemen that results from the current war and the population’s lack of food, basic health, and sanitation. The United States keeps wondering why the people of the region continue to harbor the worst terrorists. The reason lies in part because the United States has chosen alliances with dictators for the sake of oil and the stability of corrupt regimes.Colombo: Sri Lanka will contest the decision by a European Union (EU) court to delist the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organization and will send an envoy to Strasbourg to lobby the EU against the order.
Sri
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war against the boss. But this is not a necessary component of the agreements.
There is a conflation of the tool of collective bargaining and the varying negotiation outcomes themselves. I would argue against painting all contracts as homogeneous conquests for bosses. I wouldn’t assert either, as others have posited, that a contract automatically signals a defeat for the bosses.
Although laws and regulations are bourgeois and therefore play the game of capital owners, the total absence of legal rights is even worse for workers. Binding the employer to a written contract to respect workers’ conditions and payout of benefits is better than naught.
The problem, of course, is when the right to strike is given up, or when other concessions, such as two-tier wage systems or benefit cuts, are slipped into the agreement. I would argue instead that this is better understood as a product of the relation of forces between labor and capital, and of decades of business unionism, rather than the inherent pitfalls of collective agreements.
Technology and Labor, a Barren Marriage
When discussing technology and the automation of industrial production, Aronowitz disputes the liberal and right-wing doctrine that hails technological development as intrinsically beneficial. He further explains how these developments have, in fact, proven to be harmful for the working class, causing the loss of jobs, worsening of working conditions and the weakening of workers’ workplace bargaining power, to use Erik O. Wright’s term.
In addition, the restructuring of work brought about by technological innovation has deepened the divisions between low-wage, “unskilled” workers, and the professional stratum. Aronowitz points out new opportunities for the labor movement that came out of increasing proletarianization and the strategic positioning of engineers and computer scientists who, by the 1970s, “were no longer independent entrepreneurs, but had become employees.”
He argues that the professionals who make the machines work are now in the position to disrupt production: “[T]he need for effective action and organized support from and among the professional working class will soon be urgent, for we can expect further spread of almost completely automated production processes in the near future.” He envisions a world of production that is massively automated and proposes a focus on professionals and even managerial workers (!) as a key sector to unionize and win over to revolutionary politics.
Consequently, he pays little attention to the organization of low-wage workers, such as retail workers who make up about 10% of the U.S. labor force. One may wonder if this omission is warranted; recently, we’ve seen examples of actions led by the most oppressed and exploited sectors of the working class. The anti-police brutality movement propelled by black youth and the fight for wage increases by retail and fast food workers demonstrate the potential of “unskilled” workers. In an interview with Left Voice, Charlie Post makes the case for organizing low-wage warehouse and distribution workers at supply-chains for big box and fast food companies.
Union Reform versus Radical Unionism
The author makes an excellent point that union reform alone is not enough to reverse the fall in power of the labor movement. It’s not just about democratizing the unions (although in itself an enormous task): it’s about building a radical “militant minority” of workers, who will form an organization that goes beyond trade-unionism and criticizes the whole capitalist system. Hence, the author continues, the need for a political organization capable of “educating, agitating and organizing resistance to labor decline”.
Recovering the example of the 1920s Communist Party-backed Trade Union Education League (TUEL), he calls for the formation of a circle of intellectuals whose main task would be to educate labor activism. He proposes a political-educational space shared by anarchists, socialists and communists.
It is difficult to imagine different political groupings coming together to share a space and discuss fraternally without also vying for political and ideological hegemony or to win over workers to their own strategies.
But leaving this aside for the moment, one may still make the admission that the situation of the U.S. left is quite bleak. In the last few decades, when implantation in the working class seemed impossible, the far left has only managed to build in small numbers, mostly on college campuses. Many point out the breach between the revolutionary left and the working class.
A tactic that gets at this problem effectively is paramount. But how can this be achieved? How can we build a revolutionary organization within the ranks of the working class? Not through pure intellectual work, that’s for sure. What about encouraging young socialists and members of revolutionary parties to seek strategic positions as workers instead of pursuing careers as academics, “freelancers”, or isolated contractors?
The “industrialization” or “proletarianization” of left militants has been repeatedly dismissed as a failing tactic to coalesce with the organized working class and inject it with revolutionary ideas. It was a common practice among American left parties in the 60s and 70s, but the majority of activists who entered the mining, auto, steel, and garment industries with the aim of recruiting ended up isolated, with little progress to speak of for their efforts.
However, those who completely rule out this tactic should take into account that this happened during a major shift in the relation of forces between labor and capital, with the simultaneous rise of the neoliberal era and blows to the labor movement. Even if we can’t put all the blame on these “external” factors, they played a major role in the ebb of working-class militancy.
A new TUEL is an appealing idea. Under this schema, a concentration of left militants operating within certain workplaces — deemed as strategic priorities — can begin to build “bastions” of rank-and-file militancy. The piece that is missing here is the role of the revolutionary party. Who else would provide these spaces, pin down workers to come to meetings, encourage and facilitate political and theoretical discussion?
A Gradual Transition to Socialism?
Aronowitz’s enthusiasm for factory occupations and workers’ co-ops is accompanied by a balanced description of its limitations as productive units within a capitalist system. Especially refreshing is his call to “socialize banks, large-scale industry, health and education institutions.” This can only mean the socialization of the means of production under worker control.
For the working class to achieve this goal, he proposes a progressive appropriation of industries in the form of cooperatives. Adding businesses and shops one by one to a network of cooperatives, the “cooperative commonwealth” (a term he borrows from the 19th century socialists and anarchists) would at some point replace the capitalist system of production and distribution: “Workers’ and consumers’ cooperatives producing goods and services would initially compete with supermarket chains and other private enterprises and eventually replace them.”
This gradual conquest of trenches within the capitalist society takes the fight for socialism to the arena of market competition between co-ops and big capital. To be honest, it is difficult to imagine co-ops winning these battles across the board. How can a small-sized coop paying living wages to their workers/associates beat a retail mogul such as Walmart, who relies on poverty wages for its employees and large-scale economy? The role of the state in securing private profits and maintaining a sophisticated fabric of laws and rules that perpetuate individual wealth and capitalist exploitation should not be overlooked or avoided, but instead must be confronted. No socialism will ever be achieved unless the capitalist state is confronted full-on, battled, and defeated.
How to Resuscitate Labor
Towards the end of the book, Aronowitz lays out a set of proposals to build a “new labor movement.” His “ten-point manifesto” includes the elimination of no-strike provisions in bargaining agreements, a national campaign for universal income, single-payer healthcare, the fight against gender, race and ethnic discrimination at the workplace, credit unions for co-ops, and building an international labor movement able to wage war against multinationals in different countries, rather than compete with workers overseas.
He also proposes a two-fold fight for a shorter work day: pushing for legislation that mandates a reduced workday, while at the same time engaging in direct action such as marches, demonstrations and strikes. This is a very important point, and even when the author does not make the link explicit, it is closely related to the fight for the share of the profits brought in by technological improvements and the rise in productivity.
Another point stressed in the ten-point manifesto and developed in the book is the need for the rank-and-file to demand the right to create minority unions. In this type of representation arrangements, the union does not seek the right to represent the whole shop, but instead leaves open the chance for another union to represent a portion of the staff (characteristic of representative arrangements is shared by countries such as France, Spain, and Argentina). In theory, the heightened “competition” between unions compel them to be more democratic and combative. Critics have argued that in the U.S. context, where nationwide bargaining by trade is not in place, these arrangements could weaken workers’ power.
Despite criticism from some scholars and labor activists, The Death and Life of American Labor by Stanley Aronowitz offers a sharp assessment of the labor movement and a suggestive –though controversial– strategy to revive it. It should be widely read and debated among the left.By all accounts, this is one of the coolest videos of a robbery we’ve seen in a while. And fortunately, it also might be one of the dumbest. Watch the video below of a 2003 BMW X5 SUV full of criminals driving through the secured entrance to an Apple Store in Temecula, CA. Not only does the vehicle get stuck under the gate, the getaway “driver” proceeds to nearly runover his co-conspirators in a panic while trying to exit the store. Can we say amateurs?
The driver even busts a couple of Apple’s lovely wooden gadget display tables in the process. One of the men then proceeds to steal iPhones and iPads off of nearby tables. As one Gizmodo commenter pointed out, we “really like how the person decided to grab the iPads off of the ground and off of the broken table instead of the unharmed iPads on the table next to it.” After ending the short-lived thievery, the Beemer crew apparently were nabbed because their license plate got caught in the store’s gate, according to Temecula’s Lt. Doug McGrew. Brilliant.
Next time we hope these guys consult Siri–or the entire history of heist films–before attempting such a feat. Lucky for Apple, that could be another 5-10 years. So, we had to ask Siri:
“How can we make a shiv out of a toothbrush?”
She’s checking her sources, and has promised to get back to us.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: 9to5mac5 (100%) 6 votes
EAST HARTFORD, Conn – A man in Connecticut has started a business that caters to the dejected and depressed supporters of Bernie Sanders. These former BernBots turned BernOuts are fed up. After his disappointing loss to Clinton in Maryland, and having been removed from ballots in PA, many of his supporters are simply giving up. Not on the campaign, not on the process, but on life. We don’t condone suicide and think these people are clearly overreacting to an obvious fix by the Democratic party leadership, but that doesn’t stop them from taking rash action.
Connecticut resident, gun owner, and entrepreneur, Eric Carson, has decided to strike while the iron is hot. He’s started a business where BernOuts who are just done with it all can rent his guns for a short period of time to see if they want to go through with it. The company, Solutio in Finem, helps them through the whole process and even attempts to dissuade them from taking the final step.
What we do is schedule a time to visit with the individual, and discuss options. They can rent one of the 3,000 or so guns we have and decide whether or not they want to end it all. We try to talk them out of it, and most decide to stick around. If they decide to check out, we help them with the note and help them to make a minimal mess. Then we grab the gun and head off to the next appointment.
His philosophy is, these people are hurting, and they need help. But is that help supposed to come from the barrel of a gun? His detractors are upset, especially with Connecticut’s decidedly anti-gun mentality. The elevated suicide rate in the state has lawmakers concerned, but there is currently no law to prevent this kind of business. One concerned state legislator, Henry Genga, is drafting a bill to prevent this business model from becoming a competitive one.
This is unacceptable. The vast majority of the young people using this service are registered Democrats. Well, at least they were before the registration purges, but I don’t want to talk abut that. Suffice it to say, we need these people, and we need to stop them from killing themselves, by force if necessary.
The naysayers seem to have no effect on Carson, though. He’s convinced that this service is not only necessary but also puts an important moral issue on the table. The issue of self-ownership. If your life is your property, you should be able to decide what to do with it. If you are forbidden from deciding, even whether or not to end it, you don’t own yourself.
Look, say what you want about our business model but the truth is, not everyone is a survivor. They look at the prospect of a Trump or Hillary presidency and lose all hope. Can you blame them, really? They don’t own guns (obviously), so that’s where we come in. As a Trump supporter, if Hillary wins, I may just become a client of my own company, but I doubt it. When other people can tell you how to live or die, they’re claiming ownership of you. We find that unacceptable.
Carson claims that the service is not limited to BernOuts. They accept clients who are going through messy divorces, having financial difficulties, jilted lovers, and a host of other potential issues. How much would a service like this cost?
We’re very reasonable. We cover our hourly rate, travel, assistance, and gun rental with a megar fee. While we do encourage tipping, most of the time the folks who go through with are very generous. What do they need with money if they’re checking out? We see tips in the range of 20 – 30 times the service rate. It’s a bit of a perverse incentive, but we use empathy to temper that. We’re not murderers, we’re counsellors with guns.
We’re not sure how to take this company, but we do understand the underlying philosophy. It will be interesting to see just how this plays out as the election cycle wears on.
Like this: Like Loading...Google has taken a brilliant and unexpected step toward building an AI with more humanlike intuition, developing a computer capable of beating even expert human players at the fiendishly complicated board game Go.
The objective of Go, a game invented in China more than 2,500 years ago, is fairly simple: players must alternately place black and white “stones” on a grid of 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines with the aim of surrounding the opponent’s pieces, and avoiding having one’s own pieces surrounded. Mastering Go, however, requires endless practice, as well as a finely tuned knack of recognizing subtle patterns in the arrangement of the pieces spread across the board.
Google’s team has shown that the skills needed to master Go are not so uniquely human after all. Their computer program, called AlphaGo, beat the European Go champion, Fan Hui, five games to zero. And this March it will take on one of the world’s best players, Lee Sedol, in a tournament to be held in Seoul, South Korea.
“Go is the most complex and beautiful game ever devised by humans,” Demis Hassabis, head of the Google team, and himself an avid Go player, said at a press briefing. By beating Fan Hui, he added, “our program achieved one of the long-standing grand challenges of AI.”
Hassabis also said the techniques used to create AlphaGo would lend themselves to his team’s effort to develop a general AI. “Ultimately we want to apply these techniques to important real-world problems,” he said. “Because the methods we used were general purpose, our hope is that one day they could be extended to help address some of society’s most pressing problems, from medical diagnostics to climate modeling” (see “Could AI Solve the World’s Biggest Problems?”).
Hassabis said the first way the technology might be applied at Google would involve the development of better software personal assistants. Such an assistant might learn a user’s preferences from his online behavior, and make more intuitive recommendations about products or events, he suggested.
Go is far more challenging for computers than, say, chess for two reasons: the number of potential moves each turn is far higher, and there is no simple way to measure material advantage. A player must therefore learn to recognize abstract patterns in hundreds of pieces placed across the board. And even experts often struggle to explain why a particular position seems advantageous or problematic.
Just a couple of years ago, in fact, most Go players and game programmers believed the game was so complex that it would take several decades before computers might reach the standard of a human expert player.
AlphaGo was developed by a team known as Google DeepMind, a group created after Google acquired a small AI U.K. startup called DeepMind in 2014. The researchers built AlphaGo using an extremely popular and successful machine-learning method known as deep learning combined with another simulation technique for modeling potential moves. Deep learning involves training a large simulated neural network to respond to patterns in data. It has proven very useful for image and audio processing, and many large tech companies are exploring new ways to apply the technique.
Two deep-learning networks were used in AlphaGo: one network learned to predict the next move, and the other learned to predict the outcome from different arrangements on the board. The two networks were combined using a more conventional AI algorithm to look ahead in the game for possible moves. A scientific paper written by researchers from Google that describes the work appears in the journal Nature today.
“The game of Go has an enormous search space, which is intractable to brute-force search,” says David Silver, another Google researcher who led the effort. “The key to AlphaGo is to reduce that search space to something more manageable. This approach makes AlphaGo much more humanlike than previous approaches.”
When IBM’s Deep Blue computer mastered chess in 1997, it used hand-coded rules, and exhaustively searched through potential chess moves. AlphaGo essentially learned over time to recognize potentially advantageous patterns, and then simulated a limited number of potential outcomes.
Google’s achievement has been met with congratulations and some astonishment by other researchers in the field.
“On the technical side, this work is a monumental contribution to AI,” says Ilya Sutskever, a leading AI researcher and the director of a new nonprofit called OpenAI (see “Innovators Under 35: Ilya Sutskever”). Sutskever says the work was especially important because AlphaGo essentially taught itself how to win. “The same technique can be used to achieve extremely high performance on many other games as well,” he says.
Michael Bowling, a professor of computer science at the University of Alberta in Canada who recently developed a program capable of beating anyone at heads-up limit poker, was also excited by the achievement. He believes that the approach should indeed prove useful in many areas where machine learning is applied. “A lot of what we would traditionally think of as human intelligence is built around pattern matching,” he says. “And a lot of what we would think of as learning is having seen these patterns in the past, and being able to realize how they connect to a current situation.”
One aspect of the result worth noting is that it combines deep learning with other techniques, says Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology at New York University and the cofounder and CEO of Geometric Intelligence, an AI startup that is also combining deep learning with other methods (see “Can This Man Make AI More Human?”).
“This is not a so-called end-to-end deep-learning system,” Marcus says. “It’s a carefully structured, modular system with some thoughtful hand-engineering on the front end. Which is, when you think about it, quite parallel to the human mind: rich, modular, with a bit of tweaking by evolution, rather than just a bunch of neurons randomly interconnected and tuned entirely by experience.”
Google isn’t the only company using deep learning to develop a Go-playing AI, either. Facebook has previously said that it has a researcher working on such a system, and last night both Yann LeCun, director of AI research at Facebook, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted updates on the effort. Facebook’s effort is at an earlier stage, but it also combines deep learning with another technique.
Seeing AI master Go may also lead to some existential angst. During the press briefing announcing the news, Hassabis was faced with questions about the long-term risks of the AI systems Google is developing. He said that the company was taking steps to mitigate those risks by collaborating with academics, by organizing conferences, and by working with an internal ethics board.Long considered the longshot dream of stoners, the marijuana legalization movement has picked up a considerable amount of steam in recent years. After decades with little to no progress advancing their cause, advocates of marijuana legalization pushed through ballot measures in Colorado and Washington in 2012.
Two years later, three Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, DC followed suit. Now, in 2016, there’s even more states considering legalization initiatives: California, Nevada, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
This rapid expansion of marijuana legalization corresponded with a similar increase in public opinion in support of marijuana legalization. Over the last 40 years, the trend in support has remained mostly flat, but in the last 5 years, support for legalization has increased dramatically. In 2011, a majority of Americans supported legalization for the first time, according to Pew Research Center.
Interestingly, public support for marijuana is divided between those who have and those who have not tried marijuana before. But, to the chagrin of activists, not everyone who has tried marijuana before thinks it should be legal. According to polling data, 29% of people who oppose legalization have tried marijuana before. Conversely, 71% of people who support marijuana legalization have tried marijuana before.
With more and more states liberalizing their marijuana laws, there’s no consensus on the best way to regulate marijuana sales. Each state so far has its own quirks and weird regulatory rules. For example, Colorado originally mandated that marijuana growers, processors, and retailers be vertically integrated, while Washington prohibited vertical integration. While Colorado and Oregon legalized at-home growing, Washington state prohibits it. These laws have been changing rapidly, and all manner of marijuana sales are illegal according to the federal government.
States also differ on penalties for breaking their legalization laws. Each state lets you possess at least 1 oz of flower, which is more than enough for most people. However, pick up more than that, and be prepared to face harsh penalties. In Colorado, more than 12 oz of marijuana (still 4 oz less than 1 lb) could get you fined up to $100,000. In Washington, only 1.4 oz could get you up to 5 years in prison.
One of the main reasons activists give for supporting legalization efforts is the tax revenue that recreational sales of marijuana will bring in. Along with saving on incarceration costs, states like Colorado have seen record level of tax revenue going to schools. In the graph below, you can see how much tax revenue each state has brought in over the course of retail sales in the state. (Alaska isn’t included because recreational sales haven’t started there yet.)
Effects of marijuana legalization haven’t been all positive, however. There’s some evidence that since marijuana was legalized, more people have been driving while high. In Washington, the proportion of drivers testing positive for THC rose from 19% in 2012 to 33% in 2015. This poses a distinct challenge for police officers because there’s no easy way to check for marijuana intoxication as there is for alcohol intoxication.
The jury is still out on whether legalization of marijuana is a good idea overall. Ultimately, voters and elected officials in each state will decide. Fortunately, there a number of resources that people can use to lessen the potential negative effects of marijuana legalization, from services like Narcotics Anonymous, to help people with dependency, to Uber and Lyft, to help get you home safe.Short show notes this week—I have a hot date tonight! Over four years later, I reconnect with Holly the Hottie! Wow! Can't wait to dive back into some old memories. Plus I dish on my ladies Smitten A and Smitten B!
Holly is going to a wedding this weekend and I find myself fascinated with the phenomenon that is wedding sex. It seems to be a guaranteed to get laid. We also discuss her fake tits and what it was like to wake up from breast enhancement surgery.
A listener emails me about her idol, Canadian porn queen Samantha Mack! Go look her up on Pornhub and Twitter/Instagram @thesamanthamack. She's got some big ol' titties!
Join our community on Reddit at /r/manwhorepodcast!
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This week's episode is (actually) sponsored by Adam & Eve. Get 10 FREE gifts, including FREE SHIPPING, by using the code "MANWHORE" at check out! Visit AdamAndEve.com!
www.ManwhorePod.comEditor’s note: Since the publication of this article, the University of Florida terminated Chris Loschiavo’s employment when it learned he used his UF work computer account to purchase pornography.
Cheating in college has been with us since the inception of higher education. In recent months, cases of cheating, including large-scale cheating at elite colleges, have led to considerable turmoil.
Many of these behaviors could well start to take shape right at the level of high school. A survey conducted by renowned academic integrity researcher Don McCabe shows how widespread the problem is in high schools.
Large-scale cheating
In a survey of 24,000 students at 70 high schools, McCabe found “64% of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58% admitted to plagiarism and 95% said they participated in some form of cheating, whether it was on a test, plagiarism or copying homework.”
Statistics for cheating for college students are much the same. Surveys indicate as high as 70% of students report some kind of cheating in college. These survey results, which have remained consistent over time, represent a variety of behaviors.
So, what could possibly lead to such behaviors?
As Director of Student Conduct, I have been responsible for addressing these behaviors for the last 16 years. I have also served as president of the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA), an organization of over 3,300 professionals doing student conduct work at over 1,800 institutions across the US and Canada. All these positions have given me unique insights into the issue of cheating beyond my institution. And I can say these results are not at all surprising to me.
Students cheat for a variety of reasons:
It can be an intentional, calculated decision in order to get ahead. Often, it is motivated by the path to success that they see around them – people cheating without incurring any real consequences.
From politicians cheating, to corporate scandals such as Enron, to the steroid scandal in Major League Baseball, to the NFL’s “deflategate,” our students are surrounded by examples of dishonest acts.
What’s worse, society seemingly rewards these individuals for their dishonest behaviors. Students then come to believe that dishonest behavior is rewarded and often do not hesitate to engage in it.
My experience shows students engage in a cost/benefit analysis that goes like this: “If I cheat and don’t get caught, the reward is an ‘A’ in the class, admission to a graduate/professional school of my choice or a great job. If I get caught, it isn’t as bad as what Enron did, so the consequence won’t be so bad.”
The example we set as a society is what I have found to be the most significant reason for students cheating.
This also gets combined with a pressure to succeed. These students have grown up in a culture where even the team that scores the least gets a trophy. So they are not prepared for failure.
When they believe they are going to fail (which nowadays is often anything less than an “A”), students will do whatever it takes to avoid it, because they don’t want to let others (often family) down.
High schools are not teaching research
Another reason for student cheating is being unprepared for college level work. Over my many years addressing the issue of plagiarism, I have seen student after student who has written a research paper and not given proper attribution. This is not because they were taking credit for someone else’s words, but simply because they were never taught how to write a research paper.
I have had many conversations over the years with students who truly don’t understand how to write a research paper. So much of high school these days is teaching to the large number of standardized tests. As a result, learning how to research is being lost.
Also, students aren’t being taught how to paraphrase. So, they just cut and paste from the articles they read on the internet – it is easy, quick and takes very little effort to do this.
Some others don’t have any confidence in their own thoughts. So when given the chance to write a paper in which they must share their own ideas, they simply go to the internet and cut and paste someone else’s words or ideas, thinking they are worth more than their own.
I once had a student who cut and pasted large parts of her paper from the internet. When she was asked why she did it, she stated that the author had said what she wanted to say much more eloquently. She said she was afraid of changing it using her own words, as it could be an incorrect interpretation.
This student lacked confidence in her ability to interpret what she read and then translate it in her own words. Another student once shared that he didn’t know as much as the author he took his information from. He concluded, “Why would the professor want to hear the student’s own thoughts?”
This has been a potential downfall of teaching to the test, as many of our secondary educators are being forced to do – students aren’t able to think and problem-solve for themselves.
And when they are forced to do so, they simply take someone else’s ideas.
Cheating could be a cry for help
Some others cheat because they have poor time management skills. College work is challenging, and some students underestimate how long it will take them. When they run out of time, they panic and take a shortcut.
Sometimes these students also have inappropriately prioritized social or extracurricular events over their academic work.
Finally, some students cheat because it is a cry for help. I will never forget a student I met with many years ago for a cheating case.
He admitted responsibility and accepted the consequence of a failing grade in his class. I felt convinced that he truly learned from this incident. However, within the week, he was accused of engaging in the very same behavior in the same class again.
This was very early in my career, and I was ready to remove him from our institution. However, as I found out more, I learned that his girlfriend had just broken up with him, his grandmother (to whom he was very close) had recently passed away and his mother had been recently diagnosed with terminal cancer (I did actually have proof of every one of these events).
The combination made it impossible for this student to focus on his academics. While these incidents certainly didn’t excuse his behavior, they helped explain why he made such bad choices.
He was afraid to ask for help. It was only when there appeared to be no other option, did he open up about what he was dealing with. I was able to hold him accountable appropriately while also making sure he had access to the resources that would help him address his current emotional state.
He went on to graduate from the institution once he was able to get his life back together. Had his faculty not bothered to address the behavior, he would have likely dropped out.
I have never forgotten the lesson this student taught me.
What can administrators, faculty do to help?
I learned to ask more questions. Now, I try to dig a little deeper when trying to find out why a student made a certain choice. Additionally, it has shaped how I present to faculty on the importance of reporting cheating.
So often I hear from faculty either that they don’t want to be the reason a student gets into trouble, or that they shouldn’t have to deal with these issues.
When I tell the story of this student, it reframes for faculty the importance of reporting. It really isn’t about getting the student in trouble; rather, it is about making sure someone with training can interact with the student to help and set the student up for success when dealing with life’s challenges.
When faculty see it as potentially helping the student, they become much more willing to report.
Cheating is a challenge for our society, both at the high school and college levels. We need to remember, however, that it is rarely a thought-out, premeditated act. More often, it is an impulsive act.
To have a real impact, we need to address the underlying issues.
Tomorrow: Students cheat for good grades. Why not make the classroom about learning and not testing?George McPhee has been in the conversation for the Leafs’ general manager opening for a little while now. Linked to both Toronto and Boston, it seems after a year off – following nearly twenty in the big chair for the Capitals – he’s looking to get back into the NHL. But folks seem divided on whether he might be a good option in Hogtown, and a lot of that has to do with one trade.
With the Bruins deciding this week to go with Don Sweeney as their next general manager, the chances McPhee lands in Toronto may have taken a slight uptick, and perhaps that’s not a bad thing. Mark Hunter has had his name go to the front of the line in the rumor mill as an internal candidate, but as Shanahan again pointed out on Thursday, the Leafs will add to the group if they believe the fit is right.
The Forsberg Deal
Follow up with anyone who believes McPhee is a poor general manager, and there’s a 96% chance they’ll complain about the Forsberg for Erat deal from the 2013 trade deadline. And with good reason – it turned out terribly for the Capitals, and Forsberg looks to be an elite option in Nashville after a very good rookie season.
But it should be noted, at least, that Forsberg’s NHL path didn’t go as planned from the outset. He was widely considered a potential top-five pick in the year leading up to the 2012 draft, however ended up falling to 11th overall where Washington finally scooped him up. To put it in perspective, the Lightning – the new apparent gold standard of drafting and development – took Slater Koekkoek (a defenseman) while Forsberg was still on the board.
And how much did McPhee truly want to move him? We know he would have pulled the trigger on the deal, but to imply he’s an old boy who wants to sell off the future – especially when his overall body of work suggests anything but (more on that later) – might be a push. There was a process here.
Here’s a McPhee quote pulled from a solid piece RMNB put together breaking down the move:
“It takes some guts to do deals sometime. We have a real good group of pro scouts and amateur scouts. You sift through it, ruminate over it at night, you come back in, talk about it some more, and the vote was unanimous to do it. I make them vote independently without any influence. Write it out, put it on a piece of paper, and then I read through [their responses]. It was unanimous to do it.”
Again, it’s a difficult trade to stomach, no doubt, and it reeks of a manager who’s trying everything to get his team over the hump for a Cup. But it appears to be a one-off, and I don’t think it’s fair to judge McPhee’s tenure with the Capitals on it alone, nor suggest he’d walk into Toronto and start putting young prospects on planes.
Russian (or Swedish or Austrian) Machine Never Breaks
Speaking of prospects, here’s an area where McPhee has shown to be strong. The Capitals have had success in drafting high-end skill guys over the last number of years, and haven’t appeared to be scared away by “The Russian Factor” or anything else related to birth certificates, while it’s clear other teams have.
Basically, McPhee doesn’t care what Don Cherry thinks about their passport or perceived level of “flashiness”, he’s going to acquire the guys with skill. That fits with what the Leafs are hoping to do going forward.
Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Varlamov, Johansson, and more recently Kuznetsov and Burakovsky, many of the Capitals’ biggest impact players over the last number of years have been from overseas.
GMs Make Bad Moves
The league is full of good managers who’ve made terrible moves. A mishap here or there is going to happen and that’s fine – you’re dealing in human beings. What you want to avoid is a Dave Nonis situation where essentially everything is run into the ground for two calendar years, but there’s nothing to suggest McPhee is anywhere near that sort of incompetence. In fact his overall body of work is good, and his teams have competed atop the east for years now.
Mike Futa seems like a prime target most fans would be happy for the Leafs to acquire. He works for the Kings, a team that’s won two of the last four Cups, but has also handed out obscene contracts to the likes of Jonathan Quick and Dustin Brown. Another major candidate, Julien Brisebois, currently sits alongside Yzerman in Tampa Bay, an organization that forked over 35 million over six years to a 30-year-old Ryan Callahan.
I’ve yet to see the pitchforks out for those two.
The Rundown
Again, the Forsberg trade stands out under McPhee’s tenure but perhaps his key mistake was bigger picture, unraveling into desperation when the offensive force he built around 2008-2011 couldn’t break through in the playoffs. I won’t get too much into the ensuing mini coaching carousel because this piece is getting long enough, and to be honest we have limited knowledge of the coaches – Hunter and Oates – who succeeded Boudreau while McPhee was still there. But you could argue his best option would have been to just keep Boudreau behind the bench and continue to try and score the lights out with all the weapons he had. He didn’t. It cost him. Now he’s looking for work and he has to convince a management team he won’t make the same type of errors.
Here’s a brief look at some of the notable trades McPhee was involved in
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signed a contract promising to pay SolarCity a monthly bill for the next 20 years. In the long run, this will cost John more than if he just paid for the whole thing up front out of his pocket, but it makes it workable for him.
KESTENBAUM: And it makes the whole decision for John really simple. Should I go solar? Comes down to a really simple calculation. How much am I paying on my electrical bill now and how much am I going to pay if I switch to solar?
O'HAGAN: It just seems like a great deal. Cuts the electric bill 40 to 50 percent.
GOLDSTEIN: So how much are you paying now for your power bill?
O'HAGAN: About $180 a month.
GOLDSTEIN: And so you're paying $180 a month. How much do you expect you're going to be paying on this?
O'HAGAN: It should come down to about $100-$110 a month. Once the switch gets flipped and these guys hook me up to the electric box, I'm all set.
GOLDSTEIN: That's it. Just that simple calculation. That is the heart of America's rooftop solar boom. It's a guy who doesn't particularly care about the environment, a guy who's not trying to make a statement. It's a guy who's saying, if I get solar panels put on my roof today, my power bill is going to go down next month.
KESTENBAUM: There is one problem with this whole set up. If you're SolarCity and you're going to be paying for solar panels on the roofs of people's houses across America, that gets really expensive at $25,000 a house. You do the math, it's like billions of dollars. And SolarCity is a young company. They don't have billions of dollars.
GOLDSTEIN: So here's how they solve that problem. SolarCity and other companies in the industry, they went to Wall Street. They went to big banks and said...
KESTENBAUM: Do you want to own solar panels on people's houses?
GOLDSTEIN: Yeah. Basically right. So these big investors, big Wall Street banks put up billions of dollars, and they essentially own little pieces of solar panels on, you know, houses like John's. And they get this flow of the payments for the next 20 years.
KESTENBAUM: I love that Goldman Sachs may own solar panels on people's roofs across America.
GOLDSTEIN: That's how they solved the problem.
KESTENBAUM: And that is how solar power got cheap. The solar panels themselves got cheap. The one-tool-to-rule-them-all, fancy, fast installation thing and, three, creative financing. There's also four actually.
GOLDSTEIN: Yeah, so four is subsidies, is the government, basically. There's a big federal tax subsidy that is a big deal and that may go down in the relatively near future. A lot of states also have subsidies. I know John is getting a state-level subsidy as well.
KESTENBAUM: Only a small fraction of the electricity in this country comes from solar right now.
GOLDSTEIN: Tiny. Really it's still tiny.
KESTENBAUM: It's very tiny. But it is growing. In fact, you found this report by Greenpeace, who I would expect to be sort of overly optimistic.
GOLDSTEIN: Yeah. The report was called "Energy Revolution."
KESTENBAUM: Yeah, and they missed it. They underestimated where we would be today.
GOLDSTEIN: Yeah. It's - basically nobody predicted it would grow as fast as it has. And today, John is even trying to get his dad to sign up.
Is your dad going to do it next?
O'HAGAN: He's thinking about it. Yeah.
GOLDSTEIN: Really? That's good. Do you tell him, come on, Pop, what do you got to lose?
O'HAGAN: Save a few bucks, Dad. It's 2015; you've got a get with the program. Solar is in, right. (Laughter).
KESTENBAUM: Jacob, you know that is exactly the kind of pitch that works for me. Save a few bucks. So I actually looked into solar a while ago. I got a little flyer in the mail, and I called his number. And the guy's, like, what's your address? And I tell him. I hear this tap, tap, tap on the keyboard. I'm putting you into Google Earth, he says. And he says, is that tree still in your front yard? (Laughter). I said, yeah. He said, are you going to cut it down? I'm not going to cut it down. Sorry, it's not going to work for you.
GOLDSTEIN: It's a nice tree.
KESTENBAUM: It's a nice tree. I'm not cutting down a tree.
GOLDSTEIN: So there are actually a few reasons that solar doesn't work for a lot of people. And, in fact, trees are a big one. Trees or your roof doesn't face the right direction. Another big one is you got to have pretty good credit, right. They're not going to trust you to make this 20-year deal unless you have good credit. A third one is it mostly just makes sense for homeowners. It doesn't really make sense for renters at this point.
KESTENBAUM: So how many houses do they think this might make sense for?
GOLDSTEIN: There's a really wide range of estimates. But from what I read and the people I talked to, it's something like 10 to 20 million. Seems like a pretty safe bet - 10 to 20 million houses, which is about 10 or 20 percent of the houses in the country.
KESTENBAUM: So that's not going to, like, solve climate change, but that is serious. That's not fringy. That is not nothing. That's real.
GOLDSTEIN: What time is it?
KESHISHIAN: 11:53.
GOLDSTEIN: You going to turn it on right now?
KESHISHIAN: So the power light's green. That's a good start.
GOLDSTEIN: What does that mean?
KESHISHIAN: It's getting DC power from the roof.
GOLDSTEIN: So just to be clear, the power that is turning on this light and this thing is coming from the sun.
KESHISHIAN: We're running. We're running. We're creating power.
GOLDSTEIN: That's it. They plugged it in. They plugged it in.
The guys cleaned up the roof. They put the ladders back into the truck. And, David, they were done by lunch.
KESTENBAUM: Where did they go?
GOLDSTEIN: I think they went for wings.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOY WILLIAMS SONG, "SUNNY DAY")
GOLDSTEIN: Thanks to Shayle Kann of GTM Research and David Pomerantz of Greenpeace, who spoke to me for this story. Thanks also to Nadia Wilson, who produced today's show.
KESTENBAUM: We'd love to hear what you think. You can send us an email, [email protected].
GOLDSTEIN: One last thing, a sad note. Caitlin Kenney is leaving us. And frankly, it's a sad night, yes, but it's also kind of a pain in the ass (laughter) because Caitlin Kenney was the person at PLANET MONEY who got everything done and made everything happen. So Kenny, you were the heart of PLANET MONEY. I don't know what we're going to do without you.
KESTENBAUM: Caitlin, I was looking back to try and pull up your very first blog post for us. But it was so long ago, there was no way I was going to be able to scroll back and get it. It was, like, seven years ago. That's how long we've been doing this. We are really going to miss you. Good luck. We love you.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOY WILLIAMS SONG, "SUNNY DAY")
GOLDSTEIN: I'm Jacob Goldstein.
KESTENBAUM: And I'm David Kestenbaum. Thanks for listening.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUNNY DAY")
JOY WILLIAMS: (Singing) I open my eyes, look to the sky. Oh, it's a sunny day. The world is looking so...
GOLDSTEIN: Hey, if you're looking for another podcast, check out Snap Judgment with Glynn Washington. Every week, they have human stories, stories about real people. They are also doing a live show in New York City on May 8. It's Snap Judgment. You can find it at npr.org/podcasts.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUNNY DAY")
WILLIAMS: (Singing) Give me, give me, give me 'cause it's been so long. I want sunshine, sunshine.
KESTENBAUM: You've never read "Ring World"? It's really good. Solar panels orbiting the sun, and then they have this ring outside with very high walls so the oxygen stays in through centripetal force.
GOLDSTEIN: I think we're almost there man. We're like two years from "Ring World."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUNNY DAY")
WILLIAMS: (Singing) I want sunshine, sunshine, sunshine, sunshine, sunshine, sunshine.
Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.We’ve all done it at one time or another: whipped out our smartphone to snap a picture of a sunset that is too beautiful to forget, or surreptitiously photographed a particularly impressive dish at a restaurant.
It's obvious that we document our lives to keep our memories from fading, but with such widespread use of camera phones and new devices like the Narrative Clip – a mini camera that automatically takes a picture every 30 seconds – how much is too much? Are we taking too many pictures?
If you look at recent research by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University, you might think the answer is yes. Her research has suggested that taking photos can actually impair your ability to recall details of the event later, despite – and likely because of – the effort spent taking excessive photographs.
In her study from 2014, students were led on a museum tour and asked to take photos of certain works of art – and only observe others. When they were tested the next day, they were less able to remember details of objects that they had photographed. This is what Henkel calls a “photo-taking impairment effect”.
“What I think is going on is that we treat the camera as a sort of external memory device,” Henkel says. “We have this expectation that the camera is going to remember things for us, so we don’t have to continue processing that object and we don’t engage in the types of things that would help us remember it.” Though she adds that even if by taking photos we impair our memory in the short-term, having those photos in the first place will help trigger us to remember things later down the line.
Divided attention is absolutely an enemy of memory
Interestingly, the impairment effect was diminished when students were asked to zoom in on a particular aspect of an object, suggesting that the extra effort and focus required to do so aids memory processes or that we our more likely to externalise our memory when the camera captures a wider scene.
“It makes sense because research consistently shows that divided attention is absolutely an enemy of memory,” says Henkel.
Of course, we’ve felt the need to take photos for decades, when almost every household in Western Europe and America owned a camera.
But the shift from film to digital has also changed why we take photos and how we use them.
Research has confirmed what many of us suspect – that the primary role of photography has shifted from commemorating special events and remembering family life, to a way of communicating to our peers, forming our own identity, and bolstering social bonds. While older adults adopting digital cameras tend to use them as memory tools, younger generations tend to use the photos taken on them as a means of communication.
Logging our lives
“Many times people are taking photos – not to serve as a later memory cue, but rather to say this is how I’m feeling right here, right now,” says Henkel. “Look at Snapchat for example, users are taking those photos to communicate, rather than to remember.”
Our ability to document hit a new high with the advent of Microsoft’s SenseCam, an automatic wearable camera with a wide-angle lens, and as more people participate in “life logging”. Conceived as a type of “black box” recorder for humans and first released in 2003, the SenseCam can passively take pictures when it senses a person is in front of the camera or when there’s a significant change in light. It can also be set to automatically snap a photo every 30 seconds.
Evangelos Niforatos, a researcher at Università della Svizzera Italiana, studies how new technology can affect our ability to make memories. He’s also been actively life-logging for the last three years. Though research has shown life-logging using passive cameras can be significantly beneficial for people who suffer from severe memory impairments and review their autobiographical photos periodically, Niforatos says that the biggest hurdle with life-logging for regular users is figuring out how to use all that data.
“When it comes to an important experience to document, life-logging gadgets are definitely useful. But for everyday life, it’s not quite there,” he says. “But we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to get it closer to your actual memory – like a prosthetic memory that will give you the right memory cues to trigger what you want to remember.”
We may have changed the way we remember the experiences we record
Niforatos and his colleagues are designing a study that will link heart rate monitors from activity trackers like the Fitbit to automatic cameras, to see if changes in heart rate could indicate the best times to start snapping photos.
Digital cameras may not only have changed the way we take pictures. We may have even changed the way we remember the experiences we record, thanks to social media.
“We know memories are reconstructive. It’s certainly possible that we are reconstructing our memories to make them more in line with photos that we are taking, or with photos that others take and show to us,” says Kimberley Wade, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Warwick who studies false memories. “If someone shows you a photo that you didn’t take, it may show part of an event that you were at, but you don’t remember. And maybe that does become your memory. You may no longer know if the photo is something that you actually saw at the event.”
And remembering things from an outside point of view may have its drawbacks. Research has shown that when you remember an experience from a third-person perspective, you have less emotional connections to the memory.
But Niforitos for one argues that rather than distorting your memories, looking at photos that other people took at a shared event could ultimately enhance your memory of it.
“It depends on how you define experience. You could certainly argue that those shared experiences are your memories too,” he says. “It’s possible to build a system that supports this type of collaborative co-experience.”
Limit your snaps?
Similarly, though we are curating our memories by editing photos, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“Most false memory experts would say that inaccuracy is a good thing for many reasons,” says Wade. “If you change your political views at some point for example, you might go back and think that your political views were more in line with what they are now. We want to think we are stable people. We remember our relationships in a better light, we were remember ourselves in a way that is more in line with who we want to be. Some distortion is good for our well-being.”
So how often should we take photos? Unless you’re a professional, Henkel suggests limiting the amount of photos you allow yourself to take and to be more selective in order to get more of the benefits with fewer of the potential costs.
“If you’re on vacation and enjoying some beautiful site, take a couple pictures and put the camera away and enjoy the site, she says. “Later, go through them, organise them, print them out, and take the time to reminisce with other people. Those are all things that help keep memories alive.”
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedInIn the right hands, big data can do amazing things. In a new study, researchers at Chinese search giant Baidu lay out how to use its catalog of maps and search data to prevent massive crowds from forming.
The main objective would be to create an early warning system that deters potentially dangerous situations, such as a massive rash of panicked people fleeing a location, stepping on anything that falls in their way. On New Year's Eve 2014, Shanghai suffered a stampede that left 36 dead and 50 injured, according to the Guardian. Stampedes are obviously not limited to China — in Birmingham, U.K., during a concert in 2009, a sudden stampede of desperate onlookers penetrated the perimeter of the performance, gaining them access to the show, but also injuring 60 people in the process, according to Reuters.
Baidu's system would catch people before they've even arrived at their proposed destination. Crunching map queries and historical data, Baidu says it can use machine learning to detect when and where a crowd will form. Researchers say that they've noticed that a half an hour to two hours before a dangerous crowd amasses, there are a large number of searches about the area where people will ultimately meet. An algorithm could detect this anomaly and trigger a warning that urges users to stay away from that area. Considering Baidu's large share of the Chinese search market, the product has potential to impact a lot of people.
While keeping people from entering a potentially hazardous area is commendable, that same tool used in a different context could have far more nefarious results. In the hands of the Chinese government, for instance, data about how many people are congregating where could help quell dissent and protests. With this data, the Chinese government could see where people are organizing or about to organize and shutdown transit or send a troops to bar any assembly.
For now, much of the research remains academic, but the company says it has begun developing this product for deployment. "It is worth mentioning that we have developed an early warning system for human crowds based on the aforementioned decision method and prediction model," the researchers note in the study. Whether it will expand its use beyond an early warning system for big crowds is yet to be seen.
h/t MashableBarnett
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Nelson Mousasi
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Hall Horiguchi
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Ishihara Ben Fowlkes @BenFowlkesMMA 2015 picks: 107-55
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Hirota Brent Brookhouse @BrentBrookhouse 2015 picks: 107-55
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Hirota John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2015 picks: 104-58
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Hirota George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2015 picks: 103-59
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Ishihara Steven Marrocco @MMAjunkieSteven
2015 picks: 101-61
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Hirota Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA
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2014 Champion
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Hirota Brian Garcia @thegoze 2015 picks: 100-62
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Hirota Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt
2015 picks: 99-63
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There is but one unanimous pick from the MMAjunkie staff on tonight’s UFC Fight Night 75 main card. But the other five fights feature prohibitive favorites from our pickers.
UFC Fight Night 75 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, just north of Tokyo. A heavyweight fight is featured in the main event, which airs on FOX Sports 1.
In that headliner, eight of our nine editors, writers and radio hosts believe former champion Josh Barnett (33-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) will top “TUF 10” winner Roy Nelson (20-11 MMA, 7-7 UFC).
In other near-unanimous 8-1 choices, we’re picking Gegard Mousasi (37-5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) to beat Uriah Hall (11-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in their middleweight co-main event; Kyoji Horiguchi (15-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) to top Chico Camus (14-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in their flyweight fight; and Mizuto Hirota (17-7-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) to take the “Road to UFC: Japan” tournament crown against Teruto Ishihara (7-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
The bantamweight fight between Takeya Mizugaki (20-9-2 MMA, 7-4 UFC) and George Roop (15-11-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC) is the only truly contentious bout on the card. Six of our staffers like Mizugaki to win on his home soil.
Only the featherweight fight between Diego Brandao (19-10 MMA, 5-3 UFC) and Katsunori Kikuno (23-7-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is unanimous with all nine pickers siding with Brandao. That fight was elevated to the main card earlier this week from the prelims.
Check out all the picks above. Additionally, leave your main-card picks below. As usual, MMAjunkie reader “IAMMA” is organizing the MMAjunkie Member Picks, where “sadowolf” is still leading both categories and looking to repeat his 2014 title for most wins.
For more on UFC Fight Night 75, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.How do you measure creativity?
As much as creativity may be in demand, it’s not so easy to measure. At least 25 or 30 previous studies, mostly of professionally creative people such as jazz musicians and Emmy Award winners, have tried to look at neural correlates of creativity, said the study’s lead author, Manish Saggar, PhD, an instructor in psychiatry and a member of the teaching team at the d.school.
“Everybody wants to think creatively,” Saggar said. “But how do you get somebody to actually do that on command? Forcing people to think creatively may actually hamper creativity.”
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that subjects’ brain processes are monitored while they’re confined inside a dark, cramped MRI chamber. This environment is not exactly the first place that comes to mind when you’re thinking about places where creativity can flower, Saggar said.
“Creativity has to be measured in a fun environment,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re bound to have anxiety and performance issues.”
Saggar came up with the idea of borrowing an approach from Pictionary, a game in which players try to convey a word through drawing to help their teammates guess what the word is. He selected action words like “vote,” “exhaust” and “salute.” Then he, Reiss and their colleagues serially tested 14 men and 16 women in an MRI chamber, recording activity throughout their brains via functional MRI scans while they drew either a word or, for comparison, a zigzag line, which required initiation and fine-motor control but not much creativity. Participants were given 30 seconds per word, long enough for a decent scan but short enough to elicit spontaneous improvisation and stave off boredom.
“We didn’t tell anyone, ‘Be creative!’ We just told them, ‘Draw the word,’” Reiss said.
The drawings were captured on a special MRI-safe electronic tablet designed by study co-author Robert Dougherty, PhD, research director at the Stanford Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging. The drawings were then sent to Hawthorne and Adam Royalty, a researcher at the d.school and co-author of the study. Hawthorne and Royalty separately rated the drawings on five-point scales of appropriateness — did it depict what it was supposed to? — and creativity — how many elements were in the drawing? How elaborate was it? How original?
When they emerged from the MRI chamber, subjects were asked to rate the words they’d been asked to draw for relative difficulty. Increasing subjective difficulty of drawing a word correlated with increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex, an executive-function center involved in attention and evaluation. But high creativity scores later assigned by the raters were associated with low activity in the executive-function center. Higher creativity scores were associated with higher activation in the cerebellum.
On analysis, a number of brain areas were more active when subjects were engaged in drawing words than when they were drawing zigzag lines. Peak activation occurred in the cerebellum and regions of the cortex known to be involved in coordinating motor control or acting as a visual sketchpad. The latter regions’ involvement in detailed drawing wasn't particularly surprising.
‘The more you think about it, the more you mess it up’
But the heightened activity in the cerebellum was unexpected, as was its association with high creativity scores subsequently assigned by the raters. In monkeys, this brain region has been found to be especially active in learning and practicing new movements.
But those monkey findings may have thrown researchers off, Saggar said. Newer studies show that, unlike the monkey cerebellum, the human cerebellum has robust connections not only to the motor cortex, the brain’s higher movement-control center, but to the other parts of the cortex as well.
“Anatomical and, now, functional evidence point to the cerebellum as doing much more than simply coordination of movement,” Saggar said.
Sometimes a deliberate attempt to be creative may not be the best way to optimize your creativity.
He and his colleagues speculate that the cerebellum may be able to model all new types of behavior as the more frontally located cortical regions make initial attempts to acquire those behaviors. The cerebellum then takes over and, in an iterative and subconscious manner, perfects the behavior, relieving the cortical areas of that burden and freeing them up for new challenges.
“It’s likely that the cerebellum is an important coordination center for the rest of brain, allowing other regions to be more efficient,” said Reiss.
“As our study also shows, sometimes a deliberate attempt to be creative may not be the best way to optimize your creativity,” he said. “While greater effort to produce creative outcomes involves more activity of executive-control regions, you actually may have to reduce activity in those regions in order to achieve creative outcomes.”
Saggar put it more bluntly. “The more you think about it, the more you mess it up,” he said.
Other Stanford co-authors of the study are former postdoctoral scholar Eve-Marie Quintin, PhD; psychology graduate students Eliza Kienitz and Nicholas Bott; visiting researchers Zhaochun Sun, PhD, Yin-hsuan Chien, MD, and Daniel Wei-Chen Hong, MD; and research associate Ning Liu, PhD.
The study was funded by a grant from the Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program, which is affiliated with Stanford’s Center for Design Research.
Information about Stanford’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, which also supported the work, is available at http://med.stanford.edu/psychiatry.html.The 2003 article concluded there was no correlation between long-term use of Risperdal and an increased risk of certain side-effects, including the growth of breasts in boys.
A medical journal article co-authored by SickKids hospital’s top pediatrician was manipulated by a drug company and understated the risks of a powerful antipsychotic used to treat kids with behavioural problems, the former head of the U.S. drug regulator alleges.
“My name is on an article in which there is some data that has been left out. That, to me, crosses a line,” Daneman, pediatrician-in-chief at the Hospital for Sick Children, told the Star.
The medical article was singled out in recent U.S. lawsuits against Janssen as an alleged example of drug company influence on doctors and published research. A court exhibit shows a draft of the study describing an association with certain side-effects — a finding that a Janssen employee internally flagged as “significant.” This information is not in the published version of the article.
The listed authors included respected experts in the pediatric field — Toronto’s Dr. Denis Daneman and two U.S. doctors — and three employees from Janssen, which makes Risperdal.
In a statement to the Star, the drug company said patient safety is its foremost priority and it is “committed to the highest standards of scientific integrity.”
The report, filed in U.S. court, said Janssen “controlled and influenced” more than 40 manuscripts, including the one co-authored by Daneman. Kessler called the company’s alleged promotion of the drug for unapproved use in vulnerable children “deeply troubling.”
The alleged manipulation of the medical article is outlined in a report by expert witness Dr. David Kessler, former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a pediatrician by training.
This is a story about the role of a drug company in the production of a scientific journal article.
Earlier this week, the Star reported that an internal investigation at Toronto’s University Health Network found falsified data in two scientific articles co-authored by one of its top doctors.
An independent biostatistician is now reanalyzing the 2003 study’s data to determine whether the original results stand or if they need to be corrected on the public record, Daneman said.
“We do not agree with Dr. Kessler’s opinions expressed in his report,” a Janssen spokeswoman said.
“If, indeed, these allegations are true, then I would feel used,” he said, adding that his contributions to the paper “were made in good faith and based on the assumption that my colleagues and I had access to all the relevant data.”
He said he was not included in internal Janssen discussions about certain revisions to the article.
“There is this deception there that is intolerable,” he said.
In a 2012 deposition where he was questioned by a U.S. plaintiff’s lawyer, Daneman, a pediatric endocrinologist, agreed the study he participated in had data calculation errors that had the effect of understating the frequency of side-effects.
In an interview with the Star, Daneman said there was no intent on his part to exclude significant results.
Kessler’s analysis was prepared at the request of Philadelphia lawyer Stephen Sheller, who represents more than 400 clients who claim they were misled about Risperdal’s risks and, after taking the drug, grew breasts — a condition known as gynecomastia.
Earlier this year, a Philadelphia jury awarded $2.5 million (U.S.) to an autistic man who grew size 46 DD breasts after being prescribed Risperdal when he was a child. (Janssen has filed a motion to have the verdict overturned). In another case, the jury ruled the drug did not cause the plaintiff’s gynecomastia, though it did find the company failed to adequately warn “the extent of the risk” to which Risperdal could cause male breast growth.
There are still many more lawsuits waiting to be heard, Sheller said.
In Canada, a class-action lawsuit alleges Janssen manipulated clinical trial results, downplayed the risks and ghostwrote articles about Risperdal — “utilizing hired medical writers, who are not researchers or scientists, to write articles and then submitting them to selected opinion or ‘thought’ leaders to attach their names to them as authors without making any meaningful contribution to the article, to lend false credence to these articles.”
The suit, filed last year, claims the company then got these studies published in journals “to create the false impression of scientific acceptability.” The lawsuit has not been certified and its allegations have not been tested in court. Should the case proceed, Janssen said it “plans to vigorously defend itself.”
Studies have suggested that patients using risperidone, the generic name for Risperdal, more frequently experience elevated levels of prolactin, a hormone that stimulates breast development and lactation, compared to other similar antipsychotics. Elevated levels of this hormone can result in troubling conditions, including infertility and male breast growth, according to FDA researchers.
The 2003 study analyzed results from five Janssen clinical trials to investigate prolactin levels in children and teens taking Risperdal, and “explore any relationship with side-effects hypothetically attributable to prolactin.”
Daneman said his role in the study was commenting on parts of the article and suggesting changes and that somebody else wrote it.
He told the Star he was paid about $1,000 by Janssen for his participation. “I gave the money to charity because of the concerns that had been raised about potential conflicts of interest,” he said.
The article that resulted from the analysis was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
The study’s abstract, a summary at the beginning of the article that doctors often rely on for key take-away information that may inform their prescribing, said there was “no direct correlation between prolactin elevation” and side-effects such as gynecomastia.
However, the research had found a statistically significant association between elevated prolactin levels and side-effects during the eight-week to 12-week period of Risperdal treatment, Kessler said. A court exhibit shows a Janssen employee flagged the “significant value” in an earlier draft of the study, asking fellow company officials how they should “handle” it.
The published article does not mention the information. Kessler said the omission of the side-effect information “misled physicians and the scientific community.”
Daneman told the Star the information about the association with side-effects should have been included in the final article. In a deposition, he speculated the information was removed in the editing process, saying “sometimes the final article leaves out details that you would like to put in.” He said the article’s statement that there was “no correlation” was “inaccurate” and “defective,” but said it does not “nullify all the findings in that study.”
Kessler also found the study used an inflated denominator, cutting in half the actual rate at which boys under 10 taking Risperdal in the clinical trials developed breasts. In his deposition, Daneman agreed that the calculation should have been done differently.
Notwithstanding the problems raised in Kessler’s report, Daneman told the Star his medical journal article’s overall finding — prolactin levels taper off after an initial increase and there is no correlation between long-term Risperdal use and gynecomastia — is in line with the findings of other published research.
New research suggests otherwise. An epidemiologic study of data from roughly one million men in the U.S. found men taking risperidone were more likely to develop gynecomastia than men not taking the drug or taking other popular antipsychotics. A previous analysis by the U.S. FDA researchers found a disproportionate number of reported prolactin-related side-effects for risperidone, and concluded there may be a link between the drug and these kinds of reactions.
Mahyar Etminan, a drug safety researcher at the University of British Columbia and lead author of the new study, said misleading journal articles can lead to serious consequences for doctors and patients.
“When you have this busy clinician who sees the paper is authored by one of the leading people in the field, they are more likely to just read the abstract and believe what they read.
“It can lead to inappropriate prescribing,” said Etminan, who, since conducting his research, has been retained as an expert consultant for lawsuits against Risperdal.
In a statement to the Star, Janssen said Risperdal continues to help countless people throughout the world suffering from debilitating mental illness.
In 2014, the FDA rejected a petition by Philadelphia lawyers championing lawsuits against Risperdal to, in part, have the drug’s approval to be used in children revoked until long-term safety can be demonstrated. The FDA said “there is no evidence that the drug is unsafe.”
The unsuccessful petition, Janssen said, “was based substantially on Dr. Kessler’s report.” The lawyers are appealing the decision.
Daneman told the Star important parts of the study have been overlooked during the controversy, including the finding that numerous patients with suspected side-effects, including gynecomastia, had their symptoms resolve by the end of the roughly year-long clinical trials.
At the time the study was published, Janssen, along with its parent company, Johnson & Johnson, were illegally promoting unapproved uses of Risperdal in vulnerable seniors and children, the U.S. government alleged in a recent prosecution of the company.
In his expert report, Kessler cited an internal Risperdal business plan, quoting the drug company as saying it aimed to “leverage the data and the business opportunity within the child/adolescent market via medical education.”
In 2013, the U.S. government announced the company would pay $2.2 billion (U.S.) in fines and settlements to resolve federal criminal and civil investigations concerning Risperdal and other drugs. The company has said the civil settlements are
|
unton said Bernard Locke brought her partner into the kitchen and after a few minutes emerged, telling Anthony Locke to “finish him off.”
She told the court one of the men said:
“Remember the Scissor Sisters? We can be the Scissor Brothers.”
The trial continues with Ms Staunton’s evidence before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of six men and six women.
Comments for this article have been disabled as the case is ongoing.It was October 19, 1995 when Ireland made their first appointment of the professional era. We can't quite remember if there were any tv cameras there, but it was all done and dusted in a small enough room in a hotel near the union office on Lansdowne Road. Not so insignificant that we weren't given a bit of theatre though.
It was October 19, 1995 when Ireland made their first appointment of the professional era. We can't quite remember if there were any tv cameras there, but it was all done and dusted in a small enough room in a hotel near the union office on Lansdowne Road. Not so insignificant that we weren't given a bit of theatre though.
Indeed in an intimate setting, Tom Kiernan gave us a short preamble, and then, looking at the empty chair to his left, announced that the new coach would be one... Murray Kidd!
Enter Murray from behind the scenes, beaming.
For those of you who don't remember him, he was an early arrival in the Kiwi rugby invasion of Ireland, and brought AIL success to Garryowen, and promotion as well as a Munster Senior Cup triumph to Sunday's Well. It was from the Well that the IRFU fished Kidd to succeed Gerry Murphy who had signed off after the World Cup in South Africa three months earlier.
To say Kidd's elevation was a surprise would be an understatement. He had shared a flight up from Cork that morning with a journalist who half-believed the line the coach gave him about having some mundane business in Dublin. When the new man emerged at the coronation, the journalist in question gave the room a colourful quote all of his own.
The kingmakers in the IRFU back then were known as the elections sub-committee. At the time it comprised Kiernan, former Lion and captain of Ireland; Syd Millar, former Lion as player, coach and manager; and Eddie Coleman, who wasn't capped but had worked his way up through committee land starting with his club, Terenure.
They were the three men who ran the show in Irish rugby. In the IRFU, enormous weight has always attached to those who had excelled on the field, and you couldn't argue with the CVs of Kiernan or Millar. Nobody questioned the suitability of all three, however, as administrators or planners.
A year later, Murray Kidd was turfed out by the same men who had ushered him in. On Kidd's watch, Ireland had won three out of nine games, and the final run of four losses – including defeats by Samoa and Italy – did for him.
It was all Murray's fault, so Murray got the sack. Next came Brian Ashton, whose coronation was an altogether more high-profile affair, featuring a unique six-year contract. After another year, the same system that had appointed him got rid of him, and the system went on unchanged.
You will be pleased to know that in this world of rapid change some things are constant. The way we appoint our national rugby coach is one of them.
Last Wednesday, Declan Kidney came to Dublin to meet the members of the national team review group. This is the modern-day equivalent of the old elections sub-committee. It has extended from a three-man to a five-man operation, but otherwise not much has changed: they appoint people to positions of power but are not answerable if those appointments go south.
Lo and behold, this might be the last time we replace a coach using this system. As most of you know, the IRFU have signed off on the brave new world that is Plan Ireland, a vision of a professional operation running a professional game, and it may even be functional before the 20th anniversary of the game going open, in 2015.
Bear with us while we run through a few details here. Again.
The plan is for a performance director to be appointed, someone who would install the national and provincial coaches, and a professional game board of six to eight members who would run the pro game, ensuring that all parts in our tidy little system are in working order.
Last week we spoke to a senior IRFU source about the progress of the plan. All signed off at committee level, he assured us. Moreover, the hunt was on already for the performance director. Was it not a pity that this hadn't been done a bit sooner so that the new director could start by finding us a new coach?
"Well, in an ideal world, yes..." he said. There is another problem, however, and forgive us if we're going over old ground again here. The first thing the performance director will want to know is the make-up of the professional game board. If, like the national team review group, it's a dressed-up version of the tried and trusted and failed model that served in the amateur era, then the show will close on opening night.
How appropriate that the Ireland campaign should end in carnage in Rome, for it throws light on every aspect of the operation.
The average Joe is now asking if there's something wrong with the way the players are prepared, that so many of them should end up injured. Between pre-Championship and the campaign itself, 17 players were banjaxed. Of this group, four were soft-tissue injuries: both Dan Tuohy and Declan Fitzpatrick had calf tears; Craig Gilroy had a groin strain and Jonny Sexton tore his hamstring.
Intriguingly, at the post-match conference in Rome, Declan Kidney alluded to having a theory on why the dressing room looked like the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan, but that wasn't the time or place to expand on it.
You'd imagine his last-chance-saloon meeting with the union's national team review group was just the place. Soft-tissue injuries in professional sport are considered avoidable. Of course in a collision sport you're going to have fractures and ligament damage, but groins and calves and hamstrings are things you aspire to keep in one piece.
It may be that the cause of all this was just bad luck, that the good fortune which attended Ireland's Grand Slam season in 2009 – starting with beating a France team playing comparatively much better rugby, and finishing with Stephen Jones leaving short his last-minute penalty in Cardiff – had been all used up by the time Declan Kidney got to year five.
But you'd want a top-of-the-range structure to pinpoint this stuff quickly. And the IRFU has as much interest in being world-class as it has in being transparent and accountable.
We have detailed in these pages before the pathetic situation that the union allowed to develop where for over a year they had no head of strength and conditioning. Six months before the World Cup in 2011 they knew Philip Morrow would be moving on; it was eight months after the event, in May 2012, when eventually they hired Dave Clark. It was third-world stuff, for which nobody was accountable.
Ten months down the line, we are no wiser about Clark's plans for getting everyone in Ireland on the same page. Given the cock-up in putting someone in place, you'd have thought the IRFU might let him find his feet and then get him out front to reassure the punters that this was actually something Ireland were taking seriously.
For example, he might have an innovative plan to take to the Sports Council for a programme that would physiologically screen athletes acrossthe country, and across
the codes, at age 15 or 16, to assess their chances of becoming high achievers in one sport over another. Think of the outliers rugby might pick up this way.
Three months after the IRFU had started the search for a head of fitness, England, looking forward to the 2015 World Cup, had appointed a man called Matt Parker to head up their athletic performance. Prior to that he had been 'director of marginal gains' for British Cycling.
Marginal gains, eh? That's something we might hear Jamie Heaslip trot out in the wake of another Irish defeat, but does the current Ireland captain have any appreciation of how far off we are in getting to the point where it's inches that make the difference?
"Our experience with the coaching staff, the management staff, the strength and conditioning, the facilities we had was all amazing," he gushed last week.
Sounds like we're in a Grand Slam of a good place then. Nevertheless, in the next two weeks Declan Kidney will be thanked for his significant contribution to the cause, and not offered a new contract.
The smaller picture is whose face is next in the frame. If Les Kiss was successful last week in convincing the union that his end was kept up then he might get a chance to outline how he would perform the trick as head coach rather than assistant. It is inevitable though that he has suffered some damage from his five years as assistant. Kiss is bright and ambitious and we're about to find out how persuasive.
Alternatively, the desire for a clean sweep could usher Kiss out one door, and through the other bring Joe Schmidt and Vern Cotter. Kiss and Schmidt have a reasonable handle on the Irish system by this stage so they will be equally concerned with the bigger picture. If you don't get the background right then the foreground has no focus. Only the union can change that. If for example they opt to jockey men from the old side of the house into the brand new extension – ie the professional game board – then you can forget about attracting people like Conor O'Shea at some point in the future.
O'Shea's experience from playing and coaching at London Irish and Harlequins, and heading up England's Academy Programme, as well as a stint as director of the English Institute of Sport, serves him perfectly for either the performance director's job in Lansdowne Road, or indeed as successor to Kidney.
Do we need Pa Whelan and Tom Grace and the rest of the gang making decisions about candidates who are in a different league to them?
Whelan's great achievement as a union man has been to survive. His greatest contribution however would be to lead the way now and step aside. It would open the door to a professional system for a professional game, and deliver us from the process that gave us Murray Kidd.
In a remarkable coincidence, a year after the Kiwi was appointed, Kidd was summoned to a meeting in a solicitor's office in Dublin, only to encounter the same journalist en route. This time, with a view to the news he was about to receive, he was already saving a few bob and travelling by train. And there was no need for elaborate stories about his mission impossible.
Irish IndependentWhile the DeltaWing may no longer be eligible for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year, the Don Panoz-owned team is working on a way to remain in the top class of the series with a new Prototype program.
Sportscar365 has learned that Panoz has proposed the concept of a Panoz DPi, complete with a bespoke engine and Panoz-branded bodywork, for the new-look class in 2017.
According to Panoz DeltaWing Racing team manager Tim Keene, it’s something that hasn’t yet been formally approved by the sanctioning body, due to the company not being a high-volume car manufacturer.
“If we were able to get in as a low-manufacturer OEM, that’s what we’d be hoping for,” Keene told Sportscar365. “But it would be up to Don and IMSA to agree on what we could do.
“I think it would be cool to keep the brand in the series.”
Keene said they’ve already narrowed down the chassis constructor for the proposed project, but would not disclose which one of the four approved LMP2 chassis they would go with.
Bodywork, inspired by one of the Panoz road cars, would be designed and built by the Georgia-based team, along with a bespoke four-cylinder turbo engine.
Keene stressed final approval on the project has yet been given but sees the project as the best way of keeping the team in the series next year.
“It’s difficult,” he said. “I wish I knew what we were doing now because you really need to be starting now with what you’re going to be doing for next year.
“Hopefully something can be decided in the next three to four weeks.”
Should the Panoz DPi materialize, it would mark at least the third different manufacturer in the new-look Prototype class for 2017, joining Mazda and Cadillac.Marc General
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:46 am
Posts: 3379
Kojima-Mikami Interview This is an old interview from June '01, posted on Core Magazine online, but I thought people might still be interested in reading it.
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Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and Devil May Cry producer Shinji Mikami recently sat down with HyperPS magazine in Japan to discuss their upcoming games. Considering playable demo versions of both games were released this spring in Japan, both Kojima-san and Mikami-san were asked to comment on each other's work.
HyperPS: Demos of both Metal Gear Solid 2 and Devil May Cry were released this spring. What do you think of each other's project?
Kojima-san: Devil May Cry is much more of an action game than Biohazard. I think it will be very popular outside Japan.
Mikami-san: Oh, so it's another game made for foreigners, huh?! [laughs..]
Kojima-san: Well, I was wondering how you would combine melee-style weapons like swords and guns together in the same game.
HyperPS: What did you think of the overall presentation?
Kojima-san: Is the main character supposed to be David Bowie?
Mikami-san: [laughs..] The game was originally supposed to be a Biohazard title, but we decided to change the design and gameplay system and eventually differentiate it completely.
Kojima-san: Game design isn't an exact science, so it's understandable that development proceeds from ideas and concepts. From there, you can fiddle around with the gameplay specifics and the elements which make the game interesting. By doing that, the game will continue to evolve.
Mikami-san: Yes, but our director Mr. Kamiya is the type of person who will include any and every idea. So who knows how the game will turn out. [laughs..]
HyperPS: It looks like you're paying particular attention to the background detail in Devil May Cry?
Mikami-san: Recently, one of our designers stayed up all night playing the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo on 'Hard' mode. He thinks the backgrounds in Devil May Cry are pretty good, but he suggested we try a more structured approach, like in MGS2. We didn't give in to his suggestions. [laughs..]
HyperPS: Mr. Mikami, what was your impression of the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo?
Mikami-san: The original was good, but the sequel looks incredible. The movie scenes and camera work are well done, but the use of different viewpoints balances everything. I was genuinely impressed, as was our staff.
Kojima-san: Really? Well, hopefully it will sell as well as Biohazard and Onimusha. [laughs..]
Mikami-san: The demo version is very popular overseas already, so I don't think you have anything to worry about. [laughs..] Maybe this time you'll sell a million copies here in Japan. I often conduct surveys of our staff and ask them what games they plan to buy. Based on those results, I can usually tell how well a game will sell. Based on the number of people who plan to purchase MGS2 at Capcom alone, I'd be surprised if it didn't sell a million copies domestically.
Kojima-san: That's very encouraging, let's hope the players agree with you.
HyperPS: Metal Gear Solid 2 and Devil May Cry are both receiving praise as action games. Do you have any preferences when it comes to action titles?
Mikami-san: I think the Metal Gear series has a strong concept, balance, and good action.
Kojima-san: Objectively speaking, it's hard to make an action game that's stylish and appealing.
Mikami-san: The way the action is evenly paced in Metal Gear is very appealing. So is the action in Devil May Cry, where the protagonist is very strong and cool.
Kojima-san: The action in Metal Gear isn't always evenly paced.
Mikami-san: Well, that's not good. [laughs..]
Kojima-san: Right now we're having trouble with where to put Snake's hands when he's performing an action but not holding anything. If he's holding a gun it's no problem because he just continues holding it.
Mikami-san: When you did the motion capturing, you filmed him holding a gun, right?
Kojima-san: Yes, but depending on the player's actions, he doesn't always hold it.
Mikami-san: That can be problematic -- we had similar trouble when developing Biohazard.
Kojima-san: It becomes even worse when Snake encounters an enemy. It looks like he's trying to drive his fingers into the body of the bad guys. It's not like he's a Special Forces guy either. [laughs..]
Mikami-san: Sounds pretty bad.
Kojima-san: By giving the players so much freedom, we create problems directing the action.
Mikami-san: On a different note, I think you're good at blending elements of humor and drama in your games. It's like a horror film director building tension through a shower scene. We're [Capcom] not very good at that.
Kojima-san: You did pretty well with Biohazard and Onimusha.
Mikami-san: That's because the subject matter is so dark. [laughs..] Maybe they're not dark enough, even though they deal with serious apocalyptic type themes. Sometimes I think they should be scarier.
Kojima-san: Some users might be put off by that approach. With Metal Gear Solid, many people criticized us for including the Psycho Mantis character. If we had taken him out though, it just wouldn't have been the same. Because of things like that, I'll never make a real hit game. [laughs..]
Mikami-san: I wouldn't have wanted you to change that. While working on Biohazard, some of the staff would complain that a boss was too hard, and they'd suggest we change the settings. But that's not what Biohazard's all about. [laughs..]
HyperPS: What things do you want to try on the PlayStation 2?
Mikami-san: I hope Devil May Cry becomes a long running series on the PlayStation 2. If I have the chance to work on another title, I'd want the map designs to be realistic, but I'd want the graphics completely original. I'm interested in doing something symbolic.
Kojima-san: I want to do the next Biohazard.
[Everyone laughs..]
Mikami-san: You want to work on Biohazard 5?
Kojima-san: Sure, I love zombies.
HyperPS: If you had the opportunity Mr. Kojima, what would you do?
Kojima-san: I'd make it look like a Romero film with people being eaten, and you could turn into a zombie.
Mikami-san: We've wanted to do that since the original, but the control was too difficult.
Kojima-san: For example, say a zombie appears in a village of about 500 people, our hero goes in to save them. You'd have to find the people that haven't been turned into zombies yet and save them, it would be fun.
Mikami-san: You could make it into a network game. The more users that logged on, the more zombies would appear, and the game would get progressively harder.
HyperPS: From a player's perspective, that's something I'd really like to see.
Kojima-san: You could always just put a demo version of my latest game in with the next chapter in the Onimusha and Biohazard series.
Mikami-san: Yeah, sure. [laughs..] In that case, we'd ask that Metal Gear Solid 2 be published by Capcom. Otherwise, how can we compete with it? [laughs..]
Kojima-san: Well, Metal Gear Solid 2 will hit shelves this winter.
Mikami-san: We [Capcom] have a lot of planning to do for a counterattack. [laughs..]
-- Translation Asst. Walt WymanStaffing agencies continue to grow in popularity, but there are still several myths about their existence and recruitment style. A lot of candidates looking for a job have questions in their mind – how do staffing agencies work for employees? Should I used a staffing firm to find a job? Do employment agencies really help?
We’ve listed down 5 common myths about getting a job through a staffing firm.
Myth # 1 – Staffing agency offer low-paying and low-grade job opportunities
Reality: Staffing companies offer candidates the opportunities from administrative positions to CEOs. They provide jobs and salary depending upon your experience and level. It is up to the candidate how to use the opportunity so that you can take your career to the next level.
Myth # 2 – I will have to pay to the employment agency for a job
Reality: Staffing agencies are hired by companies to help them fill the open positions in their organization. These companies pay staffing firms to hire the best talent for permanent and temporary positions. As a candidate, you don’t have to pay anything for registering with them, or even after being hired by the agency.
Myth # 3 – Staffing firms only offer temporary jobs
Reality: Not true! While many positions offered by staffing agencies are temporary, a significant portion of these positions gets converted into full-time employment soon. Sometimes the employer is so impressed by the candidate’s position that they hire them for full-time. Also, these agencies are hired by several big companies to fill their niche and permanent positions. So, discard this misconception from your mind.
Myth # 4 – Staffing agencies don’t care about job satisfaction
Reality: Let’s face it – it may see true with some firms, but there are several agencies that care about employee’s satisfaction and career growth. Candidates often ignore the help these recruiters provide by guiding them to approach an interview, be available to answer their queries help them with research and role-play interview scenarios etc. Of course, all these depends on the agency you choose. Only the best staffing agency will help you with these services.
Myth # 5 – Employment through staffing agency does not offer benefits
Reality: This doesn’t depends on the agency, it depends on the company you are working with. If the company you are employed with provides extra benefits other than the salary to its employee, you’ll also be eligible for the same. Many companies offer health insurance, good number of leaves and retirement benefits.Actility provides the inside story on the deployment and testing of a location and tracking solution for IoT devices in the Port of Barcelona, Spain, using a low power wide area network.
Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) are an ideal communications technology for industrial IoT applications, enabling remote sensors and devices with minimum power consumption to be connected using a long range radio network that is extremely cost effective and straightforward to deploy. Actility is a pioneer and co-inventor of LoRaWAN, an LPWAN technology which uses unlicensed ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) radio bands for bi-directional communication with IoT devices. The ability to locate and track objects, animals and people using these IoT devices is set to revolutionise industry verticals from agriculture to manufacturing.
“We believe that accurate location capabilities combined with LPWA networks are a game-changer in the logistics sector, delivering increased efficiency in resource and supply chain management, at revolutionary total cost of ownership (TCO) levels much lower than conventional cellular/GPS tracking solutions,” says Mike Mulica, the chief executive of Actility. “Geolocation and tracking could possibly be the biggest use case in the whole of the Internet of Things, based on the amount of interest we’re seeing in our location service portfolio.”
The challenge now is to roll out robust, industrialised solutions that deliver on that game changing potential.
The problem
LoRaWAN is evolving rapidly, driven by the needs of industrial customers. Existing tracking solutions used devices containing a GPS receiver, communicating their location over the LPWA connection. This eliminates the need for a power-hungry cellular connection, and a potentially costly M2M subscription, but the GPS receiver is still a battery hog. Unlike pure LPWA devices, which can have a battery life in the field that is measured in years, a GPS tracker may need recharging every few weeks depending on usage.
Thanks to the work of Actility, Abeeway, Semtech and other members of the LoRa Alliance, there is now a network-based alternative, able to locate and track any device connected via LoRaWAN. This solution was to be tested and demonstrated in a real world environment around the ZAL Port of Barcelona, making its debut in the spotlight of Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
The solution
To deliver the network at the ZAL, Actility teamed up with Tracktio, an industrial tracking and IoT solutions specialist based in Barcelona and Madrid. Tracktio already had a LoRaWAN network deployed in the City of Barcelona, but network based geolocation calls for new gateways – the base stations that receive radio signals from connected devices – built to the latest standards. Together, Tracktio and Actility selected Cisco IR829 and IXM LoRaWAN gateways.
In a LoRaWAN network, devices are not connected to a single base station; instead signals are received by any base station in range of the device, and passed to Actility’s ThingPark network server. Network-based geolocation relies on measuring the different arrival times of signals from the same device to different gateways, and triangulating the position of the device based on how far it is from each one. The new V2 Cisco gateways are equipped with GPS receivers, which not only allow their location to be very precisely determined, but also provide the synchronised time signal that allows the difference in signal arrival time to be measured precisely.
To enable the triangulation process, the network gateways must be deployed densely enough that the signals from each device are received by several gateways; in the case of the ZALPort, Tracktio and Actility radio planners determined that six gateways would be needed to cover the multimodal logistics facility’s approximately four square kilometre area. Thanks to the fact that LoRaWAN uses unlicensed radio spectrum, the network can be deployed very quickly. “The most complicated part is simply getting permission to mount gateways on the roof of the various buildings,” says Tracktio’s Pablo Recolons. “Actually deploying and commissioning the network only took around two days.”
The plan was to use the LPWA network to track security and maintenance vehicles and personnel around the port area. For the tracking devices, Actility turned to long-standing partner in tracking solutions, Abeeway. Established in 2014 to commercialise IoT geolocalisation devices, Abeeway’s portfolio includes both consumer and industrial trackers. For this demonstration, a combination of Micro Balise, keyring size trackers, and Master Tracker industrial devices were selected. The smaller devices would be worn or carried by personnel, whilst the larger trackers – which have the same functionality enclosed in an industrial casing with a larger battery – were fixed to security cars and maintenance trucks. Both these trackers have on-board GPS receivers, the goal being to compare the position results obtained using GPS, which will be accurate to within a few metres, with the results from the network-based method.
However, using the Abeeway devices with the ThingPark Location Server also opened up the possibility of real-world testing of a unique new location capability based on patented technology. GPS relies on signals from multiple satellites to locate the receiver, requiring the device to track and lock on to up to six satellite signals, and then perform some complex calculations to determine its location. Abeeway’s patented alternative provides a form of Assisted GPS. The network server maintains a database of the location of all GPS satellites, and can instruct the device which ones to lock onto, which speeds up the initial fix time from up to a minute or more to a matter of seconds. Once the tracker has received the GPS signals, they are communicated immediately to the network server, and the position calculations are done in the cloud. This dramatically reduces the processing power needed by the device, bringing down its cost and power consumption substantially. The end result is a technology that promises to deliver the same accuracy as GPS, with a power consumption only 10% higher than purely network-based location.
The complete solution – Abeeway trackers, Cisco gateways, Tracktio network, Actility server and Abeeway application – was up and running on 22 February 2017, a few days before the crowds descended on Barcelona for MWC, and only a few weeks after the project kick-off.
The results
This demonstration network allowed Actility to test the full portfolio of location solutions which go to make up the Thingpark Location service, which exposes locations determined by any method through a single application programme interface (API). The different techniques have different applications: GPS and A-GPS are used where high accuracy is needed and require dedicated device, whereas the network based solution can locate any device, but is likely to be less accurate. The target for network-based geolocation is to achieve an accuracy of better than 100m, which is all that’s necessary in many use cases, such as determining whether a vehicle is in one depot or another, for example, or geofencing to detect when an animal strays outside boundaries. According Sitha Oum, Actility’s project manager, the results were very encouraging. “We were consistently seeing a network location within around 50-100m of the location determined by GPS,” he says. “And we also proved that the A-GPS solution is as accurate as the solution calculated by the device, which is a green light for the roll-out of this bestof-breed technology.”
In the near future, ThingPark will also integrate the capability to geolocate Abeeway devices using WiFi network sniffing, in which the combination of network identity and signal strength matched to a global database extends the reach of the solution indoors.
“IoT is often touted as a transforming technology for all industries,” says Olivier Hersent, Actility’s CTO and founder. “Sometimes, it’s difficult to decide if it is hype or reality. But for the logistics industry there is no doubt that using LoRaWAN in location is a revolution. Introducing an order of magnitude cost reduction in a price-sensitive industry doesn’t happen that often in technology. For tracking, though, it is happening for real, right now.”
https://www.actility.com/Image copyright AFP Image caption Government officials held a meeting with creditors but participants said no concrete proposals were made
International credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has declared Venezuela to be in "selective default".
The ratings agency said the South American nation had failed to make $200m (£153m) in repayments on its foreign debt.
Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has also been declared in default by rating agencies Fitch and Moody's.
The news came just hours after the government met investors in Caracas to try to renegotiate its debt.
Read: Venezuela's debt problem: To default or to pay
Standard & Poor's declares a "selective default" when a country has failed to pay one or more of its financial obligations when it came due.
In the case of Venezuela, the government of President Nicolás Maduro failed to make $200m in payments on two global bond issues by 12 November, when a 30-day grace period expired.
S&P says Venezuela is also overdue on four other bond payments worth a total of $420m but that the grace period has not yet expired on those payments.
Venezuela's total external debt, which also includes loans from countries like Russia and China, is thought to be as much as $140bn.
Hampered by sanctions
On Monday, government officials met with creditors in Caracas in an attempt to restructure its debt.
But creditors who attended the meeting told journalists that the 25-minute meeting ended without the government making any concrete proposals.
Instead, the head of the Venezuelan commission, Vice-President Tareck El Aissami, read a statement blaming sanctions imposed by the United States for Venezuela's difficulties in making the payments.
Mr Aissami, who has been accused of drug trafficking by the US, is himself on the list of Venezuelan individuals sanctioned by the US treasury department.
Participants in the creditors' meeting said at least one attendee left the room when it became clear Mr Aissami would be leading it.
Under the sanctions, no US citizen can do business with Venezuelan individuals on the list.
The sanctions also impose a ban on US entities buying any new Venezuelan debt issues, complicating the government's debt restructuring plan.
The Venezuelan government described the creditors' meeting as "a resounding success" and said that it would continue to service its debts.A 6-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed herself Tuesday night after finding a loaded pistol, marking the second time in about a week that a child in Sanford has found and fired an unsecured gun.
A'letha Amanii Marie Burke is also the youngest fatal gunshot victim in Central Florida this year.
Her death comes less than a month after roughly 200 gathered to rally against violence in their community.
A'letha, a kindergarten student at Wicklow Elementary School, was playing in the living room of a family member's house on Highlawn Avenue in Sanford about 8 p.m. when she found the gun unsecured and without a trigger lock, police said.
She grabbed it and fired one round into her right shoulder, according to Sanford police. The bullet traveled through her body and exited her bottom.
Her family member, 35-year-old Erick Dominick Williams, who was supposed to be baby-sitting her at the time, drove A'letha to a nearby hospital.
From mass slayings to strange attacks, these are pictures of the most bizarre and shocking crimes to happen in Florida.
She died a short while later.
Police found out about the incident after getting a call 30 minutes later from hospital staff.
Detectives started investigating and learned Williams knew the gun was stored unsecured under the couch, an arrest report states. But he let A'letha play near it anyway, police said.
"While A'letha was left in the care of Mr. Williams, he knowingly allowed her to play in the area where the firearm was stored," police spokeswoman Bianca Gillett said.
Williams was arrested on charges of child neglect and unsafe storage of a firearm. He is being held in the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford.
Williams' criminal record stretches back to 1999, records show. He has been arrested on charges of cocaine, trafficking, marijuana possession, and fleeing police, but has never served prison time in Florida, records show.
Children at Wicklow Elementary are being offered grief counseling, Seminole County Public Schools spokesman Michael Lawrence said. The school's principal sent a letter about A'letha's death home with students.
This is the second time in about a week that a child in Sanford has found a gun and fired it, Gillett said.
Hospital staff called Sanford police last week after a child showed up with a gunshot wound to the hand. That child survived, but police said they're frustrated with the amount of gun violence.
Gillett said the incidents are "senseless" and preventable if the community realizes the need for responsible gun ownership.
"As an owner of a firearm, you need to store it securely and away from juveniles," she said. "We owe them that to protect them and keep them safe."
Police said the gun that A'letha found — a Springfield XD.45 pistol — didn't have a trigger lock or any other safety device on it.
Sanford officers hand out locks for free at the department, Gillett said.
"Anybody can come in, without any questions asked, we will give them out and it's a simple, effective manner to keep that firearm stored securely and our children safe," she said.
The death comes a month after another child in Central Florida died from an accidental shooting.
Lavardo Fisher, 13, of Ocoee was playing Xbox Feb. 7 in a house on Spottswood Drive when he was accidentally shot in the back of the head by his cousin.
The 18-year-old shooter was on a hoverboard and lost his balance, causing the gun to fire.
Deputies determined the gun belonged to 35-year-old Walter Morame, who was not home at the time of the shooting and denied owning the gun. He was arrested on a charge of possession of a weapon by a felon.
Also last month, residents, community groups and police officers gathered for Sanford's first "Stop The Silence" Rally and Community Unity Day.
The event provided a forum for residents to ask for information about some of the city's unsolved crimes, including the slaying of 15-year-old son Tamar Harris on Jan. 29.
He was shot while riding in a vehicle near Altamonte Springs by a person who was standing in the street.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 500 people died in 2013 from accidental gunshots, and 69 of them were children under 15 years old.
Sanford police are holding a gun-safety class at 4 p.m. Thursday at the department headquarters in hopes of educating residents on how to properly store their weapons.
Gillett said children are also welcome to learn what they should do if they find a gun.
Gal Tziperman Lotan contributed to this report.
[email protected] or 407-420-5417CLOSE Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal talks about a potential bid for the White House in 2016. Jindal highlighted his accomplishments during the South Carolina Freedom Summit. VPC
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal waves at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City on May 22, 2015. (Photo11: Alonzo Adams, AP)
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will make a "major announcement" regarding his presidential plans on June 24, according to media reports.
Jindal adviser Timmy Teepell says the governor will announce if he intends to join the crowded Republican field at an event in New Orleans, Politico reports.
An announcement of Jindal's intention to seek the Republican nomination has been expected since he launched a presidential exploratory committee in May and began paying visits to key primary states. He said previously that he would address his plans sometime after the end of Louisiana
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behind host, get exposure. Mr. Boyette also often sets up a banner featuring the number "1-800-LAW-CASH" behind the "Today" hosts as they start their 8 a.m. banter. The sign also calls attention to a blog associated with a radio show moderated by host Brian Smith on WICC in Bridgeport, Conn. "It helps," Mr. Smith said, because it reminds former listeners who have moved out of his area about where to find him.
The banner appears because Irving Pinsky, a New Haven, Conn., attorney, arranges for it to be there through Mr. Boyette. "The outdoor part of the 'Today' show is like a block party in New York City," said Mr. Pinsky, who added that he tries to help friends by placing the sign.
At 1-800-LAW-CASH, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., the company is puzzled by the ad. "This is something that we don't pay for and have no connection to," said Rich Palma, the company's chief operating officer. Still, it's clear that the appearance of a random sign on "Today" can generate results. "We get calls all the time: 'How did you get that space?'" Mr. Palma said.
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Contributing: Max LakinAfter watching the grid suffer while families traveled across the U.S. for the solar eclipse, a well-known problem became more apparent: there aren't enough chargers to sustain the amount of charging required by the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road. Volkswagen's luxury brand, Audi, has reportedly announced their intent to work with a Chinese solar manufacturer to produce an interesting charging concept for their new EVs: solar cells integrated into the car's glass.
The German automaker will work with a solar cell manufacturer Alta Devices to embed solar cells into the glass that will be placed in a panoramic roof. This concept, which is expected to be installable on a test vehicle by end-of-year 2017, has the possibility of reaching full-scale development on a future Audi model which would be released alongside its E-Tron lineup.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone on record to say that this type of model is not sustainable for charging cars (though is suitable for charging car chargers) and Audi seems to think that he's right. Current cells simply aren't efficient enough, given their size, to charge a vehicle to sustain long distance or fast charging needs. Fortunately, Audi won't be targeting the powertrain as its reason to incorporate solar charging into its vehicles. It's likely that the charging will provide energy used to supplement the output of electric used to run accessories like the air conditioning, headlights, and other items that suck power away from the wheels. A lower charge for a lower draw.
A concept such as this makes a great deal of sense, especially considering that Volkswagen has decided to shift a great deal of its focus towards EVs for both itself and subsidiaries, Audi included. The two brands are planning to release at least eight fully electric cars (five for Volkswagen and three for Audi) by 2022, a huge commitment in the form of alternative fuel. Eventually, Audi would like to develop cells which would also provide sufficient charge to its drivetrain. Dr. Bernd Martens, a member of Audi's Board of Management, stated that powering "would be a milestone along the way to achieving sustainable, emission-free mobility"
None of this shift comes at a low cost either. In fact, Audi has recently had to cut costs by $12 billion over the next five years in order to fund their shift to electric. Part of development costs will be shaved off thanks to Volkswagen's MEB modular electric platform which will share components between Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen branded vehicles. If successful, this could help to lead to an even more energy efficient affordable EV.Photographic retouching is nothing new, and it's as common as the digital technologies used to take the photos themselves. Retouching a video, however, is a bit trickier, and it usually requires more work to make a specific effect blend in with the rest of the image. Foton, Inc, a company from Japan, is working on technology that is achieving simply mind-blowing results with video that look as good as any Photoshopped image. Click through to check out these impressive clips.
This is what Foton had to say about the first video:
We developed special movie retouching techniques that won't damage a detail of material, and don't use "blur skill" for it that is why you feel more real. And also we work on 4K data without compressing 4K into HD. This model already had the natural beauty. However,we could improve it more to perform retouching,free transform, and color correction in the movie.
PetaPixel said this about the video:
It appears that the software is advanced enough to track with subjects’ faces as they moved around the frame, allowing for the edits to be consistent throughout the entire video without any blurring (look at how clear the skin is!). Although the new technique does away with frame-by-frame editing, Foton says it still spent 3-4 days creating the short proof-of-concept clip above.
This sort of manipulation is commonly done on movies and TV shows, but it usually takes a tremendous amount of time and work to do something like this on this sort of scale, and make it blend in perfectly. It's not often that you need to actually do this much to a video image, but if you could, and it could be done rather quickly and efficiently, why wouldn't you?
Here are a few more of their videos:
The other videos don't seem to be embeddable at the moment, but you can check out the rest on Foton's Vimeo page. You might be thinking that this isn't all impressive or that they do this all the time on movies, but most effects are not done at 4K, as the cost is just too great. It also seems that the technology they have can be made to work with lower resolutions, but I'm sure they have a custom tracker that works a lot better when there is more information and more detail.
The real test for this sort of thing will be to see it with a lot of motion. It's likely the tracker will have a difficult time if the scene changes drastically, but since we don't have any examples of that, we can't be sure. Can you do something like this in After Effects? Probably, but the amount of detail that is retained after retouching is impressive, and the retouches are blended seamlessly in a pretty impressive way.
What do you guys think? If the technology needs the extra pixels, does this make the case for 4K video? Have you done any retouching like this in your own work?
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[via Gizmodo & PetaPixel & Fstoppers]When you chat with those within soccer that know Zach Scott something becomes quickly apparent - everyone respects him. Their respect for Mr. Sounder grows out of a few things - he treats everyone well; he works harder than anyone else; he dedicates himself to family; he sacrifices everything for his team, the Seattle Sounders FC.
Zach Scott will not be in training camp next week. This will be the first time since 2002 that the small-for-a-defender, aerial expert isn’t attempting to make the Sounders roster. He retired, ending a story that players with World Cup experience respect.
“Winning is everything to him, and the team is his sanctuary. That’s the type of guy he is, and I respect the hell out of that.”
Herculez Gomez played with Scott in 2003 and then rejoined the Sounders for an MLS Cup run in 2016.
“Zach is the same, he hasn’t changed,” the recently retired forward said. “He’s a hard-nosed defender, consummate professional, one of the nicest guys you’ll come across. He’s always treating everybody that I’ve seen with respect.
“Guys like that are hard to come by in this trade. He’s definitely a guy that you can see why he’s lasted so long. He’s a team-first type of guy, his mentality is about whatever it takes to win. It takes a different type of breed to have that mentality where he puts everything behind and focuses on the team. Winning is everything to him, and the team is his sanctuary. That’s the type of guy he is, and I respect the hell out of that.”
Related Zach Scott Testimonial
Respect, it keeps coming up. It comes from players who Scott surprised when he made the USL Sounders roster in 2002. Back then Viet Nguyen was a speedy forward-winger (now he’s a coach at PAC NW), a seasoned veteran of a team in ownership transition trying to climb back to the heights of the 90s. In practices and scrimmages Nguyen would face off against the mostly fullback, sometime center back.
“He was athletic, strong and his timing in the air was very good for his size, but he technically struggled in tight spaces,” Nguyen said. “He was always tough to play against in training because he competed and gave his best. Over the years, Zach would consistently arrive early and stay after to work on his technique.”
Scott worked hard. What he lacked in technical skills he made up for in harsh tackles, an endless motor and spatial awareness. From 2002 until 2014 his play on the field improved. It is an unusual career arc that ends, by choice, closer to his best years than not.
There was little reason to think that Scott would make an MLS roster back in 2009. Leighton O’Brien, like Viet, was on the 2007 USL Championship side with Zach (they also won it in ‘05, as well as a couple Cascadia Cups). In 2008 many on that team focused on trying to become MLS players for the Sounders.
Ask O’Brien, now the Technical Director at PAC NW, when he thought Zach Scott would be an MLS player and the first answer is a quick joke: “I am still waiting for that moment.” The longer answer is what everyone says about Zach.
“I would say early on because of his dedication to getting better,” O’Brien said. “Whether that was coming early to train, working out extra, eating right, etc. All the small stuff players do to become a good professional. Over the course of time he became tactically a great reader of the game and A LOT cleaner technically on the ball. And of course as a person and teammate he was excellent.”
Hard work, dedication - it’s a simple phrase. It captures a particularly American psyche that ruled US soccer for decades. If you work hard enough and dedicate yourself to your chosen cause, you will succeed. Matt Gaschk, who covered Zach in the USL and MLS with Seattle P-I, Sports Radio KJR, SoundersFC.com, and is now with Real Salt Lake at RSL.com, talked with Sounder at Heart, saying:
“I think the best thing about the Zach Scott story is that nobody at any point during his USL career could have seen eight MLS seasons,” Gaschk said. “And I don't mean for that to sound disparaging. He has earned every minute he has played on the field.
“That he has ridden it this far is a real testament to his work ethic, his desire, his ability to adapt and I think as much as anything else, the support system he has in his family.
“Him starting the inaugural match was a nice story. Starting the opener the next year was improbable. To do it three years in a row and be even better in Year 14 than he was in 2009... if you were to see that in a movie, you wouldn't believe it to be realistic.”
Scott’s last several years were playing for a movie producer. Joe Roth tends to focus on retold fairy tales. In many ways that is Zach’s story, but without the magic.
People at every turn of Scott’s stunningly long career say the same thing. He trained with joy and passion. At the vast majority of practices he was the first out of the locker room and the last to return. He would work with the youngsters, and his words would be harsh.
Aaron Kovar was the target of some of those harsh words, but he also told Sounder at Heart that as soon as practice was over Scott would turn into the most respectful and kind person on the team.
Scott’s love of the game and treatment of his teammates is why so many are coming back to the field to play for him at his testimonial match. So far there are two United States National Team keepers - Kasey Keller and Marcus Hahnemann. There’s Cam Weaver and Roger Levesque who both played with him in the USL and MLS.
A list of people willing to praise Scott would be too long. Gathering quotes is easy. People who are normally quiet gush when it comes to the Hawaiian defender who played at little Gonzaga University.
Former Sounder, and MLS Players’ Union Manager of Career Development, Mike Fucito told Sounder at Heart, “way way back in 2009, I remember first seeing Zach and thinking, ‘This guy is raw, but man is he a competitor.’” Fucito was just a rookie trying to make the team. Scott was a seven-year pro trying take the step from the lower divisions into MLS.
“Zach is the embodiment of hard work, toughness, character, sacrifice, a leader, a teammate, and a friend,” Fucito said. “This guy is an absolute beast. I think what always impressed me with Zach is that he only got better as time went on. He is a great example of someone who did everything in his control to work to continue to improve, year in and year out.
“He was usually the last one off of the practice field. And when it came to game time, there are very few people I'd rather go to battle with. Zach would run through a wall for his teammates and that Sounders crest. I am grateful to have been able to play with him and call him a friend.”
Scott is the Man Marker - the destroyer of hopes and dreams if you make the mistake of playing against him. For those playing with him he is the loyal friend, a man who brings you happiness. He will never fail for not trying. He will not accept failure, but treat it as a challenge to get better, and he did for more than a dozen years.
“I’m very happy and very glad to have played with him for a lot of years,” Osvaldo Alonso said to Sounder at Heart.
Someone else will need to carry his mantle now. Zach Scott has moved to “Always a Sounder” rather than current Sounder. He is a symbol to kids throughout their catchment area, but particularly here in Seattle on the fields of Starfire where they know him best. Whether at Starfire Stadium or on the training pitches, Scott treated the confluence of the Black and Green Rivers as a castle that he would defend against all comers. He did so in the USL, in the Open Cup and in practices.
“He's a perfect story that I tell my players I coach,” says Viet Nguyen. “Here's a guy that graduated from Gonzaga and worked hard for everything and made the most of his opportunity.”
There’s someone who knows Zach Scott better than anyone not in his proper family and that is his coach. Brian Schmetzer won six trophies while Zach’s head coach and another five major honors while the First Assistant with Sounders FC.
“He represents what a lot of the qualities are that the Sounders are all about.”
It will be Schmetzer’s first training camp without Zach Scott. Back in 2002 Brian Schmetzer was just hired to coach the USL team. Scott earned his way from open tryout to regular during that first preseason.
“To me, he represents what a lot of the qualities are that the Sounders are all about,” Schmetzer said. “He's a hard worker, he's a smart worker, he's a good athlete, he's a gifted soccer player. He's had moments. This is what we all forget. We all talk about Zach as being Mr. Sounder and some of the hype, and you see some of the stuff with his kids and his family and he's really a good person. Like a really good human being.
“But he really has had some impact on the field as well, which we're very happy for over the course of our time together. The penalty kicks down in Portland, the Open Cup game in Philly in 2014 - everybody talks about Oba and Deuce and scoring that goal in overtime, but Zach had half a leg in that game, and he persevered and was able to help us win away from home against a very good Philly team. There's plenty of soccer moments that make all of this stuff worthwhile. He's been a part of a lot of the success from the USL days and into MLS.”
In remembering Zach Scott the player it’s easy to think that there were better defenders on the MLS side. But, we also have to remember that Scott played through pain and injury. Scott sacrificed and earned playing time over hot prospects. Then, after games where he made mistakes he talked. He owned his errors.
Over the next week he would enter Field 12 out at Starfire and try to fix them. At the age of 36 Scott never stopped trying to learn more about the game that brought him, and he brought us by playing, so much joy.
It is fitting that Zach Scott’s career ends with an MLS Cup. It’s fitting that his final appearance on stage after the victory march wasn’t in team gear, but in plain clothes leading us all in “Jingle Bells.” Scott is one of us now. He’s a fan. He’s a Sounder by choice, by hard work and by dedication.
There’s one last chance to honor Zach Scott as a Seattle Sounder. On March 1 at Memorial Stadium a collection of Seattle’s greatest players will gather to kick a ball for 90 minutes as a testament to their friend and teammate.
Seattle soccer has many eras. There is the pre-professional period before the NASL. There’s the NASL, FC Seattle Storm, the A-League, the USL and finally MLS. But there’s another delineation - before Zach Scott and after Zach Scott.
January 2017 is the start of the post-Scott era. It is a year defending a Cup and a star. It is a year when someone else will be the hardest worker. It is a year when someone else will bring their kids onto the field after the game.
Mr. Sounder has retired. The next Mr. Sounder is probably on an area field now.Why Did the U.S. Really Strike Syria? What You’re Not Being Told
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The whole world is trying to make sense of America’s reckless decision to launch air strikes against the Syrian government. The strikes against Syria came in light of the fact that they were ordered by a president who infamously wondered on Twitter in 2013:
“What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict?”
He also astutely noted that “Obama needs congressional approval.”
It is hard to make sense of the recent series of events. Essentially, the mainstream media’s narrative is that just days after the U.S. announced it was seriously considering leaving Assad alone, Assad decided to commit political suicide by conducting a chemical weapons attack against civilians, one that would have certainly drawn international condemnation and a possible war with the American military. Why would he do that?
Something doesn’t add up.
It’s difficult to put the pieces together at such an early stage of these recent developments, but there are at least two things worth highlighting here.
First, Russia has condemned the assault as an act of aggression and has stated this may ultimately destroy Russia-U.S. ties. Russia has also suspended an agreement reached in 2015 that ensured U.S. and Russian aircraft would not collide with each other in Syrian airspace.
The Trump administration distinguished itself quite significantly from the Clinton campaign in 2016 by pushing for closer ties with Russia and stating that in Syria, the focus would be on ISIS — not Assad. According to leaks within the intelligence community, this was the job of Trump’s national security advisor Michael Flynn, who was in the process of offering Russia a deal regarding the lifting of sanctions. Once these leaks ousted Flynn from the government, he was replaced by General H.R. McMaster, a staunch cold warrior.
Since his appointment, McMaster has been incredibly busy. He reportedly ousted Stephen Bannon from the Trump administration just days ago. Most importantly, however, McMaster was the one who actually briefed Trump on the military proposal to strike Syria.
Let that sink in for a moment. Would Flynn have made these same proposals to directly attack a Russian ally?
The second thing worth highlighting is that the missile strike in Syria came moments after Trump met with China’s president, Xi Jinping. Trump has been embroiled in a war of words with China and, in particular, China’s close ally North Korea. Trump just recently threatened that if China did not keep a lid on North Korea, the U.S. would act unilaterally.
In that context, Trump’s decision to strike Syria may not have been just about Syria. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, only 23 of the 59 missiles launched actually struck their target in what Russia perceived as an inefficient and “poor” strike. Since the attack occurred, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also stated that U.S. policy remains unchanged, highlighting the fact that this may have been a one-time strike.
If that is the case, the strike may have been intended to do minimal damage, as its sole purpose was to send a shocking warning to China and Russia that they will act militarily against their closest allies. In light of this, it would not be too much of a stretch to speculate that it was also a possible test to see how these two nuclear powers would respond in turn.
The Trump administration, a team of warmongers who have been infatuated with a war against Iran, may have learned a valuable lesson regarding Russia’s ability to directly defend its allies in the region against the American military. Although this particular strike may have been a one-time event, determining how adept Russia is at responding may ultimately shape what is to come next. As Iran continues to remain a direct threat to U.S. interests in the Middle East, it’s also possible Trump may be considering expanding these strikes in the near future with a goal of directly targeting Syria and Iran.
Either way, this recent American strike on a sovereign nation in direct contravention of international law is likely to pave the way for some frightening developments in the very near future.
Help Us Be The Change We Wish To See In The World."Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige and special guests provide an inside look at the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe."
It seems more than obvious that both DOCTOR STRANGE and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 will be on the Hall H stage. Both movies release within the next 10 months and they will get some Hall H love. Plus, there's more and more rumblings that the director and lead star in CAPTAIN MARVEL might be officially announced to the SDCC crowd as well.
Surely, Marvel will be making an announcement about their SDCC panel any day now and as soon as they do, we will update this post accordingly, if there's more info to share.
UPDATE 7/10/16 1:52 p.m. ET, via director James Gunn, who confirms GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 appearance:
Related Posts:More than 500 websites that used a free analytics service inadvertently exposed their visitors to a nasty malware attack made possible by a hack of PageFair, the anti-adblocking company that provided the analytics.
The compromise started in the last few minutes of Halloween with a spearphishing e-mail that ultimately gave the attackers access to PageFair's content distribution network account. The attacker then reset the password and replaced the JavaScript code PageFair normally had execute on subscriber websites. For almost 90 minutes after that, people who visited 501 unnamed sites received popup windows telling them their version of Adobe Flash was out-of-date and prompting them to install malware disguised as an official update.
"If you are a publisher using our free analytics service, you have good reason to be very angry and disappointed with us right now," PageFair CEO Sean Blanchfield wrote in a blog post published Sunday. "For 83 minutes last night, the PageFair analytics service was compromised by hackers, who succeeded in getting malicious javascript to execute on websites via our service, which prompted some visitors to these websites to download an executable file. I am very sorry that this occurred and would like to assure you that it is no longer happening."
According to security provider F-Secure, the remote access tool installed in successful attacks was called Nanocore, a full-featured piece of malware that logs passwords, takes webcam snapshots, and regularly reports to a server under the control of attackers to upload private data and receive new instructions.
Fortunately, the malware was detected by F-Secure and likely competing antivirus packages as well. Additionally, a large percentage of connections to the attacker servers failed. On top of that, NanoCore runs only on Windows, so people visiting on machines running other operating systems were immune to the attack. PageFair's Blanchfield estimated that only 2.3 percent of people visiting one of the 501 affected sites during the attack would have been at risk of being infected. Still, the incident is the latest to show how people visiting known sites can still be exposed to drive-by attacks with serious consequences.KJ4AJP-MESH1, a WRG54G v2, is my primary "service" node. An IRC server is installed on it's processor. After trying a few different Chat clients, I settled on HydraIRC and recommend it for anyone setting up their own Nodes in the local area. When you go to the "Mesh Status" page of the localnode you are connected to and KJ4AJP-MESH1 is online, you will see the Chat Server as an Advertised Service link. Clicking on that link will open your HydraIRC client and configure you to the server automagically.
I retired an Addonics NAS 4.0 adapter from my home network and now use it for two 32GB USB thumbdrives. When attached to the Mesh, you will be able to access these to upload and download files.
The small blue box behind the router is a Raspberry PI computer running FreePBX, providing a VoIP telephone system across the Mesh. Each of my nodes has an extension number, 10x, where x is the node number (example, to call Node 6, dial 106). I use an old Lynksys SPA922 phone on Node 1. Each PBX extension has a Voicemail box. Since Node 1 is configured as the Internet Gateway for the Mesh and thus assumed to have connectivity to the internet, I have a Google Voice number for calls to and from public telephones off the Mesh.
If you're a licensed Amateur Radio operator and have a Mesh Node of your own in the local West TN area and would like a telephone number off the KJ4AJP PBX, let me know. You can use it with either a hardware phone like I'm using or with a free softphone client like 3CX or X-lite when we're all on the same Mesh.
The silver box to the left of the PBX is a 2W Broadband RF amplifier, available from Amazon or eBay. North of it is a chassis-mount female "N" conncector on a piece of aluminum L. Since the amp has SMA conncetors in and out, there is a RP-TNC to SMA adapter on the router. Note the second RP-TNC jack on the router has the stock rubber duck antenna on it.
The black box in the upper right is the power for everything. Since commercial power might not be available (and everything runs off DC anyway), I labeled the wall-warts and stashed them away. The black boxes have 30A dual PowerPoles for aproximately 13.8V input and inside have step down convertors. For 12V devices, a single 8-40V to 12V convertor powers the bus to the 2.1mm coaxial jacks. A 40mm fan is connected to the 12V bus for cooling. For 5V devices, individual 8-24V to 5V convertors power dedicated 1.3mm coaxial jacks. Since the two PowerPoles are in parallel, it allows for a 30A pass-through for attaching additional equipment. When tested with a 5dBi rubber duck antenna with N to SMA adapter, the node pulled 1.28 amps from a 13.8V power supply with all devices (including the Lynksys SPA922 phone) runnning. Linksys SPA922CINCINNATI -- In just two seasons, Cincinnati has become the hottest soccer market in the country, as fans from Southwestern Ohio and Northern Kentucky have been flocking in record numbers to Nippert Stadium to support the second-year USL franchise, FC Cincinnati.
This past Saturday, the Riverhounds made their first and only trip of the season to the Queen City in what turned out to be a highly entertaining duel between two teams battling in the tightly contested USL's Eastern Conference playoff race. The Hounds extended their unbeaten steak to five games, in a hard-fought 1-1 draw pitting teams with contrasting styles and tactics.
Knowing that the Hounds were playing in Cincinnati this year on Labor Day weekend, and since I was already planning to visit family in Louisville, it proved to be an optimal time to experience first-hand an FC Cincinnati game in person.
I wasn't disappointed.
Before we get into the soccer experience, here's a little about the locale.
University of Cincinnati's main campus, much like the University of Pittsburgh, is located a few miles away from the heart of the downtown section of the city, on an elevated plain in the Heights neighborhood. Upon arriving near campus, the first thing I noticed (other than the William Howard Taft National Historic Site), was that for a major state university in an urban area, the campus grounds were more compact and centralized than expected.
Nippert Stadium and the surrounding athletic complex is at the epicenter of UC's campus. Originally built on the very same site in 1915, Nippert has undergone extensive renovations over the years, and you can see that as modern buildings completely surround and enclose the core stadium structure. In 2013, upgrades closed the stadium for a year (forcing the Cincinnati Bearcats football team to play its home games at Paul Brown Stadium).
After the renovations, the new Nippert Stadium includes a massive scoreboard, premium seating, a new pavilion, additional restrooms, upgraded concessions and improved concourses.
Just imagine, if they kept the base structure of old Pitt Stadium on Cardiac Hill remaining, and surrounded it with modern structures, and a strikingly impressive press box, then the result would be something like what Nippert Stadium looks like today. Basically it's the pipe dream of Pitt's die-hard football fan base - an on-campus football stadium with just enough modern bells and whistles.
It's clear from my visit that the world's most popular sport has taken over the Queen City.
After parking on the edge of campus in the Clifton Street Garage, it was an easy stroll to the stadium following a sea of patrons in Orange and Blue via some scenic campus sights.
When I finally made it all the way around the outside of the sports complex to the area where will call was located, there was a Kids Zone area set up with a mini-soccer field, but the basketball fan in me was immediately drawn to a neat piece of American sports history. One of Cincinnati's true sporting legends -- Oscar Robertson -- is honored with a statue in the area that sits between Fifth Third Arena and Nippert Stadium. The former Bearcat great and NBA Hall of Famer, who was dropping triple-doubles with regularity way before Magic Johnson or Russell Westbrook, is UC's most famous sports hero. He also played for the Cincinnati Royals, an NBA franchise that played there from 1957 to 1972. (They're now the Sacramento Kings.)
[caption id="attachment_410562" align="aligncenter" width="636"] Statue of Oscar Robertson in front of Nippert Stadium. - JOHN KRYSINSKY / DKPS[/caption]
In the area by the entrance of the stadium and the Kids Zone, it was also a nice sight to see, on a day when the Ohio Valley was being dampened by a real light, misty rain from remnants of what was left of Hurricane Harvey, the American Red Cross were set up -- collecting donations to support relief efforts for Houston and the surrounding areas hit hardest by the devastating storm.
[caption id="attachment_410564" align="aligncenter" width="683"] FC Cincinnati fans assist in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in front of Nippert Stadium. - JOHN KRYSINSKY / DKPS[/caption]
Upon entering the stadium, it was time to take in a high-level soccer match.
Here's the view of the two teams warming up before the game inside the impressive facility.
[caption id="attachment_410563" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] A panoramic view of Nippert Stadium. - JOHN KRYSINSKY / DKPS[/caption]
Once I proceeded to make my way over to the press box side, I came across the first of five beer gardens in the facility in the north end of the stadium. In addition to the usual array of concession stands, there was a Rhinegeist Brewery beer garden located behind the mostly standing-room supporters section known as The Bailey.
Just to the right of The Bailey a number of tifos were on display.
[caption id="attachment_410583" align="aligncenter" width="677"] Numerous tifos hang near "The Bailey" supporters section at Nippert Stadium. - JOHN KRYSINSKY / DKPS[/caption]
Five stories high, the press box is not your typical USL media accomodation. While it provides a bird's-eye view, it was an excellent vantage point to be able to see the tactical chess match that would transpire between the two teams.
Another part of the experience that I didn't want to miss was the march into the stadium by the FCC supporters groups. In just two years of existence, five organized supporters groups, comprised of fans of all ages, now back FCC, and all come together to participate in the march. The march is more than a half-mile long, starting at Mecklenberg Gardens, off campus, and as they make their way to campus, and upon the stadium, they pick up more people and supporters at every stop along the way on a 20- to 30-minute walk.
[playlist type="video" ids="411043"]
Since I only had time to catch the supporters entering the stadium, I needed some help in capturing some of the sights and sounds of the march. Thanks to Riverhounds Director of Marketing, Jordan Kay, who was on site for the game. He caught the following video of the supporters on the street before they entered the stadium, and was nice enough to share.
[embed]https://youtu.be/-UEgW8AT2Z8[/embed]
Once the supporters entered the stadium, the entire north end section filled up immediately. While it also looked at first that the damp, wet conditions would keep many fans away, the rest of the stadium's bottom horseshoe bowl would also become packed shortly after kickoff.
Exactly how intense can The Bailey be?
Here's what FCC's Andrew Wiedeman, who scored FCC's goal vs the Hounds on Saturday, said after his team knocked off the Hounds MLS affiliate partners, Columbus Crew, in the U.S. Open Cup's 4th Round match on June 14.
“It was the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in in my career,” said Wiedeman, a San Francisco Bay Area native who admitted to getting goosebumps “literally, for the first time” when he marched onto the turf at Nippert Stadium in June. “And I say that having played in all the big MLS stadiums. Nothing comes close to that day. The Bailey was just crazy!”
The momentum has since carried over from last year raucous beginning, and from FCC's remarkable run through the U.S. Open Cup, as 22,643 fans came to root against Pittsburgh's soccer team. Being in the press box didn't allow for me to fully hear and appreciate the supporters as much as I wanted to behind the mostly sound-proof glass, but still, it was loud enough.
And while I was covering the game, Jordan Kay came through again, contributing this video footage that did a nice job of capturing the full crowd during the action.
[playlist type="video" ids="411148"]
Cincinnati is one of the leading cities in the run for an MLS expansion franchise, and due to the fan and footballing infrastructure they’ve built, popular opinion is that they deserve one. MLS commissioner Don Garber has visited Cincinnati and was impressed.
Still, despite the tremendous momentum with record-breaking attendance numbers (20,584 per game) along with an unprecedented run to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals this season, topping two MLS teams along the way, there are still some hurdles for FC Cincinnati to clear. The biggest hurdle: MLS' insistence that there is a comprehensive stadium plan that ensures the club will have a proper home. Because Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ballpark were largely funded by taxpayer dollars, there remains public resistance to having another new stadium being built in Cincinnati. Even with its charm, enhanced facilities and the fun atmosphere created at Nippert, it's not good enough to meet MLS' lofty standards.
This will be something we'll be watching closely in the coming months as FC Cincinnati has created a very high standard for all other American cities and franchises trying to build interest and gain greater momentum for soccer in their communities.
This includes Pittsburgh, and the Riverhounds organization.
Kay acknowledged that he was meeting with FCC officials over the weekend, gathering information and getting a first-hand look behind the scenes of the successful second-year franchise.
On the field, the Hounds earned a hard-fought point in a hostile environment, and remain only one point behind FCC, who are holding on to the last playoff spot in eighth place. While FCC will only be able to play before its home fans one more time in its final six games, the Hounds were feeling especially positive, knowing that they'll finish the season with four of their final six games at the much friendlier confines of Highmark Stadium.
Corey Hertzog, who scored the Hounds' lone goal in the third minute, was satisfied with the result in a tough environment.
“We would have loved to get three points,” Hertzog said. “But to come out of here with a point, on the road, that’s good. If you told me at the beginning of the season we’d get a point here, we’d be happy.”
After the game, Riverhounds Head Coach Dave Brandt mentioned repeatedly in his post-game interview on the field about how difficult an environment it was for
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prostitution.” – Cherry Smiley, speaking at radfem2013.
Daley, S. (2001). ‘New Rights for Dutch Prostitutes, but No Gain’. New York Times, 12 August.
McCurry, J. (2005). ‘Red Light for Tokyo’s “Entertainment” Trap’. Irish Times, 15 March
Tanaka, Y. (2002) Prostitution during World War II and the US Occupation (with Foreword by Susan Brownmiller) (London: Routledge)
ETA CLARIFICATION: Reproductive labour produces and maintains the workers in a capitalist system. In this blog post, I have only dealt with the ‘maintenance’ aspect of this (cleaning/food prep/childcare) and pointed out that women dissociating in order to provide men with sex is classed as necessary ‘maintenance’.
There is another aspect to this conversation that pertains to the production of workers; i.e. the female-specific ordeal of gestating and birthing. I have not explored this here, as I don’t consider prostitution to be motivated by the end of producing children, even though it inevitably does. The designation of this labour seems historically particular to marriage.FIL: "So, what is with the skirts?"
Me: "Well, it is the path of least resistance right now. We would've been on time for school this morning if I had known he was willing to wear a skirt. Instead I spent an hour trying to get pants and shorts on him. I don't know why he didn't just ask for a skirt...."
MIL: "Do you think he prefers them?"
Me: "Well, you know, I do -- especially when it is hot out like this, skirts are a lot more comfortable and cool. I mean, the Scots preferred them, too, right?"
FIL: "I just hope he isn't getting teased too much at school."
Me: "No, that isn't a problem. I asked him the other night at dinner if anyone said anything about his dress. He said everyone loved it."
FIL: "Mmm. I'm not sure how long that is gonna last."“I’m gonna beat the shit out of Satan.”
– Rin Okumura, Blue Exorcist (Episode 02)
The Toonami Trending Rundown for March 1-2, 2014. Blue Exorcist starts heating up among other events as every show with the exception of Ghost In The Shell, IGPX, and Star Wars TCW trended in the US. Samurai Jack also trended worldwide, and both Space Dandy and Bleach also trended in the US during their respective west coast airings as well.
We also got some character trends from both Naruto Shippuden (the first of such for Naruto since Shippuden joined the block) as well as Blue Exorcist with Sasuke (as Naruto and co. remember him leaving the squad to hunt down Itachi), Satan (as he possesses Father Fujimoto and tries to send Rin back to Gehenna), and Rin (as he unleashes his power to fight back, mourns Father’s sacrifice, and joins up with the Exorcists to extract revenge).
InuYasha Trending Retrospective
If you haven’t heard the news, we got some bad news in regards to InuYasha. Effective as of now Toonami has unfortunately lost the airing rights to Inuyasha, and will be replaced with the return of Sym-Bionic Titan next Saturday at 5:30 am Eastern. No reason has been given as of this writing for this sudden change or whether it will return, other than they just simply lost the rights.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a premiere show, and I personally wouldn’t be surprised if it was sacrificed, so to speak, so the amount of premieres wouldn’t be compromised in the future. Unfortunately for those that want to finish the series, you’re gonna need to get the DVDs or head to Hulu or Netflix for that. Toonami just finished airing Episode 127, and there are 40 episodes left to go to get to Final Act’s starting point.
Hopefully we’ll see Final Act air in the future, but for now, here’s the statistics for how InuYasha performed in regards to Twitter buzz from when it first joined the lineup on November 2012 to this week.
Legend: Red – US, Blue – Worldwide, Purple – US & Worldwide
#InuYasha:(11/3-4/12), (11/17-18/12), (11/24-25/12), (12/22-23/12), (1/5-6/13), (1/12-13/13), (1/19-20/13), (1/26-27/13), (2/9-10/13), (3/9-10/13), (4/27-28/13), (5/25-26/13), (6/22-23/13), (6/29-30/13), (7/6-7/13), (7/27-28/13), (8/10-11/13), (8/17-18/13), (8/24-25/13), (8/31-9/1/13), (9/7-8/13), (9/14-15/13), (9/21-22/13), (9/28-29/13), (10/5-6/13), (10/12-13/13), (10/20-21/13), (10/26-27/13), (11/2-3/13), (11/9-10/13), (11/16-17/13), (11/23-24/13), (12/14-15/13), (12/21-22/13), (1/4-5/14), (1/18-19/14), (1/25-26/14), (2/1-2/14), (2/15-16/14), (2/22-23/14), (3/1-2/14)
Soul Eater’s Penultimate Episode and Daylight Savings
Daylight savings starts next week, so unfortunately Ghost in the Shell and FMA Brotherhood will have the night off next week while Soul Eater and OG Naruto will air at the 3am EDT “transition” hour instead so Soul Eater’s penultimate episode won’t be delayed. While 3am will still feel like 2am for many of you for the next few days, if you have somewhere to be early next Sunday for whatever reason, set your DVRs.
Other than that, until next week, enjoy the Oscars and stay gold.
Legend: The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the mobile app trends, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.
US Trends:
Toonami/#Toonami (During Naruto Shippuden, Naruto, Ghost in the Shell, FMA Brotherhood, IGPX, Star Wars TCW, and InuYasha) [#4]
#SpaceDandy (Also trended during it’s west coast airing) [#1]
#Bleach (Also trended during it’s west coast airing) [#5]
#NarutoShippuden [#4]
Sasuke (From Naruto Shippuden) [#10]
#OnePiece [#2]
#BlueExorcist [#1]
Satan (From Blue Exorcist) [#10]
#SoulEater [#1]
#Naruto [#3]
#FMABrotherhood [#3]
#SamuraiJack/Samurai Jack [#3]
#InuYasha [#1]
Worldwide Trends:
Toonami (During One Piece) [#8]
Sasuke (From Naruto Shippuden) [#8]
Rin (From Blue Exorcist) [#8]
Samurai Jack [#6]
Mobile App Trends:
Toonami/#Toonami (During Blue Exorcist and InuYasha) [#1. Tweet Count Unknown]
#SpaceDandy (Also trended during it’s west coast airing) [#6. Tweet Count Unknown]
#Bleach (Also trended during it’s west coast airing) [#3. Tweet Count Unknown]
Sasuke (From Naruto Shippuden) [#9 with 10.3k Tweets]
#OnePiece [#3. Tweet Count Unknown]
#BlueExorcist [#3. Tweet Count Unknown]
#SoulEater [#6. Tweet Count Unknown]
#InuYasha [#1. Tweet Count Unknown]
Special thanks to @Andy_Salcedo, @Cement_3000, @DatDamnPR, @kencon06, @MykeJinX89, @the_big_aa, @VTraks, and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.
Happy Tumblin’. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.“The safest place for him is alone by himself on his back in his crib,” Ms. Pletz said, scooping up Cedveon, who had launched into a full-throated squall.
A little later, Ms. Pletz said, "You know never to shake the baby, right?”
Ms. Onry nodded.
Ms. Pletz continued: “Nerves get shot and sometimes people lose their cool. If that happens, just put him on his back on a bed and close the door, and take a little rest away from him.”
The program is unusual because it is based on a series of clinical trials much like those used to test drugs. In the 1970s, a child development expert, Dr. David Olds, began sending nurses into the homes of poor mothers in Elmira, N.Y., and later into Memphis and Denver. The nurses taught mothers not to fall asleep on the couch with their infants, not to give them Coca-Cola, to pick them up when they cried and to praise them when they behaved. The outcomes were compared with those from a similar group of women who did not get the help.
The results were startling. Death rates in the visited families dropped not just for children, but for mothers, too, when compared with families who did not get the services. Child abuse and neglect declined by half. Mothers stayed in the work force longer, and their use of welfare, food stamps and Medicaid declined. Children of the most vulnerable mothers had higher grade-point averages and were less likely to be arrested than their counterparts.German team is riding a new track bike from FES in Paris this week with a mono post holding the extensions and lots of horizontal forms running along the surface of the carbon frame.
The German team pursuiters rolled out on a new FES bike at the Track world championships in St Quentin en Yvelines, Paris this week as the arms race for Rio 2016 started in earnest.
There was no covering it up either. The bike was out on a stand by the team pits with no attempt to keep their aero findings under wraps as other teams have in the past. Ahead of London 2012 Chris Boardman and his secret squirel club drip fed bits of equipment out one at a time throughout the preceeding world cup series so as not to raise awareness. The picture above suggests the Germans have gone for as narrow a profile as possible with the extensions mounted on a single bar directly above the head tube.
We ran the pictures past an aero expert who worked with the British team over the years and asked what the purpose of those horizontal forms in the carbon were. He said it could have been one of two things. Either they’re trying to channel the airflow in a certain direction, perhaps in between the riders legs, or it’s a bluff. A nice bit of moulding that has the other nations thinking they’re on to something when actually it makes no difference at all.
Nothing new around the top of the seat tube. It hugs the form of the rear wheel and features a neat bolt to clamp the seat pin in place. Just visible is the all important UCI Approved sticker on the front of the seat tube.
With a narrow profile to the frame the bottom bracket needs building up in order to give it the stiffness required to deal with the forces track riders can put through a frame. The team could also be developing their own cranks as the non drive-side crank has FES decals on them. The drive side is a standard Dura Ace crank and chainring.
A neat front end as the fork crown, head tube and stem flow nicely in to each other.
The ‘scoop’ at the bottom of the seat stay also had our aero expert questioning whether or not the Germans had found an advantage or just created an intriguing looking part for the bike. If there is any aero advantage to that flattened piece of carbon above the wheel nuts it is likely to be channelling airflow.In a close decision, 5-4, the Press Council has upheld a complaint against the Duncan Garner column, Dear New Zealand, how do we want to look in 20 years?, published on October 7. The column commented on immigration policy and population planning.
Complaining under Principle 7, Eliza Prestidge Oldfield argued that the article refers to a group of immigrants and suggests that immigration is a concern because the migrants are from those countries.
She points out that if the article wanted to avoid a racist subtext particular minority groups should not have been singled out.
She also argued a breach of Principle 1 Accuracy and 4, Comment and Fact in relation to the use of statistics in the column.
In response, the editor noted that the column was opinion, clearly labelled as such and that they had published a reply piece from Dame Susan Devoy and a number of letters with a diverse range of views.
Majority opinion of Liz Brown, Jo Cribb, Tiumalu Peter Fa'afiu, Hank Schouten and Marie Shroff
Mr Garner appears to offer the "fact" that New Zealand's population is growing because of South East Asian immigration. The actual drivers of population growth are more complex than that. It is only in the last three years that India and China were the top two countries of origin for New Zealand migrants, and in any event, these countries are not generally included in the popular understanding of "South East Asia".
Before that the United Kingdom topped all figures. While the Asian population in New Zealand is the fastest growing (up 33 percent from the 2006 to 2013 census), it still only represents 12 percent of the total population, and not all those of Asian ethnicity are migrants. Population growth can also be driven by New Zealanders returning from overseas or deciding not to migrate. Conflating migration and refugees is also unhelpful.
In addition, Mr Garner singles out migrants from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Syria, countries which are the source of relatively few migrants. The immediate juxtaposition of the figure of 72 000 [migrants] with the singled out groups amounts to misleading the reader on a factual issue. In presenting the data as he did, Mr Garner has inaccurately targeted a group of migrants in a way that leads the reader to infer that these groups are driving the poor outcomes for all New Zealanders that Mr Garner outlines. The complaint under Principle 4 is upheld.
The Press Council acknowledges and agrees that minority groups, race and colour are legitimate subjects for discussion where they are relevant and the discussion is in the public interest. However, there should not be gratuitous emphasis on any such category. In this case, the column was directed at immigration and the consequences of uncontrolled population growth. The arguments are not advanced or aided in any way by singling out certain ethnic or national groups. That certain ethnic groups were singled out and some of these are groups do not provide large numbers of migrants is of most concern. Despite the writer's protestations to the contrary, his approach can only be seen as gratuitous racism, especially when linked with the description of New Zealand's future as nightmarish.
The Council members upholding the complaint, paid due consideration to freedom of expression as discussed in previous cases and concluded that this case went beyond what they deemed acceptable. The complaint under Principle 7 is also upheld.
Minority Dissent of Sir John Hansen, Christina Tay, Tim Watkin and John Roughan
Four members of the Press Council would not have upheld the complaint. In their view the column, while unpleasant, did not overstep the boundaries established by the Council's principles and previous decisions regarding expressions of opinion on subjects involving race. They noted the Council is reluctant to limit freedom of expressions of opinion on any subject and its principles and rulings allow ethnic issues to be debated so long as the references to race are not gratuitous and do not ascribe adverse characteristics or behaviour to an entire racial group. (See cases 2253 and 2260).
The columnist in this case was expressing concern about the ethnic diversity of New Zealand's high immigration over recent years. He singled out several nationalities as those he thought he recognised in a shopping queue. While these groups were not a large component of New Zealand's immigration, he was using them as an example of "the changing face of New Zealand". In this context, the references to ethnic groups were not inaccurate or gratuitous in the minority's view and he was not ascribing any characteristics to them.
The columnist did not explain why he was concerned at the ethnic diversity as well as the scale of immigration in recent years, and the clear implication that this did not need to be explained gave the column an unpleasant "dogwhistle" odour. But this sort of opinion is best challenged, in the minority's view, by open debate rather than objections to its expression.
The Council has long stressed the safe guarding of "freedom of expression" in relation to opinion pieces.
We find it impossible to distinguish this case from Toailoa also decided by the Council at this meeting. In that case the Council unanimously declined to uphold a similar complaint against an opinion piece.
The full Press Council decision is here.(CNN) -- The United States is doing what it must to "take the fight to terrorists," leading a coalition of Arab nations in a series of airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State terror group in Syria, U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
At the same time, the United States took action -- on its own -- against another terrorist organization, the Khorasan Group. Obama described its members as "seasoned al Qaeda operatives in Syria."
U.S. officials said the group was plotting attacks against the United States and other Western targets.
The plots against the United States were discovered by the intelligence community in the past week, an intelligence source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. The source did not say what the target may have been, but said the plot potentially involved a bomb made of a nonmetallic device like a toothpaste container or clothes dipped in explosive material.
A plot involving concealed bombs on airplanes "was just one option they were looking at," a U.S. official said.
"Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people," Obama said in televised remarks from the White House.
Concern over a possible backlash by the terror groups has prompted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to issue a bulletin warning law enforcement agencies to be on heightened alert for lone-wolf terror attacks on U.S. soil in wake of the airstrikes, a U.S. law enforcement official with knowledge of the warning told CNN.
The bulletin calls for vigilance as well as scrutinizing social media for anyone encouraging violence in response to the strikes, according to a U.S. law enforcement official with knowledge of the warning's contents. It points to the use of social media as a tactic by ISIS to spread its message and call for violence.
It also advises agencies to look for changes in appearance or behavior in those they're tracking, the official said.
Terror group: 'Turk' is dead
The airstrikes, meanwhile, appear to have taken a toll on another terror group, killing the leader of the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, according to a statement released by the group. It identified the leader as Abu Yousef al-Turki, also known as "The Turk."
The al-Nusra statement posted on Twitter was accompanied by a so-called proof-of-death -- a photograph -- of the former fighter.
CNN cannot independently verify al-Nusra's claims, but the monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the terror group was among those targeted during the airstrikes. The United States has not identified al-Nusra as a group targeted in the strikes.
The airstrikes that began early Tuesday morning local time "were only the beginning," Pentagon spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said. He declined to comment about future military operations.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan took part in airstrikes on ISIS targets, the U.S. military said. Qatar played a supporting role, the U.S. military said.
Saying he "made clear that America would act as part of a broad coalition," Obama said: "That's exactly what we've done."
"The strength of this coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not America's fight alone," the President said.
Obama met hours later with officials from the five Arab nations who make up the coalition. There was an a strong agreement that "the campaign against ISIS was a long-term one and they were all in it for the long haul," a senior State Department official with knowledge of the meeting said.
"Everyone at the table agreed there are times in the world when you need to take a stand," the official said on condition of anonymity.
But Syria warned the United States not to repeat the "American fiasco in Iraq by undertaking the same kind of blind military attacks," Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN.
What is the Khorasan Group?
Strikes came in three waves
The airstrikes came in three waves, with coalition partners participating in the latter two, Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville Jr. said Tuesday. The first wave, which mostly targeted the Khorasan Group, started at 3:30 a.m. (8:30 p.m. ET Monday) and involved U.S. ships firing missiles into eastern and northern Syria.
The second wave, 30 minutes later, involved planes striking northern Syria, with targets including ISIS headquarters, training camps and combat vehicles. The third wave, begun shortly after 7 a.m., involved planes targeting ISIS training camps and combat vehicles in eastern Syria, Mayville said.
It's too early to say what effect the U.S. strikes had against the Khorasan Group, Mayville said.
Maps: Arab nations join U.S., expand fight against terror to Syria
The airstrikes against ISIS focused primarily on the city of Raqqa, the declared capital of ISIS' self-proclaimed Islamic State.
The operation began with a flurry of Tomahawk missiles launched from the sea, followed by attacks from bomber and fighter aircraft, a senior U.S. military official told CNN.
The goal: Taking out ISIS' ability to command, train and resupply its militants.
In all, 200 pieces of ordnance were dropped by coalition members, and four dozen aircraft were used, a U.S. official told CNN. About 150 weapons used were precision-guided munitions. The United States fired 47 Tomahawk missiles, eight of them against Khorasan targets.
The strikes marked the first time the United States used F-22 Raptor stealth aircraft in a combat role. The military has previously run into problems with the aircraft.
The number of casualties was not immediately clear. But U.S. Central Command said the strikes damaged or destroyed ISIS targets including fighters, training compounds, command-and-control facilities, a finance center and supply trucks.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70 ISIS militants were killed and more than 300 were wounded. But CNN and other news outlets were unable to confirm the figures.
Celebration amid fear
For months, civilians in Raqqa have been living under the harsh rule of ISIS after militants took over their city, which had been one of Syria's most liberal cities. The group now controls much of their lives, imposing a strict brand of Sharia law and doling out barbaric punishments, such as beheadings and crucifixions.
Abo Ismail, an opposition activist inside Raqqa, said Tuesday that residents were elated to see the U.S. attacking ISIS targets there.
But at the same time, he said, ISIS has increased security in the city.
"I would dance in the streets, but I am too afraid," Ismail said.
A U.S. intelligence official said that while law enforcement is aware the airstrikes against ISIS in Syria could incite a response, there is no evidence to suggest any terrorist strike is in the works against the United States.
The inclusion of Sunni-majority countries fighting a radical Sunni militant group sends a strong message, former CIA counterterrorism official Philip Mudd said.
"Prominent religious leaders have said ISIS is not representative of Islam, and now you have countries that are coming to the fore to attack it," he said.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi welcomed news of the coalition airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, so long as they "do it right this time."
While he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour it was good some Arab nations joined the fight, he said he wished they had understood and acted on the danger posed by ISIS sooner.
"We have warned... this is going to end in a bloodbath if nobody stops it," he said. "Nobody was listening."
Rouhani: No legal basis for airstrikes
Iran lashed out at the air campaign. Meeting with journalists at the United Nations, where world leaders are gathering for the General Assembly this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said there was no legal basis for the strikes without U.N. authorization or an invitation from the Syrian government.
But U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told CNN that a number of countries, including Iran, were told the United States would be taking action.
"We obviously didn't say exactly when or where. We wanted to make sure that nobody got in our way," he said.
The United States defended its actions in a letter to the U.N. secretary-seneral, invoking Article 51 of the U.N. charter -- acting when a country is unwilling or unable to handle a threat itself.
"The Syrian regime has shown that it cannot and will not confront these safe havens effectively itself," Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. "Accordingly, the United States has initiated necessary and proportionate military actions in Syria."
Problem-plagued plane hits ISIS: F-22 goes into combat
READ: U.S.-led airstrikes on ISIS: What you need to know
CNN's Greg Botelho, Josh Levs. Raja Razek, Jake Tapper, Hamdi Alkhshali, Holly Yan, Gul Tuysuz, Steve Almasy, Jim Acosta, Barbara Starr, Arwa Damon, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Deb Feyerick and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.HACKENSACK — The Fu King Smoke Shop on Main Street is keeping its name.
But owner Robert Reichert told NJ.com he would change the sign to spread the two words apart more.
Residents took offense when the shop first appeared. They said it was a thinly veiled profanity that didn't belong in their neighborhood.
Reichert explaned that "Fu" is Chinese for wealthy or lucky.
Reichert had to reapply for a sign permit for the city, which said he didn't have one, but he was allowed to keep the name. Laura Hirsch, an attorney for the zoning board, told the Record many restaurants use the same name.
The new sign should go up within two weeks, Reichert said.
"It's still going to say Fu King," he said. "I'm just going to spread it out a little bit more so there's no room for misinterpretation."
Fu King opened for business Feb. 1. Customer feedback has been positive, Reichert said.
Many people had the wrong idea about his store, he said.
"They were under the impression that we were out there pushing cigarettes on kids and that's not the case," Reichert said.
He denied that he catered to marijuana users.
"We sell tobacco and tobacco accessories," he said.
Reichert wants to put the sign issue behind him. Complaints about his store drew widespread media attention to his 300 square foot shop.
"Zoning wasn't an issue, what we were selling wasn't an issue," Reichert said. "I think it became more of a neighborhood issue."At Todoist, we love delving into the science, psychology, and personal stories behind meaningful productivity. When we build new apps and updates, we spend a lot of time thinking about how we can incorporate what we learn into our designs to help our users accomplish the things that matter most to them.
So when Apple released their highly anticipated smartwatch, we didn’t just see a miniature iPhone. We saw an opportunity to help people overcome one of the biggest modern obstacles to getting meaningful work done: constant digital distraction.
We thought that the small screen size and limited capabilities compared to the iPhone would make the Apple Watch the ideal platform to cut down on distractions and multitasking and focus on what’s important when it’s important.
Here are some of the features we’ve built into the app with that goal in mind:
The readily accessible Glance View allows you to view your next upcoming task and the number of tasks you have left for the day.
allows you to view your next upcoming task and the number of tasks you have left for the day. When you need more detailed information, the Main View gives you access to your Inbox, Today view, Projects, Labels (Premium), and Filters.
gives you access to your Inbox, Today view, Projects, Labels (Premium), and Filters. Quick-Add with Voice Command makes getting tasks out of your head and onto your to-do list almost completely frictionless. Todoist will recognize any natural language you input to the task, including due dates (a popular feature that was released in our latest Todoist for iOS version 10).
Receive gentle buzz Reminders when you’re near a certain location or at the exact date/time associated with your task. Complete or snooze a task with a tap on your wrist. For even more convenience, you can dictate a response like, “postpone to tomorrow.”
when you’re near a certain location or at the exact date/time associated with your task. Complete or snooze a task with a tap on your wrist. For even more convenience, you can dictate a response like, “postpone to tomorrow.” Get Notifications for new comments on shared tasks, when you’re invited to a new project, or when someone assigns you a new task. Use Voice Command to reply to comments right away and keep shared projects moving forward.
When Apple finally made the Watch available to the public, we wanted to test out our theory about minimizing distractions and see if Todoist for Apple Watch could actually filter out the digital noise and help users focus on what’s most important. To do this, we asked long-time Todoist user and iMore Senior Editor, Ally Kazmucha to give the Todoist for Apple Watch a thorough productivity testing “in the field”.
Here’s how Todoist for Apple Watch has changed the way she gets things done on daily basis.
Starting the morning off right
“In the few weeks I’ve had Todoist on my Apple Watch, I haven’t found a need to pick up my iPhone in the morning. Instead, I swipe up from the Home screen of my Watch to reveal the Todoist Glance, which lets me quickly see how many tasks I have due for the day.”
The easily accessible Glance View shows you the next upcoming task you need to focus on.
“Launching the full Todoist app provides an optimized and scaled down version of the iPhone app. The Inbox and Today views are right at the top, undoubtedly two of the most important views.”
Personalizing task views with custom filters
“Todoist for Apple Watch also lets you drill into projects, labels, and filters. For anyone using Todoist for collaboration, the Filters section makes it incredibly easy to see only tasks assigned to you.”
(For more ideas on how to create helpful filters to try out check out todoist filters.)
Working on the right things at the right time (and even the right place) with reminders
“During the workday, I use Todoist on my Mac or my iPhone to add tasks as they come up. As they come due, I’m now depending on Apple Watch to keep me informed. If I’ve already completed a task, I can even mark it as complete right from my Watch. If I need to snooze it for later, I can do that too.”
Schedule reminders for tasks based on a date and time or even a specific location. Complete the task or snooze it for later.
Only the information you need, when you need it
“Todoist makes managing my day less of a task. With Todoist on my Apple Watch, I no longer touch my iPhone to triage tasks. Instead, they come to me.”
“I’ve talked at length about my desire to spend less time with my iPhone. Todoist for Apple Watch is helping me further achieve that goal. It shows me what I need to know and leaves everything else where it belongs, on my iPhone.”
Of course, since the Watch is Apple’s “most personal device yet,” everyone will have their own unique way of using its apps, and ours is no exception. We’ve worked hard to make Todoist for Apple Watch flexible enough to fit any workflow or lifestyle.
For example, Ally found it more useful to add tasks on Todoist for iOS and Mac and have them ready when she needed to take action on her Apple Watch [read her full review here]. On the other hand, you may find it easier and faster to dictate new tasks and due dates with Quick-Add on your watch. It’s up to you to make the experience your very own :)
Can’t wait to discover your perfect Todoist for Apple Watch workflow? Here’s how you can get up and running:
Step 1 : If it’s not on your iPhone, download the Todoist for iOS app Todoist for iPhone.
: If it’s not on your iPhone, download the Todoist for iOS app Todoist for iPhone. Step 2 : Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
: Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Step 3 : Tap the “My Watch” tab.
: Tap the “My Watch” tab. Step 4: Scroll down to Todoist and enable the “Show App on Apple Watch“ switch. All set!
We’d love to hear how you use the Todoist for Apple Watch to get things done. Which features do you find yourself using the most? Does it help you focus on what’s important? Leave a comment and let us know!Ukrainian special forces have launched what they say is phase two of their operation against pro-Russian forces in the east.
They are mounting a full-scale blockade of the city of Slovyansk, according to an official on the presidential staff, in an attempt to prevent weapons or reinforcements coming in from outside.
A Ukrainian army helicopter was hit with rocket and sniper fire at the nearby military airstrip on the outskirts of Kramatorsk, detonating its fuel tank and setting off its on-board munitions. The defence ministry said it was totally destroyed.
In a separate incident police reported on Friday that seven people were injured when a bomb went off at a pro-Ukrainian checkpoint near Odessa, far to the west.
At one point the Russian military exercises that began on Thursday using forces deployed from Volgograd came within one kilometre of the Ukrainian border. Ukraine has warned Russia that if any cross the border they will be “liquidated.”Since the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of law enforcement officers earlier this month, millions have taken to the streets as well as social media to express their outrage. Tags like #BlackLivesMatter and #EndWhiteSilence have been trending consistently on Twitter and Facebook, and CBS News footage of Alton Sterling's death on YouTube has garnered over 1.7 million views.
Earlier today, a fourth Baltimore police officer indicted in the 2015 death and arrest of Freddie Gray, an event that sparked a series of protests known as the Baltimore Uprising, was acquitted of all charges, including manslaughter and reckless endangerment. The conversation — and the outrage — is now louder than ever.
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On Facebook, I'm fortunate to be friends with scores of people, white and black, who are outraged at these deaths and others like them, and who are willing to shout down overt racism when they see it. But when difficult conversations about race arise, there also emerges a coping mechanism that all white people are privy to, one that is equally damaging as blatant racism and one that not all of us realize we're employing: white fragility.
White fragility is a phrase coined by author Dr. Robin DiAngelo, and is defined as “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves.” According to DiAngelo, most white people “live in a social environment that insulates them from race-based stress,” due to their privilege as part of the cultural majority. In turn, says DiAngelo, whites are infrequently challenged and have less of a tolerance to race-based stress, causing them to be hostile, guilty, defensive, or fearful when confronted. This phenomenon is white fragility. In the end, white fragility ensures that conversations about race are derailed, and the status quo of white supremacy is upheld.
I consider myself an ally, but I frequently need to check myself against white fragility, in order to make sure I help center the conversation where it's appropriate – black deaths at the hands of law enforcement – and not on feelings of white guilt, anger or denial (mine or anyone else's).
Here are a few ways I check myself against white fragility.
1. Am I trying to change the subject?
Raise your hand if you've heard (or said) the following:
“Arguing on Facebook is pointless.” “ALL lives matter!” “Why are we talking about this when we've got ___ to worry about?!”
In other words, this translates to: I'm uncomfortable. Can we talk about something else? And it harkens back perfectly to what DiAngelo says about racial comfort: “In the dominant position, whites are almost always racially comfortable and thus have developed unchallenged expectations to remain so. When racial discomfort arises, whites typically... blame the person or event that triggered the discomfort (usually a person of color). … White insistence on racial comfort ensures that racism will not be faced.”
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White people don't like to be uncomfortable or challenged – I'll certainly own that.
To enact change on a large scale, however, white people need to have painful, uncomfortable conversations about white privilege, white supremacy, and about how we benefit from it. Otherwise, nothing can change.
2. Am I using inappropriate humor to deflect?
One major way I've noticed
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characteristic of a graphic novel is not its pictures (which certainly assist in achieving the desired effect but are, as this book demonstrates, not strictly necessary) but rather the way in which the reader’s eyes are drawn across the page. And indeed, the work induces the eye movement typical of a graphic novel by assiduously observing traditional theories of frame placement. In other respects, though, it diverges radically from the norm. It is an outpost of claustrophobic minimalism in a traditionally maximalist art form. It recounts an intimate, meditative story in a typically action-packed, larger than life genre.
I suppose I should now touch on this story, as it is remarkable and as without it the central conceit of the work would be merely a provocative but ineffectual gesture. The book, in an Oulipian move, is, in a certain abstract sense, about the form of the book itself and the constraints within which the book was written. It tells the story of a female member of a reclusive commune, all of whose members have their eyes sealed shut. For members born within the commune, as is the case with the main character, the sealing ritual occurs within days of birth, effectively effacing any memory of the sensation of sight.
This certainly has something in common with the brand of asceticism present in many monasteries and convents, but the significance of this practice goes deeper than mere self-deprivation. Immediately after his or her sealing ceremony, each member is presented with a personal object, typically a piece of sculpture or other very tactile object, to be kept for his or her entire life. The member is instructed to feel the object every day and to attempt to internally visualize it (without, in the case of those born in the commune, even knowing exactly what it means to visualize something). This goes on until the member is close to death, at which time the unsealing ceremony is performed. The member’s eyes are opened and allowed to gaze upon this object for the first time. The sudden revelation of the appearance of the object, with which the member is supremely familiar in all respects other than the visual, will then illuminate the mysterious passage from the unseen to the seen and spark a sudden, deep comprehension of the divine. By applying the same transformation witnessed in her personal object to another entity unseen but ceaselessly explored for her entire life, the member is finally, days before her death, able to see God.
Of course, there are lurking biological issues concerning the above account (not to mention the immediate health risks that must be involved with eye-sealing), and though they receive no explicit mention in To See an Elephant, Ms. Summer seems to be perfectly well aware of them. Indeed, studies have shown that prolonged visual sensory deprivation, especially occurring soon after birth, typically leads to blindness. And so, upon finally having their eyes unsealed, the members of the commune are likely not seeing in the traditional sense. Yet they seem to think that they are seeing. What is it that they see? An alternate truth? A mere projection of their own idiosyncratic ideas about vision? Are they thus seeing a false image of God? Is their pre-death religious bliss somehow “undeserved”? A host of philosophical questions are raised here, and Ms. Summer does well not to veer off into metaphysical reflection, leaving this path for the intrepid reader to walk down alone.
Ms. Summer also does well not to pass any judgment on the commune itself, a group that much of modern society would find both cruel and deluded. Instead, she simply and elegantly presents a life unfolding in this bizarre landscape. The book is told from the perspective of the nameless (to the reader, at least) protagonist and opens upon her receiving her personal object. It happens to be a carving of an elephant (the reader is not told this explicitly, of course, but rather guided to this conclusion by the tactile descriptions of the object), recalling the classic tale, present in many religious traditions, of the blind men and the elephant (perhaps it is not a coincidence that “feel” is the approximate pronunciation of the word for “elephant” in many languages, including Arabic, Azerbaijani, Farsi, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Kazak, Pashtu, and Uzbek). The reader is then leisurely ushered through the rest of the narrator’s life. He sees (or, rather, doesn’t see) her rebellious, resentful adolescence, in which she attempts repeatedly to escape from the commune. He sees her settle down and accept her role in the community. He sees her immersing herself in religious practice. He sees her getting married and having a child. He sees her assuming a prominent role in the commune’s High Council. Finally, in the remarkable climactic scene, he sees (and here this is after all the correct word) the unsealing of her eyes, the entrance of vision into her life after 70 years of darkness. It is only here that images make their way into the novel. I will not ruin the reader’s experience by divulging their nature except to say that they are more than worth the wait.
The story’s setting imbues it with a profound strangeness and intensity that is amplified by Ms. Summer’s presentation, making the reader much more constantly and vividly aware of the characters’ sightlessness than he would be were he reading a conventional novel. There seem to be two primary reasons for this, both stemming from the nature of the graphic novel genre (though one involves something this work has in common with other graphic novels and the other involves it’s glaring difference). The first is that the hand-drawn text and irregular frame placement establish a more direct link between the reader and the narrator than traditional prose structures would allow. The informality and spontaneity of the narrative are more easily transferred. The second is that the constant subversion of the reader’s expectation of actually finding images in a graphic novel creates a palpable void, never allowing the reader to forget that some essential piece of the story is missing. The reader is placed in a situation remarkably like that of the narrator and is thus able to pass through with her the same stages of rebellion, acceptance, immersion, and, finally, apotheosis.
AdvertisementsThe Hedgehog Review: Vol. 15, No. 3 (Fall 2013)
Robert Bellah: In Memoriam (1927-2013)
Richard Madsen
Reprinted from The Hedgehog Review 15.3 (Fall 2013). This essay may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission. Please contact The Hedgehog Review for further details.
Robert Bellah was a meticulous scholar and an eloquent public intellectual—two identities that go together uneasily in the modern academy. As Max Weber noted, one who practices science as a vocation, with the requisite attention to empirical detail and logical rigor, will rarely be able to address prophetically the great questions of what we should do and how we should live in the modern world. Undaunted, Bellah began his classic Habits of the Heart in the prophetic voice, asking the great questions: “How ought we to live? How do we think about how to live?” He and his co-authors—of whom I was proud to be one—set out to engage such questions with sociological rigor, never doubting his insistence (sometimes enforced with irritated criticism) that we be fastidious about the quality of our sources and the accuracy of our footnotes.
Illustration: Anil Shukla
The tension between the vocation of social science and the call to prophesy played out along with the other great tensions of Bellah’s career. These were rooted in the experiences of his generation. Coming of age after World War II, he had a deep faith in American democracy but was profoundly disappointed by its failures to live up to its promises. He was a vocal critic of the use of the atomic bomb against Japan. He was appalled by America’s racism and its inequalities. Such misgivings and an earnest idealism led him to join the American Communist Party while he was an undergraduate at Harvard. That same idealism soon led him out of the party, particularly when he learned about the brutal realities of Soviet communism. Later, as a new assistant professor at Harvard, his youthful engagement with communism exposed him to the fires of McCarthyism, and Harvard refused to protect him. He once again experienced the dark side not only of the country but of the university he loved.
Such experiences surely shaped the vision—at once idealistic and realistic—that first crystalized in his great 1967 essay on “Civil Religion in America.” His examination of the sacred foundations of American aspirations fortified his own transcendent vision and drove his critique of what he saw as the profane realities of American imperialist and racist politics. This vision animated further explorations up through the 1980s, both in Habits of the Heart and The Good Society. Those books identified the damage that mainstream American utilitarian and expressive individualism had done to the promises of American democracy, even as they affirmed the countervailing force of America’s “second languages” of biblical religion and civic republicanism.
Another tension within Bellah’s career was his commitment to a cosmopolitan internationalism along with an equal devotion to the special promises of the American experiment. As a graduate student at Harvard, at a time when most theoretically ambitious students focused on the historical foundations of European social theory, he became one of the first members of the program on sociology and Far Eastern languages. His dissertation was on Tokugawa religion, the pre-modern foundations of Japan’s particular path toward modernity. This work entailed deep study of East Asian cultural traditions, including Confucianism and Mahayana Buddhism. His book on Tokugawa religion is still in print and remains a foundation for modern Asian studies. He had as strong an understanding of East Asian languages and cultures as any scholar of his generation. But as was rarely the case with area specialists, his study of East Asian cultural histories only deepened his understanding of the classics of Western thought.
Like the outstanding area specialists, he was committed to understanding cultures holistically, appreciating their particularities and differences on their own terms, without reducing them to a common denominator of abstract sociological processes. This reflected a cosmopolitan rather than universalist vision. He was profoundly aware of the interdependence of what the British political scientist Graham Wallas had called the “Great Society” of the modern world and of the challenges in creating a good society out of the turbulent confluence of cultures. But he saw the answer to such challenges in what the distinguished East Asia specialist Wm. Theodore de Bary has called “the great civilized conversation.” His last essay was a review of de Bary’s book by that title.
Bellah’s richly informed vision of the varieties of transcendent yearnings found brilliant expression in his final masterpiece, Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (2011). The book culminates in long, detailed chapters on the religious civilizations of ancient Israel, Greece, China, and India. In Bellah’s telling, Hebrew monotheism, Greek philosophy, Indian Buddhism, and Chinese Confucianism are each unique, the product of many historical contingencies. What unites them is not the sharing of some common essence of “religion” but their connection to a “deep past,” to a common historical story that extends all the way back to the Big Bang.
The epigraph to that book is from the Chinese sage Mencius: “When one reads the poems and the writings of the ancients, how could it be right not to know something about them as men? Hence one should try to understand the age in which they have lived. This can be described as ‘looking for friends in history.’” For Bellah, thinkers such as Confucius and Mencius were not simply creators of systems of thought; they were friends in history, conversation partners. The same was true of Socrates and Plato, Isaiah and Jeremiah, the Buddha, and more recent thinkers like Kant and Hegel, Weber and Durkheim. Bellah did not simply study about them. He argued and searched together with them for answers to the great questions of how we ought to live and how we think about how to live. In the end for Bellah, culture was not a static system of values but a long conversation, carried on throughout history by people struggling within their traditions to find the meaning of a good life. He saw it as his task to further that conversation with the widest possible network of conversation partners.
For the past 35 years, I was privileged to be one of his proximate conversation partners. He was an extremely good listener—far better than most academics I have known. When we worked on Habits of the Heart, he created an atmosphere that inspired the liveliest intellectual effervescence I have ever experienced, a context for the genuine co-creation of ideas. He was often very funny and down to earth. Our conversations were usually joyous. But there was an undercurrent of sadness about him, an acute awareness of tragedy. He and his wife had faced terrible tragedies with the deaths of two of their daughters, and he had endured more than his share of conflicts and controversies in the course of his long academic career. The end of Religion in Human Evolution contains the prophetic warning that by destroying its environment, the human species may eventually make itself extinct. The partial drafts of the new book he was working on when he died further elaborate this theme. The strength of his idealism made him see ever more clearly the contrasting harshness of modern reality. Yet he never lost hope in what his teacher and favorite theologian Paul Tillich called the “structure of grace in history.” This extended to his own history. In one of his last e-mails to us, shortly before his surgery, he said: “About death I have no anxiety, no need to cling to life. I am not saying I don’t care. I choose life and hope I have a chance for a few more years, but I am quite resigned to whatever happens. My native stoicism, plus a dose of philosophical Stoicism and Zen, help me to deal with this possibility quite calmly.” His lifetime of conversations with “friends in history” had prepared him to die. We, by contrast, were far less prepared for his passing. Nonetheless, his books and his example leave us deep and enduring lessons on how to live.
Richard Madsen is a distinguished Professor of Sociology at University of California, San Diego.If Australia had decided on a strategy to deliberately anger our closest neighbour, we probably could not have come up with a better plan than to not only spy on the Indonesian President himself, but also his wife and Vice-President Dr Boediono.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Vice-President have very strong links with Australia and their warmth extended to our nation is genuine. It’s this warmth from the President towards Australia, where his son studied at university until two years ago, that makes the report of Australia spying on him and his family particularly hurtful.
Once we consider Indonesia’s history, where as a nation they were occupied by foreign countries for over 300 years, we can start to appreciate why anything that suggests interference with their sovereignty is guaranteed to cause a ‘prickly’ response. And so it is when a close neighbour such as Australia - and former ‘deputy sheriff’ of the region - is shown to have been spying on their most senior officials who are close friends of our country.
Unfortunately for the new Abbott government, this issue has another dimension to it that will further complicate and inflame an already very sensitive issue for our near neighbour: the upcoming nation election scheduled for 2014.
Already we have seen a rise in nationalistic sentiment throughout Indonesia as politicians and officials manoeuvre as a lead-up to next year’s election which promises to be not only democratic but also very robust. And an issue surrounding Indonesia’s sovereignty, or perceived threat to their independence, provides fertile ground for aspiring leaders to demonstrate their determination to ensure Indonesia is respected and acknowledged as a strongly independent and emerging power throughout the world.
The fact that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party (The Democrat Party) is in disarray over corruption scandals, plus widespread domestic consensus that the President is a weak and ineffective leader, has further exacerbated the problem. It also provides us with an insight as to why the president is now taking such a hard-line approach on this spying issue. Unfortunately for Australia, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott, we are now caught-up in this volatile, unpredictable – and face-saving - environment.
Australia also needs to be aware that the current leadership in Indonesia is about as ‘pro-Australian’ as we are likely to see for many years to come. Indonesia will have a new president by this time next year and looking at the candidates it is a safe bet that they will be more self-focused, nationalistic and less Australia-friendly than President Yudhoyono.
The good news however, is that at a business-to-business level history shows our two countries have an extraordinary long and close working relationship that has survived despite the political bumps that inevitably occur between regional neighbours. We also enjoy very close community and charity links adding even further depth to the relationship.
Australia and Indonesia need each other. We have too much invested together as neighbours, so this crisis over spying will eventually be resolved and the relationship will remain strong.
But as the monsoon storm clouds brew over Java we are going to experience some turbulence and the ride is going to get bumpy. We will get through this storm, but in the short-term it’s going to be a case of, ‘please fasten your seat belts’.
Ross B. Taylor AM is the president of the Indonesia Institute.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she has held ‘constructive’ talks with Berlin’s Europe minister in the German capital.
The SNP leader has made a surprise visit to meet the Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, to discuss the EU referendum result and the next steps for the EU, the UK and Scotland.
The First Minister set out Scotland’s perspective on the result of the UK referendum on the EU, which saw Scotland vote to remain part of the EU and her determination to explore all options to protect Scotland's interests.
READ MORE: No 10 shoots down suggestions of a 2017 indyref
Mr Roth made it clear that Europe could only weather the coming trials by coming together and that the German government would work hard to boost capability and cohesion in Europe. He said the European Union was much more than an internal market and had to strengthen its role as a community of shared values.
Speaking after the meeting, the First Minister said: “Today’s discussion has been a welcome and constructive opportunity to strengthen our relations to discuss the way forward for the European Union and how all voices can be heard in that process.
“Scotland chose to remain in the European Union, and the solidarity shown toward Scotland as an enthusiastic part of the EU - demonstrated once again in today’s talks here in Berlin – has been very welcome.”
READ MORE: No 10 shoots down suggestions of a 2017 indyref
Minister of State Roth added: “This has been a very pleasant and constructive conversation between two dedicated pro-Europeans and has demonstrated once again that a degree of Europe’s strength lies in its diversity. I hope that the UK finds a way forward that will benefit Europe as a whole in the end.”“The Babadook” on IMDB
Horror, 93 Minutes, 2014
Some children – let’s face it – truly deserve to be devoured by whatever monsters can be coaxed under their beds. Samuel (Noah Wiseman [IMDB]) may be one of these. He drives his poor mother, Amelia (Essie Davis [IMDB]), to the brink with his paranoia and the contraptions he concocts to defend himself. Alone, and never truly recovered from the tragic death of her husband, his mother simply cannot cope.
When strange, inexplicable occurrences target the fragile family, does it mean Samuel was right about the monsters all along or that Amelia has completely, finally cracked?
Introducing children into horror is generally a sad manipulation. Whether they’re wide-eyed moppets cowering in terror begging to be saved or wide-eyed moppets waiting in the dark to eat your immortal soul, they’re an easy emotional hook. With Samuel, more effort was taken: he’s effective because he, like most children, peaks at both extremes while generally falling somewhere in the middle.
Those who have known (or parented) difficult children will cringe physically as he whittles away at his mother’s endurance, destroys her relationships with other adults and generally drains away her vitality and resistance. In other words, he will uncomfortably remind them of when their own children did exactly the same thing. Amelia’s pain and frustration is so deeply effective because it’s so deeply understandable.
The troubled child and an overwrought mother raise the tension of the audience expertly and dramatically throughout the first act. Only when this disturbingly familiar situation has been firmly established is the idea of the Babadook, a monster in the darkness that can’t be faced or fought, introduced. Amelia, and the audience, asks the same question: is it real or am I going mad?
The pressure mounted on Amelia is exquisite with none of the distracting crutches used by most low-budget productions. Both Davis and Wiseman turn in moving, nuanced performances. The supporting effects are wonderfully minimalistic and deftly executed. In a feat almost unheard of today, even the ending is satisfying and clean; not a silly twist in site.
The film may not be as effective for non-parents (or for parents of unrealistically tamed children). Those expecting more traditional horror may also balk at the simplicity and lack of gore. For most, there is little more truly terrifying than the worst horrors of child-rearing magnified beyond hope.In the early 1980s, AIDS was literally a laughing matter for the Reagan administration, as evidenced by chilling audio of White House press conferences unearthed in the new short film When AIDS Was Funny. So when Elizabeth Taylor decided to use her fame in the early 1990s to advocate for AIDS victims—famously calling out President George H.W. Bush for ignoring the pandemic (“In fact, I’m not even sure if he knows how to spell ‘AIDS’”)—her task seemed downright daunting and her courage immense. So it shouldn’t particularly surprise us that the powerhouse activist, Oscar-winning actress, and enduring beauty might have taken some business into her own hands while lawmakers stalled on taking the disease seriously.
On World AIDS Day, Taylor’s protégé Kathy Ireland told Entertainment Tonight that she personally witnessed some of Taylor’s most charitable acts of kindness towards the AIDS community. One such generosity: opening up her Bel Air home and, according to Ireland, developing an underground network to procure experimental H.I.V. drugs for patients, much like the one anchoring last year’s awards drama Dallas Buyers Club.
“Talk about fearless in her home in Bel Air,” Ireland said. “It was a safe house. A lot of the work that she did, it was illegal, but she was saving lives. She said her business associates pleaded with her, ‘Leave this thing alone.’ She received death threats. Friends hung up on her when she asked for help. But something that I love about Elizabeth is her courage.”
Taylor took up the cause for AIDS in 1985—the same year that her friend Rock Hudson died from the disease—personally making phone calls to raise money for research. She remembered that initial outreach during a 1992 interview with Vanity Fair.
“I have never had so many ‘no’s said to me,” she told Nancy Collins. “They didn’t want to come to the evening, didn’t want to be associated. Some very big names [said no].” Some friends told her, “‘Oh, Elizabeth, this is one of your lame-duck causes. Back away from it. It’s going to hurt you.’
“I realized... that this town—of all towns—was basically homophobic, even though without homosexuals there would be no Hollywood, no show business! Yet the industry was turning its back on what it considered a gay disease.”
Later in the piece, Taylor considered her importance in the crusade. “I have to show up because it galvanizes people,” she told Vanity Fair. “[They] know... I’m not there to sell or gain anything. I’m there for the same reason they are: to get something done.”
To read the complete piece, “Liz’s AIDS Odyssey,” click here.DENVER (Reuters) - The Aurora, Colorado, movie theater where 12 people were killed in a shooting rampage at a Batman film last July was set to reopen on Thursday evening with a private “night of remembrance” for survivors and others connected to the tragedy.
The theater where a gunman opened fire on moviegoers is pictured in Aurora, Colorado July 20, 2012. REUTERS/John Wark
The owners of the theater, Cinemark USA, offered victims or their relatives free passes to a movie later on Thursday after the event and invited them to view the revamped theater where the massacre occurred.
But in a letter to Cinemark, families of nine murder victims took umbrage at the offer to tour “the very theater where our loved ones lay dead on the floor for over 15 hours.”
“We would give anything to wipe the carnage of that night out of our minds’ eye,” the letter said. “Thank you for reminding us how your quest for profits has blinded your leadership and made you so callous as to be oblivious to our mental anguish.”
A spokeswoman for Cinemark declined to comment.
Some victims’ relatives have said they will attend the event, among them Tom Sullivan, whose son Alex was killed in the massacre.
“If you truly knew my son Alex, you would know that he would want me to be there, if only to show that we will not allow anyone to take the joy we shared at theaters... away from us,” Sullivan wrote in an opinion piece published by the Denver Post.
After Thursday night’s event, the theater will offer free movie passes to the public from Friday through Sunday. The theater will then close and reopen for good on January 25
The 16-theater multiplex has been closed since July 20, when a gunman opened fire on moviegoers during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises,” killing 12 and wounding dozens of others. Former graduate student James Holmes is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and Cinemark President Tim Warner are slated to speak at Thursday’s event.
Hogan issued a video statement about the reopening, calling it “part of a healing process” for the city of 325,000. He said three-quarters of Aurora citizens who responded to an online survey conducted by the city requesting input on the future of the site said they wanted the theater to reopen.
Cinemark is the third-largest movie exhibitor in the United States, according to a company profile.
The Texas-based theater chain reported a 1 percent year-over-year dip in revenue to $636.6 million in the third quarter of 2012, the time frame when the shooting occurred.
Cinemark has refrained from commenting publicly about the massacre. Some victims have sued the chain over the rampage, charging that the theater should have had more security because it was aware of previous crimes in or near the multiplex.
In a court filing seeking dismissal of the lawsuits, Cinemark denied it was aware of other crimes at the theater, but even if true, “such an event would be insufficient to make a madman’s mass murder foreseeable.”U.S. House unanimously approves Greg Walden’s bill to bring commercial air service back to Klamath Falls
Click here or on the image below for video of Walden’s remarks
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) announced today that the Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act (“TSA Fairness Act”), a bill he authored to restore commercial air service to the Crater Lake-Klamath Falls Regional Airport by bringing back federal TSA screening at the airport, has unanimously passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The people of Klamath County deserve safe, reliable air service. That’s why unanimous approval of our plan is excellent news for Oregonians living in and around Klamath, our local economy and tourism, and the Oregon National Guard operating out of Kingsley Field,” said Walden. “The TSA Fairness Act will help make sure the TSA is not able to stonewall an agreement between the local community and a commercial air carrier who wants to resume flights at a small airport. I’m proud of the bipartisan support this bill has received in the House, and will continue to work with the Oregon delegation to get this across the finish line in the Senate. Let’s be safe and secure. Let’s be smart and prudent. Let’s pass this legislation and allow our communities to have the air service they need, and our country to have the security that we demand. This is common-sense legislation that needs to become law. Together we’re going to do the right thing even when the TSA will not.”
Community leaders in Klamath have been working to restore commercial air service since carrier SkyWest left the Crater Lake-Klamath Airport in June 2014. Last fall, the City of Klamath Falls received a commitment from Alaska-based carrier PenAir to bring back commercial service with daily flights to Portland. However, the TSA has refused to put back in place screening services at the airport, despite repeated calls from the local community and from Oregon’s congressional delegation.
The TSA Fairness Act would require the TSA to restore screening services to any airport that lost service after January 1, 2013 and that has a guarantee from a commercial airline to resume service within one year. There are currently at least six airports nationwide that have commercial airlines seeking to resume flights after undergoing a temporary gap in service, but are being denied TSA security screening and personnel. Instead, the agency directed the airports to allow passengers to fly unscreened to their next destination, and undergo screening there.
Walden introduced the legislation along with Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio. The bill is also cosponsored by Reps. Will Hurd (R-Tex.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), and Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.). Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have introduced identical legislation in the U.S. Senate, and the Senate Commerce Committee has approved inclusion of the bill in aviation legislation pending in that body.Golders Green is a notorious Jewish colony in Britain. Jews even have their own quasi-police force there, the Shomrim.
The entire area is marked out as an eruv – Jewish home territory – by wire suspended on poles 18 ft above the ground.
This wire stretches across 11 miles.
But the Jews now face an incursion into their space with plans to transform the old Hippodrome building into a mosque.
It seems the dark clouds of prejudice and intolerance have eclipsed the usual Jewish respect for diversity.
Ms Ayelet Avroya wrote: “This neighbourhood is affiliated with the jewish (sic) population that has been living here for years, side by side with the English Christians and others. “This is going to force the jewish population to run away and make this beautiful neighbourhood to crowded, with loads of burka’s (sic) and vails (sic) over the weekend which I find scary and changes the fine balance between the residence (sic) of this area?” Ms Josephine Bacon wrote: “To place a large Muslim institution in the heart of one of London’s only two Jewish communities is a highly dangerous undertaking and one that can only result in violence and terrorism. “The Hippodrome, which I have known since childhood, is in a very prominent position and will attract large numbers of worshippers, including many undesirables, to the neighbourhood.”
Source
Jewish rabbis have even been forced to warn against the use of hateful language.
Reading some of the comments on various chat groups by those opposed sent a shiver down my spine. Comments such as “we don’t know what they are preaching as its all in Arabic”, “this will result in violence and terrorism” and “there is a chance of infiltration of bombers” are Islamophobia plain and simple. Going through the public forums – not to mention what people are saying in private – and it actually feels even more sinister still. The language being used is simply not right. I am chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the power of words is the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2018. It has never seemed more fitting. Whether it’s Donald Trump on Twitter, or the overt racism and antisemitism we see from the far right and far left, our discourse has taken a turn for the worse. People seem to forget that language can make a difference – both for good and evil. We know from our own past how language has been used to fuel hatred. We know too how more recently in Rwanda, people were encouraged to think of the Tutsis as “cockroaches” – as a deliberate way to increase division. Language has been mis-used by other evil regimes in subsequent genocides, and as Jews we always need to be very aware of this. I wouldn’t for one moment suggest we are using Nazi language, but we must recognise the danger of what we say and how that fuels mistrust, separation, prejudice and hatred.
Source
The Jews are learning a harsh lesson: weaponised diversity is hard to control. Just as the Weinstein scandal may have started with Bob trying to take out his brother Harvey, there is always a strong potential for a runaway chain reaction.
Here is a video reaction from one Jew who apparently hasn’t heard that Diversity is our Strength.Two men from Birmingham have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences relating to activities in Syria, police have said.
The 21-year-olds were detained at Heathrow Airport at around 15:30 GMT after arriving in the UK on a flight from Istanbul.
West Midlands Police said the men are believed to have travelled to Syria in May last year.
They are being questioned at a police station in the West Midlands area.
The men are both from the Handsworth area of Birmingham.
Det Chf Supt Kenny Bell, head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: "We took action this afternoon in order to ensure we can properly understand what activities these men have been engaged in whilst in Syria, not because they posed any imminent threat to the public."1 Clean Hour 2 Marty & McGee talk about what they would do if they had $300 million and we remember Nana Lynn who passed away on Friday. Plus, Tom Wopat....aka Luke Duke Free View in iTunes
2 Clean Hour 1 Marty & McGee chat about Zion Williamson's injury and meeting celebs during NBA All-Star Weekend. Plus, they talk about the first car they had Free View in iTunes
3 Clean Hour 2 Marty & McGee put together their first team all rec specs team. Plus, Joey Logano calls in and the guys run through the hardout and Hillbilly Headlines Free View in iTunes
4 Clean Hour 1 Marty & McGee chat about Michael Jordan and Dale Earnhardt Sr and the cult like following they had. Plus, the guys chat about the Daytona 500 Free View in iTunes
5 Clean Hour 2 Marty & McGee have gone off the rails as they talk about short shorts their coaches use to wear. Plus, Hillbilly Headlines Free View in iTunes
6 Clean Hour 1 Marty & McGee chat about Genesis, Phil Collins and other memorable concerts. Plus, UNC and it's rich basketball history. Free View in iTunes
7 Clean Hour 2 2/2/19 The church softball stories come flooding in, and are absolutely incredible. Plus, everybody's favorite segment: Hillbilly Headlines. Free View in iTunes
8 Clean Hour 1 2/2/19 The Super Bowl is tomorrow, so the guys look back at the NFL season. Everyone on the show is partly cloudy today. Do pro officials need to get younger? Free View in iTunes
9 Clean Hour 2 1/26/19 Alex McDaniel on controversial southern foods. Is Mac and Cheese actually a southern food? Is honey a condiment? Plus, Hillbilly Headlines. Free View in iTunes
10 Clean Hour 1 1/26/19 The Saints need to stop complaining about their loss. It's a very "overcast" morning on the show. The boys almost stopped the Daytona 500 once. Free View in iTunes
11 Clean Hour 2 1/19/19 Should the College Football Playoff be expanded past 4 teams? Dan says there are 2 Denny's right next to each other in Effingham. Plus, Hillbilly Headlines. Free View in iTunes
12 Clean Hour 1 1/19/19 Marty's flight got cancelled, so he's in studio. Is Kyler Murray making the right choice by playing football instead of baseball? The Peanut Butter Blizzard is undefeated. Free View in iTunes
13 Clean Hour 2 Marty & McGee chat about Cody Parkey's missed kick and Mike Golic Jr calls in to talk about attempting a 43 yd field. Plus, Hillbilly Headlines Free View in iTunes
14 Clean Hour 1 The boys are back and are also on TV now. Marty & McGee chat about Manny Diaz & Bama getting crushed. Plus, we remember JD Gibbs. Free View in iTunes
15 Clean Championship Saturday and Christmas Trees The guys talk Heisman, Championship Saturday, NASA handshakes, the difference between anakeda & anekkida, & interview Trayveon Williams about the Aggies 7-OT thriller vs LSU. Free View in iTunes
16 Clean Tua, Alligators, and Punching Bears Nick Saban responds to if Tua should play, Pruitt coaches up Tennessee, a man jumps into a gator farm and another punches a bear, and the Myrtle Beach Bowl Free View in iTunes
17 Clean Tua, Fromm, and Veterans Day The guys talk to Tua and Fromm, make a surprise visit to Arkansas and go Hog Wild, break down the Waffle house ceiling crasher and an alien probe, and talk Veterans Day Free View in iTunes
18 Clean Statement Saturday, #StolenColon & Belly-flopping bears The guys talks Statement Saturday in the SEC: Bama v LSU and Coach Stoops' upstart Cats hosting a East title game vs Georgia. Plus bears, inflatable colons, the DMV, cornbread Free View in iTunes
19 Clean A Hall of Fame Conversation with Chipper Jones What up y'all, I got a good one this week as I talk with Chipper Jones about hunting, flash bangs and how he broke his hand. Plus, I talk can beer with my boy Travis Free View in iTunes
20 Clean Squirrels, Cigars and Metal Balls Is there anything wrong with Butch Jones smoking a cigar after Bama's win vs UT? Would fried squirrel taste good? Why is Kentucky such a big underdog? Deandre Baker interview Free View in iTunes
21 Clean Jet Fighter and Moose Poop McGee talks to Mike
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and this was always going to be a dogfight, it was always going to be a challenge in every constituency, every seat is a battlefield, everybody knows that. Did anybody think that this was going to be a cakewalk or a doddle – maybe some people did. Not from me. So my proposition…”
O’Rourke: “But this slump, the slump?”
Kenny: “My proposition, Seán, is that for the last five years, we were given a mandate, handed a pretty tough card, we’ve moved the country in the right direction, we still have to complete that job. So what I want to say to people all over the country is there’s a proposition on the table here for a clear, stable Government that will deliver on a costed plan, that will create benefits for everybody. I think, I think the weakness that I’ve had in the argument to date is to translate the recovery into what it means in every part of the country in people’s lives. And I can see that beginning to emerge with, the people have come back from Australia, and the Christening was at home, not away, but he said it’s not about monetary value, it’s about emotional reunification…and they’re coming home, Seán.”
O’Rourke: “But at the same time, the papers today are full of these scare stories being put out by your colleagues in Cabinet. Now how much of that is due to the Tory influence? Because we know your people spend time in London, studying their methods…”
Enda Kenny laughs
O’Rourke: “… and they succeeded by warning the people that a vote for Labour was a vote for the Scottish nationals.”
Kenny: “Oh for god’s sake, you study elections all over the world and who does what. I mean people are clued into American television and American elections. Also you’ve had elections in Britain, you’ve had referenda in Britain, and all, people who are interested in politics and these things. Our challenge here is on the 26th, there will be a general election. The people are making a choice, what do they want? My proposition is for a stable Government to that recovery to translate it into benefit for everybody.”
O’Rourke: “Yes, but the difficulty is maybe what really scares people is the idea that you will not do all in your power to give the Irish people a stable government with the results that they give you on the 26th.”
Kenny: “I intend to give them every opportunity to have a stable government. That’s why my proposition is for a return of the existing government because in order to have a stable government, obviously, you’ve got to have the numbers but, more importantly, is that you have the plan and the programme and the capacity to implement it.”
O’Rourke: “But the numbers, they’re not pointing that way…”
Kenny: “It’s not just a list of promises, this is a costed plan. Because the more, when you reduce taxes, you take in more. So therefore you create more jobs. All of the parties are talking about spending money in the future. The only way you can have that is to have a process, is to have a programme that you can create the jobs, reduce the level of taxes and the USC abolition is a central feature of that and thereby invest that in…”
Talk over each other
O’Rourke: “Yeah but you’re basic contention seems to be that, you know, you reduce taxes and you take in more. Now what’s that based on? Because maybe this explains why people are not swinging around and supporting you and why there has been a slump because Fine Gael traditionally is associated with prudence, with sound finance, with stability and at the same time you’re offering people and this has more echoes really with the election campaign of 2007, you’re offering them, effectively, tax cuts, you’re offering them extra services and people see, look, this doesn’t really add up.”
Kenny: “Sean, we set out five years ago to create 100,000 jobs. Everybody said you can’t do this, it won’t work, you’ll never achieve it. But that’s what did happen. A central feature of the next programme, to create 200,000 jobs is to abolish the universal social charge because that creates more jobs, when you lessen the range of tax that are there. You then have more coming into the economy from those jobs that you invest in, in employing teachers, primary care centres, doctors, gardai, nurses and so on.”
O’Rourke: “You honestly think we can afford this? Because again, all, well I won’t say all, a lot of very wise economists, varying from the Fiscal Advisory Council to people like Colm McCarthy, are warning you and your colleagues that public debt in Ireland remains at a very high level. It could compromise our access to the markets, given the jitters that are there. It wouldn’t take a whole lot, Karl Whelan is saying that fiscal space, that can change very very quickly.”
Kenny: “I love the economists, even Joseph Stiglitz said out to me in Davos, Ireland was the best of the lot. If we moved in a different direction, we’re further down the road than we should be. Still a long journey to compete. But the point is that, in order, to have the 200,000 jobs, a central feature is abolish the USC, you reduce the level of ta-, you create more jobs and reduce the level of taxation paid in those. That’s why we’ve had the 100,000 jobs created…
Later
O’Rourke: “As recently as last week, and again amidst all of this uncertainty, there was a meeting of the Ecofin ministers, the European finance and economic ministers in Brussels, two days, it was to address the global markets meltdown. No Michael Noonan, no Simon Harris. Why?”
Kenny: “I don’t know. Obviously, the issue that was, the issue may have been finalised before anybody attended, I don’t know, I can’t answer that for you. I’ll speak to Michael later on.”
O’Rourke: “This is the kind of thing that you used to remonstrate Fianna Fáil for…”
Talk over each other
Kenny: “I’m going out, I’m going out, I’m going to Brussels on Thursday and Friday to defend the interests of this country and Britain…”
Talk over each other
O’Rourke: “Is it acceptable to you that neither the minister nor the junior minister attends a meeting of that importance?”
Kenny: “I much prefer all ministers to attend all meetings. There must have been a reason for this, I’m sure somebody else…it is true to say that I did remonstrate before with Fianna Fáil for missing numerous meetings over the years. This is not a situation that I like. But I do make the point, I’m going out myself on Thursday and Friday, if you like, to defend the situation that we’re in now here where the proposals for Brexit are being put on the table but the British Prime Minister. I support this very strongly. That Britain should remain a central part of the European Union and I’m going out there to defend our interest and put our case very strongly to the colleagues around the table at the European Council.”
Listen back hereOn July 1, 2005, the Chairman of then President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors told a reporter from CNBC that,
“We’ve never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis. So, what I think is more likely is that house prices will slow, maybe stabilize, might slow consumption spending a bit. I don’t think it’s gonna drive the economy too far from its full employment path, though.”
His name was Ben Bernanke. And within a year he would become Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Of course, we now know that he was dead wrong.
The housing market crashed and dragged the US economy with it. And Bernanke spent his entire tenure as Fed chairman dealing with the consequences.
One of the chief culprits of this debacle was the collapse of the sub-prime bubble.
Banks had spent years making sweetheart home loans to just about anyone who wanted to borrow, including high risk ‘sub-prime’ borrowers who were often insolvent and had little prospect of honoring the terms of the loan.
When the bubble got into full swing, lending practices were so out of control that banks routinely offered no-money-down mortgages to subprime borrowers.
The deals got even sweeter, with banks making 102% and even 105% loans.
In other words, they would loan the entire purchase price of a home plus closing costs, and then kick in a little bit extra for the borrower to put in his/her pocket.
So basically these subprime home buyers were getting paid to borrow money.
Of course, we know how that all turned out. By 2008 the entire system crashed, and the post-game analysis had some pretty obvious conclusions:
Bad things tend to happen when you pay people to borrow money, especially when they’re not particularly creditworthy.
Thank goodness no one in finance engages in such risky behavior anymore!
Or do they?
Today, subprime is back.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about a growing bubble in the subprime auto loan market, and even student loans.
But the biggest subprime bubble of all is the negative interest loans being made to sovereign governments.
All over the world now there are governments that are issuing sovereign bonds with negative yields… and many of these governments are totally bankrupt.
Japan, with its debt level at more than 220% of GDP, is the latest entrant into the world of negative interest bonds.
Japan’s debt is so high, in fact, that it takes 41% of government tax revenue to service.
Even in Italy, one of Europe’s most notoriously and hopelessly bankrupt countries, the government bonds have negative yields.
‘Negative yield’ means that an investor who loans money to government will get back less money than s/he invested once the bond matures.
In other words, the government is getting paid to borrow money.
So it’s not much different than when banks paid subprime homeowners to borrow money ten years ago based on a misguided premise that home prices always go up.
Now they’re just paying subprime governments to borrow based on a misguided premise that governments will ALWAYS pay. (Just like Greece!)
The key difference is size. At the peak of the housing bubble ten years ago, there was about $1.3 trillion worth of subprime mortgages in the financial system.
That $1.3 trillion bubble was enough to bring down several major banks and cause cascading damage across the global financial system.
Today’s bubble is EIGHT TIMES the size of the last one, with more than $10.4 trillion worth of government bonds that yield negative interest.
And what’s even more concerning is how quickly it’s growing.
In January 2016, the total amount of government bonds in the world with negative interest totaled $5.5 trillion.
One month later in February the total had grown to $7 trillion. By May it was $9.9 trillion. And today it’s $10.4 trillion.
So this gigantic sovereign bond bubble where governments are being paid to borrow money has practically doubled just in the last several months.
This isn’t a cause for panic or to assume that the financial system is going to crash tomorrow.
But it’s clearly a disturbing trend… the proverbial powder keg in search of a match.
And when future pundits write the history of the financial crisis to come, whether it happens today, tomorrow, or years from now, you can bet they’ll wonder how the entire system failed once again to see something so dangerous… and so obvious.CLOSE USA TODAY Sports NFL writer Tom Pelissero breaks down the latest from Vikings training camp.
Christian Ponder is 14-20-1 in 35 NFL starts. (Photo11: Bruce Kluckhohn, USA TODAY Sports)
MANKATO, Minn. — Christian Ponder would welcome a trade if the Minnesota Vikings found a new home for their former starting quarterback, who has been reduced to running the third-string offense in training camp.
But Ponder knows a deal is unlikely given his struggles last season and guaranteed salary for 2014. So he's trying to make the most of his time under a new offensive staff led by coordinator Norv Turner and the few practice reps he gets behind Matt Cassel and rookie Teddy Bridgewater.
"There are benefits for me being here," Ponder told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. "I'm learning a lot. It's less stressful. At the same time, I've always got to be ready, because football's a crazy game. I could play at some point. But it's an opportunity for me to learn. I do really feel like it's going to benefit me in the long run.
"If something happens — I get traded, or there's an opportunity elsewhere to play — I want to play. But this is where I am right now. I can't control it."
Ponder, 26, was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2011 draft and started 35 games over his first three NFL seasons. But he lost the job for good in 2013, when he posted a 77.9 passer rating in nine starts, and the Vikings moved on by re-signing Cassel and using another first-round pick (32nd overall) on Bridgewater.
The Vikings owe Ponder a fully guaranteed $1,760,277 base salary in the last year of his rookie contract, though that figure could be offset in part if they cut him and he signs elsewhere. As of now, the most likely scenario is the Vikings keep three quarterbacks, giving them options if something happens to Cassel — the probable Week 1 starter — and Bridgewater isn't deemed ready.
"For as hard as it's been for (Ponder), he's been a true pro's pro, and I know how difficult that is and the circumstances he's in right now," Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told USA TODAY Sports.
"But Christian has done everything asked, has really worked his tail off, and I think he should be commended for that, too. Very easily, it could've become a distraction, and he's been nothing but positive with the current circumstance he's in."
It'd be tougher if Ponder weren't in a good place personally. His wife, ESPN reporter Samantha Ponder, gave birth July 2 to a daughter named Bowden Sainte-Claire Ponder, whom they're calling "Scout." The two have been on sidelines often during camp.
"I can get frustrated in practice. When you're getting three reps a day, you can walk away and be a little disappointed," Ponder said. "I go in the locker room, check my phone, and my wife sent me a picture of our daughter smiling. The fact that some things are more important than football, it definitely helps."
What does Ponder need to do to be an NFL starter again?
"I've got to go to the right situation, and there obviously are things I've got to improve upon in my play," Ponder said. "The turnovers (45 in 35 NFL games) were big with my three years as a starter. That's something I've got to change and keep developing the mental side of the game. That's something that Norv and Scott (Turner, the Vikings' quarterbacks coach) really preach.
"We're doing a lot of protections and being able to check plays and change plays at the line. We're doing a lot more. I think it's really going to help me in the mental side of things and understanding the game. It's just getting that next level and not making the same mistakes I did before."
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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero
PHOTOS: NFL preseason actionPresident-elect Donald Trump promises to return the American economy to its historic long-term growth rate of between 3 and 4 percent. But there are a number of ways he could fail to meet his objective. Here are two.
First, a soaring U.S. dollar could prove highly problematic. The Trump stimulus plan is largely the Reagan domestic agenda (big tax stimulus, higher spending and deregulation). In the 1980s, those policies produced a strong dollar. By the mid-1980s, industrialized world policy makers under the leadership of the U.S. Treasury were forced to organize the Plaza and Louvre Accords to stabilize and bring down the dollar's value to avoid a trade war.
Since the November election, the dollar has strengthened significantly. But today's conditions are different from those in the 1980s. International currency coordination would be a lot more difficult. Back then, emerging markets including China and India were only 20 percent of the world's GDP; now they represent nearly 50 percent of the world's output. Back then, the world wasn't sitting on $18 trillion in dollar-denominated debt, half held by emerging markets. European and Japanese banks weren't as massively exposed to these markets as they are today. Italy's banks weren't hanging by a thread.
If, as expected, the Trump dollar continues to appreciate, the problem is not just that America's trade position could be negatively affected. The value of the world's dollar-denominated debt will rise. So will the cost to emerging-markets of commodities, including energy, which are denominated in dollars. The risk is a series of emerging-market defaults that could wreak havoc on the world's banking system. In the 1980s and 1990s, each time the dollar soared, the result was serious financial problems abroad. But be assured, American multinationals and the U.S. stock market would also take a hit.
The conditions for a stronger dollar have been building for some time. After the 2008 financial crisis, for example, one thing seemed certain. With Wall Street at the center of the crisis, the United States was the international goat. Yet, incredibly, dollar-strengthening U.S. asset purchases by foreigners since the crisis have been double the rate before the crisis. This phenomenon is likely to continue as over the next year as U.S. interest rates rise while the rest of the world's rates stay the same.
If the United States moves to the border-adjusted tax system being discussed in Congress in which a new lower corporate tax rate is levied on where goods end up rather than where they were produced the end result will likely be more dollar appreciation.
Trump could mitigate some, if not a lot, of this risk with a shift in emphasis.
That's the second way Trump could fail to reach his objective. By habit, Trump will likely side with a kind of top-down corporatist thinking in trying to manage his way to higher growth. After all, Manhattan skyscrapers originate from a centralized design, not from an evolving, bottom-up, spontaneous, chaotic process of creative destruction. If he goes the corporate route he knows well, Trump would ironically be engaged in a centralized, top-down approach to economic growth at the precise moment the rest of the economy is experiencing a bottom-up revolution. Evolving technologies seem to be springing up everywhere.
Trump is proud of the stock market's performance since the election. But if the stock market measured the success of the economy for average working families, Hillary Clinton would have won a 50-state landslide. The more important target Trump seems to be ignoring is a rise in social mobility. Thirty years ago, a person born into the bottom 25 percent of income earning families had a 25 percent chance of rising to the top 25 percent. Now only 5 percent make it to the top. That's in large part because there are not enough businesses starting up. And, when they do, they find going public extraordinarily difficult (more than 80 percent of new jobs produced happen after a firm goes public).
That's why start-ups are so important. They take place and produce jobs in America. And they are happening at half the rate of 15 years ago.
Trump loves to encourage large corporations to fall in line. Nothing wrong with that. But he also needs to fixate on encouraging start-ups, or helping young firms survive, and on ending the regulatory and patent arbitrage game that large corporations use to gain competitive advantage over the small. He should make the process of going public easier and less expensive. In any reform of Dodd-Frank, he should concentrate on helping the workhorses of the grassroots economy, regional and community banks. America's innovators need to start to dream big and to dare big again.
And Trump needs a strategy to deal with the effects of a strong dollar. The global financial system has become a dangerous paradox wrapped in a riddle. A lot can go wrong.President Trump says the media is ignoring the U.N.'s sanctions against North Korea. He's wrong.
In a tweet sent out at 4:15 PM EST on Monday, the president wrote that "The Fake News Media will not talk about the importance of the United Nations Security Council's 15-0 vote in favor of sanctions on N. Korea!"
CNN and other news outlets have offered robust coverage of the resolution, which passed on Saturday.
It was a lead story on Saturday afternoon and evening newscasts. CNN's Ana Cabrera interviewed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley about the resolution shortly after it was passed. Portions of the interview were re-played several times.
Related: New North Korea sanctions are unlikely to make Kim blink
Transcript searches show that the sanctions news was also a frequent topic of discussion on Sunday newscasts.
Many analysts and commentators, even those who frequently deride Trump, credited his administration with the victory at the U.N.
The coverage continued at the start of a new workweek.
Related: North Korea vows to'make the U.S. pay dearly' as sanctions tighten
On CNN's "New Day" morning show, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, talked to CNN's Brianna Keilar about the sanctions. That appearance apparently prompted a series of tweets sent by the president attacking Blumenthal.
At the moment that Trump tweeted his criticism of the "Fake News Media," CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" was covering the impact of the sanctions.
CNN's "The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer," discussed the sanctions on Monday, as well.
The Fake News Media will not talk about the importance of the United Nations Security Council's 15-0 vote in favor of sanctions on N. Korea! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
On Monday evening, CNN.com's Top Stories section was led by a story about the sanctions.
CNN is not the only news outlet reporting on the sanctions. To cite just a few notable examples: On Monday, an article on the resolution was published on the front page of the physical copy of the Wall Street Journal. The Washington Post and USA Today also published front-page pieces on the resolution and its implications.
ABC's "Good Morning America," discussed the resolution.
WATCH: North Korea's new nuclear threat; vows "thousands-fold" revenge after sanctions: https://t.co/NLUoLTlTwi pic.twitter.com/7cifIKEBd6 — Good Morning America (@GMA) August 7, 2017
As did NBC's "Today."
WATCH: North Korea says it will launch "thousands-fold" revenge against US following new UN sanctions https://t.co/Iv15p6mOgH pic.twitter.com/7kRqJbYwCj — TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 7, 2017
NPR included the topic in its Morning News Brief on Monday. Mainstream outlets have also published a number of articles on the resolution and what it could mean for the U.S. and internationally.
- Brian Stelter contributed to this reportIn a bizarre case out of Europe, a 20-year-old Swiss man reportedly set fire to a Ferrari 458 Italia given to him by his father in a half-baked scheme to use the insurance money to upgrade to a new model. Incredibly, the spoiled brat is said to have had 14 other cars (including a Lamborghini) at his disposal in addition to a property portfolio worth close to $30 million and a monthly allowance that fluctuated between $5,000 and $10,000.
ALSO SEE: Wife Demolishes Cheating Husband’s Audi R8: Not So Fast, Definitely Furious
As Swiss publication 20 Minutes first reported, the 20-year-old in March of 2014 visited a dealership to get his car valued so that he could trade it in for a new model, possibly the 458 Speciale which went on sale about then. The quote he received was $193,500, which wasn’t enough to cover the cost of the new model.
It’s alleged the man was short of funds at the time so one of the dealers suggested he destroy his car in order to claim the insurance value, which presumably was higher than the quoted value. Three accomplices were recruited, including a person working at the dealership, and to avoid suspicion the group crossed the border into Germany to do the dirty deed.
MUST WATCH: LaFerrari Nearly Powerslides Right Into Oncoming Traffic: Video
Once they found a quiet area, the 20-year-old and one of the accomplices visited a massage parlor while the other two set fire to the car. However, security camera footage and telephone recordings led to a prompt arrest of those involved.
The information surrounding the case was divulged in court proceedings that took place last week in Augsburg, Germany, close to where the car was destroyed. The 20-year-old was sentenced to 22 months of probation and was given a fine of $33,000. The accomplices received probations of between 14 and 16 months each. In court, the 20-year-old said he didn’t have the courage to tell his father that he no longer liked his gifted Ferrari.
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Follow Motor Authority on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.‘Tis the season of giving, charity and good will — unless you happen to be a Republican, and then ‘tis the season of pusillanimity, churlishness and bad will.
Congressional Republicans seem hell-bent on denying the most disadvantaged among us healthcare, unemployment benefits and, perhaps worst of all, food stamps, from which the House of Representatives slashed $40 billion last month. Elizabeth Drew, writing in Rolling Stone, calls it “The Republicans’ War on the Poor.”
You can attribute these benefit cuts to plain meanness with a dose of political calculation thrown in, as Drew does. But there may be another explanation than congenital cruelty: Republicans believe they are adhering to a principle that they place above every other value, including compassion. That principle is the need to punish individuals whom they view as undeserving.
Though we Americans love to brag about our decency and concern for others, the punitive gene runs deep in our national DNA. It goes back to the Puritans, who, while professing charitableness and community, had a hard vision of life. They subscribed to the Protestant idea that, since you couldn’t know if you were one of the “elect,” predestined for salvation, you had to look for signs. A major one is a productive life.
The sociologist Max Weber fastened on this Protestant work ethic as the basis of Western civilization’s material success. As he saw it, capitalism was a by-product of the desire for grace. For the Protestants, hard work was not only a potential sign of personal salvation. It became a sign of national salvation.
The United States was particularly fertile ground for this. It was not only a Protestant nation, it took pride in being a classless society, a meritocracy — in which the secular elect would become just as important as the religious. The country’s governing principle was, and still is, that anyone can make it here if he or she is just willing to put in the necessary elbow grease.
This may be why no country seems to worship success as much as the United States. Our success is always perceived to be earned. This is American bedrock — our primary myth remains the social mobility of the Horatio Alger stories.
But if the work ethic was secularized and popularized, it was also politicized. If every individual was responsible for his or her own destiny — short of natural disasters, which some conservatives see as divine punishment for various cultural transgressions — there was no need for government interventions to redress inequalities.
In a world where everyone is on their own, help is not just wasteful; it is ungodly and un-American. If we are responsible for our success, we are also responsible for our failure.
It is impossible to know whether the modern Republican Party exploited self-reliance to destroy big government or sought to destroy big government as a principle of self-reliance. Whichever, this is now deeply embedded in modern conservatism.
When U.S. conservatives cut unemployment benefits, it is because giving the unemployed money allegedly discourages them from working. When they cut food stamps, it is because they claim recipients are gaming the system, though there is virtually no evidence to support this. Representative Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), a Senate candidate, proposed last week that any child receiving lunches through the federal school lunch program be required to work to earn the food.
But Republicans wouldn’t be proposing these hardships if there weren’t a sizable contingent of Americans supporting them. Presumably on the basis that the disadvantaged aren’t really disadvantaged. They are unworthy.
Slashing benefits is only cruel if you are hurting the deserving. But in the conservatives’ view, the poor are never deserving. So you can hack away with a sense of righteousness. Poverty, they insist, is a choice.
This may help explain the conservatives’ anger at anyone who purports to help the poor. Doing so violates the sense of justice for many on the right. It isn’t just that conservatives hate government for taking taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. They hate it because it rewards indolence — where politics conjoins with sinfulness.
This has a powerful appeal. And it goes a long way toward answering the liberal quandary of why so many Americans who could benefit from government programs oppose them and work against their own self-interest.
The answer goes back to those Puritan roots. We are a nation of scolds and scourges. We hate the idea that someone can get something he or she didn’t earn. So what’s the matter with Kansas may just be that many Americans believe in something more important than self-interest, more important than compassion. Punishment.
Many Americans, certainly many Republicans, are more interested in making sure that the “undeserving” are not being rewarded than making sure the deserving are rewarded.
Sure it is punitive. Meting out punishment, however, is something we love to do. Which is why one of our major political parties can subsist on it. The Republican Party is the punishment party.
All this is worth remembering at this time of year. We may say we like giving. But a whole lot of us resent the taking. Or put another way, it is better to give so long as no one needs to receive.
PHOTO: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) (C) is flanked by House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) (L) and Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) as he speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 15, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
ILLUSTRATION (INSERT): Reuters/Library of CongressApple's traditional way to solve a problem started with the brass: Steve Jobs wanted his music library in his pocket, and he bet that others did, too. Following that hunch, we got the iPod.
Google's way to solve a problem needn't rely on hunches, as the company has a massive database of what people are actually Googling. They know precisely what people are searching for in their lives. So when a Google engineer in Boston noticed that a lot of local queries were related to solar panels, he began analyzing the nature of the questions.
Turns out that the process of getting solar panels onto the roof of your house is a royal pain in the ass, beginning with the research. People want to know the basic things, like how much money they'll actually save and what the up-front cost of the panels is. But these answers are different for everyone depending on where your house is located, which way it's facing, what your local utility costs are, and how friendly your local government is to alternative energy.
Thus Google formed Project Sunroof, which cleverly harnesses the data they've already amassed for Google Maps, Google Earth and plain ol' Google. Residents of the three pilot areas for Project Sunroof—Boston, San Francisco and Fresno, California—can type in their address, and Google's data reveals exactly where your house is and how much sun coverage it gets. Local obstructions to light are seen and calculated. The project can ballpark how many panels your specific roof will need, and generate estimates to send to local installers. Local solar incentives are added up, and end users can thus get the magic numbers of "How much will it cost" and "how much will it save."
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While it's too early to tell if the project will be successful, it does point the way towards a potential future approach to product development. Remember the woman who searched online—undoubtedly using Google—to find a device that could help her blind dog? Unable to find an existing product, she invented her own. Imagine if Google had a team of industrial designers waiting around to see what people were searching for, and once the queries hit critical mass—X-thousand number of people—they then designed a physical product that fit the description.Bilingual patients were twice as likely as those who spoke one language to have normal cognitive functions after a stroke, in a study reported in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.
Previous research found bilingualism may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
"People tend to think of Alzheimer's as the only cause of dementia, but they need to know that stroke is also an important cause," said Subhash Kaul, D.M., senior investigator and developer of the stroke registry at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad, India.
In the new study, researchers reviewed the records of 608 patients in the NIMS stroke registry in 2006-13. More than half the patients were bilingual, defined in the study as speaking two or more languages. To ensure results weren't due to bilinguals having a healthier lifestyle, researchers took into account other factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and age. They found:
About 40 percent of bilingual patients had normal cognitive functions following a stroke, compared to about 20 percent of single language patients.
Bilinguals performed better on post-stroke tests that measured attention, and ability to retrieve and organize information.
Surprisingly, there was no difference between bilinguals and those who spoke one language in the likelihood of experiencing aphasia, a disorder that can cause difficulties in speaking, reading and writing, after a stroke.
"The advantage of bilingualism is that it makes people switch from one language to another, so while they inhibit one language, they have to activate another to communicate," said Suvarna Alladi, D.M., lead author and a neurology professor at NIMS.
"The combined vocabulary of bilinguals can make it more difficult for them to find specific words. This may explain what appears to be a surprising result," said Thomas Bak, M.D., study co-author at the University of Edinburgh in United Kingdom.
The study's results may not be universally applicable to all bilingual people. Hyderabad is a multicultural city in which many languages are commonly spoken, including Telugu, Urdu, Hindi and English. "Constantly switching languages is a daily reality for many residents of Hyderabad," Alladi said. "The cognitive benefit may not be seen in places where the need to function in two or more languages isn't as extensive."
People who speak only one language shouldn't necessarily begin learning another one, Kaul said. "Our study suggests that intellectually stimulating activities pursued over time, from a young age or even starting in mid-life, can protect you from the damage brought on by a stroke."
On average, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds, according to the American Heart Association's 2015 Statistical Update.Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ms Sobchak said her candidacy was motivated by her desire to be "a mouthpiece for those who cannot be candidates"
Russian socialite Ksenia Sobchak is to stand in the country's presidential election in March, when Vladimir Putin is widely expected to run again.
Ms Sobchak conceded she was an unlikely candidate and said she supported opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is barred from standing.
However he had warned her not to stand and some commentators now predict an opposition split.
The Kremlin welcomed her candidacy, saying it was fully constitutional.
Mr Navalny is currently serving a 20-day prison sentence for his role in organising "unsanctioned" protests.
He is banned from the election due to a fraud conviction which he says was fabricated.
Dismissed as a 'Kremlin stooge'
by Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, Moscow
This announcement was a long time rumoured, so Alexei Navalny made his views clear last month shortly before his latest arrest.
The anti-corruption blogger dismissed Ksenia Sobchak as a Kremlin stooge, a "liberal laughing stock" and an opposition "caricature", brought in to lend legitimacy to a sham vote. He scorned her as a showbiz celebrity, only seeking more social media "likes" and followers.
Ms Sobchak herself denies she is a spoiler, saying she will step down if Mr Navalny himself is allowed to run for president. That scenario looks highly improbable though.
Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Navalny has been seen as the biggest political threat to Mr Putin
So the socialite-turned-journalist has promised to be a "loudspeaker" for those fed up with the lies, theft and corruption of their leaders. It is language that she borrows quite heavily from Mr Navalny.
She would be the first woman candidate in 14 years, a point which her campaign video in a kitchen underscores. But Ms Sobchak also has the "Marmite" effect: she is as unpalatable to as many people as she attracts.
And crucially, it's not clear how far she'd actually go in criticising Vladimir Putin himself, a close family friend since her childhood.
Ms Sobchak, a journalist and TV presenter, called for the bar on him standing to be lifted.
She said she wanted to be "a mouthpiece for those who cannot be candidates".
"I am against revolution but I am a good middleman and organiser," Ms Sobchak wrote in a letter published on the website of Vedomosti business daily.
Russia's election campaign starts around 7 December, when political parties are expected to hold congresses to nominate their candidates.
A Russian citizen not backed by a political party has the right to register as an independent presidential candidate provided he or she collects at least 300,000 signatures.
President Putin, who first took office as president in 2000, has not announced yet whether he will stand again.
Image copyright EPA
Who is Ksenia Sobchak?
Aged 35, she is
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A majority of Houston Texans players took a knee Sunday during the national anthem ahead of their game against the Seattle Seahawks in protest against controversial remarks made by the team's owner.
Texans owner Bob McNair had met with the team Saturday morning and apologized for his previous comments that "we can't have the inmates running the prison" during a meeting of NFL owners.
Even after the meeting with McNair, the Texans held a players meeting in Seattle to decide how to game the game Sunday, ESPN reported, citing a league source.
HOUSTON TEXANS OWNER MAKES SECOND APOLOGY FOR 'INMATES RUNNING THE PRISON' REMARK
Texans left tackle Duane Brown told ESPN he anticipates "up to 65 to 70 percent" of the team's players could kneel as part of the protest in Seattle, adding the players would not remove the team's decals from their helmets as had been discussed.
McNair's remarks caused a firestorm of criticism from athletes inside and outside the NFL and prompted an initial apology from the 79-year-old Friday.
"I know they were upset," McNair told the Houston Chronicle about his meeting with the players. "I wanted to answer their questions. I told them if I had it to do over again I wouldn't use that expression."
NFL PLAYERS SEEK MEETING WITH GOODELL, MCNAIR, KAEPERNICK
The comment was published in an ESPN The Magazine story about two recent days of meetings among owners, players and others to discuss the protests that have drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.
Players, following the lead of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, say they kneel to protest social injustices, particularly against African-Americans. Trump has sharply criticized the protests and even called on NFL owners to fire players.
The meetings earlier this month did not result in a policy change that would require players to stand for the anthem. Owners and players are expected to meet again next week to discuss initiatives.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.“He certainly doesn’t want to lay out his game plan for our enemies,” Ms. Sanders declared.
Sometimes, though, Mr. Trump’s statements leave his own staff in the dark, forcing them to impute a meaning to his words that might not actually exist. Privately, a few aides said they did not believe the president was preparing the country for war with either North Korea or Iran.
But they also noted Ms. Sanders has had a more successful debut as press secretary than her predecessor, Sean Spicer, in part because she has not attempted to clean up Mr. Trump’s statements – something that would rankle the president.
The president’s penchant for provocative statements is well established. In March, Mr. Trump tweeted, “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” The Justice Department later said there was no evidence that Mr. Obama tapped his apartment during the 2016 campaign.
Pressed by reporters at the time, Mr. Spicer tried to walk back the claim, saying “the president used the word wiretaps in quotes to mean, broadly, surveillance and other activities.”
Mr. Trump also shows an obvious delight in keeping people guessing. At the United Nations last month, he announced he had made up his mind about how to handle the Iran nuclear deal, but was not going to tell the public. When he met Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain, perhaps America’s closest ally, she asked him what he had decided. He refused to tell her, either.
“I didn’t know he was going to say today he’s made a decision,” a bemused Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said at the time. “I knew he had, but I didn’t know he was going to say he had.”
Henry A. Kissinger, the former secretary of state, is credited with coining the principle of constructive ambiguity in diplomacy: the use of deliberately fuzzy language to overcome sensitive issues in negotiations between countries. Mr. Trump may have tried a variation of that on Thursday evening, except that he was applying it to military deterrence.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee police are investigating a shooting that left two people dead and a third wounded outside of Comments Bar near 52nd and Hampton. This incident is the latest in what was a very violent Easter weekend in Milwaukee.
Police say the gunfire erupted at bar closing. Two people apparently bumped into each other -- which prompted an argument. Both individuals then went to their cars, retrieved firearms, met in front of the bar and continued to argue. At one point, they both drew their weapons and shot each other. Both died on scene from their injuries.
The third victim, the brother of one of the shooters, was caught in the crossfire. He is being treated at the hospital and is expected to survive.
A woman who says she is the sister of one of the deceased had this to say:
"I got a bad call saying my brother gone, man. It's crazy out here. Very upset but at the same time he's a good man. It happened on Easter day. You can tell he's a good man. He's always been a good man. Never give anyone any problems, so I just put it in God's hand and let God handle it," Shavon Martin said.
This is the seventh shooting incident to occur during Easter weekend in Milwaukee. Five of those shootings occurred within less than two hours on Saturday, April 4th.
A breakdown of all the shooting incidents this weekend is as follows:
5200 block of N. Green Bay Road: 22-year-old Milwaukee man shot as an argument occurred during a basketball game. The shooter fled the scene. The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is investigating this incident, and is looking for a yellow Ford Mustang that fled the scene.
4000 block of N. 27th Street: 30-year-old Milwaukee man shot while in a vehicle pulling out of a gas station. Police say the driver of the victim's vehicle yelled at the driver of another vehicle that was nearly struck. That driver pulled out a gun and fired one round into the victim's vehicle. The suspect vehicle fled the scene.
7200 block of N. Teutonia Avenue: 32-year-old Milwaukee man shot during a funeral when two members of the same family began to argue. The victim was shot as he started to drive away. The shooter was arrested by the Brown Deer Police Department.
3700 block of N. 23rd Street: 19-year-old Milwaukee man shot by occupants of a vehicle that passed him as he was walking down the street.
1000 N. Old World Third Street: 44-year-old Milwaukee man shot while working security at Notte Nite Lounge after confronting a group of males he had denied entry to in an alley just south of the club. Police arrested a 23-year-old man after a short foot pursuit.
5200 block of W. Hampton Avenue: Two people killed and a third wounded in a shooting outside Comments Bar (see above).
104th and Kiehnau: 27-year-old Elkhorn man shot and killed after police say the victim showed up to purchase drugs and was then shot by the drug dealer during the transaction. Police arrested a 17-year-old boy and a 26-year-old man, and recovered a firearm.
84 minutes is the time that elapsed between the first shooting Saturday afternoon and the last.
Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.Existential angst and death anxiety run in my blood. I think I get it from my Dad’s side of the family, although it’s hard to be sure. Several of my immediate relatives have it and I’m pretty sure my 9-year-old daughter does as well because she asks me about it all the time.
For example, the other day she said to me,
“Mom, what’s the point of life?” to which I responded “Hmmm….” She continued… “I mean, I know we’re here and we’re supposed to do good things and stuff”… (this is vaguely what I told her the last time we had this conversation) “…but then we just die and it’s all over. We’re gone and it doesn’t matter anymore.”
I sat speechless as I watched my first-born teetering on the edge of a familiar and never-ending rabbit hole.
I honestly don’t know if this normal, age-appropriate questioning or if she’s inherited my neurosis. I suppose it’s too early to tell if my 7-year-old will inherit it as well, although she does ask about death sometimes. It’s even worse when the 7-year-old talks about it because she does it in a really matter-of-fact way. Like yesterday she turned to her father and me and asked, “Which one of you will die first?”
Honestly, this isn’t the first time my daughters have asked me about death. As a grief blogger and a person who has experienced the death of a close loved one, it comes up. I guess it’s just caught me off guard lately because they’re saying exactly what I’ve been thinking.
My oldest daughter Evelyn just turned 9 and in a few weeks, I’ll be turning 35. I’m hesitant to even disclose my soon-to-be age because I know some people will say, “Hey dummy, that’s not that old”, but my issue isn’t with age…it’s with the passage of time. Time, which never stops until it does; which is forcing me to jettison unfinished items from my life to-do list; which is turning my babies into big kids; which has seen billions of people come and go before me; which will eventually lead to me being forgotten.
I know…I am the ultimate downer right now. Trust me…I know.
I know because this is a topic that I usually never ever bring up because it always gets shut down. It may surprise you to know that people don’t like to talk about their mortality; it’s actually a really awkward conversation stopper. Typically my angst is met with one of a few dismissive responses like…
“You’re so morbid”
Whether or not this is true about me, I’d argue that it’s not morbid to think about your mortality or to ponder the meaning and purpose of life. Many of you have experienced the death of a loved one and might know what it’s like to reconcile a senseless, unexpected, or premature death; to question the meaning of life; or to fear your loved one’s life will be forgotten.
“You’re faith isn’t strong enough.”
I know many people feel that faith or belief in the afterlife should be of some comfort when pondering death, but for me, and for many others, it’s of small consolation. In my mind, as wonderful as an afterlife may be (if I’m allowed in), I really just want to be here with my children and my family.
“You shouldn’t fear death because it’s a part of life.”
I have to admit, this last one bothers me the most; maybe because I often encounter this point of view in the field of death, dying, and bereavement. In my experience, it seems like the general vibe among grief professionals is that everyone should be cool with their mortality, and so discussion of existential fear and angst is often met with responses like, “C’mon man, death is just a natural part of life.” Which is true, death is a natural part of life, but so is fear of death. I’d argue that death anxiety is natural in any organism with the drive and will to survive.
I hope no one reading this thinks that I’m trying to undermine anyone else’s understanding of life or outlook on death. We all ask ourselves these existential questions and come up with our own unique answers. The fact that I haven’t found my own peace of mind, doesn’t mean that another person can’t find theirs. Ultimately, I’m okay being at odds with my mortality. I actually think it makes me an even better grief professional simply because I fully appreciate just how much death sucks. My own dread towards death is why I know that each and every person who comes to What’s Your Grief is serious when they say they have a broken heart. Regardless of who died and regardless of the circumstances, death is almost always tragic. At the very least it is devastating in its ramifications on the living, and if it weren’t then we wouldn’t have grief in the first place.
Whatever unique understanding you have of life and death is okay, I commend you for even having asked the questions. I think it stands to reason that how you feel about life and death, in many ways, will impact the way you grieve. Perhaps you hold on tightly to your pain for fear that if you let go your loved one’s life will be forgotten or meaningless. Perhaps you refuse to fully face your grief because it makes you uncomfortable to think about death. Perhaps you find comfort in your beliefs, or perhaps you question your faith when you don’t feel comfort.
I think it’s fascinating that we don’t talk more about the relationship between our feelings about mortality and grief. Maybe we don’t because we feel selfish turning the lens on our own life and mortality, when we feel we should only be thinking about our loved ones life and death. However it’s logical that these two things would be interconnected and that thoughts and feeling around our own life and mortality would arise at the time of a loved one’s death and as a part of our grief in the future. I believe it’s at least worth thinking, don’t you?
Does any of this make sense or are these the ramblings of an almost-35-year-old in the midst of a mid-life crisis? It’s so hard to tell anymore.
Subscribe anyways.Furious at this teammates’ incompetence which had led to his defeat in a League of Legends match, one very hardcore gamer took out all of his frustration on his computer.
Consumed by rage, the guy delivered a ferocious headshot to the innocent computer screen, smashing through the screen and leaving his head stuck inside. It’s not clear how long he remained stuck there before his friends and internet cafe workers decided to help him out, but it was definitely long enough for other gamers to snap photos, which have gone viral on Chinese social media.
The computer screen was left with a sizable hole, while the guy’s head was left dripping blood.
The scene occurred in Lanzhou last Thursday. A local reporter recently visited the internet cafe where workers confirmed that the bizarre incident did in fact happen, adding that they had already thrown away the unfortunate computer screen.
[Images via NetEase]
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PrintFILE - In this May 14, 2013, file photo, the Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington is photographed early in the morning. The Drug Enforcement Administration does a poor job overseeing the millions of dollars in payments it distributes to confidential sources, relies on tipsters who operate with minimal oversight or direction and has paid informants who are no longer meant to be used, according to a government watchdog report issued Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016.. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is preparing to announce charges against four defendants, including two Russian security services officers, in a mega data breach at Yahoo that affected at least a half billion user accounts, according to a federal law enforcement official.
(If you're reading this on our mobile app, click here for live video)
Two of the defendants are Russian FSB officers and the other two are criminal hackers. One of the defendants has been taken into custody in Canada, and another is on the list of the FBI's most wanted cyber criminals.
The Justice Department was expected to publicly announce the charges Wednesday.
The charges arise from a compromise of Yahoo user accounts that began at least as early as 2014. Though the Justice Department has previously charged Russian hackers with cybercrime — as well as hackers sponsored by the Chinese and Iranian governments — this would be the first criminal case brought against Russian government officials.
It comes as federal authorities investigate Russian interference through hacking in the 2016 presidential election.
Yahoo didn't disclose the 2014 breach until last September when it began notifying at least 500 million users that their email addresses, birth dates, answers to security questions and other personal information may have been stolen. Three months later, Yahoo revealed it had uncovered a separate hack in 2013 affecting about 1 billion accounts, including some that were also hit in 2014.Looking for Entangled Atoms in a Bose-Einstein Condensate
Click image to enlarge Photo shows equipment used for observing entangled Bose-Einstein condensates. (Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech). Download Image MORE PHOTOS
Using a Bose-Einstein condensate composed of millions of sodium atoms, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have observed a sharp magnetically-induced quantum phase transition where they expect to find entangled atomic pairs. The work moves scientists closer to an elusive entangled state that would have potential sensing and computing applications beyond its basic science interests.
The use of entangled atoms from a condensate could improve the sensitivity and reduce the noise in sensing very small changes in physical properties such as magnetic fields or rotation. And it could also provide a foundation for quantum computers able to perform certain calculations much faster than conventional digital computers.
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the research was reported January 23 as a rapid communication in the journal Physical Review A.
“We have defined a window where we expect to be able to observe entanglement,” said Chandra Raman, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics. “We now know where to look for it, and we know how to look for it.”
Raman and former graduate student Anshuman Vinit have been studying Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) as a source of entanglement, seeking to take advantage of the system’s quantum purity to create conditions where correlation between atoms might occur. BECs don’t normally contain entangled atoms.
“We found ways to engineer the system to create entanglement,” Raman explained. “We looked at the behavior of the system as we tuned the magnetic field very close to the phase boundary and showed that the boundary had a very sharply defined point. We were able to resolve that boundary with a level of uncertainty we didn’t think we could get until we did the experiment.”
Theoretical predictions have suggested that at the boundary between different magnetic phases of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate, scientists would find an entangled quantum state of all the atoms. In spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, the individual magnetic moments do not need to have a well-defined orientation in space, but rather, can exist in a superposition of different orientations.
In their experiment, the researchers identified two phases: antiferromagnetic and polar. In the polar phase, the atoms all align their moments vertically, while in the antiferromagnetic phase, they are horizontally aligned. In a BEC exactly at the boundary between these phases, theorists had predicted the existence of a quantum mechanical superposition of all possible alignments, an entangled state.
The researchers haven’t yet observed that entangled state yet, but their work so far has defined an experimental window within which to look for new physical effects governing different magnetic phases, or to generate entangled states that are relevant for quantum-based systems.
Earlier research in Raman’s lab had produced the two phases, but the boundary between them was “smeared out” by magnetic field inhomogeneities. By smoothing out the magnetic field so that it was more uniform, the researchers were able to eliminate the variations to produce a sharp boundary between the phases.
In the narrowly-defined transition area identified in the research, atoms are torn between the two phases, causing entangled pairs to form, Raman said. The state may be stable enough to find practical applications, though scientists won’t know for sure until they actually can observe and measure the properties.
The researchers measured the boundary in their system by “jumping” the magnetic field from one part of the BEC to another. The move created a dynamical instability in the atomic system; the larger the instability, the less time the system required to return to equilibrium, as predicted by quantum theory.
The researchers now believe they’ve set the stage for observing entanglement in a smaller groups of atoms, perhaps no more than a thousand.
“At our current sensitivity, we think we could observe these spin-correlated states with a reasonable number of particles,” Raman said. “We think that is experimentally feasible, and since we can measure the boundary with precision, we can begin to test the theories governing behavior in this regime.”
Once that’s shown, the large ensemble of atoms could be broken down into many smaller groups operating independently, each with phase boundaries containing entangled atoms.
Though Raman finds the basic science and quantum computing interesting, he is equally excited about potential sensing applications.
“If you could reduce the noise level through the clever use of quantum mechanical superpositions, you could realize sensors that are more precise and could detect smaller effects,” he said. “In quantum sensing you could use entanglement to increase the precision of measurements to levels that, in classical sensor systems, would have a higher noise level.”
In classical oscillating systems such as coin tosses, each flip is an independent system and has a certain level of noise. But because of the correlation, the atomic pairs would no longer be independent systems.
“In an ordinary classical system, there’s a certain amount of noise that has to do with the fact that you are making measurements on independent systems,” he said. “In quantum systems, it is possible to suppress that noise if the atoms are correlated. It’s as if the coins were talking to one another.”
Quantum sensors might therefore be able to detect changes in rotation or magnetic variation that are too small for today’s sensors. Other applications could be found in spectroscopic measurement, Raman said.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1100179. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
CITATION: A. Vinit and C. Raman, “Precise measurements on a quantum phase transition in antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensates,” (Physical Review A, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.95.011603
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Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USABradley Wright-Phillips is having the greatest three-year stretch for a striker in MLS history.
The New York Red Bull has scored 61 goals over the past three seasons, tying a record set by Chris Wondolowski when he scored 61 goals from 2010-12. There's little doubt that Wright-Phillips will break that record at some point over the next six games.
He has scored very consistently since 2014 by being a menace in the box. You can see that in this graphic provided by OptaPro, which includes expected goal figures; the darker the color, the less likely he was to score. Amazingly, only one of his 61 goals has come from outside the box.
While he's not at his outrageous 2014 levels, when he scored 27 goals in the regular season and four more in the playoffs, he has been outperforming his expected goals number. This means he's scoring more goals than he would be expected to based on the shots he has taken.
Wright-Phillips currently sits 30th all-time in MLS regular season goals with 62 and has shown few signs of slowing down despite turning 31 in March. If he is able to sustain this kind of pace, or even see just a slight drop-off, he could easily become the 10th member of the 100-goal club.
In more pressing news, the Englishman is currently on a tear, scoring five goals in four games. With the Red Bulls chasing a top-two seed in the East, these kinds of performances could lead him to one of those spots and potentially their first MLS Cup.
If the regular season ended today...
Eastern Conference Playoff Bracket Conference Semifinals 1. New York City FC Conference Semifinals 2. New York Red Bulls Knockout Round 3. Toronto FC VS. 6. Orlando City SC Knockout Round 4. Philadelphia Union VS. 5. Montreal Impact
Western Conference Playoff Bracket Conference Semifinals 1. FC Dallas Conference Semifinals 2. Real Salt Lake Knockout Round 3. LA Galaxy VS. 6. Portland Timbers Knockout Round 4. Colorado Rapids VS. 5. Sporting Kansas City
Strength of Schedule and Expected Points
The strength of schedule metric takes into account the average points per game (PPG) that each team's opponents earn at home and on the road. The lower the PPG, the easier the schedule.
For example, if FC Dallas traveled to play the LA Galaxy, who have averaged 2.5 PPG at home, and then hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps, who have averaged 1.53 PPG on the road, their opponents' PPG would be 2.02. The higher the PPG, the more difficult a team's remaining schedule.
The Expected Points metric is strictly based off of what teams have done up to this point. For example, New York City FC have collected 1.64 points per game at home this season and 1.50 on the road. So if they continue averaging those totals, with five more home games left and four more road games, they would be expected to collect 53.43 points.
Here are both the Strength of Schedule and Expected Points rankings for each conference:
TEAM EXPECTED POINTS Toronto FC 55.53 New York Red Bulls 54.14 New York City FC 53.43 Philadelphia Union 48.57 Montreal Impact 46.33 Orlando City SC 42.41 D.C. United 39.79 New England Revolution 36.43 Chicago Fire 34.00 Columbus Crew SC 32.79If you would like to see more articles like this please support our coverage of the space program by becoming a Spaceflight Now Member. If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further.
SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship, carrying more than 4,100 pounds of cargo and research specimens, descended to a predawn splashdown Monday in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, completing the first re-flight of one of SpaceX’s unpiloted supply ships to the International Space Station.
Completing a four-week stay at the space station, the Dragon cargo capsule departed the research outpost Monday at 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT), when astronaut Jack Fischer commanded the station’s robotic arm to release the spacecraft.
Launched June 3 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, the automated logistics carrier delivered nearly 6,000 pounds of equipment and research hardware to the space station.
The capsule made its second trip to the orbiting complex. SpaceX refurbished the craft following its first mission in September and October 2014.
“Dragon’s been an incredible spacecraft,” Fischer radioed mission control a few minutes after Dragon left the space station. “I could even say it was slathered in awesome sauce. This baby had almost no problems, which is an incredible feat considering its the first reuse of a Dragon vehicle.”
Items stowed for Dragon’s return included live mice from an experiment to investigate the effectiveness of a therapeutic drug to promote bone growth, combating atrophy in astronauts in space and osteoporosis patients on Earth. The mice will be euthanized and examined after landing.
“Most of the 6,000 pounds of cargo carried was science, and almost all the return cargo are precious samples for discoveries we can’t wait to see,” Fischer said. “In addition, Dragon brought up a host of external experiments. We’ve added an external platform for science, a neutron star analyzer and a new solar array that rolled out like a party horn on New Year’s Eve.”
Dragon’s homecoming was pushed back a day because of rough seas in the splashdown zone around 260 miles (420 kilometers) southwest of Long Beach, California.
Under the control of SpaceX engineers in Hawthorne, California, the Dragon capsule fired its thrusters in three pulses to fly a safe distance away from the space station. A few hours later, the supply freighter braked out of orbit with another rocket firing, jettisoned its disposable unpressurized trunk and service module, then plunged into Earth’s atmosphere for a searing re-entry.
Soaring southwest to northeast, the capsule deployed two drogue parachutes and three main chutes before splashing down, SpaceX tweeted at 8:14 a.m. EDT (1214 GMT; 5:14 a.m. PDT).
The return marked the first time a Dragon capsule has splashed down at night. Fischer captured a view of the plasma trail behind the Dragon spacecraft during re-entry as the space station sailed overhead.
A SpaceX recovery team hoisted the craft onto a boat for a two-day trip to the Port of Los Angeles, where time-sensitive cargo and scientific samples will be handed over to NASA and research teams.
SpaceX replaced the heat shield and other parts of the capsule after its 2014 flight, but officials said the primary structure, propulsion system and sections were original articles.
Monday’s splashdown concluded SpaceX’s 11th resupply mission to the space station. Including flights already accomplished, SpaceX has contracts with NASA for at least 26 cargo flights to the orbital research lab through 2024.
The company’s 12th cargo mission is set for launch Aug. 10 from the Kennedy Space Center.
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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.Senate Republicans confirmed President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE's 12th federal appeals judge nominee on Thursday, setting a record for the number of circuit picks confirmed in a president's first year.
Senators voted 55-43 on James Ho's nomination to be a judge for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, making him the first Asian-American on the court.
He's the third circuit court pick Republicans confirmed this week and Trump's 12th appeals pick to be confirmed this year — the most any president has gotten in his first year since the court was created in 1891.
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By comparison, former President Obama got three appellate judges confirmed in his first year and former President George W. Bush got six confirmed. Meanwhile, former presidents Kennedy and Nixon both got 11 confirmed during their first year.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellHouse to push back at Trump on border Democrats block abortion bill in Senate Overnight Energy: Climate protesters storm McConnell’s office | Center-right group says Green New Deal could cost trillion | Dire warnings from new climate studies MORE (R-Ky.) noted from the Senate floor that Republicans were having a "historic week."
"The Senate will take another important step to ensure that the federal judiciary fulfills its proper role in our constitutional system. Each of them will be an asset to our nation’s courts," he said ahead of Ho's vote.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel FeinsteinHillicon Valley: Senators urge Trump to bar Huawei products from electric grid | Ex-security officials condemn Trump emergency declaration | New malicious cyber tool found | Facebook faces questions on treatment of moderators Ocasio-Cortez adviser says Sunrise confrontation with 'old-timer' Feinstein'sad' Key senators say administration should ban Huawei tech in US electric grid MORE (D-Calif.) knocked Republicans on Thursday, saying the nominations are being "rammed through the process" at a "stunning" speed.
"In a way, circuit courts serve as the de facto Supreme Court to the vast majority of individuals who bring cases. They are the last word," she said.
In addition to Ho, the Senate confirmed Don Willett to be on the 5th Circuit and Leonard Steven Grasz to be a United States Circuit Judge for the 8th Circuit.
Republicans have been slow to score legislative and political victories this year, but they've increasingly pointed to the courts as a key long-term win for their party.
Judicial nominations only require a simple majority to be confirmed, meaning Democrats aren't able to block Trump's nominees on their own.
Lead by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidBottom Line Brennan fires back at'selfish' Trump over Harry Reid criticism Trump rips Harry Reid for 'failed career' after ex-Dem leader slams him in interview MORE (D-Nev.), the Democrats got rid of the 60-vote filibuster for lower-court nominees. Republicans nixed the same hurdle for Supreme Court picks earlier this year.Wilfried Bony joined Swansea for a club-record £12m from Vitesse Arnhem in 2013
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic says he is interested in signing Manchester City forward Wilfried Bony, but will not "beg" anyone to join the club.
Strikers Andy Carroll and record signing Andre Ayew are both injured, while the Croatian admits he was close to signing AC Milan's Carlos Bacca.
The Colombian opted to stay in Italy, with Bilic unwilling to chase the forward because he says there are other targets "calling me every day".
Bilic added the deal became "a saga".
"I was the one who called it off three weeks ago in Austria," he added. "I wanted him, of course, but I don't want to have to drag players to West Ham.
"We are not Real Madrid or Manchester United but we are a good club and a proud club with players who are proud to play for us. We are not going to beg anyone to play for us."
Bilic says Bacca is "on great money and wants to stay on that level", but hopes West Ham can attract players of that quality in the future, with Bony an option.
The 27-year-old joined Manchester City in January 2015 and has scored 10 goals in 20 starts, but is yet to play this term.
The Ivory Coast international, who signed for Swansea in 2013 from Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem, was not included in manager Pep Guardiola's squad for the Champions League qualifier with Steaua Bucharest.
"He is a good player," Bilic added. "He is an option because he plays in the position where, even before the injuries, we tried to sign a player.
"We have a couple of players we are trying to do a deal with."
Bilic was speaking at a press conference before Thursday's Europa League qualifier second leg against Astra Giurgiu at London Stadium.
The tie stands at 1-1, with West Ham bidding to join Premier League rivals Southampton and Manchester United in Friday's draw for the group stages.
"We are not going to protect the away goal," Bilic said. "It gives you an advantage but you cannot hang on for 90 minutes. We will play a normal game."
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.400 Hz Electrical Systems
Why do aircraft electrical systems run at 400 hertz instead of the 60 Hz frequency used in the US power grid? Is it possible to run a piece of 400 Hz electrical equipment on a 60 Hz outlet?
- question from Allan, Terence, V. Murlidhar & Michael McCook
Electrical devices on the interior of a corporate jet
Let us now further explore aircraft electrical systems to better understand the significance of these design tradeoffs. The earliest planes had no need for electrical power since they carried no devices that required it. That began to change by the 1920s when planes routinely carried radios and navigation gear powered by direct current (DC) batteries. Later advances led to the development of small generators that supply DC power, typically at 28 volts. Only small general aviation aircraft tend to use DC electrical systems today.
Exterior landing lights on a small plane
By the beginning of the jet age, aircraft were becoming increasingly more complex and operated a vast array of electrical devices. Modern military aircraft are equipped with powerful radars, sensors, weapon systems, and sophisticated cockpit displays that require large amounts of electricity to operate. Commercial airliners too must provide power for environmental systems, galley equipment, cockpit displays, communication gear, weather radar, and in-flight entertainment systems. DC power supplies are insufficient to meet the demands for electricity to operate flight instruments, actuators, heating equipment, avionics, and internal/external lighting on these large aircraft. These planes instead use alternating current (AC) systems that usually supply 115 volts at 400 hertz.
Aircraft are equipped with a number of power generation systems including both primary and redundant backup systems to continue supplying power to vital equipment in an emergency. Primary power is usually provided by AC generators directly connected to the jet engines. Commercial aircraft and many military planes are also equipped with an auxiliary power unit (APU), which is essentially a miniature jet engine that provides an additional power source. The APU is always in operation to supplement the primary power supply or replace it in case of engine failure. If the APU also fails, many aircraft carry an additional ram air turbine (RAT) that can be deployed when needed to provide emergency power. The purpose of a RAT is to keep critical systems operating long enough to land safely.
Auxiliary power unit (APU) of a Boeing 737
These generators provide AC power using an alternator that supplies 115 volts at 400 Hz frequency. The advantage of high-frequency alternators is that they require fewer copper coils in order to generate the necessary electrical current. This reduction in material allows the alternator to become much smaller such that it takes up less space and weighs much less than it would otherwise.
A common rule of thumb in airplane design says that removing one pound of weight can actually reduce the overall weight by at least five pounds because of all the extra structure and fuel that is no longer needed to carry that pound over the range of the plane. This reduction in weight means the plane needs less fuel to travel the same distance so that the aircraft is more economical to operate. Since saving weight is so important to reducing the costs of an airplane, the use of smaller and lighter 400 Hz electrical generators is a significant advantage over 60 Hz electrical systems.
One of the first 400 Hz constant speed drives developed for aviation
The drawback of operating at 400 Hz is that high frequency systems are more likely to suffer voltage drops. The most significant of these losses results from reactive drops. Reactive drops are caused by the inductive properties of the conducting cables or wires through which the electrical current is transmitted. This type of loss is affected both by the length of the conductor as well as the frequency of the power flowing through it. As frequency increases, the larger the voltage drop becomes. At a high frequency of 400 Hz, reactive drops can be as much as seven times larger than at a low frequency of 60 Hz.
This difference in operating characteristics helps explain why the US power grid operates at 60 Hz rather than the 400 Hz systems used aboard aircraft. A lower frequency reduces losses over long distances, like those between a power plant and your home or office. The transmission distances aboard an airplane are very small by comparison, so the power losses are much less significant compared
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on how to keep her daughter, Cece, from crying, during "Viewing Party", by relating his child rearing experiences. Dwight's odd friendship with Pam is explored again in "Doomsday". At this point, Pam is the only one in the office who is able to understand Dwight's inner feelings, as she successfully convinces him to deactivate his doomsday machine. It is implied at the end of the episode that Dwight, despite his outward contempt for his coworkers, feels a sense of responsibility (and possibly even affection) towards them.
In a talking-head interview, in the episode "Tallahassee", Dwight talks about how first impressions last forever. He recalls that, when he first met Pam, she said something to him that "slightly rubbed [him] the wrong way", and while he has since loved working with her, even stating that she is wonderful, due to that first impression, he hates her. In the episode "The Whale", Dwight openly tells Pam that he considers her his friend. In the final episode of the series, Dwight refers to Pam as his "best friend", and he ensures that she and Jim get a large severance as they leave Dunder Mifflin.
Andy Bernard [ edit ]
As a result of the Scranton-Stamford merger, Dwight loses his number two position to Jim and engages in an ongoing battle with new salesman Andy Bernard, to gain Michael's favor for "third-in-command". The struggle comes to a climax in "Traveling Salesmen".[1] In Season 4, Andy and Dwight are shown to work well together as a sales team, but Andy's successful pursuit of Angela, after she broke up with Dwight, was irritating to him. When Andy gets engaged to Angela, Dwight is greatly upset by this, and embarks on an affair with her. This affair culminates in a short-lived fight between Andy and Dwight, when they discover Angela has lied to both of them, about not having had sex with the other. In "Michael Scott Paper Company," they once again find themselves courting the same woman – Erin Hannon. However, by the end of the fifth season, Andy and Dwight become friends, and discover they both share a mutual interest in music and hunting.[31]
Ryan Howard [ edit ]
In the beginning of the series, Dwight feels threatened by Ryan Howard, to whom Michael often assigns personal tasks. He continues to resent Ryan, throughout the second season, often addressing him as "Temp",[4] even after Ryan took over Jim's position.[12] In the beginning of season 2, Dwight's friendship with Michael was slightly torn during "The Fire", when Michael seems to be viewing Ryan more favorably than Dwight, and in "Performance Review", in which Michael must evaluate Ryan.[32] In "Initiation", Dwight decides to assist Ryan, during his first sales call, although the two get off to a rough start when Dwight hazes him in a series of bizarre initiation rituals. Soon afterwards, Dwight takes Ryan on his first meeting, which ends in disaster. Ryan then eggs the potential customer's building out of spite, and Dwight develops some respect for him.[33]
During season 4, Dwight, along with Michael, comes to Ryan's rescue when they visit him in New York City, when he gets into a scuffle.
Ryan and Dwight later team up again in season 6, when Dwight plans to sabotage Jim's occupation, as branch co-manager.[34]
Romantic relationships [ edit ]
A subtle running joke throughout the series is Dwight's surprising success with attractive women, with Michael often failing to "hook up" at the same time. Despite Dwight's unusual appearance and mannerisms, he manages to attract women, who usually develop stronger feelings for him than vice versa. Michael has even pointed out how socially weird Dwight is acting, only for the woman to brush it off. In "Night Out", Dwight hooks up with a women's basketball player, while Michael fails in his attempts with other women. As Michael and Dwight leave the club, the woman calls out for Dwight to call her, which he says to Michael that he will not do. In "Niagara", Michael and Dwight compete for the attention of Pam's best friend, Isabel. When Dwight starts talking about his farm, Michael tries to explain that no one can connect with his experiences as farmer, only for Isabel to become interested in Dwight's horses. Dwight ultimately manages to have sex with her, and she begins to develop deeper feelings for him which he does not return, although it is finally hinted in "The Delivery" that Dwight might have more intimate feelings for her than he originally let on. They meet again at the bar in "Happy Hour", and bond further, kissing at the end of the episode. In a chat at OfficeTally.com, Mindy Kaling noted that Dwight is not a typical "nerd" character, that he is a "farmer and kind of strapping and tall", and it generally makes sense that he does well with the opposite sex. In season 9, he begins to date an attractive neighboring farmer named Esther (Nora Kirkpatrick). He ultimately ends his relationship with her in "A.A.R.M.". In the final episode, Dwight marries Angela Martin.
Character reception [ edit ]
The Dwight Schrute character has had a very positive reception, and is often cited as one of the most popular characters on the show. According to Entertainment Weekly he is one of the "greatest sidekicks."[35] In TV Guide's list of the top 100 characters in television history, Dwight was ranked 85th. In an ABC News interview with Rainn Wilson, the interviewer commented that "Words barely describe Dwight Schrute, the suck-up salesman and assistant to the regional manager of the Scranton branch for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company..."[36] and "Dwight, as played by the 41-year-old Wilson, has become one of the breakout characters in television comedy. Dwight is a survivalist geek, a student of karate who likes to shoot a crossbow and watch "Battlestar Galactica" on television. And he takes himself very, very seriously..."[36] E! News commented that Rainn Wilson should be nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance of Dwight, commenting: "...Who's laughing now? Who's laughing now, Dwight Schrute? Oh, only the ten million-plus people who watched as you pepper sprayed the living daylights out of Roy for trying to pop Jim in the face last night. My God, have I missed you, man. Mr. Schrute, you are the reason I love my job, my friend. It is the selflessly heroic actions of a man such as you that make television a nice place to be on a Thursday night. You may just be an everyday citizen who does not accept prizes for being a citizen, but you'd best be accepting a supporting actor Emmy nod this year, because, hot damn if you don't deserve it."[37]
Another positive review of the character was given by PopMatters, an online entertainment news site. The review stated: "One of the show’s ironies is that Michael and Dwight, hapless though they might be within the office or in most social settings, are actually top salesmen...Undeterred, or unaware of any of this, Dwight carries on with his dreams of grandeur, even instituting a reward system called "Schrute Bucks" for employees who please him during a brief but tyrannical reign as branch manager...Dwight approaches sales with the same militaristic fervor as everything else in his life, and it pays off for him (maybe that’s one of the reasons why, when Jim gives Dwight one of Benito Mussolini’s speeches to deliver when he accepts a sales award in Season Two, Dwight delivers it so enthusiastically that he gets a standing ovation)..."[38] Metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada named a song "Assistant to the Regional Manager," alluding to Dwight's position. In addition, the band created a T-shirt design that indirectly associates itself with Dwight by strongly resembling him. It is named "Guy Wearing Tie."[39]
Outside of The Office [ edit ]
Bobblehead doll [ edit ]
In the episode "Valentine's Day", Dwight is given a bobblehead doll as a Valentine's gift, from Angela. Following the episode, fans of the show petitioned NBC to make the bobblehead doll available for purchase on their online store.[40] NBC responded by creating an initial run of 4,000 bobblehead dolls, which sold out almost immediately.[40] The creator of the show, Greg Daniels, joked about the bobbleheads, saying "Yes, they are fun, but they also serve a business purpose. People who want to manage by consensus can buy six and keep them nodding all the time to whatever they say."[40] In 2010 Hallmark released a smaller talking version of the doll as part of their 2010 Christmas Keepsake Ornament selection.
Résumé [ edit ]
In "Halloween", Jim and Pam uploaded Dwight's resume to "Monster.com, Craigslist, and Google."[41] A producer actually did create a Monster account for Dwight and uploaded his résumé a month before the episode aired. It can be found by employers with resume database access who search for salesmen in Scranton, Pennsylvania.[42] The résumé stated that he was willing to relocate to another state,[42] wanted a salary close to $30,000 (USD),[42] desired the job title of Regional Manager,[42] was currently "Assistant to the Regional Manager",[42] and had a Bachelor's Degree.[42] The posted résumé also stated: "My time spent at Dunder Mifflin was very enjoying. I had the opportunity to learn from an experienced and talented boss. My branch consistently was one of the top sellers of the company..."[42]
Schrute Farms [ edit ]
In "Money", Pam refers to a TripAdvisor page for Dwight's bed and breakfast. This can be found by searching for Schrute Farms.[43] Jim and Pam discover that Dwight is running the Schrute Farm as an "agritourism" bed and breakfast. They spend the night there, taking part in table-making demonstrations, beet wine-making, and distributing manure. That night, however, Jim hears an unnerving moaning sound throughout the night, later shown to be Dwight in his room crying over his breakup with Angela. The TripAdvisor page said:
"Schrute Farms is the number one beet-related agritourism destination in Northeastern Pennsylvania. We offer the finest accommodations for the casual traveler and/or radish enthusiast. Come join us and experience majestic Schrute Farms."[43]
Jim and Pam ("JandP2") also posted a review, which can be seen on the reviews page. It read: "The architecture reminds one of a quaint Tuscan beet farm, and the natural aroma of the beets drifts into the bedrooms and makes you dream of simpler times. You will never want to leave your room. The informative lecture will satisfy all your beet curiosity, and the dawn goose walk will tug at your heart strings. Table making never seemed so possible. Great story to tell your friends. Plenty of parking! The staff's attention to detail and devotion to cleanliness was limitless. From their enthusiastic welcome to the last wave good-bye, Schrute Farms delivers."[43]
An angry Angela also put a review up, and mentioned the death of her cat as a main cause for the review. It said: "I have to warn people about the proprietor of Schrute Farms—he may portray himself as a gentleman farmer, but he is not what he seems! He killed my cat, Sprinkles! Who knows what he might do to you or your loved ones..."[43]
According to Dwight, during the Civil War, while the Battle of Gettysburg was known for having the most deaths, the battle of Schrute Farms was known for having the highest DPA (deaths per acre). He also claimed it was the northernmost battle during the Civil War. However, in reality, it was actually a safe haven for men who wanted relief from the war to focus on artistic lifestyles. It is insinuated that this was a camp for homosexual soldiers. Melvin Fifer Garris is the only known soldier to write home from Schrute Farms during the Civil War.
A little known fact is that Dwight Schrute actually won his farm in a game of Blackjack. This is only shown in a deleted scene from the Season 3 DVD set and some may not consider it canon.
Vice presidential bid joke [ edit ]
External video Rainn Wilson on The Tonight Show discussing the "nomination"
On the May 7, 2008, episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, US Senator and Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain joked that Dwight Schrute would be his vice presidential candidate choice.[44][45] Rainn Wilson appeared on The Tonight Show on May 14, 2008, and read to Jay Leno a list of demands from Dwight in exchange for being vice president.[46] Included in this list was being able to pilot Air Force One at any time, and only to be addressed as "Iceman" while piloting.[46] He also demanded that Jack Bauer be immediately promoted to United States Secretary of Defense, his bunker to include a foosball table and be zombie-proof, and that the Secret Service members be armed with nunchakus, throwing stars, and flamethrowers.[46] Finally, he demanded a flamethrower, an Iron Man suit, and that fellow character Michael Scott be an "ambassador to Hawaii."[46]
In academic research [ edit ]
Researchers at Brigham Young University, Stanford and Northwestern University demonstrated that social outsiders, similar to Dwight's character, lead to better group decision making. Media accounts of their published study reported that having a Dwight Schrute around is good for business. Dwight was included in articles about the research by Time magazine,[47] The Globe and Mail,[48] The Salt Lake Tribune[49] and Brigham Young University.[50]
Possible spin-off series and departure from The Office [ edit ]
On January 25, 2012, news broke that NBC was planning a spin-off series, starring Wilson as Dwight, that would be set at Schrute Farms, Dwight's bed-and-breakfast and beet farm.[51] The spin-off was to have been created by Wilson and executive producer Paul Lieberstein, but Office developer Greg Daniels would not have been involved.[51] The series was in the works for a premiere in early 2013, and would have caused Wilson to leave The Office during the ninth season.[51] The spin-off was scheduled to have been introduced as a backdoor pilot in a later episode of the ninth season.[51] Despite the news report, Wilson tweeted "Don't believe everything you read in the press, OK?".[52] In October 2012, NBC announced that it was not accepting the spin-off series.[53]You are a gnome - small in stature but large in heart. Your craving for adventure is matched only by your desire for treasure and your love of mushrooms. You are a fun guy (ahem). Anyway, it’s time to leave the protection of your beautiful gnomehome and seek your fortune in faraway places. Gnome and away.
Will you sail a leaf boat down the river, climb Mount Gnome and pick the rare but valuable Montane King mushroom? Or visit the frightening Sorcerer and carry out his quests? Or just buy and sell mushrooms, wear sensible footwear and travel the known world? Perhaps a proper basket and a proper rucksack are in order?
It’s time to fix your pointy hat. It’s time to comb your beard. It’s time to ready your pond pipes.
It’s time for... ‘A Game of Gnomes’. Winter is numbing.A free-range egg purchased in the UK
Free-range eggs are eggs produced from birds that may be permitted outdoors. The term "free-range" may be used differently depending on the country and the relevant laws, and is not regulated in many areas.
Eggs from hens that are only indoors might also be labelled cage-free, barn, barn-roaming or aviary, following the animal happiness certification policies, also known as "happy chickens" or "happy eggs." This is different from birds that are reared in systems labelled as battery cages or furnished cages.
Legal definition [ edit ]
Legal standards defining "free-range" can be different or even non-existent depending on the country. Various watchdog organizations, governmental agencies and industry groups adhere to differing criteria of what constitutes "free-range" and "cage-free" status.
United States [ edit ]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires that egg producers be able to demonstrate that "free range" egg layers have access to the outdoors,[1] though there is no government oversight as to the quality of the external environment, or the amount of time the hen has access to it.[2] Many producers label their eggs as cage-free in addition to, or instead of, free-range. Recently, US egg labels have expanded to include the term "barn-roaming," to more accurately describe the source of those eggs that are laid by hens which can not range freely, but are confined to a barn instead of a more restrictive cage.
Debate [ edit ]
Commercial free-range hens outdoors.
Cage-free eggs have been a major cause of debate in the US. In 2015 there was a proposed initiative that would ban the sale of in-state meat or eggs "from caged animals raised anywhere in the nation". This shift from caged to cage-free is concerning for egg industry groups because they believe that this will cause the price of eggs to increase to the point that consumers can not afford to buy them, thereby causing a decline in the egg industry overall. Animal welfare advocates argue that costs will not change as drastically as industry groups are expecting and that the price of eggs will remain almost the same because the housing of the birds does not make a huge difference to cost. Egg industry groups are making an effort to show or "educate lawmakers, voters and consumers about the merits and cost-effectiveness of cage use". Local farmers and producers say that the shift will occur if that is what consumers want, they will adapt to having birds in or out of cages. Not only are there debates between the egg industry and animal welfare advocates, but people are also debating whether this issue is one that has to be handled by the federal government or the industry.[3]
Commercial free-range hens indoors.
European Union [ edit ]
In the EU, cage-free egg production includes barns, free-range, organic (in the UK, systems must be free-range if they are to be labelled as organic) and aviary systems. Non-cage systems may be single or multi-tier (up to four levels), with or without outdoor access. In the UK, free-range systems are the most popular of the non-cage alternatives, accounting for around 44% of all eggs in 2013, whereas barns and organic eggs together accounted for 5%.[4]
In free-range systems, hens are housed to a similar standard as the barn or aviary. In addition, they have constant daytime access to an outside range with vegetation. Each hen must have at least 4 m2 of space.[5]
The European Union Council Directive 1999/74/EC stipulates that from 1 January 2007 (1 January 2012 for newly built or rebuilt systems), non-cage systems must provide the following:
A maximum stocking density of 9 hens/m 2 of “usable” space (units in production on or before 3 August 1999 could continue with a stocking density up to 12 hens/m 2 until 31 December 2011)
of “usable” space (units in production on or before 3 August 1999 could continue with a stocking density up to 12 hens/m until 31 December 2011) If more than one level is used, a height of at least 45 cm between the levels
One nest for every seven hens (or 1 m 2 of nest space for every 120 hens if group nests are used)
of nest space for every 120 hens if group nests are used) Litter (e.g. wood shavings) covering at least one-third of the floor surface, providing at least 250 cm 2 of littered area per hen
of littered area per hen 15 cm of perching space per hen.[6]
In addition to these requirements, free-range systems must also provide the following:
One hectare of outdoor range for every 2,500 hens (equivalent to 4 m 2 per hen; at least 2.5 m 2 per hen must be available at any one time if rotation of the outdoor range is practiced)
per hen; at least 2.5 m per hen must be available at any one time if rotation of the outdoor range is practiced) Continuous access during the day to this open-air range, which must be “mainly covered with vegetation”
Several popholes extending along the entire length of the building, providing at least 2 m of opening for every 1,000 hens.[6]
Case studies of free-range systems for laying hens across the EU, carried out by Compassion in World Farming, demonstrate how breed choice and preventive management practices can enable farmers to successfully use non beak-trimmed birds.[6]
Australia [ edit ]
In 2012, the Australian Egg Corporation Limited, the body for the industry, tried to register a free-range trademark allowing 20,000 hens per hectare on the range. This sparked a major discussion between large producers, small producers, animal welfare groups, and consumer rights groups. The trademark application was withdrawn after the ACCC commented that the "proposed standards may mislead consumers about the nature of eggs described as ‘free range’" in its Initial Assessment of the application.[7]
There is a voluntary code, which covers the basic standards of husbandry for physiological and behavioural needs of poultry, that allows for 1,500 layer hens per hectare.[8] However, the code also states that "any higher bird density is acceptable only when regular rotation of birds onto fresh range areas occurs". The voluntary code is under review and due to be consulted upon.[9]
The Queensland government approved an increase in free-range layer hen stocking densities in July 2013. The maximum number of hens per hectare was increased from 1,500 to 10,000.[10]
In March 2016, Australian ministers voted in new national standards for the definition of free-range. The new standards allow for up to 10,000 birds per hectare, with no requirement for the hens to actually go outside.[11] CHOICE, Australia's largest non-profit consumer organisation[12] believes Australia's consumer affairs ministers made the decision to put the interests of large-scale Australian egg producers ahead of the needs of consumers.
In April 2017, the Australian Government finalised the law and decided to mandate a maximum of 10,000 hens per hectare in outdoor grazing areas, to which the hens must have "regular and meaningful" access.[13] Currently, the most popular free range accreditation schemes mandating roaming space at or below the standard set by the EU for its members, are the Free Range Farmers Association (750 hens per hectare),[14] Humane Choice (1,500 hens per hectare)[15] and Australian Certified Organic (2,500 hens per hectare under pasture rotation).[16] In July 2017, Snowdale was fined a record amount of $1.05m (including legal costs) for falsely advertising that its eggs were 'free range'.[17][18] This was substantially larger than the fines imposed upon Derodi, Holland Farms, Pirovic or Darling Downs Fresh Eggs; set at either $300,000 or $250,000.[19][20][21]
Cost [ edit ]
Based on data in the European Commission's socio-economic report published in 2004,[22] (prior to battery cages being banned in the EU) it cost €0.66 to produce 12 battery eggs, €0.82 to produce 12 barn eggs and €0.98 to produce 12 free-range eggs. This means that in 2004, one free-range egg cost 2.6 cents more to produce than a battery egg, and a barn egg cost 1.3 cents more to produce than a battery egg. The Commission’s report concludes that, if costs were to increase by 20%, which it says is the type of percentage increase in terms of variable costs that producers are likely to face as a result of switching to free-range, the industry will potentially suffer a loss of producer surplus of €354 million (EU-25).[22] The margins achieved by producers for barn and free-range eggs are appreciably higher than those that were available for battery eggs. The Commission’s socio-economic report shows that margins for free-range eggs were around twice as high as those for battery eggs.[22]
Animal welfare [ edit ]
Many animal welfare advocates, including the Humane Society of the United States maintain that cage-free and free-range eggs constitute a considerable improvement for laying hens. This has led to the adoption of a cage-free eggs standard by most major food companies in the United States, although in 2017, it was estimated cage-free eggs represented only 10% of all produced.[23][24] Pundits and food commentators have described the 2016 shift toward cage-free eggs across the food industry as a "bold decision" and historic shift.[25] Several investigations, particularly by the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), have raised doubts about to what degree cage-free farms are an improvement for laying hens.[26][27] An investigation of a cage-free Costco facility in late 2016 purported to find cannibalism from the birds attacking each other, and concluded that neither caged nor cage-free facilities offered laying hens positive lives.[28]
Misconceptions [ edit ]
Photograph of two hen egg yolks, one from a commercial egg operation and one from a free-range backyard hen. The yolk of the backyard egg is bright orange.
Free-range eggs may be broader and have more of an orange colour to their yolks[29] owing to the abundance of greens and insects in the birds' diet. However an orange yolk is no guarantee that an egg was produced by a free-range hen. Feed additives such as marigold petal meal, dried algae and alfalfa meal can be used to colour the yolks.[30]
Contrary to popular belief, in the United States free-range regulations do not necessarily require that hens spend substantial time outdoors, only that the hens "have access to the outdoors".[31] This access may be for very brief periods and the outside area may be small and sparse. Stocking densities indoors are often high, and many hens may stay inside as dominant hens often prevent the others from having access to the outside yard.[32]
Nutritional content [ edit ]
Differences in age, strain and nutrition of the hens make scientific conclusions about the effects of housing systems on the quality of the eggs exceedingly difficult. Consumer perceptions of these alternative systems delivering a better product are then scientifically unjustified in terms of there being any nutritional difference.[33] A 2011 research study carried out in North Carolina compared free-range and conventional caged eggs for fatty acids, cholesterol, vitamins A and E, finding higher fat content in free-range eggs, and no significant difference in cholesterol and vitamin levels.[34] Vitamin D in eggs has been observed to increase up to 4 times in hens that have exposure to sunlight, compared to hens that are kept away from sunlight.[35] Another research suggests that grass fed hens can produce eggs that are rich in (n−3) fatty acids, without adverse oxidative effects.[36] Some other non peer-reviewed studies have found evidence for nutritional benefit of free-range eggs.[37][38][39][40]
Retailers [ edit ]
Several major retailers have a policy of selling only free-range eggs, or, not selling battery-cage eggs. Some retailers apply this policy not just to eggs in their shells, but also to eggs used in baked goods and processed products such as ready-made meals, quiches and ice cream. In the UK, The Co-Operative and Marks & Spencer sell only free-range shell eggs and use only free-range eggs in their entire range of baked goods, processed products, and ready-made meals. Waitrose sells only non-cage shell eggs, and uses only free-range eggs in their processed products and ready-made meals.[6]
As of 1 January 2007 (with one minor exception), all Austrian supermarkets no longer sell battery eggs. Many retailers in the Netherlands, including Albert Heijn and Schuitema (subsidiaries of Ahold), Laurus (including Edah, Konmar and Super de Boer), Dirk van den Broek (including Bas van der Heijden and Digros), Aldi and Lidl sell only free-range shell eggs; however the free-range eggs that are sold in Aldi and Lidl do not meet some country's recommendations for the production of free-range eggs. Three Belgian supermarkets: Makro, Colruyt and Lidl, no longer sell battery eggs. The Commission’s report states that Sweden's move away from conventional battery cages has been aided by the decision by the four largest retailers (who between them account for 98-99% of the Swedish retail market) to stop stocking conventional battery eggs.[22] U.S. food suppliers Aramark and Unilever have announced they intend to buy only cage-free eggs, but as of 2013 there are not enough available to supply them.[41]
In Australia free-range eggs that are sold in Aldi and Lidl do not meet CSIRO’s Model Code recommendation of 1,500 hens per hectare. In March 2016, Australian ministers voted in new standards for the definition of free-range. The new standards allow for up to 10,000 birds per hectare, with no requirement for the hens to actually go outside.[11] CHOICE, Australia's largest non-profit consumer organisation [12] believes Australia's consumer affairs ministers made the decision to put the interests of large-scale Australian egg producers ahead of the needs of consumers. A group called PROOF (standing for Pasture Raised On Open Fields) is now in the process of developing an accreditation scheme which will see the term "pastured" start appearing on cartons. The guidelines for PROOF's pastured eggs allow for a maximum stocking density of 1500 birds per hectare (in line with the CSIRO Model Code) as well as requiring that hens are able to range freely in open fields or paddocks. So far, PROOF has 12 licensed egg farms in Australia, with another eight in the pipeline.[11]
Rehoming charities [ edit ]
Rescue hens (red) and point-of-lay hens (dark) co-exist in a private orchard.
In the UK, charities such as Fresh Start for Hens[42] and British Hen Welfare Trust[43] organise rehoming for ex-factory hens that would otherwise be slaughtered. Private smallholders pay around £4-5 per "rescue hen", and these birds (which may still be laying daily) then spend a "retirement" in a true free-range environment. The BHW Trust says that there is no better education than watching an ex-battery hen's confusion and bewilderment turn into wonderment at her new environment.
See also [ edit ]Trump's Budget And The Mississippi Delta's Economy
Scott Simon talks to Chris Masingill of the Delta Regional Authority, an agency that promotes the economy of the Mississippi Delta's eight states. It would be eliminated under Trump's budget proposal.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The Delta Regional Authority is a federal agency that tries to bring economic development and infrastructure to the Mississippi Delta region which includes parts of eight states. That agency would be eliminated in President Trump's proposed budget. We're joined now by Chris Masingill. He's co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority. Mr. Masingill, thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
CHRIS MASINGILL: You're most welcome. I'm proud to be with you.
SIMON: Well, help us understand the work that you do there.
MASINGILL: Our main focus is to try to help support job creation, build communities and improve lives in those eight states, 252 counties and parishes that make up one of the most iconic and historic places in the country that we call the Mississippi Delta and Black Belt region of Alabama.
SIMON: What's the budget for the Delta Regional Authority? What do you get every year from the federal government?
MASINGILL: We average about 32 million with project resources, program resources and direct infrastructure resources.
SIMON: Thirty-two million, that's what a mediocre shortstop gets on a five-year contract.
MASINGILL: (Laughter) That's true. That's a very good point. But, look. We've got a proven track record of being good stewards of the people's dollars. We take that little pot of money, Scott, and we have an enormous track record of turning those dollars into something pretty significant.
We've taken about 163 million from our direct appropriations from Congress, and we've partnered that in investments totaling over 3.3 billion in the course of the 14 years that we've been doing our work.
SIMON: Mr. Masingill, how would you react to the argument that some people might advance that you're doing good work but that there are other ways to do it? That local governments can get even more involved than they are now and should. And businesses can step up. And for that matter, foundations and corporations can step up.
MASINGILL: Well, I would say to that perspective is that we're doing that. DRA is on the ground working in these rural communities with local government because of the way we are structured. We are integrated with the local municipalities and local county governments in trying to help them complete their economic development goals, their community development goes. And without those resources, those communities have nowhere else to turn.
And at the end of the day, this is about improving lives. And this is about building communities in some of the most impoverished places in the entire country.
SIMON: Can you tell us one of your success stories?
MASINGILL: Oh, absolutely. Where do I start? The projects run the gamut from being able to come in to a small rural community of about 400 people. And they have had significant infrastructure issues and water issues. And they were trying to do some emergency repairs. And two days before Christmas, we were able to have resources on the ground so they could have running water on Christmas Day.
Or when you talk about the 7,200 workers that we've helped train, these are real people. These are people that live in our part of the world that are trying to do the best they can and to try to provide for their family and have hope for a future.
SIMON: That's Chris Masingill, who's co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority. Thanks so much for being with us.
MASINGILL: Thank you, sir.
Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.There’s no doubt you know your network better than anyone else. The real question is, do you know whether you’ve checked for all relevant security flaws on all of your critical systems? Odds are you haven’t but that’s okay to an extent. No one has that kind of time or expertise if they’re going to complete their other work necessary to keep the shop running.
In the interest of making some headway in this area and keeping your network security risks to a minimum, here are some things you want to make sure you’re looking for:
Physical security systems (i.e. IP cameras, door access control systems, and parking lot gates), especially their telnet and web interfaces that are usually running default settings and wide-open to attack. Guest wireless, especially weaknesses involving web content filtering and network segmentation that might allow guests access onto the corporate network. Full disk encryption usage on laptops and other physically-unsecured workstations and servers (it’s rarely on all of the systems that need it). Phone and tablet usage, information storage, and protective measures such as passwords, encryption, backups, and remote wipe capabilities. Third-party software patches, namely for Java and the various Adobe products (something that requires authenticated scanning for proper testing). Network shares that anyone who is authenticated to the Windows domain can access and, specifically, personally-identifiable information (PII) and intellectual property that’s stored on them, unprotected. Printers and copiers with web interfaces and job management features enabled that should not be accessible to everyone on the network. Anonymous FTP servers that house sensitive information, often intellectual property such as source code that are wide open to internal users and sometimes even the Internet as a whole. Voice over IP systems – at least test for flaws on a cross-section of phones and the call manager server. Hot Ethernet jacks that anyone can plug in to and do what they want on the network (and never be detected). Firewalls, especially your rulebases. Similar to performing a source code analysis on a web application, an in-depth firewall rulebase analysis can provide a ton of insight that you’d otherwise never have.
I’m not advocating ferretting out every single flaw on every single system on your network. You might be able to accomplish that at some point, but at what cost to the business? You need to be smart with your focus and look where it counts. This includes not only production systems but also your development, QA, and staging network hosts – especially when they house production test data (and I’ve found that most do).
Put your criminal hacker hat on
Pretend you have a fresh start and view your network with an unbiased set of eyes. Literally walk in off the street and ask yourself:
What’s obvious?
What’s most easily accessible?
Which systems and business processes, when combined together, can lead to ill-gotten gains?
What, if exploited, could be most detrimental to our business?
You’ll likely be surprised by what you uncover. Don’t be afraid to find out what’s lurking in the unexplored areas of your network. Instead, be proud knowing that you’re seeking out and are hopefully the first to find key business risks that may have gone overlooked otherwise.
Share this postOlympic discus finalist Lawrence Okoye has never played football, but after signing with the San Francisco 49ers, he said he thinks that through hard work he can make an impact in the NFL.
The 49ers signed Okoye, 21, as an undrafted free agent and plan to train him to become a defensive lineman. The 6-foot-
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failure and remained stationary for a while, awaiting assistance.
Loeb was finally towed by fellow competitor Steven Rotsaert, driving the #471 MAN TGS truck in the Open class.
The Frenchman made it to the finish line 3h24m down on stage winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi, himself a WRC points-scorer.
Loeb's Peugeot teammate Carlos Sainz was fourth, running a new-spec car, while long-time WRC rival Mikko Hirvonen was 12th in his X-Raid Mini All4.Sweden’s building design saves energy, but is the British construction industry ready to innovate? Gordon Miller visits a pioneering development in the UK
The housing crisis is Britain is not just one of a shortage of homes. Our housing stock is among the oldest and coldest in Europe and the cost of heating leaking properties is leading to a rise in fuel poverty.
More than a million working households are in fuel poverty Read more
The BRE’s Home Quality Mark aims to tackle this problem, and it is intended to help house hunters, both tenants and buyerschoose a home with low energy and water costs. BRE chief executive, Dr Peter Bonfield said he hopes the mark will become a “de facto sign of a better home”, which encourages the mortgage and construction industry to get behind sustainable living. But it may take innovation from abroad for the industry to change.
One response to the problem being pioneered by Volula is offsite manufacture, where parts are mass produced and houses are then assembled onsite, rather than building the whole home from scratch as is typical in the UK.
The architectled company, headquartered in the north-east, has created in Blyth a terrace of four carbon zero properties for rent known as Spacehus homes – for Arch Homes, a private regeneration and development company whollyowned by Northumberland county council.
Rob Charlton, chief executive of Volula, believes the homes provide a much needed alternative to meet the nation’s present and future housing needs. “Right now we are climbing out of the recession and house builders want to build but now there’s a trades skill shortage. Our solution is high performance, precision made, off-site construction that has been tried and tested for 50-years or more in Sweden.” He says, “everything right down to the plumbing is inbuilt and fitted as a unit to the exact requirement. Working in such a factorycontrolled way flattens out the peaks and troughs usually associated with trades.”
The technique minimises onsite waste and shrinks the supply chain, which cuts the carbon impact. Tenants in these homes have the security of knowing their monthly financial commitment inclusive of their utility bills, set at £600 per month: £525 for the rent plus £75 for electricity, gas and unlimited Wi-Fi.
Lifetime Homes kitchen. Photograph: Kristen McCluskie
Charlton explains how that figure is affordable, “firstly, the homes are so air tight, through the fabric first approach which includes triple glazing and extra thick 240mm insulation, there is very little space heating requirement. Secondly, the solar PV installed on the south-facing roof covers most of the electricity needs.
“We’ve done our analysis and this gives us the confidence to say to the tenants ‘there’s no extra charge for the utilities you use’. We think that’s got to a be a big plus for many families concerned about their heating costs and in many cases fuel poverty.”
..disruption is a good thing for every sector. Rob Charlton, Volula CEO
Monitoring for heating is conducted through Nest, a smart thermostat that can be controlled manually and via an app. The homes have wireless lighting too, which can be controlled through Wi-Fi. Charlton says future generations will expect this level of connectivity as standard in their homes.
So, how does the Spacehus feel?
On a February day, just 6C outside, it was comfortable to sit in the house for an hour without the central heating on. It didn’t feel airless either, a claim often made by people living in modern, airtight homes. The engineered tripleglazed windows open and close smoothly. All the doors open outwards to prevent heat loss.
Cherry timber staircase. Photograph: Kristen McCluskie
Is Britain ready to embrace the Scandinavian future of housing? It’s disruptive thinking and the UK domestic building industry is a conventional place, which doesn’t always take kindly to newcomers.
Charlton accepts it will be difficult to make a significant dent in the construction sector’s fabric, but says disruption is a good thing for every sector. “Look at the innovations in other industries, like automobiles. Apparently Apple is now going into making cars. Who would have thought it? Anything is possible.”
The business futures hub is funded by The Crystal. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled “brought to you by”. Find out more here.
Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox.Microsoft has posted seven new videos to its Windows Phone YouTube page, as part of a new series it calls 'A fly on the wall in Cupertino'.The ads purport to show iPhone 5c and 5s product pitch meetings with characters that bear a striking resemblance to Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, though the Jobs-esque character is called Tim several times.If the executive in the videos is intended to resemble Steve Jobs, then they would appear to be in very poor taste. It's not at all clear how the videos -- which don't ever explain how Windows Phone is better than iOS -- help Microsoft achieve its stated goal of getting users to switch to its platform.: Microsoft has pulled the videos from YouTube. The video embedded above is from a backup a viewer saved.Microsoft gave this statement to The Next Web: "The video was intended to be a light-hearted poke at our friends from Cupertino. But it was off the mark, and we’ve decided to pull it down."Heroes don’t wear capes, they get on Twitter and write stupid things. Or rather they get quoted saying stupid things about journalists and firefighters and cause people to roll their eyes SO MUCH they injure themselves.
i rolled my eyes so hard i broke them. i am now blind. pic.twitter.com/92odmJ8ddj — T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) February 16, 2017
Yikes! Shame on Katy Tur, not only did she compare media hacks to actual heroes who sometimes die saving people, she caused this innocent man to go blind.
Heh.
@BecketAdams journalists are the real heroes — Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) February 16, 2017
Yes! Yes they are … it takes courage to be blathering hacks pretending to be victims of everyday people calling them out for being, well hacks.
Such heroes! (oh great, now WE’RE rolling our eyes, let’s hope we don’t go blind too).
Also, *toward. — T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) February 17, 2017
Adams is our spirit animal.
HEY MAN, that’s news.
Or not. But clearly it was SUPER dangerous covering Clinton eating a burrito; it took real heroes to cover if she ordered guacamole or not.
@BecketAdams @redsteeze Journalists run towards GOP embers carrying gasoline. And run towards Democrat infernos carrying buckets of H2O. — James Swick (@jamesbswick) February 17, 2017
They attack the GOP and defend the Left. Honestly if they just admitted as much they’d have a way easier go of things these days.
@BecketAdams BREAKING: Twitter reports T. Becket Adams rendered blind by a salute to the bravest of American Heroes, the U.S. Press Corps — noisyparker (@noisyparker) February 16, 2017
THAT’S a headline!
Don’t give the New York Times any ideas.
HA HA HA.
@BecketAdams the farther you run into the fire, the hotter the take — Nino (@baldingschemer) February 17, 2017
@BecketAdams @JennJacques As a former Firefighter this is insulting — Sheepdog Smokey (@SheepdogSmokey) February 17, 2017
And it is. Sure, we can make fun of Katy and the media ALL DAY (it brings us great joy, truth be told), but ultimately what she said is very insulting and disrespectful to real heroes, like our military and yes, firefighters.
Keep it up, media.Classrooms on the Anti-Tech Bandwagon
I’m now seeing professors proudly banning technology in the classroom. And even those who don’t are giving students lectures in class about how we should ban e-books at the university library. They’re telling students who use laptops in class they should really be writing in a notebook, that is, if they really want to learn. Some even go so far as to add notes to their syllabi, such as this recent example:
Policy on Electronic Devices:
In order to ensure attentive participation in lecture, use of electronic devices, laptops, and e- readers is not allowed during course time.
Why would a professor treat tech-savvy students like deviants rejecting an established practice? Do these professors really believe that learning styles are one-size-fits-all or that how they learned is the only way to learn? Or are they, perhaps, simply annoyed that students are more interested in what’s going on online than in the classroom? But instead of leveraging that student interest and passion for an engaging online social space and for using technology, they ban it. The result? I’ve watched students leave the classroom to check their phone. Not the outcome the professor was hoping for, I suspect.
Of all people, I would hope academics would be wise enough to see the echoes of history here, when teachers would tie the hands of left-handed students behind their backs to force them to use their right one. Banning technology in the classroom says to students who use technology to learn, who need technology to learn, “I don’t care how you learn, you will work my way using only the approved tools — or you will struggle and fail.”
Would these same faculty ban students from wearing glasses? Of course not, because glasses are accepted as pervasive, standard, assistive technology.
Banning other technology in classrooms is just as wrong as banning glasses would be. It only ends up hurting the best students — and it certainly doesn’t help those with the biggest difficulties. Everyone loses. Here’s why:
Most young people today grow up learning to write on a computer (or tablet, or phone). Taking away the tools they use in all other contexts in life doesn’t help them in the classroom. Students who have grown up typing now think and compose in terms of copying and pasting. They move text around in ways that you cannot on paper.
After learning to write with the assistive technology of a computer, professors give them exams without those tools. Really? Is this a test of their ability to write, synthesize information, and think critically — or a test of their ability to survive without the tools they normally use? If professors require students to hand in papers typed on a computer, double spaced, why do punish them by making them write in exam books?
Would you force the class to use quill and parchment to write the exam? Then don’t make them use pen and paper.
The skills students need are not about retaining information, but organizing it. The study noted in the Vox article shows that students who take notes on paper about a lecture do better when tested on material in that lecture. Is this really what we aim to do in the classroom? How many students remember just enough to take a mid-term and forget it all after?
The study cited in the Vox article said that laptop use “results in shallower processing.” This might be true for some students in the short term, but what about those students who use the technology as part of a deeper process of learning over the course of a class, or a college career, or a lifetime? What about students who refer back to these notes again and again — who draw from them years later because it only takes a few clicks or keystrokes or a keyword search to pull them up? To me, deep learning is integrating the record of your thinking and education into your life for the long term.
The skills we should be prioritizing in the classroom are not retaining facts for an exam — but rather synthesizing information and organizing thoughts. Whether students end up working in a corporate office or going on to graduate school, they need to know how to record, archive, organize, and search through information, not just memorize a name or date for an exam.
Does it really prevent learning if students are engaged with social media in class? Graduate students and faculty go to conferences and engage with social media, participating in multiple levels of interaction while listening to papers and debates. Live tweeting discussions has become a vital part of the academic conversation. Students can do the same — and classrooms can engage academically and socially as communities, both online and off.Villeneuve talks about "losing his virginity" in managing the massive "Blade Runner 2049" production and how he finds his way into such big movies.
Like many filmmakers with a new film in 2017, “Blade Runner 2049” director Denis Villeneuve saw virtually none of his peers’ movie this year. Yet this summer, while neck deep trying to finish his “Blade Runner” sequel, there was one film Villeneuve made sure not to miss. “‘Dunkirk’ has been designed for the big screen,” said Villeneuve in an interview with IndieWire. “I didn’t want to make any concession with that movie.”
Villeneuve is a cinephile whose influences run vast and run deep, yet when asked what filmmaker’s career he looks to as model when thinking about his own career trajectory he turned to one of his contemporaries. “Christopher Nolan is a very impressive filmmaker, because he is able to keep his identity and create his own universe in that large scope,” he said. “To bring intellectual concepts and to bring them in that scope to the screen right now — it’s very rare. Every movie that he comes out with, I have more admiration for his work.”
That respect grew only deeper when Villeneuve took on the massive job of building the world of “Blade Runner” 32 years into the future. Villeneuve relished creating the rules of how the futuristic world evolved, and how that would dictate the film’s visual design, but implementing that vision with a small army of technicians was daunting.
Warner Bros
“I lost my virginity with ‘Blade Runner,’” Villeneuve said. “It was a really intense experience, it was just so massive. I’m used to working with a small crew, but to influence and dictate and inform and to inspire that many people to walk in the same direction — I learned a lot about how to manage the creativity of hundreds, thousands of people. And now I want to find more efficient ways of communication for the future.”
A foundational element “Blade Runner” — as with all of Villeneuve’s films — is light, specifically identifying what how natural light in “2049” would look and feel. It was also a way for the French-Canadian filmmaker to find a personal way into the enormous sequel of a cinematic hero’s film.
“The light is grey — that silver winter light that could peek through and be present in some of the scenes instead of being a total black like the first ‘Blade Runner,’” said Villeneuve. “It looks like Montreal right now. To bring that light into the movie is a way for me to bring the movie close to me. It’s light from home. Also, it’s strangely made Ridley’s dream mine.”
Another thing that gave Villeneuve the confidence in reinventing Scott’s world was working with his cinematographer, Roger Deakins, earlier in the process. “I was doing ‘Arrival’ at the time, so in order to push the gas and make things happen faster I had to create a dialogue with Roger very early on so things would shift into gear,” said Villeneuve. “I was in dialogue rather than dreaming alone, which can be very long in my case. He understood the dream and thought about how to bring it to the screen. So I had allies, but still it requires a lot of energy to do a movie like that.”
Stephen Vaughan
With the announcement that he would make “Dune” — another piece of legendary sci-fi IP — Villeneuve is trying to set the rule of not talking about it while it’s still in the early stages. With that having been said, he gave IndieWire some insight into what drew him to Frank Herbert’s book.
“One of the things is it was a story that stayed with me through time,” said Villeneuve. “It resonates in a lot of ways. It is a very accurate portrait of society of today. The intricate relationship between religion and power, also how someone has to deal with their genetic background, the voices coming out from the past. I deeply love that story. It’s very powerful and that it is still talking to me after all these years, it’s worth the risk to do it.”
This risk Villeneuve refers to is the enormous demands and expectations that come with an iconic project. The approach he took with “Blade Runner 2049,” and will repeat with “Dune,” is the risk is only worth it if he’s so passionate about making the film he’s prepared for it to be his last.
Universal/REX/Shutterstock
What he doesn’t bother with is the idea that making big or small films defines him as a director. Villeneuve learned an important lesson about himself as a filmmaker when he was in his early 20s, and a TV show gave him a camera and plane tickets to travel around the world and make 20 five-minute short documentaries over six months.
“I remember doing 20 of these, trying always to do a different movie,” said Villeneuve. “Trying always to approach reality in a different way with a different approach, different ideas about editing and about shooting. And when I came back, I watched the 20 movies back-to-back and they are all the same. That was crazy. I was surprised.”
Villeneuve said he no longer tries to say his new film will be so different than the previous (though he believes it will be), nor does he bother much with self-evaluation about filmmaking voice. He’d rather turn to the long list of directors whose career and films he feeds on for nourishment. “There’s two filmmakers that are massive sources of inspiration for me: Ingmar Bergman and Steven Spielberg, for different reasons,” said Villeneuve. “Ingmar was one of the big artistic shocks in my life. Spielberg because, from the beginning, I was inspired by his genius as a film director.”
Asked if he saw himself as being somewhat a combination of his two, very different inspirations, Villeneuve smiled and shrugged. Next question.
Because finally, the thing that’s been most exhausting about “Blade Runner 2049” was — from the minute it was announced — people wanted to talk about it. “It’s a privilege. Coming from the indie world, I know [the] curse of releasing a movie that no one wants to talk about,” said Villeneuve. “So I don’t complain, but at the same time I’m no Martin Scorsese who can talk about cinema forever. Honestly, I’d like to shut up.”Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, but on other occasions — as when lips meet a painting valued at $2.7 million — a kiss could be a crime. That is why Sam Rindy, 30, a Cambodian-born French artist, will have to appear in court to face charges of criminal damage, Agence France-Presse reported. Ms. Rindy left the imprint of her lipstick on the otherwise immaculate white canvas that is an untitled work by the American artist Cy Twombly at “Blooming,” an exhibition of his works running until Sept. 30 at the Collection Lambert in Avignon, France. Ms. Rindy said she was so overcome by the 9-by-6-foot work that she had to kiss it. “I stepped back,” she said. “I found the painting even more beautiful. The artist left this white for me.” The police were summoned, and Ms. Rindy was arrested as she left the premises. She has a date in court on Aug. 16.Have you heard that the economy is like a car? It’s the most popular analogy in financial reporting and political discourse. The American people are repeatedly told by financial pundits and politicians that consumption is an “engine” that “drives” economic growth because it makes up 70% of GDP. One notable Nobel-winning economics pundit with a penchant for bizarre growth theories even recently noted that an economy can be “based on purchases of yachts, luxury cars, and the services of personal trainers and celebrity chefs." Conversely, other economists including Nobel-winner Joseph Stiglitz claim that our economy is stuck in “first gear” due to inequality: too much income is concentrated among too few rich people who tend to save larger share of their income and thus have a lower “marginal propensity to consume”. The Keynesian message is clear: if you want to put the economic pedal to the metal, get out there and consume!
Not so fast, Speed Racer. The systematic failure by Keynesian economists and pundits to distinguish between consuming and producing value is the single most damaging fallacy in popular economic thinking. This past Christmas, we produced a playful video called “Deck the Halls with Macro Follies” exploring the history of this popular myth. If the economy were a car, consumer preferences would surely be the steering wheel, but real savings and investment would be the engine that drives it forward.
A History of Macro Follies
The historical record on economic growth conflicts with this consumption doctrine. Economic growth (booms) and declines (bust) have always been led by changes in business and durable goods investment, while final consumer goods spending has been relatively stable through the business cycle. Booms and busts in financial markets, heavy industry and housing have always been leading indicators of recession and recovery. The dot-com boom and bust, the Great Depression and our current crisis all exhibit the pattern.
For example, during our past two decades of booms and busts, investment collapsed first, bringing employment down with it. Consumption spending actually increased throughout the 2001 recession (financed, in part, by artificially easy credit) even as employment was falling along with investment. During our continuing crisis, consumption spending returned to its all-time high in 2011--yet investment to this day remains at decade lows, producing the worst recovery in growth and employment since the Great Depression. Labor force participation hasn’t been this low since the 1980s. But why?
As John Stuart Mill put it two centuries ago, “the demand for commodities is not the demand for labor.” Consumer demand does not necessarily translate into increased employment. That’s because “consumers” don’t employ people. Businesses do. Since new hires are a risky and costly investment with unknown future returns, employers must rely on their expectations about the future and weigh those decision very carefully. As economic historian Robert Higgs’ pioneering work on the Great Depression suggests, increased uncertainty can depress job growth even in the face of booming consumption. As recent years have demonstrated, consumer demand that appears to be driven by temporary or unsustainable policies is unlikely to induce businesses to hire.
The past several decades in America have been marked by a collapse of real savings encouraged by artificially easy credit from the Fed, along with explosive growth in government spending. All these combined to bring about a debt-fueled spending binge, with disastrous consequences.
Increased investment drives economic growth, while retrenched investment leads to recession and reduced employment--and it always has. Those who blame our stagnation on a lack of consumer demand rely on a toxic brew of dubious data and dangerous theory.
Before I Can Consume, I Must Produce for Others
By definition, GDP is a summary of final sales for new goods and services and not of all economic activity. Raw materials, intermediate goods and labor costs, which comprise the bulk of business spending are not treated in GDP, but are rather rolled up in the final sale price of the “consumer” spending. Only capital equipment, net inventory changes and purchase of newly constructed homes constitute “investment” according to GDP. This framing of the data makes the “consumption drives the economy” a foregone conclusion. But this is circular reasoning.
Where do these “consumers” get their money to spend? Before we can consume, we need to produce and earn a paycheck. And paychecks have to flow to productive -- that is value-creating -- behavior, or value is simply being transferred and destroyed. Our various demands as consumers are enabled by our supply as workers/producers for others. That’s the classical “Law of Markets”, often referred to as Say’s Law, in a nutshell.
For employees, those paychecks are income, but for the employers, wages represent most business’ single largest expense. Yet GDP does not treat employee wages or materials as “investment spending” -- even though any business owner regards salaries as the most important and largest investment that they make. Instead, employee wages appear in GDP data as consumption when income is spent on final goods like food, clothing, gadgets, and vacations. Moreover, since GDP is an accounting summary, it adds consumption and investment spending together. But this summarizing masks the fact that these two activities are actually in opposition in the short run. In order to invest more today, we have to save more and consume less. As a result, GDP in-and-of-itself reveals nothing about what grows an economy; at best, it demonstrates how large the economy is and whether it’s growing or shrinking.
Digging below the surface of GDP reveals a structure of value-adding production far more complex than the simplistic analysis given by most media reports. According to government data, more than 70% of Americans earn their incomes from employment in domestic business. Yet the retail sector of our economy, for example, only contributed 6% of GDP. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on employment show that only about 11% of employed Americans work in “sales and related occupations”. That leaves a great deal of economic activity and employment to the “business to business” sector, which composes most of the real economy.
Most of the value-adding activities occurred between a vast structure of businesses and workers starting with raw materials and blueprints and coming together over months (sometimes years when R&D is included) before a final sale can be made. At each stage, the activity is funded not by current “consumer spending” but through a combination of new investment and savings such as each company’s reinvested earnings. The farther from a final good a business’s output is, the more it relies on credit markets and the more it is subject to distortions on the savings and investment side. And since employment is spread across this time structure with relatively few working in final retail stage, savings and investment changes have dramatic impacts on employment.
Organic Growth
My wife Lisa and I have personal experience with dynamics that the top-down Keynesian view ignores. Several years ago we launched a side-business designing, manufacturing and selling reusable all-in-one cloth diapers to moms interested in saving money and cutting down on trash. We called them “weehuggers”.
To start the business, we got a small capital contribution from my brother-in-law in exchange for equity in the company. These savings were put to use buying the raw materials, designing the diaper prints, hiring sets of skilled people both to sew the diapers and to build the website. Designing, testing and producing the product and website took over a year. Almost none of that activity was included in GDP for that year, except through the “consumer spending” of people we paid. Throughout this stage, no “product” existed for others to demand or for us to sell and generate income. The time Lisa and I spent building the company was also a very real form of investment itself. This so-called “sweat equity” is just as much of an investment as a financial contribution.
When we finally began selling our product to customers, the income generated was barely enough to cover the real costs. We re-invested all of it into new inventory for the business, keeping nothing for ourselves in the hopes of improving our approach. Consumption didn’t create our output. Investment did. After an additional year of persistent re-investment, we realized that we would need even more investment to make the business viable.
Our costs were too high per diaper and our local production capacity was too low to keep up with demand. Moms loved weehuggers and we struggled to keep the product in stock. Yet we felt the competition didn’t permit us to raise our prices. The only way to make the business grow would have been to secure enough capital to invest in a major manufacturing facility with higher productivity equipment and division of labor. We chose instead to focus on a business where both of us, as former MTV Networks creatives, believed we could add more value: our new media company Emergent Order.
Our recent video“Macro Follies” is just one of the fruits of that decision. We followed our passion, but we were also guided through market prices and profits toward the best way for us to create value for others.
Don’t Put the Shopping Cart Before the Horse
There is a fundamental illogic to the notion that an economy can be grown by encouraging consumption. When a person consumes, by definition, they use things up. The very process leaves us with less than before. Growing the availability of valuable goods and services for society by using them up is not just an impossibility—it’s an absurdity. Consumption is the goal, but it is production that is the means.
For most of human history, ordinary people had to spend their lives growing food. Today, we have many billions more people on the planet. And yet food is cheaper, better and of greater variety than ever before. Still, almost nobody works in agriculture. We didn’t create this wealthy, amazing world... by eating. We did it by saving our seed corn, investing and ultimately inventing our way out of farming jobs. Thank heavens we did.
There are important lessons for public policy that come from these classical insights. Any program which accelerates the consumption of value, or worse, the destruction of value, ultimately make our society poorer. Despite what Keynes and his modern followers claim, Wars, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, faked alien invasions, or programs that encourage us to destroy our used cars -- all make us poorer. These schemes reduce the amount of valuable goods and services available for society. Some may consider unemployment benefits to be a necessary policy on humanitarian grounds, but they by no means “stimulate” the economy. The recipient, after all, is consuming without producing any value for others. Disincentives for people to be productive, which have exploded in recent years, not only reduce employment, but reduce output and growth as well. This last point used to be widely believed by economists--including the immensely popular and polarizing economist, Paul Krugman, whose own 2009 textbook blamed extended unemployment benefits as one of the main reasons for decades of European stagnation and high “structural” unemployment. Now, I fear that a decade of Keynesian macro follies may have brought Eurosclerosis to America.
Savings and investment which enable increased productivity, greater specialization and trade are the true engines of economic growth. Increasing consumption is a result of that growth, never the cause of it. If we want sound and sustainable economic growth, each of us has to discover the most valuable ways to serve others and contribute to the supply of wealth before we can take from it. Much like everyone else, even Santa Claus must produce all year long before people get to enjoy their presents.Chris Pratt joins the cast for the 40th premiere episode of NBC’s premiere weekend comedy show. How did they do?
When you hear there is going to be a guest like Chris Pratt hosting, and that it is the 40th anniversary of a show that has brought us some of the most memorable laughs and performers of the past 4 decades, you gotta think there is going to be something special going on! They are going to pull out all the stops, put on a kick ass show, and showcase one of the most talented comedic leading men of the last few years. This is going to be great right?
Wrong. This was honestly one of the worst episodes I have ever watched. What was going on? The show was off from the cold open. Line flubs were everywhere. The cast is extremely green, and it shows. I can’t wrap my mind around how this episode came together. Every sketch was completely different in style and tone. There was one thing all of the sketches had in common, however, and that was a lack of Chris Pratt. The one bright spot was the well produced “Marvel Can’t Fail” trailer promo. “Shopping Carts” had me laughing.
Pratt’s monologue was ok, but I kinda gotta complain about the musical monologues. They always seem a bit disappointing, Pratt did a decent job as he can be quite funny on guitar, but you could really tell how tense he was up there in front of the live audience. There was a cute nod to his wife Ana Faris, who was present front row and center in the crowd. I think they could have gone funnier with this song as it was a bit safe. From someone who is pretty infamous for behind the scenes hijinks, this entire episode felt pretty tame. Maybe Pratt’s new PG-13 goofy every guy leading man persona is led to some creative issues? We don’t want Star-lord, friend of children in hospitals, making obscene jokes?
The Sketches
State of the NFL Cold Open
A political talk show to start the show? This has always been a standby for SNL, format is simple, can have some funny impressions and stay topical. Ok, what is topical this week? The NFL is certainly in some hot water over its handling of some of the recent player misconduct, let’s highlight that! I can’t even really remember much that happened here, Chris Pratt played a bewildered impression(?) of Roger Goodell, Jay Pharoah was a cartoon version of human cartoon Shannon Sharpe, and Keenan Thompson was Ray Lewis, both ex NFL players with their own legal troubles. This was a mess, the subject is way too unfunny and touchy that they couldn’t do more than have Jay Pharoah giggle in conniption fits and make sight gags with a new “NFL Fights 4 Women” ad. Kenan Thompson shined here, as a Ray Lewis that wouldn’t say much other than exact details of how children go to school and return. I thought that was pretty funny, excellent comedic timing from the cast’s veteran.
Cialis Turnt
Ahh Erectile dysfunction.. comedy gold. I have never seen any jokes about ED on late night TV lately! I will give plus points to both Killam and Bryant for definitely getting “Turnt” in this one. Both Killam and Bryant have a unique skill of being able to play both extremely believable straight characters and off the wall insane people, this is a skill they should utilize more. Some good sight gags in here, overall a pretty good way to kick off the show proper. Remember if you are “Turnt” for more than 6 hours, you are legally now Lil Wayne.
He-man and Lion-O
This was the first sketch of the night, and the sight of Taran Killam in perfect comic-con worthy Lion-O cosplay got a chuckle on its own. The basic idea of the sketch is “what if toys really came to life, wouldn’t that be horrible?” Now, I don’t want to completely accuse anyone here of anything. But as this sketch went on.. I started to get a vibe that I had seen this somewhere before…
Ahh, another hilarious sketch about toys coming to life… that was written by Andrew Friedman and Mikey Day. Mikey Day is currently a staff writer for SNL, and boy I can guarantee he had something to do with this stinker of a sketch. This was basically a less funny and less weird version of the original. This is lazy and terrible. C’mon guys, write some original sketches for your show! Unbelievable. I am really disappointed. Did they think that nobody would have remembered this video (with nearly 5 million views)? Self Plagiarism is a real thing. It is dishonest and lazy. Step it up guys.
Vet Office
This is apparently the second time they have used this sketch and characters. I haven’t seen the first one. I have not seen SNL a lot recently, but I plan to watch and review the entire 40th season. This sketch was really bad. It is a lame setup with too many characters. Chris Pratt had barely any lines, and one prop gag with a dead tortoise. I don’t get the point of this scene, and it was clear they had no way to end this. There are funny characters, and then there are people delivering lines in funny accents. These are not equivalent. Uggh. This one did nothing for me. Kate McKinnon (my current favorite cast member) delivered a line that made me laugh because I am an idiot “Birder” That is when a bird is murdered. You can’t just stuff some weird people with accents in a scene and expect it to be super funny, the accents only go so far. Scenes that trap actors in locations have to move somewhere crazy situation wise for them to be memorable. The reason Target lady worked so much is because you could see a ridiculous depth of character in that insane target person Wiig played. I miss Kristen Wiig.
Marvel Trailer
This was the high point of the night. Loved it. It got weird, fast. “Pam 2: The Winter Pam” and “Shopping Carts” got some really loud chuckles out of me. This one hit all of the right notes, Aidy Bryant was again pretty great with her physicality in this one. Also, secret sketch MVP is Bobby Moynihan as “Guy In a Grimace Costume”
Weekend Update
Weekend Update felt like it went on for a long time this week! (20 minutes) There were 3 guests, 2 of which basically performed their stand up for 3 minutes a piece. This was the debut of the new Weekend Update team. Call me crazy, but I still like the single host format a lot more, but this is what we are going with this year, so l will give them a chance. Back on the table is Colin Jost, joined by newcomer and ex-daily show correspondent Michael Che. Che was definitely off to a shaky start, and I was very cold on him as a host. As the segment went on, Che found his rhythm and I liked him more and more. Jost had the perfect Seth Meyers-esque snarky yet genuine grinning delivery, and they both did some great stuff with the material given. Some of the jokes felt really flat though, and the audience didn’t react to some of the punchlines well.
I think some of the reason that Cecily Strong was removed from the desk was to make room for the newcomer Che, but the real reason was to allow her to continue her awesome character work with
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office and found out that we’ve been hacked and all of our funds have been stolen. Not only the balance in ETH (2,578.98 ETH), but also the TAY tokens from the Team and Bounty pools. Lots of write ups from their executives shed light on their incident (1, 2, 3). The root cause appears to be a 1Password file theft. It is not clear how the file was accessed, how a hacker had positioning to view it, or whether it contained cryptographic secrets or infrastructure secrets. Somehow the hacker got access to one of our devices and took control of one of our 1Password files. The following is also interesting: Although we are all aware of the good practices, we confess that we may have neglected some very important details — we know that the devil is in the details. As far as we know, the hacker is same person/group that supposedly hacked CypheriumChain (more than 17,000 ETH were stolen). The hacker collected the amount from multiple sources in a single wallet, then transferred it to a bigger one. What we can say is that it was not a smart contract exploit.
Coinsecure A failed cold storage restoration exercise seems to have exposed private keys intended for offline storage (effectively making them online). However, the CEO has expressed an insider’s involvement. Police found private keys exposed online for more than 12 hours. Our system itself has never been compromised or hacked, and the current issue points towards losses caused during an exercise to extract BTG to distribute to our customers. Our CSO, Dr. Amitabh Saxena, was extracting BTG and he claims that funds have been lost in the process during the extraction of the private keys.
Bitgrail This is one of the harder breaches to decipher, as there are a lot of conspiracy articles and accusations by all parties involved. Underlying the Bitgrail breach seems to be some kind of application error of some sort, as opposed to a fully hijacked wallet, but this doesn’t have a lot of certainty involved. The Nano core team (the currency involved) announced suspicion of the exchange and their claims. We now have sufficient reason to believe that Firano has been misleading the Nano Core Team and the community regarding the solvency of the BitGrail exchange for a significant period of time. However, the Bitgrail accusations have pointed towards a thief, and blockchain viewing software developed by Nano. BitGrail Srl once again confirms that it was the victim of a theft, which took advantage of malfunctions of the software made available by the NANO team (rai_node and official block explorer) and, therefore, also for these reasons and according to the law, is not absolutely responsible, for any reason, of the incident..
Coincheck Coincheck is a Japanese exchange that works with multiple blockchains, including NEM. Around January 26, 2018, XEM valued at approximately $400m USD were stolen. Initial cause was unclear to Coincheck according to their statements. After hours of speculation Friday night, Coincheck Inc. said the coins were sent “illicitly” outside the venue. Co-founder Yusuke Otsuka said the company didn’t know how the 500 million tokens went missing, and the firm is working to ensure the safety of all client assets. Coincheck said earlier it had suspended all withdrawals, halted trading in all tokens except Bitcoin, and stopped deposits into NEM coins. Follow up reporting based on a press conference cite a breached hot wallet. According to the exchange’s representatives, the hackers have managed to steal the private key for the hot wallet where NEM coins were stored, enabling them to drain the funds.
BlackWallet BlackWallet is a wallet used to send and receive Lumens (XLM) on the Stellar network. The creator of BlackWallet announced on Reddit an infrastructure compromise resulting in in a hacked website that attacked users who entered private keys into it. It should be noted that BlackWallet was not in possession of user private keys, but it was a more of a wallet client that could be used to view a wallet. BlackWallet appears to have existed since August 2017, with a DNS hijack on January 13 pointing traffic towards Cloudflare, and a malicious browser based wallet. BlackWallet only existed for five months before being victimized. I am the creator of Blackwallet. Blackwallet was compromised today, after someone accessed my hosting provider account. He then changed the dns settings to those of its fraudulent website (which was a copy of blackwallet).
Youbit Youbit was hacked on December 19th at 4:35 am. They had previously been breached earlier in the year, with South Korean officials indicating North Korean involvement. Their hot wallet containing 17% of their assets, was breached and stolen, indicating that cold storage was useful. Assuming server breach of some kind. After the accident in April, we have done our best to improve the security, recruitment and system maintenance, and have managed to lower the hot wallet rate. Then, at 4:35 am, we lost our coin purse due to our hacking. The coin loss at 4:35 am is about 17% of total assets. The other coins were kept in the cold wallet and there were no additional > losses. Loss ratio is low compared to last April, but the management of Yaffian Co., Ltd. is going to proceed with the process of stopping the transaction, stopping deposit and withdrawal, and bankruptcy on December 19, 2013, Accordingly, all coins and cash withdrawals and withdrawals will be suspended at 12:00 pm on December 19, 2017. Due to bankruptcy, the settlement of cash and coins will be carried out in accordance with all bankruptcy procedures. However, in order to minimize the damage to our members, we will arrange for the withdrawal of approximately 75% of the balance at > 4:00 am on December 19, The rest of the unpaid portion will be paid after the final settlement is completed. We will do our best to minimize the loss of our members by 17%, through various methods such as cyber comprehensive insurance (3 > billion) and selling the operating rights of the company. After the announcement date, your assets will be adjusted to 75% at 4:00 pm on December 19, 2017. Cash and coins deposited after 4:00 pm will be 100% refunded.
Nicehash Nicehash was a cryptocurrency mining service and marketplace, allowing users to buy and sell their own mining power. While not necessarily a mining pool of its own, it still maintained a wallet for customer funds. Nicehash appears to have shuttered their website with a notice saying “a security breach involving NiceHash website” and “our payment system was compromised and the contents of the NiceHash Bitcoin wallet have been stolen”. A Facebook livestream has further notes on the issue. This is hard to archive so I will transcribe useful points. Overall, this was lateral movement from a remote IP address, gaining access to a VPN, possibly through an employee computer, and moving laterally into production systems. This appeared to all have happened within a couple of hours, when the attacker decided to work actively. “We became a target and someone really wanted to bring us down.” “We are cooperating with local and international law enforcement”. ~4700 BTC stolen on early morning 12-06-2017 Can’t discuss everything due to investigation. Hacker(s) were able to infiltrate our internal systems through a compromised company computer. Unknown how company computer was compromised. VPN had visibility into abusive behavior, IP address was outside of European Union. “Made a crucial VPN login using an engineer’s credentials” After VPN login, learned and simulated the workings of our payment system. Managed to steal funds from accounts (indicates that the active attack timeline was only a couple hours)
Tether Tether lost $31 million in “tokens”. Tether tokens allow you to “store, send and receive digital tokens pegged to dollars, euros, and yen person-to-person, globally”. Based on wording in Tether blog posts, a “treasury wallet” was drained by an external attacker. This infers that some sort of key material, or signature generating process was misused, so I estimate this ultimately required the breach of a high risk server. This estimation is low confidence and could change with new information, for instance, if the treasury wallet was cold, or held on a compromised endpoint by an employee. Remote access requires some aspect of wallet “warmth” which makes me believe it was online on a server. The Tether team claims high confidence in identifying their root cause so this is not an “unknown” root cause. On Sunday, November 19th, $30,950,010.00 in Tether tokens were stolen from our treasury wallet through malicious action by an external attacker. While we are in the process of co-ordinating and co-operating with law enforcement on this matter, we are satisfied that we have found the cause of the breach of Tether’s systems. We are taking measures to recover the Tethers and are migrating the platform to a new infrastructure. More information about our initial response to this breach is here.
Parity A “critical” vulnerability in Parity led to at least three accounts being compromised by a hacker for a total loss of $31,725,019 USD worth of ether. The vulnerability affected the contract used to create multi-signature ethereum wallets in Parity 1.5. The bug was in a pair of extremely sensitive functions designed to allow the set-up of “multi-sig” wallets in the Parity Wallet software. The functions should have been protected in order that they be usable only in one specific circumstance, as the contract was being created. However, they were entirely unguarded, which allowed the attacker to reset the ownership and usage parameters of existing wallets arbitrarily. Of note, another issue followed this breach creating $280 million in frozen funds. So far it appears accidental and only intrusion / malicious actors in the Graveyard at the time being.
Coindash CoinDash appears to be victimized by a hacked website, which a supposed adversary swapped out a funding address with a malicious address immediately after a token sale was launched. Contributors that sent ETH to the fraudulent Ethereum address, which was maliciously placed on our website, and sent ETH to the CoinDash.io official address will receive their CDT tokens accordingly. Transactions sent to any fraudulent address after our website was shut down will not be compensated. It is unfortunate for us to announce that we have suffered a hacking attack during our Token Sale event. During the attack $7 Million were stolen by a currently unknown perpetrator. The CoinDash Token Sale secured $6.4 Million from our early contributors and whitelist participants and we are grateful for your support and contribution.
Bithumb (Will update post when more thorough information is available. For now, view bravenewcoin.com “The employee PC, not the head office server, was hacked. Personal information such as mobile phone and email address of some users were leaked. However, some customers were found to have been stolen from because of the disposable password used in electronic financial transactions.”
ZCoin Due to a programming error in the implementation of Zerocoin, an attacker was able to exploit a single proof to generate multiple spends they could send to an exchange, in which the attackers then sold and withdrew funds. Significant documentation on the breach is available. From what we can see, the attacker (or attackers) is very sophisticated and from our investigations, he (or she) did many things to camouflage his tracks through the generation of lots of exchange accounts and carefully spread out deposits and withdrawals over several weeks. We estimate the attacker has created about 370,000 Zcoins which has been almost completely sold except for about 20,000+ Zcoin and absorbed on the market with a profit of around 410 BTC. In other words, the damage has already been mostly absorbed by the markets.
Bitcurex Most information related to this breach is in Polish. Bitcurex warned users not to use previous deposit addresses, which indicates a breach. No information on a root cause is easily available. Follow up investigation of the blockchain is mostly done by Polish bitcoin press, which estimates a 2300BTC loss.
Bitfinex This is Bitfinex’s second appearance in the graveyard. All below information is inferred or directly from reddit comments of Bitfinex employees. Employees repeatedly offer insight in comments that an internal breach allowed an attacker to interact with their BitGo implementation, and that BitGo’s security was not compromised. Bitfinex suggests in these comments that several withdrawal limits existed per user and system wide, and employees are unsure how they were bypassed. BitGo is a multisignature solution that heavily protects loss from a single key material breach. This approach greatly mitigates many of the risks associated with BTC, but still has a burden of securely storing API secrets or taking advantage of mitigations available to them in API implementation. At the end of the day, an application interacts with an API that signs transactions. The victims have strongly cleared BitGo of fault, it appears Bitfinex may not have taken advantage of (or incorrectly used) the security controls available to them through the BitGo API. Employees have also stated that per user, HD wallets backed by the BitGo API were used in lieu of any truly offline cold storage solution. This implementation suggests that authentication to BitGo’s API was “warm” or “hot” leaving API and signing keys to reside on servers that could be remotely accessed by an attacker. It was also suggested that every Bitfinex BTC holder used this approach, meaning vulnerability carried 100% risk of bitcoin loss across the board. It’s not currently suggested how servers were accessed for an attacker to position themselves into an attack like this, but will update if that becomes available. We are investigating the breach to determine what happened, but we know that some of our users have had their bitcoins stolen. We are undertaking a review to determine which users have been affected by the breach. While we conduct this initial investigation and secure our environment, bitfinex.com will be taken down and the maintenance page will be left up.
The DAO While technically an application vulnerability, this breach is interesting in that the vulnerability was within an Ethereum Contract. This has made the ability to patch or restore funds a very dramatic and unique situation involving miner consensus and the philosophy of ethereum’s purpose as a technology. Hard and Soft forks were considered with contention to reverse the attack. An attack has been found and exploited in the DAO, and the attacker is currently in the process of draining the ether contained in the DAO into a child DAO. The attack is a recursive calling vulnerability, where an attacker called the “split” function, and then calls the split function recursively inside of the split, thereby collecting ether many times over in a single transaction.
GateCoin This breach is unique in that it attacked Cold Storage. It is just as important to protect the deposits into cold storage as much as the cold storage itself. If cold storage deposit is modified, it’s as if you don’t have cold storage at all. We have previously communicated the fact that most clients’ crypto-asset funds are stored in multi-signature cold wallets. However, the malicious external party involved in this breach, managed to alter our system so that ETH and BTC deposit transfers by-passed the multi-sig cold storage and went directly to the hot wallet during the breach period. This means that losses of ETH funds exceed the 5% limit that we imposed on our hot wallets.
CoinKite Not much data available, but in a transition to shut down their wallet product, they somehow leaked a password database. While we were turning off servers, disabling firewalls and cleaning up backup systems today, we may have leaked a copy of our database. Although passwords into Coinkite.com are not useful anymore, you can rest assured that passwords were salted and SHA256 hashed with 131,072 rounds. If you used the same password on other sites, as a precaution, you may want to consider changing those other accounts. It’s possible you will see spam to your related email addresses.
CoinWallet Application vulnerability due to a lack of input sanitation, type unknown, though it does reference a “database call” which implies some form of database injection like SQLi. Strangely, they claim that no coins were lost, though CoinWallet shut down anyway. It is with great regret that we announce the closure of CoinWallet.co. Our decision to close is based on several factors. Primarily, on the 6th of April we suffered a data breach. Despite our best efforts there was a small error in a part of our code that should have checked and sanitized user input on a recently added function. Checks were in place but the check was then subsequently not used to block the database call. Our backup security system kicked in as it was designed to and no coins were lost. We have since patched the vulnerability but are still trying to determine the extent of the breach. However it would be advised to change passwords on any other crypto related websites where you use the same password and username as coinwallet.co. We used encrypted and salted passwords but given enough time these should be assumed compromised. Effective immediately, we have reset all passwords, deleted all API keys, and halted the twitter Tip Bot. This incident prompted us to reassess the viability of running coinwallet.co and it was decided it is just not viable taking into consideration the risk, costs and time involved.
CoinTrader Not much data available, other than that it has completely shut down after a suspected breach. This issue is currently under investigation and it is our intention to have the balance of your account settled as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for this unfortunate inconvenience and will keep you posted on the progress of this issue. In the meantime, we have halted deposits, withdrawals and trading activity until this matter has been resolved.
BitQuick Not much detail provided, and appears damage was fairly limited for unknown reasons. On Monday, March 14, 2016, our server fell victim to an attack that gave the attacker unauthorized administrative access. The breach was immediately noticed, and the server was shutdown to prevent any further damage. We are still performing a formal investigation to determine the attack vector, and specifically what information was obtained from the server. Due to additional security mechanisms in place, no funds were taken, and all ID’s (driver’s licenses, passports, etc.) and emails remain secured. Sellers were emailed withdrawal instructions Tuesday evening. All outstanding orders and withdrawals have been processed. Only 3% of all funds remain unclaimed.
ShapeShift.io Extremely detailed post-mortem’s available from this breach, involving an external hacker collaborating with an insider threat. On March 14th, ShapeShift had 315 Bitcoin stolen from its hot wallet. It was quickly discovered that an employee at that time had committed the theft. It was reported to relevant authorities, and a civil suit was opened against the individual. As we had quickly figured out who it was, and how to resolve it internally, we were able to keep the site running uninterrupted. We planned to get the stolen property returned, and thought that was the end of it.
Cryptsy Maliciously placed Application vulnerability after a dependency (Lucky7Coin) was backdoored by a malicious developer, and abused for months to pull off an attack. After a period of time of investigation it was found that the developer of Lucky7Coin had placed an IRC backdoor into the code of wallet, which allowed it to act as a sort of a Trojan, or command and control unit. This Trojan had likely been there for months before it was able to collect enough information to perform the attack.
Bips.me Very little information, other than that wallets were compromised. BIPS has been a target of a coordinated attack and subsequent security breached. Several consumer wallets have been compromised and BIPS will be contacting the affected users. Most of what was recoverable from our servers and backups has now been restored and we are currently working on retrieving more information to get a better understanding of what exactly happened, and most of all what can be done to track down who did it.
BitPay The attacker spearphished the CFO (with what looks to be a compromised email / server of someone else, this is unclear) and successfully acquired his credentials with a phishing page. These credentials were then used to communicate with the CEO and request multiple large transfers to the amount of $1.8 Million USD. A customer pointed out the fraud. Below is the root cause as pointed out by court documents. On or about December 11, 2014, Bryan Krohn, the CFO of Bitpay, received an email from someone purporting to be David Bailey of yBitcoin (a digital currency publication) requesting Mr. Krohn comment on a bitcoin industry document. Unbeknownst to Mr. Krohn, or anyone at Bitpay, Mr. Bailey’s computer had been illegally entered (i.e. “hacked”). The phony email sent by the person who hacked Mr. Bailey’s computer, directed Mr. Krohn to a website controlled by the hacker wherein Mr. Krohn provided the credentials for his Bitpay corporate email account. After capturing Mr. Krohn’s Bitpay credentials, the hacker used that information to hack into Mr. Krohn’s Bitpay email account to fraudulently cause a transfer of bitcoin. The hacker illegally hacked Mr. Krohn’s computer so he could use his or her computer to send false authorizations to Bitpay on December 11 and 12, 2014. It is this hacking which fraudulently caused the transfers of bitcoin and therefore the loss to Bitpay of bitcoin valued at $1,850,000 (the “Loss”). Bitpay cannot recapture the lost bitcoin.
Cloudminr.io An attacker defaced the cloudminr.io website with a “database for sale” message containing usernames and passwords. According to various reports, the site was hacked on or about July 7th, with the main page of the service being amended over the weekend to offer the sale of customer login and personal information, along with a CSV (comma separated values) taste-test of the details of 1,000 customers’ personal details by the hackers to demonstrate that they were the “real deal.”
Bitstamp If a leaked incident report is to be believed, a VBA script embedded in a Word document was delivered via social engineering tactics over Skype to several employees. This malware was detonated on a system administrator’s machine who also had access to wallet.dat files and wallet passwords. 18,866 BTC lost as deposits were stolen over the course of several days. Bitstamp experienced a security breach on Jan. 4th. Security of our customers’ bitcoin and information is a top priority for us, and as part of our stringent security protocol we temporarily suspended our services on January 5th. All bitcoin held with us prior to the temporary suspension of services starting on January 5 (at 9 a.m. UTC) are completely safe and will be honored in full. We are currently investigating and will reimburse all legitimate deposits to old wallet addresses affected by the breach after the suspension.
BitFinex A small hot wallet compromise, although uncertain how they were accessed. Dear Customer although we keep over 99.5% of users’ BTC deposits in secure multisig wallets, the small remaining amount in coins in our hot wallet are theoretically vulnerable to attack. We believe that our hot wallet keys might have been compromised and ask that all of our customer cease depositing cryptocurrency to old deposits addresses. We are in the process of creating a new hot wallet and will advise within the next few hours. Although this incident is unfortunate, its scale is small and will be fully absorbed by the company. Thanks a lot for your patience and comprehension. Bitfinex Team”
Allcrypt An attacker used a simple account takeover with multiple pivots to gain server access to a wallet. With administrative access to Wordpress, the attacker was able to upload PHP based tools to explore the filesystem and discover stored secrets. From there, database credentials were accessed and another PHP based database tool was used to access a database and modify a off-chain ledger. The attacker then dodged double accounting systems by discovering loopholes around the purchase/sale of bitcoins. This deserves a full read and is one of the better post mortems in the graveyard. Around 8PM on Sunday (all times EDT) our marketing director’s blog account requested a password reset. Up until the writing of this post (Wednesday morning, 10am) we do not know how the thief managed to know the marketing director’s (will refer to this as MD from here) account. Our best guess is it was an educated guess based on info found (more on that in a moment). The MD saw this email come in, and forwarded it to myself, and another team member (a technical lead/temporary assistant support staff), letting us know what happened and that he did not request the password reset. I did not see the email at the time, as I was out, and it was not a huge red flag that would require a phone call. Once I returned home later, I saw the email, and logged into the server to double-check on things. That’s when I discovered the breach. Apparently, the thief had gained access to the tech assistant’s email account. That email was hosted on a private server (not gmail, yahoo, etc). We have no idea how the password was acquired. We spent a lot of time this week downloading password lists from torrents, tor sites, etc, and could find his password in none of the lists. He assures us he did not use the password in multiple places, and that it was a secure password. Our best guess is that it was a brute force attempt. The mail server he uses used the dovecot package for IMAP mail, which, for reasons we cannot comprehend, does NOT log failed password attempts by default. Because of this, at first, we believed that the hacker somehow had the person’s password. But we do not know, and there is no way to know at this point how the password was found.
Cryptoine Application vulnerability involving a race condition for multiple currencies at Cryptoine. According to a statement on the Cryptoine website, the firm claims that a “hacker found some race condition bug in our trading engine. Manipulation of orders gave him false balances.” In a further update, Cryptoine claims that the hack only targeted hot wallets, saying that “our hot wallets was [sic] drained, coins: bitcoin, litecoin, urocoin, dogecoin, bitcoinscrypt, magi, darkcoin, dogecoindark, cannabis” but promises that all coins they still have will be returned to users “in correspondingly smaller quantities.”
CAVirtex Not much detail, other than a database breach and it seems all customers were paid back. Effective immediately, CAVIRTEX intends to cease carrying on an active Bitcoin business and will be winding down its operations in an orderly manner. As a result, effective immediately, no new deposits will be accepted by CAVIRTEX. Trading on CAVIRTEX will be halted effective March 20, 2015. Effective March 25th, 2015, no withdrawals will be processed. CAVIRTEX will communicate with any account holders that continue to hold balances after March 25, 2015. We have maintained 100% reserves. CAVIRTEX is solvent and remains in a position to accommodate all customer withdrawal requests received prior to March 25, 2015. However, On February 15, 2015 we found reason to believe that an older version of our database, including 2FA secrets and hashed passwords, may have been compromised. This database did not include identification documents.
ExCoin Not much data, other than the name of a hacker and that they stole the entire wallet, shutting down ExCoin. February 6th and 10th, the user ‘Ambiorx’ was able to gain access to all the Bitcoins on the Exco.in exchange. As a result we no longer have the means necessary to continue operation and are deeply saddened to announce we will be shutting down operations this month. The trading engine has been disabled and Exco.in user accounts will remain active, with the exception of Ambiorx’s account and those who may be affiliated.
BTER Cloud infrastructure account takeover without a lot of detail. Several hours ago one of our hosting accounts was hacked and the hacker got 50m NXT from this server. It’s totally our fault and we are trying our best to cover all the loss. However 50m nxt is huge for us, we cannot afford it at the moment.
796 Not much information available, other than the victim stating that the hacker was putting a lot of effort towards their attack. We have been constantly monitoring the hacking activities on our servers and 3 months back then we took the precautionary step to migrate our servers to a highly secured cloud site. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the incident from happening last night. In the last 24 hours, our security team worked around the clock to trace back the codes and processes. At this moment, we have a pretty good idea of exactly how they did it. This was not a generalized attack. The hacker’s strategy was precisely calculated and well targeted to compromise a certain weakness on our server.
Justcoin Justcoin had significant losses due to a protocol implementation issue with the Ripple protocol. A disclosure of the issue supposedly happened months before the bug was exploited. Cold storage is said to have limited losses greatly. The consequence, allegedly, is that hackers sent deposit transactions for large amounts, e.g. 100,000, to Justcoin. They set the tfPartialPayment flag to something like.0001. The transaction would be perfectly valid, and any client unaware of this behavior in the protocol would likely not be checking for the DeliveredAmount field – since it was never documented until a week ago. The transaction Amount field says “100,000” but the DeliveredAmount is only.0001. The hacker gets credit for 100,000 but only deposits.0001. Then they make a small withdrawal, check the balance on the hotwallet address and drain as much as they can. Ripple commented on the issue here and puts blame squarely on Justcoin’s implementation. Justcoin did not implement partial payments correctly. The exchange falsely credited a non-KYC’d user for a deposit, and then allowed the user to illegitimately withdraw the funds from its hot wallet. For every transaction, an exchange needs to ensure the total of user balances plus the new deposit matches the balance of its Ripple cold and hot wallets. If these balances don’t match, the exchange should stop processing the transaction. Ripple Labs has engaged Justcoin in ongoing discourse about its lack of risk and compliance controls. As demonstrated by this incident, a non-KYC’d user can steal with little fear of being identified and owning the consequences.
BitTrader Not much data available, other than that a hacker supposedly stole a wallet and then extorted the operator for further funds. While preparing for the final audit results, a task we were working on for weeks now, our bitcoin wallet has been hacked and emptied, just after exchanging our fiat holdings within the exchanges to bitcoin and transferring our entire holdings to our wallet, in order to proof our solvency. It is a known fact that I personally opposed any proof of solvency, but agreed to conduct it for the sake of a few dozen small and medium investors. The hacker contacted me shortly after he took advantage of our holdings and demanded a ransom in order to transfer the coins back. I have agreed to a 25% ransom of the entire sum, but haven’t heard back from him for several days now.
CryptoThrift Very traditional application vulnerability (SQL injection) that was brought in by a third party library. This modified their “escrow” product. Whilst we have not yet completed our investigation, we have identified the attack vector as a vulnerability in a third party plugin. This was used to inject SQL queries into our database and manipulate the amounts on transactions being released from escrow. What we have not made public until now is that we have seen sustained and almost-daily attack attempts on the site for many months. We have been in contact with the Australian Federal Police regarding this, and will be sharing with them all data that we have on this attack as well as all previous attempts.
MintPal Little information provided. A few hours ago we were unfortunately the subject of a successful attack against the exchange. Our investigations have shown that whilst our security was breached, VeriCoin was the target. We would like to stress that VeriCoin and the VeriCoin network has not been in any way compromised. We have worked to secure the exchange and the withdraw process from any further attack.
DogeVault Little information provided, though the attackers seemed to have accessed the DogeVault servers and accessed a wallet directly. We regret to announce that on the 11th of May, attackers compromised the Doge Vault online wallet service resulting in wallet funds being stolen. After salvaging our wallet we have ascertained that around 280 million Dogecoins were taken in the attack, out of a total balance of 400 million kept in our hot wallet. 120 million Dogecoins have been since recovered and transferred to an address under our control. It is believed the attacker gained access to the node on which Doge Vault’s virtual machines were stored, providing them with full access to our systems. It is likely our database was also exposed containing user account information; passwords were stored using a strong one-way hashing algorithm. All private keys for addresses are presumed compromised, please do not transfer any funds to Doge Vault addresses.
coinex.pw Not enough information, other than a infrastructure intrusion that breached the wallet. Long story short: yes, our wallet server got hacked and all funds were withdrawn.
Poloniex Poloniex is a Bitcoin exchange that has been operating since 2014. In March of 2014, an Application Vulnerability was exploited and caused a loss of 97 BTC (a 12.3% loss on the exchange). The reported cause of the hack was that they did not properly check for a negative account balance while processing multiple, simultaneous withdrawals. The hacker found a vulnerability in the code that takes withdrawals. The hacker discovered that if you place several withdrawals all in practically the same instant, they will get processed at more or less the same time. This will result in a negative balance, but valid insertions into the database, which then get picked up by the withdrawal daemon. What Will Be Done to Prevent Further Exploits? Withdrawals and order creation have been switched to a queued method, where the first step is to add the task to a global execution queue that is processed sequentially. Each step of critical database operations is verified before proceeding, and such operations are in the process of being converted to transactions. I have hired additional developers to help with tightening up security at Poloniex, as well as created a bug bounty.
FlexCoin “Front End” flaw implies an application vulnerability involving transactions between users of their application. It sounds like a race condition given the use of thousands of requests that were necessary to deplete the wallet before the off-chain ledger could update. During the investigation into stolen funds we have determined that the extent of the theft was enabled by a flaw within the front-end. The attacker logged into the flexcoin front end from IP address 207.12.89.117 under a newly created username and deposited to address 1DSD3B3uS2wGZjZAwa2dqQ7M9v7Ajw2iLy. The coins were then left to sit until they had reached 6 confirmations. The attacker then successfully exploited a flaw in the code which allows transfers between flexcoin users. By sending thousands of simultaneous requests, the attacker was able to “move” coins from one user account to another until the sending account was overdrawn, before balances were updated.
Silk Road 2.0 If you trust the operators, they blame the famous “[transaction malleability][1]” vulnerability. [1]: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Transaction_Malleability Our initial investigations indicate that a vendor exploited a recently discovered vulnerability in the Bitcoin protocol known as “transaction malleability” to repeatedly withdraw coins from our system until it was completely empty.
Bid Extreme Very little information available. As a result of a hacker attack it was robbed portfolio BTC and LTC. This fact was reported to law enforcement authorities. They were stolen currency BTC and LTC belonging to all users. If they recover they will be returned to users in accordance with the state of the balance on the day 17.11.2013r.
inputs.io This was a clear application vulnerability with a potentially fraudulent cover up and incident response. On July 28, 2013, hackers discovered an application condition that allowed them to credit accounts from a wallet supporting multiple organizations (Bitfunder and WeExchange). While the SEC found fraud, this seems to be more related to handling of the breach and operating an unregistered exchange. During the summer of 2013, one or more individuals (the “Hackers”) exploited a weakness in the BitFunder programming code to cause BitFunder to credit the Hackers with profits they did not, in fact, earn (the “Exploit”). As a result, the Hackers were able to wrongfully withdraw from WeExchange approximately 6,000 bitcoins, with the majority of those coins being wrongfully withdrawn between July 28, 2013, and July 31, 2013. In today’s value, the wrongfully withdrawn bitcoin were worth more than $60 million. As a result of the Exploit, BitFunder and WeExchange lacked the bitcoins necessary to cover what MONTROLL owed to users.
inputs.io Cloud infrastructure account takeover. Some kind of 2FA bypass exploit as well. Source code, wallets, and user data exfiltrated by attacker. Two hacks totalling about 4100 BTC have left Inputs.io unable to pay all user balances. The attacker compromised the hosting account through compromising email accounts (some very old, and without phone numbers attached, so it was easy to reset). The attacker was able to bypass 2FA due to a flaw on the server host side. Database access was also obtained, however passwords are securely stored and are hashed on the client. Bitcoin backend code were transferred to 10;[email protected]:[email protected] (most likely another compromised server).
Vircurex Cloud infrastructure compromise. After an initial credential breach, the attacker escalated access through social engineering. The victim blames the hosting provider for violating their own procedure for password resets. The attacker has acquired login credentials to our VPS control account with our hosting service provider and has then asked for the root password reset of all servers which – unfortunately – the service provider has then done and posted the credentials in their helpdesk ticket, rather than the standard process of sending it to our email address (which has 2FA protection), also the security setup of allowing only our IP range to login to the management console was not working. It was an additional security feature the provider offered but was obviously circumvented by the attacker. As a result out of this incident we have moved all our services to a new provider who offers 2 factor authentication for all logins as well as other verification processes that we hope will make similar attempts impossible in the future
Bitcoin Central This was an account takeover on the victim’s cloud provider, allowing access to a server hosting a hot wallet. This was part of a larger breach. Someone managed to reset the password from our hosting provider web interface, this enabled the attacker to lock us out of the interface and request a reboot of the machine in ‘rescue’ mode. Using this, the attacker copied our hot wallet and sent away what was present. This very hosting provider (OVH) had been compromised a couple of days ago, in
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disappointment that more progress has not been made since the civil rights movement won its biggest victories.
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Asked whether the overall trajectory of race relations has been positive or negative in recent years, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) paused for a moment.“Right after the election of the president, I would have thought it was going in a positive direction, but I am not so sure anymore,” she said.“I think we have lost ground as it relates to our tolerance of people who are different or people who we believe have not worked hard enough. You hear the language all the time on talk radio — the buzzwords, often primarily directed at low-income people and communities of color.”Fudge’s party colleague and fellow CBC member Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) suggested that the presence of the first black president has sparked more open conversation about racial issues. This, she suggested, could be seen as a positive development overall, yet one that has also led to bruised feelings.In the past, “so much was swept under the rug,” Lee said. “The country, for whatever reason, has not confronted race in the way that it should. With stop-and-frisk and all the issues around income inequality, you really have to wonder [how much things have improved.] But I think a lot of it is to do with the idea that race has been an issue that we can talk about.”Large swathes of the general public also hold a nuanced view of the country’s progress, according to a poll released last week by the Pew Research Center.While 45 percent of Americans said they think the United States has made a lot of progress toward realizing King’s dream of racial equality, 36 percent were more circumspect, saying only “some” progress has been made. Fifteen percent said that the advancements had either been small or nonexistent.Forty-nine percent of Americans believe there is a long way to go before something akin to a color-blind society can be realized.Pew was also the latest of numerous surveys to underline how economic disparities have tracked along racial lines during Obama’s presidency, just as they did before.The survey noted that the gap between the median income of a three-person black household compared to a three-person white household has increased during the past five decades.In today’s dollars, the differential in the late 1960s between whites and blacks was around $19,000. Today, it is around $27,000 — and the gap has not narrowed appreciably since 2009.The most recent unemployment figures, covering the month of July, showed the black unemployment rate at 12.6 percent, a mere one-tenth of a percentage point lower than when Obama took office in January 2009. Statistics on home ownership and per capita income also show blacks faring worse than whites during the Obama years.Put those economic factors together with the high-voltage legal cases on the killing of Trayvon Martin and the curtailment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and it is easy to see why black politicians, and liberals in general, are ambivalent over where things stand.Many Democrats insist that the ferocious opposition to Obama has a racial component.“How do you overcome it?” Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), a founding member of the CBC said, referring to racial inequalities. “We certainly haven’t done it with an African-American president.“I saw the people who scream and shout about ObamaCare. I saw the hatred that was in people’s eyes. People are not being honest with themselves if they don’t realize that the roots of racism go deep, that we still have not been able to cut that cancer out of the side of America.”“I think electing President Obama was a big, big, big positive. Now, the reactions to that election have not always been positive,” said Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the number three Democrat in the House. “It was a positive for people who look like me. It was a negative for a lot of people, and they reacted negatively.”Still, Clyburn, Rangel and many other members of the CBC remember just how bad things were in an earlier era. The 50th anniversary of the March on Washington has also prompted them to recall the first kindling of bigger hopes.“I could not believe that everyone was saying they were going to Washington — they didn’t know anybody, how were they going to get there?” Rangel recalled. “But for most of the people, you just had to tell them where the buses were at 7 o’clock in the morning. I put people on buses, these broken-down school buses people were renting.”About 750 miles south of Rangel’s New York home, Clyburn, then a young public school teacher, was seeing buses off from Charleston, S.C. At the time, teachers were prohibited from attending political rallies, he recalled.“I said goodbye to one of the buses that left going up to the march. Though my body remained in Charleston, my heart and soul were in Washington,” he said.Lee was in high school in California at the time. She wanted to be a cheerleader, but there had never been a black girl in that role. There wasn’t an explicit rule that said “no blacks,” she recalled, but the regulations governing membership of the squad “wouldn’t allow a dark-skinned person with my kind of hair.”The rules changed the same year as King’s speech, and she became the first black cheerleader at the school.Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) is the first black woman to hold a congressional seat in her native state. Part of a younger generation of black lawmakers, she was born 16 months after the March on Washington took place.“My dad grew up in Selma, but our experiences are as different as night and day,” she said. “I can’t imagine my dad drinking from colored-only water fountains. But it happened.”Sewell emphasizes the economic inequalities, racial and otherwise, that continue to bedevil the nation. But she insisted that Obama’s tenure has pushed the United States at least somewhat closer to King’s dream.“I think his very presence has made a big difference,” she said. “My little nephew wants to be a CEO or the president — and there isrunning the United States of America. That changes the psyche, and the willingness of other generations to see beyond race.”This is the first in a series of three articles to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. On Tuesday, black conservatives will reflect on Dr. King’s legacy. On Wednesday, The Hill will carry an extensive interview with Martin Luther King III.The first teaser trailer for EA Sports’ NHL 17 was released a short time ago, but the only thing the trailer really did for fans is leave them yearning for more.
The vision trailer that was released during the opening round of the NHL playoffs gave fans a glimpse at some of the new features, including team relocation and the brand new World Cup of Hockey. But that isn’t everything that EA Sports is doing to help get its NHL franchise back to the top of the sports.
After speaking to a few surrounding the game, there are some more unannounced aspects surrounding the upcoming NHL simulation that fans will be excited to know about. Now, I don’t know full details surrounding everything, but I was given enough information to go forward with letting you know.
Menu System:
One small aspect that the team at EA Vancouver has been working diligently on is the game’s menu system. Since making the jump to the current gen of consoles, the NHL series’ menus have been slow and clunky. With NHL 17, the changes made should lead to a much smoother interface that feels like that of other EA Sports titles like Madden and FIFA.
Presentation:
The in-arena presentation in NHL 16 was pretty awful. The game failed in many ways, especially when it came to actually winning the greatest prize in sports – The Stanley Cup. The fans sat down, the arena was quiet and it just felt as boring and dull as the overall game presentation did. With NHL 17, arena atmosphere has been addressed to try and replicate what a playoff game is like in the NHL.
More commentary has been recorded with the hope of eliminated the repetitiveness of lines throughout a game. There is also the hope that the changes made to in-game presentation will make it feel more like a real-life broadcast as opposed to commentary that sounds as robotic as Siri.
Player Likeness:
The developers have promised to improve on player likeness in the past, and NHL 17 is expected to have the highest number of lifelike players in the franchise’s history. Throughout the 2015-16 season, whenever teams would pay a visit to Vancouver, the developers would take the opportunity to scan players for the game. Though every player on an NHL roster isn’t going to be scanned for NHL 17, I was given a number of over 50 percent of players on NHL rosters last season being scanned for the game. It’s not great, but it’s much better than past titles.
EASHL Improvements:
EA Sports heard the complaints about player build. Though no details were given to me about what changes are actually coming, one thing for sure is that the player system in NHL 17 for the EASHL will be different. Players will feel more in control of their actual character, and feel like they are building someone how they want rather than being stuck with a generic player style.
Other:
Be-A-Pro and Be-A-GM are going to see major changes this year as well, but I wasn’t given enough information to share this time around. Also, there are currently plans in place to offer more post-launch content than ever before solely due to the amount of things being worked on and added to the game this year. I’d expect details on that to come within the next month or so, and don’t be surprised if EA Sports actually manages to fit most of what it wants into the game ahead of its launch.
Of course, fans have been told changes are coming before only for them to be hyped up much more than what actually came to be. For NHL 17, however, things are pointing towards positive changes for EA Sports and the only hockey game on the market.
NHL 17 releases on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this fall.One day before the Alaska Marijuana Control Board meets in Fairbanks, the Anchorage Assembly will consider sending it a resolution in support of onsite consumption of marijuana.
“The proposal is to ask the Marijuana Control Board to follow through with the proposal they’ve been working on which is to come up with a way for us to effectively regulate the public consumption in downtown,” said downtown assembly member Christopher Constant.
On July 12, the state board will consider putting one of three proposals out for public comment, including: onsite consumption at licensed facilities, a two year moratorium on onsite consumption, and onsite consumption of edible marijuana products only.
The Anchorage Assembly recently approved downtown’s second retail marijuana store and expect more to follow. Constant says he’s heard several concerns from downtown businesses.
“How many stores downtown, the distances between the stores and what’s to be done with the public use, in particular with the tourist industry that’s coming up and the fact that we have a million folks flowing through our downtown over the course of the summer,” said Constant.
The owner of Alaska Fireweed on 4th Avenue says more than 50% of his summer customers are tourists. “If you don’t have a safe place you can consume but you can sell it, it’s just going to cause more issues and the last thing we want to do is cause more issues and have more problems with drugs and alcohol downtown,” said Will Ingram.
The Anchorage Downtown Partnership regularly meets with downtown land and business owners. It says education is paramount. “Whether you’re a tourist or a local, that you understand what the laws are, it’s not supposed to be smoked in our parks, in our alley ways, in our sidewalks, and so that’s the direction we’re headed with these conversations,” said Executive Director James Boring.
The Anchorage Assembly will consider the resolution at its regular July 11 meeting at 5 p.m. at the Loussac Library.Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), an outspoken critic of the Senate immigration reform bill, predicted Sunday that GOP opposition to the measure will grow as lawmakers learn more of its details.
The bill’s sponsors unveiled a nearly-1,200 page amendment to the legislation Friday that would double the number of patrol agents and authorize the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Sessions said few lawmakers will have a chance to read and understand the amendment before voting on it Monday. If they do, he predicted, GOP support for the compromise amendment drafted by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) will dissipate.
“They said it had 70 votes last week and then all of a sudden it started sinking when people learned more about it. I think if people find out this amendment does not accomplish what the sponsors believe it does, I think the bill could be back in trouble again,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Sessions noted that the deployment of 20,000 additional border patrol agents is not required until 2021 and does not appropriate funds but only authorizes them. He added the legislation includes a provision that empowers Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano not to construct the border fence if she believes it’s unwarranted.
“She’s publicly said that we’ve had enough fencing,” he said.
“The reason this bill was in trouble, the reason this amendment was thrown in here at the last minute was because the promises weren’t fulfilled and this legislation, this amendment doesn’t fulfill its promises, either,” he added. “We’re going to have amnesty first, no enforcement in the future, we’re going to have continued illegality.”
Corker, appearing on the same program, predicted the bill would pass with a large bipartisan majority. He said Republican senators who are on the fence should consider a report from the Congressional Budget Office projecting large deficit reductions.
“To be able to pass a bill that spends $46 billion on border security over a ten-year period but know that you’re going to have a return of $197 billion without raising anybody’s taxes, that will reduce our deficit, ought to also entice people to this bill,” he said.
Sessions and other critics, however, have argued that the CBO analysis is inaccurate because it only counts taxes that legalized immigrants will be paying into Social Security and Medicare without counting the drain they will put on those programs decades in the future.The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s (TTFA) financial woes can go from bad to worse if the local body cannot prove it is fit for business within the next four months.
The FIFA press office informed Wired868 that the TTFA will not be eligible to receive any funding from 1 January 2015 unless it hires a new technical director and implements proper internal financial audits.
All FIFA member associations, including the TTFA, are due an annual subvention of $1.6 million (US$250,000) from the global football body providing they prove that their associations are being run properly.
At present, the TTFA does not have a technical director after Anton Corneal quit in April over unpaid salaries. TTFA general secretary Sheldon Phillips invited applications for the vacant post in June and promised to announce an appointment by mid-July 2014. However, the post remains unoccupied.
The TTFA financial committee, which is chaired by football president Raymond Tim Kee, is yet to hold a single official meeting since he took office. Tim Kee is also the Port of Spain mayor and PNM treasurer.
FIFA vowed not to offer any leniency to the TTFA or any other poorly run football association in 2015.
“According to the General Regulations for the FIFA Development Programmes (article 3.1.2), a member association or a confederation, in order to be eligible to receive programme funds, must employ a general secretary as well as a technical development director to take charge of the programmes,” a FIFA spokesman told Wired868. “Generally speaking, since 2013, FIFA has been promoting a regular exchange with its member associations regarding the implementation of the General Regulations for FIFA Development Programmes.
“Please note that while the General Regulations for FIFA Development Programmes and the amended FAP Regulations came into force on 1 July, 2013, full compliance with all of their provisions is compulsory for member associations and confederations as of 1 January 2015.”
The Trinidad and Tobago national senior football team’s continues to feel the brunt of the TTFA’s failings in the short term as the “Soca Warriors” scrapped its proposed international friendly against Guadeloupe due to the ongoing financial issues.
Wired868 understands that the senior friendly, which was carded for September 6 at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, was cancelled as the TTFA could not provide guarantees over a pre-match training camp and owed monies to players and staff.
The TTFA instead announced that the national under-20 team will face Guadeloupe instead. The match will now act as the sole international warm-up fixture for the teenagers before next month’s Under-20 Caribbean Championships, which will be staged in Trinidad.
“The game comes at an ideal time for us and will be a great test for the young men,” national under-20 coach Derek King told the TTFA Media.“We’ve been in training for a few weeks well and we’ve had the opportunity to play against some of the pro teams as well as the national under-17 team.
“The boys have progressed quite well and every player is now eager to go into the tournament and give of his best and go on to qualify for the CONCACAF Finals.”
The under-20 team will play Curacao, Suriname and Cuba on September 12, 14 and 16 respectively in Caribbean Football Union (CFU) action at venues to be determined in Trinidad.
In the past week, the Trinidad and Tobago senior women lifted the Caribbean Cup title in Port of Spain while the national under-17 boys advanced from their CFU group in St Lucia.
In both cases, preparation was far from ideal as the senior women began a pre-tournament camp in Houston two weeks late and with roughly half their squad. And the national under-17 team had neither a pre-tournament camp nor international practice matches before it headed to St Lucia.
And Wired868 understands that the logistical issues involved in summoning the senior men—the TTFA’s only fully-professional team—was beyond the capabilities of the present body, which is headed by president Tim Kee and Phillips.
An informed source close to the Warriors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the TTFA still has not paid match fees to players and staff for their last friendly against Iran on 8 June 2014. The senior men’s team played just twice in 2014 against Argentina and Iran.
It would be difficult for the Warriors to get a reasonable team together without significant financial outlay too, as several Pro League players are away on trials, while the TTFA allegedly could not give assurances about the length of a pre-game camp.
So, noted the insider, what would be the point of a preparation game without any preparation?
And why risk alienating the country’s best players by summoning them to an unprofessional environment?
There are no other FIFA dates left before the Warriors kick off their Caribbean Cup campaign on October 6. So head coach Stephen Hart must either stick to the players he worked with over the past year or risk blooding untested talent at competitive level.
The 2014 Caribbean Cup offers a fascinating and unprecedented first place prize as the winner will earn a spot at the 2016 Copa America tournament alongside the likes of Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.
Cuba is the present defending Caribbean champion, after the Spanish-speaking island recorded an extra time win over the Warriors at the 2012 edition, while Jamaica is the host nation and 2014 tournament favourite.
Last November, Trinidad and Tobago defeated Jamaica in home and away exhibition matches. But, since then, Jamaica played six international games including contests with Serbia, Switzerland, Egypt and France.
And the “Reggae Boyz” have already booked match-ups against Canada and Japan in September and October respectively.
Jamaica will already get a jump on the rest of the Caribbean next year when its team participates in the 2015 Copa America as an invited guest. The Boyz seized the opportunity to rub shoulders with South America’s top nations after Japan and then China declined requests to compete.
If the Boyz win the 2014 Caribbean Cup, Trinidad and Tobago’s great regional rival will keep that South American exposure to themselves for two successive years.
Thus far, little in the Warriors’ preparation suggests that the TTFA is capable of providing its frontline team with the tools to stop them while corporate Trinidad and Tobago continues to keep the local football body at arm’s length.
The TTFA remains vulnerable in court too after failing to fulfil court-sanctioned payments to the 2006 World Cup players and former coach Russell Latapy.
Tim Kee and Phillips can feasibly lose the support of FIFA too within a few months unless they finally come good on their promise to revitalise the renamed football body before the end of the year.Mike Zafirovski
Source: Nortel
After being brought on board four years ago to help turn around one-time telecom giant Nortel, its president and CEO, Mike Zafirovski, is now being shown the door.
Zafirvoski's departure comes as the bankrupt telecom vendor releases its second-quarter fiscal 2009 financial results showing continuing losses.
Zafirovski joined Nortel in 2005 after serving as the COO of Motorola. Under his tenure, Zafirvoski stated in 2007 that Nortel was back -- but by January of 2009 with a mounting losses and a declining economy, Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection.
Under bankruptcy protection, Nortel has continued to lose money. For the second quarter of its fiscal 2009, Nortel reported a net loss of $274 million, or $0.55 per common share. The second-quarter loss is more than double the $113 million net loss that Nortel reported for the second quarter of 2008. On a sequential basis, Nortel has slowed its rate of losses, for the first quarter of 2009, Nortel reported a net loss of $507 million.
A large part of Nortel's second-quarter 2009 net loss increase is directly related to its ongoing bankruptcy protection activities. Nortel reported that it incurred reorganization costs of $130 million related to proceedings.
Revenues at Nortel for the second quarter of 2009 were reported at $1.97 billion, a decrease of 25 percent on a year-over-year basis, but a gain of 14 percent sequentially over the first quarter of 2009.
Zafirovski joined Nortel at a time when the company was trying to recover from an accounting scandal and management challenges. Zafirovski's predecessor, Bill Owens, lasted just over a year as CEO after stepping in to replace former CEO Frank Dunn in 2004. Nortel's accounting mishaps resulted in the restatement of financial results for 2000, 2001 and 2002, as well as the first and second quarters of 2003.
"Mike came to Nortel to transform this company," Harry Pearce, chairman of Nortel's board of directors, said in a statement. "It was unfortunate the transformation was derailed by a deteriorating economic climate and the company's legacy cost structure. The operating improvements and strategic investments made during his tenure significantly contributed to the fact that Nortel's businesses are so attractive to potential buyers today."
Zafivoski is not being replaced with a new CEO: Instead Nortel's management structure is being reorganized such that the individual business units will now report to the Chief Restructuring Officer, Pavi Binning.
Nortel has been selling itself off in pieces over the course of 2009. In April, Nortel sold off its Alteon application networking gear to Radware for $18 million.
In late July, Nortel named Swedish vendor Ericsson the winner of its wireless business, with a price tag of $1.13 billion. Nortel and Ericsson testified before a Canadian parliament committee last week that the deal wasn't against the nation's best interests.
The Nortel Enterprise business unit is next up with an auction set for September 11th. Avaya has started the bidding, at $475 million.
Nortel's Metro Ethernet business is also still up for grabs. So far, it does not have an auction date listed for its assets.Talk about playing the race card!
Edward Blum, a history professor and religious scholar at San Diego State University and co-author of the forthcoming book The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America, isn’t just playing that card, he’s playing with fire with his potentially incendiary thoughts on the current presidential campaign and race—specifically, the race of Jesus Christ.
Yes, you read that right. Who knew that Jesus' skin color was a hot campaign issue this year?
Well, it is, if subconsciously, insists Blum, who says that while neither President Barack Obama nor former governor Mitt Romney has said anything about whether Jesus was white, black, or any other color, there’s a strong if unspoken intersecting narrative of race and religion that greatly defines this election.
In the 2008 presidential race, the words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's former preacher, about a black Jesus being killed by white Romans, caused a firestorm of controversy and almost destroyed Obama's campaign.
Those hostilities still linger among many white conservative Christians, says Blum. But, he says, there has been little if any questioning in this campaign of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ approach to what Jesus looked like.
"Why did Wright’s jeremiads and visions of a black Jesus so terrify Americans in 2008, and why does the powerful white, blue-eyed imagery of the Jesus of Romney’s Mormon faith arouse no interest?" asks Blum. “Neither one is accurate, but only one has generated outrage or gotten much media attention.”
Most, if not all, scientists and theologians now agree that Jesus was likely neither the black man espoused by Obama's former longtime church nor the tall, blue-eyed white man of Romney’s lifelong church.
Back in 2000, a cover story in Popular Mechanics, of all publications, titled “The Real Face of Jesus,” sought scientific answers to this ancient question. With the help of Israeli and British forensic anthropologists and computer programmers, the magazine concluded that Jesus probably had a broad peasant's face, dark olive skin, short curly hair, and a prominent nose. And, the researchers concluded, he would have been 5-foot-1 and weighed 110 pounds.
Blum says that while most Western people have historically viewed Jesus as white, Mormons were some of the first Americans to claim to have seen him and describe him with light hair and blue eyes. “It has simply been overlooked just how ‘white’ the Mormon Jesus really is,” Blum says.
The color of Christ became an especially contentious issue during the civil rights movement in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. That’s when African-Americans began to challenge the widely held notion in America that Jesus was a white man.
In 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. received a letter to his syndicated “Advice for Living” question-and-answer column in which the writer asked, “Why did God make Jesus white, when the majority of peoples in the world are non-white?”
King replied that Jesus’s skin color was of little or no consequence but said that Jesus "is no less significant because his skin was white," which in other words meant that King was at the time sticking to the public's notion of a white Jesus. King’s response didn't sit well with some of his African American readers. One of them wrote, “I believe, as you do, that skin color shouldn’t be important, but I don’t believe Jesus was white."
During the civil rights movement, Blum says, Mormons, in a symbolic gesture, placed an 11-foot, lily-white statue of Jesus at the center of Salt Lake City. Dubbed Christus, images of the statue can be found to this day in Mormon welcome centers across the nation, Blum says. Here's a 2008 campaign depicting Romney and Christus: http://bit.ly/M7zYao.
Blum says Christus became an even more significant symbol after 1978, when Mormon leadership lifted its ban of blacks from the priesthood.
“The statue was and remains an icon of white supremacy,” says Blum, who cowrote his book with Paul Harvey, a history professor and author.
Blum says Mormons also used new art forms in the 1960s to display a “very white Jesus” in their homes, temples, and welcome centers. “In this way,” Blum says, “they could uphold their connection to whiteness without having to speak it or legislate it."
In 1969, Blum says, John Scott painted his Jesus Christ Visits the Americas, which featured Jesus with blond hair and fair skin, showing his wounded hands to Anglo-looking Native Americans. “This depiction of the white Jesus and his relationship to white Native Americans became very popular,” Blum says. “Mormon leadership had it featured in The Book of Mormon they put in hotel rooms.”
So what does Blum think Obama would say if he were asked if Jesus were black? And what does he think Romney would say if he were asked if Jesus were white?
“I think Obama would say that the United States is too diverse for any one color to be recognized as the color of Christ or God,” he says. “Obama has stressed that the Golden Rule is his main political lesson from Jesus. I rarely hear Romney mention the Golden Rule in his political positions.”
Blum believes Romney would have a harder time with the question of Jesus’ skin color. “The problem with this question would be intense for Romney because God has a body in Mormon theology, just as humans do,” Blum says. “God and his son Jesus are described as white by the Mormon prophets and in the paintings.”TBILISI, Georgia — Attempting to understand Georgian politics is a bit like imagining a therapy session between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
First, Dr. Jekyll speaks about how he single-handedly destroyed the corruption around him, battled crime and is building a modern state. You believe him. He speaks perfect English, is sitting in a brand new air-conditioned office and burns with the energy of youth.
Then Mr. Hyde takes over and spends all his time talking about how Dr. Jekyll is a dictator, how he swept corruption from the streets only to put money into his own pocket and goes to great lengths to ensure that his opponents are left with no voice. He also speaks perfect English, occupies a bustling office in Tbilisi's charming center and rages with the passion of the wronged.
Just like both personalities exist within one man, so both realities exist within one country. Welcome to Georgia: land of contrasts.
“It’s a country undergoing radical change and radical change splits society,” said Shota Utiashvili, the country’s deputy interior minister. He’s sitting inside the ministry’s new headquarters, a long curvy building outside the city center built entirely of glass — a nod, the government says, to its commitment to transparency.
Several weeks earlier, interior ministry officers, wielding tear gas and rubber bullets, had violently dispersed a rally by a marginal opposition group in the center of Tbilisi. The images were violent: fires burning in front of parliament, police cracking pensioners over the head with batons. To many it was yet another sign of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s inability to broker dissent. Even to those who saw the protesters, led by Russia-friendly radical Nino Burjanadze, as provocateurs, the crackdown was harsh.
Utiashvili says an internal review has been ordered. “We can see from the footage that some police used excessive force,” he said. “Those will be punished.”
“But overall I don’t think it was too brutal,” he added, noting that “only” 37 people were hospitalized.
The demonstration, which gathered about 1,000 people, was a far cry from the protests that rocked Georgia in November 2007, when tens of thousands took to the streets against Saakashvili, only to meet police truncheons. To many outsiders, that was the first major sign that Saakashvili, hailed as the West-loving democracy hero of the 2003 Rose Revolution, wouldn't quite live up to that reputation. The war with Russia over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia followed less than one year later. An EU report later found that Georgia sparked the conflict, while also blaming Russia for a disproportionate response. The impulsivity that prompted Saakashvili to take on mind-blowing reforms with breakneck speed had appeared to spill over.
That Saakashvili instituted massive changes can’t be denied. “Georgia was really some kind of a failed state,” said deputy justice minister Giorgi Vashadze, who, at 29, is around the average age of Georgia’s new generation of politicians. “Corruption was a way of life for all our citizens.”
That’s no longer true. Georgia has joined the Baltics as one of the few post-Soviet countries where neither corruption, nor a constant heavy-handed security presence, reigns. Saakashvili’s government famously instituted wide-ranging reforms upon coming to power that involved firing a large chunk of its police and civil service force, as well as lifting state employees’ salaries (with the help of Western aid). It now consistently places near the top of World Bank rankings on qualities like reform and the ease of doing business.
“We created the possibility for the young generation to start working in the government sector with normal salaries,” said Vashadze. “Of course there were people who didn’t like this process. Seven to 10 percent of the population don’t like any reforms.”
That’s not how Tina Khidasheli, the co-head of the opposition Republican party, would put it. “The big problem of this government is two fold,” she said. “They believe they hold the ultimate truth and cannot be challenged. And, while they manage to do very good progressive reforms, they do it in such a way that most of it is discredited.”
Among the opposition’s top complaints are state control of the media, whimsical constitutional changes, and a lack of transparency when it comes to top officials’ wealth and precisely where the money for Saakashvili’s grand building projects comes from. No one knows for sure just how much Saakashvili’s opulent new presidential palace cost to build.
Khidasheli was one of the top supporters of the Rose Revolution, and, trained in the United States as a human rights lawyer, won a couple of cases for Saakashvili back in the day. “He was also crazy when he was an opposition leader,” she said, “but then it was OK — he wasn’t in charge of things.”
There are certain indelible images that have been blazed into people’s minds: Saakashvili filmed while chewing on his tie at the height of the Ossetia war, a fake news report on newly state-acquired media seven months later saying Russia had invaded the country (Saakashvili didn't apologize for the panic that followed, saying, "this report is maximally close to reality and maximally close to what may really happen”).
More disconcerting still is the country’s justice system, which even government officials admit remains woefully unreformed. Vashadze notes proudly that some 24,000 people are now sitting in Georgian jails (versus 6,000 before the Rose Revolution). According to the Supreme Court, around 80 percent of court cases in Georgia last year ended in plea bargains, adding tens of millions of dollars to the country's $3 billion annual budget. Only 0.2 percent of cases end in acquittals, according to the court.
Opposition politicians and analysts speak of politicized arrests — at first, by falsified drug charges, now, through alleged “offense of the public order,” a charge Utiashvili denies as “completely groundless.”
“The entire world is ready to be BS'd by this government,” said Khidasheli. “As long as Saakashvili sends more troops to Afghanistan then it’s OK.” Georgia recently announced it would boost its number of troops in Afghanistan, from about 925 to over 1,600. It also maintains troops in Iraq.
Yet the West’s championing of Saakashvili has been toned down in recent years, particularly since the Obama administration turned its attention to improving relations with Russia.
With the $4.5 billion aid package it received in the wake of the Ossetia war running dry, Georgia has now turned its attention to attracting foreigners and their investments. The government has lowered barriers to opening businesses, boosted tourist infrastructure and made a loud case for its economy, which still faces enormous challenges in terms of unemployment and poverty.
A key test will be the country’s upcoming elections — a 2012 parliamentary vote and a presidential vote set for the year after. There have already been rumblings that Saakashvili will seek to stay on, perhaps “pulling a Putin” and moving to the prime minister’s post while installing a loyal ally as president.
Opposition parties, in the face of limited power and the overwhelming state resources directed towards Saakashvili’s National Movement, are looking skeptically upon electoral reform that could open the system up to more competition.
Government officials clearly have no intention of going anywhere, speaking in terms of five- and eight-year plans to finish the reforms they have begun. They attribute their staying power to, simply, their popularity.
“Georgian society is very pro-Western and very pro-reform,” said Utiashvili. “The ruling party represents their interests.”
He admitted that opposition parties “have no chance to challenge the national movement. If you look at the political spectrum in Georgia, you have one giant and many dwarves.”March 2010
John Wiley & Sons
384 Pages
Paperback
ISBN: 978-0470474242
$55.00
Cryptography Engineering
Design Principles and Practical Applications
A book by Niels Ferguson, Bruce Schneier, and Tadayoshi Kohno
A fully updated version of the bestselling Practical Cryptography.
Learn to build cryptographic protocols that work in the real world
Knowing how a camera works does not make you a great photographer. Knowing what cryptographic designs are and how existing cryptographic protocols work does not give you proficiency in using cryptography. You must learn to think like a cryptographer.
That is what this book will teach you. Dive deeply into specific, concrete cryptographic protocols and learn why certain decisions were made. Recognize the challenges and how to overcome them. With this book, which is suitable for both classroom and self-study, you will learn to use cryptography effectively in real-world systems.
Understand what goes into designing cryptographic protocols
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named general counsel of the Media Coalition, which defends the First Amendment rights of businesses that produce and distribute books, magazines, movies, videos, recordings, and video games. Bamberger is a senior partner in the New York office of the law firm Dentons.
“Michael Bamberger has been a true and steady protector of the First Amendment,” Meskis said in a statement. She called him “a stalwart colleague and wise counselor to booksellers across the nation.”
Insert:Scotland lost 3-2 to Germany
Scotland have dropped nine places to 40th in the latest world rankings following their Euro 2016 qualifying defeats by Georgia and Germany.
Gordon Strachan's side are now behind Northern Ireland, who have moved up six places to 35th.
Wales have moved up one place to a best-ever eighth, with England static, two places behind.
Scotland remain three places above Group D opponents Poland, who have also dropped nine places.
That is despite the Poles following their 3-1 defeat by Germany with an 8-1 hammering of Gibraltar.
Group leaders Germany move up one place, leapfrogging Belgium into second place behind Argentina, who again top the list from world governing body Fifa.
Republic of Ireland, who moved above Scotland into third place in Group D, have slipped three places to 54th despite their wins over Gibraltar and Georgia.
Their win over the Scots helped Georgia move up 37 places to 110th, while bottom-placed Gibraltar are not listed.
Scotland go into their final two European Championship qualifiers - against Poland and Gibraltar - looking for two victories to keep alive their hopes of making the finals.
Norway are the biggest movers in the world's top 50, rising 35 places to 34th.
Meanwhile, Cape Verde Islands have moved up 15 places to 41st - one spot behind the Scots.Roseanne Barr’s return to the top of the ratings was a familiar feeling for the star. But it was also shockingly brief. America in 2018, it turns out, is a very different place to America in 1988. In some ways, at least. In other ways, not much has changed for many blue-collar families, many of whom have been described as President Trump as the “forgotten people.”
The 10th season of “Roseanne” will be its last following Barr’s racist comment on Twitter TWTR, -3.06% directed at Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to Barack Obama. The show-ending controversy in some ways highlights how much has changed — about America and Barr herself alike — since the sitcom first hit the airwaves.
The original series centered on a working-class family living in the fictional town of Lanford, Ill. When the show premiered, Roseanne (played by Roseanne Barr) was a mother of three who worked in a plastics factory. Her husband Dan (John Goodman) made his living as a drywall contractor.
Mortgage interest rates are much better for families today, but income and unemployment levels are not so different. And if she were unemployed today, the Roseanne Conner wouldn’t have a factory job to turn back to. In the show, she worked for Uber.
During its run, “Roseanne” focused on the trials and tribulations faced by families in Middle America — it wasn’t uncommon for episodes to center on having the electricity cut or scrimping to pay a child’s college tuition. “Here was a post-Reaganite economic critique with belly laughs — trickle-down sitcommery,” Ken Tucker, then a television critic for the magazine Entertainment Weekly, wrote in a review of the show’s seventh season.
Three decades after the seminal sitcom, “Roseanne,” first appeared on ABC DIS, -0.08% on Oct. 18, 1988 and became a voice of working-class Americans for a generation, it returned to become the No. 1 show on ABC. The March 27 season premiere was a hit, with 18.2 million viewers tuning in, and the revival’s full run got such good ratings ABC planned a second season.
There is a line — and Roseanne Barr crossed it Tuesday. The network withdrew support for the star with ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey calling her tweet ”abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent” with ABC’s values.
That second season will never happen now, leaving the original cast — Barr, Goodman, Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Michael Fishman (D.J.), Lecy Goranson (Becky) and Laurie Metcalf (Jackie) — and a new generation of actors out in the cold.
A lot has changed in America since 1997 when “Roseanne” aired its final episode. Mortgage interest rates are much better for families today, but income and unemployment levels are not so different, said Heather Boushey, executive director and chief economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank founded by John Podesta, former chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
So what has changed in the U.S. since the show premiered in 1988? MarketWatch breaks it down:
Economically, matters did not improve for the working class over the intervening years — if anything, they’ve gotten worse. These days there’s a good chance that Barr and Goodman’s characters would be out of work or making less money. The median salary for drywall installers (Dan Conner’s profession) fell from $48,000 in 1997 to roughly $41,000 today after adjusting for inflation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As for Roseanne Conner, after leaving the factory and working odd jobs, she eventually opened a “loose meat” sandwich restaurant with her sister and a friend during the fifth season. While the idea that most restaurants close in the first year is a myth, the median lifespan for an eatery is only 4.5 years, according to a 2014 report by researchers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the University of California, Berkeley.
The housing market downturn would have also hit the Conner family hard. Illinois had one of the largest legacy foreclosure inventories in the country at the end of 2016 and home values have not recovered as readily in the Midwest as in other parts of the country.
If she were looking for work today, Roseanne wouldn’t have a factory job to go back to, according to John Russo, the former director of the Center for Working Class Studies at Youngstown State University in Ohio. “She’d be a contingent worker,” said Russo, also a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. “These days there’s a need to have multiple part-time jobs just to make ends meet for many people.” In the show, Roseanne Conner drove a car for Uber.
The housing market downturn certainly would have hit the Conner family hard. Illinois had one of the biggest foreclosure inventories in the country at the end of 2016, according to real estate data company ATTOM Data Solutions, and home values have not recovered as readily in the Midwest as in other parts of the country. In fact, the Indiana property used for exterior shots in the show went up for sale in 2013 at a list price of $129,000, but is now only estimated to be worth $80,374, according to Realtor.com.
The revived series also played to a viewership that has witnessed myriad cultural and political changes in the past few decades. “Many of these communities have been in a major period of transition both economically and demographically,” said Valerie Wilson, director of the program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute.
Besides being groundbreaking for its depiction of class issues, “Roseanne” was heralded for showcasing actors (Barr and Goodman) who were overweight. The New York Times review of the show’s pilot included the following (cringe-inducing) line: “Together Roseanne and Dan are a fetching pair of chubbies who think, with ample justification, that they’re pretty cute.”
While in 1990, no state had an obesity rate equal to or above15%, these days no state has an obesity rate below 20%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While these kinds of harsh attitudes to people who are overweight may or may not have changed since 1988, there’s been far more research into the effects of obesity on health and mortality. And being overweight is no longer as rare as it was in the late 1980s. While in 1990, no state had an obesity rate equal to or above 15%, these days no state has an obesity rate below 20%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Roseanne” also famously discussed LGBT issues at a time when that was still a taboo subject. Marriage equality would not become legal in any U.S. state until six years after the last episode of “Roseanne” aired in 1997. Massachusetts was the first state to introduce marriage for same-sex couples in 2003, followed by Connecticut in 2008, two decades after the first episode of “Roseanne” aired. In June 2015, the Supreme Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage by a 5 to 4 majority as unconstitutional.
This week's @THR cover: Roseanne is back...and she and her team definitely are not afraid of politics in the reboot (or this interview). https://t.co/3KffKYB6tc pic.twitter.com/DkgtGbtqoO — Matthew Belloni (@THRMattBelloni) February 21, 2018
As for politics, the show skewered the conservative rhetoric of its time. In one episode, Roseanne rebuffs a politician who knocks on her door, promising to bring more employers to her town via corporate tax incentives. “So they’re going to dump the unions so they can come here and hire us at scab wages, and for that privilege we get to pay their taxes,” she quips.
As when the show first hit the airwaves, a Republican resides in the White House. But some members of the Conner clan are now far more conservative than the show’s original run.
White, working-class Americans have been credited with President Donald Trump’s electoral success, and the success of the show’s final season. Barr is an avid Trump supporter, and her character was portrayed as such, too. Roseanne’s sister Jackie, however, was shown to be a Clinton supporter who wore a pussy hat to protest Trump’s election.
But some argue that Trump has reneged on the promises he made to blue-collar voters — and that disenchantment could still play out on-screen. The show, as it turns out, focused more on the relationships within the Conner family.
That resentment, it turns out, played out in real life on Twitter.
(This story has been updated.)
Get a daily roundup of the top reads in personal finance delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Personal Finance Daily newsletter. Sign up here.LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Ryan Hunter-Reay stressed during the July 31 Open Test at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course that there was "plenty of time" left in the season to make a run for his second consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series championship.
Following three consecutive finishes out of the top 10 in the No. 1 DHL car for Andretti Autosport, earning the Verizon P1 Award for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio bolstered the Florida resident's statement and outlook.
Hunter-Reay recorded a lap of 1 minute, 05.3519 -- tantalizing close to the track record of 1:05.347 shared by Dario Franchitti (August 1999) and Gil de Ferran (August 2000) -- in the Firestone Fast Six to claim his third pole of the season and first in eight starts at Mid-Ohio.
Click it: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio qualifying results
Will Power, the 2012 pole sitter in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, was.1840 of a second back for his fourth front-row start of the season. Scott Dixon, who has won the past two races at Mid-Ohio and four of the past six, will be on Row 2 with Marco Andretti, who made his first appearance of the season in the Firestone Fast Six. Dixon teammates Charlie Kimball tied his career-best qualifying effort of fifth and Franchitti checked in sixth.
Championship points leader Helio Castroneves, who enters the 90-lap race Aug. 4 (3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network) with a 29-point lead over Dixon, will start 15th in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske car. It's the fourth non-top 10 qualifying result of the season and the first since Milwaukee in mid-June. He finished second in that 250-lap race on the one-mile oval.
“We’re going to try something different because what we were planning on doing tomorrow strategy-wise won’t work with as far back as we will have to start," he said. "Tomorrow will be a long race and I know we’ll be able to make it back up.”
Hunter-Reay, who eclipsed Power's 2012 pole time, is third in the standings (-68 points) with six races remaining. Leaving Mid-Ohio last August, he was second (five points behind Power). Hunter-Reay fell 36 points behind following the race at Sonoma, but reclaimed some points by winning the next race at Baltimore to head into the season finale at Auto Club Speedway 17 points off the lead.
"Last year we clawed back from bigger deficits," he said. "Being late in the season, we need to go like we did last year at the end of the season, which is go for broke. We're not interested in banking results right now and going for second or third in the championship because nobody really remembers who finishes second a couple of years from now.
"We're going for it. Hopefully this is the first step in it. But we have a long way to go, including tomorrow's fight for the win. It’s going to be a long, hard race going up against the Ganassi, Penske boys and my teammates as well."
Dixon has won from the third starting spot at Mid-Ohio in 2009, while his other victories on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course came from first, fourth and sixth.
"We have six races to go; anything can happen," Dixon said. "We're not focusing on Helio; we're just focusing on what we need to do."
Justin Wilson missed the Firestone Fast Six by.0535 of a second in the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America car for Dale Coyne Racing but still earned his best qualifying result of the season.
"It’s going to be about speed, fuel economy, strategy and a little bit of luck, and hopefully we can put it all together,” Wilson said.Two months ago, Real Madrid had won 22 games in a row, they’d recently been crowned Club World Champions, and it seemed like they’d finally solved the inconsistency that plagued last year’s domestic campaign. In short, the defending Champions League winners were the best team in the world. Or, as Sergio Ramos put it: “Real Madrid is God’s team and the world’s. We are living a splendid and unique moment.”
Today, Ramos is hurt. Soon after the calendar flipped to 2015, the streak ended with a 2-1 loss to Valencia. Real Madrid were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by city rivals Atlético Madrid — and then fell victim to a 4-0 pummeling by Diego Simeone’s men a month later. With a 1-1 home draw to Villarreal, followed by a 1-0 away loss to Athletic Bilbao this past weekend, God’s team has finally dropped to second place in the Spanish table, one point behind Barcelona.
With rumors swirling about manager Carlo Ancelotti’s future at the Santiago Bernabéu, the crisis hot potato has been firmly pressed into the capital club’s grasp. As Madrid try to figure out a way to cool off their fingers, it’s time to ask: How the heck did we get here?
Injuries, Always With the Injuries
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
It may take Olympic-level mental gymnastics, but Real Madrid can take some solace in how hard they’ve been hit by the injury bug. As the team gets healthier, things should get better.
With Pepe missing a month due to a rib injury and Ramos only now returning to training after hurting his hamstring in the beginning of February, Madrid’s back line has been a rotating cast of walking wounded. In the midfield, World Cup star James Rodríguez broke his foot in early March and will be out until somewhere in the middle of April. And then there’s the big-daddy casualty of them all, Luka Modric, who hurt his thigh on international duty and has been out of the lineup since the middle of November. The Croatian is scheduled to play half an hour against Schalke today, and hopefully he’ll be back to full strength by the time Madrid’s March 22 showdown with Barcelona rolls around.
Still, this is Real Madrid we’re talking about! Even their backups are better than the starters on 99 percent of the teams in the world. With Modric out, Isco, every Madridista’s favorite Spanish prospect, got the call. When James went down, there were Asier Illarramendi (decidedly not every Madridista’s favorite Spanish prospect) and Sami Khedira, who was last seen starting for Germany at the World Cup. And if that weren’t enough, Madrid went out and bought 22-year-old Brazilian center midfielder Lucas Silva in January. Yet, here we are.
Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the System
Ander Gillenea/AFP
Of course, with a rash of injuries in midfield and defense, the majority of the Madrid criticism has taken the approach of “Let’s all just blame Gareth Bale!” First, it was Bale’s fault that Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t scoring enough, because Bale didn’t pass him the ball. Now, since Bale hasn’t scored or assisted in his last eight games, Ancelotti has been been forced to give the club’s most expensive signing the dreaded vote of confidence while fielding questions as to whether or not the Welshman should be dropped from the starting 11.
What’s happening to Bale, though, is just a result of Madrid’s depleted midfield. Historically, Ancelotti’s biggest strength as a manager has been in figuring out how to get a tremendous amount of attacking talent on the field simultaneously without creating knock-on defensive problems. He’s perhaps best known for his AC Milan teams that somehow managed to get Kaká, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, and Rui Costa on the field at the same time. And he’s done something similar with Madrid, concocting a formula that uses Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, James, Modric, and Toni Kroos. Conventionally, it’s been called a 4-3-3, with the attacking trio of Bale, Benzema, and Cristiano dubbed “the BBC” — but in reality, it’s more complex.
He may have once been one, but Ronaldo isn’t a left winger anymore. He’s a full-blown striker who just likes to start out wide. Now, that creates an imbalance within the side, as you don’t want Ronaldo tracking back and defending — you want him as high up the field as possible, ready to get the ball in space and go. In defense, Madrid need to account for that void on the left side of the field, and they do — but they’d rather not have to.
Without the ball, they drop back into more of a 4-4-2 shape, with Bale forced to do the work of a right midfielder and one of the three center midfielders shifting to the left. The key here is that most teams can’t even force Madrid to a point where they have to drop back into that defensive shape. Real apply so much pressure from so many different directions that they pin teams back and then snuff out counterattacks before they get started. The biggest strengths of the midfield trio of Modric, Kroos, and James are how quickly they facilitate Madrid’s front two becoming a front three and how hard they make it for opponents to tilt the field and force Madrid to fall back into that altered 4-4-2 shape.
When things were going well, Bale was able to link up with Benzema and Ronaldo in the attacking third and launch into the penalty box. Prior to January 1, here’s where he received the ball when the passer was in the final third:
And here’s how it’s looked since:
That’s much less “Gareth Bale, member of the BBC,” and much more “Gareth Bale, right midfielder.”
So has Gareth Bale been poor recently? Yes. Is that entirely his fault? Nope. The danger of building a very specific system is that when your key pieces — Modric and James — go missing, it’s much harder to just plug in the next guy and go, no matter how good he is in a vacuum.
Then there’s the other side of the last-resort 4-4-2, where either James or Isco are asked to operate much differently than Bale. When Madrid has the ball, both of them are deployed as attacking midfielders, the farthest forward of the midfield three. But if an opponent manages to force Madrid to retreat into their defensive shape, even if they don’t actually threaten Madrid’s goal, it puts the midfielders farther away from where they do their most attacking damage.
Finally, the biggest chunk of Madrid’s struggles can be attributed to the absence of Modric. He’s what makes this system tick — but don’t take my word for it.
Ancelotti "Modric's best characteristic for us in penetration with the ball. Howe he can unbalance the opposition team." — Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) March 9, 2015
Modric’s incisive passing — along with his defensive work rate, which, per ESPN Stats & Information, sees him rack up 1.68 interceptions per 90 minutes — is key in pivoting the system from defense to attack and then keeping it on the front foot. Madrid managed to get by in his absence because Isco could pick up some of the slack in his place. But with both James and Modric out, Isco has been forced forward into the hybrid left-side/central attacking midfielder role, and now there’s nobody to play the ball to him and Bale. None of Khedira, Illarramendi, or Silva are that guy, and Kroos, for all his talents, would probably still be at Bayern Munich if initiating attacks were his forte.
The good news for Madrid is that Modric is almost back in the team, and if he’s 100 percent fit, he’s so good that he’ll immediately fix the vast majority of what’s wrong. The bad news is that, at least in La Liga, it may already be too late. The team that spent the first half of the season as presumed champions — while Barcelona struggled to find their footing — will probably now need to go into Camp Nou and walk out with three points if they’re going to win their first La Liga title since 2012. What a difference two months can make.A Case Western Reserve University medical student known for always giving to others now needs the community’s assistance as he recovers from a near-deadly injury suffered during a cancer research fundraiser.
Life Flight had to transport second-year student Brady Tucker to MetroHealth Medical Center Saturday after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding in Cleveland Clinic’s VeloSano Bike to Cure race.
As of Monday evening, Tucker had been released from the intensive care unit and is “on the mend,” according to friend Austin Woolley, a third-year medical student. “Hopes are high, but it is going to be a long recovery.”
An online crowdfunding site has been set up to help pay for his medical bills; other bills also will begin coming in soon, as Tucker and his wife, Rachel, are expecting their first child next month.
Additional funds will go toward the purchase of a new bike for his commute to and from school, as Tucker’s was destroyed in the accident.
Stan Gerson, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center director and a participant in the ride, passed the mangled bike after Tucker had been flown out. It wasn’t until he checked his email later that day that he learned the bike belonged to a young man he’d just met two nights earlier at a VeloSano kickoff event.
“He was bright, cheery-eyed and enthusiastic about being there and to help out the cause,” Gerson said.
Those who know Tucker well describe him similarly.
“You can’t help but like him,” Woolley said of Tucker, noting his “wonderful sense of humor and booming laugh.”
The two friends met at the start of the 2014–15 school year and bonded over their shared alma mater, Brigham Young University, and love of biking. Though in different classes, Tucker and Woolley teamed up to build a bike pump track in South Euclid so children in the area could have an opportunity to be active.
Lynda Montgomery, assistant dean for student affairs and dean of the Blackwell-McKinley Society in the School of Medicine, noted how impressed she was by his commitment to the project—especially amidst the demanding schedule of a first-year medical student who also is married, awaiting the arrival of a baby and active in his community. Almost immediately upon arriving in Cleveland to start at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, he became a Boy Scout troop leader and a Sunday school teacher.
“That, in so many ways, encompasses the kind of person he is: always stepping up,” Montgomery said.
She noted that Tucker takes the same approach to his studies; in preparation for the birth of his child in August, he was planning ahead, letting his peers know what he might miss and how he could contribute in other ways.
“He is extremely conscientious, and well liked by the students,” she said. “Not only does he want to meet his commitments, but he goes above and beyond.”
To make a donation and follow Tucker’s progress, visit crowdrise.com/bradytuckerrecoveryfund.If you're reading this, chances are you have had an opportunity to experience the incredible collaboration between Stone Brewing Company, Cervezería Insurgente and home brewing competition winner Chris Banker, Xocoveza Mocha Stout.
Since its national release on September 8th, 2014, beer enthusiasts and reviewers alike have sung songs of praise for this tribute to the taste of Mexican hot chocolate. Several collaborations of this sort exist within the Stone catalog, but few have captivated the public like Xocoveza. The variety of flavors that spark within a single sip evoke hints of chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg, coffee and chile pepper, delivering and truly phenomenal experience. Less than seven months after its initial release, one finds themselves hard-pressed to locate a single bottle in their local beer stores and bottle shops, while other beers spend time collecting dust around Xocoveza's spot on the shelf. They have grown ravenous at the mere thought of its return.
While the idea of it showing back up on shelves has neither been confirmed nor denied, for these reasons, among a countless list of others, we wish to petition for Stone to continue brewing Xocoveza. It is our hope that with enough support, we will be able to catch Stone's eye and create a future for the one of the most diverse and impressive beers on the market and arguably the best of 2014.
In advance, we greatly appreciate any and all assistance given. Cheers!Hans Zimmer once made it totally clear that he wouldn’t be scoring Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel. He said:
John Williams, the greatest living composer – full stop. And that happens to be one of his greatest themes. So no. And I’m not thinking of rewriting Beethoven’s ninth either. It just sounds like a thankless task, you know? So that’s unequivocally a no.
But now, Variety are reporting that, in something of a u-turn, Zimmer has now signed on to the project. It will be the first of Zack Snyder’s pictures to not be scored by Tyler Bates. It will be the fourth superhero film to be produced by Chris Nolan to be scored by Zimmer. Who’s holding the reins tightest here, I wonder?
I guess the news may be coming out in the open now as tracks are being laid down for the scenes we’ll see at Comic-Con? Or perhaps the timing is just a coincidence.
Snyder intends for his Superman film to completely ignore the cinematic legacy of the character, and start all over. I think it’s a healthy response to some thirty years in the same groove. Perhaps this rip-it-up-and-start-again ethos was part of the appeal for Zimmer. Perhaps he saw some footage and fell in love?
Here’s Zimmer’s thoughts on reinventing the hero theme wheel, from an old NBC interview:
You are allowed to reinvent, but you have to try to be as good or at least as iconic and it has to resonate and it has to become a part of the zeitgeist. That’s the job. On ‘Gladiator‘ I remember people always talking about ‘Spartacus‘ and I kept telling them, ‘When you saw “Spartacus” and how it affected it you, that’s how I want a modern audience to be affected by what we do now.’ So I think ultimately you’re supposed to reinvent.
So I don’t think we should go into Man of Steel expecting the old Dah-Dahdah-Dee-Dah. How about a bit of Braaaaaaaaaaaaaam instead?
(Last Updated )
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None foundCHICAGO — As Kentucky hurtled toward an unprecedented 40-0 record last March while Duke less loudly entered the Final Four, the tournament conversation was dominated by a perceived clash between the programs and between their head coaches — national championship-winning, generational talents who are now both in the basketball Hall of Fame.
Kentucky’s loss to Wisconsin in the national semifinals prevented the Wildcats from facing the Blue Devils, who went on to beat Wisconsin for the title. But on Tuesday night, No. 2 Kentucky (3-0) overwhelmed No. 5 Duke (2-1), 74-63, at United Center in an overdue referendum on the wildly different strategies, merits and even morals of Kentucky’s John Calipari and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.
Except, like the villain and the hero in the action movie, they are not really so different after all. In a landscape where nearly all the most talented high school players are surefire “one-and-dones” — prospects who plan to compete in college for just one year, in keeping with N.B.A. rules that require players to be a year removed from high school — recruiting such players and doing what you can with them for the season you have them is the only way to be a consistent contender.
Krzyzewski and Calipari may possess varied temperaments. Their fan bases may nurse longstanding grudges (Christian Laettner’s last-second shot in the 1992 N.C.A.A. Tournament still stings in Kentucky). But in reality, the coaches and their programs provide about as much of a contrast as their respective shades of blue — which is to say almost none at all.Porting MSBuild to.NET Core
Immo
This post was written by Daniel Plaisted, a software engineer on the.NET Team.
It’s an exciting time for.NET. With.NET Core, we’re moving full speed ahead into an open source, cross-platform world..NET Core provides a framework for your apps that is modern, app-local, cross-platform, and open source all the way down. However,.NET Core brings with it some changes compared to.NET Framework which means there may be some effort involved if you want to port existing.NET Framework code to run on.NET Core.
In our recent Porting to.NET Core post, we discussed what types of code make sense to port to.NET Core, and provided some advice, strategies, and tools for porting code to.NET Core. In this blog post, I’ll share our experience porting MSBuild to.NET Core. You may find this helpful if you are porting code to.NET Core, and it will also serve to highlight areas of the porting experience that are ripe for improvement.
MSBuild is the build engine for.NET and Visual Studio. It is used to build many of our Open Source.NET projects, including corefx (.NET Core Libraries), coreclr (.NET Core Runtime), and Roslyn (.NET Compiler Platform). As open source, cross platform projects, we want to enable people to modify, build, and contribute to these projects without requiring them to use Windows to do so. To support this, we open sourced MSBuild in March of last year, and in September announced that we were working on porting it to run cross platform on top of.NET Core. We’ve now largely completed the work of porting MSBuild to.NET Core, and are working on integrating it into the infrastructure of our OSS repositories.
Strategy
MSBuild was originally open sourced on GitHub in May 2015. Initially it was ported to run on Linux using the Mono runtime, in a separate branch of the repo. This branch was our starting point for the.NET Core port. The plan is to eventually merge these changes back into the master branch and to compile both the.NET Core and full.NET Framework versions of MSBuild from the same source code.
The goal of the.NET Core version of MSBuild is to support building.NET Core projects on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS, without depending on the full.NET Framework or Mono. It is not a goal to be fully compatible with the full.NET Framework version of MSBuild or to build projects that target the desktop.NET Framework, as building such projects can rely on functionality that is not available in.NET Core (for example, the Global Assembly Cache).
Because the.NET Core version of MSBuild would not be fully compatible with the desktop.NET Framework version, but we wanted to be able to eventually merge the codebases, we used conditional compilation in the code where the.NET Core version would differ from the desktop version. We used fine-grained feature flags such as FEATURE_APPDOMAIN for AppDomain support or FEATURE_BINARY_SERIALIZATION. This helps make it clearer why a given portion of the code isn’t enabled for.NET Core than if we had simply used a single compilation constant such as NETCORE. It also means that if some of these features are added to.NET Core, it will be easier to go back and enable the corresponding code for the.NET Core version of MSBuild.
Porting
Tracking Progress
We used the ApiPort tool to find the APIs MSBuild was using that weren’t supported on.NET Core, to help us get an initial idea of what we would need to do to port it to.NET Core and how much work it would be. Subsequently we used ApiPort to track our progress porting.
ApiPort analyzes compiled managed assemblies. So you need to successfully compile your code to analyze it. Since, by definition, we couldn’t compile successfully for.NET Core until the porting was completed, we ran ApiPort on the code compiled for.NET Framework. We didn’t want to change the behavior of the normal.NET Framework build, so we created a new build configuration that targeted.NET Framework but used the same feature flag configuration as.NET Core in order to get a successful compilation result to analyze.
However, we discovered we couldn’t use ApiPort to track how close we were to successfully compiling a project for.NET Core, because once the project was successfully ported to.NET Core, ApiPort would still generally report a portability of below 100%. The main reason for this is that in some cases, we copied APIs from the.NET Framework to the MSBuild code base. These APIs would still be reported as unavailable by ApiPort when analyzing the portability even though we had made them available to our projects by adding the implementations ourselves. Another contributor to this is that ApiPort always detects certain reflection APIs as unsupported (details are in the bug on GitHub). In the table below are the portability scores reported for MSBuild projects with minimal changes to support.NET Core (Initial score) and the scores after the projects have been ported to successfully compile for.NET Core (Final score).
There were two other minor issues with ApiPort: It does not analyze calls to native APIs (via PInvoke), and it reports the portability score based on the number of distinct APIs, not based on the number of usages of an API. So removing a call to an unsupported API that’s only used once in a project will improve the portability score, while removing many calls to an unsupported API won’t affect the score until the last usage of that API is removed.
Although in our case the portability scores reported by ApiPort could be misunderstood, I don’t think it’s necessarily worth trying to make it more “accurate”. There’s no tool that will magically tell you how much work it will be to port something or how long it will take. ApiPort simply reports a metric, and like all metrics it will be more helpful if you understand what it really means.
Building for.NET Core
The first part of porting to.NET Core was to set up the build system so that we could compile the code for.NET Core. At the time, the only out-of-box way to build and run apps on.NET Core was DNX. DNX’s project system doesn’t support a lot of the extensibility and flexibility that MSBuild does, which is part of the reason we are porting MSBuild to.NET Core in the first place. So DNX wasn’t appropriate for us.
Eric St. John provided a proof of concept sample project for a.NET Core console application. Using that as a guide we were able to set up build configurations for the MSBuild projects to compile for.NET Core. Today, tooling for targeting.NET Core is still a work in progress, but if you want to create an MSBuild project that targets.NET Core, you can follow the steps in this guide: Getting Started Writing a.NET Core app and Class Library
Porting Code to.NET Core
Porting code to.NET Core primarily means removing usages of APIs that are not available on.NET Core. I mostly used the error list in Visual Studio as the way of finding code that needed to be updated to remove API usages. Often there was an alternate API that provided the same functionality on.NET Core. Reflection, File I/O, Culture, and Globalization APIs were some of the most common in this category.
Other APIs were not applicable to MSBuild in.NET Core and the usage could be easily removed. XAML integration or resolving assemblies from the Global Assembly Cache are examples of this. In some cases where an API wasn’t available in.NET Core, we copied the implementation for the API from the.NET Framework, added it to the MSBuild code base, and ported it to compile for.NET
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asked if it was a close call, Reynolds responded, “It was closer than most. It was.”
Miller, a former prosecutor herself, said the shooting was not justified.
The DA suggested it was legally justifiable because the officer could've believed he was chasing a carjacker, a violent felon, even if it turned out he wasn't.
© 2019 Cox Media Group.Virtual reality is absolutely everywhere at GDC this year. On the expo floor, a man strapped at the waist to a treadmill-like device runs in place. At the lunch tables, a woman’s jaw drops as she experiences some simulated haranguing of her sensory organs. Everyone is goggled up. Despite being my first time at the Game Developers Conference, I’m inclined to believe that the nigh ubiquitous presence of virtual reality gear is a first for the event.
I was ecstatic just to walk around the world
But even with an excess of hardware, there’s only so much actual content to go around. Most playable things in VR are demos, like the HTC Vive’s Longbow—literally just archery in virtual reality. They’re less about presenting a completely realized experience and more about showing off potential. So when I was first dropped into the world of The Gallery, a complete game played on the HTC Vive, I was knocked off my critical horse.
On a beach in the midst of a starry night, I wandered through the detritus of ships wrecked long ago. I tossed bottles into the ocean, lit roman candles in a bonfire, I held a seashell to my ear and listened to the ocean. It was a demo, yes, but it was also just the first level of a game. The effect of that completed effort towards full-body immersion defeated any cynicism I might have walked in with. Like a toddler who’s just figured out his own agency, I was ecstatic just to walk around the world Cloudhead Games had created, picking stuff up and, on occasion, smashing it.
Though I was caught off guard, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the game is so impressive. Cloudhead Games began development of The Gallery on the Oculus DK1, making it one of the first games designed to be in VR from the ground-up. “The more we tried to use traditional game design wisdom, the more we realized that it just wasn’t going to work,” Mike Wilson, Cloudhead Games’ narrative director, told me after my test-run. After plenty of iterations, they nailed down a user interface based around natural player motions; to put an item in your inventory, players need only to drop it over their shoulder, into their “backpack.”
Wilson pulled me out of the beach after a little while, dropping me into a scene with much bigger and more spectacular set pieces. However, my favorite moment, and the one that most impressed upon me the power of VR, was in a cavern just off of that initial shore. On a weather-beaten wooden table, someone had left a note. I held it up, but couldn’t quite read it in the cave’s gloom. Without thinking, I grabbed a candle and held it in front of the paper, reading by the flickering light. It’s the quieter, subtle scenes that most effectively draw you into a virtual world.
Check out our ongoing coverage of GDC 2016 here.CLOSE Protesters in Palm Springs called for the city to become a sanctuary city. (Jan. 31, 2017) Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun
Republican state senator from Temecula Jeff Stone appeared on The O’Reilly Factor and Fox & Friends this week to share his opposition with proposed California immigration sanctuary bill. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Senator Jeff Stone is on a mission to overturn California’s sanctuary state law – even though it isn’t actually a law yet.
The Republican state senator from Temecula appeared on The O’Reilly Factor and Fox & Friends this week to share his opposition with the bill and to promote his referendum-signature-collecting website, standwithstone.com.
The state Senate passed SB 54 on Monday. In order to become law, the bill needs to be passed by the assembly and signed by the governor.
“I think that the assembly is going to pass it,” Stone told Bill O’Reilly. “(Governor) Jerry Brown probably will sign it and, if he does, I’ve already started authoring a referendum to overturn this law.”
SB 54 would essentially kick Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of county jails by prohibiting law enforcement agencies from using resources, including staff and facilities, for federal immigration enforcement purposes.
The bill would also prohibit local jails from detaining inmates longer than their criminal sentence in order for ICE to interrogate or detain them. Local jails will still be able to transfer immigrants to immigration detention facilities if the federal government has a judicial warrant or if the individual has been convicted of a violent felony such as murder or rape.
Additionally, SB 54 requires jails to give federal law enforcement authorities a 60-day notice of when their felons will be released.
READ MORE: California could become a sanctuary state. Here's what you need to know.
Stone does not think the law goes far enough. The bill protects people convicted of human trafficking, child abuse or assault with a deadly weapon from deportation, he said.
“Basically we are going to be putting these dangerous criminals back into our streets and neighborhoods,” Stone said on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning.
To be clear, immigrants who commit these crimes would still face justice. SB 54 does not prevent the police from arresting people, prosecutors from filing charges, judges from sentencing or jails from detaining anyone.
However, Stone argues that people convicted of serious crimes who have served their sentence will be released from jail instead of being deported and, because there is a high recidivism rate, they are likely to commit more crimes.
There are more than 3 million undocumented immigrants living in California and about 11,000 of them have been convicted of serious and violent felonies, according to state lawmakers.
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The senator appeared on The O’Reilly Factor the same week reports emerged that the host has paid $13 million to settle five sexual harassment claims. Several advertisers have pulled out.
READ MORE: More advertisers quit Bill O'Reilly's top-rated Fox show after sexual harassment report
The appearance, along with the one on Fox & Friends, gave him access to a large audience and a chance to speak about his critique of SB 54. The response has been so great that the “Stand with Stone” website is struggling to handle the volume.
“Our phones have been ringing off the hook, our email servers have been going out,” he said.
Senator Kevin de Leon, the author of the bill, said SB 54 is necessary because President Donald Trump erased previous enforcement priorities through executive action and the state should protect non-violent unauthorized immigrants from deportation.
Buy Photo State Sen. Jeff Stone, pictured Nov. 10, 2015, at Trilogy Glen Ivy in Corona. (Photo: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun)
While the previous stated policy focused on detainment of unauthorized immigrants with criminal backgrounds, current priority is to detain any unauthorized immigrant ICE agents encounter. Supporters of SB 54 believe that new enforcement policies could led to the deportation of innocent unauthorized immigrants who have not been convicted of crimes.
Immigration enforcement authorities, even during the Obama Administration, people who have been arrested but not convicted of any crimes.
A review of the criminal background of the incarcerated immigrants that ICE targets shows that the majority of them have historically been people with "no conviction." Last month, when ICE issued a list of the types of people who they were seeking, more than half of them had been charged but not been convicted of a crime.
Opponents and supporters of the bill both also use economic arguments to bolster their claims.
Opponents point out that President Trump has threatened to cut off federal funding to sanctuary policies and that SB 54 is an invitation for Trump to deliver on that promise.
Supporters say that unauthorized immigrants who contribute millions in state taxes and work in the agriculture and hospitality industries should be protected from deportation because the state cannot afford to lose the tax dollars and labor force to deportation.
Immigration Reporter Gustavo Solis can be reached at 760 778 6443 or by email at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter at @journogoose.
Read or Share this story: http://desert.sn/2oDktj7China on Friday aired its concern over World Uyghur Congress (WUC) leader Dolkun Isa's reported visit to India, saying he is a "terrorist" on Interpol's Red Corner and it is the obligation of all countries to bring him to justice.
India's decision to permit WUC leaders whom China regards as backers of terrorism in its volatile Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province was reported to be in response to Beijing's blocking a ban on Jaish-e Muhammad chief Masood Azhar in the UN.
"I am not aware of the situation," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told PTI in a written response when asked about the reports that WUC leaders including Dolkun were given permission to meet the Dalai Lama later this month.
Also read Masood Azhar issue discussed with China: Ajit Doval
"What I want to point out is that Dolkun is a terrorist in red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is due obligation of relevant countries," Hua said.
Xinjiang, which has over 10 million Uyghur population of Turkik origin Muslims, was on the boil for several years over Uyghur protests against the large-scale settlements of Hans from different part of the country.
Also read China sticks to its guns on blocking India's bid to ban Pathankot mastermind Masood Azhar
China blames East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant Islamist group, for terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and other parts of the country.U-17 MNT
BRADENTON, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2017) – U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team head coach John Hackworth has named a 32-player roster for the 2017 Spring Semester of the U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida.
The 2017 Spring Semester roster features 28 players who were in Residency last fall. Out of those 28 returning players, 14 were members of the roster that claimed the 2016 Nike Friendlies title in early December. The group also includes 29 players currently registered with Development Academy clubs and 30 in all with ties to the Academy.
Incoming players include center backs Ethan Bartlow and Tyler Shaver, midfielder Grayson Barber, and goalkeeper David Ochoa. While new to the Residency program, these players are no strangers to the U-17 MNT.
“These were strategic additions based on what we felt we needed on the depth chart at each position,” Hackworth said. “They’ve earned that invite through their performances in the Development Academy and their opportunities with us last fall. We’re excited to have them and see if they can push for a spot on that qualifying roster.”
Notable departures from the 2016 fall semester roster include midfielders Chris Goslin and Chris Durkin, who were signed by MLS clubs Atlanta United and D.C. United, respectively, as homegrown players.
Hackworth noted that, “Those two players are no longer in Residency because they are trying to make their first teams in preseason. They play in MLS clubs, they're pros and they've made that next step in their career. We'll bring them back in with us for certain events and obviously try to include them in our qualifying roster, but right now, they are onto bigger and better things.”
The U-17 MNT now looks ahead to an eventful year, with the U-17 World Cup qualifying tournament set to take place from April 14-May 8 in Panama. While the main objective of the Residency Program continues to be player development, the emphasis will shift to building a team that is capable of qualifying for the World Cup.
“Our feeling is that we’ve balanced our roster, in particular by adding two quality center backs that can compete for those starting positions and roster spots. This is the group that we want to train and prepare for the base of our qualifying roster.”
Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (4): Alexander Budnik (Sockers FC; Arlington Heights, Ill.), Justin Garces (Kendall SC; Miami, Fla.), Quantrell Jones (Baltimore Celtic; Baltimore, Md.), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake AZ; Casa Grande, AZ.)
DEFENDERS (11): Carlos Asensio (Atlanta United; Roswell, Ga.), Ethan Bartlow (Crossfire Premier; Woodinville, Wash.), Christopher Gloster (New York Red Bulls; Montclair, N.J.), Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting Kansas City; Charlotte, N.C.), Carlo Ritaccio (BW Gottschee; Westbury, N.Y.), James Sands (New York City FC; Rye, N.Y.), Tyler Shaver (Beachside SC; Greenwich, Conn.), Nicholas Slonina (Chicago Fire; Addison, Ill.), Arturo Vasquez (FC Golden State; Mira Loma, Calif.), Chandler Vaughn (D.C. United; Woodbridge, Va.), Tristan Weber (Unattached; San Clemente, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (9): George Acosta (Weston FC; Hollywood, Fla.), Isaac Angking (New England Revolution; Providence, R.I.), Grayson Barber (Sporting Kansas City; Blythewood, S.C.), Taylor Booth (Real Salt Lake AZ; Eden, Utah), Blaine Ferri (Solar Chelsea SC; Southlake, Texas), Marcelo Palomino (Houston Dynamo; Houston, Texas), Indiana Vassilev (IMG Academy; Savannah, Ga.), Adrian Villegas (Portland Timbers; Hood River, Ore.), Akil Watts (IMG Academy; Fort Wayne, Ind.)
FORWARDS (8): Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC; Brampton, Ont.), Matthew Hundley (Real Colorado; Littleton, Colo.), Zyen Jones (Atlanta United; Clarkston, Ga.), Alejandro Pereira (Orlando City SC; Oviedo, Fla.), Bryan Reynolds Jr. (FC Dallas; Little Elm, Texas), William Sands (New York City FC; Rye, N.Y.), Joshua Sargent (Scott Gallagher Missouri; O’Fallen, Mo.), Tonny Temple (IMG Academy; Millville, Pa.)If you criticized Democrat Hillary Clinton, then you’re a “de facto Russian propagandist,” according to Peter Daou, the Clinton sycophant who created Verritt.com, a site Politico said “looks like North Korean agitprop.”
“SIMPLY PUT: If you spread the idea that Hillary Clinton is a horrible monster, you were a de facto Russian propagandist. Congratulations,” he tweeted on Monday.
SIMPLY PUT: If you spread the idea that Hillary Clinton is a horrible monster, you were a de facto Russian propagandist. Congratulations. — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) October 10, 2017
Apparently, Daou must think there’s millions and millions of Russian propagandists in the country.
Never mind that Hillary — besides being the most evil person ever nominated to the White House by a major party — carries more baggage than a freight train can carry. Remember, this is a woman who, for more than 40 years, has lied and schemed her way to the top and is now blaming everything and everyone for her 2016 loss.
A post at Medium by Caitlin Johnstone observes:
Daou, who was charitably referred to as “the weirdest man alive” in a recent article by The Outline, has been propelled into popularity by the establishment machine, and nobody really knows why. He’s failed at everything he’s been involved in, including his remarkably unpopular Clintonist propaganda site Verrit, and the mental vacuity of his online presence often makes it seem like he’s only there to make Kurt Eichenwald look smart. The fact that he keeps failing upward within the Democratic party establishment despite zero qualifications and no discernible redeeming characteristics — even gaining public endorsements of his projects from Her Majesty Hillary Herself — means that he is someone whose words the Democratic establishment wants you to listen to. When he tweets, he is speaking ex cathedra on behalf of the entire Clintonist religion.
“This is important to make clear, because after a year of McCarthyite accusations smearing political opponents as Kremlin agents and Russian propagandists, the Clinton cult has finally had its official spokesperson publicly define exactly what criteria it is using when it affixes these labels to people. Turns out, the official Blue Church definition of a Russian propagandist is literally anyone who has ever had the temerity to speak ill of Hillary Clinton,” she wrote.
Of course, he’s not the only one to call Clinton critics Russian propagandists, as we reported here and here. And let’s not forget, Hillary herself even floated a crazy conspiracy theory that Putin may have been guided by Americans — maybe even Trump.
Johnstone adds:
The new McCarthyism has decimated political discourse in the wake of the presidential elections last year. The fact that there are now millions of Americans who honestly believe that it is perfectly sensible and acceptable to accuse someone of being a Russian propagandist when they don’t agree with your political worldview has made debate with establishment liberals virtually impossible, and has ended up strengthening the walls of everyone’s partisan echo chambers to an often unassailable extent.
These wedge tactics have always benefitted the establishment whose survival depends upon preventing people from coming together and overthrowing the oligarchy. Luckily with this agenda, as with everything, we can always count on Peter Daou to fail.
As one person told Daou:
Nope. #Hillary herself revealed her monstrousness. The rest of us simply discussed it – in good old American English. — Marie von Astra (@marievonastra) October 10, 2017
Bingo. The fact is, Hillary was her own worst enemy. Fortunately, voters didn’t buy her snake oil.
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And if you’re as concerned about online censorship as we are, go here and order this book (Remember, half of what we earn will be donated to Hurricane Harvey relief):Reacting to concerns about the mass collection of photographs in police databases, U.S. lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to limit the use of facial recognition technology by the FBI and other law enforcement organizations.
The FBI and police departments across the country can search a group of databases containing more than 400 million photographs, many of them from the drivers' licenses of people who have never committed a crime. The photos of more than half of U.S adults are contained in a series of FBI and state databases, according to one study released in October.
Law enforcement agencies don't need a court-ordered warrant to search the database, members of the House of Representataties Oversight and Government Reform Committee noted during a hearing Wednesday.
Yet, the facial recognition system spits out false positive results about 15 percent of the time, with inaccuracies higher when police search for African-Americans and other racial minorities, critics said.
False positives could create serious problems for innocent people when FBI agents show up at their homes or workplaces, said Diana Maurer, director of homeland security and justice issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. A GAO report in mid-2016 recommended six steps the FBI can take to improve privacy protections, but the agency has moved to adopt only two of them, Maurer said.
Beyond false positives, widespread scanning of people's faces in public settings raise serious privacy questions, two privacy advocates said.
"Face recognition lets law enforcement recognize someone from far away and in secret," said Alvaro Bedoya, executive director at Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law. "Do you have the right to walk down the street without the government scanning your face?"
There are now few limits on law enforcement use of facial recognition technologies, Bedoya said. Law enforcement use of the technology lacks "meaningful" oversight or proper accuracy testing, added Jennifer Lynch, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The FBI defended its use of facial recognition. The FBI limits its own searches to photographs collected in criminal investigations, and the matching results provide only an investigative tool, not a final determination of a suspect's identity, said Kimberly Del Greco, deputy assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
Facial recognition is a valuable tool in fighting crime, Del Greco added. "Our adversaries and the threats we face are relentless," she said. "The FBI must continue to identify and use new capabilities... to meet the high expectations of the FBI to preserve our nation's freedom."
Concerns about the FBI's use of facial recognition technology came from both Republican and Democratic members of the Oversight Committee. Facial recognition offers many potential benefits, "but just because we can doesn't mean we should," said Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican and committee chairman. "There are opportunities to have it misused or overused."
Lawmakers are working on a bill that would limit law enforcement searches of facial recognition databases, said Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican. During the hearing, lawmakers talked about requiring law enforcement agencies to get a court-ordered warrant to search the databases and possibly allowing U.S. residents who aren't criminal suspects to remove their photos from the databases.Every online conversation about education, every network of professionals has its share of it these days:
The promise of new – of magical improvement due to technology, dressed up as the Redeemer of Broken Education, painted in broad messianic brush strokes.
And in between here and then, a leap of faith.
Facebook is supposed to become a transformative force in education. Twitter will replace traditional teaching. Learning by video will connect synapses effortlessly. Digitizing textbooks will make students more interested in the learning process. And so on and so forth.
The Denial Divide
The only problem, according to technologists is the fact that there are too many schools and too many students who aren’t yet fully connected, geared up to the maximum extent – and therefore the education revolution isn’t here, yet.
But rather than an absence of hard- or software, the real issue is an ever-growing denial regarding real world learning.
And, yes, education start-ups know what they’re doing, in a business sense. They’re building and selling products.
In the end someone has to buy them.
Therefore, the question whether their expensively marketed tools will really help people remains shrouded under the veil of glossy copy-writing.
And, as the NYT reported:
School officials, confronted with a morass of complicated and sometimes conflicting research, often buy products based on personal impressions, marketing hype or faith in technology for its own sake.
The Emperor Has No Clothes
We have two trends here.
The education technology evangelists inflate the importance of technology in learning for either a) marketing purposes or b) an almost messianic belief in polished boxes and code regardless of context
Faced with budget cuts, distracted students and not enough teachers, educators are desperate for change – so much that they are ready to throw caution to the wind and believe almost anything that “technology consultants” and the marketing people of the next big thing from Silicon Valley tell them.
This exploitation of educational issues and the unwillingness and/or impossibility to cause any serious change without major budget increases is problematic enough.
What’s even more problematic are the effects of these trends on the students, the learners, from kindergarten to university to adult students.
Should education serve the needs of students or should students serve the needs of marketing departments and the blind hope of principals and education policy makers?
Part of the Occupy Wall Street Protest is the issue of rising student debt. It has become harder and harder for students to acquire a higher education without sliding deeply into debt in the U.S.
Selling more iPads to schools and aggressively marketing new apps or software will not change the fact that the education system and its general approach as a whole is not adequately tuned to the requirements of our situation, today.
In the current climate around education, it is easy to fall prey to quick and shiny new solutions, both for educators but also for students and their parents.
Here are three ways which can be used as an indicator when evaluating the next “transformative education technology”:
1. Proof, Evidence And The Lack Thereof
Unfortunately, as described in the NYT article quoted above, many of these new technologies aren’t subjected to effective studies before they are deployed in the classroom.
The start-up culture encourages the bending of truth towards customer benefits, even if there is no real proof that their system or software really delivers what it claims to do.
Some firms misrepresent research by cherry-picking results and promote surveys or limited case studies that lack the scientific rigor required by the clearinghouse and other authorities.
The only real evidence would be studies conducted by independent third-party researchers who are impartial to the outcome of their test. Those are rare, unfortunately – And there are so many start-ups and software companies in the education sector that noone could possibly test all of them.
Therefore, 99% of education technology providers force people to buy the pup in a poke.
Again, their marketing copy will not present it like this. They will have concocted their own studies, complete with their own desired results. But there is still a difference between perceived value of a limited case study and actual objective research. Educators should be aware of this, shouldn’t they?
2. Promising The Moon And Delaying Delivery Indefinitely
The second way to identify whether you’re dealing with just another vaporware is to look at the promises its copy makes.
The more outrageous, the more wildly speculative – the higher the likelihood you’re dealing with people who want to succeed very much but might not be able to deliver even an iota of what they promise. (Often this is because IT people and business majors never once worked with learners directly.)
Next, let’s look at the pricing.
If it’s just a $0.99 app for vocabulary drills, ok. But if educators spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on iPads or software licenses for whole schools, one has to marvel at the willingness of people to see time-tested proof where there is only anecdotal evidence and reckless wishful-thinking.
3. The Best Teacher Is Still A Human Being, Not A Machine
This is the point it always boils down to, in the end.
Here’s an example: Everyday I see new technologies that claim to have revolutionary features such as “real-time feedback” and I wonder how we can advertise technology for the fact that it imitates (very rigidly) human core characteristics.
No machine (at least none currently existing) can replace a human being’s real-time feedback system because computers and software lack two absolutely fundamental capacities for dealing with people: empathy and understanding.
And this is where we can ask the question: Is the start-up, advertising or technology consultant offering you a technology which empowers the teacher’s and student’s human capacities or does the app or hardware force students to comply to its way of handling things.
All too often I see headlines on education technology blogs and Twitter time-lines that count the chickens before they’re hatched and jump to conclusions about what will be the next big thing without even bothering about the fact that people aren’t machines and do have particular non-quantifiable needs!
As a rule of thumb I’d say: If a technology promises to get you in touch with people more effectively and then doesn’t intrude on the conversation with pop-ups or esoteric settings, it’s worthwhile to consider.
If it’s just another brain-dead app or clumsily “interactive” video-format, there’s no need to get over-excited.
It’s just a machine. A piece of software devoid of compassion and care.
And in the end we all have to ask ourselves:
Would we rather do an “interactive” physics quiz with our refrigerator, complete with text-to-speech, learning-progress graphs and crowd-sourced recommendations or – have a conversation with someone like Nikola Tesla?
–
3 Simple Ways To Spot The Golden Calf In Education Technology Has this been helpful?This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to a clip from the film Drone of our guest Brandon Bryant talking about his first fatal drone strike.
BRANDON BRYANT: I didn’t really understand what it meant to kill at first. It was horrible. The first time was horrible. The second time was horrible. The third time was numbing. The fourth time was numbing. But, of course, the first time sticks with you the longest.
So we’re looking at this thing, these people, and it was like almost instantaneous that someone was like, “Confirmed weapons. Here’s the nine line. You’re cleared. You’re cleared hot.” And we fire the missile. And the safety observer is counting down. He counts down to zero, and he says, “Splash!”
And I watched this man bleed out. The missile had taken off one of his legs right above the knee. And I watched him bleed out of his femoral artery. And he’s rolling on the ground, and I can—I imagined his last moments.
I didn’t know what to feel. I just knew that I had ended something that I had no right to end. But I swore an oath. I did what I was supposed to do. I followed through with it. It was like my image of myself was cracking and breaking apart. And the safety observer laughs, and he slaps me on the back, and he says, “You should have seen how you jumped when I said, 'Splash.'”
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Brandon Bryant in the film Drone, that’s opening tonight in New York and Toronto. And Brandon Bryant is with us now. Do you know who you killed?
BRANDON BRYANT: No. I killed 13 people with a total of five Hellfire missile shots, and only three of them were actual combatants.
AMY GOODMAN: Who were the others?
BRANDON BRYANT: We don’t know. I don’t know. I would like to know.
AMY GOODMAN: You testified in the German Parliament, and you said also—you’ve testified before the United Nations?
BRANDON BRYANT: Correct.
AMY GOODMAN: That you don’t know if you might be picked up for war crimes, but you’re willing to risk this now.
BRANDON BRYANT: Correct. I think that it’s completely unfair that we helped prosecute German Nazis in World War II who were just following orders, and we can’t put ourselves under that same umbrella. We helped create this current system, the international court system, and we are unable to hold ourselves accountable for our own actions. I think that’s completely unfair to the rest of the world.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And hours after you testified at the German Parliament, military showed up at your family’s house in Montana?
BRANDON BRYANT: Correct.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Could you talk about that?
BRANDON BRYANT: Yeah, they’ve—that was the second time that they had approached me, officially, actually. The first time, I was in Seattle getting healthcare at the VA, and they were like, “Mr. Bryant, this is the FBI. You’re not in trouble.” And then they told me that I was on the ISIS kill list and that I should stop my social media and stop “bragging” on social media, which means that they didn’t even read my social media stuff. And then, right after I testified in front of the Bundestag, the OSI, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, appeared at my mother’s house and told her that she was on this list. And previously, my dog had been attacked twice, as well. And it’s—I believe that these are intimidation tactics. And, you know, my mother is the strongest person that I’ve met, and she told me that she believes in what we’re doing and that I should continue. And there’s no reason that I should not.Carla Valentine, who runs Dead Meet, the dating website for people who work in the "death industry."
If you asked my eight-year-old self what the most romantic film moment in existence was, it'd be any scene with Gomez and Morticia in The Addams Family, disembodied hands down. The weird and miserable sex talk, the death obsession, the graveyard—I still think they're the greatest couple that never existed.
Mortuary regular Carla Valentine is doing her best to make my ideal couple a reality. By day, she works at the Barts Pathology Museum near Smithfield Market in London, helping to restore it by repotting ancient anatomical specimens so that people like me can peer at them through glass. By night, she's doing what the rest of us are doing: dicking around on the internet.
Dead Meet is Carla’s dating and networking website for people who work in the “death industry," which is basically anyone from gravediggers to medical historians to forensics officers to taxidermists. So far, it has 5,000 members. I sat down with Carla to ask her why people in the business of death have such a morbid fascination with one another.
VICE: When and why did you start Dead Meet?
Carla Valentine: I started the site in spring this year, although it had been on my mind since Christmas. I started it because of my own career in the death industry. When I was an anatomical pathology technologist [healthcare science staff who work in hospital mortuaries, assist in postmortems, etc.] one of the first things I was told by my manager was the importance of discretion. He said it was frowned upon to discuss the minutiae of my working day unless it was with someone who could be trusted to keep the secrets of the profession and therefore ensure the dignity and privacy of the patients.
This, of course, makes sense, but there were very few APTs in the UK, and I hadn’t come from a family of undertakers. I just wanted to be able to chat to someone who could really understand me. I wanted more friends in the same profession, not just my co-workers, and perhaps even a partner to talk to in the wee small hours of the night. When asked, “How was your day?” I wanted to be able to say how it really was, safe in the knowledge that uttering sentences not usually uttered by "normal" people wouldn’t send someone packing.
Dead Meet's "about" page
What kind of thing might APTs say when they come home from a bad day?
[Laughs] Well, I can’t be too specific but it could be something to do with decomposition, or it could be something emotionally tough, like the postmortem or funeral of a particularly sad case.
In terms of wanting to meet like-minded people then, do people in the death industry get sick of explaining death to curious non-industry types, or do they just want to talk about it all the time and need someone who’s OK with that?
I can’t speak for everyone, but frequently in my experience, it’s the latter. For example, I was recently at a Morbid Anatomy event at the Wellcome Collection museum. After the event I went for a drink with Morbid Anatomy’s founder, Joanna Ebenstein, and John Troyer from the Centre for Death & Society, as well as my best friend, Lara, who happens to work at the mortuary I used to work at—a cheerful group!
Over a few beers, we enthusiastically spoke of death and related topics all night, and every time we changed the topic, we’d veer back to it again. I’m surprised the people on the table next to us remained there. For me, death is certainly a subject that will come up daily, and I feel it’s important for me to be surrounded by people who are OK with that.
Are there death groupies?
I suppose you could say there are “death groupies," as much as there are groupies for everything else in the world, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone will die—it’s only natural that many people will be curious about the topic and want to know more. And, of course, their support helps various projects I work on become successful, so I’m very thankful for that.
I think it’s more of a problem when people who are groupies begin to tout themselves as experts on social media and via other less stringently regulated avenues. I tweet about mortuary practices and medical education because I teach medical students and I’m still an APT. Even though it’s not full-time, I have both APT qualifications, eight years’ experience, and I'm on a response register for mass disasters.
For that reason I’m wary of dilettantes who don’t have real expertise, academic qualifications, or vocational experience, but are reinventing themselves as authorities on topics like this because death has become popular.
How many members have you got so far?
5,000 on the site.
Jeez! Have you had any problems marketing it?
Yes, I’ve had a couple of problems marketing the site—I’m sure many people think it’s a joke and don’t take it seriously when they see it. At the other end of the scale, I had an article taken down from a website because the board members thought the idea of Dead Meet was too macabre. You can’t please everyone.
I realize there have been huge advances in ensuring careers like those in the mortuary are regulated and are more professional—APTs want to be represented in a certain way. But at the same time, I really think people are afraid to have a sense of humor in this sector due to fears of seeming “insensitive,” particularly after the Alder Hey scandal and subsequent formation of the regulatory body the Human Tissue Authority.
What jobs count as "death industry" jobs that we might not have thought about?
Perhaps nurses? People forget it’s usually the nurses’ job to "lay out" the deceased in hospitals, so as an APT I used to teach about decomposition and viewings on the nurse induction days for new starters. They spend more time with the dead than, say, doctors do.
Are there any reasons why a funeral director would make a better boyfriend or girlfriend than someone who works in administration or writes shit on the internet for a living?
I’m sure that some funeral directors would make great boyfriends because the likelihood is they are fairly strong, able-bodied, and their jobs may have imbued them with a sense of patience or respect. Perhaps embalmers would make better boyfriends because they use cosmetics on the deceased and they’d understand why it takes many women so long to get ready. But at the same time, people are all different and those who work in the death industry don’t all have the same personality—although many of us have a great sense of humor.
So what’s a date with a mortician really like?
Again, it depends which
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. It’s why Valiant’s titles are top sellers at Tomlin’s store and why Island #1 was the best selling book for Klokel’s shop.
“My takeaway from such an unlikely book doing so well is that if you have dedicated staff members that really support a book they love, you can really move it,” said Klokel.
Recommendations can change everything for a title. That’s why King’s shop allows employees to “check out” titles for 24 hours so “they can better understand the products they are recommending.”
“It is a program that we use and it shows in our sales numbers,” she added.
Another lift at shops has been the general boom of graphic novels and trade paperbacks. Hendrick shared, “(Big Bang) was always a very heavy graphic novel store, but the rate of increased sales in the new location surprised even me. And I’m the book buyer here.”
Ed Sherman of Rising Sun Comics in San Diego saw enormous growth in that segment, with graphic novels rising 38% year-to-year.
“Graphic novels have exploded,” he said. “I believe it is due to the treasure trove of creator-owned properties being produced by the smaller publishers with Image leading the way.”
Sherman shared that that Image sold more trades than DC and Marvel combined in 2015, and that brings up an interesting wrinkle to the year: the impact of price. While Image’s $9.99 first volume trades is a boon – Hendrick said, “a huge factor in increased GN sales is Image’s $9.99 price point on (first volumes)” – a common theme from several retailers was how price doesn’t matter if the quality is there.
“Pricing is an issue if the content or value of the book does not keep up with the increasing prices,” said Leivian. “$5.99 for an ‘event’ book like Dark Knight III is expected. It’s printed on nice paper, there’s a media blitz. Slapping $4.99 on a #1 issue that’s printed on fragile paper with a self cover feels crass and diminishing.”
Others echoed that sentiment. It’s effectively the comic book cost/benefit analysis, and mostly, readers buy comics of all prices…if they’re good.
“I see again and again: our customers don’t complain about the cost of their comics; they gripe about the quality,” said Klokel.
DiBernardo is so convinced that price doesn’t matter as much as it used to that he believes “anyone pricing their comic book less than $3.99 is leaving money on the table.”
“When the industry standard became $3.99 and the world stopped complaining about it, it became the time to change your pricing,” he said. “There are so few comics that are $2.99 or $3.50 now it just isn’t a selling point. People are more interested in quality for their money than saving a dollar.”
The last point to emphasize is something both Hendrick and Klokel saw: the value of events and signings. In 2015, community became the biggest focus for Klokel’s shop. It helped Fantom Comics become the only shop I spoke to that performed better in the latter half of the year.
“It did change (referring to performance throughout the year), and definitely for the better, but for internal reasons more than anything relating to the state of the industry,” he said. “We started really hitting our stride mid-summer with our event schedule and it’s been a boon for business.”
Meanwhile, Big Bang’s new space has a beautiful designated area for signings. That was something they took great advantage of. The shop hosted creators like Jason Latour, Ivan Brandon and Jeff Lemire, and because of that, the sales of their respective titles soared. That’s part of the reason Hendrick thinks it’s important for creators to interact with fans and shops.
“I think that creators are more inclined now to work with retailers and do stuff thanks to social media,” he said. “If you use those platforms and cultivate those relationships and give back to your customers by doing events, you’ll get more back in the long term.”
What Isn’t Working
Just like with what’s leading the way for retailers in a positive way, there was significant overlap in what’s hampering shops these days. And it all starts at the top.
“With two major publishers relaunching their whole lines, I can’t point to anything either of them has done to bring in new readers,” said Brower. “It seems they, especially Marvel, just keep marketing to the retailer and existing consumers rather than use the Disney PR machine to bring in new or lapsed readers. Even the Star Wars books, which have been amazing sellers, are only really reaching existing comic readers.”
We’ll start with Marvel, as they were the most often cited headache for shops. It’s not new but the Secret Wars delays and the All-New All-Different relaunch have cannibalized each other to a degree. Beyond that, yet another set of debuts proved to be anything but a plus for most.
“I just think people are easily looking at those number one’s as jumping off points as opposed to jumping on points,” said Hendrick. “I can’t really blame them.”
DiBernardo found that Marvel’s changes just didn’t work at his shop.
“The newest Marvel non-reboot has disappointed tremendously. The delays have cost us sales and fans. The deadlines that are merely suggestions really hurt our industry overall,” he said. “Marvel sales, in store, per issue, are lower than they were pre-Secret Wars. Perhaps consumers are finally sick of the reboots and alternate covers.”
He also cited Marvel’s release strategy as an issue, and used the vaunted Star Wars line as an example.
“If Marvel dropped a Star Wars title every week, fans would come in every week to get the next issue,” he said. “When you have a week that there isn’t a new one, you give them the chance to forget. Skip two and they lose interest in coming back. When you drop three or four in one week, you risk pricing them out of the market.”
Marvel and DC had one major negative in common: a gap in publishing caused by a line-wide event. That hurt more than helped, according to Brower.
“It was such a weird year, with both Marvel and DC ceasing their existing publishing lines for a few months and replacing their whole lines with event-based mini-series,” he said. “So many of the returning books returned at their pre-Secret Wars numbers or below. Almost all of DC’s post-Convergence returns were down from before the event. And new books like Prez and Omega Men that we loved are having a really hard time finding readers. Telos and Titans Hunt were dead from the start.”
It’s not just the books Brower mentioned, though. Hendrick found that outside the Bat line, selling DC books is tough sledding.
“As of now, Wonder Woman is selling just four percent of what Batman sells,” he said. “We’re seeing a decline in their new titles almost immediately and that was a hard trend for us to take. As much as we pushed a book like Omega Men (which is gorgeous, by the way), people just didn’t connect to it.”
“We’ve seen this with quite a few of their books now and I’m hoping whatever new direction they take, the non Bat-family of books will see their sales come back up.”
Tomlin’s been a self-professed DC fan for “decades,” and even he struggled to recommend much from them this year.
“DC dropped the ball this year,” he said. “Convergence was one of the worst ‘events’ ever produced by the company. It was so bad that we immediately started seeing people cancel their DC books.”
“DC is down nearly 30% for us year-over-year.”
Leivian shared that DC’s books started “pretty low” for him, a lot of them “actually picked up readers, which is rare.” While that’s heartening to hear, Sherman may have covered the publishing giant’s status well for most: “DC is in collapse as I write this.”
Many of these problems are exacerbated by something mentioned in our look at DC’s recent problems: the volume of comics being released today.
“In this humble retailer’s opinion, Marvel and DC would be better served significantly decreasing the number of titles they put out and investing that money into the quality of the ones that remain,” said Klokel. If there’s one point from this whole piece everyone would agree to, it might be that. But it isn’t just Marvel and DC.
“The two publishers that have been dominating recently – Image and Kaboom – continue to do so. But there seems to be a sense that the market could get flooded with too many new series,” said Leivian. “I see a lot of Image books do well with the first issue. Readers are always interested to try something new. But then the sales quickly drop off or disappear altogether.”
DiBernardo believes that there are just too many small publishers for the industry to support these days, and that many are hoping for the lottery ticket that is a movie or TV deal rather than long-term success in comics. While he cited Black Mask as a publisher who gets it, he’s firmly in the “too many comics, too many publishers” camp.
On the flipside of the last section, comic prices were mentioned by some as a hindrance. King said, “The industry has started to slip higher and higher prices onto its books during a time that the economy is really not healthy. It makes my job much tougher as people have to drop titles that they cannot afford.”
The most interesting price related points came down to greater industry issues, though. Brower shared that there can be a problem of interpretation by publishers like Marvel who charge exorbitant rates for the occasional single issue like the $9.99 Deadpool wedding issue.
“The problem is, people buy those issues so Marvel gets the message that price isn’t an issue,” he said. “What they don’t understand is the number of other books people don’t buy in order to get that $10 Deadpool.”
Comic book opportunity cost is interesting. It makes sense, as these highly priced comics can hamstring smaller books that might be more creatively fruitful yet have a smaller margin of error.
Meanwhile, Hendrick shared that, “pricing isn’t just an issue for customers; it’s an issue for stores as well.”
“Increased retail prices mean increased cost prices. Marvel rebooting their entire line meant that a lot of stores ended up carrying a lot more debt in that month than they would have normally,” Hendrick said. While he added, “we were lucky we were big enough and responsible enough while ordering all of these that we could carry that relatively okay,” its entirely possible others were not and are in a very bad place today.
The last major negative on the year generated the most passionate response: variant covers. The issue was a multi-faceted one, but across the board, participants believe they’re bad business and not as valuable as they once were. And King knows to fear them as her shop “lived through the problems of the late 80’s and mid 90’s.”
“That era was so very tough to make it through, as comics became more about the fancy variant covers and other gimmicks and less about the interior quality and story,” she said. “It created an unhealthy environment in comics that was only about speculation in the market. People bought lots of product and a lot was produced, but also lots of that product ended up filling warehouses. (It) nearly destroyed the market.”
“I see an alarming trend in the industry now that focuses on the variant. I’m not talking about store variants, although maybe they should be discussed as well,” she continued. “I am talking about the black polybagged, multi-cover, lenticular, and 1:5,000 cover type trend. They inflate the sales numbers at Diamond but don’t necessarily translate to actual sales at the register. This trend wont stop until the shop owners say ‘this far, no further’ and stop ordering for the variants, but ordering for what they can actually sell through in their shops.”
Others are already doing just what King said. DiBernardo said, “for the first time in 15 years, I have stopped playing any publisher’s predatory buying games. Making me purchase Yx1.2 so that I can buy the next pop culture cover has stopped working.”
“The payoff is no longer there. It’s actually been a great lesson for me. Getting out of the short-term speculation market has strengthened our bottom line and allowed us to focus on things beyond comics.”
Variants also put shops in the position to be the bad guy, as Hendrick shared. Many readers don’t realize that to get the option of ordering variants, you have to order significantly more copies than usual. And beyond that, they don’t care, making retailers seem like the people who ruin everyone’s fun.
“A customer doesn’t really care why I can’t get them the cover of that book they want. They just want it, and they might not really want to pay more than cover price for it either. So it’s sort of a win/lose lose/lose thing for a store a lot of the time,” he said. “I came really close this year to just saying from now on no more variants.”
Marvel’s the greatest offender regarding variants, and many are tired of it. When paired with the incessant reboots, shops are put in the position of taking great losses to satisfy customer demands.
“It’s very frustrating when we’re being asked to support a book, and then a year later when it’s rebooted we’re being asked to support it all over again. Only this time to get what our customers want we have to support it more than we did already,” Hendrick said.
Thompson added that the long lead time to the release of heavily marketed variants like Marvel’s Hip Hop covers led to reader interest dissipating by publication date. That’s a major issue for an unreturnable product.
“Now, months later, the fervor has gone and those people who excitedly asked about (the Hip Hop covers) have now forgotten they exist. Which is bad news for us and, in the long term, bad news for Marvel,” he said. “We’ve had to reevaluate our Marvel orders as a whole. While they may have caught us out once, they won’t again.”
The 2016 Outlook
All of what has preceded is why 2016 will be such a fascinating year. Just as retailers are rethinking their positions on Marvel and DC’s product lines, they’re faced with a greater selection of good comics for a more diverse readership than ever before. That’s not to say anyone will abandon Marvel and DC. But we may see contraction at the top and expansion at the bottom because of these moves.
That contraction could come in the ranks of retailers as well, as Thompson noted. He fears for other shops because of recent moves by the companies at the top.
“This is not the kind of relationship publishers and retailers should be cultivating. We’re in it together, not at each other’s expense,” he said. “Sadly this lackluster performance has meant that a number of stores face closure in the new year, which is not how it should be in this new Golden Age of Comics.”
Tomlin also has concerns, and he believes 2016 could be a “nexus year for the industry.”
“Many things are changing and I feel this year will tell the direction of the industry for years to come,” he said. “We are cautiously hopeful. We would like to see the publishers embrace (comic shops) and be supportive (Valiant and Scholastic get this!) and find creative ways to drive business to us and thus back to them. (Shops) – including us – need to reinvent ourselves to retain relevance in this new era of comic readers. So do publishers and distributors. This could be a huge year.
“But I also feel like this could be a year like 1995 when we saw a lot of shops close.”
Overall, retailers are expecting a year of change, and one just as unpredictable as 2015. But many hope that good things could be on the horizon.
“All in all I am rather optimistic about 2016. The challenge is to get people to read more creator-owned monthlies from other publishers. Their trades are already flying off the shelves,” said Sherman. “That is where I will be focusing my time and energy in 2016!”
King’s feeling positive, citing the growth of independent comics and the support of comic shops by those publishers as major plusses for them in 2016.
“Some standouts in this regard are Valiant – who send free reading copies for our staff and branded bags and other promotional material whenever we ask – and Double Take – who overnight product we need and send lots of great signage,” she said. “All of the independents really make themselves available to talk via phone and listen to our thoughts. For us, this is the year of the independent.”
“If we all do our parts, that will translate into new readers and customers,” she added. “I love what I do and look forward with excitement for what’s coming next for our industry.”
Brower’s one of the most realistic guys I’ve spoken to in the industry, and he sees a lot to be happy about when he looks at 2016.
“We’re feeling pretty optimistic over here in Chicago. Sales are decent. New people are finding the shop every day (existing readers, not brand new readers, but we’ll take it),” he said, before mentioning refinements to Challengers that could help out in a big way. “For us personally, we just upgraded our point-of-sale system and we’ve streamlined out ordering process so it’s faster than ever. We’re chip-card compliant for credit cards and can accept Apple Pay. I know none of that really sounds exciting, especially when talking about comics, but having all those things in line gives us the opportunity to focus more on comics.”
To close, I wanted to highlight Big Bang Comics. They’ve become a known quantity in the industry amongst creators, and its because of the thoughtful work people like Hendrick do. While 2015 was already a big year, they hope to see even more from their business as they implement some of the ideas they’ve brewed up since their move.
“As for the industry, I hope we have a better year than 2015. I think there’s an undercurrent of change within the industry and I think that’s something that’s coming from all sides, from the creators and retailers to some of the publishers. I think you can feel it in the bar on a Friday night at a show when everyone’s talking,” he said. “Comics are going to be fun and exciting, but at the end of the day it’s a business and we’ll keep treating it like that.”
“It’s just a fun business.”
Here’s hoping the fun keeps on rolling as we move further into 2016.
Thanks to Patrick Brower, Ralph DiBernardo, John Hendrick, Jen King, Matthew Klokel, Jason Leivian, Ed Sherman, Chris Thompson and Scott Tomlin for their input. Header image of Big Bang Comics in Dublin, Ireland. Come back tomorrow as Off Panel welcomes Comix Experience’s Brian Hibbs to the show.Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus IV: Organ Systems
Ronald A. Bergman, PhD
Adel K. Afifi, MD, MS
Ryosuke Miyauchi, MD
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed
Vagina duplex from Golay,, 1875.
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URL: http://www.anatomyatlases.org/I’m not enjoying admitting this, but today is the day I will always remember as the day I found myself agreeing with Richard Littlejohn.
I didn’t mean for it to happen. I was just doing some research for this piece and I saw a link to a Littlejohn column about the subject I was researching that was described as “truly disgusting”. As I read Littlejohn’s words, I can’t say I was disgusted at all. In fact, all I could think was, “Yeah, this is pretty much what I think.”
Maybe I’m not well. Or maybe Littlejohn is actually making a good point for a change.
See, when the news emerged a few days ago that Greater Manchester Police was to begin registering crimes perpetrated against goths, emos, punks and metalheads as ‘hate crimes’, I didn’t feel that this was a victory to be celebrated. I actually felt a little bit embarrassed. Not to mention confused.
I don’t think I’m the only one who’s confused either. I’ve actually tried to find someone, somewhere giving clear, specific reasons why this change in policy is actually a good thing, and exactly what positive effect it is expected to have. I couldn’t find any such thing anywhere. Even the policeman who made the announcement is unable to clearly identify its purpose…
He says that people don’t deserve to be victimised because of how they look. This is, of course, true. But he doesn’t actually make it at all clear how this change in policy will make such victimisation any less likely to occur. Why not, I wonder. Probably because it won’t.
This isn’t an exercise in crime prevention, it’s an exercise in public relations. What GMP are essentially saying is, “We’re not going to be dismissive of people reporting crimes just because they look a bit funny. And here’s a vague sort of change in policy to lend a bit of weight to this promise…”
And don’t get me wrong, it’s good that the police are showing a willingness to take members of the public seriously regardless of what music they listen to or what kind of clothes they wear. And it’s a good thing that the police are recognising that membership of a subculture can make someone a bit of a target for certain types of crime.
What worries me though is that this move is being celebrated as a step towards the stated aim of S.O.P.H.I.E., the foundation set up by Sylvia Lancaster, the mother of Sophie Lancaster, a 20-year old goth who was kicked to death by a gang of teenagers in 2007. That stated aim is to bring about a change in UK law that would classify crimes motivated by hostility towards ‘alternative’ subcultural groups as ‘hate crimes’.
Under current UK law, certain crimes can carry heavier sentences if there is sufficient evidence to prove that they were motivated by a hostility towards the victim’s race, religion, sexuality, disability or transgenderism. S.O.P.H.I.E. and its supporters want this law to extend to the victim’s membership of ‘alternative’ subcultures such as goth, emo, punk and heavy metal.
This seems to me to be a unrealistic and really rather misguided aim. The whole S.O.P.H.I.E. campaign hasn’t been terribly well thought out. It makes me cringe to think what the acronym actually stands for, for starters – Stamp Out Prejudice, Hate and Intolerance Everywhere. Stamp out? Really? Did nobody question that at any point?
But why would S.O.P.H.I.E. be well thought out? Grieving parents aren’t known for their capacity to think straight. No, they’re known for their need to do something, anything, to give the awful tragedy they’ve endured some kind of positive meaning. And that’s what Sylvia Lancaster is doing. I wouldn’t want to stop her doing it either, but I might want to refocus her a bit. I’d urge her and her supporters to try and separate reason from emotion a little more.
S.O.P.H.I.E. should set its sights on a more attainable goal. The fact is that ‘hate crime’ law will never be applied to alternative subcultures, because if plebs like myself and Richard Littlejohn can spot the flaws in the idea, then you can be pretty sure that actual qualified lawmakers will be able to too.
So, what are the flaws? Well, personally I find the very concept of ‘hate crime’ pretty questionable anyway. Sure, motive should be taken into account when sentencing for any crime, but it’s often a complex, unclear, multi-layered thing. ‘Hate crime’ legislation seems to treat it as a much simpler matter than it really is, and also carries the worrying implication that hate itself should be regarded as some sort of crime. Hate’s an ugly thing, but it’s an emotion, and singling out an emotion to be ‘stamped out’ or legislated against is something that would happen in an Orwellian dystopia, so let’s not encourage it in the real world, eh?
But even if, for the sake of argument, I accept the concept of ‘hate crime’, I can’t accept the idea that prejudice against, for example, a goth, should be regarded under law as equal to prejudice against, for example, a black person. It’s an idea that embarrasses me, I think, because it seems quite popular among the ‘alternative’ subculture with which I myself identify, heavy metal.
Metal Hammer magazine ran a poll on its web site asking, “Should metalheads, punks and emos be protected by hatecrime legislation?” and 76% of respondents answered “Yes”. I think I’m writing this blog to distance myself from that apparent consensus. Guys, we do take a bit of stick from people sometimes, I know. And yes, sometimes that ‘stick’ turns violent and even, very, very occasionally, deadly. But if you actually think that it’s comparable to racial abuse then that just goes to show how sheltered, and therefore lucky, you really are.
Remember, this skin colour is a choice…
…but this one is not.
What’s needed here is some perspective. But I’m not the best person to provide it. I’m pretty lucky. I have long hair and I wear black clothes with pictures of monsters on, but my appearance isn’t all that alternative – no piercings, tattoos, hair dye or make-up for me. I’m also quite a big guy – not strong or muscular, but tall – and I tend to handle potentially violent confrontations quite well i.e. I don’t show fear, so I don’t get attacked. For these reasons – as well as a bit of luck, I guess – I’ve never been subjected to physical abuse for being a metalhead. In fact, the last person to physically assault me was another metalhead.
I also don’t fit into any of the vulnerable minority groups that existing ‘hate crime’ is intended to protect, so I don’t know what that’s like either. What I needed here was someone who belongs to an alternative subculture and one of the ‘proper’ vulnerable groups, so I contacted my friend Peter, a disabled metalhead.
I sent Peter this link and asked him what he thought.
“lol” was his reply.
Then I asked him if, as a disabled metal fan, he thought the law should recognise both of those aspects of his identity as equal ‘vulnerabilities’,
“lol, no
i don’t think being a metal fan makes you vulnerable”
I have nothing more to add.
AdvertisementsRobben and his Netherlands teammates are close to Euro 2016 elimination.
Netherlands captain Arjen Robben will miss his country's crucial final two Euro 2016 qualifiers after failing to make a sufficient recovery from a groin injury.
Robben suffered the injury in Netherlands' 1-0 defeat to Iceland last month and has not played since.
On Friday, under-pressure coach Danny Blind called up 20-year-old Ajax winger Anwar El Ghazi as a possible replacement on the right flank.
Iceland and Czech Republic have already qualified from Group A, with Netherlands two points adrift of third-placed Turkey in the fight for a playoff spot after a disastrous qualifying campaign.
Blind is also without defenders Stefan de Vrij and long-term absentee Ron Vlaar.
The Dutch travel to Astana to play Kazakhstan on Oct. 10 and take on Czech Republic in Amsterdam three days later.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Jasper Cillessen (Ajax), Tim Krul (Newcastle), Jeroen Zoet (PSV Eindhoven).
Defenders: Jeffrey Bruma (PSV), Terence Kongolo (Feyenoord), Virgil van Dijk (Southampton), Daryl Janmaat (Newcastle), Jairo Riedewald (Ajax), Kenny Tete (Ajax), Karim Rekik (Marseille).
Midfielders: Vurnon Anita (Newcastle), Daley Blind (Manchester United), Davy Klaassen (Ajax), Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray), Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle), Ibrahim Afellay (Stoke).
Forwards: Memphis Depay (Manchester United), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke), Robin van Persie (Fenerbahce), Quincy Promes (Spartak Moscow), Jeremain Lens (Sunderland), Anwar El-Ghazi (Ajax) Bas Dost (Wolfsburg).Update: The giveaway has now closed and the winner has been notified via email. Thank you so much to everyone who entered! Keep an eye out though, because I’m already planning the next giveaway, which will probably start sometime in the next few weeks or so.
I’ve been wanting to do a giveaway ever since I first started this little blog, and I sort of felt like I should time it with some kind of milestone like my 100th post or gazillionth page view or something. But you know what? I kinda just want to give away some free stuff, and the fact that it’s Friday is a good enough excuse for me. So there.
This is my first giveaway, so I thought I’d start out with something small. I took full advantage of my free Rouge shipping and quadruple points this week, so that seemed like a perfect opportunity to put together a nice little goody bag for some lucky winner. Promo codes + points perks = a bunch of cool stuff. By the way, Sephora isn’t affiliated with this giveaway or this blog in any way. One lucky winner will get alllll dis:
To enter, just use the entry form below – you get one chance to win by entering the contest, and additional entries when your friends enter by clicking your custom link. The giveaway will close on August 31 at 11:59PM Eastern and a winner will be picked on September 1. Good luck!
[contesthopper contest=”793″]Titus Young, here in a 2013 booking photo, has received five years probation and ordered to spend a year at a mental health facility stemming from an assault and battery case. (Photo: Associated Press)
Former Lions receiver Titus Young has been charged after a street fight in Los Angeles where a man seriously injured, according to TMZ.
Young, 26, was charged with felony battery with serious bodily injury, which carries up to four years in prison, in connection with the Jan. 30 incident. Due to his prior convictions, though, Young could face an additional five years if convicted.
Last May, he was sentenced to five years probation after pleading no contest to felony battery in a July 2014 altercation. He was arrested three times in one week in May 2013, including for suspected operating a vehicle under the influence and later trying to remove his vehicle from tow yard.
He was released by the Lions in 2012. He was drafted in the second round, with the No. 44 pick overall, out of Boise State. He had 81 catches for 990 yards and 10 touchdowns in 26 games for the Lions.Every beachgoer has seen them, avoided them in fear, and dismissed them as a nuisance. But what we unaware humans fail to realize is that these creatures are more incredible than we ever could have imagined. No form of manmade art can compare to the intricate, complex, and vibrant patterns seen in these portraits. These species are more ‘supranatural’ than we realize, and when viewed at a 1:1 ratio and mirrored, we finally can see how closely related they are to the universe around us. They are called zooids, a colonial animal that can only survive when connected with other zooids of a different nature.These particular zooids, captured by fine-art macro photographer, Aaron Ansarov, are part of a series of four unique zooids called the dactylozooids (the hunters), gastrozooids (the eaters), gonozooids (the reproducers), and the pneumatophores (the sailors). Each has its individual personality, but collectively exist as a single being with a shared goal of survival. Together, they are more commonly known as the Portuguese Man o’ War.Not much is known about these creatures, other than the fact that they are responsible each year for more than 10,000 documented stings worldwide. But now, for the first time ever, Aaron Ansarov has put faces to these hidden creatures. As if looking through a special lens into a different dimension, Aaron has given them personalities that seems to shift with every viewer. Through Aaron’s masterful use of light, technique, and ability to go beyond the obvious, we are able to see patterns come together to create a fine-art collection of images entitled, Zooids: Faces of Tiny Warriors—beautiful creatures seeking their place in the world.
Every beachgoer has seen them, avoided them in fear, and dismissed them as a nuisance. But what we unaware humans fail to realize is that these creatures are more incredible than we ever could have imagined. No form of manmade art can compare to the intricate, complex, and vibrant patterns seen in these portraits. These species are more ‘supranatural’ than we realize, and when viewed at a 1:1 ratio and mirrored, we finally can see how closely related they are to the universe around us. They are called zooids, a colonial animal that can only survive when connected with other zooids of a different nature.These particular zooids, captured by fine-art macro photographer, Aaron Ansarov, are part of a series of four unique zooids called the dactylozooids (the hunters), gastrozooids (the eaters), gonozooids (the reproducers), and the pneumatophores (the sailors). Each has its individual personality, but collectively exist as a single being with a shared goal of survival. Together, they are more commonly known as the Portuguese Man o’ War.Not much is known about these creatures, other than the fact that they are responsible each year for more than 10,000 documented stings worldwide. But now, for the first time ever, Aaron Ansarov has put faces to these hidden creatures. As if looking through a special lens into a different dimension, Aaron has given them personalities that seems to shift with every viewer. Through Aaron’s masterful use of light, technique, and ability to go beyond the obvious, we are able to see patterns come together to create a fine-art collection of images entitled, Zooids: Faces of Tiny Warriors—beautiful creatures seeking their place in the world.
Every beachgoer has seen them, avoided them in fear, and dismissed them as a nuisance. But what we unaware humans fail to realize is that these creatures are more incredible than we ever could have imagined. No form of manmade art can compare to the intricate, complex, and vibrant patterns seen in these portraits. These species are more ‘supranatural’ than we realize, and when viewed at a 1:1 ratio and mirrored, we finally can see how closely related they are to the universe around us. They are called zooids, a colonial animal that can only survive when connected with other zooids of a different nature.These particular zooids, captured by fine-art macro photographer, Aaron Ansarov, are part of a series of four unique zooids called the dactylozooids (the hunters), gastrozooids (the eaters), gonozooids (the reproducers), and the pneumatophores (the sailors). Each has its individual personality, but collectively exist as a single being with a shared goal of survival. Together, they are more commonly known as the Portuguese Man o’ War.Not much is known about these creatures, other than the fact that they are responsible each year for more than 10,000 documented stings worldwide. But now, for the first time ever, Aaron Ansarov has put faces to these hidden creatures. As if looking through a special lens into a different dimension, Aaron has given them personalities that seems to shift with every viewer. Through Aaron’s masterful use of light, technique, and ability to go beyond the obvious, we are able to see patterns come together to create a fine-art collection of images entitled, Zooids: Faces of Tiny Warriors—beautiful creatures seeking their place in the world.
Every beachgoer has seen them, avoided them in fear, and dismissed them as a nuisance. But what we unaware humans fail to realize is that these creatures are more incredible than we ever could have imagined. No form of manmade art can compare to the intricate, complex, and vibrant patterns seen in these portraits. These species are more ‘supranatural’ than we realize, and when viewed at a 1:1 ratio and mirrored, we finally can see how closely related they are to the universe around us. They are called zooids, a colonial animal that can only survive when connected with other zooids of a different nature.These particular zooids, captured by fine-art macro photographer, Aaron Ansarov, are part of a series of four unique zooids called the dactylozooids (the hunters), gastrozooids (the eaters), gonozooids (the reproducers), and the pneumatophores (the sailors). Each has its individual personality, but collectively exist as a single being with a shared goal of survival. Together, they are more commonly known as the Portuguese Man o’ War.Not much is known about these creatures, other than the fact that they are responsible each year for more than 10,000 documented stings worldwide. But now, for the first time ever, Aaron Ansarov has put faces to these hidden creatures. As if looking through a special lens into a different dimension, Aaron has given them personalities that seems to shift with every viewer. Through Aaron’s masterful use of light, technique, and ability to go beyond the obvious, we are able to see patterns come together to create a fine-art collection of images entitled, Zooids: Faces of Tiny Warriors—beautiful creatures seeking their place in the world.
Every beachgoer has seen them, avoided them in fear, and dismissed them as a nuisance. But what we unaware humans fail to realize is that these creatures are more incredible than we ever could have imagined. No form of manmade
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reading for some foreign correspondents.
The Syrian Golan Heights (as the UN refers to the region) was recognized as Syrian sovereign territory by an Armistice Agreement signed between Israel and Syria under UN auspices in 1949. Because of its rich volcanic soils and water resources, the Golan has long been coveted by Zionists. Attempts were made starting in 1891 to buy land there, and Zionist President Chaim Weizmann wrote to British Prime Minister Lloyd George in 1919 expressing designs for the region to form part of the Jewish National Home in Palestine. (Dr Weizmann wrote to oppose the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 by which Britain and France had agreed the carve up of the Ottoman Empire after the World War I. These imperial designs interfered with Zionist schemes for the Levant.)
Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter requires the respect of every state’s territorial integrity. Newly admitted to the UN in 1949, Israel began almost immediately to encroach beyond its boundaries as agreed under the 1949 Armistice. Fortifications were built in the UN-administered demilitarized zone, while illegally deployed Israeli soldiers obstructed UN observers and even threatened to kill them on one occasion. Arab residents of the area were evicted and their homes looted and destroyed. The UN Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution in May 1951 demanding that Israel allow the residents to return. Other resolutions against Israeli violations of international law followed in 1953, 1956 and 1962, all to no avail.
Prior to the 1967 invasion there were many clashes between Syrian and Israel forces. The former Israeli defence minister, Moshe Dayan, later opined that more 80 per cent of these clashes were deliberately provoked by Israel, explaining that kibbutzim covetous of Syrian land had pressed the Israeli government to invade the Golan Heights. Another Israeli, Mattityahu Peled, who served as a member of the General Staff during the 1967 war, also stated in a newspaper interview that all the incidents were Israeli initiated.
At the time of the invasion during the 1967 war there were 137,000 Arab residents in the area that was occupied. Following the attack, 130,000 of them were expelled from their homes in two cities, 130 villages and 112 farms, all of which were destroyed. (The Golan capital of Quneitra had been a city with 25,000 population. When liberated by Syrian armour in 1973, troops discovered all the buildings destroyed or uninhabitable. This included houses, shops, mosques and the hospital.)
UNSC Resolution 242 of 1967 requiring “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” was ignored by Israel. On 14 December 1981 the Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law, which extended Israeli laws to occupied Syrian areas. The UN Security Council responded to this breach of customary international law by passing Resolution 497 declaring the Israeli legislation “null and void and without international legal effect”. The resolution demanded that the legislation be rescinded. No other country has recognized this de facto annexation, but Israel made no attempt to comply with its legal obligations.
However, the remaining local population had no intention of being absorbed into the occupying state. Following the invasion some 7,000 residents occupying six villages in the north of the Golan were permitted to stay. This was part of a divide-and-rule policy by Israel. The Arab residents of the villages are mostly of the Druze religious community and the rulers of the Zionist state have been trying to develop a Druze buffer zone subservient to Israel in the border region between Lebanon and Syria. These people were required by Israel’s rogue legislation to give up their Syrian citizenship and adopt that of Israel. A six-month general strike followed, and most of the new Israeli identity cards were publicly burned. The Israeli government eventually gave way to the protests and most of the residents still retain their Syrian nationality. Israeli attempts to eliminate the Arab national identity have also been opposed. Indoctrination by unqualified teachers instructing the Hebrew language, Israeli literature and Israel’s version of history is still strongly resisted within this community.
The long-standing Zionist greed for the Golan has been realized through the establishment of 33 settlements in the region, and a programme is ongoing to extend this process of colonization (in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention). Only these settlements are allowed to irrigate their crops, giving the colonizers a major competitive advantage over the Arab farmers. Israel also extracts more than its fair share of water from the Jordan River System. Studies published in 2006 indicate that while Israeli territory contributed 11.4 per cent of the total water to the system, the Israeli state extracted 50 per cent of the total. (Syria contributed 31 per cent and extracted 18.5 per cent. Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon all extracted less than their contributions.) The study found Israeli abstraction to be inequitable and unreasonable, and in contravention of international water law.
Within Israel it is generally held as an article of faith that holding the Golan is a guarantee of Israeli security. It is true that in both the wars of 1967 and 1973 the Golan was conquered by armour. Yet this does not take account of modern warfare methods. During the war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006 Merkava tanks were destroyed by Lebanese missiles. (In 2004 the then Israeli chief of staff said in a newspaper interview that the Israeli army would be able to defend any border. Israeli air power, after all, is omnipotent in the region and can inflict serious damage.)
Unrest at the boundaries of Israeli-occupied territory may well serve a Syrian government under pressure for regime change. But the roots of this unrest are long-standing genuine grievances against the expansionist and tyrannical policies of the Israeli state. Western media sources seldom comment or reflect this reality, nor do they seem to be aware of the legality of the occupation and its artificial boundaries. In so doing they render a disservice to the victims of criminality, while failing to uphold the highest standards of professional journalism.
Much of the data for this article are derived from papers presented to the London International Conference on the Golan in 2007.Say “Saint Martin” to any nudist or frequent Caribbean traveler and you’ll immediately hear about the most well-known and popular clothing optional beach in the islands: Orient Beach. It has it all. Beautiful sand. Easy surf. Lots of dining, drinking and lounging opportunities. It also has lots of people on it and to the couple trying nude sunbathing for the first time a crowd can be intimidating.
For many nude beach newcomers, Orient Beach is often their first experience. This is probably because of Saint Martin’s French influences (it’s half Dutch and half French) and as a popular cruise ship destination. In reality, while the entire beach is topless, the south end of the beach next to Club Orient is the only nude/clothing optional part of the beach. You can’t miss it. The yellow umbrellas and historic sign greet most visitors before they see their first naked bottom or boob. By the time you’ve walked the beach to Club Orient’s Papagayo restaurant, you’ll have seen what a nude beach like Orient is all about. Couples and families of all ages talking, sleeping, eating, drinking, swimming, and all naked as the day they were born. It’s relaxing and fun.
To the couple ready to drop the swim suit or bikini bottoms and try nude recreation, Orient Beach is a wonderful place to try it. Simply put, you won’t stand out. You’ll be lost in a sea of nakedness. Tan bodies really do seem to blend together when there aren’t any tanlines or bold swim suit colors to make your body stand out. You’ll also have access to liquid courage with lots of bars on the beach and numerous lunch/snack locations.
My wife and I first traveled to Saint Martin nearly 15 years ago and we spent most of our time naked at Orient Beach. It really was wonderful to enjoy our naked time together without the concern of offending anyone or being part of someone’s holiday photo collection. And while I’d recommend to any couple headed to Saint Martin for the first time to try spending the day nude together at Orient Beach, there are several other less crowded and unbelievably beautiful clothing optional beaches on the island to visit too.
If this is your first time reading our blog, my wife and I have been going on nude vacations for nearly 20 years. What started as a, “Do you want to try it” discussion when we were dating has turned into many great memories visiting beautiful beaches and resorts around the Caribbean, Pacific and U.S. The purpose of our blog is to provide information to other couples interested in trying nude recreation. It has been a wonderful connection point for my wife and me. It is intimate but not in a sexual way. Sexual touching and intimacy are not appropriate at the nude beaches and resorts we attend. That’s better for time spent together in the privacy of your own room.
I often say how do you make a beautiful beach or resort better… make it clothing optional and then you truly are relaxed. We’ve also met many wonderful couples through our travels. Many who are friends of ours today. Our nude vacations are our little secrets and Petite Cayes is one of those quiet, secret beaches that most people will never see but to me, capture all that is wonderful about experiencing a nude beach with your spouse and friends.
So how do you get to one of the most beautiful beaches on Saint Martin? Park next to the trash dump. Believe me it gets better. For those that are willing to take the 30-45 minute hike on the slope of a steep hill and across rocky beaches and terrain, Petite Cayes is paradise. Like most nude or clothing optional beaches we’ve visited, you’ve got to want to be there. For us the hike was just part of the journey and while difficult at times, it was just beautiful scenery.
Rather than tell you about the hike, we thought it best to show it to you. It really is an amazing hike to a fantastic quiet little beach.
So after your 30-45 minute hike, (there is a second route from Anse Marcel but it is more strenuous), you’ll find yourself on a beautiful half moon beach. Find your spot in the sun and get comfortable. For many first timers, this is the hardest moment. Time to get naked. Take a deep breath and do what you’re comfortable with. Bare as much as you’re comfortable with on the beach or do what I’d recommend. Drop your swimsuit, bikini top and bottom and sit down and apply lots of sunscreen. Remember, body parts that have never seen the sun before tend to burn very easily.
By the time you’re done putting on your sunscreen or suntan lotion, you and your spouse will realize that you’re naked. No one is staring. It feels wonderfully natural. Enjoy the warmth of the sun and breeze on your naked skin. For me, sitting beside my wife and feeling warm all over is one of the most amazingly freeing and relaxing feelings ever. When you’re ready, head down to the surf and splash in the waves. The wave action can get rough depending on weather and time of year. We were able to body surf in the waves.
The day we visited, there were no more than 20 people on the beach at any given time. While we and our friends were the only ones naked the entire time, everyone was friendly and gave each other plenty of space. More than a few other couples hiking to the beach saw us, stripped and went skinny dipping in the water with us. It’s hard not to be friendly when you’re naked.
We enjoyed lunch, snacks and plenty of wine and punch during our visit. We of course packed up our trash (remember, we did park next to the trash dump) so that future visitors could see the beach as beautiful and unspoiled as we did.
Regarding nudity and Saint Martin, technically nudity is only permitted on Orient Beach and all beaches can be used top free. There are however many unofficially nude/clothing optional beaches like Petites Cayes, Happy Bay, Cupecoy beach and others. If someone asks you to cover up, you should out of respect for the locals and the law. Beaches like Happy Bay are often used by the locals on the weekends and on Sunday’s the Police do patrol the beach to make sure everyone covers up (go to Orient Beach on Sunday’s).
Perhaps even more important is preserving Petites Cayes and keeping it natural and pristine. Respect the beach and nature and please don’t leave any garbage. Or better yet, pick up what others have left behind. And while Petites Cayes is unofficially clothing optional, it is not a place to live out your beach sex fantasy. Nudity does not mean sex or intimacy. Enjoy your time together naked but keep intimacy for your bedroom. Trust me after spending the day naked together, your alone time will be extra special later on.
This is the first of three blogs detailing our recent trip to Saint Martin. Look for future blogs about Happy Bay Beach and taking a naked vacation with friends. Have you been to St. Martin? We’d love to hear your thoughts on your experiences on the island and why it’s a perfect destination for couples to try nude recreation.
Top image from USA Today article: Caribbean in the Buff: Top Nude Resorts… http://experience.usatoday.com/caribbean/story/best-of-caribbean/2015/03/26/best-nude-resorts-in-the-caribbean/9879267/IT WAS Ron Paul’s anti-war stance that attracted Tatiana Moroz (32) to his campaign.
The blond singer and songwriter had risen at 3am in New Jersey to travel to New Hampshire on Saturday. All day, she handed out pamphlets. A friend was attacked by a Rottweiler.
“We’re willing to risk our lives for Ron Paul!” Moroz said, laughing, when we met at a party thrown by the Paul campaign on Saturday night.
You have to have experienced the staid, uptight atmosphere at a rally for Mitt Romney or the wholesome Christian high of Rick Santorum’s victory party in Iowa to appreciate the uniqueness of the Paul campaign. The beer flowed freely at Jillian’s Billiard Club, and the music was so loud you had to shout to be heard. Party-goers wore red, white and blue headbands with Ron Paul’s name, and T-shirts emblazoned with the words “The Paul REVOLUTION” in which “EVOL” was high-lighted, the letters reversed so they clearly spelled “LOVE”.
Among young Republicans, and surprisingly high numbers of the military, the 76-year-old grandfather, medical doctor and congressman from Texas is cool.
Paul has unleashed passions unparalleled by any other candidate. He won roughly half the under-24 vote in Iowa, and is running a distant second behind Romney in New Hampshire.
“When I was younger, I was so jealous of the hippies,” Moroz said, explaining what she called her love for Ron Paul.
“They had something to believe in. I’m proud to be part of something that really moves me, like the civil rights movement or the Vietnam protests. I am very, very passionate about making the world a better place.”
Much of the Republican party looks askance at Ron Paul. At a debate night forum hosted by the conservative National Review, members of the audience told me Ron Paul was “crazy”. The current issue of the magazine condemns him as “a crank with cunning enough to appeal opportunistically to the fringes of larger bodies of opinion”. Paul believes terrorism is a reaction to US policies, that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were wrong, and that 90 US bases overseas should be shut down. He opposes infringements on civil liberties in the name of the “war on terror”.
“When I was growing up, 1984 was my favourite book,” Moroz said. “We’re turning into that. Ron will combat it.”
A placard at a Paul demonstration listed Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Crédit Suisse as Mitt Romney’s top three contributors, while Paul’s leading donors were members of the air force, army and navy. “My whole family are military, and they are all for Ron Paul, like me,” said Gary (22), a soldier on active duty.
“The US military have been through 10 years of war. How many dead babies do you have to see? They don’t take care of veterans. There’s high rates of suicide,” Moroz explained. “Maybe a million Iraqis died; is that proportionate to the 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11? Why are our lives so much more valuable than theirs?”
Breanna Wentworth (28) joined our conversation. “Google ‘Falluja’ and see what we did there. Babies are born deformed because of depleted uranium... This movement means something to me. It means something to every person in this room.
“I saved from my unemployment cheques to come here from Connecticut because I really believe in Ron Paul. This is our last shot. We have to stop this foreign interventionism, because it’s destroying the world.”
The Paul Revolution seems to have a lot in common with the Occupy movement, I suggested. “We cannot associate with fringe groups who have socialist ideas,” a third young woman rebuked me.Life in a Day is a crowdsourced drama/documentary film comprising an arranged series of video clips selected from 80,000 clips submitted to the YouTube video sharing website, the clips showing respective occurrences from around the world on a single day, 24 July 2010.
The film is 94 minutes 53 seconds long[1] and includes scenes selected from 4,500 hours of footage in 80,000 submissions from 192 nations.[3][4] The completed film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January 2011[5][6] and the premiere was streamed live on YouTube.[7] On 31 October 2011, YouTube announced that Life in a Day would be available for viewing on its website free of charge, and on DVD.[8][9]
Production [ edit ]
The film was produced by Scott Free Productions and the YouTube video sharing site. The film was distributed by National Geographic Films.[10][11] The visual effects were produced by Lip Sync Post.[12]
The film was the creation of a partnership among YouTube, Ridley Scott Associates and LG electronics, announced on 6 July 2010. Users sent in videos supposed to be recorded on 24 July 2010, and then Ridley Scott produced the film and edited the videos into a film with Kevin Macdonald and film editor Joe Walker, consisting of footage from some of the contributors. All chosen footage authors are credited as co-directors.[13][14][15]
The film's music was written by composer and producer Harry Gregson-Williams, along with Matthew Herbert. The film's opening song, written by Herbert, was performed by English singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding.[16] The film also features the song "Jerusalem" by Kieran Leonard[17] and "Future Prospect" by Biggi Hilmars.
Macdonald told The Wall Street Journal that the project was initially conceived as a way to commemorate the fifth birthday of YouTube, and that he wanted to "take the humble YouTube video,... and elevate it into art."[18] Editor Joe Walker said that as he understood it, the concept for the crowdsourced documentary came from Ridley Scott's production company "Scott Free U.K." and from YouTube, while Macdonald explained more specifically that "the inspiration for me was a British group from the 1930s called the Mass Observation movement. They asked hundreds of people all over Britain to write diaries recording the details of their lives on one day a month and answer a few simple questions.... These diaries were then organised into books and articles with the intention of giving voice to people who weren't part of the "elite" and to show the intricacy and strangeness of the seemingly mundane."[19]
Macdonald began his "Around the world in 80,000 clips" article in The Guardian by posing the questions, "What do you love? What do you fear? What's in your pocket?" and explaining that "one day last summer, I asked ordinary people around the world to answer those three questions and spend a day filming their lives."[20] The 80,000 individual clips received amounted to 4,500 hours of electronic footage.[19] Macdonald explained that about 75% of the film's content came from people contacted through YouTube, traditional advertising, TV shows, and newspapers; the remaining 25% came from cameras sent out to the developing world, Macdonald pointing out "It was important to represent the whole world."[18] At a reported cost of £40,000,[20] "we did resort to snail mail for sending out 400 cameras to parts of the developing world – and getting back the resulting video cards."[19] Macdonald later remarked that he regretted not sending out a far smaller number of cameras but providing training in camera operation and desired type of content: "Naively, I hadn't realised how alien, not only the concept of a documentary is to a lot of people (in the developing world), but also the idea that your own opinions are worth sharing."[20]
Macdonald expressed to The Wall Street Journal that the film "could only be made in the last five years because... you can get enough people who will have an understanding of how to shoot something."[18] Walker told Wired magazine's Angela Watercutter that the film "couldn't have been made without technology. Ten years ago it would've been impossible."[19] Macdonald explained that YouTube "allowed us to tap into a pre-existing community of people around the world and to have a means of distributing information about the film and then receiving people's 'dailies.' It just wouldn't have been organizationally or financially feasible to undertake this kind of project pre-YouTube."[19]
The filmmaking team "used YouTube's ability to collect all of this material and then we had this sort of sweatshop of people, all multilingual film students, to sift through this material. It couldn't have been done any other way. Nobody had ever done a film like this before, so we had to sort of make it up as we went along."[19] "To put (the 4500 hours of raw footage) in context, I just cut a feature film for Steve McQueen and there's 21 hours of [film] for that."[19]
Walker, whose team edited the whole film over seven weeks, remarked to Adam Sternbergh of The New York Times that "The analogy is like being told to make Salisbury Cathedral, and then being introduced to a field full of rubble. You have to start looking for buttresses and things that connect together."[21] Walker indicated that a team of roughly two dozen researchers, chosen both for a cinematic eye and proficiency with languages, watched, logged, tagged, and rated each clip on a scale of one to five stars.[21] Walker remarked that "the vast amount of material was two stars," and that he and director Kevin Macdonald reviewed the four-star and five-star rated clips.[21]
In addition to the star rating system, the editing/selecting team also organised the 80,000 clips according to countries, themes and video quality as part of the selection process, and further had to convert from 60 different frame rates to make the result cinematically acceptable. All the logging and researching was done using the CatDV media asset management software.[19][22]
Themes and content [ edit ]
Macdonald said that the film focused on a single day "because a day is the basic temporal building block of human life—wherever you are," with Walker adding that the particular day, 24 July 2010, was chosen because it was the first Saturday after the World Cup.[19]
Concerning the chronology of the film and the order of the clips, Macdonald explained that he let the 300 hours of "best bits" tell him what the themes and structure of the film should be, likening the material to a Rorschach test—"you will see in it what you want to see in it."[19] Joe Walker further explained that "We always wanted to have a number of structures, so it's not just midnight to midnight, but it's also from light to dark and from birth to death.... bashing things together and making them resonate against each other and provoking thought."[19]
Macdonald said he saw the movie "as a metaphor of the experience of being on the Internet.... clicking from one place to another, in this almost random way…following our own thoughts, following narrative and thematic paths."[18] Betsy Sharkey wrote in the Los Angeles Times that "this fast-paced documentary is shaped as much by Internet savvy as traditional filmmaking, which doesn't make the experience of it any less satisfying, or the implications any less provocative."[23] "The story is told through the voices of the contributors, but mostly it's the images that do the heavy lifting."[23]
Macdonald explained that the film "doesn't have a traditional story or a traditional narrative, but it has thematic movement…and... recurring characters."[18] He praised certain specific contributions, including "the most technically amazing skydiving shot I have ever seen in any film" and "a hand going up to a window pane and picking a fly off and filming the hand walking through the house and letting the fly go—and you see the fly take off in the distance."[18] Asked if there any particular submission crystallised the film's theme, Macdonald cited "the family who had been going through cancer."[18] More generally, Macdonald praised the immediacy that a handycam permits.[18]
Ian Buckwalter of Washingtonian magazine said that "the familiar beats of the day (were) cut together to show that we're actually far more similar than we are different."[24] The Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan similarly noted that "the people whose lives form the spine of Life feel familiar... Their hopes and joys, disappointments and fears are our own."[25] Liz Braun, writing in the Toronto Sun, said that "The overall sense of the project appears to be: It's good to be alive.... According to the film, there are things that divide us as humans, but far more things that unite us."[26] Toronto Star critic Peter Howell was in accord, observing that the "film shows things (what) billions of us do every day, perhaps thinking that we are somehow alone in our pursuits. Yet we couldn't be more connected."[27] However, The Boston Globe's Tom Russo gave director "Macdonald and crew credit for picking out good, clear, telling contrasts, and not sweating potential heavy-handedness," citing contrasts between "one smug contributor pull(ing) a set of Lamborghini keys from his pocket,... then mov(ing) on to ragged-looking Third Worlders amusedly scoffing at the idea that they'd have anything in their pockets," and a Westerner "quietly worries about losing his hair, while an older Afghan man quietly worries about getting through the day alive."[28]
Sharkey described the progression of the film: "Beginning with videos that start pre-dawn then moving through morning, afternoon and evening,... the rituals that define a day begin to emerge. Beyond an extraordinary range of cultures, terrain and styles reflected, which are captivating on their own, the film stands as a stirring reminder of how ordinary and yet eclectic humanity can be. If "Life in a Day" is any measure, we are a quirky, likeable, unpredictable and yet predictable bunch."[23]
Yumi Goto of TIME LightBox remarked that "the most striking aspect of this documentary is that it's the first crowdsourced, user-generated content to hit the big screen."[29] O'Sullivan said that, being "alternately funny, scary, boring, moving, amateurish and gorgeous, it is a pretty spectacular thing: a crowdsourced movie that manages to feel singular and whole."[25] Anthony Benigno wrote in Filmcritic.com that the film "is pretty much the first social-media movie ever made."[30]
The New York Times' Adam Sternbergh wrote that "the film's most memorable moments are the ones of unexpected intimacy.... The film aims to tell the story of a planet, but it's the vulnerability of these individual moments, contributed as part of a larger project, that lingers."[21] The Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey wrote that "The fact that we all experienced that day is part of what gives the documentary an unusual kind of relatability."[23]
Sharkey characterised the film as being "the most hopeful yet from Macdonald, a director who's made his reputation by digging into the more corrupted and conflicted side of human nature with One Day in September, his Oscar-winning documentary on the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes... (T)he lightness (Macdonald has) unearthed in "Life in a Day" has an earthy and at times euphoric appeal."[23]
Reception [ edit ]
Life in a Day has received generally positive reception from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 82% of 52 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.1 out of 10.[31] Metacritic gave the film a rating average of 58/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[32]
Helen O'Hara from Empire stated that the film was "moving and insightful. Not a classic by any means, but a fascinating glimpse of the way we live today."[33] Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying that "Life in a Day is, without exaggeration, a profound achievement."[25] Peter Howell, a critic of the Toronto Star, gave the film three out of four stars, saying "the vast majority of the film feels undeniably real and incredibly inspiring."[27] Wired magazine's Angela Watercutter wrote that the film "brims with intimacy and urgency."[19]
CNN's Mark Rabinowitz wrote that the film is "a rousing success of an experiment: quite possibly the first large-scale, global use of the Internet to create meaningful and beautiful art,"[34] with CNN Newsroom's Josh Levs remarking that the film is "the best time capsule in the history of the world."[35] Ian Buckwalter of Washingtonian magazine called the condensed experiences "breathtaking" and "as riveting as any narrative."[24]
Liz Braun, writing in the Toronto Sun, said that "a lot is predictable" and "It's all familiar for the most part, and it's all mildly interesting," but also cited several "sequences that fully engage a viewer emotionally."[26] Andrew Schenker from Slant Magazine criticised the film by stating "Only a few snippets escape the uncritical narcissism that the film celebrates."[36] Contentions such as Schenker's were contradicted by The New York Times' Adam Sternbergh who wrote that "if the knock against the Internet... is that it stokes our collective narcissism, this film, in its best moments, proves the opposite: not a global craving for exposure but a surprising universal willingness to allow ourselves to be exposed."[21]
Though saying Life in a Day "isn't a bad movie" and there are "fits and spurts" in which the film is "actually quite beautiful," "funny" and "moving," Anthony Benigno from Filmcritic.com asserted that documentaries should have a point, narrative, conflict and goal, but called this film "scattershot" and "at its worst, veering closer into exploitation...and even voyeurism."[30] V.A. Musetto, a critic of the New York Post, said about the film: "Judging by the National Geographic doc "Life in a Day," a lot of nothing happened on 24 July 2010."[37] A counterpoint was expressed by the Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey: "the world community had a lot of interesting things on its mind, but it still took filmmakers like Macdonald and Walker to help us say it with feeling."[23]
Two writers for The New York Times adopted opposing opinions. Mike Hale's review asserted that "much of the material is interesting in its own right... but... the problem is the resolutely conventional and soft-headed way in which that material has been assembled," and that "the overall tone remains gee-whiz."[38] In contrast, Adam Sternbergh concluded that "the montages of ordinary acts, repeated from Japan to Dubai to Las Vegas, take on a kind of profundity."[21]
Criticism of free labour [ edit ]
The film has been criticised for its use of free labour. In the film industry, the production teams required to produce images and sounds are normally paid. However, in the case of Life in a Day, the labour undertaken by YouTube users to shoot the content used in film was not compensated, even though the film was screened in traditional cinema venues for a profit.[39][40]
Follow-on projects and legacy [ edit ]
In October 2011, BBC News announced that Britain in a Day would be funded by BBC Learning as part of BBC's "Cultural Olympiad," with the Britain in a Day YouTube channel accepting video contributions from the public about their lives on a specific day: 12 November 2011.[41] Scott oversaw the project with executive producer Macdonald (both from Life in a Day) and director Morgan Mathews.[42]
In 2012 directors Philip Martin and Gaku Narita teamed up to create Japan in a Day which accounts of the aftermath from Japan's devastating tsunami in 2011 featuring YouTube videos shot by survivors living in and near the affected areas.
Macdonald and Scott also created Christmas in a Day (November 2013) a 48-minute YouTube documentary on which a 3.5-minute advertisement for UK supermarket Sainsbury's was based.[43] The film constituted crowdsourced clips recorded on Christmas 2012.[43]
Italy in a Day (September 2014), directed by Gabriele Salvatores, included clips selected from 45,000 crowdsourced video submissions recorded on 26 October 2013, and premiered during the 71st Venice International Film Festival.[44]
The production house behind Italy in a Day is teaming with Scott Free Productions to produce Israel in a Day, with Germany and France also working on their own versions in the format.[44]
Spain in a Day by Isabel Coixet was released in 2016.
Canada in a Day was released in 2017.[45]
See also [ edit ]College tattoos keep Bucs QB, Texans assistant bonded for life UT friendship leaves mark on Simms, Shanahan
Chris Simms and Kyle Shanahan became such good friends at the University of Texas that they have their initials tattooed on each other's lower leg.
Simms, the Tampa Bay quarterback who will play briefly in tonight's preseason game against the Texans, enters the season as a starter for the first time since 2002, his last year with the Longhorns.
Shanahan, who was a quality control coach for the Buccaneers the last two years, is in his first season as the Texans' receivers coach.
"We're best friends, and we'll be best friends for life," Simms said about Shanahan this week. "We hit it off from day one. We had a common bond in that our fathers (former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms and Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan) have been such a big part of the NFL for a long time.
"We talk at least once a week. We're obsessed with the game. We have a great love for football, and we're constantly talking about it."
Both players remember when they went with three other close friends and UT teammates — tight end Bo Scaife, defensive back Rod Babers and receiver Montrell Flowers — to get their tattoos.
Though he is not expected to play much tonight, Chris Simms is ready to show that he is a bona fide NFL quarterback. Though he is not expected to play much tonight, Chris Simms is ready to show that he is a bona fide NFL quarterback. Photo: CHRIS O'MEARA, AP Photo: CHRIS O'MEARA, AP Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close College tattoos keep Bucs QB, Texans assistant bonded for life 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
"Kyle was a real wimp about it," Simms said. "He got a small one on his ankle. He was afraid his mom and dad would see it, so he keeps it hidden underneath his socks."
Shanahan has a different version of the experience in which each player got the initials of the other four tattooed on his lower leg.
"Let me tell you what really happened," Shanahan said. "Chris was dying to get a tattoo. When we got to the (tattoo parlor), I was the only one who already didn't have one. It wasn't any big deal for the others.
"I had to be a man about it. I got one out of loyalty to my buddies. Now, Chris, he got one the size of his calf, but I didn't want one that big because I didn't want to show off."
Indelibly inked
Before the Texans' kickoff luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Downtown on Wednesday, Shanahan lifted his pants leg to display the tattoo that binds him with his four close friends and former teammates.
"I met Chris for the first time right after I transferred to Texas (from Duke) in January (of 2000)," Shanahan said. "I was the new wide receiver, and one day I was in the dressing room. Chris came up, introduced himself and asked if I'd run some routes for him. I said, 'Sure.'
"Later, he invited me out to dinner. We hit it off immediately, and we've been best friends ever since."
When Simms was heavily criticized as a Longhorns quarterback who never did measure up the way UT fans demanded, Shanahan suffered with him.
"I'm so proud of Chris," Shanahan said. "He's one of the most mentally tough guys I've ever met. He experienced a lot of negativism in college, and I think it made him stronger and more determined.
"No matter what happened, no matter what was said about him, Chris always managed to stay focused."
Disappointed no more
When the Buccaneers used the last pick in the third round of the 2003 draft on Simms, he was devastated to be taken that low.
"Knowing what kind of guy he is, knowing how hard he worked and seeing what he went through, he deserves everything he's getting now," Shanahan said.
If new Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy wanted advice from a predecessor, he might be better off asking Simms rather than Vince Young. Simms' experience was much tougher than Young's.
"I would tell him (McCoy) to just play the game, to work hard, to listen to his coaches and to not read the local papers or watch the local news," Simms said. "There are going to be ups and downs. Learn from them. And most of all, just have fun."
Like other Long
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things invigorate the soul quite like some Looking Glass history…
We hope to share more pictures of our new space soon!
In Other News…
In case you missed it:Anchovies may not be the most popular pizza topping, but in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Italy, they’re a part of local commerce.
And this year, the salty fishes’ spawning season is being interrupted by thousands of unwelcome guests: a massive swarm of an invasive species of comb jellyfish called Mnemiopsis leidyi.
M. leidyi have been present in the Adriatic Sea since 2005, but never in numbers as large as they have been this year. ”Population densities were estimated to be up to 500 specimens per square meter,” Davor Lučić at the Institute for Marine and Coastal Research in Dubrovnik, Croatia, told the New Scientist.
Comb jellies are often brought over on trade ships. These commercial vessels sometimes use sea water for extra stability weight in the bottom of the ship, and inadvertently carry jellies with them. When the waters are dumped at their final destination, these jellies adapt fairly easily to their new habitat.
Comb jellies aren’t harmful to humans, but they wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. In the Adriatic Sea, they don’t have any predators yet. The rapidly reproducing comb jellies deplete supplies of plankton, as well as the eggs and larvae of fish like anchovies.
Back in 1982, oil tankers from the Atlantic brought over (pdf) M. leidyi in their ballast water to the Black Sea. The region was plagued by a massive bloom of comb jellies until 1997, when another invasive species of comb jelly, called Beroe ctenophore, was introduced in ballast water, which happens to feed on M. leidyi. Scientists don’t think this year’s swarm of M. leidyi will be as damaging as previous ones in the Black Sea because the existing ecosystem is healthier with more natural species of fish and less pollution. However, it does bring up the possibility of introducing B. ctenophore into the region, which just goes to show that even in the animal kingdom, sometimes the enemy of an enemy is a friend.CLAY COUNTY, Fla. - An 18-year-old Fleming Island girl has been charged with falsely reporting a crime for claiming that she was pulled over by two fake cops earlier this month.
According to the arrest report, Amanda Roeske called 911 on May 5 about 1:30 a.m. and said she had been pulled over by a dark-colored van with flashing red and blue lights in the area of Raggedy Point Road in Clay County.
Roeske originally said that she was driving down Pine Avenue when two men in a van pulled her over and tried to force their way into her car.
"He walked up really fast and then just started banging on my window. I don't know if he's trying to bust it or if he was just trying to get me to open it," Roeske said in a TV interview with News4Jax reporter Vic Micolucci.
The arrest report said Roeske gave the same account to the 911 dispatcher, the responding deputy from the Clay County Sheriff's Office and the detectives who interviewed her at the Orange Park substation.
The report said she was given multiple opportunities to recant the false statement, but she insisted that it had happened. But deputies said after dozens of investigative hours, detectives established that the reported incident did not occur.
Details about her reaction and possibly why she filed the false report were redacted from the public version of the document.
Roeske is being held in the Clay County Jail on a $25,000 bond.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said filing a false police report can be costly for others.
"The thing about that is, if detectives are following it up, that means they have to set their other cases aside to work on this, which puts them even further behind and delaying cases that could be solved that are legitimate cases," Smith said. "It is hard to understand why she would do that. There's nothing really for her to gain by making this false claim. That's the thing that I really can't understand myself."
Copyright 2015 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Conservative lawmakers often tout voter ID laws as a method of combating voter fraud, but study after study has shown that, while possible, voter fraud is incredibly rare. A new study by political scientists Zoltan L. Hajnal, Nazita Lajevardi and Lindsay Nielson proves that not only are these laws ineffective in solving a “barely there” issue, but they’re racist as well.
Their study, which examined the proliferation of stricter voter ID laws and its relation to the suppression of minority votes, revealed that the laws reduce turnout among Black American, Latino and Asian voters, while white voter turnout remains “largely unaffected.” As a result, the makeup of the electorate changes, shifting election outcomes in favor of the Republican party. The researchers asserted that in states with harsh laws requiring a photo ID to vote, “the influence of Democrats and liberals wanes and the power of Republicans grows.”
For Latinos, these laws were especially damaging: voter turnout was 7.1 percentage points lower in general elections and 5.3 points lower in primaries in strict ID states than it was in states with more lenient laws. These gaps in turnout were consistent among other racial and ethnic minorities.
The turnout gap between African-Americans and white voters was 5.1 percentage points in general elections and 11.6 percentage points in primaries in states with strict voter ID laws. These gaps were much smaller in states that did not require a photo ID in order to vote. For instance, the Asian-white gap jumped from 6.5 to 11.5 percent in general elections in strict ID states; the turnout gap also grew from 5.8 to 18.8 percent in primaries.
The research showed that racial/ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by these stringent voter ID laws, especially since Black Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans are less likely to have a photo ID.
“These findings persist even when we take many other factors into account, including partisanship, demographic characteristics, election contexts and other state laws that encourage or discourage participation,” the study authors wrote in a piece for The Washington Post. “Racial gaps persist even when we limit our analysis to Democrats or track shifts in turnout in the first election after strict rules are implemented. Definitively determining that the laws themselves are what lowers turnout is always difficult without an experiment, but however we look at it, strict voter ID laws suppress minority votes.”
State voting laws that prevent or prohibit any citizen from voting on account of their race are illegal under the Voting Rights Act, but a few courts have since reversed these discriminatory ID laws in recent years. In July 2016, a federal appeals court ruled that Texas’ voter ID law, one of the strictest in the nation, openly discriminated against African-American and Latino voters as “Blacks were 1.78 times more likely than Whites, and Latinos 2.42 times more likely, to lack” a photo ID. Another appeals court came to a similar conclusion that same month, striking down North Carolina’s voter ID law because it was “passed with racially discriminatory intent.”
However, ThinkProgress pointed out that although an appeals court found that South Carolina’s law intentionally tried to suppress the Black vote, four conservative Supreme Court justices voted to reinstate the law before the 2016 presidential election.
“If Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, is confirmed, he will likely be the fifth vote in favor of racial voter suppression,” the online news site stated.
As for Texas, the Justice Department’s federal investigation into its discriminatory voter ID law is expected to resume after a month-long break requested by the now Trump-led department, according to The Washington Post. Newly appointed attorney general Jeff Sessions will be left to decide whether to move forward with the case.It's not a sight you see every day, a former NAACP leader marching in support of the Confederate flag. But that's exactly what happened Thursday in Marianna.
His name is H.K. Edgerton, and he's a former president of the Asheville chapter of the NAACP. To him, the Confederate flag is a symbol of history and honor. Edgerton marches to honor his ancestors who fought in the civil war as black soldiers for the Confederacy.
Proud of his Southern roots, Edgerton affectionately refers to the flag as the "Southern cross."
"This is an honorable symbol," said Edgerton. "These are some of the most courageous soldiers on God's planet that fought and died here in the south land of America"
The journey across Florida is called Edgerton's Southern Cross Revival March. It began in Tampa and will continue across the state of Florida. Along the way Edgerton hopes to change people's minds about the Confederate flag.
"Certainly lies have been told about it," he said. "I'm here to try to help straighten that out, because this is an honorable symbol, and these are great some of the most courageous soldiers on God's planet that fought and died around here in the south land of America."
Controversy surrounding the flag dominated national headlines last year. We asked Edgerton what he would say to those who see the flag as a symbol of oppression.
"You need to sit down and talk to me, to need to sit down and learn something about this flag," Edgerton said. "Because if that's the way you feel, you don't know anything about our history. You don't know anything about our flag. Your civil right's fight will come full circle if you pick up the Southern Cross."
Edgerton finished his walk at the historic Russ House where more than 20 people came to hear him speak.
Tomorrow he'll be in Pensacola before continuing on to Lake City and Gainesville.Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a 13-point national “Progressive Agenda” that is being touted as the liberal “Contract with America.”
The aim is for the “Progressive Agenda” to become the basis for the Democratic Party’s main economic policies, including those of its 2016 presidential candidate.
De Blasio has compared his plan to the “Contract with America,” a document released by the Republican Party during the 1994 congressional election and drawn up by future House Speaker Newt Gingrich to serve as the GOP policy agenda.
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Now WND documents that most of the 13 points in de Blasio’s “Progressive Agenda” can also be found in the manifestos and literature of the Communist Party USA and the Socialist Party USA.
The full progressive plan, entitled, “The Progressive Agenda to Combat Income Inequality,” can be found on the agenda’s new website.
What do YOU think? Is communism in America’s future? Sound off in the WND Poll
Here is a comparison of the Agenda’s plan with literature from the manifestos and writings of the Community Party USA, or CPUSA, and the Socialist Party USA, or SPUSA.
• Progressive Agenda: “Raise the federal minimum wage, so that it reaches $15/hour, while indexing it to inflation.”
SPUSA: “We call for a minimum wage of $15 per hour, indexed to the cost of living.”
CPUSA: Calls for “struggles for peace, equality for the racially and nationally oppressed, equality for women job creation programs, increased minimum wage. … Even with ultra-right control of the Federal government, peoples legislative victories, such as increasing the minimum wage, can be won on an issue-by-issue basis locally, statewide, and even nationally.”
• Progressive Agenda: “Reform the National Labor Relations Act, to enhance workers’ right to organize and rebuild the middle class.”
SPUSA: “The Socialist Party stands for the right of all workers to organize, for worker control of industry through the democratic organization of the workplace.”
CPUSA: “One of the most crucial ways of increasing the strength and unity of the working class as a whole is organizing the unorganized. Working-class unity depends on uniting all the diverse sectors of the multiracial, multinational working class in the U.S. … Speeding up the organization of unorganized workers is one of the most important challenges to labor and all progressive forces.”
• Progressive Agenda: “Pass comprehensive immigration reform to grow the economy and protect against exploitation of low-wage workers.”
SPUSA: “We defend the rights of all immigrants to education, health care, and full civil and legal rights and call for an unconditional amnesty program for all undocumented people. We oppose the imposition of any fees on those receiving amnesty. We call for full citizenship rights upon demonstrating residency for six months.”
CPUSA: Declares the “struggle for immigrant rights is a key component of the struggle for working class unity in our country today.”
• Progressive Agenda: Pass national paid sick leave. Pass national paid family leave.
CPUSA: In October 2014, hails that “women are fighting back to defend their jobs and their families against candidates who want to destroy women’s reproductive rights, health care, family leave and paid sick days. Women’s voices and votes can make the difference in this election in the U.S. Senate and House, for Governors and State Legislatures, and in the movement going forward for full equality.”
• Progressive Agenda: “Make Pre-K, after-school programs and childcare universal.”
SPUSA: “We support public child care starting from infancy, and public education starting at age three, with caregivers and teachers of young children receiving training, wages, and benefits comparable to that of teachers at every other level of the educational system.”
• Progressive Agenda: “Earned Income Tax Credit.” “Implement the ‘Buffett Rule’ so millionaires pay their fair share.”
SPUSA: “We call for a steeply graduated income tax and a steeply graduated estate tax. …”
CPUSA: “No taxes for workers and low and middle income people; progressive taxation of the wealthy and private corporations. …”
Dems hail ‘beginning of revolution’
De Blasio criticized Obama as “too conservative” to assert a progressive economic vision and “too afraid to take the bold kind of action that President Roosevelt took” during the Great Depression, reported the liberal news network.
Speaking at the “Progressive Agenda” launch event outside the Capitol building last Tuesday, de Blasio said “something is changing in America.”
“It’s time to take that energy and crystallize it into an agenda that will make a difference,” he said. “We’ll be calling on leaders and candidates to address these issues, to stiffen their backbones, to be clear and to champion these progressive policies.”
Read Aaron Klein’s revealing book, “Fool Me Twice: Obama’s Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed”
The Hill quoted Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., saying de Blasio’s plan “could be the beginning of a revolution.”
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., commented the mayor’s plan represents “the meat on the bones of a progressive agenda.”
Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said, “The cavalry has arrived.”
The Hill reported that at the event, some Democrats pushed back against rumors de Blasio was attempting to use the plan to nudge presidential candidate Hillary Clinton further to the left.
“There’s gossip in Washington that this is about trying to move a certain candidate in a certain direction,” said former Democratic Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. “If you look at that candidate’s record, you’ll find that she’s embraced a lot of this already.”
Last week’s de Blasio event was reportedly attended not only by politicians but also by union leaders and MSNBC host Al Sharpton.
The Atlantic reported the coalition supporting de Blasio’s plan includes Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party. Cantor also was a founder of the socialist-oriented New Party.
De Blasio once served as executive director of the New York branch of the New Party.
WND previously exposed that President Obama himself was listed in New Party literature as a member.
Soros economist behind Dem’s new ‘Contract with America’
As WND reported last week, a plan drawn up by a George Soros-funded professor seeking to “rewrite” the rules of the U.S. economy forms the foundation of de Blasio’s new progressive agenda.
De Blasio’s “Progressive Agenda” was informed by a 112-page policy report at the liberal Roosevelt Institute titled “Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy,” reported MSNBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald.
That 112-page plan was crafted by Nobel prize-winning Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz, who previously conducted teach-ins at Occupy Wall Street.
Indeed, prior to last Tuesday’s launch of the “Progressive Agenda,” de Blasio attended an economic forum at the Roosevelt Institute co-hosted by Stiglitz, where he heaped praised on the economist’s “rewriting” plan.
Besides accepting funding from Soros, Stiglitz has engaged in numerous projects with the controversial billionaire and sits on the boards of Soros’ organizations, including one openly seeking to remake the world’s economy.
Stiglitz is a leading proponent of more government regulation of the economy.
He previously chaired the Commission on Global Financial Issues of Socialists International, the world’s largest socialist organization.
Stiglitz, the brains behind de Blasio’s new plan, has been an economic adviser to Obama, but he also criticized the president’s bank-rescue plan. Stiglitz said whoever designed that plan is “either in the pocket of the banks or they’re incompetent.”
Stiglitz won his Nobel for research on what became the theory of information asymmetry, which argues for more government intervention in failing economies than the traditional “market failure” school had previously advocated.
He has stated that “the real debate today is about finding the right balance between the market and government.”
“Both are needed. They can each complement each other. This balance will differ from time to time and place to place,” he has said.
Gavin Wright, chairman of Stanford’s economics department, summarized Stiglitz’s work.
“Broadly speaking, Joe’s theoretical work has had to do with the shortcomings and imperfections of market economy, not from the standpoint of a thorough-going rejection of the market economy but from the perspective that holds out hope for improvement through government regulation or use of the tax system,” Wright said.
Government, business as ‘partners’
Stiglitz was a member of President Bill Clinton’s administration, serving both in Clinton’s cabinet and as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Stiglitz’s most important contribution during his time in the Clinton administration was helping to define a new economic philosophy called a “third way,” which called for business and government to join hands as “partners,” while recognizing government intervention could not always correct the limitations of markets.
“Third Way” is an ideology first promoted as an alternative to free markets by Mikhail Gorbachev after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The “Third Way” of governing would be neither capitalist nor communist, but something in between.
In his 1998 “State of the Union” address, President Clinton outlined the “Third Way”: “We have moved past the sterile debate between those who say government is the enemy and those who say government is the answer. My fellow Americans, we have found a Third Way.”
The “Third Way” calls for business and government to join hands as “partners.”
Discover the Networks criticized the theory: “In short, Big Business would own the economy (as under capitalism), while Big Government would run it (as under socialism). Corporations would be persuaded to comply with government directives through subsidies, tax breaks, customized legislation, and other special privileges.”
Soros himself has been a vocal proponent of the “Third Way” economic policy.
Stiglitz, meanwhile, also became involved in “global warming” issues, including serving on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, helping to draft a new law for toxic wastes and serving on the boards of numerous environmental groups, such as the Alliance for Climate Protection.
‘No longer one superpower’
Stiglitz is a prolific speaker. On Sept. 17, 2010, he gave a speech to the Swiss and Global Asset Management group in which his Power Point presentation, available online, stated the U.S. is mired in Japanese-style malaise because of “greater inequality” and “weaker social protection.”
Stiglitz said the U.S. was failing to come to “terms with its standing in the New Global Order.”
His presentation called for a “New Global Economic Order” in which the world is “no longer dominated by one ‘superpower,'” although he predicted China’s income per capita will remain much below that of the U.S.
Soros’ economic partner, Bretton Woods
Stiglitz is deeply tied to Soros. Stiglitz serves on the international advisory board of Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
The economist is the co-founder and president of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a globalist group which is funded by Soros’ Open Society Institute.
Along with numerous other Open Society Institute leaders, Stiglitz is a member of the Collegium International, a globalist group that proclaims in its official declaration “the Earth, home of humanity, constitutes a whole denoted by interdependence.”
Perhaps most significantly, Stignitz sits on the board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, or INET, an organization literally seeking to reorganize the entire global economic system.
George Soros is INET’s founding sponsor, with the billionaire having provided a reported $25 million over five years to support INET activities.
In April 2011, Stiglitz spoke at INET’s annual meeting, which took place in the mountains of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
The gathering was held at Mount Washington Hotel, famous for hosting the original Bretton Woods economic agreements drafted in 1944. The initial conference’s goal was to rebuild a post-World War II international monetary system. The April gathering had a similar stated goal – a global economic restructuring.
A Business Insider report on the event related, “George Soros has brought together a crack team of the world’s top economists and financial thinkers.”
“Its aim,” continued the business newspaper, “is to remake the world’s economy as they see fit.”
More than two-thirds of the speakers at the 2011 conference had direct ties to Soros.
The keynote speaker at the Bretton Woods conference was Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, a board member of INET who is tied to both Soros and Stiglitz.
Sachs is engineer of a “shock treatment” economic doctrine that he has applied to other countries, most notably Bolivia and Poland. In both countries, critics charge, Sach’s doctrine led to economic failure.
In 2009, Sachs narrated an audio book titled “George Soros and Joseph Stiglitz – America: How They See Us.”
Stiglitz, meanwhile, has other ties to Soros. When he chaired the U.N.’s Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, the commission included Soros-tied economists, such as Robert Johnson, former chief economist of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee who previously was the managing director at Soros Fund Management. Johnson also is on the board of the Soros-funded Economic Policy Institute and the Institute for America’s Future.
With research by Brenda J. Elliott.Donald Trump's legal team is trying to instill discipline on a West Wing not known for its discipline.
The lawyers, people familiar with the internal discussions say, are reminding White House aides and the president that the stakes are higher now that a special counsel and Congress are scrutinizing their every move, that small indiscretions could turn into bigger issues, and that they have to follow rules they don't like.
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Trump's legal team is attempting to separate the president from Donald Trump Jr. and the son's legal team on Russia matters, as well as from Jared Kushner and his legal team, over concerns that the blurred lines could create unnecessary problems, according to these sources. They have tried to block Trump's warring band of aides from joining meetings with his lawyers, warning that they could become witnesses or be forced to hire lawyers if they attend.
Trump, known for his freewheeling governing style, similarly wants many people in the room for such meetings and will sometimes ask lawyers for advice about people they do not represent, two West Wing aides said. At the same time, most West Wing aides don't yet have lawyers and have sometimes asked lawyers not representing them for guidance.
The Russia investigations have occupied a large chunk of the White House's time in recent months, and the extent to which the president and his aides follow the recommendations of their lawyers could determine how bad the fallout is inside the West Wing.
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"These are people who have never been in government," said Matt Schlapp, a conservative activist close to the White House who worked for George W. Bush. "It's actually kind of unnerving to be in a White House when it's being investigated by special counsel."
White House aides are realizing "this is not what you signed up for and that much of your day gets taken up,” Schlapp said. "These people came to work for a president they really believe in and to get their agenda done.”
The legal team managed to meet with Trump on Tuesday without the aides who are often by his side. Chief attorney Marc Kasowitz was not present in the meeting, according to one West Wing official and one person close to the legal team.
The lawyers — particularly Kasowitz — have been taken aback by the infighting in the West Wing, according to people familiar with their thinking. And they have been frustrated that they often learn about big developments just before they happen, as they did on Saturday with The New York Times story on Trump Jr.'s meeting with a person he believed to be a Russian government attorney.
Trump's lawyers had no idea the story was posting until that afternoon — and learned of the president’s role in crafting Donald Jr.’s first statement on Air Force One only after a subsequent piece was published on Tuesday. They have also grown irritated with his tweets, several people familiar with the dynamics said.
Neither a spokesman for Kasowitz nor Jay Sekulow, who has publicly defended Trump as his lawyer, responded to a request for comment.
"I'm not sure what the issues would be from a legal sense, but their conduct is definitely problematic and raises many issues," said Matthew Miller, a Department of Justice spokesman during the Obama administration. "If they're all talking together and trying to get their stories straight, that's a problem."
That a president would clash with his chief lawyer isn't entirely unusual. Former President Barack Obama sometimes disagreed with his top White House lawyers and their advice, particularly when it was against what he wanted to do, according to an Obama White House lawyer. He would flash anger, this person said, but he would listen to lawyers and often validate them to others on staff.
Top staffers in the Trump White House increasingly understand that they need to listen to lawyers, and "their advice is sinking in," according to one senior West Wing official. "This is all new to us."
Some in the White House are demanding "more, more, more pushback,” the senior West Wing official said, even though lawyers are arguing against it. The lawyers, this person said, always want to take a cautious route — even when Trump is receiving bad news coverage and fuming about it.
Trump is also notoriously difficult on his attorneys. Being on Trump’s legal team has been a thankless job because the president assumes his lawyers can automatically make problems go away. The frustration that Trump is now expressing toward Kasowitz is quite similar to his ongoing irritations with the White House’s top attorney, Don McGahn. For the past several months, Trump has been irritated that McGahn could not make the investigations into the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia disappear — even after Trump hired his own personal legal team for the Russia questions and McGahn was no longer working on the issue. “At 35,000-feet view, all the president wants is for it to go away,” said an informal yet frequent adviser to the White House. “He wants an end to it, even if he does not know exactly how that happens.”
What has frustrated Kasowitz and the team, people familiar with the matter say, is that members of Trump's family are always there and giving their own advice. Kasowitz has grown frustrated with Kushner at times, and vice versa, sources said. The New York Times first reported on the tension Tuesday evening.
There has also been some griping inside the White House at Abbe Lowell, a longtime Democratic lawyer representing Kushner. In a fiercely partisan, us-against-the-world West Wing, a Democrat's appointment was "really kind of weird," one official said. A person close to Lowell said he is keenly aware that he also has to represent the president's best interests and is behaving as such.
Josh Raffel, a Kushner spokesman, declined to comment.
Many of the problems come from Trump, who assures his legal team that he understands their advice but then disregards it, several White House officials and advisers said. "They say, don't do this, don't do that, and then he tweets," one White House adviser said. "And then the conversation happens again."
Trump will acknowledge that he should listen to his lawyers — and then not listen to them, one White House official said.
Trump also sometimes fumes about the investigation for several hours a day, potentially giving others legal liability. He continues to speak with Trump Jr., a second White House official said.
One person close to the legal team said the problems aren't going away anytime soon. Trump isn't going to stop obsessing or talking to whoever he wants to or tweeting, this person said. While lawyers were frustrated that Trump was involved in Trump Jr.'s statement, he wasn't not going to be, this person said.
The family will always take precedence over aides. And "everyone in there is going to blame it on everyone else," this person said.
Nancy Cook contributed to this report.(This post was co-authored by EDF Climate Scientist Ilissa Ocko)
Imagine cutting down a tree. Initially, you chop and chop … but not much seems to change. Then suddenly, one stroke of the hatchet frees the trunk from its base and the once distant leaves come crashing down.
It’s an apt metaphor for one of the most alarming aspects of climate change – the existence of “tipping elements.”
These elements are components of the climate that may pass a critical threshold, or “tipping point,” after which a tiny change can completely alter the state of the system. Moving past tipping points may incite catastrophes ranging from widespread drought to overwhelming sea level rise.
Which elements’ critical thresholds should we worry about passing thanks to human-induced climate change?
You can see the answer on this graphic – and find more information below.
The most immediate and most worrisome threats
Disappearance of Arctic Summer Sea Ice – As the Arctic warms, sea ice melts and exposes dark ocean waters that reflect sunlight much less efficiently. This decreased reflectivity causes a reinforcement of Arctic warming, meaning that the transition to a sea-ice free state can occur on the rapid scale of a few decades. Some scientists have suggested that we have already passed this tipping point, predicting that Arctic summers will be ice-free before mid-century.
– As the Arctic warms, sea ice melts and exposes dark ocean waters that reflect sunlight much less efficiently. This decreased reflectivity causes a reinforcement of Arctic warming, meaning that the transition to a sea-ice free state can occur on the rapid scale of a few decades. Some scientists have suggested that we have already passed this tipping point, predicting that Arctic summers will be ice-free before mid-century. Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet – The Arctic warming feedback described above may one day render Greenland ice-free. Research predicts that the tipping point for complete melt can occur at a global temperature rise of less than two degrees Celsius – a threshold that may be surpassed by the end of this century. While the full transition to an ice-free Greenland will take at least a few hundred years, its impacts include global sea level rise of up to 20 feet.
– The Arctic warming feedback described above may one day render Greenland ice-free. Research predicts that the tipping point for complete melt can occur at a global temperature rise of less than two degrees Celsius – a threshold that may be surpassed by the end of this century. While the full transition to an ice-free Greenland will take at least a few hundred years, its impacts include global sea level rise of up to 20 feet. Disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – The bottom of this ice sheet lies beneath sea level, allowing warming ocean waters to slowly eat away at the ice. There is evidence that this tipping point has already been surpassed – possibly as early as 2014. Like the Greenland Ice Sheet, full collapse would require multiple centuries, but it could result in sea level rise of up to 16 feet.
– The bottom of this ice sheet lies beneath sea level, allowing warming ocean waters to slowly eat away at the ice. There is evidence that this tipping point has already been surpassed – possibly as early as 2014. Like the Greenland Ice Sheet, full collapse would require multiple centuries, but it could result in sea level rise of up to 16 feet. Collapse of Coral Reefs – Healthy corals maintain a symbiotic relationship with the algae that provide their primary food source. As oceans warm and become more acidic, these algae are expelled from the corals in an often fatal process called coral bleaching. Research predicts that most of our remaining coral systems will collapse even before a global temperature rise of two degrees Celsius.
Tipping points in the distant future
Disruption of Ocean Circulation Patterns – The Thermohaline Circulation is driven by heavy saltwater sinking in the North Atlantic, but this water is becoming fresher and lighter as glaciers melt in a warming climate. The change in water density may prevent sinking and result in a permanent shutdown of the circulation. Research suggests that weakening of the Thermohaline Circulation is already in progress, but that an abrupt shutdown is unlikely to occur in this century. Some models suggest that these changes may prompt a secondary tipping element in which the subpolar gyre currently located in the Labrador Sea shuts off. Such a change would dramatically increase sea level, especially on the eastern coast of the United States.
– The Thermohaline Circulation is driven by heavy saltwater sinking in the North Atlantic, but this water is becoming fresher and lighter as glaciers melt in a warming climate. The change in water density may prevent sinking and result in a permanent shutdown of the circulation. Research suggests that weakening of the Thermohaline Circulation is already in progress, but that an abrupt shutdown is unlikely to occur in this century. Some models suggest that these changes may prompt a secondary tipping element in which the subpolar gyre currently located in the Labrador Sea shuts off. Such a change would dramatically increase sea level, especially on the eastern coast of the United States. Release of Marine Methane Hydrates – Large reservoirs of methane located on the ocean floor are stable thanks to their current high pressure-low temperature environment. Warming ocean temperatures threaten the stability of these greenhouse gas reservoirs, but the necessary heat transfer would require at least a thousand years to reach sufficient depth, and may be further delayed by developing sea level rise.
– Large reservoirs of methane located on the ocean floor are stable thanks to their current high pressure-low temperature environment. Warming ocean temperatures threaten the stability of these greenhouse gas reservoirs, but the necessary heat transfer would require at least a thousand years to reach sufficient depth, and may be further delayed by developing sea level rise. Ocean Anoxia – If enough phosphorous is released into the oceans – from sources including fertilizers and warming-induced weathering, or the breakdown of rocks –regions of the ocean could become depleted in oxygen. However, this process could require thousands of years to develop.
Potentially disastrous elements, but with considerable uncertainty
Dieback of the Amazon Rainforest – Deforestation, lengthening of the dry season, and increased summer temperatures each place stress on rainfall in the Amazon. Should predictions that at least half of the Amazon Rainforest convert to savannah and grasslands materialize, a considerable loss in biodiversity could result. However, the dieback of the Amazon Rainforest ultimately depends on regional land-use management, and on how El Niño will influence future precipitation patterns.
– Deforestation, lengthening of the dry season, and increased summer temperatures each place stress on rainfall in the Amazon. Should predictions that at least half of the Amazon Rainforest convert to savannah and grasslands materialize, a considerable loss in biodiversity could result. However, the dieback of the Amazon Rainforest ultimately depends on regional land-use management, and on how El Niño will influence future precipitation patterns. Dieback of Boreal Forests – Increased water and heat stress could also lead to a decrease in boreal forest cover by up to half of its current size. Dieback of boreal forests would involve a gradual conversion to open woodlands or grasslands, but complex interactions between tree physiology, permafrost melt, and forest fires renders the likelihood of dieback uncertain.
– Increased water and heat stress could also lead to a decrease in boreal forest cover by up to half of its current size. Dieback of boreal forests would involve a gradual conversion to open woodlands or grasslands, but complex interactions between tree physiology, permafrost melt, and forest fires renders the likelihood of dieback uncertain. Weakening of the Marine Carbon Pump – One mechanism through which oceanic carbon sequestration takes place is the marine carbon pump, which describes organisms’ consumption of carbon dioxide through biological processes such as photosynthesis or shell building. As ocean temperatures rise, acidification progresses, and oxygen continues to be depleted, these natural systems could be threatened and render the carbon sequestration process less efficient. More research is necessary in order to quantify the timescale and magnitude of these effects.
Tipping elements complicated by competing factors
Greening of the Sahara/Sahel – As sea surface temperatures rise in the Northern Hemisphere, rainfall is projected to increase over the Sahara and Sahel. This increased rainfall would serve to expand grassland cover in the region, but is balanced by the cooling effect of human-emitted aerosols in the atmosphere.
– As sea surface temperatures rise in the Northern Hemisphere, rainfall is projected to increase over the Sahara and Sahel. This increased rainfall would serve to expand grassland cover in the region, but is balanced by the cooling effect of human-emitted aerosols in the atmosphere. Chaotic Indian Summer Monsoon – The fate of the Indian Summer Monsoon similarly depends upon a balance of greenhouse gas warming and aerosol cooling, which strengthen and weaken the monsoon, respectively. On the timescale of a year, there is potential for the monsoon to adopt dramatic active and weak phases, the latter resulting in extensive drought.
More research necessary to establish as tipping elements
Collapse of Deep Antarctic Ocean Circulation – As in the case of the Thermohaline Circulation, freshening of surface waters in the Southern Ocean due to ice melt may slowly
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state in which bicyclists are allowed to roll through stop signs, saw a decline in bike-related injuries after its law was enacted, according to a 2010 study by Jason Meggs, then a researcher at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
Meggs also compared Boise, Idaho, against Sacramento and Bakersfield, cities he considered similar, and found that Boise had 30 percent fewer collisions in which bicyclists were injured.
Obernolte and Ting’s bill is based on the Idaho law, passed in 1982.
Under the proposed California law, bicyclists would still have to stop at red lights, which Obernolte said might motivate them to take less-traveled side roads rather than main roads with traffic signals. That could lessen congestion and boost safety, he said.
Obernolte emphasized that bicyclists would only be allowed to go through a stop sign if it was safe, something they would have to assess as they approach the intersection.
“It’s intentionally vague because it’s left up to the discretion of the bicyclist” he said.
A spokesman for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said he couldn’t say whether the law would increase safety or work in the reverse.
“It’s similar to any traffic violation. It’s dependent to the area if there are serious safety concerns,” spokesman Ryan Keim said. “But our No. 1 priority is safety for bicyclists and motorists.”
Read Full ArticleThe Iowa Supreme Court seems to agree with Kevin Costner that there's no better place to play baseball than on fields cut out of the corn.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Supreme Court seems to agree with Kevin Costner that there's no better place to play baseball than on fields cut out of the corn.
The court on Friday cleared the way for a 24-field baseball complex at the "Field of Dreams" movie site in Dyersville, upholding a lower court's decision that the City Council properly rezoned the property from agricultural to commercial.
The ruling came on an appeal by some Dyersville residents who sought to block the development of the All-Star Ballpark Heaven youth baseball and softball complex, fearing the complex would cause disruptions to surrounding farm operations and traffic, among other things.
The complex is to be centered on the site were "Field of Dreams," starring Costner, was shot. The movie was released in 1989 and has been embraced by people from throughout the country, who connected with its story of a farmer who carved a baseball field out of his corn crop. Thousands of people make the drive down to the small town about 140 miles northeast of Des Moines to run the bases at the baseball diamond and walk out to the cornfields that border the outfield.
An attorney for the residents, Susan Hess, had argued for the courts to overturn the rezoning, saying members of the City Council weren't impartial and acted in a quasi-judicial manner rather than legislative in approving the rezoning.
The Iowa Supreme Court relied on its rulings in previous cases to side with the City Council, saying the council's rezoning decision did not weigh the legal rights of one party versus the other.
"The council weighed all of the information, reports, and comments available to it in order to determine whether rezoning was in the best interest of the city as a whole," Justice Bruce Zager wrote.
An attorney for the city, Doug Henry, said the Iowa Supreme Court ruling settles the matter and clears any hurdles to building the baseball complex.
Hess did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.A man is in jail accused of murdering a Kentucky mother.
The arrest was made on Thursday at a home in the small town of Lebanon Junction in Bullitt County.
The suspect's grandmother says he barely knew the woman he's accused of killing.
The deadly shooting happened at a home on Main Street before 2 p.m. on Thursday.
A Louisville TV station spoke with the suspect's grandmother who says her grandson, Austin Allen, 18, is mentally ill. She says he was hearing voices and was just released from Central State Hospital around the holidays. She doesn't believe the doctors should have let him out.
Allen's grandmother says she witnessed the teenager shoot her neighbor, Tina Zamora, 37. Zamora was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police cruisers and first responders lined Walnut and Main Streets after the shooting. The scene reportedly shocked neighbors because some of them recognized the man in handcuffs.
"He didn't seem like he was even down to Earth he wasn't even walking they had to lift him up because he wasn't walking, he wasn't carrying his feet," Charles Mann, a friend of Allen's, said. "[I don't know] if he was on drugs or if he wasn't all there in the head."
Police say Allen shot Zamora with a gun that he stole from a nearby home earlier in the day.
Allen is now in the Bullitt County Detention Center and charged with first degree burglary and murder.Sarika
More than half the seats allotted for admission under the Right To Education (RTE) Act for Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and the district pre-primary schools remain woefully vacant, despite the district education department conducting five rounds of admission last month. Now, a sixth round of weeklong admissions has begun from Saturday in a bid to fill up those seats.Mushtaq Shaikh, a district education officer in charge of RTE admissions, told Pune Mirror, “There are 781 schools from Pune city, district and Pimpari-Chinchwad areas, with a total intake capacity of 16,826. Out of these, only 8,222 seats have been filled. So, 236 pre-primary schools have had zero admission, with 8,604 seats still vacant. During the first five rounds, as many as 20,581students had been allotted seats, for parents used different mobile numbers to apply to different schools. So, in several instances, the same child got a seat at three different schools, increasing the number of applicants.”Shaikh pointed out that the main reason behind 50 per cent vacant seats for RTE admission was a lack of awareness among parents. “In the district level, people don’t have basic internet facilities for RTE’s online form fill-ups. Most of the schools are from the city and the district. The recently opened schools do not have a publicity procedure in place regarding RTE admissions in their respective areas. Besides, most of the schools refuse to give admission under RTE. After the completion of the five rounds, we got several complaints against 10 to 15 pre-primary schools from the city and Pimpri-Chinchwad, which were refusing RTE admissions. We will send a report to the state government to cancel the approval of the guilty schools. We have got an order from state education department to run another special RTE admission round to fill the vacant seats from October 8-15, after which we will declare the date of lottery,” he explained.State director of primary education Govind Nandede seconded Shaikh’s opinion, saying, “Most parents apply for the renowned schools, which is why the 236 newly-opened schools from the city and district have clocked zero admission. We are now monitoring this special admission round and appeal to all the parents who don’t get admission for their wards till today to take advantage of this round. This time, we will take strong action against the preprimary schools that refuse to give admission under RTE as it is mandatory.” Dinkar Temkar, the deputy divisional director of Pune region, added, “The online form filling procedure will be completed by October 15. On October 16, we will declare the date of lottery. This will be the last admission round for this year and will be a relief for parents who missed out on earlier rounds.”But disgruntled parents had their own grievances to share. Vikram Gaikwad, a resident of Sus, Gaothan, rued, “There are so many loopholes in the RTE admission process. I applied for my two sons, Sambuddha and Rishabh, at The Orchid School and Vidyanchal School in March, but the first round began in May. Despite five rounds, my sons did not get admission. Most of the schools from Pimpari- Chinchwad demand money for stationery, school uniforms and shoes, which they are not supposed to. Thankfully, the education department has decided to run a special round to fill vacant seats.”Ozarkar, another parent, added, “I live in Mann gaothan, but most parents here don’t know about the RTE admission. That’s why most of the schools from the district haven’t had a single application. The state government or zilla parishad should conduct awareness programmes at the district level for this and also provide internet facilities in mobile vans so that rural folk can avail of the RTE opportunity.”An RTE activist and member of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mukund Kirdat, couldn’t agree more. “Owing to lack of awareness about the RTE Act, the suburban and district pre-primary schools don’t have a single admission. The basic infrastructure for RTE’s online form filling is the internet and a scanner, which the education department should provide. According to the RTE Act, local bodies like the zilla parishad and the municipal corporation are responsible for implementing the Act in their jurisdictions. They should run RTE campaigns. The special RTE round will definitely help parents of rural and suburban areas to secure seats for their wards,” he stressed.Everybody loves comfort food. This dish is a great main dish, or side. It would make a great side dish for a BBQ. If you like your food a bit spicier, add your favorite hot sauce to your serving.
Estimated Cost Per Serving: $1.31
Step 1
Pre Heat oven to 350f.
Step 2
Cook past according to directions.
Step 3
While pasta is cooking, poke a few holes in sweet potato. Place in microwave for 3-5 minutes. Or until the potato is soft and can be pierced through with a fork. Set potato aside and let cool.
Step 4
When potato is cool to touch, remove the skin. Place it in a mixing bowl and mash.
Step 5
Add non dairy milk, nutrional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper to bowl with mashed potato and mix. Set aside.
Step 6
In a non stick pan, cook diced sausages and frozen veggies for 5 minutes.
Step 7
Add cooked pasta to the potato mix. Coat the macaroni with the potato mixture.
Step 8
Add sausages, and veggies to the bowl, and mix in.
Step 9
Place the macaroni in a baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the bread crumbs.
Step 10
Place in oven for 15 minutes.
Step 11
After 15 minutes, remove from oven and enjoy!Obama on Israel: Both sides should 'look in the mirror'
Obama suggested back in February that he would be pro-Israel without hewing to the Likud hard line, but more recently has expressed more generic backing for Israel.
In Amman today, though, he suggested again that the fault in the region is not the Palestinians' alone, something you'll rarely hear from Republicans.
"It’s difficult for either side to make the bold move that would bring about peace," he said, noting (generously) that the weak, scandal-tarred, deeply unpopular Israeli government is "unsettled," while the Palestinians are "divided."
"There’s a tendency for each side to focus on the faults of the other rather than look in the mirror," he said.
Obama condemned today's attack in Jerusalem, but he also cast it in tactical terms: "That’s why terrorism is so counterproductive as well as being immoral," he said. Attacks make "the Israelis simply want to dig in and think about their security … the same would be true of any people when these kinds of things happened."
And he stressed the role the desperate Palestinian economic situation plays in continuing the conflict.
"What I think can change is the ability of a United States government and a United States president to be actively engaged in the peace process," part of which is to "recognize the legitimate difficulties that the Palestinian people are experiencing right now," something he said would be "also in the interest of the Israeli people."
These are differences of nuance, not dramatic ones; its also easy to overstate the degree to which American Jewish voters -- who, as Sam Stein catches, much prefer Obama to Joe Lieberman -- will vote a pro-Israel hard line.Last month Ean took a trip out to one of the more successful studios in the dance music world, Studio DMI, to get one of his recent tracks put into the hands of a master in the field, Luca Pretolesi. With experience mastering dance music tracks for artists like Skrillex, Tiësto, and Gareth Emery, his tips come from a strong background in success. Learn a few key principles of the trade in today’s awesome interview.
Editor’s note: Due to a wireless mic acting up during this interview, the audio gets a little bit scratchy at parts – we left those parts in because there’s valuable information! 🙂
Mastering Dance Music Tips Review:
Some of the core principles that Luca shares in the video for review:
Raw material (for example audio that was recorded live) is often better for mixing because it allows for great dynamics
Mix in big chunks to shape a large “sonic picture”
Center your low end so it works well on club systems, standard systems, and even laptop speakers
Don’t over-compress the side stereo information
Use dynamic EQ to create movement in different parts of the track
Here are some of Ean’s thoughts on the session:
My biggest take away from this session was to allow other ears in on your creative process. While we could all learn, and use the techniques in this video – it would take years to really master them, and a LOT of money to duplicate the results. If you can afford it, I really think it pays to have a specialist involved in the final mixing or at least mastering side of your creativity.
Finally, check out this preview of the mastered song, with a full version coming later this year in a forthcoming album:
To hear more of Ean’s work, follow him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eangolden
Learn more about DMI on their official site: http://studiodmi.comSerge Gnabry is back in the spotlight after his superlative performance in Hoffenheim’s defeat of RB Leipzig last week(4-0). He scored two goals, and one of the goals was from 44 meters.
Gnabry has everything to be thankful for. After recovering from numerous injuries that were on the verge of blighting his career, he has found playing for Hoffenheim a relief.
However, the 22-year-old German-Ivorian is on loan to Hoffenheim from Bayern Munich until the end of 2017/2018 season. And according to an article in Sport 1, Gnabry does not relish going back to Bayern Munich at the end of the season.
Because he knows what it feels like to be a permanent reserve player or second option. He had such experiences with Arsenal and West Brom years ago until he came to Werder Bremen last season.
Also, it was the reason why Gnabry did not want to come to Bayern from Bremen in the first place! But in his last contract with Bremen last season, Bayern had an option to purchase agreement with Bremen in the neighbourhood of eight million Euro.In return, Bayern Munich helped to secure that Gnabry left Arsenal in 2016 to Bremen despite higher offers from other Bundesliga clubs like Schalke, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Leverkusen or Hertha Berlin after his stark performance at the Rio Olympics.
Gnabry prefers to play for Hoffenheim. After Bayern activated the clause, and he became a Bayern player, in frustration, he went to Bayern Boss, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to ask for a loan move to Hoffenheim. At the time, Rummenigge said,”It was Serge’s wish to be loaned for another year so he could get more match practice.”
It is alleged that Gnabry has the same argument for him to continue his loan until 2019 season. Officials in Hoffenheim seem to tag along with his reasoning.Hoffenheim’s sports boss, Alexander Rosen, said, “I have great hope that he will stay another year.” And Coach Julian Nagelsmann thinks in the same direction:” He is far from where he has to be if he wants to play at the club he belongs to.”
Bayern fans would love to see Gnabry and Kingsley Coman replace aging wingers like Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. It could be a mirage if Gnabry has his way.This article contains spoilers for the following visual novels: Clannad, Little Busters, Grisaia no Kajitsu, ef – a fairy tale of the two and Katawa Shoujo.
I love me a good visual novel. Pleasing backgrounds and sprites, writing that ranges from light hearted comedy to heart breaking tragedy, and satisfying endings that wrap up both the emotional investment and plot arc. Those first two elements can be problematic enough on their own (and you aren’t here just for me to complain about poor visual novel writing), but the third one is what I want to focus on today. Obviously ending a story can be incredibly difficult, but it’s the method of ending that I’m calling into question, as opposed to how the story actually wraps up.
For those unversed, visual novels (hereafter called VN’s) are games in which you read a story in short snippets with characters animated above (whether they are shifting static sprites or have animated eyes, mouths, etc. depends on the VN you read) to reflect the tone of the scene. The genre is biggest in Japan, so most VN’s (regardless of country of origin) can be described as “anime-esque” both visually and in their storytelling. Unlike an anime, or really most any story, VN’s give the reader the chance to affect the story through choice systems. These choices lead to branching paths, usually to decide who the romantic choice will be. These choices will also lead to an ending, which is where our topic comes in.
In nearly every VN, there exists at least two endings. More commonly there are two endings for each route, called Good Ends and Bad Ends. This can lead to many games having ending-counts in the double digits, and of course quality will vary there. The Good End will usually be the canon end for that route, although some games have only a single route that is truly canon (True End) and the others are just non-canon fantasies. Without delving to deep into the meta-storytelling methods of visual novels, suffice it to say that Bad Ends are always non-canon and significantly different from Good and True Ends. Different visual novels use their non-True Ends in different ways. Some use time travel, parallel universes or other convenient (or contrived, depending on your level of cynicism) connections to tie all of them together, while some simply go crazy with them and let wild, unexpected events take place outside of the story. I want to delve into this spectrum and try to find some meaning to the choices VN authors make on this subject.
First, we have the games that give their non-canon routes and endings actual meanings. Clannad and Little Busters are two such examples. Both games come from the mind of Jun Maeda, arguably the best and most well-known VN creator and former main scenario writer at Key, arguably the best and most well-known VN studio. Maeda is famous for tear-jerking tragedies, cute girls, and reality-bending conclusions to his stories. The third part is where his games fit into our topic.
In both Clannad and Little Busters, the reader must complete every single route before unlocking the True Route of each game, called After Story~ and Refrain, respectively. Going through each route (distinguished by love interest of choice, as in most VN’s) one might think that they are simply playing through unrelated story lines that do not co-exist. It is only in the True Endings of both games that it is revealed to the player that the entire game was canon. In Clannad, following each character’s route helped them to achieve true happiness, building up a mysterious magical power contained in the town the game takes place in. This magical power comes together to resolve the tragic climax of After Story~ and unlock the True Ending. Similarly in Little Busters, the main character discovers that he and his friends have been frozen in time just before experiencing a terrible accident for the entire game. His friends have been maintaining the illusion of school life in this fantasy, watching him grow as a person while completing the other routes. Once they believe that he is strong enough to live without them, they destroy the fantasy and let him save the entire group from certain death. Both of these games make such good use of the visual novel route-based format with their integrated story lines, and in my opinion make up the pinnacle of the visual novel medium.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have games that I love most of, but utterly confuse and frustrate me when it comes to Bad Ends. The first, Grisaia no Kajitsu is just like any other high school romance VN, except for the main character Yuuji (who can be nicknamed either “Juicy Yuuji” or “Mr. Standoff-ish Man;” these are the types of choices that really immerse you in a game!) who is a trained assassin. This results in some of the routes ending in violent chaos, the most benefitting our topic being Makina’s. At the end of the route, you as Yuuji can choose to spare Makina’s mother’s life or kill her. This choice is tough, seeing as she has tried to kill Makina several times and traumatized her by killing her father in front of her in the past. If you choose to spare her, the Good End, she leaves Makina alone and the route ends with Yuuji and a pregnant Makina enjoying their lives together. This is all well and good, but it is the Bad End that makes me scratch my head. If Yuuji kills the mother, he ends up dying as well. This is sad, yes, but not the part that should puzzle you. The route ends with the same image of a pregnant Makina in the kitchen with Yuuji, only this time Yuuji is replaced with a garbage bag. A strangely human-shaped garbage bag. Filled with Yuuji. I wish I was joking. Who wants to read this sort of thing? I simply cannot imagine a tone for this other than sarcastic.
That Bad End is strange, but my most memorable one from ef – a fairy tale of the two is absolutely ridiculous. After a long love-hate relationship in her route, Kei and Kyousuke are on the verge of confessing their feelings on the roof of the school. If you choose the Good End choice, you’re treated to fireworks and the two teenagers showing their appreciation for each other as only characters in an adult visual novel can. The Bad End, however, does more than prevent that gratuitous and graphic confession from happening. Kei rejects Kyousuke, and so, logically, he strangles her to death. Unsatisfied with that travesty, the writer decided that next, Kyousuke should jump off the roof to end his own life. I’m not sure if this is only due to my reading an unofficial fan translation, but as the screen fades to black this speech from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory plays. Again, I wish I was joking. The reader is serenaded by Gene Wilder calling them a failure because they committed murder-suicide instead of losing their virginity. One simply cannot make this up. Why do these Bad Ends exist? Who is the target audience? I cannot fathom the motivation to write or read such horrible things. Is there any way to write non-canon endings or routes that don’t disturb the reader?
There is, with the final VN I will cover. It is one that I find strikes a happy medium between the canonical and interconnected endings in Key games and the confusing, seemingly unnecessary endings in Grisaia and ef. Katawa Shoujo is an indie VN created by Four Leaf Studios, a group founded on 4chan. I know, that should be setting off every possible alarm, but this VN is surprisingly charming considering that it came from the website that brought us Gushing GrannyTM flavored Mountain Dew (Google that if you don’t know it and need to smile after hearing about Kei’s Bad End). Each of this game’s five routes involves romancing a different girl and learning about their disability and personality, leading to a relationship and (hopefully) a happy ending. There are Bad Ends in each route, but unlike Grisaia and ef, they are realistic and understandable. Nearly all of them involve misunderstanding a situation with the route’s heroine, leading to a ruined friendship or relationship. There is something bitterly human about watching yourself hurt someone you care about when you could have easily made the choice that leads to falling in love. Katawa Shoujo may not have the intricate route-connecting of Key visual novels, but it illustrates human interaction with its Bad Ends in a way that sets it above games that simply go for outrageous and silly shock moments.
Most games have only one ending. In fact, almost every story that exists has only one ending. The visual novel medium allows for experimental storytelling with the route and multiple ending system, but not all VN’s use it equally. The Key games by Jun Maeda use them to give their grand finales more power, and amaze me with the relevance given to interactions that have nothing to do with the True End. Grisaia, ef, and sadly most visual novels have comically dark and brutal Bad Ends that make me question why the system should exist at all! Games like Katawa Shoujo are sadly few and far-between, but when they strike your soul with both Good and Bad Ends, you know that you’ve found a special story. Despite what I may have said about the bad parts of some of these games, I strongly recommend every single one. Whether you crave the cathartic Good Ends or get some twisted pleasure from the Bad Ends, these five VN’s are all worth a read, so grab some tissues (for the tears, thank you, get your mind out of the gutter!) and see what ending your choices bring you.(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court said the Federal Trade Commission has authority to regulate corporate cyber security, and may pursue a lawsuit accusing hotel operator Wyndham Worldwide Corp of failing to properly safeguard consumers’ information.
A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Files
The 3-0 decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on Monday upheld an April 2014 lower court ruling allowing the case to go forward.
The FTC wants to hold Wyndham accountable for three breaches in 2008 and 2009 in which hackers broke into its computer system and stole credit card and other details from more than 619,000 consumers, leading to over $10.6 million in fraudulent charges.
Noting the FTC’s broad authority under a 1914 law to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive trade practices, Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro said Wyndham failed to show that its alleged conduct “falls outside the plain meaning of ‘unfair.’”
Wyndham brands include Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Ramada, Super 8 and Travelodge.
A company spokesman, Michael Valentino, said “safeguarding personal information remains a top priority” for the Parsippany, New Jersey-based company. “We believe the facts will show the FTC’s allegations are unfounded,” he added.
FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez welcomed the decision.
“It is not only appropriate, but critical, that the FTC has the ability to take action on behalf of consumers when companies fail to take reasonable steps to secure sensitive consumer information,” she said.
Congress has not adopted wide-ranging legislation governing data security, a growing concern after high-profile breaches such as at retailer Target Corp, infidelity website Ashley Madison, and even U.S. government databases.
In a test of its power to fill the void, the FTC sued Wyndham in June 2012, claiming its computers “unreasonably and unnecessarily” exposed consumer data to the risk of theft.
Wyndham accused the FTC of overreaching, but U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark, New Jersey, let the case proceed.
Affirming that ruling, Ambro rejected Wyndham’s argument that it lacked “fair notice” about what the FTC could require.
He also rejected what he called Wyndham’s “alarmist” argument that letting the FTC regulate its conduct could give the agency effective authority to regulate hotel room door locks, or sue supermarkets that fail to sweep up banana peels.
“It invites the tart retort that, were Wyndham a supermarket, leaving so many banana peels all over the place that 619,000 customers fall hardly suggests it should be immune from liability,” Ambro wrote.
The case is Federal Trade Commission v Wyndham Worldwide Corp et al, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 14-3514.A GOP source close to the health care negotiations told Independent Journal Review late Tuesday night that moderate Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Billy Long (R-Mo.) are considering a deal granting $8 billion in additional funding to the plan’s state stability fund in exchange for the lawmakers’ support on the health care bill.
The plan currently allocates roughly $130 billion to the stability fund and high-risk pool funding.
A GOP lawmaker told IJR early Wednesday morning that House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows initially offered Upton and Long $5 billion. Moderate members of the Tuesday Group then countered, demanding $15 billion. The parties ended on $8 billion over five years, and Meadows briefed HFC members on the deal during the Freedom Caucus meeting Tuesday night.
Meadows indicated he believes $8 billion will be the number to get the job done, but Upton has yet to make a decision.
Upton told the Associated Press on Tuesday night that the potential change was “not quite a done deed yet, but it addresses many of my concerns.”
Upton made his opposition to the bill clear Tuesday, voicing his concerns that the plan cuts pre-existing conditions protections. Long expressed similar objections on Monday.
“The MacArthur amendment strips away any guarantee that pre-existing conditions would be covered and affordable,” the lawmaker said in a statement.
The proposed $8 billion change would do little to address moderate concerns related to pre-existing conditions, but might just be enough to bring some members back on board with the plan.
Some estimates indicate AHCA’s high-risk pools would need far more than just $8 billion in additional funds to fully protect individuals with pre-existing conditions. The Center for American Progress said in a statement Tuesday that, by its numbers, the high-risk pools funded by AHCA “would fall short by at least $19.7 billion per year, or by about $200 billion over 10 years.”
“High-risk pools are expensive, and they have a history of being underfunded,” Emily Gee, a CAP health economist said in the statement. “In the past, insufficient funding meant that patients seeking high-risk pool coverage regularly encountered waiting lists, sky-high deductibles, and premiums double those of standard rates. The high-risk pools that the American Health Care Act would create would be no different.”
Republican lawmakers disagree. “The AHCA provides significant resources at the federal and state level for risk-sharing programs that lower premiums for all people,” a press release from House Speaker Paul Ryan asserted Tuesday morning.
Moderate members who currently oppose AHCA were skeptical about the possible amendment when IJR asked them about it on Tuesday afternoon.
Upton and Long’s positions on the bill and whether the extra $8 billion would change their votes should become more clear following their expected visit to the White House on Wednesday.
Mind you: any changes to the health care bill to bring the lawmakers on board could tip the already-precarious balance of the Republican conference, potentially losing conservative votes in the process.
But that might be a risk the White House is willing to take in the push to get health care out of the House before Congress takes another recess next week.
Republicans can only afford to lose 22 votes on the bill before it loses its chances in the House.
The leadership’s pivot away from treating the bill with the MacArthur amendment as the final version and toward a stance more open to negotiations is telling, at least in terms of the vote count. Members told IJR the tally is tight, and the leadership is singling out members to try to win votes.
It’s tight enough that nobody really knows where things stand. There is some optimism the effort could yield results, though.
“I think we’re finding that sweet spot,” a Republican aide told IJR early Wednesday morning.Leonid Viktorovich Slutsky (Russian: Леонид Викторович Слуцкий; born 4 May 1971) is a Russian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Eredivisie club Vitesse. Previously, he has been in charge of Olimpia Volgograd, Uralan Elista, Moscow, Krylia Sovetov, CSKA Moscow, Russia and Hull City.
Playing career [ edit ]
Slutsky was born in Volgograd. Slutsky's playing career with FC Zvezda Gorodishche ended at just 19 years of age. He had to retire due to a knee injury sustained after falling out of a tree while rescuing a neighbour's cat.[1]
Coaching career [ edit ]
Early career [ edit ]
Slutsky became head coach of FC Moscow on 14 July 2005[2] until the end of the 2007 season.[3] His final match as head coach of Moscow was a 3–1 win against Luch-Energiya Vladivostok on 11 November 2007.[4] Slutsky became head coach of Krylia Sovetov on 1 January 2008.[5]
CSKA Moscow [ edit ]
On 26 October 2009[6] he replaced Juande Ramos to become the head coach of CSKA Moscow.[7] In December 2009, under Slutsky, CSKA reached the knock-out stage of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history,[8] before being knocked out by José Mourinho's Inter Milan, the eventual champions, in the quarter-finals.
Two years later, the achievement was repeated, when CSKA defeated Inter Milan at the San Siro in the last game of the group stage.[9]
Towards the 2012–13 season, Slutsky strengthened the team defense and re-organized the attack, which helped the team set a record of 15 games without being scored against, and to win all the games where the team scored first, resulting in a title.[10]
On 7 August 2015, it was announced that Slutsky would take over the Russian national football team in place of the outgoing Fabio Capello.[11] The contract was until the end of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[11] Slutsky won all of his qualifying games and got Russia into UEFA Euro 2016.[12]
On 14 November 2015, Russia beat Portugal 1–0 in a friendly game and Slutsky repeated Pavel Sadyrin's achievement of winning his five first games as the head coach of Russia.[13]
On 21 May 2016, CSKA beat Rubin Kazan 1-0 to secure the title ahead of surprise challengers Rostov. This gave Slutsky his third title in four years with the Moscow club.
On 20 June 2016, Slutsky decided to resign from being the coach of the Russian team after a 0–3 loss to Wales, which meant Russia finished bottom of their Euro 2016 group.[14] He resigned on 25 June.[15]
On 6 December 2016, Slutsky announced his resignation as CSKA manager. His last game was a Champions League group stage match against Tottenham Hotspur the following day.[16]
Later career [ edit ]
On 9 June 2017, Slutsky was appointed manager of EFL Championship club Hull City.[17] On 3 December 2017, he left the club by mutual consent.[18]
On 12 March 2018, it was announced that he would replace Henk Fraser as the new manager of Dutch Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem, for the start of the 2018–19 season.
Slutsky has commented on football games many times on Russian TV. This took a sudden end after he used the term "Navalny football"; "Navalny" can be seen both as an adjective meaning "route one" and as a reference to the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.[19]
Coaching statistics [ edit ]
As of 24 February 2019
Team From To Record G W D L GF GA GD Win % Moscow 14 July 2005[2] 11 November 2007[3][4] 7001890000000000000♠ 89 7001390000000000000♠ 39 7001260000000000000♠ 26 7001240000000000000♠ 24 7002120000000000000♠ 120 7002102000000000000♠ 102 +18 0 7001438200000000000♠ 43.82 Krylia Sovetov 1 January 2008[5] 26 October 2009[6] 7001590000000000000♠ 59 7001220000000000000♠ 22 7001190000000000000♠ 19 7001180000000000000♠ 18 7001770000000000000♠ 77 7001610000000000000♠ 61 +16 0 7001372900000000000♠ 37.29 CSKA Moscow 26 October 2009[7] 7 December 2016 7002287000000000000♠ 287 7002160000000000000♠ 160 7001570000000000000♠ 57 7001700000000000000♠ 70 7002474000000000000♠ 474 7002284000000000000♠ 284 +190 0 7001557500000000000♠ 55.75 Russia 7 August 2015[11] 20 June 2016[14] 7001130000000000000♠ 13 7000600000000000000♠ 6 7000200000000000000♠ 2 7000500000000000000♠ 5 7001230000000000000♠ 23 7001170000000000000♠ 17 +6 0 7001461500000000000♠ 46.15 Hull City 9 June
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see such a wonderful indie game be passed up by fans of the genre just because it cost too much.A Quick Look plug-in for Provisioning
As every iOS developer knows, when your provisioning gets messed up, your life becomes a living hell. I don’t even want to think about how many millions of man hours have been wasted getting broken projects working again.
The root of the problem is always the.mobileprovision files that are kept in your Library > MobileDevice > Provisioning Profiles folder. The file either references a certificate that has expired or a device that no longer exists. There can also be issues with the entitlements that are contained in the profile when Team and App IDs don’t match.
A large part of the problem is that this file is not directly readable in a text editor like all the other parts of our Xcode projects. The file is encoded in the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) described in RFC 3852.
After doing a bit of research, I found that decoding the payload of this file format is very simple thanks to some helpful functions in Apple’s Security framework. And once decoded, these.mobileprovision files contain nothing more than Property List (.plist) with a lot of useful debugging information.
I had previously been using a Quick Look plug-in from MacMation, but that site’s gone offline and the plug-in no longer worked in Mavericks. I had originally thought the problems on Mavericks were due to the new code signing requirements, but the root of the issue was that the content type UTI changed from com.apple.iphone.mobileprovision to just com.apple.mobileprovision so Quick Look ignored the old plug-in.
Eventually, I decided to write my own Quick Look plug-in and add a bunch of new stuff that I had been wanting to display:
Developer certificates: Making it easier to verify that your keychain items match what’s in the profile.
Making it easier to verify that your keychain items match what’s in the profile. Provisioning Profile UUID: When someone on the project team checks in a new Provisioning Profile in the Build Settings, the only information you have is that UUID of that new file. Showing the UUID lets you find the right match.
When someone on the project team checks in a new Provisioning Profile in the Build Settings, the only information you have is that UUID of that new file. Showing the UUID lets you find the right match. Entitlements: Checking the Push Notification environment, ubiquity container identifiers, and keychain access groups is essential for any app that uses Apple’s services.
Checking the Push Notification environment, ubiquity container identifiers, and keychain access groups is essential for any app that uses Apple’s services. Links: Whenever the provisioning is broken you spend a lot of time in various sections of the Dev Center. Why not make it easy to get there?
The results of a few days work can be found on GitHub. If you’re lazy like I am, just download the.qlgenerator file and pop it in your Library > QuickLook folder. To get Quick Look to recognize the new plug-in you’ll need to either logout or poke Quick Look from the command line:
$ qlmanage -r
While you’re at the command line, do this to allow text to be copied from any Quick Look plug-in:
$ defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE $ killall Finder
(Macworld has more info about this nice hidden setting. Being able to copy text from a PDF preview is pretty damn handy!)
The next time you’re stuck in the Fifth Circle of Provisioning Hell, this simple plug-in may just bring you back to life. Viva!Terri (Tee Lee) is one of the most vibrant, dynamic, and remarkable people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She is a kind and loving mother to her two girls, a vivacious and talented woman, and a generous and compassionate friend to all. She has weathered storm after storm in the last few years, including a devastatingly abusive relationship, neurosurgery for an aneurysm in her brain, homelessness, and unemployment as a result of her health concerns.
Through all of her trials, she has faced life with strength and a smile, and no small amount of tenacity. She has put her children's needs ahead of her own, fought her way out of joblessness and recently landed a stellar position that will eventually lead to financial independence for herself and her beautiful girls.
Unfortunately, just when life seemed to be making a turn for the better, Terri was dealt a devasatating blow. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and scheduled for surgery in October to remove the malignant mass from her breasts. As difficult a diagnosis as this is to receive, Terri was still full of hope and good humor.
"Well at least I won't have to spend hours and hours bra shopping, huh?" she might say with a wink and a chuckle.
But even though she put on a brave front, those that are close to her know what a struggle it is for her to keep taking positive steps in her life, while knowing what lies ahead - hospitalization, surgery, possible chemotherapy, and a long recovery. There are times when just getting out of bed seems like an insurmountable task, and yet she gets up, dons a smile, and faces each day head on. She is truly an inspiration to everyone around her.
While Terri has been embarking on her new career and preparing for her upcoming surgery, her doctors discovered more unpleasant news - Terri also has leukemia. She will be meeting with an oncologist later today to discuss her next steps, and may be immediately admitted to the hospital depending on what the test results say.
This is what brought me to create this fund today. Having just started a new job, Terri does not have the financial means to support herself and her girls while going through extensive cancer treatment and recovery.
Though her first surgery to repair an aneurysm was successful, she still has several others in her heart and brain that doctors are monitoring closely while addressing her other medical needs. There is a strong likelihood that she will need brain and/or heart surgery in the future, and right now I am reaching out to everyone that reads this to please find it in your hearts to contribute any amount you can spare towards her quickly mounting medical costs.
If there is anyone in this world that deserves the love and support of our human community, it is Terri. She has so much love and generosity in her heart; I know she would do the same for others were the tables turned.
Thank you for reading Terri's story, and thank you for offering your support during this difficult time.
Love and Gratitude.CLOSE Just how many people rely on NJ Transit every day? Michael V. Pettigano / NorthJersey.com
NJ Transit headquarters in Newark. (Photo: Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com) Story Highlights NJ Transit was created in 1979, to "acquire, operate and contract for transportation service."
NJ Transit operates a fleet of more than 2,000 buses and 700 trains.
Nearly 223 million trips are taken on NJ Transit each year.
Almost 11,000 people are employed by NJ Transit.
NJ Transit, the state transportation agency that has consistently struggled to get adequate funding to keep its trains and buses running, has spent nearly $5 million since 2015 to lease and renovate a vacant floor in its Newark headquarters.
Now the agency is poised to spend millions more to purchase the empty 10th floor at Two Penn Plaza East to house 150 employees working on storm resiliency projects and positive train control, a safety system intended to prevent crashes.
But some are asking why permanent space is needed for temporary projects, given the fiscal crunch perennially faced by the agency. The deadline to install the positive train control safety system is next year and the Sandy projects are slated for completion by 2021.
"Isn’t this temporary?" asked Joseph Clift, a former planning director for the Long Island Rail Road who attended the July meeting where the purchase was unanimously approved. "When they’re done, the people are gone."
INVESTIGATION: NJ Transit facing staffing crisis that could mean more delays
FUNDING: Give NJ Transit a dedicated source of revenue, advocacy group says
The spending comes at a time when the agency is facing many challenges, both fiscal and operational. Among them:
NJ Transit currently owes Amtrak more than $90 million for its use of the Northeast Corridor for its commuter rail operations.
NJ Transit's funding from the state has been pieced together in recent years, with money coming from the Turnpike Authority, the state's Clean Energy Fund, and cash intended for capital projects.
The Record reported Sunday that NJ Transit has hired only four locomotive engineers since 2015, and has lost one engineer a month to Metro-North since March. Additionally, the agency is poised to see a wave of retirements in the next few years that increases the urgency of hiring replacements.
The agency's former compliance officer took it to task at a state legislative hearing last month, saying NJ Transit was "in great peril" because the loss of staff was removing the kind of institutional knowledge needed to operate safely.
Clift, in his comments to the board about purchasing the space, cited the money owed to Amtrak and the agency's ongoing reliance on capital dollars to pay for operating costs.
Public speaker and rail advocate Joseph Clift of Manhattan speaks during a recent joint public meeting held by the members of the Administration Committee and Customer Service Committee of NJ Transit's board of directors. (Photo: Mitsu Yasukawa/NorthJersey.com)
Amtrak spokeswoman Christina Leeds said it is working with NJ Transit to resolve the charges, which include $16.3 million in operating costs as well as $74.6 million in capital obligations for the fiscal year that ends on Sept. 30.
Two years ago, the vice chairman of NJ Transit's board praised the move to lease the space. However, he resigned late last year, citing his frustration with the unreliability of funding for the agency.
NJ Transit spends about $2.1 billion each year to keep operating, taking in about half that from passenger fares. The rest is pieced together from state and federal sources.
The agency, because the deal isn't yet final, won't disclose how much it’s paying to purchase the 35,500-square-foot office, roughly equivalent to the 87th or 88th floors of One World Trade Center in Manhattan.
NJ Transit’s board meeting minutes show approval of a three-year lease agreement in October 2015 for about $2.2 million, plus operating expenses of about $300,000 a year, with options to extend the lease another two years or purchase the space.
NEWSLETTERS Get the Breaking News newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Get breaking news from all around North Jersey delivered to your inbox as soon as it happens. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-888-282-3422. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Breaking News Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters
NJ TRANSIT: What you need to know about the nation's third-largest transit agency
TURMOIL: NJ Transit official resigns, cites unreliable funding
In July, the board approved taking "all actions necessary" to purchase the 10th floor. The agency must make the purchase final by Oct. 1 to buy the space at 85 percent of its fair market value. Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman, said the deal isn't yet final.
Smith did say that about $1.8 million has been spent to renovate the space, and that employees will move into it this fall.
"We anticipate employees moving in this fall following the finalization of the purchase and final code inspections, Smith said.
Vacant space
Though vacant now, the office space in Newark is intended to house support staff for NJ Transit's $320 million positive train control project, and four post-Sandy resiliency projects that will use $1.2 billion in Federal Transit Administration grants the agency received since the 2012 storm.
It's been almost five years since Superstorm Sandy damaged NJ Transit's infrastructure, rail cars and locomotives. And it's been nearly a decade since Congress required commuter railroads to install positive train control, a system that automatically slows or stops trains that are going too fast.
Former Vice Chairman Bruce Meisel at the close of an NJ Transit meeting in July 2015 during which the agency approved a fare hike. (Photo: Kevin R. Wexler/NorthJersey.com)
When the agency's board approved the lease agreement for the 10th-floor office space, then-Vice Chairman Bruce Meisel praised it as "a very thoughtful and intelligent move."
In December, Meisel stepped down.
"One conclusion from my term on this board is that the funding arrangement for NJ Transit, whether dedicated or otherwise, has to become more reliable,” he said then. “If we know the facts, we can prepare for them."
Reached at his commercial real-estate office in Bergen County, Meisel said he didn't have anything to add.
TESTIMONY: NJ Transit 'in great peril,' won't meet safety system deadline
IMPACTS: Train safety system's installation could cut Penn Station's capacity
Falling behind
The board voted in December to refinance bonds to keep the agency solvent in 2017 and 2018 and provide $60 million for capital projects, including positive train control.
Positive train control, which Congress required in 2008 after a deadly commuter train collision in southern California, is a system that some believe could have prevented last year's fatal NJ Transit crash at Hoboken Terminal.
The crash left one dead and more than 100 injured and caused substantial damage to the terminal, which is still being repaired.
Story continues after video
CLOSE The Positive Train Control system (PTC) uses GPS, wireless radio and computers to monitor trains, and automatically enforce speed limits, and emergency stops. By Frank Pompa and Ramon Padilla, USA TODAY
The agency is behind on the positive train control project, according to its most recent progress report submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration last month.
NJ Transit's former compliance chief, Todd Barretta, testified to lawmakers in Trenton last month that the agency was unlikely to meet the 2018 deadline to complete the system.
However, Steve Santoro, the agency's executive director, told lawmakers last month that NJ Transit would meet the deadline.
NJ Transit Executive Director Steven Santoro speaks about the recent derailments at New York Penn Station during an April news conference in Newark. (Photo: Julio Cortez/AP)
NJ Transit is now suing Barretta, who was fired last month.
Still, the agency has moved forward on four major post-Sandy resiliency projects:
A "safe harbor" storage facility for rail cars and locomotives away from flood zones, in North Brunswick.
An electric power grid designed to keep the railroad operating even if commercial power fails.
A replacement for the 109-year-old drawbridge across the Raritan River on the New Jersey Coast Line.
Filling in a former barge canal next to Hoboken Terminal to build six new tracks and platforms that are above the flood line.
All four of the projects, which combined have received federal grants of $1.2 billion, are scheduled for completion by 2021.
Read or Share this story: https://njersy.co/2xusHLPBy encouraging the use of the plugin 'Ad Nauseum' they are messing with Google's advertising revenue. Giving back 7-10% of 50 billion is going to hurt.
http://boards.4chan.org/pol/thread/139176123
Don't drain the swamp -- defund it. Starve 'em out.
Here are the links in the thread -- I haven't looked at them myself so can't vouch for or recommend any of this software. (The last is an article)
https://github.com/dhowe/AdNauseam/w...d-in-adnauseam
http://www.cs.nyu.edu/trackmenot/
https://ageofshitlords.com/4chan-launched-war
Quote: Google has had to issue refunds to several hundreds of its advertisers, due to fake and invalid clicks from several websites running Google ads on their platform. While invalid clicks have always been a problem that ad agencies like Google face, the rate of invalid clicks detected by Google has soared in the second quarter of the year, the Wall street Journal reports. This may in part be because an online army of trolls have chosen invalid clicks as their preferred method of protesting what they deem as Google abusing its power.
In the past month, due to pressure from the media and advertisers over “hate speech” concerns, Google has mass-demonetized the YouTube videos of several right-leaning Vloggers whose videos express controversial views. Videos that criticize and discuss Islam, immigration, anti-feminism and a wide array of other topics no longer qualify to be monetized. This means the content creators will not earn any money when people view these videos. Some YouTubers have had up to 95% of their videos demonetized, thereby making their entire channel practically worthless …… 4chan is fighting back.
Using programs like AdNauseam and UBO, 4chan users are sending millions of fake clicks to Google’s advertisers. These programs are essentially bots that visit the websites of companies who are advertising their brands and products with Google through google’s affiliate links. The bots are designed to operate as humans beings behind computers and click on interesting ads provided by Google’s servers, except unlike real humans, these bots do not purchase anything from the advertisers’ websites or interact with them in any way (Imagine paying hundreds of dollars for advertisement and not getting anything from it).
Several threads have appeared on website like 4chan, 8chan and on some Reddit subs, encouraging users to download these programs and join in the fight:...
4chan fights back.By encouraging the use of the plugin 'Ad Nauseum' they are messing with Google's advertising revenue. Giving back 7-10% of 50 billion is going to hurt.Don't drain the swamp -- defund it. Starve 'em out.Here are the links in the thread -- I haven't looked at them myself so can't vouch for or recommend any of this software. (The last is an article)Donald Trump’s former campaign manager says the president-elect has already accomplished more in the month since his election than President Obama has in the last four years.
“Donald Trump, in the first four weeks of his presidency, has done more to help this country than I think Barack Obama has done in the last four years,” Corey Lewandowski said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday.
Lewandowski, an informal Trump adviser expected to join his administration, said Trump has a shown a stronger “commitment” to the U.S. military and American businesses than the Obama administration’s second term by vowing “to reduce the amount of government regulations so they can continue to grow” at a rate higher than the current economy.
“His presidency is summed up in two words: America first,” Lewandowski said. “I love it.”
At an event at Carrier Corporation in Indianapolis last week, Trump touted his ability to broker a deal that he said would keep 1,100 factory jobs from being moved to Mexico.
“Those are hard-working Americans who are going to be able to keep their jobs here and have a great Christmas,” Lewandowski said. “You can say again, ‘Merry Christmas,’ because Donald Trump is now the president. You can say it again. It’s OK to say, it’s not a pejorative word anymore.”
But according the United Steelworkers’ union, workers at the plant were informed that Trump’s deal with Carrier will save 730 positions, while more than 550 are still being moving to Monterrey, Mexico.
“He got up there, and, for whatever reason, lied his ass off,” Chuck Jones, president of the United Steelworkers 1999, which represents Carrier employees, told the Washington Post. “I almost threw up in my mouth.”
On Tuesday, Trump took credit for Japan-based SoftBank’s $50 billion investment in U.S. startups after a meeting with Masayoshi Son, the company’s chief executive, at Trump Tower.
“Masa (SoftBank) of Japan has agreed to invest $50 billion in the U.S. toward businesses and 50,000 new jobs,” the president-elect tweeted. “Masa said he would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!”
But according to Bloomberg, SoftBan and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund unveiled a good portion of the venture before the Nov. 8 election.
No matter.
“Donald Trump is a businessman,” Lewandowski said. “Fifty billion dollars and 50,000 jobs in the first four weeks? We continue down this path, we’re going to have to have an increase in immigration to fill up all these jobs.”I wanted to highlight the tournament rule on disconnects due to questions asked in the forums: http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=346434
In the Epik vs. Fnatic match, which took place in the first game of the 2nd semi-final, Westrice disconnected around the 8 minute mark. After the disconnect occurred, we had admins review the situation and make a decision in accordance with the Season One rules. The match was not restarted since the disconnect occurred after first blood & after the 5 minute mark (either condition being true would disallow the option for a restart). See section (1) below in italics.
Quote:
Disconnections
Quote:
Game Crashes/Unintentional Disconnection: Any connection loss of one player due to game client, system, network, PC, and/or power problems/issues.
Game Leaving/Intentional Disconnection: Any connection loss of one player due to a player’s actions. Upon judgment by the referee, the offending player may be charged with a default loss or play will be allowed to continue to the disconnecting player’s team’s disadvantage.
Server Crashes: A permanent connection loss of one or multiple players due to an issue with a server
(1) If game crash occurs within 5 minutes from the start of the match & before first blood –OR– a player’s client crashes or fails to load after champion selection, then the match must be restarted. Otherwise if the game crash occurs after first blood or the 5 minute mark, the game will continue as normal. The crashed player may reconnect into the game as soon as they are able.
(2) If a player intentionally leaves a game, then the game will continue as normal.
(3) If a server crash occurs, then the chief referee will decide either between (a) restarting the game or (b) awarding the game to one of the teams. The chief referee will only award a game victory in a situation where one team was on the verge of certain defeat.
Unfortunately, disconnects and hardware malfunctions are a reality of tournaments in both live and online environments and even when the tournament PCs are thoroughly tested.The rule prevents the unaffected teams from gaining an unfair advantage during the early laning phase that can snowball into a severe and game altering advantage.There was a disconnect in the Xan vs. TSM game in the group stage when Axion from Xan experienced a hardware failure before the 5 minute mark & first blood that manifested into a disconnect. This match was restarted.or sabotaging their machines in order to reset the game to a neutral state. Additionally, it removes tournament officials from making a subjective call on whether or to restart a game, which is a matter of opinion and generally more controversial.The disconnects in this tournament have been investigated fully and additional steps have been taken to ensure that the tournament PCs would not experience common and uncommon errors (e.g. video & netframe drivers have been updated & laptops have been raised to ensure that they do not overheat).Although making tough decisions under these circumstances is never desired, I can say that the tournament administrators have maintained a consistent rule set throughout the tournament.I also wanted to clarify why the alternate rule was not used in this situation. During the incident there was a quick discussion and decision to not utilize the rule b/c it had been previously scrutinize by players and admins since it:--Can be difficult to enforce players to stay in an exact area and subsequently punish them if they don't fully comply. (Would need one admin on each player at the very least)--Affects strategies that utilize roaming junglers (i.e. crossing the river) or gankers.--Affects lineup that oriented towards early game pushes and ganksThe rule was included to give the referee some additional utility in the event of disconnect, but hasn't proved to be generally accepted by players. It will likely be removed for Season Two, but I will be soliciting feedback from the competitors themselves.The New England Patriots are the early favorites in Super Bowl XLVI, getting -3 over the New York Giants in the Feb. 5 game in Indianapolis.
After two low-scoring conference championship games where the defenses were in control, the odds-makers expect more of a shoot-out in the Super Bowl, projecting both the Giants and the Patriots to score in the mid-to-high 20's.
In a season that became known as the "Year of the QB" as passing offenses around the NFL shattered every conceivable record, it's fitting that the two teams left are pass-oriented squads who depend on the late game heroics of their star QB's.
Both Tom Brady and Eli Manning could have big games in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, although a good portion of the New York defensive line (Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka) that gave the Patriots offense so much trouble four years ago is still there.
For more odds and lines on prop bets for the Super Bowl, be sure to visit SB Nation's Odds Partners at OddShark.com.The 13 Most Criminally Overlooked Indies and Foreign Films of 2015
1. “Breathe” (dir. Mélanie Laurent)
Actress-turned-director Mélanie Laurent’s second feature is “Mean Girls” for the arthouse crowd. Based on Anne-Sophie Brasme’s novel of the same name, Laurent’s film focuses on a pair of mismatched French schoolgirls who become fast friends in the kind of consuming and obsessive way that should look familiar to plenty of viewers. As her relationship with the wild Sarah (Lou de Laage) starts to erode, Charlie (Josephine Japy) begins to crumble in spectacularly unsettling ways. Laurent nails the nature of female friendships, from the passion and excitement of newfound kinship and identity to the deep sadness when things go awry. Laurent’s psychological touches push the film into some very unexpected territory. What begins as a fast friendship and intimate sisterhood slowly turns into a psychological battle for superiority, and Laurent excels at bringing the unnerving themes of jealousy and betrayal to life through a sensitive visual and audio palette.
READ MORE: The 10 Best Undistributed Movies of 2015 According to Indiewire’s Film Critic
2. “About Elly” (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
3. “The Keeping Room” (dir. Daniel Barber)
The best mysteries aren’t exciting for their crime-solving prowess or plot twists. Instead, a great mystery invests in its characters; the excitement emerges from the unknowability of human nature. Though “About Elly” is the story of a missing person, the questions surrounding the disappearance, however baffling, are secondary. Iranian director Asghar Farhadi — whose masterful Academy Award-winning “A Separation” also inhabited the psychological experience of his country’s society — is interested in rippling impact of the event. The strong ensemble cast delivers all-around riveting performances as their interpersonal bonds begin to fray and eventually dismantle. Elly’s disappearance becomes a fractured mirror of Iranian culture, exposing an inherent distrust of women and other ugly truths.
Set in the rural South of 1865, “The Keeping Room” unfolds in the final moments of the Civil War, as northern troops progress towards victory. But those events take place well beyond the awareness of the three women at its center: Augusta (Brit Marling), her teenage sister Louise (Hailee Steinfeld) and their slave Mad (Muna Otaru). As all the men in their lives vanished long ago on the battlefield, the women exist in a static world, waiting for a salvation that they’ve started to realize will never come. Tensely directed by Daniel Barber (“Harry Brown”), “The Keeping Room” takes place almost entirely in the confines of a barren South Carolina farm, but it’s dense with physical activity and grander implications about gender, race and American progress. The action has the paranoid intensity of a grisly Peckinpah western, but Barber develops it through a progressive historical lens that foregrounds its originality.
4. “The Salt of the Earth” (dir. Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado)
5. “The Boy” (dir. Craig Macneill)
Sebastião Salgado has dedicated much of his life to the artful documentation of human suffering in an effort to, in his own words, “bear witness to the human condition.” “The Salt of the Earth” bears witness to the fruit of Salgado’s labor: stunning black-and-white images that traverse many shades of humanity, from an infernal gold mine in Brazil to the harrowing Sahel drought in which one million refugees starved to death. Salgado’s photography evokes a haunting sense of guilt: within the stunning and awe-inspiring images, the subjects, many of whom are in the throes of death and pain, plea for help with the last shred of dignity available to them.
What makes a killer: nature or nurture? Both, according to this deeply disturbing portrait of a psychopathic child left to his own devices in Middle of Nowhere, America. Nine-year-old Ted wanders the decrepit grounds of his single father’s rural motel, slowly testing the boundaries of his increasingly apparent lack of empathy. Though the film is a slow burn, the mounting tension is almost unbearable. It’s not a question of if, but rather when the boy will snap — and when it happens, it’s more horrifying than you could have imagined. Emily Buder
6. “Wild Tales” (dir. Damián Szifron)
7. “6 Years” (dir. Hannah Fidell)
Damián Szifron’s scorching satire arrived in the U.S. this year, enacting a savage assault on contemporary Argentine society that skewers class and gender biases through a series of morbid segments alive with dark humor. Developed around six distinct stories of surrealist showdowns and revenge plots, the movie has shades of Pedro Almodovar’s stylish blend of comedy and melodrama, yet unfolds more like a Buñuel comedy on speed, veering from one gasp-inducing instance to another. Each chapter of “Wild Tales” invokes some aspect of revenge, although the only consistent element is a terrific sense of production values. While its fair number of explosions, bloody fights and stunt work might suggest otherwise, the movie has a lot on its mind, subversively exposing the backwards social constructs and bureaucratic hang-ups of contemporary Argentina. Thanks to fluid editing and camerawork, the movie’s polished quality holds its polemics together.
In the vein of “Blue Valentine,” Hannah Fidell’s sensitive two-hander follows college-aged Dan (Ben Rosenfield) and Melanie (Taissa Farmiga) as they discover fissures in their six-year relationship, resulting in an exhausting and ultimately toxic process of denial. Rosenfield and Farmiga’s fully improvised performances are heartbreaking; in every scene, the dissolution of the relationship becomes more and more clear, but the locus of responsibility is increasingly complex. Who’s to blame when neither party is strong enough to extricate him or herself from the torrents of young love?
8. “Alleluia” (Fabrice Du Welz)
9. “What What We Do in the Shadows” (dir. Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi)
Inspired by the “Lonely Hearts Killers” of the 1970s, the fourth feature from Belgian writer-director Fabrice Du Welz plays like a seductively visceral nightmare. The movie follows an isolated woman, Gloria (Lola Dueñas), whose severe desire for a professional hustler (Laurent Lucas) leads her to help in his vicious acts of murder. The story may sound like an urban legend you’ve seen before, but Du Welz’s execution of the material is anything but routine. Exploring the mindset of his protagonist by visualizing her unraveling psyche in his aesthetics, Du Welz replaces cheap thrills with a more experimental and calculated sense of escalating internal torture. As a result, “Alleluia” seems more at home in the horror atmosphere of the 1970s than it does in today’s genre marketplace. It’s bona fide shocker indeed.
10. “Felt” (dir. Jason Banker)
This is the best comedy of the year, bar none. The absurd premise, “Real World” set in a vampire mansion full of roommates aged 180 to 8,000 years old, is perfectly matched to a deadpan mockumentary tone that finds the blood-sucking clan squabbling over dishes, werewolves and ladies. Clement and Waititi’s ridiculous gags and callbacks coalesce into a clever, laugh-out-loud hilarious adventure.
11. “People Places Things” (dir. James C. Strouse)
“Felt,” Jason Banker’s visceral horror-thriller, finds artist Amy Everson starring in her own true story as a woman coping with a past sexual trauma by creating a grotesquely costumed alter ego that re-appropriates the male form. While embracing this side of her empowers Amy to be fearless and to protect herself, it soon takes on a life of its own and lashes out against her after she befriends a seemingly good guy. Exploring sexuality and combating rape culture, the movie results in a powerful feminist statement on the sanctity of female vulnerability and the ways in which it is preyed upon and corrupted by male aggression and superiority.
Anchored by a stellar cast and a hilarious script, director Jim C. Strouse balances dramatic elements with quick-witted comedy in the winning “People Places Things.” The heart of the film is the performance by Jemaine Clement (“Flight of The Conchords”) as Will Henry, a depressed graphic novelist and single father trying to put his life back together after catching his wife cheating on him on his twin daughters’ birthday. Shot in intimate locations throughout New York, the film maintains a grounded, personal feel. It’s held together by beautiful artwork that serves as both a coping mechanism for Will and insight into his unspoken feelings, as he feels a wall is being built between him and his family. Ceaselessly entertaining, witty and sentimental, “People, Places, Things” speaks to many sensibilities at once.
12. “Runoff” (dir. Kimberly Levin)
13. “Five Star” (dir. Keith Miller)
Perhaps the most under-seen film on this list, Kimberly Levin’s engrossing drama foregrounds the most important moral dilemma of our time. Betty, a young mother who owns and operates a farmstead, is confronted with a Faustian bargain that will see her abandon her environmental ethics in order to save her livelihood. The lead-up to the decision is realized in poignant, relatable strokes that bring the viewer into the quandary facing us all in one way or another: Do we live our lives for ourselves, or for our grandchildren and the future of the earth? As such, this first-time director’s effort deserves to be seen.
Keith Miller’s “Five Star” is set amid the perils of gang life in the Brooklyn housing projects, following a lifelong member of the Bloods as he takes the son of his slain mentor under his wings and verses him in the codes of the street. A setting and storyline often sensationalized on the big screen, Miller has earned widespread acclaim for bringing an unflinching realism to the proceedings, going so far as to use non-actors who are actual former gang members riffing on their own lives. The result is a film that creates an almost documentary feel to its narrative structure, blurring the line between fiction and reality for a powerful gang drama that taps into larger truths about its very real world.
READ MORE: The Best 15 Movies of 2015 According to Indiewire’s Film Critic
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.ann15056 — Announcement
First Instruments for E-ELT Approved
Following the recommendations of the ESO Finance Committee (FC) and Scientific Technical Committee (STC), Council authorised the Director General to sign the contracts for the first set of instruments for the E-ELT. These huge and innovative tools to analyse the light collected by the giant telescope will allow the E-ELT to address a wide range of astronomical questions soon after its completion. The choices are based on extensive input from the astronomical communities in ESO’s Member States.
This instrumentation package comprises a near-infrared imager with spectroscopic capability (MICADO), a multi-conjugate adaptive optics unit (MAORY), which will feed MICADO (and possibly additional future instruments); an integral field spectrograph (HARMONI), along with development of its laser tomography adaptive optics system to preliminary design review level; and a mid-infrared imager and spectrometer (METIS).
MICADO, coupled with MAORY, will allow the full resolution of the telescope to be brought to bear on many current areas of research. A key driver for the instrument design is astrometric accuracy. Such detailed measurements of the positions of objects will allow, amongst other projects, the orbits of stars around the black hole at the centre of our galaxy to be tracked with unprecedented precision.
HARMONI will make 3D observations of astronomical objects on scales ranging from planetary orbits to entire galaxies. One example of the potential of such an instrument is that HARMONI will enable us to understand the formation and evolution of galaxies from the earliest times in the history of the Universe right up until the present day.
The METIS instrument, working at longer wavelengths, will also have a wide range of applications across all branches of astronomy. It will provide an invaluable link for astronomers wishing to follow up discoveries made with the James Webb Space Telescope by providing far greater spatial detail and dynamical information than can be achieved from space.
Selection of the science capabilities of the E-ELT was a communal effort based on dedicated meetings and workshops and the work of the science teams of the instrument Phase A studies carried out during the E-ELT Phase B design. The Science Working Group (SWG) of the E-ELT Science and Engineering subcommittee (ESE) of the STC contributed to the final science case, developing the science priorities and the sequence of instruments. These were encapsulated in an instrumentation roadmap that was part of the E-ELT construction proposal. The requirements were refined and finalised by the Project Science Team after the completion of Phase B.
The construction of these instruments is included within the Phase 1 E-ELT Programme approved by Council in December 2014
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Nazi target. The governments oi the Reich and of Prussia made every effort to save Schlageter. The Vatican intervened in his behalf, and it is generally sup- posed that the French authorities would have commuted the sentence had it not been for a sudden wave of opposition to AT HOME 5 French, was killed for the sake of the Germany he ardently loved even in the hour of its distress. He had obstinately refused to denounce his fellow offenders, or rather the chief offenders. Thus he acted like Leo Schlageter. But like him, he too was betrayed to France by a representative of his government. It was a director of the Augsburg police who earned that shoddy glory, thus setting an example for the new German authorities of Heir Severing's Reich, t In this little town on the river Inn, gilded by the light of German martyrdom, there lived, at the end of the eighties of the last century, my parents, Bavarian by blood, Aus- trian by nationality : the father a faithful civil servant, the Poincar6's policy in the Chamber. That induced the govern- ment to make a show of firmness. Schlageter, whose last words are said to have been, 'Germany must live,' was executed on May 26, 1923. Immediately he became a German national hero. His example more than anything else hallowed the tradition of the Free Corps in the popular mind and thus strengthened pro- militaristic sentiment. One of the first cultural activities of the Nazi regime was a tribute to Schlageter. Hitler's family background has been a subject for much re- search and speculation. The father, Alois Hitler (1837-1903), was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber; and it is generally assumed that the father was the man she married Johann Hiedler. Until he was forty, he bore the name of his mother, being known as Alois Schicklgruber. Then on January 8, 1877, he legally changed the name to Hitler, which had been that of his maternal grandmother. His third wife was Klara Poelzl (1860-1908), who on April 20, 1889, gave birth to Adolf Hitler. There may have been a brother or half-brother if reports current in Nazi circles are to be credited. At any rate, Hitler has a living sister and a half-sister. The first has lived in retirement, but the second a woman of considerable charm and ability is known to have exercised no little influence at times. 6 MEIN KAMPF mother devoting herself to the cares of the household and looking after her children with eternally the same loving kindness. I remember only little of this time, for a few years later my father had again to leave the little border town he had learned to like, and go down the Inn to take a new position at Passau, that is in Germany proper. But the lot of an Austrian customs official of those days frequently meant'moving on.' Just a short time after- wards my father was transferred to Linz, and finally retired on a pension there. But this was not to mean * rest' for the old man. The son of a poor cottager, even in his childhood he had not been able to stay at home. Not yet thirteen years old, the little boy he then was bundled up his things and ran away from his homeland, the Waldviertel. Despite the dissuasion of 'experienced' inhabitants of the village he had gone to Vienna to learn a trade there. This was in the fifties of the last century. A bitter resolve it must have been to take to the road, into the unknown, with only three guilders for traveling money. But by the time the thirteen- year-old lad was seventeen, he had passed his apprentice's examination, but he had not yet found satisfaction. It was rather the opposite. The long time of hardship through which he then passed, of endless poverty and misery, strengthened his resolve to give up the trade after all in order to become something 'better.' If once the village pastor had seemed to the little boy the incarnation of all obtainable human success, now, in the big city which had so widened his perspective, the rank of civil servant became the ideal. With all the tenacity of one who had grown'old'through want and sorrow while still half a child, the sev- enteen-year-old youth clung to his decision... and became a civil servant. The goal was reached, I believe, after nearly twenty-three years. Now there had been realized the premise of the vow that the poor boy once had sworn, not to return to his dear native village before he had become something. AT HOME 7 Now the goal was reached, but nobody in the village remembered the little boy of long ago, and the village had become a stranger to him. When he retired at the age of fifty-six, he was unable to spend a single day in 'doing nothing.' He bought a farm near Lambach in Upper Austria which he worked himself, thus returning, after a long and active life, to the origin of his ancestors. It was probably at that time that my first ideals were formed. A lot of romping around out-of-doors, the long trip to school, and the companionship with unusually 'ro- bust 1 boys, which at times caused my mother much grief, made me anything but a stay-at-home. Though I did not brood over my future career at that time, I had decidedly no sympathy for the course my father's life had taken. I believe that even then my ability for making speeches was trained by the more or less stirring discussions with my comrades. I had become a little ringleader and at that time learned easily and did very well in school, but for the rest I was rather difficult to handle. Inasmuch as I received singing lessons in my spare time in the choir of the Lambach Convent, I repeatedly had an excellent opportunity of intox- icating myself with the solemn splendor of the magnificent church festivals. It was perfectly natural that the position of abbot appeared to me to be the highest ideal obtainable, just as that of being the village pastor had appealed to my father. At least at times this was the case. For obvious reasons my father could not appreciate the talent for ora- tory of his quarrelsome son in the same measure, nor could he perceive in it any hope for the future of the lad, and so he showed no understanding for these youthful ideas. Sadly he observed this dissension of nature. Actually, my occasional longing for this profession dis- appeared very quickly and made way for aspirations more in keeping with my temperament. Rummaging through MEIN KAMPF my father's library, I stumbled upon various books on mili- tary subjects, and among them I found a popular edition dealing with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. These were two volumes of an illustrated journal of the period which now became my favorite reading matter. Before long that great heroic campaign had become my greatest spiritual experience. From then on I raved more and more about everything connected with war or with militarism. Since Hitler's outlook and policies are rooted in Austrian ex- perience (it is sometimes said that he'made Germany an Aus- trian's province') some remarks on the general situation in his home land may be helpful. The Austria-Hungary of the last three decades of the nineteenth century was only the remnant of a Habsburg Empire that had once included most of western Europe. It was a 'dual monarchy,' the crown belonging to the monarch as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Since most of Germany had been welded together (1871) by Bis- marck in an empire ruled by the Hohenzollern kings of Prussia, the Germans who remained in Austria-Hungary constituted a minority, even though most of the important bureaucratic positions were still in their hands. The position obtained by Hungary made their lot no easier. For soon every'nationality'wished to secure comparable advantages for itself. The monarchy itself had suffered many a reverse. Under Frederick the Great and Bismarck, the Prussians had inflicted several major defeats upon their Austrian rivals. While the revolutionary liberalism of 1848 was successfully put down at the cost of severe fighting, the power of the bureaucratic State was none the less seriously undermined and the eventual triumph of 'constitutionalism* in 1860-61 was assured. In addition the unification of Italy was achieved at the cost of Austrian prestige and possessions. And though the Partition of Poland had added Galicia to the Habsburg domains, it was always doubtful who ruled the province the Poles or the Austrians. Galicia was also the home of large Jewish com- munities, from which strong contingents moved to Vienna and other important cities. AT HOME 9 But this was to prove of importance to me in another direction as well. For the first time the question confronted me I was a bit confused, perhaps if and what differ- ence there was between those Germans fighting these bat- tles and the others. Why was it that Austria had not taken part also in this war, why not my father, and why not all the others? -< Are we not the same as all the other Germans? Do we not all belong together? This problem now began to whirl through my little head for the first time. After cautious questioning, I heard with envy the reply that not every German was fortunate enough to belong to Bis- marck's Reich. This I could not understand. I was to become a student. From 1880 onward, the problem of * nationalities' dominated Austrian life. On the one hand, the Hungarians were concerned lest the Slavic groups Czechs, Croats, Poles, etc. extend their demand for autonomy to the point where the Empire would become a * federation' of States, and therefore made common cause with the Germans on issues affecting the status quo. But a good many Germans, for their part, felt aggrieved at having been excluded from the Bismarckian Empire and saw no future for themselves in a predominantly Slavic State. On the other hand, the Czechs and kindred 'nationalities' con- tinued to urge the idea of a federation, and to insist upon the right to foster their own languages and cultures. The Habs- burg rulers had no choice save recourse to continual compro- mise. In the Austrian parliament common national interests, for example the army, were always being subordinated to hotly debated matters of domestic 'nationality' policy. Doubtless there was no way out except the establishment of a federation. To this idea Franz Ferdinand, the Crown Prince whose murder at Saravejo was the immediate cause of the World War, seems to have committed himself. 10 MEIN KAMPF Because of my entire nature, even more because of my temperament, my father thought he was right in concluding that attendance at the humanistic Gymnasium would not be in keeping with my ability. He thought that the Real- schule [a German secondary school for modern subjects and sciences] seemed more suitable. This opinion was strength- ened by my obvious talent for drawing; this subject, he thought, had been neglected in the Austrian schools. Per- haps his own lifetime of hard work was a decisive factor and made him appreciate humanistic studies to a lesser degree, for to him they appeared impractical. As a matter of prin- ciple, he was determined that like himself his son should, nay must, become an official. It was natural that the bitter experiences of his own youth made his later achievements appear so much greater, especially since they were exclu- Some Germans protested strongly against these tendencies. Nevertheless, the effort to create a party openly favorable to the separation of German Austria from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its merger in the Bismarckian State was far less successful than might have been anticipated. The early Na- tionalists of the iSSo's eventually gave rise to the Grossdeutsch Partei of Hitler's youth, which was violently critical of the Habsburgs and of all concessions made to the Slavs during the years 1879-1900. Perhaps it would have gained more ground if Bismarck had been vitally interested in the problem. But in addition to the dynastic question of the status of the Habsburgs, he had after 1871 to avoid giving the impression that Prussia was an expansion-hungry State. He also realized that the Vienna monarchy was a source of unity in the chaotic south- east of Europe, in the affairs of which he did not wish to involve Germany. Accordingly, the Grossdeutsch people got little sympathy from him. When he was dismissed from his post by Emperor Wilhelm II, the sole group remaining in Germany that could have given much support to the separationist move- ment in German Austria was the AUdeutscher Verband (Pan- AT HOME 11 sively the result of his own industry and energy. It was the pride of the self-made man which moved him to endeavor to bring his son to a similar position in life, if not a better one, and all the more since he hoped to make things easier for the child through his own industry. It was unthinkable that that which had become the con- tent of his whole life could be rejected. Thus the father's decision was matter-of-fact, simple, exact, and clear, quite comprehensibly in his own eyes. His domineering nature, the result of a lifelong struggle for existence, would have thought it unbearable to leave the ultimate decision to a boy who, in his opinion, was inexperienced and irrespon- sible. What is more, this would have been inconsistent with his idea of duty, a wicked and reprehensible weakness in exercising his paternal authority as he saw it in his respon- sibility for the future of his son. German League), an organization of chauvinists and expan- sionists. They, however, looked upon Austria-Hungary as a powerful ally and as a diving-board for the plunge eastward which they looked upon as the German destiny. In Austria itself the Grossdeutsch elements adopted a policy calculated to insure failure. They sponsored a little Kultur- kampf (religious war) of their own, attacking the clergy and the Church; they disassociated themselves from all social re- form and all concessions to other groups; and they were given to rabid attacks on the monarchy. As a consequence, the Ger- man group was more seriously divided than ever. These mis- takes all made, as is evident from the text of Mein Kampf, a deep and lasting impression upon Hitler. Just as he was dis- gusted with the wrangling about 'nationality' problems that characterized the Austrian parliament, so was he conscious of the mistakes which the pro- Prussia leaders had made. He never disassociated himself from the principles adopted by those leaders, but he learned to look askance at their methods. The extent of Austrian yearning for incorporation in the 12 MEIN KAMPF And yet the course of events was to take a different turn. For the first time in my life, I was barely eleven, I was forced into opposition. No matter how firm and deter- mined my father might be in carrying out his plans and intentions once made, his son was just as stubborn and obstinate in rejecting an idea which had little or no appeal for him. I did not want to become an official. Neither persuasion nor'sincere'arguments were able to break down this resistance. I did not want to become an official, no, and again no! All attempts to arouse my inter- est or my liking for such a career by stories of my father's life had the opposite effect. The thought of being a slave in an office made me ill ; not to be master of my own time, but to force an entire lifetime into the filling-in of forms, t What ideas this must have awakened in a boy who was anything but'good'in the ordinary sense of the word! The ridiculously easy learning at school left me so much spare German Empire or, after 1918, the German Republic, is a moot question. Prior to the War, anti-Prussian sentiment was probably just as vigorous among the people generally as pro- Habsburg sentiment. After the defeat there was a general feeling that the little independent State of Austria could not survive. Even so it is very doubtful whether the demand for Anschluss was as 'elemental 1 as Hitler says it was. Some Austrians notably Professor Ludo Hartmann sponsored it with vigor and eloquence. A few unofficial plebiscites were held in Salzburg and elsewhere and seemed to show that senti- ment was overwhelmingly in favor of Anschluss; but individu- ally and collectively they have little value as evidence. Other sources of information (e.g., records of party deliberations) give a different impression. Undoubtedly the desire for union grew during the following years, but it is none the less doubtful whether an honest plebiscite in 1938 would have favored ab- sorption of Austria into the Third Reich. AT HOME 13 time that the sun saw more of me than the four walls of my room. When today my political opponents examine my life down to the time of my childhood with loving attention, so that at last they can point with relief to the intolerable pranks this 'Hitler 1 carried out even in his youth, I thank Heaven for now giving me a share of the memories of those happy days. Woods and meadows were the battlefield where the ever-present 'conflicts' were fought out. My attendance at the Realschule, which now followed, did little to deter me. But now it was a different conflict that had to be fought. This was bearable as long as my father's intention to make an official of me was confronted by nothing more than my dislike of the profession on general principles. I could restrain my private views and, after all, it was not always necessary for me to contradict. My own firm intention not to become an official was sufficient to set my mind at rest. This decision, however, was irrevocable. The question be- came more difficult as soon as my father's plan was met by one of my own. This took place when I was twelve years old. I do not know how it happened, but one day it was clear to me that I would become a painter, an artist. My talent for drawing was obvious and it was one of the reasons why my father had sent me to the Realschule, but he never would have thought of having me trained for such a career. On the contrary. When, after a renewed rejection of my father's favorite idea, I was asked for the first time what I intended to be after all, I unexpectedly burst forth with the resolve I had irrevocably made; in the meantime my father at first was speechless. 'A painter? An artist?' He doubted my sanity, he did not trust his own ears or thought that he had misunderstood. But when it had been explained to him and when he had sensed the sincerity of my intentions, he opposed me with the resoluteness of his 14 MEIN KAMPF entire nature. His decision was quite simple, and any con- sideration of those actual talents that I might have pos- sessed was out of the question. 'An artist, no, never as long as I live/ But as his son had undoubtedly inherited, amongst other qualities, a stubborn- ness similar to his own, he received a similar reply. Only its meaning was quite different. So the situation remained on both sides. My father did not give up his 'never* and I strengthened my 'nevertheless/ Obviously the consequences were not very enjoyable. The old man became embittered, and, much as I loved him, the same was true of myself. My father forbade me to entertain any hope of ever becoming a painter. I went one step farther by declaring that under these circumstances I no longer wished to study. Naturally, as the result of such 'declarations' I got the 'worst of it,' and now the old man relentlessly began to enforce his authority. I remained silent and turned my threats into action. I was certain that, as soon as my father saw my lack of progress in school, come what may he would let me seek the happiness of which I was dreaming. I do not know if this reasoning was sound. One thing was certain : my apparent failure in school. I learned what I liked, but above all I learned what in my opinion might be necessary to me in my future career as a painter. In this connection I sabotaged all that which seemed unimportant or that which no longer attracted me. At that time my marks were always extreme depending upon the subject and my evaluation of it.'Praiseworthy'and'Excellent'ranked with 'Sufficient' and'Insufficient. 1 My best efforts were in geography and perhaps even more so in history. These were my two favorite subjects and in them I led my class.-* Now, after so many years, when I examine the results of that period, I find two outstanding facts of particular im- portance: AT HOME 15 First, / became a nationalist. Second, / learned lo grasp and to understand the meaning of history. Old Austria was a 'State of nationalities. 9 t A citizen of the German Empire, at that time at least, could hardly understand the bearing of this fact upon the daily life of the individual in such a State. After the amaz- ingly victorious campaign of the heroic German armies during the Franco- Prussian War, one had become more and more estranged from the Germans abroad, partly because one no longer knew how to appreciate them or perhaps because one was unable to do so. As far as the Austro German was concerned, it was easy to confuse the decadent dynasty with a people who were sound at heart. It was hard to understand that, were the German in Austria not actually of the best stock, he never would have been able to impress his mark upon a State of fifty-two mil- lion people in such a manner as to create even in Germany the erroneous impression that Austria was a German State. This was nonsensical, with the gravest of consequences, but brilliant testimony for the ten million Germans in the Ost- mark. Only a very few Germans in the empire had any idea of the continuous and inexorable struggle waged for the German language, the German schools, and the German mode of existence. Only today, when this misery has been forced upon millions of our people outside of the Reich proper, who, under foreign domination, dream of a common fatherland and in their longing for it strive to preserve their most sacred claim their mother tongue only today wider circles understand what it means to fight for one's nationality. It is now perhaps that the one or the other will be able to realize the greatness of the Germans abroad in the old East of the Reich who at first, dependent upon them- selves, for centuries protected the Reich in the East, and at last guarded the German language frontier in a war of 16 MEIN KAMPF attrition at a time when the Reich was greatly interested in colonies but not in its own flesh and blood outside its very doors. As everywhere and always, as in every struggle, there were also in the language struggle of the old Austria three groups: The fighters, the lukewarm, and the traitors. Even in school this segregation was apparent. It is sig- nificant for the language struggle on the whole that its ways engulf the school, the seed bed of the coming generation. The child is the objective of the struggle and the very first appeal is addressed to it: 'German boy, do not forget that you are a German.' 'German maid, remember that you are to be a German mother/ + Those who know the soul of youth will understand that it is youth which lends its ears to such a battle-cry with the greatest joy. In hundreds of forms, in its own way and with its own weapons, it carried on the battle. It refuses to sing non-German songs; the more one tries to estrange it from German heroic grandeur, the more enthusiastic it waxes; it stints itself to collect pennies for the fund of the grown-ups; it has an unusually fine ear for all that the non- German teacher says to it; it is rebellious; it wears the for- bidden emblem of its own nationality and rejoices in being punished or even in being beaten for wearing that emblem. On a smaller scale youth is a true reflection of its elders, but more often with a deeper and a more honest conviction. At a comparatively early age I, too, was given the oppor- tunity to participate in the national struggle of old Austria. Money was collected for the Sildmark and the school club; our conviction was demonstrated by the wearing of corn- flowers and the colors black, red, and gold; the greeting was 1 Heil';'Deutschland iiber alles f was preferred to the imperial anthem, despite warnings and punishments. In this man- AT HOME 17 ner the boy was trained politically at an age when a member of a so-called national State knows little more of his nation- ality than its language. It is obvious that already then I did not belong to the lukewarm. In a short time I had be- come a fanatical 'German nationalist/ a term which is not identical with our same party name of today. My development was quite rapid, so that at the age of fifteen I already understood the difference between dynastic 'patriotism* and popular 'nationalism'; at that time the latter alone existed for me. Those who have never taken the trouble to study closely the internal situation of the Habsburg monarchy may not be able to understand the full meaning of these events. In this State the origin for this development was to be found in the lessons in world history taught in the schools, since there is practically no specific Austrian history as such. The conservative cabinet headed (1879-1893) by Taafe at- tempted to solve the problems of the Empire by winning the support of the Slavic groups. In 1895-1897 Count Casimir Badeni sponsored legislation favoring the Czechs in linguistic and cultural matters; and violent opposition to these measures was aroused among the nationalistic Germans. The Deuischer Schulverein (German School Society), an organization founded in 1880 to promote German schools in foreign countries, was a center of resistance particularly in Carinthia, where the Slavs were looked upon as especially menacing. The corn-flower was a patriotic symbol in Wilhelmian days. Deutschland, DeiUsth- land uber alles, a lyric written by Fallersleben in 1841, was sung by the nationalistic groups in Austria to the tune written by Hayden for the Imperial hymn. Singing it was, therefore, an insult to the Habsburgs. The 'HeiF an old German form of greeting was used by Austrian nationalists instead of tfie native forms (e.g., Griiss Gotf), and had an anti-Semitic under- tone. It required little manipulation to transform all these things into the Nazi practices now current. 18 MEIN KAMPF The fate of this State is so closely bound up with the life and growth of the entire German nationality that it is unthinkable to separate its history into German and Austrian. As a matter of fact when Germany began to split into two supreme powers, this very separation became German history. The imperial crown jewels kept in Vienna, reminders of the old realm splendor, still seem to exercise a magic spell, a pledge of eternal communion. The German-Austrian's elementary outcry for a reunion with the German motherland during the days of the break- down of the Habsburg State was merely the result of a feeling of nostalgia slumbering deep in the hearts of the entire nation for a return to the paternal home which had never been forgotten. This would be inexplicable had not the political education of each individual German-Austrian been the origin of that common longing. In it there lies a longing which contains a well that never dries, especially in time of forgetfulness and of temporary well-being it will again and again forecast the future in recalling the past. Even today, courses in world history in the so-called secondary schools are still badly neglected. Few teachers realize that the aim of history lessons should not consist in the memorizing and rattling forth of historical facts and data; that it does not matter whether a boy knows when this or that battle was fought, when a certain military leader was born, or when some monarch (in most cases a very mediocre one) was crowned with the crown of his an- cestors. Good God, these things do not matter. To 'learn' history means to search for and to find the forces which cause those effects which we later face as historical events. Here, too, the art of reading, like that of learning, is to remember the important, to forget the unimportant. AT HOME 19 It was perhaps decisive for my entire future life that I was fortunate enough to have a history teacher who was one of the few who understood how essential it was to make this the dominating factor in his lessons and examinations. At the Realschule in Linz my teacher was Professor Doctor Ludwig Poetsch, who personified this requisite in an ideal way. The old gentleman, whose manner was as kind as it was firm, not only knew how to keep us spellbound, but actually carried us away with the splendor of his eloquence. I am still slightly moved when I remember the gray-haired man whose fiery descriptions made us forget the present and who evoked plain historical facts out of the fog of the centuries and turned them into living reality. Often we would sit there enraptured in enthusiasm and there were even times when we were on the verge of tears. Our happiness was the greater inasmuch as this teacher not only knew how to throw light on the past by utilizing the present, but also how to draw conclusions from the past and applying them to the present. More than anyone else he showed understanding for all the daily problems which held us breathless at the time. He used our youthful na- The educational ideas here expressed are in part the common property of all who have gone to school and in part the legacy of Turnvater Jahn, the founder of the Turnvereine, or gymnas- tic societies, whose Deutsches Volkstum (German Folkishness) appeared in 1810, and whose part in rallying Prussian youth against Napoleon was a most estimable one. When Hitler speaks of the girl who ought to remember that her duty is to become a German mother, or of history as the science which demonstrates that one's own people is always right, he is echoing Jahn in the first instance. The best discussion in Eng- lish of this interesting pedagogue is still an essay which appeared in the London Magazine during 1820, when these new Prussian ideas of education seemed important but strange to English- men. 20 MEIN KAMPF tional fanaticism as a means of education by repeatedly appealing to our sense of national honor, and through this alone he was able to manage us rascals more easily than would have been possible by any other means. He was the teacher who made history my favorite sub- ject. Nevertheless, although it was entirely unintentional on his part, I already then became a young revolutionary. Who could possibly study German history with such a teacher and not become an enemy of the State which, through its ruling dynasty, so disastrously influenced the state of the nation? And who could keep faith with an imperial dynasty which betrayed the cause of the German people for its own ig- nominious ends, a betrayal that occurred again and again in the past and in the present? Boys though we were, did we not already realize that this Austrian State did not and could not harbor love for us Germans? Our historical knowledge of the influence of the House of Habsburg was supported by daily experiences. In the North and the South the poison of foreign nationalities This is probably one of the most revealing passages in the book. Hitler has consistently considered himself a 'Revolu- tionary,' but has added little to the interpretation of the term given here. The longing to change the structure of society de- veloped, in his case, not out of the consciousness of real or fan- cied social and economic injustices, but out of the feeling that the Ruling House did not adequately support the demands of the German groups. After the War he took an identical point of view in Germany itself, laying siege to the Weimar Republic because its policy of international conciliation seemed to him a duplicate of the policy of making concessions to Slavic groups which Habsburg governments had sponsored. Cf. Adolf Hitter, by Theodor Heuss (1932). AT HOME 21 eroded the body of our own nationality, and it was apparent how even Vienna became less and less a German city. The Royal House became Czech wherever possible, and it must have been the hand of the goddess of eternal justice and inexorable retribution which caused Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the most deadly enemy of Austrian-Germanism, to fall by the very bullets he himself had helped to mold. For was he not the patron of Austria's Slavization from above! The burdens which the German people had to bear were enormous, its sacrifices in taxes and blood unheard of, and yet, everyone who had eyes to see realized that all this would IDC in vain. What grieved us most was the fact that the whole system was morally protected by the alliance with Germany, and thus Germany herself, in a fashion, sanc- tioned the slow extermination of the German nationality in the old monarchy. The hypocrisy of the Habsburgs, who knew well how to create the impression abroad that Austria was still a German State, fanned the hatred against this house into flaming indignation and contempt. It was only in the Reich itself that the 'chosen ones' saw nothing of all this. As if stricken with blindness, they walked by the side of the corpse, and in the indications of decomposition they thought they detected signs of 'new' life. The tragic alliance between the young Reich and the old Austrian sham State was the source of the ensuing World War and of the general collapse as well. In the course of this book I shall find it necessary to deal further with this problem. It suffices to state here that from my earliest youth I came to a conviction which never de- serted me, but on the contrary, grew stronger and stronger: That the protection of the German race presumed the destruc- tion of Austria, and further, that national feeling is in no way identical with dynastic patriotism; that above all else, the 22 MEIN KAMPF Royal House of Habsburg was destined to bring misfortune upon the German nation. Even then I had drawn the necessary deductions from this realization: an intense love for my native German- The picture Hitler draws of his early youth is, therefore, one of idle years spent fighting off formal education under the pre- text that he wanted to become an artist. That he has ever since considered himself brilliantly gifted as a painter and archi- tect is indubitable. The flags, uniforms and insignia of the Party were designed by him. The'senate chamber* and study in the Brown House, Munich, are proudly displayed as exam- ples of the Fuhrcr's (Leader's) work. In the first, which is primarily a study in red leather, the swastika serves as an al- lusion to the SPQR of ancient Rome. Later on his views were influenced by his Bavarian environment, more particularly it would seem by the art theories of Schulze-Naumburg, who in the Thuringia of 1930 led the attack on modernistic art and architecture. During 1937 Munich was stirred by an exposition of 'De- generate Art,' which gathered from the museums pictures ad- judged not to be in the strict Aryan tradition. Meanwhile there had been erected in the same city a Kunsthalle adorned with a row of simple classical pillars; and this structure is generally accepted as embodying Hitler's ideal of what a build- ing ought to be. The example of Mussolini also had its effect. In order to provide a suitable approach to the Kunsthalle, one of King Ludwig's ancient streets was torn down and widened. Down this avenue, festooned with countless flags and abundant drapery, II Duce proceeded upon the occasion of his historic trip to Munich in 1937. More recently the new Chancellery in Berlin has been com- pleted. A skyscraper, taller than any in New York, was pro- jected for Hamburg. Hitler is also known to have devised models of a Vienna and Berlin reconstructed according to his ideas of what a city ought to be. Enormous sums have already been diverted into building operations. AT HOME S3 Austrian country and a bitter hatred against the 'Austrian* State. The art of historical thinking, which had been taught me in school, has never left me since. More and more, world history became a never-failing source of my understanding of the historical events of the present, that is, politics. What is more, I do not want to'learn'it, but I want it to teach me. Since I had become a political'revolutionary' at so early a stage, it was not much later that I became an 'artistic' one. At that time the capital of Upper Austria had a theater of fairly high standing. Almost everything was performed there. At the age of twelve I saw 'Wilhelm Tell' for the first time, and a few months later, I saw the first opera of my life, 4 Lohengrin.' I was captivated at once. My youth- ful enthusiasm for the master of Bayreuth knew no bounds. Again and again I was drawn to his works and today I con- sider it particularly fortunate that the modesty of that provincial performance reserved for me the opportunity of seeing increasingly better productions. All this served to confirm my deep-rooted aversion for the career my father had chosen for me, especially after I had left childhood behind and approached manhood a painful experience. I was more definitely convinced that I could never be happy as an official. And now that my talent for drawing had also been recognized in school, my resolve was even more firmly established. Neither pleas nor threats could influence me. I wanted to become a painter, and no power on earth could ever make an official of me. But it was strange that as the years passed, I demon- strated more and more interest in architecture. At that 24 MEIN KAMPF time I took it for granted that this was merely an augmen- tation of my talent for painting and secretly I was delighted at this widening of my artistic horizon. I had no idea that things were to turn out so differently. The question of my career was to be settled more quickly than I had anticipated. When I was thirteen my father died quite suddenly. The old gentleman, who had always been so robust and healthy, had a stroke which painlessly ended his wanderings in this world, plunging us all in the depths of despair. His dearest wish, to help
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of the charges is punishable with a maximum of ten years in prison. U.S. Administration officials have said more than once they regarded Snowden as a traitor and had no intention of forgiving him, because he caused serious harm to national security.
Source: TASS
If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.TORONTO (AP) – Former NHL player Wade Belak hanged himself, according to a person familiar with the case.
Belak, an enforcer who had played with five NHL teams before retiring in March, was found dead Wednesday in Toronto. He was 35.
The person familiar with Belak's death said he hanged himself at a downtown luxury hotel and condo building. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because details of the investigation were confidential.
"At this point it's non-suspicious," Toronto police spokesman Tony Vella said Thursday. "We will not provide any further information on a non-suspicious case."
Belak is the third NHL enforcer found dead since May.
USA TODAY Sports on Twitter! To get the latest sports news from USA TODAY, including game results, columns and features, follow us on Twitter at @USATODAYSports.
The body of 27-year-old Rick Rypien of the Winnipeg Jets was discovered earlier this month at his home in Alberta after a police official said a call was answered for a "sudden and non-suspicious" death. Former New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard died in May at 28 due to an accidental mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Don Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players Association, issued a joint statement Thursday afternoon saying that while each case is unique the "tragic events cannot be ignored." They pledged to review the league's substance abuse and behavioral health programs.
"We are committed to examining, in detail, the factors that may have contributed to these events, and to determining whether concrete steps can be taken to enhance player welfare and minimize the likelihood of such events taking place. Our organizations are committed to a thorough evaluation of our existing assistance programs and practices and will make immediate modifications and improvements to the extent they are deemed warranted," the statement said.
Bettman and Fehr said it's important to make sure everyone in the NHL is aware of the resources available to those needing assistance, and that both teams and fans should know every option will be pursued to help players in trouble.
"We want individuals to feel comfortable seeking help when they need help," the statement said.
Belak's wife, Jennifer, released a statement Thursday night through the Nashville Predators, saying her husband "was a big man with an even bigger heart."
"This loss leaves a huge hole in our lives and, as we move forward, we ask that everyone remember Wade's infectious sense of humor, his caring spirit and the joy he brought to his friends, family and fans."
Private services will be Sunday in Nashville.
Craig Button, general manager of the Calgary Flames when Belak played there early in his career, told the Canadian Press it's not only the deaths that are disturbing, but the deaths of similar players.
"It's not just getting hit in the head, it's everything that goes with that (enforcer) role. I think that people are paying very, very serious attention to concussions and blows to the head and the role of the enforcer," Button said.
"I don't think anybody can stop until we really understand the impact it has not only physically, but emotionally as well."
Mike Gillis, general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, told the CP he expects the role of the enforcer to be re-examined now.
"I'm sure it will have an impact," he said. "I'm sure it will create debate. I know in the case of Rick (Rypien), I don't think we ever felt his role and how he played the game was influential in what happened. Perhaps we are wrong."
Belak was scheduled to work as a sideline reporter on Nashville television broadcasts this season. The 6-foot-5, 233-pound forward played for Colorado, Calgary, Toronto, Florida and finished his career with Nashville, playing in 549 career NHL games with eight goals, 25 assists and 1,263 penalty minutes.
He fought 136 times during his 14-year NHL career, according to hockeyfights.com.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The university spent £319,000, and four staff were employed at the campus
A year after the University of South Wales launched a centre in London, no students are signed up for courses, BBC Radio Wales has learned.
The university had a £750,000 budget for the Docklands campus but spent £319,000, and four staff were employed.
It rented the space but did not go any further having "tested the market".
Unions previously criticised USW for "wasting money" when it said it was no longer viable to retain both campuses in Newport, placing 90 jobs at risk.
The Caerleon campus is being closed and no new students are being recruited for courses there.
A USW spokesman said: "Withdrawing the London centre project earlier than originally planned was a prudent decision taken due to changes in market conditions.
"The financial investment in the London centre will be included in the university's financial statements in due course."
The spokesman added the business case had been predicated on recruiting international students, but changes to visa regulations had "introduced a level of complexity" which had affected the project's viability.
He said they had had applicants but had made the decision not to enrol any.
Gareth Morgans, GMB regional organiser for Wales, said: "It's absolutely a slap in the face. Our members feel betrayed by the university.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The university had set aside a budget of £750,000 for the campus
'Devastating'
"I have up to 90 members at Caerleon University in Newport at risk of redundancy.
"To them this news is devastating; that such a frivolous waste of money has been undertaken by the university on a venture that as far as we can see was never going to materialise.
"They've recruited staff there. If this money had been put into Caerleon to repair the building where it needs repair and to recruiting students, I am sure Caerleon could be vibrant."
The MP for Torfaen, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said: "Clearly if no students have enrolled on the course there must be very serious concerns about the value for money of the course.
"What I will be seeking is answers as to precisely why that has happened and indeed why that was given a priority at the same time there were issues with the Caerleon campus."
But Ken Richards, a former member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, backed the university's London move.
He told BBC Radio Wales' Good Morning Wales programme: "I think they were right to try but perhaps they might have looked at the competition first to see what they were likely to come up against from more prestigious universities."
Reporting by Charlotte DubenskijWhen most governments get into power there's an unspoken truce that occurs where the new leader says something like "OK, OK, I know almost half of you hate my guts and did everything in your power to see me humiliated and beaten, but now we gotta pull together. I will govern for all".
And that's what most governments do - or at least try really, really hard to seem like they do.
With the Abbott government, we're seeing a change in paradigm, where the PM and his office is clearly saying to the people who didn't vote for him: "You're not a part of our plans for three years, so you might as well avert your eyes, you're not gonna like this."
Comedian Chris Rock said recently of former US President George Bush: "He was the first president who only served the people who voted for him. He literally operated like a cable network. You know what I mean?WATCH ABOVE: CAMH is the only organization in Ontario that can approve OHIP-covered gender re-assignment surgery. Peter Kim reports.
TORONTO — Living honestly comes at a cost for many transgender individuals in the province. Ontario’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is the only organization in the province that can approve OHIP covered gender re-assignment surgery.
All of the stringent criteria must be met, including (but not limited to) the following:
The individual must be over 18.
The individual must have received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
Mental health or substance abuse issues must be well-controlled.
The individual must have finished a year of medically supervised hormone therapy.
The individual must have completed a continuous Gender Role Experience (or GRE), which is like a documented record of how they’ve lived as their new gender.
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A doctor or nurse practitioner must refer the patient to CAMH before the approval process can begin.
Dr. Philip Solomon is a head, neck and facial plastic surgeon who sees about 40 to 50 patients a year nearing the end of their transformation process.
“They’re happier, their self-esteem is high, they’re more comfortable in their own skin,” said Solomon.
As part of the physical transformation, nose jobs are quite common he says.
“A narrower bridge, a lower bridge, a more refined tip and often a narrower base are all noses we see in females, or [at least] our brains are programmed to see that as a more feminine nose.”
Cheek implants and brow reshaping are also very effective ways to “feminize” the face according to Solomon.
“A man’s brow is fuller, often you’ll see a boney ridge just above the eyebrows whereas in a female that’s almost never seen.”
A full range of procedures can range from $15,000 to $20,000 according to Solomon. This will often include reshaping the Adam’s Apple.
“The outer part of the voice box or Adam’s Apple can be removed completely and flattened. It’s cartilage,” said Solomon.
But surgery, both gender re-assignment or plastic, isn’t necessary for the province to legally recognize the change in genders.
“In Ontario, for example, it’s not required to have undergone surgery to have main government documents such as a driver’s licence or passport changed to the non-birth gender,” said Andrew Monkhouse, a lawyer who focuses on human rights and employment issues.
Changing your name and gender with the government of Ontario can be done through an online form and a payment of $137. This change will also alter information under the purview of the federal government, such as your social insurance number.
“The provinces are responsible for keeping track of people. So you would be able to change [the information provincially], and all that would change at the federal level as well. They’re integrated that way,” said Monkhouse.× Former Henrico youth pastor to serve reduced sentence for sex crimes
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A former Henrico youth pastor will serve two months total for multiple charges of sex crimes after he entered multiple Alford pleas.
Aaron Thomas Payne, 21, was arrested in 2016 after he was accused of having a sexual relationship with a child in his care at the church. Investigators said he took indecent liberties with a minor on several occasions while he was in a custodial role at the Henrico church.
Payne was originally charged with five counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.
He entered an Alford plea to a reduced charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor (down from felony indecent acts with child) and received a suspended sentence.
He also entered an Alford plea to misdemeanor sexual battery, down from felony second indecent acts, and received 12 months with 10 suspended.
The other three counts of indecent acts have been set aside for now.
Court documents showed the alleged crimes happened between July and October of 2014 when Payne was 18 years old and serving as the lead youth pastor at the church.
Henrico Police said they were made aware of the allegations on July 12, 2016 by the victim’s guardian.
Payne, who now lives in West Virginia, was arrested in October and extradited to Virginia.
Payne was serving as a youth pastor with Princeton First Assembly of God in Princeton, West Virginia. All the charges brought against him were from Henrico.
CBS 6 reached out to the Henrico church about the incident at the time, and they said “We support the family,” in reference to the victim in the case.
The Appalachian Ministry Network, which includes the Princeton First Assembly of God, released a statement about Payne’s arrest to CBS 6 affiliate Fox59.
“When Mr. Payne became a minister and during the time he was working with teenagers in our network, there were no indications of endangerment to minors in his history. Regardless of the outcome of the legal proceedings, Mr. Payne will undergo an ecclesiastical investigatory hearing regarding his ministerial credentials. Until that hearing is conducted, he is not permitted to perform any ministerial duties regardless of his incarceration status.”
The church said they are fully cooperating with law enforcement agencies on any such matters.It’s difficult for book lovers to part with used books. Books are personal to us. They’re our friends. They comfort us, keep us warm, and give us a place to escape. They keep us up at night, distract us from our chores, and provide endless fodder for conversation. Books are quite possibly the best friends we’ll ever have.
There comes a time when we run out of bookshelf space or areas for stacking and our books take over our homes. When that happens, as much as it hurts, we have to do a book audit and clear out those books that we can bear to part with. It’s painful, but it’s necessary.
Fortunately, we’re here to help you get through it.
Today we’re going to take a look at some of the things you can do with your old books. Whether you choose to make money from your used books, give them a new home, or make them into a work of art, you have plenty of options.
5 Things to Do With Used Books
1. Sell Them
There are plenty of online and offline options for making money from your used books. For example, you can sell them at a garage sale, and take advantage of local rummage or vendor sales.
There are even also plenty of options for selling your used books online.
When selling books online, you’re responsible for making sure your used books get into the proper hands. Keep in mind, that if you take too long to send the books or send them in a manner where they can get damaged, you might receive a poor seller rating which can impact future sales.
Before putting your books up for sale, be sure to read all fine print so you know what type of commission the bookseller receives, and if there are shipping and other requirements. Compare several different booksellers to see which is the best fit for you.
2. Donate Them
There are so many places to donate books, I won’t be able to cover them all. Here are some suggestions:
The Library – The library often takes book donations to either use to stock their shelves or sell in discounted book sales. Books should be in reasonably good condition. Also, you should call before dropping off. While libraries appreciate donations, they don’t often enjoy having a ton of books dumped in some random spot outside. Plus, if you’re doing a big drop off, they want to be available to receive them at a time that’s convenient for all involved. Seniors – I always donate to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The seniors there are voracious readers and appreciate having new books to read. As with the library, do call to make sure the facilities can use the books and to establish a drop off time. Senior Citizen centers might also accept book donations for their members to browse and take home, but again, call first. The Military – Another favorite place to donate are organizations that send care packages to the military. Operation Shoebox often takes donations as do Support Our Troops, Operation Paperback, and Operation Gratitude. VA Hospitals also appreciate donations. Prisons – Help to educate and rehabilitate with books. The Prison Book Program sends books to prisons around the country. The Needy – There are so many ways to donate books to the needy. For example, The Salvation Army takes book donations.
The African Library Project send books to places where people want to learn and read, but don’t have the resources.
Book Aid International also gets books into readers’ hands, but they only accept new books.
Books for kids assists young readers, but do check their guidelines before donating.
There are so many charities that take books. Do a web search to see what’s local to you!
A couple of other ideas for donating your used books are to put them out in front of your house with a sign that says “Free Books!” Most people who do this find that all books are gone within a matter of hours, depending on how busy a street you live on. Also, you can freecycle your books – but be sure to follow the rules put forth by your local Freecycle organization.
3. Trade Them
There are online book swap places where you can send your old books, and find some new books. I haven’t used any book swap programs, so I can’t tell you which are best. Here are some that I found online when I researched. Please do your due diligence and research each site fully before committing to swap.
Most book swaps are free to join, but you’ll have to pay all postage.
4. Recycle Them
If used books are so far gone that you can’t sell or donate them, you can always recycle them. Books aren’t the easiest to recycle because of the book-binding glue, but there are ways. Most recycling centers accept used book donations. It’s a good idea to call before recycling, especially if you are recycling a lot of books at the same time.
For example, your local recycle center might require you to remove the spine or binding before putting books in the recycle pile. You may also have to neatly stack and tie books together with twine.
5. Repurpose Them
Before we share some ideas for repurposing or recycling books, please know that we don’t approve of tearing books apart for craft projects unless they’re in very poor condition. With that said, there are people who are doing some interesting things with used books. By the way, these options are only put out here for examples, please don’t steal another artists’ work!
For example:
When it’s time to get rid of your old books, there are plenty of options! Whether you’re giving your used books a new life or a new home, it’s good to use them to brighten up someone else’s day.
Affiliate links are used in this post.Released: (Calgary, AB) - One Voice Chorus
A popular Leonard Cohen song, a Sanskrit-language song on the Buddhist perspective on life, and a 16th century madrigal about a naughty shepherdess. What do "Hallelujah," "Gate Gate," and "Fair Phyllis" have in common? You can hear them all, and much more, at "One Voice Chorus: Début!" on Sunday, June 3, at 3 p.m. at the Unitarian Church of Calgary, 1703 1st St. NW.
"The common bond is the diversity in the tunes," says Jane Perry, the choir’s director. "There aren’t many that are alike."
Founded in September, 2011, One Voice Chorus offers members of Calgary’s LGBT community and their straight allies the chance to hone their singing skills while performing everything from world music to jazz to show tunes. In addition to 10 songs from One Voice Chorus, the concert will feature performances by smaller groups of its members: a women’s barbershop quartet’s version of "Give My Regards to Broadway;" and two songs from a male trio, including an a capella version of the traditional Irish song "The Parting Glass." There will also be a special guest appearance by the Calgary Men’s Chorus.
This wide range of music, Perry says, reflects One Voice Chorus’ belief that diversity is worth celebrating.
"We’re hoping to demonstrate in this concert the diversity in our membership, as well as the diversity we see around us in Calgary’s larger community. We’re also hoping to show our audience that, for us, it really is all about love and acceptance."Please enable Javascript to watch this video
SACRAMENTO-
Deputies are investigating a shooting that happened during a home invasion overnight in the Arden Arcade area.
Around 3:30 a.m. at a home off Glenwood Road, the homeowner said a person tried to break into the home.
Sacramento County Sheriffs deputies say the man pulled out a gun when the homeowner confronted him. At that point, deputies say, the two wrestled over the weapon, and the homeowner was able to get the gun and shot the man.
When deputies arrived, they found the suspect wounded in a neighbor's front yard.
He was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition.
A substantial amount of marijuana was found inside the home, which investigators suspect was the reason for the break-in.
Narcotics detectives are also investigating this situation.
Laura Mathison contributed to this report.A 2012 article by Richard Foster (“Creative Destruction Whips through Corporate America“) provides a great example of “creative destruction” in the US economy and stock market – the accelerating turnover in the S&P500 Index based on almost 100 years of data. Here are some key findings:
1. US corporations in the S&P500 in 1958 remained in the index for an average of 61 years. By 1980, the average tenure of an S&P500 firm was 25 years, and by 2011 that average shortened to 18 years based on seven year rolling averages. In other words, the churn rate of companies in the S&P500 has been accelerating over time (see top chart above, and examples of the S&P500 churn in the bottom chart).
2. On average, an S&P 500 company is now being replaced about once every two weeks.
3. At the current churn rate, 75% of the S&P 500 firms in 2011 will be replaced by new firms entering the S&P500 in 2027.
4. In 2011, a total of 23 companies were removed from the S&P500, either due to declines in market value (for instance, Radio Shack’s stock no longer qualified as of June) or through an acquisition (for instance, National Semiconductor was bought by Texas Instruments in September).The Sunday New York Times Book Review carries what may just be the single best letter to the editor ever printed in the Times.
Here it is, in all its glorious entirety:
To the Editor: While Gal Beckerman’s “On the Seventh Day: New Books on the Six Day War and Its Aftermath” (Essay, May 28) articulates much of the disappointment and sadness that I feel after 50 years of occupation and no solution — and while he correctly places (in my opinion) much of the blame on the current Israeli government — I vigorously dispute his comment, presumably referring to the West Bank, about “Israel’s occupation of large swaths of Arab land to which it had no legitimate right besides brute force.” It bears repeating that — whatever one’s views about how international law and justice should inform a current solution to the conflict and what steps the Israeli government should take to move the process along — (1) the historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel (both sides of the Green Line, e.g., Hebron) spans two millenniums; (2) the Green Line was intended as a temporary armistice line, not a final border; (3) the territories were acquired in a defensive war; (4) Security Council Resolution 242 contemplates the retention of some of the territories; (5) the 1948-49 war resulted in the destruction of existing Jewish settlements (e.g., Gush Etzion), to which Israelis returned after 1967; (6) there are significant security reasons for continued control of the territories; and (7) international law is far from clear as to which side has the better of the “legal” argument. I do not think that these arguments (individually or in combination) dictate continued retention of the territories and perpetuation of the occupation. But it is frankly absurd to characterize the current situation as, say, akin to that of France in Algeria or the British in India. One more thing. After a couple of pages of essentially holding Israel responsible for the continued occupation, the essay ends with a plea by Raja Shehadeh that until the Israelis “accept that the land must be shared and that both people have the right to self-determination, peace will remain elusive.” Maybe so. But how to square that with Nir Baram’s conclusion (apparently endorsed by Beckerman) that the conflict is not about “final borders” and there remains “total and irreconcilable difference” between the parties? STU BLANDER
NEW YORK
A terrific letter. All seven points enumerated by Mr. Blander are valid and relevant and all-too-often ignored.
I wonder, though, whether the letter would have made it into the Times without the first sentence referring to the writer’s feeling of “disappointment and sadness…after 50 years of occupation” and placing “much of the blame on the current Israeli government.” And I wonder whether the letter would have made it into the Times without the additional sentence, later in the letter, asserting, “I do not think that these arguments (individually or in combination) dictate continued retention of the territories and perpetuation of the occupation.” (The letter doesn’t say what action the writer recommends. Immediate and complete Israeli withdrawal from all territory conquered in 1967?)
In my view the letter would have been even better without those two sentences. But it’s my own feeling of “disappointment and sadness” — as Mr. Blander might put it in his eloquence — that even a rip-roaring and deft defense of Israel in the Times somehow can’t seem to make it into the paper unless it is prefaced and concluded with the obligatory Netanyahu-bashing and breast-beating about the “occupation” that is precisely what the rest of the letter serves to correct.
One more thing: Imagine if the clear thinking on display in the rest of Mr. Blander’s letter — the part not in those two sentences — weren’t limited to the Times letters column, but had been the point of view of the original Times book review that prompted the letter, or informed more Times news coverage and editorial and opinion writing. Wouldn’t the Times, and its readers, be better for it?
More of Ira Stoll’s media critique, a regular Algemeiner feature, can be found here.Arianna appeared on Monday morning’s edition of “CNN Starting Point With Soledad O’Brien,” joining a roundtable to discuss singer Tony Bennett’s call to legalize drugs. Bennett’s comments came on Saturday evening after singer Whitney Houston died at 48.
“First it was Michael Jackson,” Bennett said. “Then it was Amy Winehouse. and now, the magnificent Whitney Houston. I’d like to have every gentleman and lady in this room commit themselves to get our government to legalize drugs — so they’ll have to get it through a doctor, not to some gangsters who just sell it under the table.”
Arianna weighed in on Bennett’s view, pointing to the United States’ struggles in containing the war on drugs.
“The point I think is absolutely fair — that the war on drugs has failed and we are not acknowledging it. We are spending over $50 billion a year fighting a war that has become a war on our own people, especially among African Americans and minorities in general. All the distinctions between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, we are seeing our jails filled with non-violent drug offenders.”
Watch the clip below, courtesy of CNN.Bridger Pipeline LLC was so sure its Poplar oil line was safely buried below the Yellowstone River that it planned to wait five years to recheck it. But last month, 3.5 years later, the Poplar wasn't eight feet under the river anymore. It was substantially exposed on the river bottom—and leaking more than 30,000 gallons of oil upstream from Glendive, Montana.
An ExxonMobil pipeline wasn't buried deeply enough for the Yellowstone River, either. High floodwaters in 2011 uncovered the Silvertip pipe, leaving it defenseless against the fast-moving current and traveling debris. It broke apart in July, and sent 63,000 gallons of oil into the river near Laurel, Montana.
Both companies underestimated the river's power and its penchant for scouring away the earth that's covering and protecting their pipelines. That miscalculation led to the Exxon Silvertip spill and it's likely to be declared a significant factor, at a minimum, in the Poplar spill.
Such misjudgments have potentially troubling implications nationwide, since pipelines carrying crude oil and petroleum products pass beneath rivers and other bodies of water in more than 18,000 places across America. Many of them are buried only a few feet below the water.
"There were a lot of people who wanted to think that the last pipeline spill in the Yellowstone River in 2011 was a freak accident that would never happen again. After this most recent spill, no one believes that anymore," said Scott Bosse, Northern Rockies director for American Rivers. "The truth is, there are probably hundreds of pipelines across the country that are at considerable risk of rupturing under our rivers."
While corrosion is the No. 1 cause of pipeline spills, a sizable number of pipelines at water crossings have ruptured or been endangered by river scour. Among them:
► The Poplar (Jan. 2015) and Silvertip (July 2011) pipeline failures on the Yellowstone River.
► More than 20 pipeline river crossings in Montana were found to be "dangerously close to exposure" during inspections of nearly 90 pipeline crossings in 2011, according to one report. Many of them have since been reburied significantly deeper. The Poplar pipeline was not among the crossings tagged as being close to exposure.
► Nearly half of the 55 oil and gas pipelines that cross the Missouri River were found to have sections buried 10 feet or less below the riverbed, according to the Wall Street Journal. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey, meanwhile, found that the Missouri riverbed had deepened by nine to 41 feet in 27 places because of severe scouring during the 2011 floods.
► An Enterprise Products Partners LLP pipeline that was uncovered by river scouring and ruptured in August 2011. The line spilled more than 28,350 gallons of a gasoline additive into the Missouri River in Iowa.
► A June 2012 spill in Alberta, Canada, where an oil pipeline owned by Plains Midstream Canada failed along the Red Deer River and released more than 122,000 gallons of light crude. Investigators concluded that the pipe was uncovered by scour during high flood waters and subjected to vibrations from the river flow that led a weld to fail.
► Three Enbridge Corp. crude oil pipelines crossing Minnesota's Tamarac River were exposed by floodwater erosion years ago, and were still exposed in mid-2014. None of the pipes had failed at that point, but one was being propped up by steel legs, according to an MPR News account.
Federal regulations aren't much help. The only rule that addresses pipe burial at major river crossings requires petroleum pipelines to be laid at least four feet below the riverbed at the time of construction. Once a pipeline's installed, there are no requirements regarding burial depth. There is no rule requiring exposed pipelines to be reburied, though a spill under those conditions would invite regulatory penalties for leaving the line exposed to hazards.
What's more, federal rules put the pipeline companies in charge of identifying all threats that could cause a spill in highly populated or environmentally sensitive areas, and the companies get wide latitude in deciding what to do about them, according to Rebecca Craven, program manager at the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit group that tracks pipeline risks and regulations.
"Operators with river crossings are supposed to figure out whether and to what extent scour is a risk," said Craven. "If it turns out that Bridger's line was inadequately protected like the Exxon pipeline was, it shows that we still have a problem with operators not doing adequate risk assessments."
CLICK HERE to enlarge image
Exxon, for example, concluded that the Silvertip was not at risk during the 2011 floods because the pipeline wasn't damaged in past floods and hadn't recently been affected by scour. Federal regulators fined Exxon $1 million, calling Exxon's assumptions "not reasonable," and warning that the absence of damage in previous floods "does not mean future flooding could never cause a failure."
Indeed, the required four-foot minimum initial burial depth for pipelines can be completely eliminated by natural erosion over time or by a single flood event. Active free-flowing rivers can carve with enough ferocity to lower their riverbeds by 20 feet or shift the waterway onto an entirely new path, which can add new stresses to the pipeline or put the river over pipe that has less cover or lacks reinforcement or protective cement casings.
The hotly debated Keystone XL oil pipeline project would cross nearly 2,000 rivers, streams and reservoirs in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, according to one estimate. The route takes the pipe across the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, where owner TransCanada has pledged to install the pipeline 35 feet below the riverbeds.
But conservationists, river advocates and pipeline opponents aren't reassured. They are especially worried about potential spills in rivers because they are often critical water sources for nearby communities. The iconic Yellowstone River, which has 39 fossil fuel pipelines that cross it or pass through its lateral migration zone, is also home to threatened and endangered wildlife, and a popular destination for fishing and rafting.
Kristi Ponozzo, public policy director at Montana's Department of Environmental Quality, said the state is anxious to put an end to oil releases into the Yellowstone. "We are looking at the situation and trying to figure out what actions could or should be taken to help prevent future spills," she said.
The Poplar Problem
The Poplar pipeline leaked on Jan. 17, sending more than 30,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone and contaminating the drinking water for residents of nearby Glendive, Montana. Oil recovery was difficult and dangerous because a layer of ice coated the river at the leak location and for several miles downstream.
Bridger Pipeline last checked the pipeline's burial depth in Sept. 2011 and planned to reassess the crossing in 2016. The 2011 survey showed the Poplar was buried at least eight feet below the river bottom of the river, the company said.
Sonar testing after the spill, however, showed that about 110 feet of the Poplar pipeline was completely uncovered along the bottom of the Yellowstone River. Up to 22 feet of the exposed section is unsupported because river scour created a one-foot deep gap between that part of the pipe and the river floor.
The cause of the spill is not yet known. The Poplar pipeline was built in the 1950s with pipe known to be susceptible to cracks and defects along its lengthwise seams, but the segment under the Yellowstone was replaced in 1967 with seamless pipe.
Stephen Holnbeck, a Helena, Mont.-based hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Geological Survey's Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, said what's known about the spill so far points to scouring as a key factor.
"The thing probable scoured out sometime between 2011 and this last year's runoff, and it was sitting there exposed, and then there was some straw that broke the camel's back," Holnbeck said. "It could have scoured in 2012 and just been sitting there for the last three years."
Exposed pipe in a large river can be damaged by debris tumbling downstream, boat anchors, and other objects. In addition, long-term contact with the river can accelerate corrosion, and powerful currents can weaken welds or exacerbate defects. In the winter, ice can cause scouring and ice jams can damage unprotected pipelines.
"We were disheartened to learn that the line was exposed on the riverbed," Bridger spokesman Bill Salvin said after the sonar testing. The company is studying the accident and river dynamics, and will apply what it learns "across our system," he said.
The oil pipelines considered most vulnerable are those that are exposed or buried in relatively shallow trenches under active rivers that can flood and erode the riverbed. But each pipeline crossing is unique and constantly changing, and that means a shallow pipeline can be safe in a placid waterway and a deeply buried line can be in danger under a powerful river.
Stewart Rood, a professor who studies river science and dynamics at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, said river crossings pose special risks for pipeline owners because stream characteristics are constantly changing and sediment can be removed and replaced in cycles.
"The Yellowstone's a big river, so eight feet doesn't sound like a lot to me," Rood said. "Because of the dynamic nature of a river, it is always eroding, always moving, and always eating away at the bed."
Call for New Federal Rules
Three years ago, after Exxon's Silvertip broke open, Montana's governor formed a pipeline safety council to scrutinize the petroleum pipelines that cross the state's key waterways. A separate group, led by the Yellowstone River Conservation District Council, used grant money to compile a pipeline river crossing database and produce a report that assigned risk levels to each of the major petroleum pipeline crossings along the Yellowstone.
Both of the state groups sought and received help and data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the primary regulator for U.S. pipelines carrying oil and other hazardous liquids. PHMSA conducted the nearly 90 river crossing inspections in Montana that revealed more than 20 vulnerable crossings.
Exxon, CHS, and Phillips 66 reburied pipelines at 12 river or creek crossings, using horizontal directional drilling to place the pipes substantially deeper. Several other pipeline crossings were strengthened with added cover, or other reinforcement.
Bridger's Poplar pipeline crossing was initially labeled a "moderate risk" for dangerous scouring by the state's risk assessment report, which relied on pipeline companies for some data. An updated version downgraded the site to "low risk," noting that the pipeline crossing had five feet of cover and that Bridger was monitoring it. It's unclear why the report cites five feet of covering, a shallower figure than the company's statement that the pipeline was at least eight feet below the riverbed at last check.
Both depth numbers exceed PHMSA's four-foot burial guidance for rivers that are more than 100 feet wide. Pipelines that cross smaller waterways need only be 30 inches below the river bottom at the time of construction.
"It's pretty apparent on the Yellowstone that the [federal] criteria for the trenched pipelines have failed us twice now," said Karin Boyd, a consultant and expert on fluvial geomorphology, or river processes, who worked on the Montana risk assessment report. "There was this much cover on the
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, preferring to ration finite goods not exclusively through a price mechanism, but based upon need as determined by society expressed through the community.
Ecological [ edit ]
In ecological economics, the concept of externalities is considered a misnomer, since market agents are viewed as making their incomes and profits by systematically'shifting' the social and ecological costs of their activities onto other agents, including future generations. Hence, externalities is a modus operandi of the market, not a failure: The market cannot exist without constantly 'failing'.
The fair and even allocation of non-renewable resources over time is a market failure issue of concern to ecological economics. This issue is also known as 'intergenerational fairness'. It is argued that the market mechanism fails when it comes to allocating the Earth's finite mineral stock fairly and evenly among present and future generations, as future generations are not, and cannot be, present on today's market.[27]:375 [28]:142f In effect, today's market prices do not, and cannot, reflect the preferences of the yet unborn.[29]:156-160 This is an instance of a market failure passed unrecognized by most mainstream economists, as the concept of Pareto efficiency is entirely static (timeless).[30]:181f Imposing government restrictions on the general level of activity in the economy may be the only way of bringing about a more fair and even intergenerational allocation of the mineral stock. Hence, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and Herman Daly, the two leading theorists in the field, have both called for the imposition of such restrictions: Georgescu-Roegen has proposed a minimal bioeconomic program, and Daly has proposed a comprehensive steady-state economy.[27]:374–79 [30] However, Georgescu-Roegen, Daly, and other economists in the field agree that on a finite Earth, geologic limits will inevitably strain most fairness in the longer run, regardless of any present government restrictions: Any rate of extraction and use of the finite stock of non-renewable mineral resources will diminish the remaining stock left over for future generations to use.[27]:366–69 [31]:369–71 [32]:165–67 [33]:270 [34]:37
Another ecological market failure is presented by the overutilisation of an otherwise renewable resource at a point in time, or within a short period of time. Such overutilisation usually occurs when the resource in question has poorly defined (or non-existing) property rights attached to it while too many market agents engage in activity simultaneously for the resource to be able to sustain it all. Examples range from over-fishing of fisheries and over-grazing of pastures to over-crowding of recreational areas in congested cities. This type of ecological market failure is generally known as the 'tragedy of the commons'. In this type of market failure, the principle of Pareto efficiency is violated the utmost, as all agents in the market are left worse off, while nobody are benefitting. It has been argued that the best way to remedy a 'tragedy of the commons'-type of ecological market failure is to establish enforceable property rights politically – only, this may be easier said than done.[14]:172f
The issue of anthropogenic global warming presents an overwhelming example of a 'tragedy of the commons'-type of ecological market failure: The Earth's atmosphere may be regarded as a 'global common' exhibiting poorly defined (non-existing) property rights, and the waste absorption capacity of the atmosphere with regard to carbon dioxide is presently being heavily overloaded by a too large volume of emissions from the world economy.[35]:347f Historically, the fossil fuel dependence of the Industrial Revolution has unintentionally thrown mankind out of ecological equilibrium with the rest of the Earth's biosphere (including the atmosphere), and the market has failed to correct the situation ever since. Quite the opposite: The unrestricted market has been exacerbating this global state of ecological dis-equilibrium, and is expected to continue doing so well into the foreseeable future.[36]:95–101 This particular market failure may be remedied to some extent at the political level by the establishment of an international (or regional) cap and trade property rights system, where carbon dioxide emission permits are bought and sold among market agents.[14]:433–35
The term 'uneconomic growth' describes a pervasive ecological market failure: The ecological costs of further economic growth in a so-called 'full-world economy' like the present world economy may exceed the immediate social benefits derived from this growth.[14]:16–21
Chang's criticism [ edit ]
Chang states that "it is (implicitly) assumed the state knows everything and can do everything.”[17] Thus, this implies several assumptions about government in relation to market failures. There are three main statements. First of all, government representatives are able to evaluate the scope of market failures and to what extent it differs from efficient outcome. Secondly, having acquired the aforementioned knowledge they have capacity to re-establish market efficiency. Lastly, there has arisen an idea according to which decisions of policy-makers are not influenced by self-interest, but they are driven by altruism.
Lipsey and Lancaster criticism [ edit ]
They came up with the theory of the so-called the “second best.” They refuse Chang's theory and state that is it not possible to restore Pareto optimality even if policy makers possess the sufficient knowledge, intervene efficiently and altruism serves as stimulus for their decisions. On the other hand, the “second best” theory holds that when market failure occurs in one branch of the economy, it should be feasible to increase social welfare in another branch of the economy by violating Pareto efficiency instead of restoring Pareto efficiency by government intervention.[37]
Zerbe and McCurdy [ edit ]
Zerbe and McCurdy connected criticism of market failure paradigm to transaction costs. Market failure paradigm is defined as follows:
"A fundamental problem with the concept of market failure, as economists occasionally recognize, is that it describes a situation that exists everywhere.”
Transaction costs are part of each market exchange, although the price of transaction costs is not usually determined. They occur everywhere and are unpriced. Consequently, market failures and externalities can arise in the economy every time transaction costs arise. There is no place for government intervention. Instead, government should focus on the elimination of both transaction costs and costs of provision.[38]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders shot down the corporate media’s attempt to silence his campaign during an interview on ABC’s This Week.
Video:
ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos
Transcript via ABC’s This Week:
KARL: So you’ve won big out there in those three states. You’re still way behind in the delegate count.
But does that — what does this mean for the race?
Does this mean you are absolutely —
(CROSSTALK)
SANDERS: Well —
KARL: — going through to the —
SANDERS: — what it — Jonathan, what it means is we won three landslides last night. We’ve won six out of seven contests in the last 11 days. We’ve cut Secretary Clinton’s lead by a third during that period of time.
A national poll just came out that had us 1 point ahead of Secretary Clinton, when we started 60 points behind. And every national and state poll that I have seen, virtually every one, has us defeating Donald Trump. CNN had us defeating him by 20 points.
Clearly we have the momentum. And I think, at the end of the day, we’re going to end up with more pledged delegates than Secretary Clinton.
And then I think the super delegates are going to have make a very difficult decision and that is, if a candidate wins in a state by 40 or 50 points, who are you going to give your vote to?
And, second of all, which candidate is better positioned to defeat Trump or any of the other Republican candidates?
I think a lot of the super delegates are going to conclude that it’s Bernie Sanders.
KARL: But you still need 73 percent of the delegates going forward, which is a huge —
(CROSSTALK)
SANDERS: No, we don’t. No, no, no.
KARL: Well —
SANDERS: No, I don’t accept that. That is not the case. You’re assuming that every super delegate who now supports Secretary Clinton will stay with her. You’re not taking into consideration the fact there are hundreds of delegates, super delegates, who have not yet made a decision. We think we can win many of them.
And what we showed yesterday is, in fact, the momentum is with us; we think we’re going to do well in Wisconsin. We think we got a real shot in New York. And then we go out to California. You go out to Oregon. That’s the most progressive part of America. We think we’re going to do very well there.
So I will not deny for one second that we still remain the underdogs, but we have come a long, long way, you will have to concede, in the last 10 months. We do have a path toward victory.Cole Miller: One-punch killer Armstrong Renata sentenced to seven years' jail for unprovoked attack
Updated
The man who killed 18-year-old water polo player Cole Miller in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley in a random one-punch attack has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Armstrong Renata, 23, pleaded guilty to unlawful striking causing death in the Supreme Court in Brisbane.
Renata punched Mr Miller in the back of the head while on a night out in the party precinct in January 2016, causing the teenager to fall and hit his head on the pavement.
Mr Miller, a former Brisbane State High School student, was walking through a mall with a friend to catch a taxi home when he was set upon.
The promising water polo player suffered severe head injuries and massive brain trauma and his life support was turned off the following day.
Thousands of people attended vigils and a rally in King George Square to show support for the Miller family shortly after and called for an end to violent behaviour.
Renata's co-accused Daniel Maxwell, who started the fight after the pair had been kicked out of a venue, was given an 18-month sentence in August for assault and was deported back to New Zealand.
The families of both Mr Miller and Renata were in court for the sentencing.
Renata has to serve 80 per cent of his sentence, and will eligible for parole in about four years, given time already served.
Justice Helen Bowskill said she took into account his early plea of guilty and the six months Renata spent in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.
Renata is the second person to be sentenced under Queensland's one-punch laws.
'Miller would not have seen the attack coming'
Prosecutor David Meredith said Mr Miller and his friend Nick Pace had no contact with Renata and Maxwell until the fatal event.
Unlawful striking charge explained "Unlawful striking causing death" is defined as hitting another person on the head or neck and subsequently causing the death of that person
It was added as a new offence in the Queensland Criminal Code in 2014 as part of a suite of measures introduced in the Safe Night Out Legislation Amendment Bill
The charge "fills the gap" between manslaughter and an assault that results in the death of a person
The Queensland Government's Safe Night Out laws are aimed at reducing alcohol and drug-related violence in the state's nightlife Source: Quinn & Scattini Lawyers/Queensland Government Source: Quinn & Scattini Lawyers/Queensland Government
The court heard Maxwell was drunk and had picked three fights with people, before the two groups crossed paths in the Chinatown mall.
Maxwell challenged Mr Miller to a fight and punched him, aiming for his jaw, but the blow landed on his chest.
Mr Miller did not respond and indicated he did not want to fight.
Maxwell turned to Mr Pace and punched him in the chest before Mr Pace and Mr Miller backed away retreating.
Renata then attacked Mr Miller when he was facing away from him and had his hands at his side.
"Renata moved around behind Cole Miller and then punched him in the side of the head," Mr Meredith said.
"Miller would not have seen the attack coming.
"The blow was of such force … it, as well as contact with ground … [meant] injury was unsurvivable.
"Miller had done nothing to Renata."
Mr Miller fell to the ground, seemingly knocked out, and Mr Pace tried to revive him and called an ambulance.
Renata and Maxwell went into a car park, waited for their group, and then left, while Mr Miller was on the ground.
"You left as though nothing had occurred," Mr Meredith said.
Defence barrister Angus Edwards told the court his client had genuine remorse over Mr Miller's death and had "perceived, wrongly … that Mr Miller was going to hit his friend so he struck first".
'Cole was a kid with a dream'
Mr Miller's father Steve Miller fought back tears as he read his victim impact statement about his family's "utter turmoil".
"His life was violently cut short … he was ready to embark on university," he said.
"Cole was a kid with a dream … his life was just beginning."
Mr Miller recounted the unexpected 4:00am phone call and rushing to the intensive care unit.
"It was a nightmare no-one should have to endure. It will never end for me or my family," he said.
Mr Miller spoke of his son's "tragic and senseless" death and said it left "a massive void" for his three siblings.
A statement read on behalf of the victim's mother, Mary-Leigh Miller, said life as she knew it came to an end when her "beautiful, quiet, gentle" youngest child was killed.
"I am feeling wounded, isolated … with no idea how to heal myself," she said.
"[I'm] not sure I can function as a normal human being again."
'I owe his family a debt that can never be paid': Renata
Renata read a letter of apology to the court and said he did not think he could ever forgive himself.
"Words can't begin to describe how deeply sorry I am," he said.
"I can't imagine the pain and trauma I have caused this family … and never in a million years would.
"I owe his family a debt that can never be paid for.
"We had no right to do what we did and I'm sorry."
Outside court, Mr Miller's father said the problem of alcohol-fuelled violence needed to be addressed.
"Until there is a bigger deterrent, I think we're not going to solve this problem. We have a social problem with violence. And there's violence, and everyone is affected by it," he said.
"It's not how I want him to be remembered. He will be remembered as he was. Very much the best of all our family, we lost our best one."
Topics: assault, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, fortitude-valley-4006, qld, brisbane-4000, maroochydore-4558
First postedVer Party Suggestion HP Stone Time Like Memo 6.10
Reply >15000 0 ~5 min 0 By Alf : S rank build I put all my monsters that gave extra time, just try to him 8 combo each time. Ideally you want haku and yomi up for the boss, but just haku is ok. 9-10 combos at boss destroys him 6.10
Reply >19081 0 ~15 min 0 By song : Floor 1-2 stall a bit if possible for echidna at least (easier with grundy). FLoor 3 kill other right away (with echidna if you want to be safe), then stall on grundy. Floor 6 bonia+bubblie for both bane and deathstroke. Floor 7 pop echidna. Kill within 3 turns (4 if you have over 21060 hp total). 5.40
Reply ~11000 0 ~60 min 0 By Zyd : Props to Gorilla for dual-odin. 1: Kill to 1, Grind skills. 2: Finish with all skills up. 3: Firefly=grav, ninja, Odin. Grind. 4-5: see 1 6: PRAY for Bane. 7: First turn: Grav, Grav, Ninja, Odin, Ninja. He's got ~6000 HP left. 1503750*.7*.7-300,000-130,000-300,000= 6840 LUCI/NINJA STILL KING! 6.10
Reply ~16500 0 ~5 min 0 By KewlBewbz : All Max Awoken. Lvl 99/78/99/99/99/99. +total=120. Clear red orbs on rando-floors to kill green guy. Casually take out blue guy. Venom Bane took rOdin's shot & 3 25X hits to kill (he "charges" on 1st turn, so you get 4 tries). Needed both U&Y skills. I used Echidna's Menace on Joker. Luckily not orb trolled, killed w/2 25X hits. 6.10
Reply ~16500 0 ~6 min 0 By gammon : Extremely safe team with room for error -Always stall as long as possible -Kill priority: Bane, Copper, Fire, Grundy -F3 kill Copper (4 combo of 25x) or Fire ( 5 combo of 25x) 1st -Kali if orb trolled on F6-7 -F6 Bane, delay AFTER Venom Strength; he will reuse the skill -F6 Deathstroke, delay and kill ASAP -F7 delay, gr 6.10
Reply >21060 0 ~5 min 0 By Shynee : Have Echidna up before stage 6. Burst and stall stages 1-5. On stage 6, if emergency use Echidna. On boss, if Echidna used, remove jammers and take the killing joke. Hopefully you have enough colors and light orbs to OHKO with Izanagi. 5.00
Reply ~15000 0 ~30 min 4 By Gorilla : All full awoken, fl.1 charge skills. Fl.2,3,4,5,6kill all but one and charge skills. Fl.7, 3×grav, MS, 2×gungnir. End 1 0 Bēbelin : If you get Bane as your miniboss, you're fine. If you get Deathstroke, you're pretty much hosed with this build unless the heart gods smile upon you. 5.00
Reply ~17000 0 ~10 min 1 By netcom@PFG : Stall at 1,2,4,5. At 3 if Grundy and Cooper appear then kill Cooper first. If not, take grundy out asap. At Fl 6 if Bane appear then pop Freyr at the final turn and pop 1 leilan active skill. At Joker pop Echidna and bring back the loving memory of Heath Ledger. 6.10
Reply ~16000 0 ~10 min 0 By snchopanda : S Rank Build: Friend Ronia +297, max skill. Wicked Lady skill lvl. 7 was super helpfull. Stall as much as you can floors 1-2. Floor 3, use Wicked Lady if needed. Floors 4-5, stall for rest of skills. Floor 6, esp if Bane, Ronia, Hime, Baddie to OHKO. Floor 7, Ronia, Lubu should OHKO with descent dark orb count. Tamadra Get! 5.20
Reply ~17000 0 ~15 min 1 By jecht III : Max lvl/awok sakuya's and echidna.max skill valk and echidna(11is good).FL1 to FL5 stall and sweep,use skills as needed.FL6 IF DStroke echinda and 25×,if Bane use echinda during venomS. If u didn't kill him he'll most likely do VS again.orochi and use all turns so echinda is ready for joker.FL7 Sakuya's, delay and 4turn 25x win 6.10
Reply >11087 0 ~5 min 2 By pxxl : S Rank build. High slvl pers and lucifer is a must, all awkn, 6 combo average. With high + eggs, you can switch persephone with wicked lady. Use luci if Bao Bane appears. Save light & heart orbs on f2 and use persephone f3. Stall and use Ronia + baddie on f5 and f6. If you meet deathstroke, activate a turn after silent approach. 6.10
Reply ~22000 0 ~5 min 1 By Ken★Kirin : Max skill D-Luci, Ronia, Perseph. All awoken/ max lv. 1-2F Blast through. Try to leave Lt+Ht orbs. 3F Use Perseph and make rows. 4-5F Blast through. 6F Even if orbs become hidden, use Ronia then D-Luci and you'll see + sign on dark orbs. Make rows. 7F. Ronia, LuBu and make rows and win! 6.10
Reply ~16000 0 ~10 min 0 By MooSama xD : FL1-2: Stall, use 4 dark orbs to clear low hp mobs, FL3: Clear, Echidna if needed, FL4-5: Stall for Baddie/Echidna, clear, FL6: Echidna w/DJ & Vamp, easy with 4/5 turns, no need for Haku. FL7: Haku + King Baddie for OHKO. You'll have the 2nd Haku if you need a better board. All max skilled preferred for very safe and easy run :) 5.00
Reply ~12000 0 ~10 min 1 By Quantum : S-RANK BUILD!!!! Pretty much just one shot every monster with around a 7+ combo, and STALL JUST ENOUGH for Echidna's delay. On Joker, just pop echidna, and then get rid of the jammers. And then one shot the Joker. 5.30
Reply ~60000 0 ~15 min 2 By Amitosh : Switch in tengu if you have to face Bane on floor 5, otherwise its pretty easy. Grind bane with poison and some dark damage, but with tengu, you have 4 turns to heal 15k (which is pretty much 3 or 4 hearts). This team can easily pimp slap the Joker if you charge the skills before hand. 0 0 Bibbo : Good build. Warning: Make sure you have several hearts on the board when you kill Bane because you'll need 21k HP heal to survive Killing Joke. EDIT: Actually, on Joker, you're better off like this: 2x grav, rodin, clear jammers. Tank 21K KJ, lucifer, autoheal. Next turn is Acid Blossom poison for no dmg, safe luci kill. 6.10
Reply >8418 0 ~5 min 1 By Anthar : lvls 90 78 52 49 max and max firend +eggs no skill ups Stall as hard as you till floor 6 if its bane use vamp and the turns you have sonia lilith kill 7 grav + sonia +baddie=OKO. could use hera for hades. 5.30
Reply ~12400 0 ~10 min 5 By Mhotep : Echidna, Angelion, Valk max skill... all max level Floor 1-2 stall for skills, killing Copperheads fast. Floor 3- mass attack combo /w yellow orbs, use Echidna if needed or orb changers. Floor 4-5 stall for skills. Floor 6- use orb changers + Shynee to OHKO. Floor 7- Use Echidna and combo the joker down =) 6.10
Reply ~23000 0 ~7 min 2 By S hole@PGF : Avg lvl 90. CDD and Haku fully awoken. The 2 skill boots is essential. Try to stall, dont over kill too many. f3 if eat Grundy Stomp dont take any hit after that. Save heart and dark orbs for f6. Pop echidna or not on f6 is your choice. for bane combo hard; for death I match orbs in the dark. f7 haku and/or CDD, 2 links. gg. 6.10
Reply ~17000 0 ~5 min 2 By Tenora@PF : R1-2 stall for Sersephone skill. Setup board for R3 with light/heal/dark/red R3- Kill ASAP using Persephone R4-5 Stall for Persephone R6 - Use Sonia x2, Persephone to finish off. R7 - Sonia, Hera, Baddie WIN 6.10
Reply ~18900 0 ~5 min 0 By AmonAmarth : Max Awk/Lvl - One Ronia max skilled. ~675 +eggs (1&2) Very important to stall here, you'll need Ronia up by... (3) Ronia. Grundy will one-shot you (4&5), clear normal, stall a bit for skills. (6) Ronia. Deathstroke pre-empt is a pain, Bane can be OHKO with good combos- use a second Ronia if needed. (7) Ronia,Hera,Baddie - OHKO 6.10
Reply >14000 0 ~10 min 2 By J@h : stall on fl1 & 2 to activate Baddie & Chaos Dragon. Fl3 kill then stall fl4 & 5. Fl6 : baddie / chaos dragon. Fl7 ; lubu/ronia/fallen OHKO 6.10
Reply ~27000 0 ~5 min 0 By koda : Ronia on floors 3, 6, and 7. For the other subs, I used FD Shiva and FA Luci, but they can be whatever devils you have. Having 3 Ronia actives and Ronia or Lu Bu as lead makes this lazy mode though. 6.10
Reply ~15000 0 ~10 min 0 By dgawd : this team barely makes it. stall when you can. echidna skill lvl 3 was used. flr 1-2, 4-5, stall if the turns allow, if you can leave 1 monster standing without triggering x25, stall, its ok if you killed. flr 3 and 6 is kill asap. must have echidna up by flr 7. activate umiyama and yomi for max combo. odin and ama is for heals. 5.00
Reply ~35000 0 ~45 min 3 By RedStorm : Floor 1,2,4&5 play normally.Floor 3,if Grundy appears,kill his partner asap,if MS is ready,can be used.Grind down Grundy to just above 10% and either kill him normally in 3 turns or use Gungnir to help,but do it in 3 turns.Floor 6, grind down while stalling for skills, use heal orbs wisely.Floor 7,3x Grav,MS,Gungnir,MS for win. 0 0 Tigerfish : I don't understand why I couldn't get past the Brute Strength on level 6. I had well over 15,000 hit points on my team, but he killed me. According to the calculator, he only hits you for 14,717 if there is an 80% reduction for Grodin. What happened? 0 0 Singsiblaw : Brute Strength is enhanced by Venom Strength for first attack. Therefore, the first attack is 29435. 6.10
Reply ~15000 0 ~7 min 1 By Mirira : Used Rainbow Keeper as wildcard for the HP, anything works. Stall on floor 1/2, use D/F Haku leader skill to snipe (match 2 colors + heart, 3.5x instead of 12.25x). Vamp on fl3. Haku active on fl6 (may use Alma but make sure you have at least 1 turn left on fl7) and all skills on fl7. Leaders max lv, subs 70+ & max awoken 6.10
Reply >16000 0 ~10 min 0 By chipacabre : Sonia, luci, lu bu all max awoken, lubu was level 90 and sonia was lev 75 but +160ish. Stall for echidna and use rd 3 with vamp. Stall again till rd 6 and echidna, vamp, baddie. rd 7 sonia, luci, lu bu OHKO. 6.10
Reply ~11500 0 ~5 min 1 By Wolverine : Baddie can replace lu bu, wicked lady can replace persephone. Stall for persephone and lilith for f3, then use skills to sweep. If ronia not up, stall for f6. Use ronia + lu bu/baddie for f6 and f7 for easy win. 5.30
Reply ~15000 0 ~6 min 1 By iwillbot : It helps if Sieg and Angelion are max skilled. Stall when possible. Use delays on last two stages. Use gravity on enemies with the most HP. Use other skills to help stall or 25x. 6.10
Reply ~22000 0 ~10 min 0 By MeatGun@PF : Floor 1-2 stall. Floor 3 vamp lord and Loki. Floor 4-5 stall. Floor 6 echidna and kill. If you have Loki up again use it here. Floor 7 Hades (skill ups help), Rsonia, Lu Bu 1 shot. 6.10
Reply >1981 0 ~7 min 0 By Vaynes : All maxed level, Sonia's +297. FL1 & FL2 kill all. FL3 Stall on Grundy (preferred but watch heal) or Flamethower but kill Copperhead right away if she comes up. When all skills up, use Persephone, make rows and kill. FL4 & FL5 kill all. FL6 Sonia and Shiva (I had Deathstroke). FL7 Sonia, Hera-Ur, King Baddie for overkill. 6.10
Reply ~17000 0 ~5 min 0 By okgav : F1, left one and stall all skill, can be done in F1-2. F3 u need to use Persephone. F6, Echidna + Ronia. F7, Ronia+Shiva+Lu Bu OHKO. good luck~ 6.10
Reply ~15000 0 ~5 min 0 By David@PG : Ez Ronia build. Wildcards can be any high atk devils (I.e Hera/Vamp/Lubu/Shiva/Belial) Stall on rounds 1/2 Burst through round 3 Ronia active round 6 Ronia + Baddie + Hera OHKO round 7 6.10
Reply ~16000 0 ~3 min 1 By 闇の力 @ SG : must max skill at least vamp duke and hanzo, best is max skill all of them. Must awakening all except vamp duke. Pretty much orb change every round using 9x unless its a boss just 16x. 6/7 stage use pandora + vamp duke orb change. 7/7 use haku + hanzo to clear. More or less confirm 0 stone. rider can exchange to D/D lucifer. 6.10
Reply >14521 0 ~10 min 0 By 「空白」 : Round 1-2, 4-5 stall for skills. Vamp was maxed skill. Round 3: use Vamp, match rows, if needed also use Haku. Round 6: If its Venom then grind him down and on the last turn, use Sonia+ hera-ur, if its Deathstroke then reveal all orbs and only use Sonia.Round 7: OHKO. If all skills are up, stalling rounds 4-5 isnt needed. 6.10
Reply ~15000 0 ~5 min 0 By Ch0de : Max Lvl leads, ~70 subs. Stall on F1/2/4 for skills, any stage that isn't a mini-boss. One hit or stall F3/6 if confident. Echidna on final stage, clear fire orbs and jammers. One 25x should one shot. I put dmeta for 2x damage on F6, use dark att. just in case and orb changers just in case of troll. 14k + 3k rcv to heal. 6.10
Reply ~14000 0 ~10 min 1 By 雞蛋仔 : I found with two Delays work better, you can use two Echidnas in place of Orochi. Use one on Floor 6 and one one 7. Skill ready on Floor 3 and before 6, 1 Haku for 6 with 6 + combo and follow up kill, save 1 for floor 7. On 7 use Tsukuyomi and Haku with 6+ combo and 1 to 2 follow up to get egg, good luck! 6.10
Reply ~20000 0 ~3 min 2 By cc : Nearly all full awoken. Clear trash with R/L orbs while removing B/G/H orbs, save dark orbs for RNDs 3 and 6, charging when safe. Remember GrundyReborn/V.E-Bane's first attack won't kill you. On RND5, memorize your dark orbs in case you're blinded on RND6. Can use Ares or Gryps early in emergency, else use all on Joker. 6.10
Reply ~1650 0 ~7 min 2 By Horizon@PF : Stall rounds 1&2. CDK + vamp actives round 3. Stall rounds 4&5. Byakko active round 6. Round 7 make boom boom. Farmable build! (My team was max level) 6.10
Reply >20000 0 ~4 min 1 By gorilla : Hera replace with ^HP Mech, Horus with +fr atk, and any two fr orb changer. HP over 20K to be safe. fl1 stall on 1 as long as you can. fl2 stall as long as you can. going into fl3 make sure you have at least 2014HP for "Burn em All". OHKO everything. fl6 change orbs and ohko (may take 2 turns). fl7 change orbs and +fr for ohko 1 0 John Death : Is this team for Master? Burn Them All does 2970 on Legend. 5.10
Reply ~63000 0 ~45 min 5 By John Death : It all hinges on Round 6. If it's Deathstroke, you can 0-stone easily; if Bane, you can't win. Rounds 1, 2, 4, & 5, just play normally. Round 3, if Grundy shows up, use Morning Star to immediately kill his companion, then grind him down and use MS to finish before Resurrection. Charge all skills on Deathstroke. Unload on Joker. 0 0 Ashling@.@ : deathstroke has 4000+ defense, how do you finished it in 45 min? 6.10
Reply >17738 0 ~10 min 1 By pasticheSA : Fight through the trash, use Echidna on floor 6, Orochi on floor 7. Use Horus' 4x multiplier to kill/stall on trash. On floor 3 you'll need to Ra combo to kill one of the two. Try to stall 5 turns, but don't let Grundy attack a second time unless you have over 19k life. It's easiest to stall on unevolved Gundys. 6.02
Reply ~21000 0 ~10 min 0 By Kevin@PG : All monsters maxed level. Stall on the first 2 stages. Remember that Firefly on stage 3 can preemptive hit, so go into stage 3 with at least 3000hp. Freyr's skill can be activated on stage 6 if you get Bane and need the damage. Save Echidna's delay for Joker and go to town on him, he has 1 million hp only. 5.00
Reply ~15000 1 ~6 min 0 By rickyrox3 : Simply for the impatient. Rd. 1- Kill one enemy and leave the other to charge skills/get HP down to 20 percent. The only concerns with this team is that if Rd. 6 spawns with Bane, you might want to abstain from healing. Rd.7- Pop Echidna and blast through the Joker. 0 stoned if you lucky, otherwise you may end up using a stone. 6.02
Reply ~19000 0 ~10 min 0 By ♘ Kikin : Similar to those mentioned. Stalled on Bane, Echidna on floor 6, Kushinada on floor 7. 6.10
Reply >17000 0 ~8 min 0 By jade : Suzaku legend farming double delay double defensive build. EtRE susano max skill. Echidna sk. Lv.2. Both suzakus 297. Stall non boss floors. Always copperhead first. If Bane: 201 and Indra and 1 7 star, joker: susano, 7 star on turn 3, then 89. If deathstroke: susano, 201, joker: delay both 7 stars. 6.10
Reply ~19000 0 ~7 min 2 By turnip : both satans max awoken. Persephone can be any x-->dark orb change, duke and echidna were max skill. sn
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Frank Carter is a man who holds many occupations: father, husband, tattooist and is one of the rawest front men alive on the hardcore punk scene.
With the recent release of Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes’ second album ‘Modern Ruin’, Clash caught up with Carter on his journey to a live show in Nottingham for a thoughtful and in-depth chat.
The political unrest is just the tip of the iceberg...
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It’s been two years since The Rattlesnakes debut ‘Blossom’, how does ‘Modern Ruin’ differ?
It differs in every single way. It’s more considered, focused, complex and it’s got much more depth and vibrancy. ‘Blossoms’ is mostly dealing with grief and loss, whilst ‘Modern Ruin’ is actually about the hope in things and perfectly sums up what we are all living in at the minute. The album came out the same day as Trump’s inauguration into Washington, so if that’s not an omen, I don’t know what is.
Although I don’t really want to be a political sound force because everybody is entitled to their opinion; the rise in stupidity and the shift towards these people that are both being elected into office by the public and on our behalf is scary. It’s a terrifying time to be alive right now and we must speak about it. 2016 was just the intro and now we are getting the fucking story.
Which songs are you most proud of on the album?
‘Bluebelle’ as it’s the very first song I’ve ever written on my own, I wrote the guitar and I recorded it, plus ‘Neon Rust’ which is about my daughter. It’s one of those songs where we really tried to push the boundaries of what we are capable of as writers and I think we succeeded.
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It’s a terrifying time to be alive right now...
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Can you describe the creative process for making this album?
We recorded with my long time friend and producer Thomas Mitchener, in Studio Broadfields out in Watford. Gareth brought a lot of his own ideas with the drums on this record, but the main creative force is the guitarist Dean and I. I constantly write these big long stories and then I structure a song out of them. He writes the riffs and brings to me what he considers to be a few parts of a song and I’ll try to find some lyrics that fit well with the tone and the atmosphere. Once we’ve got some fairly finished demos we take them out into the studio and play them out to the boys.
Earlier you said that you don’t want to be a political sound force, but do you think artists have a responsibility to use their platform to highlight political and social issues?
We’ve got to. We have a platform and we have a responsibility to use it to talk about things that are unfair and unjust. One of the things I’ve been speaking out on is the safety for everybody at our gigs. We are a punk rock band and we will be forever, but I’ve also just become a father. My daughter is two years old and I want her to grow up in a world where she is very much safe to stage dive and crowd surf, so we dedicate a part of our show to all of the female fans in the audience.
I’m speaking to the men in crowd, when I say this is only going to be a female only stage dive song and you’re going to treat these ladies with respect because that is what they deserve and it’s vital to have that conversation with men now. More often than not when I’ve crowd surfed, I’ve been fucking groped; I’ve been grabbed and touched inappropriately. It’s bizarre, there’s a weight in that anonymity that makes the perpetrator feel safe. However take that situation and put it anywhere else in the world and you would be arrested or pressing charges. I just want to make it clear that it isn’t acceptable behaviour at our shows or any fucking show.
I didn’t have the perspective until my daughter came along and now I have a deadline. In 10 years time she will probably want to be stage diving. She basically already does at home now on to my dog, so I need to get to work.
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We are a punk rock band and we will be forever...
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The Rattlesnakes is a return to your hardcore punk roots, where do you think the band fits into the musical spectrum today?
We are a heavy band, but can be delicately soft as well. We perfectly fill the gap between indie, punk and rock and roll, there’s no one like us. We’ve carved out a hole just the right size for us, so we can kind of exist without treading on anyone’s toes and just do our own thing, it feels good.
How did punk shape your life and what does it mean to you?
Punk to me is not a fashion, it’s not a genre of music, and it’s not a lifestyle. It’s just a mindset. I grew up with punk rock and roll gigs and just really liked everything about it. I liked the fact that it was so DIY, the whole kind of meaning behind it was to find yourself in a way you felt strong, you were proud to be unique, proud to be different. It’s all about being outsiders really and that’s what I felt like my whole life an outsider, so when I found punk it just felt like I had come home.
Which artists made a significant impact on you, artistically and personally when you were growing up?
David Bowie, Kurt Cobain, Lemmy from Motorhead, Patti Smith and PJ Harvey. They were all unashamedly and unapologetically themselves. They just didn’t give a shit about anything that people thought, they just did them and it’s inspiring. That’s kind of why I am, the way I am today.
After Gallows and Pure Love, The Rattlesnakes is your third official musical project - do you have any more planned for the future?
Well just to make ‘The Rattlesnakes the biggest band in the world. World domination. One stage dive at a time.
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World domination. One stage dive at a time.
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Has your other occupation as a tattoo artist sculpted your music?
No, I wouldn’t say it has. I’ve always loved tattooing and music. But I think I’m much better at music, than I am at tattooing. Music feeds my soul.
How will ‘Modern Ruin’ translate live?
It’ll translate the same way as everything else we’ve done. We just play it incredibly passionately and full of energy. Live is how you should see us. The record is great to listen to, but if you get the opportunity to see us live that’s where we really kind of transcend.
Are you looking forward to the playing the new material on tour?
Fuck yeah I can’t wait; we’ve been waiting to play this for a year. We work harder than any band playing live today I think. I know that’s a bold statement but when people come to a gig and see us, they’ll realise I was telling the truth.
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'Modern Ruin' is out now.
Words: Lois Browneby
Saturday, July 11th, was the official 20th anniversary of what is called the “Srebrenica Massacre” and “the Srebrenica Genocide,” when Muslim men were killed by Serbian forces in the Bosnian civil war of 1992 to 1995. The Western consensus about what happened at Srebrenica is, like the official history of the Rwandan massacres, disputed by academics, journalists and international criminal defense attorneys including Ed Herman, David Peterson, Michael Parenti, Robin Philpot, John Philpot, Christopher Black, Peter Erlinder, Ramsey Clark, and Diana Johnstone. Both official histories serve as cornerstones of Western interventionist ideology.
Last week, prior to the July 11th commemoration, Russia infuriated Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the United Nations, by vetoing a Security Council resolution on Srebrenica because it included the word “genocide.” Four Security Council members, Angola, China, Nigeria and Venezuela, abstained. Speaking to the Voice of America, Samantha Power then called all those who disagree with the Western consensus “genocide deniers.” I spoke to genocide denier Diana Johnstone, author of Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO, and Western Delusions and Queen of Chaos: the Misadventures of Hillary Clinton, coming in September from CounterPunch Books.
Ann Garrison: Diana Johnstone, UN Ambassador Samantha Power calls you a genocide denier, along with Ed Herman, David Peterson, Michael Parenti, and anyone else who’s dared to challenge Western consensus on what happened at Srebrenica in July 1995. What’s your response?
Diana Johnstone: Well, I am very much a genocide denier, and I’m proud of it and I can say why.
AG: Please do.
DJ: Yes, because what happened was not a genocide. Note that denying “genocide” means denying an interpretation, not the facts, whatever they are. There was a massacre of prisoners, whose proportions are disputed. That was a war crime. But it was not genocide. When your victims are military age men and you spare women and children, that cannot be genocide by any sensible definition. The International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia was set up to blame the Serbs for genocide, and they did so by a far-fetched sociological explanation, claiming that because the Bosnian Muslims had a patriarchal society, killing the men would be a sort of genocide in one town. But that is not what people understand by genocide.
AG: Why were Serbians a US target? And why were Bosnian Muslims favored?
DJ: Well, for one thing, the Clinton Administration and subsequent administrations have had a policy of allying with Muslims all around the world. Partly in a long term anti-Russian strategy which goes back to Zbigniew Brzezinski’s policy of supporting Mujahadeen in Afghanistan. The notion that the soft underbelly of the Russian Empire is Muslim and that they can be used against Orthodox Christians – that’s a long term US strategy going back to Brzezinski’s role in the 1970s.
AG: In the Carter Administration?
DJ: Yes, and so Serbia was seen as a potential Russian ally in the region, as the Serbs are Orthodox Christians, and so that was the reason it was targeted. The story was that Orthodox Christians are the bad guys and the Muslims are the good guys. And that’s been a constant US strategy for the last several decades.
AG: So, you’re saying that the USA is not constantly fighting evil Muslims all over the world?
DJ: No, it’s fighting the less evil ones. It’s been fighting the ones who are more secular. It was fighting the less fanatic. In Bosnia, the US supported Izetbegovic who was the most Islamist politician among Muslims there, who had written a declaration saying a country with a Muslim majority should be ruled by Islamic law. It was fighting Gaddafi, whose main enemy was the extreme Muslims, and it got rid of Gaddafi, and now they’re taking over Libya. It attacked Saddam Hussein, who had a secular society, who was hated by the Islamic extremists. And now they’re taking over Iraq. And the United States has been against Assad’s regime in Syria. They have targeted precisely the Muslim regimes which were not religiously fanatic. So of course Islam is divided, so the United States has been killing Muslims, but they have been favoring the most extremist.
There’s another point I want to make and that is that calling Srebrenica a genocide is extremely harmful for more than one reason. Of course we know that the main reason for this has been to justify future wars by saying, “Oh dear, we let this happen in Rwanda. We let this happen in Srebrenica, so we have to have preventive wars to prevent it from happening again.” That’s the ideological pretext used by the United States. But, the fact is that supporting the view that the West stood by – which is a sort of Samantha Power thing – we just stood by and let the Serbs commit genocide against Muslims is harmful in other ways as well. That line, which is untrue, is used to recruit people to extreme Islam against the West, which is what is happening in the Middle East. Because they think the West is the enemy, the West supported genocide of Muslims, we are the victims, therefore we are justified. And they’re recruiting young men from all over the world, including Europe, to go and fight the West partly on the basis of that pretext. So it’s very harmful, this lie.
AG: So all of the US attacks on secular states, where Islam is the dominant religion, have led to Islamic fundamentalism and recruitment to groups like ISIS?
DJ: Absolutely, absolutely. And the whole US policy for the past decades has in fact inspired this extreme Muslim radicalism against the West. The notion was that we’ll get the Muslims on our side by supporting them, but it’s worked quite the opposite way because we have weakened the secular Muslim leaders, and with the help of our dear ally Saudi Arabia, which is of course an extremist Muslim state and our close ally in the region.
AG: Would you like to say anything about the controversial figure of 8,000 dead? Global Research published an interview with Ed Herman headlined “The Srebrenica Massacre was a Gigantic Political Fraud,” in which he says that the numbers were inflated without supporting forensic evidence and that there were many massacres in the Srebrenica area, including massacres of women and children in Serb villages.
DJ: Well, I’m very skeptical about this 8,000 number, more than skeptical. I think it’s clearly not true, but I didn’t want to dwell on that because my main point is not so much how many bodies, but the uses of this, the exploitation of it. And also, the fact that since it was men and boys of military age, this cannot be genocide. This is the sort of massacre that happens in wars. Men get killed because of what they are; they’re on the other side. That’s what it’s all about. And of course it happened on both sides. This was a war; it wasn’t just Serbs killing Muslims. Muslims were killing Serbs. I mean this was a civil war with two sides fighting.
AG: That is exactly what is ignored about Rwanda. The infamous 100 days in Rwanda were the final days of a four year war of aggression that begin when Ugandan troops invaded Rwanda in October 1990 and then waged a four year war until they seized power in Kigali. The received story treats the 100 days as though it happened in a vacuum.
Is there anything else you’d like to say about Srebrenica?
DJ: Well, maybe there is one more thing I should have said.
AG: Go ahead.
DJ: That is, it’s very ironic that Bill Clinton is going there as one of the official mourners of the dead at Srebrenica, because a story that is very much circulated outside of mainstream media is that the whole Srebrenica Massacre was a trap that was deliberately laid to lure the Serbs in because Alija Izetbegovic, the Muslim leader, had heard from Bill Clinton that Clinton needed for there to be a massacre of at least 5000 Muslims in order to politically bring the US and NATO into the war on the Muslim side.
That’s in a book by a Bosnian Muslim leader, Ibran Mustafic. The book, however, is in Serbo-Croatian. It was mentioned in a UN report that a lot of Muslims have said that the Srebrenica Massacre was a setup in order to blame the Serbs and get the US and NATO in on the Bosnian Muslim side. That’s been said by a lot of people, and there’s a documentary film about it, but that has been kept out of the mainstream discourse entirely.
AG: Is there documentation that Clinton said that?
DJ: There’s documentation that Izetbegovic thought he said that. And, remember that they don’t speak the same language. Clinton might have said offhand, “Well, y’know I’d need a massacre of at least 5000 to be politically able to come in,” without really meaning that anyone should stage such a massacre. I’m not accusing Clinton of having ordered the massacre. But on the other hand, it is extremely probable that Izetbegovic, whose whole strategy was to portray the Bosnian Muslims as pure victims, might have taken that up. And he ordered the commander out of Srebrenica. There was no defense there, although there were more soldiers, more Bosnian Muslim soldiers, in Srebrenica than Serbian soldiers who attacked. But they did not defend, they ran away. And this has been interpreted by a lot of Bosnian Muslims as deliberately setting things up in order to have Serb vengeance, because there had been a lot of Serb victims of the Muslim soldiers. They had killed over 3000 Serb villagers in the region. And so, many believe that this was deliberately set up to have the victims that would bring the US in on the Bosnia Muslim side. Even the French General Morillon said that.
But another reason it was not genocide against Muslims is that the Serbs were allied with another group of Bosnian Muslims on the western side of Bosnia, whose leader was a secular Muslim, Fikret Abdic, who was originally more popular than Izetbegovic, got more votes. So the genocide label is absolutely absurd, and yes I’m a genocide denier because it’s not true.
Diana Johnstone is the Paris-based American author of Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO, and Western Delusions. Her 2005 essay “Srebrenica Revisited,” can be read on the Counterpunch website. From 1979 to 1990, she was the European Editor of In These Times. From 1990 to 1996, she was the press officer of the Green group in the European Parliament. She is also the author of “The Politics of Euromissiles: Europe’s Role in America’s World,” and her new book “Queen of Chaos: The Misadventures of Hillary Clinton,” will be published by Counterpunch Books this year. She can be reached at [email protected] over in a new country is never easy, but for these Americans it was the only choice that made sense – and they haven’t looked back since
It was late into the night of the 2016 presidential election. Or was it technically the early hours of the morning after? Mark Nykanen was up watching what had not yet been made official, but was certain: Donald Trump would become the 45th president of the United States.
The next morning, he and his wife Lucinda Taylor woke up and knew it was time. Within a couple of hours, they made the decision. Within a couple of weeks, their house in The Dalles, Oregon, an hour and a half east of Portland, was on the market.
“I just made up my mind,” said Taylor, 56. “And as soon as I made the decision I felt safer.”
'I'm moving to Canada': the cops, pop stars and athletes who made good on the threat Read more
The couple is heading to Canada for political reasons – and not for the first time. In 2003, appalled by George W Bush’s order to invade Iraq, they abandoned their lives in the US for a new start in Nelson, British Columbia.
“I felt very strongly that the US had turned a corner from which it would never turn back,” said Nykanen, 65, recalling the earlier relocation. “We made that move not because we feared terrorists, but what the country was becoming.”
The idea of moving to Canada is regularly tossed around as a joke of an American exit strategy. Declarations leading up to Trump’s presidency became fodder for late night television hosts. Spotify created a “Moving up to Canada” playlist, featuring Justin Bieber, Mumford & Sons and Carly Rae Jepsen. Maple Match emerged in the online dating world, connecting Americans and Canadians. Its motto: “Make dating great again.”
According to records from Canadian Immigration and Citizenship, applications from Americans to acquire Canadian citizenship have more than tripled in the last 20 years. But no one can definitively say why, because the Canadian and US governments don’t track motives for immigration and emigration.
Michael Niren, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, doesn’t attribute the trend to political action. But a graph of citizenship application numbers would show definite spikes in some politically significant years: 2001, when Bush was elected president; 2003, when the US invaded Iraq; and 2007, during the US housing market crash and recession. Perhaps Trump’s tenure will cause another spike in 2017.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nykanen and Taylor hiking in Alberta. Photograph: Supplied
Regardless, many Americans are scared of losing their rights. Minority groups worried about their safety are seeking refugee status in Canada. Refugees who had made their way to the US are taking harrowing journeys north, with migration expected to rise with warmer weather.
But Canada as a symbol of social and political freedom isn’t new, and has a history that dates back to the founding of the country. Loyalists left during the revolutionary war in support of the British empire, African Americans fled slavery on the underground railroad and pioneers ventured north in search of soil-rich land. In more recent history, Canada became a place of refuge for Vietnam draft evaders, Iraq war resisters and those with left-leaning ideologies concerning gay rights, education, gun control and healthcare.
Nykanen and Taylor had flirted with the idea of moving to Canada since they began dating almost 30 years ago. They disagreed with the amount of money the US was spending on the military and felt that Christianity was too ingrained in politics.
Now married, both have resumes with political and social bullet points. He was an investigative reporter for NBC, and was California governor Jerry Brown’s press secretary during his 1992 run for the democratic nomination for president. Taylor was a counselor focusing on children and families, and assisted HIV support groups.
“We weren’t whiners. We had worked for this country,” said Nykanen, who left politics for non-fiction writing. “And we felt that this was no longer about us. It was about where we could make a home that was healthy for our daughter.”
Nykanen and Taylor had growing concerns about the country’s commercialization, objectification of women and love of guns. But the catalyst that drove them to Canada was when the US invaded Iraq in 2003.
There is a psychological burden to living in a country that is forever in a state of war Mark Nykanen
They sold their three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Hood River, Oregon, moved their furniture into storage and on 31 August, jumped into the family’s minivan, pulling a U-Haul trailer holding the essentials, plus mountain bikes and skis.
When the family arrived at the Metaline Falls-Nelway Border Crossing at the northeast corner of Washington state, it was dark. The family, against the advice of their lawyer, arrived without residency status. But after showing paperwork and bank statements, they were granted a one-year visa.
A few kilometers from the border, Nykanen saw a Canadian flag, illuminated in the darkness. He looked at Taylor and sighed with relief. “There is a psychological burden to living in a country that is forever in a state of war,” he said. “And I don’t think even politicized Americans can appreciate it viscerally until they’re free from it.”
The family returned to Oregon in 2016, when Taylor was offered a healthcare position that she couldn’t refuse. Now, just a year later, they wish they had never returned.
For most, gaining permanent access to Canada isn’t a swift drive to the border.
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Obtaining permanent residency is a six-month to two-year process that costs, on average, $4,000 to $5,000 in legal fees, says New Jersey-based immigration lawyer Veronique Malka. Applicants are evaluated on a 100-point system based on English and French language skills, education, work experience, age and employability.
Temporary residence is usually required for permanent residency. And it seems relatively easy to obtain, provided applicants show they have worked and paid taxes. Data from Canadian Immigration and Citizenship shows the approval rate for temporary resident, work and study visas in 2016 was 91%. And it has hovered around the 90th percentile for 20 years.
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Perhaps the best-known Americans who migrated to Canada were Vietnam-era draft resisters. US involvement in Vietnam brought tensions to an all-time high, especially as casualties rose. At the height of the Vietnam War, as many as 40,000 men were drafted each month. Some avoided it by enrolling in college, getting married or proving to have, or sometimes faking, a medical condition.
Canada was, for some, a last ditch effort, and for others, a form of protest. John Hagan, a professor of sociology and law at Northwestern University and author of Northern Passage: American Vietnam War Resisters in Canada, said more than 50,000 American men and women fled to Canada during the Vietnam war, making it the largest political migration from the US since the American revolution.
Tony McQuail began working as a draft counselor on Sunday afternoons in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, at 16. His job was to inform young men about how it worked and what alternatives they had.
“It was in that process that I realized how the draft really was a powerful tool for creating the appearance of support for the military that wasn’t there,” said McQuail, a Quaker who was raised to believe in pacifism. “The people who were making decisions about what was going to happen didn’t bear any of the consequences.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The McQuail family. McQuail is a Quaker who made Canada his home. Photograph: Supplied
In 1970, McQuail wrote a letter to the attorney general. He would not be registering for the draft, even though the law demanded that 18-year-olds sign up. That spring, an FBI agent showed up at his door, convincing McQuail to register for the lottery.
McQuail, now 64, decided he wouldn’t want to wait to see if he “won” or “lost”.
In January of 1971, McQuail landed in London, Ontario, where a sympathetic border agent granted him temporary residency on the condition that he get a job. He ended up on a dairy farm in Goderich, two and a half hours west of Toronto.
“I remember feeling very alone, very far from my family,” said McQuail, who was still a teenager when his exile began. “I didn’t know anybody, and I suddenly felt like I wasn’t 100% sure if I had made the right decision.”
About half of those who fled remain in Canada, even after Jimmy Carter’s pardon of draft dodgers in 1977. Hagan estimates 70% of those who fled were well educated, white and middle class.
The people who were making decisions about what was going to happen didn’t bear any of the consequences Tony McQuail
More than half of those who migrated were women, said Hagan. Some were in relationships with draft evaders, but many were activists who left to support the anti-war movement. “There was something going on in terms of gender dimension of this movement,” said Hagan, who himself left during the draft to study at the University of Alberta. “And the women were slightly more likely to continue their activism in Canada.”
Lara Campbell, chair of the gender, sexuality and women’s studies department at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, confirms that half of the fleers were women. “And the fact that these numbers surprise you maybe tells you something about the way people remember Vietnam and the anti-war movement,” she said.
McQuail’s wife Fran, who is 64, was one of them. They two were high school sweethearts, and Fran moved to Canada in 1974, a year after Tony bought a 100-acre property in Goderich to start his own farm. They were married on the property shortly after. Tony’s uncle gifted them a pair of sheep.
The McQuails no longer see themselves as Americans, even though Tony can return to the US without punishment. “I’m so relieved when I cross back into Canada. My adrenaline levels drop,” said Tony. “I consider Canada my home. And I’m not coming back to the States.”
While many left feeling their actions were justified, others felt guilty about their privilege. In his article “What did you do in the class war, Daddy?” author James Fallows discussed going to the draft board and lying – he said he was suicidal – to avoid the war. It was easy for him and his white, well-educated Harvard friends to find an excuse. But boys from a nearby, lower income neighborhood had few options.
• • •
Like Vietnam, the Iraq war caused similar opinions concerning validity. Unlike Vietnam, military service was voluntary. But once people signed up, there was no turning back. An estimated 200 Iraq resisters fled to Canada before their first or return deployments, and it’s believed that 15 are still living there today. None have been granted refugee status. Some were deported. Others willingly returned to the US and served jail time.
Brandon Hughey was 18 when he fled his army base in Fort Hood, Texas, the night before he was to deploy for Iraq in February 2004. He had little more than a duffle bag and $1,000, most of which would go towards gas and hotels during the four-day drive.
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He was companionless until Indianapolis, where he abandoned his car and got into a friend’s. When they reached the Niagara Falls crossing in Buffalo, New York, they were nervous. Surely the military had released a warrant for his arrest.
They told border patrol they were visiting to watch a basketball game. It worked. Hughey called his dad once he crossed the border. “That was probably the hardest phone conversation I ever had,” said Hughey.
Hughey was from middle class, conservative San Angelo, Texas. “I’d always bought into the idea of serve your country, defend your country, defend your family,” said Hughey. “I bought into the romantic notion of it, too.”
But during training, he started to question the war. He didn’t like what he said was the army’s way of dehumanizing those there to serve and the enemy they were fighting. His superiors referred to Iraqis as “camel fuckers” and “sand niggers” on a daily basis.
In Canada, he found lawyer Jeffry House, who helped him become the second Iraq war resister to apply for refugee status. After three years and several trials, Hughey was denied. “I had known that US soldiers had done this during Vietnam, so I knew it wasn’t unprecedented. But I also knew that granting me refugee status would mean that Canada would be telling the US that the war was wrong,” he said.
Calling my dad when I crossed the border was probably the hardest phone conversation I ever had Brandon Hughey
While Hughey fought for refugee status in court, he got a landscaping job, got married (and divorced) and had a son. It was enough to gain temporary residency status. He’s working towards permanent status now.
Hughey will probably never return to America – he’d be arrested at the border and serve a year and a half of jail time. House, who represented nearly 60 Iraq deserters, said his cases hinged on the idea that the US did not have the right to invade Iraq. The court decided that was irrelevant. “The reality is that Canada is a small country in terms of power and population,” said House. “And the United States can make life hell for Canada.”
• • •
Some people’s migrations to Canada aren’t driven by war or presidential politics. They’re drawn by its national healthcare system or strict gun policies – or the perception that Canada may be a safer place to live an alternative lifestyle.
Amy Bohigian, a 43-year-old filmmaker from Cambridge, Massachusetts, moved to Toronto for a relationship. When that romance ended, she met Jane Byers, a 50-year-old Canadian citizen. They married in 2005, when Canada legalized same-sex marriage. At the time, Massachusetts was the only US state that recognized it.
Their marriage wouldn’t have been recognized in the US, which would have made it more difficult for Byers to obtain a green card. And their family wasn’t exactly ordinary: two moms, raising two adopted Indian children.
“We knew that as a same-sex couple in the states, there was less infrastructure legally and socially to support us as a family,” said Bohigian.
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Bohigian and Byers live in Nelson, British Columbia, the same town Mark Nykanen and Lucinda Taylor moved to for their first political exile. Nelson is halfway between Vancouver and Calgary, with a population of about 10,500, according to the 2016 census. The nearest major airport is three hours away. The area has a deep history of housing American expats. Vietnam resisters were first attracted to the West Kootenays because of the presence of Quakers, who fed and sheltered runaways. Of the Americans who remained after the Vietnam draft, 40% settled in British Columbia, said Kathleen Rodgers, author of Welcome to Resisterville: American Dissidents in British Columbia.
One might call Nelson the Portland of Canada, but condensed into less than three sq miles.
Nykanen and Taylor aren’t returning to Nelson this time. They’ve chosen Victoria and hope to settle by this summer. With their kid in college and dual citizenships in their pockets, the move will be easy.
“Canada is not a utopia. But it is far better poised to weather the coming century than the United States,” said Nykanen. Unless he sees money taken out of American politics, he doesn’t plan on coming back.
When asked if he gave up on America, he sours. “I don’t agree with the concept of that question. I never felt that there was a separation between my own ambitions and what I thought was best for the planet. Patriotism never struck me as healthy.”Files are back, and I completed mine!
IMPORTANT: Print the inner three layers as-is. You need to scale the top and bottom layers in ONLY THE Z AXIS. How to find out how much:
(X/Y) = (1/12) whree Y = the thickness of top/bottom layers on your puzzle. Solve for X to get your scale. In other words, ((Y * 1) / 12) or (Y / 12).
--If using Shengshou, Y = 13. Scale by 1.08333. This is a tested and perfect fit!--
Theres a bit of a hexagonal prism trend going on in the twisty puzzling community. I have not seen a 5x5 version yet. So here's mine.
A 5x5 puzzle with pieces 12.05mmx12.05mm will work. As it happens, the
New Shengshou 5x5 is what I designed this for. Note that it is listed and sold as a 64mm cube, but the pieces are not 64mm/5 pieces. Just get the shengshou 5x5, or measure your 5x5's pieces.
If you print all the extensions, you will not need to cut/sand/fill any parts of your 5x5. The finished puzzle will have an approximate width of about 88.5mm and a height of 64mm, with an edge length of 50.8mm.
Make sure your printer is calibrated before printing. You can print each of the 90 total extensions seperately, or print one entire layer of 18 pieces. You must print 5 of each part (Extension(1-18)x5), or 5 of the (FullLayerx5) models.
If you make one, PLEASE post a make! I, and others looking to make one themselves would love to see it.Desired by thousands of men the world over, the comely actress still remains Karenjit Kaur Vohra for her husband.(34) and(37)Sunny Leone’s story of love seems rather at odds with her steamy filmography. It was eight years ago when she first met her husband Daniel Weber outside a burlesque bar in Las Vegas. “For me, it was love at first sight,” confesses Weber. At the time, the rock and roll musician says, he had failed to gauge the extent of Leone’s popularity. “I saw her at a convention the next day and there was this line of a thousand people waiting for her autograph. Then, of course, I did my research,” he smiles. Leone compares his persistence to that of a stalker’s, and admits she was reluctant when agreeing to their first official date in New York. “Heath Ledger had just died. I wanted to be late by ten minutes, but I think I arrived thirty minutes after I was meant to.” A resolute Weber sent 24 roses to Leone’s hotel room. They dated for three years. Their marriage in 2011, they say, was a natural eventuality.For all its markers of conventionality, however, Leone’s and Weber’s relationship can in no obvious way be described as typical. Together, they had launched the studio Sun Lust Pictures in 2009. Weber still controls the running of the production house, whose mainstay for six years has been variations of an explicit adult cinema. Before Leone had been signed on to star in the arguably more risqué sequels of films such as Jism and Ragini MMS, Weber had, for some time, been the only male lead she had erotically cavorted with. Being husband to an actress so obviously fancied by thousands should expectedly bring with it a territorial dispute, but Weber seems to have come to terms with his wife’s desirability. “I guess it’s better than being married to someone, who people look at think, ‘Man, she is gross’.” As Leone chortles, he adds, “That’s a point in my corner. Yes, my wife had a career in entertainment well before I knew her and I am no one to say she should have lived her life differently. Millions loved her. God bless them. God bless her. And now, God bless me.”Leone and Weber laugh together with a warm frequency as they sit next to each other in a suburban hotel, but ordinary couples might be reassured to learn that the two do sometimes have differences. Weber, who decided to run his Brooklyn steel factory and band
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’i pioneer. In 1999 a few local friends had the idea to start a TV show to share Baha’i thought with the population. They had some great ideas and lots of initiative, but no materials or technical knowledge to create a show. In those days, I had a little video camera with a built in microphone that I used for home videos. I offered to help with the project and our living room soon became a makeshift studio. We took the mattresses from our beds to line the walls to try to improve the sound. Remarkably, in spite of the rudimentary materials we had to work with, the show was a hit. We managed to produce a show a week for about 2 years. This experience convinced me that I needed better equipment and some training to be able to edit our shows more professionally. A filmmaker friend of mine in France kindly offered to give me some training in computer video editing, and I bought some new, better equipment and the quality of our productions suddenly improved drastically.
Baha’i Blog: What inspired you to create ‘Bobo & Kipi’?
In the Ridvan message from the Universal House of Justice in 2000, five full paragraphs were dedicated to the subject of children. The message outlined the deplorable state of so many of the world’s children, while at the same time framing the children as being “the most precious treasure a community can possess.” This weighty message prompted me to turn the skills that we were learning on the Baha’i TV show, toward creating a television program for children that would be entertaining, but that would also impart an understanding of the virtues that are so essential for children to learn, in order to grow up to become happy and useful members of society.
Baha’i Blog: I received a DVD of some episodes without knowing anything about the show but the moment I heard the opening jingle in French, I knew there were Baha’is involved! How does the Faith influence your work and how has it affected the show?
The basic teachings of the Baha’i Faith colour everything I do. It is impossible to separate belief from action. You mentioned the opening jingle which talks about everyone in the world being from one big family – and that is, I think, an important message to get across to children from a very early age. Each episode is based on a virtue such as honesty, forgiveness, generosity or humility. My hope is that through modelling these virtues in a way that children can understand, they will try to practice them themselves and become the noble beings that they were created to be.
Baha’i Blog: What were some of the challenges and some of the victories of producing this show?
Well, there were so many challenges, it is hard to know where to start! This was the first children’s show to ever be produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so there was absolutely no local expertise. We really had to figure everything out as we went along. There were no puppeteers in the country and I really wanted the show to be puppet based – so we needed to find people who seemed to have a knack for voices and puppeteering, and then train them. The same was true for props makers and animators. Finding funding to make the show happen was one of the biggest challenges! In Congo, producers have to pay broadcasters to play their shows, so producers have to find sponsors in order to cover production costs. We eventually found a sponsor, but it meant adding a little product placement in each show, which I wasn’t a fan of! Electricity in Congo is very unstable, and we would often lose power in the middle of a take! We lost many hours of shooting time due to electricity cuts. In spite of all that, the show got made and that victory was due to the amazing talents of the Congolese actors, animators, builders and props makers and also to the very timely help of some international crew members – notably, Sabour Bradley from Australia, who just happened to be living in Kinshasa at the time, and who had extensive experience producing television in Australia and other parts of the world. We also had two fantastic Directors of photography – Jake Simkin from Australia for the first season and Ryan Lash from Canada for the second season. And the unflinching support and encouragement of my husband, Jason Sheper was key to overcoming practically every challenge we faced along the way.
Baha’i Blog: Every episode we’ve watched is fantastic but we have a particular soft spot for the warthogs and for the song about persevering. Do you have a favourite character or song?
Naming one of the characters as a favourite would be, for me, a little like saying that one or the other of my children is my favourite. (In fact, at one point during the shoot, Ryan pointed out to me that the characters of Bobo and Kipi were entirely based on my own son and daughter! He may have been right about that.) I think all the characters live in me to a degree so I love them all. That said, I do kind of have a soft spot in my heart for Tinyo, because his development through the series took me a little by surprise. Bobo, Kipi and Gronyo’s personalities were so well established when I started to write the scripts and they stayed fairly constant and true to their characters throughout. But Tinyo, in spite of being Gronyo’s sidekick, seemed to have more opportunities to display some hidden and delightful characteristics that, I think, would be very confirming for children who are sometimes challenged by older, more assertive siblings or friends. The toughest part about translating and dubbing the shows from French into English was to make the songs feel right. So I would say my favourite songs were the ones that sound equally as good in French or in English; “Tell the truth”, “Wash your Hands”, “Courage”, “Justice”, and “Soldiers for Peace” all work really well. I also really like the song about Compassion – because Bobo is playing guitar and Lokole has dreadlocks. I laugh every time I see it.
Baha’i Blog: How has the show been received so far?
In the Congo, it was a huge hit across a fairly wide demographic. As I mentioned, electricity is very unstable in Congo and whole neighbourhoods will often have their electricity cut for hours, days or even weeks. We had reports that the children across the city of Kinshasa, set up a system of signals to let other children know what neighbourhoods had electricity at the hours when Bobo & Kipi was on air. There were plenty of anecdotal stories of how children had been impacted by the show and how their characters were being influenced by the messages in the show. It would be fair to say that if a child in Kinshasa had access to a television, he was watching ‘Bobo & Kipi’! Since doing the English dub, ‘Bobo & Kipi’ has also aired in Canada on CTS – a Christian Broadcaster who broadcasts in southern Ontario and in parts of Alberta. The French version was also picked up by TFO, Ontario’s French TV network, for inclusion in their educational website. It is now available on 9StarMedia: https://9starmedia.com/bobo-and-kipi-season-1
Baha’i Blog: ‘Bobo & Kipi’ was originally produced in French. How many episodes are there and what was the process like to translate the show into English?
Although I communicate in French very well – having lived in a French-speaking country for over 30 years – I still think best creatively in English, so I actually wrote the scripts in English first to be sure that I was getting everything I really wanted to get out of the characters. I then worked with a French translator to translate all the scripts and songs into French. So, when the time came to dub them into English, we already had the original English scripts as a base from which we could work. Of course when you do a dub, you have to match the words said to the movement of the mouths, so a lot of fiddling had to happen to match the number of syllables, which wasn’t always easy. For example, in the courtesy episode, we constantly had to battle especially in the song because the one syllable word “Please” translates as the three syllable “S’il vous plait!”
Baha’i Blog: Thank you so much, Susan, for sharing this with us! I feel really privileged to hear about the process of a show our family has come to admire and love so much!
Season 1 of ‘Bobo & Kipi’ is now available for purchase or download from 9StarMedia and if you have a young child in your life, I think they’ll quickly come to love Bobo the bonobo, Kipi the okapi, and all their friends!Starship
This small self-driving robot, which can deliver shopping and groceries to the door, will begin trundling through the streets of London in 2016.
The six-wheeled robot has been created by the co-founders of Skype under a new company called Starship. Its creators claim it will able to deliver two bags of shopping, weighing around 9kg, on short trips within half an hour of an order being placed.
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Starship CEO Ahti Heinla said the delivery vehicles could operate 99 percent autonomously, with prototypes already undergoing testing. A pilot service should go live in Greenwich, London next year. Other pilot schemes will take place in the US and then the robots may be used in other countries, if they are successful.
Read next Alexa or Google Assistant? At CES, the battle moves into home robots Alexa or Google Assistant? At CES, the battle moves into home robots
Heinla said the company's robots were intended to cut down on delivery costs for customers. "The last few miles often amounts to the majority of the total delivery cost," he said.
When an order is placed the shopping would be collected and placed into a robot at a local hub. Inbuilt GPS systems, cameras, gyroscopes and other pre-installed mapping data would then control the robot on its delivery route -- although a human operator could remotely take control if things went awry.
A mobile app will let shoppers track the progress of the delivery. And when it arrives at its destination only the person with the mobile app will be able to access the goods inside.
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Drones have been touted as the future for home deliveries but robots could beat the UAVs to the market.
Complex and slow decisions on commercial drone laws in the US has seen online giant Amazon, according to the Independent, start negotiating with officials about testing their delivery drones in the UK.
Despite the negations having started, there's not been a date set for drone deliveries online shopping.A church that worships an invisible flying spaghetti monster can now apply to be registered as an official religion in Poland, after a 2013 court ruling was overturned on Tuesday
A Warsaw court rejected a ruling by the Regional Administrative Court because the it had not allowed the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) a two-month extension for submitting outstanding documents, Polskie Radio has reported.
A group of Pastafarians who gathered outside the court shouting "pasta" during the hearing on Tuesday welcomed the ruling.
In January, Pastafarian minister Christopher Schaeffer was sworn into the Pomfret New York Town Council this week with a colander on his head throughout the ceremony to represent his unique religious beliefs.
As a movement, Pastafarianism parodies orthodox religion and opposes the teaching of creationism and intelligent design. For example, prayers end with the word ‘ramen’ instead of ‘amen’ – a nod to Japanese noodles.
According the FSM's website, the church existed in secrecy until 2005 when the publication of a letter, complete with a drawing of the spaghetti monster that had been sent to a school board in Kansas.
The website insists Pastafarianism is a real religion, whose followers believe that pirates were the original Pastafarians and "were peaceful explorers and it was due to Christian misinformation that they have an image of outcast criminals today."
by independentFernando Torres: "I am training every day and I will never, ever give up"
The Spaniard has struggled since his big-money move from Liverpool in January 2011, with former team-mate Didier Drogba and now Demba Ba the oft-preferred striker.
A brace in Chelsea's 3-1 Europa League win over Rubin Kazan in midweek hinted at the player of old and Torres admitted he is desperate to rediscover the goalscoring touch that saw him net 65 league goals in 91 starts at Anfield.
"I want to do the things I used to do all my life," he told the Daily Mail.
"I did them at Atletico, I did them at Liverpool and I am not doing them at Chelsea. I am working on it. If I knew the reason, I would fix it in one minute. But the only way to fix these things is to work at it.
"I am training every day and I will never, ever give up.
"I am happy here. I am enjoying London and happy at this club.
"I know my statistics at Chelsea have not been the same as in other years in my career. But I am fighting to get back to those statistics and I will never, ever give up.
"I will try my heart out for this club. There are too many things I have to give back to these people and I want to show my thanks to them.
"Hopefully this season we can give them two more trophies and next season we can fight again for the biggest ones, the Champions League and the Premier League.
'I am getting better but I'm still not at the level I want."The Bears returned to practice in full pads Wednesday after Tuesday’s off-day. Here are five observations—plus some bonus ones—from the session. Remember, they’re just snapshots from a busy two-hour practice:
1. Receiver Kevin White made his best catch of training camp so far
In seven-on-seven work, Jay Cutler lofted a deep ball toward the right sideline. White adjusted, faded underneath it and made a sliding catch. He used his body to shield the defensive back and took advantage of the space that was there for him. We’ve seen White’s sharp concentration on several catches in camp, including that one.
Later, White released past cornerback Kyle Fuller’s jam with a quick inside rip move. He was open downfield but Cutler threw elsewhere.
Cutler indicated today what White acknowledged last week: That he’s still raw, and that the developmental process is ongoing. Set your expectations accordingly.
“We’ve just got to get the details of the assignments and clean all that up, so that he can play even faster,” Cutler said. “But there’s definitely some ‘wow’ plays in there.”
Photos of the Bears wide receiver Kevin White, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
2. Speaking of Fuller, in that same set of seven-on-seven work, he contested the catch point on a pass intended for Alshon Jeffery and broke it up
And, it must be mentioned, it turns out Fuller was the previously-unidentified defensive back responsible for the pass breakup that resulted in safety Harold Jones-Quartey’s interception Monday.
Fuller has stacked together a couple of good practices after a slow start to camp, which is an encouraging sign for the former first-round pick and for the defense overall. The Bears continue to push him to improve as a man-to-man corner, particularly his speed, the fluidity of his transitions and ball awareness. It warrants monitoring as the preseason continues.
3. Center Hroniss Grasu had his hands full inside with nose tackle Eddie Goldman and defensive end Akiem Hicks
In one-on-one drills, Grasu stopped Goldman’s rush by quickly replacing his hands when Goldman initially slapped them down. Grasu re-engaged and was strong with his anchor. Later in team drills on a running play, Hicks pushed Grasu back by getting his hand into Grasu’s body while on the run.
Cutler offered this endorsement of Grasu after practice: “He’s done a fabulous job and…probably every single day (of the offseason) he was doing something to help him be a better football player. That’s just the type of football player he is. He doesn’t want to let anybody down out there, and I’m really happy with where he’s at.”
Interestingly enough, several people have said something about Grasu being driven by a desire not to let anybody down.
4. Seventh-round rookie receiver Daniel Braverman continues to flash by getting open and catching the ball downfield
Now, this must be put in the proper context. Braverman, like all rookies, still has to earn the opportunity to work against the top defense. But he’s making the most of his targets in practice. His knack for getting open has repeatedly been evident, and he grabs what’s thrown his way.
On Wednesday he made a contested catch near the back corner of the end zone during end-of-game team drills. Touchdown. Victory for the offense. Yes, it's just practice, but coaches are taking notice.
“We're performance-based, and I know it's just practice, but we try and simulate games as much as we can in the practice, and he continues to flash and make plays,” coach John Fox said.
Added offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains: “We love his heart. We love his (competitiveness).
“You don’t want to take away the best part of him, and some of that is that he’s got a knack to get open. He just has to understand to continue to grow and get open in the timing of the play and not just when the route’s at 10 (yards), break it off at six — but he’s open. So the quarterbacks get a better feel for him, and as he grows and learns what each play means and the concepts and the timing of each play, he’ll continue to grow that way.”
5. With Zach Miller (concussion) out of practice again, some other tight ends seized the opportunity, and others did not
Khari Lee dropped a pass in one-on-one drills. The Bears are hoping he can improve his receiving ability to complement his ability as a blocker.
Outside linebacker Sam Acho swam inside veteran tight end Tony Moeaki in one-on-one pass blocking drills, and Moeaki obviously was disappointed. But later he ran away from inside linebacker Jonathan Anderson to catch a touchdown in end-of-game drills.
Defensive end-turned-tight end Greg Scruggs caught two passes in practice. They weren’t the smoothest catches you’ve ever seen, but that’s part of Scruggs’ position change. Cutler has taken notice.
“A big physical guy, the kind of guy we’re kind of looking for out of the tight end group,” Cutler said. “Someone who can kind of set the edge, can pass protect a little bit, but he still can get out and catch the ball. So that’s a guy who I kind of highlighted and liked his approach so far in camp.”
6. Some bonus observations, quick-hitters to empty the notebook
- Outside linebacker Lamarr Houston jumped offside on three consecutive snaps in one-on-one pass rush drills.
- The Bears have been pleased by rookie safeties Deon Bush (fourth-round pick) and DeAndre Houston-Carson (sixth) so far, but both wish for a second chance at potential interceptions they dropped Wednesday.
On separate plays, Bush and Houston-Carson undercut routes down the middle. They were in position—which is encouraging for a rookie—but each of them dropped the pick despite getting both hands on it. That’s the next step for them.
- The first-string defense got off the field against the first-string offense in the end-of-game drill. The offense started from its own 40-yard line and stalled.
“I don't think today was our best day, and then we got a little bit tired,” Loggains said. “Coming off the off day is tough. Then we had a couple dropped balls. We started fast. We had an opportunity to kind of finish the way we wanted to and eased off a little bit. If we want to be a good team, we need to finish that practice, just like we need to finish in the fourth quarter when it's hot. We need to deal with some adversity, and it was good for us to deal with that a little bit today.”A THUG attacked an off-duty police officer on his stag night in York because he was Scottish, York Crown Court heard.
Alex David Kenneth Ogden, 20, approached David Stupart and his friend Gary Dewar when they were walking along Micklegate on their way back to a hotel after a night out on July 8 this year.
Ogden, of no fixed address, shouted racist abuse and then hit Mr Stupart with a "fearsome" punch.
Mr Stupart is an Edinburgh-based constable for Police Scotland.
After he was arrested, Ogden also assaulted an officer at a police station.
Eleanor Fry, prosecuting, told York Crown Court on Tuesday: "The two men had been drinking all day. They were heading back to the hotel and walking down Micklegate.
"They heard someone shouting at them. Something about immigrants and "**** off home, **** off back to Scotland."
She said Ogden, who had also been drinking, punched Mr Stupart in the face and then took off his belt and "used it as a weapon", hitting the off duty officer.
The "sustained and repeated assault" only ended when Mr Dewar intervened, she added.
While at the police station, Ogden acted like a "wild animal", according to Recorder of York Judge Paul Batty QC.
Ogden kicked a police officer and a "spit hood" was put on his head to stop him spitting at officers.
Spit hoods are placed over prisoners' mouths to prevent them from spitting at law enforcement officers, but their use has been highly controversial and the Metropolitan Police last week announced it was shelving a trial of them, following objections from human rights campaigners.
In Ogden's defence, Neal Kutte said: "He is only 20-years-old. His longest previous sentence was 20 weeks.
"The defendant apologises publicly about these offences. He is not proud of them at all.
"He was drunk during these offences. He would like to make a fresh start upon release."
Ogden pleaded guilty to the charges of racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault, assaulting a constable and failing to surrender to custody.
Judge Batty told Ogden: "For one so young you have amassed a significant criminal record, with 20 previous appearances.
"You attacked him Mr Stupart simply because he had a Scottish accent. If that wasn't bad enough while at the police station you kicked backwards towards a police officer. Such was the conduct at the police station the police were forced to put a spitting hood over your head. You were acting like a wild animal."
He added: "I acknowledge you are only 20, which has to be factored into the sentencing exercise. But against that you have an appalling criminal record and this was an appalling offence."
Ogden has been sentenced to two years and nine months in a young offender institution.
He also has to pay a victim surcharge of £170.MARIUPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - Tossing his spanner to the ground, the man in a red beret and bomber jacket lowered himself into the captured armored personnel carrier (APC) and began to turn and tilt its 50 mm gun.
A man walks past a burning barricade near the city hall in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine May 10, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Behind him, barricades of garbage bins and wooden pallets blocked every entrance to the central square of the eastern port city of Mariupol, after a day of gunfire and death that took Ukraine one step closer to civil war.
Mariupol has the stench of a city spiraling out of control, where burning tires belch black smoke into the sky and a few women in motorcycle helmets cruise the downtown clutching metal bars.
Many residents will join other mainly Russian-speakers in Ukraine’s industrial southeast on Sunday in voting in a chaotic referendum on self-rule, on breaking away from a government in Kiev that wants to take the country westward, away from Moscow.
Given the scene on Saturday in the city of half a million, a vital industrial hub, the result of the vote looks increasingly irrelevant. The fight for Mariupol has moved well beyond the ballot-box.
“We don’t know what happened. We came here to find out, but they’re not telling us anything,” said Tatiana, sister of a police officer called Mikhail who was shot dead on Friday at a police station in a leafy neighborhood of Mariupol.
What happened was a massive assault by Ukrainian troops on a police station they said had been taken over by pro-Russian militiamen.
Estimates of the death toll ranged from seven to more than 20. Dozens were wounded. The troops opened fire on the building from automatic rifles, APCs and rocket-propelled grenades, according to television pictures captured by an ITN cameraman.
Civilians were among those caught in the crossfire. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said those killed were “terrorists”. The police chief was reported abducted.
APCs sped through the city, after retreating troops fired into the air to escape an advancing crowd. One APC broke down and was abandoned by the soldiers. It was set alight by pro-Russians on Saturday, a man standing on the carcass brandishing a bullet.
“The last time the tanks were here it was ‘43,” he shouted, referring to Nazi Germany’s occupation of Mariupol. “Now they’re coming back, sent by that junta!”
AMBIGUITY
On Saturday, police officers in civilian clothes hastily removed their uniforms from the back of the smoldering police station, throwing them into the boot of a car and driving off.
“I don’t know who did the shooting,” said one, who refused to be named.
A man who identified himself as a commander at the station told a reporter: “I could talk to you, but someone will get shot.”
Police in Ukraine’s Donetsk steel and coal belt have largely stood to one side in the fight for control of the region, where gunmen seized public buildings in response to the February ouster of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich in an East-West struggle for the soul of Ukraine.
The new government in Kiev, which blames the uprising on Moscow, says the future of Ukraine’s 45 million people is in Europe, but many in the east refuse to break historical ties with Russia, and are harking back to World War Two in branding the government ‘fascist’.
The army, however, has not given up Mariupol, clashing almost daily over the past few days with pro-Russian militants who were driven out of City Hall on Thursday, the building set ablaze on Friday.
The city is the Donetsk region’s second biggest. How the pro-Russians will conduct Sunday’s referendum here is not clear.
The plebiscite is shaping up to be a sham. No outside observers have been invited. The ballot papers are little more than black-and-white printed pages that could be duplicated, and no minimum turnout has been set for the result to stand.
Voters will be asked to endorse an ambiguously phrased status that could be interpreted as anything from “self-rule” to “independence”. Some hope they will be annexed by Russia, like their brethren in the Crimean peninsula in March.
National Guard troops backed by soldiers in four APCs checked cars entering and leaving the city on Saturday, on a route the ballot papers should take to the separatist electoral authorities in the regional capital Donetsk after voting ends at 10 p.m. (1500 ET) on Sunday.
The result will bring no resolution.
“Kiev won’t consider the referendum legitimate,” said a pro-Russian activist who gave his name as Slavik, “but they also came to power illegitimately.”
Asked where the vote was being organized in the city, he replied: “It’s a secret, it’s confidential. It’s too dangerous.”Fellow baby boomers, we have a job to do: Entitlement reform
My baby boom generation has always dreamed of transforming society. In callow youth, we felt a calling to bring a more enlightened consciousness to America.
That epic self-confidence has faded for many of us. And yet, the longing to do something large lingers somewhere in nearly every boomer heart.
Fact is, as the Woodstock generation enters elderhood, the spirit of the '60s is hard to miss in, among other things, fast-changing attitudes toward gay rights, marijuana and America's oversized role in the world.
For better or worse (or both), the boomers' hour of maximum influence has come. And dead ahead lies a worthy challenge to our generational self-image as agents of unselfish change.
As the enormous weight of our generation's retirement takes hold throughout America's economy and public finances, it will fall uniquely to the boomer generation to transform the paralyzing politics of entitlement reform in America -- if it is ever to be done.
This one really is about us, and an awakening to the need for a new generational contract could be a chance for true generational greatness. Maybe that's why it's a long shot.
Change, make no mistake, will come to the federal government's gigantic programs devoted to supporting the aged -- chiefly Social Security and Medicare. Arithmetic demands change, and its demands eventually get met.
But only a new attitude among the elderly would allow America's political leaders to make the inevitable adjustments soon enough, and thoughtfully enough, to minimize the worst pain for those who can least afford it, and to head off bitter generational conflict.
We've already waited too long, and there's no sign of imminent progress. In the budget proposal he released several weeks ago, President Obama abandoned a modest idea for reducing future cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits, one he had offered in years past. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to denounce as "gutting Medicare" provisions within Obamacare to rein in some of that program's ever-accelerating costs, while Democrats greet every GOP Medicare reform idea the same way.
In recent years, almost every discussion of entitlement reform has been accompanied by assurances that no changes will affect retired Americans or those "near retirement" -- a guarantee that virtually rules out adequate adjustments.
Settling on the best combination of benefit reductions and tax increases will be traumatically difficult. But there is no doubt that some such combination will be necessary. Both Social Security and Medicare are on unsustainable financial paths. Medicare is ultimately the much bigger problem because containing its future costs means controlling health care costs generally, a riddle far from being solved. But for that very reason reform is essential across the whole system that supports the aged.
At least, it's essential if boom generation Americans feel any duty to reduce the burdens bearing down on their children and grandchildren.
Only last Sunday, a front-page Minneapolis Star Tribune story described the damaged prospects economists see for young workers entering the labor market in the wake of the Great Recession. It's only the latest signal that an era of slower economic growth, sluggish wages, soaring college costs, and the whole, well-documented squeeze on the middle class has left younger generations ill-equipped to keep every last promise their elders have made to themselves.
It's not that boomers approaching retirement lack for problems of their own. Earlier this month the Minneapolsi Star Tribune republished online a Bloomberg News editorial rightly warning that America's "long expected retirement crisis" is "becoming a brutal reality" as inadequate savings, shrunken pensions, and disappointing investment returns and home values combine to confront many with pinched and postponed retirements.
This is all the more reason that the unavoidable changes ahead in entitlement programs ought to be undertaken gradually and carefully, not abruptly and in a crisis atmosphere that will only deepen if action is much further delayed.
It might even help to acknowledge something often overlooked: that the boomer generation has already sacrificed, where entitlement programs are concerned, for the well-being of another generation. Reports from both the Urban Institute and the Congressional Budget Office confirm that at least in the case of Social Security, World War II generation retirees have been receiving far more handsome returns on their lifetime tax contributions than their boomer offspring will, even without further changes.
But easing hardships for earlier generations of elderly was a key purpose of these programs when they were created. It is something the Sixties generation can be proud of. It is not a reason to delay lightening the load for those younger than we -- who played little role in whatever errors may have been made over the years.
Could boomers really detoxify the politics of entitlement reform, giving politicians more freedom to calmly explore and debate solutions without facing a reflexive backlash from older voters? It's hard to be optimistic, of course.
But few issues are more squarely in our hands. And as perhaps we've learned with other debates, transformations happen one change of heart at a time.
D.J. Tice is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.Donald Trump’s claim that the US has been attacking Isis “10 times harder” in the days following the New York attack are not supported by any available military data.
Trump's 'alarming' death penalty call threatens suspect's chance of fair trial, experts warn Read more
The president’s assertions on Twitter and in remarks at the White House on Friday morning appear to have caught the Pentagon by surprise.
“We are working on that and I don’t have anything for you yet,” said a spokesman. He suggested checking directly with the White House, and Central Command, which oversees all Middle East and Afghanistan operations.
The daily data produced by Central Command’s counter-Isis campaign, Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), did not show any increase in bombing sorties and or other attacks on Isis since Tuesday’s truck attack on a New York bicycle path by an Uzbek immigrant who was claimed by Isis on Thursday as one of its “soldiers”.
However, the defence department did report that the US had carried out two airstrikes against Isis targets in north-eastern Somalia early on Friday, the first time Isis has been targeted by US aircraft in that country. It is not clear whether Trump was referring to those sorties.
Trump had insisted that the US military had escalated its counter-Isis campaign in the wake of that unsubstantiated claim in an Isis publication.
“Based on that, the Military has hit ISIS ‘much harder’ over the last two days. They will pay a big price for every attack on us!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday.
He went further in remarks to reporters at the White House later, saying the US will hit Isis 10 times harder every time there is an attack on the US. He said the military action he was talking about had taken place on Thursday.
“What we’re doing is every time we are attacked from this point forward and it took place yesterday, we are hitting them 10 times harder,” the president said. “So when we have an animal do an attack like he did the other day on the west side of Manhattan, we are hitting them 10 times harder. They claim him as a soldier, good luck. Every time they hit us, we know it is Isis, we hit them like you folks won’t believe.”
However, Central Command’s OIR action report shows no significant increase in the military tempo on Thursday, with 13 air strikes carried out. That was slightly up on Wednesday, when there were 11 strikes, but the same as Tuesday, the day of the attack.
The two airstrikes in Somalia are reported to have taken place at about midnight local time and then later in the morning. The Associated Press quoted an unnamed Somali security official as saying at least six missiles struck in Buqa, a remote mountainous village roughly 60km (37 miles) north of Qandala town in Somalia’s northern state of Puntland.
The intensity of the campaign had been much higher in the preceding months, with the campaigns to take Mosul and Raqqa, the Isis strongholds in Iraq and Syria respectively. Both those campaigns were set in motion by the Obama administration and with their completion the pace of OIR operations has lessened as Isis has dispersed into the Syrian and Iraqi countryside.
Meanwhile the sister of suspect Sayfullo Saipov appealed to Trump to ensure he gets a fair trial and suggested he might have been brainwashed.
Trump has called for Saipov to receive the death penalty and mused about sending him to Guantánamo Bay.
Umida Saipova told Radio Free Europe she and her family hoped her brother would not be sentenced to death in some rushed show trial.
“We don’t know who has brainwashed him,” Saipova told RFE. “Perhaps he’s become part of some organised group. I don’t know, honestly, how long it will take for his head to get rid of that poison, but I’m sure he will come to his senses, God willing.”
She said she had spoken to her brother the day before the attack. “He was in a good mood. It was a usual, good conversation,” she said.
Separately she told Reuters she and her family had been shocked to see Saipov sporting a long beard after his 2013 marriage.
Amid unconfirmed reports that the Uzbek authorities are questioning her family, she added that she did not know where her father and uncle were.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this reportContinuing reforms to Baltimore's response to sexual assaults will be steered by a full-time coordinator who for the past six years has overseen residential programs at Howard County's domestic violence center.
Heather Brantner began Monday as coordinator of the Sexual Assault Response Team, a committee of police, prosecutors, medical providers and women's advocates given new purpose after The Baltimore Sun reported last year that the city for years led the country in the percentage of rape cases deemed "unfounded" by detectives.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ordered an audit that found more than half of the cases investigated over a 20-month period had been misclassified. Officials also identified several other areas for improvement, which Brantner will manage in the newly created position.
Sexual assault and domestic violence "are often intertwined, and I think that coming from a victim-centered approach, I can bring a lot from those past experiences," Brantner said.
"The group has a significant agenda," said Sheryl Goldstein, director of the Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice. "There has been some frustration that they haven't been able to move things as forward as they want to, and having a dedicated person whose job it is to make that happen is critical to the success of SART."
Immediately after The Sun published its findings — which included a startling number of cases where police had failed to even take a report — police instituted new policies that required all sexual assault reports to be referred to detectives for review.
Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III also selected a new commander for the sex offense unit, and the city has sent detectives to training and obtained grant money to beef up investigations. A U.S. Senate subcommittee convened a hearing on the topic.
Reported rapes in Baltimore had been on the decline for years, dropping at a much faster rate than the national average as reports deemed "unfounded" — meaning false or baseless — had increased.
Before the article, rape reports declined by 15 percent through the first half of 2010, compared
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possums consume ticks in great numbers, they are among the best natural defenses against Lyme disease. (Photo: Gannett News Service file)
Editor's note: With the arrival of summer weather, we wanted to bring back a popular story about the fight against Lyme disease.
They come out at night.
They have scary teeth.
They have a weird name with an extra vowel most people don't pronounce.
And they are where Lyme disease goes to die.
Say hello to the opossum, the American marsupial with a pointy nose and prehensile tail that dines on ticks like a vacuum dines on dust.
(Most people drop the first vowel when speaking of 'possums, but possums actually belong to a different species native to Australia.)
With the weather warming — and recent news of trails coming to Dover, Highland and New Paltz whetting the wanderlust — folks are fixing to plant their feet in something other than a snow bank.
And that means being aware of the threat of Lyme disease.
The tiny adolescent ticks that carry Lyme disease bacteria are most active during the late spring months, typically May and even as early as April during warmer years.
But whereas these ticks can be found in large numbers on mice, shrews and chipmunks, they are eaten in large numbers by opossum.
Opossum are among the most voracious consumers of ticks, according to research conducted by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. (Photo: Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
Research led by scientists based at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook placed different species into cages, covered them with ticks and waited for the biting arachnids to jump off.
The scientists then counted how many survived.
Opossums can eat or remove as much as 96 percent of the ticks that land on them.
Research also suggests the immune system of opossums is fairly effective at fighting off the disease.
So even the ticks that do survive a visit to an opossum are less likely to acquire the disease.
Cary scientists are continuing to examine the correlation between the frequency of different types of mammals, and the infection rates of ticks found in the same area.
The initial thought? Where foxes thrive, Lyme doesn't.
That's because foxes are good hunters of the small mammals that serve as the most effective reservoirs of the Lyme pathogen.
I'm told the data are still being analyzed and that findings may be presented later this year.
The ongoing research is also looking at the role opossums play.
All of this points to why Lyme is a particularly inscrutable disease.
There are so many complex interactions that govern its prevalence — from human land-use development, to shifting climate patterns, to the abundance (or lack) of certain mammals.
And that doesn't even address how the disease behaves once it is in the body. (The Lyme bacterium is apparently one of the only things on earth that doesn't need iron to survive.)
One thing is certain, however.
Opossums are your friend and mine in the fight against Lyme.
Read or Share this story: https://pojonews.co/1MzR1NtThe Grandview Cafe (1455 West 3rd Avenue) has been sold.
A message on the bar / restaurant’s website from outgoing ownership says that the 90 year-old establishment will soon be in the hands of Bodega owner Brian Swanson. Once everything is finalized, the property will be completely renovated with a grand reopening planned for spring of 2016.
Grandview Café will change hands from its current ownership to local, experienced restaurateur and bar owner of Bodega and soon-to-be Hadley’s on 4th Street, Brian Swanson, at the end of 2015. The restaurant, which has been in operation for over 90 years, will go through a complete renovation while still maintaining the local bar and restaurant flavor the community has always loved. Construction will begin immediately following the sale of the business and aims to be ready for grand opening in Spring 2016. Inspirations for the renovation have been pulled from restaurants all over the country and the new owners are mindful that Grandview Café is indeed a local landmark. The menu will get a complete facelift as well. While changes are not yet final, guests can expect to see many new menu options. The current owners would like to give a big thanks to all of their longtime customers for continuing to make Grandview Café what it is today.
– Grandview CafeToronto
A Toronto man is dead after an apartment renovation project apparently went horribly wrong late Tuesday.
Emergency crews were called to an apartment building at 35 St. Dennis Dr., near Eglinton Ave. and the Don Valley Pkwy., around 8 p.m. after an explosion in a sixth-floor unit.
“A victim was located with severe burns to the face,” Toronto Police Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu said Wednesday. “He was transported to hospital via emergency run.
“He was pronounced dead in hospital.”
Police did not release the man’s name or age, as next-of-kin had yet to be reached.
The explosion was not related to a drug lab, Sidhu said.
“The victim was working on renovations in the unit. It appears he was refinishing the floors when there was a chemical explosion,” Sidhu said.
The apartment’s blown-out windows were visible from street level.
The unit and its surroundings have since been properly ventilated and the building is safe for residents to return, Sidhu said.Law enforcement agencies will be able to force internet service providers to store data on subscribers under new legislation approved by the Senate today.
The Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 amends the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987, the Criminal Code Act 1995, the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 and the Telecommunications Act 1997.
The changes allow police to force telcos to retain data on persons of interest for a set period while a warrant is sought.
Such data may have been previously jettisoned by ISPs, which generally retain only enough subscriber information for customer service and billing.
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam described the reforms as a targeted, 'lite' version of the Federal Government's proposed data retention laws, and with more oversight.
Ludlam fiercely opposed the proposed data retention laws, but said he backed this reform to police power.
“It is a narrow and targeted form of data retention that allows law enforcement to target, for instance, persons suspected of serious crime and ask ISPs to retain their data,” Ludlam said.
The changes were couched as necessary for Australia to accede to the 2004 Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, designed to assist with international cybercrime investigations through sharing of information on persons of interest, among other avenues.
The Federal Government said in May 2010 that it intended to accede to the treaty, which calls for procedures that allow authorities to force service providers to surrender information about subscribers, and intercept and record traffic.
The legal changes have been lauded by law enforcement and intelligence agencies as key to cracking down on international cybercrime.
Should Australia accede, it would join 34 other nations, including the US, that were already party to the convention.
Ludlam said the sharing of data between overseas agencies was troubling due to an increase in the number of requests within Australia for subscriber data by law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
“There were a quarter of a million requests to telcos for people’s data and metadata [between 2010 and 2011],” he said.
“This will be shared all over the world and I don’t think the safeguards are there.”
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the reforms were necessary to help curb cybercrime.
“Cybercrime is a growing threat that touches all aspects of modern life. It poses complex policy and law enforcement challenges, partly due to the transnational nature of the internet,” Roxon said in a statement.
“The convention promotes a coordinated approach to cybercrime by requiring countries to criminalise these computer related offences.
"The convention also establishes procedures to make investigations more efficient to improve international cooperation.
In May last year, Australia's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties recommended that “binding treaty action be taken” on the accession plans.
The recommendation came despite concerns raised in a separate Senate Inquiry into online privacy and opposition from civil liberties groups.
While that Committee was aware that surveillance raised “fears about the invasion of privacy, with potential threat to human rights and civil liberties”, it expected sufficient safeguards to be in place.The idea that real patriots don’t apologize is as absurd, and as common, as the idea that real men don’t apologize. (Maybe it’s only women who have the strength of character to do so.) But the word “apology” has become so politicized in our own discourse that no president can admit to doing it. Ben Rhodes, a senior White House official, was responsible for many of the phrases that Mr. Romney and others scorn as national self-flagellation. When I asked Mr. Rhodes about the Republican claim, he said indignantly, “Barack Obama has never apologized” — though he noted that both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had. In Mr. Obama’s Cairo speech, for example, Mr. Rhodes explained that the president was merely “acknowledging the history between the United States and Iran.” Well, yes, but he was also saying that the United States had done wrong.
There are many reasons to apologize, whether on your own behalf or your nation’s. Perhaps the most important is to put the past to rest in order to move on. “History is often tragic,” Mr. Obama said in Turkey, “but unresolved, it can be a heavy weight.... And reckoning with the past can help us seize a better future.” He had just finished talking about America’s legacy of slavery and discrimination, and was pivoting to Turkey’s need to come to terms with “the terrible events of 1915” — the Armenian genocide (not that Mr. Obama used that terribly freighted word). Mr. Obama suggested that Turkey needed to confront its mistreatment of minorities, as the United States has done, to achieve justice today.
But Mr. Obama’s conservative critics aren’t really contesting his interpretation of the past. None of them have stood up for slavery, or claimed the United States had nothing to do with overthrowing Mr. Mossadegh. What they object to is Mr. Obama’s moral universe. In a 2009 Wall Street Journal op-ed article that gave birth to the apology trope, Karl Rove, the Republican mastermind, wrote that Mr. Obama “makes it seem as though there is moral equivalence between America and its adversaries.” Mr. Bush divided the world into good and evil, our side and their side. Ronald Reagan did the same during the cold war.
That’s “moral clarity,” and Mr. Obama apparently doesn’t have it. Rick Santorum, the hardest of the foreign policy hard-liners among the Republican candidates, said in a speech that in Iran “we sided with evil because our president believes our enemies are legitimately aggrieved and thus we have no standing to intervene.”
This is a preposterous claim. Still, let’s give it slightly more dignity than it deserves. Perhaps we should say that Mr. Obama and his critics disagree about America’s place in history. Mr. Romney insists that he believes passionately in “American exceptionalism,” by which he means that America is “the greatest nation in the history of the world and a force for good.” Mr. Obama allegedly does not.
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But Mr. Rhodes says that Mr. Obama simply has a different view of the subject. “At the center of his political identity,” Mr. Rhodes says, is the understanding that “America is constantly in pursuit of a more perfect union.” Acknowledging past mistakes is thus an act of affirmation, not of shamefacedness.
Whether that will fly on the campaign trail in the current atmosphere of national aggravation is another question. Republicans have made a lot of recent hay accusing Democrats of not being true-blue Americans.
At bottom the apology trope — and Republican exploitation of it — arises not from metaphysical principles or historical interpretation, but from politics. Having killed Osama bin Laden and wound down the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the president is not terribly vulnerable on foreign policy. The goal of critics is thus to discredit Mr. Obama himself. If Mr. Obama does not believe in America, how can any of his policies be trusted?
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The candidates and the polemicists never say, and perhaps do not need to say, what many conservatives actually feel about this half-black, Hawaiian-Indonesian president — that he belongs to the world of foreigners, not Americans. Of course he’s apologizing to Them.
We have been here before, though not with such an ugly undertone. The last Democratic president who sought to remake America’s image in the world was Jimmy Carter. In a 1977 speech at the University of Notre Dame announcing his new “human rights” policy, Mr. Carter famously spoke of “an inordinate fear of Communism which once led us to embrace any dictator who joined us in that fear.” Like Mr. Obama — and Ms. Rice — Mr. Carter felt that he needed to acknowledge the past in order to clear the way for a different kind of policy. And, like Mr. Obama, he was attacked for gross naïveté. Hendrik Hertzberg, the New Yorker writer who was then a Carter speechwriter, recalls that “one very unpleasant consequence of the speech was that it energized the neoconservative movement.” Ronald Reagan went to town on Mr. Carter’s qualms, as Mr. Obama’s rivals hope to do today.
But the Carter example prompts a different kind of troubling reflection. Mr. Carter really did prove to be naïve. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, he admitted that he had been wrong about them. While his human rights policy succeeded in one very important respect — it gave heart to many people living under dictatorship — it never persuaded any dictator to leave peacefully, nor led to reforms within dictatorships.
Mr. Obama, too, has little to show for his ever-perfecting-union rhetoric. Neither Israel nor the Palestinians have taken him up on his invitation to acknowledge the legitimacy of the other’s aspirations. Tehran, indifferent to his blandishments, has forged ahead with its nuclear program — though there is merit to White House officials’ claim that only by offering an open hand to Iran, and having it slapped away, was Mr. Obama able to persuade other nations to join the United States in imposing increasingly tough sanctions on the government.
An apology — or a whatever — is, in the end, a type of rhetoric, not of action. And rhetoric may matter more to us than to those we seek to address.Image caption Reductions in government grants have led the council to look at further cuts to its budget
Oxfordshire County Council is looking at making a further £50m of cuts to services.
The elderly and the homeless could be most affected by proposals put forward by the authority, which has already announced cuts of £292m from 2010-2018.
Funding for children with special education needs could also be reduced if the plans go ahead.
Council leader Ian Hudspeth admitted: "It is going to be challenging, it is going to be very difficult."
The options will now go to a public consultation before the council decides which proposals to take forward in its new budget in February.
Mr Hudspeth said reduced government grants meant the authority had no option.
He explained savings made so far have included "some very controversial issues" such as the household waste recycling centres and the children's centres.
He said a further £50m of savings by 2019-2020 is "the worst case scenario", but "it's likely to happen".
Image caption Council leader Ian Hudspeth said "tough decisions" had to be made
Paul Cann, chief executive of Age UK Oxfordshire, described the ideas as "deplorable".
He said: "This is absolutely grim news. I think it's the most serious threat to vulnerable people that I have seen in my career."
He said the cuts would mean more elderly people having to be cared for in hospital.
The council is looking at more than 90 savings options, including cutting funding for homelessness services, seven health and wellbeing centres and reducing the amount spent on gritting roads.
Four mobile libraries could also shut, although child protection is not included in the options.
The council's annual budget is currently £583m.Hillary Clinton's Wall Street reform plan, which she outlined Monday in a New York Times op-ed, calls for greater personal accountability for the same banking executives that have supported her campaigns for years.
"[E]xecutives need to be held more accountable," Clinton wrote. "No one should be too big to jail."
But Clinton has raked in donations throughout her career from executives who skirted successful prosecution after the financial crisis. During the last Democratic presidential debate, she attempted to explain away Wall Street's longtime support of her Senate campaigns by claiming big banks' contributions stemmed from the geographic location of the 9/11 terror attacks.
For example, Goldman Sachs executives together gave more than $750,000 to Clinton's Senate campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The financial firm has paid her and her husband generous six-figure speaking fees to attend events hosted by Goldman Sachs executives.
Goldman Sachs has donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation.
The investment bank, like a number of other financial institutions, took billions of bailout dollars from the federal government in 2008 at the height of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Bank of America's chief executive, Ken Lewis, famously dodged serious punishment after civil litigation revealed his bank had fraudulently packaged and sold billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities. Lewis was permitted to retire with an enormous pension.
Clinton has welcomed campaign contributions from Bank of America's remaining ranks, taking in more than $90,000 from its executives between April and September alone. In fact, Bank of America is among her top donors this cycle, as is Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has personally fundraised for Clinton in the past and speculated in September that he "might" do so again for her 2016 campaign.
Dimon led JPMorgan when it sustained billions in losses during the financial crisis and retained his position even after his bank was found to have misled investors.
JPMorgan Chase executives rank among Clinton's top donors, giving roughly $100,000 directly to her campaign between April and September.
Virtually no banking executives faced jail time despite admissions from many of the financial firms that caused the crisis that they had willfully covered up warning signs before the subprime mortgage meltdown.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who presided over the Justice Department's inaction in the wake of the financial crisis, decamped to his old law firm Covington & Burling after leaving the administration in a move critics have highlighted as evidence of officials' complicity in allowing guilty executives to walk. Covington & Burling represents Wall Street titans such as Citigroup and Wells Fargo.
Covington & Burling has given between $10,000 and $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation, donor records show.
In October, the Clinton Foundation quietly hired a former Citigroup executive to be its executive vice president, despite the fact that Citigroup had accepted more bailout funds than any other Wall Street firm and exposed the federal government to more potential loss than any other offending bank.BBC series The Syndicate is to be remade for US television.
ABC has ordered a pilot for Lucky 7, based on Kay Mellor's drama, Deadline reports.
While the UK series followed a group of supermarket workers who win big on the lottery, the US version - written by David Zabel (ER) and Jason Richman (Detroit 1-8-7) - will follow seven employees at a Queens service station who similarly strike it rich.
The remake is expected to replicate the original show's format, with each episode focusing on a different character and each season following a new group of characters.
Lucky 7 is ABC's twelfth and final drama pilot pick-up this season - the network has already commissioned remakes of UK shows Spy and Pulling, while rival channel Fox is developing US versions of Gavin & Stacey and Linda Green.
The UK Syndicate was picked up for a second series by BBC One back in April, with new episodes expected to air later this year.
> Sky1's Mad Dogs for US remake?
Watch a trailer for the original UK version of The Syndicate below:Share. Files found in the program's folders point to yes. Files found in the program's folders point to yes.
Valve's Steam platform has become one of the biggest engines driving digital distribution, powering PC gaming and providing a model for online distribution in general. But Mac users have mostly been kept out of the picture, unless they've been persistent enough to install Boot Camp or a Windows emulator. Now it looks like Valve is finally bringing Steam to the Mac.
Folks from the Steam forums (via Engadget) poked around the folders in the latest Steam beta release, and they came across a few interesting images. Each filename begins with "osx" and the images include dock and window icons. There's also an "osx.menu" file featuring coding for the Steam menu functions.
Of course, it's possible Valve is just working on getting the Steam platform running on Macs, without actually porting any of their current games. The change could be as small as simply offering current Mac games for download. Still, it's a big step and one that will hopefully lead to some Half-Life goodness on Macs across the world.Shoppers walk out from a shop that sells K-pop DVDs and posters in Shin-Okubo district where dotted with Korean restaurants and shops popular among South Korean pop-culture fans. (Ko Sasaki/for The Washington Post)
The main streets of Shin-Okubo — Tokyo’s Koreatown — are lined with smoky barbecue restaurants and overlit cosmetics emporiums. Staircases lead down to basement music venues and up to hidden drinking holes.
Japanese once thronged the neighborhood, which is home to many ethnic Koreans and known for its fiery food and late nights. But in recent months, the crowds have thinned, replaced by anti-Korean protesters who have turned Shin-Okubo into a rough barometer of deteriorating Japan-Korea relations.
On occasional weekends this year, megaphone-wielding demonstrators have taken to the streets, telling the Koreans to “go home or die.” They’ve threatened to “flatten this neighborhood” and build a gas chamber in its place. The Koreans say that they — and the police — have little recourse against the threats, because Japan is one of the few democracies that don’t restrict hate speech.
The protesters are a small but noisy lot, and their strident anti-Korean stance is viewed with contempt by most Japanese. But the demonstrations have caused damage nonetheless, not only disrupting a neighborhood, but also providing kindling for the South Korean media, which portray the behavior as a frightening norm, not an extreme.
In that way, the demonstrations have helped widen the divide between the United States’ two closest Asian allies, countries that have squabbled for decades but now increasingly see themselves as arch rivals. As if to highlight the point, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said recently that she would be open to a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — but not with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, unless Japan changed its behavior.
The animosities between Korea and Japan are vexing for Washington, because the two share some security concerns, including over China’s recent announcement of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea. The mutual tensions are rooted in Japan’s brutal occupation of the Korean Peninsula before and during World War II, but they are kept alive by mutual distrust. Koreans say they are owed a more-sincere apology for past ills, including the wartime use of Korean women as sex slaves for soldiers. Japanese say Koreans are just holding a grudge and ignoring 70 years of model behavior under a pacifist constitution.
In each country, opinions of the other have deteriorated drastically, and to noxious effect: Last month, Park was criticized at home for wearing Asics shoes, a Japanese brand, to a baseball game.
Only a year ago, a Shin-Okubo cosmetics store called Popberry sold products labeled in Hangul, the Korean alphabet. But no longer.
“It still says ‘Made in Korea’ on the back,” owner Ryu Eun-sook, a Korean immigrant, said, pointing to a product. “But now there are no Hangul letters.” Some of her wholesale clients were worried Hangul products would no longer sell, she said.
The most recent protests in Shin-Okubo took place in early September — they were more frequent in the first half of the year — and residents here say they hope they’ve weathered the worst.
But when the weekend protests do happen, they are ugly affairs — and residents say they should be forcibly stopped. They are organized by a small number of civic groups, most notably Zaitokukai, which claims nearly 14,000 members nationwide. Protests have also been held in other cities, including Osaka.
Sign of broader discontent?
Zaitokukai’s members aren’t just a collection of the down and out, according to experts and Japanese media reports. Membership skews young and male but also includes well-coiffed housewives. They organize their meet-ups on the Web, and they campaign against the permanent residency status given to Japan’s half-million ethnic Koreans, many of them descendants of laborers brought here during the colonial occupation. Zaitokukai's head office declined to let members be interviewed, citing a schedule conflict. It also declined to answer questions by e-mail.
The group’s demonstrations in Shin-Okubo began about a year ago, about the time Abe was elected, according to residents’ accounts. But some experts and politicians say their emergence coincides with broader factors: Japan’s slackened economic might and a growing sense among right-wingers that the country must find new ways to show its strength.
“Japan is right now at a crisis point,” said Yoshifu Arita, a lawmaker who is campaigning for new laws to regulate hate speech. “A situation like this — people getting so publicly hostile — never happened in the seven decades after the war until now.”
In practice, groups such as Zaitokukai campaign with the purpose to intimidate. They march through streets holding Rising Sun battle flags of the imperial era and placards that tell Koreans to go “hang themselves.” Police try to keep the protesters to one side of the street, allowing a passageway for cars.
In 1995, Japan did accede to the United Nations’ convention to eliminate racial discrimination, including hate speech, but its parliament has not passed legislation to enforce that treaty commitment. Its reluctance, experts and politicians say, stems from a separate war-era legacy — the wholesale suppression of anti-government dissent. Japan created free-speech laws to prevent a repetition of that censorship, and many still oppose the idea of regulating speech, said Kenta Yamada, a media law professor at Senshu University. The Japanese government’s hope, Yamada said, is to reduce hate speech with education and enlightenment, not with new laws.
Abe himself has called the protests “extremely unfortunate” and said that true Japanese people “must be polite, generous and humble.”
A sense of sadness
In Shin-Okubo, the downturn in Korea-Japan relations — and the rise of demonstrators — is viewed above all with sadness. Some restaurateurs say business hasn’t suffered, but shopkeepers such as Ryu say it’s down sharply.
The first time Ryu heard the anti-Korean protesters marching on a main street below her office, she was angry enough to think about heaving wooden furniture through her fourth-floor window. But lately, she’s stayed calmer and has tried to think about the 25 Japanese staff members she employs.
“I know they are kind-hearted,” said Ryu, who moved to Japan 18 years ago and obtained legal residency.
Some ethnic Koreans get calls from friends back home after protests.
“They say, ‘Are you okay?’ ” said Lee See-hyun, an employee at a record store selling Korean pop music. “I tell them I’m fine. I don’t believe most Japanese want us to go home.”
Since early this year, a new movement has emerged to reinforce this view. When the ultranationalists gather in Shin-Okubo, another group — a loosely organized mix of Japanese citizens and activists — gathers on the other side of the street. They jeer at the ultranationalists and use air horns to drown out their chants.
“You’re a Japanese shame!” one woman shouted to them during a recent gathering.
“Stop the racism!” another said.
The clashes have sometimes turned violent. In July, several members from both groups were arrested after they began spitting at one another and trading punches, according to Japanese media.
The counter-protesters have barely been mentioned in the South Korean media, but for many ethnic Koreans living in Shin-Okubo, they more accurately reflect Japanese sentiment. In some cases, the hundred or so anti-Korean protesters have been well outnumbered, according to videos of the protests, and police work to keep the groups separate.
Ryu has seen this, too, from her window. The clashes do make her uneasy, she said, but added, “Somebody is standing up for us when we can’t. So yes, they make me appreciative.”While StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty focused on Jim Raynor and the Terran race, StarCraft II's first expansion Heart of the Swarm puts players in command of Sarah Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades, and the Zerg swarm. The character of Kerrigan has been one of gaming's more interesting antagonists as she blurred the lines between being truly evil or not, but as the game is quick to bring up, it's hard to overlook the millions of people that have died to the zerg swarm under her control. Heart of the Swarm on the multiplayer side continues to deliver on much the same experience found in StarCraft, with a few changes and balances to keep things from feeling exactly the same, and the single player campaign attempts to put players into the mindset of the Queen of Blades, and her conflicting ties to both humanity and zerg.
The story is compelling and interesting enough to make you constantly want to see more, but Heart of the Swarm does slip up in its story telling a little. Spoilers for Wings of Liberty: at the end of the last outing Jim Raynor used an alien artifact to return Sarah Kerrigan to normal, well sans the zerg inspired dreadlock hairdo. After a series of tests that serve as Heart of the Swarm's tutorial, the reunited ex-marshal and Ghost-trained psychic plan to fly off into the sunset together and/or go after Emperor Mengsk, who was responsible for Kerrigan being captured by the zerg in the first place. Jim wants her to drop thoughts of revenge and Kerrigan feels like they can't move forward together until Emperor Mengsk is dead, and we finally get to see some of the character arcs that began all the way back in the original StarCraft come to fruition. Sure, some of the dialogue is downright groan worthy, but it maintains the air of cheesy fun for which StarCraft is known.
One problem is that Heart of the Swarm reverts pretty much every character back to the status quo rather quickly and makes all the work you did in Wings of Liberty feel a bit invalidated. The reasoning for this is obviously to get Kerrigan back to the zerg, the race the expansion focuses on, but it would have been nice to see a little more payoff for the plots of Wings of Liberty. Thrust back to the swarm, the game goes through great pains to try to make Kerrigan into this complex character that's conflicted in her loyalties and feelings, but it ends up coming off as more disjointed than anything else. She might avoid civilian casualties one moment, but is barking orders to her Broodmothers to kill everything the next. Wings of Liberty introduced a few moments where you were allowed to make a character choice, but these are basically absent here, which might have given a little more depth to the narrative. You will see a few of the choices made in the first game play out in Heart of the Swarm, but they don't change much more than a line of dialogue here and there for the most part. It was actually a little disappointing to see them affect so little.
Much like the first game, there continues to be a heavy emphasis on creating a larger and more varied experience to the single player campaign. Rather than simple slugfests between your base and the opponents with only a vague sense of narrative layered over it, every mission tries to have some unique gimmick and the central hub allows you to customize your forces, unlock new powers for Kerrigan and interact with the various side-characters. One mission might have you exploiting ice storms that freeze your enemies in place, while another has you weaving your forces around a powerful battleship to try and bringing zerg anti-air swarms online. Between missions you'll have the opportunity to upgrade and evolve both Kerrigan and her brood. By separating the single player and multiplayer, Blizzard allows you to have some truly broken and enjoyable powers and evolutions. By the end of the campaign I had Ultralisk units, think a walking tank with giant blades for arms, which both regenerated health for dealing damage but also revived upon death if its chrysalis wasn't destroyed.Former Celtic Cedric Maxwell, left, Bob Sweeney, executive director of the Boston Bruins Foundation and Tanisha Sullivan, NAACP Boston branch president, right, take part in introducing an initiative called “Take The Lead” at Fenway Park. (Steven Senne/Associated Press)
Boston sports teams want fans to help fight “racism and hate.” The Red Sox released a video Thursday in which athletes from that team and from the Bruins, Patriots, Celtics and Revolution asked their supporters to “make sure where we play is welcoming to us all.”
“If you hear something wrong, offensive or hateful, speak up. Say something,” athletes including Dustin Pedroia, Devin McCourty and Patrice Bergeron said in the video. Their comments were part of an initiative called “Take the Lead,” in which the five Boston teams have partnered.
“We, like many Americans, made the mistake of thinking that our region’s and country’s less-than-stellar pasts were firmly behind us, that 21st century America was becoming a more inclusive nation committed to celebrating diversity. That is not the case,” Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement.
“The events of the last few days have caused many in the wider world of sports to realize just how important it is to stand — or kneel — together to right some of these wrongs,” Henry added. “While this is a conversation that many of us in sports would rather leave to others, at some point these wrongs can no longer be ignored.”
Henry referred to the anthem protests and demonstrations of unity that erupted en masse at NFL games over the weekend, but according to Red Sox CEO and president Sam Kennedy, the roots of “Take the Lead” go back to May, when the team was confronted with a pair of racist incidents at Fenway Park.
In one, Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said he was “called the n-word a handful of times” by Red Sox fans, who also threw peanuts at him. That prompted apologies and condemnations from team, MLB and Boston officials.
The day after that, a man was ejected and permanently banned from Fenway Park after he used a racial slur while talking to another fan, who reported the incident to the team. “There is no place for racial epithets at Fenway Park, in baseball, or in our society,” the Red Sox said at the time.
Those episodes “really created a series of conversations internally amongst us in management and employees, community stakeholders and leaders,” Kennedy told The Undefeated. Beyond running the players’ public service announcement at Fenway, Gillette Field, TD Garden and other sports venues, he said the Red Sox would be “vigilant in terms of our code of conduct and policies and procedures at the ballpark.”
In August, Henry said that he was in favor changing the name of a street outside Fenway, which honors former team owner Tom Yawkey, under whose stewardship the Red Sox became the last in MLB to integrate, passing on the likes of Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. “I am still haunted by what went on here a long time before we arrived,” Henry said then.
On Thursday, Henry said in his statement, “Our sports teams, our athletes, are woven into the fabric of our society. For that reason, we cannot remain silent nor still.”
Read more:
Trump remains on the attack against the NFL as Aaron Rodgers and the Packers ask fans to link arms
Colin Kaepernick hasn’t just spoken out, he has shown NFL players their power
Eric Decker’s wife says he was unaware of Titans’ plan for anthem protest
Pat Tillman’s widow says Trump tweet ‘politicized’ former NFL star in a divisive way
Steelers’ Roethlisberger, Villanueva regret team’s anthem protest, but for different reasons
Cris Collinsworth: President Trump ‘should apologize’ to NFL playersNUWAKOT, July 19: Fifty persons have fallen sick after consuming prasad during a feast at Piple of Belkotgadhi municipality-5 in the district. Among them, 10 in critical condition have been taken to Kathmandu for treatment.
The people attending the shraddha (a feast organized during the worship to the dead family member) at local Bhoj Bahaur Alemagar's home, began suffering from vomiting, diarrhoea and fever since they consumed prasad, a special meal prepared for shraddha, two days back. A local Krishna Prasad Lamichhane informed that ten persons suffering much after the feast were taken to Kathmandu by ambulance Wednesday morning.
Those falling sick are from the families of Lamichhane and of Dhruba Bahadur Lama. They have been receiving treatment at TU teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj and Sukraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku.
As their health did not improve during the treatment at the local health facilities, they were taken to the Kathmandu hospitals for better treatment, added Anant Nepal, Chairman at Ward No 5.
During the feast, the special meals they ate were selroti and achar (pickle). The selroti was made mixing flours- one brought from market and other prepared of rice at home. It is guessed that the flour bought from market was contaminated. RSSFeeling curious? Google has started dispensing facts to visitors who aren't sure what to search Google for, and just want to know more about the way the world works. Typing in "I'm feeling curious
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The answer to that question is, of course, that they didn't. There is clearly a problem with the Honda – the obvious culprit being an overabundance of horsepower and aggressive engine braking – but it is hardly a terrible motorcycle. The bike is still faster than it was last year, race times dropping on average by over a second. But the problems Honda are facing did not happen overnight. The supremacy of Márquez has masked a slow and steady decline of the RC213V, the bike losing its advantage over the past couple of seasons.
That decline comes most clearly to light when you look at the performance of the satellite Honda riders in 2013 and 2014. For those two seasons, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl stayed with the same teams, riding the same bike. It was Bautista's fourth and fifth seasons in MotoGP, and Bradl's second and third years in the class. The only thing that changed was the bike. With an extra year of experience, both men should have improved from 2013 to 2014, both in terms of points and in terms of the gap to the race winner.
The opposite is true, however. In 2013, Stefan Bradl looked like making the step to being a regular podium contender, consistently finishing in the top five. Of the fourteen races he finished, he was inside the top five for eight of them, taking five fifth places, two fourth places and a superb podium at Laguna Seca. It was there where he also grabbed his first, and so far only pole position. The gap to the winner was still significant – 22.355 seconds, on average – but Bradl's career was on an upward trend, the LCR Honda rider getting better every race.
That all changed in 2014. In thirteen races, he finished in the top five just five times, with a best result of fourth. His scoring average declined from 11.14 points per race to 9.75, and the gap to the winner got bigger, rather than smaller. On average, Bradl finished nearly four seconds a race further behind the winner in 2014 than he had done the year before. If you take Le Mans 2013 out of the equation, where the German finished over a minute behind the winner, then his gap in 2014 increases by 6.9 seconds. In 2013, Bradl finished seventh in the championship with a total of 156 points, despite missing two races after breaking his leg at Sepang. In 2014, after starting in all eighteen races, he scored just 117 points, and ended the year in ninth.
The same story holds true for Alvaro Bautista. The Spaniard had a strong first year with the Gresini Honda team in 2012, ending the year in fifth, with 178 points. In 2013, he was sixth, with 171 points, but still good for three fourth place finishes. He was finishing some 18.710 seconds behind the race winner, on average, and looking very competitive, especially given the fact that he was racing with Nissin brakes and Showa suspension, rather than the Brembos and Ohlins used by the rest of the paddock.
A year later, and Bautista was struggling. Though he bagged a single podium in 2014, holding off Pol Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa to take third at Le Mans, that was his only top five finish that season. His next best finish was a pair of sixth places, which with a pair of sevenths, a pair of eighths and a pair of tenth places, saw him constantly battling around eighth spot. His average points haul dropped from 10.69 points per race to 8.09, his gap to the winner growing massively, from 18.710 to 31.895.
Admittedly, for most of those races, Bradl and Bautista were losing to another Honda. In 2013, the RC213V won eight races, in 2014 it won fourteen races. But the bike was not getting any easier to ride. In 2013, both Bradl and Bautista crashed out of two races each. In 2014, Bradl crashed out of five races, finishing just thirteen during the season. Alvaro Bautista had it even tougher, suffering seven race crashes in 2014, making it home only eleven times that year.
All this makes it obvious that Honda's poor start to the 2015 season has not come out of thin air. The performance of the RC213V has been in slow and gradual decline for the past eighteen months, at least, and perhaps longer. The utter dominance of Marc Márquez at the start of the 2014 season tricked us into believing the bike was unbeatable, while the truth was much more mixed. Márquez' success was not so much due to the brilliance of the RC213V, as to his own ability and a mixture of problems for his rivals. The Yamahas struggled at the start of 2014 with less fuel and a modified tire, and Jorge Lorenzo started the season badly out of shape. Ducati were at the start of the odyssey which would lead to the GP15, the GP14 still suffering from some major performance problems. Those issues made the Honda look much better than it actually was, the gaze of the fans and media fixed on Márquez spraying champagne on the podium, rather than Bradl and Bautista shaking their heads in the garages.
2015 is merely the point at which the cracks have become too large to be papered over any longer. The inherent weaknesses of the bike are now being shown up by the massive steps forward made by Yamaha and Ducati over the winter. The Yamaha now brakes as well as it turns, Jorge Lorenzo is fit and hungry, and Valentino Rossi has made a remarkable adaptation to the riding style which 2015 demands. Gigi Dall'Igna has completed his transformation of Ducati's racing department, and the engineers there have produced the miraculously fast GP15. Where the Honda is a second or so quicker per race, Yamaha is over ten seconds faster, Ducati getting on for twenty seconds. The competition is a good deal stiffer now than it was in the past.
All this does not mean that the Honda RC213V is a bad motorcycle. On the contrary, its riders have put the bike on the podium three times this year, including victory for Marc Márquez at Austin. But the bike has gotten harder to ride year by year for the past couple of seasons, and the 2015 machine is now at the limit of the manageable. It is still very quick – Márquez has put the bike on pole for three out of the first six races – but getting it to the finish line is hard work. The bike is fast at the limit, but keeping it there for 27 or so laps is a very difficult business indeed.
HRC will fix this, and fix it sooner rather than later. That is what Honda does. But they have left themselves with a lot of work to do in a very short time. They will have to counter the slow, backward slide of the last two years with a frenetic burst of activity to make the bike truly competitive once again.
You can read more about Honda's declining performance in my blog in the latest issue of On Track Off Road magazine.The Adrenalina Skateboard Marathon is a 26.2 mile race on skateboards set to promote health, fitness and action sports.
Registration – CLOSED
WE ARE SORRY TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE 2018 SKATEBOARD MARATHON WILL BE POSTPONED THIS YEAR.
The race consists of six laps around Fiesta Island in Mission Bay, with the top winners sharing a product giveaways from the greatest and latest in the skate industry. There is also an SUP (Stand Up Paddle) Division for those that will like to bring your sticks and push around the Island. Please make sure you register under SUP.
If you’d like to try it, we have a One Lap Race for kids or adults.
This year we decided to include a Costume Division, so pull out your favorite costume and bring it down to Fiesta Island. This is a great way to show off your creativity, have fun, exercise and skate around. 1st,2nd and 3rd prizes for best costumes. (Please keep it G-Rated)
There’s a 3:00 hour time limit to complete the 26.2 mile race. Race starts at 6:30AM on Saturday November 10th at Fiesta Island in Mission Bay. Fiesta Island will be close to all traffic (including bicycles) from 6:00am to 9:30am. No electrical or gas powered skateboards allowed.
Helmets are mandatory, but pads are optional. There is a doctor on scene from San Diego Sports Medicine and there is an ambulance on the scene to take of any emergencies or small road rash injuries.
You must check-in the day before the race at the Adrenalina Store to pick up your bib number and swag bag before 6pm.
San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center (sdsm.com) is a clinic with two locations in San Diego. They have been caring for athletes and active people for over 30 years. Alexandra Myers, D.O. (doctormyersdo.com) practices family medicine and sports medicine at SDSM. She specializes in treating athletes with osteopathic manipulative treatment, otherwise known as OMT. Dr. Myers will be on site at the Adrenalina Skate Marathon to help take care of injured or ill skaters.
After party will take place on the same day as the event at 6:00pm at Amplified Ale Works (Corner of PB Dr. and Mission Blvd)
Fees: $45 for Adults, $25 for kids under 11
About Adrenalina Skate Shop
Need Skate Gear? – Help support the Skateboard Marathon and Shop from Adrenalina Skate. Click Here to begin shopping.A common problem that developers face when building applications is how to allow the application to be “plug-able” at runtime. Meaning, to allow non-core code to modify the way an application is processed at runtime. There are a lot of different ways that this can be done, and lots of examples of it in real life. Over a year ago, I wrote a StackOverflow Answer on this topic. However, I think it deserves another look. So let’s look at some patterns and common implementations.
Communication Handlers
These patterns are designed to handle communication between disjoint objects.
Observer Pattern
One of the most frequently cited patterns for events is the Observer Pattern. The odd thing, is that it’s also one of the least frequently used patterns. The main use-case for the observer is when you want to add the ability for multiple objects to be notified of changes to a single object. This seems quite useful, until you realize that this means that every object which you want to trigger an event must be bound to separately. Let’s take a look at an analogy:
Let’s say that you’re building an alarm system for a home. That alarm system would likely have several different types of sensors to determine if something bad happened (motion sensors, door switches, window switches, etc). The alarm system doesn’t care what happened, it just wants to know if something changes. So it listens to each sensor for a change. If it gets notified of the change, it will go into alarm mode.
So a quick simple example would be:
class Subject implements SplSubject { protected $observers = array ( ) ; public function attach ( SplObserver $observer ) { $this - > observers [ ] = $observer ; } public function detach ( SplObserver $observer ) { $key = array_search ( $observer, $this - > observers ) { if ( $key ) { unset ( $this - > observers [ $key ] ) ; } } public function notify ( ) { foreach ( $this - > observers as $observer ) { $observer - > update ( $this ) ; } } } class MyObserver implements SplObserver { public function update ( SplSubject $subject ) { echo "I was updated by ". get_class ( $subject ) ; } } $subject = new Subject ; $subject - > attach ( new MyObserver ) ; $subject - > notify ( ) ;
Now, one key point to note here, is that every listener would need to bind to the object instance that it wants to track. Another key point is that the Subject does not pass along any information about the cause of the update.
This makes the Observer Pattern extremely useful for situations where you want to bind the state of one part of the application to the state of another. A key example of this is in a stateful MVC pattern, you can bind a view instance to observe a model instance. That way, when a controller makes changes to that model instance, it will notify all the views that are listening that it changed and they need to re-render themselves.
However, it should also be noted that the Observer Pattern creates a moderate coupling between the two classes involved (the subject and the observer) as they need to directly call methods on each other.
Mediator Pattern
The other communication pattern is the Mediator Pattern. This one is far easier to understand, and far more useful in real world applications. Basically, it allows for a central object instance to control the flow of messages in an application. Let’s take a look at an analogy:
Continuing our alarm example, let’s say that we now want our alarm system to send a message to either the police or fire department when an alarm is triggered. We could have each alarm directly call the police, but then we’d need to configure (and re-configure) each alarm whenever a detail changed. Instead, we would have the alarm call us (the mediator), and tell us the problem. Then, we can dispatch the problem to the correct resource based on our configuration.
A quick example:
class Mediator { protected $events = array ( ) ; public function attach ( $eventName, $callback ) { if (! isset ( $this - > events [ $eventName ] ) ) { $this - > events [ $eventName ] = array ( ) ; } $this - > events [ $eventName ] [ ] = $callback ; } public function trigger ( $eventName, $data = null ) { foreach ( $this - > events [ $eventName ] as $callback ) { $callback ( $eventName, $data ) ; } } } $mediator = new Mediator ; $mediator - > attach ( 'load', function ( ) { echo "Loading" ; } ) ; $mediator - > attach ('stop', function ( ) { echo "Stopping" ; } ) ; $mediator - > attach ('stop', function ( ) { echo "Stopped" ; } ) ; $mediator - > trigger ( 'load' ) ; $mediator - > trigger ('stop' ) ;
There are two important traits that make it a mediator. The first important one is that the mediator is a separate object from either the source of the event, or the notification object. It stands in the middle of them, controlling the information flow. For that reason, Javascript events are not using the Mediator Pattern. The second important trait is that the mediator is not just a relay (telling everyone about everything), but it makes decisions about who to route events to.
In the example, the event name was used as the decision on who gets the request. But it could be different. For example, you could build a mediator that inspects the data passed to the trigger to determine which events should be called. So you could have a mediator in an inventory system send notifications to a receiver only when the data matches certain conditions (quantity is less than 10, for example). So then the mediator would be told about all quantity changes, and only update our “low inventory alarm” if the quantity is too low.
The point is that the complexity of the message routing is both centralized and decoupled from the business objects. That allows for the business objects to know almost nothing about each other.
Functional Handlers
These patterns are designed to alter functionality of one object at run-time.
Strategy Pattern
The Strategy Pattern is used to provide different implementations that depend on a common interface. This is really simply normal polymorphism disguised by a pattern. Let’s look at an analogy:
Let’s say that I want to support multiple types of connections to our mediator for our alarm system. I could hard-code in a bunch of choices, or I could just provide a phone jack on the alarm. Then, you could plug in a phone-line, a cell phone or a VOIP phone, and let the installation determine how it should function.
If you use Dependency Injection, then a strategy pattern would flow right from that, in that to switch the strategy for an object, you just pass in a different dependency:
interface CallHomeStrategy { public function sendMessage ( $message ) ; } class AlarmSystem { public function __construct ( CallHomeStrategy $strategy ) { } } class PhoneCall implements CallHomeStrategy { public function sendMessage ( $message ) { $this - > dialPhone ( ) ; $this - > readMessageAloud ( ) ; $this - > hangup ( ) ; } } class InternetCall implements CallHomeStrategy { public function sendMessage ( $message ) { $this - > openConnection ( ) ; $this - > sendPackets ( $message ) ; $this - > closeConnection ( ) ; } } $strategy = 'InternetCall' ; $alarm = new AlarmSystem ( new $strategy ) ;
That’s all there really is to it. By separating the implementation from the dependency, we can control how the dependency is handled and inject our own functionality instead.
Decorator Pattern
The Decorator Pattern is used to add (or change) functionality on an existing object without needing to change its class (as Strategy would). The decorator really just “wraps” the original object to add its functionality. Let’s look at an analogy:
Now, we want to add a set of instructions to the front of our alarm panel. So instead of re-making the entire panel, or having a different manufactured panel per language we want to provide instructions for, we can “decorate” the panel by placing a sticker on it. This allows us to keep the same underlying structure, but add the things we need onto it later.
An example:
class BlogPost { public function getTitle ( ) { } public function getBody ( ) { } public function displayAsHtml ( ) { } } class RSSDecorator { protected $post ; public function __construct ( BlogPost $post ) { $this - > post = $post ; } public function __call ( $method, $args ) { return call_user_func_array ( array ( $this - > post, $method ), $args ) ; } public function displayAsRSS ( ) { } } $post = new BlogPost ; $post - > displayAsRss ( ) ; $post = new RssDecorator ( $post ) ; $post - > displayAsRss ( ) ;
There’s one big caviat to decorators (in PHP especially). The decorator by default does not inherit the interface or class from its wrapped object. So if you want to decorate an object, which will then be used in a type-hinted method call, the decorator needs to manually implement those interfaces. That yields this kind of code:
interface Post { public function getTitle ( ) ; public function getBody ( ) ; } class BlogPost implements Post { public function getTitle ( ) { } public function getBody ( ) { } public function displayAsHtml ( ) { } } class RSSDecorator implements Post { protected $post ; public function __construct ( BlogPost $post ) { $this - > post = $post ; } public function __call ( $method, $args ) { return call_user_func_array ( array ( $this - > post, $method ), $args ) ; } public function getTitle ( ) { return $this - > post - > getTitle ( ) ; } public function getBody ( ) { return $this - > post - > getBody ( ) ; } public function displayAsRSS ( ) { } }
As you can see, this can get quite dirty quite quickly if you have a lot of interface methods. This can lead to a lot of duplication across multiple decorators. But it also allows us to dynamically add functionality to all sorts of classes with a single decorator (imagine if we changed the hint in RSSDecorator::__construct to Post )…
Chain of Responsibility
The Chain of Responsibility pattern is used to provide a “list” of possible handlers to a method, and then calling them one-by-one to see if it can handle the functionality. Let’s talk about an analogy:
Now, let’s say that we want to have our alarm go off in multiple steps. The first step would be to sound a “warning” chirp for 10 seconds. If the alarm wasn’t disarmed, then sound a fast “warning” chirp for another 10 seconds. If the alarm still wasn’t disarmed, then trigger the main alarm and call the mediator. This can be handled by having a list of steps that happen one after another. Then, it’s up to each step to either cancel the processing (the alarm was disarmed), pass it off to the next handler (sound the next warning after 10 seconds) or handle it itself (the main alarm).
The example is pretty easy:
class Chain { protected $chain = array ( ) ; protected $key = 0 ; public function append ( $callback ) { $this - > chain [ ] = $callback ; } public function prepend ( $callback ) { array_unshift ( $this - > chain, $callback ) ; } public function reset ( ) { $this - > key = 0 ; return $this ; } public function handle ( $params ) { if ( isset ( $this - > chain [ $this - > key ] ) ) { $callback = $this - > chain [ $this - > key ] ; return $callback ( $this, $params ) ; } throw new OutOfBoundsException ( "Cannot handle chain request, falled off" ) ; } public function next ( ) { $this - > key ++ ; return $this ; } } $chain = new Chain ; $chain - > append ( function ( $chain, $params ) { if ( $params == 1 ) { return "1!" ; } else { return $chain - > next ( ) - > handle ( $params ) ; } } ) ; $chain - > append ( function ( $chain, $params ) { if ( $params == 2 ) { return "2!" ; } else { return $chain - > next ( ) - > handle ( $params ) ; } } ) ; $chain - > append ( function ( $chain, $params ) { if ( $params == 3 ) { return "3!" ; } else { return $chain - > next ( ) - > handle ( $params ) ; } } ) ; $chain - > append ( function ( $chain, $params ) { if ( $params == 4 ) { return $chain - > reset ( ) - > handle ( 1 ) ; } else { return $chain - > next ( ) - > handle ( $params ) ; } } ) ; echo $chain - > handle ( 1 ) ; echo $chain - > handle ( 3 ) ; echo $chain - > handle ( 4 ) ; echo $chain - > handle ( 5 ) ;
The key here is that the chain is dynamically built, and handles the functionality dynamically. The clearest use for this is in HTTP request routing. The router can maintain a list of “handlers”. When it comes time to route the request, the router starts the chain, passing the request to the first element. Then, handlers can pass the request along (if it doesn’t know how to handle it), handle the request or even rewrite the request and restart the chain.
It’s important to realize that the chain can fall off the end, and that must be handled. In the router example, the easiest way to prevent this, is to add a default route to the end that throws a 404 error. That way, the chain will never fall off the end.
Real World Implementations
So patterns are good and all, but real world implementations are better. Let’s take a peak at some real-world implementations of these patterns.
Observer Pattern
Honestly, I’ve looked around for real-life implementations of this pattern. While I found a few have Observer classes (Such as Joomla), I couldn’t find any that actually used them in the application… I did even find a package that claimed to be an Observer, but was really a Mediator: Symfony.
Mediator Pattern
On the other hand, the Mediator Pattern is very ubiquitous. It’s the most used pattern that I could find. Here’s a very small list of examples:
Joomla Plugins
Symfony2’s EventDispatcher
Zend Plugins
Drupal Hooks (Yes, that uses functions. Which goes to show that an OOP pattern does not need classes to be used - although the project as a whole has been moving more towards OOP).
Strategy Pattern
This is used quite often as well. Here’s another small list. * Doctrine2’s Database Drivers
Decorator Pattern
This one is a little harder to find in production code, due to the large amount of boilerplate code required. Here’s one very good example that I found * Zend_Form Decorators
Chain of Responsibility Pattern
This one is also a little harder to find. * Lithium’s Filter’s Class - Used to power almost all of the core.
But That’s Not The Whole Story
These patterns are not the only way to handle event handling. They are just a series of basic tools that can be used to provide a really flexible and plugable system. The key is to understand the basic patters - and their limitations - so that you can make the appropriate choice when you need to.Andrew Anglin
Daily Stormer
June 28, 2015
I am hereby making an official endorsement of Donald Trump as President of America.
We obviously have many disagreements, but he is talking about actual issues, and this is severely important.
I do not believe he would solve all or even most of the problems we are facing, but he is absolutely the only candidate who is even talking about anything at all that matters.
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He is certainly going to be a positive influence on the Republican debates, as the modern Fox News Republican has basically accepted the idea that there is no going back from mass immigration, and Trump is willing to say what most Americans think: it’s time to deport these people. He is also willing to call them out as criminal rapists, murderers and drug dealers.
His announcement contained many important statements, but the most important were about Mexicans.
When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. … When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
I agree with this entirely. Even the part about some being “good people.” I also assume that some of them are “good,” in the sense that all they want to do is work, but that is not in any way the point. The point is: why are they here?
Getting less attention is the fact that he also mentioned immigrants from all over.
It’s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it’s coming probably — probably — from the Middle East. But we don’t know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don’t know what’s happening. And it’s got to stop and it’s got to stop fast.
He also talked about unemployment, and the fact that the government openly lies about it.
And our real unemployment is anywhere from 18 to 20 percent. Don’t believe the 5.6. Don’t believe it. That’s right. A lot of people up there can’t get jobs. They can’t get jobs, because there are no jobs, because China has our jobs and Mexico has our jobs. They all have jobs. But the real number, the real number is anywhere from 18 to 19 and maybe even 21 percent, and nobody talks about it, because it’s a statistic that’s full of nonsense.
He hit on Obamacare, which he has vowed to abort.
Yesterday, it came out that costs are going for people up 29, 39, 49, and even 55 percent, and deductibles are through the roof. You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high, it’s virtually useless. It’s virtually useless. It is a disaster. And remember the $5 billion Web site? $5 billion we spent on a Web site, and to this day it doesn’t work. A $5 billion Web site. I have so many Web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a Web site. It costs me $3. $5 billion Web site.
He even exposed the entire scam of politics for what it is – a free for all run by shekels.
If you can’t make a good deal with a politician, then there’s something wrong with you. You’re certainly not very good. And that’s what we have representing us. They will never make America great again. They don’t even have a chance. They’re controlled fully — they’re controlled fully by the lobbyists, by the donors, and by the special interests, fully. Yes, they control them. Hey, I have lobbyists. I have to tell you. I have lobbyists that can produce anything for me. They’re great. But you know what? it won’t happen. It won’t happen. Because we have to stop doing things for some people, but for this country, it’s destroying our country. We have to stop, and it has to stop now.
He also wants to align with Russia rather than attempting to start a Third World War with them as is generally the position of every other candidate from both parties.
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Perhaps most importantly, he is the only Republican candidate with any chance whatsoever of beating Hillary, and Hillary has a plan to bring down all hell upon us. Eight years of Hillary would end with America simply not existing any more. She will flood the country with more immigrants than Bush and Obama combined, she will continue to wage war against Russia, she will totally bankrupt the country worse than it already is and she will destroy the Constitution by restricting gun and speech rights.
So, having thought it through and looked at the situation for the 12 days since Trump announced, I am ready to fully endorse him as the most viable current candidate for President.
Again, this doesn’t mean I endorse all of his positions or even him as an individual person, but I do believe that having him as President would at least give America some time to stand back and try to figure some things out.
I urge all readers of this site to do whatever they can to make Donald Trump President.In an apparent attempt to push the question of Internet privacy up to the Supreme Court, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are moving forward with an appeal to challenge a U.S. district court ruling in November. An ACLU spokesperson forwarded a statement as the organization was processing the paperwork that named Icelandic parliament member Birgitta Jonsdottir and Jacob Appelbaum -- both are referred to simply as "Twitter users." As we noted at the time of the original ruling, the case is technically a part of the United States' investigation into WikiLeaks, but it's really about much more than that. Should the ACLU-EFF appeal fail, there's a distinct possibility that the November ruling could whittle away at the right to privacy online. The New York Times explained in November:
The case has become a flash point for online privacy and speech, in part because the Justice Department sought the information without a search warrant last year. Instead, on the basis of a 1994 law called the Stored Communications Act, the government demanded that Twitter provide the Internet protocol addresses of three of its users, among other things. An Internet protocol address identifies and gives the location of a computer used to log onto the Internet.
ACLU staff attorney Aden Fine said, "Our clients want to try to protect their privacy and their First Amendment rights, and the government should not be able to prevent that by hiding court records. Our courts are public. Secret court orders and secret court dockets should not be permitted, except in extraordinary circumstances … This case is just one example of the unfortunate recent trend to make our court processes less open and transparent." This is breaking news and we'll update this post with more information when we get it.Dragon Quest X detailed in Jump
Six races and trouble in the human world.
This week’s issue of Jump magazine has new details on Dragon Quest X. Announced earlier in the week as an online game for Wii and Wii U, Square Enix hasn’t exactly defined its genre as an MMORPG, but its concept seems to connect.
Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online places players in an online world. Players create a character, which can be one of five races: Ogre, Elf, Dwarf, Pukuripo, and Wedi. During Square Enix’s reveal conference on Monday, we saw the player create a human character as well, but Jump doesn’t mention this.
The game’s plot revolves around humans, as players are tasked with solving a mystery happening in the human world. “Has something happened in the world of humans?” writes the magazine.
Set in the world of Astoldia, the lands are broken up into four continents: Ogleed, Eltona, Dwachakka, Pukuland, and the Wena Islands. Each one is home to a different race. The areas surround a mysterious fifth area where something odd is occurring. The magazine doesn’t exactly state it, but it’s more or less the land of the humans.
A scan of the magazine’s coverage can be seen to the right. Dragon Quest X is out in 2012 for Wii, and TBA for Wii U.
Thanks, Andriasang, Hachimaki.OLYMPIA — Carpoolers will face new rules if they want to travel at no cost in the express toll lanes opening next year on I-405 between Lynnwood and Bellevue.
They will need to install a transponder in their vehicle to avoid getting charged and carry at least three people to qualify as a carpool during the busiest times of the day, under plans drawn up by state transportation officials.
Right now on Highway 167, which has the state’s only existing non-bridge toll lanes, carpools of two or more occupants can use the lanes at any time, do not pay a fee and do not need a transponder. Single drivers who want to drive in the lanes must have a transponder, known as a Good To Go pass, and pay a toll.
“It’s going to be a big change,” said Patty Michaud of the communications and marketing division of the state Department of Transportation.
WSDOT is looking to open the 17 miles of express lanes on I-405 next fall. Before then, officials know, they must conduct an extensive public education campaign and work with lawmakers concerned by the significance of the changes for carpoolers.
First, though, the state Transportation Commission must act on the department’s recommendations concerning the operating rules and the toll rates. That won’t happen until early next year.
As envisioned, WSDOT wants to define a carpool as at least three people during peak hours — essentially the morning and afternoon commutes — and two people the rest of the time.
And every carpool vehicle will be required to have a switchable device to use the express lanes for free. The units will have separate modes for HOV, which stands for high occupancy vehicle, and toll. Carpoolers must switch their unit to HOV to avoid paying a toll, otherwise they’ll get a bill in the mail.
The new devices, when available, will also work on the Highway 520 and Tacoma Narrows bridges and the Highway 167 toll lanes.
Those who never plan to carpool in the new I-405 express lanes can still use the lanes if they pay the toll. Drivers would use their standard Good To Go account to pay a toll or, if they don’t have an account, they would receive a bill in the mail at a higher toll rate. Cameras will be used to take photos of license plates to send bills to those without a transponder.
Toll rates are the other piece to be put in place by commissioners.
Prices could range from a minimum of 75 cents to a maximum of $15, with drivers paying between 75 cents and $4 about 90 percent of the time, according to a report delivered to the state Senate Transportation Committee last month. Travel in Highway 167 high-occupancy-toll (HOT) lanes costs a minimum of 50 cents to a maximum of $9.
Commissioners were to act in November but delayed decisions until early next year to spend more time working on the details and consulting with concerned lawmakers.
“It is too important to not get it right,” said Reema Griffith, executive director for the commission.
Four Republican state senators want the panel to wait until the end of the 2015 legislative session.
They don’t like the notion of charging carpoolers who use the express lanes without a transponder unit, even if they meet the requirements for a high occupancy vehicle. They also oppose adding a $2 processing fee to each bill collected by mail.
“This represents a policy change, which should be thoroughly evaluated by the Legislature prior to action by the Commission,” reads the Nov. 13 letter they sent to the panel. It is signed by Sens. Andy Hill of Redmond, Steve Litzow of Mercer Island, Joe Fain of Auburn and Curtis King of Yakima, who is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Fain said they want to be sure the department and commission fully explore the effects on drivers.
“I want to keep an open mind to these proposals, but we need to slow down to get a sense of the broader impact and the difficulty of implementing a new system that is a significant change for drivers,” said Fain, who serves on the Senate Transportation Committee.
Commissioners took the letter “very seriously” and want work with lawmakers to ensure they don’t produce something that will be blocked, Griffith said.
“The idea is not to get people riled up and put out something half-baked,” she said. “We want to be sure what’s put out there is our best effort.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@
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the newest members of the Scripps community,” stated Charlotte Johnson, Scripps’ Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, who incidentally has also described the phrase “#Trump2016” as “racism” and “intimidation.”
Follow the Claremont Independent on Twitter: @CmontInd
This article was originally published in The Claremont Independent, a conservative student newspaper affiliated with the Leadership Institute's Campus Leadership Program. Its articles are republished here with permission.This article is over 1 year old
Lawyers announce potential lawsuit on behalf of shareholders hurt by the sharp fall in the bank’s shares
Lawyers Maurice Blackburn and litigation funder IMF Bentham have announced a potential class action on behalf of Commonwealth Bank shareholders over a share price drop caused by allegations related to money laundering.
Why we need to see Commonwealth Bank directors in the witness box | Geoffrey Gibson Read more
They say CBA’s 800,000 shareholders suffered significant losses after a landmark lawsuit was launched against the bank this month alleging systemic violations of money-laundering laws, which culminated in an Australian federal police raid.
They are now taking registrations from shareholders, ranging from individuals to large institutions such as superannuation funds, to garner the level of interest in a class action.
They say the bank’s shares have fallen more than 5% since the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) announced on 3 August it was suing Commonwealth Bank for 53,700 alleged breaches of money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
That 5% decline in value reduced CBA’s market capitalisation by billions of dollars.
Andrew Watson, head of class actions at Maurice Blackburn, said after news of the Austrac legal proceedings became public, CBA shares dropped from an intra-day high of $84.69 on 3 August to an opening price of $80.11 on 7 August, a significant movement for an otherwise stable stock.
He said online registrations for a potential class action were now open for aggrieved shareholders who purchased ordinary CBA shares during the period from 17 August 2015 to 3 August 2017, and still held some or all of those shares on until after 1pm on 3 August 2017.
He said the class action could be the biggest in Australian history.
“We are talking about a long period of alleged misconduct, from 17 August 2015 until 1.00pm on 3 August 2017 – nearly two years,” Watson said on Wednesday.
“We are talking about a heavily traded stock, probably one of the most heavily traded stocks on the market.
“Our investigations and analysis show that this drop was in the top 1% of price movements that CBA experienced in the past five years, making it apparent that the news was of material significance to shareholders.
“The Austrac allegations are extensive and it is astounding that the market would not be advised of such serious and repeated breaches as soon as the company became aware of them.
“Instead, the CBA has said that its board was aware of the breaches in the second half of 2015 but chose to say nothing to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) until 4 August 2017.
“Shareholders had a right to expect better from the board of a penny dreadful stock. That they were treated with such blatant and cavalier disregard by Australia’s largest listed entity is simply gob-smacking.”
CBA’s embattled chief executive, Ian Narev, has come under intense pressure over the money-laundering allegations and will step down from his post by July 2018.
The Reserve bank governor, Philip Lowe, lashed out at CBA earlier this month, saying people needed to be held accountable if they had broken any laws.
CBA is also facing a class action over its failure to properly disclose the risks to the business posed by climate change.
Watson said the class action would be big, but he could not say how big at this stage.
“On any view, it will be very large. How large is, of course, a question we can’t be certain of until we have obtained registration from aggrieved shareholders and until, obviously enough, the proceedings have advanced further,” he said.
He said “thousands upon thousands” of shareholders would have been affected by the drop in the share price.
When asked why there ought to be a class action against CBA, given its share price has recovered slightly, Watson said shareholders had still suffered losses.
“The essence of the loss theory is that, whatever bounce-back’s occurred, has occurred because of other factors,” he said.
Hugh McLernon, director of IMF Bentham, said CBA shareholders could register their claims on the IMF website as work was finalised by the solicitors and counsel on the federal court pleading to commence the class action.
“CBA is facing most serious allegations from Austrac, and there are serious questions to be answered about what the company knew and when,” McLernon said.It was 1977 when Tom Nairn spooked the political world with his famous book, The Break-Up of Britain. He predicted Scottish independence, a bit prematurely. But last Tuesday, as Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon launched their government's manifesto for an independent Scotland, ancient Britain's citizens were being offered a break-through as much as a break-up.
In itself, the fat policy manual isn't revolutionary. Scotland's Future is a sturdy, sensible, well-written catalogue of aspirations – all of them achievable with luck and skill. But what's so exhilarating is the flock of many-coloured hopes gathering behind this project, like seabirds in the wake of a working trawler. Scotland's departure from the union could mean all kinds of liberations and reinventions for the islanders who live under the crown.
England, above all, could at last disinter its identity and the buried radicalism of its people. Stripped of the "British" comfort blanket, the archaism of England's power structure and its monstrous north-south imbalance would become visible and intolerable. And in Scotland itself, there would be a violent climate change in politics as parties ceased to be London's branch offices.
Scotland is in many ways a naturally conservative country – with a small c. A new rightwing movement, freed from association with "down south" posh boys and Maggie Thatcher, would find strong support. More significant, there would be an insurrection in the Scottish Labour party. With a fresh leadership committed to using independence for social justice, I'd expect such a party to push the Scottish National party aside and form Scotland's government within a few years.
Then there's the factor of opportunism, comically familiar to small countries. I have seen it in Scotland before. When whiffs of independence spice the air, the big Union Jack men talk differently down the telephone at night. "Of course I can't say this openly, Jimmy, but I want you to know that if it comes to it, I've always been privately …" Lawyers, bankers, union leaders and unionist leaders – they'll realign in droves "if it comes to it". Why not?
Much the same applies to the apparently fearsome rebuttals to Salmond's document. On inspection, they are nine parts bluff. What makes cheeky Salmond think an independent Scotland would be allowed to use the pound, or enter the EU, or be admitted to Nato? Well, the answer is another question: "if it comes to it", what sort of Scotland do you want as a neighbour? Does London seriously want to force a currency frontier at the border and screw up trade with England's second biggest partner? Does Brussels really want to expel a loyal member and accelerate the EU's disintegration? Does Nato want a new hole on its east Atlantic flank? No, if the Scottish people do vote yes in September (which is still unlikely), healthy opportunism will cobble up solutions to all these problems.
Reading Scotland's Future, I couldn't at first account for a faint twinge of melancholy, a recognition. Then it dawned on me. The Scotland being here described – or proposed – was the Britain so passionately hoped for by the millions who voted for Tony Blair, back in 1997.
After 18 years of Thatcherism, the longing was for a return to fairness and a stronger regulating and redistributing role for the state. What New Labour did with those hopes is another story. But Salmond's "what sort of Scotland" is also a moderate, statist social democracy that partners the private sector but is not afraid to – for example – renationalise the Royal Mail.
The yes camp is wider than the official yes campaign. Around Scotland in recent months, I keep meeting people who would never vote SNP or trust Salmond, but who are painfully admitting that they may have to vote yes. This is because they are appalled at the way the British state is heading, under Tory or Labour: the downward plunge into the barbarism of neoliberal politics, the contempt for public service, the almost monthly advance of privatisation. Wrestling with old loyalties, they may vote for what Ian Jack called "the lifeboat option" – an independent Scotland as the only way to escape that fate.
It's a lifeboat the SNP government has already launched, using devolution to keep out English "reforms" to the NHS or higher education. Gordon Brown himself used to argue that the health service and the postwar welfare state were the supreme achievement of Great Britain's history. And yet it's only the SNP that has embarked on this astonishing attempt to preserve and grow what's left of that achievement in one part of old Ukania. It hurts to laugh at some of history's jokes, but here's one: in spite of itself, the SNP is the most truly British party in these islands.NEW YORK -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday night that he hopes coveted freshman big man Harry Giles will make his debut for the Blue Devils before Christmas.
"Harry's participating," Krzyzewski said of Giles' workouts and practice habits, "he hasn't had as much contact yet. We're hoping before Christmas, those two games. But I don't want to put a gun to his head, like, 'You have to do it.' I want to see what he's [able to do] during the same period with a little more contact, before we go forward."
Duke's been close to the vest with the injury situations it's encountered in recent weeks. The debuts of Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden weren't known until less than an hour before tip-off of Duke's game against Maine last Saturday.
At least here, Krzyzewski is telling the public that he believes Giles is very close to 100 percent and almost certainly should be play before the calendar flips to 2017.
Duke is now 9-1 after beating Florida 84-74 Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, ranked No. 5 in the country and faces UNLV in Las Vegas on Saturday. If Giles is able to return within Krzyzewski's Christmas timetable, that would mean he'll see his first action in Duke's home game on Monday, Dec. 19, against Tennessee State and/or Duke's home game on Wednesday, Dec. 21, vs. Elon.During Gus Malzahn’s press conference over the weekend, a reporter posed a question to the head coach about wide receiver D’haquille “Duke” Williams. The reporter started the question with a rather shocking statement:
“(Auburn wide receiver coach) Dameyune (Craig) was saying yesterday that with D’haquille, he is the type of player that he’s compared to Jameis Winston in the sense that he could be a game-changer for the program.”
You can hear the reporter’s statement and question that follows, although it is low, as well as Malzahn’s answer from AuburnSports.com’ coverage of the press conference starting at the 3:22 mark.
There has been a tremendous amount of hype surrounding the junior college transfer who arrived on the Plains in January after two years at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Known for his big size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds), athleticism and toughness, Williams can be a great compliment to Sammie Coates. Williams lead the Blue squad in the A-Day Game with a team-high five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Between April and fall camp Craig has seen an improvement in Williams thanks to a his commitment to a summer workout plan.
“You can tell the conditioning has played a major role in his play,” said Williams. “Not to say that he didn’t come in here making amazing catches in the spring. He actually looks a little quicker now, a little faster. He is a dangerous player. He is getting in and out of his breaks with cat-like quickness. We are actually seeing a better product (now).”
“The thing that stood out to me is that he has given tremendous effort,” said Malzahn. “He wants to be good, he wants to be coached.”
There lies in why Craig thinks Williams can be a game-changer like Florida State’s Heisman-winning quarterback Jameis Winston.
Craig has a first-hand account of what makes Winston a game-changer. As a member of Florida State’s coaching staff and top recruiter from 2010 to 2012, Craig plucked Winston out of Hueytown, Alabama and brought him to Tallahassee. It was a move that angered Alabamans, both Crimson Tide fans and fans of his alma mater but as he told USA Today “he was just doing his job.” Craig molded Winston his first year and watched him develop from an immature freshman into a leader.
Malzahn clarified that Williams will be lining up at the Y receiver position, which is an inside receiver position as oppose to being spread out wide. As the season moves along, Malzahn suggested that he’ll probably be able to move outside as well.
Auburn has tremendous depth at wide receiver this year with last year’s top four receivers returning. Their best one this year though might be Williams.
“He is one of the best receivers I’ve ever seen” Craig said. “I’ve been around NFL players and played in the NFL for four years.”Parkway-light.JPG
A Garden State Parkway street sign hanging on a traffic light in Cape May County.
(Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger)
Officials in Cape May County are projecting to have the only three traffic lights on the Garden State Parkway removed by November 2015, according to a published report. The lights are on a 3.5-mile stretch at Crest Haven Road, Stone Harbor Boulevard and Shell Bay in Middle Township. They’re blamed for causing congestion at peak hours and accidents. Work on the
began last year. By next summer, most of the construction will be complete, according to a
, a PBS affiliate. Three new overpasses will carry Parkway traffic over the local roads, the report said. Additionally, several new entrance and exit ramps will help guide traffic to and from the highway. The construction hasn't caused any abnormal traffic delays for summer visitors, New Jersey Turnpike Authority spokesman Thomas Feeney told the website.A 60-year-old man camping with his family in the Pike National Forest Friday was hit with what appears to Douglas County investigators to have been an errant bullet fired unintentionally in the campsite’s direction.
The man’s name was not released, and the shooter has not been identified. The man was killed at about 6:30 p.m. in the Rainbow Falls Park area.
Authorities think the gun was a high-powered rifle.
“It is not believed to be an intentional act at this time, however, that has not been ruled out,” the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Law enforcement is asking for the public’s help in the investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 303-660-7579.
Firing a gun in the forest is not allowed within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreational site or other occupied area, or in any circumstance in which a person could be injured or property damaged, according firearms rules for the Pike National Forest.President Obama on Tuesday said the crisis in Ukraine “highlighted the need for greater energy security in Europe.”
During a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, he called on leaders in Europe to expand and diversify their energy supplies.
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Obama and Tusk met as EU and Russian negotiators were meeting in Brussels in hopes of brokering a deal to prevent Moscow from cutting off natural gas to Ukraine, a move that could disrupt gas flows throughout Europe. Some 15 percent of European energy comes from natural gas distributed from Russia through Ukranian pipelines, according to Bloomberg.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine clear $1.4 billion in debt for November and December, and attempted to hike gas rates to the country following the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Obama said the crisis underscored the importance of diversifying Europe’s energy portfolio and investing in renewable fuels. He argued that the energy crisis should also incentivize European leaders to agree to the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), saying the agreement would make it easier for the U.S. to export liquefied natural gas to its European allies.
"One of the benefits of a strong trade agreement is it is much easier for me to approve natural gas exports to countries with which we already have a free trade agreement," Obama said.
Obama also said countries like Ukraine needed to find ways to become more efficient with its energy, championing Poland as an example of how former Soviet republics could modernize.
“Ukraine’s economy requires about three times as much energy to reduce the same kind of outputs” as Poland, Obama said, adding that it was “very hard” to remain competitive when a nation was “that inefficient when it comes to energy.”
During a visit to Kiev earlier this year, Vice {resident Biden announced a U.S. aid package centered around energy assistance. Officials from throughout the Obama administration have been dispatched to Ukraine, Slovakia, and Hungary, to help devise ways to reverse the flow of natural gas and provide Ukraine with a short-term supply, so Kiev is not vulnerable to market manipulations from Moscow.
The aid package announced by Biden also included assistance from American engineers and scientists who will help Ukraine boost production in conventional gas fields; develop a regulatory framework and technology to extract “unconventional” gas resources; and demonstrate energy efficient practices to help lessen Ukraine's dependence on Russian energy.
Obama also used his statement in Poland to tout his administration’s new climate change rules, which would mandate existing power plants cut carbon emissions by 30 percent. Obama said addressing climate change “has to be a global effort.”
“It’s important for the United States and EU to set an example by committing to ambitious goals,” Obama said.by Melissa Bailey | Jan 16, 2014 3:43 pm
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Posted to: Arts & Culture, Dance, Schools, Fair Haven
On stage, Carlos Lopez stomped his feet and belted out, “Ha!”
The triumphant declaration during a workshop on urban dance delighted his teacher—and left staff grappling with a question: How can middle schools do better at engaging boys?
The question arose at Fair Haven School, where students got a special visit from CONTRA-TIEMPO, an urban Latin dance company from L.A.
The visiting dancers worked with 65 Fair Haven School kids this week as part of a four-day tour through New Haven sponsored by Community Alliance for Research and Engagement, the city, and the Connecticut Mental Health Center Foundation.
As the kids stomped and clapped on the stage, Principal Margaret-Mary Gethings made an observation: Boys—even those who often have difficulty focusing in class—were completely on task.
The visit highlighted a missing component at the K-8 neighborhood school in the heart of the city’s Latino community: Fair Haven School has an after-school dance program, Ballet Haven, that has transformed the lives of middle-school girls. But the school doesn’t have an equivalent program to keep boys hooked on school.
Boys across the country, in urban and suburban schools, are more likely than girls to be suspended, to be diagnosed with attention deficit disorders, to be held back, and to drop out, said author Peg Tyre, who wrote a best-selling book on the topic that ignited a national debate about how schools are failing boys. The educational outcomes for black and Latino boys are particularly bleak.
Boys at Fair Haven School play football, basketball and soccer. Some take music lessons. But they don’t have a counterpart to Ballet Haven, through which teachers Mnikesa Whitaker and Monica Bunton help girls build a strong sense of identity, confidence, determination and discipline.
“Ballet Haven has been so influential” for girls, Principal Gethings said. “We’re looking to have some kind of vehicle for boys.”
The vehicle, she said, might resemble what happened on stage Tuesday morning.
Students filed into the school auditorium Tuesday in three shifts of 20 kids each. There, they met four energetic professional dancers, two men and two women. The dancers—Steve Flores, Jeremiah Buren, Isis Avalos and Maisha Morris—work with kids across the country, especially minority kids. They swung through New Haven between trips to New York and Pittsburgh.
Morris, the dance company’s rehearsal director, said CONTRA-TIEMPO aims to give voice to “those who aren’t traditionally heard on the stage.” She led the students, who are mostly Latino, through a warmup, which involved asserting ownership over their own body parts through movement and phrases: “This is my head. It ain’t your head.”
The main lesson focused on step dancing. Stepping, she said, is about “who you are as an individual,” expressing pride and confidence in yourself.
Morris taught the group to stomp. And clap. Like they meant it. One move involved belting out an assertive “ha!”
“Let all of it out,” she instructed. “That’s the beauty of dance and movement. If you don’t have the words, let it out” through your body.
“Don’t worry about being quiet,” she said, issuing an instruction not often heard at school. “Don’t be quiet for the rest of your life. Make your voice known.”
The “ha"s—and accompanying giggles—echoed boldly in the school auditorium.
Students mastered the steps of a routine they had begun to learn on Monday. The routine ended in a powerful pose with two fists held tight in front of the chest.
At the end of a final run-through with the 8th grade, one boy’s voice rang out alone.
“Ha!” called out Carlos Lopez (second from left in photo).
His forceful exclamation drew giggles because it fell at the wrong moment in the routine.
Morris took it as a welcome sign.
“There it was!” she encouraged him. “You felt it.”
Carlos, who’s 15, arrived at Fair Haven School less than a year ago from Mexico. This was his first time learning to step.
“I felt the power I had inside,” he said in Spanish. “It was a great experience.”
In his group of about 20 8th-graders, Carlos was one of three boys. Fair Haven music teacher Dan Kinsman said he invited all 8th-graders to sign up for the class. Students secured a spot by taking home a permission slip and bringing it back with a signature—a requirement designed to demonstrate that the kids really wanted to be there.
Girls are much more likely to engage in extra-curricular activities at school, except for sports, according to author Tyre.
“Opportunities to explore early leadership roles”—such as school plays, student council, and student newspaper—“are more in the female domain,” she said.
“Elementary and middle and high schools are very female-dominated places,” she said.
Not only are most teachers female, but schools value the types of behaviors girls tend to exhibit, she argued: Girls are often seen as “good at school” because they are more “compliant” and “follow the rules.” Boys are “not that compliant, in the main.”
Add to that educational disadvantages that start at an early age: “Boys begin school, from the very first days, behind girls, in literacy and pre-literacy experience. Little boys come into school speaking fewer words” than girls. Girls gain reading skills ahead of boys, and “those reading gaps grow almost every day” through high school and college, where girls are more likely to graduate.
Boys are four times more likely than girls to be identified as having learning disabilities and twice as likely to be held back in school, Tyre said. In middle school—boys are more likely to get Cs and Ds, while girls are more likely to get As and Bs.
“Boys get the idea that school is a game that they can’t win at, and they don’t want to play,” she said. “At a certain point boys wake up and realize that schools are female-dominated enterprises, and wonder where they fit in.”
That’s especially tough in the middle-school years, where “there’s a big quest for identity,” she added.
Boys sometimes find that identity in sports. They do well in “things that are physical and about competition and hierarchy,” which “provide a relief and counterpoint to the classroom,” she observed.
Boys relish a “high level of movement,” Tyre said, but the most important thing isn’t what the activity is—it’s the role model in front of the kids.
“If you have highly literate men who are leading boys in an activity,” she said, “it’s less about what you do. It’s more about what who leads it.”
Watching the six lessons over two days, Kinsman noticed that stepping was resonating not just with well-behaved kids like Carlos, but with boys who tend to act out. There were many more boys among the 6th- and 7th-graders who took the stage this week.
Boys who have “frequent discipline problems” were “completely engaged and in leadership roles and really shining,” Kinsman said.
“After they had that class in the morning, they had really good days in the rest of their classes. They were focused and participating,” he said.
“Seeing that change for these boys that struggle in school,” he said, “I’m definitely interested in how to continue that—to give them a reason to come to school, something to be excited about.”
CONTRA-TIEMPO is wrapping up its four-day residency with a free performance of the company’s hour-long work, FULL STILL HUNGRY, Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Fair Haven School at 164 Grand Ave. A pre-show conversation with artistic director Ana Maria Alvarez, “Why Dance About Food?”, starts at 6:45 p.m.
Past stories on Fair Haven School:
• Bilingual Ed Overhaul Under Way
• New Havener Of The Year
• Common Core Hits Fair Haven
• Firefighters Respond To The Turkey Call
• VH1 Helps 15th City School Start Tooting
• Mr. Shen & Ms. Benicio Hit The Books
• Maneva & Co. Take On The ‘Burbs
• Aekrama & Ali Learn The Drill
• Fair Haven Makes Room For Newest Students
• From Burundi, A Heart Beats On
• As Death Nears, She Passes Down The DanceThe Sakhalin-I (Russian: Сахалин-1) project, a sister project to Sakhalin-II, is a consortium for production of oil and gas on Sakhalin Island and immediately offshore. It operates three fields in the Okhotsk Sea: Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi.[1]
In 1996, the consortium completed a production-sharing agreement between the Sakhalin-I consortium, the Russian Federation and the Sakhalin government. The consortium is managed and operated by Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL).[1]
Since 2003, when the first Sakhalin-1 well was drilled, six of the world's 10 record-setting extended reach drilling wells have been drilled at the fields of the project, using the Yastreb rig. It has set multiple industry records for length, rate of penetration and directional drilling. On 27 August 2012, Exxon Neftegas Ltd beat its previous record by completing Z-44 Chayvo well. This ERD well reached a measured total length of 12,376 meters (40,604 ft), making it the deepest well in the world.[2][3]
History [ edit ]
Sakhalin I's fields Chayvo, Arkutun-Dagi and Odoptu were discovered by the Soviets some 20 years before the Production Sharing agreement of 1996. However these fields had never been properly assessed and a reevaluation of the commercial viability had to be carried out. To do this, factors such as the reservoir quality, producibility and well locations had to be found. 3-D seismic is the most common way to determine much of this however shallow gas reservoirs interfered with the seismic signals and blurred the images somewhat.[1]
Two campaigns of 3-D seismic were carried out along with a number of appraisal wells into the Arkutun-Dagi and Chayvo fields. The results were initially average from the appraisal wells with hydrocarbons being successfully tested, but there was a still a large amount of uncertainty involved with the project. However, in late 1998, a revaluation of the 3-D seismic data using the most advanced seismic-visualization techniques then available indicated that the hydrocarbon depth on the edge of the field could be significantly deeper than first thought. In 2000, the Chayvo 6a delineation well confirmed what was suspected, a 150 meters (490 ft) oil column. This provided the certainty that the field was commercially viable in the hostile environment with a potential to be a 1-billion-barrels (160×10 ^ 6 m3) field.[1]
In 2007, the project set a world record when extended-reach drilling (ERD) well Z-11 reached 11,282 meters (37,014 ft).[4][5] That record was broken in early 2008 with extended-reach well Z-12 reaching 11,680 meters (38,320 ft).[5] Both extended-reach wells are in the Chayvo field and reach over 11 kilometers (6.8 mi).[5] As of early 2008, the Chayvo field contains 17 of the world's 30 longest extended-reach-drilling wells.[5] However, in May 2008, both world records of ERD well were surpassed by the GSF Rig 127 operated by Transocean, which drilled the ERD well BD-04A in the Al Shaheen oil field in Qatar. This ERD well was drilled to a record measured length of 12,289 meters (40,318 ft) including a record horizontal reach of 10,902 meters (35,768 ft) in 36 days.[6]
On 28 January 2011, Exxon Neftegas Ltd., operator of the Sakhalin-1 project, drilled the then world's longest extended-reach well. It has surpassed both the Al Shaheen well and the previous decades-long leader Kola Superdeep Borehole as the world's longest borehole. The Odoptu OP-11 Well reached a measured total length of 12,345 meters (40,502 ft) and a horizontal displacement of 11,475 meters (37,648 ft). Exxon Neftegas completed the well in 60 days.[7]
On 27 August 2012, Exxon Neftegas Ltd beat its own record by completing Z-44 Chayvo well. This ERD well reached a measured total length of 12,376 meters (40,604 ft).[3]
Development [ edit ]
The three fields will be developed in this order: Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi. The total project is estimated to cost US$10–12 billion, making it the largest direct investment in Russia from foreign sources. It is also estimated that nearly 13,000 jobs will be created either directly or indirectly. Approximately $2.8 billion has already been spent, which helped lower unemployment and improved the tax base of the regional government. The fields are projected to yield 2.3 billion barrels (370×10 ^ 6 m3) of oil and 17.1 trillion cubic feet (480×10 ^ 9 m3) of natural gas.[1]
In 2007, the consortium reached its production goal of 250,000 barrels per day (40,000 m3/d) of oil.[8] In addition, natural gas production for the peak winter season in 2007 was 140 million cubic feet per day (4.0×10 ^ 6 m3/d).[8]
The first rig is in place for Sakhalin-I, Yastreb, is the most powerful land rig in the world. Parker Drilling Company is the operator of the 52 meters (171 ft) high rig. Although the rig is land based it will drill more than 20 extended-reach wells 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) horizontally out into the Sea of Okhotsk, and 2,600 meters (8,500 ft) in depth. This land-based offshore drilling arrangement is needed because the Sea of Okhotsk is frozen about four months out of the year. The rig is designed to be resistant to the earthquakes that frequent the area, and operate in the −40 °C (−40 °F) temperatures that can occur in the winter.[1]
As part of the project, Russia is in the process of building a 220-kilometre (140 mi) pipeline across the Tatar Strait from Sakhalin Island to De-Kastri oil terminal on the Russian mainland. From De-Kastri it will be loaded onto tankers for transport to East Asian markets.[1]
Consortium [ edit ]
The consortium consist of:
30.0% - Exxon Mobil (United States)
30.0% - Sakhalin Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd. (Japan)
20.0% - ONGC Videsh Ltd. (India)
11.5% - Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf (Russia)
8.5% - RN-Astra (Russia)
Both Russian entities are Rosneft affiliates.[9]
The fields are operated by Exxon Neftegas Limited.
Environment [ edit ]
Scientists and environmental groups have voiced concern that the Sakhalin-I oil and gas project in the Russian Far East, operated by an ExxonMobil subsidiary Exxon Neftegas, threatens the critically endangered western gray whale population.[10][11] Approximately 130 western gray whales remain, of which only 30-35 are reproductive females. These whales only feed during the summer and autumn, in feeding grounds which happen to lie adjacent to Sakhalin-I project onshore and offshore facilities and associated activities along the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island.[12] Particular concerns were caused by the decision to construct a pier and to start shipping in Piltun Lagoon.[13]
Since 2006, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has convened the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP), consisting of marine scientists who provide expert analysis and advice concerning impacts on the endangered western gray whale population from oil and gas projects in the area, including Sakhalin-I.[14] In February 2009, the WGWAP reported that the number of western gray whales observed in the near-shore (primary) feeding area had significantly declined in the summer of 2008, which coincides with industrial activities conducted by ENL (and other companies) in the area. The WGWAP suggested a moratorium on all industrial activities in the area until their effects had been studied or plans made to mitigate any negative effects of industrial activity had been implemented.[15] Cooperation of Sakhalin Energy-ENL with the scientific panel investigating gray whales was hampered by confidentiality agreements and by ENL's lack of motivation to cooperate with the process.[16]
ExxonMobil has responded that since 1997 the company has invested over $40 million to the western whale monitoring program.[17]
In June 2018 the Sakhalin Environment Watch reported a huge die off of Pacific herring fish at the River Kadylaniy near Sakhalin's pipeline outlet.[18] Low oxygen concentrations, related to oil production work has been suggested as the culprit.[19]
See also [ edit ]Reader Report This package has been filed to Stuff by one of our readers. It has been checked by our editors before being published. READER REPORT: Want equality? Curtail free speech JACOB VAN DE VISSER Last updated 13:53 30/03/2017 Share 79 78 Share 0
REUTERS It's time for New Zealand to criminalise Islamophobia.
On March 23, New Zealand awoke to the horrific news of yet another terrorist attack, this time in London.
A deranged individual ploughed a car into innocent pedestrians and brutally stabbed a police officer to death before being shot. Five people died, including the attacker.
The Twittersphere was soon abuzz with conjecture and accusation. Who was to blame? What were the motives?
I felt sick as I read comments saying “Islam is to blame” and “it must be another Muslim”.
The fact that the attacker was a Muslim is irrelevant. The issue is that Islamophobia was the first response.
If you are a Muslim, you continually have to defend your faith against people who accuse it of being a dangerous and violent set of ideas. Islam is the religion of peace; anyone who understands this knows it has no part in the ideology of ISIS.
Life is a constant fight for other minorities, too.
If you are a member of the LGBTQAA+ community, you must battle for your rights. You are forced to choose from just two bathroom choices when often you don’t fit either. Workplaces often fail to be inclusive to this community, refusing them places in the boardroom.
If you are a woman, trans or otherwise, there is no escape from rape culture. On any given day you might hear a rape joke, or be given a “compliment” such as being asked for your number by a stranger. The men who make these comments defend them as harmless, but unwanted harassment can trigger harmful flashbacks to previous similar incidents or experiences of sexual assault.
The misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic hate speech directed at oppressed groups is damaging to society - and with the rise of Donald Trump’s brand of politics, it is also being legitimised.
So, what does this have to do with free speech? And how might things change for the better?
Well, there is some hope. The Canadian parliament has passed the M-103 motion, which calls on the government to condemn Islamophobia. It is the silver lining of a dark and depressing cloud, and it is something I think New Zealand should seek to not only emulate but improve.
Our Government should look to criminalise not only Islamophobia, but racist rhetoric and the criticism of feminism and LGBTQAA+ rights.
Free speech is all well and good, but it should
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, she was able to speak about the incident.
"It's a different tone than this morning," Barkus said. "Today is my birthday and I prayed all day to God, and he gave me the best birthday gift ever. I'm going to get my Elinor back."
Barkus will be flown to Massachussetts with law enforcement officials to be reunited with her daughter, Setting said.
CLOSE Police continue to search for 3-year-old Elinor Trotta, who was taken by her father, Michael Trotta, Monday night. Dawn Barkus, Elinor's mother, pleaded for her safe return on Tuesday. (2/25/15)
Earlier Tuesday, Barkus found herself at a morning news conference, pleading for the safe return of her daughter. "Please bring her home," she said.
A News Journal check of court records showed Trotta has a lengthy criminal record.
Trotta has a New Castle address, Setting said, but he declined to release details of the alleged assaults or the girl's abduction.
"We are deeply concerned for her safety and are doing everything humanly possible to bring this girl home," Setting said at the earlier news conference.
Setting declined to say what states were included in the Amber Alert, elaborate about the searches or discuss the girl's legal custody status. Details on the FBI's role in the search were not clarified.
Supervisory Special Agent John Webb said the FBI was "fully engaged" in the case.
The investigation began at 6:48 p.m. Monday when Barkus called 911 to say Trotta assaulted her and abducted their daughter, Setting said.
Police early Tuesday said they believed Trotta might be headed to New York City, noting he last was seen Monday night at a New Jersey Turnpike rest stop in the area of Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
Police recovered a Mazda in which Trotta fled from Barkus's apartment complex in the 800 block of E. Basin Road, he said, and believed he might be driving a bright-red SUV, possibly a Ford Explorer. Police released no information about where or how he got the second vehicle.
Buy Photo Dawn Barkus, mother of abducted 3-year-old Elinor Trotta, pleaded for her return at a news conference held Tuesday morning by New Castle County police and the FBI. (Photo11: JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL)
Elinor's mother, who spoke briefly at the news conference – where photos of her daughter and ex-boyfriend stood nearby on easels – said she worried because her daughter had been taken away from the routine they shared.
Asked if she had any message for her daughter, she said, "Mommy loves you, and I just want her to come home."
Detectives called Barkus on Tuesday afternoon to inform her that Elinor was found. Barkus looks forward to being reunited, although she said she knows her daughter went through a rough ordeal.
"I'm just going to squeeze her and hug her," Barkus said.
Read or Share this story: http://delonline.us/1EOr2x3The Mona Lisa
On Monday morning, Aug. 21, 1911, inside the Louvre museum in Paris, a plumber named Sauvet came upon an unidentified man stuck in front of a locked door. The man—wearing a white smock, like all the Louvre’s maintenance staff—pointed out to Sauvet that the doorknob was missing. The helpful Sauvet opened the door with his key and some pliers. The man walked out of the museum and into the Parisian heatwave. Hidden under his smock was Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.”
The art theft of the century helped make the Mona Lisa what she is today. The world’s popular newspapers—a new phenomenon in 1911—and the French police searched everywhere for the culprit. At one point they even suspected Pablo Picasso. Only one person was ever arrested for the crime in France: the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. But the police found the thief only when he finally outed himself.
Stealing “La Joconde”—the woman in the portrait is probably the Florentine silk merchant’s wife Lisa del Giocondo—was not particularly difficult. The main thing it took was nerve. Like the Louvre’s other paintings, she was barely guarded. She wasn’t fixed to the wall. The Louvre was closed on Mondays. August is Paris’s quietest month. On that particular Monday morning, the few caretakers were mostly busy cleaning.
At 7.20am the thief was probably hiding in the storage closet where he may have spent the night. All he had to do was wait until the elderly ex-soldier who was guarding several rooms had wandered off, then lift the frame off its hooks, remove the frame from the painting, and shove the wooden panel on which Da Vinci had painted under his smock. The thief had chosen the Mona Lisa partly because she was so small: just 53cm x 77cm. His one stumble was finding the door to his escape locked. He had already removed the doorknob with a screwdriver before the plumber arrived to save him. By 8.30am, Mona Lisa was gone.
Twelve hours later, writes the French author Jérôme Coignard in Une femme disparaît, one of several books on the crime, the caretaker in charge reported that everything was normal. Even the next morning, Tuesday, nobody had yet noticed Mona Lisa’s absence. Paintings in the Louvre often disappeared briefly. The museum’s photographers were free to take works to their studio at will, without signing them out.
When the painter Louis Béroud arrived in the Louvre’s Salon Carré on Tuesday morning to sketch the Mona Lisa, and found only four iron hooks in the wall, he presumed the photographers had her. Béroud joked with the guard: “Of course Paupardin, when women are not with their lovers, they are apt to be with their photographers.” But when Mona Lisa was still absent at 11am, Béroud sent Paupardin to ask the photographers when she would be back, recounts the American author R.A. Scotti in her excellent recent account, Vanished Smile. The photographers said they hadn’t taken her and the alarm was raised. In the corner of a service stairway, police found the glass box that had contained the painting, and the frame donated two years earlier by the Comtesse de Béarn.
The newspapers put the theft on their front pages. “We still have the frame,” added the Petit Parisien daily in a sarcastic strapline. The far-right Action Française newspaper blamed the Jews.
Critics had pointed out the lack of security, but the museum had taken only a few eccentric corrective measures: teaching the elderly guards judo, for instance. Jean Théophile Homolle, director of all France’s national museums, had assured the press before leaving on his summer holidays that the Louvre was secure. “You might as well pretend that one could steal the towers of the cathedral of Notre-Dame,” he said. After the theft, the French journalist Francis Charmes would comment: “La Joconde was stolen because nobody believed she could be.”
“Some judges regard the painting as the finest existing,” noted The New York Times. But even before Mona Lisa disappeared she was more than a painting. Leonardo’s feat was to have made her almost a person. “Mona Lisa is painted at eye level and almost life-size, both disconcertingly real and transcendent,” writes Scotti. Many romantics responded to the picture as if to a woman. Mona Lisa received love letters and was given a touch more surveillance than the Louvre’s other works, because some visitors stared at the “aphrodisiac” painting and became “visibly emotional”, writes Coignard. In 1910, one lover had shot himself before her eyes. After the theft, a French psychology professor suggested that the thief might be a sexual psychopath who would enjoy “mutilating, stabbing, defiling” Mona Lisa.
But nobody knew who the thief was, nor how he would profit from his haul. Monsieur Bénédite, the Louvre’s assistant curator, told The New York Times: “Why the theft was committed is a mystery to me, as I consider the picture valueless in the hands of a private individual.” If you had the Mona Lisa, what could you do with her?
The stricken Louvre closed for a week, but when it reopened, on Tuesday August 29, queues formed outside for the first time ever. People were streaming in to see the empty space where Mona Lisa had hung. Unwittingly, Coignard writes, the Louvre was exhibiting the first conceptual installation in the history of art: the absence of a painting.
Among the many who saw it were two Prague writers travelling through Europe on the cheap: Max Brod and Franz Kafka. On their travels they had had a brilliant idea: to write a series of guidebooks (On the Cheap in Switzerland, On the Cheap in Paris, etcetera) for other budget travellers. Kafka always was ahead of his time.
Meanwhile, the Mona Lisa was becoming a sensation. “In a thousand years,” wrote the Da Vinci-devotee Joséphin Péladan, “people will ask of the year 1911: ‘what did you do with the Joconde?’” Scotti writes: “Chorus lines made up with the face of Mona Lisa danced topless in the cabarets of Paris … Comedians asked, ‘Will the Eiffel Tower be next?’”
The painting was celebrated in new popular songs (“It couldn’t be stolen, we guard her all the time, except on Mondays”). Mona Lisa postcards sold in unprecedented numbers worldwide. Her face advertised everything from cigarettes (“I only smoke Zigomar”) to corsets. In fact, no painting had ever previously been reproduced on such a scale. As Scotti said, she had suddenly become both “high culture” and “a staple of consumer culture.” The Dutch painter Kees van Dongen was one of the few to puncture the hype: “She has no eyebrows and a funny smile. She must have had nasty teeth to smile so tightly.”
…
The French police were under international pressure to find the thief. All they had to go on was a fingerprint he had left on the wall, and the doorknob he had thrown into a ditch outside. Sauvet, the plumber who had let him out, was shown countless photographs of Louvre employees past and present, but could not recognise the thief. Employees and ex-employees were interrogated and fingerprinted—a newfangled technique in 1911—but nobody’s print matched the thief’s.
The Parisian police suspected the heist must be the work of a sophisticated ring of art thieves. In late August, they thought they had found them. A bisexual Belgian adventurer named Honoré Joseph Géry Pieret had appeared at the offices of Le Journal, and sold the newspaper an Iberian statuette that he had previously stolen from the Louvre. He also talked of having stolen a statue of a woman’s head from the museum, and having sold it to a painter friend. If these crooks had taken the statuettes, the police reasoned, they probably had the Mona Lisa too.
Géry often stayed in Paris with his friend Apollinaire, the poet, who had once called for the Louvre to be burned down. Apollinaire and Picasso were chums. After Géry’s revelations, the two men panicked. Picasso still kept two ancient Iberian statuettes, stolen by Géry, in his cupboard in Montmartre. In fact he had used the heads as models for a brothel scene he had painted in 1907. “’Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ was the first picture to bear the mark of cubism,” Picasso recounted years later. “You will recall the affair in which I was involved when Apollinaire stole some statuettes from the Louvre? They were Iberian statuettes … Well, if you look at the ears of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, you will recognise the ears of those pieces of sculpture!” Perhaps he had even commissioned Géry’s theft with the Demoiselles in mind.
At midnight on September 5, Picasso and Apollinaire sneaked out of Picasso’s apartment and lugged the statuettes for miles in a suitcase across Paris. They had agreed to dump them into the River Seine. But, writes Scotti, in the end they didn’t dare. On September 7, detectives arrested Apollinaire. He broke down and named Picasso. Both men cried under interrogation. Yet in court Picasso contradicted everything he had told police, and swore ignorance of the whole business. Shown Apollinaire, he said: “I have never seen him before.” Eventually the police gave up on them.
In December 1912 the Louvre hung a portrait by Raphael on its blank wall. The Mona Lisa had been given up for dead.
The world had mostly forgotten her when on November 29 1913 an antique dealer in Florence named Alfredo Geri received a letter postmarked Poste Restante, Place de la République, Paris. The author, who signed himself “Leonardo”, wrote: “The stolen work of Leonardo da Vinci is in my possession. It seems to belong to Italy since its painter was an Italian.”
Geri showed the letter to Giovanni Poggi, director of Florence’s Uffizi gallery. Then Geri replied to “Leonardo.” After some toing-and-froing, “Leonardo” said it would be no trouble for him to bring the painting to Florence.
Geri’s shop was just a few streets from where Da Vinci had painted the Mona Lisa 400 years before. On the evening of December 10 “Leonardo” unexpectedly walked in. He was a tiny man, just 5ft 3in tall, with a waxed moustache. When Geri asked whether his Mona Lisa was real, “Leonardo” replied that he had stolen her from the wall of the Louvre himself. He said he wanted to “return” her to Italy in exchange for 500,000 lire in “expenses.” He had only 1.95 French francs in his pocket.
Geri arranged to come with Poggi to see the painting in “Leonardo’s” room in the Tripoli-Italia hotel the next day. They went up to room 20 on the third floor. Leonardo locked the door, dragged a case from under his bed, rummaged in it, threw out some junk, pulled out a package, and unwrapped it to reveal the Mona Lisa.
The three men agreed that Poggi and Geri would take the painting to the Uffizi to authenticate it. On their way out the two were stopped by an alert hotel clerk, who thought they were stealing a painting from the hotel wall. At the Uffizi, Poggi established from the pattern of cracks in the painting that it was the real thing. When news reached the Italian parliament—”The Mona Lisa has been found!”—a fist-fight between deputies immediately turned into embraces, writes Scotti.
After handing over the painting, “Leonardo” had calmly gone sightseeing in Florence. But to his surprise, he was arrested in his hotel room by Italian police. As Monsieur Bénédite of the Louvre had warned, the picture had proven valueless in the hands of a private individual.
The thief turned out to be Vincenzo Peruggia, a 32-year-old Italian who lived in Paris. He was a house painter-cum-glazier. He suffered from lead poisoning. He lived in one room at 5 rue de l’Hôpital Saint-Louis, in a neighbourhood of eastern Paris that even today, a century on, is largely immigrant and not entirely gentrified. The Mona Lisa had spent two years mostly on his kitchen table. “I fell in love with her,” Peruggia said from jail, repeating the romantic cliché. The court-appointed psychiatrist diagnosed him as “mentally deficient”.
The French police really ought to have found him. Peruggia had briefly worked in the Louvre. In fact, he had made the Mona Lisa’s glass frame—the very one he had removed that August morning. A detective had even visited his apartment, but had failed to spot the painting. Moreover, Peruggia had two previous criminal convictions for minor incidents (one a scuffle with a prostitute) so the police had his fingerprints. Unfortunately, the famous detective Alphonse Bertillon—the real-life French Sherlock Holmes—who was on the Mona Lisa case, only catalogued the right fingerprints of suspects. Peruggia had left his left print on the Louvre’s wall.
He was locked up until his trial began in Florence on June 4 1914. Questioned by police, journalists, and later in court, Peruggia gave varying contradictory accounts of how exactly he had got in and out of the Louvre. He had walked out, carrying the painting, “with the greatest nonchalance”, he told the court. He said he had initially got on the wrong bus, and had finally taken the Mona Lisa home in a taxi.
Under questioning, Peruggia emerged as the kind of disgruntled immigrant who in a different time and a different place might have turned to terrorism instead of art theft. In Paris he had often been insulted as a “macaroni.” French people had stolen from him, and put salt and pepper in his wine. When he had mentioned to a colleague at the Louvre that the museum’s most esteemed paintings were Italian, the colleague had chuckled.
Peruggia had once seen a picture of Napoleon’s troops carting stolen Italian art to France. He said he had become determined to return at least one stolen painting, the handily portable Mona Lisa, to Italy. In fact, he was labouring under a gargantuan misapprehension: the French hadn’t stolen the Mona Lisa at all. Da Vinci had spent his final years in France. His last patron, the French king François I, had bought the painting, apparently legally, for 4,000 gold crowns.
After Peruggia’s arrest there had been a brief flare-up of patriotic “peruggisme” in Italy, but it soon died down. Most people were disappointed in Peruggia’s calibre. He was more Lee Harvey Oswald than the criminal mastermind they had imagined. “He was, quite clearly, a classic loser,” says Donald Sassoon in his book Becoming Mona Lisa. Despite Peruggia’s claims to patriotism—”I am an Italian and I do not want the picture given back to the Louvre”—it emerged in court that he had visited London to try to flog the painting to the dealer Duveen, who had laughed at him.
The mention of this story prompted Peruggia’s only show of anger during the trial. He had previously described the attempted sale himself, but in court he loudly denied it. One judge said, “Nevertheless, your unselfishness wasn’t total. You did expect some benefit from restoration.”
“Ah, benefit, benefit,” sighed Peruggia. “Certainly something better than what happened to me here.” The courtroom laughed.
Yet he had compiled lists of dealers and art collectors, who, he presumably hoped, might buy his painting. He had also written to his family in Italy saying that soon he would be rich. (“Romantic words, your honour,” Peruggia explained in court.) Joe Medeiros, an American filmmaker who is finishing a documentary about the theft, believes Peruggia was motivated chiefly by an immigrant’s pride. “He was a guy who wasn’t typically respected,” says Medeiros, “and I think he thought he was better than he was given credit for, so he set out to prove it. And I guess in some strange, perverse way he did prove it. He wasn’t as dumb as people thought.”
Peruggia was lucky to be tried in Italy rather than France. In Italy, his lawyer said in his closing argument, to applause from spectators and tears from the defendant, “there is nobody who desires the condemnation of the accused.” Nobody had lost anything from the theft, the lawyer pointed out. Mona Lisa had been recovered. She was now more famous than ever. She had made a brief, joyous tour of Italy before returning to the Louvre. Relations between Italy and France had improved.
Peruggia received a sentence of one year and 15 days in jail. Some weeks later, on July 29, it was reduced to seven months and nine days. He was released at once because of time served.
By then, in any case, the world had bigger things to worry about. While Peruggia was on trial, the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand had been assassinated in Sarajevo. On July 28 Austro-Hungary had declared war on Serbia. The Great War was starting. The theft and return of Mona Lisa was one of the last happy stories Europe would enjoy for another 30 years.
Freed, Peruggia returned to the hotel where he had met Geri, and found that it had already been renamed La Gioconda. (It still exists under the same name today.) Peruggia served in the Italian army during the first world war, but later returned to France and opened a paint shop in a village in Haute-Savoie. He died there on his 44th birthday in 1925, perhaps from the consequences of lead poisoning. He left a wife and baby daughter (who herself died in Italy this March, aged 86). The public never noticed his death. The only obituaries to the thief of the Mona Lisa appeared, mistakenly, in 1947, when another Vincenzo Peruggia died in France.
The feeling never quite passed that the Mona Lisa deserved a more impressive thief. In 1932 the famous American journalist Karl Decker supplied one. Decker, in his younger years an inventive reporter for the Hearst newspapers, published an article in the Saturday Evening Post headlined, “Why and How the Mona Lisa Was Stolen”.
Decker said he had waited so long to publish because he had promised his source he would reveal all only after the source’s death. In 1914 in Casablanca, wrote Decker, he had run into an old friend, an Argentine conman known as the Marques de Valfierno. Over brandies, the Marques had told Decker that Peruggia had merely been an agent in the Marques’ own perfect crime. First the Marques had had a French master-forger, Chaudron, make six copies of the Mona Lisa. The Marques had openly shipped them to the US. Then he arranged for Peruggia to nab the Mona Lisa. After that, the Marques had sold the six copies secretly to American collectors, for millions of dollars each, pretending each time that the copy was the real Mona Lisa. The only flaw in the plan, the Marques had told Decker, was that that fool Peruggia had then tried to flog the actual painting.
Here at last was a criminal brain worthy of the Mona Lisa. The only problem is that Decker almost certainly invented him. There is no external evidence for Decker’s story, nor even for the Marques’ existence. A century later, none of the six supposed copies has surfaced. Most likely, Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa single-handed, largely because she was small.
…
The other day I went to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. I wasn’t the only one. From the moment you enter the museum, you see signs pointing to her smiling face (or as W. Somerset Maugham called it, “the insipid smile of that prim and sex-starved young woman”). You walk into the room where she hangs and find a ruck of a couple of hundred people, their backs to you, many with mobile phones above their heads taking photographs. Somewhere in the distance is a surprisingly small picture of a smiling woman, mostly obscured by phones. She is behind a frame and a second plate of glass, which protects her but also distorts her colours. Her beauty is lost. Unless you are a connoisseur of mob scenes, there is little here to enjoy. You envy Peruggia his time alone with her in his room two miles from here.
You can see the Louvre’s strategy. It has sacrificed the Mona Lisa for the museum. By guiding visitors towards the painting, it pockets their €10 yet keeps a swathe of them away from the rest of the collection. Most of the Louvre is relatively calm. Other great works, many of them looted at considerable effort by Napoleon, draw little attention. You can stand alone admiring Raphaels for a minute or two at a time.
It’s not that the Mona Lisa is better than the museum’s other paintings. The point is that they are paintings and she is a person. That’s partly because of Da Vinci’s genius, and partly because of the myth that has grown up around her. It’s often said, for instance, that wherever you stand in front of the Mona Lisa, her eyes will follow you. Sassoon writes: “In reality the effect can be obtained from any portrait.”
Her myth stems, in part, from the story of her theft and return. “A painting had been turned, anthropomorphically, into a person, a celebrity,” says Sassoon. Peruggia, by choosing Mona Lisa that morning, helped elevate her above all other paintings. That—and a good story—is his legacy.
Additional research by Pauline Harris.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump kept up his criticism of Mexico on Friday, saying it “has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough,” as a crisis over border security and trade deepened.
President Donald Trump speaks briefly to reporters as he arrives aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
“Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change NOW!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
On Thursday, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto scrapped a planned trip to Washington to meet Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that Mexico pay for a wall on the U.S. border to halt illegal immigration.
The White House also suggested on Thursday that the United States could impose a 20 percent tax on goods from Mexico to pay for the wall, sending the peso tumbling.
Speaking about the scrapped summit, senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway on Friday told Fox News that “the relationship was not imploded. This one meeting has been canceled and that was a mutual cancellation.”
In a separate interview on CBS News, she said the tax was one funding possibility and waved off the chance of Mexican retaliation that could cost American jobs, telling CBS News: “They can do what they want.”
“Mexico should pay for that wall because they get an awful lot from this country,” Conway told CBS.
The White House has said its tax proposal is in the early stages.
A plan being weighed by House Republicans would exempt export revenues from taxation but impose a 20 percent tax on imported goods. The idea, known as a border adjustment tax, would be a significant change from current U.S. policy.
Retailers and other businesses that sell imported goods are not keen on the idea, and some lawmakers have expressed concern about its impact on U.S. consumers.
“The costs for everything from groceries, to cars, to office supplies would go up by 20 (percent), making it harder for middle class families to pay for things they need every day,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.Brad Hodge is Twenty20 cricket's leading run scorer of all time © Getty Images
Brad Hodge could play his first match for Australia in nearly six years after being called into the squad for the second Twenty20 in Melbourne on Friday.
At 39, Hodge is Twenty20 cricket's leading run scorer of all time, with 5844 at an average of 36.98 from his 209 matches in the format, and could be a valuable player at the upcoming World T20 in Bangladesh if the selectors chose to utilise his experience.
However, while the Melbourne match could be viewed as an audition for the World T20, Hodge's chances of playing in that tournament appear slim with Shane Watson and David Warner to return to the top of the order in addition to the men who beat England in Hobart on Wednesday.
The allrounder Moises Henriques played in that victory but will now fly to South Africa for the Test tour and Cricket Australia confirmed that Hodge would be added to the squad for the Melbourne game as a replacement for Henriques.
Whether Hodge will stay with the group for the third T20 in Sydney on Sunday remains to be seen but whatever the case, the call-up should give him a chance to play international cricket for the first time since the Test tour of West Indies in May 2008.
The last of his eight T20 internationals came almost six years ago to the day, at the MCG on February 1, 2008, when Adam Gilchrist was still part of a side that accounted for India.
Hodge's recall is comparable to the call-up of a 40-year-old Brad Hogg in January 2012, when he was picked on BBL form and with a World T20 in spinning conditions in Sri Lanka on the horizon.
"I never thought this day would happen again and it's a pleasing day to wake up, the sun was shining this morning and I got the call from John Inverarity and it was a nice pleasant surprise," Hodge said in Melbourne on Thursday. "I've probably had the game for a long time and I don't need to call on anything else other than experience to know exactly what I can do.
"I probably gave up the hope I suppose. I never gave up the thought of trying to achieve what I wanted to, and that was to play for Australia, but you felt that if things didn't happen before they certainly weren't going to happen now. But new regime, new sights and it's come my way, which is very pleasing."
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.Anheuser-Busch has sued Major League Baseball, claiming that they had an agreement to continue their longstanding sponsorship deal that has AB brands as the official beer in every park but four of ’em. The article doesn’t list the four, but I’m guessing Coors Field and Miller Park are two of them. Maybe Toronto is a third. My guess for the fourth: Rogue Park in Portland, Oregon, home to the new Portland expansion team, with Craig Calcaterra as their highly-paid P.A. announcer. Or maybe I dreamed that. (UPDATE: The Blue Jays and the White Sox appear to be the other two, based on the list at the bottom of this press release).
The claim in the lawsuit is that Anheuser-Busch and Major League Baseball reached an agreement to continue the sponsorship, but then MLB reneged, demanding way more money. Anheuser-Bush claims that baseball is “demanding unreasonable fees to sell Bud in all ballparks.” My take: they’ve been demanding unreasonable fees to for people to buy it for decades, and AB never complained about that. $8 for a Bud Light? I’m surprised there hasn’t been a class action yet.
Anyway, all of this gives me an opportunity to pass along a factoid that I share whenever Anheuser-Busch comes up. They were a client of mine years ago, when I was but a baby lawyer. At my first meeting at the local brewery, the AB guys told me that it was too bad I hadn’t been around just a few years before. Why? Because all of the conference rooms used to have taps built-in to the tables, and executives and others in meetings would drink beer. 9 A.M. meeting? Sure, why not? Just part of the culture. And this wasn’t just some old 1940s thing. They were doing it into the 90s, they said.
I realize it’s possible that they were pulling my leg on that, but a couple of other people have told me they heard the same thing. Anyone know for sure? It’s one of those stories that I want so badly to be true.Britain has always punched above its weight in the video game industry. For many years it was in the world's top three games developing countries, just behind the US and Japan. And although Canada has crept ahead in recent years, the British Isles remain a stronghold of innovative and often idiosyncratic design.
So to celebrate the county's profound contribution to interactive entertainment history, here are the 30 best British games of all time, as selected by three of the Guardian's regular games writers. Rather arbitrarily, we've gone for whole series' if the quality is consistent, and single titles if not. Sometimes we've just plain cheated.
As ever, please feel free to add your own favourites in the comments section – we're bound to have missed some wonderful titles.
Batman Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady, 2009, various platforms)
Rocksteady approached DC's venerable comic book crime-fighter with a degree of care and respect matched by no other previous game-maker. The design draws inspiration from 2D classics such as Super Metroid and Castlevania Symphony of the Night. It presents a relatively small, gated world; each area within is accessible only when Batman unlocks the requisite skill. In this way its mysteries unfurl with rare elegance. But it's the feel of the character that proves most alluring. In combat Batman strikes with power and grace. In the shadows, he moves with cat-like grace, flitting from pillar to gargoyle in silence. In dialogue he growls through his lines. A definitive treatment.
Burnout Paradise (Criterion, 2008, various platforms
As brash as it was slick, Burnout was always an arcade racer with teeth to spare. But Paradise was a revelation. It replaced 'Next Race' and menus with twenty-six square miles of open-world, squeezing a country's worth of diversions into its packed terrain, and then let everything happen on-the-fly. Effortless to drop into, gorgeous from any angle, and always easy to lose hours to, Burnout Paradise is also remarkable for Criterion's free post-launch support. Six years on, Paradise City still looks and feels like it.
Cannon Fodder (Sensible, 1993, various platforms)
"Cannon Fodder" is a pretty horrific phrase, but a game where your little soldiers mattered more than anything. Jools and Jops were your earliest, ever-so-vulnerable troops in Cannon Fodder, and the longer you kept them alive the better they got. The game is a top-down shooter that alternates between deadly precision and ice-rink mayhem – where, if a soldier falls, the size of the tombstone reflected their time with you. Developer Sensible Software's genius shows in how Cannon Fodder is so anti-war, yet the intro song remains accurate: "War! Never been so much fun!"
Championship Manager / Football Manager (Sports Interactive, 1992-, various platforms)
Set up by two brothers, Paul and Oliver Collyer, Sports Interactive has been making football management games for over two decades. But to compare 1992's Championship Manager '93 to last year's Football Manager 2014 (the name changed in 2003) would be like men against boys. This is because Football Manager, more than any other series, shows the value of iteration and regular releases. Over two decades the game has become more detailed, in-depth, slicker, smarter, and knowing about the crazy job it simulates. There are more superficially exciting games, but few as all-consuming and rewarding.
DJ Hero (Freestyle Games, 2009, various platforms)
DJ Hero wasn't the first videogame exploration of turntablism – that accolade belongs to Beatmania, the Japanese game that formalised the use of plastic peripherals in video games to approximate musical instruments. DJ Hero's set-up was more serious, however, in both the design of the controller and the game's mechanics too, which involve crossfading between two pieces of music according to on-screen directions, as well as reversing and scratching a turntable to rouse a virtual crowd. The soundtrack was created in collaboration with DJ Shadow, Z-Trip, DJ AM, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Daft Punk, a studded line-up that, unfortunately, failed to reignite the audience's waning interest in music games at the time.
Dungeon Keeper (Bullfrog, 1997, PC)
The perfect blend of concept and content, Dungeon Keeper is an RTS where you play the bad guy – setting up a deathtrap of many rooms, tinkering until it purrs, and then watching the heroes try to invade. Dungeon Keeper was one of many great games from Guildford's Bullfrog Productions, sadly now defunct, and perhaps the best example of its mischievous humour and ability to put a a distinctive spin on familiar ideas.
Elite (David Braben and Ian Bell, 1984, various platforms)
It must say something that the greatest game of the 1980s presented a cold-hearted world where the only rules were get rich and don't get caught. Elite began as a game about dogfighting but, when co-developers David Braben and Ian Bell found this a little dull, a layer of amoral capitalism was added on top – the player can trade everything from food to weapons to slaves. What makes Elite resonate even now is the vast scale of its eight galaxies; the feeling that there's always something new to find. What makes it a classic is that there always was.
Fable 2 (Lionhead, 2008, Xbox 360)
Fable II is a celebration of the disorderly English fairytale, all fart jokes and buxom maids serving sloshing tankards of ale mixed up with Robin Hood-style chants of revolution and seasoned with the old magic of the countryside. As you canter through Albion's green and pleasant land, sheepdog by your side, thwacking trolls and flirting with the local men or women (this progressive game allows you to role-play any sexuality) you're free to choose whether you'll be good, evil or some more honest shade between. It's story is well-told, its soundtrack glorious. But most of all this is a generous, forgiving game that charms as much as it challenges.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (Bizarre Creations, 2005, Xbox 360)
Originally made as a tech demo by a bored programmer, Geometry Wars, would come to define Xbox Live Arcade as the premier platform for new games created in an old style. An analogue twin stick shooter the game takes the principles of Robotron 2084 (the 1982 arcade classic where one stick is used to direct movement and another to direct bullets) and pares the venerable arcade shooter back even further. You play to delay the inevitable: dodging the incoming aliens and bullets in the midst of a symphony of exploding lights and sounds till you're finally overwhelmed. Pure and beautiful.
Goldeneye 007 (Rare, 1997, Nintendo 64)
Originally designed as a light-gun game
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.”
“We should have tenants open by the spring of 2015,” he said.
Meanwhile, Good Eats has closed. Harkey said a replacement location has yet to be found.
“We are searching,” Harkey said Sunday. “Nothing yet.”
The departure most shrouded in mystery is Herrera’s, which has been a staple on Maple Avenue for 40 years. Members of the Ontiveros family, who own the Maple Avenue location, said increased taxes and parking problems prompted the move.
The property owner, Crow Holdings, has consistently declined to comment.
As with the Good Eats and Patrizio announcements, last week’s news about the popular Tex-Mex restaurant was widely denounced by loyal fans.
“I hope Mr. Crow will see the support from the outpouring of people and reconstruct the deal where [Herrera’s] would not have to pay all the tax so they can stay on Maple,” said Gilbert Cavello, a Duncanville resident who’s been eating at Herrera’s since the early ’80s.
“They are a landmark just [like] the old Parkland,” he said in an email. “I’m all for business, but money isn’t … everything.”Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) Beta 2 Released.
The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the final beta release of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products. Codenamed "Precise Pangolin", 12.04 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing a few new features but mostly fixing bugs. With Ubuntu 12.04, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Mythbuntu and Ubuntu Studio also reached Beta 2 status today. Ubuntu Changes -------------- Some of the key new features available since Beta 1 are: * A new Ubuntu kernel (3.2.0-20.33) which is base on the v3.2.12 upstream Linux kernel. Changes to the default kernel flavours have been made for 12.04 LTS. * Updates to our new way to quickly search and access any desktop application's and indicator's menu, called the HUD, can be accessed by taping the Alt key and entering characters. * LibreOffice has been updated to 3.5.1. * Ubuntu One has a new control panel to provides an installer, setup wizard, ability to add/remove folders to sync, and more Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ for details. Ubuntu Server and Cloud Images ------------------------------ * 12.04 Beta 2 is shipping the latest milestones of OpenStack Essex (RC1), and will be upgraded to final before release. * Zentyal as well as OpenMPI 1.5 for ARM are now available in Universe. * KVM 1.0 on x86, which enables nested KVM by default, now allows a virtualisation experience within cloud instances. Ubuntu Core ----------- Ubuntu Core is a minimal rootfs for use in the creation of custom images, and now includes ARM hard float (armhf) images. Developers can use Ubuntu Core as the basis for their application demonstrations, constrained environment deployments, device support packages, and other goals. Kubuntu ------- Kubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 introduces "Kubuntu Active" as a tech preview, which is a new Ubuntu flavour designed for tablet devices. Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/PrecisePangolin/Beta2/Kubuntu for details. Edubuntu -------- Edubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 ships with improved translations, and updates to the new epoptes and LTSP 5.3 releases. For more details on what has changed in Edubuntu 12.04, please refer to http://www.edubuntu.org. Xubuntu ------- Xubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 now has new branding and further appearance tweaks have been made. On i386 hardware, the non-PAE kernel is used to support a wider variety of machines. Pavucontrol is now used over xfce4-mixer. For more information about the changes in Xubuntu 12.04, please go to http://xubuntu.org/. Lubuntu ------- Lubuntu 12.04 has had its artwork updated, and updates made to LightDM. For more information about the changes in Lubuntu 12.04, please go to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu. Ubuntu Studio ------------- Ubuntu Studio 12.04 Beta 2 live DVD now has a new low latency kernel installed by default. There is better Pulse Audio to JACK bridging, an improved ice1712 mixer and... the XFCE transition has finished! Mythbuntu --------- Mythbuntu 12.04 Beta 2 contains a pre-release version of MythTV 0.25, which will be updated to final as soon as its available. Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/precise/beta2 for more details on the above products. About Ubuntu ------------ Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and servers, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away. Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support. If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate. Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions really help us to improve this and future releases of Ubuntu. Instructions can be found at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs. To Get Ubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 -------------------------- To upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 from Ubuntu 11.10, follow these instructions: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PreciseUpgrades Or, download Ubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 images from a location near you: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/download (Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server). In addition they can be found at the following links: http://releases.ubuntu.com/precise/ (Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server) http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Ubuntu Cloud Images) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Ubuntu DVD, preinstalled ARM images, source) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-core/releases/12.04/beta-2/ (Ubuntu Core) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/12.04/ (Ubuntu Netboot) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Kubuntu) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu-active/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Kubuntu Active) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Xubuntu) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Edubuntu) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Ubuntu Studio) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Lubuntu) http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/precise/beta-2/ (Mythbuntu) The final version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is expected to be released on April 26, 2012. More Information ---------------- You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this beta release on our website, IRC channel and wiki. To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's very low volume announcement list at: http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announceOut: Forcing minorities to endure humiliating, pointless stop-and-frisk treatment from New York City cops. In: Destroying minorities’ public education opportunities by killing charter schools.
Have we already hit the “Miss me yet?” reformation stage of nanny jerk ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg? Perhaps among education reformists. Bloomberg may have been down on letting New Yorkers make choices about how much soda to drink, but he was a fan of school choice and charter schools.
Bill de Blasio is not so big of a fan. Toward the end of last week, de Blasio announced the city would not allow three new charter schools to share space with public school buildings. The agreements were backed by Bloomberg toward the end of his administration, but de Blasio isn’t having it. From Fox News:
While dozens of charter schools’ deals with the city remain unaffected, the four affected schools had already hired principals and teachers, and were in the process of recruiting pupils. In addition to the Harlem school, the move leaves in the cold two affiliated schools run by the nonprofit Success Academy Charter Schools, headed by de Blasio’s former City Council colleague Eva Moskowitz. “Explaining to students and families that they won’t have a school next year is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve done at Success Academies,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “No parent should have to go through this.”
Charter schools do get a share of tax money to operate, but they don’t get public funds to pay for locations or facilities. Thus, this sharing (or sometimes full school takeovers) is a way for charter schools to keep costs down, which helps make them more available and accessible to the poor. And the poor are the customers for these schools. Moskowitz isn’t running some fly-by-night charter operation, either. Her Success Academy schools do well. New York Daily News notes:
Success Academy 4 children are 97% black and Hispanic. More than three quarters are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Even so, a stunning 96% of the school’s kids passed the tough new state math exam. Fifty three percent passed the English exam — putting them in the top tier of all schools across the state. … At nearby PS 76, 8% of kids passed their state math tests, and 6% in English. At nearby PS 149, 3% of kids passed in math, and 7% in English. At nearby Frederick Douglass 2, 3% of kids passed in math, and 9% in English.
De Blasio’s attitude toward charter schools may make him the darling of the United Federation of Teachers, but it’s putting him at odds with a growing number of Democratic leaders, including President Barack Obama, who praised a Harlem charter school in a recent speech promoting so-called “Promise Zones” for poor communities.
There’s a well-publicized rift in the Republican Party on how they should approach social issues and pork-filled defense spending. But there’s a much less publicized rift in the Democratic Party about charter schools, which despite what detractors connected to education unions say, are growing more and more popular among the parts of the Democratic base that don’t work for the government (and even among some who do). The fight may not have broken the party open wide like what we’re seeing among Republicans because the battles are taking place on the state and local levels. It’s definitely a conflict to watch, though, as charter school popularity continues to grow.
If you feel like delving deep into school choice issues on this dismal Monday, watch Reason TV’s recent hour-long panel discussion from National School Choice Week, featuring National School Choice Week President Andrew Campanella, Reason Foundation Director of Education Policy Lisa Snell, former Arizona Superintendent and education reformer Lisa Keegan, Pacific Research Foundation Educational Director Lance Izumi, and California Teachers' Empowerment Network founder Larry Sand:At the half-way mark this is what the the Canucks management knows about this team – statistic wise. They have a record of 23W, 15L, 3OT, 49 points, a Goals Plus/Minus of -11, and a Corsi For Percentage of 49.7, which ranks them at 19th.
Their Face-off percentage is 21st (48.6), which is an indicator that they are not a puck possession team but in fact chasing it, and are not driving the play. When that happens usually you will be taking more penalties (PK) them drawing them (PP), and this has really been evident in the last 11 games.
Currently they are in eighth position in the Western Conference but have played anywhere from one to two games less, and IF the playoffs started today, would play the Nashville Predators and be swept in the first round. They had 13 wins in the first 20 games and 10 in the next 21 games, are in the midst of a three game losing streak, and are not getting scoring from most lines – other than the Sedins.
Not since 2010/11, when Ryan Kesler centred the second line and had that Selke Trophy season, have they had a second line that could take the pressure off the Sedins. It is also no coincidence that they went to the Stanley Cup finals after finally having a bit more scoring through-out their lineup and a healthy Kesler for part of that run.
Trevor Linden and Jim Benning realize that they have no second line, and have yet to replace Kesler with an adequate second-line centre that can drive the play with complementary players. Nick Bonino is not a second line centre, can not drive the play, is not a physical player and is better suited on the third line. Chris Higgins is also in that category. Only Alex Burrows, is warranted of a second or first line spot.
They also realize that although Radim Vrbata is leaning towards a career year in goals, his perimeter play, along with the Sedins similar style, is easy to defend, since there is no net presence – except when Burrows plays on that line.
The third line has the best net presence, and best centre in Brad Richardson (8G, 11A, 34PIM, 5th in team scoring), that is suited for the second line. It’s too bad his face-off percentage of 48.6 puts him fourth on the team, but maybe its time Shawn Matthias and his 53.8% in face-offs – is given a chance to go back to playing his natural centre position, with Richardson on one wing and Alex Burrows on the other. That should be the second line which would push the play into the opposition zone.
Why I mention this is because as a group, Richardson, Shawn Matthias, and Zack Kassian are having a hard time scoring (17G’s) and their collective -16 indicates that they are having trouble defending five-on-five against the opposition lines. If you were to switch Burrows for Kassian, the goal scoring increases to 24, and the plus/minus drops to -11.
Yannik Hansen (9G, 6A, -4, 6PIM) is ninth in team scoring and can play on a number of lines, but is best suited for the third line, along with Chris Higgins (6G, 11A, +6, 10PIM) and as I mentioned before – Bonino.
Up to the 20 game mark the fourth line had been the best producing fourth line the team has had in many, many years. So for that, Benning gets the credit for realizing that the Canucks are one of the softest teams to play against in the league. He had to create not only more scoring depth, but also some grit without just a pure fighter (insert Tom Sestito here) on that line. Dorsett is the key that drives this line and what a pickup he has been.
Although the fourth line has fallen off in production numbers, and depending who has played with Bo Horvat (2G, 5A, -4, 8PIM), Derik Dorsett (4G, 9A, -3, 93PIM), Linden Vey (7G, 9A, -1, 8PIM) or Hansen, they have been one heck of a responsible line. That may have to do with the fact that Horvat and his 52.8 face-off percentage, usual starts out with the puck, re. the concept of puck possession.
In goal – Ryan Miller is starting to round out into the goaltender Benning watched previously in 2010/11 when he won 34 games and 31 the season after, on a not-so-good Buffalo Sabres team. Benning’s assumption was also correct in that the Canucks needed a proven, experienced number one goalie to get them off on a good start this season – which Miller has done (20W).
Management now realizes that the best D-man is actually Chris Tanev (2G, 8A, +5, who is the stabilizing force beside whoever he is paired up with, and they had best lock him up long term. It’s no coincidence that Alex Edler is having a bounce-back year (5G, 9A, +5, 24PIM) and that both of them playing against the opposition’s top line most nights – is a collective +10. Tanev is not the offensive player Edler is – but his calm, positional play complements them to a “T”.
It’s now obvious to Benning – in his quest to trade Kesler, that he was dealing from a horrendous position, and that Bonino, Luca Sbisa and the first round pick in Jared McCann was all he could get, and that was not even close to a good trade, at this point. If you wonder why the Ducks included Sbisa you need look no further than to his NHL total -23 up to the time the Canucks got him, then add to that the team’s leader in plus/minus -10 and you have a -33 D-man. Bonino’s play and point total was all about who he was playing with, like Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry!
Like most NHL teams, the Canucks do not have much depth on the back-end and even less on the farm. The one positive note that management can look forward to is the return of Dan Hamhuis, who will push Sbisa out of the line-up because Yannick Weber (3G, 7A, +4, 10PIM) – is the better player.
This should also help Kevin Bieksa (3G, 4A, -4, 58PIM) who has had to play with Sbisa at times, but was better suited to play with Ryan Stanton (1G, 4A, +4, 27PIM), get his game back.
I don’t see how management can fix the problem that they see most nights as the opposition is out-hitting their team, because this is really about having the type of players that play a physical style, and the Canucks only have them on the third and fourth lines. Now some of you may say that Hits is a subjective statistic and that is has no result on a game, but over the course of the season if you are constantly on the receiving end, it will wear a player down.
The Hits also impact a team because that means that the hitting team is pushing the play causing turn-overs, takeaways, which usually result on more shots-on-goal and scoring chances. In the play-offs it has an even greater impact when it’s more about a war of attrition.
Let’s take for example the last 21 games. In the first 10 games the opposition out-hit the Canucks 5 to 4 and one was a tie, but in the last 11 games it was 10-1.
The Canucks in their current makeup – are NOT built for the play-offs.
So what can management do about that problem? Well nothing at this time because that will only change as the drafted or traded for players become available. So a conservative estimate would be two to three years.
I know – reality sucks – but that’s what management knows about this team.
Ice Bits – It’s no coincidence that the Canucks are 5W, 6L in their last 11 games, while being out-hit in 10 out of 11 games. They look old and tired. Maybe that’s a result of having a core that is 33 years of age – excluding Alex Edler. These days hockey is a young man’s sport.
I sure hope they give Zack Kassian as much time as they have given Alex Edler to develop, because this organization does not need another Cam Neely give-away. It’s hard enough to find a player with size, speed, grit, and a scoring touch (which will come around).
I also like the play of Shawn Matthias, who I think is better suited playing at centre.
Eddie Lack is having a tough time this season what with the Canucks not giving him any goal support. Even with that, I would have never figured that after 14 games played he would only have three wins.
Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Google Images and Yahoo Sports!
Video Credits – YouTube
StatsCredits – http://www.hockeydb.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm, http://www.hockeybuzz.com. // http://canucks.nhl.com. http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/ http://war-on-ice.com/
Quote Credits – The Vancouver Sun and Province
To catch-all the news as they break, in ALL the sports, updates, line-odds and new articles as they occur, you can follow me at https://twitter.com/nucksicemanWASHINGTON: Forget end use of nuclear fuel, supercomputers, and other frontier science, high-tech stuff that Washington has wanted to review in India for years. Even something as mundane as the quality of air in India is now deemed so suspect that the Obama administration announced on Wednesday that it is going to start monitoring it — both to protect staff in its own missions and American visitors, and to raise awareness in India about the runaway pollution that is bringing the country adverse attention across the world.Led by the US State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the program, called AirNow, builds on the monitoring service that began five years ago at the US embassy in Beijing and will now expand to New Delhi and other Asian capitals. AirNow’s web-based platform will provide real-time information about the quality of air, so that people can make informed decision about whether routines like whether to go for a run or take kids to the park."As it expands to more and more posts around the world in different countries, this effort is going to provide Foreign Service officers, military men and women, and US citizens living or just visiting abroad with better information about the air that they are breathing, so that they can make healthier choices and hopefully mitigate some of the harmful impacts," US secretary of state John Kerry said while announcing the program’s extension to cities beyond Beijing, which was thought to be the most polluted city in the world but has since been overtaken by New Delhi.Aware that such a program could be misconstrued, Kerry also indicated that the host countries too could benefit from the program since the US will be happy to share data and expertise. As part of this new agreement with India and other countries, Washington will create a fellowship program that will send US experts to missions abroad in order to train personnel, transfer skills, and build capacity for air quality monitoring, not only among embassy staff, but also through training and exchanges with interested host governments."It wasn’t easy. Our hosts didn’t like it particularly, but we did it," Kerry said, recalling the difficult start the program had in Beijing five years ago. "In recent years, China has gotten a better sense of just how dangerous the levels of air pollution have become, and their citizens are increasingly demanding action. There was a time when poor visibility in cities like Beijing was blamed simply on excessive fog. But today, in part because of expanded air-quality monitoring in cities throughout China, the Chinese government is now deeply committed to getting the pollution under control," he added.Indian cities and its leadership, from all accounts, have shown no such sense of urgency. New Delhi, whose new chief minister’s constant bronchial difficulties are all too visible, is now said to have the world’s worst air quality. An recent article in the Economist under the headline "Breathe Uneasy" reported that levels of PM2.5 (minute particulate matter) in Delhi are routinely 15 times above levels considered safe by the World Health Organisation. New data suggest that, on this score, Delhi’s air has been 45% more polluted than that of the Chinese capital for the past couple of years.I can only speak from a guys perspective, but when it comes to public bathrooms (men’s specifically), there is a urinal etiquette. The following is a guide I have created so you don’t misrepresent yourself in the men’s bathroom.
Rule 1 – The Rule of Three: If there are three urinals, you must choose the correct unirnal to use. Just because all three are available, it does not mean that you can use any of the three. When all three are available, you should select one of the outer urinals. Do not select the middle urinal. This choice would force urinal user number two to have to select a urinal next to you. Instead, if you select one of the outer urinals, urinal user number two is able to select the urinal furthest away from you.
If two urinals are already occupied, you can wait, but this situation may mean that the bathroom is crowded and you’ll never get a private outer urinal. In this situation, you’re allowed to take the only available urinal or wait for a stall. It’s your choice.
If there are three urinals and the doofus in before you selected the middle one, you have every right to wait, use a stall, or kick him in the ass. If you are second to the urinals and the first user has selected an outer urinal, but the other outer urinal is the little boy’s urinal, you must use it anyway. You cannot select the middle urinal. If you do not want to use the little boy’s urinal, then you must either wait or use a stall. However, using the little boy’s urinal does not make you any less a man… unless you drop your pants all the way to the floor while using it.
Rule 2 – What the heck is wrong with all you guys who don’t know how to flush?: Almost all men were raised by a mother or has been influenced by a female somewhere along the way. So how did you escape without learning how to flush? The automatic flushing urinals (and toilets) were most likely created just for the poorly mannered non-flushers.
And for all you weenie germaphobes, that’s why you wash your hands after going to the bathroom. Sure, maybe your junk is covered with bacteria, but it’s the flushing aspect that really calls for some hand washing.
Rule 3 – Urinals are Not for Solids: Come on, guys. Don’t put spit your gum or douse your cigarette butts in the urinal. The urinal was made to dispose of urine. That’s why they call it a urinal. It was not made to dispose of solids. Maybe you can squirt the occasional kidney stone in, but they’re pretty small. They just feel like they’re the size of that boulder in the first Indiana Jones movie when they come out. I digress. So, save your solids for when your doing some sit down work.
Rule 4 – Don’t Pee on the Damn Floor!: I’d prefer not to stand in your pee while I’m going to the bathroom. This can be combined with “Don’t Pee on the Damn Wall!” ‘Nuf said.
Rule 5 – No Talking: Unless you have known the guy peeing next to you for at least five years, you are not allowed to start a conversation at the urinal. This, however, is a rule with exceptions. If you live in a college dorm, are attending a sporting event, or in the cast of A Chorus Line, you may start conversations as you please. Another exception to the rule applies when the conversation has been started before addressing the urinal. It is up to the conversationalists whether to continue the conversation or wait until their work is completed before resuming. A third exception is below, and while it is an unfortunate event, it is a conversation that must be had.
Rule 6 – No Peeking: If you are forced to take the urinal next to an already occupied urinal, you are required to keep your eyes focused on the wall straight in front of you. However, if you fail to keep your eyes from wandering, and accidentally look down at your peeing neighbor and catch a glimpse, you must offer a compliment. If you look over and down, yet fail to offer a compliment, you will not only be considered intrusive for looking, but rude for not complimenting. (A note to the women reading this. Some public restrooms have no dividers between urinals.)
In advance I will thank all guys for adhering to The Rules of Urinal Etiquette. Next time maybe we will discuss the Rules of Washing Your Hands after using the public restrooms.Denver, CO – If, and this is a big ‘if’, you had a child eighteen years ago, his or her birth would have coincided with the last documented redesign (that is, a full redesign) of Ford’s Super Duty truck line. In short – and I know you get this – the kid, then nursing and pooping, would be graduating from high school and moving on to god-knows-what tech gig (maybe with GE?) by the time Ford and its execs got around to finally and fully redesigning their iconic benchmark. In contrast, Corvette’s design and engineering teams sometimes seem slow, but even they aren’t that slow! The upside: good things often come to those who wait.
And although not wanting to draw this out, know that Ford’s all-new Super Duty pick’em up, in those two iterations (F-250 and F-350, both gas and diesel) tested in and around suburban Denver, appears to be an out-of-the-park homerun. In a hands-on immersion held at the Denver Broncos stadium, along with roughly three hours of driving the following morning, we came away mightily impressed by what Ford has done in the reset of its most capable lineup of heavy duty trucks. Under the ‘We Own Work’ umbrella, Ford’s engineering and marketing teams tout the new Super Duty as the ‘toughest, smartest and most capable’ lineup ever. That’s e-v-e-r!
As you’d hope, the redesign starts with the frame. What had been roughly twenty feet of thick, C-channel steel has become the same twenty (or so) feet of thinner high-strength steel, now fully boxed. And if they were any doubts after digesting that, Ford engineers have spec’d up to ten crossmembers, and the end result is coated in an E-coat paint process to protect against corrosion. Finally, if you’re towing know that the Super Duty employs new 2.5-inch and 3.0-inch hitch receivers, along with an available 5th-wheel provision added at the factory. All of it is good – probably great – stuff.
Atop the frame rails is a first-in-class aluminum alloy body and box. As you’d hope and/or guess, this is military grade aluminum, able to repulse any and all WVD’s (Weapons of Vehicular Destruction) while saving real weight in the process. The cab section – from A-pillar to C-pillar – is identical to the F-150 cab, while the front end and bed are specific to their heavy duty role. With that, the crew cab’s rear seat room is improved, while the weight savings is put into enhanced ‘WOW’ (We Own Work) capability.
Under the Super Duty hood you have your choice of a standard 6.2 liter V8 or Ford’s 2nd-gen 6.7 liter Power Stroke (great name, that…) turbo diesel. We spent the majority of our time in the diesel, which will represent roughly two-thirds of the retail sales. Thinking stump-pulling torque? With 440 horsepower and 925 lb-ft of torque, this thing could pull Redwood City, CA to Portland if, of course, given the opportunity. Powering through a 6-speed automatic, the Super Duty diesel offers best-in-class towing performance in all towing categories. And it does this while providing absolutely sublime driving characteristics.
If the Power Stroke is Donald J. Trump, think of the 6.2 liter V8 as Mike Pence. Of course, nothing wrong with Governor Pence, but know the V8’s torque number pales in comparison – much like Mike pales when compared (and Pence wouldn’t disagree…) to the Donald. We did like the V8’s smooth off-the-line acceleration, and while not promising the torque or efficiency of the diesel, neither is it the $9K bump of the diesel. You pay your money (as mentioned, roughly 2/3rds of the retail prospects will pop for the diesel) and you take your choice.
Inside the cab or, uh, workspace, Ford offers a completely redesigned environment. The instrument panel is all-new, while successfully avoiding the 21st-Century vibe that often accompanies a complete redesign. In our upscale trims the leather-covered seats were ventilated (good stuff on a hot Denver day), the Super Duty SuperCab and Crew Cab models offer a flat load floor, and a 360-degree camera with split-view display offers both a physical and psychological boost to a guy whose normal set of wheels is a Subaru Crosstrek. There’s also a nod to improved ergonomics; as Ford puts it, “the new instrument panel places the dash controls within easier reach, while the 4X4 selector and integrated trailer brake controller are now mounted higher and angled toward the driver.” As you’d guess (and hope), controls on the center stack are designed for use with gloves. And since we’re talking cold weather in Texas, let’s give a shout out to Amarillo…
So, all of the above is first rate, class-leading stuff. But Ford would also like you to appreciate the new technologies available for the first time in its Heavy Duty arsenal. Among the long list of available features is trailer reverse guidance, adaptive steering, adaptive cruise control and collision warning with brake support, a blind spot information system (which incorporates trailer coverage!) and the aforementioned 360-degree camera with split view display. And while most of the above might be academic to your neighborhood lawn crew, if you’re a fleet operator and opt for these features your safety and liability concerns – along with insurance costs – should go way down. Of course, insurance costs never – ever – go down.
With towing demonstrations and offroad opps beckoning, we opted to go off-roading, while knowing most Super Duty owners won’t be boulder hopping in Moab. They will, however, go to construction sites, and the dirt layout provided by Ford provided a slightly exaggerated look at what those sites might drive like. Happily, the Super Duty – both gas and diesel – took everything the course threw at it, and dished the experience up with a crazy level of comfort and – what-the-h*ll – ‘aplomb’. And when back on the asphalt the driving experience was as comfortable and relaxed as ever.
In sum, the newest Ford Super Duty reminds us more than a little of candidate Hillary Clinton. The big Ford is more capable than ever, but like Hillary when discussing her grandchildren, is also more approachable than ever. Put Hillary behind the wheel, and Donald’s combover in the long bed.
Also, check out Jesus Garcia’s look at the 2017 Ford Super Duty
Check out more News and Reviews on Ford vehicles »“If they rule against us, we’ll have to take a look at what our options are. But I’m not going to anticipate that,” President Obama said Monday in an interview with Reuters. “I’m not going to anticipate bad law.”
The strategy echoes the administration’s refusal through most of 2012 to acknowledge any planning for the effect of across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration, insisting that the draconian cuts would never come to pass. (They did.) Also in 2012, the White House and its allies said there were no plans for the Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to the health law’s individual mandate. (The court upheld the mandate.)
In the current health care case, legal experts said the White House was savvy in making clear that the situation was dire. They said the justices regularly considered the broader effect of their decisions and often took into account how the executive branch or Congress might respond to a ruling.
Jeffrey L. Fisher, a law professor at Stanford University, said the justices are likely to talk about the administration’s lack of contingency plans when they meet behind closed doors on Friday for their first conference after hearing arguments.
”They are going to think about whether they buy it, whether they think it’s strategy,” Mr. Fisher said. “It’s something that a court would traditionally at least put into the melting pot of consideration.”A lightweight match-up featuring Jim Miller vs. Fabricio Camoes has been etched in stone for UFC 168, which is set to take place on Dec. 28, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada. And as Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White aptly put it, the final card of 2013 will be bigger than megalithic UFC 100.
UFC officials announced the 155-pound bout late Wednesday evening.
Camoes (14-7-1) is smack dab in the middle of his second stint with UFC. After suffering a loss at the hands of Kurt Pellegrino and a draw against Caol Uno during his first two trips to the Octagon, "Morango" messed around and grabbed a couple victories outside the friendly confines of ZUFFA, thus earning himself the right to return and has since broke even at 1-1.
After winning in his encore bout with UFC, the Brazilian fighter enters the contest against Miller fresh off a unanimous decision loss to the resurgent Melvin Guillard.
That brings us to the widely-beloved Miller (22-4, 1 NC), who was once on the verge of a earning a UFC title shot following memorable fights against virtually everyone in the lightweight division.
He enters this scrap coming off a no-contest result, after his loss to Pat Healy was overturned when "Bam Bam" tested positive for weed following their "Garden State" grapple-fest. Miller holds notable wins over the aforementioned Guillard and Joe Lauzon, among others.
Should be fireworks.
UFC 168 features a highly-anticipated rematch between middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former titleholder Anderson Silva, while the co-main event showcases current coaches of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 18 as women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defends her title against arch rival Miesha Tate.
For the latest UFC 168 fight card, rumors and updates, click here. News, notes and other items of interest for "Weidman vs. Silva 2" can be excavated here.An artist
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udi attempted the same by first naming his company “Ruda” but eventually changed it to the more athletic sounding “Puma.” The two built competing factories on opposite sides of the river Aurach and quickly became responsible for much of Herzogenaurach’s economy, with nearly everyone working for one company or the other.
As the entire town got caught up in the Dassler family feud, the rivalry reached ridiculous proportions. There were local businesses that served only Adidas or only Puma people, dating or marrying across company lines was forbidden, and Herzogenaurach became known as “the town of bent necks” since people first looked at which company’s shoes you were wearing before deciding to talk to you.
While Rudi had the sales staff and was better at moving product, Adi had the technical know-how and better relationships with athletes who could provide exposure, tipping the scales in favor of Adidas, with Puma constantly playing catch-up. However, in focusing so heavily on each other, both the companies were slow to react to the threat of Nike (NKE), which would come to dominate the athletic footwear industry, leaving them far behind.
It wasn’t until 2009 when employees of both companies symbolized the end of six decades of feuding by playing a friendly soccer match. By then, the Dassler brothers had both died, within four years of each other. Even in death, the animosity continued as the brothers were buried at opposite ends of the same cemetery, as far away from each other as possible.
Want more competition, contempt, and all-out conflict? Check out Fortune’s ebook Rivalry, available now, free to subscribers on our tablet apps. Download it for the iPad here.SINGAPORE - A Thai national who splashed red paint on a pre-school where a debtor's children had attended was sentenced to 15 months' jail and three strokes of the cane on Wednesday (March 15).
Samroeng Sompop, 33, left the same evening by taxi after completing the loan shark harassment job at Modern Montessori International (MMI) pre-school on the third-level of a block at The Pinnacle@Duxton on Jan 13 last year.
He pleaded guilty to causing annoyance to the childcare centre staff with Lee Tiow Kiong, 56, while acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender known as Kelvin in connection with a loan taken by the debtor.
About 30 debtor's notes with "O$P$" written on them were found on the floor nearby. The notes contained the names of the debtor and his family as well as their home address at one of the seven blocks at the residential complex.
Two "Super Big Gulp" cups stained with red paint and wrapped in a plastic bag were found on the floor.
Investigations showed that the debtor had taken a loan from a loan shark, known as Ah Siao, in August 2015 and had subsequently defaulted on payments.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Amanda Sum said due to the harassment from unlicensed moneylenders at home and at his workplace from late September 2015, the debtor moved out and transferred his two children to another childcare centre.
Sompop was arrested at Changi Airport on Feb 16 this year after his identity was established.
Police had arrested Lee for a separate offence of loan shark harassment in March last year.
Lee revealed during investigations that he had also committed the loan shark harassment at the MMI pre-school with Sompop by driving him there.
The court heard that Sompop had come to Singapore on Jan 13 2016 on an all-expense paid trip sponsored by a person called Max, whom he knew from Thailand.
Lee had picked him up that day from the hotel and told him that he would give him 20,000 baht (S$802) to commit harassment at the pre-school.
After Sompop completed the job, Lee drove him to Queen Street where he took a taxi to Johor Baru, and eventually made his way back to Thailand.
Lee has been dealt with.
The maximum penalty for unlicensed moneylending harassment is five years' jail, a $50,000 fine and six strokes of the cane.Studies have consistently reported the participation of free radicals in Bipolar Disorder. Administration of d-amphetamine (d-AMPH) is a relevant animal model of mania and it increases oxidative stress in rat brain. Evidences indicate that the antioxidants N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and Deferoxamine (DFX) exert protective effects in the brain. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of NAC, DFX or their combination on AMPH-induced hyperactivity. The protein oxidation levels were analyzed in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. In the first animal model (reversal treatment), adult male Wistar rats received saline or d-AMPH for 14 days, and from the 8th to the 14th day, they were treated with saline, NAC, DFX, or NAC plus DFX. In the second animal model (prevention treatment), rats were pretreated with saline or antioxidant regime, and from the 8th to the 14th day, they also received saline or d-AMPH. In the prefrontal cortex, the protein carbonyls were not affected by the treatment with antioxidants alone but it was increased by treatment with NAC plus DFX. At the same model, NAC plus DFX reversed the protein damage in the hippocampus, but NAC alone increased this damage. In the prevention treatment, it was observed that the protein damage in the prefrontal cortex was prevented by DFX or NAC plus DFX. In the hippocampus, the pretreatment with all antioxidant regime prevented protein damage induced by d-AMPH. At both treatments (reversal or prevention) the antioxidants did not present any effect against d-AMPH-induced hyperactivity. In conclusion, NAC or DFX and the combination of NAC plus DFX reverse and protect against d-AMPH-induced oxidative protein damage. Using these protocols we could not observe affects on locomotion, however this effect varies depending on the brain region and the treatment regime.Perth Glory's attempt to subvert the A-League salary cap involved senior administrators approving direct payments to Andy Keogh's wife at the start of the current season.
Documents suggest Natalie Keogh received the first of at least two instalments of $25,000 of her husband's true salary in November in transactions approved by Glory chief executive Jason Brewer. The payments coincide with an alleged private sponsorship deal for Keogh, involving a company chaired by his uncle.
Inglorious: Perth Glory striker Andy Keogh arrives for the clash with Sydney FC on Friday night, just hours after the FFA announced Glory would be excluded from the finals. Credit:Getty Images
The bank transfer was made upon the request of a senior club official despite concerns raised internally that Natalie Keogh was not registered on the payroll. The funds for the transfers were released through a West Australian mining company.
It's understood these payments were part of a deal for Keogh to be paid a total of $200,000 through nominated beneficiaries that was not reported to the FFA.When Suhair al-Najjar, 32, said, essentially, “I curse both sides,” and described Hamas as “shoes,” a sharp insult, an older man strode over to scold her. “Don’t say ‘Hamas,’ say ‘the Arab leaders,’ ” he yelled.
Ms. Najjar, who lost 30 relatives along with her home in Khuza’a, a village of 10,000 on Gaza’s eastern border that was demolished, was not deterred. “I’m angry at the two sides,” she repeated. “I’m angry at everybody, all the countries.” The bearded man in a gray jalabiya came closer and demanded, “You need someone to teach you how to talk?”
The conversation unfolded on the steps of a crushed concrete house among rows of similarly destroyed homes lining a street whose asphalt was torn up by the Israeli invasion. The dome of a nearby mosque sat tilted on the ground, along with the town’s water tank. The metal archway that once spanned the street to welcome visitors was a twisted heap.
Ahmad al-Najjar, 44, used to drive a horse-drawn cart, but his horse was killed in an Israeli attack. So his four small children, including a yet-unnamed baby born during this war, slept in the horse’s shed during the brief truce. Mr. Najjar said he and his neighbors “do not allow the resistance to strike from here” and the idea that Hamas might have built tunnels under their homes “bothers me.” The fighting, he said, had only pushed Gaza backward from its goals.
“So far nothing has been achieved, we don’t know what they are doing there,” Mr. Najjar said of the Cairo talks, where the Palestinian delegation includes members of Hamas as well as the Fatah party of the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. “These are parties — Fatah, Hamas, Israel are parties. We are people. We are victims. If these parties have differences, why do we pay the price of their differences?”
Farther south in Rafah’s Al Showqa neighborhood, two bulldozers and a digger were searching for bodies in a tunnel used for an Aug. 1 attack that killed three Israeli soldiers, one of whom was thought captured by Hamas, prompting a huge assault that left more than 100 dead over two days. Near the tunnel’s mouth, Fadi Abu Al-Roos, who works as a clerk for the United Nations, returned to his peach-and-white tiled home to find “Storeroom position” written in Hebrew on what remained of the outside wall. Inside, a framed cross-stitch “God Bless Our Home,” in English, was hanging intact amid the ruins.
“I don’t see it as a victory or a defeat,” he said. “It’s only destruction.”
Perhaps a mile away, what had been two acres of orange, guava, olive and clementine groves were, in the wake of the Israeli attacks, mounds of sand marked by bulldozer tracks. On one hill, there were pieces of two uniforms — one Israeli, the other Hamas — an empty packet of Next cigarettes with Hebrew letters, and five fresh eggs where, Wissam Abu Asun surmised, “A chicken must have died.”Let's say you just sent a transaction in monero-wallet-cli and you decide to copy that line and paste it in the daemon for whatever reason. Maybe you are thinking about editing its value or payment ID or something else entirely. If you happen to copy the whole line in the terminal --that is, not stopping at the end of the command-- then as soon as you paste it, the daemon will execute the command (like it normally happens with regular terminal commands outside of the daemon) and a new transaction, with the same parameters, will be submitted to the network, and that will cause you a lot of trouble if not complete loss of those funds, depending on how able you would be to contact the recipient and get him/her to send you your money back...
Maybe I am not considering the whole picture, but IMHO always-confirm-transfers should be set to 1, and not zero by default. (But I am not an expert, so please let me know if I am missing something here!) In any case, to fix that just run the command set always-confirm-transfers 1 in monero-wallet-cli to avoid that kind of problem in the future. Notice, though, that that change is only applied to the particular wallet you were using, not other wallets you might own which would have to be fixed individually.
With that enabled, you will see this prompt next time you are trying to send out a transaction:
The transaction fee is 0.026000000000. Is this okay? (Y/Yes/N/No)Image copyright Thinkstock
The race to make babies from three people is a major worry, duping couples and a dangerous experiment on mums and babies, warn scientists and ethicists.
The UK, which pioneered the advanced form of IVF, was the first country to introduce laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.
Yet the first baby was born in Mexico.
And despite the technique being designed to eliminate disease, it has been used as an unproven fertility booster in Ukraine.
Both countries have less fertility regulation than the UK.
How to make a three-person baby?
Three-person IVF was devised to prevent the repeated heartache of losing children to illnesses caused by defective mitochondria.
The tiny structures in our bodies convert food into useable energy and are passed on only through the mother's egg.
Three-person IVF takes the DNA from mum and dad and puts it in an egg from a donor woman. The resulting child has 0.1% of its DNA from the donor.
Why make babies from three people?
The advanced form of IVF was developed at Newcastle University in the UK and the final safety checks were completed in June.
So the Mexico birth and the procedure being offered as a fertility treatment has caused concern.
"We appear to be in a race to the bottom," warned Dr Marcy Darnovsky from the US Centre for Genetics and Society.
Criticising doctors offering the technique, she added: "They are ignoring ongoing policy debates and conducting dangerous and socially fraught experiments on mothers and children. And they appear to be actively seeking a media splash on the way down."
"Use of these biologically extreme procedures for infertility is based purely on speculation."
It is argued that some cases of infertility are caused by a "poor" environment inside the egg such as insufficient or old mitochondria or an imbalance in the chemicals necessary to trigger embryo development.
And that the three-person technique could overcome those deficiencies.
'Unstoppable'
Dr Dusko Ilic, from King's College London, said there was no way to stop IVF clinics offering the procedure.
While the UK was the first country to create laws to legalise three person IVF, it is legal by default in many countries with little-to-no regulation.
Dr Ilic told the BBC News website: "IVF clinics are jumping on the bandwagon and rushing ahead, whereas the Newcastle team did all the hard due diligence work.
"The major worry is how technically skilful these clinics are, what quality control measures are in place and what information they provide to desperate patients seeking help.
"Are those patients aware of all risks involved?"
For example in the Mexico birth - the details of the family and an photograph of the baby were made public without any consent.
Image copyright New Hope Fertility Centre Image caption Dr John Zhang holding the baby boy who was conceived thanks to the new technique that incorporates DNA from three people
James Lawford Davies, a partner at the law firm Hempsons, said: "One example of the way UK regulation protects patients is through the confidentiality which attaches to their identity, the details of their treatment, and their children.
"Any such disclosure would be a criminal offence in the UK."
Image copyright SPL
When the UK allowed the procedure to prevent inherited mitochondrial disease, it did not allow three-person IVF to be used in fertility treatment.
"There was little evidence at the time the law was being changed that the methods were likely to help infertility," said Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, from the Francis Crick Institute.
Such an untried form of conception was thought to be too risky - except in the case of mitochondrial disease where the harms were even greater.
Prof Lovell-Badge said the UK had a reputation for looking "deeply into the issues of science and safety" and that such procedures may be permitted in the future if they were shown to be safe.
He told the BBC: "We can't control this in countries where there are few or no regulations and poor oversight.
"Unfortunately the clinics in such countries have become used to being unregulated, and it is the patients who are at risk of being duped into paying for methods that have little or no benefit or that are even harmful."
Sarah Norcross, the director of the Progress Educational Trust, said fertility clinics had a reputation for "rushing" new techniques to patients.
She advised: "For British women who wish to avoid passing mitochondrial disease to their children, the temptation to travel overseas to access these treatments must be enormous.
"We would caution against this. At present, there are too many unanswered questions about what has been achieved - and how - for us to be confident of patient safety.'
Follow James on Twitter.Well, my OC, Blue Blaze, in all his glory I would say, or at least what I hope for, since I used every single inch and bit of art knowledge and skills I have to make this, and boy I hope it shows.This was made for the upcoming OC show, and so I accepted their challenge, I have started sketching like 2 and a half weeks ago, and I used my sketch as the sample pose and everything, so yeah, this one is 100% mine, as it was desired, I want to improve and become a better person and artist.Well finally I made my OC do his weather pony duties, he has never been made performing his work, such a lazy bum!!! Lol, well this now shows that he likes to smash clouds, he would make proud.sketch, vectoring, shading and others were used here, I hope this fulfills my goal of getting in the show, Lol, if not, it would have fulfilled the goal for sure to have helped me improve as an artist, so I thank all four Cutie Art Crusaders for it.Dedicated to everyone who watches, likes and comments my art, and all of my dA, Skype and Wiki friends, Lol.A column or article in the Opinions section (in print, this is known as the Editorial Pages).
Opinion A column or article in the Opinions section (in print, this is known as the Editorial Pages).
Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton during his father's presidential campaign, after being told the information was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." (Elyse Samuels,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
Hysteria among the media and Trump opponents over the prospect of “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin may have hit its crescendo this week. That’s right: The wailing from the media and their allies about Donald Trump Jr.’s Hysteria among the media and Trump opponents over the prospect of “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin may have hit its crescendo this week. That’s right: The wailing from the media and their allies about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with some “Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer” (whatever that means) may be the last gasp of this faux scandal. Good riddance.
Predictably, the New York Times Predictably, the New York Times started the ball rolling with front-page coverage, going so far as to argue, “The accounts of the meeting represent the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help.” As if this were some breakthrough moment. The Times followed up with a headline yesterday that the meeting request and subject matter discussed in the prior story were transmitted to Trump Jr. via an email. Holy cow. The Times is so desperate to move the story that the meeting’s arrangement over email is being made into Page 1 news. You would have thought it had come through a dead drop under a bridge somewhere.
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And, of course, CNN has been apoplectic in its breathless coverage, And, of course, CNN has been apoplectic in its breathless coverage, running one story after another about this “development” on the air and online. But Politico takes the prize for the most over-the-top, made-up news, claiming that Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting could amount to a crime.
As I have written before, there are always people hovering around campaigns trying to peddle information and traffic in supposed silver bullets. There should be nothing to report on when a private citizen who works at a campaign takes a meeting with a friend of a friend offering information about an opponent. And yet, the media wants to make it a smoking gun.
If taking meetings with such people is a crime, then I hope there is a statute of limitations — because I would have been a repeat offender.
Don’t get me wrong. Trump Jr. should not have taken the meeting. These offers of information on the down-low are greeted with eye-rolling, and red flags are almost always clearly visible. No senior campaign official, much less a family member of the candidate, should take such a meeting.
Having the meeting was a rookie, amateur mistake. Between human curiosity and a campaign professional’s duty to get the dirt when you can, Trump Jr. likely felt that the person had to be heard. In a normal case, the meeting should have been handed off to a lackey. Said lackey would have then reported the scoop — or lack thereof — and awaited further instruction.
White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there was nothing inappropriate about a meeting Donald Trump Jr. had with a Russian attorney during the campaign last year. (Reuters)
However, after seeing today’s email exchange However, after seeing today’s email exchange dump from Trump Jr., it is easy to see that the meeting should have never happened. Period.
I double down on the idea that this meeting was a rookie, amateur mistake. Even the lackey should not have taken this meeting. It was bad judgment, but not collaboration with the Russians.
Just imagine: Trump Jr. is sitting there when he gets an email — from a music promoter — screaming with red flags and some comical language (does Russia even have a “Crown prosecutor”?) and he takes the bait. Wince! Anybody should have known better.
Anyway, Trump Jr. took the one-off meeting, and nothing happened. Is that not proof of non-collusion in and of itself? If you choose to believe otherwise, your disdain for President Trump is getting the best of you and you need help.
Regarding the delusion that a crime actually occurred in any of this, my favorite allegation is that by having this meeting and listening to what was said, Donald Trump Jr. somehow could have violated the law. According to Regarding the delusion that a crime actually occurred in any of this, my favorite allegation is that by having this meeting and listening to what was said, Donald Trump Jr. somehow could have violated the law. According to Politico, Trump Jr.’s “statements put him potentially in legal cross hairs for violating federal criminal statutes prohibiting solicitation or acceptance of anything of value from a foreign national, as well as a conspiracy to defraud the United States.”
I’m just barely a lawyer, but I know over-lawyering when I see it. I mean, by that standard, what if someone walked into a campaign and suggested an idea that led to that candidate’s victory? Would it have been a crime to accept “a thing of value” in the form of an idea? Of course not.
This whole thing is getting weird.
For many in the media and elsewhere, the collective grievances that they have against Trump personally, the White House as a whole and Trump’s policies somehow justify their zealous promotion of the “collusion scandal.” But not because the story is valid. Rather, the media know that they are not getting to Trump with anything else. Today, much of the “news coverage” of Trump and Co. is about payback. The media thinks they aren’t getting the truth and so they don’t have to deliver it either. It is a bad cycle that is not working for the White House or the media. With this much intensity, it is hard to see how this ends well.Last year, a series of government interventions was implemented to cool Metro Vancouver's runaway property market and increase affordability. And yet, the market is hotter than ever, and the gap between house prices and incomes is growing wider in unexpected parts of the region.
Greater Vancouver reached a record benchmark price of $967,500 - an 8.8-per-cent increase from the year before. The average price of a detached house reached a record $1.831-million in May.
Over all, median property prices in the region went up in the months after the introduction of the 15-per-cent foreign-buyers tax.
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One downtown realtor says the seemingly endless demand for over-priced housing is "bonkers."
"People are throwing crazy money at anything," says Ian Watt. "It's scary."
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union issued a report this past week mapping changes in housing affordability across the city's municipalities. Over all, if the average Metro Vancouverite were to purchase a detached house, they'd need to fork over 67 per cent of their income to do so.
Vancouver city proper was one of the biggest losers, with a detached home requiring 182 per cent of the median household income.
Housing experts say the situation is irreversible, considering the massive decoupling of local incomes from housing. The median household income as of February was $79,498. The median price of a detached home in Vancouver in 2016 was $2.7-million. It would take a momentous event to come close to closing that gap.
"Without a calamitous collapse of the market, those days [of detached-house ownership] are over," says David Ley, a professor of geography at the University of British Columbia whose work focuses on global wealth migration. "There have been successive spirals, and we have been going through the most dramatic one that lasted for about 18 months, then there was a cooling off, and now it's on its way up again."
Dr. Ley cautions that there may be some pressure on prices due to low inventory, with detached house sales down 17 per cent.
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But consumers are still willing to pay unprecedented prices, and over-leverage themselves to do so. When all housing types are factored in, the Vancouver resident can expect to put 48.6 per cent of their income toward housing, according to the Vancity report, which used data provided by Landcor Data Corp. Mr. Watt wonders how residents are surviving.
"If 48 per cent is going to pay your mortgage, strata fees and taxes, then how much of your income is going towards your personal taxes? What do you have left over? People must be getting help from their parents, or they are just not declaring their income."
They might also be living on credit. Vancouverites have increased their consumer debt in a 12-month period by 4 per cent – more than any other city in Canada, according to a recent TransUnion report. Mr. Watt says he'd prefer to see a more stable and normalized market. He doesn't see this one as sustainable.
"Look at West Vancouver and all the Ferraris and Lamborghinis driving around, and how leveraged people are."
Vancouver is not the least affordable municipality on the Vancity list. West Vancouverites require 191.8 per cent of income in order to own the median $2,821,500 home there. More surprisingly, North Vancouver district also beat out Vancouver, requiring 92.5 per cent of the region's typical monthly income to cover the mortgage, taxes and maintenance costs of a home. Lions Bay, Oak Bay, Delta, Bowen Island, North Saanich, Squamish and the township of Langley also rank among the least affordable municipalities in the region, based on median price and income.
The former rapporteur on adequate housing for the United Nations Human Rights Council, Miloon Kothari, had sharp words for Vancouver's affordability crisis when he toured the city this past week.
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"It's amazing to me the situation has been allowed to get where it is," Mr. Kothari said, following a talk at Simon Fraser University downtown.
Mr. Kothari spent several days in Vancouver, and he says he's shocked at how drastically the situation has deteriorated since he visited even a decade ago. Mr. Kothari, an architect and scholar who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been studying Vancouver since the 1980s. He's seeing a growing gap reflected physically, as social housing is treated as an inferior housing type, with residents segregated from those in market housing. In many European cities, he says, that division doesn't exist. Why does it exist in Canada, a country that housing experts used to hold up as an exemplary model?
"You either have high-end expensive housing or some social housing, but not nearly enough, and the shelters, even those are not sufficient … there is no notion of security of tenure for people who can't afford a home here. So there are huge gaps, and I'm actually amazed.
"I don't see why more steps couldn't have been taken already to cool down the market, and not just a question of cooling the market, but also to create more housing to build more social housing, to have more mixed use.
"Essentially, it's a huge profit-making operation benefiting people in power as well as those that have significant influence."
The Vancity report cites a series of government interventions made last year, including the increased property-transfer tax from 2 per cent to 3 per cent on homes valued at more than $2-million. The government also clamped down on corrupt industry practices such as shadow flipping. And in August, the province introduced the 15-per-cent property-transfer tax on foreign buyers. According to the report, within a month, foreign buying in the region "virtually disappeared."
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The numbers of purchases by foreign nationals significantly dropped in Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey and Burnaby, according to provincial data attached to the report.
However, in that same period, foreign nationals remained in markets that didn't have the tax. In Victoria, purchases by foreign nationals have fairly static, increasing slightly from 3.9 per cent before the tax to 4.7 per cent since.
So, foreign buying activity did not disappear. Foreign money undoubtedly also drove some of the presale condo market, which is not tracked because presales don't count as real estate until the transactions become land titles.
Mr. Watt wants to see a heftier foreign-buyers tax implemented so the resulting tax revenue can be redirected into affordable housing and infrastructure for locals.
"Fifteen per cent is peanuts for people shipping $10-million out [of their country]. They didn't buy in Vancouver for any other reason than to put money somewhere safe. The fact is that [foreign buyers] have a lot of money. They want to come here. They will pay whatever," says Mr. Watt. "We need a 30 per cent [foreign-buyers] tax to build a SkyTrain that goes all the way to Chilliwack, and we'll make infrastructure for affordable housing. And make it possible for people to own homes and commute."
Some say that change may very well be on its way. The problem is simply too overwhelming to ignore.
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"There is a clear call for action and leadership for all three levels of government," says urban planner and adjunct professor, Andy Yan. "Potentially, there's a beacon of light emerging from the murkiness of our real estate market."
Dr. Ley said that although federal funding for housing is exceedingly modest, it represents a policy improvement compared with the past 25 years, when federal funding for housing programs fell away.
"The hole here is so deep – we've had 25 years of neglect of affordable housing issues, and a lot of rhetoric that has got us going in the wrong direction," Dr. Ley said.
"The important point is that there has never been an appetite since, until it seems with this new federal administration. We could have all three levels of government lined up to result in a significant affordable-housing push."
Josh Gordon, an assistant professor of public policy at Simon Fraser University believes the new provincial government could have an impact.
"That impact will likely have to wait until the new governing arrangement is fully put in place, and once they have spelled out a few of their policy intentions, but it will come," Dr. Gordon said.
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He says it will require new moves, such as a proposed surtax on properties owned by people with no B.C. income, an idea put forward by SFU professor Rhys Kesselman last year. The idea is, the higher the value of the property, the higher the surtax. It would also involve walking back on the Liberal's widely criticized Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership (HOME) program, offering five-year interest-free and payment-free loans to first time homebuyers. Critics said the program motivated locals to buy into an over-heated market.
"If the NDP-Greens proceed with a variant of the surtax idea, as they should, then that will have a significant impact on the market," Dr. Gordon said. "That policy on its own will do a great deal to generate better affordability. Getting serious about money laundering and cancelling the awful HOME program will also have an effect. If they do those things together, we won't just see a temporary dip."
Mr. Kothari believes an overall attitude adjustment is in order.
"People have just lost sense of the basic values – that's why we keep making this point that you have to view housing as a human right. Even in my country, India, there is this sense of outrage that people are out on the streets, and they mobilize, they offer solutions. Here, there is this kind of, 'oh well, somebody else will take care of it.'
"If we are too polite, we won't raise the issues."Of course she has been excoriated by feminists for saying that much marital disharmony might be overcome if women just "put the canoe in the water" and start paddling, even if they don't feel like it. "Bettina Arndt rape cheerleader" was one furious blog response. "F--- you, Bettina Arndt," was another. Eva Cox of the Women's Electoral Lobby launched a counterattack, claiming that it's men's own fault they aren't getting enough sex, because they don't do their fair share of housework. "After an evening of organising kids, dinner, the shopping, the washing, the homework, etc, maybe [women] are too tired to want sex." It's an old excuse. As Arndt says, any time men complain about something, even in the anonymity of a sex therapist's book, feminists hit back with the housework furphy. The fact is, when you add up in-home and out-of-home duties, men work just as many hours as women, and sex has very little to do with it. The latest ABS social trends survey, released last week, found that women do almost twice as much housework as men - 33 hours and 45 minutes a week.
But while men might not do as much vacuuming and ironing, they spend a lot more time than women working outside the house in paid jobs - an average of 31 hours and 50 minutes a week, compared with women's 16 hours and 25 minutes. In other words, men and women do about the same amount of work in total - about 50 hours a week each. It's called division of labour and it has long been the negotiated settlement of marriage. Men have tried to up their share of housework - by 8 per cent - since 1992. But it doesn't seem to have increased their share of sex, judging by The Sex Diaries. In her chapter "Laundry Gets You Laid?", one of Arndt's diarists describes her husband as the "domestic God", yet their libidos are still worlds apart. Another diarist, Mary, 42, has put her husband on sex "starvation rations" until he does more housework.
But, she admitted: "[My husband] argues that even if I were a lady of leisure with a maid and housekeeper and no need to work … I still wouldn't be interested in sex. I deny deny and deny, but deep inside I have to admit there is a chance he might be right." Housework is just one of the excuses used by women to fend off their partner's advances. Only 10 per cent of Arndt's female diarists had higher sex drives than their partners and her book is full of the anguish of the other men, whose wives have just lost interest. Arndt said yesterday that female libido is so fragile it is easy to find excuses not to have sex. But desire is a decision. Women "have to make a decision to put sex back on the to-do list because if you allow these other things to swamp your sexual interest your relationship will be in real trouble". Of course, "resentment is a passion killer", and unequal share of household duties has long been high on a woman's list of resentments. "But it strikes me as being so unfair that women feel entitled to voice their complaints and demands of a relationship, yet a lot of men have at the absolute top of their wants and needs more sex and it's been totally ignored.
"How can we justify simply shutting up shop or forcing a man into a life spent grovelling for sex?" The picture Arndt gets from her male sex diarists is in large part a lament for love denied. They love their wives but desperately need the intimacy they used to have. They feel cheated. "I am totally at a loss as to what to do," writes Andrew, a 41-year-old diarist, married for six years, with two children. He and his wife used to have sex every day but are down to once every five or six months. "I do love her and I think she loves me but I cannot live like a monk. "What makes women think that halfway through the game they can change the rules to suit themselves and expect the male to take it?" Arndt is not suggesting women have sex against their will, but to heed new research that shows they may still enjoy sex even if they didn't crave it in the first place. Mismatched desire need not spell the end of a couple's sex life.
The other side of the equation is women's guilt at their own lower sex drive. Understanding that male and female sex drives are different was the key to rapprochement in the bedroom, she said. "It's all about walking in each other's shoes. Most of the women are upset that they don't want sex. It's not a deliberate thing … but we have to find a way around it if we have marriages lasting 40 years." Since the book was published, Arndt has been inundated with emails and messages from frustrated men. Loading But she has also touched a nerve with women. The day after Arndt appeared on the ABC's Lateline to promote her book, a friend told her that every woman in her tuckshop group had sex with their husbands.BEIRUT (Reuters) - The death toll from a bomb attack on a crowded bus convoy outside Aleppo has reached at least 126 in the deadliest
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ur on the issue though it did say that her choice of words may have been wrong."Sadhvi Deva says that the increasing population of Muslims and Christians is dangerous for the country and they should be, therefore, forcibly sterilized. She should have used the word family planning instead sterilization," it said.Thakur had on Saturday said Muslims and Christians must undergo sterilization to restrict their growing population which was posing a threat to Hindus."The population of Muslims and Christians is growing day by day. To rein in this, Centre will have to impose emergency, and Muslims and Christians will have to be forced to undergo sterilization so that they can't increase their numbers," Sadhvi had said.Sena today said, "Sadhvi is not as educated as the Owaisi brothers (of AIMIM), thus may have chosen wrong words to convey her message. One can ignore her sterilization words, but the fact is, their (Muslim, Christian) population and family planning remains a problem."Sena said if All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi is truly concerned about the community, he should support the call for family planning and the cease of burqa-wearing tradition for Muslim women."Family planning will ensure that one can look after his family properly and provide quality education to children," it said.The saffron party said by advocating sterilization of Muslims, it wants 'quality living' for them."When we say Muslims should undergo sterilization, our intention is that they should live happily," Sena said.Sena had earlier courted controversy by demanding scrapping of voting rights of Muslims, saying the community has often been used for vote bank politics, evoking sharp reactions from several political parties which accused it of trying to inflame passions and divide people.When I thought my daughter was ready (around 26 months), we went to the toilet every 10 minutes—even if we were out. We slowly worked up to 15 minutes, 20 minutes, etc., and after a day or two, she could pee on her own. Poop was a different story—I had to goad her with M&M's!
—Elissa Murnick; Fairfield, Connecticut
My son mastered peeing on the potty pretty quickly, but nailing #2 took some extra effort. At first we had to watch for his "cues" to tell he was trying to go poop and then bring him to the bathroom. Because it took a while (sometimes more than a half-hour) we started reading to him to make the wait more fun. But above all else, patience, patience, patience is the key!
—Karen J. Wright; Mankato, Minnesota
Don’t get frustrated if things are taking a long time. Potty training can take roughly a year, according to a study from the Medical College of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. "The two big surprises are that toilet-teaching isn't fast and it isn't smooth," Dr. O'Brien says. "Several areas of development need to line up first. The child has to communicate well, be aware of his bodily feelings, and understand how much time he needs to get there."Image copyright Reuters Image caption Alan Henning was on his fourth visit to Syria to deliver aid when he was taken hostage
Alan Henning's widow and children have attended a "service of reflection" in Salford for the murdered aid worker.
Barbara Henning and their children Lucy and Adam were joined more than 500 people at the service in Eccles Parish Church earlier.
A video appearing to show the beheading of Mr Henning was posted online by Islamic State militants on Friday.
Members of the convoy to Syria, from which Mr Henning was kidnapped, also attended the service.
The Rt Rev David Walker, the Bishop of Manchester, said earlier that the evening service in Mr Henning's hometown would "mark Alan's life" and the good he did.
'Won't divide us'
Mr Henning, 47, whose family said on Saturday that they were "numb with grief", was delivering aid when he was kidnapped in Syria in 2013.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Alan Henning "died a martyr", according to the Bishop of Manchester
Bishop Walker said the service was intended to acknowledge the "good that he did" and bring people together to support Mr Henning's family.
"Within the Greater Manchester area, it's part of our tradition to come together at times of tragedy," he said.
"This won't divide us, it will simply reaffirm us in our commitment to one another and to the future of the world of which we are a part."
The church is next to the minicab office in which Mr Henning worked, where a number of flowers have been laid.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Barbara Henning attended the service with children Lucy and Adam
Image copyright EPA Image caption Flowers and ribbons were attached to the gates at Alan Henning's home
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption People also left tributes to the taxi driver outside the minicab office where he worked
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A book of condolence was opened at Eccles Parish Church before the morning service
Image copyright EPA Image caption Benches, trees and lampposts all had yellow ribbons tied to them in honour of Mr Henning
A minute's silence in tribute to Mr Henning was also observed by rugby union fans before the Sale Sharks game with London Wasps at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford.
And an Alan Henning Memorial Fund has been launched by his friend and fellow aid worker Shameela Islam-Fulfiqar, with the aim of raising £20,000 in his name.
Dr Islam-Fulfiqar said the fund had been set up to show Mr Henning's children "their father's death was not in vain and that the work that Alan was so committed to will also continue".
"A project will also be set up in Alan's name eventually to benefit those that Alan died trying to help in Syria to ensure his legacy continues long after he was taken from us," he added.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Eccles has been "turned yellow" in honour of Alan Henning, as the BBC's Ed Thomas reports
In a statement after Mr Henning's death, his widow Barbara and their two children said: "Alan was a decent, caring human being.
"His interest was in the welfare of others.
"He will be remembered for this and we as a family are extremely proud of him and what he achieved and the people he helped."
Mrs Henning's brother, Colin Livesey, described the killers as "scum" and said the family had lost a "great person".
He also said the British government could have done more for Mr Henning in the months after he was kidnapped.
Mr Henning was a volunteer on his fourth aid mission to Syria when he was taken hostage minutes after arriving in the country.
Image copyright EPA Image caption Flowers have been left at the Eccles Cross and outside the minicab office where Mr Henning worked
Prime Minister David Cameron described the murder as "completely unforgivable" and has vowed the UK will do all it can to find those responsible.
The video released on Friday is yet to be verified, but it appears to show Mr Henning kneeling beside a militant dressed in black, in a desert setting.
The footage ends with an IS fighter threatening a man they identify as American Peter Kassig, an aid worker.
Mr Kassig's family, who said he had converted to Islam and referred to him as Abdul Rahman Kassig, appealed to IS to "show mercy" and release him.
As in previous IS videos, the one of Mr Henning features a jihadist who, from his accent, appears to be from Britain.
RAF Tornados first hit IS targets on Tuesday, four days after Parliament authorised UK involvement in an international military campaign.
IS has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and declared what it describes as a caliphate in the areas it has taken.On episode 130 of The Ross Report, professional wrestling legend and current lead announcer for New Japan Pro-Wrestling on AXS TV, Jim Ross, welcomed Ricochet to the podcast. Ricochet, who also performs for Lucha Underground as Prince Puma, talked about his future career plans and whether he would like to sign with WWE. Also, 'Mr. High Fly' discussed his favorite professional wrestlers.
During the show, Ross asked Ricochet whether he would like to perform for WWE in the future and the professional wrestler from Paducah, Kentucky responded in the affirmative.
"Of course, I mean, I would love to. Even all the people that I know that have been there, they always tell me, 'you've got to at least experience it once'. But they tell me 'you've got to go there and experience it at least once - whether you like it or not, it's up to you, but you've got to go there and you've got to experience it once'. And, of course, I would love to go there one day. So hopefully, all my ducks get in line and get in order and I can make it happen, but, I mean, of course, I would love to, but right now, I'm still just kind of doing my thing, doing the New Japan thing, I still [have] got the Lucha [Underground] going on right now. But, of course, one day, I'd really, really, really enjoy to be there one day."
Apparently, the first ever Lucha Underground Champion has already decided between re-signing with Lucha Underground and holding out for a possible WWE deal.
"Obviously, I'd love to go experience and do the WWE experience, but honestly Lucha is going really good too, so it is a hard decision, but I've got some decisions to make right now. I mean, like, right now, I'm in a position where decisions are needing to be made, so it's actually something that [has] been on my mind here recently. I think I've already made my decision, which one I want to do, if that gives you some suspense, I guess. I think I've already made my mind up, like, which one I want to do. Definitely between now and 2017 some decisions are going to have to be made and stuff's going to have to happen, so I'm just hoping for the best."
On the topic of professional wrestlers who served as inspiration to Ricochet, 'The Future Of Flight' named The Rock, Eddie Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio, Jr.
"Even since [WrestleMania 15], I've been the biggest fan of The Rock ever and then as time progressed, you had your Eddie Guerreros, your Rey Mysterios, those guys that really opened my eyes up to a different form of wrestling. And so, yeah, I guess, like, I can always ask the question and if anyone asks me 'who [are] your favorite wrestlers?', I can say, 'The Rock, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio'. Without even thinking about it, those are my favorite wrestlers. Growing up, those were my three guys."
In addition to these topics, Ricochet talked about never thinking he would make a career out of professional wrestling, working in a mask, and other things on this edition of 'Slobberknocker Audio'. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit The Ross Report with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Ross ReportPolice officers physically removed a woman from a Southwest Airlines plane before it took off from Baltimore, the latest passenger scuffle to be captured on video and magnified on social media.
After saying she was severely allergic to animals — there were two dogs on board — the woman refused the crew's request to leave the plane. The crew then called on police to intervene.
A film producer recorded the ensuing struggle between the woman and officers and posted it online. The scene from Tuesday night was reminiscent of an April incident in which security officers yanked a man out of his seat and dragged him off a United Express flight in Chicago, sparking a public outcry about shoddy treatment of airline passengers.
Southwest, perhaps learning from United's initial hesitant reaction, immediately apologized. "We are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded and the customer's removal by local law enforcement officers," Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said Wednesday.
Mainz said the woman had reported she had a life-threatening pet allergy but couldn't show a medical certificate that she needed to continue on the flight to Los Angeles.
The incident began quietly near the back of the plane, passengers said, as Southwest employees — including one of the pilots — talked to the woman. Mainz said the airline offered to rebook her on a flight the next day, but she declined — hers was the last flight of the night.
Pushed and pulled
Airline employees ended up calling police, and the officers asked her to leave.
One officer pushed her from behind while another pulled her from in front, the video showed.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "I will walk off. Don't touch me!"
"All right, let's walk. Let's walk," one of the officers answered.
One passenger urged the woman to file a complaint, others urged her to walk off the plane so she wouldn't get injured.
The airline declined to give the passenger's name. She could be heard identifying herself as a professor. She told officers she needed to get to Los Angeles because her father was having surgery the next day.
"She put up a pretty ferocious fight to not be removed from the plane," said Bill Dumas, the film producer who took the video.
Dumas said the police officers "were in a very, very tough situation" because of the woman's resistance, and Southwest didn't have much choice because the plane wouldn't take off until the woman left.
Southwest does not notify passengers ahead of time about animals on board.
"In most cases, we can separate the animal from customer with an allergy," said Mainz, the Southwest spokesman. "The onus is on the customer to tell us what their needs are."
United was widely condemned after security officers in Chicago dragged a 69-year-old man off an overbooked United Express flight to make room for crew members flying to their next flight. United CEO Oscar Munoz was excoriated for initially blaming the passenger, who lost teeth and suffered a concussion. United reached a settlement with the passenger for undisclosed terms.
"In terms of customer service, the airline industry has had a challenging year," said Marc Raybin, president of a public-relations firm in South Bend, Indiana. He said that Southwest and the transit police in Baltimore may have followed their rules, "but the optics of this certainly look bad for Southwest and the airline industry as whole."
Southwest, Raybin said, should keep apologizing, pick up the cost of the passenger's flight and expenses, and "do not blame the customer at any point."Image copyright Mars One/Bryan Versteeg Image caption The settlers will live in two units and additional domes will house food and other emergency supplies
"I want to meet aliens. I strongly feel that we are not alone in this universe. If possible, I would like to live on both Earth and Mars from time to time," says Amulya Nidhi Rastogi, an engineering student from the suburb of Gurgaon near the Indian capital, Delhi.
Mr Rastogi, 21, is one of 1,058 applicants shortlisted from some two million hopefuls globally for a one-way trip to Mars by Dutch non-profit organisation Mars One in 2024. It hopes to build a community of settlers on the planet.
They have cleared two rounds of a rigorous four-stage clearance process, at the end of which 24 people will be sent to the planet.
India has the largest number of applicants - 62 - after the US who have made it to the shortlist for the trip to the Red Planet.
Each potential settler will go through a seven-year training course - commencing in 2015 - which will help them adapt to the psychological and social aspects of living in a small society.
The Indian applicants are a mix of people: from students to private entrepreneurs to stock brokers to white-collar professionals.
'No marriage plans'
Take, for example, 24-year-old renewable energy professional Arindam Saha from the eastern city of Calcutta, who has put off marriage plans to make the trip.
"I doubt if any woman will marry a man who wants to go to Mars and settle there. That is why I didn't plan for marriage. I don't have a girlfriend, nor any desire for marriage," Mr Saha says.
Image copyright others Image caption Vinod Kotiya says a trip to Mars is an 'opportunity of a lifetime'.
Image copyright others Image caption Amulya Nidhi Rastogi says he want to meet aliens.
Others like Ashish Mehta, a 45-year-old stock broker from Mumbai, say they have planned their future to make the trip.
"I have been married for 20 years. My son is 19 and daughter 17. I have paid up my mortgage. I have saved around 50-60m rupees ($809,751-$971,701; £485,664-£582,797). And I think I have done enough for my family," he says.
"When I leave [for Mars] after 10 years, my son will be 29 and daughter 27 years old. By then, they would have certainly completed their studies and be married. I hope to see my granddaughter or grandson when I leave."
Though successful applicants will be trained for the journey to the Red Planet, it is not clear how will they survive on a planet which is extremely hostile to life.
A hostile planet Image copyright NASA Image caption The north polar region of Mars, seen from orbit Scientists believe that Earth and Mars once had similar atmospheres, but they developed very differently
Mars' atmosphere is very thin, extremely cold and what water remains is frozen or hidden underground
There's evidence that Mars was once covered in oceans of water at a time when it had an abundant atmosphere
This very thin atmosphere can't stop heat from the Sun escaping into space What makes Mars so hostile to life? Watch how Mars and Earth ended up with such different atmospheres
Mars' atmosphere is very thin, extremely cold and what water remains is frozen or hidden underground. Radiation exposure is another concern. Then, there are questions about the funding and technology.
Scientists like Nobel physicist Professor Gerard Hooft wonders how the project will be funded as the selected candidates will not have to pay for the journey.
"I have no way to judge how they will get sufficient funds because it is an extremely expensive programme," he said.
But Mars One's co-founder Bas Lansdorp believes he can successfully land humans on Mars in 10 years.
He told the BBC he needed $6bn (£3.6bn) to launch his mission, and that he planned to raise it through high-profile donations and event broadcast rights.
"If the London Olympics could raise $4bn through broadcast rights and advertising revenue in a three-week fund raising effort, why can't Mars One do it?," he asks.
'Extraordinary'
"I see it more like event reporting just like people watch Olympic Games and see extraordinary people do extraordinary things. I think it would be very comparable to that kind of television," he adds.
Image copyright others Image caption Arindam Saha has put off marriage plans for the journey to Mars
Meanwhile, the applicants from India are optimistic and hopeful about human settlements on the Red Planet.
Vinod Kotiya, a manager with a state-run power company, said he wanted to "set an example" by going to Mars.
"I'm not going out of any fear that something will happen to Earth some day. I want to set an example. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I want to grab it anyway," he said.Can’t differentiate cobalt from azure or cerulean, but not satisfied with just calling something "blue"? Instead of choosing a word at random, writers and anyone else looking to expand their color vocabulary can now reference Ingrid Sundberg’s "Color Thesaurus."
While working on a fantasy novel, the writer and children’s book illustrator found herself struggling to describe the images in the book as vividly as she would have liked, according the The Independent. Looking to spice up her prose, Sundberg began to compile a personal "thesaurus" of color names by pulling from sources all around her. "I love to stop in the paint section of a hardware store and find new names for red or white or yellow," the author writes on her website. "Having a variety of color names at my fingertips helps me to create specificity in my writing. I can paint a more evocative image in my reader’s mind if I describe a character’s hair as the color of rust or carrot-squash, rather than red."
Her guides have proven useful to more than just authors. Sundberg tells The Independent that she’s received emails from artists, wedding planners, and elementary school teachers thanking her for her color charts. They’ve even been used by an astronomer to pinpoint different shifts in light.
While Sundberg’s infographics do match words to specific shades, she insists that the project is meant to be used as more of a thesaurus than a dictionary. "I doubt there can be an 'official color guide' as color is so subjective," she told Bored Panda. After receiving such a positive response to her color charts, Sundberg is now experimenting with different types of visual thesauruses. Her current projects include one for hair color and one for physical emotional cues. You can check out some of Sundberg's color thesaurus entries below.
Images courtesy of Ingrid Sundberg.About a month ago, a MaddowBlog reader tweeted my latest deficit chart and directed it to National Journal’s Ron Fournier, who I think it’s fair to say, routinely expresses concern about the federal budget shortfall. He said he was unimpressed – my chart, Fournier claimed, “cherry picked” the data. About a month ago, a MaddowBlog reader tweeted my latest deficit chart and directed it to National Journal’s Ron Fournier, who I think it’s fair to say, routinely expresses concern about the federal budget shortfall. He said he was unimpressed – my chart, Fournier claimed, “cherry picked” the data.
Given that the image showed the deficit in the years leading up to the Obama presidency, and the deficit every year of Obama’s presidency – all confirmed by independent data – I assumed Fournier simply doesn’t know what “cherry picked” means. But in a subsequent reply, the columnist was more specific, arguing that the narrowing budget deficit doesn’t really count. The deficit may be shrinking now, the argument went, but the shortfall might get bigger in the future.
It’s a curious approach to the debate over fiscal policy, given the latest developments.
Four years after an exploding budget deficit helped fuel a Tea Party electoral sweep, the federal government’s tide of red ink has receded — not only as an election issue but also as an economic problem. The government ran a deficit of $486 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the smallest since 2008, according to a report issued by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday. Measured against the size of the economy, the deficit – at 2.8 percent of the gross domestic product – is now lower than the average deficit over the past 40 years. That figure is down from 9.8 percent of G.D.P. in 2009.
All told, the annual budget deficit is nearly $1 trillion smaller now than the one Obama inherited from Bush/Cheney. This remains the fastest deficit reduction seen in the United States since World War II.
The politics of this, however, are quite strange. The public has no idea this is happening, and many of the same political voices who claim to be most concerned about the annual budget shortfall – for reasons that often make no real, substantive sense – continue to complain in a way that seems disconnected to actual developments.
The principal gripe seems to be that the short-term “success” on deficit reduction – if we’re to assume a smaller deficit right now is a good thing, an assumption I believe is a mistake – is irrelevant because long-term deficits pose a more significant problem.
At first blush, that may even seem like a credible concern. But my response to the deficit hawks is simple: exactly when did you arrive at this conclusion?
For most of the Obama presidency, Republicans, deficit hawks, Beltway pundits, and everyone else screaming about the deficit demanded immediate action. We’re facing a “debt crisis,” they said. Obama’s deficits are “turning the United States into Greece,” they exclaimed. The economy will never recover unless the White House helps get our fiscal house in order, they insisted.
Well, here we are. Obama shrunk the deficit by a trillion dollars, faster than anyone thought possible (or even responsible). Where are those who cried about America’s road to a Greece-like fiscal catastrophe?
They’re apparently the ones saying, “Whatever” to the fastest deficit reduction in generations.
Why is that? Paul Krugman has a hunch : “[T]he deficit scolds themselves are unappeasable – nothing that doesn’t involve severely damaging Social Security and/or Medicare will satisfy them. Why, it’s almost as if shredding the safety net, not reducing the deficit, was their real goal.”
I suspect it still is.1 of 10 View Caption
Courtesy photo Hunter Woodhall Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Hunter Woodhall of Syracuse won the boy's 5A 400M with a time of 47.63 at the second Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Hunter Woodhall of Syracuse explodes out of he blocks and went on to win the boy's 5 Johannes Floores (R) of Germany and Hunter Woodhall (l) of USA react after the Final Men's 4x100m Relay - T42-47 - during the Rio Courtesy photo Hunter Woodhall Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune 17-year-old Hunter Woodhall with the two Paralympic medals he won in track & field in R Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune 17-year-old Hunter Woodhall with the two Paralympic medals he won in track & field in R Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune 17-year-old Hunter Woodhall with the two Paralympic medals he won in track & field in R Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune 17-year-old Hunter Woodhall with the two Paralympic medals he won in track & field in R Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune 17-year-old Hunter Woodhall with the two Paralympic medals he won in track & field in RMy head was hurting so bad I didn't want to do anything. She'd always say, 'You coming out of the room today?' And I'd say, 'No, not unless I have to go do something.
Jim McMahon has never been one to back down from a challenge.
Whether it was overcoming a freakish boyhood accident that nearly ruined his vision in one eye, being a free-spirited Catholic who attended LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University and wound up with a record-shattering career that included arguably the greatest comeback victory in college football history, or helping lead the Chicago Bears to the only Super Bowl championship in franchise history, the former BYU and NFL quarterback has always tackled the obstacles he's faced in his life head-on — often times literally.
And now that he's battling the toughest challenge he's ever faced in his life, McMahon is determined to win this fight, too.
For the past couple of years, it's been well-documented that McMahon has been dealing with severe headaches, memory loss and the early stages of dementia, brought on by concussions he sustained during his NFL career.
It's a devastating health issue, one that McMahon blames for the deaths of two of his former teammates, Dave Duerson and Andre Waters, who both committed suicide.
But now, it looks like there's light at the end of that terribly dark tunnel for McMahon.
"I had a guy in New York (Dr. Scott Rosa) that figured out I had vertebrae that was cutting off my spinal fluid. It was all backing up into my brain," he said in an interview a few days ago while in town to play in a fundraising golf tournament to improve athletic facilities at Roy High School, his alma mater. "Once they adjusted those two vertebrae and all that stuff came out, I haven't had any headaches.
"It's a non-invasive procedure. He invented a machine that does all the work. I don't know what it does, whether it's air or suction, but it just moves the vertebrae enough to let the fluid get out.
"He said, 'I can't reverse the damage that's been done,' but with all that fluid in the brain, that's what causes lesions and all these problems, all these diseases," McMahon, 54, said of Dr. Rosa's diagnosis and subsequent treatment. "He said, 'I can't reverse any of that, but I can keep the pain down as far as you're concerned. I can keep your head from filling up (with spinal fluid) all the time.'"
Badly needed relief
The treatment has been a godsend for McMahon, who's always been such a notorious fun-loving character, but found himself spending many of his days in a darkened room, lying down or watching television, because the constant, chronic headaches were so painful that he simply didn't feel like doing anything else.
"The headaches were so bad he would drop to his knees," said Laurie Navon, McMahon's devoted girlfriend of the last 7 1/2 years whom he met at a charity golf event in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"Oh, yeah," McMahon said. "My head was hurting so bad I didn't want to do anything. She'd always say, 'You coming out of the room today?' And I'd say, 'No, not unless I have to go do something.'
"And when I was on a plane, it was the worst. You get compressed and with the cabin pressure, I would literally have to squeeze my head for as long as the flight lasted.
"The only time I felt good is when I was laying down," he said, "and (Dr. Rosa) said that's because when you lay down and the gravity gets off you, (the spinal fluid's) moving up to where some of it would get out. But every time I was upright, it was constantly banging in my head."
And he admitted that, at times, the crippling pain, anguish and frustration got so bad that he contemplated going to that same, terribly dark place where Seau, Duerson, Waters and too many other former players found themselves — and taking his own life.
"Yeah, I did," McMahon said of his own suicidal thoughts. "Heck, it hurt so bad I'm like, 'Hey, I don't want to keep doing this every day.'... You don't know what to do when your brain starts messing with you. And if they're getting the same kind of pain that I was having, I understand why these guys do that."
"There are no knives, no guns, no nothing in the house," Navon said.
Thankfully, McMahon's innovative treatment is giving them hope for the future.
"It can't cure the dementia," Navon said, "but it can help with all the symptoms that he was having, which were really bad, and hopefully slow down the progression of the dementia.
"I've seen huge improvement in him. After Dr. Rosa did that treatment on Mac, I looked at Jim and he looked at me, and all of a sudden, crazy as it may sound, he had color his face, his eyes looked clearer and Dr. (Raymond) Damadian (who invented the MRI) said he could tell an immediate difference in his speech. Mac said he felt like a toilet bowl had been flushed in his head and everything came out.
"It's definitely made a huge difference," she said. "He's not so ornery. His mood swings were crazy; he was high and he was low.... We went back and Dr. Damadian did the same exact scans again and he thinks all that fluid that was in his brain is now flowing up and back, up and back the way it should in all of us."
"I thought she was the cause of most of the headaches," McMahon said sarcastically of Navon, admitting that, upon further review, maybe she was responsible for "only about half of them."
Navon has noticed some recent signs, though, that the time has come for McMahon to receive more treatment. He has sent some of his former teammates to the doctors who treated him and he, too, admits that things are started to get "a little fuzzy" for him again.
"I mean, I saw a change in Mac probably like three or four months ago," she said. "He definitely needs to go back. One of the first signs is a change in moods, which he has. He gets irritated easily, cursing, yelling for no reason.
"So I know now and I see him rubbing his head too much. I know his memory is slipping, and he needs to go back."
Settling with the NFL
McMahon was part of a lawsuit that was filed against the NFL in 2011, seeking compensation for former players who had suffered concussion-related brain damage, which they accused the league of concealing, misdiagnosing or flat-out ignoring.
NFL teams used to rush concussed players back on the field by simply holding a couple of fingers in front of their face and asking them how many they could see, or waiving a finger back and forth and making sure they could follow it. Back in the day, smelling salts were used to clear a player's foggy head before sending him back into a game.
Those days are long gone now, and the NFL settled the lawsuit in August when it agreed to pay a tentative sum of $765 million, which will be divided among the more than 4,500 players who have sustained irreversible brain damage.
McMahon will receive a portion of that settlement — how much, he has no idea yet — and is just glad that the league decided to do the right thing after decades of seemingly looking the other way when it came to players' injuries.
"I think it's a victory for the guys that are hurting bad right now, because these guys are in desperate need of help, either financially or paying doctor bills, stuff like that," he said.
"It's just a shame that some of these guys that have built this brand over the years are now, you know, they're destitute. They've got nowhere to go and they don't know who to trust. And they don't remember half the people in their lives.
"The guys that are in bad shape, from what I'm hearing, that's how it's gonna break down — the guys that are in the worst shape are going to get help first, the families of guys who have already died," McMahon said. "What amounts they'll get, I have no idea.
"I've already been documented, but all those 4,500 guys that jumped on the bandwagon, they're going to have to prove there's something wrong. They're going to have to go through testing, go through the MRIs and all the stuff that I've already done."
BYU, NFL superstar
McMahon, of course, was a multisport star at Roy High School in Northern Utah, where his family moved prior to his junior year. He not only helped lead the Royals' football team to a combined record of 18-3 in 1975-76, but he was also a superb performer in basketball and baseball before his graduation in 1977.
Then it was on to BYU, where he set an incredible 70 NCAA records as the triggerman of LaVell Edwards' high-powered offense. In all, he threw for 9,536 yards and 84 touchdowns in his collegiate career, leading the Cougars to bowl game victories in his junior and senior seasons, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
McMahon's most notable win at BYU came in the 1980 Holiday Bowl, when he rallied BYU from a 20-point deficit in the final four minutes. Trailing 45-25, the gritty McMahon refused to quit, at one point sending the punt team off the field on a fourth-down play, and engineered an amazing comeback. He connected on a 41-yard Hail Mary TD pass to Clay Brown as time expired to complete the Cougars' improbable and memorable 46-45 victory over SMU.
No wonder grateful BYU fans call it the "Miracle Bowl."
In 1982, he was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, where his spunk and rebellious nature got him crossways at times with the team's front office and head coach Mike Ditka, but where his talent, leadership and competitive spirit earned him the starting quarterback job and NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in his first season.
By 1985, McMahon and the Bears were the best team in the NFL, piling up a near-perfect 15-1 record in the regular season and then steamrolling their way through the playoffs. They came up with their delightful "Super Bowl Shuffle" video, starring McMahon as the "punky QB," and capped that season with a 46-10 championship romp over the New England Patriots in a game that saw Jimmy Mac become the first quarterback in history to rush for two touchdowns in the Super Bowl.
McMahon was in full-on, bad-boy mode back then, clashing with then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle over the quarterback's wearing of a headband on the sidelines and mooning a media helicopter during practice after reports surfaced that he had suffered a serious injury to his buttocks during the NFC championship game.
That was the zenith of his NFL career although, during one stretch from 1984-87, he won what was then a record 22 consecutive regular-season starts. After feuding with Ditka and the front office, he was traded to the San Diego Chargers in 1989 and later spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles — winning the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award in 1991 — Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. He retired following the 1996 season, when he got another Super Bowl championship ring as a backup QB with Green Bay.
When the damage was done
His concussion problems may have begun as far back as 1986, when he was dumped on his head on a vicious sack by the Packers' Charlie Martin, who body-slammed McMahon to the turf after the play was over and was subsequently ejected and suspended for two games.
That was also around the same time McMahon struggled with a sore throwing shoulder, which went misdiagnosed by team doctors for more than two months. He realized then that team doctors didn't always have the players' best interests at heart.
Still, for a guy who gave so much to the game, and received so much from it, he has few regrets.
"I don't regret playing," he said. "I regret maybe playing injured. In 1986, I never should have ever played after the first game; my shoulder
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short haircuts. It's also useful spikes or any combed back style like the pompadour. However, it’s not recommended for curls.
Best for: Thick Short Straight Hair
Mousse
Volume is the primary goal of mousse. The foamy substance surrounds every strand with polymers to create a fuller look. As a result – the hair becomes thicker-looking (especially if mousse is applied at the roots and blow-dried right after). There is no residue or flakes left behind.
Best for: Thin/Thick Long Straight Hair
Lotion
Hair lotion rehydrates and repairs damaged hair. It contains keratin and panthenol which prevents the strands from breaking off or over-drying. It finishes up the hair with more shine and softness.
Best for: Thin/Thick Long Straight Hair, Long Wavy Hair
Part 7 – Using Shampoo Vs. Conditioner
You hear these two products all the time. But some men don't understand how they're different – or which one they ought to use and how often. So if you desire hair that can be brushed easily and fluidly, take note of these points:
Shampoo
It rids your hair of unwanted substances like dirt or pollen.
The formula is 70-80% water and may contain detergents, foam-creating ingredients, plus some conditioning agents or thickeners.
You should NOT use shampoo every day – every 2-3 days is ideal.
Avoid changing shampoos and stick to what works (because your hair isn't able to tell brands apart and may become intolerant of a new product).
Conditioner
It's specifically designed to strengthen and moisturize hair. But it's also a reliable cleaner during the times you don't use shampoo.
Most conditioners contain proteins, oils from fruits or herbs, small amounts of glycerin or similar compounds, and silicon/mineral oils (to soften the hair further).
Frequency of use depends on how healthy your hair already is. Men with smooth and shiny hair can skip conditioning for a day or two.
It's completely fine to use conditioner once a day in the shower – as it prevents breakage and friction when you brush your hair later on.
That last point about conditioner says it all. For guys who don't want frizzy hair or to experience pain while brushing – they need the right conditioner more than they need shampoo (settle for a mild shampoo that does a decent job).
Part 8 – Dry Vs. Wet Styling
This section is about comparing the two major ways of styling your hair.
When Wet Styling Is Better
In wet styling – the hair is ideally damp (not soaking wet or straight from the shower). The moisture works to your advantage when your hair has a ton of curls or coils. The benefits are as follows:
Wet styling lessens the amount of fuzz (especially for tightly coiled hair).
It allows your fingers or the hairbrush to run through the hair more smoothly.
It lubricates the hair so that the product is spread more evenly.
It gives the hair a fuller and smoother appearance.
You end up using less product (and saving more money) since it's been used more efficiently.
When Dry Styling Is Better
For guys with straight or longer hair, dry styling is more appropriate for these situations:Dan Snyder's recently acquired yacht, the Lady Anne, photographed at Cap Ferrat, France. (Peter Seyfferth / TheYachtPhoto.com)
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has added another jewel to his crown: The Lady Anne, a 224-foot “superyacht” purchased for the bargain price of $70 million, give or take a few million.
The sale is big news in the luxury yacht market: The Lady Anne is one of the 100 largest yachts in the world, according to Power & Motoryacht magazine, and one of the most beautiful. Big news for Washington, too: Despite all the multimillionaires in the nation’s capital, few have yachts — and none with the extravagant luxury of the Lady Anne.
Snyder in January 2011. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
The Lady Anne “epitomizes opulent modern living,” boasts Burgess Yachts, the London-based company that offers charters on the boat, on its Web site. “A magnificent spiralling five-storey staircase leads you to the spacious decks, be it the comfort of the main salon, the fabulously appointed theatre room or the light and airy upper salon for a pre-dinner cocktail.” The master suite has “rare, pure white triple A-grade Thassos marble.” The yacht features a library, gym and six staterooms that can accommodate 16 people (not counting the crew of 18).
Snyder’s spokesman, Tony Wyllie, said Snyder bought the Lady Anne with a group of investors but did not disclose the partners’ names. The sellers live in Palm Beach, Fla., so it’s a good guess that Dwight Schar — Snyder’s close friend, a minority owner in the Redskins and a Palm Beach resident — might be involved in the deal. (Schar didn’t return our calls.)
Wyllie did not say whether the yacht was intended for Snyder’s personal use or as an investment, but noted it had nothing to do with the Redskins franchise. He declined to comment on the purchase price.
But, hey, Snyder can afford it. The Redskins are the second-most valuable franchise in the NFL, and he’s thrown plenty of money at worse deals: Snyder forked over some $40 million to defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth during his two lackluster seasons with the team.
Snyder, left, with Dwight Schar in Philadelphia in 2009. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
The Fishers, who spent last month cruising on the Lady Anne off the coast of France, did not respond to requests for comment about the sale.
Lady Anne went on the market early this year with an asking price of $86 million. “The owners were intimately involved in every aspect of the design... using rosewood, Macassar ebony, goatskin parchment, and more. These, plus period furnishings and modern pieces, echo the feel of early 20th century ocean liners,” wrote Mega Yacht News in February.
In August, Burgess and Merle Wood & Associates said the boat had been sold but did not disclose the sale price. (Yacht experts estimate the sale was in the neighborhood of $70 million — about half the amount it cost to build the boat.) A representative for Merle Wood told us, “Unfortunately, due to confidentiality clauses in the contracts, we cannot comment.”
No word when we’ll see the yacht in the waters near the District. The Lady Anne is registered in the Cayman Islands; Burgess is offering it for charters in the Mediterranean. For how much? If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it... unless you’re a friend of Dan.Steve Levine’s engineering and production career reads like a guide through the past few decades of music history.
He started as a teaboy in the opulent mid seventies – a time of denim and big record sales and a time of unimaginable post Beatles riches in a music business ripe on the rewards of its own juices.
His entry point was in that era when glam rock was floundering and those curious mid seventies bands like Sailor were bobbing about and the dark horse of punk was galloping in the distance heading towards music biz central. It was a comfortable time of Fleetwood Mac and British bands expecting to dominate worldwide.
It’s a career that leaves him uniquely positioned to understand the ebb and flow of music by being placed at the heart of one of the biggest changes in British musical culture- one minute it was working with the aforementioned Sailor album and the next it was the producing the Clash’s first album.
In the eighties he was one of the most successful producers in the world- riding high, producing Culture Club and many other projects and has kept his hand in ever since. He is back on the frontline right now with the fab Natalie McCool whose debut album is a great body of songs with a full production from Levine.
Impassioned and opinionated, Steve makes for great company as we sit in his home studio built in the out house of his Fulham house. He doesn’t hide his opinions and before today’s interview is annoyed about Haim being given loads of attention at the cost of several upcoming young British bands that he has been championing as a fan of new music.
‘Haim have had one EP out and it’s not even an album. I don’t have a problem with them as a band. It’s just that the business are in a unique position to help young British bands. I bet Haim are not even on the radar in America. It’s not a level playing field and it’s unfair giving them an award instead of young British talent.’
LTW:
When you started in the studio you arrived at a very interesting time, a music scene on the verge of big change from the seventies rock to the new wave.
Steve Levine :
‘I can specifically remember when the old guard band of Supertramp were booked in to do a session and I remember I was not on the session but I went past the studio every day and all I could hear was the doof, doof, doof of the snare drum. That went on for a week and was going on continually. I was working upstairs with the Clash at the time in 1976, doing demos, and that was all done in a day. I remember at that time thinking that old way of working had to change.
Things were changing, people’s attitudes were changing. I remember the first conversation I had with Joe Strummer was when he walked into the studio and he said, ‘what are those?’ and I said that they are screens for the sound and he said ‘why are they there.’ And I said to stop the sound of the guitars from the amplifiers getting all over the place and Simon Humphrey, who was one of the CBS staff engineers who worked with me and was working on the session as well said that’s what they are for, to create separation and, I quote, Joe Strummer said to him, ‘I don’t know what separation is but I don’t like it!’
So we immediately moved the screens and that was the difference between the old and new bands at the time. We thought differently from them but we were willing to work in their way but Mick Jones, who is a little bit older than me had a lot more seventies music in his blood, with him being a fan of the likes of Mott the Hoople, and he really got it and was fascinated by the recording process.’
LTW:
You worked on the Clash demos and the Clash album as well. What was the recording process like?
‘There were not many guitar overdubs on the Clash album and the backing vocals were double tracked. We didn’t spend a lot of time on Joe’s vocals. He just put them down. We did 2 or 3 takes on the lead vocals – and we spent not much more than one hour on the backing vocals, including any of the tracking. It was just a different approach to doing things but the recording quality on the Clash album is as good as any modern recording studio would be able to do with what is now considered to be state of art equipment Generation X recorded at a similar level studio and they had a similar technical level of sound. Most bands at that time were recording on either 16 or 24 track.
The other thing about the Clash was, because I was living in Hampstead at the time, I would take Mick Jones home after the sessions and on the way we would go and see several of the new bands play live at the Nashville or the Greyhound in Fulham or the Hope and Anchor and some of those other places and you would get to see bands who might come into the studio later on.
The way of working then was much more about capturing the live thing of what was happening. It was an exciting period and you got the sense that there was something really happening in music.
Previously I had not been so much into the pub rock type of thing of bands like Dr. Feelgood. For me there was a slight difference between the pub generation and the punk bands- the pub bands had missed the glam scene and seemed less exciting than the punk bands.
The new wave bands, despite what people said, were all also incredible musicians. Punk was less about the music but more exciting because of that in some ways.’
LTW:
How long did you work with the Clash for?
The last record I did with the Clash was White Man In Hammersmith Palais. Simon and I were, by then, recording on multi tracks and we recorded a lot of overdubs on that song. There is a piano and acoustic guitar and a harmonica somewhere in the mix on that one. There was certainly a love of reggae in the band and its influence was really strong on that song which is a great song and still one of my favourites. Topper was a great drummer, I knew him from before the Clash when he was actually a session drummer and had come in and worked on some sessions I had been working on.
Later on there was a period when the Clash were not touring and Topper would come in and play more sessions for us. We were using an old Simmons drum kit for some of those sessions. At that time with or without Topper I did some really naff records that I’m really proud off because they actually sounded really good soundwise. There was a lot of pop stuff.
This is the legacy of being a young gun for hire. As a an engineer with a reputation I was getting a lot of work and it was very varied. People would say, I heard some of your stuff, can you come in and do some work for us. All the junk equipment from Abbey Road was put into a room and I just worked with people in there. I remember working with Honey Bane, who was really interesting and different and ahead of her time. When I look at PJ Harvey now, I think she is cut from the same cloth as Honey Bane who was really good and that was a couple of years after working with the Clash.’
LTW:
So you remember your first sessions with the Clash?
The first sessions I did with the Clash were demos at the CBS studios in 1976. They came down to the studio at the weekend and I remember it distinctly. To be perfectly honest Mickey Foote, who was there and was credited as the producer was really their live soundman and not a studio person. It was Simon and I who did the work. The problem was that Mickey Foote didn’t really understand the studio. There was a big difference between being a live engineer in those days and the studio.
When we started recording the album, I remember going to get the sound effect of the police siren for the beginning of White Riot. The CBS studios had a massive sound archive because of its affiliation with CBS news in America and I was sent to find the sound of the siren for the front of the song. They had sounds of warfare and some quite ferocious sounds down there in the sound effects place!
The next track we recorded for the album was Janie Jones, that sits in my mind as being the next song and it was pretty much how we did it with White Riot, with the same set up. We just went in and recorded it. Weirdly at the same time I was also doing a Jags session.
In the last session I did with The Clash a year later, we recorded Jail Guitar Doors, Time Is Tight and White Man In Hammersmith Palais. We would just go in and record and not rebuild the tracks like you would do nowadays.
Joe later on may have said he didn’t have that much to do with the recording but he would certainly have his input. The Clash was very much about those two guitars and the two different vocals and he was key to that.’
LTW : And there was lots of other things going on there…
Steve Levine :
‘Lyrically they were amazing. There was some beautiful story telling going on. It was great to have that kind of feel in a song. White Man In Hammersmith Palais is one of my favourite tracks of all time, it’s certainly my favourite Clash track. I also really like Tommy Gun and historically White Riot because it was the first one we worked on together.’
LTW: You worked with several other bands in the punk and new wave era.
Steve Levine :
‘I worked with XTC on their first session in Feb 1976. It was really early in their career. There was a big gap before they came back again to do another demo. The scouts at CBS brought them back for another go but still didn’t sign them. They did rerecord the same songs for their album when they signed to Virgin. I love them, they are a really great band, really underrated. Their songwriting has influenced lots of people. They should have been much bigger. I remember that when thy turned up, they were not like rock stars, I remember they brought sandwiches to the session!
LTW : You started in the studio world in his teenage years the year before. It was not straight onto the controls but the more tried and tested method of being the teabag carrier.
Steve Levine :
‘I left school at 17 and started as a tape op at CBS studios. In fact I was just under the tape op. You started on the first day as a tea boy for the tape op and within the first couple of days of making tea you would get shown the basics of how to be a tape op.
For the younger readers I will explain what the tape op did. In the olden days of recoding the two inch multi track didn’t have a remote control- you were the remote control!
Some of the machines didn’t have very accurate counters so you would have to learn where, on the 2 inch tape, the verse and chorus was of the song you were working on and if the artist or producer said ‘Steve. you have to go back to the second verse’, you would have to know immediately where that was and go back to the second verse and play it.
For me, though, the exciting part of being a tape op was punching in something- this is something that the younger readers will take for granted these days with a laptop but in the olden days you would have to manually do it, particularity at the CBS studios where they would have a Neve desk.
Neve’s are very valuable now and they were great to work on but they had an odd configuration. The left side of the desk had the instrument inputs and the right hand side had the monitor section. The old desks did not have automatic switching from tape playback, so to line up, which is a very important part of overdubbing, the engineer would have to switch the desk from playback to line in and at the same time you have to switch the tape machine from stand by and punch in to record at the cue of the producer or, depending on what you were doing, then swiftly punch out.
The punch out was the absolute skill because punching out the song was very complicated and you had to anticipate it slightly because the tape was whizzing through and if you were a little bit slow it would wipe out what was there!
It was quite a skillful job and I got very good at it and that became a big part of my CV very early on. People would say, ‘let’s book Steve- he’s swift at punching in and out’ and that’s a skill that’s important even to this very day in the digital world because punching in a vocal is the same as editing a vocal in a digital environment because it’s about making sure that you don’t chop breaths off and things like that and keep it sounding natural.’
LTW:
From this early start of learning the basic and important rudimentary skills, like making the correct cup of tea and not wiping out the lead vocal by dropping in at the wrong place, Steve started to progress.
Steve Levine :
‘After a few months, from when I started July 1975, I progressed to being the tape op on main sessions but they would also then allow you to be the assistant and then the full engineer on the demo sessions in the other studios.
CBS had three studios- studio one- which predominantly had classical based sessions and also big tracking days, which would often be a solo artist with a full band playing. Often there would be some of the more big name American acts that came over to record because CBS would have a lot of American stars who would come to town to do the odd session. Studio two was, the then, state of art studio that they had just installed and because, as I just explained, of my reputation as being good at drop ins I got plenty of work there. This is because, when CBS went to 24 track, they had to get rid of the Neve desk and Studer tape machines and install brand new MCI systems with brand new console multiple channels and, more importantly, the brand new MCI tape machine which had an auto locator and an automatic punch in and out and I became very proficient in that studio.
So now I had a parallel world as a tape op engineer working in the big studios on every single session you could imagine from classical to pop to rock and then I would work upstairs with what, was soon to become, the new generation of artists like the Clash, XTC and the Jags because those new artists would be doing free demo time in studio 3 which was the demo studio with all the old gear that was thrown out of the other two studios and by working there is how I started moving up.’
LTW :
Learning on tape must have given you an interesting perspective on the analogue versus digital debate.
Steve Levine :
‘I think currently the myth is that when the younger generation listen to older records they say they sound better and they put that down to those records being recorded with analogue and on tape but what they miss is that the younger generation of engineers are, now, not as good as the older generation who learned their craft like I did. Recording on a laptop, the new generation of engineers’ engineering prowess is not as good and neither is their microphone placement or knowledge about the right cable or the right pre amps and a lot of modern recording is just not as good sounding.
For me, digital systems are as good as delivering everything you would expect from analogue but what you are looking at is a generation of engineers that are just not as good since the dance period of the nineties when home recording really took off. ‘
LTW: It’s not that Steve thinks that this is an ongoing downward spiral in music. Far from it, he is very enthusiastic about much of modern music.
Steve Levine : These days you have got a set of engineers and producers who are certainly very good at the programming which the previous generation were not as good at and you got some really good musicians these days. Today’s drummers are as good, if not better, than any drummers from before but what you don’t have with home recording is the knowledgeable production and recording techniques with regards to setting up the instruments properly and recording them properly.
These older skills of mic placement and all those things that go with it are being lost and the byproduct of this is the loss of basic techniques. These are the skills involved when you made a punch in during the performance and it had to be right and you could not do it a million times. Decisions had to be made because, if you had 16 or 24 tracks not everything could be left to the mix.
The multi track already had set things on given tracks and each thing already recorded. When you pointed your effects, for example, you had to be on the case. Many studios only had one echo pate and you had to decide if you wanted echo on the guitar or wanted echo on the backing vocals. Sometimes the producer would record that echo as part of the sound and sometimes, when you recorded that sound, the voice and layering of reverb could create quite an interesting effect, these are the sort of elements of the recording process where some of that skill has been lost.
One of the bad things about tape, though, was that you had horrendous tape noise and also, not every studio lined their machines up correctly.
These days people look at things from the past through rose tinted glasses but it could sound like shit then. Every playback of the tape meant it slightly wore out and if the band had loads of overdubbing the quality of tape would reduce dramatically over time compared to what was captured initially.
I remember working with a band, recording the backing track on one piece of tape and you would then make a mix and the backing track and the overdubs would be put onto a new piece of tape which saved the original drum track as one generation and was not played a lot to keep the tape good. Of course all those things don’t happen in the digital world, which makes things easier but may also contributes to losing some basic skills.’
LTW : Not that Steve is against modern technology.
Steve Levine
‘I think the old skills are really good but, of course, modern technically is amazing. I’ve always been on the forefront of modern technology and the cutting edge and I fully support it.
I’m just fortunate in that I was trained by really skilled engineers and worked in a period of the late seventies with the old techniques and amps and early synthesizers and those techniques have stayed with me forever. They are really valuable when I have worked with younger acts who want to have some of that knowledge. Learning live in the studio was like a fast track and it was better than reading the manual.
Most bands want, not only, the sound but also the arrangement idea, which in some cases can be as important as a particular vocal or guitar sound.
What I think is pretty exciting about newer bands coming through like Alt J and Django Django is that they are traditional indie bands but sonically, they are pulling in elements from other places like dub and things that would be perfectly at home on a dub record but maybe not on an indie record, which I think is terribly exciting.
And that’s a very modern idea. It’s the technology of the style rather than the genre of the style that people are really interested in. I like this idea that you don’t have to be a dub band to use dub effects, know what I mean. It’s about taking the sound from the genre rather than the song writing or arrangement.
LTW : It seems like people are more fascinated with the sound than the style?
Steve Levine :
Sound always driven songwriting. Instruments drove song writers like the Beatles. When they got their hands on a new instrument like the melletron they wrote Strawberry Fields. The melletron created the sound at the beginning of the song and enabled them to create something new. Another case was when George Harrison discovered the sitar and it gave them another tone palate to play with. The Beatles were always looking to create a new sonic style that would not only enhance but also stimulate their songwriting and that is still true today with new groups.
When I work with brand new bands or a new artist like Natalie McCool I still see this. Natalie is a very good guitarist and has a lot of songs with different, alternative tunings. Her guitars are effectively playing lower. She also likes using chorus effects and using different mics on songs. If you play the same riff it’s still the same song but you don’t get that singing chorus effect. For so many artists, it’s what it sounds like that inspires the songs and that’s incredibly important.’
LTW: The sound is as much a key to the song as the chord sequence…
Steve Levine:
‘It’s like putting a guitar through a very stimulating compressor which I very often use which I think is very lovely and that’s one of the great things about the studio.
You take these new bands with their dub style effects and they are not singing reggae songs, they could also have the wah wah sound of the tremolo guitar associated with country and western and they use them together. I find that really inspiring.
With a young band like Stealing Sheep, their vocals have that sixties sound to them, the harmonies remind me of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the Mamas and Papas with, what is actually a bed of reverb, as opposed to the sound of eighties reverb- the digital reverb of eighties bands like ABC and it’s those choices that are fascinating.
When I started producing we had new toys and new things to play with and artists loved that sound of the now. Thirty years later, you have groups who mix the eighties with the sixties. When you think of the classic vocal sound with the tape delay of people like John Lennon and the slap back sound on the Beatles records, that’s now added to a soundscape that is very much of the eighties.
It’s a fascinating mixture of sounds from different decades. I just got that LP from the Liverpool band, Wave Machines, who I really love. It has a really eighties sound but also that thing when a band take a genre or sound and make their own thing out of it. Now albums can sound like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin but also completely original like Tame Impala do by mixing it up.
A band like the Alabama Shakes very much have the sound of the sixties and seventies to what they do, sonically it’s got that vintage sound but it doesn’t sound like a covers band. They are not a sound-a-like band. They still sound modern and that’s a great example of this pick n mix modern way of music making.
LTW: When you started in the studios in the seventies who were your inspirations?
Steve Levine :
‘Well, I had always wanted to do this. I specifically didn’t want to be in a band. My thing was engineering and doing the production behind the scenes whilst my other friends wanted to be in bands.
There were a couple of very specific things in my life that were turning points though. A huge hero of mine was Phil Spector and there was there was this famous picture of him in the early sixties, which I saw when I was young, and it really struck me. The picture was, of course, Phil Spector in the studio with Larry Levine, his engineer, at the controls. Larry Levine was my hero and him having the same name as me helped! The picture was of when he’s got his hands on these four controls at a desk and I thought that’s really it..that’s what I want to do.
I saw that picture when I was in secondary school. I then got interested in how they recorded the music and I used to buy Electronic Engineer magazine which was all about studios and recording and stuff like that and I became really fascinated with the process.’
LTW : What were the musics you liked when you were growing up?
Steve Levine :
‘I had wide taste. I went to school in Muswell Hill in London and every day I was hearing new things. The Jamaican kids at school would listen to early Motown plus strange country and western singles which I got into and also my older brothers in my family were really into Jimi Hendrix and the MC5 and those really heavy groups. Muswell Hill was a real mixture of cultures from the Greek population, to the Jews, Greeks and West Indians and that fed into what we would listen to.
It’s just odd, I just kind of grew up with that and it’s fantastic, you don’t see any colour which is brilliant. I grew up in an incredibly open, tolerant, lovely situation- which is as it should be. It was forward thinking.
Motown and reggae were coming through and eventually when I was working with Culture Club they would contain all those kind of musical references as well. It was the perfect melting pot for all those people from that generation. George himself was also very open about these things which was unusual from his background.
LTW : Was this diversity reflected in Culture Club’s creativity?
Steve Levine :
‘On the demos for songs George would be singing to a drum machine to get the beat and I would work with the bass line and there would be Roy’s little guitar part. It was the sum of the parts in the band. George was at the beginning of the song and it was the way that members put their parts in made it as good as it was and there were so many diverse influences in there.’
LTW : You broke into the mainstream in the eighties with your production on all the key Culture Club releases. How did that come about?
Steve Levine :
‘The Culture Club came about because I had been working with the Angelic Upstarts and their manager, Tony Gorden, who was managing both bands at the time asked me to check them out. I was working on an Angelic Upstarts. In fashion terms, at the time, the Angelic Upstarts were past their sell by date but they were still doing some really good stuff. On the album there were really good songs and they wanted to do something modern with them. So we were working with the Linn drum that had just come in and I was one of the first people to use. EMI were really pleased with what I did with them and said we have this new band we are checking out, will you come and see them? And that was Culture Club.
Their manger was Tony Gorden and, like I said, he had already said would you come and see this band. He said, I tell you what I’m going to do, I will send Jon Moss, their drummer, to come and see you and that’s when I first met Jon.
He was so nice and so focussed when we met at Rondor Music in Parsons Green which was my publishers at the time because I’d written some songs at that point- like a real soul ballad that had very strong potential for being covered by from Peaches and Herb who had just had a big hit with How About Us and they were looking for a follow up. Previous to that, and a bit of trivia for you, was that me and Simon Humphreys, had co written a song that Three Degrees had covered and recorded but never released. Simon and I were doing freelance engineering but the first big money I earned was the £3000 advance from signing to Rondor Music as a songwriter and because of my budding career as a songwriter I earned some money which I used to buy the very first Linn drum machine along with Martin Rushent, who may actually have had the first one to work with the Human League. The Linn drum was an expensive thing to buy in 1981, it cost me £2600 out of my advance and with the other £400 Karen and I went on the first holiday I had ever had!
So, when I first met Jon Moss in November 1981 he had come to see me about working together. The first thing he said was that you know I’ve been in these other bands like the 1977 punk band London and briefly in Adam And The Ants- where he had been the drummer on their Cartrouble single which I had really liked. He said I’m working with this new band, Culture Club and, unlike Adam, we don’t want to have two drummers in this band because it’s too complicated but I’m really keen on that Bow Wow Wow Burundi beat thing and I said let me show you this Linn drum I’m working with.
I said it’s really easy to work, you just programme the beats and you’re away and you could play on top of it. I didn’t realise how complicated that was but because Jon is a fantastic drummer he made it look easy and that was great.
So we booked some demo time and that was the first time that I had met George in the first minute of the recording session in January 1982. At that session we recorded White Boy and I’m Afraid Of Me as two demos.
Sadly EMI didn’t want to sign the band so we spent the next few months demoing and thinking, what the fuck are we going to do! I was so excited by what we were doing. I loved the demos and I thought finally I have found my band. It was with relentless gigging up and down the country that eventually got Virgin Music interested and they signed them to publishing and then Virgin Records signed them by default. In the mean time we carried on recording whilst nothing happened! We were still sat there wondering what the fuck is going to happen.
Then we did a Peter Powell session. In those days the sessions were not live recordings, what people forget is that those sessions and the John Peel sessions were multi tracked and not live and that’s why they stand the test of time. Anyway we recorded White Boy, I’m Afraid Of Me and the eventual b side of I’m Afraid Of Me which was a rap song. We also routined Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and I said why don’t we cut that track live including the vocal so we did and the Peter Powell recording of the song is the first version other than the demo that we had done.
We then decided that we should go back into the studio to record it like that which proved to be a bit of pain because as we were recording I hadn’t realised that there were a few technical problems. So the master track of Do You Really Want To Hurt Me was George in the studio singing the master vocal in the corridor of Red Bus studio! Jon in in the studio playing the drums, Mikey on bass and Roy doing the guide guitar and it all sounded fantastic but we didn’t realise the piece of tape that I was using was slightly damaged. Certain parts of the tape were slightly bigger which slowed down parts of the song. I didn’t realise this until we overdubbed the electric piano on the track and it was really out of tune!
I always made sure everything was in tune on a session, and that was always a lesson learned. When it was out of tune I thought what’s going on! I thought everything we played sounded wrong and the tech guy came down and we thought oh no! look at the tape.
We did the front section with Helen Terry singing and we decided to cut the multi track so the tech engineer made the tape machine really slack with the tape running through so we could copy it. The second generation master stayed in tune, by the way the tuning was random, for some reason the tape didn’t move up and down on the initial recording and it was only when it got played back that the tension thing come into effect and the song was saved!
The master vocal was one single take- not the first take, but when George did the one that was the take, we knew that was the one and he would never get it better.
LTW :
Did you work exclusively with Culture Club.
Steve Levine :
‘I was working with them exclusively in the first place but later on there was a couple of other tracks and projects that I got involved in. George was jealous actually! I was working with David Grant at the same time and he had some big hits around that time.
This year is actually the anniversary of my big year, which was 1983. Everything I did that year went really well. We recorded the Culture Club, Colours By Numbers album, which was massive and we had the two big singles still in the charts when the album came out. In January we started with Church Of The Poisoned Mind and Mister Man. We worked really hard on Church because it was obviously going to be the big hit. We didn’t cut Karma Chameleon till that May. The band were still touring and I was also their live sound engineer and every time we had spare time we were in the studio recording on days off. I produced David Grant and
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dynasty was deposed by the Roman Church in 800 AD, their demonic bloodline was preserved by the “Imperial and Royal Dragon Court” which conspired to regain control of the Holy Roman Empire through infiltration of Church and State.Their insignia was the dragon in the form of a circle and a red cross - the Rosy Cross of the Priori de Sion, the Knights Templar and the Rosicrucians.“When the Imperial and Royal Dragon Court was reconstituted by King Sigismund in 1408 as the Societas Draconis, it was based upon an ancient bloodline tradition which Sigismund assumed that he had inherited from his presumed Egyptian and Scythian ancestors through the Pictish, Dragon Princess Maelasanu of Northumbria and the Ancient and Original Angevin Royal House of Vere of Anjou, the Imperial Dukes of Angiers.This line had descended through the Tuatha de Danaan (the Dragon Kings of Anu) on the one hand, and the Egyptian Dragon Dynasty of Sobek on the other. The latter strain included the bloodline of the Davidic House of Judah who married into the descent of the Merovingian Kings of the Franks.In 1408 (when Britain was in her Plantagenet era), the Dragon Court was formally reconstituted as a sovereign body at a time of wars and general political turmoil.The founding document... stated that members of the Court might wear the insignia of a dragon in curved into a circle, with a red cross - the very emblem of the original Rosicrosse which had identified the Grail succession from before 3000 B.C.” — Laurence Gardner,The Merovingian dynasty still maintains its legitimacy and will one day openly assert the divine right of their nobility to rule the world as an angelic race of demigods, whose ancestors were the fallen angels.Robert the Bruce was far more than an "early Scottish King."He was a high born Merovingian:"In 1307... under the auspices of Robert the Bruce and the excommunicated clergy, the Order was restructured into a Church, with a hierarchy quite independent of Rome. The Templar Church had abbots, priests, and even bishops.The Knights began to train the army of Robert the Bruce in the hit-and-run tactics of warfare established in the Crusades.The Roman Church may have betrayed the Templars, but in Scotland they found something far more trustworthy and tangible: a sacred royal house and a Priest-King of the Celtic Church succession.The King of Scots was installed as the hereditary Sovereign Grand Master, and from that time, whichever descending King held that office, he was to be known as 'Saint Germain.'A new Order was then formed, called the Elder Brothers of the Rosy Cross, and several of the Rosy Cross Knights then sailed to France for a meeting with Pope John XXII at Avignon.Many historians have presumed therefore that the Knights Templars must have disbanded in Scotland, but this was not the case; it was simply that Bruce had contrived the secret Order to become even more secretive.Indeed, the Order of the Knights of the Rosy Cross had been established by Bruce for Templars who had been valiant at Bannockburn, and this was a very successful cover." — Prince Michael Stewart,Joseph Weisberg is an American television writer-producer, novelist, former CIA officer and school teacher.[1] Weisberg is best known as the creator and executive producer of the FX TV series The Americans.
Career [ edit ]
A 1987 graduate of Yale University,[1] Weisberg became a CIA officer three years after graduation,[1] and after a short career with the Agency, Weisburg taught at The Summit School, a private special education high school in Queens, New York until 2010 when he went on to pursue a career in television. One of his final projects at Summit School was helping students found the school newspaper, The Summit Sun.[2]
Weisberg wrote episodes for TNT's alien invasion series Falling Skies and the DirecTV legal drama Damages. He then created The Americans, an FX series centering on two KGB agents who pose as American citizens in Washington, D.C. during the 1980s.[1] The Americans was executive-produced by Weisberg and Justified creator Graham Yost.[3][4]
Weisberg authored two novels: 10th Grade and An Ordinary Spy.[5] An Ordinary Spy was nominated for the Believer Book Award.[6]
Personal life [ edit ]
Weisberg grew up in a Jewish family in Chicago,[7] the son of civil rights attorney Bernard Weisberg and former Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg.[1] He is the younger brother of Slate Group editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg.[1] Weisberg married Julia Rothwax, former press secretary to presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bill Bradley, in 2005.[1][8] The couple have a daughter.[1]
Filmography [ edit ]
Falling Skies [ edit ]
Damages [ edit ]
"Next One's on Me, Blondie" (4.04)
The Americans [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
10th Grade (2002)
(2002) An Ordinary Spy (2008)It looks like the rumors were spot on. A sneak peek of the not-yet-announced Canon 5Ds full frame DSLR camera has leaked onto the Web. The photograph above shows what the high-resolution 50.6MP camera will look like.
The leaked image and specs were first published by Japanese camera site digicam-info, which also confirms that there will be a separate 5Ds R version of the camera that comes without a low-pass filter for greater sharpness at the expense of more moire.
One feature in the camera is reportedly 1.3x and 1.6x crop modes that allow you to only use a portion of the full frame sensor for lower-resolution photographs — useful for if you don’t need a 50.6MP file with every shot.
ISO range is reportedly 100 to 6400. Canon Rumors is hearing that the lower maximum ISO is due to the camera having “a much stronger CFA [color filter array] which will produce much greater color accuracy than anything currently in the Canon lineup.”
Other specs mentioned in the report are: a weatherproof magnesium alloy body, dual processor DIGIC6, 5FPS continuous shooting, 61 autofocus points, EOS iTR AF, a 150,000 pixel RGB/IR photometry sensor, and a “fine detail” picture style.
We should see the official announcement for these cameras sometime next week. Stay tuned.
(via digicam-info via PhotoRumors)Category One Status Retained
Wednesday 13 September 2017 09:30
The Club is pleased to announce that our Academy has retained its Category One status. Under the Elite Player Performance Plan, Fulham has held the highest possible status since its introduction in the summer of 2012, and will now continue to enjoy the benefits that come with it. “It’s really important for a club for our size and standing, to be competing with the best clubs’ youth development in the country,” commented Academy Director Huw Jennings. “We’re very proud of our Academy and we are delighted to have received further affirmation of our work.”
The Club recently built an indoor facility at our Motspur Park Training Ground as part of a redevelopment project funded entirely by Chairman Shahid Khan, and have further invested by purchasing the land adjacent that was previously owned by the BBC. “The other thing that is critical to us is the demonstration of the fantastic support we have had from the ownership and the executive of the Club,” Jennings added. “They have backed the programme with a massive injection of cash into our facility development both last season and also for the long term future with the acquisition of the former BBC ground. “When the rules relating to facilities changed, we knew that it was going to be a very tall order to first of all gain the planning consent, to build the new facilities, and to get them completed in time to the satisfaction of the Category One auditors. “We managed to achieve both and I think that’s attributed to a fantastic team effort. I should absolutely compliment [Chief Operating Officer] Darren Preston and his team, the facilities development programme was an outstanding achievement. “The best thing for me about the facility development is that absolutely everyone at the Club and within our local community benefits.”The Canadian Press
It says something about the conundrum that is Toronto FC that Eric Avila only wants to talk about the good memories he has of the team that cut him adrift.
The slight midfielder, who now plies his trade for Chivas USA, remains a huge fan of the underachieving MLS franchise in Toronto.
"I really enjoyed my time there," he said in an interview Tuesday. "Obviously playing-wise was not as much as I wanted. But the experience of being up there and playing. And obviously playing in front of all the fans there, it's amazing."
On Wednesday, Avila and Chivas (3-11-5) will welcome Toronto (2-9-7) to the StubHub Centre in Carson, Calif., just south of Los Angeles.
Toronto may want to keep a close eye on the former Red. Avila, acquired in January by Chivas from Colorado after the MLS re-entry draft, has scored against both Montreal and Vancouver this season.
The 25-year-old from San Diego was a familiar sight to reporters covering Toronto FC. They often saw Avila, his cowboy-like gait and slim build hard to miss, getting off a streetcar en route to BMO Field.
"The city's amazing," he said of Toronto. "Obviously there's a lot of friendly people down there.... I didn't have a car so I got to know the way through the streetcars and trains."
After signing a Generation Adidas contract as an elite underclassman, the former U.S. under-20 international was taken by FC Dallas 19th overall in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. In four seasons for Dallas, Avila made 63 appearances.
He was traded to Toronto during the 2011 season, appearing in 33 games before being one of many players let loose after the disappointing 2012 season.
He has flourished at Chivas, a team like Toronto under reconstruction, and has seen action in 16 games. His two goals are tied for the team lead, which while good for Avila speaks volumes about the ineptitude of the Chivas offence.
When it comes to poor performance on the pitch, Toronto is almost unparalleled. The franchise, owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, could be a Harvard Business School study on how to and how not to run a sports franchise.
Off the pitch, the team was a hit out of the box as fans flocked to the no-frills but cosy stadium on the city's lakefront. But management could not deliver the product to match the fan fervour.
Now in its seventh season, Toronto has never made the playoffs and sports a woeful 47-97-62 regular-season record. TFC has only ever won 13 MLS games on the road.
Yet the team's support remains amazingly vibrant. Toronto, under new management yet again this season, stands 18th in the 19-team standings, but ranks eighth in attendance at 19,608 a game.
Is it any wonder that new MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke says Toronto FC has done "a lot of damage" to what he says was the best brand in MLS.
Avila, however, sees the glass as half-full. His faith in Toronto is based on that support despite the constant management and roster fluctuations.
"Don't get me wrong. Things are always changing there," he said.
But Avila remembers the packed stands and enthusiasm that filled the Rogers Centre when Toronto hosted the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy in a CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final in 2012.
He recalls how the city rallied behind the soccer team.
"For me, it's a taste of the success of what it could be," he said of the franchise.
Avila has also seen how Toronto looks after its players. The club's training centre in north Toronto is European-calibre, complete with a chef and well-appointed facilities. The club is also among the best in MLS in looking after and settling in its players. These days, a car service helps ferry players to the training base north of the 401 highway.
The turnover at Toronto has been such that only eight players on the current roster played with Avila last season. But the Chivas midfielder took time to seek out his old teammates in Los Angeles after TFC flew directly to the West Coast from their 3-0 loss Saturday in Kansas City.
"I have nothing but love for Toronto. It will be very exciting to play against them," said Avila, sounding like he really meant it.
At Chivas, Avila has re-stablished himself as a regular, albeit on a team with its own problems.
It's been a difficult season for the largely Hispanic franchise, which fired coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola in late May with the team languishing in the Western Conference basement with a 3-7-2 record.
Like Toronto, it has found goals hard to come by with just 17 in 19 games. Only D.C. United, with eight, has scored fewer goals.
Chivas has not won a league game since March 30, going 0-10-4 since. Prior to a 3-1 loss in Philadelphia last time out, however, the Goats had managed three straight ties against Montreal, FC Dallas and New England.
Chivas has been shut out nine times this season and managed to score more than one goal just four times. Since the end of April, Chivas has been outscored 24-5 in 11 league games.
Wednesday could mark the Chivas debut of newly acquired U.S. international defender Carlos Bocanegro. Another new face is Mexican forward Erick (Cubo) Torres.
Chivas is playing its fourth game in two weeks, returning home after an 0-1-2 road trip that included a 1-1 tie in Montreal.
Toronto continues a busy portion of the schedule when it hosts Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bull (9-7-4) on Saturday.Share
Earlier this week Sony released the PlayStation 4 FAQ. It wasn’t just a normal “here’s how you plug it in” FAQ, though. Instead it revealed a few things about the PS4 that we didn’t know, things that Sony wisely held back, likely suspecting that people would not like them. And they were right.
If you have been following the escalation leading up to the next console war, then you’ve probably heard a great deal of people saying how Sony has had the upper hand in messaging, and there is a very good reason for that: because it has. That doesn’t mean the PS4 is better than the Xbox One. Deciding which console is better are what angry and irrational forum threads are for. But when it comes to messaging, Sony has clearly done a better job at telling people what they want to hear, while Microsoft has often stumbled; sometimes even contradicting itself.
Part of Sony’s success has been from being reactionary. Microsoft took the hits by announcing things like the Xbox One would require an online connection. Sony heard the reaction and then heavily touted that the PS4 won’t, and that is true – mostly. You won’t need to remain online or check in every 24 hours as the Xbox One originally planned (before changing its policies), but the PS4 will need to connect online initially to download a patch in order to activate and update several major features, like playing DVDs or blu-rays. We only found that out last week.
Now that the PS4 has sold out all of its pre-orders, and many gamers have made their decision on which console to support, Sony has let the other shoe drop. In the FAQ of Doom, Sony also revealed several last minute surprises, many of them not good.
For one, you won’t be able to use USB flash drives or any USB connected external storage. This paired with the lack of media sharing from your computer, known as DLNA, means you won’t be able to play any content, video or audio, unless you buy it from Sony (or get it from an authorized Sony partner like Netflix). This either means nothing to you, or it is devastating news.
I cut my TV cable years ago, and since then I have relied on my computer to provide me with sweet, sweet media content. And no, I am not talking about legally murky bit torrent content (although I may once or twice, possibly, maybe known some people that had friends that have done that. Maybe.) I use the PS3 and 360 as my primary media devices, and I use them both for pretty much everything related to my TV and stereo. My house is wireless and connected through networks, allowing me to stream content from a central hub to multiple devices. It is the promise of the future I dreamt of as a kid, and it helps to make up for my heartbreaking inability to own a jet pack. Sony removing this feature, a feature that they have touted for years with the PS3 for what feels like a business-specific decision, does not make me – and others like me – feel warm and fuzzy inside.
In a funny twist, Microsoft, perhaps taking a lesson from Sony, soon confirmed that the Xbox One will allow DLNA.
Sony’s consistently entertaining worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida claimed this wasn’t a corporate decision on Twitter, but didn’t go into details or offer any other explanation. People on Twitter, unsurprisingly, weren’t thrilled. Of course, you could post pictures of puppies on Twitter and someone would hate it. But in this instance, Yoshida seemed to take the response under advisement, and posted that he shared the reactions to the dev team and they will take it under consideration for the future, which means that it could be changed in an upcoming patch. That also confirms that this isn’t a hardware issue at all since a patch could possibly unlock DLNA sharing, but rather a decision from Sony.
Not having the ability to use the PS4 as a media server is distressing, and makes it slightly less attractive to cord cutters like me. It’s also annoying, but not surprising, that the news of what the PS4 can’t do is just coming out now. No MP3s, no USB, no media sharing, and more – plus a massive day one patch that you need just to make the system do most of what it should do out of the box.
It doesn’t mean PS4 isn’t still a great piece of hardware, and it doesn’t mean I won’t play it obsessively. This also doesn’t make it better or worse than the Xbox One, and all of the things we are just now learning may have very reasonable and logical explanations. It just would have been nice to know them more than two weeks before launch.
Hot Coffee and News
Batman Arkham going annual?
Following the release of the third Batman Arkham title, it’s sounding more and more like the Arkham franchise will be following the Call of Duty route with annual releases. The Batman of Duty series will swap developers, likely between Rocksteady and WB Montreal, possibly others. This is still just a rumor at the moment, though. But after years of painfully bad superhero video games like Superman 64 – a game so bad many people have blocked it out of their memories – games like Batman and the generally well received (but inconsistent) Spider-Man titles from Activision may pave the way for a wave of quality superhero games. Finally.
Twitch users raise $8 million for charity
Using the Twitch streaming platform, various users and organizations have raised over $8 million for a variety of causes. With the main event of “Extra Play,” the largest gaming charity of the year, wrapping up on November 2, that number should grow. Good on ya, gamers.
Steam hits 65 million users
The year continues to be a big one for Valve, as the number of Steam accounts has crossed the 65 million mark. If they can rally those users to the Steambox, the gaming world will never be the same! Of course Windows Live has over 100 million users and that service hasn’t exactly taken the world by storm. Or even by a light rain shower for that matter. Still, that shows a lot of potential.
[Update: This article has been updated to correct an error regarding the Xbox One’s connectivity.)INDEPENDENT Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie says Australia should take the $50 million it gives in foreign aid to Indonesia and send it to Nepal where is it desperately needed.
Senator Lambie also urged Australians to boycott any plans they had to holiday in Bali – or elsewhere in Indonesia – and spend the money in Australia.
Senator Lambie already has urged the Federal Governet to scrap aid to Indonesia in the face of its plans to execute Australian Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Muyaran Sukumaran.
She reiterated that statement on the eve of their proposed execution overnight, saying the people of Nepal, who were dealing with a massive humanitarian disaster after Saturday’s devastating earthquake, unlike Indonesia, deserved Australia’s help.
“What is happening in Indonesia right now is disgusting,” Ms Lambie said.
“Indonesia’s president is playing at the art of war.
“He is toying with those boys and using them as a political pawn.”
Seantor Lambie has been calling on Prime Minister Tony Abbott to “put his foot down” and “pull the bloody foreign aid” since the pair’s potential fate became clearer.
“If you want to talk about executions, we lost 88 people in the Bali bombs over there. And you know, those people that were part of that outfit are now walking out on the streets,” she said.
In February, she said: “I find Indonesia to be extremely two-faced.”Afghan security forces backed by U.S. military airstrikes have made advances in a volatile southern district, killing dozens of Taliban insurgents and wounding many others, said officials on Wednesday.
The fighting in Marjah, a Taliban-held district in the restive Helmand province, erupted a day earlier when Afghan forces launched a counter-offensive to try to recapture lost territory.
“We have evicted the opposition from three places (in Marjah),” Provincial police chief General Abdul Rehman Sarjang, told VOA. He said the counter-insurgency operation has also opened a main road for traffic in the area that was heavily mined by the Taliban.
A U.S. military spokesman, Col. Michael Lawhorn, says its aircraft carried out a dozen strikes in Marjah on Wednesday and neighboring Sangin district in support of the ground offensive.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid refuted claims that it suffered losses in Marjah.
“The American and forces of the Kabul administration have suffered heavy losses and in order to divert public attention they are making false claims,” he told VOA.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify claims by either party because most of the Helmand province has been in the grip of hostilities for months. US casualties
On Tuesday, the United States confirmed that one of its service members was killed and two others were wounded during the fighting.
“They came under fire while conducting a train, advise and assist mission with their Afghan special operations counterparts on the ground in Marjah… We understand a number of Afghan forces were injured as well," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters.
Two helicopters were sent to provide assistance but one was waved off after taking fire and returned safely to its base while the second landed safely but sustained damage to its rotor blades after it apparently struck a wall, Cook said, adding the helicopter was still on the ground trying to retrieve the wounded U.S. personnel.
“We can confirm the wounded have been evacuated,” U.S. military spokesman Col. Michael Lawhorn told VOA on Wednesday.
Marjah is one of several parts of Helmand under control of the Taliban. Taliban insurgents have put pressure on the province in southern Afghanistan's poppy-growing region for months.
Ground situation
Ten of Helmand's 14 districts either have fallen to the Taliban or have an uncertain status in the midst of fighting between the Afghan government's security forces and Taliban fighters.
The insurgents' advances prompted commanders of NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan to deploy American and British military advisers last month to help Afghan forces better coordinate their efforts to re-take lost territory in Helmand, Afghanistan's largest province bordering Pakistan.
According to U.N. data from October, the Taliban insurgency has spread across Afghanistan more than at any other point since 2001 and Afghan security forces have struggled to contain the insurgents.
In his Tuesday briefing, Pentagon spokesman Cook would not concede that Afghan security forces are losing ground.
“They're getting better at defending their own country. But they're not at a point yet where they are able to operate entirely on their own, which is why U.S. forces, other NATO forces are there, assisting and providing this kind of training and assistance to the Afghans,” said Cook.
The hostilities come as Afghan, Pakistani, U.S. and Chinese officials prepare to meet in Islamabad on Monday to discuss how, where and when stalled peace talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban can be resumed.
"The U.S. and Afghan governments agree that the best way to ensure lasting peace and security in Afghanistan is through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process,” Cook reiterated.
UN condemns bombings
Meanwhile, the United Nations has condemned a spate of bombings this week in civilian areas of Kabul by the Taliban.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement Wednesday that at least five civilians were killed and 56 others wounded in the three suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices attacks in the Afghan capital since the beginning of the year. The victims included ten children and nine women.
“International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits attacks against civilians and requires all parties to uphold their legal obligations to at all times avoid harm to civilians,” it said, adding the attacks occurred while many Afghans held hope for the restart of a peace dialogue for Afghanistan.Welcome to It’s Complicated, stories on the sometimes frustrating, sometimes confusing, always engrossing subject of modern relationships. (Want to share yours? Email pitches to [email protected].)
Recently, while my partner and I were waiting for our labor-prep class to begin, the teacher came up to us and apologized in advance for using the phrase “you guys.” I must have looked puzzled, because she explained that she was from Chicago. “You know how Mike Ditka says ‘you guys’ all the time?”
If she was trying not to misgender us, she was way off. I didn’t care at all if she called us “guys” — my partner, who’s nonbinary (but is fine with she/her pronouns) calls herself a guy all the time — but I definitely minded the constant use of “mamas,” “moms,” and “ladies” to refer to the pregnant people in the room. My partner’s the one giving birth, but I’m the one who will go by “Mom” when our kid is born. The teacher seemed to realize that something about her pre-apology didn’t quite fit, but my partner doesn’t pass as male, so either the “trans” light didn’t flick on in the teacher’s head, or she had never encountered a nonbinary pregnant person before.
With a spouse who is about to give birth, I’ve got a lot of dad worries. Some are pretty typical for a soon-to-be-parent: We’ll run out of money and have to live under a bridge, the best person I’ve ever met will die at the hospital, we will never have sex again. But as a queer femme with a nonbinary partner, I’ve got some extra things to obsess about, especially when it comes to birth.
The worrying really kicked into high gear when we started a series of birth classes at the hospital. One of the handouts we received was a sheet of paper with a photo of all the hospital’s delivery doctors. Our regular OB/GYN, I was dismayed to see, was not among them.
It wasn’t just that we wanted someone familiar: When my partner and I were initially on the hunt for an OB/GYN, we chose her specifically because she was the only doctor we found whose online profile mentioned a specialization in LGBT issues. Her sharp haircut also reads queer.
“Nice overalls,” she said to my partner at our first visit, the queer sartorial head nod. We’ve spent eight months getting to know her, but she won’t be delivering our baby.
Except for her, though, we’ve had no indication that anyone in our Northern California hospital chain has experience with queer or trans people giving birth. We are always the only queer couple in birth class, and we’ve never seen anything but straight, gender-conforming people in the waiting room or in the birth-prep videos. In class, the nurse showed a picture of condoms and explained we’d all need birth control, even while breastfeeding. (“Otherwise, you get Irish twins!” she said.)
All of which is to say that I’m not wild about the idea of having to teach hospital staff LGBT 101 when my partner goes into labor. I want this to be an experience that feels safe, and a doctor making stupid assumptions about gender could throw that feeling of safety off entirely. And in a long labor with multiple shift changes, I might have to explain “birthing person does not identify as a woman but it’s okay if you use she and her pronouns” many times.
Sometimes when I envision the birth, I picture myself as a delivery-room monster, hyped up on adrenaline, yelling at the strange new doctor to stop calling my partner “Mommy.” Then my partner’s cervix closes up because she’s nervous that I’m yelling, we all get sent home from the hospital, and she gives birth in the back seat of the car because she’s become so much more relaxed, away from those jerks. In my imagination, this is the point where I cut the cord and lift the baby to the sky in triumph: “See! We didn’t need you in the first place! Now you won’t have to charge us $10,000 for the birth!”
But I know it’s wiser for me to focus on preventing that scenario. One way might be for us to create a birth plan that specifically requests LGBT-aware doctors and nurses. There’s a space on the hospital’s template form to write down your “cultural traditions.” Okay. Our cultural traditions include nude gay beaches, a lot of glitter, and rejecting the gender binary. Is that the place to explain that my partner doesn’t identify as a woman? Should we give them our VHS tape of Gender Trouble and ask them to watch it in advance?
That’s tempting. But it’s also possible that a long, detailed birth plan might actually make this experience worse for us. A 2016 study found that while birth plans do increase patient satisfaction, that’s only true if they don’t include too many demands. You might like the burger better if you add bacon, but not if you require the bun toasted and the sauce on the side and the meat cooked not even a second past minimum-rare. If you’re extra picky, you’ll be extra disappointed.
What does that mean for people like us, whose “cultural traditions” are politicized? Some nonbinary and trans people avoid hospitals altogether, paying for trans-friendly midwives and doulas. We can’t afford that. I am grateful to have decent health insurance at all, especially since LGBT people are less likely to be insured.
In practice, it means that we work within the confines of a system that doesn’t always seem to want to make room for us. I spent the class mentally translating the teacher’s gender references into something that made sense for my partner and me. (An especially tough task when she announced that partners had a special power: “Semen can get labor started!”) It’s a thing queer people do all the time: When we watch a movie or hear a song about straight romance, we find a way to pretend it’s a queer one. It’s why queer people are among the oldest fanfiction writers: We’re used to imagining ourselves in places where straight people can’t.
But birth isn’t a movie or a song; it’s one of the most intense experiences of anyone’s life. The teacher told us she hoped the class would help us avoid “trauma,” which is not uncommon: About 9 percent of people have diagnosed PTSD after birth. The advocacy group Postpartum Support International cites “feelings of powerlessness, poor communication and/or lack of support and reassurance during the delivery” as a contributing factor in birth trauma. Our teacher wanted us to be prepared to make thoughtful choices so we’d avoid that powerlessness, instead of white-knuckle panicking at the hospital.
The problem is that in this context, powerlessness isn’t something you can overcome with enough prep work. A Latino co-worker told me he and his wife decided to have their second kid at home after a white hospital nurse joked about how much their kid would like tacos. Black maternal mortality rates are alarmingly high in the United States, across socioeconomic lines.
Racial bias directly affects patient-doctor interactions and leads to worse health care for people of color, including during labor and delivery.
My partner and I are both white, so we won’t face racial bias at the hospital. But I am worried about navigating the institutional power dynamics of birth. If I’m too demanding — “Can you call her by her name, please, instead of ‘Mama’?” — I could get dismissed or laughed at or ignored or avoided, affecting my partner’s care. If I’m not insistent enough, it could have real medical consequences: Like a cat sensing the spot she’s picked out to have kittens isn’t safe anymore, her body can lock up and reverse dilation if she doesn’t stay relaxed, leading to a more difficult birth. It’ll be my job to help her stay calm, making calculations quickly on her behalf. But here’s one I haven’t been able to figure out yet: Is feeling understood during labor too much to expect? Or is it an essential part of good medical care?
I hit a jackpot with my spouse: I get to spend my life in a relationship where gender doesn’t dictate what chores we do, or how we spend our time, or how we have sex. But we are extra vulnerable in an institution like a hospital. All I can do is hope that when we show up on labor day, someone who gets us shows up, too.Proposed 2018 Metro TAP Changes Are Effectively A Minor Fare Hike
Last week the Metro board of directors Finance, Budget and Audit Committee took a step toward approving modifications to TAP fare payment that would result in a relatively minor fare increase.
The TAP changes proposal goes by the somewhat opaque description of “Transfer on 2nd Boarding.”
In June 2015, the Metro board approved a regional interagency transfer (IAT) policy (staff report) that proposed shifting interagency transfers from paper to electronic TAP cards. Inter-agency transfers include, for example, transferring from the Metro Gold Line train to a Foothill Transit bus.
In 2015, Metro analysis found that shifting transfers from cash to electronic media would have an adverse impact on low-income riders. To address this, Metro approved “a comprehensive Marketing and Outreach campaign including dissemination of up to 1 million TAP cards to customers.”
Since 2015, Metro has been developing software changes to support all-electronic interagency transfers.
The transfer on second boarding policy proposal (staff report) before the Metro board includes four changes to fare payment:
Eliminate paper interagency transfers: Interagency transfers remain available, but only when fare is paid via TAP card. Interagency transfers will be available for 2.5 hours after initial boarding; today’s 2-hour window for Metro transfers will remain unchanged.
Interagency transfers remain available, but only when fare is paid via TAP card. Interagency transfers will be available for 2.5 hours after initial boarding; today’s 2-hour window for Metro transfers will remain unchanged. Eliminate day passes: Instead of day passes, riders would pay for subsequent same-day rides with TAP stored value, which could be added at vending machines and on buses. Clarification: per Metro, the day pass elimination only applies to day passes purchased on buses. Day passes will be available to purchase at ticket machines, retail vendors, online, and by phone.
Instead of day passes, riders would pay for subsequent same-day rides with TAP stored value, which could be added at vending machines and on buses. Clarification: per Metro, the day pass elimination only applies to day passes purchased. Day passes will be available to purchase at ticket machines, retail vendors, online, and by phone. Eliminate tokens: Per the Metro staff report, TAP cards have “caused Metro tokens to become obsolete” and further tokens are “expensive to count, handle, secure and maintain.” Tokens would be phased out over 13 months, starting with an initial two-month notification campaign, after which token sales would end, followed by at least a year for riders to use up existing tokens. Existing programs that provide tokens to low-income riders (Immediate Needs Program, Rider Relief Program) would replace tokens with TAP cards.
Per the Metro staff report, TAP cards have “caused Metro tokens to become obsolete” and further tokens are “expensive to count, handle, secure and maintain.” Tokens would be phased out over 13 months, starting with an initial two-month notification campaign, after which token sales would end, followed by at least a year for riders to use up existing tokens. Existing programs that provide tokens to low-income riders (Immediate Needs Program, Rider Relief Program) would replace tokens with TAP cards. Charge $2 for TAP cards systemwide: TAP cards are currently $1 at vending machines and on buses, and $2 elsewhere (online, by phone, at a Metro Customer Center, etc.) Vending machine sales account for nearly three-quarters of all TAP sales, according to Metro spokesperson Rick Jager, who said vending machine sales were 72 percent for July through October 2017. Based on current sales volumes, the price hike on cards would result in an annual increase of nearly $3.7 million in TAP sales revenue: $3,600,648 from vending machine sales, and $51,756 from sales on buses. Senior, disabled, and student TAP passes are currently free and will remain so.
Overall, Metro anticipates that these changes would reduce the use of cash and increase TAP use, thereby speeding up boardings. In addition to benefiting riders, this faster boarding would allow Metro to operate more efficiently, reducing agency costs somewhat.
According to 2016 customer surveys, about 72 percent of Metro riders already currently have and use their own TAP card. Early on, TAP cards expired after three years; they now expire in ten years. Though the cost of a TAP card would double for new purchases, current TAP holders would not be affected for several years, and, in Metro’s words, “the cost of the card, amortized over ten years, is quite low.”
Next week, the full Metro board is expected to approve sending the TAP proposal to a required public hearing on January 17, 2018. After that hearing, the board would
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when Juan Pablo Montoya arrived after six F1 seasons, his goals were different. The Chip Ganassi racer was making a career switch and made NASCAR his home for seven years before returning to open wheel with Roger Penske.
1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve also has starts in all three national divisions of NASCAR.
For Grosjean, the opportunity would be to simply test the waters while still enjoying his F1 career.
Custer added: "He's made it clear that he wouldn't want his debut to be on an oval - where he's never done it before. There's so much going on.
"We have to figure out the testing opportunities and all the things that would make it a success.
"That would be our first approach - it is to evaluate what would make this a successful event with sponsors and get everything else aligned right. That takes time."
Calendar slots
Opportunities do exist as early as this summer though, if a plan can be put in place by then.
Either road course race on the Sprint Cup schedule would be ideal for the 30-year-old racer with Sonoma (June 26) and Watkins Glen (August 7) both during off weeks for F1.
But while Sonoma falls at the end of the Canada/Baku back-to-back run, the Glen race falls in the middle of the F1's summer break between the German GP (July 31) and the Belgian GP on August 28.
"I'm not sure when it would happen, but it's on our list," explained Custer. "We would like to have him test. He would be a rookie.
"I don't think there are any barriers to any of this. We just have to figure it out and get it on the schedule.
"Then, five cars or four cars? Or does he work with another team in the garage. All of that. We have to work out the details and have enough time to make it happen."
Regardless of a driver's resume, he or she still has to be approved by NASCAR. Currently SHR has four cars, which is currently the limit for each organisation.
However, teams are allowed to run a fifth team for rookies (which is how Grosjean would be classified) in seven races.
Growing F1 interest
Since Haas F1 entered F1, Custer says 'tremendous interest' has sparked within the NASCAR garage about how the grand prix team is faring.
"I've received feedback from management to crew guys - not just on our team - across the spectrum and beyond Cup, Xfinity and Truck," Custer said. "The people are fascinated by it. They ask me about it and they're following it. That's great for our sport.
"It's a different platform that we race, but there's a lot of commonalities as well. A lot of tools. They watch it with a different eye than they did in NASCAR 10 years ago - and vice versa.
"Across the spectrum of owners and teams in the F1 garage, I get questioned about how fascinated they are with NASCAR. That's the interesting part of this project - is to cross-pollinate.
"Really what we want to do is drive fan interest. We want to put more eyeballs on our F1 teams and our NASCAR teams as well."Text size
When Verizon acquired Yahoo ’s internet assets last year, skeptics wondered what a telephone company wanted with an ad-supported content business. The answer is becoming clear.
The wireless carrier’s new rewards program called “Verizon Up” merges the company’s significant access to customer info with advertisers’ desire to personalize ads, the Wall Street Journal reported this week.
Verizon Wireless offers a reward for every $300 that customers spend on their bill. There’s a significant catch: To become eligible for rewards, Verizon Wireless customers also have to opt in to “Verizon Selects,” according to a legal disclaimer on Verizon’s marketing page.
It’s a rather significant caveat to be relegated to fine print. Here’s what Verizon Selects asks for, from Verizon’s FAQ on the matter:
Verizon website
Verizon is hoping that advertisers will pay a premium to access the data in order to personalize ads. Any why not? Armed with that kind of info, it won’t take a very sophisticated analysis to piece together a near-perfect biographical assessment of users. Verizon will arguably know more about you than your spouse does.
The company didn’t respond to a request for comment about the plan.
So how does Verizon plan to pay you back for your transparency? Here are the details on the new rewards from Verizon Up, again straight from the carrier’s FAQ.
Verizon Website
Verizon says it can keep the information it learns about you for up to three years. Don’t expect the rewards to last quite so long. Per the company’s disclosure: “Verizon Up credits expire after 60 days, and every reward has an expiration date.
One thing to keep in mind: Before being acquired by Verizon, Yahoo had a rather mixed history when it came to protecting users’ data.There are a lot of great things in this exclusive story over at The Hill, so let’s see what we can unpack from it.
The Sierra Club is a group of environmental wackos who once made the argument that abortion is good for the environment. Neal Gorsuch is going to be the next SCOTUS nominee one way or the other. Therefore, it makes sense that the Sierra Club would buy ads against something inevitable, right?
The ad will focus on the GOP’s threats to invoke the so-called “nuclear option” and let Supreme Court nominees be confirmed by a simple majority vote. The nominees currently need to pass a 60-vote threshold to end debate and move to a final vote. Senate Republican leaders have said they will turn to the nuclear option if they can’t get 60 votes for Gorsuch. “Change the nominee. Not the rules. A Supreme Court justice needs 60 votes,” the Sierra Club ad reads. Courtney Hight, Director of Sierra Club’s Democracy program, said Gorsuch’s ideology threatens “both bedrock environmental laws and the rights of American citizens to a fair and equal voice in our democracy.”
The best part about this ad plan is that it is making demands of the Democrats. You know, the ones that want to filibuster and essentially force the GOP to use the nuclear option in the first place.
The ad is running in the home states of Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly(Ind.) and Michael Bennet (Colo.) as well as Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats. All three are undecided on Gorsuch, according to The Hill’s Whip List.
I agree with the Sierra Club. We should pass Gorsuch with 60 votes. Two Democrats have said they’ll vote with Republicans. I call on Donnelly, Bennet, and King to join them and find three other Democrats to do the same. That way, we meet this silly notion of precedent and stop all this ridiculous talk of a filibuster over a good SCOTUS candidate.Last week the Fedora Project released Fedora 25. This week Fedora Project community members have worked with the DigitalOcean team to make Fedora 25 available on their platform. If you’re not familiar with DigitalOcean already, it’s a dead simple cloud hosting platform that’s great for developers.
Important notes
The image has some specific differences from others that Fedora ships. You may need to know about these differences before you use the image.
Usually Fedora Cloud images have you log in as user fedora. But as with other DigitalOcean images, log into the Fedora 25 DigitalOcean cloud image with your ssh key as root.
Similar to our last few Fedora releases, Fedora 25 also has SELinux enabled by default. Not familiar with SELinux yet? No problem. Read more about it here.
. Not familiar with SELinux yet? No problem. Read more about it here. In these images there’s no firewall on by default. There’s also no cloud provided firewall solution. We recommend that you secure your system immediately after you log in.
There’s also. We recommend that you secure your system immediately after you log in. Fedora 25 should be available in all datacenters across the globe.
across the globe. If you have a problem you think is Fedora specific, email us at [email protected], or ping us in #fedora-cloud on Freenode. You can also let the team know if you just want to say you’re enjoying using the F25 image.
Visit the DigitalOcean Fedora landing page and spin one up today!
Addendum
Digital Ocean provides Fedora Cloud Base, a minimal image with cloud-init for configuration. To convert to the “batteries-included” Fedora Server edition, run:
sudo dnf -y install convert-to-edition sudo convert-to-edition -p -e server
Among other changes, this will install and enable firewalld.Turner Broadcasting and WME|IMG have named their upcoming new professional eSports league, the companies announced Thursday.
ELeague, which begins in 2016, will be the first league to present eSports on a fully distributed national television platform. Along with 30 hours of weekly competition streamed live digitally, ELeague will also be presented on TBS.
TBS plans to feature 10 consecutive weeks of eSports programming twice a year, including playoffs and championship rounds. The plan is for the live competitions, which will be shot in front of a studio audience, to air Friday nights on TBS.
“There’s no doubt in our mind that this is a sport – these are athletes,” Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports, said. “What hasn’t happened is that it hasn’t been exposed to a mainstream audience.”
This will not be the first time that eSports have been featured on national television. Back in April, ESPN2 televised a collegiate “Heroes of the Storm” tournament called “Heroes of the Dorm.” The reactions from some viewers, and even ESPN’s own employees and talent, knocked the event as being below what they believed the caliber of the worldwide leader in sports.
Daniels wasn’t deterred back in September when the league was announced.
“This is a way to bring eSports to light and the 90 million homes TBS is in,” he said.
ELeague will premiere in 2016 with tournaments featuring video game “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.”To win the game, you have to remove every hex by matching them. Matching rules are explained in the "how to play" menu.
Difficulties:
easy: more than 11 initial active hex positions
hard: less than 10 initial active hex positions
plus: added two quintessence hexes
ver 1.3
slightly changed hex colors based on user feedback
ver 1.2
another bugfix for the solver, now I'm 99% sure all the maps are solvable
in easy modes, now there are equal amounts of 2, 3 and 6 sided maps
in hard modes, turns out there are only around 35 possible 6 sided patterns, so only 0,05% of the maps has 6 sides to avoid too much pattern repetition
I'm working on other ways to verify maps solvability with outside help, I will update this page with the results
ver 1.1
added quintessence
added scaling
added difficulty
maps were generated with a new map pattern generator
maps were generated with an improved solver, so there shouldn't be any unsolvable maps anymore.
40,000 maps were generated, 10,000 for each difficulty
ver 1.0
initial release
The game mechanics were invented by Zachtronics LLC, it's from a minigame called Sigmar's Garden which is part of their awesome game Opus Magnum. You should go check it out!Misfits Signs Smash Pro Larry Lurr
Premium esports organization and Miami HEAT partner adds Larry Lurr as their second professional Super Smash Bros player.
Sam Lee Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jan 13, 2017
Courtesy of Misfits/YouTube
Following the recent announcement of their partnership with the Miami HEAT, Misfits has announced exclusively to Hollywood Esports that they have signed Larry Lurr to join them as their next addition on the Fighting Games roster. He will be joining Ryan “The Moon” Coker-Welch, who signed with Misfits back in late November.
Courtesy of Nintendo
Larry Lurr, hailing for Reseda, California, is one of the most accomplished Smash players in the world with victories across a multitude of Smash titles, and is considered one of the top 10 players in the world in Super Smash Bros 4 for Wii U. He’s also considered the best Fox player in the world.
With consistent top 8 finishes across multiple Smash majors this year including Evo, Genesis 3, CEO, and most recently placing 2nd at 2GGT Zero Saga, Larry’s dominance across the scene speaks for itself.
Having won his first tournament of the year at PPT Winter, a German regional tournament, held in Munich, Germany last weekend, be sure to catch Larry’s next tournament this weekend at NHSmash3 on Twitch on top of the rest of the Smash 4 action this weekend. And be sure to give Larry a follow on Twitter and on Twitch.
You may use the text of this article in its entirety with proper attribution and linkage to Hollywood.com Esports (http://esports.hollywood.com).Savino
Sen. Diane Savino, a Staten Island Democrat and sponsor of the legislation, believes that the law will provide closure to grieving families who have lost loved ones with no explanation.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- All of New York's medical examiners and coroners will soon have to share fingerprints and other information about their unidentified dead with the federal data center trying to match remains with America's missing.
The law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week imposes that requirement in 60 days, though the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System already has profiles of 1,294 unnamed New York dead that were submitted voluntarily.
They are among more than 13,300 filed nationally since the database opened a decade ago. Almost 2,300 of those cases have been closed. The publicly accessible website, called NamUs, says it has helped close 761.
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner contributes already. It handles the majority of cases statewide. The law requires the state's 57 other counties to follow. Sponsors said that increases the probability remains will be identified, bringing closure to families.
"Law enforcement, families and all others involved in finding missing persons will have a greater possibility to solve one crime, a series of related crimes, and most importantly provide closure to grieving families who have lost loved ones with no explanation," said Sen. Diane Savino, a Staten Island Democrat and sponsor of the legislation.
New York data on NamUs show at least 21 counties outside New York City have reported unidentified dead. The most recent was the body of a man between 20 and 30, his race uncertain, found in Ulster County on March 15.
The federal center was developed by the National Institute of Justice in a national effort to identify an estimated 40,000 unidentified human remains in the offices of coroners and medical examiners nationally that were buried or cremated. About 4,400 new cases occur every year, with 1,000 still unidentified a year later.
NamUs also has a database of people reported missing, including 532 from New York.
The state's coroners and medical examiners already are required to send fingerprints to the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services when they have questions about identification.
The division received more than 7,800 last year, checking against fingerprints on file, but doesn't aggregate information separately about the unknown dead and doesn't forward it to NamUs.A few years ago I started noodling on a novel that I hoped would expose the fault lines that seemed to be splitting our politics. My thought was to take reality and push it to the edge both for comic affect and to offer up a cautionary tale of where our politics might be headed. I finished the book in the summer of 2015 and I was a little worried that I had gone too far. How believable would it be that a xenophobic Republican who wanted to ban immigration and deport millions might actually be a real contender for president?
Well, now we know. Donald Trump hasn’t called for a new Bill of Rights like Armstrong George, the handsome fire-breather in my novel, The Innocent Have Nothing To Fear, but he’s the first candidate who’s running as if the Bill of Rights doesn’t exist. (If we get through this election without some reporter asking Trump if he can name the amendments in the Bill of Rights, it will be a crying shame.) Even while channeling my darkest impulses—and Lord knows we all have them, which is probably the key to Trump’s success so far—it never occurred to me that a candidate for president of the United States of America could call for a religious test to enter the United States without being considered a frothing lunatic.
Was I naïve or what? Trump’s Muslim ban would require all U.S. visitors to declare and prove religion—because how do you separate the Muslims from the non-Muslims without requiring proof of religion? If Yusuf Islam shows up at Heathrow and announces he’s no longer a Muslim but is now Cat Stevens, a Quaker, does the customs officer then ask him William Penn trivia questions to make sure he means it?
The only governing models for this kind of madness would be somewhere in the archives of the Third Reich but even the efficient Germans couldn’t really pull it off. Despite his Germanic heritage (which he has claimed to be Swedish, but then most everybody wants to be Swedish), Donald Trump couldn’t stop a neo-Nazi from ending up on his California delegate slate. Since just under a quarter of the globe is Muslim, his ban is going to take a serious upgrade in the TSA hiring guidelines.
(That Trump after the Orlando massacre talked back his promise of “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” to an equally absurd one to “suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism” only shows how glib and careless he is.)
Donald Trump is the first nominee (OK, presumptive nominee, just to be hopeful) of a major party who seems completely unacquainted with the basic principles that define the American experience. Article Six of the Constitution prohibits any religious test for office but Trump casually questions the religion of anyone who runs against him, without even a hint that doing so might be fundamentally un-American. (Could someone please ask Donald Trump his views on Article Six? I’m betting that he will say it comes before Article Seven and after Five.)
Of course questioning religion probably doesn’t mean much to Trump since he appears to view church as a place you go every few years to marry a model. That faith might play a large role in anyone’s life seems as alien to him as paying retail.
It’s never been a secret that America and Americans have a dark side, which is no doubt one of the definitions of being human. But America resisted the siren call of totalitarian leadership that so many seemingly sane countries embraced in the 1930s. It has been an article of political faith that to win the presidency, a candidate must be able to inspire not incite an American populace. But Trump, running as a grievance-monger who will settle the score for any slight, is appealing to our worst, not our best, instincts.
He’s the ultimate anti-Reagan candidate, insisting over and over that Americans are afraid. He sees us as a fearful, timid mass waiting to be saved by a Strong Man.
Trump doesn’t live in the same country as you and I. We live in the richest country in the world. Donald Trump says America is “a poor country.” We live in the nation with the greatest military in the history of civilization. Donald Trump calls our military “terrible, weak.” We live in a country where the Bill of Rights is not an option available to those who can afford it but the essential compact between government and citizens. Donald Trump believes a rich person can muscle the press through threats of expensive litigation.
The other day waiting to board a plane, I was attempting to reassure a friend—solid Republican but not a Trump Republican—that Trump would not win. “What are the odds he can win?” my friend asked. “Twenty or 25 percent max,” I said. He thought about it for a moment and then asked a question I really wish he hadn’t: “Would you get on this plane if it had 20 percent chance of crashing?”
Hell no. Who would? The problem with Donald Trump is that the innocent really do have something to fear.ICOs: It’s hard to distinguish the good from the bad by looking at ICO websites
Django Bates Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 6, 2017
Since 2011 I am following the Blockchain revolution. I’ve seen Bitcoin go from 1$ to 30$ and back to ~2$ again. But as most of you, I did not buy that huge stash and kept it until today (unfortunately). Things were looking different at that time and even if I bought that stash, I would probably have sold it at one of the numerous crashes around 50$, 250$ or 1200$.
Still, I can’t complain, I made some decent profits here and there on trading various cryptocurrencies. I have some crypto money to invest, risk and play.
As for many of you looking for a nice deal, the ICO hype is very interesting for me as well, but time-consuming to read through whitepapers and to decide if something is worth to invest. I am very conservative towards ICOs and altcoins and really try to understand what an team is up to and what kind of people they are. If I see too many red flags, I immediately stop to loose time on that project.
Where did I invest?
Tezos
Tezos came up with their ICO at a time when the Bitcoin community was highly divided about how to move on. I found it attractive to solve the problem of governance. Looking back, I maybe was also carried away a bit from the hype around Tezos. But chances are still intact to see my investment back and having helped funding a solid project. We will see…
Lykke
Lykke is an interesting project from Richard Olsen, one of the founders and ex CTO/CEO of OANDA, the worlds 4th biggest Forex broker in 2017. His new project Lykke aims to be the worlds biggest marketplace for all sorts of assets (including forex and cryptocurrencies, tokens etc). Lykke uses the blockchain and colored coins to settle trades. I invested in their ICO in 2016 and bought some more LKK in the following months (colored coins which represent shares in the company). The 2017 spring hype wave on cryptocurrencies pushed this investment far into the profitable area. Lykke is still a very interesting project, which I highly recommend to have a look at.
Modum
Living in Switzerland, I was looking for ICOs from teams from my country, because I felt that it would be easier to judge if the people behind are scammers or not. So I found modum.io, a swiss company trying to revolutionize the supply-chain of pharma logistics (as a first stage) and to help companies to cope with new EU regulatories. Some things convinced me to invest: They have a tested prototype of their product. Their team evolved out of cooperations with the universities of Zurich and St. Gallen. They are looking for a capped and decent amount of investment money. And last but not least: they are located in my city, so I can simply knock on their door if necessary.
Cajutel
Of all the ICOs I invested money, this discovery and my following investment took most time. While searching for swiss based ICOs, I visited their website for the first time and my first thought was “What a badly set up ICO scam”. Many of my alarm bells started ringing and I left the page again.
But somehow, a few days later, I again came across the site and decided to have a deeper look as the basic idea and the possible result (establishing cheap broadband internet in west africa for the profit of the people and the shareholders) made sense to me. I contacted the team on their telegram channel and asked very critical questions and criticized their ICO page. I also made sure that the people really are who they were saying they were, because there was the possibility that scammers were misusing identities of real people.
Finally I came to the conclusion that this is a real project with real people and a very clear business plan (despite their somehow clumsy ICO marketing). The business plan is outlined in their whitepaper (which is the most detailed information on their ICO page). By chatting with Andreas Fink, the founder of Cajutel and the key person for it’s success, I also realized that the project is in the making since a few years and is shortly before rolling out (if the starting investment can be achieved). So finally I decided to drop around 8 ETH into the project (proof).
What am I trying to tell you?
A good ICO or a good idea is not made by a good looking and perfectly responsive website. See it as a suspicious sign if it looks to good and has tons of marketers behind, but nobody with technical skills, very specific goals or working products. Invest even more time in due diligence and try to see the real project/product behind it and the real people and their motivations, skills or specific goals.
Disclaimer: I am invested in all the ICOs and projects above. My post is not a recommendation to invest. Everybody must make his due diligence and then decide as rational as possile if it is worth to risk the money he/she can risk to invest.
I only say that sometimes it’s hard to see the real value behind a project an idea, an organisation or a person, when the first thing you judge is the beauty of the website.Theft, child molestation, rape, prostitution, murder: These are just a few of the crimes with which Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees have been charged in recent years.
The TSA’s dismal record of properly recruiting and screening its employees is the subject of a new report from Congressman Marsha Blackburn. The Tennessee Republican’s report, based on news accounts, details just 50 of the dozens of crimes for which TSA employees have been arrested since 2005.
Fifteen of the cases involved the theft of airplane passengers’ possessions. While TSA officers are required to screen all passengers’ possessions before letting passengers board planes, a number of these officers have helped themselves to cash, debit cards, laptop computers, iPads, and even painkillers. A screener at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport lifted over $50,000 worth of electronics from the people he was supposedly serving, often selling them on the Internet before his shift had even ended. Screeners at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport have stolen tens of thousands of dollars in cash; two who swiped $40,000 got a whopping six months’ jail time for their crimes. As of a year ago 500 TSA officers had been “fired or suspended for stealing from passenger luggage since … 2001,” according to Hot Air. And these are just the ones who got caught.
Theft is followed closely by sex crimes and child pornography charges, with 14 such incidents listed in Blackburn’s report. Six TSA employees were charged with possession of child pornography; one of them got caught because he “uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform,” the report notes. Eight others were charged variously with child molestation, rape (including child rape), and even running a prostitution ring. It’s not hard to figure out why persons possessing such proclivities would seek jobs where they would be able to ogle and grope other people’s private parts with impunity.
Speaking of ogling others’ privates, one such viewing precipitated one of the five incidents of assault in the report. Rolando Negrin, a TSA screener at Miami International Airport, beat one of his coworkers for making fun of the size of his genitalia after spotting it during a body-scanner training exercise. Another assaulted an airport employee over a parking space. Still another threw a cup of hot coffee at an American Airlines pilot who asked her and other TSA workers to refrain from using profanity on duty — apparently an unreasonable request as far as she was concerned.
Three TSA employees were arrested for bribery. One accepted part of the proceeds of theft from passengers to keep quiet; another took money to help smuggle marijuana through Los Angeles International Airport; and the third scored $200 to ensure that a fellow TSA employee passed his screening test.
Other TSA employees were charged with crimes involving drugs, illegal firearms (in some cases trying to sneak them past TSA checkpoints), airport screening failures, conspiracy, impersonating a federal officer, and driving under the influence of alcohol. One top TSA official in Mississippi was even charged with stabbing to death another TSA employee with whom he had allegedly been having an affair.
Blackburn writes that the TSA’s response to practically every incident detailed in her report was “The unacceptable behavior of a few individuals in no way reflects the dedication of our nearly 50,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) who work tirelessly to keep our skies safe.” Yet as she points out, “what TSA fails to recognize is that the collective actions of TSOs repeatedly appearing in our national headlines and being arrested for serious crimes does in fact reflect poorly on TSA’s nearly 50,000 Transportation Security Officers.”
Moreover, she observes, if the TSA were really serious about having the best workforce available, it would not recruit new employees by placing ads on pizza boxes and gas pumps (as it did in the D.C. area), and it would “consistently conduct criminal and credit background checks on new and existing employees” — something the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has been repeatedly told is not done, TSA assertions to the contrary notwithstanding.
In addition, says Blackburn, “one of the greatest threats to airline security is the ever present insider threat.” The fact that TSA employees have assisted drug dealers in getting past TSA checkpoints should give anyone pause. What is to say they wouldn’t do the same for terrorists, especially if those terrorists were to dupe them into thinking the terrorists were “just” drug smugglers?
“Despite the ever present threat of domestic terrorism,” Blackburn declares, “many Transportation Security Officers have proven time and time again that they are unqualified to serve as one of our nation’s last lines of defense.”
Blackburn believes that the solution to the problem is to improve the TSA’s employee screening and training processes, and that certainly wouldn’t hurt. A better solution, however, might be to abolish the TSA — whose methods security expert Bruce Schneier has dubbed “security theater” — and let the private sector, which seems to secure numerous locations and events with minimal inconvenience to the public, try its hand at protecting plane passengers. Goodness knows we’ve felt the TSA’s hand long enough.
Photo: A Transportation Security Administration officer discovers unallowable liquids in a passenger's carry on luggage at the security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on August 3, 2011 in Atlanta.I want to build a decentralized social network for Ethereum enthusiasts. Ethereum users spend a lot of their time posting, commenting, upvoting, and downvoting on Reddit. All that value goes to the owners of the Reddit, which are often not the same people as the users. Even worse, some subreddits suffer from heavy censorship where the moderators can ban any post they want without any recourse. Wouldn't it be cool to use a social network that mirrors the open, decentralized, and democratic nature of Ethereum while talking about Ethereum online? There are a few tipbot apps that interact with Reddit, but that user experience could be made a lot better by integrating it directly into the UI of the site. I can envision a decentralized version of Reddit that lets users of the network receive a portion of the ad revenue from the site, and that lets them tip each other using Ethereum. In addition to tipping it could use a smart contract based karma system to help users find the best content.
There are many different types of social networks, but the ones that I like to use are in the Reddit-like category. The two Reddit-like social networks that I use are Reddit and Hacker News. A few blockchain based social networks have begun to emerge as well - Akasha, Steemit, and Yours. While these emerging social networks share the same great idea - to create a social network that rewards users for their contribution, they are all flawed in some way.
Problems With Existing Blockchain Based Social Networks
Akasha
When I first wrote about Akasha over 6 months ago, I was very excited for the project, but since then there has been little activity. It seems as the developers have not made updates to the software. It still suffers from slowness. It is lacking many features that are essential to this type of platform like a basic ranking algorithm that sorts posts by upvotes. Finally, it still uses a token that is not live on the main net, so the token has no real value. Despite all these problems, users still come to Akasha and seem excited about the idea. Why hasn't anyone created an alternative to Akasha using Ethereum by now?
While writing this post, I came across an update on an upcoming beta release of Akasha from Mihai, the founder, and CEO. I am excited to see that a beta is coming, and will definitely try it out, but as Mihai commented on a question about Steemit,"there's room in this space for multiple experiments".
Steemit
Steemit seems like the biggest blockchain based social network at the moment. But Steemit's biggest downside is that the developers built Steemit on a whole new blockchain instead of using Ethereum. Ethereum could bring many benefits to a decentralized social network that to me it makes no sense to create a whole new blockchain. A decentralized social network built on Ethereum would benefit from the network effects of Ethereum, it would benefit from all of the scaling improvements that the Ethereum team is working on. Ethereum has a much, much larger user base. It would benefit from people being able to use ETH or a custom ERC20 token that users could shapeshift money to and from, and hold in their existing Ethereum wallets. Most importantly, a DAO could be created to develop the project so the platform is truly decentralized, and not just a social network with cryptocurrency micropayments. I tried to create an account on Steemit to see what it was like, and am still waiting for my account to be approved about a week later. I am not sure if the network is not accepting new users, or if they are having technical issues.
Edit (11/12/17): I still have not been able to create an account on Steemit to try it out. It seems like they are giving new users some Steem when they join the platform, so they have to manually verify new accounts so that people don't abuse this. I have reached out to their support team, so might be able to get in soon to check it out.
Yours
Yours suffers from the same problems that Steemit does by building on top of Bitcoin Cash instead of Ethereum. Bitcoin cash may be safe from scaling issues for the meantime but has a tiny user base compared to Ethereum. The coming Bitcoin hard fork in November is a huge existential risk to Bitcoin Cash. Segwit2x will bring transaction fees down to a reasonable amount, and in the long term, Segwit will help give Bitcoin the scalability that will be needed for billions of people to use a social network. This will leave Bitcoin cash with even fewer users than it has now. Bitcoin cash may be here to stay, but with most of the support behind Segwit2x, it will only take a tiny minority of the users that Bitcoin has. In the meantime, Yours will be an interesting experiment to watch.
Edit (11/12/17): Segwit2x got called off. I didn't see that coming! This was a huge win for Bitcoin Cash and Yours. Yours will benefit from a huge influx of users into Bitcoin Cash and will be a more viable competitor because of this. I still think that building on top of Ethereum has huge benefits because smart contracts let you do lots of interesting things that can not be done with Bitcoin Cash.
Introducing Fragmented, a New Decentralized Social Network for Ethereum Users
With these problems with existing Reddit-like social networks and the appeal of using a decentralized Reddit-like social network built on Ethereum, I have decided to start building one myself.
Features
This is the feature set that I would like Fragmented to eventually have:
Post, comment, upvote, and downvote - Users can do all of these essential basic actions that you can do on Reddit and Hacker News
Monetized - Users get monetary value for posts and comments in proportion to the number of upvotes. At first, they will receive Ether, and later as the platform is built out, they will receive an app specific ERC20 token
Decentralized - Fragmented will be open source, it will be built on IPFS or Swarm, and revenue from the platform will flow to a DAO which will decide whether to reinvest in the platform or distribute a dividend to token holders
Advertising - Advertisers will be able to post ads in which a portion of the revenue goes to the users that view the ads, and a portion goes to the Fragmented DAO
Most Ethereum projects these days are creating tokens that they claim are not securities. For reasons that Jack du Rose explains in his excellent post describing the Colony token sale these projects are exposing themselves to a lot of risks because they seem to qualify as securities by the Howey Test. For this project, I'd like to go the other direction and go through whatever regulatory hurdles I need to create a legal security token. The reason for this is that the business model and incentive structure will be much simpler. It will create stronger network effects if the users are also the equity owners in the project because it will give them a further incentive to spread the word about the platform. Once the token is created and used to govern the project through a DAO, the fate, responsibility, and rewards gained from building the platform will be distributed between Ethereum users who want to take part in the platform. Creating a legal security token creates a lot of regulatory hurdles, but is not impossible to do with platforms like Coinlist, and laws like the JOBS Act. Ideally, I would like to integrate the token into the platform as much as possible so that users of the platform get rewarded by using it, and developers get rewarded for building features.
This is an ambitious feature set and will need to be built in stages. I have created a set of milestones that will guide the project for now. It is important to note that the earliest version of the network will not be anything like the vision outlined above. I want to get working software in the hands of users as quickly as possible so that they can have a say in what is important to them, and what should get built next. For this reason, the first version of the platform will be a simple Hacker News clone with a lot of the functionality of Hacker News stripped out. There will be no cryptocurrency payments of any kind, and it will be open source, but not decentralized. From there we will build toward the vision that I laid out, building the features that are most important to users of the platform
|
(Participant)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Borderline Symptoms List (BSL)
Symptoms List (BSL) Global Clinical Impression of BPD (GCI-BPD)
Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST)
Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST) (and 3 more...) 20 All 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT03832777 04-01/02/2018 TMS&BPD March 5, 2018 January 30, 2019 August 30, 2019 February 6, 2019 February 15, 2019 Autonomous University of Queretaro
Querétaro City, Querétaro, Mexico
3 NCT03519035 Not yet recruiting Study of Hallucinations in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Other: To pass different questionnaires Observational
University Hospital, Toulouse Other Observational Model: Other
Time Perspective: Prospective Presence or absence of hallucination
Description of the patient's hallucinations
Search for dissociative elements
Investigation of traumatic elements 317 All 18 Years to 75 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT03519035 RC31/18/0035
2018-A00251-54 July 2018 July 2021 July 2021 May 8, 2018 July 20, 2018 University Hospital Toulouse
Toulouse, France
4 NCT02273674 Completed TMS in Borderline Personality Disorder Patients Borderline Personality Disorder Device: Left rTMS 5 Hz
Device: Right r TMS 1 Hz Interventional
Not Applicable Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Dr. Ramón de la Fuente
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Change from Baseline in BORDERLINE EVALUATION OF SEVERITY OVER TIME (BEST)
EVALUATION OF SEVERITY OVER TIME (BEST) Change from Baseline in Barratt impulsiveness scale
Change from Baseline in Hamilton Depression rating scale
(and 3 more...) 40 All 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT02273674 SC-14-1006 January 2014 January 2016 February 2016 October 24, 2014 February 23, 2016 Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria Ramon de la Fuente
Mexico Distrito Federal, Mexico
5 NCT02097706 Recruiting A Novel Drug for Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: NMDA receptor antagonist (active drug)
Other: Lactose packed capsule (inert/inactive arm) Interventional
Phase 2 The Alfred Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment The Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder
Cogstate (cognitive assessment)
Borderline Evaluation of Severity over Time 30 All 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT02097706 204-14 January 2015 December 2018 December 2018 March 27, 2014 January 11, 2018 Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
6 NCT03361826 Recruiting Magnetic Seizure Therapy for the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Device: MagPro MST
Behavioral: DBT Interventional
Not Applicable Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Other Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Improvement in symptom severity of depression as measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression - 24
Improvement in symptom severity of Suicidal Ideation as measured by the Modified Scale for Suicidal Ideation 30 Female 18 Years to 50 Years (Adult) NCT03361826 053/2015 October 17, 2017 December 31, 2018 December 17, 2019 December 5, 2017 September 12, 2018 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7 NCT03329677 Recruiting An 18-Month Psychotherapy of Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Other: Transference-focused Psychotherapy (TFP) Interventional
Not Applicable Weill Medical College of Cornell University Other Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Social Adjustment Scale (SAS; Weissman, 1971)
Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis, 1993)
Overt Aggression Scale (OAS-M; Coccaro et al., 1991)
(and 3 more...) 45 Female 18 Years to 35 Years (Adult) NCT03329677 1412015726 January 1, 2016 January 2021 January 1, 2021 November 6, 2017 November 15, 2018 Personality Disorders Institute of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University
White Plains, New York, United States
8 NCT02728778 Recruiting Botulinum Toxin A for Emotional Stabilization in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: incobotulinumtoxin A
Procedure: Acupuncture Interventional
Phase 2 Hannover Medical School Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Zanarini Scale for Borderline personality disorder (ZAN-BPD)
(ZAN-BPD) Borderline symptom list (BSL-23)
symptom list (BSL-23) Montgomery-Asberg-Depression-Rating-Scale (MADRS)
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) 54 Female 18 Years to 40 Years (Adult) NCT02728778 V4.11-BTX-BPD BTX-BPD September 2016 December 31, 2018 March 31, 2019 April 5, 2016 August 8, 2018 Hannover Medical School
Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany
Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany Asklepios Klinik Nord-Ochsenzoll
Hamburg, Germany
9 NCT03395314 Recruiting Ketamine in Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: Ketamine
Drug: Midazolam Interventional
Phase 2 Yale University
Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Change in suicidal thoughts as measured by item 10 on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Scale (MADRS)
Change in suicidality as measured by the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)
Change in suicidality as measured by item-12 on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS SR-16)
(and 15 more...) 66 All 21 Years to 60 Years (Adult) NCT03395314 2000021457 February 15, 2018 February 15, 2020 February 15, 2020 January 10, 2018 October 31, 2018 Connecticut Mental Health Center
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
New Haven, Connecticut, United States Yale New Haven Hospital
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
10 NCT02125942 Completed Central Meditation and Imagery Therapy for Augmentation of Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Central Meditation and Imagery Therapy Interventional
Phase 1
Phase 2 University of California, San Francisco Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Borderline Symptoms
Symptoms Depression
Anxiety
Positive Affect 15 All 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) NCT02125942 CMIT1044 April 2014 September 2015 September 2015 April 29, 2014 May 12, 2017 University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California, United States
11 NCT00634062 Completed Study of Lamotrigine Treatment of Affective Instability in Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: Lamotrigine
Drug: Placebo Interventional
Phase 4 Mclean Hospital
GlaxoSmithKline Other / Industry Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Changes in score of Affective Lability Scale
Changes in the score of the Affective Lability Item of the Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder
Scores of individual items on the Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder 28 All 18 Years to 64 Years (Adult) NCT00634062 2004-P-002640 December 2004 September 2007 September 2007 March 12, 2008 March 12, 2008 McLean Hospital
Belmont, Massachusetts, United States
12 NCT03677037 Recruiting The Short-Term MBT Project Borderline Personality Disorder Other: Short-term MBT
Other: Long-term MBT Interventional
Phase 3 Mental Health Services in the Capital Region, Denmark
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen Trial Unit, Center for Clinical Intervention Research Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Change in severity of borderline personality disorder assessed with the Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD) interview
assessed with the Zanarini Rating Scale for (ZAN-BPD) interview Change in functional impairmment assessed with the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS)
Change in quality of life assessed with the Short-Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36)
(and 2 more...) 166 All 18 Years to 100 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT03677037 H-18023136 MBT-RCT September 24, 2018 April 1, 2021 April 1, 2022 September 19, 2018 October 5, 2018 Stolpegaard Psychotherapy Centre, Mental Health Services, Capital Region of Denmark
Gentofte, Denmark
13 NCT03408860 Active, not recruiting Isolating Mechanisms in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Other: Countering Emotional Behaviors Module from Unified Protocol Interventional
Not Applicable Boston University Charles River Campus
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Other / NIH Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire
Zanarini Rating Scale for BPD 8 All 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) NCT03408860 3842
K23MH106648-03 October 15, 2017 September 2019 September 2019 January 24, 2018 January 16, 2019 Boston University Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
14 NCT02397031 Completed Mindfulness and Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills in Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Mindfulness
Behavioral: interpersonal effectiveness Interventional
Not Applicable Fundació Institut de Recerca de l'Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary Purpose: Treatment change from baseline in borderline symptoms after a 10 week intervention
symptoms after a 10 week intervention change from baseline in decentering after a 10 week intervention
change from baseline in mindfulness facets after a 10 week intervention
change from baseline in social interactions after a 10 week intervention 64 All 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT02397031 IIBSP-MOD-2011-147 September 2011 April 2014 April 2014 March 24, 2015 March 25, 2015
15 NCT00635921 Completed Ziprasidone in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: ziprasidone
Drug: Placebo Interventional
Phase 2 Fundació Institut de Recerca de l'Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau
Ministry of Health, Spain
REM-TAP Network
Pfizer Other / Industry Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment CGI scale for use in borderline personality disorder (CGI-BPD)
(CGI-BPD) Hamilton Rating Scale Depression (HAM-D-17)
Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A)
(and 7 more...) 60 All 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT00635921 HSP-2003-002 March 2004 April 2006 April 2006 March 14, 2008 March 14, 2008 Department of Psychiatry, Sta. Creu and St. Pau Hospital
Barcelona., Spain
16 NCT03717818 Recruiting Mechanisms of Change in Brief Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Good Psychiatric Management - Brief
Behavioral: treatment as usual Interventional
Not Applicable University of Lausanne Hospitals Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment ZAN-BPD (Zanarini Borderline Personality Disorder Scale; Zanarini, 2003)
Scale; Zanarini, 2003) OQ-45 (Outcome Questionnaire-45.2, Lambert et al., 2004)
BSL-23 ( Borderline Symptom List, Short Version; Bohus et al., 2009) 80 All 18 Years to 35 Years (Adult) NCT03717818 2017-02167 BPDCHANGE October 19, 2018 December 2022 December 2022 October 24, 2018 October 25, 2018 Department of Psychiatry-CHUV, University of Lausanne
Lausanne, VD, Switzerland
17 NCT01343550 Unknown † Creativity Group for Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Other: creativity group Interventional
Phase 1 State University of New York - Upstate Medical University Other Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST)
Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST) Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) 80 All 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) NCT01343550 PHS6019 February 2011 August 2011 August 2011 April 28, 2011 April 28, 2011 SUNY Upstate Medical University
Syracuse, New York, United States
18 NCT03295838 Completed Outcomes of Mentalization-Based Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Mentalization-based treatment Interventional
Not Applicable Karolinska Institutet Other Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Borderline Symptoms
Symptoms Suicidality
General Psychiatric Symptoms
(and 3 more...) 75 All 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) NCT03295838 DNR 2011/1909-31/3 February 1, 2007 May 3, 2014 May 3, 2014 September 28, 2017 September 28, 2017
19 NCT03297840 Recruiting Change in Mindfulness in Borderline Personality Disorder Mindfulness
Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) Observational
Katharina Bachmann
University of Oldenburg Other Observational Model: Other
Time Perspective: Other Change in mindfulness
Change in borderline symptom severity
symptom severity Change in overall psychiatric symptom severity
Change in severity in symptoms of depression 30 All 18 Years to 60 Years (Adult) NCT03297840 Mindfullness in BPD May 4, 2017 November 2017 December 2017 September 29, 2017 September 29, 2017 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy - University Hospital, University of Oldenburg
Bad Zwischenahn, Germany
20 NCT01602497 Unknown † Trial of Effect of High-frequency Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Device: rTMS
Device: sham rTMS Interventional
Not Applicable Tehran University of Medical Sciences Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Patients' reports
patient's report
Patient's report 40 All 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT01602497 90-01-30-13200 February 2012 July 2012 December 2012 May 21, 2012 May 21, 2012
21 NCT02225600 Recruiting The Effect of Oxytocin Administration on Interpersonal Cooperation in Borderline Personality Disorder Patients and Healthy Adults Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: 40 IU Intranasal Oxytocin
Drug: Placebo
Drug: 24 IU intranasal Oxytocin Interventional
Not Applicable Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Other Trust Game Affect Ratings 40 All 18 Years to 55 Years (Adult) NCT02225600 GCO 13-0744 May 2013 December 2020 December 2020 August 26, 2014 February 21, 2019 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York, United States
22 NCT03149926 Not yet recruiting Emotional Reaction and Self Injury in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder and Healthy Controls Borderline Personality Disorder
Emotions Other: Stimuli presentation Observational
Katharina Bachmann
University of Oldenburg Other Observational Model: Other
Time Perspective: Other Emotional reaction 60 All 18 Years to 60 Years (Adult) NCT03149926 UOldenburg2 June 2017 December 2017 February 2018 May 11, 2017 May 12, 2017 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy - University Hospital, University of Oldenburg
Bad Zwischenahn, Germany
23 NCT02574429 Completed CPT Group for DBT Clients With Co-Occurring Borderline Personality Disorder and PTSD Borderline Personality Disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy Interventional
Not Applicable St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Other Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)
Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) BSL-23
Ways of Coping Checklist (WCCL)
(and 7 more...) 45 All 17 Years to 65 Years (Child, Adult, Older Adult) NCT02574429 CPTDBT-1 CPTDBT April 2016 December 2018 December 2018 October 12, 2015 December 18, 2018 St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Community Psychiatry Clinic
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
24 NCT00538135 Completed BOSCOT : A Randomised Controlled Trial of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Other: Treatment as usual Interventional
Phase 3 University of Aberdeen
Wellcome Trust
University of Glasgow
(and 2 more...) Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment The primary outcome will be the composite outcome of the number of in-patient psychiatric hospitalisations, the number of A& E contacts, and the number of suicidal acts.
Secondary outcome measures include the Brief Symptom Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Social Functioning Questionnaire, Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, Schema Questionnaire (Young), Euro-Qol (EQ-5D) 106 All 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT00538135 064027/Z/01/Z BOSCOT February 2002 March 2005 October 2, 2007 October 2, 2007 Psychological Medicine
Glasgow, Strathclyde, United Kingdom
25 NCT01469663 Unknown † Event Related Potentials in Borderline Personality Disorder and Major Depression Borderline Personality Disorder
Major Depression Observational
State University of New York - Upstate Medical University
Syracuse University Other Time Perspective: Cross-Sectional Error related negativity amplitude
N2 amplitude 40 Female 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT01469663 5910 July 2011 March 2013 March 2013 November 10, 2011 November 10, 2011 Syracuse University - CNY Medical Center
Syracuse, New York, United States
Syracuse, New York, United States Upstate Medical University
Syracuse, New York, United States
26 NCT01952405 Completed Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) Interventional
Not Applicable Mackay Memorial Hospital
National Science Council, Taiwan Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Suicide Attempt Self-Injury Interview (SASII)
Borderline Personality Disorder Subscale
Subscale Borderline Symptom Checklist (BSL-23)
Symptom Checklist (BSL-23) (and 8 more...) 60 All 18 Years to 60 Years (Adult) NCT01952405 NSC102-2314-B-195-002-My3 May 18, 2013 February 24, 2017 February 24, 2017 September 30, 2013 March 6, 2017 Mackay Memorial Hospital
Taipei, Taiwan
27 NCT03472638 Active, not recruiting Dorsomedial rTMS For Depression In Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder
Major Depression Device: Dorsomedial prefrontal rTMS Interventional
Not Applicable University Health Network, Toronto Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment HRSD-17 change
ZAN-BPD change 20 Female 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT03472638 15-9928 rTMS July 2016 December 2017 July 2018 March 21, 2018 March 21, 2018 Toronto Western Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
28 NCT03209102 Not yet recruiting Emotional Regulation and Impulsivity Among Adolescents With Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder
Adolescent Development Other: Clinical assessment
Behavioral: Stress elicitation experiment
Other: Structural and Functional MRI
Biological: salivary collections of amylase and cortisol Interventional
Phase 2 Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France Other Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Basic Science Comparison between subjective and objective acute stress experience in BPD Adolescents vs Healthy controls
Investigating the neural correlates and modulation of motivation and impulsivity using structural and task-based fMRI 66 All 13 Years to 18 Years (Child, Adult) NCT03209102 C16-58 ADOLIMIS July 2017 September 2019 September 2020 July 6, 2017 July 6, 2017
29 NCT00222482 Completed Depakote ER in Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: Depakote ER Interventional
Not Applicable University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Abbott
Schulz, S. Charles, M.D. Other / Industry Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double
Primary Purpose: Treatment Symptom Checklist 90
Barratt Impulsivity Scale 15 All 21 Years to 55 Years (Adult) NCT00222482 0306M49703
M009946 March 2003 September 2005 September 22, 2005 August 9, 2007
30 NCT02829658 Completed Use of Care Services by Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Psychologic test
Other: No intervention Observational
University Hospital, Toulouse Other Observational Model: Cohort
Time Perspective: Prospective Compare data among BPD Patients and general population
Hospitalizations
Demographics data 98 All 18 Years to 60 Years (Adult) NCT02829658 08 120 03 EpiB February 2009 June 2010 June 2010 July 12, 2016 May 12, 2017 University Hospital of Toulouse
Toulouse, France
31 NCT01720953 Terminated Neuropsychiatric Mechanisms of Change in Mentalization Based Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (MENTAB) Borderline Personality Disorder Other: Mentalization Based Therapy Observational
Rune Andersen
Psychiatry Roskilde
University of Copenhagen
(and 7 more...) Other / Industry Observational Model: Case Control
Time Perspective: Prospective Promoter methylation pattern of genes considered to be related to the development and pathology of BPD, in particular the BDNF and glucocorticoid receptor genes
BDNF serum levels
Salivary cortisol levels
(and 3 more...) 100 Female 18 Years to 40 Years (Adult) NCT01720953 SJ-311 MENTAB October 2012 December 2016 December 2016 November 2, 2012 July 25, 2014 Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zeland
Roskilde, Denmark
32 NCT01076933 Completed Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Procedure: repetitive Transcranial Stimulation Magnetic (rTMS)
Procedure: sham rTMS Interventional
Not Applicable University Hospital, Toulouse Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Tower of London
Balloon Analog Risk Task
Micro-World Test
(and 4 more...) 13 All 20 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT01076933 08 153 02
AOL 2008 SiMaT-B January 2010 March 2011 April 2012 February 26, 2010 May 11, 2017 Lionel Cailhol
Toulouse, University Hospital Toulouse, France
33 NCT02935218 Completed Parenting Skills for Mothers With Borderline Personality Disorder : A Newly Developed Group Training Program Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Parenting Skills for Mothers with BPD Interventional
Not Applicable Freie Universität Berlin Other Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Supportive Care written feedback 15 Female 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) NCT02935218 RenRos01 January 2015 April 2015 October 2015 October 17, 2016 October 17, 2016
34 NCT03011190 Completed Effectiveness of the Iconic Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms Personality Disorder, Borderline Behavioral: Emotional regulation Interventional
Not Applicable Silvia Elisa Hurtado Santiago
University of Malaga Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Health Services Research Change on the severity of borderline personality disorder measured by Borderline Personality Symptom List (BSL-23).
measured by Symptom List (BSL-23). Sociodemographic variables
Change on the suicidal ideation and behavior measured by the Columbia Suicide History Form (SSRS).
(and 2 more...) 40 All 15 Years to 25 Years (Child, Adult) NCT03011190 shs-ico-2015-01 September 2015 July 2017 December 2017 January 5, 2017 May 15, 2018 Silvia E. Hurtado-Santiago
Malaga, Spain
35 NCT01531634 Unknown † Promoting Recovery Processes in Women With Borderline Personality Disorder Using a Dynamic Cognitive Intervention Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Dynamic Cognitive Intervention Group Interventional
Not Applicable Hillel Yaffe Medical Center Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Change in Recovery Assessment Scale
Change in Hope Scale
Change in Brief Symptom Inventory 30 Female 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT01531634 0010-12-HYMC February 13, 2012 February 13, 2012 Day Center for Mentally Ill
Netanya, Israel
36 NCT03418142 Recruiting Evaluating an Internet-Based Self-Management Intervention for Borderline Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Priovi
Other: CAU Interventional
Not Applicable Gaia AG
University of Luebeck Industry / Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Score of the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index (BPDSI) - The BPDSI is a semi-structured interview assessing the frequency and severity of manifestations of borderline personality disorder (BPD) during the last three months.
Severity Index (BPDSI) - The BPDSI is a semi-structured interview assessing the frequency and severity of manifestations of (BPD) during the last three months. Severity of depressive symptoms, measured by Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 items (PHQ-9)
GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire)
Questionnaire) (and 4 more...) 200 All 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) NCT03418142 REVISIT-BPD Trial REVISIT January 29, 2018 July 2020 July 2020 February 1, 2018 February 7, 2018 Gaia AG
Hamburg, Germany
37 NCT00880919 Completed
Has Results Seroquel Extended Release (XR) for the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: quetiapine extended-release
Drug: Placebo Interventional
Phase 3 University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
AstraZeneca
University of Iowa
Mclean Hospital Other / Industry Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD)
(ZAN-BPD) Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)
Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST)
Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST) (and 6 more...) 95 All 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT00880919 0709M16844
IRUSQUET0454 June 2008 March 2013 March 2013 April 14, 2009 March 9, 2017 December 28, 2016 University of Iowa, Department of Psychiatry
Iowa City, Iowa, United States
Iowa City, Iowa, United States McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry
Belmont, Massachusetts, United States
Belmont, Massachusetts, United States University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview Riverside
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
38 NCT00533117 Completed
Has Results Treating Suicidal Behavior and Self-Mutilation in People With Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: Fluoxetine
Behavioral: Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Behavioral: Supportive psychotherapy Interventional
Phase 4 New York State Psychiatric Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Other / NIH Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Suicide Attempts 91 All 18 Years to 55 Years (Adult) NCT00533117 #5401R
R01MH061017-02 March 2001 January 2008 December 2012 September 21, 2007 August 28, 2017 August 28, 2017 New York State Psychiatric Institute
New York, New York, United States
39 NCT01912391 Completed Clinical Research Study to Evaluate Selegiline in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: Selegiline
Drug: Placebo (for Selegiline) Interventional
Phase 3 Mood and Anxiety Research, Inc Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Primary Efficacy Measurement: Changes in the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL 90-R) scale
Secondary Efficacy Measurement: Change in Hamilton Depression Inventory 17 Questions (HAM-D)
Clinical Global Impression of Change- Clinician (CGIc)
(and 2 more...) 30 All 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT01912391 PJM-01
WV26504-4245 October 2012 March 2015 March 2015 July 31, 2013 October 8, 2015 Mood and Anxiety Research, Inc
Fresno, California, United States
40 NCT01103180 Completed Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) in Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Drug: Escitalopram Interventional
Phase 2 University of Chicago
Temple University
Northwestern University
University of Southern Mississippi Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment self-harm ideation
Depressive symptoms 80 All 18 Years to 40 Years (Adult) NCT01103180 MH084904 September 2010 November 2014 November 2014 April 14, 2010 April 8, 2015 The University of Chicago Hospitals
Chicago, Illinois, United States
41 NCT00714311 Completed
Has Results Efficacy of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Behavioral: Transference-Focused Psychotherapy
Behavioral: treatment by experienced community psychotherapists Interventional
Not Applicable University Hospital Muenster Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Drop-out
Suicidality (Suicide Attempts)
Psychosocial Functioning (Global Assessment of Functioning, GAF-Score)
(and 5 more...) 104 Female 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT00714311 1106/04
10636
DPG0802 October 2004 February 2009 February 2015 July 14, 2008 February 16, 2015 February 16, 2015 Dept. of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna
Vienna, Austria
Vienna, Austria Dept. of Psychiatry, Technical University of Munich
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
42 NCT03602521 Not yet recruiting Reactivity of Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder to an Ecological Interpersonal Stress Female
Borderline Personality Disorder Other: Interpersonal stress Interventional
Not Applicable University Hospital, Montpellier Other Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Other Variation of plasma oxytocin concentrations after an interpersonal stress
Evolution of plasma oxytocin concentrations
Evolution of plasma copeptin concentrations
(and 14 more...) 116 Female 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult) NCT03602521 RECHMPL17_0394 ROI July 19, 2018 July 19, 2018 November 19, 2020 July 27, 2018 July 27, 2018 Hospital Lapeyronie
Montpellier, France
43 NCT02517723 Active, not recruiting Narrative Exposure Therapy in Women With Borderline Personality Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Behavioral: Narrative Exposure Therapy
Behavioral: Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Behavioral: Standard Inpatient Care
Other: Waiting List Interventional
Not Applicable Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld gGmbH Other Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Factorial Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment Change from first investigation in Posttraumatic Symptom Severity at 18 months (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale; CAPS)
Change from first investigation in Borderline Symptome Severity at 18 months( Borderline Symptom Liste; BSL)
Symptome Severity at 18 months( Symptom Liste; BSL) Change from first investigation in Severity of Dissociative Symptoms at 18 months (Fragebogen zu Dissoziativen Symptome ;FDS)
(and 2 more...) 60 Female 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult) NCT02517723 NET_BPS+PTBS April 2014 November 2019 November 2019 August 7, 2015 February 8, 2019 Clinic of Psychiatry, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld
Bielefeld, Germany
44 NCT03139825 Recruiting Connectivity and Social Cognition in Adolescent Girls With Borderline Personality Disorder, a Pilot Study Adolescent Behavior
Borderline Personality Disorder Other: Exploring the feasibility of learning during cognitive tasks (EEG-NIRS) Interventional
Not Applicable Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Am
|
ell's human alter ego, and in a bit of comic book logic craziness, absorbed his powers after a Radioactive explosion merged his DNA with her own, appearing as Ms. Marvel for the first time in 1977. Carol took on her former lover's role in 2012: At the time, she was Marvel's only female-led Comic book series, and is seen by some Comic critics as the spark of a new wave of diversity in Marvel's work that's lead to the likes of Kamala Khan, the Muslim Ms. Marvel, and the new female Thor. Her no-nonsense badassery has earned her a massive legion of diehard fans who've been campaigning for her appearance in the MCU for a long time, affectionately known as the Carol Corps.
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Awesome! So how will she show up?
We don't really know yet - but what Carol will be is an important part of the MCU, not just as Marvel's first standalone Female movie lead (sorry, Black Widow), but also for the fact that she can bridge the Cosmic and Earth-based sides of the MCU together. She deals with extraterrestrial threats in the comics like the Kree anyway, and she's even teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy before, so when Thanos comes a-knockin' in Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and 2019, Carol could help in bringing Star-Lord and co. together with the Earth-based Avengers.
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Black Panther
Although Anthony Mackie and Don Cheadle have both played black heroes in the MCU, Black Panther himself - holds the lofty title of being the first Black hero in'mainstream' comics, making his début in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966, and now he'll be the MCU's first non-white Lead when he gets his own movie in 2017. Yay!
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Neat Stuff - What's his deal?
Black Panther - or to give him his actual name, T'Challa - isn't just a superhero, he's also chief of the Panther Clan, granting him rule over the African nation of Wakanda. Worship of a Panther Deity (as well as originally the consumption of a mystical herb) grants T'Challa peak physical fitness and strength, and aside from that, he's considered one of the smartest people on the planet, with a Doctorate of Physics from Oxford, and a brilliant inventor. The comics also recently gave him an energy blade weapon too, making him even more deadly. Oh, and he also married the X-Men's Storm, making them one of the most badass superhero power couples of Comic Books - however their marriage broke apart after the Avengers vs. X-Men comic arc, but they remain good friends.
Wait, Wakanda. Where have I heard that before...
Wakanda is a technologically advanced nation, and vastly wealthy as it's home to the biggest deposits of the ultra-rare and ultra-powerful metal Vibranium - the material Cap's shield is made out of. Wakanda's been mentioned several times in both the Iron Man and Captain America movies - and a lot of rumours imply that we might be heading there for the first time on screen in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The first trailer for the Avengers sequel features a fleeting shot of Andy Serkis, who many have speculated is playing Ulysses Klaw, one of Black Panther's arch-nemeses from the comics.
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That all seems quite important, but what else do I need to know about him for the movies?
Other than the fact that it looks like Age of Ultron will set up some hints for Black Panther ahead of his own movie, he's actually making his début (played by Chadwick Boseman) in Captain America: Civil War in 2016. In the Civil War comic arc, Black Panther was a neutral diplomat at first, but eventually sided with Captain America's anti-registration forces - so there stands a good chance that the MCU's Panther will stand with Cap against Iron Man there, too.
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The Inhumans
Okay, seriously. Who?
Hoo boy...
Despite being one of Marvel's oldest creations - like Black Panther, they débuted in Fantastic Four, two years before him in 1965, and have cropped up regularly ever since, but even then they're very obscure. They're basically unheard of by the mainstream and even despite their presence in the comics, they're a niche group. But hey, that didn't stop the Guardians of the Galaxy, did it?
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So who's on Team Inhumans?
Well, no one. The Inhumans aren't a team - they're a race of beings, a genetically altered branch of super advanced humans who've been in hiding on Earth (and sometimes not on Earth) for millions of years.
Wait, what!?
Yeah! Strap in, because this gets super weird...
Millions of years ago, the Kree (I told you those guys would show up again!) came to Earth and conducted genetic experiments on Cro-Magnon Humans, hoping to not only evolve their own species but create a race of soldiers to fight the Skrulls. These experiments basically gave the Inhumans superpowers, but the Kree abandoned them. Unable to live alongside the 'normal' Humans, the Inhumans exiled themselves to the technologically advanced city of Attilan (currently Attilan is based on a habitable area of the moon, because comics), choosing to remain hidden away from Humankind for millions of years.
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The Inhumans learned to harness a gaseous compound called Terrigen Mist, which could alter their DNA even further than what the Kree did to them (it's also deadly to non-Inhumans). At first experimenting with the Mist lead to Inhumans being horrifically deformed - and so their society evolved into a rigid (and incestuous) Caste system that revolved around selective breeding to generate healthy, superpowered members of Inhuman society. When an Inhuman comes of age, they can choose to be exposed to the Terrigen Mists as a rite of passage, which unlocks latent superpowers (and other genetic mutations) and affects each Inhuman in a different way.
Well, obviously there's not going to be a whole race's worth of characters in the movie. Who are the most important ones?
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Most of the Inhuman's stories - and usually the group that's dubbed 'The Inhumans' as a team - revolve around the Inhuman royal family.
Black Bolt (guy in the blue-black suit with a spork sticking out of his head in the picture above) is King of the Inhumans, and is considered one of the most powerful Inhumans ever. His vocal chords can manipulate energy, which usually is displayed as a powerful scream, but it also means that Black Bolt rarely talks - a wise decision, considering his voice can kill people. The Royal Family all have latent telepathic links to each other, so Black Bolt usually communicates through his wife (who is also his first cousin. I wouldn't be surprised if the selective breeding part of the Inhuman's origins doesn't show up in the movies). That's Medusa, the orange haired woman above, Queen of the Inhumans. Her hair is actually her superpower - it's super strong and super flexible, and Medusa can control it, even grow it, with her mind.
Karnak (far left) is another of Black Bolt's cousins, but while he has increased strength, endurance and speed, he chose not to be doused in the Terrigen Mists, so he doesn't have any other superpowers - he instead trained himself in martial arts and in being able to pinpoint an opponent's specific weaknesses. He's brother to Triton (the green aquatic-looking fella on the far right), who aside from the obvious genetic mutation that gave him fins and green scales, can breathe underwater and swim at incredible speeds. Gorgon (The male character next to Triton) is basically a Satyr and has hooves, with which he can cause huge shockwaves by stomping. Finally rounding out the family is Medusa's sister Crystal (the blonde-haired woman), who is basically the Avatar - she can manipulate the elements and bend Air, Earth, Water and Fire to her will.
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Oh, and as if this wasn't enough Comic Book craziness for you, they're usually accompanied by Lockjaw, a dog that was accidentally exposed to the Terrigen Mists:
He can Teleport himself and people near to him anywhere instantly. COMIC BOOKS.
This all sounds a little crazy. How will they fit in in the movies?
Well, there's two ways to look at this. Let's look at it first in the context of reality - Marvel can't use Mutants in their movies at all, because Fox owns the rights to the very concept of them. No X-Men, not even the word mutant can be uttered - hence why The Winter Soldier's stinger featuring Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, both Mutants in the comics, being kind of hamfistedly called 'Miracles' by Baron Von Strucker. The Inhumans could serve as a quasi-stand in in the MCU, and they share some thematic crossover with Mutants in the fact that they're outsiders, unaccepted by Human society and considered outcasts. It'd be a convenient way of telling what are usually Mutant-based stories, but without having to deal with Fox's ownership.
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In-universe, the Inhumans, like Captain Marvel, can help serve as a connection between the Cosmic and Earth-based sides of the MCU considering their history with the Kree (and the fact that Attilan has recently been based on the Moon rather than Earth itself in the comics) - and to be honest, there stands a very good chance that Marvel have already started seeding the Inhumans into the MCU. It's all rumour and speculation at the moment, but a lot of people seem to believe that Age of Ultron will introduce Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as Inhuman characters to get around their Mutant origins. At the same time, Agents of SHIELD has been playing quite a long game with Skye's origins: The team came across a Kree corpse during the show's first season, and when Skye was critically wounded, she was healed with a transfusion of the Kree's blood, and recovered with virtually no side effects, a potentially strong hint that she's already a Kree-Human hybrid - or basically, an Inhuman. If either of those points turn out to be true, we could be seeing a lot more of this obscure group of Comic characters a lot sooner than their 2018 standalone movie.
And that's pretty much the basics (and then some) of what you need to know about the new Heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you're interested in learning more about any of these characters, our sister site Kotaku recently posted a guide of some of the comics you might want to check out ahead of the next 5 years of Marvel movies. Check it out!
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You're reading Toybox, io9's new blog for all things pop culture. From merchandise to awesome fan creations, TV recaps and critical commentary on the hot topics of the day, you can find it all here!A still from documentary "Finding Phong," which wins the Nanook Grand Prix at the 34th International Jean Rouch in France. Photo credit: findingphong.com
A feature-length documentary that recounts the transition of a Vietnamese man into a woman has won a top award at an international ethnographic film festival in France.
"Tim Phong," or "Finding Phong", was named the winner of the Nanook Grand Prix at the 34th Festival International Jean Rouch, which runs in Paris for a month until December 6.
Shot over more than two years, and partly including the subject's video diaries, the film captures the personal life and thoughts of Le Anh Phong, a 30-year-old painter based in Hanoi, before, during and after her sex reassignment surgery.
It also shows how Phong came out as a transgender with her family, who live in the conservative central province of Quang Ngai.
The film is not merely the story of a trans woman, but also offers a glimpse into Vietnamese society and families, especially when it comes to sexuality and gender, Tran Phuong Thao, who co-directed the film with Frenchman Swann Dubus, told Thanh Nien in a telephone interview.
This helped the film win the award, named after "Nanook of the North," a 1922 documentary often considered the world's first ethnographic film, she said.
Though "Finding Phong" has been screened at a dozen of film festivals around the world, including in Scotland and the US, since its premiere in April, she has had difficulties finding a distributor to release it in Vietnam, Thao said.
The film has received great support and positive feedback, but many Vietnamese distributors are still cautious about its theme, she said.
Phong, who is still identified as male in her personal documents, said she hopes the documentary will be screened in Vietnam, where legislators are set to vote on amendments to the Civil Code, one of which seeks to legalize gender reassignment.
"I hope lawmakers and the public can watch the film, so that they can realize that people like me deserve the right to live with their desired gender, happily and healthily."
Phong's story
The youngest of six siblings, Phong said she felt like a girl since she was as young as eight.
Her behavior and lifestyle, completely in contrast to the stereotypical Vietnamese man who is supposed to be tough and smoke and drink heavily, was "weak" and "gentle" in the eyes of her sisters.
Her brothers, who saw her as "too effeminate," often jokingly called her "pe de" -- an offensive Vietnamese term for gay and trans people. Her parents also realized that their youngest child was more like a girl than a boy, but they did not know what the issue was.
At 20 Phong left home for a university in Hanoi, and got a job at the Hanoi Water Puppet Theater, after graduation. During the years in Hanoi, plagued by loneliness and agony, the painter felt an increasing urge to make the transition though she was also torn by the need to "be a good son" to her parents.
In the end, at 27, Phong decided to follow her urge and also agreed to take part in the filming of "Finding Phong."
"I wanted to keep some memories of the years when I was still a man. But I also wanted to show people that transgender people are just like anyone else, desiring happiness.
"I hoped it would be some kind of encouragement and guidance for other trans people who are still hesitant and lost about which direction to take."
Hopeful as Phong was, her coming out was expectedly rough. Her siblings and father supported her decision, though most of them did not quite understand why she wanted to become a woman.
Her mother, who had always preferred boys to girls since having her first child, however, felt it was "misfortune" and wondered what she did wrong in her previous life to have "a child like this."
With Phong constantly telling her family she could lead a happy life only as a woman, her mother became more understanding though she was worried about Phong's future and sorrowful about her "misfortune" at not being able to have her own children.
Speaking to Thanh Nien, Phong said though she is still struggling with problems like the legality of her personal documents after the transition, her life "is very happy with the love of my family and people around me."CLOSE Roshanda Rushing, 43, talks with her son, Robert, 24, and her mother, Rose, 74, about challenges finding work as a black person and their experiences with covert and overt racism.
Grim statistics reflect Des Moines’ biggest challenge
Buy Photo Residents discuss issues facing black residents of Polk County at the unveiling of the State of Black Polk County report on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at the Drake Knapp Center in Des Moines. The report followed a year of research led by local nonprofit The Directors Council. (Photo: Kelly McGowan/The Register)Buy Photo
The Des Moines area will be overflowing with guests in the next two weeks for the Iowa State Fair and the Solheim Cup. It will be another opportunity to show off our growth, vibrancy and community spirit.
We have much in which to be proud. But there’s a side we don’t want our visitors to see, a story we don’t want to talk about.
The challenge is what a report calls “the tale of two cities”: white and black Des Moines. A yawning racial gap persists in education, employment, finances, business ownership, housing, leadership, health, criminal justice and other areas. For example:
Iowa had the worst unemployment rate in the nation for African-Americans in 2015 — 14.8 percent — compared with the statewide unemployment rate of 3.9 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The median income for African-American households in Polk County was less than half of the county as a whole in 2014: $26,725, compared with $59,844.
A quarter of black Des Moines residents are unbanked, compared with a rate of 4.5 percent statewide.
African-Americans make up 65 percent of the “cost-burdened” renters (defined as spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing) in Des Moines.
In 2005, 12.9 percent of black Polk County residents had less than a high school education. In 2014, that had risen to 17.1 percent.
These statistics, and many more, are contained in a grim report called “One Economy: The State of Black Polk County.” The study was completed this spring for The Directors Council, a group of community nonprofit leaders that serve Des Moines neighborhoods. The report, created by State Public Policy Group, included 61 community focus groups and conversations with 244 people.
The comments that researchers gathered reveal frustration, hopelessness and distrust. Many African-Americans complained of redlining in housing and lending. They talk of repeatedly being rejected for jobs, lacking connections to the power brokers and facing higher barriers to opportunity:
“Most of the black people in Des Moines who are successful were not born in Des Moines … That’s attributable to the fact that there’s not a lot of role models who can help with their vision.”
“The employment opportunities opened up for several decades for African-Americans. But now it seems like that door has closed.”
“We have a lot of black plumbers, electricians and landscaping. They don’t bother getting contracts with the city or the state. They give you so much paperwork. … We moved our company (out of state).”
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“You have to have grit and determination. For me, not getting the loan could’ve stopped me. But I had to get creative and work around it. … We can’t do things the normal way because that’s not available to us.”
The Directors Council is forming work groups to address the issues raised in the report, and it’s focusing initially on wealth-building and financial literacy. But its leaders know they can’t do it alone. They know where the real force of change exists in Des Moines.
“The corporate community doesn’t talk about these issues,” said Teree Caldwell-Johnson, chairwoman of the council and CEO of Oakridge Neighborhood. “It’s out of sight, out of mind.”
To be fair, both state and local business leaders have raised awareness of the issues, particularly around employment. In February, then-Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that the State Workforce Development Board would establish a subcommittee with a goal of reducing minority joblessness by at least 5 percent within the next five years, or lower the minority unemployment rate to match the statewide rate.
“It is unacceptable that we have such a huge disparity between our average unemployment rate and the rates in our minority communities," Branstad said.
RELATED: Black Iowa: Still Unequal?
CLOSE Gov. Terry Branstad talks about racial profiling in Iowa and balancing security with peoples' rights. Brian Powers/The Register
But this problem will require more than studies and subcommittees. We must start confronting the challenge more consistently and urgently.
“Businesses recognize we need to do more. We need to be more intentional about what our leadership will look like in the future,” said Mary Bontrager, executive vice president of the Greater Des Moines Partnership.
Last fall, the partnership convened a group of employers to discuss barriers to African-American opportunity. Recommendations included offering training on unconscious bias, revising job criteria to allow candidates with criminal backgrounds, partnering with community groups, reviewing recruiting and interviewing practices and rewriting job applications to eliminate questions about credit history.
Bontrager said companies including Wellmark and Nationwide are offering internships to local high school students as a way to build the local workforce. Next year, the partnership plans to unveil a two-year fellowship program intended, in part, to recruit minorities to local employers. The program will include a professional development curriculum, mentorship and community engagement, as a way to keep the participants here.
The problems facing black Iowans are daunting, but not hopeless. Des Moines is still small enough to tackle any problem.
“One thing you can do in Des Moines is pick up the phone and have a conversation with anyone you want, said Ted Williams, a human resources consultant and board member of The Directors Council. “You can’t do that in San Francisco or New York.”
If Des Moines truly wants to reach its potential as a great city for everyone, it cannot afford to leave behind even a small percentage of its population. It’s not good enough to be recognized as one of the best places to live in the U.S., when the website 24/7 Wall St. also called us the third-worst city for African-Americans.
Our civic and business leaders have shown they can improve the quality of life for local residents. Twenty or 30 years ago, who imagined the booming Des Moines we see today? That wasn’t an accident, but a concerted effort to lay out a vision, bring people together and make critical investments.
Let’s do it again.
CLOSE Michael Hardat, a Des Moines Public Schools graduate and Iowa State University student, talks about why it's important for Iowans to find time to connect with at-risk kids. Rodney White/The Register
In 50 years, little progress for blacks
Iowa’s racial chasm resembles the situation nationally.
The income gap between black and white Americans at every income level is as wide as it was 50 years ago, data show.
In an op-ed in the New York Times, Paul F. Campos, a professor of law at the University of Colorado, challenges the persistent and ugly belief that the white working class is losing ground economically because of policies intended to help African-Americans. His analysis shows that in 2015, middle-income blacks made an average of 55 percent as much as middle-income white households — the same percentage as in 1967.
“A half-century of initiatives intended to combat the effects of centuries of virulent racism appear to have done nothing to ameliorate inequality between white and black America,” Campos writes.
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Decklist
Bouncer is used both as reach into the high hp creatures and to make the opponent take damage from their next creature. Rush of Blood is useful against decks that reach into large creatures as on top of making the creature aggressive you can also make them take an extra hit to kill it. Gorad is arguably the weakest of the chosen aggressive creature as you have to take more damage from your next creature. However due to it making both players’ next creatures aggressive it gives a potential nine extra damage for Deadly Prey as opposed to the three from Rush of Blood or the six from Bouncer. Deadly Prey is often used in this deck as six to twelve damage, while the burst isn’t as large as you can get from something like Earth Blast this doesn’t include the damage taken from the aggressive creatures themselves.
Most of the deck is a fairly standard three AP aggro shell, Rowdy Cannoneer into Barker Toad gives eleven damage over two slots which is a good rate, combined with the other small consistent damage in Troll Chucker and Scorpion this is enough to wittle your opponent down. The large creatures chosen for targets of Bouncer’s reach are Jogre Shaman and Ogre Chieftain. Jogre Shaman is usually six to ten damage, originally I was planning to use Sergeant Grimspike instead however Jogre Shaman usually represents more damage and is easier to kill at three base attack if you don’t find a Bouncer or Sergeant Slimetoes. Ogre Chieftain has a high ceiling where damage is concerned with a minimum of five damage if the opponent is on one base, ideally you wouldn’t want to kill Chieftain without reaching into it to kill it in two hits however if needed you can tank extra hits off it to get those key last points of damage in. AP is gained through Kyzaj and KGP Agent with White Wolf being used for card draw and early gold gain.
The final slots in the deck are taken up by Dark Crabs and Bar Fights. Dark Crab feels necessary as a heal due to the fledgling nerf. Bar Fight is included for two reasons; against decks such as grief Linza removing durability from a weapon to stop a Dust Devil or Karam can be key; it can also be used after a Bouncer if you don’t have a target to reach into but want to make your opponents next slot aggressive for instance if you expect a Jad or another large creature.
Mulligan Decisions
Depending on how you want to play out a match up there are two main ways you can mulligan with this deck; focusing on consistent damage or going for an aggressive combo. For consistent damage getting to three base attack is key so i would suggest hard mulliganing for either Kyzaj or KGP, after that I would aim for the low hp damage dealing creatures. If you expect to be in a longer game for instance against a deck with a lot of healing then keeping a White Wolf for card draw is also very useful.
For the aggressive combo the main cards you want are Bouncer and Deadly Prey. Bouncer is useful even without Deadly Prey as you can reach into Ogre Chieftain or Jogre Shaman with it. Unless your hand includes Deadly Prey before the mulligan i would usually suggest mulliganing for base attack and small creatures. If you have both Bouncer and one of the large reach targets then they can also be worth holding onto in the mulligan if you expect you are against a deck where you can catch a large creature with the aggressive from Bouncer such as Jad or Sentinel.
Match Ups
The main good matchup for this deck is, as you may have guessed, decks with big creatures in them, namely AP decks. Raptor can be a bit more troublesome due to just how much sustain he has however you have Ogre Chieftain for if the game goes long and the aggressive mechanic rarely misses against this kind of heavily creature focused deck.
Support based Ari
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is the M-sigma relation, a tight (low scatter) relation between the mass of the hole in the 10 or so galaxies with secure detections, and the velocity dispersion of the stars in the bulges of those galaxies.[49] This correlation, although based on just a handful of galaxies, suggests to many astronomers a strong connection between the formation of the black hole and the galaxy itself.[48]
The nearby Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light-years away, contains a (1.1–7008229999999999999♠2.3)×108 (110–230 million) M ☉ central black hole, significantly larger than the Milky Way's.[50] The largest supermassive black hole in the Milky Way's vicinity appears to be that of M87, at a mass of 7009640000000000000♠(6.4±0.5)×109 (c. 6.4 billion) M ☉ at a distance of 53.5 million light-years.[51][52] The supergiant elliptical galaxy NGC 4889, at a distance of 336 million light-years away in the Coma Berenices constellation, contains a black hole measured to be 7010210000000000000♠2.1×1010 (21 billion) M ☉.[53]
Masses of black holes in quasars can be estimated via indirect methods that are subject to substantial uncertainty. The quasar TON 618 is an example of an object with an extremely large black hole, estimated at 7010660000000000000♠6.6×1010 (66 billion) M ☉.[54] Its redshift is 2.219. Other examples of quasars with large estimated black hole masses are the hyperluminous quasar APM 08279+5255, with an estimated mass of 7010230000000000000♠2.3×1010 (23 billion) M ☉, and the quasar S5 0014+81, with a mass of 7010400000000000000♠4.0×1010 (40 billion) M ☉, or 10,000 times the mass of the black hole at the Milky Way Galactic Center.
Some galaxies, such as the galaxy 4C +37.11, appear to have two supermassive black holes at their centers, forming a binary system. If they collided, the event would create strong gravitational waves.[55] Binary supermassive black holes are believed to be a common consequence of galactic mergers.[56] The binary pair in OJ 287, 3.5 billion light-years away, contains the most massive black hole in a pair, with a mass estimated at 18 billion M ☉.[57] In 2011, a super-massive black hole was discovered in the dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10, which has no bulge. The precise implications for this discovery on black hole formation are unknown, but may indicate that black holes formed before bulges.[58]
On March 28, 2011, a supermassive black hole was seen tearing a mid-size star apart.[59] That is the only likely explanation of the observations that day of sudden X-ray radiation and the follow-up broad-band observations.[60][61] The source was previously an inactive galactic nucleus, and from study of the outburst the galactic nucleus is estimated to be a SMBH with mass of the order of a million solar masses. This rare event is assumed to be a relativistic outflow (material being emitted in a jet at a significant fraction of the speed of light) from a star tidally disrupted by the SMBH. A significant fraction of a solar mass of material is expected to have accreted onto the SMBH. Subsequent long-term observation will allow this assumption to be confirmed if the emission from the jet decays at the expected rate for mass accretion onto a SMBH.
A gas cloud with several times the mass of the Earth is accelerating towards a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.
In 2012, astronomers reported an unusually large mass of approximately 17 billion M ☉ for the black hole in the compact, lenticular galaxy NGC 1277, which lies 220 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The putative black hole has approximately 59 percent of the mass of the bulge of this lenticular galaxy (14 percent of the total stellar mass of the galaxy).[62] Another study reached a very different conclusion: this black hole is not particularly overmassive, estimated at between 2 and 5 billion M ☉ with 5 billion M ☉ being the most likely value.[63] On 28 February 2013 astronomers reported on the use of the NuSTAR satellite to accurately measure the spin of a supermassive black hole for the first time, in NGC 1365, reporting that the event horizon was spinning at almost the speed of light.[64][65]
[66] Hubble view of a supermassive black hole "burping".
In September 2014, data from different X-ray telescopes has shown that the extremely small, dense, ultracompact dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1 hosts a 20 million solar mass black hole at its center, accounting for more than 10% of the total mass of the galaxy. The discovery is quite surprising, since the black hole is five times more massive than the Milky Way's black hole despite the galaxy being less than five-thousandths the mass of the Milky Way.
Some galaxies, however, lack any supermassive black holes in their centers. Although most galaxies with no supermassive black holes are very small, dwarf galaxies, one discovery remains mysterious: The supergiant elliptical cD galaxy A2261-BCG has not been found to contain an active supermassive black hole, despite the galaxy being one of the largest galaxies known; ten times the size and one thousand times the mass of the Milky Way. Since a supermassive black hole will only be visible while it is accreting, a supermassive black hole can be nearly invisible, except in its effects on stellar orbits.
In December 2017, astronomers reported the detection of the most distant quasar currently known, ULAS J1342+0928, containing the most distant supermassive black hole, at a reported redshift of z = 7.54, surpassing the redshift of 7 for the previously known most distant quasar ULAS J1120+0641.[67][68][69]
Hawking evaporation [ edit ]
If black holes evaporate via Hawking radiation, a supermassive black hole with a mass of 1011 (100 billion) M ☉ will evaporate in around 2×10100 years.[70]
Some monster black holes in the universe are predicted to continue to grow up to perhaps 1014 M ☉ during the collapse of superclusters of galaxies. Even these would evaporate over a timescale of up to 10106 years.[71]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]WASHINGTON, D.C. — From the Carolina's to Martha's Vineyard, the earthquake that shook the East Coast Tuesday rattled the nerves of many people who had never felt an earthquake.
Just after noon, buildings began to shake along the Eastern seaboard. The 5.9 earthquake was the most powerful in Virginia in decades.
The shaking damaged Latter-day Saint temple in Washington, D.C., causing it to lose the tips of four of its spires. They were knocked off, as were some pieces of granite on the temple facing.
"We started finding chunks of marble and spires laying on the ground. They are about four feet long; the base of them are probably 4 inches square, and it comes up to a point," said Doug Wiggins, a North Carolina resident who was at the temple when the earthquake hit.
We started finding chunks of marble and spires laying on the ground. They are about four feet long... –Doug Wiggins
Don Olson, director of the temple's visitor center, called the quake a "pretty healthy shake," but said there was no serious internal damage to the temple of which he was aware.
The quake was centered northwest of Richmond, Va. At a new Walmart in King George, Va., former Utahn Sandy Miller and her daughter Eilee were startled while shopping.
"All of a sudden we could feel, like, waves; and we looked up and we could see the ceiling shaking and the walls," Miller said. "I was thinking our new Walmart wasn't built strong enough and it was going to collapse or something."
"It scared me," Eliee said.
The earthquake also shook New York City, where crowds felt it in Times Square and on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, which cleared out.
"What is unusual about this one is the size of the event; this one is significantly larger," said Dr. Harley Benz, of the U.S. Geological Survey.
"What is unusual about this one is the size of the event; this was significantly larger," said Dr. Harley Benz, with the U.S. Geological Survey.
There have been reports of injuries, but no one died in the quake.
----
Written with contributions from Carole Mikita and the ksl.com news team.
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PhotosRep. John Yarmuth, a Democrat from Kentucky, tweets this picture of what uninsured rates look like in his home state before and after Obamacare. It mostly shows some really steep declines in the number of Kentuckians who do not have health insurance coverage.
Kentucky has been one of the states' that aggressively implemented the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Steve Beshear has been a big Obamacare cheerleader through the course of the year, pushing forward in a state where opposition can be strong.
"We were working hard to make sure that everything worked, but we had no idea that we would be one of the few whose website would actually work when we started," Beshear told me in an interview last month.
Beshear credits the states' strong commitment to making Obamacare work, even in the face of political opposition, to Kentucky's successful Obamacare launch. But before jumping to any conclusions, let's not deny the role that Wille, the state health exchange's official bunny mascot, may have played as well.One is Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which hinges on a privately owned business's ability to pick and choose its customers based on religious beliefs. The other case is National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Xavier Becerra, which focuses on the rights of private, non-profit crisis pregnancy centers established by pro-life organizations and individuals to operate without being forced to advocate for abortion.
The Supreme Court is facing two First Amendment issues, and we are at risk of having two different answers – ones that can only further confuse an already confusing selection of legal precedents.
The issue with Masterpiece is challenging for a number of reasons.
On the one side of the coin (setting aside the "protected" status of so-called marriage rights for same-sex couples, which has become a political third rail), there are the public accommodation laws that were passed, beginning in the '60s, to guarantee that hotels, restaurants, and other "public accommodations" could not legally discriminate against someone based on his race (in that case, almost exclusively black). Public accommodation laws were unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court in Katzenbach v. McClung in 1964. Those laws may have deprived some racist business owners of the right to practice their racism, but they extended a uniform right to all Americans, regardless of skin color, to have access to those public accommodations.
On the other side of the coin is the right, established by the courts when confronting demands stemming from Obamacare, of faith-based employers to refrain from offering insurance for services they find religiously unacceptable, such as abortion or birth control. The Supreme Court upheld faith-based employers' rights not to offer such insurance in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby in 2014.
As a result, in considering the Colorado case, the Supreme Court sided with those advocating equal access for all to public accommodations, while also siding with those faith-based business owners who found conditions of Obamacare incompatible with their faith. These two Court-defined rights truly represent a rock and a hard place. A bakery is clearly analogous to the restaurants, which were specifically banned from discriminating against customers based on race, while the right to honor religious beliefs in the workplace was directly established in the Hobby Lobby case. The issue may hinge on a simple, indisputable fact. All black people are born that way – they have no choice in the matter. However, all people who want to attempt to marry someone of the same sex are acting on a choice, not an immutable fact. At issue will be whether the fact of this being a constitutionally protected lifestyle choice is more or less constitutionally protected than the fact of race being unchangeable and not subject to choice.
While some may argue that the wedding cake is "different" because there are always other cake-making choices available to same-sex couples, that argument was tried (and failed) in the public accommodations issues of the mid-'60s. At that time, there were always some hotels and restaurants that would serve blacks, but the Court deemed this insufficient justification for other public accommodations to limit their service to whites. This, along as the constitutional equivalence (if any) between innate race and human-choice sexual preference, is the issue the Court will have to decide.
The other case, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Xavier Becerra, is even more complicated. At issue is the right of those 200 or so generally faith-based crisis pregnancy centers in California to provide abortion-alternative counseling and support without also fulfilling a state mandate that they provide pro-abortion information. The mandate comes from the California Reproductive FACT Act, which requires all crisis pregnancy centers to prominently post on their premises and in their advertising literature the following notice:
California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care, and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you qualify, contact the county social services office at [phone number].
The law even specifies where these notices will be posted and the type size they must be printed in. Specifically, this law was passed primarily or exclusively to require pro-life crisis pregnancy centers to advocate for something they passionately disagree with, even though those objections are, in most cases, based on clear religious beliefs. The religious part of the issue here is at least as strong as the Hobby Lobby claim; however, these centers were created specifically to offer alternatives to abortion. Such notices work directly at odds with the creation intent of the crisis pregnancy centers, an issue not germane to the Hobby Lobby issue, since Hobby Lobby was created not primarily to practice a religion-based activity.
The need for such a law seems based on the supposition that, absent this notice, none of the 700,000 women who become pregnant in California each year will know that abortion is an option. It then goes farther, assuming that pregnant women don't know that abortion-related services are available at taxpayer expense by California's county social services organizations, as well as at low cost from such non-governmental groups as Planned Parenthood. In short, the grounds for this law – other than the fact that pro-abortion zealots can't bear the fact that there even are other options – are specious. It is quite literally inconceivable that any American woman might not know that abortion counseling and abortions themselves aren't readily available. In short, the law is not necessary.
At issue before the court is the question of whether the religious rights of people and organizations who set up such pro-life pregnancy centers are more important than the state's power to force people to defy their own faith-based beliefs to serve a public communications need that is, in fact, no need at all, unless the Court presumes that there is a significant number of California women so ignorant of abortion that – unless told about abortion at a pro-life counseling center – they would never know about the availability of abortion-related services.
This should be clear-cut. However, even pro-abortion justices have admitted that Roe v. Wade is remarkably flawed constitutional law, finding in the Constitution a privacy right that does not actually exist. Given that precedent, it's really anybody's guess whether the clearly articulated right to the free exercise of religion will trump the made-up privacy right that has become the foundation of a host of other constitutionally specious laws.
For those who care about the primacy of constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom over lesser rights – especially those "discovered" by the Court or asserted by state governments – this latest session of the Supreme Court will prove a nail-biter. Perhaps the worst possible outcome for those who value a clear affirmation of our promised right to the free exercise of religion would be a split decision, where the Colorado baker's rights are upheld because the courts differentiate between the rights of people of color (who are born that way) and people who exercise lifestyle choices, while on the other hand ruling that the discovered privacy right articulated in Roe v. Wade, as interpreted by California statute, trumps religious freedom. Still, it is too early to give up on the hope that the Court will consistently find in favor of the rights of those who act based on deeply held religious convictions.Story highlights Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray have sought a health care deal
President Donald Trump's announcement last week added new urgency
(CNN) Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander said Monday he's getting encouragement from both President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to reach a health care deal soon that would restore cost-sharing reduction payments in exchange for state flexibility on some plans.
"The President has encouraged me to try to get an agreement with Sen. Murray," Alexander told reporters, a reference to Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate's health committee. "Sen. Schumer has encouraged me to try to get an agreement with Sen. Murray. I find that very encouraging when both the President and Sen. Schumer encourage me to do something."
Alexander confirmed to reporters Monday that he spoke to Trump over the phone Saturday about restoring the CSR payments and that the President was supportive of him reaching a deal, something even some GOP colleagues have resisted.
For weeks, Alexander has been working with Murray on legislation that would appropriate CSR payments for two years in exchange for state flexibility, but after Trump announced Thursday that he would stop making the payments himself their negotiations have been met with even more urgency.
Without CSRs -- funding the federal government gives to insurers to reduce health care costs of low-income people -- health care experts have warned that insurers could leave the Obamacare marketplace or raise premiums in the future. Alexander and Murray have tried to negotiate a plan that would require Republicans to agree to fund CSRs if Democrats agreed to allow states to offer some insurance plans that did not comply with some Obamacare regulations.
Read MoreROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi says he is the victim of politicized judges, his enemies that he has finally been nailed after two decades evading the law. Either way, the fate of Italy’s dominant politician highlights deep problems with the country’s judicial system.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi smiles and gestures at the end of a rally to protest his tax fraud conviction, outside his palace in central Rome August 4, 2013. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
Ever since he entered politics in 1994, the four-time prime minister has railed against the judges, and he rounded on them again last week after the supreme court confirmed a one-year jail term for tax fraud, his first definitive conviction in dozens of trials.
Much of the center-right leader’s emotional video address after the sentence was a bitter attack on “uncontrollable” magistrates who had hounded him for 20 years for political ends.
On Sunday, as the 76-year-old billionaire wept at a rally of his supporters in Rome, he returned to the theme. “We must together wage this battle for democracy and freedom, to make Italy a country where people are not afraid of finding themselves in jail for no reason.”
Lawyers and judges give his accusations short shrift.
“You only have to think how many different magistrates judged him in so many different situations to say that from a statistical point of view it is impossible that they are all from the left,” said senior Milan judge Fabio Roia, member of a politically centrist magistrates’ association.
The five supreme court judges were politically conservative, and public prosecutor Antonello Mura has led the most right-wing magistrates’ association.
Defense lawyer Markus Wiget said that while Berlusconi’s prominence might have made him a more tempting target, political bias could not explain all his legal difficulties. Berlusconi himself listed in 2008 a toll of 577 visits by police, 2,500 court hearings and 174 million euros he had paid in laywers’ bills.
“Berlusconi has been judged by so many magistrates and more recently the supreme court that it is difficult to believe that all of them were biased in analyzing these crimes,” he said.
COLD WAR CHORD
Nevertheless, the media mogul’s accusations strike a chord with many voters in a country where politics is still colored by beliefs dating back to the Cold War, when for 50 years the Christian Democrat party ruled, and the most powerful communist party in the West was in permanent opposition.
The 1992-1994 “Bribesville” investigation into massive political graft swept away that old order, including the Christian Democrats.
In his address last week, Berlusconi called that probe the “abnormal action” of magistrates who had destroyed a political bulwark against communism to hand power to the left.
Ironically, he owes his rise to Bribesville, because he filled the vacuum left by the Christian Democrats. He still paints himself as an anti-communist warrior, more than 20 years after the Italian Communist Party was dissolved.
This has strong resonance for rightist voters who still bitterly remember Bribesville, especially the dozens of suicides of suspects and the way prosecutors threw people into jail to elicit a confession, which many judges now concede was an abuse.
Whether or not you buy Berlusconi’s line, there is widespread agreement that Italy’s judicial system is a mess.
The system is notoriously Byzantine and subject to huge delays for both criminal and civil cases, the latter seen as a significant disincentive to foreign investment.
There is a backlog of about 9 million cases. A civil case takes on average more than seven years to settle and a criminal case five. Even minor offences like falsifying a bus ticket or driving without a license are eligible for two appeals.
Lawyers say Berlusconi has contributed to the problem by passing laws for his own protection, including drastically shortening the statute of limitations for white-collar crimes, which gives defense lawyers an incentive to drag out cases.
“The judges are fine for Berlusconi when they do what he wants,” said Roia, adding that his control of a media empire enables him to turn the public against his judicial enemies.
The greatest disagreement on reform is over demands to change the way magistrates are regulated, supervised and appointed. They currently govern themselves.
“We are extremely favorable to reforms. But when they speak of the reform of justice, they mean reforming the magistrates, and these are two different things,” Roia said.
DISCREDITED POLITICS
Judges were “extremely opposed and skeptical” to giving up their constitutionally protected independence, because this could subordinate them to political power, he said.
“With our political class, unfortunately, there would be the risk that only poor people would be prosecuted and not white-collar criminals,” he said. “In a different constitutional situation we would never have convicted Berlusconi.”
Respected political analyst Angelo Panebianco said in a commentary in Corriere della Sera daily this week that at the heart of Italy’s problems is an imbalance between a powerful judiciary and weak, discredited politicians.
The solution is to reinforce politics by restoring its legitimacy, but he supported one of the main reforms demanded by Berlusconi, the separation of the careers of prosecutors and judges.
Critics of the current system say the fact that judges and prosecutors have the same training, work in the same buildings and can transfer between the two professions, means that there is collusion that disadvantages the defense.
They also want to curb the powers of prosecutors, who run the police investigation of a crime, but Roia and others say the independence of prosecutors from political control is a strength.
Roia also said only around 2 percent of prosecutors and judges swapped careers because, among other things, they were required to move to a different region if they did so.
Wiget, an expert on white-collar crime, supports separating judges and prosecutors, but believes judicial reform would never be successful until politicians restore their credibility.
“They need to convince judges they are not motivated by reducing their powers or avoiding investigations against politicians,” he said.
“The magistrates consider themselves as watchdogs of democracy, which is true to a certain extent, but there must always be a balance of powers.”
While the debate rages on, Berlusconi vows to remain in play as Italy’s most successful politician, despite the prospect of being expelled from parliament and locked up for a year under house arrest or doing community service. Only his age keeps him from going to jail.
Regardless of legal reform, that looks like an uphill struggle, even for the Harry Houdini of Italian politics.Brandon Marshall was a guest on Chicago’s ESPN 1000 this afternoon, and apparently host Carmen DeFalco had been saying that the Bears were scared of Marshall. The Bears receiver had been listening to the show, and made Carmen answer for why that may have been. After a little bit of arguing back and forth, Marshall repeatedly (around the 2:40-mark) called Carmen a clown, and said, “You shouldn’t even be on the radio.”
Talks would eventually steer in a more cordial direction. This has been quite the football season in Chicago.
Related: Chicago Sports Talk Host Loses His Mind About Marc Trestman
Related: Bears Postgame Host: “I’d rather spend a weekend in jail than watch this game again”
Related: Chicago Bears Locker Room Reportedly Turned to an Ugly Scene after Home Loss to DolphinsSound of Love (Part 5) – On Steps
Episode 5 provides the perfect opportunity to discuss one of Hibike Euphonium’s most prominent motifs: steps. Steps and feet. Although we never see or hear of marching band again after this episode, the importance of steps and feet only builds throughout the series. We should establish some background on the topic, and there’s no better place to do so than an episode about marching band—an activity based on steps. Moving forward, let’s figure out what movement can convey in Episode 5 of Hibike Euphonium.
As the band practices marching together, the camera shoots from a low angle where the band members’ feet constantly pass through the foreground. This draws our attention to two ideas: one that enhances our understanding of marching band, and one that hones the focus of the episode as a whole. The ever-passing feet, combined with Kumiko’s explanation of marching, inform us that the focus of marching band is ultimately on the feet. For the band to stay coordinated and in line, they must match each other’s feet. Additionally, or by proxy, this focuses the episode as a whole on feet and steps.
Hazuki attempting to unravel the mystery steps is the first instance of the aforementioned motif. Only members who won’t be playing instruments at SunFes will need to learn the mystery steps, so this is the first indication of Hazuki’s support role—both in the band and in romance (essay on Hazuki and tubas forthcoming…). Hazuki has trouble learning the steps, showing she’s a novice yet to fully find her place in this band. However, we’ll later see Hazuki has figured out the steps, so we can rest assured she’ll be okay in the long run.
Maybe I’m reading too far into this, but it’s no coincidence that Kumiko shows us how tired she is after practice by kicking off her shoes and stretching her feet. The obvious connection is that she’s been marching and walking all day and her feet hurt. So is this just an obvious method for Hibike to show Kumiko’s fatigue, or is it yet more development of the motif of feet? In the end, that answer probably comes down to how much credit you’re willing to give me for thinking of this, but let me try to convince you how important feet are, narratively speaking…
We reach an important scene, Reina’s smiling scene. Early on, we’re shown a shot of Reina’s feet, pointed inward—meaning she’s closed off from Kumiko and possibly nervous. Kumiko attempts to walk quicker to catch up to Reina, bringing up different topics of small talk with each attempt. She winds up falling behind each time, unable to breach the wall of ice around Reina. After Kumiko’s failed attempts at bridging the gap, Reina puts her feet firmly and steadily on the ground, building resolve to ask Kumiko about the sensitive topic of Taki.
Having entered such a sensitive topic—at least, considering Kumiko’s fear of Reina—Kumiko runs ahead to distance herself from Reina physically and emotionally. But the crosswalk light remains green and Reina closes that gap once more. Reina’s ‘budget smile’ is her revealing herself to Kumiko, opening up to the one person she’s found she can connect to. She shows Kumiko a beautiful and kind side of herself, a side that Kumiko didn’t think existed. Having discovered this new Reina, Kumiko turns around with a determined hop. And how did we arrive at such an important moment for these two characters? With a series of steps, of course.
I don’t want to beat this concept to death, but there’s one more vital scene to discuss. Kumiko meets up with a friend from middle school at SunFes and the two begin to talk about their new high schools. This isn’t the first time Kumiko’s encountered someone from her past (Shuichi and Aoi came first), but her reaction this time sets this scene apart.
By the power of KyoAni, we’re greeted with yet another close up of feet/steps. When Kumiko’s friend wants to run off to meet with the rest of their middle school class, Kumiko begins to follow, but suddenly stops still. For a moment, Kumiko returns to going with the flow. Unlike the past, however, she thinks of whether she got the fresh start she was hoping for at Kitauji. She thinks of the childhood friend she’s starting to talk to more; she thinks of her new friends she’s experiencing new adventures with; and she thinks of Reina, whom Kumiko is finally connecting with. Kumiko realizes that she did indeed find a fresh start, and that her choice of high school had nothing to do with it. Changing old relationships and building new ones, and developing as a person—Kumiko accomplished all of that by stepping towards the future, by taking action. This is a crucial moment for Kumiko to shed her indifference, and she does so by stepping towards her bandmates.
Kumiko’s journey, as well as the development of this motif, is far from over. There are still moonlight hikes to walk, confessions of love to make, and music to play. Yet, being that this is a turning point episode, we can carry on with confidence that Kumiko will continue to step forward. We’ll see where those steps take her when the next piece begins.
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In a small Welsh village, Nikki Vousden and Roderick Bale were enjoying an evening stroll in the woods when a rock with strange carvings by the side of a stream caught their attention. Both archeologists, they knew it was no ordinary slab.
It took a late night in the library and a call with an expert to realize they had discovered a long-lost medieval stone with religious significance.
"We were going for a stroll in the evening and we sort of noticed the stone, half sticking out of the stream," Vousden of the of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales told FoxNews.com. It had been raining and the water made the carvings stand out, causing Vousden and Bale of the University of Wales to further investigate.
The Silian 3 stone is thought to be an ecclesiastical monument, possibly used as a boundary or grave marker.
They quickly called Nancy Edwards, an expert in ancient and medieval history, and described to her the linear Latin cross within a lozenge-shaped ring that appeared on the rock. Edwards confirmed it as the Silian 3 stone, an artifact she had been searching for since labeling it with a question mark in her book A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales.
All three were excited to discover the stone, one of 28 missing early Christian monuments in the south-west Wales area. "There are 216 known inscribed stones and stone crosses," Vousden explained. "Twenty-eight of them are missing, (now) excluding Silian 3."
"One of the most exciting things was to go to the library and see the cast (in Edward's book) and realize it was real," Bale told FoxNews.com.
The Silian 3 stone, which is thought to be an ecclesiastical monument, possibly used as a boundary or grave marker, is one of three known stones in Wales that have the same cross in lozenge design; the Llanllawer 3 from St David's Church and the Llandecwyn 1 from St Tecwyn's Church have the same pattern.
The Silian 3 stone is unique, however. Measuring approximately 30 inches by 15 inches, it has been missing for centuries, aside from a mysterious plaster cast commissioned by the National Museum of Wales in 1914.
"We only know that the National Museum (of Wales) had a program of commissioning plaster casts to make a national archive," Vousden said. The program ended in 1914 and the cast is thought to be made by a W. Clakre Llandaff.
It was this cast that Edwards included in her book and besides the mold, there is no record of the Silian 3 stone before or after the cast was produced.
According to Vousden, no one in the village has any prior recollection of the stone, which dates back to the 9th or 10th century, or any idea why it was carelessly tossed away into the woods.
The stone, now on display at the Saint Sulien's Church, is the first step in discovering more about the rich history of the small village of Silian, which dates back to the 5th or 6th century.
"It's a really amazing find and it's generating a lot of interest locally as it makes people think what else there might be to find," Bale said. "Every day we go for a walk down there and you never know, you might be lucky and find something."
Considering the stone was found near the church which has been in use for nearly 1,500 years, it is likely that there is a lot more left to discover in the village of Silian.
"Documentary sources and landscape evidence indicate that Silian was once a place of significance with an important early Christian ecclesiastical site," said Vousden, who lives in Silian and completed her undergraduate dissertation on the village from a landscape and archeological perspective, including a chapter on the Saint Sulien's Church.
The community is small, consisting of only 300 members, and both Vousden and Bale hope the discovery of the Silian 3 stone will help bring more awareness "of the historic value of small out-of-the-way villages like Silian."
Vousden plans to apply for funding in order to display the medieval monument in the church which has caused much excitement in the village.
"We also plan to apply for funding to carry out a community excavation," she said. "This will hopefully inform us in more detail about the age of the site and how it has evolved into what we see today. It is hoped that having the chance to engage with the history of the village (we) will help the people of Silian regain a sense of ownership of their village and a sense of belonging to a community."EEEEEEEEEP!
This guy did their homework, I got a pasta machine not long ago and posted a few pics on r/foodporn. Then receiving a book on pasta made my freakin' Christmas! Seriously, this book is so lovely, seeing as I'm a bit of a graphic design nerd as well, it's completely perfect, gorgeous to look at and really interesting. I hope you got a chance to skim through it Santa!
I would have been chuffed with just that. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!? Yes I am now the proud owner of a really sexy apron! Just what I need to avoid horrible pasta sauce burns (happens more often than it should).
So thank you Santa, you really went above and beyond with this one. Merry Christmas :)
*Also the penguin card was too cute!MORE LEAKS: Deep State Focusing on Paul Manafort and “Suspicious” Wire Transfers
Amid reports Special Counsel Robert Mueller is set to file charges on Monday, we now learn the FBI’s investigation into former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is centered around “suspicious” wire transfers.
The series of transfers were previously unreported and caught the attention of law enforcement “as far back as 2012,” — Three years before Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President. The report on Manafort comes from BuzzFeed News, and therefore, should be read with a grain of salt.
Buzzfeed claims:
The FBI’s investigation of Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, includes a keen focus on a series of suspicious wire transfers in which offshore companies linked to Manafort moved more than $3 million all over the globe between 2012 and 2013. Much of the money came into the United States. These transactions — which have not been previously reported — drew the attention of federal law enforcement officials as far back as 2012, when they began to examine wire transfers to determine if Manafort hid money from tax authorities or helped the Ukrainian regime close to Russian President Vladimir Putin launder some of the millions it plundered through corrupt dealings.
As the political world waits with with bated breath for Mueller’s charges, the identity of the individual (s) charged is not known at this time. It is plausible former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is among them. The former Trump campaign manager says he knows nothing about Mueller possibly filing charges against him.
Independent UK reports:
Donald Trump’s former campaign Paul Manafort has said he has not been informed of any possible criminal charges against him, after it was reported the first indictments had been filed by the team investigating Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election. Reports said a grand jury working with Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, had approved the first charges to result from the ongoing probe that is looking at possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The reports, which have not specified what the charges are or who they were filed against, said a suspect could be taken into custody as soon as Monday.
According to reports, Manafort’s realtor, who helped the former Trump official purchase a Virginia condo, appeared
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had swarmed onto the scene, and Smith, too, had been placed under arrest for resisting arrest, as had Marino, “for officer safty.”
Deputies searched Smith and found on him 4 grams of what was tested to be marijuana. Traces of marijuana were allegedly found “on the floorboards and seats throughout the entire vehicle,” the arrest report states. The deputies searched Marino, finding no drugs but finding an ID for “a female subject closely resembling her in age and appearance.” The ID would allegedly enable Marino to pass for someone 21. The offense is a misdemeanor.
Marino posted $750 bond and was released. Jones is being held on $2,750 bond and remains in jail, as does smith, whose bond of $51,250 includes a $50,000 bond for a charge of possessing opiates within 1,000 feet of a school.Hillary Clinton spoke about the dangers of artificial intelligence in a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday.
The failed presidential candidate was on Hewitt's show to promote her book, but the conversation steered towards recent advances in technology.
Something that concerns Clinton is the potential for our society to become inundated with artificial intelligence - computers that mimic the human brain to complete tasks for us - such as home office assistants or even robot drones.
Hillary Clinton issued a stern warning about artificial intelligence in an interview on Wednesday
Amazon's Alexa device, which allows users to shop, play music and look up questions online all by voice, is one example of AI
Clinton says that AI can be a good thing, but she's worried that our society is rushing into a brave new world without thinking through the repercussions.
'Yeah, a lot of really smart people, you know, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, a lot of really smart people are sounding an alarm that we’re not hearing. And their alarm is artificial intelligence is not our friend.
'It can assist us in many ways if it is properly understood and contained. But we are racing headfirst into a new era of artificial intelligence that is going to have dramatic effects on how we live, how we think, how we relate to each other,' Clinton said.
She pointed to the case of driverless cars as one example.
'What are we going to do when we get driverless cars? It sounds like a great idea. And how many millions of people - truck drivers and parcel delivery people and cab drivers and even Uber drivers - what do we do with the millions of people who will no longer have a job? We are totally unprepared for that,' she said.
She continued: 'What do we do when we are connected to the internet of things and everything we know and everything we say and everything we write is, you know, recorded somewhere? And it can be manipulated against us?'
Clinton said that if she had been elected president, she would have started a 'commission' to give opinions on what America's policy on AI should be.By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis opened the first working session of an extraordinary Synod of Bishops Oct. 6, urging participants to speak fearlessly and listen humbly during two weeks of discussion of the “pastoral challenges of the family.”
Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest then outlined some of the major challenges the bishops would discuss, including such controversial topics as cohabitation, divorce, birth control and the impact of social and economic pressures.
“Let nobody say: ‘I can’t say this; they’ll think such-and-such about me,'” Pope Francis told more than 180 bishops and more than 60 other synod participants. “Everyone needs to say what one feels duty-bound in the Lord to say: without respect for human considerations, without fear. And, at the same time, one must listen with humility and welcome with an open heart what the brothers say.”
The pope recalled that, after a gathering of the world’s cardinals in February, one cardinal told him others had hesitated to speak out for fear of disagreeing with the pope.
“This is no good, this is not synodality,” the pope said.
Later in the morning, Cardinal Erdo, who as the synod’s relator has the task of guiding the discussion and synthesizing its results, gave an hour-long speech that drew on written statements submitted in advance by the synod fathers and on responses to a well-publicized questionnaire sent to the world’s bishops last November.
The Oct. 5-19 synod is not supposed to reach definitive conclusions but set the agenda for a larger world synod in October 2015, which will make recommendations to the pope.
Cardinal Erdo said the synods would seek to develop shared pastoral “guidelines to help those living in difficult situations,” so that individual bishops would not resort to the “improvisations of a do-it-yourself ministry.”
“What is being discussed at this synod of an intense pastoral nature are not doctrinal issues, but the practical ones, nevertheless inseparable from the truths of the faith,” the cardinal said.
Among the difficult family situations he identified was that of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, whose predicament Pope Francis has said exemplifies a general need for mercy in the church today.
The cardinal made only an oblique reference to what is sure to be one the synod’s most discussed topics: a controversial proposal by German Cardinal Walter Kasper that would make it easier for such Catholics to receive Communion, even if they do not obtain annulments of their first, sacramental marriages.
“It would be misleading to concentrate only on the question of the reception of the sacraments,” Cardinal Erdo said.
He focused instead on the possibility of streamlining and simplifying the annulment process — the task of a special commission Pope Francis established in late August — and noted proposals to allow bishops to declare marriages null as an administrative action, without holding a trial before a church tribunal.
“Under the influence of the existing culture, many reserve the right not to observe conjugal fidelity, to divorce and remarry if the marriage might not be successful, or not to open themselves to life,” the cardinal said, citing attitudes that could render many marriages invalid.
While he reiterated Catholic teaching that “a second marriage recognized by the church is impossible while the first spouse is alive,” the cardinal said it would be important to study the “practice of some of the Orthodox churches, which allows for the possibility of a second or third marriage.”
Noting that Catholics increasingly choose to marry civilly or live together without marrying at all, Cardinal Erdo said the church should “draw close” to such couples in order to lead them on the “path toward celebrating the sacrament of marriage.” He said doing that would require the church to recognize the “best part of these situations which oftentimes is not understood or capable of being grasped.”
“When these relationships are obviously stable in a publicly recognized legal bond, they are characterized by deep affection, display a parental responsibility towards their offspring and an ability to withstand trials,” he said.
On the subject of birth control, the cardinal emphasized that “openness to life is an essential part, an intrinsic requirement of conjugal love,” but said that families cannot be expected to live up to that value without an increased expression of “diffused and concrete solidarity” from the wider community, including the church.
“The tendency toward the privatization of love needs to be overcome,” he said. “The Western world risks making the family a reality entrusted exclusively to the choices of the individual, totally detached from a regulatory and institutional framework.”
Cardinal Erdo highlighted social and economic pressures on the family, an area that bishops from developing countries are likely to emphasize.
“We are not dealing with only problems involving individual behavior but the structures of sin hostile to the family, in a world of inequality and social injustice, of consumerism, on the one hand, and poverty, on the other,” the cardinal said, noting in particular the weight of “increasing job insecurity” and migration.
“The concrete support of the church for these families is unable to be done without a pro-active commitment through appropriate policies by governments and public agencies,” he said.
In contrast to many of the speakers at the last such gathering — the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization, held in October 2012 — Cardinal Erdo did not criticize the effects on secularism on traditional Christian morality. But he did mention the “disruptive” effects on the family of “various forms of dependence, such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, sexual addiction and social networks.”
AdvertisementsWATCH ABOVE: Ford calls $800 debate “exclusive” days ahead of a $2500 fundraiser. John Tory calls him a “chicken.” Mark McAllister reports.
TORONTO – Doug Ford pulled out of The Empire Club of Canada mayoral debate just 20 minutes before it began on Friday, claiming its $800-a-table ($80 per person) cost is too exclusive.
But Ford is scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for himself on Monday, September 29 that costs more than four times as much.
The event was expected to feature all three of the mayoral campaign’s frontrunners – Ford, Olivia Chow and John Tory.
WATCH: Toronto mayoral candidate John Tory suggested Friday that KFC’s Colonel Sanders should be looking for opponent Doug Ford – because he’s a scared “chicken”.
“Debates should be open events that any member of the public can attend and ask questions,” reads a statement from the Ford campaign, released at approximately 12:15 p.m. Friday.
“How many average, hardworking people can afford to take three hours away from work to come downtown and spend almost $100 having lunch?”
Global News has learned Doug is scheduled to appear at a lunch fundraiser at the Posticino Ristorante in Etobicoke on September 29 for $750 a person and $2,500 a table.
WATCH: Doug Ford says Friday’s debate was too “exclusive”
Ford dismissed the apparent contradiction and said the Friday debate was “exclusive” rather than “inclusive.”
“I’m not going to go to an establishment that’s exclusive, that’s only for the Bay Street elites, and the special interests, and all the lobbyists that surround John Tory. I’m here for the common folk,” he said.
Tory blasted Ford for abandoning the debate, pointing out Ford skipped a free debate Thursday night and isn’t scheduled to attend another free debate on Friday.
“This is a person who is dismissive, combative and thinks he’s entitled to everything,” Tory told reporters outside of the Empire Club of Canada Friday. “But I think again, there a pattern of behaviour here: don’t show up for the council votes, don’t show up for the board meetings, don’t show up to the debate.”
Ford has one of the worst attendance records on this term of council.
Olivia Chow says voters "shouldn't be too surprised" about Doug Ford pulling out of debate based on attendance at council meetings #TOpoli — Mark McAllister (@McAllister_Mark) September 26, 2014
Ford attended his first debate on Tuesday and faced a barrage of questions about his subway expansion plan, working with city councillors, and his attendance (or not) at the annual Pride parade.
The event was also interrupted for nearly half an hour as police removed a pro-Ford heckler from the premises.
Tory, who is considered the frontrunner, announced this week he would be reviewing debates on a case-by-case basis after dropping out of the Ryerson debate shortly before it started last week.
Chow, who has been polling in a distant third place, accused Tory of “hiding” from her.Courtesy of Lea Vandervelde Lucy Delaney, who sued for her freedom and won.
The critically acclaimed movie “12 Years a Slave” follows the nightmarish story of Solomon Northup, a free-born African-American violinist who, in 1841, was kidnapped by a pair of con men and sold at a slave market. His ordeal finally ended when Northup’s wife enlisted a lawyer friend to help him do something it’s hard to imagine a slave could have done at the time: sue his captors in court.
The case was covered as a novelty in the press, and Northup’s memoir, published in 1853, was an instant bestseller. His story shocked readers and helped galvanize the abolitionist movement.
But Northup wasn’t unique in trying to escape slavery through the legal system. Historians have long been aware of scattered lawsuits brought by slaves against their owners or captors, including in Massachusetts. Now, it is emerging that there were many more such suits than previously thought. Lea VanderVelde, a law professor at the University of Iowa, has spent much of the past decade uncovering about 300 cases unknown to historians. Her book about them, “Redemption Songs,” will be published next year by Oxford University Press.
Missouri History Museum St. Louis Court House, circa 1851, where many cases in which slaves sought their freedom were filed.
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The cases she found, mostly filed in Missouri, offer a portrait of anguish and of the persistence of individual Americans trying to escape an institution that denied they existed as full people. More broadly, VanderVelde’s project and others like it are part of an effort among historians to paint a much fuller picture of slavery and emancipation by including the voices of the people who were enslaved. While upper-middle-class white abolitionists and a tiny black elite pushed the political case, slaves themselves were also fighting for freedom, using whatever tools were available to them.
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“We normally don’t think of slaves as a part of the abolition movement,” says Manisha Sinha, a professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose own book on the subject, “The Slave’s Cause: Abolition and the Origins of American Democracy,” will be published next year by Yale University Press. “But they very much were.”
A century and a half after its official demise, it’s commonplace to talk about slavery as a political issue, the cause of the Civil War, and the concern of congressmen and presidents. But this more intimate look at the past brings us back to the quotidian horror of “our peculiar institution,” and uncovers the immense creativity and persistence with which slaves fought this injustice, using any leverage they could.
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In New England, suits by enslaved African-Americans date back to Colonial times. The cases were frequently based on a slave’s claim of white or Native American parentage. But as revolutionary ideals took hold in the 1770s and ’80s, many enslaved plaintiffs began to mount more ambitious arguments that all people, black or white, had a “natural right” to freedom. That was the basis of a successful lawsuit involving a black man named Quock Walker, who won his freedom in 1781.
Missouri History Museum. St. Louis City Jail, circa 1870, where some slaves who filed suit were held pending the court’s decision.
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The man who considered himself Walker’s owner appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and in a 1783 trial the court issued a charge to the jury citing the new state constitution, which held that all men are born free—and setting a precedent that effectively ended slavery in the Commonwealth. In his notes on the case, Chief Justice William Cushing wrote, “Every subject is intitled to Liberty, & to have it guarded by the laws, as well as Life & property.... This being the Case, I think the Idea of Slavery is inconsistent with our own conduct & Constitution.”
The image of a slave taking his captors to court—never mind effectively changing the law—goes against our common perception of the antebellum era. “Every time I tell my students that slavery was abolished through the initiative of slaves in Massachusetts, they’re always stunned,” Sinha says.
It wasn’t only in relatively progressive New England that plaintiffs in freedom suits had a good chance of winning. Even in some Southern states, for those who could argue that their enslavement was against the law—because they had been kidnapped, for example—litigation could be a powerful weapon.
The newest body of freedom suits to come to light are those filed in Western states, especially Missouri. VanderVelde and her colleagues have been unearthing them by combing through boxes and shelves and haphazard stacks of paper, legal detritus that had been moldering unseen in dusty courthouse basements for a century and a half.
Illinois court archives An original jury verdict freeing Lydia Titus from slavery, from the Illinois court archives.
“There was absolutely no order to them,” recalls VanderVelde of her courthouse research. “They were still wrapped in this kind of faded shoelace stuff, which is the ‘red tape’ that binds these things. I was always afraid that I was going to find something absolutely amazing, and unless I took my camera to photograph it right away, it would crumble before I could read it.”
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Among the cases are many brought by slaves whose owners had transported them through free states like Ohio and Illinois on the way to the frontier. The largest number were filed in St. Louis, which at the time was a hotbed of litigation, thanks in part to a local law that recognized slaves as indigent and thus entitled to free legal help. The cases began in 1805, just after the United States gained control of the area with the Louisiana Purchase.
An early case was that of the Scypion sisters, who sued the most prominent family in St. Louis and won their freedom, on the grounds that their mother was Native American and so could not have been legally enslaved. Lydia Titus, a free woman living in Illinois, watched helplessly as white men kidnapped her five children and two grandchildren in the middle of the night, taking them across the border to the slave state of Missouri. Titus enlisted the law to prove that their capture was illegal, and eventually the family was reunited. An enslaved man named John Merry tried to buy his freedom for $100 and a horse, but his master took the horse and the money and kept John Merry as a slave—until John Merry took him to court.
Slaves risked jail time for bringing suits, because, as disputed property, they could be essentially impounded while the court made its decision. But jail also kept them safe from retaliation, as slave owners who were sued sometimes kidnapped the plaintiffs and sold them farther south. The slaves, meanwhile, got no support or encouragement from abolitionist groups back East. “These folks were on their own,” VanderVelde says.
Despite the odds, more than half of the decisions VanderVelde found were in slaves’ favor. Some plaintiffs even won cash settlements for work they had performed while their cases wended their way through the system.
“It’s surprising that any win,” VanderVelde says. “They have white judges, white [court-appointed] lawyers, white juries—the only thing that’s holding it together is the rule of law.”
That rickety scaffolding collapsed in 1857 with the case of Dred Scott, a St. Louis man who, with his wife and daughters, spent more than a decade litigating for his freedom. Scott is now known for the infamous Supreme Court decision Dred Scott v. Sandford, which declared that people of African ancestry had no right to claim US citizenship and took away Congress’s power to regulate the spread of slavery. The decision, meant by justices to settle questions about slavery’s legal status, outraged Northern abolitionists and helped heighten tensions on the eve of the Civil War. In its ruling on slaves’ citizenship, the court also ended their ability to sue, slamming the door on what had been a means of escape and a source of hope for many.
“Dred Scott has always seemed like a foregone conclusion,” VanderVelde says. “Now, we see that it was actually a reversal of fortune, on a national scale.”
***
It has taken decades and a great deal of legwork, but slaves themselves are increasingly being given their full due in the long story of their struggle. In 2007, Yale historian David Blight published two previously unknown slave narratives, unusual windows into the lives of people who escaped slavery. Trinity College professor Christopher Hager recently collected a book’s worth of rare documents written by slaves while they were still in bondage. At Harvard, researchers at the Center for American Political Studies are currently sorting through thousands of antislavery and antisegregation petitions sent to the Massachusetts state Legislature in the 18th and 19th centuries, many of them signed by former slaves.
“The portrait that we’re getting now is of a much broader swath of activities by African-Americans,” says Harvard government professor Daniel Carpenter, the center’s director. “Those who have told the story of abolition have tended to focus on what historians would call ‘white agency,’ not least because the people telling those stories were themselves white. Also, history is often driven by what kinds of archives are available. The availability of African-American voices in documents is more limited, and they haven’t been published, they haven’t been digitized.”
That is changing. With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and support from the Massachusetts Archives, the Harvard scholars are creating a digital database of the petitions. By the time the work is complete in 2015, it will include as many as 6,000 documents. Meanwhile, VanderVelde is working with the Spatial History Project at Stanford University to create an online archive of freedom suits, which will also be available to the public.
As historians begin to change the way they think about African-American activism during the darkest period in American history, the film “12 Years a Slave” may have been released at just the right moment. The book, although a sensation after it was published, was out of print for a century. Its powerful effect on audiences and critics today may be due in part to the story’s relative obscurity, evidence that even existing testaments to slavery’s horrors have not yet been fully absorbed by our culture.
“I would like to see more movies like this made,” VanderVelde says. “We’re now, I think, at a point in our national life that we can look back more critically at the institution of slavery than we ever could before. Within this overridingly oppressive institution, we can see the variety of life and the strategies for survival.”
Correction: Because of a production error, an earlier caption for a photo with this story misidentified a manuscript illustrating an article about slaves litigating for their freedom. The image is of a jury verdict freeing Lydia Titus from slavery, from the Illinois court archives.
Amy Crawford has written for Boston Magazine, Smithsonian, and Slate. Follow her on Twitter @amymcrawfThis past week we had more evidence of the delusion of the progressive socialist left with their counter-protest in Boston and the anti-hate rally in Dallas. I have often wondered, and decided to write about it here, is anyone truly aware how abjectly oxymoronic the position of the liberal progressive left is at this time. And how utterly unhinged members of the Democratic Party and their acolytes in the leftist media have become.
First of all, consider this group called Antifa, or "the resistance", whatever they are, these stuck on stupid kids running around with hoods and masks. Now, Antifa claims that they are against fascism and fascists; yet, they are the same confused individuals who took to violence at the University of California, Berkeley, to keep a conservative from speaking. So, let me get this right: this group claims to be against violence, but commits violence and destruction of property. They claim to be against fascists, but they seek to repress any opposing voice a platform to speak?
Ask yourselves, and this is something for which I have experience, when was the last time a constitutional conservative speaker gave a commencement address at a major American college or university? Liberty University, the world’s largest Christian university, allowed avowed socialist Bernie Sanders to speak there. And we all know, at least those of us who study history and read, that a tenet of socialist ideological thought is secular humanism. And why would any administration allow a civilizational jihadist, such as Linda Sarsour, the opportunity to speak at an American college? Well, they did, and she did.
This whole Antifa movement, embraced as the resistance by many Democratic elected officials and former Obama administration officials, is our first piece of evidence of the oxymoronic left.
Our second piece of evidence comes from our friends over at black lives matter, who seem to be confused about what a white supremacist really is. I have yet to see or hear of anyone in that organization speaking out about one of the biggest white supremacists, and Ku Klux Klan supporters, Margaret Sanger. Ms. Sanger is the founder of Planned Parenthood. You know, that venerable organization that the Democratic Party believes should be entitled to U.S. taxpayer dollars. A simple peer reviewed-study of Ms. Sanger and all that she stood for should be enough for the black lives matter folks to condemn her and her legacy. Nope, with emphasis on moron, these individuals are just ignorant pawns in the game used by the left for a politicized purpose in order to stir up rage in the black community. The real rage by black lives matter should be the number of Planned Parenthood “clinics” that are located in the black community doing exactly what Ms. Sanger advocated, elimination of undesirables. Matter of fact, her vision, her organization, since Roe v. Wade, has been party to the genocide of over 10 million black babies who have been aborted. But, here you have black lives matter completely dismissing this abhorrent fact, all for their pursuit of a political ideological agenda that does not serve the black community…but rather their white liberal progressive masters. I suppose the Democrats, the original party of slavery, secession, segregation, and socialism – all of which have been horrific for the black community – continues to buy off another generation of useful idiots to promulgate their destructive message.
BLM, Angela Rye of CNN, and Al Sharpton are the folks who remind me of a wise quote from the Father of Black Conservatism, Booker T. Washington. Mr. Washington stated, “There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
Morons.
My final piece of evidence to introduce is really the most perplexing of all and the easiest to understand. The progressive socialist left rants about hating neo-Nazis, and I am with them on that. I deplore any form of supremacist viewpoint, but I wonder why the left will not condemn Islamic supremacists, i.e. Islamic jihadists? But that is not the crux of this final piece of evidence confirming the oxymoronic nature of the left. What has me scratching my head is that that biggest financier of leftist groups in America, including BLM, is one billionaire named George Soros. I know ol’ Uncle George very well since he invested some $5M dollars into my congressional reelection defeat in 2012.
But, it is George Soros, a Hungarian Jew, who did indeed work with the REAL Nazis during World War II as a collaborator against his own people. So how can it be that the progressive socialist left can look at themselves in the mirror and talk about condemning neo-Nazis, when their biggest funder was a freaking Nazi?
In the vernacular of Ricky Ricardo, “splain it to me Lucy”.
What amazes me more than anything else is why have we not heard any of this from Republicans? I mean Mitt Romney, Senators Corker Scott are too busy condemning President Trump instead of bringing out the hypocrisy of the left. Can they also be so hateful of people that they would allow these moronic groups to subvert the very history of our Constitutional Republic and its values?
In closing, I understand why the progressive socialist left wants to erase any and all history relating to the Civil War and the Confederacy. They truly do not want America to know that it was the Democratic Party that stood against the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. They do not want generations to know that Jim Crow, lynchings, literacy tests, and poll taxes did not come from Republicans. There is a reason why the bust of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, was torched…he was a champion of liberty who sought to end slavery.
And the morons of the oxymoronic left, who want economic enslavement today, do not want us to know their history of physical enslavement.Ontario will soon be treated to Carl’s Jr.’s charbroiled Thickburgers and maybe — if sales take off — its infamous TV ads. The restaurant chain’s expansion into the province, part of parent company CKE Restaurant Holdings’ international growth plans, would see 30 restaurants pop up across the province over the next six years, including one opening in Toronto by the end of the year.
A Carl's Jr. restaurant in Kelowna, B.C. The chain plans to expand into Ontario.
The American burger company, known for its large gourmet beef burgers, has more than 3,000 company-owned and franchisee locations in 30 countries, predominantly in the U.S. The company’s advertisements are perhaps as well-known as its food. Over the years, they have featured a slew of models and celebrities, including Katherine Webb, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, eating burgers and sandwiches in a sexualized manner everywhere from the beach to a football game to a drive-in movie theatre. The company, which already has locations in western Canada, has “always had our eye on Ontario and Toronto,” said Ned Lyerly, vice-president international of Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE.
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But whether the ads will follow the restaurants here will depend on market presence. Initial advertising will come via public relations and digital venues, a spokesperson said. Lyerly said the company is interested in the Toronto “specifically because it’s such a flagship market opportunity.” It’s also a crowded one. Tim Horton’s takes 28 per cent — almost a third — of all restaurant traffic; Harvey’s, Wendy’s and Burger King are already firmly established as relatively cheap burger options, as is McDonald’s, which produces new menu options every couple of months. “They really need to have a strong key difference to make any inroads,” said Robert Carter, executive director, food service at NPD Group Canada.
While Canada’s restaurant industry has been relatively stable over the past few years compared to the United States, Carter said the expansion comes at a time when competitors have “really stepped up their game” and in a city where restaurant-goers have wide-ranging tastes. “They need to focus on (a change in business model) to open that door,” he said, “to do something to stand out from the crowd.”
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The concern doesn’t faze Lyerly, who said the company’s Canadian expansion has been going well. “We’re not afraid of competition; we stay focused on what we do best,” he said. “We already operate in some of the most competitive burger markets in the world,” he added, speaking specifically about Los Angeles. The planned Ontario locations, which would be spread across the GTA, Hamilton, Brantford and London, will be operated by Toronto-based 6Points Food Services Ltd. “We have a product offer and a service mode that really is unparalleled,” Lyerly said. “We’re going to focus on our unique points of difference and leverage those. I think customers will understand the difference.” The first Carl’s Jr. is set to open in Toronto by the end of the year. It’ll offer a “gourmet” alternative, Lyerly said, to existing burgers restaurants.Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (right) whispers into top aide Huma Abedin's ear (left) (Screenshot)
The U.S. government has known for thirteen years that the Muslim Brotherhood’s mission in America is “destroying Western civilization from within” by our hands. Consequently, none of these Sharia-supremacists should have been allowed anywhere near our government.
So, when then-Rep. Michele Bachmann and four of her colleagues asked the State Department in 2012 about the ties its Deputy Chief of Staff, Huma Abedin, had with the jihadist Muslim Brotherhood, their concerns deserved careful scrutiny. Instead, Ms. Bachmann especially was vilified as an “Islamophobe” and the questions went unanswered.
Yesterday, Judicial Watch revealed that Ms. Abedin was allowed to remove—and presumably destroy—papers about “Muslim engagement” when she and her boss, Hillary Clinton, left the Department.
Inquiring minds want to know: Did Abedin actually enable the Muslim Brotherhood’s infiltration, yet another example of the Clinton team’s betrayal of our national security?
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is President of the Center for Security Policy (www.SecureFreedom.org), a columnist for the Washington Times and host of the nationally syndicated program, Secure Freedom Radio, heard in Washington weeknights at 9:00 p.m. on WRC 1260 AM.
DONATEApril 6, 2017
Honorable Susan W. Brooks
Chairwoman
Committee on Ethics
U.S. House of Representatives
1015 Longworth House Office Building (LHOB)
Washington, D.C. 20515
Fax: 202-225-7392
Re: Ethics Complaint against Rep. Adam Schiff
Honorable Chairwoman Brooks:
On behalf of Freedom Watch, I hereby file this complaint against Congressman Adam Schiff,
Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, and request an investigation of these
facts and circumstances by the Committee, with appropriate and strong remedies to follow.
The U.S. House of Representatives "Code of Ethics for Government Service" 72 Stat., Part 2
B12 (1958), H. Con. Res. 175, 85th Congress, requires that:
Any person in Government service should
1 Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to
Government persons, party, or department.
2 Uphold the Constitution, laws and legal regulations of the United States
and of all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.
***
10 Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust.
It is now clear that as Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff has been
fully aware of and sought to cover up widespread crimes, multitudes of felonies, of warrantless
surveillance of U.S. citizens within the domestic United States for partisan political purposes and
partisan advantage, invasion of privacy, and illegal disclosure of classified information. These
multiple felonies have occurred under the presidential administrations of both Barack HusseinWith last-minute hitches always possible, weary negotiators were nonetheless optimistic of making the historic announcement at a triumphant press conference scheduled in Atlanta, Georgia, for the early hours of Tuesday Australia time. It had already been delayed once. Government sources said Mr Robb had held firm against intense pressure to lengthen Australia's clinical data exclusivity protections in line with the US, in order to shield pharmaceutical companies from competition at the hands of generic producers who had not carried the costs of drug development, testing, and subsequent innovation. Australia had led a group of countries including Chile and Peru in holding out on this issue in order to contain the burgeoning costs of subsidising a vast array of drugs listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Pressure for an Australian capitulation included a telephone call from US President Barack Obama to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last Friday.
Mr Robb said the deal was "shaping as a very strong package for Australia in areas such as agriculture and services". Fairfax Media understands the US eventually backed down from its insistence on an eight-year fixed period of data protection for biologic drugs, instead staying with five years. In the case of some drugs such as those used in leading-edge cancer treatment, the US offers originator exclusivity of 12 years in recognition of risk and to encourage ongoing investment in research. Another key sticking point for health and environment advocates was the inclusion of a so-called investor-state-dispute-settlement mechanism, known in the trade as ISDS. This facility, which is common to many bilateral free trade deals including the ChAFTA, allows foreign companies to sue sovereign governments over laws they claim have disadvantaged or entirely denied entry of their products in those markets. A prominent contemporary example is cigarette companies suing the Australian taxpayer over Canberra's switch to plain-paper packaging.
But it is understood Mr Robb has succeeded in including "safeguards" against vexatious ISDS-facilitated claims where local laws have been implemented in the interests of public health. The full details of the biologics plan are still unclear, but it is believed to maintain the status quo for Australia, which currently provides brand-name drug manufacturers with five years' protection of clinical trial data that is submitted to regulatory agencies for approval. This means manufacturers of cheaper follow-on versions of the product cannot rely on the clinical trial data produced by the originator of the drug. The US has been pushing for at least eight years, which has worried public health experts in Australia who say even one extra year of data exclusivity could cost the Australian government hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Biologics are medicines made from biological sources. They include vaccines such as the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil and cancer drugs such as Keytruda, a melanoma drug recently listed on the PBS. Without the PBS subsidy, Keytruda would cost more than $150,000 for one patient per year. Researcher and spokesperson for the Public Health Association of Australia Deborah Gleeson said the new agreement appeared to include two options: one of eight years' data exclusivity for some countries, such as Canada and Japan where that is the current term, and one of five years' with a "vaguely worded clause" for Australia to keep its current arrangements.
"But as with all these things, the devil is in the detail and so it's very difficult to evaluate whether Australia's system would be adequately protected and also what it would mean for other countries," she said. Dr Gleeson, of LaTrobe University, said it was also unclear if the deal would lock in Australia's current intellectual property arrangements for drugs, which were criticised by a government review in 2012-13 and are currently being examined by the Productivity Commission. "The previous government did a review of our pharmaceutical patent laws in 2012-13 that recommended we actually wind back the monopoly protections on pharmaceuticals. It was very critical of Australia's intellectual property system and of the trade agreements that Australia had signed up to," she said. "That report was never acted on and now we have another opportunity to review our arrangements and potentially make changes to ensure we have affordable access to medicines in future, especially with new, very expensive medicines coming on to the market, many of which cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands per patient per year." The TPP has been a long-term priority for President Obama,
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missive shell in adb, you will have access to your partitions via dd.You should transfer TWRP to your internal storage (name in twrp.img) using MTP, you can also just use adb push. (mentioned here)Download TWRP: (official builds, V20 is waiting for TWRP 3.1.0 for twrp.me download)H918: https://build.nethunter.com/test-bui...0.2-1-h918.img US996: https://build.nethunter.com/test-bui....2-1-us996.img H830: https://twrp.me/devices/lgg5h830.html This step requires that you've used dirtycow to replace /system/bin/run-as with recowvery-run-as. If you've rebooted since doing that, you will need to go back and do that again.You should be inside TWRP now. It will ask you if you want to enable system modifications. You should swipe yes, otherwise your OS will replace TWRP on next boot.Flash the latest zip from https://build.nethunter.com/android-...y-opt-encrypt/ to turn off forced encryption at boot and allow you to boot a modified system. If you're flashing SuperSU.zip, it will also do this for you so this won't be necessary.Latest SuperSU: https://download.chainfire.eu/supersu To disable encryption after flashing SuperSU or the no-verity-opt-encrypt zip, you must use thebutton on the Wipe page in TWRP. No other options will work.Back up all your internal storage and apps data that you can to your PC. You can use Titanium Backup with SuperSU before doing this step if you like.Once this is done, you should be able to backup/restore/use any function of TWRP without any issues.Flashed SuperSU? You're done! Boot up (it will reboot a few times) and set up your SuperSU Manager to your liking and give this post a thanks!I know a few people have mentioned donating, there is a button right on this post under my username. :PSorry, I don't keep a list as I prefer to keep people's information confidential, but if you do send any money my way, you can request that I mention you at the bottom of this post with any details.TRENTON -- A man on trial for murder now faces an assault charge after he punched his public defender in the face during a court hearing Thursday, authorities said.
Randy Washington
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office said Randy Washington "suddenly and violently struck" his court-appointed attorney in the face with a closed fist.
The incident happened just before 4 p.m. after closing arguments in the trial ended and the jury was dismissed for deliberations.
Sheriff's Officers Joseph DiLissio and Joel Adams immediately grabbed Washington and pinned him to a courtroom table before other officers helped remove him from the area.
The sheriff's office did not name the attorney, but Washington has been represented by deputy public defender Jessica Lyons in the trial.
She suffered multiple facial lacerations around her eye and was taken to the hospital, the sheriff's office said.
Washington was charged with aggravated assault and returned to jail.
"It is our sworn duty to protect the courts and all those involved in the judicial process," Sheriff Jack Kemler said. "We cannot and will not tolerate violence in our courthouses."
The public defender's office declined to comment on the incident. The judge said Lyons was not in court Friday due to "personal reasons."
Washington, 35, is accused of gunning down 64-year-old Silas Johnson Jr. on Market Street under the Route 1 overpass in October 2014. Prosecutors have said that Washington followed Johnson as he got off a train, then knocked him to the ground and shot him several times before fleeing the scene.
On Tuesday, Lyons had tried to have Washington acquitted, arguing that witnesses had not positively identified him as the killer and gave inconsistent statements, but the judge denied the motion.
Thursday's incident was not the first time Washington had an issue with his attorney. In January, he requested to represent himself, threatening to "do something" to his then-attorney Tom Belsky and telling the judge that Belsky was "feeding (her) a line of bull."
The judge denied his motion and Lyons was assigned his case.
Washington also faces charges in the July 2014 killing of 44-year-old George Jamison and a months-long armed robbery spree, but is only currently standing trial for the Johnson murder.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.About
In Oregon there is a big beer scene in Portland and Eugene to the north, Medford to the south and Bend to the east. Roseburg is centrally located to these areas with no real craft brew scene. We want to change that and bring the craft beer culture here right, to the middle of town. No more hour drive to visit a brewery and to enjoy a locally made beer, let us bring it to you!
We created this Kickstarter to help put Roseburg on the map for craft beer and with your help we can bring this to reality.
Equipment for a brewery can be one of the largest up-front costs. Much of the funds from the Kickstarter will go towards purchasing this equipment. We plan on starting with a 1.5 barrel system, which produces roughly 45 gallons at each session. Our goal is to upgrade to a 7 barrel system within 2 years. A one-barrel system can range from $3000-$4500. Kegs can run about $125-$150 each and a starting amount could cost more than the brewing system itself.
Future Brewery Site & Equipment
In order to get a license, we had to find a location that can house both the home brew supplies store and the brewery side. We were able to find a great building that can fit both.
Titan watching us brew one of our beers!
The supply store is up and running, but remodeling will need to be done to the brewery side in order to make it fit our needs. We need to build a cold room, and a wall to divide the brewery space into two sections; one side being the brewery and the other a tasting room. The tasting room will need a bar installed to serve our product and seating for our customers. We all have some experience at one time or another in construction and aren't afraid to get our hands dirty and make things happen. We expect to lower our expenses and cut our cost by doing much of the work ourselves. Check out the full bio to the right to learn more about us!
Some beer right out of the fridge.
The beers we will have when we open:
Fire Dog Red Ale- Brewed with Northern Brewer and Palisade hops and dry hopped with Chinook this beer has a strong toasted flavor.
Old Sea Dog IPA- The citrus aroma in this beer comes from the Centennial and Citra hops that are noticeable in this IPA.
Blonde Ale- Malts used in this blonde make this a good beer to drink when its hot out combined with the citrus aroma from the hops makes this a good summer beer.WASHINGTON -- This sucker could go down. And unlike the Wall Street bailout, there is unlikely to be a do-over.
A resolution authorizing military force against Syria barely made it out of the hawkish Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- with the majority of Republicans opposing it -- and now is facing withering skepticism in Congress. While the Senate appears poised to come to some type of agreement, the "People's House," as it is known, is showing much more reluctance to approve the deeply unpopular bombing resolution. "Peace may well have a chance," said one top House GOP aide.
Public opinion surveys have been reflected in the outpouring of calls, emails and letters that have flooded House offices, running, say lawmakers, at more than 9 to 1 against intervention. The opposition spans the political spectrum.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said on Twitter that his delegation is unpersuaded and that public reaction has been fiercely opposed. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who represents the libertarian opposition within the GOP, said that he's also seeing intense disapproval.
Discomfort with the war resolution is not just Republican. "Members on both sides [are] undecided, with most (not all) I've talked to feeling extremely uneasy and uncomfortable with this resolution," said one Democratic member. "I think if it went down today, it wouldn't pass the House. People though are truly undecided with concerns in a bipartisan way. The real question is if those who feel uncomfortable with this can be made to be comfortable with a resolution that has a much narrower scope."
Complicating the picture for advocates of intervention, at least 34 members who voted to support the Iraq war are now leaning against supporting intervention in Syria, presumably burned by experience.
A classified House briefing early Thursday afternoon is intended to ease much of that discomfort. The paradox for the Obama administration, though, is that as the scope of the resolution narrows, the rationale for doing anything at all diminishes. If the purpose is to deter a future strike, a very narrow and limited bombing might only embolden Syria's President Bashar Assad or other leaders -- and hawks on the issue such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have warned they will vote against anything that is too narrow. McCain nearly sank the Senate's resolution Wednesday over that worry. But the deal cut with McCain to secure his support leaves the resolution vulnerable to other critiques -- that it is too broad and could authorize an open-ended commitment to regime change.
Grassroots progressives are no more likely to support the bombing. MoveOn.org, CREDO and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which collectively represent more than 10 million liberal activists, have all said their memberships are overwhelmingly opposed. Of the roughly 3,000 letters sent to Congress through PopVox, a nonpartisan service that facilitates congressional missives, 96 percent have been opposed.
"On the Democratic side, a lot of the progressive base is already opposed. AIPAC will matter to some and some will want to support President Obama, not out of personal loyalty but because they imagine their base voters are personally loyal. If they sense that the base is not with Obama on this, they may not be either," said one former Democratic member of Congress who is following the debate closely. "I think a lot of members have got wet fingers in the air."
Nonetheless, the best hope for the resolution's passage remains with the Democratic caucus. One Republican source guessed that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would need roughly 150 votes from her caucus -- an extremely tall order, but not impossible, given that many Democrats, while traditionally reluctant to support military interventions, are also inclined to support the party's president. During Wednesday's hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the panel's top Democrat, echoed Pelosi in voicing strong support for President Barack Obama's plan.
But in the hours since, Democratic members have remained divided.
"It's just too soon to know," said one top Democratic aide in the House. "Members need to get back and get classified briefings. A lot are waiting on that before making up their minds, which is fair."
A brief look around the web at the various whip counts available at this point offers the Obama administration very little hope that an authorization to use force in Syria is likely to pass the House. The Washington Post’s count, updated overnight, now breaks down as follows:
“Against military action”: 86 representatives
“Lean no”: 92 representatives
“Undecided”: 103 representatives
“For military action”: 19 representatives.
Over at ThinkProgress, the whip count is slightly more favorable to the White House, but still a far cry from the consensus Obama was seeking:
“Will/Likely To Vote Yes”: 49 representatives
“Will/Likely to Vote No”: 200 representatives
“Undecided”: 184
Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel were subjected to two grueling hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, bombarded with questions from skeptical lawmakers. A broad coalition of House critics, including tea party conspiracy theorists, libertarian non-interventionists, progressive humanitarians and pragmatic foreign policy realists, have all voiced opposition to U.S. military action for different reasons.
The Republican Party has been evolving a distinct isolationist wing as its libertarian element has risen in influence. Combine that with the House GOP's conventional hostility toward anything backed by Obama, and House Republicans are likely to turn heavily against the resolution, despite the backing of the party leadership. Several conservative groups, most prominently the Heritage Foundation, have come out strongly against intervention, making it a "key vote" in their annual ratings of lawmakers.
One such group, Citizens for the Republic, declared Thursday that they will double-weight the vote. “Speaker Boehner, Senators McCain and Graham and Majority Leader Cantor are all too willing to go along with this ill-conceived venture," said Diana Banister, the group's director. "It is time for Congress to listen to the American people."
House GOP antipathy toward the Obama administration's plan was on full display during Wednesday's hearing before the typically hawkish Foreign Affairs Committee, with multiple Republicans accusing Obama of attempting to distract attention from the events at the U.S. mission in Benghazi in September 2012. After launching a litany of complaints against the administration -- over Benghazi, the (now-debunked) Internal Revenue Service scandal, the Associated Press snooping scandal and others -- Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) cited what may be the most pressing issue for members of Congress: public opinion.
"I have spoken to hundreds of constituents," Duncan said. "Not a one, not one member in my district in South Carolina or the emails of people that have contacted my office say go to Syria and fight this regime. To a one, to a letter, they say no."
Others, like Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), took issue with the significance of chemical weapons use as a principle for U.S. action. Obama opposed the Iraq invasion, Marino noted, even though Saddam Hussein had deployed chemical weapons against both Iranians and Iraqis. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) argued against a military strike, saying that there is no established democracy movement in Syria and that the U.S. has not secured appropriate international cooperation to attack.
"Secretary Kerry, you spoke of the history of the world's response to the use of chemical weapons," Higgins said. "Given that history, one would think that more countries would join the U.S. in participating, not supporting, in participating in a military strike against Syria. What gives?"
House support for military action is so weak that Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) asked Kerry at the hearing to comment on a rumor that the lower chamber would not, in fact, be permitted to vote on the action. Kerry said he had heard no such rumor.
"President Obama's request to use military force has caused many Republicans to go from a 'kick their ass and take their gas' foreign policy to linking arms and singing 'Give Peace a Chance,'" said the former Democratic member. "Some, maybe a lot, will vote against it just because Obama is for it. There's a real split in the Republican Party now between the neocons and the Paulites, and the Republican base appears to be mostly Paulites. They hate the Republican establishment, and the neocons are the establishment. Even more hawkish Republicans don't see crimes against humanity as a reason to intervene in a country with no oil."
Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.), a member of House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he doesn't see the rationale. "We cannot be the police of the world. This is a Syrian civil war among Syrians. What is the direct threat to the United States or any of our allies? I fail to recognize that right now. I think that should we strike or get involved... we destabilize the region even more. There are profound complex, cultural shifts happening throughout the Middle East right now. I do not want to spend our military capital on this issue," he said. "What is the direct threat or even the indirect threat to the United States and its allies?"
Radel's Florida colleague Rep. Alan Grayson (D) has sounded almost identical to Radel in warning against policing the world.
The former Democratic member said that underlying the opposition is the sense that little good will come of it. "On the merits, the Assad regime is truly barbaric, but we didn't intervene in the Sudan, Rwanda or Congo. 'Never again after this time' appears to be our usual response to atrocities in far-flung parts of the world," he said. "But is hard to see what we can do that will be very effective. The rebels appear not to be any better. Intervening in civil wars that we don't understand has not gone well for us in the past. It's hard to see that Syria will have a government we like in five years. We'll be lucky if they're not Yemen."On Monday morning we got the full run of denials out of South America about Diego Forlan. First it was his club, Internacional, and his agent and then it was Forlan himself. That made it Toronto FC's turn to offer their own denials about the deal being close to completion.
The first denial came in a Canadian Press report (posted on TSN) which provided the basic no comment from the club.
Toronto FC had little to say Monday in the wake of a story that Uruguayan star striker Diego Forlan was headed to the MLS club. "Nothing to report," was the official response.
That response was to be expected from the club as they are not going to confirm a signing as big as Forlan would be without a whole lot of fanfare. Add to that the fact that until all of the dotted lines have been signed they would be foolish to offer any kind of statement on the matter (a lesson their summer interns on twitter sadly have yet to learn).
The denials got more explicit from there though as the club moved from the no comment end of the spectrum to actually talking about the deals they are working on. Grant Wahl tweeted out a comment from Tim Leiweke on Monday night addressing the matter.
Tim Leiweke on Toronto FC: "We are looking hard at a major DP. Talking to a half-dozen. Have not finished a deal with anyone yet." — Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) July 9, 2013
That was far more explicit but still did not refer to Forlan by name. Leiweke would clearly be the man behind any massive signing like he was with David Beckham with the LA Galaxy so it is no surprise that he offered comment on the reports.
Like the denials that came out of Brazil, these ones from Toronto FC could be nothing more than a smoke screen as until a deal is completed they have to do their part to keep leverage in the negotiations and not spoil the deal by jumping the gun on a confirmation.
TFC would of course be better off preventing the leaks that led to this story being reported in the first place. That way they could continue with their negotiations in peace and quiet rather than having to offer any sort of denial. Cutting off the leaks and presenting a unified front was something that Kevin Payne promised he would deliver when he was first appointed as Club President but he seems to have made little progress on that matter.
On Monday, Richard Whittall posted a piece on the Score's Counter Attack blog that offered a good take down of the continued leaks around the club. He hits a number of nails on the head about the variety of different reports that are making the rounds offering a take down of not only the leaks around the club but also a number of reporters.
All of the denials offered today from Toronto and Brazil do little to change what we already knew. The simple fact of the matter is that a deal for Forlan will not be done until we see him presented at BMO Field. Until that time happens there will almost certainly continue to be conflicting reports as everyone is hearing something different from their sources.
On the surface of things it seems that if a deal is happening then Internacional have done a much better job about keeping it quiet as no one in South America seems to have heard that a deal is in the works. Toronto is the exact opposite though as anyone with an unnamed source seems to have heard that some negotiations have at least taken place even if many suggest that things are not as far along as that Globe and Mail report suggested.
Monday was a wild day in the Forlan saga but with the MLS summer transfer window set to open on Tuesday things could progress from conflicting reports to something serious. That depends on who you believe though but I like to think that where there is this much smoke there will likely be some fire.I’m twenty five years old and stopped drinking about two and a half years ago, so whenever I go out I’m, ‘the guy who doesn’t drink.’ I personally don’t really give a shit about not drinking because I never had a 'problem’ with alcohol.
Well, not the, “oh, I just shit my pants for the fourth day in a row, missed my child support, and beat up my wife for the 17th time,” kind of problem that some people have with alcohol.
My problem had more to do with my own personality and brain chemistry. You gotta love those good old anti-depressants that I’ve been munching on for god knows how many years. Yum!
If you read the anti-depressant bottle it says, “May intensify the effect of alcohol.” That’s the understatement of the century.
It should say, “May make you contemplate your miserable existence while simultaneously removing articles of clothing.”
Alcohol did two things to me: it made me depressed and it made me take my shirt off. Maybe I just like taking my shirt off and showing off my chest hair, it’s really hard to tell after a couple of Long Island Iced Teas. Anyway, that’s besides the point.
While everyone around me seemed to be drinking socially and having a good time, I’d have two beers and feel like I wanted to curl up in the fetal position and cry. I know for a lot of people, alcohol is fun as hell and allows them to forget about the things that are bothering them for a while. For me, two beers felt like I was giving an elephant an ex-lax and he was shitting every negative thought directly into my brain.
So I stopped drinking.
It was as simple as that for me because I never really liked alcohol to begin with. But when you stop drinking, you don’t necessarily stop going to bars, I go with my friends all the time.
But you do get asked questions.
Inevitably, I’ll be introduced to people I don’t know and the topic of my not drinking will come up. I don’t bring the topic up, but when I order a club soda with lemon (fucking delicious btw) the follow up question is usually, “You’re not drinking tonight?”
“Nah, I don’t drink,” I’ll answer pretty nonchalantly.
People will usually look away for a quick second and I can tell from their facial expressions they’re contemplating whether or not to ask why. And to be honest, I can’t blame them.
I look like I’m a 35 year old man, with sad, weathered eyes, for all they know there could be an incredibly interesting story of how I hit rock bottom after a 5 day black out drunken spree in Tijuana in which a transvestite sodomized me and I was forced to escape from Mexico on one of those horses painted like a zebra.
Eventually, their curiosity gets the best of them and they ask, “Why don’t you drink?”
And I feel weird because my story sucks, it’s not epic or anything. I just tell them, “Well, I never really liked drinking, so I don’t do it anymore.”
They always seem a bit disappointed and I hate to disappoint, so I’ll add, “Drinking kinda brought me down, so I just said, hey, why am I even doing this anymore?”
They seem a little bit more pleased with that answer, but still pretty nonplussed.
I’m always tempted to just be overly dramatic and burst into tears and start yelling, “I’M A SAD SON OF A BITCH AND ALCOHOL MAKES ME SADDER! WAHHHH!!! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR??!! WAHHH!!! OH GOD, PLEASE SOMEONE HOLD ME!”
But I’m not that much of a dick, I know people really struggle with alcohol and I’m not trying to make fun of them. I’m just a dude who found out early on that drinking wasn’t a good thing for me.
And for those of you who may think, “oh this cunt thinks he’s better than me because he doesn’t drink.” You’re wrong, I don’t give a shit if you’re drinking. I only give a shit if you’re drinking and I give you a ride home and you throw up in my car. Then you’re the cunt.
Also, don’t think I’m one of those people who’s all rosy cheeked and is like, “I don’t need alcohol to have fun! I’m perfect the way I am and I can play Jenga alone and feel great just like Tony the Tiger!”
I’m not a fucking mormon.
If you want to hear it from a sober guy: you’re definitely having more fun than me if we’re out together and you’re drinking. You think I don’t know that? Drinking is without a doubt more fun than not drinking if your brain is designed to drink.
But I just keep it real with myself. There’s always Artichoke Pizza to fill that sorry void inside myself. And there’s no disclaimer on the anti-depressant bottle about too much pizza!BETA FILMS Salvatore Esposito, left, and Fortunato Cerlino in Sky's epic Italian drama
They forgot to tell that to Don Pietro Savastano. Father to a weak son, head of a mob family under fire from every quarter and on the run, he has plenty to sweat about. Gomorrah, Sky’s epic Italian drama about organised crime in Naples, is back for a second series. Those who haven’t seen it should banish any mental images of the ancient city’s sweeping bay, glinting in the warmth of a dying sun to the warbling strains of mandolins strumming O Sole Mio. This is organised crime Italian-style. Think The Wire rather than The Godfather. Filmed on location in Scampia and Secondigliano, a purgatory littered with disused warehouses and stinking tenement blocks, this is the Baltimore of Italy.
Neglected, adrift and prey to the will of the strongest, the streets run red. It is a world that Fortunato Cerlino knows well. Though he had enjoyed some fame in the theatre, Gomorrah has propelled the respected Italian actor into dark corners he’d hoped he’d never visit: “I was fortunate to come from a very good family. They didn’t go to university, they weren’t sophisticated, but they were honest,” he says. “My father always set a good example. He always worked hard. He worked in construction and, believe me, he came across very lucrative offers which would have involved an association with organised crime. He always said no. We saw this as children. “My mother is a woman who, while poor, is rich in values. We knew Camorristi, of course. I had friends who joined that life. I was always amazed at how some people can so easily lose perspective, stop seeing the full picture. I just don’t understand those who can choose a road that leads to violence against others. Like I said, I was lucky.”
GETTY Fortunato Cerlino came from a humble family that had a rich moral compass
People have an image of a typical gangster living for violence. And of course, those gangsters exist Fortunato Cerlino
While Sicily has the Cosa Nostra – a rigid hierarchy where the Godfather, or capo di tutti capi, is the ultimate arbitrator of disputes – Naples’s Camorra is different. Families control their own turf and meet as equals to work out problems. It’s more democratic. But also more messy. Fortunato’s character, Don Pietro, is no Tony Soprano. There’s no patience here for “first world” ailments like existential crises. “People have an image of a typical gangster living for violence. And of course, those gangsters exist,” says the 52-year-old actor. Unlike Sicily, where major anti-Mafia successes have emboldened shopkeepers to display “No al Pizzo” (no protection money) signs, the practice is still rife in Naples. “Honest shopkeepers still have to deal with it,” he says. “Now the Camorristi may be dressed in nice suits when they come through your shop door. “They offer you insurance. And if you refuse, they don’t threaten you.
GETTY Fortunato Cerlino’s character Don Pietro has no time for existential crises
“They gently and politely ask why you’re not worried about your young son, who is still at school, where anything can happen to him. These are areas with little state presence. The simplest thing to do is to comply.” Violence remains all too prominent, but that’s not to say mob bosses aren’t changing. “When it comes to the top, the street thugs of yesterday have gone. Over the past 10 years we’ve begun to see a new kind of boss. These are men who have gone to university and studied, even worked abroad, all the while preparing themselves for the responsibilities they will have one day. “They’re much more frightening because they blend in so well with regular society. We’re discovering now that some politicians have been planted, from the very beginning, to make sure laws go a certain way. Like sleepers. You can’t tell them apart any more. That’s playing the long game.” His co-star Salvatore Esposito, who plays on-screen son Gennaro “Genny” Savastano, was also transformed by the role.
GETTY Salvatore Esposito grew up around the type of people that appear on GomorrahDENVER (Reuters) - A University of Colorado psychiatrist who once treated accused theater gunman James Holmes described him to a campus police officer as having had “homicidal thoughts” five weeks before he allegedly killed 12 moviegoers, newly unsealed court records showed on Thursday.
Accused Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes listens at his arraignment in Centennial, Colorado March 12, 2013. REUTERS/R.J. Sangosti/Pool
Dr Lynne Fenton of also told the campus police officer that Holmes, then a graduate student of neuroscience, had threatened her in email and text messages, detectives said in an affidavit filed last year seeking school records for their investigation.
The affidavit, one of numerous court documents unsealed by the judge assigned to the case earlier this week, raised new questions about how much university officials might have known about Holmes’ mental state or potential for violent behavior before the shooting.
Holmes, now 25, is accused of opening fire inside a packed movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora on July 20, 2012, during a midnight screening of the Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises.” Authorities later found his off-campus apartment wired with explosives, though the booby-traps were safely dismantled.
The movie theater rampage, which also wounded 58 people, ranks as one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history and helped reignite a national debate over gun control.
According to the affidavit of an Aurora police detective, campus officer Lynn Whitten told investigators a day after the massacre that Fenton had informed her on June 12 that Holmes had been having homicidal thoughts.
In a separate affidavit, Aurora police said that through her correspondence with Whitten about Holmes, Fenton advised that she was “reporting, per her requirement, his danger to the public due to homicidal statements he had made.”
“Additionally, Dr Fenton was advising that she had been treating Holmes, and that Holmes had stopped seeing her and had begun threatening her via text messages.”
Defense lawyers have previously disclosed through court documents that Holmes had been a psychiatric patient of Fenton, who was then medical director for student mental health services at the University of Colorado-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus.
Fenton was also a member of the campus-based behavioral assessment and threat assessment team, which helps faculty and staff deal with “individuals who may be threatening, disruptive or otherwise problematic,” according to that group’s website.
It was not clear whether Fenton was caring for Holmes under the threat-assessment program or under routine counseling she provided to students on campus.
LIABILITY
Under Colorado law, mental health professionals cannot be held liable in civil suits for failing to predict a patient’s violent actions unless it involves a “serious threat of imminent physical violence against a specific person or persons.”
When such a threat is made, the mental health professional is required to take action, which may include notifying those targeted or a law enforcement agency.
A university spokeswoman declined immediate comment on the documents until school officials had the chance to review them. Fenton’s lawyer, S. Jane Mitchell, also declined to comment, citing physician-client privilege and the court’s gag order on the case.
The widow of a U.S. Navy veteran who died in the Aurora shooting sued Fenton and the university in January, saying they knew Holmes was dangerous and passed up an opportunity to have Holmes committed to a mental-health facility.
Colorado media, including the Denver Post, reported in December 2012 that Fenton had rejected a university police offer to confine Holmes for 72 hours after he told Fenton that he fantasized about killing “a lot of people.”
Fenton has testified that she treated Holmes more than a month before the shooting and that her professional relationship with him ended in mid-June. Previous unsealed documents said the relationship was severed after Holmes made threats toward a university psychiatrist whose name was redacted.
Holmes is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, and prosecutors said at his last court appearance on Monday that they would seek the death penalty should he be convicted.
Prosecutors have depicted Holmes as a young man whose once promising academic career was in tatters after he failed graduate school oral board exams in June, prompting one of his professors to suggest he may not be a good fit for his doctoral program.
Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. has scheduled the trial to begin in February of next year.
A not-guilty plea was entered on Holmes’ behalf last month, but the door remains open to the defense to substitute a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, as Holmes’ lawyers have indicated they might do.
The court documents publicly released on Thursday had been ordered sealed since the day of the shooting.
Related Coverage Psychiatrist said accused Colorado gunman was homicidal before shooting: records
Release of the affidavits was resisted by both prosecutors and defense lawyers, but Samour agreed with news media organizations that unsealing the documents was in the public interest now that the case had been ordered to trial.
The newly divulged records also showed that among the items found in Holmes’ apartment were bottles of the anti-seizure medication clonazepam, which also can be used to treat panic attacks and other anxiety disorders, and a bottle of the anti-depressant sertraline, known by its brand name Zoloft.
Among his other belongings found in the apartment were a Batman mask, empty beer cans, shotgun shells and text books.Looks like a change in microphone hasn't changed Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's frequent sniffling. As you may have heard, Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont and most importantly in this context medical doctor, mentioned cocaine in the following Tweet:
Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user? — Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) September 27, 2016
You are being very, very mean to coke users;) RT @GovHowardDean: Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user? — robert hosken (@bo7b) September 28, 2016
Also on Forbes:
Dr. Dean may have jumped the gun on this one. Yes, snorting cocaine can cause sniffling and nosebleeds, but there hasn't been any other clear evidence of Trump using cocaine. Moreover, there are plenty of other possible causes for what has now become chronic (i.e., continuing) sniffling such as:
Trump may have allergies: Allergies are the most common cause of chronic sniffling. This time of the year (August to November) ragweed is the most common culprit. Mold and fungi are other common possibilities in September and October.
Allergies are the most common cause of chronic sniffling. This time of the year (August to November) ragweed is the most common culprit. Mold and fungi are other common possibilities in September and October. Trump may have chronic sinusitis: Sinusitis is inflammation of the sinuses, which blocks mucus drainage, which, in turn, may impair breathing. Allergies can lead to chronic sinusitis. So can growths in the nose like nasal polyps as well nasal defects such as a deviated nasal septum. Viral, bacterial and fungal infections are also common causes. Heartburn, otherwise known as gastroesophageal reflux (if you haven't watched all the pharmaceutical commercials about heartburn that may give you heartburn), can also cause chronic sinusitis. Add cystic fibrosis and immune system problems to the list too.
Sinusitis is inflammation of the sinuses, which blocks mucus drainage, which, in turn, may impair breathing. Allergies can lead to chronic sinusitis. So can growths in the nose like nasal polyps as well nasal defects such as a deviated nasal septum. Viral, bacterial and fungal infections are also common causes. Heartburn, otherwise known as gastroesophageal reflux (if you haven't watched all the pharmaceutical commercials about heartburn that may give you heartburn), can also cause chronic sinusitis. Add cystic fibrosis and immune system problems to the list too. Trump may be irritated by something: This could explain the slightly constipated look. Common irritants include perfume or cologne, cigarette smoke and air pollution. Cold weather and bright lights can also cause irritation.
This could explain the slightly constipated look. Common irritants include perfume or cologne, cigarette smoke and air pollution. Cold weather and bright lights can also cause irritation. Trump may be taking medications that cause sniffling: Medications that have sniffling as a possible side effect include blood pressure, birth control, antidepressant, antipsychotic and erectile dysfunction medications. Delivering medications to the nose can also cause irritation of the nasal passages such as steroid nose sprays for allergies and shoving Viagra up your nose.
Medications that have sniffling as a possible side effect include blood pressure, birth control, antidepressant, antipsychotic and erectile dysfunction medications. Delivering medications to the nose can also cause irritation of the nasal passages such as steroid nose spr
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how, with the aid of the Internet, to get "farouk 1986" and friends from blowing up people to Kingdom Come. The Collapse of Cultures Human rights constitute a pillar of one global political culture, originally centered upon the Americas and Europe, and is a growing part of a massive, Internet-driven global political awakening. The decidedly non-secular Jihad is another key mover in this transnational political awakening: thoroughly modern and innovative, despite atavistic cultural references. Its appeal, to youth especially, lies in its promise of moral simplicity, a harmonious and egalitarian community (at least for men) whose extent is limitless, and the call to passion and action on humanity's behalf. It is a twisting of the tenets of human rights, the granting to each individual the "natural right" of sovereignty. It claims a moral duty to annihilate any opposition to the coming of true justice, and gives the righteous the prerogative to kill. The means justify the end, where no sacrifice of individuals is too costly for progress towards the final good. Many made giddy by globalization — the ever-faster and deeper integration of individuals, corporations, markets, nations, technologies and knowledge — believe that a connected world inexorably shrinks differences and divisions, making everyone safer and more secure in one great big happy family. If only it were not for people's pre-modern parochial biases: religions, ethnicities, native languages, nations, borders, trade barriers, historical chips on the shoulder. This sentiment is especially common among scientists (me included) and the deacons of Davos, wealthy and powerful globetrotters who schmooze one another in airport VIP clubs, three-star restaurants and five-star hotels, and feel that pleasant buzz of comraderie over wine or martinis at the end of the day. I don't reject this world; I sometimes embrace it. But my field experience and experiments in a variety of cultural settings lead me to believe that an awful lot of people on this planet respond to global connectivity very differently than does the power elite. While economic globalization has — steamrolled or left aside large chunks of humankind, political globalization actively engages people of all societies and walks of life. Even the global economy's driftwood: refugees, migrants, marginals, and those most frustrated in their aspirations. For there is, together with a flat and fluid world, a more tribal, fragmented and divisive world, as people unmoored from millennial traditions and cultures flail about in search of a social identity that is at once individual and intimate but with a greater sense of purpose and possibility of survival than a man, or Man, alone. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which shattered the briefly timeless illusion of a stable bipolar world, and for the first time in history, most of humanity is politically engaged. Many, especially the young, are becoming increasingly independent yet interactive, in the search for respect and meaning in life, in their visions of economic advancement and environmental awareness. These youth form their identities in terms of global political cultures through exposure to the media. Even the blistered legacies of imperialism and colonialism are now more about the mediatization of the past and contemporary construction of cultural identity than the material effects of things that happened. Global political cultures arise horizontally among peers with different histories, rather than vertically as before, in traditions tried and passed in place from generation to generation. Jihad offers the pride of great achievements for the underachieving: brave new hearts for an outworn and overstretched world. Traditionally, politics and religion were closely connected to ethnicity and territory, and in more recent times to nations and cultural areas (or "civilizations"). No longer. Religion and politics are becoming increasingly detached from their cultures of origin, not so much because of the movement of peoples (only about 3 percent of the world's population migrates, notes French political scientist Olivier Roy), but through the worldwide traffic of media-friendly information and ideas. Thus, contrary to those who see global conflicts along long-standing "fault lines" and a "clash of civilizations," these conflicts represent a collapse of traditional territorial cultures, not their resurgence. The crisis is most likely to be resolved, I believe, in cyberspace. To what end I cannot tell, but can only hope.Cryptochromes are light-sensitive molecules that exist in bacteria, plants and animals. In animals, they are involved in the control of the body's circadian rhythms. In birds, cryptochromes are also involved in the light-dependent magnetic orientation response based on Earth's magnetic field: cryptochrome 1a is located in photoreceptors in birds' eyes and is activated by the magnetic field. Now researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt have also detected cryptochrome 1 in photoreceptors in several mammalian species. Therefore, it is possible that these animals also have a magnetic sense that is linked to their visual system.
The perception of Earth's magnetic field is used by many animal species for orientation and navigation. A magnetic sense is found in some insects, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, whereas humans do not appear to be able to perceive Earth's magnetic field.
The magnetic sense in migratory birds has been studied in considerable detail: unlike a boy scout's compass, which shows the compass direction, a bird's compass recognizes the inclination of the magnetic field lines relative to Earth's surface. Surprisingly, this inclination compass in birds is linked to the visual system as the magnetic field activates the light-sensitive molecule cryptochrome 1a in the retina of the bird's eye. Cryptochrome 1a is located in the blue- to UV-sensitive cone photoreceptors and only reacts to the magnetic field if it is simultaneously excited by light.
Cryptochrome-distribution among mammals
Together with colleagues from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, the Goethe University Frankfurt, and the Universities of Duisburg-Essen and Göttingen, Christine Nießner and Leo Peichl from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt investigated the presence of cryptochrome 1 in the retinas of 90 species of mammal. Mammalian cryptochrome 1 is the equivalent of bird cryptochrome 1a. With the help of antibodies against the light-activated form of the molecule, the scientists found cryptochrome 1 only in a few species from the carnivore and primate groups. As is the case in birds, it is found in the blue-sensitive cones in these animals. The molecule is present in dog-like carnivores such as dogs, wolves, bears, foxes and badgers, but is not found in cat-like carnivores such as cats, lions and tigers. Among the primates, cryptochrome 1 is found in the orang-utan, for example. In all tested species of the other 16 mammalian orders, the researchers found no active cryptochrome 1 in the cone cells of the retina.
The active cryptochrome 1 is found in the light-sensitive outer segments of the cone cells. It is therefore unlikely that it controls the animals' circadian rhythms from there, as this control occurs in the cell nucleus which is located a considerable distance away. It is also unlikely that cryptochrome 1 acts as an additional visual pigment for colour perception. The researchers thus suspect that some mammals may use the cryptochrome 1 to perceive Earth's magnetic field. In evolutionary terms, the blue cones in mammals correspond to the blue-to UV-sensitive cones in birds. It is therefore entirely possible that the cryptochrome 1 in mammals has a comparable function.
Observations of foxes, dogs and even humans actually indicate that they can perceive Earth's magnetic field. For example, foxes are more successful at catching mice when they pounce on them in a north-east direction. "Nevertheless, we were very surprised to find active cryptochrome 1 in the cone cells of only two mammalian groups, as species whose cones do not contain active cryptochrome 1, for example some rodents and bats, also react to the magnetic field," says Christine Nießner.
Particle-based magnetic compass
One possible explanation for this is that animals can also perceive the magnetic field in a different way: for example, with the help of magnetite, microscopic ferrous particles in cells. A magnetite-based magnetic sense functions like a pocket compass and does not require any light. Mole rats, which live in lightless tunnel systems, orient using this kind of compass. Birds also have an additional orientation mechanism based on magnetite, which they use to determine their position.
Many fundamental questions remain open in the research on the magnetic sense. Future studies will have to reveal whether the cryptochrome 1 in the blue cones is also part of a magnetic sense in mammals or whether it fulfils other tasks in the retina.Looking for news you can trust?
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The criminal element has seeped deep into every nook and cranny of American society.
Forget about the underworld — these crooks dominate every aspect of our market, culture, and politics.
They cast a deep dark shadow over life in turn of the century America.
We buy gas from them (Exxon, Chevron, Unocal).
We take pictures with their cameras and film (Eastman Kodak).
We drink their beer (Coors).
We buy insurance from them to guard against financial catastrophe if we get sick (Blue Cross Blue Shield).
And then when we get sick, we buy pharmaceuticals from them (Pfizer, Warner Lambert, Ortho Pharmaceuticals).
We do our laundry washers and dryers from them (General Electric).
We vacation with them (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines).
We buy our food from them (Archer Daniels Midland, Southland, Tyson Foods, U.S. Sugar).
We drive with them (Hyundai) and fly with them (Korean Air Lines).
All of these companies and more turned up on Corporate Crime Reporter’s list of the Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s, released this past week at a news conference at the National Press Club.
Standing before a roomful of reporters and cameras (including a C-Span camera which took us live to our TV nation), we made the following points:
Every year, the major business magazines put out their annual surveys of big business in America.
You have the Fortune 500, the Forbes 400, the Forbes Platinum 100, the International 800 — among others.
These lists rank big corporations by sales, assets, profits and market share. The point of these surveys is simple — to identify and glorify the biggest and most profitable corporations.
The point of releasing The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade, on the other hand, was to focus public attention on the pervasive criminality that has corrupted the marketplace and that is given little sustained attention and analysis by politicians and news outlets.
To compile The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s, we used the most narrow and conservative of definitions — corporations that have pled guilty or no contest to crimes and have been criminally fined. And still, with the most narrow and conservative of definitions of corporate crime, we came up with society’s most powerful actors.
Six corporations that made the list of the Top 100 Corporate Criminals were criminal recidivist companies during the 1990s.
Exxon, Royal Caribbean, Rockwell International, Warner-Lambert, Teledyne, and United Technologies each pled guilty to more than one crime during the 1990s.
And we warned that we in no way imply that these corporations are in any way the worst or have committed the most egregious crimes.
We did not try to assess and compare the damage committed by these corporate criminals or by other corporate wrongdoers.
We warned that companies that are criminally prosecuted represent only the tip of a very large iceberg of corporate wrongdoing.
For every company convicted of health care fraud, there are hundreds of others who get away with ripping off Medicare and Medicaid, or face only mild slap-on-the-wrist fines and civil penalties when caught.
For every company convicted of polluting the nation’s waterways, there are many others who are not prosecuted because their corporate defense lawyers are able to offer up a low-level employee to go to jail in exchange for a promise from prosecutors not to touch the company or high-level executives.
For every corporation convicted of bribery or of giving money directly to a public official in violation of federal law, there are thousands who give money legally through political action committees to candidates and political parties. They profit from a system that effectively has legalized bribery.
For every corporation convicted of selling illegal pesticides, there are hundreds more who are not prosecuted because their lobbyists have worked their way in Washington to ensure that dangerous pesticides remain legal.
For every corporation convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a worker, there are hundreds of others that don’t even get investigated for reckless homicide when a worker is killed on the job. Only a few district attorneys across the country (Michael McCann, the DA in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, being one) regularly investigate workplace deaths as homicides.
We pointed out that corporations define the laws under which they live.
An argument can be made that the most egregious wrongful corporate acts — the genetic engineering of the food supply, or the systematic pollution of the nation’s air and waterways, or the bribery by corporate criminals of the political parties — are totally legal.
For your convenience, we print here the list of 100 crooks that fall well within a very conservative definition of criminality.
Carry this list wherever you go, and when the subject turns to crime, feel free to pull out the list and lash the criminal element.
THE TOP 100 CORPORATE CRIMINALS OF THE 1990s
1) F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $500 million
2) Daiwa Bank Ltd.
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $340 million
3) BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $225 million
4) SGL Carbon Aktiengesellschaft (SGL AG)
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $135 million
5) Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $125 million
6) UCAR International, Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $110 million
7) Archer Daniels Midland
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $100 million
8)(tie) Banker’s Trust
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $60 million
8)(tie) Sears Bankruptcy Recovery Management Services
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $60 million
10) Haarman & Reimer Corp.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal fine: $50 million
11) Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $37 million
12) Hoechst AG
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $36 million
13) Damon Clinical Laboratories, Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $35.2 million
14) C.R. Bard Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $30.9 million
7 Corporate Crime Reporter 41(1), October 25, 1993
15) Genentech Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $30 million
16) Nippon Gohsei
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $21 million
17)(tie) Pfizer Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $20 million
17)(tie) Summitville Consolidated Mining Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $20 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 20(3) May 20, 1996
19)(tie) Lucas Western Inc.
Type of Crime: False Statements
Criminal Fine: $18.5 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 4(6), January 30, 1995
19)(tie) Rockwell International Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $18.5 million
21) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $18 million
22) Teledyne Industries Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $17.5 million
23) Northrop
Type of Crime: False statements
Criminal Fine: $17 million
24) Litton Applied Technology Division (ATD) and Litton Systems Canada (LSL)
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $16.5 million
25) Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $15 million
26) Eastman Chemical Company
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $11 million
27) Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $10.65 million
28) Lonza AG
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10.5 million
29) Kimberly Home Health Care Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $10.08 million
30)(tie) Ajinomoto Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10 million
30)(tie) Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $10 million
30)(tie) Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10 million
30)(tie) Warner-Lambert Company
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $10 million
34) General Electric
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $9.5 million
35)(tie) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $9 million
35)(tie) Showa Denko Carbon
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $9 million
37) IBM East Europe/Asia Ltd.
Type of Crime: Illegal exports
Criminal Fine: $8.5 million
38) Empire Sanitary Landfill Inc.
Type of crime: Campaign finance
Criminal fine: $8 million
39)(tie) Colonial Pipeline Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $7 million
39)(tie) Eklof Marine Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $7 million
41)(tie) Chevron
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $6.5 million
41)(tie) Rockwell International Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $6.5 million
43) Tokai Carbon Ltd. Co.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $6 million
44)(tie) Allied Clinical Laboratories, Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $5 million
44)(tie) Northern Brands International Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $5 million
44)(tie) Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation
Type of Crime: Obstruction of justice
Criminal Fine: $5 million
44)(tie) Unisys
Type of Crime: Bribery
Criminal Fine: $5 million
44)(tie) Georgia Pacific Corporation
Type of Crime: Tax evasion
Criminal Fine: $5 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 38(8), October 7, 1991
49) Kanzaki Specialty Papers Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $4.5 million
50) ConAgra Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $4.4 million
51) Ryland Mortgage Company
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $4.2 million
52)(tie) Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $4 million
52)(tie) Borden Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $4 million
52)(tie) Dexter Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $4 million
52)(tie) Southland Corporation
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $4 million
52)(tie) Teledyne Industries Inc.
Type of Crime: Illegal exports
Criminal Fine: $4 million
52)(tie) Tyson Foods Inc.
Type of Crime: Public corruption
Criminal Fine: $4 million
58)(tie) Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA)
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3.75 million
58)(tie) Costain Coal Inc.
Type of Crime: Worker Death
Criminal Fine: $3.75 million
58)(tie) United States Sugar Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3.75 million
61) Saybolt, Inc., Saybolt North America
Type of Crime: Environmental, bribery
Criminal Fine: $3.4 million
62)(tie) Bristol-Myers Squibb
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
62)(tie) Chemical Waste Management Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
62)(tie) Ketchikan Pulp Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
62)(tie) United Technologies Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
62)(tie) Warner-Lambert Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
67)(tie) Arizona Chemical Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2.5 million
67)(tie) Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail)
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2.5 million
69) International Paper
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2.2 million
70)(tie) Consolidated Edison Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2 million
70)(tie) Crop Growers Corporation
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal fine: $2 million
70)(tie) E-Systems Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $2 million
70)(tie) HAL Beheer BV
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2 million
70)(tie) John Morrell and Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2 million
70)(tie) United Technologies Corporation
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $2 million
76) Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi International Corporation
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $1.8 million
77)(tie) Blue Shield of California
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
77)(tie) Browning-Ferris Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
77)(tie) Odwalla Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
77)(tie) Teledyne Inc.
Type of Crime: False statements
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
77)(tie) Unocal Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
82)(tie) Doyon Drilling Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1 million
82)(tie) Eastman Kodak
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1 million
82)(tie) Case Corporation
Type of Crime: Illegal exports
Criminal Fine: $1 million
85) Marathon Oil
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $900,000
86) Hyundai Motor Company
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $600,000
87)(tie) Baxter International Inc.
Type of Crime: Illegal Boycott
Criminal Fine: $500,000
87)(tie) Bethship-Sabine Yard
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $500,000
87(tie) Palm Beach Cruises
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $500,000
87)(tie) Princess Cruises Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $500,000
91)(tie) Cerestar Bioproducts BV
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $400,000
91)(tie) Sun-Land Products of California
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $400,000
93)(tie) American Cyanamid
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $250,000
93)(tie) Korean Air Lines
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $250,000
93)(tie) Regency Cruises Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $250,000
96)(tie) Adolph Coors Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $200,000
96)(tie) Andrew and Williamson Sales Co.
Type of crime: Food and drug
Criminal fine: $200,000
96)(tie) Daewoo International (America) Corporation
Type of Fine: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $200,000
96)(tie) Exxon Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $200,000
100) Samsung America Inc.
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $150,000I Shed No Tears for the Billionaires
Justin Zarb Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jan 16, 2017
Bernie Sanders, Latte Liberalism, and Economic Justice
At Bernie Sanders’s recent town hall, a young man named Roey Goldstein accused Sanders of demonizing the country’s top earners for benefiting from corporate-friendly trade agreements such as NAFTA. Roey expressed his disappointment and lamented that, as a “moderate Democrat” he and others like him were feeling a bit hung out to dry. Roey asked if Sanders could be more politically correct with his economic message so as not to alienate some Democrats.
I shed no tears over his concern. The country’s top earners are doing just fine.
Hand-wringing over the top 1% is the sort of backward rhetoric that tries to appeal to a liberal’s sense of social justice — that one should be careful not to offend any group, in this case billionaires and other top earners. Roey would like Sanders to treat the top 1% of our country as if they were any other marginalized group — one that faces institutional discrimination and is being unfairly demonized at the expense of working people.
This tactic isn’t new. Take this recent article on the Dakota Access Pipeline for example. In “The Real Dakota Access Pipeline Victim is the Construction Company,” the writer attempts to play on our sympathies and frame Dakota Access Services as the real group in need of justice. Reading his pontifications about a multi-billion dollar contract and lost potential revenue (reminding us that time is money) is almost enough to make the reader rue the plight of our friendly billion-dollar pipeline company. Never mind that the pipeline would be built on sovereign tribal land, lead to the desecration of sacred sites, and contaminate drinking water for both the tribe and Americans who live downstream. No, he argues, it is the pipeline corporation that deserves our compassion.
We should not be fooled into shedding tears for the billionaires. We must not be swayed by this rhetoric, which is peddled to prey upon our bleeding hearts. Our belief in social justice must not be perverted so that we ignore the needs of working people out of concern for the wealthy. Doing so would lead to us becoming “latte liberals” — those who clearly support diversity in gender, race, and creed but aren’t as concerned about our society’s vast income disparity. This is a fatal mistake for those of us working on creating a just society, and it can be fatal for our politicians as well.
We Won’t Be Rescued By Latte Liberalism
If Democrats wish to win federal elections, they need to address economic justice. Merely championing diversity and inclusion isn’t enough.
Take Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), for example. Booker was rewarded handsomely in the press for breaking precedent and testifying against Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) in his confirmation hearing for attorney general. Booker slammed Sessions’ abysmal civil rights record and was on his way to winning the hearts and minds of the American people.
But less than 24 hours later, Booker betrayed the same working people (including minorities) by voting against an amendment that would have helped lower the sky-high costs of our prescription drugs. 77% of Americans say their prescription drug prices are unreasonable, and millions of Americans either don’t fill their prescriptions, or skip doses, due to costs. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical corporations are posting billion-dollar annual profits. This amendment would have been so helpful to working Americans that despite it being proposed by Amy Klobuchar of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, 12 Republicans were on board with it.
And herein lies the problem with taking a “latte liberal” approach. The Democratic Party, which should be the party of working people, has become hard to distinguish from the Republican Party on issues of economic justice. A party that speaks to social justice but ignores cries for economic justice betrays itself.
It isn’t enough to draw a line in the sand on bigotry. We must also take a stand against the economic exploitation that makes billionaires out of pharmaceutical CEOs and necessary medications unaffordable for so many.
Billionaires Hate This One Weird Trick
On Oct. 14, 2016, Bernie Sanders’s Twitter account posted a 114-character tweet calling out pharmaceutical company Ariad on its greed:
Ariad’s stock proceeded to plunge, dropping approximately 15% by the end of the day, and cost investors $387 million.
Nothing is more important to a corporation than its stock price. And as you can imagine, the CEOs of GE, Verizon, and Disney have spoken out, often fiercely, against the idea that they are unduly benefiting from policies and trade agreements weighted in their favor. They often claim, instead, that corporate America is being unfairly targeted, that they ought to be seen as the saviors, and assert that corporations are people, too!
But we must shed no tears here. In fact, as Bernie said on Morning Joe recently, “If the billionaire class hates me or hates other progressives we should be proud of that because we have to start identifying with working people.”
If we work to rebalance the power between working people and corporations, it is true the billionaires stand to lose some of their vast accumulated wealth.
But this is not cause for us to weep for them. Rather, we must remain steadfast. We must not let our compassion be hijacked.
The tears we shed must be just.On Wednesday, the supreme court will consider whether the government must obtain a warrant before accessing the rich trove of data that cellphone providers collect about cellphone users’ movements. Among scholars and campaigners, there is broad agreement that the case could yield the most consequential privacy ruling in a generation.
Less appreciated is the significance of the case for rights protected by the first amendment. The parties’ briefs make little mention of the first amendment, instead framing the dispute – for understandable reasons – as one about the right to privacy. Yet the court’s resolution of the case is likely to have far-reaching implications for the freedoms of speech, press and association.
Donald Trump wants to keep our draconian surveillance laws. Don't let him do it | Trevor Timm Read more
The case, Carpenter v United States, arises out of the government’s prosecution of Timothy Carpenter for a series of armed robberies carried out in south-eastern Michigan and north-western Ohio several years ago. In the course of its investigation of the crimes, the government ordered Carpenter’s cellphone provider to turn over data it had collected relating to Carpenter’s movements. In response, the provider produced 186 pages listing every call that Carpenter had made over a 127-day period, as well as coordinates indicating where Carpenter had been at the beginning and end of each of those calls.
Importantly, it turned over these records even though the government had not obtained a warrant based on probable cause. Carpenter asked the court to suppress the government’s evidence under the fourth amendment, which protects the right to privacy.
Many cellphone users have only a vague understanding of the extent to which providers monitor their movements, but these companies now track us much more closely than even the most committed human spies ever could. Cellphones function by connecting to antennas – “cell sites” or “cell towers” – that provide cellular service. Those cell sites, which are owned and operated by the cellular companies, are programmed to record which phones connect to them, and when. They also record the direction from which the connecting phone’s signal is received and, often, the distance of the phone from the cell site.
So-called “cell site location information” is becoming ever more precise, because the cellular network is becoming ever more dense. The analytical tools that can be brought to bear on this information are also becoming more sophisticated, meaning that investigators can draw reliable conclusions from smaller and smaller amounts of data. It’s precisely because the information is so rich, of course, that the government is interested in accessing it.
Privacy scholars are watching Carpenter’s case closely because it may require the supreme court to address the scope and continuing relevance of the “third-party-records doctrine”, a judicially developed rule that has sometimes been understood to mean that a person surrenders her constitutional privacy interest in information that she turns over to a third party. The government contends that Carpenter lacks a constitutionally protected privacy interest in his location data because his cellphone was continually sharing that data with his cellphone provider.
Privacy advocates are rightly alarmed by this argument. Much of the digital technology all of us rely on today requires us to share information passively with third parties. Visiting a website, sending an email, buying a book online – all of these things require sharing sensitive data with internet service providers, merchants, banks and others. If this kind of commonplace and unavoidable information-sharing is sufficient to extinguish constitutional privacy rights, the digital-age fourth amendment will soon be a dead letter.
To understand the Carpenter case’s full significance, though, it’s necessary to consider the implications the government’s arguments have for first amendment rights. In a brief filed in support of Carpenter, 19 leading technologists explain how easy it is to use a person’s location data to learn about her beliefs and associations. (We represent the technologists.) With very few data points, the technologists observe, an analyst can learn whether a given person attended a public demonstration, attended a political meeting, or met with a particular activist or lawyer. With more data, an analyst can identify social networks and learn not only whether a given person was at a public demonstration but who else attended the demonstration with her.
Journalists and their sources might be at particular risk. Imagine parallel demands for the cell site location information of a journalist who exposed government misconduct and of all the government employees who had access to the information the journalist exposed. As the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press observes in its own brief filed in the Carpenter case, cell site location information “can reveal the stories a journalist is working on before they are published, where a journalist went to gather information for those stories, and the identity of a journalist’s sources”.
This is why it is a mistake to think about the Carpenter case solely through the lens of individual privacy. A defeat for Carpenter would be a defeat for privacy rights, but it would also mean a dramatic curtailment of first amendment freedoms.
The Carpenter case is the latest in a series of cases that have required the supreme court to consider the relevance of analog-era precedents to digital-age technologies. Although these cases were presented to the court as fourth amendment cases, the court was attentive to the implications of government surveillance for first amendment freedoms. When the court held that the fourth amendment precluded the government from installing a GPS device on a criminal suspect’s car without first obtaining a warrant, five justices cited some of the same concerns raised by the technologists we represent in Carpenter.
Do “people reasonably expect that their movements will be recorded and aggregated in a manner that enables the government to ascertain, more or less at will, their political and religious beliefs [and] sexual habits?” Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked in her powerful concurrence.
Two years later, when the court ruled that the government could not search a criminal suspect’s cellphone without first obtaining a warrant, the court cited similar concerns.
Facial recognition is here. The iPhone X is just the beginning | Clare Garvie Read more
“Awareness that the government may be watching chills associational and expressive freedoms,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. Left unchecked, he warned, new forms of surveillance could “alter the relationship between citizen and government in a way that is inimical to democratic society”.
The court was right in these cases to take account of the implications of surveillance technology for rights protected by the first amendment. It should be similarly attentive to these implications in Carpenter. Without strong protections for individual privacy, the freedoms of speech, association and the press will wither.
In assessing whether Carpenter had a right to privacy in his location information, the court should consider what will remain of these indispensable democratic freedoms if the government is afforded access, without close judicial supervision, to the information that cellphone providers are continuously collecting about all of us, and to the other sensitive and even intimate records that all of us passively and routinely share with third parties.At long last we have our winners of Hipsters of the Coast and Monday Night Magic’s You Draw The Card contest. A quick refresher: frustrated with the shitty sketches for what was at the time called Revenge of Necromancy, Wizards’ “You Make the Card” contest offering, me and the MNM guys, Chewie and Jeremey, decided we’d have a contest to see if our readers and listeners could come up with better art. AND THEY DID!
Here are two runner’s up. For their efforts they received no prizes beyond our unending gratitude for their submissions.
Honorable Mention #1—Tony Loman’s Ultra Violent Sharpie Drawing
Hey it sucks but I am not an artist and I drew this with a fat sharpie at work.
—Tony Loman
As a man obsessed with the recent Dredd movie, no, FILM, I can say without a doubt that it took a lot of talking down from my fellow judges of quality to not have this be the grand prize winner. It’s so clear and honest and hilariously violent. It’s the only entry to include a sound effect.
But, Hunter’s critique rings truest and lead to our judging Tony’s excellent drawing falling short of the top three. “I think the Sharpie one is funny, but it doesn’t really speak to the card. It’s more of a joke, right?”
Honorable Mention #2—Dan Black’s Sexy Lady Necromancy
Dan and I talked a bit about his submission over email. I think his style is right on and his abilities are insanely good, duh, but the content is problematic. Here’s part of what we had to say:
Me: Yeah man, I think the art looks dope. I really like the idea of the ragman being a rag woman (though rag itself becomes pretty problematic
|
.
With DFS working I wanted to try BFS. Luckily the change is simple – just change the stack to a queue.
( defn seq-graph-bfs [ g s ] (( fn rec-bfs [ explored frontier ] ( lazy-seq ( if ( empty? frontier ) nil ( let [ v ( peek frontier ) neighbors ( g v )] ( cons v ( rec-bfs ( into explored neighbors ) ( into ( pop frontier ) ( remove explored neighbors )))))))) # { s } ( conj ( clojure.lang.PersistentQueue/EMPTY ) s ))) ( seq-graph-bfs G :1 ) ; => ( :1 :2 :3 :4 )
This works because all the primitives ( peek, pop, conj ) do the right things depending on the data structure (stack or queue). It was nice to see this actually work.
Finally, since the only difference is the initial data structure we can make it an argument to a generic function.
( defn seq-graph [ d g s ] (( fn rec-seq [ explored frontier ] ( lazy-seq ( if ( empty? frontier ) nil ( let [ v ( peek frontier ) neighbors ( g v )] ( cons v ( rec-seq ( into explored neighbors ) ( into ( pop frontier ) ( remove explored neighbors )))))))) # { s } ( conj d s ))) ( def seq-graph-dfs ( partial seq-graph [])) ( def seq-graph-bfs ( partial seq-graph ( clojure.lang.PersistentQueue/EMPTY ))) ( seq-graph-dfs G :1 ) ; => (:1 :3 :4 :2) ( seq-graph-bfs G :1 ) ; => ( :1 :2 :3 :4 )
Neato.
Again, I’m no Clojure expert so welcome feedback on anything that can do better.
You can reach me at [email protected] or via twitter @hueypetersen.Android 2.2 Build Leaked For HTC Droid Incredible
A rumor yesterday pinned the roll out of Froyo for the HTC Droid Incredible from Verizon to occur on September 1st, but it looks like that rumor fell by the wayside. Today, it looks like the unofficial Android 2.2 Build has been leaked and is available for users to download and flash to their HTC Droid Incredible. The Build is known as a ROM Update Utility, which makes it more official than a simple ROM. The good guys over at Droid-Life are in the process of flashing the update to their HTC Droid Incredible and should report back the details shortly. We’ll keep you updated and let you know how the flash update works for various people on the Internet. If you want to begin the flash update, click the website here.Governor Bev Perdue of North Carolina made a controversial decision when the state was devastated by storms in winter of 2010: she declared a state of emergency. That declaration was quickly followed by one from the city of King, which banned possession of alcohol and guns outside the home.
Now a federal judge has ruled that state law cannot create a ban on buying guns and ammunition during emergency situations. “While the bans imposed … may be limited in duration, it cannot be overlooked that the statutes strip peaceable, law-abiding citizens of the right to arm themselves in defense of hearth and home, striking at the very core of the Second Amendment,” Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard wrote in his order.
This is a victory for the Second Amendment at a time when the Second Amendment is under direct assault from Democrats across the country. Within the last two days, both former President Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden have used the Trayvon Martin case as an excuse to reintroduce the gun control issue. They ignore, however, that the Second Amendment is a real and vital part of the Constitution, and cannot be overruled by statute. Judge Howard’s ruling should remind them of that inconvenient fact.The UK is considering a series of anti-knife measures that include banning the home delivery of knives. The proposal follows a March 2016 investigation by the Guardian where teens under 18 were able to circumvent Amazon’s age-restrictions on knife purchases.
Under the proposed measures, scheduled for a consultation in the fall, all knife purchases would need to be picked up in person to verify the buyer is 18-years or older. The legislation could also see the introduction of further restrictions on knife carry and broaden the definition of illegal “flick knives.”
Clay Aalders, Managing Editor of The Truth About Knives, has been following the UK knife law situation closely and believes the measures are misguided. “Preventing home-delivery of knives seems like a needless restriction and pointless waste of time,” he says. “What is stopping said underage person from simply grabbing a knife from a kitchen drawer or a letter-opener or pair of scissors from a desk? Or making a homemade shank for that matter?”
Aalders goes onto say that custom makers stand to lose the most if the proposed laws were to go into effect. “The ones who will be hardest hit are the custom makers who don’t have a particular storefront and rely (relied) on internet sales and shipping their products to make a living.”
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Supporters of the legislation point to an uptick in knife crime that started in 2014. According to a report released last Thursday by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, the number of knife crimes in 2016 rose by 20% versus the prior year and is the highest it has been in seven years. 2016 saw the banning of ‘Zombie knives’ and the construction of a “knife angel” statue, made from thousands of surrendered knives collected from the knife amnesty bins across the country.Conservative radio host Mark Levin ripped GOP leadership and RINOs on Friday evening but he singled out President Trump with praise!
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Levin has been on both sides of the fence with President Trump but after the American Health Care Act was pulled, the “Great One” sided with Trump over the feckless GOP leadership in a stinging audio segment below.
Many people on our side are still crying over the loss of the bill but it wasn’t a bill yet. It was an idea that was pulled and right now, our fingerprints are not on Obamacare. That still rests with Democrats. The problem here is Republican leadership. Speaker Paul Ryan promised and couldn’t deliver a few times. His star is tainted and if he was anyone else, he would have cleared out his desk on Friday night.
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Don’t forget to follow the Wayne Dupree Show social media accounts on Facebook, Google Plus & Twitter.Two weeks after President Donald Trump announced a commission to investigate illegal voting, Democrats are responding with a new effort to highlight voter suppression and debunk claims that voter fraud is a widespread problem.
The Democratic National Committee will run the Commission on Protecting American Democracy from the Trump Administration, which is setting out to examine efforts that made it more difficult to vote in 2016 and work toward improving access to the ballot box.
Trump has said repeatedly that between 3 million and 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election, but hasn’t offered any evidence to support the claim. Voter fraud does exist, but several investigations have already found that it is not a widespread problem. Nonetheless, Trump convened a presidential commission led by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), who has pushed some of the toughest voting restrictions in the country, to investigate voter fraud. Critics were quick to argue that the commission was a pretext for justifying restrictions on voting.
Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander is set to lead the DNC’s effort. He is also the president of Let America Vote, a group that targets elected officials who make it more difficult to vote.
“I would prefer that there not be a need for a commission to protect American democracy from the Trump administration. But there is,” he told HuffPost. “I think in general what you’ll see is us really mirroring and standing up against the actions of the commission.”
In a statement, Kander accused Trump of trying to tweak the electoral system to his advantage.
“Trump’s presidency has already been a disaster, and he knows that the only way he’s going to win again in 2020 is if he tips the scales in his favor,” he said. “His commission is meant to pave the way for restrictive laws that will allow Republicans to win elections. It’s wrong, it’s a danger to democracy and we’re not going to let it happen.”
I would prefer that there not be a need for a commission to protect American democracy from the Trump administration. But there is. Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander
DNC Chairman Tom Perez called Trump’s commission “nothing but a sham to justify the GOP’s voter suppression efforts across the country.”
“Instead of listening to constituents and working to earn their votes, Republicans would rather deny them their constitutional rights at the ballot box,” he said in a statement. “Our commission will be ready to counter every move that the Trump administration makes to silence eligible voters.”
The DNC effort will have four staffers to work with state officials and voting rights advocates to protect voting rights, according to The Nation. The DNC previously only had one full-time staffer focused on voting protection.Most of the information about Venus has been derived from the intensive Soviet study of the planet. The only existing images from the surface were returned from four of their landing craft. The Soviets attempted to send photo-television cameras to Venus in 1952 and 1965. Unfortunately both these attempts failed. The first successful Lander which could take photographs was the Venera-9. Among others to land on Venus are Venera-10, Venera-11, Venera-14, Venera 15 and 16, Vega-1 and Vega-2. It clearly seems that the intensive Soviet study of the planet brought fruitful results and is an aid to further research on the planet.
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One of the Soviet ships that landed on the surface of Venus is Venera-13. The descent module of Venera-13 landed on the surface of the planet on March 1 1982. Unlike the Venera 9/10 system, Venera 13 consisted of two optical-mechanical cameras which, at a higher resolution repeatedly scanned 180° or 60° through clear and colored filters. This camera system had been developed by A.S. Selivanov’s team at the Institute of Space Device Engineering. The main spacecraft, on a flyby trajectory had remained in radio contact with the lander for 127 minutes and had relayed the video to Earth as a phase-modulated digital signal, at 9 bits per pixel.
The Venera landers transmitted digital images with a depth of 9 bits and an approximately logarithmic encoding of photometric brightness. The camera scanned multiple panaromas, some of them included red, green or blue glass filters in place. The entire transmission had been a quick process and hence had been relayed to Earth in real time and also been replayed from digital tape recordings on board the Venera spacecraft. As a result, the reconstruction of an almost noiseless version from multiple transmissions became possible. An accurate conversion of that encoding to linear brightness has been derived, using calibration information included with the images.
The Venera panoramas are spherical projections. They could be remapped to perspective projections and over laid (using Adobe Photoshop CS2) to produce views that can give a better subjective impression of the surface of the planet. Though the original Soviet versions of these images had a full panorama from clear-filter images, and color panoramas from the red, green and blue-filter images and since the images were much darker, the signal to noise had been poorer for color images.
Here are some more photographs, you might want to take a look!Civilians inspect the site of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad’s Allawi neighborhood on July 14. Bombs in parked cars killed civilians in commercial areas of Baghdad that day, as government forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters tried to dislodge militants from a small town north of the capital, officials said. (Hadi Mizban/Associated Press)
With the recent spikes in terrorism in Syria, Lebanon and now Iraq, it is important to ask: Is the threat of terrorism around the world greater today than at the height of the Iraq war? The New York Times, CNN, Reuters and other news media outlets have used government-sponsored data sets that paint a scary picture of world events, claiming that the number of radical terrorist attacks in 2013 exceeded those in any previous period. If true, the world is more dangerous today than during the George W. Bush administration or before 9/11.
There are a lot of ways to assess the current danger from radical terrorist organizations, but the best way is by tracking the number of suicide attacks. Suicide attacks are the most deadly form of terrorism, killing on average more than 10 times as many people as ordinary attacks and demonstrating the extreme commitment of the person carrying out the attack. The Global Terrorism Database (GTD), maintained by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is a common source of data on suicide attacks used by the news media.
There’s only one problem: The GTD data cannot be trusted. The problem with interpreting recent trends from GTD’s data lies with its inconsistent collection of data, which severely undercounted the violence during the Iraq war. As a result, the recent increase in violence seems more extreme than it really is. The Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism’s (CPOST) database of suicide attacks does not suffer from the same inconsistency. This competing source of data shows that the number of suicide attacks has increased over the past few years but remains below the global peak of violence set in 2007 during the Iraq war.
The main trouble with the GTD is that its collection standards have changed several times, making it an inappropriate source for measuring trends. The GTD was initially funded by the DHS in 2006 and began by compiling data from three independent projects, each with its own collection methodology and standards for inclusion: one standard of collection from 1970 until 1998, another through 2008 and another through 2011. It was not until November 2011 that the GTD became responsible for collecting its own data, at which point it changed its methodology and standards. No surprise, the type and number of events in the data set changed every time the methodology changed.
The GTD has qualified that its data set should not be used to look at trends over time, but this has not stopped numerous national and international news services, think-tanks and non-governmental organizations from doing precisely that. Indeed, the online database itself presents images of the data over time, and even releases reports, without any qualification about the differences in time periods. Accordingly, it is more than understandable that most viewers would treat the differences in methodologies across the time periods as irrelevant.
These shifts in methodology are largely responsible for the appearance of an abrupt upward trajectory of global suicide attacks in recent years. The most recent iteration of the GTD pulls its sources from a wider pool of information than ever. This shift in collection guarantees that more suicide attacks are found after 2011, not necessarily because there are more attacks but because the GTD is better equipped to find them. Since this methodology was not applied retroactively, it is no surprise that violence after 2011 appears to overshadow the 2007 peak.
To be clear, improving methodological standards is all to the good – as long as historical data is recollected according to the new and improved standards. Changing standards without correcting past data creates opportunities for gross under- and overcounting of events. Comprehensive use of either the old or new methodology would create comparable data.
There are better approaches. The Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism maintains a frequently updated data set of worldwide suicide bombings since 1982 that is available on its Web site. The CPOST database was the first publicly available complete set of suicide attacks around the world published first as an appendix to an academic article in 2003.
CPOST has maintained a consistent methodology in collecting attacks since its foundation, and ensures that its database contains every verified instance of suicide attack. CPOST collects every instance of a suicide attack, defined as an attacker killing himself or herself during the course of a mission to kill others, and confirms that an attack actually occurred by requiring at least two independent sources. These are suicide attacks in the classic sense that people expect and the complete sources for each attack are available on the CPOST Web site.
How does using CPOST data instead of GTD data affect our understanding of world events? By continually looking for past suicide events that did not have enough evidence, CPOST captures all time periods with the same inclusion criteria. In some periods, CPOST captures nearly twice as many suicide attacks as the GTD.
This consistent collection of data creates a very different picture of world events today. Although there has been a recent increase in the number of suicide attacks worldwide, the level of violence in 2007 still exceeds this number. Moreover, the violence in 2007 was driven almost entirely by the Iraq war, although the current sources of violence are more dispersed, with each ongoing conflict seeing fewer suicide attacks.
Government-funded data sets are not always unreliable. For decades, the Federal Reserve has competently compiled reliable statistics on economic growth, while many municipalities collect excellent data on local crime. However, these successful government-sponsored data-collection efforts have been ongoing for many decades and so many of the original methodological issues have long since been resolved. The systematic study of terrorism events is much more recent.
So although it is important for the government to collect data, it is also important for universities and other institutions to do so as well. And it is important for the news media to understand data from all of these sources. Government sources are ostensibly the most authoritative source for data related to national security, but this does not absolve the news media of keeping a critical eye on these authorities. Independent institutions can help them do this. If the numbers produced by competing databases paint different pictures of the world, the media should ask why.
Robert A. Pape is a professor at the University of Chicago, where he heads the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism. Keven Ruby and Vincent Bauer are research director and research analyst at CPOST, respectively.(Reuters) – ABC television executives are talking with George Lucas’ Lucasfilm studio about making TV shows based on characters developed by the studio that created the “Star Wars” franchise, according to the president of Disney’s ABC Entertainment Group.
“We’ve started conversations with them,” Paul Lee told a gathering of TV critics meeting Sunday in Beverly Hills. “I have an inkling in my mind, but they have a lot on their plate.”
Disney bought Lucasfilm in October for $4.1 billion and has said it intends to make a seventh “Star Wars” film in 2015 and a new one every two or three years thereafter.
This autumn, ABC will begin airing “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” it’s first network program based on Marvel comic book characters since Disney paid $4.2 billion to buy the comic book and film studio in 2009.
(Reporting By Ron Grover; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)HOUSTON - Houston voters may soon get to decide if firefighters should be paid the same as police officers.
The Houston Professional Firefighters Association has launched a campaign to collect signatures for a ballot initiative, seeking pay parity.
The union says as of today, officers are paid 60 percent higher wages than firefighters.
“We have not had a contract that’s been approved since 2011,” said Marty Lancton of the Houston Professional Firefighters Association. “Firefighters have only received a three percent pay increase as opposed to our counterparts -- who we have nothing but respect for, our brothers and sisters in blue at the Police Department -- who have gotten a 26 percent pay raise.”
The association is hoping to get voter approval to change the city charter. It would make salaries for police and fire the same.
As it stands, a firefighter trainee starts at a little more than $28,000 a year, while a police cadet earns $42,000.
You can find a complete breakdown of salaries here.
KPRC contacted the mayor's office for its reaction to the ballot initiative, but so far has received no response.
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Copyright 2017 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.NHL 10 to Bring “Skill and Finesse” to the Rink
Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that EA SPORTS™ has innovated a new, physical brand of hockey that includes first-person fighting in NHL® 10 to match the toughness and emotional intensity real-world NHL players endure in pursuit of a Stanley Cup™ Championship.
The franchise that has won 19 sports game of the year awards over the past two years begins a new era with gameplay innovations that deliver a new standard of toughness, the emotion of playoff hockey on the ice and in the arena, and over 200 gameplay refinements that replicate the skill and finesse that every fan sees throughout the NHL playoffs.
A new first-person fighting engine enables players to trade punches with an NHL tough guy. Feel what it’s like to be on the ice in the skates of an NHL player to throw and dodge punches. Grab and tug an opponent’s jersey to land a punch that ignites the fans and sparks your team to victory. Challenge a skill player and an opposing team tough guy will step in to settle the score.
On ice toughness and intimidation is taken to a new level in NHL 10 where winning one-on-one battles for possession of the puck along the boards becomes a test of will and skill. Utilizing an all-new board physics engine, players can use their body to shield the puck on the boards and then kick-pass it to teammates. Bigger, stronger players pin opponents to the boards while fanatical fans bang on the glass, just like real life. Fore-check defenders, pressure the puck and finish checks to intimidate your opponent into mistakes. Players fatigue, bobble passes, and avoid collisions under threat of constant physical pressure. Inspire teammates, ignite the fans and change the momentum of a game by instigating scrums, drawing penalties, and mixing it up — all after the referee blows the whistle!
“This is the most authentic simulation of hockey we have ever created,” said Producer David Littman, a former NHL and minor league goaltender now in his eighth year working on the NHL franchise. “The Stanley Cup is the most difficult trophy in all of sports to win and NHL 10 replicates the emotion, intensity and toughness players require to win the Cup.”
NHL 10 features more than 200 gameplay refinements that replicate the skill and finesse of hockey and deliver the most responsive and authentic action ever for the series. Players can one-time loose pucks, score from their knees, knock pucks out of the air and lift a leg to fake a shot on goal. A new 360° precision passing mechanic delivers control over the speed and direction of passes so players can bank passes off the boards or play the puck into space for teammates to skate on to it. Plus, all-new interactive crowds bring the emotion of playoff hockey to life with towel-waving fans, glass bangers and crowds that react to the action on the ice.
Prove you are tough enough to quiet the crowd, silence the opposition and survive a playoff run to lift the Stanley Cup in NHL 10.
NHL 10 will be available in stores this September for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system with an MSRP of $59.99. It is developed under the EA SPORTS brand by EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C. The game has not been rated.Tales of Zestiria has been revealed for PS3 by Namco Bandai, following a string of teasers on the RPG’s official site.
UPDATE2:
Here’s more information from the PS Blog.
Tales of Zestiria will be released throughout North America, South America, and Europe and is the first time a Tales titles has been simultaneously announced for both Japan and Western markets.
One of the defining themes of the game is “choice” and players will be able to speak through Ludger by the choices that they make throughout the game.
The title takes place in the same world as Tales of Xillia, so players should expect to see plenty returning characters helping Ludger and Elle.
“The Tales Of team has been working hard to strengthen our relationship with overseas fans over the past few years and have seen the fruits of our labour with the success of Tales of Xillia which has sold over a million copies worldwide,” said producer Hideo Baba. “The Tales Of team would like to thank all of the fans around the world for their continued support and extend a warm welcome to new fans to the series as well.”
UPDATE 1:
Here’s the official Tales of Zestiria reveal trailer, courtesy of YouTuber rest440.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The game was revealed during a Nico Nico stream today, and the official Tales of Zestiria webpage will be updated shortly
PS4, PS3 and PS Vita were discussed during the Japanese stream before Tales of director Hideo Baba took to the stage:
Here’s the main character’s design:
And another:
Two environment stills:
Field exploration still:
Battle system still:
Dragon boss:
Male character concept art:
Lead character’s voice actors:
Building…Letters from the front in 1914 reveal the day of peace at Christmas during the first world war
When war broke out in 1914, thousands of men rushed to join up - little thinking that they would still be at war, with no end in sight, at Christmas time.
However, that first Christmas in the trenches also bore witness to the humanity of the soldiers at war when, disregarding any official orders from their superiors, an unofficial armistice was declared, and enemies began to fraternise.
Manchester Guardian, 31 December 1914: click to read in full. Photograph: Guardian
Reports of the truce first began to appear in the British press as they published Christmas letters home from soldiers at the front. All spoke of their amazement at the occurrence, and the joy of the day - in one of the letters extracted above, a soldier says that he ‘wouldn’t have missed it for the most gorgeous Christmas dinner in England.’
Manchester Guardian, 4 January 1915: click to read Barrs’ and Smart’s letters in full. Photograph: Guardian
Sergeant HA Barrs wrote to his parents on Boxing Day that he had had ‘a topping time and wouldn’t have missed it for pounds.’ Herbert Smart, who played football for Aston Villa, doesn’t mention the football match that has become so mythologised over the past century, but does admit he ‘didn’t know what to think... fancy a German shaking your flapper as though he was trying to smash your fingers and then a few days later trying to plug you.’
Over the next few days more letters began to arrive, and the extent to which the truce had begun as soldier faced soldier became clear. In the letters printed in the article below, an officer admits ‘it was the strangest sight I have ever seen,’ while a private of the Stalybridge Territorials writes that ‘the officers couldn’t make head nor tail of it.’
In many of the letters, the writers expressed a wish that the day of peace could lead to a ‘more decisive peace,’ a wish also echoed by German soldiers, as the letter below, published in the German journal Vorwärts, illustrates.
Manchester Guardian, 9 January 1915: click to read in full. Photograph: Guardian
It is perhaps not that surprising that in 1914, despite already harsh conditions, soldiers could still express a sense of optimism that ‘scrapping will soon be over.’ Yet it was also in Christmas 1914 that the Germans made their first attempt at an air raid, a sign of the new technology that would be used throughout the war to terrible effect, and help prolong the fighting for over three more years.
In 1915, the second Christmas at the front, a Manchester Guardian editorial looked back at the ‘reported strange and pathetic episodes of temporary friendship’ of a year earlier, noting sadly that ‘this Christmas, not only have the various authorities frowned on such attempts... but, as far as one can tell, there has been little inclination towards them among the soldiers themselves.’This is a totally beerific burger! I combined several yummy beer infused recipes and the end result was intoxicatingly delicious! Not really intoxicating despite all the beer used in the recipe. But super tasty, for sure!
The beer makes the burgers incredible moist and juicy. Have a pile of napkins ready!
I used Saranac Imperial Stout. It is a well rounded stout that adds nice flavor to the meat without overpowering the other ingredients.
Stout Burgers
1 Pound Ground Beef
2 Tbsp Onion, Finely Chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
1/4 Cup Stout
2 Kaiser Rolls
1 Cup Smoky Pale Ale Cheese Sauce (Recipe here
1 Cup IPA Glazed Onions (Recipe here
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef with all ingredients in list up to and including the stout. Mix gently but thoroughly. Try not to work the meat more than necessary as it will make the burgers tough.
Gently form into two patties.
Grill burgers to desired temperature.
Place burgers on the rolls. Top with the beer glazed onions and cheese sauce.
Enjoy
Note: I make these burgers really big. You could get away with making this same recipe into four smaller burgers, if you want to. Although, I can't imagine why you would. ☺The watchdog group, Judicial Watch, is threatening to file a lawsuit if the state government of California doesn’t clean up its vast voting mess. (twitter video version here, more video here)
JW has warned California to clean up its messy voter registration lists – or else face a federal lawsuit🗳️⚖️🔎: https://t.co/hzIWaChMWC pic.twitter.com/WqJnjq3Nj3 — Judicial Watch 🔎 (@JudicialWatch) August 8, 2017
What mess?
Judicial Watch: “…public records obtained…show 11 California counties have more registered voters than voting-age citizens.”
What??
There’s more.
“Los Angeles County officials ‘informed us that the total number of registered voters [in the County] now stands at a number that is a whopping 144% of the total number of resident citizens of voting age.’”
FAR MORE REGISTERED VOTERS THAN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE OF VOTING AGE.
That’s doesn’t work. That’s fraud.
Now add this to the mix. Over a million illegal immigrants (some say far more) have received driver’s licenses in California. All of them (unless they specifically opt out), are automatically registered to vote by the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.
Put all this insanity together, and what do you get? A gigantic number of people who can illegally cast votes. Because, in California, it’s legal to be illegal.
Want to proceed further down the rabbit hole?
It’s probable that many illegal immigrants don’t vote. If someone wanted to vote FOR them, how would that work?
Not one at a time, unless some sinister organization had at least half a million foot soldiers on call, on Election Day.
But here is a possible clue: electronic voting systems.
Back in 2007, the secretary of state of California ordered a “Top-to-Bottom Review” of all electronic voting systems currently in use in California elections.
In other words, up to that time, these systems had been considered a very fine way to run the vote count. The systems obviously had been tested and re-tested and checked and approved. They were already being used in the state of California.
However, astoundingly, all the following electronic systems were found to contain fatal flaws: Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold); Hart InterCivic; Sequoia Voting Systems; Election Systems and Software.
The first three systems were disqualified from further use…and then conditionally re-approved. The fourth system was rejected altogether.
To suppose that, after this top-to-bottom review in 2007, everything was quickly fixed is a leap only the foolish and unwary would take—particularly when we are talking about extremely talented hackers who could be employed to change election-vote numbers.
I read the California Top-to-Bottom Review. The public comments section at the end was illuminating. It contained explosive remarks.
For example, there was a discussion of vendors pretending to sell certain voting machines to the state of California…but actually selling other machines…machines that were not certified for use.
Another comment indicated that California lacked a method to ensure the source code for voting-machine software actually belonged to software certified by the state.
All in all, there is no guarantee (far from it) that the California voting system is safe or effective or honest.
If someone manipulated the system, and somehow utilized the huge numbers of illegal immigrants who are registered to vote, as a cover for falsified numbers…
Who would use illegal immigrants in that way?
You can answer that question.
This article first appeared at NoMoreFakeNews.com.One hundred percent of my time and effort and focus is surrounding acting and the acting world... I feel really happy doing what I'm doing right now.
I have to set big, lofty goals. Otherwise I can't keep myself motivated.
Coming off a long, successful gymnastics career,is fully devoting himself to his acting career and has purchased a production company, which he named "Parallel Entertainment," according to NBC Sports Leyva, a two-time Olympian, has been an elite since 2006 when he competed at his first U.S. National Championships and won the all-around, floor, and high bar titles. He only continued to grow from there, earning spots on the London and Rio Olympic teams where he secured a total of three medals.After over a decade of elite gymnastics, Leyva's focus has shifted. He's no longer training gymnastics and said he doesn't see himself returning, but he hasn't ruled it out completely. For now, he is pursuing his movie-making dreams.Leyva purchased Parallel Entertainment with one of his managers and said he already has a few shows in the development stages."The dream is to definitely make movies," Leyva said.(Dreamstime image: Lane Erickson)
It’s been 30 years since Reagan’s tax reform. Today’s House Republicans have a blueprint to ensure a new era of prosperity.
Thirty years ago this week President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Tax Reform Act of 1986, landmark legislation recognized as the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax code in our nation’s history. Upon signing the bill into law, President Reagan described the new tax code as one “designed to take us into a future of technological invention and economic achievement, one that will keep America competitive and growing into the 21st century.”
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True to these words, the American economy saw remarkable improvements as our nation led the way in developing breakthrough products and technologies. But our tax code also has changed significantly since 1986 — and not for the better. Unlike the American inventions and achievements that have expanded horizons of possibility, our nation’s tax code has become an excessive burden that strangles individual opportunity and economic freedom.
Over the past decade alone, more than 4,400 changes have been made to the U.S. tax code. That equals more than one change per day. Meanwhile, our nation’s tax laws have come to fill more than 70,000 pages, forcing taxpayers to spend an incredible amount of time and money preparing their tax returns each year. A recent study by the Tax Foundation projects that Americans will devote over 8.9 billion hours to complying with IRS tax-filing requirements in 2016.
House Republicans believe that now is the time to move forward with bold, pro-growth tax reform. That’s why, earlier this year, we put forward a detailed blueprint for comprehensive tax reform that will lift the burdens on families and job creators and propel our nation into a new era of economic prosperity and leadership.
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This blueprint is the first consensus proposal put forward by House Republicans to overhaul the tax code since the Reagan reform of 1986. And, similar to that legislation, our plan takes action to make the tax code simpler, flatter, and fairer for all Americans.
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Our plan eliminates dozens of special-interest loopholes, lowers tax rates for individuals and families, and consolidates the seven income-tax brackets of our current code into just three. Additionally, we improve and streamline provisions that support families, higher education, and charitable giving while also reducing taxes on savings and investment.
These reforms provide unprecedented simplicity. In fact, our blueprint delivers a tax code so straightforward and fair that, for the first time in modern history, nearly all Americans would be able to file their taxes on a form as simple as a postcard.
Above all, our blueprint delivers a tax code that is built for growth — the growth of families’ paychecks, the growth of small businesses, and the growth of our economy as a whole.
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Our plan lowers tax rates on American job creators of all sizes so they have more freedom to expand, hire new workers, and energize our local economies. We take bold action to level the playing field for U.S. businesses and workers by transforming our nation’s outdated international tax system into one of the most modern, pro-growth systems in the world.
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Not only will our blueprint remove incentives for companies to relocate overseas, it will make American communities the most attractive places in the world to invest, hire, and headquarter a business. That means better job opportunities for our workers, better wages for American families, and a better chance for all Americans to achieve their personal and professional goals.
Put simply, our blueprint is designed to help Americans of all walks of life. For recent college graduates, it increases your ability to find a fulfilling job where you can put your hard-earned knowledge and skills into action. For America’s working families, it delivers the support and economic security needed to save for retirement and put your kids through school. And, for our nation’s small business owners, our blueprint offers more freedom to dream big and go bold in developing that next groundbreaking invention.
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Looking back on the tax reform effort 30 years ago, it’s important to recognize the key factors that led to its success. First, the American people were fed up with the tax code and the burdens it imposed on their lives. Second, members of Congress had bold solutions to overhaul the code from top to bottom. Third, President Reagan was committed to leading the charge on pro-growth tax reform.
House Republicans recognize that many of these same factors are present today. We will
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Jagr has been hampered a bit by injuries during the tournament. He didn't finish the Czechs' May 1 opener against Sweden because of a bruised finger, and on Tuesday against Switzerland in their preliminary-round finale, he left early in the first period with an undisclosed injury. But Jagr was back in the lineup Thursday and scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 5-3 quarterfinal victory against Finland.
Despite missing parts of two games with injuries, Jagr is tied for third in the tournament with six goals and has a team-leading nine points entering the Czech Republic's semifinal game against Canada on Saturday.
After Jagr was traded to Florida from the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 26, he quickly found chemistry on a line with two players whose combined age is three less than his -- 19-year-old Aleksander Barkov and 21-year-old Jonathan Huberdeau. He scored six goals and had 18 points in 20 games with the Panthers.
Jagr's smaller body probably helped.
"My old weight had its advantages as well; I was stronger at the boards. But I feel good this way," he said.
Jagr has been one of the best forwards at the World Championship, which has featured NHL stars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Some of Jagr's moves through the offensive zone in the tournament have been reminiscent of the early days of his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. With his stickhandling and vision, he has created a lot of chances for himself and his teammates, including a superb no-look stretch pass to captain Jakub Voracek for a goal against Germany and a spin-o-rama to get past Austrian defenseman Daniel Mitterdorfer, though he failed to score because of a great toe save by goalie Rene Swette.
"That's how it goes. Unfortunately, the goals count, not the beauty," Jagr said. "My dad used to say: This is hockey, not figure skating. Nobody's gonna pay you for beautiful plays; you gotta score. But we're trying to get those great fans some extra bonus here."
He tied the game against Finland with a power-play goal in the second period, then scored the go-ahead goal with 4:30 remaining in regulation by coming out from behind the net and putting a shot through the small gap between kneeling goaltender Pekka Rinne's arm and his body.
Jagr's standing as the most famous Czech player of all-time has made him the most celebrated player at the 2015 World Championship. In the first few games, he did not respond to the fans chanting his name, trying to focus on adjusting to the international game and playing at his best. But he has saluted the fans from the bench as the tournament progressed, feeling relieved and putting more heat in Prague's O2 Arena.
"The atmosphere here is great, comparable only to NHL playoff hockey," Jagr said. "But I haven't been in the playoffs for a while. And here, the fans have different style of supporting with all the jumping and chanting through the entire game. It's great that people here are crazy about hockey. It's the reason why we want to do something extra for them. Even when we're leading 3-0, we are not playing just some maintenance."
The semifinal game against Canada could be the final time No. 68 plays for his home country in a World Championship game. But he'll be back in the NHL in the fall; Jagr signed a one-year contract with the Panthers on April 12, one day after the regular season ended.
During the summer, the fourth-highest scorer in League history (1,802 points) will prepare for his 22nd NHL season. If his performance from the World Championship is any indication, he still has plenty left in the tank.Caller Reads Rush Revere to His Centrist Brother’s Kids
RUSH: Brian is a trucker from Phoenix now in Austin, on the road.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Great to have you on the program, sir. Hi.
CALLER: Thank you, sir. Appreciate you taking my call. I’ve listened to you forever and I wanted to call in, but scared most of my life to even talk to you. But I heard that gentleman talking about the dental story and I laughed so hard, I thought I better tell Rush my story.
RUSH: Isn’t that great? I know.
CALLER: That was awesome. To get to the point, ’cause I know you’ve got more important things. My brother is a Republican, and I’m a Republican conservative Christian that 25 years ago was hoping Jesse Jackson would become president when I was a liberal, dumb college student. And my life has changed. I’ve seen in reality that stuff doesn’t work. And his business and my business are very well. We have children and mine are 16 and 18 and just doing wonderful. Long story short, I got your first book, the Rush Revere one about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims for his children behind his back because he thinks that everyone on the far left and the far right, including me, and you, were all wacky. He’s right down the center, and that’s normal, he thinks.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: I ended up getting the book for him. My daughter, his kids look up to my kids so much. She was babysitting them, I went over there when he was gone, read the first chapter in front of my daughter and his two children, and I made the voices of the horse, and I made it really fun so they would get hooked on it and they loved it. I left the book there hoping that I wouldn’t get in too much trouble, and hoping that the kids would want to read it. And sure enough, when he came home he went ballistic in front of my daughter, angry, yelling. She’d never seen him act this way, just because your picture and your name are on the book, holy smokes, it shows who people really are.
So what took place was the kids really wanted to read the book. They liked that first chapter. I really made an impression on ’em, or you did. And so instead of throwing book away, ’cause, you know, it costs a little money and it was from his brother, even though he thinks I’m wacky, he ended up telling the kids, “You can bring it to school, and if they will read it there, then you can read it.” So my nephew brought it to his school. It’s a Christian private school —
RUSH: Okay, I’m out of time. Can you hang on?
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: We’ll have to wait breathlessly here for the end of the story.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Back now to Brian, a trucker from Phoenix on the road in Austin. He may be up to Dallas by now.
CALLER: (laughing) I’m working my way down to San Antonio.
RUSH: Oh, okay. Cool. San Antonio. I’ve been there a lot.
CALLER: Nice city. Nice city.
RUSH: It is. It is. Now, just to reset. You have this brother who calls himself, he thinks he’s a centrist. He thinks people on the left and right are wacky. He thinks he’s an independent right-down-the-middle guy.
CALLER: Yep.
RUSH: You used to be a Jesse Jackson liberal.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: But you’ve been listening to this program for a long time, and now you’re home. You’re a conservative, you have some kids. You have been listening for a long time. You bought your daughter a copy of Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, and you gave it to your daughter. She took it over to your brother’s house. Somehow it ended up over there —
CALLER: Yeah, I brought it over while she was babysitting his two children.
RUSH: That’s right. And you left it there, and your instincts told you he might not be happy about it. It turns out he wasn’t. He got home, he saw the book there, and your daughter said he reacted in ways, behaved in ways she’d never seen him behave, got angry.
CALLER: Like never before.
RUSH: And so he relented, if they would just get the book out of the house, and the way they did that was to take it to school.
CALLER: Yep.
RUSH: Now, how old is your daughter? What grade is she in?
CALLER: She’s an 11th grader, and 16 years old.
RUSH: Okay. Cool. And she liked the book?
CALLER: Yeah. I read it to all three of the kids.
RUSH: Oh, yeah.
CALLER: I was over there, dropped her off to babysit, had the book in my car hidden from him —
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: — and brought it in when he left.
RUSH: That’s right.
CALLER: And I had about 10 minutes to read it, read the first chapter, they were hooked. They loved it.
RUSH: Okay. So pick up the story. Your brother relents, the book can stay if it leaves, and so they took it to school.
CALLER: Yeah, he didn’t want the book. He was really upset because you had anything to do with it, you know, your picture. He called me, e-mailed me, really upset, and I’m like, “Jason, your kids didn’t even know what the Mayflower was. That’s why I bought it.” I drive a truck.
RUSH: Wait a second. Wait, now, wait a second. Is that true? His kids didn’t know what the Mayflower was?
CALLER: Absolutely. I asked them before I brought the book out. Before I dared to do that, because I knew I’m gonna walk into a little bit of trouble with my brother, we work together. And I just asked them —
RUSH: Now, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, hold it. Your brother’s kids, I assume the same age, similar to —
CALLER: No, they’re seven and 12.
RUSH: Seven and 12. And honestly they had never heard of the Mayflower?
CALLER: Honestly. I swear. Because I asked them right in front of my daughter, right before I took the book out, and that was kind of my way of introducing the book. “Let me explain to you what the Mayflower is,” and I went on and read the first chapter, and they loved it.
RUSH: I can see why you’d want to.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Okay. So they loved it, and it ended up in —
CALLER: He got back from his date with my sister-in-law, his wife, and he walked in the door, and they jumped at him. The kids, his two children, “Look what Brian bought,” and they loved it. They were wanting to show it off. He freaked out, yelled. I wasn’t there, but this is what my daughter came over and said, “Dad, you know, you can’t believe the way your brother –” I don’t want to say his name because we have a great relationship. He’s a wonderful person and I love him to death —
RUSH: I know, but, you know what? It’s classic. He thinks he’s — well, he’s open-minded. That’s probably what he thinks he is, a guy being in the middle. If he’s outraged at this book, you better have him look into what books are in the schools these days. If he really wants to get irritated, you might clue him in what his kids are being taught.
CALLER: He has his kids in private Christian school, ’cause he knows, but he still thinks far right wacky, far left wacky, down the middle is normal, that’s what he thinks. I’m not saying left is wacky or write is wacky. I’m just saying —
RUSH: I know the exact personality type. I can explain it to you without even knowing your brother. I can tell you why he thinks he’s in the middle. But I don’t want to waste time doing that. You love your brother, and I don’t want to be critical. That’s not my point. I just want to find out what happened to the book.
CALLER: Okay. Long story short, get to the end of it, they read it to the older son’s classroom. He brought it to the school because my brother wanted it out of the house and the kid didn’t want to get rid of it, so he brought it to the school, the teacher agreed to read it to the whole class. So 30 kids got to read that one book that was just intended for my niece and nephew. The last day of school in May he asked me, he’s busy with his business, “Can you go pick up our kids from school?” So I went and picked up his two kids, and asked, “How did your class like the book?”
They loved it. The teacher said they loved it. I went over and picked up my niece, who is only seven. I told her a little bit about the books, and she said we’d love it in our class, too. So I’m just recommending to parents, give it not only to your kids, but give it to your relatives’ kids and give it to schools. I haven’t read the book, but I know exactly what it’s about. These kids don’t know anything about the history of our country, and our country’s dying before us, and we don’t want that —
RUSH: Let me just tell you something. Let me give you a little project, if you want to. I mean, it’s by no means — if you have some spare time.
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: Because there’s a lot of misrepresentations. You told me that your brother’s kids go to a private school, a Christian school, ’cause he knows, he knows what’s in the public schools. But I would wager that if you dig deep you would find that a man named Howard Zinn is the author of the textbook on American history that’s being used in that school. And if it is, that’s why nobody’s ever heard of the Mayflower. Howard Zinn is the author of the majority of junior high and high school history texts that are outrageous. They’re simply outrageous in the way they rewrite and revise American history. Howard Zinn would be why his kids never heard of the Mayflower. Z-i-n-n, Howard Zinn.
CALLER: Okay. I’ll look into that. It’s a wild guess, but my point is, just because it’s a private Christian school, don’t assume that it hasn’t been corrupted by leftists in the curriculum. They’re everywhere, Brian. That’s why I did the books and your story — here your brother wants to get the book out of his house. It’s gonna taint him and his kids. He’s a centrist. He’s a moderate. He’s not a wacko left or rightist, doesn’t want this, and it goes to school, the kids love it. That’s music to my ears. That’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve here. And I’ll tell you what I want to do. I want to send you a bunch of copies of both books. Now, there’s a second book, Rush Revere and the First Patriots. And that’s been out since the early part of the year, six months or so.
CALLER: I know. I’m planning on already doing it, but I’m waiting on the right timing. I really don’t want to take any of your books. I’d rather buy ’em from the airport, you know, because it shows that we’re buying books, and it’s good for those businesses that don’t even want ’em on the shelves. We buy ’em from them and they’re like, “Hmm, let’s buy some more of these books.”
RUSH: Okay, I appreciate that. I’ll tell you what, then, let me send you a couple of versions of the audio copy of the book read by me.
CALLER: Well, I appreciate that. I accept that.
RUSH: I mean, I offered you the books and you said, “No, I’d rather buy ’em,” and I appreciate that, too. I understand exactly what you mean, so you go buy ’em, and if there are any in the future, I mean, keep a sharp eye, you never know — wink, wink — but I’m gonna send you the audio version and we’ll send you some stuff that we also include, some Ted-Tea Bears and some other stuff in there that the little girls will like, so —
CALLER: Oh, she’ll love it. She’ll love it.
RUSH: You hang on and let Mr. Snerdley get an address from you where we can get the stuff out.
CALLER: All right. God bless you so much, Rush, I appreciate you.
RUSH: Well, it’s two-way street, Brian. Really is. I appreciate all of you much more than you can ever appreciate me. And I know you appreciate me a lot, but I’m telling you it’s much more the other way. You’ll never know. I don’t have a way to adequately thank all of you. What you’ve done here and the kind of effort that you’ve undertaken to spread this around just has me in awe, and it makes me feel really humble, and I can’t thank you enough. So let Mr. Snerdley get your address and we’ll go from there, and send you a care package of thanks, ’cause we really do sincerely appreciate it.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(CNSNews.com) - The United States has the highest top statutory corporate tax rate—39.1%--of any nation in the G20, according to a study released Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office.
That rate is nearly twice as high as the 20-percent rate in Russia, which, along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, has the lowest statutory corporate tax rate in the G20.
The U.S. won the top spot on the statutory-corporate-tax-rate list after Japan and Germany, which formerly ranked first and second, cut their rates.
“The United States made no change in federal corporate tax rates between 2003 and 2012,” said the CBO, “and by 2012, it had the highest top statutory rate in the G20.”
(The full version of this chart, including the rankings for the "effective corporate tax rate," is on page 2 of the CBO report.)
“In 2003, Japan, Germany, and the United States had the highest statutory corporate tax rates among G20 countries,” said the report, “by 2012, reductions in Japan’s and Germany’s top rates had dropped them to second and ninth place, respectively, boosting the United States to the top of the list.”
“At the time that the tax rates considered in this analysis were computed,” said the CBO report, “2012 was the most recent year for which complete data were available.”
However, since 2012, the report noted, the trend among G20 nations that changed their corporate tax systems was to cut corporate taxation.
“Four G20 countries modified their corporate income tax systems after 2012, generally resulting in lower effective tax rates,” said the report. “Japan, South Africa, and the United Kingdom reduced their top statutory corporate tax rates.”
The CBO report looked at three different measures of corporate taxation in the G20 countries. These included the top statutory corporate tax rate, the average corporate tax rate, and the effective corporate tax rate.
The top statutory corporate tax rate in the United States includes the top federal tax rate on corporations combined with the taxes that states impose on corporations.
“The average corporate tax rate is a measure of the total amount of corporate taxes that a company pays as a share of its income,” said the report.
“The effective marginal corporate tax rate (in this document the effective corporate tax rate), is a measure of a corporation’s tax burden on returns from a marginal investment (one that is expected to earn just enough, after taxes, to attract investors),” said the report.
In the G20, the 39.1 percent top statutory corporate tax rate in the United States ranked first. Japan’s 37.0 percent rate ranked second. Argentina’s 35.0 percent rate ranked third. South Africa’s 34.6 percent rate ranked fourth. France’s 34.4 percent rate ranked fifth.
Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey—all of which had top statutory corporate tax rates of 20 percent—shared the bottom position in the G20 ranking.
The United States also ranked near the top of the G20 in the “average corporate tax rate” and the “effective corporate tax rate.”
In the ranking of average corporate tax rates, the U.S. rate of 29.0 percent was third behind Argentina (37.3 percent) and Indonesia (29.0 percent).
In the ranking of effective corporate tax rates, the U.S. rate of 18.6 percent was fourth behind Argentina (22.6 percent), Japan (21.7 percent) and the United Kingdom (18.7 percent).
The U.S. top statutory corporate tax rate of 39.1 percent results from the high federal corporate tax rate combined with the fact that most states tax corporations also.
“In the United States, the top federal statutory corporate tax rate (the rate set by law that applies to the highest corporate income tax bracket) has been 35 percent since 1993,” said the report. “Most corporate income is taxed at that rate. With state taxes added in, the stop statutory rate is even higher; on average, that combined rate was 39.1 percent in 2012, among the highest in the world.”
“In 2012,” said the report, “44 states and the District of Columbia levied taxes on corporate income, and, on average, the top combined rate for federal and state taxes paid by corporations (accounting for the deduction of state taxes) was 39.1 percent.”
Although the U.S. federal corporate tax rate is progressive, the CBO concluded that most federal corporate income tax ends up being paid at the highest rate.
“[A]ny coporation with taxable income above $18.3 million faces a rate of 35 percent on its total taxable income,” said the report. “Most corporate income is taxed at that 35 percent rate; more than 90 percent of U.S. corporate taxable income is generated by companies with income above $18.3 million.”
The G20 says its member states account for "three-quarters of global trade."
“The Group of Twenty (G20) is the central forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues,” says the group’s website. “The G20 countries account for more than four-fifths of gross world product and three-quarters of global trade, and are home to almost two-thirds of the world’s population. Its decisions are influential and help to bring about reform at national and multinational levels.
“The G20 comprises 19 countries plus the EU,” it says. “These countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US).”
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The business and economic reporting of CNSNews.com is funded in part with a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold.O.K., so I’m jesting about deporting “real Americans” en masse. (Who would take them in, anyway?) But then the threat of mass deportations has been no joke with this administration.
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security seemed prepared to extend an Obama administration program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which allows the children of illegal immigrants — some 800,000 people in all — to continue to study and work in the United States. The decision would have reversed one of Donald Trump’s ugly campaign threats to deport these kids, whose only crime was to have been brought to the United States by their parents.
Yet the administration is still committed to deporting their parents, and on Friday the D.H.S. announced that even DACA remains under review — another cruel twist for young immigrants wondering if they’ll be sent back to “home” countries they hardly ever knew, and whose language they might barely even speak.
Beyond the inhumanity of toying with people’s lives this way, there’s also the shortsightedness of it. We do not usually find happiness by driving away those who would love us. Businesses do not often prosper by firing their better employees and discouraging job applications. So how does America become great again by berating and evicting its most energetic, enterprising, law-abiding, job-creating, idea-generating, self-multiplying and God-fearing people?
Because I’m the child of immigrants and grew up abroad, I have always thought of the United States as a country that belongs first to its newcomers — the people who strain hardest to become a part of it because they realize that it’s precious; and who do the most to remake it so that our ideas, and our appeal, may stay fresh.
That used to be a cliché, but in the Age of Trump it needs to be explained all over again. We’re a country of immigrants — by and for them, too. Americans who don’t get it should get out.Hey Verizon customers - I bet you've been jealous watching all the Note II action on other carriers, haven't you? We've seen the releases come, and Amazon Wireless slash prices for basically all versions of the device. Still, everyone on Verizon was left wanting. Good news! Big Red just announced that the Note II will be available beginning tomorrow, November 29th for $300 with a two-year agreement.
So, if you can handle the obtrusive branding on the home button and are willing to dedicate two more years of your mobile life to VZW, you can stroll right into a Verizon retail store and walk out with your very own Note II first thing tomorrow. If you pre-ordered this massive handset, you should be receiving a shipping notification shortly.
It's about time.Volkswagen, reeling in the fallout after being caught lying to emissions regulators and millions of motorists about its supposed “clean diesel” engines, has at least one promising route to recovery from the self-made debacle. And that would be forging the most aggressive path of anyone to the mainstream electric car, to bring the cleanest of clean-car technologies to the masses.
If VW did so, it would find itself in common cause with Apple, which has reportedly made a concrete decision to field an electric car in 2019. Apple’s move is intended to insert itself in a grand competition unfolding at the end of the decade, involving almost every major carmaker on the planet, including GM, BMW, Mercedes, and Jaguar, not to mention Tesla.
In a gigantic electric-car convergence, all these automakers plan to launch cars aimed at both the low end of the market and luxury buyers in the 2017 to 2020 model years.
VW and Apple are on sharply differing trajectories—Apple, with $200 billion in the bank, seemingly has no limits on its potential; and VW, in a potentially existential crisis that has already cost the jobs of the CEO and other senior executives, is likely to owe billions of dollars, and may face criminal charges.
But their paths may unintentionally cross in a way that helps to tip the thus-far uncertain electric car industry into the mass market.
Why Elon Musk would love this conspiracy
Some analysts have misunderstood the coming electric car collision as a zero-sum smashup in which Tesla CEO Elon Musk could end up the loser. It isn’t.
Instead, this is precisely the outcome that Musk has relished—the creation of an ecosystem in which millions of electric cars are sold by numerous automakers every year around the world.
Why would Musk want so many competing models out there? Because his considerable sales ambitions are likeliest to be achieved if he’s not the only game in town. Mainstream consumers want choice; to shovel electrics out of their current niche, there has to be a large field, with perhaps dozens of competing vehicles.
Musk is confident that his Teslas will stand out—and, he hopes, sell more than any other single maker. That’s why he has vowed not to sue anyone using Tesla patents, as long as they are doing so in what he ambiguously calls “good faith.”
Which brings us back to VW
After the disclosure that the German company has misled millions of car buyers around the world, it’s not clear how VW—which in July overtook Toyota to become the biggest carmaker on the planet—can and will recover.
But a definitive pivot to electric cars could help, Venkat Viswanathan, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon, tells Quartz.
Before the current crisis, VW was already positioning itself for the electric convergence: Now-ousted CEO Martin Winterkorn had said that in 2018, the company would launch an inexpensive electric sedan, an SUV, and a hatchback. VW, he said, is also on the cusp of creating a “super battery” that will allow an inexpensive VW to travel 186 miles on a single charge. Meanwhile, VW’s Audi and Porsche units will challenge Tesla in the super-luxury class.
But to escape its current squeeze, VW could get even more serious. John Paul MacDuffie, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, tells Quartz that VW might up its game by cutting the price of its electrics, and subsidizing the reduction with the profits from its gasoline-fueled cars.
Over at Green Car Reports, Tom Moloughney writes that VW could also offer to replace any motorist’s errant VW diesel with a full electric e-Golf. And, putting the cars themselves aside for the moment, VW could volunteer to help resolve the shortage of fast-charging stations, another weakness at the moment for the electrics market. Moloughney suggests that VW spend a few billion dollars building up a network of charging stations around the US.
VW and Apple are precisely the hard-chargers that could force the entire industry—Musk included—to do much better, and do so much faster. A convincing electrics push seems VW’s most logical next course.
More Quartz coverage of the Volkswagen scandal can be found here.Surfing has a long list of endangered and extinct waves. In a relatively short time we have already lost scores of world-class waves through ill-advised development. Despite the losses, more and more waves are still under threat of extinction. Here's a look at five waves currently under threat, and five that have already gone.
Endangered waves
Kirra, Queensland, Australia
The sand dredging that produced the Superbank also drowned the world-renowned barrels of Kirra in meters of sand. A campaign called Bring Back Kirra aims now to restore the wave to its former glory.
Airport Rights, Wellington, New Zealand
The legendary big-wave spot located next to the airport in Lyall Bay is under threat due to a proposed airport extension. The Surfbreak Protection Society is fighting for the wave, exactly 100 years after the legendary Duke Kahanamoku first surfed Lyall Bay and introduced the sport to the country.
Crab Island and Doolan's Point, Ireland
The two iconic waves on the west coast of Ireland have been threatened by a proposal to expand the length of a ferry pier, which services the nearby Aran Isles. A local campaign has been set up to try to save the waves.
Punta Colarada, Oaxaca, Mexico
The famed wedgey barrels of Punta Colarada, near Oaxaca in Mexico, are under threat due to a proposed commercial fishing marina. Given the previous history of Mexico's disappearing waves (see below) its no wonder the locals are fighting hard to preserve the wave.
Chile's Maule and Bio Bio regions
Not so much a single wave, but a 60-mile swath of pristine coastline and great waves that are under threat from a proposed new coal-fired power station, among other developments. The Maule Itata Coastkeeper is the leading coastal advocate aiming to protect the coast.
Extinct Waves
Bastian Point, Australia (2014)
The most recently extinct wave, Bastian Point in Victoria, Australia, was destroyed when a large-scale breakwater and boat ramp development was finished in 2014, despite a 10-year fight by locals.
Ponta Delgada, Madeira (2005)
When a jetty was built to protect a newly constructed saltwater swimming pool adjacent to the left-hand point break located in Madeira, a world-class wave was destroyed in the process.
<iframe width=”612″ height=”412″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/i8wvZF5ynOo” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Harry's Baja, Mexico (2005)
The famed big-wave spot was destroyed only a few years after it was discovered in 2003 when Sempra-Shell built a liquefied natural gas terminal over the break on the Costa Azul. Above, its discoverer, Jason Murray, films its destruction.
Petacalco, Mexico, (1975)
Still mourned 40 years after its death, Petacalco was a perfect A-frame barrel at Rio Balsas, Mexico, that was lost when a steel mill and its associated jetties, harbors, and hydroelectric dam killed the wave.
Killer Dana, California, 1966
Still the poster wave for extinct breaks, Killer Dana was the ultimate longboarding wave for Californians, until a recreational harbor was built right in the middle of the wave and consigned it to being a lesson for the future. It’s one that clearly hasn't been heeded.
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Tyler Wright OK after harrowing crash into pool wallBill Clinton visits Pennsylvania last week. (Mark Makela/Reuters)
With Breanne Deppisch
THE BIG IDEA:
PITTSBURGH—One-fifth of Donald Trump’s supporters view Bill Clinton favorably, according to our polling. Many of these white, working-class voters live in the Rust Belt. They helped Bill carry Pennsylvania twice, and their support for the GOP nominee in 2016 is partly why this state has become a battleground.
“I really liked Bill Clinton. He triangulated. It worked,” said Trump supporter Jerry Bernard, 61. “He got welfare reform done. It seems like we’ve gone backwards as a country since that time.”
Bernard, a chaplain at a local hospital, grew up here as a Democrat and recalls how much everyone in his Catholic family adored John F. Kennedy when he was a boy. He proudly voted for Bill in 1992 and again in 1996. He now considers himself “an anti-establishment independent,” and he really dislikes Hillary Clinton.
“You just can’t go with her,” Bernard said, using words like “carpetbagger” and “pathological liar” to describe the Democratic nominee. “Benghazi is a big concern of mine. I blame her. We lost men we should never have lost.”
Drinking a Coors Light as he waited for the start of the Pittsburgh Pirates game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night, Bernard said he forgives Trump’s “verbal blunders” because “he’s not a politician like her.”
“Who’s perfect? Let’s give him a shot,” he added. “What the hell do we have to lose? He’s definitely better than a 30-year incumbent who hasn’t done crap.”
I have been struck during recent interviews by how many Trump voters go out of their way to tell me they abhor Hillary but admire Bill. They believe Bill felt their pain; they see Hillary as heartless. They thought of Bill as an Arkansas outsider taking on the established order; they think Hillary embodies that order. (A surprising number of folks talk about the former secretary of state as if she’s a sitting president seeking reelection…)
In a Washington Post/ABC poll last month, 56 percent of Americans had a favorable impression of Bill. For context, our most recent survey finds that 41 percent view Hillary favorably. In the early August poll, the last time we included a question on Bill, 19 percent of registered voters who support Trump said they view the former president favorably while only 3 percent of Trump supporters hold a favorable view of Hillary. And while 92 percent of Trump backers hold a “strongly unfavorable” view of Hillary, just 55 percent feel the same way about Bill.
I chatted with nearly two dozen voters at the Pittsburgh Pirates' game Saturday night. Here Jung Ho Kang celebrates with Josh Bell after hitting a home run during the third inning. The Cincinnati Reds won. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
Andrew Rudisill, 30, was not old enough to vote for Bill, but without prompting he said that he would have if he could. He was never enthusiastic about voting for John McCain because he was “so old,” and he was not excited about Mitt Romney because he was “so stiff.” But he is eager to cast a ballot for Trump.
“We’re tired of feeling like we’re being sh** on by the top 1 percent of people in control,” said Rudisill, who works on supply chain management for an automobile company. “I look at Washington as a leech on our lives.”
He and his girlfriend, Andrea Tombesi, drove to Pittsburgh from York, Pa., to watch Penn State, where he went to college, play Pitt on Saturday.
“We’re not crazy conservative, but we understand this country needs a strong leader,” said Tombesi, 30, who works in credit card processing. “He might be an extremist about some things, but…”
“The stuff people say he’s an extremist about is never going to happen,” said Rudisill, finishing her sentence. “Congress is never going to let it happen.”
Sipping a Pabst Blue Ribbon, he explained: “Republicans in the 1990s stopped Clinton from doing bad things. Everything in the 1990s was bipartisan because they had checks and balances.”
He likes the idea of Trump in the White House and Democrats in Congress acting as a check on his impulsiveness, an arrangement that he imagines would look something like the battles between Bill and Newt Gingrich.
-- Undeniably, there is a gender dynamic too. “I don’t think America is ready for a woman to run this country – and that’s coming from a very strong woman,” said Tombesi. “
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24 feet long in dimension. The best part about this cabin house is that its lower level can fit a closet, bathroom, living room as well as kitchen. The loft can be used to create a higher ceiling or a second-floor living space.
The design can be changed according to your needs as an SKP file is included in the plan, with different views and respective dimensions of the house’s parts.
Find the plan here
8X5 Tiny House Plan
This is another amazing tiny house plan with great utilization of space. This is only a 8x12 foot house but is enough for a single dweller.
To make the building process easier, the PDF file includes all the framing details; 2x4s and 2x6s for the walls, floor and roof.
Find the plan here
12X12 Free Tiny House Plan
This house can be built easily.
The 12X12 feet house has enough room for a small kitchen with a sink, cabinets, counter space. Then, there’s more space for shelves and a desk. The ceilings of this house stand at 8 feet and the layout is as a loft.
It is available in a PDF format, which can be downloaded here:
Find the plan here
The above-mentioned DIY plans can help you build a tiny to a slightly bigger home. However, for a beginner, it can be a little daunting. You could also give our car camper guide a try. It’s quite easy and handy. Read it here.
Also, if you wish to downsize to a little house but are having a tough time building one yourself, connect with Terraform Tiny House. We’d love to help you with unique tiny house designs & plans, and even consulting.Mr. Kennedy said he intended to remain active in mental health issues, an area that has defined him, politically and personally. His mother, Joan Kennedy, has battled alcoholism for years, and his father was involved in a string of alcohol-related episodes earlier in his career. Mr. Kennedy himself was treated for cocaine addiction as a teenager, battled depression as a young adult, received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder after he came to Congress and then became addicted to painkillers.
“I intend to look at any number of different ways that I can contribute,” Mr. Kennedy said of his life after Congress.
Historians and others said Mr. Kennedy’s departure from elected office will close — at least for now — the Kennedys’ bittersweet public narrative.
“It really is a major changing of the guard, and this is the end of the Kennedy dynasty,” Darrell M. West, a Brookings Institute scholar and author of “Patrick Kennedy: The Rise to Power.” “People have been speculating about its demise for the past few years. It’s over.”
Photo
The death of his father was a “monumental loss” to Mr. Kennedy, said former Representative Jim Ramstad, a Minnesota Republican who had served as Mr. Kennedy’s “sponsor” in a recovery program for substance abusers. “He has been dealing with his grief as well as can be expected,” Mr. Ramstad said. “But it’s been tough. It’s always tough.”
Friends said Mr. Kennedy was able to soldier on through the first few weeks after his father’s death. He delivered a eulogy at the funeral, spoke to former staff members in front of the Capitol and visited people who had worked for years in his father’s various offices.
But, Mr. Ramstad said, Mr. Kennedy was “burned out on Congress,” and after the ceremonies surrounding his father’s death subsided, he endured some difficult weeks around the holidays. While that did not determine his decision, it might have hastened it, friends said.
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And seeing Scott Brown, a Republican, win election to his father’s longtime Senate seat in Massachusetts was bitterly disappointing, something Mr. Kennedy let slip last week when he called the election of Mr. Brown “a joke.”
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People who had seen Mr. Kennedy recently around the Capitol said he had appeared weary. Friends said that attending President Obama’s State of the Union address on Jan. 27 was especially emotional for him because it was an experience he had always shared with his father.
Like Ted Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy had grown close to the president, most recently sharing a ride in his cabin on Air Force One as they traveled to Boston to campaign for Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts attorney general, who lost to Mr. Brown. Mr. Kennedy approached the president after the State of the Union speech and gave him a big hug.
“I told him I was proud to be an American,” Mr. Kennedy said Friday, his voice choking up.
People close to the Kennedy family said it was not likely that any relatives would jump into a Congressional or Senate race this year. Senator Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, resisted overtures to seek her husband’s seat. Former Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, Democrat of Massachusetts, seriously considered a Senate run before deciding not to — a decision he recently hinted that he regretted. Edward M. Kennedy Jr., 48, who lives in Connecticut, has not ruled out a future campaign.
Nor has Patrick Kennedy, for that matter. He said that he intended to remain in his adopted home state of Rhode Island and that his only immediate plan was to complete his Congressional term. But for now, he described his decision to leave Congress as something that left him feeling “renewed” and “never better.”
“He has obviously been grief-stricken over his father’s passing,” said former Senator Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat who became a close friend to Mr. Kennedy through their shared struggles with mental illness. “I imagine this is all part of a process by which one comes to terms with life and death and one’s place in it. We should see this as a passage for Patrick from what we know to what we don’t know.”
Mr. Kennedy told a few friends and colleagues in recent days that he would not seek re-election. He made his announcement in a video posted on YouTube, addressing his remarks to his constituents. He expressed his decision in terms appropriate to a career in which politics and family have been inexorably fused.
“To those who treated me like a son or grandson, thank you for your unconditional support,” he said.One of the popular memes that was circulating on Facebook in the last few years asked a pertinent question, “What are the conservatives trying to conserve?”
For anyone paying attention to the political climate during President Obama’s administration, there is no denying that the Republicans fought the President at every opportunity. From any action to help to protect the environment, to increasing minimum wage and trying to get more medical assistance for our Vets, Republicans made it a single goal to reject anything that might have benefited both, the people and the planet.
But now that this group has achieved control over Congress and the White House, they are having no problem exposing their real intentions, and with this much power, their devious plans may be unstoppable.
There are some who are asking if this power grab has been a long term game plan. They are pointing out the number of states that have had voter gerrymandering by the Republicans; designed to recraft voting areas to make it difficult for the low income public and for minorities to vote, as well as establishing restrictions which are considered to be illegal. According to a USAToday article, “A U.S. district court found recently that 28 House and Senate special elections must be held next year because the North Carolina legislative districts are the result of an unconstitutional “racial gerrymander.” The article continues to quote Stephen Wolf, a writer for Daily KosElections, “Democrats in no state have tried to neuter the governor’s authority after a Republican took office, not even in Illinois.”
The final bombshell statement in this same article says it all: “The glue that holds our republic together is in acceptance of norms of democratic behavior,” congressional scholar Norman Ornstein tweeted. “Trump, McConnell, N.C. Republicans shattering them.” This single comment reminds us that if we move away from the standards, rules and guidelines that have become the very foundation of our Democratic process, the building will fall.
If you examine many of the actions that have been taken (or not taken) by the Republican Party, it is easy to conclude that their decisions are based on greed. It is also agreeable to state that ‘greed’ is not a partisan issue but a human issue, and therefore members of all parties have fallen prey to that sin. However, there is a need to drill down just a bit deeper, past the idea of adding money to their coffers and that of their supporters. When you finally hit the bottom of this barrel, you see that it isn’t just greed, but ‘control’.
This concept of control embraces all aspects of life and existence. Under the guise of attempting to remove the government’s power over individuals and companies, they delete all of the checks and balances that also thwart illegal activities. As the Republicans move totally inept people into the positions of power, many of whom not only have no experience for the position, but hold a great dislike for the very department that they are in charge of, various pieces of the foundation are being removed so that if left in this state, the entire Democracy could crumble. For the average American, it appears as if their plan is to reduce education, personal income and health, and instead replace it with a constant state of concern for survival or even fear of attack from unknown entities.
People all over the world as well as many Americans recognize the total idiocy in actions and words of Trump, and yet the GOP continues to allow him to be their front-man, supporting everything that he says and does. Meanwhile, in the background, there stands a polished and devilish Vice President Pence, with a long history and desire of destroying the freedoms of those who are different from his standard of being ‘normal’ and elevating Christianity to a point where the division of church and the state no longer exists.
If the Republicans continue on this path of disaster for the country and its people, they know that their numbers will also dwindle. They are aware that they lost the popular vote in the last seven elections, and with a growing population of minorities in the United States, they have a limited time slot to keep exploiting the attitude of ‘white supremacy’.
As the movement towards rejecting both Trump and the Republicans gets stronger, the GOP is increasing their efforts to undermine all of the successes achieved during President Obama’s administration. If their endgame is ‘control’, they are currently on the brink of losing it, because the midterms will be arriving in 2018 and it will be a moment to push the pendulum back. “All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate will be contested. 39 states and territorial governorships, and numerous other state and local elections will also be contested.”
If you liked what you’ve read please click the heart to share it so others may see it.The racist fraternity chant in Oklahoma has unified people of all political stripes around a very American response: condemning the speech while recognizing that it’s protected by the First Amendment. Unlike in most countries, our Constitution prohibits the government—including a state college—from punishing people for the content of their expression.
Coincidentally, on March 23, the Supreme Court will hear a case that raises just this issue. This case, out of neighboring Texas, involves a group whose design for a specialty license plate was denied because it included a Confederate flag.
Although the Lone Star State recognizes April as Confederate History Month and spends January 19 celebrating Confederate Heroes Day, it would spare its citizens in this one context the sight of a flag it otherwise venerates: Texas has empowered its Department of Motor Vehicles to prevent people from being offended.
Yet even if the DMV knows better than anyone exactly what it takes to offend, it pursues its mission—the righteous task of ensuring that no motorist has to endure a half-second of micro-aggression—in a half-hearted way. Just consider the plate designs it has let slip by its censorious filter.
The “Boy Scouts” plate undoubtedly ruffles the feathers of those who consider that group to be an anti-gay menace. The “Choose Life” plate similarly unnerves those who think that its message slanders women who choose abortion. What about “Come and Take It” (with a picture of a cannon) or “Fight Terrorism”? These messages would insult pacifists and those who disagree with U.S. foreign policy even if “Turn the Other Cheek” or “Come Home America” tags were also available. “Mighty Fine Burger” and “Dr Pepper” surely offend Michael Bloomberg’s acolytes. Many Apache, Comanche, or Kiowa would take offense at a good ol’ boy driving around with a “Native Texan” plate. And wouldn’t a PETA supporter have a (soy) beef with the “Texas Trophy Hunters Association” plate? Finally, any true Texan would find the University of Oklahoma plate to be beyond the pale even before this month’s scandal.
Such is the problem with trying to eradicate offensive speech: Everything offends someone. As the Supreme Court said in the 1989 flag-burning case, also out of Texas: “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
Yet Texas’s law isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s unwise. Offensive speech shouldn’t merely be tolerated, but celebrated as evidence of democratic health—however odorous the products of a free society may be. Offensive speech should be considered inherently valuable, both to warn us of unpleasant truths and to push the societal envelope in ultimately liberating ways.
Offensive speech contributes to the marketplace of ideas by establishing the parameters for public discourse and thus expanding what can be acceptably discussed. The right to speak in a way that offends prevailing mores is an essential aspect of personal autonomy, a process that has also contributed to the expansion of civil rights.
Yet 54 years after Lenny Bruce—the comedian perhaps best known for pushing the envelope of propriety—was arrested onstage, offensive speech still needs protection. A case concerning a specialty license plate that is admittedly odious to some is the perfect vehicle, as it were, to use in its defense.
The law challenged here imbues the DMV with stunning discretion and exemplifies how our increasing cultural timidity is turning into a frightening movement to suppress and eliminate “offensive” speech. We particularly see this skittishness on college campuses, where the reigning belief is that if someone is offended, someone else must be punished. We also see it in European speech laws that criminalize everything from racist tweets to asking a police officer, “Is your horse gay?”
This Confederate flag case will likely turn on legalistic analysis of whether a license plate is government or private speech, or some hybrid. But regardless of who’s speaking, there’s something wrong with the Texas DMV’s mission to eradicate speech that “might be offensive to any member of the public.”
In short, one man’s offensive speech is another’s exercise of social commentary or personal expression. It would offend the First Amendment to allow Texas to tell us what’s offensive.
Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute. He filed a brief on behalf of Cato, P.J. O’Rourke, Lenny Bruce’s lawyer, and several other First Amendment defenders in Walker v. Sons of Confederate Veterans.Balwant Kumawat, who had taken a vow two years ago to remain barefoot until he meets Narendra Modi, today met the Prime Minister in Jaipur, and began wearing footwear after his meeting today.
Two years ago, he (Kumawat, who hails from Bhailwara district) had taken the pledge of not wearing footwear until he meets "Prime Minister Narendra Modi" and was barefoot continuously since then, a PMO release said.
An NDTV report said that he walked across towns and cities without slippers or shoes and campaigned for PM Modi.
"When he was announced as the BJP's candidate in 2013, I swore that I would not wear slippers till Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister and I meet him," said Kumawat in the report.
After his meeting with the Prime Minister, who was in the city to address the second FIPIC summit, Kumawat resumed wearing footwear, it said.
Balwant Kumawat had taken a vow to remain barefoot till I became PM & till he met me. It was good meeting him but I also 'admonished' him. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 21, 2015
The Prime Minister advised him to now devote his energies to a positive cause for nation-building.
He also urged Kumawat not to take a pledge which would cause physical discomfort, the release said.
With inputs from PTI
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 much will Bucharest City Hall spend on this year's Christmas Fair?
Bucharest City Hall has allotted another RON 1,4 million (EUR 304,000) contract for organizing the Christmas Fair in Constitutiei Square, which brings the total costs to almost RON 3 million (EUR 650,000), reports Hotnews.ro.
The local authorities have granted a RON 1.4 million contract to local company Five’s International SRL. The contract includes providing the lighting and sound system for the fair and ice-skating rink, powering the carousel and Santa’s House, renting power generators, connecting the merchant houses to electricity, and lighting up the Christmas tree. The company should also promote the fair, and provide ambulance services on site.
Before this, the Bucharest City Hall had also allotted a RON 1.55 million contract to local firm Multimedia Film SRL, for setting up the fair, including merchant booths, concert stage, Christmas tree, Santa’s House and access gates. The municipality will also rent an artificial ice-skating rink and a merry go round.
In 2016, the city hall spent some RON 7.2 million on organizing the Christmas Fair.
Christmas market returns to downtown Bucharest
[email protected] Profile Blog Joined October 2005 Aotearoa 38174 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-18 21:08:29 #1 The Votes Are In!
At long last, it is my pleasure to announce the results of the first TeamLiquid Map Contest. As you all know, there was a public vote and a staff vote to determine the winning maps in this contest. The votes would count equally, except in the case of a tie when we would use the public vote to decide how to break the tie. Fortunately there was a clear winner, clear second and clear third but a tie for fourth where the public vote was used to break the tie.
Don't forget that thanks to Blizzard, the top five will receive a Razer peripherals package which includes a Marauder StarCraft II Gaming keyboard, Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset, Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse and the StarCraft II Zerg Edition Messenger bag. In addition to the Razer peripherals package, winning entry can select one of the following additional prizes; a signed Collector’s Edition of StarCraft 2, a signed Jim Raynor StarCraft 2 cardboard standup and a signed StarCraft II Poster. The second place entry can select one of the remaining two entries, and the third place will be given the remaining entry.
Without delaying this any longer, here are the winning maps! (You can find the results of the staff and public poll at the end of this post).
The Top Five
(2) Haven's Lagoon (3) Sanctuary By Timetwister22 By grebliv and ESV
It was a tight race for 4th and 5th but these two maps narrowly beat out 6th place. Both are highly original. Sanctuary is one of the best 3 player maps that has been made and allows for both macro play and aggressive play. There is an emphasis on controlling key points on the map, which makes it a map that better players can exploit to their advantage. Haven's Lagoon was one of the most controversial picks of the TLMC finalists, and rightfully so! It's a very unique map. The map proved to be a hit with players as it proved to be one of the most enjoyable maps in the pool. It hasn't been easy, but this map fully deserves its top five placing.
Third Place
Korhal Compound
By monitor and ESV
This result may shock you, but Korhal Compound was the overwhelming staff favorite. After the first day of voting it obtained an insurmountable lead which only kept increasing. Why did the staff like this map so much? Probably because of the natural flow of the expansion layout, the ability to play a straight up macro game as well as the importance of army positioning. The map isn't an obvious winner, but is no doubt a solid map and one on which many great games can be had.
Second Place
Ohana
By IronmanSC and TPW
This is probably the second surprise of the tournament! While being the public favorite, it didn't have the same appeal on the staff vote and thus won second place. But let's face it, this is a glorious map! Not only is it one of the most aesthetically pleasing maps but the layout and design of the map makes it one of the more technical maps in the TLMC. The high quality of games on the map left a lasting impression on the public and it came oh so close to winning the whole thing. With that said, this map is an achievement of map architecture, design and aesthetics and a very strong second place.
The TLMC Winner
Cloud Kingdom
By SUPEROUMAN and ESV
It may not have won the public vote or the staff vote, but coming second in both polls sends a pretty clear message that this map is good. Why did this map score so highly? Because of its incredibly clever design. The map forces you to choose where to engage very carefully and can allow you to defend highly aggressive plays with good positioning. It is a map where good players can shine, and great players can dominate. It is everything you could want in a map and then some.
I had a moment to catch up with SUPEROUMAN right before this post went live for a quick interview.
Hi SUPEROUMAN, can you tell us a little bit about yourself for those who don't know you?
Hi! I'm SUPEROUMAN, I started to make maps 5 years ago on broodwarmaps.net website. I started to make SC2 maps from the beta and I am now in the ESVTV map-making team.
So how did you get into mapping?
I was always attracted to building games like Simcity or Roller Coaster Tycoon. After some time, I discovered StarCraft: Brood War and the editor and I kept building landspace in it. Then I heard about the competitive scene and all the interesting thing about maps and at the end I started to make maps that dictate gameplay, which wasn't great ^^. When SC2 came out, I nearly opened the editor first to see what are the possibilities with it.
Did you make any interesting maps during your time as an SC1 mapper?
I made two maps which got into the iCCup map pool,
How has your mapping career been in SC2 so far?
My major accomplishment in SC2 is MLG Testbug, sadly hated by all the Protoss, but I learnt the most through this map.
What did you learn exactly?
I understood the way the natural works with the 3rd base which is an important thing to know in order to think outside the box without breaking the mapping standards.
So what was the inspiration for Cloud Kingdom?
My goal with this map is area control, in order to do so, I wanted to make a map with many defensive features such as the main chokes and ramps leading to large areas where a player can defend easily while still being in the middle. Also, the nat/third setup is done in a way to let a player who is a little bit behind to still recover. However, if you are a lot behind, the map can help you a little bit but it's still hard which is normal. I will try to enhance the area control feature in my future maps
Cloud Kingdom has seen some gameplay in the ESV weekly as well, how is that going?
Thanks to the defensive abilities of the map, the majority of the games are awesome so far, they rarely last less than 10 minutes, even PvPs! These games pointed some issues for ZvP in the area next to the 4th, that area was too choked to let the Zerg defend properly that base. I made some edits and I think it's fine now.
What is your opinion on the trend away from gold minerals?
I think it's a good thing because it can give a huge economic advantage to the player who has map control and that expand and also of mules which is one of the reasons why Terrans were dominating the GSL.
How do you feel about the current state of mapping?
Oh man, this is the golden age of the foreign map-making and it's only the beginning! In brood war, the map-making was fully controlled by Koreans and it's so amazing to be able to breathe freely now.
Breathe freely?
I mean we have a lot of opportunities to have maps in major tournaments like ESL or MLG. There is also the apparition of these kind of contest with prizes, this contest, the IPL one and now even Map of the Month have prizes thanks to ESL. And in all of them the prizes are around 400€ in hardware for each contests.
So you think the future is very bright for mappers?
Absolutely, it can only become better and better!
That's good to hear, any last words?
I'd like to thank everyone making mapping contests, my buddies on broodwarmaps.net, my team mates in ESVTV map-making team, our boss Diamond who does an amazing job behind the scenes and for the first time I have the possibility to say, thanks our sponsor Steelseries!
And there you have it! The first TeamLiquid map contest is over. Despite all concerns about aesthetics being the dominant factor in voting, the final map listing is very close to what the judges initially thought. So we're very happy with how the tournament has played out. I hope you enjoyed the TLAF TLOpen on these maps and the contest itself and I hope we are able to do this again in the future.
+ Show Spoiler [Poll Results] + Rank Staff Public 1st Korhal Compound Ohana 2nd Cloud Kingdom Cloud Kingdom 3rd Burning Altar Haven's Lagoon 4th Sanctuary Twilight Peaks 5th Ohana Sanctuary 6th Haven's Lagoon Burning Altar 7th Twilight Peaks Korhal Compound
Special thanks to The Little App Factory for their sponsorship of the TLOpen held on these maps. Their support allowed the tournament to be a huge success and we saw some awesome games on these fresh and exciting maps.
At long last, it is my pleasure to announce the results of the first TeamLiquid Map Contest. As you all know, there was a public vote and a staff vote to determine the winning maps in this contest. The votes would count equally, except in the case of a tie when we would use the public vote to decide how to break the tie. Fortunately there was a clear winner, clear second and clear third but a tie for fourth where the public vote was used to break the tie.Don't forget that thanks to Blizzard, the top five will receive a Razer peripherals package which includes a Marauder StarCraft II Gaming keyboard, Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset, Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse and the StarCraft II Zerg Edition Messenger bag. In addition to the Razer peripherals package, winning entry can select one of the following additional prizes; a signed Collector’s Edition of StarCraft 2, a signed Jim Raynor StarCraft 2 cardboard standup and a signed StarCraft II Poster. The second place entry can select one of the remaining two entries, and the third place will be given the remaining entry.Without delaying this any longer, here are the winning maps! (You can find the results of the staff and public poll at the end of this post).It was a tight race for 4th and 5th but these two maps narrowly beat out 6th place. Both are highly original. Sanctuary is one of the best 3 player maps that has been made and allows for both macro play and aggressive play. There is an emphasis on controlling key points on the map, which makes it a map that better players can exploit to their advantage. Haven's Lagoon was one of the most controversial picks of the TLMC finalists, and rightfully so! It's a very unique map. The map proved to be a hit with players as it proved to be one of the most enjoyable maps in the pool. It hasn't been easy, but this map fully deserves its top five placing.This result may shock you, but Korhal Compound was thestaff favorite. After the first day of voting it obtained an insurmountable lead which only kept increasing. Why did the staff like this map so much? Probably because of the natural flow of the expansion layout, the ability to play a straight up macro game as well as the importance of army positioning. The map isn't an obvious winner, but is no doubt a solid map and one on which many great games can be had.This is probably the second surprise of the tournament! While being the public favorite, it didn't have the same appeal on the staff vote and thus won second place. But let's face it, this is a glorious map! Not only is it one of the most aesthetically pleasing maps but the layout and design of the map makes it one of the more technical maps in the TLMC. The high quality of games on the map left a lasting impression on the public and it came oh so close to winning the whole thing. With that said, this map is an achievement of map architecture, design and aesthetics and a very strong second place.It may not have won the public vote or the staff vote, but coming second in both polls sends a pretty clear message that this map is good. Why did this map score so highly? Because of its incredibly clever design. The map forces you to choose where to engage very carefully and can allow you to defend highly aggressive plays with good positioning. It is a map where good players can shine, and great players can dominate. It is everything you could want in a map and then some.I had a moment to catch up with SUPEROUMAN right before this post went live for a quick interview.Hi! I'm SUPEROUMAN, I started to make maps 5 years ago on broodwarmaps.net website. I started to make SC2 maps from the beta and I am now in the ESVTV map-making team.I was always attracted to building games like Simcity or Roller Coaster Tycoon. After some time, I discovered StarCraft: Brood War and the editor and I kept building landspace in it. Then I heard about the competitive scene and all the interesting thing about maps and at the end I started to make maps that dictate gameplay, which wasn't great ^^. When SC2 came out, I nearly opened the editor first to see what are the possibilities with it.I made two maps which got into the iCCup map pool, Shine and Texcoco, you can find both of these maps on Broodwarmaps.net.My major accomplishment in SC2 is MLG Testbug, sadly hated by all the Protoss, but I learnt the most through this map.I understood the way the natural works with the 3rd base which is an important thing to know in order to think outside the box without breaking the mapping standards.My goal with this map is area control, in order to do so, I wanted to make a map with many defensive features such as the main chokes and ramps leading to large areas where a player can defend easily while still being in the middle. Also, the nat/third setup is done in a way to let a player who is a little bit behind to still recover. However, if you are a lot behind, the map can help you a little bit but it's still hard which is normal. I will try to enhance the area control feature in my future mapsThanks to the defensive abilities of the map, the majority of the games are awesome so far, they rarely last less than 10 minutes, even PvPs! These games pointed some issues for ZvP in the area next to the 4th, that area was too choked to let the Zerg defend properly that base. I made some edits and I think it's fine now.I think it's a good thing because it can give a huge economic advantage to the player who has map control and that expand and also of mules which is one of the reasons why Terrans were dominating the GSL.Oh man, this is the golden age of the foreign map-making and it's only the beginning! In brood war, the map-making was fully controlled by Koreans and it's so amazing to be able to breathe freely now.I mean we have a lot of opportunities to have maps in major tournaments like ESL or MLG. There is also the apparition of these kind of contest with prizes, this contest, the IPL one and now even Map of the Month have prizes thanks to ESL. And in all of them the prizes are around 400€ in hardware for each contests.Absolutely, it can only become better and better!I'd like to thank everyone making mapping contests, my buddies on broodwarmaps.net, my team mates in ESVTV map-making team, our boss Diamond who does an amazing job behind the scenes and for the first time I have the possibility to say, thanks our sponsor Steelseries!And there you have it! The first TeamLiquid map contest is over. Despite all concerns about aesthetics being the dominant factor in voting, the final map listing is very close to what the judges initially thought. So we're very happy with how the tournament has played out. I hope you enjoyed the TLAF TLOpen on these maps and the contest itself and I hope we are able to do this again in the future. Administrator ~ Spirit will set you free ~A dam fine sight: Baby beavers born in Britain for the first time in 400 years
Captured on camera as they swim in a lake, drag pieces of wood to make their dens and play with one another, these are the first beavers to be born in Britain in 400 years.
The enchanting scene is a heartwarming sight for animal lovers as the species was previously extinct in this country.
The 12 baby beaver ‘kits’ – all from the same mother – were born at the 550-acre Lower Mill Estate near Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
New born: One of the baby beavers born in Gloucestershire
They are testament to the success of the breeding programme there.
Jeremy Paxton, owner of the estate, brought three pairs of beavers – named Tony and Cherie, Gordon and Sarah and John and Pauline – from Bavaria in 2005.
He has spent almost £1million on the project.
He said: ‘I have always wanted to bring an extinct indigenous species back to Britain.
'The process began with discussions with Defra. I had to demonstrate, through research, that the beavers would be beneficial to the environment.
‘When I brought the six original ones over, they had to be quarantined for six months.
'I hired a farm in Devon and various experts, including vets and environmentalists, and built a beaver-friendly habitat with diving pools to ensure they would be happy and comfortable, as they can die quickly if they’re stressed.’
Mr Paxton was then able to release them into Flagham Fen Lake on the estate, which is home to more than 6,000 protected wildlife species.
Back in Britain: A beaver friendly habitat with diving pools has been built on the estate to ensure the beavers are comfortable
He believes the reason the beavers have bred is because of the close supervision by his team of experts.
‘We would know immediately if they weren’t happy with one another or not bonding.
'They are a “key species” – the habitats they create support up to 32 other endangered species, including water voles and otters.’
Beaver-friendly: A lake on the Gloucestershire estate where beavers have been re-introduced
Beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain in the 16th Century because of demand for their fur and throat glands, which were believed to have medicinal properties.
It is still illegal to release beavers into the countryside, but Mr Paxton said: ‘Within ten years I anticipate their wider release.
'The time will come when people will be spotting them by riverbanks across Britain.’Image copyright SAMUEL KIRBY, BOOTS UK Image caption Dr Stewart Adams has been honoured for his research which led to the discovery of ibuprofen in the 1960s
Dr Stewart Adams knew he had found a potential new painkiller when it cured his hangover ahead of an important speech.
"I was first up to speak and I had a bit of a headache after a night out with friends. So I took a 600mg dose, just to be sure, and I found it was very effective."
Now 92, Dr Adams remembers the years of research, the endless testing of compounds and the many disappointments before he and his research team pinpointed ibuprofen as a drug with potential more than 50 years ago.
It has since become one of the world's most popular painkillers. No medicine cupboard in the modern home is complete without some ibuprofen.
Got a fever? Headache? Back pain? Toothache? Then ibuprofen is most likely to be the drug of choice because it's fast-acting and available over the counter.
Its popularity for treating aches and pains is not just a UK phenomenon however. In India, for example, it is the preferred treatment for fever and pain and in the US, it has been an over-the-counter drug since 1984. It is also used to treat inflammation in conditions like arthritis.
And as Dr Adams himself discovered on a trip to Afghanistan in the 1970s, even remote village pharmacies along the Khyber Pass were selling his wonder drug.
But, he says modestly, the discovery didn't change his life at all.
Search for a challenge
It all started with a 16-year-old boy from Northamptonshire, who'd left school with no clear plan for his future.
He started an apprenticeship in retail pharmacy at Boots and the experience whetted Stewart Adams' appetite for a more challenging career.
This led to a degree in pharmacy at Nottingham University followed
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is now Justice Minister and Harjit Sajjan who won Vancouver South and is now Minister of National Defence.
[email protected]
twitter.com/derrickpenner“It’s the children the world almost breaks who grow up to save it.” ~ Frank Warren
It saddens me to say that the people of Syria continue to be at war with themselves with thousands of women and children, no part of the political sphere, dying each day as a result. The situation is complicated; there is no easy solution or intervention.
Today is my son’s 11th birthday. He has a life of unusual comfort and privilege, especially compared to the boys of Syria. Where he has food, they may not. Where he has a superior education, they may not be able to read yet. Where he can feel safe going to bed at night, they may fear death. His drinking water is safe and clean. His mother can cuddle him and assure him all will be all right as I know it will. I have been so fortunate to be able to give my son a wonderful life.
As a mother, my heart aches for the mothers who have to move their children to save them from violence, to feed them, to find shelter for them, sometimes without the assistance of their families or spouses. I feel helpless in the face of this. So all I can do is send my heartfelt wishes to these mothers and children that the crisis in their country will soon end, a wish sent out on my sons’s 11th birthday—from both of us.
That doesn’t mean we can not care about the people of Syria, particularly the children. An international movement, #WithSyria, has gotten attention, and the artist Banksy has made a simple statement by redoing a piece of his/her artwork to reflect this:
It is a revision of this piece of work Banksy created:
A statement on the website reads as follows:
On the 6th March 2011 in the Syrian town of Daraa, fifteen children
were arrested and tortured for painting anti-authoritarian graffiti.
The protests that followed their detention led to an outbreak of violence
across the country that would see a domestic uprising transform into a
civil war displacing 9.3 million people from their homes.
If you want to learn more, check out this Upworthy link, which inspired me.
Skin: Jalwa – Meenakshi – Cardamom – Black Eyebrows by Chandra Masala for Jalwa, available at Skin Fair 2014 (Sim 1) *
Eyes: PC pearl – bog wood – medium dark by Lano Ling for Poetic Eyes
Outfit: ::Sakinah:: Blue and Grey Abaya by Syngen Sohmers for Sakinah
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Elegant Right and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Gesture Left by Siddean Munro for Slink
Shoes: *COCO*_Thong Sandal by cocoro Lemon for COCO
Pose by Olaenka Chesnokov for oOo Studio (custom)A school assembly speaker is gaining national attention. In Richardson, Texas, a high school brought in “motivational speaker and dating expert” Justin Lookadoo to speak to the students about relationships and dating. Lookadoo traverses the country speaking to students about the ins and outs, the perils and pitfalls of dating. Lookadoo gives teens a definitive answer on their status in the realm of dating. His quiz parallels with his “Dateable Rules,” some of which are textbook gender stereotypes and Christian theological distortions.
Here are a few of them:
Dateable Girl Rule 1: Accept your girliness. You’re a girl. Be proud of all that means. You are soft, you are gentle, and you are a woman. Don’t try to be a guy. Guys like you because you are different from them. So let your girly-ness soar.
Dateable Girl Rule 6: Be mysterious. Dateable girls know how to shut up. They don’t monopolize the conversation. They don’t tell everyone everything about themselves. They save some for later. They listen more than they gab.
Dateable Girl Rule 9: Let him lead. God made guys as leaders. Dateable girls get that and let him do guy things, get a door, open a ketchup bottle. They relax and let guys be guys. Which means they don’t ask him out!!!
Dateable Boy Rule 1: Being a guy is good. Dateable guys know they aren’t as sensitive as girls and that’s okay. They know they are stronger, more dangerous, and more adventurous and that’s okay. Dateable guys are real men who aren’t afraid to be guys.
As you can imagine many parents had concerns about this particular speaker especially when they did not know about it or consent. Parents contacted the school and took to social media to spread the word about the assembly.
While reports have come out stating that the speaker did not speak about his religious beliefs, he did speak about the ins and outs of relationships.
To be honest, I think his “rules” are bogus. They come from a place where boys and girls are divided into classes and in the end boys win. Making girls out to be “damsels in distress” and boys are “heroic warriors looking for an adventure” doesn't equate a relationship.
Relationships are built upon respect and mutuality not antiquated thinking when it comes to gender roles.
This particularly hits home for me when it comes to Girl Rule #9.
Picture this: a 16-year-old husky, acne prone, tuba player who has a crush on a cute blond-haired girl he has been friends with for a while. While he is extroverted with his friends he can't seem to articulate the words to ask out this girl. Then one glorious day, this girl breaks rule #9 and ask him out to the movies! (I know Justin Lookadoo is gasping.) After that, they began to date; I am happy to say that I have been married to that beautiful blonde for nine years. Had my wife listened to Lookadoo's crazy rules, who knows if I would have ever have garnered enough intestinal fortitude to ask her out. If that had not happened, who knows what my life would be like today?
This is not Pleasantville where we live in a perfect Leave It to Beaver style world full of “awww shucks” and Dad smoking a pipe while reading the paper. This is the 21st century where we have advanced our notion of relationships to the point where we make them “official” by updating our statuses on Facebook. Girls need not be afraid of breaking some rule or social etiquette when it comes to dating. I am sure there are hundreds if not thousands of teenage boys hoping, just like I was, that a girl will ask them out. Girls, hear me, if you like someone, you have my permission to break rule 9 and ask them out, sooner rather than later. You never know what might come of it.
Lookadoo’s rules interject theology that many Christians do not stand for. Again this goes back to Rule 9, which claims that God made boys to be leaders. Okay, Mr. Lookadoo (I still have trouble believing that is your real last name), if this is the case then why in the biblical record do we find women in prominent roles of leadership, authority and at the heart of the Gospel? Should girls disregard the biblical stories that promote women in the same rolls as men? Deborah the Judge — get rid of her? Queen Ester — don't need her? Ruth — that’s just a nice story? The women who found Jesus’ tomb empty — I guess the men had “manly things” they had to take care of like hiding and running away.
Holding the view that women are just sideshow pieces to prop up the work of men is not found in the biblical record. Sure you can make it fit but you can do that with anything. (Also, some of the men found in the biblical record probably wouldn’t fit the bill of dateability either.)
Girls today need to be taught that there is a God who doesn’t favor boys more than them. If we are all created in the same image of God, created by the same loving God, and that same God knitted us in our mother's womb, then why would having two X chromosomes disqualify someone from serving, leading, taking charge and being a strong person?
Lookadoo believes he has uncovered the secret formula for relationships — yeah, he and every other author in Barnes & Nobles in the “Relationship” section.
It's time to empower teenagers and have meaningful conversations about dating, relationships and all the craziness that comes with it, not just a quiz to determine “are you dateable?”
Rev. Evan M. Dolive is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is married to his high school sweetheart and has two children ages 3 and 1. He currently serves in Beaumont, Texas. He also blogs for Houston Belief, Good Men Project, and Radical Parents. For more information about Evan visit www.evandolive.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.
Photo: Ammentorp PhotographyDreamHack has announced the dates for its Summer and Winter events for the next three years.
DreamHack has signed a long-term agreement with the management of Elmia, the Exhibition and Convention Centre in Jönköping, where it has hosted biannual events since 2001.
The most recent event in Jönköping, DreamHack Winter 2014, saw LDLC win the major CS:GO tournament by defeating home side Ninjas in Pyjamas in a nail-bitting three-map game.
LDLC won the most recent event in Jönköping
In December, HLTV.org revealed that all DreamHack events in 2015 will feature CS:GO as their main game, starting with the Bucharest Masters, from April 24-26, which will play host to the season finals of the CS:GO Championship Series (CCS) league.
Below is the full DreamHack schedule of the events at Elmia, in Jönköping, for the next three years:Several blasts that took place on July 5 at a critical Syrian port was the result of airstrikes by Israeli fighter jets, multiple U.S. officials told CNN.
Friday's CNN report cited three unnamed U.S. officials as saying that the airstrikes targeted Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles.
No one had officially claimed responsibility for the explosions at Latakia, in Syria's north.
Israel's government has also declined to comment on the allegations.
In a statement released the previous Friday, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that "huge explosions shook the area where a large Syrian army base and weapons depots are located."
According to reports that have reached the rights group, fighter jets were seen in the skies in the area of the city of Al-Haffah, east of Latakia. It was further reported that several troops have been killed and wounded in the explosions. Fires broke out in the region.
If the report is proven to be true, this would be the fourth Israeli strike in Syria in six months. In January, Israel struck a convoy carrying weapons evidently meant for Hezbollah while it had stopped at a Syrian research center on the outskirts of Damascus. Israel attacked twice more, over the course of one weekend in May, targeting a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles at the Damascus international airport.
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Also according to CNN, the United States believes some supplies, including ammunition and small arms, have been unloaded in recent weeks at the Syrian port. Evidently, heavy weapons or helicopters that the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad anticipates have not been delivered so far.
The Yakhont is an anti-ship missile that has a range of 300 kilometers and can carry a warhead weighing 250 kilograms. Russia has supplied Syria with such missile battrries in 2011.
This past May, The New York Times cited U.S. officials as saying that Russia has recently sent a new shipment of upgraded Yakhont missiles to Syria. The new version is outfitted with an advanced radar that makes it more effective, according to the report.
Yakhont missiles pose a threat to maritime transport arriving in and departing from Israel, as well as vital infrastructure located near the country's coast, including gas reservoirs and the power station in Hadera.
A Yakhont missile. Haaretz Archive
A Google map image showing where the blasts were reportedly heard. Google Maps“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”
An industrious young woman neglects to charge for her housekeeping services and is rightly exploited for her naïveté. She dies without ever having sought her own happiness as the highest moral aim. I did not finish watching this movie, finding it impossible to sympathize with the main character. —No stars.
“Bambi”
The biggest and the strongest are the fittest to rule. This is the way things have always been. —Four stars.
“Old Yeller”
A farm animal ceases to be useful and is disposed of humanely. A valuable lesson for children. —Four stars.
“Lady and the Tramp”
A ridiculous movie. What could a restaurant owner possibly have to gain by giving away a perfectly good meal to dogs, when he could sell it at a reasonable price to human beings? A dog cannot pay for spaghetti, and payment is the only honest way to express appreciation for value. —One star.
“101 Dalmatians”
A wealthy woman attempts to do her impoverished school friend Anita a favor by purchasing some of her many dogs and putting them to sensible use. Her generosity is repulsed at every turn, and Anita foolishly and irresponsibly begins acquiring even more animals, none of which are used to make a practical winter coat. Altruism is pointless. So are dogs. A cat is a far more sensible pet. A cat is objectively valuable. —No stars.
“Mary Poppins”
A woman takes a job with a wealthy family without asking for money in exchange for her services. An absurd premise. Later, her employer leaves a lucrative career in banking in order to play a children’s game. —No stars.
“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”
An excellent movie. The obviously unfit individuals are winnowed out through a series of entrepreneurial tests and, in the end, an enterprising young boy receives a factory. I believe more movies should be made about enterprising young boys who are given factories. —Three and a half stars. (Half a star off for the grandparents, who are sponging off the labor of Charlie and his mother. If Grandpa Joe can dance, Grandpa Joe can work.)
“How The Grinch Stole Christmas”
Taxation is also a form of theft. In a truly free society, citizens should pay only as much as they are willing for the services they require. —Three stars.
“Charlotte’s Web”
A farmer allows sentimental drawings by a bug to prevail over economic necessity and refuses to value his prize pig, Wilbur, by processing and selling him on the open market. Presumably, the pig still dies eventually, only without profiting his owners. The farmer’s daughter, Fern, learns nothing except how to become an unsuccessful farmer. There is a rat in this movie. I quite liked the rat. He knew how to extract value from his environment. —Two stars.
“The Muppets Take Manhattan”
This movie was a disappointment. The Muppets do not take Manhattan at all. They merely visit it. —No stars.
“Beauty and the Beast”
A young woman rejects a financially independent hunter in favor of an unemployed nobleman who lives off of the labor of others. Also, there are no trains in this movie. I did like the talking clock, who attempted to take pride in his work despite constant attacks on his dignity by the candlestick. The candlestick did not take his job seriously. —Two stars.
“The Little Mermaid”
A young woman achieves all of her goals. She finds an object of value—in this case, a broad-chested brunet man—and sacrifices as much as she believes necessary (the ocean, talking, etc.) in order to acquire him. —Four stars.
“Babe”
Another pig farmer fails to do his job. —No stars.
“Toy Story”
At last, a full-length feature about the inherent value of possessions. —Four stars.
“Garfield”
I liked this movie. Cats are inherently valuable animals. It makes sense that there should be a movie about a cat. I could demonstrate the objective value of a cat, if I wanted to. —Four stars.
“Up”
A man refuses to sell his home to serve the convenience of others, which is his right as an American citizen. He meets a dog, which neither finds food for him nor protects him from danger. He would have been better off with a cat. There are no cats in this movie. —Two stars.
“Frozen”
An exceptional woman foolishly allows her mooching family members to keep her from ruling a kingdom of ice in perfect solitude. She is forced to use her unique powers to provide free entertainment for peasants, without compensation. I liked the snowman, when he sang. —One star.You may not have previously seen him as an action star, but Jonah Hill made quite the transformation for "21 Jump Street."
Hill, the formerly pleasantly plump comic actor known best for his standout work in "Superbad" and "Get Him To The Greek," signed on in early 2010 to star in a film reboot of the classic cop show. To play the role, he had to lose some major weight, and from the looks of it, he did just that.
Us Weekly reports that Hill set a goal of losing 30 pounds, and though "he gained weight at first," as a friend told the magazine, he shed the weight through a nutritionist and trainer. And it helped him really kick tail.
"It's a comedy with really cool action," Hill said about the movie [via Collider]. "We're not doing something serious like 'Miami Vice.' But it's not a parody. It's a funny movie with a lot of great action and a real story. I've been saying that it's like a John Hughes movie with 'Bad Boys' style action."
Check out the photos of Hill, at a February 28th event honoring mentor Judd Apatow, below. Quite the transformation!The War On Drugs, launched in 1971 by Richard Nixon, has been repeatedly exposed as a failure. Yet, the same failed tactics used to fight drugs continue to be used to retain control over women’s reproduction. Drug laws are increasingly being implemented on the state level as a roundabout method to limit women’s bodily autonomy and carry out anti-choice agendas. Last year, Tennessee passed SB 1391, and became the first state in the U.S. to specifically criminalize drug use during pregnancy. The legislation states that women with babies who test positive for narcotics can be charged and prosecuted for assault. Those women would face up to 15 years of prison time.
Proponents of the bill claimed it was a necessary step towards combating the increase in neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in Tennessee. However, the medical community took issue with the legislation on a number of points, with obstetric and drug specialists stating that risks to newborns have been exaggerated. An investigative article in the American Prospect found that not only is there “no evidence that NAS has long-term consequences for infants,” but that some doctors agree there is a trend of over-treating NAS and that in actuality, close contact with the mother, not isolation, is important for alleviating symptoms. Medical authorities also say that NAS symptoms are temporary, predictable, and treatable—a far cry from State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver’s (R) assertion that “these babies are born and their lives are totally destroyed.” Furthermore, using the term “drug addicted” to describe such babies has been declared inaccurate by medical professionals, yet Republican politicians, conservative prosecutors, and media continue to frame the issue as such in a way that stigmatizes women.
Pregnant women will be likely to avoid seeking prenatal or open medical care for fear that their physician’s knowledge of substance abuse could result in a jail sentence rather than proper medical treatment.
The Tennessee Department of Health’s FAQ sheet on the statute claims it does not “change care or medical treatment provided to pregnant women.” While it may not explicitly do so, the bill can have the detrimental effect of discouraging pregnant women from seeking vital prenatal care and treatment for fear of arrest and prosecution. The context and implications of medical treatment are indeed changed, and as a result there is widespread consensus in the medical community in opposition to the prosecution and punishment of pregnant women. This is not a recent development: as early as 1990, the American Medical Association stated, “Pregnant women will be likely to avoid seeking prenatal or open medical care for fear that their physician’s knowledge of substance abuse or other potentially harmful behavior could result in a jail sentence rather than proper medical treatment.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists concurred in a statement on the harms of using punitive measures to combat addiction, asserting that “Drug enforcement policies that deter women from seeking prenatal care are contrary to the welfare of the mother and fetus. Incarceration and the threat of incarceration have proved to be ineffective in reducing the incidence of alcohol or drug abuse.”
Not only is the science behind SB 1391 faulty, but the stereotypes and discourses remain consistent: the manufactured “crack baby” hysteria is mirrored, along with the moral condemnation of these mothers.
Female drug users have always been stigmatized, but the criminalization of female users reached a new high when conservative policymakers, led by President Ronald Reagan and faithfully echoed by the media, fabricated a trope of inner-city “crack babies” doomed by their supposedly incompetent mothers: poor women of color. Tennessee’s recently passed legislation shows this framework is far from retired. Representative Weaver, one of the bill’s sponsors, was quoted in a comment calling pregnant drug users “the worst of the worst.” The media storm surrounding the legislation, featuring mug shots of women arrested under the statute on local TV news and on the Internet, has driven pregnant women into hiding to escape public ridicule. According to an investigation by The Nation, 24-year-old Brittany Hudson gave birth in a car instead of the hospital out of fear of arrest and media exposure. In the previous weeks, Hudson had been turned away from two rehab centers already at capacity. As she feared, her mug shot was plastered over the news after she was charged with assault. Tennessee’s law reflects the detrimental view of addiction as a moral failure, rather than the medical disorder research has proven it to be. Just as the “crack problem” was used in the 80s as a vehicle for scapegoating supposedly “deviant” urban citizens experiencing the problems caused by Reagan’s social and economic policies, Tennessee’s statute and its conservative supporters ignore broader structural issues such as poverty, systemic racism, and insufficient health care. The conservative “tough on crime” approach to criminal justice consistently focuses on social control and punishment rather than social justice and access to resources.
Tennessee’s law reflects the detrimental view of addiction as a moral failure, rather than the medical disorder research has proven it to be.
In line with the War On Drugs, this legislation disproportionately harms poor people of color, despite conservatives’ colorblind claim that drug policy has nothing to do with race or poverty. The normalization of controlling Black and Brown bodies through institutional apparatuses continues with this expansion of an already overburdened criminal justice system. This trend, illuminated in Lynn Paltrow (whose article on fetal genocide laws can be found in the Spring 2015 issue of The Public Eye magazine) and Jeanne Flavin’s study published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, follows a long-term strategy to unite the War On Drugs and the anti-abortion movement, which results in a disproportionate impact upon low-income Black pregnant women. The study systematically identified and analyzed over 400 cases in which a woman’s pregnancy was the basis for the deprivation of her liberty. Black women comprised over half of the cases, as they were found to be reported to the police by health care providers and arrested at higher rates. As a racist project, the justice system’s latest efforts to criminalize drug users will subject pregnant Black women to higher rates of arrests and incarceration based on systemic racial biases and racial stereotypes of African-American mothers, an issue perhaps most notably elucidated in Dorothy Robert’s seminal book Killing the Black Body.
Tennessee’s law exempts women who enter drug addiction programs while pregnant and complete them post-birth. This addition, included to temper opponents, simply furthers the disparate implementation of the measure and creates a catch-22 for addicted, low-income women who cannot get treatment. Women in rural areas and women struggling financially are threatened with a higher risk of incarceration due to limited access to drug addiction programs (as well as limited access to other options, with 96% of Tennessee counties lacking an abortion clinic). The law does not specify the legal ramifications for a woman who seeks treatment but can’t access one or get into a program, leaving many in a vulnerable position. Nor does the law provide increased funding or opportunities for treatment for pregnant women.
And Tennessee isn’t alone. Since passing the bill last year, conservative lawmakers in Oklahoma and North Carolina have proposed similar legislation.
Tennessee’s prenatal drug use law is a continuation of the “personhood” campaign. Both sponsors of the bill, Sen. Reginald Tate (D) & Rep Weaver, were endorsed by Tennessee Right to Life PAC, one of the foremost anti-choice organizations in the state.
The Tennessee law is merely one component of a wider, more subtle—and thus perhaps more dangerous—trend. Although Tennessee is the only state that explicitly criminalizes prenatal drug use as an assault, other states are utilizing different drug-related methods to control women’s reproduction. 18 states label drug usage by pregnant women as child abuse under child-welfare statutes. In the case Ex Parte Sarah Janie Hicks in April 2014, the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled that a 2006 child abuse chemical endangerment statute’s reference to “child” includes an “unborn” child, upholding Hicks’ conviction for having a baby that later tested positive for cocaine, despite being healthy. The original purpose of the statute was to prohibit individuals from exposing children to narcotics production and distribution areas, but right-wing organizations, such as Liberty Counsel, and conservative political actors have since pushed for a wider interpretation of the law: one in which a fetus is considered a child and a womb is considered an environment where drugs are produced or distributed. Court decisions such as Hicks function to create precedent for convicting pregnant women for drug use.
Tennessee’s legislation, in conjunction with other drug-related strategies like the expansion of Alabama’s child endangerment statute under Ex Parte Hicks, applies the punitive approach of the War On Drugs to reproductive rights, limiting women’s bodily autonomy and perpetuating the legacy of the our racist carceral system. Lynn Paltrow, executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, has consistently highlighted how Tennessee’s prenatal drug use law is a continuation of the anti-abortion “personhood” campaign. Notably, both sponsors of the bill, State Senator Reginald Tate (D) and Representative Weaver, were endorsed by Tennessee Right to Life PAC, one of the foremost anti-choice organizations in the state. These legislative encroachments are but one tactic in a state-by-state approach by conservative activists to control reproduction and insert the concept of “personhood” into the legal code in various arenas.
The prosecution of prenatal drug use stigmatizes and locates the blame on individual mothers, distracting attention from poverty, institutionalized racism, a broken carceral system, insufficient health care, and other structural causes. In a coming together of two controversial issues, drug policy and reproduction, conservatives have found an effective strategy to further their agenda through the targeting of pregnant drug users.(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)
Earth’s comfortable temperatures may be thanks to Saturn’s good behaviour. If the ringed giant’s orbit had been slightly different, Earth’s orbit could have been wildly elongated, like that of a long-period comet.
Our solar system is a tidy sort of place: planetary orbits here tend to be circular and lie in the same plane, unlike the highly eccentric orbits of many exoplanets. Elke Pilat-Lohinger of the University of Vienna, Austria, was interested in the idea that the combined influence of Jupiter and Saturn – the solar system’s heavyweights – could have shaped other planets’ orbits. She used computer models to study how changing the orbits of these two giant planets might affect the Earth.
Earth’s orbit is so nearly circular that its distance from the sun only varies between 147 and 152 million kilometres, or around 2 per cent about the average. Moving Saturn’s orbit just 10 percent closer in would disrupt that by creating a resonance – essentially a periodic tug – that would stretch out the Earth’s orbit by tens of millions of kilometres. That would result in the Earth spending part of each year outside the habitable zone, the ring around the sun where temperatures are right for liquid water.
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Tilting Saturn’s orbit would also stretch out Earth’s orbit. According to a simple model that did not include other inner planets, the greater the tilt, the more the elongation increased. Adding Venus and Mars to the model stabilised the orbits of all three planets, but the elongation nonetheless rose as Saturn’s orbit got more tilted. Pilat-Lohinger says a 20-degree tilt would bring the innermost part of Earth’s orbit closer to the sun than Venus.
Booted out
Away from such simulations, the circularity of every planet’s orbit does fluctuate over time. If the orbit is already highly elongated, such fluctuations would allow a planet to escape the sun’s gravity. A 20-degree tilt of Saturn’s orbit could eventually boot Mars out, while Earth would require a 30-degree tilt.
Pilat-Lohinger’s methods are sound and her conclusions well supported, says Rory Barnes at the University of Washington in Seattle. But he notes that the implications for life in the universe are unclear. For one thing, we know the orbital inclination of only two planets outside the solar system: both orbit the star Upsilon Andromedae, with orbits inclined by 30 degrees to the star’s equator.
What the elongation of an orbit means for life is uncertain, too. “At some point, the eccentricity of a planet impacts its potential to support life, but it’s hard to say where that boundary is,” says Barnes. A planet with an orbit shuttling it between Earth’s distance from the sun and that of Mercury would be quite different from the Earth, he says, “but I don’t think it would prevent life from originating”.
Journal reference: International Journal of Astrobiology, DOI: 10.1017/S1473550414000469Along with keeping rates low, governments are using a variety of tactics to encourage captive audiences, like pension funds and banks, to buy their debt. Consumers, in other words, are subtly subsidizing governments without even knowing it. Economists have compared this phenomenon to a hidden tax on people’s wealth.
“If you ask a central banker is that what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, they’ll say ‘No, we’re just trying to get the economy going by making it easier for the private sector to borrow,’ ” said Neal Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse. “But I have a syllogism for you: The government makes the rules. The government needs the money. So why should it surprise if the rules encourage you to lend the government money?”
This is not the first time governments have benefited by depressing interest rates, something economists refer to by the ominous name of “financial repression.”
In the three and a half decades after World War II, interest rates in the developed world were on average below zero after adjusting for inflation, according to Carmen M. Reinhart, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. This helped Europe, the United States and Japan slowly whittle away much of their war debt as their economies grew faster than their debt burden.
“The difference is that the postwar period was one of strong growth, when rebuilding and capital investment was going on across the Continent, and there were strong demographics,” said Stefan Hofrichter, the chief economist at Allianz Global Investors. “But these elements are not necessarily in place today.”
For that reason, economists are less certain that the success of the strategy will be repeated.
Many major economies are already slowing down, if not outright contracting. And the actions taken by governments to keep interest rates low can restrain how much savers have to spend and force fragile banks and pension funds to take on more risk. Ultimately, it could crowd out private borrowing.
Governments have different mechanisms to keep their borrowing costs artificially low.
The Chinese government can just make a call to banks and dictate how much they will lend and at what interest rate.
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“By forcing them to lend at low interest rates, China’s central bank is taxing banks at high rates,” said Nicholas R. Lardy, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “They make it up to the banks by dictating that banks pay depositors even lower rates, so consumers are getting taxed too.”
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Inflation-adjusted interest rates on one-year deposits have been below zero since late 2003, he said. China tightly controls how much money can leave the country, so individuals cannot seek higher yields elsewhere. As a result, Chinese families have been investing their growing incomes in real estate, which has led to a huge real estate bubble in some Chinese cities.
Democracies use more roundabout techniques.
“They have to work with their captive audiences — the pension funds, domestic insurance policies, banks, any domestic buyers they can find — to force-feed sovereign debt, sometimes under the euphemism of ‘macroprudential regulation,’ ” said Professor Reinhart.
Ireland and France, for example, have required or “encouraged” pension funds to invest in more government debt.
In Spain, fragile banks have been arm-twisted into lending to the government, which forces down the interest rates that the banks can pay to depositors. The Spanish government also capped the amount of cash that could be withdrawn from bank accounts, which prevented people from seeking higher yields elsewhere.
And in the United States, the Federal Reserve is buying up government debt to keep interest rates even lower than what markets would otherwise pay (and rates were low to begin with because investors from all over the world are buying up American debt because it seems relatively safe).
In the nearly four years that the Fed set its benchmark interest rate at zero, the government has saved trillions of dollars in interest payments. If interest rates today were what they were in 2007, the Treasury would be paying about twice as much to service its debt.
Inflation in the United States is very low by historical standards, but interest rates are so paltry that savers are losing money anyway.
“I got hit a couple of years ago pretty badly in the stock market, so now my savings are weighted mostly toward bonds,” said Dorothy L. Brooks, 65, who lives in Garland, Tex., and retired about a decade ago. She recently decided to go back to work as an assistant at a local school. “Now both investments are terrible. And I can’t put my money in a money-market account because that’s crazy. That just pays nothing.”
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Of course, any economic policy will produce winners and losers, and it seems unlikely that policy makers are deliberately sacrificing retirees either to stimulate the economy or to grind down government debt. More likely, older Americans and other savers are just unintended casualties of policies aimed at other economic targets, particularly the policy making it easier for consumers and companies to borrow.
“If you care about the distribution effects of these policies, and being fairer to the elderly or other people, that seems to argue for carefully designed fiscal stimulus,” said Robert J. Shiller, an economics professor at Yale. “With fiscal stimulus you have more control over who gets taxed at what rate and so on. At least it’s more transparent anyhow.”
But, he added, “the whole reason we like using monetary policy is that it avoids those very political discussions of who gets taxed.”Arguably the greatest scientist in human history. Discovered the laws of motion and gravity. Invented the calculus. Did pioneering work on optics. Lived to 84 years old. Reportedly, he died without ever having sex.
Were the two related? Did his genius and discoveries get a boost from the sexual energy he did not expend in the normal way? Did he transfer it to work, and this helped with finding those laws and changing the world? I don't know; I haven't read a proper biography of him. The definitive one according to what I have read, is Richard Westall's Never at Rest. It's supposed to be very comprehensive. So I wonder if it'll answer the question—if it's even a question that has been thought—and also answer how exactly we know Newton died a virgin. I mean, were there diaries, entries like "August 20, 1681. Struck out again. I'll never have sex!" Could be. Knowing nothing myself, here now is a imagined scene about Newton failing:
Int. Ye Olde English Pub. Isaac Newton sidles up to the bar, orders some milk, then his eyes alight on the ravishing beauty sitting alone and drinking some whisky. He licks his hands and swipes his hair.
Newton: Hey, baby. Your breathtaking beautiful gravity's so strong that it carried me all the way from my hovel in Cambridge just so I could talk to you. How about you and me go back to my place and I'll show you my asymptote.
Bar Girl: What, did you get your lines from Jay Leno? Piss off!
Newton: Hey, no need for that sexy language. Do you know who I am? I'm Isaac Newton, baby. I discovered the rules of motion. Why don't we do a little motion ourselves, and, honey, there won't be any rules!
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Bar Girl: Idiot. I have friends in the Royal Society, jackass. I hear you're a jerk and an arsehole. That you can't be generous to other scientists and that you preside over the Society like a strict, dour bastard. You have no sense of humour, they say, and all your time is spent trying to unlock Scripture and turn stuff into gold. Yeah, I'm sure you're really
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back the disaster supplemental if Republicans added billions in Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico?
At that point, Scalise and other GOP leaders were in a bind. They didn’t know if they could pass the disaster aid bill because Texas and Florida lawmakers wanted more money for their states. Members from those delegations were threatening to bring down legislation to keep the government open, triggering a politically embarrassing shutdown for Republicans since they control the Congress and White House.
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In the end, Velazquez, who was born in Puerto Rico and has been working to get more federal funding for the island territory, turned down the offer. That decision has set off fierce partisan finger-pointing, while denying hurricane-wracked Puerto Rico of at least $4.6 billion in extra money to provide Medicaid to poor residents, according to Republicans.
Democrats counter that Republicans should have just put the money in the bill in the first place without all the political maneuvering.
They also hope that Senate Democrats can add more money for Puerto Rico into the package. The Senate will take up the legislation when it returns from the holiday break in January.
There's no dispute Puerto Rico needs the money: Roughly 40 percent of its residents receive Medicaid, the federal medical program for the poor. Puerto Rico receives less in matching funds than mainland states to help cover Medicaid costs and island officials have warned there is a serious problem already, which was only exacerbated by the recent Hurricane Maria.
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Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico may run out money in early 2018 without an infusion of new dollars. The island's governor, Ricardo Rosselló, had asked for $8 billion over five years to help stave off a health crisis.
"The total devastation brought on by these natural disasters has vastly exacerbated the situation and effectively brought the island’s health care system to the brink of collapse," Rosselló said in a recent letter to President Donald Trump.
But Puerto Rican officials and Democrats claim Republicans are ignoring the territory's problems.
The controversy partly originated with the GOP tax bill, which Republicans approved this week and Trump signed into law on Friday.
Velazquez, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats were outraged that the highly touted plan included several provisions that could harm Puerto Rico’s economy, especially manufacturing operations there. The Republican tax bill treats Puerto Rico subsidiaries of American companies as if they are located in a foreign country, which Velazquez claims could cost the island 200,000 jobs as it struggles to recover from Maria.
As a government shutdown loomed, Scalise called Velazquez with the Medicaid offer, which included a waiver of any matching contribution for Medicaid funding by the Puerto Rican government for two years. The offer was worth at least $4.6 billion, Republicans said. Some Democrats privately believed Velazquez should have taken the deal.
Scalise said in a statement that he had been working with Jenniffer González-Colón (R), Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner in Congress, to come up with the plan. He criticized Democrats for not accepting it.
“Jenniffer Gonzalez fought hard every step of the way to get as much help for Puerto Rico as possible into this bill, and she was also successful in getting an agreement from Republican leadership to include a full two-year [matching-contribution] waiver for Puerto Rico, but House Democrats rejected that offer in the final hours of negotiations,” Scalise said in a statement. “We were very disappointed in Democrat leadership for turning their backs on Puerto Rico.”
According to Democratic sources, Velazquez discussed the offer with Pelosi and other senior Democrats before turning it down. Pelosi — who was opposed to the disaster supplemental but turned her rank-and-file Democrats free to vote however they wanted on the package — did not tell Velazquez to reject the deal, said the sources. Instead, Pelosi said Velazquez must evaluate the proposal and decide on her own how to vote.
Velazquez countered Scalise’s offer by asking Republicans to eliminate the manufacturing tax provision. She has also pressed GOP leaders about altering the earned income tax credit and child tax credit for Puerto Rican residents.
Democrats complained that the GOP offer was a cynical political ploy. Why didn't GOP leaders just put the additional funds into the bill instead of seeking to buy Democratic votes with it?
A Velazquez aide said Republicans could have included the Medicaid waiver provision for Puerto Rico on their own and decided not to do so.
"While the congresswoman doesn't comment on private conversations, it strains credibility to suggest she decides what Republican leadership puts in Republican spending bills,” said Alex Haurek, Velazquez’s spokesman. "If Republicans wanted additional funding included for Puerto Rico, it would have been."
Pelosi’s office also slammed House Republicans, accusing them of engaging in a “blame game” over Puerto Rico.
“According to this logic, Republicans screwed over their own member [González-Colón] because they couldn’t buy Democratic votes,” said Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff. “Republicans are in the majority. They wrote this bill, and to blame Democrats because they chose to leave out a provision their own member begged for is just ludicrous."
Hammill added: “The Republican tax scam causes immense damage to the island, with hundreds of thousands of job losses in Puerto Rico at the worst possible time. At the end of the day, the Republican whip should look in the mirror instead of trying to play some petty blame game.”
González-Colón’s spokeswoman was not available for comment by the time this story published.
The House passed the disaster aid package, 251-169. Sixty-nine Democrats backed the measure, though Velazquez was not one of them.
With Senate Democrats saying they will not accept the House bill as is — they want to add more funding to the package, including possibly for Puerto Rico — final action on the bill will be delayed for weeks.Tim McGraw is set to headline a Sandy Hook fundraiser designed to raise money for the protection of children against gun violence. It’s an escalating issue in the nation, and nothing addresses that more than the 2012 tragic shooting of elementary school children in Newtown, Connecticut.
Rolling Stone reports that McGraw will perform at the event, which is called Tim McGraw: A Concert for Sandy Hook Promise. It’ll be held at the Xfinity Theater in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 17.
Opening acts for Tim McGraw at the Sandy Hook concert will feature Billy Currington and Chase Bryant. They plan to donate 100 percent of the show’s net proceeds to Sandy Hook Promise, which is a non-profit organization founded by family members of the victims. They plan to direct funds toward prevention programs that help in areas of mental health, social and emotional development, and firearm safety.
McGraw is passionate about this fundraising concert event, as he emphasizes in his statement.
“Out of this tragedy a group was formed that made a promise to honor the lives lost and turn it into a moment of transformation. Sandy Hook Promise teaches that we can do something to protect our children from gun violence. I want to be a part of that promise — as a father and as a friend.”
It so happens that McGraw’s fiddle player — Dean Brown — is a close friend of the Barden family, who lost their 7-year-old son, Daniel, in the shootings. Daniel’s father, Mark Barden, is moved by Tim McGraw performing for the Sandy Hook Promise.
“We are humbled that Tim would do this for us. Dean and his wife Cindy helped my wife and I through our darkest hour and helped buoy our spirits. It meant more than words could ever say.”
Tickets for Tim McGraw: A Concert for Sandy Hook Promise will go on sale Friday, April 17. They can be purchased at LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.
Surprise guests at the concert will be announced soon, the report adds.
So far, 413,200 people have joined the Sandy Hook Promise organization on its website. It contains information on warning signs of someone who might be a threat to others and themselves and what people can do to help them. Families of those killed in the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School are determined to make a difference when it comes to America’s youth and the constant battle with gun violence.
The Tim McGraw Sandy Hook concert will help further their cause and hopefully draw more attention to helping end needless tragedies with guns and children.
[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for ACM]Former Devil Ilya Kovalchuk is toeing his homeland's party line for Sochi. (Martin Rose/Getty Images) Former Devil Ilya Kovalchuk is toeing his homeland's party line for Sochi. (Martin Rose/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
Here's a shocker: another high-profile Russian athlete has come out in support of their country's controversial anti-gay propaganda law.
"I agree, of course," said Ilya Kovalchuk. "I'm Russian and we all have to respect that. It's personal and, like I said, it's a free world, but that's our line. That's our country, so everybody has to respect that."
I'm guessing that Kovalchuk, who was speaking to TSN, might have a different understanding of the phrase "free world" than most people.
To be fair, though, he's got more skin in this game than any of us. Maybe that is the way he feels. Maybe that's the way he was told to feel. Doesn't much matter. It's pretty clear now that this is the sort of stock answer you should expect whenever a Russian is asked to speak in public about this particular law.
The same question was posed to several players at Team Canada's orientation camp in Calgary on Sunday, and while what they said didn't exactly come across as an outpouring of support for the gay community, it's clear that their views are a little different.
"It’s hard to go into a country that supports something like that," said Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, though he added that he's not in favor of boycotting the Games. "I don’t think that would do any good. I think it would cause more problems than it would solve.
"But I think it’s an opportunity for athletes to get together and support a cause that I think a lot of us really have a passion for. And I think we can do lot of good for it."
Said Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle, "I don’t agree with [the laws]. I just don’t agree. I think, gay or not, that shouldn’t change anything. Not a big fan of that."
"I was part of that 'You Can Play' campaign, and I know a lot of guys who are going to be on Olympic rosters," said Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos. "It's a little uneasy with what's going on over there, but there's a lot of time and I think things can change."
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby noted that the law wouldn't find much support in Canada. "I think that everyone has an equal right to play and I think we've been supportive of that," he said. "With the Olympics and the controversy around that, I think those decisions and those laws aren't necessarily something that I agree with personally... their laws and their views."05
She smells sickly sweet and as I inhale her perfume a million nostalgic memories come flooding back to me. I hold onto her, resisting the rising temptation I have to cry.
“This is where you belong, honey,” My mother whispers, stroking my hair like she used to.
I step away from her and she gives my hand a small squeeze as my father appears with my cases and closes the front door behind him.
“That’s the last of them,” he says, his face is slightly flushed from the brisk easterly wind.
“Thanks Dad,” I smile.
“Anything for my little angel,” he pulls me into a tight hug before holding me at arm’s length, “so, what did the writer do now?”
I shake my head, I really don’t feel like getting into it.
“If that bastard hurt you…”
“Dad,” I shake my head, my father’s never really liked Yves that much.
“Gil…” My mother gives him her warning glance and he immediately submits, “You don’t have to tell us anything,” she says with a kind smile, “Just know that you can stay here as long as you need.”
I nod, “I think I’m going to lay down for while,” I say.
+++
Entering my old room is strange, the duvet is almost as old as I am and the posters which litter the walls have been there for years, however the girl who used to live in this room is long gone. I wish she wasn’t – her worries about homework and boys would be a blessing right now.
I kick off my shoes and sit on the bed, rubbing my tired eyes when the bedroom door creeps open.
“Roar!” Marcie Hart sneaks in, closing the door behind her and smiles at me warmly, “Hey up big sis.”
“Marcie!” I surprise myself at how pleased I am to see her, “What are you doing here?”
“I was passing…” she sits next to me and hugs me.
“Lies,” I smile, I know mum has called her. When we were younger the only person who could get me to open up about my worries was Marcie. It’s amazing having a sister as your best friend.
“Ok, OK,” Marcie pulls away from me, “I wasn’t passing at all… but, I heard you needed some cheering up so I got the next train out.”
“Thank you,” I say with a small smile.
Marcie Hart is an old soul for her 17 years, she’s ambitious, outspoken and doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks.
“So what’s up, what’s happened to you and Yves?”
I shrug, “It’s a long story…”
“So spill it. What have I told you about bottling things up?”
“Eventually the cork will pop…”
“Uh-huh.”
It’s weird that I’m the older sister, Marcie has a million times the sense I have.
“We’re on a bit of a break… I guess… I thought he was going to propose, and he didn’t.”
“You want to get married?” Marcie’s brown eyes are wide.
“No,” I exclaim, “Completely the opposite.”
“So, what’s the issue?”
“When he didn’t I was completely relieved. I suppose it made me question our relationship.”
“There’s something else,” Marcie stares into my eyes, “I can feel it.”
I close my eyes and sigh, “You know me too well.”
“So?”
“I can’t tell you,” I whisper sadly, “It’s work business. It’s confidential.”
Marcie nods, “bummer, and it has to do with this sudden ‘break’ from Yves?”
I raise my eyebrows in acknowledgment, “It’s a massive case. Really taxing, physically and emotionally… Yves doesn’t understand, he’s preoccupied with the fact that I have Rueben as a partner.”
“Oh god, he’s really that insecure?”
I shrug.
“Insecure people like that only end up ruining their own relationship. Too busy worrying about losing what they have that they don’t truly appreciate it.”
I remain silent, is she right? Does Yves not appreciate me?
“Does he love you?” Marcie asks.
“I think so.”
“Not good enough.”
“Huh?”
“You should have said ‘Yes’. The fact that you said ‘I think so’ says to me that he doesn’t treat you well enough to make you KNOW he loves you.”
I sigh again, “Marcie… how do you know this shit?”
“It’s my job to know this shit,” she smiles, “I’d be a pretty crappy little sister and wannabe counsellor if I didn’t…”
“You’re counselling me?”
“Nah, just giving you something to think about.”
++++
And think about it I do, all night – as I listen to the branches of the apple tree outside scratching on the window panes. Clawing like some unseen monster hoping to pry it’s way in.
I see midnight, one ‘o clock, two ‘o clock and three ‘o clock pass before I slide out of bed and make my way downstairs.
Not having Yves here is easier on my mental state, but I do miss him. The fact that he’s so oblivious to everything that goes on around him is comforting in some ways. He helps me forget, and now I wonder if I should be at home with him, instead of running away in my confused state – back to mum and dad’s.
Does that make me the child- the immature one? I can’t even handle a proposal – or lack of.
Opening the under stair cupboard I dig out a pair of my mother’s old walking boots and pull my dad’s trench coat off its hook in the hall way.
Slipping it on over my pyjamas I quietly exit the house and walk down the garden path towards the paddock. I need to get away from everything.
The wind has died, it’s still cold enough to penetrate my coat and the thin cotton of my pyjamas, but it’s forgivable and as I shiver I’m thankful that I feel something, I’ve been nothing but numb for days.
I sit on the fence and stare up into the sky, a scattering of small wispy clouds, outer edges illuminated by a waning moon flitter across the nights sky and the twinkling stars play peek-a-boo playfully.
This is what’s real.
I think as I stare into the cosmos, This moment. This. This is what we’re part of. So small, but so significant. Why can’t I feel this way all the time?
I pull the coat tighter around my shivering body.
The night, that’s where I’m at home. In the night. Away from everyone else, just me and nature. This is how I think, how I get it together.
Some people feel like they don’t matter, like their choices, their inclinations mean nothing and have no bearing on the world, especially so when they see the stars in all their infinity.
Not me. I realise we’re all connected. Especially so at the moment.
This case, the abduction of a child – it has influenced the entire police force and has changed them. No doubt it’s influencing their thoughts, their actions in every moment – washing over us all like a plague, slowly demoralising us all and making us weak and weary.
I frown. Which is why we have to find the abductor.
I feel angry, I cling onto the wooden fence and scowl as I feel it’s splinters scratch at my palms. I don’t care. I need to solve this case, the fact that it’s doing this to me is unbearable.
You could be forgiven if you thought I was some sort of depressive moron. Honestly, I’m not. Or maybe I am? I don’t know, I am at this moment, that’s for sure – but normally, well – before this case? I was a happy person. I would have married Yves, I was still a little introverted but now I’m simply downright antisocial. All thanks to this bastard.
“May?”
I jump, slipping slightly on the fence and scraping my leg on the wood.
“Shit,” I curse, turning to see who is out as late as I am, “Rueben?”
“Are you OK?” he dashes towards me.
“Fine,” I mumble, distinctly aware of my lack of makeup and strange attire.
I jump down from the fence and rub my sore hands on the coat, my calf is hot with throbbing pain.
“What are you doing?” Rueben gets closer and I see a line of stubble on his jaw, he looks exhausted and pale in the moonlight.
I shake my head, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Me either.”
We stand awkwardly for the few moments and I listen to the wind whispering among the trees, somewhere close by a barn howl screeches.
“What are you doing here?” I say finally.
“I like to walk – it clears my head.”
I nod in acknowledgment, feeling that this entire scenario is a little weird.
“I just can’t stop thinking, you know?” Rueben says, “This case is just so… taxing, I’m exhausted.”
“Me too,” I whisper, pulling my father’s coat up around my shoulders and hunching up against the harsh night’s air.
“You can talk to me,” Rueben reaches forward and touches my shoulder, his palm feels warm and comforting through the thin fabric of my attire.
“I know,” I smile at him, “Likewise.”
“Are you busy at the moment, I mean, what are you up to in a week or so?” Rueben asks me.
I search his face with my eyes, “Nothing…”
“My sister is coming to stay,” Rueben explains, “If you want to take your mind off things, you know, the case; Yves…” he pauses, I suppose it must be pretty obvious things aren’t great with me and Yves when I’m currently stood in my mother’s walking boots, father’s coat and sat in the middle of their farm starring at the nights sky.
“Sa sa is sending her stuff over from Sunlit Tides, I’ll need a hand to shift some of her boxes – Only if you’re not busy.”
“No, I’m not busy.” I manage a small smile, helping Rueben will help to take my mind off the case, and whatever it is that’s going on between me and Yves.
“Really? Great!” Rueben smiles and the corners of his eyes crinkle.
I shiver, “OK, well I’m going to go to bed now,” I can’t help but chuckle, this is so strange, seeing my partner outside of work, in the middle of the night, and it all seeming incredibly normal.
Ruben laughs, “Ok May May, nice to see you, even if this is a little weird…”
“It is, right?” I laugh and he joins me.
“I’ll see you Monday?” Rueben smiles kindly.
“Yes, you will.”
AdvertisementsThe 7th Annual Poll of Conservative Websites On The Most Loved And Hated People On The Right
Right Wing News emailed more than 230 right-of-center blogs & websites and asked them to rate 85 prominent people on the Right. 72 of them responded.
Right Wing News + (17 who have chosen to be anonymous)
Here are the results!
Most Popular (Greatly Admire + Admire votes)
Trending: The 15 Best Conservative News Sites On The Internet
25) Rick Perry (47)
25) Dana Loesch (47)
25) Darrell Issa (47)
25) Trey Gowdy (47)
25) George W. Bush (47)
24) Mark Levin (49)
23) Dick Cheney (49)
20) Tim Scott (50)
20) James O’Keefe (50)
20) Ben Carson (50)
19) Ted Cruz (51)
15) Allen West (52)
15) The Koch Brothers (52)
15) Jonah Goldberg (52)
15) Matt Drudge (52)
12) Glenn Reynolds (53)
12) David Limbaugh (53)
12) Megyn Kelly (53)
11) Bobby Jindal (54)
9) Rush Limbaugh (55)
9) Condi Rice (55)
5) Mark Steyn (57)
5) Antonin Scalia (57)
5) Michelle Malkin (57)
5) Charles Krauthammer (57)
4) Mia Love (60)
1) Scott Walker (63)
1) Clarence Thomas (63)
1) Thomas Sowell (63)
Most Unpopular (Greatly dislike + dislike votes)
20) Arnold Schwarzenegger (30)
19) Ron Paul (31)
17) Christine O’Donnell (32)
17) Mike Huckabee (32)
15) Mitch McConnell (33)
15) David Frum (33)
11) Donald Trump (34)
11) Joe Scarborough (34)
11) Colin Powell (34)
11) Dick Morris (34)
10) Bill O’Reilly (35)
9) Peter King (35)
8) Chris Christie (36)
7) Jeb Bush (37)
6) John Boehner (39)
5) Alex Jones (41)
4) Karl Rove (43)
3) Lindsey Graham (43)
2) John McCain (45)
1) Megan McCain (55)
Net Numbers for Groups
10) The National Republican Senatorial Committtee (NRSC) (-23)
9) The Republican National Committee (RNC) (-16)
8) The Chamber of Commerce (-7)
7) The National Tea Party Groups (Tea Party Express, TeaParty.net, Tea Party Nation, Tea Party Patriots, etc) (11)
6) The Senate Conservatives Fund (19)
5) Freedomworks (30)
4) Americans for Prosperity (45)
3) The Heritage Foundation (53)
2) The Tea Party (Overall) (54)
1) The NRA (59)
Net Numbers for Sitting Politicians
20) Lindsey Graham (-35)
19) John McCain (-32)
18) John Boehner (-25)
17) Peter King (-24)
16) Chris Christie (-21)
15) Mitch McConnell (-16)
14) Justin Amash (22)
13) Rand Paul (25)
12) Marco Rubio (31)
11) Jeff Sessions (34)
10) Paul Ryan (34)
9) Rick Perry (39)
8) Darrell Issa (44)
7) Trey Gowdy (45)
6) Mike Lee (46)
5) Ted Cruz (47)
4) Tim Scott (50)
3) Bobby Jindal (51)
2) Mia Love (59)
1) Scott Walker (63)
Last but not least, here are the raw numbers.
1) How do you feel about Christine O’Donnell?
A) I greatly admire this person. 1.52% (1 votes)
B) I admire this person. 15.15% (10 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 34.85% (23 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 37.88% (25 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 10.61% (7 votes)
2) How do you feel about James O’Keefe?
A) I greatly admire this person. 26.87% (18 votes)
B) I admire this person. 47.76% (32 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 13.43% (9 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 8.96% (6 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 2.99% (2 votes)
3) How do you feel about Bill O’Reilly?
A) I greatly admire this person. 7.58% (5 votes)
B) I admire this person. 22.73% (15 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 16.67% (11 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 39.39% (26 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person.13.64% (9 votes)
4) How do you feel about Sarah Palin?
A) I greatly admire this person. 29.85% (20 votes)
B) I admire this person. 32.84% (22 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 13.43% (9 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 19.40% (13 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 4.48% (3 votes)
5) How do you feel about Rand Paul?
A) I greatly admire this person. 16.92% (11 votes)
B) I admire this person. 41.54% (27 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 21.54% (14 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 18.46% (12 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 1.54% (1 votes)
6) How do you feel about Ron Paul?
A) I greatly admire this person. 2.99% (2 votes)
B) I admire this person. 26.87% (18 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 23.88% (16 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 25.37% (17 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 20.90% (14 votes)
7) How do you feel about Rick Perry?
A) I greatly admire this person. 27.27% (18 votes)
B) I admire this person. 43.94% (29 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 16.67% (11 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 10.61% (7 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 1.52% (1 votes)
8) How do you feel about Colin Powell?
A) I greatly admire this person. 4.48% (3 votes)
B) I admire this person. 20.90% (14 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 23.88% (16 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 26.87% (18 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 23.88% (16 votes)
9) How do you feel about Condi Rice?
A) I greatly admire this person. 39.39% (26 votes)
B) I admire this person. 43.94% (29 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 7.58% (5 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 7.58% (5 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 1.52% (1 votes)
10) How do you feel about John Roberts?
A) I greatly admire this person. 7.46% (5 votes)
B) I admire this person. 35.82% (24 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 22.39% (15 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 22.39% (15 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 11.94% (8 votes)
11) How do you feel about The Republican National Committee (RNC)?
A) I greatly admire this group. 4.48% (3 votes)
B) I admire this group. 22.39% (15 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this group. 22.39% (15 votes)
D) I dislike this group. 28.36% (19 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this group. 22.39% (15 votes)
12) How do you feel about Glenn Reynolds?
A) I greatly admire this person. 53.85% (35 votes)
B) I admire this person. 27.69% (18 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 16.92% (11 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 1.54% (1 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 0.00% (0 votes)
13) How do you feel about Mitt Romney?
A) I greatly admire this person. 13.43% (9 votes)
B) I admire this person. 41.79% (28 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 13.43% (9 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 25.37% (17 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 5.97% (4 votes)
14) How do you feel about Karl Rove?
A) I greatly admire this person. 1.49% (1 votes)
B) I admire this person. 19.40% (13 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 14.93% (10 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 31.34% (21 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 32.84% (22 votes)
15) How do you feel about Paul Ryan?
A) I greatly admire this person. 13.43% (9 votes)
B) I admire this person. 53.73% (36 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 16.42% (11 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 14.93% (10 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 1.49% (1 votes)
16) How do you feel about Jennifer Rubin?
A) I greatly admire this person. 1.54% (1 votes)
B) I admire this person. 13.85% (9 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 50.77% (33 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 21.54% (14 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 12.31% (8 votes)
17) How do you feel about Marco Rubio?
A) I greatly admire this person. 13.64% (9 votes)
B) I admire this person. 51.52% (34 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 16.67% (11 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 16.67% (11 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 1.52% (1 votes)
18) How do you feel about Rick Santorum?
A) I greatly admire this person. 10.45% (7 votes)
B) I admire this person. 28.36% (19 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 25.37% (17 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 22.39% (15 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 13.43% (9 votes)
19) How do you feel about Michael Savage?
A) I greatly admire this person. 4.48% (3 votes)
B) I admire this person. 28.36% (19 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 25.37% (17 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 25.37% (17 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 16.42% (11 votes)
20) How do you feel about Joe Scarborough?
A) I greatly admire this person. 2.99% (2 votes)
B) I admire this person. 8.96% (6 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 37.31% (25 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 29.85% (20 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 20.90% (14 votes)
21) How do you feel about Tim Scott?
A) I greatly admire this person. 31.34% (21 votes)
B) I admire this person. 43.28% (29 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 25.37% (17 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 0.00% (0 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 0.00% (0 votes)
22) How do you feel about Antonin Scalia?
A) I greatly admire this person. 58.46% (38 votes)
B) I admire this person. 29.23% (19 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 10.77% (7 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 1.54% (1 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 0.00% (0 votes)
23) How do you feel about Arnold Schwarzenegger?
A) I greatly admire this person. 1.52% (1 votes)
B) I admire this person. 21.21% (14 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 31.82% (21 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 33.33% (22 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 12.12% (8 votes)
24) How do you feel about The Senate Conservatives Fund?
A) I greatly admire this group. 17.91% (12 votes)
B) I admire this group. 23.88% (16 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this group. 44.78% (30 votes)
D) I dislike this group. 10.45% (7 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this group. 2.99% (2 votes)
25) How do you feel about The Tea Party (Overall)?
A) I greatly admire this group. 46.27% (31 votes)
B) I admire this group. 38.81% (26 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this group. 10.45% (7 votes)
D) I dislike this group. 4.48% (3 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this group. 0.00% (0 votes)
26) How do you feel about The National Tea Party Groups (Tea Party Express, TeaParty.net, Tea Party Nation, Tea Party Patriots, etc)?
A) I greatly admire these groups. 21.54% (14 votes)
B) I admire these groups. 24.62% (16 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about these groups. 24.62% (16 votes)
D) I dislike these groups. 21.54% (14 votes)
E) I greatly dislike these groups. 7.69% (5 votes)
27) How do you feel about Jeff Sessions?
A) I greatly admire this person. 27.27% (18 votes)
B) I admire this person. 25.76% (17 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 45.45% (30 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 1.52% (1 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 0.00% (0 votes)
28) How do you feel about Thomas Sowell?
A) I greatly admire this person. 70.15% (47 votes)
B) I admire this person. 23.88% (16 votes)
C) I don’t have an opinion about this person. 5.97% (4 votes)
D) I dislike this person. 0.00% (0 votes)
E) I greatly dislike this person. 0.00% (0 votes)
29) How do you feel about Mark Steyn?
A) I greatly admire this person.
|
If you thought 2016 was bad, you might want to gird yourself for an even worse 2017.
The famed dried blood of Saint Januarius failed to liquefy in a ceremony in Naples on Saturday, according to a report in Italy's La Stampa, heralding disaster for next year.
Monsignor Vincenzo De Gregorio, the abbot of the chapel, said: "We must not think about disasters and calamities. We are men of faith, and we must continue to pray."
The ceremony of the blood of Saint Januarius, or San Gennaro, is performed several times a year. The blood is kept in special ampules and liquifies during the ceremony.
The miracle has been regularly recorded since 1389. San Gennaro was bishop of Naples in the 3rd century and was beheaded in the persecution of early Christians by Roman Emperor Diocletian, who killed around 3,500 Christians.
If the miracle of liquefaction fails to occur, it can herald disaster for the coming months and years.
The blood failed to become liquid in 1939, the year in which World War II started, and in 1980, the year of the Irpinia earhquake in which 300 people died, according to the La Stampa report.
2016 has been bad enough. Both the US and the UK have had a year of political turmoil, while a civil war has raged in Syrian destroying much of the city of Aleppo and killing civilians and soldiers alike.The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has announced the introduction of observers to monitor incidents of racism and discrimination at the World Cup qualifiers ahead of the 2018 tournament in Russia, the federation announced Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The observers will be trained to recognize incidents of racism and report them to FIFA. The football authority will then impose disciplinary actions on the countries that were involved in the incident.
"The new monitoring system is a very concrete measure in order to ensure that football sends a clear message for diversity and against any form of discrimination," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said.
In 2013, Russian football club CSKA Moscow was charged with the racist behavior of its fans after Manchester City's Yaya Toure complained that people were making "monkey chants" against him.
© AFP 2018 / ANDREW YATES Unfair Play: Hundreds of Racist Incidents Mar English Football
Another Russian club, FC Anzhi Makhachkala's legendary Brazilian player Roberto Carlos has encountered several incidents of people throwing bananas at him during national league games. His teammate Christopher Samba has experienced similar difficulties.
In 2013, Russia's football authority vowed to crack down on racism at football matches. Since then, several clubs have been punished for the racist acts of their fans during games.
In March, the Russian Football Union appointed an anti-racism inspector.Teddy has found his forever home! Congratulations little guy!
Hi, My name is Teddy!
I am about the most loving lap dog you will ever meet. I am a delightful terrier/Chihuahua mix with the most charming personality. I am just 7 years old and weigh about 12 pounds. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada at the moment. I am happy to move to where you live, as long as you will come and meet me and my owner here in Vegas.
I am very devoted and like to attach myself like a barnacle to my owner. I was rescued as a puppy from a situation where I was being bullied by some bigger dogs, and as a result, I am fearful of other dogs. I run and hide and really don’t enjoy being around them.
Cats, on the other paw, are purrfectly fine with me. I don’t pay any attention to them, nor they to me.
I like kids, but not the noisy and boisterous kind – or the kind that think I am a toy to be squished, poked and prodded. Calm, older kids who understand how to treat dogs with respect are great. I am very social. I like to spent time on everyone’s lap.
I am very healthy and up to date on my shots. I am neutered and house broken.
My owner is devastated. She is having to move to Texas, and simply cannot take me with her to where she is going. She is dearly hoping to find someone who will cherish me as much as she does. I need someone to spend time with me and make me feel safe, happy, healthy and loved.
If you have room in your heart and home for a cute little cuddle pup like me, please consider offering me the home I deserve. I’m all about the love – and any kindness you show me will be reciprocated ten-fold.
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, 89135
Type of Pet: Dog
Breed: mixed-terrier & chihuahua
Age: 7 yr.
Color/Coat Type: light brown & white, long hair
Size: 12 lbs.
Health Issues: no
Behavior Issues: Timid of other dogs after having been attacked in the past. He just gets frightened and runs away. Teddy had some bad experiences with other dogs that have made him a little skittish when there are really boisterous kids around or other dogs. He gets along great with cats and does really well in a calm environment.
Teddy is:
Neutered
Teddy gets along with:
Older Children, Adults Only
Personality
Teddy is very sweet and lovable, he wants to be with someone all of the time and just sit in their lap. He likes to go for walks, but going to the dog park is useless. He is skittish about other dogs approaching him so he would just sit in my lap. If he is with another dog one on one and he can approach first, he is ok. Cats don’t bother him at all. He is just a little curious. He will bark at strangers and he will bark when someone comes in your house until they talk to him and pet him. He thinks everyone is coming to see him. He is a good boy and very smart. He is very in tune to humans.
Reason For Rehoming
I have to relocate to Texas and I can’t take him with me.Passing the Torch From Grandfather to Grandson
It was Fall of 2003 at the Tokyo Motor Show and Ducati announced its plans to introduce theSportClassic line of L-Twins.
“Motorcycles that capture the essential beauty, timeless style and emotion of the original Ducati sport bikes of the 1970’s.” read the press release.
“Even though they reflect the best of the past, they incorporate the latest Ducati technology and engineering, creating a thoroughly modern motorcycle that lives up to today’s standards of road-going performance.” I was mentally knocked off my feet.
At the time of the SportClassic announcement, I was deep in the process of “custovating” a 1974 Ducati 750 GT bevel head. What’s custovation, you ask? It’s a term I use to describe my work — a combination of customizing and renovation.
We’re not talking about a restoration, which means to bring back to an original condition. Custovation has a more specific meaning: customize – to make or alter to individual or personal specifications, combined with renovation – which is to restore to an earlier condition, by repairing or remodeling.
For example, the 750 GT shown here is a blend of the old and the modern, with the modern improvements including the ignition, an upgraded front brake and charging, but most noticeable is the retro 750 Super Sport green and silver paint scheme.
Reading about the proposed SportClassic models did two things for me. First, it confirmed what I believed all along, that the fundamental design and appearance of the SS, Sport and GT had a permanent place in motorcycle design history, and I had my little sliver of that.
Second, it launched a personal odyssey that led me to owning a 2006 Ducati GT1000.
Reality Strikes
In 2003, the SportClassic follow-up articles mentioned how the Paul Smart 1000 was inspired by the 750 Imola Racer; the Sport 1000 was designed in the café’ style and the GT1000 would be following in the footsteps of the classic 750 GT.
Ducati also went on about the limited production numbers for these bikes and how the cost would be out-of-sight for the average guy. That did it for me. Any fantasies about owning a modern mate to my classic 750 GT went up in mental smoke.
Four years passed and the 750 GT and I enjoyed leisurely outings, with compliments from everyone that took the time to look. Then a funny thing happened one Saturday afternoon. I happened by the local BMW dealer and there — sitting by the shop door — was a Ducati Red GT1000, two months old, with 350 miles on the clock and a soft asking price.
But I didn’t see the red color; instead I saw green and silver, with a trimmed tail light, bar-end mirrors and muted turn signals.
I imagined a custovation, with the GT1000 looking similar to but not exactly like my 750 GT, since the GT1000 is made in the image of the 750 GT but some 33 years later. On the other hand, I wanted to show the strong connection that confirmed they are from the same gene pool.
Tail Lights
The tail light modifications were first. The turn signal stalks were removed, holes filled with ABS epoxy and repainted.
Amber LED signals replaced the front signals and the rear units were installed under the seat to make them less conspicuous when off. The GT1000 uses an electronic control circuit located in the instrument cluster to manage the blinking, so there was no problem with erratic blinking usually experienced by thermal activated switches.
License Plate Light
The reflectors and license light were removed from the stock assembly and excess plastic trimmed. The new license light is a die-cast chrome frame with integral white LED’s from Custom Dynamics. At night, the white glow is a real eye-catcher.
Bar-End Mirrors
The mirrors are 3 inch machined aluminum with a slight fish-eye design, exactly like CRG Hindsight mirrors but one-third the price from Cycle Gear. I have a pair of Hindsight’s on my Centauro, and they look identical.
Paint
I usually do my own painting but I went back to the expert who had painted the 750 GT. Ed Terrell does excellent work but re-assured me that cars are where he makes his money.
What’s Next?
The stock sound of the GT1000 is subdued compared to the 750 GT’s Conti replicas. After 3 months of tracking down local GT1000 owners with Termignoni’s and Staintune reverse megaphones, my ears told me it was Staintune (Editor’s Note: See our GT1000 Blog for more info on the Staintunes).
The silencers have a hefty low rumble at idle with a bit of a British twitter. On acceleration, they sound off with authority. It’s a different sound than Termi’s, more like a Norton Commando on steroids, but a sound I prefer for the money.
And maybe a Snider’s removable clear plastic Paintgard will cover the critical chafe areas where the rear of the tank meets the seat front. My paunch doesn’t help matters either.
Modifications and Sources
MOTRAX LED Arrows Short BLACK (#54544, $27.00 pair) and MOTRAX Mini Billet Bar End Mirrors (#54114, $50.00). Available at Cycle Gear
Custom Dynamics Chrome Die-Cast LED license plate holder (# 8201-52, $35.00)
3M Automix #5883 plastic repair available at auto body paint suppliers
Owner Comments and Feedback
Please send comments to [email protected]
See Comments are ordered from most recent to oldest.See details on submitting comments
From “J.J.”: “Joe in Dallas has 2 beautiful machines. The term “restovation” equates to resto-mod in the car world. I love the green/silver paint on both bikes, it being a very inspired choice. The fact that the GT1000 sounds like a Norton brought a smile to my face. I have a 72 Combat Roadster that was restovated (?) by Colorado Norton Works. Gotta love the sound.”
Other WebBikeWorld Motorcycle Brands PostsThroughout our professional lives, many of us can turn back and find, at some point in our history, that or those special persons that marked a difference in the direction that we, as individuals or as companies, decided to take. They were an inflection point that impacted the place where we are now: mentors.
“Mentorship is the difference between exploring a dark cave without a flashlight and exploring a cave with an experienced guide who carries a torch”
Mentors we can find a lot, good mentors, just a few. But what really defines the good from the bad? There are several aspects, but we can summarize the three most important: the first is the value and quality of their contribution, generally defined by their domain on the subject and their ability to transmit knowledge. The second: their emotional intelligence that allows them to understand and listen, not forcing decisions; they’re just the facilitator and not the protagonist of the story. And the final factor: asking nothing in return, being aware that their level of involvement is not tied to a reward or benefit.
Some of us are mentors that really want to add value to people, companies or projects that we have been invited to collaborate. This is why I recommend the following 10 points to becoming a good mentor:
1. Define your impact level: Before you jump at your role as mentor, you have to understand the level of impact that’s expected from you. For example, if your impact relies on a team or a person, your expected role is coaching; if your impact relies on the development of the project, your role depends on your experience with similar projects; if you’re going to impact certain processes, your focus should be more technical; or even if your impact is on relationships and connections, you should have a more social approach. This is important, because we often bring something different than expected, and instead of providing help, we are being distractive.
2. Define time for mentoring: Your availability is key. If someone is looking for you as his mentor, will surely be for your successful track record, and you surely are a busy person, so the less you have is time; but for those who receive mentoring, time is a critical factor, and every minute you dedicate to mentor them is gold. A good hour of your advices can avoid weeks of work. If you decide to get involved, you need to consider adding to your calendar the time you have available and make your people know what you can offer. This will create a more harmonious relationship in which everyone agrees with your time spent and then, your job will be maximized.
3. Share your experience: Your experience is more than one point of view, it adds much more value to the project. For those seeking assistance, opinions are easy to find, but experiences that can actually help, aren’t so. To being able to provide experience is usually necessary to have a lot of knowledge and a good approach in the practice over the theory. Generally what is expected in terms of knowledg,e is quality instead of quantity.
4. Show interest: Actively listen, question, provoke, challenge; your role is not only to be heard. The more you show interest and empathy with the project, the people or the company, the more your voice gets credibility. People like to feel and believe they are heard; they like to believe that first we are understood and then, mentored.
5. Be honest: You don’t always have to agree; a lot of times you won’t share the same opinion and you’ll have to explain reasonably why not. It helps more an honest “No” than a “Yes” destined to fail. Remember that people reach you for what you can offer, not only to get your approval.
6. Understand the responsibility of your role: Understanding this, without conflicted interests, is the best way to start a good mentoring relationship. Many times, you wanting to help ends up being a headache or a sinuous road that you no longer know how to get out. Set communication rules, times, responsibilities and expectations so at the end, the feeling of contribution is satisfactory.
7. Let be: Don’t try to print your personality, you are a complement, and what you can contribute, combined with what you already have, will help generate growth. You don’t need to be the star, neglecting people and wanting things done as your desire is the wrong choice. Humility plays a very important role in mentoring.
8. Open your Mind: We live in short-period changing times. What once worked may no longer do; what was successful now is failure; and what nobody wanted is now desired. So, it’s best to stay open to new ideas, processes and practices that, combined with your experience, can lead to new solutions to new problems.
9. Create long-lasting relationships: Become a new player of the team, get involved from the beginning, show that you are willing to take risks, and enjoy the benefits. Bet for long-term relationships and not small and short-term interventions.
10.Ask the right questions: You never take the decisions for someone else; you ask the right questions so the leaders can conclude the right answers and make the best decisions that, good or bad, will be made by the Company and not by the mentor.
Being a mentor is not easy, but is one of the most satisfying activities: on one hand you get to help other people, and the other you get recognition of you journey in the project.
But remember: not always the best player on the team is the best coach.Image copyright AFP Image caption Grace Mugabe is the second wife of President Robert Mugabe
A Zimbabwean journalist has been detained over a story alleging that used underwear had been distributed to ruling Zanu-PF supporters on First Lady Grace Mugabe's behalf, his lawyers say.
NewsDay reporter Kenneth Nyangani was likely to face "criminal defamation" charges, the lawyers added.
Zanu-PF MP Esau Mupfumi distributed the underwear, and said Mrs Mugabe had donated it, the newspaper reported.
There has been no official comment on Mr Nyangani's arrest.
It was unclear clear whether the complainant was the MP or the first lady, NewsDay reported.
Police in the eastern city of Mutare detained Mr Nyangani on Monday evening for "allegedly writing and publishing a story over the donation of some used undergarments" by President Robert Mugabe's wife, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said in a statement.
The privately-owned newspaper had earlier reported that Mr Mupfumi had handed out clothes at the weekend to Zanu-PF supporters in the Mutare area.
"I met the First Lady Grace Mugabe and I was given these clothes so that I can give you. I have briefs for you and I am told that most of your briefs are not in good shape, please come and collect your allocations today," Mr Mupfumi was quoted as saying.
"We have night dresses, sandals and clothes, come and take, this is from your First Lady Grace Mugabe," he added.
Worsening economic conditions in Zimbabwe are forcing many people to buy second-hand clothing, the AFP news agency reports.
It says such items include used underwear from Western countries which is chiefly imported from Mozambique.
Mrs Mugabe, the president's second wife, attracted widespread media attention in August when she was accused of attacking a model at a hotel in South Africa where her sons were staying.
She has denied any wrongdoing.Pelicans.com continues its look back at the 2014-15 season with player-by-player analysis of the team:
2014-15 OVERVIEW
During his four-year tenure with Philadelphia, Holiday was one of the NBA’s most durable players, missing a total of only 14 games. He played 147 of a possible 148 games during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. Unfortunately for the point guard, injury misfortune has been a dominant theme of his two New Orleans seasons.
For the second straight year, Holiday was forced to sit out over half of the Pelicans’ games, due to a stress reaction in his right leg. He began 2014-15 playing and starting in each of New Orleans’ first 37 games, but then sat out the next 41 with the injury. Heading into this offseason, the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder’s biggest concern is solving the issue. After previously having surgery on the leg, he had surgery Wednesday to remove a screw from the area.
“I’m going to chill for a little bit. I need to get my leg to calm down a lot more before I can start doing anything back on the court,” Holiday said April 26. “It’s going to take time. Obviously there are some things I need to strengthen and things I need to find out, mechanically, if it’s just my leg or part of the surgery. Just some questions I need to answer.”
“There’s concern there,” Pelicans five-year head coach Monty Williams said. “Just because he’s unsure and he hasn’t been able to play. Our medical staff is evaluating daily, trying to figure out how to get him on the floor. We’re going to do everything we can to work with his doctors in L.A., to figure out how to get him back on the floor. No matter how you slice it, concern, frustration… bottom line is I’m more saddened that he can’t play for him. Hopefully, Lord willing, he’ll be back on the floor next year, and healthy.”
Injuries may have severely curtailed Holiday’s impact, but he still was a difference-maker in the Pelicans being able to reach the playoffs. He came off the bench in late-season home victories over Phoenix and San Antonio, sparking New Orleans to vital wins. In between, he had a 17-point game at Houston on 7-for-9 shooting. It couldn’t have been what he pictured going into the season, but his effort to rehabilitate and push himself back into uniform was a factor in the Pelicans accomplishing their No. 1 goal.
“I just want to get healthy. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been able to play a full season,” he said. “Last year was the first time I hadn’t finished a year. I didn’t want to do that two years in a row. Being able to finish, fighting for my team, I felt like I could give whatever I have, on one leg or one and a half legs, whatever it is. I really just tried to do it for my team.
“We have a couple free agents and they have to figure that all out, but mentally we’re in a good place. We kind of know what it’s about now. Hopefully we can get a season under our belt now where everyone’s healthy, to grow off that and become better players collectively. I know here they’ve been rebuilding for a while and going through a lot of changes, but I’d like to hope there won’t be too many changes. We have a good thing going.”
TOP THREE JRUE HOLIDAY GAMES OF 2014-15
#3, Jan. 9: New Orleans 106, Memphis 95
Holiday delivered 23 points, eight assists and two steals, in the second of two home wins for the Pelicans vs. the division rival Grizzles. New Orleans was plus-16 with its starting point guard in the game, but just minus-5 when he was resting. Holiday was 7-for-13 from the field, including three treys.
#2, Nov. 14: New Orleans 139, Minnesota 91
Among the numerous eye-opening statistics from the Pelicans’ franchise record-setting home victory over the Timberwolves, Holiday had an unheard-of plus-minus of 41 in only 28 minutes of playing time. In perhaps the most efficient statistical game of his NBA career, Holiday shot 9-for-10 from the field, scored 20 points and dished out nine assists.
#1, Dec. 21: New Orleans 101, Oklahoma City 99
The best example of how Holiday can help win games without scoring much (11 points). He handed out a season-high 15 assists and pilfered four steals, while harassing Russell Westbrook into 10-for-27 shooting. His hard-nosed steal of Westbrook and dish to Anthony Davis for a fast-break dunk was the final hoop of a memorable road victory.Neuroscientists have confirmed what any kid knows: Third grade changes everything. Compared to kids just out of second grade, recent third-grade graduates use their brains in an entirely different way when solving math problems, a study in an upcoming NeuroImage finds.
“I think this is really fascinating,” says cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Ansari of the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. “Anybody who doesn’t believe that development is important needs to read this paper, because it really shows how dynamically the brain changes as we learn.”
Cognitive neuroscientist Vinod Menon of the Stanford University School of Medicine and his colleagues recruited 90 children, aged 7 to 9, who had just completed either second or third grade.
The youngsters calculated easy (3 + 1 = 4) or more complex (8 + 5 = 13) addition problems while Menon and his team scanned the children’s brains using functionaCarswell rules out Ukip leader bid
Ukip's only sitting MP has ruled himself out of the race to be the party's next leader.
Douglas Carswell, who held his Clacton seat on a reduced majority, said he would not seek to fill the post vacated by Nigel Farage, who announced his resignation after losing out in Thanet South.
Mr Farage said he was taking a break but left the door open for a return when he said: "There will be a leadership election for the next leader of Ukip in September and I will consider over the course of this summer whether to put my name forward to do that job again."
Ukip's Douglas Carswell, left, pictured with Nigel Farage, says he will not be a contender for the party leadership
Mr Carswell praised Mr Farage, the man behind his defection from the Conservatives, as a "heroic and inspirational figure" but told the Times: "I am not going to be running as leader."
Mr Farage, 51, said he would recommend Suzanne Evans, the deputy chairman, be a stand-in leader until the leadership challenge is complete.
He lost to Conservative Craig Mackinlay in Thanet South by almost 3,000 votes, leaving Ukip with just one MP after former Tory Mark Reckless lost in Rochester and Strood.
Announcing his resignation yesterday, Mr Farage said: "I'm a man of my word, I shall be writing to the Ukip national executive in a few minutes, saying I am standing down as leader of Ukip.
"I shall recommend that... they put in place as acting leader Suzanne Evans who I think has emerged from this campaign as an absolute tower of strength within Ukip."
He added: "Personally, there's a bit of me that is disappointed but there is a bit of me that feels better than I have felt for many, many years.
"It really has been seven days a week, totally unrelenting, and occasionally let down by people who perhaps haven't said and done the right things.
"I haven't had a fortnight's holiday since October 1993. I intend to take the summer off, enjoy myself a bit."
Earlier he had railed against the electoral system which handed the SNP 56 seats and Ukip one, even though the Eurosceptic party was the third largest by vote share.
Writing in the Independent Mr Farage repeated his attack on the voting system, saying he felt the 3.8 million voters who backed his party should be better represented.
He said: "It is my view that the first-past-the-post system is now totally bankrupt. It has turned general election campaigns into "please vote for me, I'm not quite as ugly as the other one" situations, rather than parties fighting over policy positions and serious issues. It has directly led to a campaign of total negativity and triviality.
"There is also the question of what is fair and reasonable. For so many millions of voters to have just one representative simply cannot be right - and I believe that whoever is the next Ukip leader has a major campaign to fight on this issue."
Adding he would "think seriously" about his next move, he hinted he wanted to play a role in an referendum on the EU.Since Narendra Modi swept to power on the development plank rather than on a saffron agenda, it is but natural that after he takes over as the Indian Prime Minister his foreign policy too would be development-oriented. In other words, his immediate focus would be on economic diplomacy while every other form of diplomacy will take a back seat.
For the first six months or so, Modi will hardly have time to think of core-foreign policy issues other than focusing on beefing up the economy, creation of jobs, and building up an investor-friendly climate. While strategic issues will have to wait for some time, Modi’s most immediate foreign policy-related task would be to deliver on his favourite one-liner quote: “No red tape; only red carpet” for all investors, both domestic and foreign.
A technocrat intimately, who is involved in an ambitious Government of India’s mission of attracting investments worth $100 billion by 2020 in the field of electronics, told this columnist that the investor sentiment was so high that Modi as Prime Minister would meet this target by next year. Moreover, the technocrat was confident that Modi would make this project far more ambitious and set a new target of $500 billion by 2020.
This is only the electronics sector in which telecom is one of the important sub-sectors. A far bigger story is set to unfold in the infrastructure sector. Modi’s target would be attracting investments in this crucial area to the tune of a whopping one trillion dollars by 2020.
The technocrat informed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set a target in 2012 of garnering investments worth $ 100 billion within five years, but thus far only $ 13 billion has been realised.
Building a strong and vibrant infrastructure that would propel the GDP growth by focusing on creating a vast network of ports, airports, highways, expressways, high speed railways, power plants and new cities would be the top most priority of Modi, both in the immediate and long term future.
Achieving all, this in the near future would be a humongous task and a challenge. While Modi may contemplate a separate ministry dedicated to beefing up the infrastructure sector and keeping it directly under the monitoring of the PMO, it would require a hands-on approach in economic diplomacy.
In this scenario, the portfolio of External Affairs Ministry acquires all the more significance. The new External Affairs Minister will be expected to fast track India’s economic diplomacy and put it on the front burner.
Sushma Swaraj seems to be an apt person to discharge the responsibility of External Affairs Minister, provided Modi keeps his faith in her despite certain political irritants. Ravi Shankar Prasad, who has a better rapport with Modi than Sushma Swaraj, has already pitched himself for the post of EAM.
Whoever is India’s new EAM, one can expect a paradigm shift in the role and responsibility of this vital ministry which is one of the four CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) ministries, Home, Defence and Finance being the other three.
The new EAM would have to travel abroad more frequently. Besides, one can expect a sharp hike in incoming visits by foreign dignitaries and the new foreign minister will have to personally interact with these dignitaries and make things easier for Modi. He or she would also have to interact more closely with the Industry and Commerce minister.
Such is the importance of the portfolios of external affairs and industry and commerce that Modi may well be tempted to amalgamate all three or devise a mechanism where these three ministries mandatorily work more cohesively than ever before.
Modi will inevitably be putting a laser beam focus on two countries for turning around the Indian infrastructure: Japan and Russia. With both these countries India enjoys extremely close political ties, free of any contentious issues whatsoever.
Japan is already an integral part of India’s growth story and closely involved in massive infrastructure projects, including the $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Modi can use his personal equation with the Japanese leadership to nudge them to do much more than the Japanese have been doing. The Japanese would be all too willing.
During the decade-long UPA tenure, India has tried its best to hardsell the DMIC project and given several presentations to many countries, including France, Germany and Russia, urging them to invest in the project.
Modi can also be expected to pitch in directly with the Russian leadership and persuade Moscow to invest in DMIC. The Indians had given a presentation to the Russian leadership in Moscow as recently as earlier this year on the DMIC project. Russia has not yet taken any decision on the Indian request thus far. A good part of DMIC directly benefits Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
Modi can also look at China for huge investments. The Chinese are quite eager to pump in billions of dollars in the Indian infrastructure sector, but Indian security agencies have their own red lines in the Chinese proposals.
The UPA government chose not to take this political decision – whether to accept Chinese investments in infrastructure sector or not. Perhaps Modi’s attitude would be more hands-on. Perhaps he can devise ways in consultation with the security and intelligence agencies of having Chinese investments without compromising Indian security and strategic interests.
Thus, the external affairs ministry would be critical for Modi in changing the face of India in double quick time. At the same time, I do not foresee Modi interfering in the functioning of the MEA and reshuffling officials because there is no need for that in the near-term future.
The writer is a New Delhi-based columnist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha.
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.Now playing: Watch this: Whirlpool's smart bar code scanner cooks for you
How hard is it to heat a frozen meal in your oven or microwave?
Enlarge Image Chris Monroe/CNET
According to Whirlpool, it's a challenge. That's why the appliance manufacturer created Scan-to-Cook, a new feature in Whirlpool's app that will send instructions to your oven or microwave so it can cook your frozen dish correctly and automatically. Whirlpool had plenty of empty boxes of DiGiorno Pizza, Marie Callender's pot pies and Alexia frozen fries on display this week at CES in Las Vegas, where company reps used an iPad to demonstrate how Scan-to-Cook works.
The feature in the company's Android and iOS app will work with a line of new Wi-Fi-enabled products Whirlpool will release this summer in the US: two new ranges (one gas, one electric), a double wall oven and a microwave.
Amping up the way you cook convenience food comes at a steep cost: $1,700 and $1,800 for the electric and gas ranges, respectively; $2,600 for the wall oven and $900 for the microwave. Converted, that's about £1,370 or AU$2,250 for the electric, £1,450 or AU$2,380 for the gas, £2,115 or AU$ 3,570 for the wall oven and £725 or AU$1,190 for the microwave.
Let's say you're about to heat up some frozen tater tots. If you have one of the compatible products, you use the app to scan the bar code on your package of tots, and it will pull up the heating instructions from a database of frozen foods. The app will then send those instructions to your oven, range or microwave, and the appliances will automatically set the correct cooking temperature and set timers for your food.
Jeff Stoller, who works in internet of things strategy at Whirlpool, said the automation is especially helpful if you have a dish that has multiple steps, such as a dish you have to stir after 3 minutes and then return to the microwave for another minute.
We've seen more products and programs like Scan-to-Cook popping up around the CES floor. These scanners are using an existing piece of information (the bar code) to add more convenience to your life, such as the GeniCan that scans your empty food boxes to automatically build shopping lists and order more groceries. But Scan-to-Cook forces us to ask: is heating frozen food a big enough challenge that you'd throw down $1,000 or more? I don't know if the pizza rolls crowd will be on board.The Seattle Times spoke to WSU’s head of sports medicine about concussion management after quarterback Luke Falk’s injury last week against Colorado.
In light of the head injury Washington State quarterback Luke Falk likely sustained in the Cougars’ 27-3 win over Colorado last week, the Seattle Times spoke to Dr. Dennis Garcia, the director of health and wellness services and coordinator of athletic medicine at WSU, about WSU’s procedures and practices regarding concussion management for its student-athletes.
Garcia heads the team of sports medicine doctors who oversee care for all of WSU’s student-athletes. He is board certified in family medicine and sports medicine, and he’s been the head team physician at WSU for 17 years.
Q: Who do you answer to in your role as head team physician?
Garcia: I answer to the Dean of Students.
Q: So you do not answer to the WSU athletic department at all?
Garcia: In a roundabout way, yes, Health and Wellness has a contract with WSU athletics to provide physician coverage for the athletes of WSU. I am the administrator of that contract so I do answer to the athletic department in that regard.
Q: Which sports teams do you oversee at WSU?
Garcia: All the teams. That’s the structure we have here. We have four primary care sports medicine physicians and one orthopedic surgeon.
Q: Given the emphasis on concussions and head injuries in sports over the last few years, how have WSU’s concussion management procedures and return to play guidelines evolved during that time?
Garcia: Over the last three years, the Pac-12 has asked all participating members to develop concussion management plans based on the league’s basic guidelines. We’ve always had a concussion management plan in place. We took their recommendations and guidelines and incorporated it into our plan and put it forward at the most recent (Pac-12) healthcare conference in May. Ours was one of the only concussion management plans that passed muster the first go around and did not require any revisions.
Q: For the purposes of this conversation, can you name some of the more common concussion symptoms?
Garcia: Without a doubt, headaches and dizziness. Those
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original pitch for this project included about 175 parking spaces. Buell said that after further consideration it was determined that was probably more than needed, and considering the cost of building a structure for the parking, the number was reduced to 85-100. Buell cited the fact that the farmers' market currently does OK without its own dedicated parking and recent experience renting other residential units downtown as evidence that the parking would be enough.
The parking would be located on the riverfront level, with access from Front Street. But the developers say the design will aim to keep the parking structure from looking like parking.
Restaurant
Buell said there's been "strong" interest in the restaurant space, both because of its riverfront location and the fact that it would be just across the plaza from the farmers' market.
The look
The first pitch of this plan -- submitted as part of the city's request for proposals -- included renderings that prompted some negative reviews. Here at AOA, Duncan Crary wrote an opinion piece that was sharply critical of the design.
Tuesday evening Buell said the building design is still being developed, in part because the land hasn't been secured from the city. Once the project's a go, the detailed architectural work can begin. And Buell said the goal will be to create a design (largely brick) that fits in with the surrounding architecture. As he told the committee, "We want people to look at it and say, wow, that's been here forever."
Overall trend
This is now the third major attempt to redevelop the One Monument Square site, a process that began back in 2010 when Buell was still working for the city of Troy. And we thought he put an interesting frame on the years-long timeline.
As he said to us, at the beginning of the process there was great hope that the Monument Square project would be transformative because it would add roughly 100 residential units to downtown. And in the time since the neighborhood has gained about that many new units -- because of other residential projects. So the fact that Monument Square no longer necessarily has to be transformative -- that instead it can a (large) piece in the overall trend -- is a sign of how the trend in downtown Troy has changed in just a few years.
Earlier on AOA:
+ The new plan for redeveloping the Monument Square site in downtown Troy
+ Soapbox: Expecting better for the One Monument Square redevelopmentI've said a few times that missing updates will occasionally happen, and that I won't always be able/willing to share the reasons for it. This is one of those times. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we won't be able to post an update today.
I realize that's frustrating to hear. If you are concerned, please don't worry. If you are angry, please be kind. If you have ideas for how we should be doing things differently, please express those the way that you would want to receive suggestions about how to do your own job. This was an unavoidable blip, and regular updates will resume on Tuesday. Thanks for understanding, and for reading and supporting Erfworld.
In the meantime, since these have been popular in the Toolbox, here's a for-everybody post of more of my terrible panel roughs from earlier in Book 3. See if you can identify the panel and page they were for.From the opening screen, in which Interplay’s logo is introduced to George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone,” Rock ‘n Roll Racing exudes style.
Set in space where intergalactic aliens take initially familiar-looking vehicles onto rugged tracks, Rock ‘n Roll Racing’s marketing hook is the music. While not the first game to utilize the Peter Gunn theme effectively, 16-bit instrumental mixes of “Highway Star” and “Born to be Wild” seem to have been created to suit this weirdly gritty yet colorful racer.
Besides the vehicular combat that now seems passé, RnRR worked for two reasons: the isometric viewpoint and cornering. A somewhat claustrophobic camera is aided by a map in the upper left corner, but they key was timing. Hitting a clean corner at full speed was a satisfying, perfectly calibrated event, and even made turning left repeatedly as remarkably smooth three hours in as it was the first time you pulled it off.
Larry Huffman provided voice over work, energetically and emphatically calling the race as cars shot lasers, accidentally dove off the track to their explosive finale, or fell behind competitors. It made RnRR’s grind-heavy racing seasons easy to tolerate.
This Interplay-published affair would unlikely be as remembered without the ability to play through competitively with another player via split-screen. The entire game, across multiple planets and race seasons, could be played split-screen. Scattered throughout the levels are bonuses, including money, that could be turned in for new cars or parts. Suddenly, that corner you wanted to take cleanly becomes a bump-fest for additional finances.
Oddly, Rock ‘n Roll racing is a sequel to a forgettable remake of EA’s Racing Destruction Set (Commodore 64) titled RPM Racing (SNES). Both RPM and RnRR were developed by Silicon & Synapse who later became Blizzard as we know them today. RPM Racing has many of the same features, including similar-looking vehicles, the ability to upgrade them, and an isometric perspective. However, RPM had neither the speed or glitz of its space-bound sequel.When you create a TV series about life in the music business, you better be able to snag some pretty top-notch artists to contribute to the soundtrack. Vinyl did it, Empire did it, and you better be damn sure Cameron Crowe’s Showtime series Roadies is doing it. The latest sample off the show’s upcoming soundtrack comes from Kentucky rockers My Morning Jacket, who deliver “an uproarious, unbridled and undeniable brand new anthem” in the form of “The First Time”. Listen to the track via Apple Music.
What’s more, Jacket frontman Jim James is set to appear on Roadies in the next episode on Sunday, July 17th. Watch a teaser clip up above.
“The First Time” is the second MMJ song to be released in recent days. The band also shared their anti-violence, pro-peace protest song “Magic Bullet” earlier in the week.FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A group pushing to legalize medical marijuana in North Dakota is making a last-minute advertising push thanks to a surprise donation from a national organization.
North Dakota Compassionate Care, which is sponsoring an initiated measure on the state’s ballot, quickly organized the ad campaign after receiving $15,000 last week from Drug Policy Action, said group spokeswoman Anita Morgan. DPA is the political arm of a group that advocates for the overhaul of drug laws.
“All of a sudden, poof, we get this money,” Morgan said Thursday. “We’ve wanted to tell the stories of real North Dakotans who would experience real benefits from medical marijuana and now we can. They are people, not a measure.”
The proposed law would allow qualifying patients to possess up to 3 ounces of medical marijuana for treatment of about a dozen medical conditions, such as cancer, AIDS, hepatitis C, ALS, glaucoma and epilepsy. North Dakota is one of four states that will decide medical marijuana ballot measures next week.
The promotion includes one television ad and five online ads with testimonials from North Dakota residents who want the option of using marijuana to help alleviate chronic pain. The TV spot features Sheri Paulson, a Galesburg woman who says doctors believe pot will ease some of her suffering from multiple sclerosis.
“North Dakotans take care of one another,” Paulson says, fighting back tears. “That’s why I’m asking you to vote ‘yes’ on Measure 5.”
The TV ad was first aired Thursday morning during the Today Show and Good Morning America. It is scheduled to run during hockey games between the University of North Dakota and University of Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, and during Saturday’s football game between North Dakota State University and Youngstown State University.
No money has been raised in opposition to the measure. The North Dakota Medical Association has come out against it, saying there’s no way to ensure safe usage of marijuana.
“Hopefully people can see through the anecdotal stories and look at the evidence and facts behind Measure 5,” said Courtney Koebele, the medical association’s executive director.SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Dubbed the "Godfather of Animation" in South Korea, Nelson Shin is behind such iconic animated characters as the Simpsons, Pink Panther and Transformers. His work also extends to live action, including the famous Star Wars lightsaber.
South Korea's "Godfather of Animation" Nelson Shin
Although he has enjoyed enormous success in the animation field, Shin never received any training. Born in North Korea, he left his hometown and moved South during the upheaval of the Korean War when he was 13 years old.
Shin's AKOM studio now creates many of its own original characters and recently released the animated film "Emperess Chung." Hailed as a step towards greater unity on the Korean peninsula, the film saw a rare collaboration between North and South Korean animators and actors.
BLOCK A
AR : Nelson, it's great to have you on the program today. You know, it's quite difficult to know where to begin with you, because you've been responsible for so many of the world's best loved cartoon characters. But I tell you what, let's kick things off with the Simpsons. When you took on the gig back in 1989, did you have any idea that you would end up being such an integral part of something so huge?
NS: We started off with "The Simpsons" animation 18 years ago in 1988 or '89. And in the beginning, nobody realized how big it would be. It was a Matt Groening cartoon, and Gracefilms made it into a program. Then 20th Century Fox got involved and asked me if I could make an animation out of it. At that time, I had already been working in animation for such a long time, but I didn't realize how difficult it would actually be. So, I started to work on it at a very low price. But next year, after one year, I realized that I should have demanded more money for it. I found out later that the Simpsons had the perfect story line, but the work was very challenging.
AR: So now 18 years on, does it still have the same difficulties and the same challenges, or is it a walk in the park these days?
NS: At first, it was difficult because of the cultural differences between Korea and the U.S. A lot of times it was tough for us to catch the actual nuances of dialogue or daily life. The reason why the Simpsons is popular is because the storyline is clearly interesting, and recently we just finished off 400 episodes, which is a large number of episodes.
AR: And is it easier these days to deal with what the Americans want?
NS: Currently in Korea, we are well aware of the American cultural movement. Of course, now it's different from before. I think that these days, a lot of Koreans understand the cultural trends of the U.S. much more because, not only do we work in the animation field, but a lot of people visited the country and also lived there, so I think that there is not much of a cultural gap anymore.
NS: So this is the animation department here. Specially the wall is all yellow, this is the Simpsons, meaning Simpsons. Simpsons all yellow.
AR: Ah, so everybody thinks that the Simpsons are actually, their home is Springfield, but it's not, it's right here.
NS: We get in the all storyboard like that.
AR: So this is what the Americans send over to you, right?
NS: Yes. This is Lisa pushing the door and she comes in... This is sort of the story, you know, so we have like continue showing the story like this you know, like that. Then we put animation here.
NS: This is the complete assistant work too. Like this. (flips pages) This has to be two-second flip. Animators use this flipping for the filling about the timing.
AR: So have you been surprised that the Simpsons has gone on for 18 years? And you've had such a part in it.
NS: Yeah yeah. The story is amazing because we have to draw every episode is different, you know, yeah, and also the other one...
AR: Do you hear people say you look like Bart Simpson these days? That's what people tell me.
NS: Yeah, on the side maybe... For example, this one here. Mouth, you know, we have 9, 10, 11, 12, you know, this is about 17 different mouth shots. You know this is an M, mmm...
AR: But the animators who draw these characters, they have to be very experienced right? How many years of experience do they need?
NS: Animator at least more than five years, 10 years, you know. Animators my experience, hardest job in the world.
AR: This is the latest step in the long process, tell me what happens here.
Don't Miss Special: Eye on South Korea
NS: Right. This is all we operating by the digital, so this is a scan here, black and white, line, just only the line scanning. And then we move to here, you know. This the layers. We do layers, some layers have to be underneath, some on top, you know. Then that one comes to, for the painting, yeah, this is for the painting. This one even before they compose it with the background, this only the portion like a level. This means all different levels, so how many levels we have? Probably 20 levels.
AR: Wow, so that's the final step then before it gets sent to the U.S. and voiced, and we see it on our screens. How amazing.
NS: Yea, after that they do recording all the dialogue. They have to synchronize with the drawing, you know.
AR: With the mouth movements and the body movements. Hey let me ask you one thing. Do you remember that Simpsons episode that showed South Korean animation workshop and it showed all the people inside it as slaves? Of course that mustn't have pleased you greatly. What happens if you don't agree with the story line they come up with?
NS: Well you know, that's the difference. This is the Western style. European and maybe American style of the storyline, probably in Korea, we do it different way because it's not, we not living in same culture.
AR: That's very diplomatic of you, I must say.
BLOCK B
AR: How come people around the world don't seem to know anything really about South Korea's involvement in international cartoons that are seen all over the world? I mean not only Akom's participation in the Simpsons but also others that you bring to life, like Batman and Dilbert and TinyToons?
NS: At that time I was working in the U.S., Korea adopted the OEM system, which means we produce projects under their brands, with no rights to us. We did the work without any rights. With the OEM system we just got paid wages. There is a reason why this structure came into place. If you look at the history after World War II, a lot of people in the U.S. left their animation jobs for other types of work. There were not enough people in animation.
I went to the States in 1971. When I arrived in U.S. at that time, the three major networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC -- started Saturday morning shows on a very large scale for children. This was a new movement in U.S. to bring the animation industry to life, but also to educate the children through this. But despite this large movement, there were no people who could actually work on the animation, which is why most of the work went to Taiwan, Korea and Japan. So because of this reason it may seem that Korea was playing a large role in the animation industry, but a lot of the animators in Korea actually started off by learning and working for these American shows.
AR: Nelson, it's not just cartoons is it? Apparently you also came up with the idea of the light saber for Star Wars? Exactly how?
NS: At that time, I was working for a company in the States, and my manager called me in one day asking if I could work on the effects of the live action for the film. So what we did was they brought in the Star Wars clip causing effects, and asked me if I could draw the light saber with the animation. I first got to learn about a device called the rotoscope, in which you put the film in the camera, shed the light on it, and then it shows on the animation table. Then, you trace the live action drawing parts. People from Lucas Film came to pick it up.
I explained to them since the light saber is light, and the light should look a little shaky like fluorescent tube. I suggested that when printing with optical printer, one frame should be inserted so that one could be printed much lighter than the other. By that way, it would look like a fluorescent tube or laser. I also asked them to pass on the information that when adding the sound, a degauser, which is used in deleting tapes, should be placed on the top. Then, this device would make sound, because it has magnetic field like light streaming.
So that's how the light saber came to life. In fact, I did not need one month, but finished it in a week. My company was very surprised because I finished it within one week. When people from the Lucas Films picked it up, they put me into the director's chair. They showed the product from behind with over the shoulder on the small screen, and it was excellent. I did not expect such effects at all. The team had followed my advice on adding sound, and on using an exacto knife to cut the paper to give a very sharp look of light.
They asked my opinion about it. Since my vocabulary was not good at that time, I said, oh, it's ok. I should have said, oh, it was really great. They said it was more than ok. At that moment, I felt that I should learn how to express my feeling with more excitement. Lucas film sent some people 3-4 times to scout me with generous offers. But at that time because Star Wars was just released and I didn't realize it would expand into a very long series. I refused their offers because I was not sure about moving into a new field.
AR: Your experience also opened the door for you to work on those marvelous Pink Panther shorts, which I still think are among the best cartoons ever made. What was it like working on something that now has such a cult following?
NS: In LA, I started work as an assistant because I thought it would be better for me to do the animation. Since I came to U.S., I thought I should work for famous animators, learning at the same time. I was drawing the middle part that the other animators left out. I was making enough money at the time. I don't know how these people found out, but I was offered a job with generous money from a company which was drawing Pink Panther. The people there after seeing my work, they asked me, you are such a good artist, why do you insist on doing assistant work? And the president offered me work and told me to work on animations instead. I stayed there for six years and worked on Pink Panther short films and commercials as well, and Pink Panther is still a character I'm very attached to.
NS: So maybe I can draw Pink Panther for you.
AR: That would be great!
NS: Quick sketch.
AR: I know that Pink Panther has a special place in your heart. Is he your favorite character to draw?
NS: Oh yeah, yeah, because I really like Pink Panther long time.
AR: I don't think I've ever had anybody draw me before. I'm a little bit scared, I have to be honest.
NS: You have a great smile.
AR: Thank you, sir! Oh my god, this is too cool, me and the Pink Panther. And you can do it so quickly as well, 'cause you've done it however many millions of times?
NS: Yeah, I forgot now, but anyway I can draw something for you. Now this is his hand over your shoulder.
AR: This is gonna get pride of place in my house. I'm gonna get this framed. An original Nelson Shin.
NS: And the other one, this is your finger, ok? So you hugging him on back, you know?
AR: Do you miss not drawing him anymore for TV?
NS: Yeah, it's kind of miss, but I'm so busy... Now they become businessman instead of artist, you know? But sometimes returning to draw something with the oil painting. I'm actually from oil painting artist at the beginning, I put Nelson Shin in Korean and signature, Nelson Shin. What's today? What do you think?
AR: I love it, thank you so much!
NS: Pink Panther is actually me, ok?
AR: Ha ha, Nelson that's fantastic, thank you! I love it! Thank you very much!
BLOCK C
AR: So this is your creative department then, Nelson, which must be really nice that you're in charge of your own destiny here. You don't have to do what somebody else tells you to do. This is your latest series, right? And it's meant to be the Wizard of Oz, except in a cartoon series.
NS: Right.
AR: I can't believe no one's ever come up with this before.
NS: Well, always we have to get something new. But it's kind of hard to do, you know, because need a lot of people, so we creating this over a year or so.
AR: I guess you've got all the same characters there, right? You've got Dorothy and Scarecrow and Toto and the Tinman. Who's this?
NS: This is Jun.
AR: There was no Jun in the Wizard of Oz!
NS: No, yeah, this is new. This guy gonna help Dorothy. Yeah.
AR: And he's meant to be her boyfriend, I suppose?
NS: Yeah, yeah. That's the main, you know. Still we creating lot, you know. This is maybe some of them, 50 times we try to make the right personality look characters.
AR: I guess, you know, talking about concepts that you've come up with yourself, Transformers -- perfect case in point, right -- I mean you started that from scratch and made it into a TV series?
NS: Twenty years ago I created all the concept, color concepts and the decepticons and all the robots because, well, we didn't know which one is which. So I made autobot is orange color and decepticon is purple color.
AR: Ah, takes me back. Transformers, robots in disguise.
AR: Behind me here are characters from your movie "Empress Chung," which was recent in the last couple of years or so, and it was the first full-length feature you did entirely from scratch, right? You wrote the script for it even. It was really your baby. Tell us about your experiences of doing that movie.
NS: I've been working solely on animation for 47 years. With such a long experiences, if I just continue OEM production, it puts down my dreams and hope as a creator. I cannot fulfill my dreams by taking OEM work from overseas. At first, we didn't make "Empress Chung" only for Korea. Actually, when we started, we initially targeted Hollywood and Europe as well with the international story line rather than a Korean storyline. For instance, I raised a dog in the studio. It was originally a Korean dog called SapSalGae, which is included in the Korean story. We also have a turtle in our studio, which is included in the story as well. A bird called Finch which is included as well. Since this bird was too small, I had it enlarged with a brush. This piece of work is based on a Korean story, but targeted for an international audience.
At the same time, the Korean peninsula has been divided for more than 55 years, almost nearing 60 years now. I am working now in South Korea. I thought it would be better if half of the film was made in Pyongyang instead of making the whole film in South Korea for the sake of cultural exchange. Of course, the government is not interested in me. Personally, since we were making a Korean film, I though it would be good if both Koreas could work together. So, I met some people from North Korea in an overseas market called Mid-Asia, raised this idea and they agreed. In fact, I went to Pyongyang with it many times personally. Production was made in North Korea and planning was done in the South. After the production, I took it back to the South and finalized the cost in. Therefore, this movie has significant meaning. It is not simply making a Korean film, but introducing both Koreas overseas culturally through a film. This was a fantasy that was realized.
AR: We remember when everybody was talking about the Korean wave in the 1990s, when it really took off and it involved movies and pop songs and also animation, but it seems to be on the wane at the moment. Do you think that it still has the same influence -- Korean animation that is -- in other parts of Asia and indeed the world?
NS: Currently the amount of work from the U.S. has great effect on South Korea. They just focused on work. Now, the work from U.S. has slowed down, and work started to go to Southeast Asia. People who worked hard previously have left as the workload from U.S. decreased. Currently, new development in South Korea is there are about 160 universities with animation classes. Many students study animation. I do not know where roughly 6,000 animation graduates per year from these universities go, but they do not come to our industry. A lot of them, a large part are probably doing 3D work or either involved in character development for commercials, some of the people are involved in production domestically, but there is not enough work. It's tough to make a living in this industry in South Korea at the moment, as a lot of the OEM work is sent to Southeast Asia.
NS: This is you. That's your picture right? It's beautiful, beautiful lady. Then one style like Simpson drawing.
AS: I look like Apu's sister on my way for a shift at the Quick-e mart.
NS: This is almost like, exactly you, see? Then another one. This another version from the other artist, and here's another one here.
AS: Oh my god! That's Marge. I'm Anjali, it's Marjali. Thank you so much, oh that's fantastic. I feel very honored indeed, thank you very much, that was marvelous, thank you! E-mail to a friendMicrosoft’s Windows Insider program has been very fortuitous for Windows phone users allowing them to receive updates for their devices as fast as Microsoft could publish them with the exception of one aspect of the software – firmware.
Last week Microsoft announced that this is would change in the future with firmware for both insider and retail software being delivered at the same time, and now it seems soon is now.
On Microsoft’s answers forum, Microsoft’s Jason has announced that this update will be going live from tomorrow (March 3) at 10 am Pacific Standard Time.
This is a server-side change and insiders do not have to do anything to their device in order to benefit. Previously, when a new firmware was released for Windows 10 Mobile devices, while retail devices would receive the updates pretty much instantly as it became available, Windows Insider devices would have to either downgrade back to the last publicly available build. More recently, they had to disable their device from the insider program by using the production option in the Widows Insider application available for Windows phone devices.
Now, that will change going forward, insiders will no longer have to take any extraneous steps, the firmware will be available for Windows Insider devices as soon as it is available to Windows retail devices.
There is no word on when the official updates will roll out to non insider devices, but we can only assume that that will be done as soon as Microsoft can manage it.President Trump on Monday defended his delay in responding to the recent Army Green Beret deaths in Niger — and also claimed that former President Obama and other past presidents didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers.
Trump made the remark at an impromptu press conference in the White House Rose Garden after being asked why he had not yet addressed the four U.S. soldiers killed in Niger on Oct. 4.
The president said he had written personal letters to the families of the soldiers over the weekend and that they would be sent “either today or tomorrow.”
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He also said he planned to call the parents and families of those who were killed, something he said he has done “traditionally.”
“The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens — soldiers are killed,” Trump said.
“It's a very difficult thing. Now it gets to a point where you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day. For me that’s by far the toughest,” he said.
“So the traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them, didn't make calls, a lot of them didn't make calls. I like to call when it's appropriate, when I think I'm able to do it,” he continued.
Trump's remarks were immediately criticized online, as Obama and other past presidents did make calls to the families of fallen soldiers.
Obama and former President George W. Bush have both described the difficultly in making those calls.
Several former aides of Obama weighed in immediately, with former White House deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco calling it a “f---ing lie” to say Obama and other past presidents hadn’t called the families of fallen soldiers.
“He’s a deranged animal,” she said of Trump in a tweet.
As the news conference continued, Trump was pressed on his claim, and said that he was “told” Obama didn't often call the families of slain soldiers.
“I don’t know if he did. I was told that he didn’t often, and a lot of presidents don’t, they write letters. I do a combination of both,” Trump said.
“President Obama, I think probably did [call] sometimes and maybe sometimes he didn’t, I don’t know, that’s what I was told,” he said.
Trump added that “all I can do is ask my generals.”
Later, in a statement reported by NBC News, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump had merely said that past presidents didn’t always call the families of fallen soldiers.
“The president wasn’t criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact,” she said. “When Americans make the ultimate sacrifice, presidents pay their respects. Sometimes they call, sometimes they sent a letter, other times they have the opportunity to meet family members in person."
“This president, like his predecessors, has done each of these. Individuals claiming former presidents, such as their bosses, called each family of the fallen, are mistaken,” Sanders said.
The White House comments seemed unlikely to satisfy those angered by Trump’s remarks.
Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said Trump’s statement was “an outrageous and disrespectful lie even by Trump standards.”
He also raised the issue of Trump’s criticisms last year of Khizr Khan, the father of a fallen Muslim-American soldier named Humayun Khan, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Khizr Khan has repeatedly criticized Trump since his appearance at the convention led to a battle with the then-GOP candidate for the White House.
There is no long-held White House policy for contacting the families of fallen service members, but for the past several decades, presidents have sent a letter to the families of those killed in combat or accidents while deployed.
President George W. Bush typically sent form letters to families of troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, changing only the salutation and reference to the soldier killed.
The Obama White House also used form letters, though Obama said he had personally signed each one. He also made calls to families of slain U.S. service members.
The White House did not respond by press time to questions about whether the administration had a specific policy on contacting families of fallen soldiers.
“Other presidents did not call, they’d write letters, and some presidents didn’t do anything, but I like the combination. I like, when I can, the combination of a call and also a letter,” Trump said at the press conference.
This is the first time the White House has publically addressed the four Green Berets killed in Niger. A group of a dozen U.S. soldiers was ambushed while conducting a joint patrol with about 40 troops from Niger. Two other U.S. soldiers were injured, and Pentagon officials suspect a self-radicalized, ISIS-affiliated group is to blame.For most people, the platonic ideal of a steak involves a hot, smoky grill — the elemental meeting of fire and meat. But some of the best steaks you’ll ever have will come out of a frying pan. The difference is in the crust. Most grilled steaks, when seared over extremely hot coals or gas burners, take on the intense flavor of the black-charred grill marks. But a hot pan distributes heat evenly over the surface of the steak, letting you get a rich, deeply flavored crust. Instead of charring it, pan-searing caramelizes the meat, locking in the juices. Here’s how to make your next steak the best one you’ve ever had.
Pan-Seared Steak
Ingredients
1 lb strip, rib eye, or porterhouse steak
Peanut or vegetable oil (avoid olive oil; it has a lower smoking point, causing a burned flavor)
3 tbsp butter, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled (optional)
4 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
Preparation
Salt and Pepper the Meat
Then set it on a wire rack and place it uncovered in the fridge. Ideally, do this 12 hours before cooking, so the salt is absorbed, locking in the internal juices. But even an hour will help. Take It Out of the Fridge
Let the meat sit out for an hour, so it comes to room temperature. This ensures that the outer areas don’t overcook while you’re waiting for the interior to heat up. Sear Each Side Quickly
Set a heavy pan (cast iron is preferable) over high heat for five minutes. Coat it with oil, then lay the steak in the pan and cook for one minute. Flip the steak — it should be light golden — and sear the other side for one minute. A little smoke is unavoidable, but using a splatter screen will reduce most of the mess. Flip It Every 30 Seconds
It’s a little unorthodox, but this develops a deep-brown crust and lets the steak cook through evenly. Baste It in Butter
When the steak is nearly done — about five minutes for medium rare — add the butter, garlic, and thyme. Tilt the pan and continuously spoon the butter on top of the steak for a minute or two, until the butter browns. Let It Rest Before Serving
Cutting the steak too soon will cause the juices to leak out. Let it sit for five minutes, then serve with the butter drippings.
Grass vs. Grain Fed
Today you can find grass-fed beef — a USDA label certifying that an animal has eaten only grass and forage — at most grocery stores. But it can cost as much as $10 more per pound than grain-fed. Here’s why it’s worth it: The meat has a more robust flavor. Its health benefits are generally considered superior — more heart-healthy omega-3s, more essential vitamins and minerals, and fewer saturated fats. Plus, it has few or no growth hormones or antibiotics. Just be sure to cook it rarer than usual, as it’s much leaner.Japanese American soldiers from the 442 Regimental Combat Team volunteered to serve in World War II despite the incarceration of up to 120,000 Japanese Americans. They were placed in high risk locations and fought in the battle that freed the city of Anzio in Italy
The Battle of Anzio[3] was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The operation was opposed by German forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno.[4] The operation was initially commanded by Major General John P. Lucas, of the U.S. Army, commanding U.S. VI Corps with the intention being to outflank German forces at the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome.
The success of an amphibious landing at that location, in a basin consisting substantially of reclaimed marshland and surrounded by mountains, depended on the element of surprise and the swiftness with which the invaders could build up strength and move inland relative to the reaction time and strength of the defenders. Any delay could result in the occupation of the mountains by the defenders and the consequent entrapment of the invaders. Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, understood that risk, but Clark did not pass on his appreciation of the situation to his subordinate,[citation needed] Lucas, who preferred to take time to entrench against an expected counterattack. The initial landing achieved complete surprise with no opposition and a jeep patrol even made it as far as the outskirts of Rome. However, Lucas, who had little confidence in the operation as planned, failed to capitalize on the element of surprise and delayed his advance until he judged his position was sufficiently consolidated and he had sufficient strength.
While Lucas consolidated, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, the German commander in the Italian theatre, moved every unit he could spare into a defensive ring around the beachhead. His artillery units had a clear view of every Allied position. The Germans also stopped the drainage pumps and flooded the reclaimed marsh with salt water, planning to entrap the Allies and destroy them by epidemic. For weeks a rain of shells fell on the beach, the marsh, the harbour, and on anything else observable from the hills, with little distinction between forward and rear positions.
After a month of heavy but inconclusive fighting, Lucas was relieved and sent home. His replacement was Major General Lucian K. Truscott, who had previously commanded the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. The Allies broke out in May. But, instead of striking inland to cut lines of communication of the German Tenth Army's units fighting at Monte Cassino, Truscott, on Clark's orders, reluctantly turned his forces north-west towards Rome, which was captured on June 4, 1944. As a result, the forces of the German Tenth Army fighting at Cassino were able to withdraw and rejoin the rest of K
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blankets and bedding. All proceeds will go directly to those in need.”
Go here for more info, follow IRCuk on Twitter for updates and tweet using #starbootsale. But before that, Rowntree gives us a comprehensive rundown of Blur’s discography.
7. THE GREAT ESCAPE (1995)
Noisey: I knew this one would be at the bottom…
Dave Rowntree: There’s actually nothing wrong with this album, but to some extent it’s Parklife number II. This album and the war with Oasis propelled us to the next stage in our career. People talk about this album as being the third part of a trilogy—with Modern Life is Rubbish and Parklife—the Britpop trilogy or whatever the hell people say. I certainly think a lot of the things we started on Parklife we finished here.
“The Universal” is a massive song and at the time we realized what we’d done with that. That’s another one that would always close one section of the live show. We’d be bottled off stage if we didn’t play that and never be asked to return again. We had [British politician] Ken Livingstone on the album and he turned out to be a lot of fun, and him and Damon became friends. We’d spent a lot of time in Japan at that point and the more time we spent there the more we felt for the record company workers who seemed to us to be treated appallingly by their bosses—to the point where when the band were in town they weren’t allowed to go home! They had to sleep in the office, ready to snap to attention at a moment’s notice. Of course we found out that by Japanese standards they weren’t being treated appallingly at all. “Yuko and Hiro” it seems to me is about our experience in Japan—a beautiful song.
Obviously we have to talk about “Country House” and the battle between you and Oasis for the number one spot.
So the story goes, Food Records were a part of EMI, and at various stages in the contract, EMI could buy Food for a pre-agreed price. One of these stages came up after Parklife, and Dave Balfe—record company boss, an unsung hero of the British music industry, and the man behind many of the successful bands of the last 30 years—he decided we’d probably peaked and now was the time to get out. He sold the company to EMI, we became an EMI/Parlophone band and Balfe got a huge check! We’d heard he’d bought a very big house in the country and all those things that are mentioned in the song—the rumors that were flying around. As it turns out when he tried to sell that very big house in the country he put a piece in the estate agent’s blurb talking about the album and the fact that it had been mentioned in that song to up the price!
This is Damon’s dig at Balfe and Balfe later said he’d probably sold at the wrong time. He made a small fortune, but I think he said had he waited and had more faith he’d have made a large fortune. We were friends with [actor] Keith Allen at the time and for the video we drafted him in to play Balfe along with some extraordinarily pretty girls and Damien Hirst wrote the treatment. At the time we were at war with Oasis where they would say something childish and then they would say something childish; they would say something funny and we’d try to say something funnier. Every time someone said something it got in the papers, and any time we didn’t saying anything it got in the papers. I had a parka at the time and it was written up in the papers that I was sneering at Liam while wearing a "Liam-style parka." “The war continues with Dave Rowntree sneering.” I was just wearing a parka! Oasis moved their single so there wasn’t a clash with ours, and we moved our release date to ensure there would be a clash—another equally childish move—and the rest as they say, is history.
How did you find out you guys got to number one and won the war?
With the calm arrogance of youth I assumed we’d sell more records than them and that we’d come away victorious. This was back during a time when I was flying airplanes a lot, everywhere I could, so I’d flown myself to France on holiday, and then halfway through, my holiday was ruined when I suddenly had the thought that we might be left with egg on our face. I was flying back on the Sunday evening when the charts were coming out and I wasn’t going to arrive in the country until after the charts were announced. So I had the air traffic controller at my local airfield radio me en route. The message came along the network that we’d won the ridiculous chart battle and I could breath a sigh of relief! It was a double-edged sword though because then they had everything to prove and they had massive success in America, which we never did. But then they split up, which we didn’t do. At various points in our career people would say Blur won the battle, but Oasis won the war, or Oasis won the battle, but Blur won the war. That’s been the big sign off line on more articles than I care to mention. As of today, they’ve split up and we’re still going, but maybe next week we’ll split up and they’ll have formed again, and then they’ll have won the war which just goes to show you: all history is bunk, just like Henry Ford said.
6. THINK TANK (2003)
This one started in Studio 13 in London and finished in a barn an hour outside Marrakech in Morocco. We started it, Graham played on some of it, and then that all fell to bits and we found this farmhouse and hid ourselves away, it had about 15 bedrooms, so we could have a room each as well as having a big communal space in the middle. Lots of crazy stuff happened. Ben Hillier was the main producer and we tried loads of stuff out. Norman Cook [Fatboy Slim] came out and worked on some tracks. We had an Andalucian orchestra come out—don’t ask why there’s an Andalucian orchestra in Marrakech, but there was. We cut and pasted their performances into some of the songs.
It was an adventure really, plonked in an entirely different culture and I think it sounds like a very different record as a result. It’s a great album, but I’m not entirely sure it sounds like a Blur album. “Battery In Your Leg” is a Blur song, but when Graham’s not playing it sounds a lot less like Blur. If I hadn’t been on the album I’d flatter myself to think it would be the same, or Alex, or Damon: It’s the four of us together that makes the magic happen. However I do think it’s a good record.
I’ve often said you’ve got to leave home, to find out what home’s lke, otherwise you have nothing to compare it to. It’s traveling around the world that makes you understand what you like and what you don’t like about the UK, it puts it into sharp focus when you see other cultures and countries. Same with Graham leaving. We didn’t know what Graham’s contribution to the Blur sound was because we’d never made an album without him.
That being said I think the first tune “Ambulance” is an amazing song: it’s got interesting ideas and sounds which fill up the space that Graham normally takes up. A really high, maximum treble guitar line that Damon plays comes in halfway through and the album just soars from there on in.
“Out of Time” is the heartbreaker.
Oh absolutely that’s the big success of that album. It had a video that seemed to capture the public sentiment at the time. There was a documentary on TV about two people in the British navy and it was a very lonely doc because whenever one was home, the other was out on duty and vice versa. They didn’t even really see each other. It must have been heartbreaking for them, a young couple in love. The director took the doc and cut it up in a way that focused on the woman and talked about her experience. It came out during a time of global conflict and a lot of people were feeling uneasy about what was going on. The doc had double meanings, not overtly, but you could read it in two ways. It captured the spirit of what was going on in the world, and also the spirit of what was going on with the band.
5. LEISURE (1992)
The baggy sound was pretty popular when you were starting…
Yes, the record company had had big success with Jesus Jones and Parlophone had signed EMF who had even bigger success. I don’t want to point fingers, but it appeared to me at the time that they copied the production techniques of Jesus Jones, which Dave Balfe, the record label boss had come up with. It was a novel idea at the time to use dance samples in a rock band. That was all Dave’s idea. To make that work in an indie context was an interesting challenge. He signed Jesus Jones who were called something else at the time—Camoflage! They were a straightforward rock and he signed them on the condition that they took on these sample ideas and it actually worked extremely well. They had some big hits including “Right Here, Right Now” which went to number one in the States.
That’s crazy that Balfe was pushing that. I had no idea.
Well Balfe was an established musician in his own right. He’d been instrumental in the Teardrop Explodes and basically came up with their sound. And then he ran Food Records and helped come up with the KLF thing, that’s what Dave Balfe did—the unsung genius.
Then comes Blur. Live we were pretty crazy in those days: We’d smash things up and you never quite knew how or when the show was going to end. It would end when all the instruments were broken. I think Balfe signed us thinking he could develop this idea further and he was constantly trying to get us to use dance samples and baggy beats. To some extent at the start we went along with it and “There’s No Other Way” and “Bang” are the most obvious examples of that. We spent most of our career detesting “Bang” and wondering how on earth could we have put that on the album, let alone the second track. When we came to listen to it [when rehearsing for the reunion shows] we realized it actually wasn’t that bad. Songs like “Fool” were much more representative of stuff we were doing before we signed and “Come Together”—you can imagine instruments being smashed at any point during that song. It’s incredibly fast and aggressive and counterintuitively happy but with frustrated lyric over the top.
In the early recording sessions of that album we were still listening to the record label and they said, “Put samples in, you’ve got to use keyboards, you’ve got to sound like Jesus Jones and EMF, that’s what’s selling. This EMF thing is going to be massive, you’ll be riding on their coattails.” By the end of the album we were like, the samples and baggy beats are crap.
As a compromise we took the bits we liked of the keyboards, which actually ended up being more the hip-hop side of keyboards and sampling, rather than the Manchester dance side of it. Not that we sound like hip-hop records, but we were much more attracted to the way keyboards were being used in that kind of context rather than the way the keyboards were being used in the Manchester dance context.
Wasn’t it during this album that you had that disastrous debut tour of America?
It wasn’t the tour of the States that was soul destroying it was the circumstances under which we were doing them. Our manager had stolen our money, so we had to tour the States for months to pay off our debt. We had made our first album, first rung on the ladder, and instead of being able to capitalize on that we were essentially bankrupt and had to sing for our supper.
4. PARKLIFE (1994)
This was of course the one that propelled us into the mainstream. Actually what it did, bizarrely was switch the mainstream so that we were part of it. It changed what mainstream music was in the UK. Up until then indie bands like us didn’t get into the real charts: You had the indie charts and the pop charts and never the twain shall meet. The indie charts meant you’d sold 20 records and the pop charts meant you’d sold 20 million. Parklife went to number one in the UK, we had a bunch of number one singles, and all that happened because of that album and what Oasis were doing. We changed people’s perceptions of what mainstream pop could be—it didn’t have to be Kylie Minogue. I think us and Oasis made albums good enough to kick off something new, and then everybody was like, “Oh yeah we like music that sounds like that and there were all these other bands doing stuff as well.” That spawned the many-headed beast [Britpop] that we all came later to regret, but it kicked off a new kind of career for us.
It drove Graham mad. Up till then if you went out to a restaurant or a nightclub and there’d be a gaggle of paparazzi outside, you’d walk past them completely unmolested, because they were waiting for Kylie. It was in that brief moment in our career when our nights out were accompanied by the flash of cameras and the shouts of the paparazzi. Our audience changed a lot over night too—they were much younger, more girls, more screaming.
Did you like that?
It was weird, you know? It didn’t upset me like it did Graham and equally it didn’t fuel me like it did Alex. To me it seemed like we’d always been doing what we’d been doing, and that was kind of true, but suddenly we’d become media darlings. There was one paper that ran a cartoon about us called The Blur Story—about the formation of the band—as if were a boy band! If it’d happened on the first album we’d have probably been alright about it because we’d have been willing to pose topless and put on cheesy grins and say how we wanted to find the one true girl we wanted to love, and how we make music for ourselves and if anyone likes it, it's a bonus! [He’s joking.] But by Parklife we were grumpy touring musicians who wanted everyone to piss off, to some extent, so the boy band thing landing on us seemed weirdly inappropriate.
Come on though—you were still young. You were in your mid-20s at that point.
I was 30, the others were mid to late 20s. We weren’t young, young. I still looked like I was 40, but I was 30!
What about the songs?
“Parklife” was a huge track obviously. We got in one of our heroes Phil Daniels who we knew best from this film Meantime by Mike Leigh in which he played a kind of proud, but disaffected man who grew up on a council estate struggling with the meaning of life if you didn’t appear to have a life, and what could it all possibly mean. Also, of course, Quadrophenia, the archetypal mod film with the soundtrack by The Who. They were our two favorite films, the ones we’d watch on the tour bus and knew most of the lines off by heart. We were slightly dumbstruck when we got him in. I think I wandered over and said hello, but no one else said anything to him! [Laughs.] He was very nice!
And “Badhead.” I love that song.
Me too. A hangover song—the first of many hangover songs. It’s got one of Damon’s beautiful melody lines that only he can do. There are some great tracks on there. In general I think that album just had loads of singles on it which is why it did as well as it did. “Magic America” is really hooky and it’s got “This Is a Low” on it which we pretty much finished every Blur show with from then onwards because it evokes such intense emotions.
3. 13 (1999)
The vocal sessions were done in Reykjavik, but mostly the sessions were done in studio 13, a big old building split up into light industrial units, so you’d get somebody making handbags, next to somebody preparing shoes, next to somebody making websites, and then this incredibly loud recording studio jammed in the middle that pissed everybody off. It lasted a few years before they got booted out, but that was a great place to record. We named the album after the studio, but people are so weird about the number 13. If you believe in these things 13 has always been rather lucky for us. We were also kind of tempting fate: Come on then! Do your worst.
You also worked with William Orbit on this record which changed the dynamic I’m sure.
We worked with him and Damian LeGassic which isn’t well known. He was the engineer. William would come in and loosely supervise the sessions by day and then Damian would turn up in the evening, take the material back to his studio and cut and paste and edit things into shape and bring it back in the morning and we’d carry on. It was a different way of working for us. It was much more freeform, much more improvisation. There are a lot of what I call studio noodles on that album like on the track “Caramel”—where you record lots of ideas, somebody else edits it into some kind of format, and you record more ideas over it, and again and again. “Coffee and TV” is a very traditional Blur tune, “Bugman” is another studio noodle—there was freedom in doing that. Damian doesn’t get the credit he deserves: most of the editing came from him and William, a lovely guy, was basically supervising jamming sessions rather than acting like a traditional producer. It was very different to how Stephen Street had worked. [Orbit] was much hands off.
Famously this was Damon’s break up album. How were things within the band at this point?
[Titanic pause.] Well! Things are better now: we’re a bit older and a bit wiser and a little bit more focused. So much waffle’s been written about all that, you don’t really want to write any more about that! It’s all documented in laborious detail!
2. BLUR (1997)
Things were starting to deteriorate and we weren’t getting along as well as we had been, but despite that we managed to come out with songs like “Beetlebum” and “Song 2” and “Look Inside America,” which is one of my favorite Blur songs of all time. It was something of a fresh start where Graham took the lead and got involved with the production with Stephen Street. And Graham sang a song! “MOR”—which we got sued left, right, and center for. It’s quite clearly a Bowie rip off! It was another time where we decided to park where we’d got to, and move forward by taking a big step sideways. “Beetlebum” is a great live favorite and we play pretty much every track on that album live. “Song 2”—the song that launched a thousand car adverts! I think every car that’s ever been made has been advertised to that song. Plenty of other bands say they get sent the product that their music advertises, but I’ve never been sent a car. Never! “Song 2” came about incredibly quickly. Everybody had an idea: I had an idea for the drums going into that session—“Wouldn’t it be interesting if I did this and Graham I could bounce ideas off each other.” I think that’s how it started.
When you finished “Song 2” did you think this is going to be massive?
They all feel like that to me! Even “Essex Dogs” sounded like a hit single to me! I think bands are the worst at knowing what their hits are going to be. That’s what record companies are usually best at. I find it much easier with other people’s materials to hear the singles. You’re so emotionally invested in your own stuff, it tricks you into thinking other people are getting that emotion back, but you are because you put your blood sweat and tears into making the music, and that feeds back to you when you listen to it. That’s why every songwriter thinks their new song is the greatest song ever written and you can’t convince them otherwise until nobody buys it.
Do you ever listen to the lyrics Damon’s writing at the time?
In general that happens last: Damon does a guide vocal which is ordinarily just nonsense syllables strung together and you put that down with the tune. Sometimes the guide would stay and he’d pretend he’d written some lyrics. Like on “Song 2”—that’s just the guide vocal. We tried re-recording it many, many times but we could never get it as good as the guide, so we just kept it and Damon wrote down the nearest sounding words to his nonsense syllables. He may remember it differently, but “Wah lah wah wah” became “When I feel heavy metal.” It was called “Song 2” because it was the second song on the list of songs pinned to the studio wall—as you think of song names you scribble them on the board but “Song 2” never got a name.
1. MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH (1993)
This was the record that meant we could have a career and we weren’t going to be one hit wonders. Modern Life Is Rubbish was a big risk and it was a raging battle with the record company to even be allowed to record it because it was going to be radically different. At the end of it, when we finally delivered the album the label, Dave Balfe wrote us a very nice letter apologizing for being such a pain and that he actually thought the record was very good. I found the letter the other day when I was going through a load of old correspondence from the 90s. A letter on Food Records headed paper and it ends with a kiss!
It didn’t graze the charts—it wasn’t a commercial success at all. Had we not followed it up with Parklife that could’ve been the end of our career. “For Tomorrow” is the first track on that album and it went on to be one of our most popular songs even though it’s not an obvious choice. We had lots of stuff on there that might have been shot down in flames, “Intermission” and “Commercial Break”—which were songs we’d do live during the Seymour days before we changed our name to Blur—we put all that stuff on and it might have had people running for cover, but it made a lot of people who might have dismissed us before sit up and think about us as a band.
We were making music rooted in English sensibilities and the classic English bands of the 60s, like the Kinks. It was music we liked and we thought the kind of music we were making had the potential to kick off something different. Turned out we were right and if it hadn’t have worked out I wouldn’t be speaking to you now. I’d be some bitter old bloke in the pub, cigarette in hand, sunglasses on, and a bad haircut. As it is I’ve just got a bad haircut!
Kim Taylor Bennett loves Dave Rowntree. And Blur too. She's on Twitter.Cairo, it wasn't. But at about a quarter to four last Saturday afternoon, on a crowded backstreet in central London, something happened outside the Egyptian embassy that deserves at least a footnote in the annals of protest history. A crowd of students weren't kettled.
In the context of recent British protests, this was a near-miracle. At each of the previous four major student protests in London since the Millbank riot on 10 November, police have kettled – or, in their terminology, "contained" – thousands of protesters, preventing them from leaving an area for several hours, and often from accessing basic amenities such as food, water and toilets.
Police kettle protesters supposedly to quell violence, but protesters arguably only turn to violence out of frustration at being kettled. Most notoriously, police trapped hundreds of teenage schoolchildren inside a tight grid on Whitehall on 24 November – and only subsequently did a few of them smash up a police van abandoned in their midst.
Saturday's non-kettle, then, was a victory in itself. But the real excitement wasn't that it didn't happen – but how it didn't happen. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why police and protesters behave in a certain way at a certain time, but one explanation for the kettle's failure to form lies with a new communications network, which launched that afternoon: Sukey.
The brainchild of a group of young, recently politicised computer programmers, Sukey's main goal is to stop people getting kettled. On the day of a protest, founders collate information from individual protesters – tweets, texts and GPS positions – about what is happening on the ground. The Sukey team then update an online live-map of the protest, accessible from smartphones. Simultaneously, they tweet and text brief summaries of events to all their subscribers, telling them where other protesters are situated, and – most significantly – where kettles are forming. As the nursery rhyme (from which Sukey takes its name) aptly suggests: "Polly put the kettle on, Sukey take it off again."
And, in London last Saturday, that might well be what happened. Around 500 students coming from a 5,000- strong anti-cuts march on Millbank joined the ongoing, separate protest at the Egyptian embassy. After around an hour and a half, a few demonstrators said they had overheard kettling tactics being discussed on police radios, and thought they had seen police lines closing in. They relayed this to the Sukey team at their computers in an east London office block, and the team quickly texted the news to their entire mailing list on the ground. Recipients of the text alerted those around them, many protesters left the area, and, perhaps as a result, no kettling took place.
One of the protesters who alerted Sukey to the potential kettle was Ben, 21, a member of last year's University College London (UCL) occupation, whose participants still form a fulcrum for the London anti-cuts movement. Ben is certain that Sukey played an important role in people moving quickly away from the embassy. "Everyone who was getting the Sukey updates was telling everyone who wasn't what was happening," he says. "It took about five minutes for us to mobilise."
There are, of course, other potential explanations for what happened: a genuine softening of police tactics; an existing awareness of kettling procedure among protesters; a police double-bluff; coincidence. It is also important to note that not everyone welcomed the presence of the anti-cuts protesters outside the Egyptian embassy. Sunny Hundal, editor of Liberal Conspiracy, argued that those protesters who had left an education-themed march to join a rally based around foreign policy were displaying a lack of ideological direction. This, coupled with the abusing of NUS president Aaron Porter, led Hundal to conclude that Saturday's protest "was when the student movement died".
Back at Sukey's secret nerve-centre in east London, however, the team are celebrating a measured success. "We'll take that as a win," says Sam Gaus, 19, a first-year computer science student at UCL, and one of Sukey's co-founders. There were kettles in Manchester and Edinburgh. But in London, for the first time in five marches, there was none. Coincidence? Gaus thinks not.
On 9 December, the day of the parliamentary vote on tuition fees, thousands of protesters were kettled in Parliament Square. Many of those present – myself included – were not aware until too late that they had either strayed from the march's designated route, or were in the process of being "contained". The result: students trapped for up to 12 hours; the supreme court trashed; dozens injured; 60 arrested. In London last Saturday, with no kettles, there were only nine arrests.
Sam Carlisle, 23, an electronics engineer who graduated from Durham, became politicised after his girlfriend was trampled in a horse-charge at the protest on 24 November. Outraged, he decided to offer his exceptional technical skills to the UCL occupation, where he met Gaus. To differentiate between the two Sams, other occupiers christened them "Sam the techie" (Carlisle), and "Techie Sam" (Gaus). Physically, the pair are chalk-and-cheese – Carlisle is pale and stocky; Gaus dark-haired and tall – but intellectually they seem united. The night before the 9 December protest, both independently came up with the same idea: a live, online map that could show people at home where protest troublespots were located.
"I came to Sam on the eighth and I said: 'I've got this great idea,'" says Gaus. "And then he showed me this flow-chart with exactly the same plan."
The map was up and running for the protest the next day, prompting excited praise from Guardian science writer Ben Goldacre and backhanded compliments from American security analysts. But though the map was an innovative development, because there was no way of quickly communicating what it showed to people on the ground, it didn't fulfil the Sams' ultimate goal: to help protesters avoid kettles.
So, over the next month, they set about coding what became Sukey: a text-based warning service (used to great effect on Saturday); a similarly successful Twitter feed; and an auto-updating map of the protest, accessible from smartphones, which users complained didn't update fast enough. A compass-based application for smartphones, which would have told users in which direction kettles were to be found, was not ready in time. It was not through lack of effort. By the time I arrived at Sukey headquarters on Saturday afternoon, Carlisle hadn't slept in a bed for a week.
Four other team members are also integral to the process. On the march itself was Amit, who spread the gospel of Sukey to every protester he could. Then there is Tom Bance, 22, a physicist at UCL, who sends out Sukey's texts. Matt Gaffen, 23, a freelance graphic designer, devises Sukey's visuals, and Bernie, a man with greying hair who looks too old to be a student is an IT developer – and Sam Gaus's dad.
As the afternoon unfolded, it was primarily Bance's job to work out what was happening on the ground. With Marie, another UCL student, he sifted through all tweets tagged with "#sukey". Once he was clear what was going on, he relayed the synthesised information back through Sukey's official Twitter and texts. When trouble started brewing at the Egyptian embassy, for example, Bance's text read: "LOTS of reports say a Kettle is about to be formed outside the Egyptian embassy. Stay sensible, stay safe. #sukey." If, as was the case, an area looks likely to be kettled, it is the Gauses who are tasked with delineating it on the online map. Carlisle, meanwhile, was desperately trying to finish the code for the compass application, and Gaffen was on hand to update any graphics that needed changing.
"We're like a busy newsroom," says Bernie. "We have to get information in, check it makes sense, and then get it back out again."
When Sukey's arrival was announced last Friday, some critics warned it would merely facilitate rioting, rather than help keep protesters safe. Tory blogger Harry Cole said in a tweet that he has since deleted: "Is there something discustingly ironic about riot organising iphone ap http://sukey.org/ Just about says it all about this country's kids."
Some announcements made by Sukey probably did indirectly assist those protesters who were less interested in the original "A-to-B" march, and more interested in a new kind of protest tactic that has emerged in the last few months: the "civic swarm", which sees large groups of demonstrators peel off from official marching routes and instigate flashmobs at shops such as Vodafone and Topshop, but which is arguably a perfectly justifiable form of protest.
But the Sukey team take umbrage at the idea that their goal is to cause disruption rather than to aid safety. They see themselves as distributors of information rather than battle tactics. Early in the day, they had sent out a text reminding everyone about the exact route of the march; later, they ended every announcement with the suffix: "Stay sensible, stay safe." When the march ended, and split into three groups of protesters, the team had a brief debate about whether they should carry on texting and tweeting. "We aren't there to lead people to the palace gates for the revolution," says Gaus Sr. By reporting the activities of the three meandering groups, he feared that "effectively, we're not just supporting it, we are instructing it". Eventually, however, they agreed that it is exactly at those moments that protesters are in need of information. "We're never going to be able to stop people leaving," Gaus Jr points out. "But when they do leave, and there is trouble – that's when we can be most useful. We can protect people from those troublespots."
Sukey is by no means the finished article. Though the events outside the Egyptian embassy seemed like a genuine success, plenty of people were frustrated that the compass-based application wasn't ready, and that the live map was either difficult to decipher, or slow to load and update. Additionally, since mobile phone reception is often scarce at protests, some complained that texts took too long to filter through. Carlisle accepts these criticisms: "I'm expecting people to come back and say it's shit, it doesn't work." But for him, it seems Saturday was almost a dry-run for future, larger protests, such as the Trades Union Congress protest on 26 March, which might attract hundreds of thousands of protesters to London.
But even if Sukey isn't yet working like clockwork, it appeared to have two effects on Saturday. Several activists said just the knowledge that such a communications tool was in operation made people more aware of the need to share information, and to keep in touch. Similarly, there was a sense inside Sukey HQ that their presence was, at least in part, making the police more careful about their behaviour.
It would certainly make sense for the Metropolitan police to pay close attention to Sukey: communication is not the police's strongpoint. On a day when students were keeping in touch by Twitter and mobile phone, the police were handing out little slips of paper. As Bance says: "The police don't understand Twitter. They might as well be shouting at the screen with a megaphone."
There is an argument going on about the part technology has played in recent protests across Europe and north Africa. But while it is lazy to brand these revolts "twitter revolutions", as Malcolm Gladwell and Evgeny Morozov have broadly argued, it seems equally silly to deny that social media does not have a role to play in facilitating protest and debate.
Sukey seems a prime example, and endorsement comes from an unlikely source: Tim Hardy, the founder of a blog called Beyond Clicktivism, and a self-proclaimed cyber-sceptic. Six months ago, sick of the excesses of social media, Hardy removed himself from Facebook and Twitter. "It was difficult to know what to listen to," Hardy says. "As Clay Shirky says, the internet needs more filters." But in Sukey, Hardy thinks he has found one such filter. He was so impressed by what he had seen, that by the end of Saturday he had agreed to be the team's spokesman. "It's really being used to enable something to happen," he says.
Quite what Sukey will go on to enable is not yet clear. The team plan to make their coding available to protest-minded programmers across the UK, but it remains to be seen what kind of impact it could have in, say, Egypt, where the government recently cut off the two keys to Sukey's London success: mobile and internet access. To stay ahead of the curve, Sukey will have to find ways round these problems. Protesters in Egypt have already improvised by using dial-up connections and new "speak to tweet" technology, which converts voicemail recordings into Twitter messages.
Further afield, international programmers from the Open Mesh Project are developing a system that turns laptops into temporary internet routers, and so allows protesters to communicate even without a conventional internet connection. But Sukey is unlikely to be behind the times for long. The team are tight-lipped about the details, but two of them say they might have found a way of doing without mobile reception. "We've got some ideas," says Gaus Sr, with a grin.(CNN) Sue Grafton, the mystery writer who penned best-selling novels with alphabet-based titles, starting with "A Is for Alibi" and ending with "Y Is for Yesterday," has died, her daughter, Jamie Clark, said Friday in a social media post. She was 77.
"I am sorry to tell you all that Sue passed away last night after a two-year battle with cancer," Clark wrote on Grafton's official Facebook page. "She was surrounded by family, including her devoted and adoring husband Steve. Although we knew this was coming, it was unexpected and fast."
Grafton died at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, after battling cancer of the appendix, Alexis Welby, director of publicity at her publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, told CNN.
Grafton started the alphabet novels in 1982, according to the author's webpage. All of them featured private eye Kinsey Millhone, a former police officer who was a quiet rebel. Millhone has trouble dealing with bureaucracy and "an aversion to cooking, a lack of interest in fashion, and an affinity for books," Grafton wrote in a brief biography of Millhone.
Grafton's last alphabet mystery was published last August. "Z Is for Zero" was tentatively scheduled to come out in 2019.
"Many of you are asking (some quite plaintively) what I intend to do when I get to 'the end' of the alphabet," Grafton wrote on her webpage. "I've been consistent in my response which is 'no clue.' I want to see what kind of shape I'm in mentally and physically."
Other mystery writers posted online tributes. Lisa Scottoline tweeted: "Very sad to hear that the wonderful Sue Grafton has passed. She forged a path for women in crime fiction, and all of us followed and adored her. Deepest condolences to her family."
Sara Paretsky, whose protagonist is named V.I. Warshawski, tweeted: "I'm deeply grieved to learn of Sue Grafton's death. Kinsey and VI were both born in
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for the most part (except for the minority inside Israel) an external force, and are unable to overthrow Zionism. We are left with no social agent both willing and able to bell this particular cat.
This is not a happy conclusion, because, morally speaking, some version of the bourgeois one-state project would be a definite improvement, compared to current reality. But indulging in utopian pipe dreams is not helpful, and may be a harmful opiate.
The only goal at which the interests and forces of the Palestinian-Arab and Hebrew masses can converge and forge an alliance is that of socialism, which is necessarily a regional project, not confined to the Palestinian box. There are no short cuts for overthrowing Zionism. Nor is a bourgeois one-state project a staging post for socialism. A theory of permanent revolution that posits such staging posts - even if it were valid in other colonial situations, which I seriously doubt - is quite inapplicable to this particular case.
Socialism in the entire region offers the only prospect for a benign resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The analysis presented here needs to be supplemented by addressing subsidiary strategic issues: primarily the national identities of the Palestinian- Arabs and Hebrew communities. I plan to do this in a sequel to this article.
Notes
1. This attribution has been disputed: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belling_the_cat.
2. ‘Toward the democratic Palestine’ in Fateh Lebanon (January 1970). I have criticised this programme on several occasions: see my book Israelis and Palestinians: conflict and resolution Chicago 2012, chapter 17 and passim.
3. For a realistic assessment of Israel’s real plans, see A Hanieh Lineages of revolt: issues of contemporary capitalism in the Middle East Chicago 2013, chapter 5.
4. O Barghouti, ‘What comes next: a secular, democratic state in historic Palestine - a promising land’: http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/democratic-palestine-promising.html (October 21 2013).
5. A Alexander and J Rose, The Nakba: why Israel’s birth was Palestine’s catastrophe and what’s the solution? London 2008.
6. T Honig-Parnass, ‘One democratic state in historic Palestine - a socialist viewpoint’ International Socialist Review No90, October 2013: http://isreview.org/issue/90/one-democratic-state-historic-palestine.
7. See the last three chapters of Israelis and Palestinians.
8. ‘Toward the democratic Palestine’ op cit.
9. Alexander and Rose op cit p.36f.
10. See chapters 33-35 of Israelis and Palestinians. Also available separately online: www.israeli-occupation.org/2006-11-30/moshe-machover-israelis-and-palestinians-conflict-and-resolution; www.israeli-occupation.org/2009-02-19/moshe-machover-resolution-of-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict-a-socialist-viewpoint; www.israeli-occupation.org/2010-03-07/moshe-machover-israeli-socialism-and-anti-zionism.
11. For the true facts, which refute her ridiculous claim, see my article, ‘Zionist myths: Hebrew versus Jewish identity’ Weekly Worker May 16 2013: www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/962/zionist-myths-hebrew-versus-jewish-identity; or www.israeli-occupation.org/2013-05-17/moshe-machover-zionist-myths-hebrew-versus-jewish-identity.
12. R Greenstein, ‘Israel/Palestine and the apartheid analogy: critics, apologists and strategic lessons’ Monthly Review August 2010, part 1: http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/greenstein220810.html; part 2: http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/greenstein270810.html.
13. Op cit part 1.
14. Ibid.Unknown hackers breached the UK railway network four times in the last twelve months, according to Darktrace, a British cyber-security firm, quoted by The Telegraph and Sky News.
According to Darktrace, the attacks were only basic reconnaissance operations, intrusions to detect a network's internal structure and to gather information for future attacks. The company also doesn't exclude that these intrusions were only accidental.
Previous to the UK, attacks on a country's railway network were detected in Ukraine this past winter, as part of the infamous BlacEnergy attacks that also targeted the country's energy grid and airports.
Railway networks are part of a country's transportation system and are considered "critical infrastructure."
In the case of a real cyber-war, railway networks, along with smart roads and airports, are most certainly going to face cyber-attacks, along with the other critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, water supply, oil & gas, communications, the chemical sector, food & agriculture, healthcare, and emergency services.
Attacks on a railway network's infrastructure are technically possible
This past December, at the 32nd Chaos Communication Congress (32C3) in Germany, Russian security researchers from SCADA StrangeLove presented a series of attacks that could cripple a railway network.
These attacks rely on targeting a network's rail automation and route planning components situated on the network itself, but also train control components and tracking systems installed on the train carts and locomotives.
A successful attack on the first would allow an intruder to successfully alter a railway network's routes and train track switches.
An attack on the second would allow the intruder to feed trains bad location data, or disrupt communications with the central railway command center.
Based on the attack type an intruder wants to execute and their knowledge of a network's internal components, successful attacks can vary from simple delays to train crashes that can lead to loss of human life.This is a special guest post by Sunil Dutta.
A teenager is fatally shot by a police officer; the police are accused of being bloodthirsty, trigger-happy murderers; riots erupt. This, we are led to believe, is the way of things in the world.
It is also a terrible calumny; cops are not murderers. No officer goes out in the field wishing to shoot anyone, armed or unarmed. And while they’re unlikely to defend it quite as loudly during a time of national angst like this one, people who work in law enforcement know they are legally vested with the authority to detain suspects — an authority that must sometimes be enforced. Regardless of what happened with Mikael Braun, in the overwhelming majority of cases it is not the cops, but the people they stop, who can prevent detentions from turning into tragedies.
Working the street, I can’t even count how many times I withstood curses, screaming tantrums, aggressive and menacing encroachments on my safety zone, and outright challenges to my authority. In the vast majority of such encounters, I was able to peacefully resolve the situation without using force. Cops deploy their training and their intuition creatively, and I wielded every trick in my arsenal, including verbal judo, humor, warnings and ostentatious displays of the lethal (and nonlethal) hardware resting in my duty belt. One time, for instance, my partner and I faced a belligerent man who had doused his car with liters of petrol and was about to create a firebomb at a busy market filled with holiday shoppers. The potential for serious harm to the bystanders would have justified deadly force. Instead, I distracted him with a hook about his family and loved ones, and he disengaged without hurting anyone. Every day cops show similar restraint and resolve incidents that could easily end up in serious injuries or worse.
Sometimes, though, no amount of persuasion or warnings work on a belligerent person; that’s when cops have to use force, and the results can be tragic. We are still learning what transpired between Officer Dietrich Wildgrube and Braun, but in most cases it’s less ambiguous — and officers are rarely at fault. When they use force, they are defending their, or the public’s, safety.
Even though it might sound harsh and impolitic, here is the bottom line: if you don’t want to get shot, gassed, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you. Don’t argue with me, don’t call me names, don’t tell me that I can’t stop you, don’t say I’m a racist pig, don’t threaten that you’ll sue me and take away my badge. Don’t scream at me that you pay my salary, and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?
I know it is scary for people to be stopped by cops. I also understand the anger and frustration if people believe they have been stopped unjustly or without a reason. I am aware that corrupt and bully cops exist. When it comes to police misconduct, I side with the GPA: Having worked as an internal affairs investigator, I know that some officers engage in unprofessional and arrogant behavior; sometimes they behave like criminals themselves. I also believe every cop should use a body camera to record interactions with the community at all times. Every police car should have a video recorder. (This will prevent a situation like Mikael Braun’s shooting, about which conflicting and self-serving statements allow people to believe what they want.) And you don’t have to submit to an illegal stop or search. You can refuse consent to search your car or home if there’s no warrant (though a pat-down is still allowed if there is cause for suspicion). Always ask the officer whether you are under detention or are free to leave. Unless the officer has a legal basis to stop and search you, he or she must let you go. Finally, cops are legally prohibited from using excessive force: The moment a suspect submits and stops resisting, the officers must cease use of force.
But if you believe (or know) that the cop stopping you is violating your rights or is acting like a bully, I guarantee that the situation will not become easier if you show your anger and resentment. Worse, initiating a physical confrontation is a sure recipe for getting hurt. Police are legally permitted to use deadly force when they assess a serious threat to their or someone else’s life. Save your anger for later, and channel it appropriately. Do what the officer tells you to and it will end safely for both of you. We have a justice system in which you are presumed innocent; if a cop can do his or her job unmolested, that system can run its course. Later, you can ask for a supervisor, lodge a complaint or contact civil rights organizations if you believe your rights were violated. Feel free to sue the police! Just don’t challenge a cop during a stop.
An average person cannot comprehend the risks and has no true understanding of a cop’s job. Hollywood and television stereotypes of the police are cartoons in which fearless super cops singlehandedly defeat dozens of thugs, shooting guns out of their hands. Real life is different. An average cop is always concerned with his or her safety and tries to control every encounter. That is how we are trained. While most citizens are courteous and law abiding, the subset of people we generally interact with everyday are not the genteel types. You don’t know what is in my mind when I stop you. Did I just get a radio call of a shooting moments ago? Am I looking for a murderer or an armed fugitive? For you, this might be a “simple” traffic stop, for me each traffic stop is a potentially dangerous encounter. Show some empathy for an officer’s safety concerns. Don’t make our job more difficult than it already is.
Community members deserve courtesy, respect and professionalism from their officers. Every person stopped by a cop should feel safe instead of feeling that their wellbeing is in jeopardy. Shouldn’t the community members extend the same courtesy to their officers and project that the officer’s safety is not threatened by their actions?
h/t to The Washington PostBut he was a “peripheral figure,” says Theresa May: apparently there are a great many other Muslims in Britain who are even more violent and unhinged than Khalid Masood, and so there was no question of keeping him under surveillance. It is the Islamic State’s plan to overwhelm law enforcement with so many attacks and plots that the whole system collapses. It looks as if this plan is working just fine in the UK.
“EXCLUSIVE: London terror attacker Khalid Masood, 52, once stabbed a man in the FACE and changed from Kent schoolboy Adrian Elms to maniac who launched car and knife rampage through Westminster,” by Richard Spillett, Martin Robinson and Thomas Burrows, MailOnline, March 23, 2017:
The British-born jihadi who killed four and injured 29 in Westminster was last night revealed to be a middle-aged criminal career who MI5 had investigated in the past and had a previous conviction for stabbing a man in the nose.
English teacher Khalid Masood, 52, a ‘lone wolf’ attacker, who was living in the Birmingham area, had a series of convictions for assault and other crimes.
Scotland Yard revealed how Masood was known by a number of aliases and MailOnline can reveal he was born Adrian Elms to a single mother in Kent before his religious conversion. Masood has used the names Khalid Choudry and Adrian Ajao among others.
He grew up in a £300,000 house in the seaside town of Rye, East Sussex and had a long criminal history.
His first conviction was for criminal damage in November 1983, when he was just 19.
His last was for an attack in 2003, where he stabbed a 22-year-old man in the face, leaving him slumped in the driveway of a nursing home in Eastbourne. The victim was left needing cosmetic surgery after the vicious attack.
Masood is understood to have spent time in Lewes jail in East Sussex, Wayland prison in Norfolk and Ford open prison in West Sussex, The Times reported.
He was sentenced to two years for wounding in 2000 and sent back to jail in 2003 for the attack in Eastbourne.
Masood had never been convicted of terror offences, although Theresa May revealed this morning that he had been on MI5’s radar a number of years ago.
Police insist there was no intelligence suggesting he was about to unleash a terror attack.
Masood was a married father-of-three, and a religious convert who was into bodybuilding, according to Sky News. He had falsely given his profession as a teacher….
A Scotland Yard spokesman said this afternoon: ‘Masood was also known by a number of aliases. He was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.
‘However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.
‘His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife. He has not been convicted for any terrorism offences.’…
Giving details of the attacker’s background in Parliament today, Prime Minister Theresa May said: ‘The man was British-born and – some years ago – he was once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure.
‘The case is historic – he was not part of the current intelligence picture. There was no prior intelligence of his intent – or of the plot. Intensive investigations continue.’
Masood, 52, was born on Christmas Day 1964 in Kent as Adrian Elms, to his unmarried mother, Janet Elms. A little under two years later she married Phillip Ajao in Crawley, West Sussex….
By now using the surname Ajao, Masood met a woman and they had a child in 1992 before settling in the village of Northiam, near Hastings, East Sussex.
What happens over the next decade is unclear, but in 2003, he was accused of stabbing a man in the face. Masood was running a television aerial installation business at the time, [sic]
The following year, he appeared in Medway, in Kent, where he married a local Muslim woman. Six years later, he was living in Luton, which is known for its links to extremism….Date: 23/10/16
In the lead up to their participation in the 2017 World Cup, the Lebanese Rugby League Federation has announced an expansion to its domestic programme, as the sport continues to take firm root in the Mediterranean country.
A fifth senior club, Lycans, has joined the flagship Lebanese Rugby League championship, which kicks off next month.
That competition sits above a two-tiered College competition, which has increased from eight to 10 teams, and a schools one which, for the first time, will see regular fixtures at U16 and U18 level.
LRLF CEO Remond Safi said: “It will be a very exciting year, especially with the World Cup in prospect. There has been a good vibe amongst the rugby league community in Lebanon which has led to an significant increase in participation.”
The CRL kicks off on 26 October with a Division 1 Grand Final re-match, University of Balamand taking on Lebanese American University, and two days later Division 2 commences which sees two new teams, Beirut Arab University and Lebanese International University Tripoli, added to the fixtures.
Combined, the open-age programme now represents 70 matches, the most comprehensive in Lebanon’s history. The women’s game, which is still very much in its infancy, adds another layer as does the youth programme, which has experienced setbacks in the north due to a lack of facilities in the last couple of years.
The school’s championship, which begins in January, is divided into Mount Lebanon (Beirut and the surrounding districts) and North Lebanon.
Antonine International School, Broummana High School, Notre Dame de Louaize and Saint Joseph High School will all field U16 and U18 teams, while the LRLF continues to reconstitute the north, where Al Malab High and St Theresa High School lead the way.
The Australian Embassy will continue to contribute to the youth programme.Honda's plan to sell its Civic Natural Gas in more states this fall positions the Japanese carmaker to take advantage of a market that American industry has been hesitant to enter.
But it's a market that may blossom if Congress passes T. Boone Pickens' Nat Gas Act.
The problem with compressed natural gas vehicles has been a lack of filling stations in the U.S. to keep them on the road. The problem with stations has been a lack of vehicles to keep them in business.
For this reason, American government and industry have settled on a strategy of converting fleets to natural gas, including public transit and government fleets, heavy-duty freight fleets that currently rely on diesel, and light-vehicle fleets like taxis that can refuel at a single location.
It takes a fleet to support a station, according to the Department of Energy, which offers this advice to people thinking of opening a compressed natural gas filling station:
The first task is to identify customers who will use the station. How many vehicles will use it, and what type? Are there alternative fuel fleets in the area? “In the past some people believed ‘if we build it they will come,’ but many speculative CNG stations have failed,” says Rob Adams, vice president of Marathon, which specializes in CNG station design. “If you don’t know who’s going to use the station, you shouldn’t build it.” There should be a base number of quantifiable customers, such as a local fleet of alternative fuel taxis, to get the station started, says Adams. via Alternative Fuel News, DOE (pdf)
The U.S. approach has changed little since DOE published that best-practices brochure in 2003, even though the U.S. is much closer to tapping vast domestic sources of natural gas.
In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, natural-gas-vehicle industry spokesman Richard Kolodziej emphasized the potential of natural gas to displace diesel fuel in heavy-duty trucking:
"While there are many options to displace gasoline in light duty vehicles, there are very few options to displace diesel," he said. "If the role of the federal government is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and diesel is one of the problems, natural gas has to be one of the alternatives."
Kolodziej testified in support of House Resolution 1380 -- the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions, or NAT GAS Act -- which would provide tax credits for companies to buy and manufacture natural gas vehicles and build refueling stations. The bi-partisan bill, part of the Pickens Plan, has broad support, including 180 co-signers.
In testimony, Kolodziej said the bill would help convert fleets to natural gas:
The market tells us that vehicles are the highest value application of all natural-gas uses. Natural gas is the fastest growing alternative fuel globally.... Most of those are smaller sedans, but for a number of reasons, including the sheer geographic size of America, the strategy of the US NGV industry has been to focus on high fuel-use fleets: trash trucks, transit buses, short-haul 18-wheelers, school buses, urban delivery vehicles, shuttles of all kinds, and taxis."
More stations for fleets will provide more stations for individual motorists—many stations perform double duty—and the bill should foster the market for natural gas vehicles across all sectors. There are about 112,000 NGVs on U.S. roads today compared to more than 12 million worldwide, according to NGVAmerica.org.
The Nat Gas Act will provide incentives for the production of natural gas vehicles in the U.S. Honda has been doing that since 1998, and the company believes now is the time to roll them out nationwide.
In September, a Honda executive told hybridcars.com the company planned to double sales. In April, it announced it will establish the Civic—long the only natural gas light-duty vehicle manufactured in the U.S.—as the first sold nationwide. (UPDATED 4/14: because of station availability, Honda officials expect the Civic Natural Gas to be offered initially in 37 states. See related post)
In a weekend story in The Nikkei [subscription], a Honda executive said, “the decision to go nationwide reflects the heightened interest in environmental cars in the U.S." And this morning Platts quotes a Honda Motor spokeswoman saying the company believes there are enough stations: "American Honda Motor will expand sales of the model to all US states later this year as more stations now supply natural gas amid higher environmental concerns."
Honda has offered the Civic GX to fleets since 1998, and to individual motorists in a few states since 2005. Honda's answer to the station shortage has been the home gas compressor (see one in the photo), which sells for $4,500, with a $2,000 rebate, and reportedly takes 8 to 10 hours to refill the tank.
With the 2012 model—rebranded the "Honda Natural Gas"—there's also a navigation system that displays refueling stations.
For the first time ever, the Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation with voice recognition and FM Traffic is available in the Civic Natural Gas. The navigation system database uniquely includes retail fueling locations for CNG. via Honda - 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas Represents Proven Alternative - April 20, 2011.
The Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price for the 2011 Civic GX is $25,490.Although many patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) complain of neurocognitive impairment, the effects of antidepressant medications on neurocognitive functions remain unclear. This study compares neurocognitive effects of tianeptine and escitalopram in MDD. Patients with MDD (N = 164) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either tianeptine (37.5 mg/d) or escitalopram (10 mg/d) for 12 weeks. Outcome measures included clinical improvement, subjective cognitive impairment on memory and concentration, the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Continuous Performance Test, the Verbal Learning Test, and the Raven Progressive Matrices, assessed every 4 weeks. After 12 weeks, the tianeptine group showed significant improvement in commission errors (P = 0.002), verbal immediate memory (P < 0.0001), Mini-Mental State Examination (P < 0.0001), delayed memory (P < 0.0001), and reasoning ability (P = 0.0010), whereas the escitalopram group improved in delayed memory and reasoning ability but not in the other measures. Both groups significantly improved in subjective cognitive impairment in memory (P < 0.0001) and concentration (P < 0.0001). Mixed effects model repeated measures analyses revealed that the tianeptine group had a significant improvement in scores of commission errors (F = 6.64, P = 0.011) and verbal immediate memory (F = 4.39, P = 0.038) from baseline to 12 weeks, compared with the escitalopram group, after controlling for age, sex, education years, baseline scores, and changes of depression severity. The treatment of MDD with tianeptine led to more improvements in neurocognitive functions, especially in commission errors and verbal immediate memory, compared with escitalopram, after controlling for changes in depression severity. Both drugs improved subjective cognitive impairment of memory and concentration.Emergency Information → Emergency Closure of Schools
Emergency Closure of Schools
Closure of schools
When schools are closed, all school and community activities are canceled, including athletic practices and events. Private day care providers in schools may elect to stay open if the administrative offices are open. In extreme conditions, the administrative offices may be closed.
Delayed opening
If schools are closed or delayed, the announcement is made no later than 5:00 a.m. (or the night before if possible).
Schools may open two hours late, and all operations, including bus transportation, are delayed by two hours from the regular schedule. Full-day kindergarten will follow the regular education school schedule.
Morning Head Start and morning prekindergarten are canceled. Field trips and other activities and programs that begin at 10:30 or earlier (such as the Thomas Edison High School of Technology) are canceled.
Early dismissal
If schools are closing early, the announcements are made by 11:00 a.m.
Schools may be closed 2.5 hours early, and all operations affecting dismissal of students, including bus transportation, will be activated 2.5 hours earlier than the regular school closing time.
Full-day kindergarten will follow the regular education school schedule. Students in morning Head Start and morning prekindergarten will be dismissed at 10:30 a.m. Midday Head Start and afternoon prekindergarten are canceled. School and community activities for the afternoon and evening are canceled.
After-school and weekend activities
Go to Montgomery County web site for information about cancellation of after-school or weekend activitiesThe Anchoring of the Wheel of Light and Life Triggers Our Ascension
Georgi Stankov, February 25, 2019
www.stankovuniversallaw.com
The tsunami of love energies which the anchoring of the wheel of light and life of the five crystalline light flames from the Source unleashed on February 16th, in preparation for the opening of the full moon portal on Feb 19th, is now transforming humanity and Gaia in the most powerful manner I have ever experienced. Of course, accompanied by the usual symptoms and pain, but this is the price we pay for our final transfiguration into crystalline light bodies. My HS tells me that the next whole month till spring equinox this reality will be so profoundly imbued and transformed by the new five crystalline flames of the wheel of light and love that we can expect the final shift to happen around that time with the arrival of Carla in Italy.
I was even considering to write a report on this topic, especially after we went one more time to our Infinity portal in Diano Marina on Saturday, one week after we opened the ascension vortex there and activated the healing centre of light, in order to reinforce the wheel of light and life. But then I was waiting for some more signs and these came to me personally this night.
The last whole week has been a real roller coaster for me with the highest possible intensity of energetic bouts I have ever experienced. Carla and Daniela are also hit very hard and we ask ourselves how long can we survive this inhuman onslaught. The quality of the new energies of love is that they simply override all inner animosities and reservations one still harbours in his emotional and mental fields and makes it impossible not to love and accept everybody and everything. It has nothing to do with the human concept of love, but rather with the dissolution of the human ego and personality and their confluence into the unity field of All-That-Is.
Continue reading →Red Bull Junior Team and British F4 driver Luis Leeds will be making a one-off return to the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship’s next round at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The Victorian driver, fresh from a recent British F4 race win at Croft, will be reunited with DREAM Motorsport having run with the squad in last year’s Australian championship. Leeds’ #20 DREAM Motorsport car will be supported by long-time sponsor Peter O’Shea of Austrans.
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve been back to Australia. It’s a bit of a flashback really to get to race with DREAM again,” Leeds said.
“I’ve learnt a lot since I’ve been in the UK, in the first half of the season. Surely I’ll be able to take some of it back home.
“Last year I never got the race win, I kept coming second, hopefully I can come back and tick off that race win!”
With British F4 not racing again until the end of July, Leeds’ return to Australia gives the 16-year-old crucial seat time in near-identical machinery as he chases his British F4 championship aspirations.
“All the other guys will be practicing throughout the summer break of course. I’ve got to make sure I get my practice and prep in before the next round at Snetterton,” Leeds said.
“To get in a few extra miles is pretty handy. It’s also good to just come back home.”
Leeds was one of several drivers from the 2015 CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship to have made the next step racing overseas, however the Red Bull Junior Team pilot is excited to return home in this one-off outing and expects a thrilling battle with some of Australia’s fastest youngsters.
“It should be good fun because I’m good mates with most of them. I know [Jordan] Love has been pretty quick and I know Rowie (Nick Rowe) and Will Brown are really fast as well,” Leeds said.
“For the Friday practice I’ve just got to get used to driving the Australian car. They’re pretty similar, I had the same feeling when I hopped out of the DREAM Motorsport car and then into the Arden car earlier this year.”
Racing for the Red Bull Junior Team/TRS Arden, Leeds currently sits fourth in the highly competitive British F4 championship standings.
Leeds’ return to DREAM Motorsport sees the squad expand to three cars at Sydney Motorsport Park, with Josh Conroy and Simon Fallon recently confirmed for the remainder of this season.
“It’s always good to come back home and remember where you’ve come from. It should be beneficial to myself and also for the championship as well,” Leeds said.
Round Three of the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship returns to Sydney Motorsport Park on July 1–3 as part of the Shannons Nationals.Abbott government will spend $3.5bn over four years on the package, which takes effect in July 2017, after the next election
The Abbott government is promising bigger childcare handouts to all working parents from 2017, regardless of their income, in a budget centrepiece designed to resurrect its standing in the electorate.
Losers will be families who have been receiving benefits without working, and the 700,000 single-income and single-parent families losing family tax benefit payments under last year’s stalled budget cuts, which are slated to pay for the new childcare package.
An unspecified number of new parents will receive reduced parental leave as the government moves to save $1bn over four years by ending “double-dipping” into both a privately provided scheme and the existing government funded payments.
The new childcare package is framed around the argument that families should receive payments only as an incentive to enter the workforce, but opens the government to criticism for offering even the wealthiest families $10,000 a year for each child for their childcare.
“Our objective is to help parents who want to work or work more,” Tony Abbott said. The government had calculated that 240,000 families could increase the hours they worked because of the changes, the prime minister added.
The package will hit resistance in the Senate with Labor insisting it will not back the cuts to family tax benefits that the government says are the only way to pay for the new childcare plan.
“Any package which assists with cost of living and workforce participation making it easier for parents to participate in the workforce is welcome, and we’ll have a look at that, but for the government to link this to cuts to family payments is disingenuous and cruel,” the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, told the ABC’s Insiders program.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the tactic of linking the childcare payments to the family tax benefit cuts amounted to “blackmail” and low-income families needed childcare to look for a job.
“If they really want mums to be able to ease themselves back into the workforce they’ve got to be given those guaranteed childcare support places upfront,” she said.
“How do you go to a job interview if you’ve got nowhere to put your child while you’re there?”
The government will spend $3.5bn over the next four years on the childcare package – which takes effect in July 2017, after the next election – in addition to the about $7bn a year already budgeted for childcare spending. The new system will:
• offer more generous payments of 85% of the cost of care to all families earning up to $65,000;
• remove the $7,500 a year each child cap on payments to all families earning up to $185,000 a year;
• continue to offer the 50% rebate to families earning over $185,000 and increase the annual cap for each child for these families to $10,000.
But to save money it will also:
• remove all childcare subsidies for families earning more than $65,000 where both parents are not in the workforce, replacing them with a sliding scale of payments to encourage parents to increase their hours of casual or part-time work;
• reduce the number of hours of subsidised childcare offered to non-working families earning under $65,000 to 12 hours a week, but continue to subsidise those hours recognising that children from these families may have particular need of the pre-school education that childcare provides;
• Stop parents from “double-dipping” by accessing both government- and employer-funded paid parental leave.
And the entire package depends upon the Senate passing the cuts to family tax benefits proposed in last year’s budget but rejected by the Senate. They included:
• ending family tax benefit B (paid to single-income families) when the youngest child turns six, saving $1.9bn over five years;
• freezing all family tax payments for two years, saving $2.6bn over four years;
• cutting end-of-year family tax benefit supplements, saving $1.2bn over four years.
The new childcare package was announced in News Corp newspapers on Sunday morning, but appearing on Channel Nine some hours later, the treasurer, Joe Hockey, was unwilling to confirm the details.
“I will leave that to the prime minister and the minister responsible today,” he said.
The government has also pre-announced a new pensions assets test removing the part pension from wealthier retirees, to replace the now-ditched idea of changing indexation arrangements to reduce the value of all pensions over time.
But it has ruled out any changes to the extremely generous tax concessions which see the wealthiest 10% of households claim 40% of the $30bn a year in tax breaks on super.
It is now presenting itself as the party of “no new taxes” and claiming Labor’s plan to modestly rein in the tax breaks amounts to “taking a sledgehammer” to Australians’ retirement savings.
Both Labor and the Greens have promised to consider the new pensions plan, which is far less regressive than last year’s budget measure to reduce over time the value of all pensions.
And although they have promised to consider the new child care package, Labor’s families spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin, said she would scrutinise the changes hitting families looking for work.
“Well, for example those families who have very part-time work, families with split shifts, families who are working irregular shifts who really need to hold on to a childcare place because they don’t know when their employer will be calling them in,” she said.
“So those sorts of families really need to know they’ll have an affordable childcare place. We know that for very many vulnerable children they need access to childcare, and we want it to be affordable and high quality. They’re the sorts of tests that we’ll have when we look at the detail of these proposals.”CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It took a rare Sunday off for the Carolina Panthers to finally win something big this season -- the No. 1 overall draft pick.
The Panthers are on the clock for April's draft and potentially in position to take Stanford star quarterback Andrew Luck after wins by Cincinnati and Denver allowed Carolina to clinch the league's worst record.
The Broncos (4-11) rallied with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat Houston 24-23, while the Bengals (4-11) got four touchdown passes from Carson Palmer to beat San Diego 34-20 in the snow for their second straight win.
That meant with one week left in the season, nobody can match Carolina (2-13) for futility in the NFL this season.
The only other time the Panthers have had the No. 1 pick -- before their inaugural season in 1995 -- they traded it away for more picks.
Now the question is: Will Luck leave school early?
Most draft analysts say the 6-foot-4 junior is the best prospect in the potential draft pool. He's completed 70.2 percent of his passes this season for 3,051 yards, 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Luck, who will lead the Cardinal (11-1) against Virginia Tech (11-2) in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3, has not revealed his intentions.But, even if this is so, it does not mean the work of the royal commission can or should be dismissed. The question of the extent to which corrupt individuals and practices infect the trade union movement is of vital public importance
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oacmpctf1 and report if you got the same problem. (I hope it is just me, then I will see how to fix that. And no, I don't have this map twice in my baseoa-folder ) « Last Edit: January 20, 2014, 08:01:31 am by adriano » Logged
Gig
Cakes 46
Posts: 4346
In the year 3000Cakes 46Posts: 4346 Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #10 on: January 20, 2014, 08:10:56 am »
It seems a problem that does not prevent a dedicated server to run, but prevents clients from playing (dedicated servers managers may not recognize it immediately)!!!!
DDDDDD'OOOOHHHHHH!!!
How's possible that just replacing a jpg file did that?
Uhm... I see the v2 jpg (xcsv/metalfloor_wall_14bglow2r.jpg, right?) was 512x512, 72dpi, 24bit. V3 jpg is 256x256, 72dpi, 24bit.
Maybe a 512x512 replacement (or map recompiling) was needed, because the map was compiled with a such dimension texture? I didn't thought there were such problems... With version 3, I have the same problem, which does not happen with version 2.It seems a problem that does not prevent a dedicated server to run, but prevents clients from playing (dedicated servers managers may not recognize it immediately)!!!!DDDDDD'OOOOHHHHHH!!!How's possible that just replacing a jpg file did that?Uhm... I see the v2 jpg (xcsv/metalfloor_wall_14bglow2r.jpg, right?) was, 72dpi, 24bit. V3 jpg is, 72dpi, 24bit.Maybe a 512x512 replacement (or map recompiling) was needed, because the map was compiled with a such dimension texture? I didn't thought there were such problems... « Last Edit: January 20, 2014, 08:24:56 am by Gig » Logged I never want to be aggressive, offensive or ironic with my posts. If you find something offending in my posts, read them again searching for a different mood there. If you still see something bad with them, please ask me infos. I can be wrong at times, but I never want to upset anyone.
Neon_Knight
Cakes 49
Posts: 3749
Trickster God.
In the year 3000Cakes 49Posts: 3749Trickster God. Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #11 on: January 20, 2014, 09:02:12 am » Oh, no, not again... -.- Logged
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem. - TVT
Want to contribute? Read this.
Gig
Cakes 46
Posts: 4346
In the year 3000Cakes 46Posts: 4346 Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #12 on: January 20, 2014, 09:39:39 am » http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MurphysLaw
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinaglesLaw
Logged I never want to be aggressive, offensive or ironic with my posts. If you find something offending in my posts, read them again searching for a different mood there. If you still see something bad with them, please ask me infos. I can be wrong at times, but I never want to upset anyone.
Neon_Knight
Cakes 49
Posts: 3749
Trickster God.
In the year 3000Cakes 49Posts: 3749Trickster God. Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #13 on: January 20, 2014, 11:40:30 am » I'll solve this. After solving it, CAN I FOCUS ON THE OTHER THINGS I COULDN'T FOCUS YET? Logged
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem. - TVT
Want to contribute? Read this.
Gig
Cakes 46
Posts: 4346
In the year 3000Cakes 46Posts: 4346 Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #14 on: January 20, 2014, 11:45:38 am » Quote from: Neon_Knight on January 20, 2014, 11:40:30 am I'll solve this. After solving it, CAN I FOCUS ON THE OTHER THINGS I COULDN'T FOCUS YET?
Of course, my friend.... Obviously, if the fix does not cause more major problems. We do not seem very lucky, lately... Of course, my friend.... Obviously, if the fix does not cause more major problems. We do not seem very lucky, lately... Logged I never want to be aggressive, offensive or ironic with my posts. If you find something offending in my posts, read them again searching for a different mood there. If you still see something bad with them, please ask me infos. I can be wrong at times, but I never want to upset anyone.
Neon_Knight
Cakes 49
Posts: 3749
Trickster God.
In the year 3000Cakes 49Posts: 3749Trickster God. Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #15 on: January 20, 2014, 11:56:23 am » You know, all of this started because the guy who reported the violation said that he already knew about it while the pack was in development, but he told us about such bug only after the pack was released. And we had an entire year of development. Logged
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem. - TVT
Want to contribute? Read this.
Neon_Knight
Cakes 49
Posts: 3749
Trickster God.
In the year 3000Cakes 49Posts: 3749Trickster God. Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #16 on: January 20, 2014, 03:00:33 pm »
Quote target_push
(...)
Game Function: This is not recommended for creating jump pads and launch ramps. The direction of push can be set by the "angles" key or pointing to a target_position or info_notnull entity. Unlike trigger_push, this is NOT client side predicted and must be activated by a trigger.
(...)
Check Boxes/Spawnflags
BOUNCEPAD : if set, trigger will play bounce noise instead of beep noise when activated (see notes).
Notes
(...)
If bouncepad is checked, it will play the bouncepad sound instead of windfly.
I have never checked if Jan's maps used target_push instead of trigger_push, though. I've also found why Jan's maps played the windfly sound. This is an excerpt from the GTKR Manual:I have never checked if Jan's maps used target_push instead of trigger_push, though. Logged
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem. - TVT
Want to contribute? Read this.
Gig
Cakes 46
Posts: 4346
In the year 3000Cakes 46Posts: 4346 Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #18 on: January 21, 2014, 02:12:06 am » Quote from: pelya on January 20, 2014, 11:59:35 pm I've updated my server with v3. I did not notice crash with oacmpctf1, I've tested with clean OA 0.8.8.
Also, Android package and servers are updated, and include this pack.
Maybe the crash happens on Windows only? It happened to both me (on two different machines) and Adriano... a problem does exist!
I really think you should have waited for v4 before updating android package and servers with the pack! Maybe the crash happens on Windows only? It happened to both me (on two different machines) and Adriano... a problem does exist!I really think you should have waited for v4 before updating android package and servers with the pack! « Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 05:54:28 am by Gig » Logged I never want to be aggressive, offensive or ironic with my posts. If you find something offending in my posts, read them again searching for a different mood there. If you still see something bad with them, please ask me infos. I can be wrong at times, but I never want to upset anyone.
Gig
Cakes 46
Posts: 4346
In the year 3000Cakes 46Posts: 4346 Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #19 on: January 21, 2014, 07:53:26 am » Neon_Knight, will you re-compile the map with the 256x256 texture, or will scale up the texture with an image editor, to have it 512x512?
In case of the second one, I tried to simply scale up the red texture with Photoshop. You can find it attached here, compared with the "old" (V3) version.
I haven't tried it in-game yet.
UPDATE: I packaged it into a pk3 called "_test.pk3" (attached here), but the map still crashes! What do I did wrong?
NK, are you sure that.jpg file was really the only one difference between V2 and V3? Uhm... looking for file dates inside V2 and V3 pk3, that one image really seems the only one modified that day... I don't understand. « Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 10:57:26 am by Gig » Logged I never want to be aggressive, offensive or ironic with my posts. If you find something offending in my posts, read them again searching for a different mood there. If you still see something bad with them, please ask me infos. I can be wrong at times, but I never want to upset anyone.
Akom74
Cakes 9
Posts: 906
Q3A/OA Mapper
MemberCakes 9Posts: 906Q3A/OA Mapper Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #20 on: January 21, 2014, 09:44:16 am »
Here is the log:
Code: Loading 1235 jump table targets
VM file cgame compiled to 1079730 bytes of code
cgame loaded in 4743488 bytes on the hunk
^3WARNING: could not find sound/items/cl_ammoregen.wav - using default
^3WARNING: could not find sound/misc/windfly.wav - using default
^3WARNING: could not find sound/weapons/nailgun/wnalimpd.wav - using default
^3WARNING: could not find sound/weapons/vulcan/wvulimpd.wav - using default
^3WARNING: could not find sound/weapons/vulcan/wvulimpl.wav - using default
^3WARNING: could not find sound/weapons/vulcan/wvulimpm.wav - using default
^3WARNING: could not find sound/misc/yousuck.wav - using default
WARNING: reused image textures/q3j/white.tga with mixed glWrapClampMode parm
----- Client Shutdown (Client fatal crashed: Requested feature was omitted at compile time
) -----
Closing SDL audio device...
SDL audio device shut down.
RE_Shutdown( 1 )
-----------------------
----- Server Shutdown (Server fatal crashed: Requested feature was omitted at compile time
) -----
==== ShutdownGame ====
AAS shutdown.
---------------------------
It seems that the problem it's caused by textures/q3j/white.tga
Don't know why
Don't know what to tell, but i have the same error and the game shutdown.Here is the log:It seems that the problem it's caused byDon't know why Logged
...sorry for my English, i'm Italian...
Neon_Knight
Cakes 49
Posts: 3749
Trickster God.
In the year 3000Cakes 49Posts: 3749Trickster God. Re: OpenArena Community Mappack Volume 1 v3 Re-Release « Reply #23 on: January 21, 2014, 10:25:54 am » Are you all really sure that there's no other "surprise" in the pack? Because I'm not going to release a v5 even if there's a big problem.
I'll release a v4 tomorrow and move on to other things. « Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 10:31:06 am by Neon_Knight » Logged
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem. - TVT
Want to contribute? Read this.Environment watchdog orders Tassal to destock salmon lease in Macquarie Harbour
Updated
Tasmania's biggest salmon producer Tassal has been told by the state's environmental watchdog to destock one of its farming leases at Macquarie Harbour by the end of the month.
Last month, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) reduced stocking limits from 20,000 tonnes to 14,000 to address deteriorating conditions in the harbour.
In November, the EPA said conditions in the harbour had worsened with increased levels of bacteria known as beggiatoa and low levels of oxygen.
Tassal was ordered to destock a lease closest to the World Heritage Area.
Today, the EPA made public a report cited by Four Corners on Monday which revealed all marine fauna for at least 500 metres around a Tassal salmon lease close to the World Heritage Area was dead.
The Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) report revealed "worrying" dissolved oxygen levels around salmon leases in the harbour, warning it could lead to significant environmental damage.
"That's why Tassal has been directed to de-stock that lease and they won't be able to re-stock it until it's recovered sufficiently and I'll be looking at the animals present before I allow them to put fish back in the water," EPA director Wes Ford said.
EPA boss ready to back fish cap in court
Mr Ford said he stood by his decision to cap salmon tonnes at 14,000.
"You have to remember that I've come from a starting point where the original assessment model done by industry was for 29,500 tonnes with a biomass cap set last year at 21,000 tonnes," he said.
"I've set it at 14,000 tonnes. That's what the information I believe supports and that's what I'll continue to assess."
"I'll be defending my position in court."
In a statement, Tassal said it had reduced stocking rates in Macquarie Harbour by 20 per cent in 2015 due to concern about conditions.
"We have been actively destocking the Franklin [lease] site since the beginning of January 2017, harvesting to maximum capacity.
"We are providing regular updates to the EPA. We are committed to getting this site back into compliance."
In November, Tassal issued a statement acknowledging "benthic compliance issues" regarding the seabed.
'Government has allowed Tassal to farm a dead zone'
Lobby group Environment Tasmania has given its full support to Huon Aquaculture's legal proceedings.
"The latest report from IMAS scientists shows that all marine life under Tassal's largest lease in Macquarie Harbour is dead," spokesman Laura Kelly said in a statement.
"The Government knew this last November, but have allowed Tassal to farm in a dead zone until March this year.
"These legal proceedings provide some hope that action will be taken to protect Macquarie Harbour and the jobs that rely on it, and that some of the evidence sought by Environment Tasmania but declared 'commercial in confidence' by the Hodgman Government will finally come to light."
Topics: fishing-aquaculture, strahan-7468
First postedStreamMe Presents Overdrive Series Featuring Guilty Gear Revelator 2!
Our friends at StreamMe are back with another awesome opportunity for the Anime community with Overdrive Series June! The highly anticipated Guilty Gear Revelator 2 is upon us and we are excited to showcase all the action this summer for a chance at the big prize, a FREE trip to CEOtaku in Orlando, Flordia!
Registration is now available at:
https://smash.gg/overdrive-series-june
Overdrive Series will consist of 4 online tournaments every Monday starting June 6 at 6PM PST and finals broadcast every Tuesday exclusively on http://stream.me/overdriveseries at 7PM PST.
Guilty Gear community leader Bryce ‘Bounty’ Lambert is streaming the qualifier tournaments for double the coverage! Be part of the Guilty Gear community and follow the sub reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Guiltygear/ for the latest news, gameplay, and upcoming tournaments.
Our friends at Stream.me is a new destination to broadcast your favorite games, share your experiences, and enjoy awesome perks. Check out what’s in store:
You only need 50 followers to get a sub button
70/30 split in your favor off of each sub
You can set how much it cost to sub to your channel ( as low as $1 up to $5 )
You can upload custom emotes
Built in raffle system for giveaways
Multi stream/Multi chat integration
Streamer contests and more!
For more information, visit stream.me and sign up for FREE!
Dates / Times
June 5-6
June 12-13
June 19-20
June 26-27
Mondays are qualifiers starting at 6PM PST (All players must utilize stream.me if they wish to stream their own matches)
Tuesdays are top 8 finals streamed exclusively on stream.me/overdriveseries at 7PM PST
Rules & Eligibity
No Tournament Cap
Platform: Steam (PC)
US, Mexico, & Canada only
Must be 13 years or older
Must have a minimum of 3Mbps upload speed
WIFI connections are prohibited
Players can only use Stream.me to stream their tournament matches. Using another stream provider will result in a DMCA and disqualification from the tournament
Tournament Format
FREE to enter Guilty Geat Revelator 2 Online Tournament
Double Elimination
99 Second Time Limit
Best 2 out of 3 rounds per game
Best 2 out of 3 games for pools
Best 3 out of 5 games for top 8 finals
Winner must keep the same character
Loser can switch characters
Tournament platform on smash.gg
All DLC characters are allowed
Prize Distribution
1st: Flight/Lodging to CEOtaku
Additional runner up prizes TBA
Overdrive Series Discord
For additional assistance, you can reach out to our Overdrive Series admins on Discord at https://discord.gg/9UD6FU6The UK’s commitments on overseas aid were part of the 2015 manifesto on which the government was elected. The government is keeping its promise to the electorate, tackling global challenges in the national interest.
Britain faces a simple choice: either we wait for the problems of the world to arrive on our doorstep, or we take action to tackle them at source.
UK aid, whether it is helping to prevent deadly diseases like Ebola from coming to the UK from West Africa, or enabling Syrian refugees and other would-be migrants to stay in their home region, is about creating a more stable and secure world.
Over the last five years, UK aid has been life-saving and life-changing for millions of the poorest people around the world. We have supported 11 million children through school. We have helped more than 60 million people get access to clean water, better sanitation and improved hygiene conditions. We are leading the global effort to save millions of girls from child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.
UK aid is spent where it is most needed and is subject to rigorous internal and external checks and scrutiny at all stages. The UK’s aid programmes are scrutinised by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, the International Development Select Committee and Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, and the National Audit Office. This is in addition to internal monitoring and evaluation to ensure projects stay on track and deliver value for taxpayers’ money.
The government has realigned the UK’s aid strategy, cutting wasteful programmes and making sure spending is firmly in the UK’s national interest. Alongside an increased defence budget and the UK’s world class diplomatic service, our aid programme is helping to create a more prosperous and stable world in which the UK can stand tall and flourish.
Britain’s aid strategy recognises that tackling poverty overseas means tackling the root causes of global problems that affect all of us, such as disease, migration, and terrorism. The Department for International Development is the UK’s primary channel for aid, but to respond to the changing world, more aid will be administered by other government departments, such as the Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department of Health, and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, drawing on their complementary skills.
The government will invest more through its aid programme to tackle the causes of instability, insecurity and conflict, and to tackle crime and corruption. DFID is already working with the Metropolitan Police, National Crime Agency, and HMRC to recover funds stolen from developing countries, and help countries build proper tax systems and robust institutions so they can stand on their own two feet.
This is an approach that works; as well as delivering humanitarian aid to crisis zones and targeting the root causes of the migration crisis, it is increasing economic prospects in fragile states to help counter extremism, and helping build our future trading partners.
You can the read the full UK aid strategy here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/478834/ODA_strategy_final_web_0905.pdf
Department for International DevelopmentNov 01, 2016 at 18:13 // Business
Nina Lyon Author
Ephrem Urumashvili, representative of BitFury Group has just reported the company’s plans to install two Bitcoin ATMs in Georgia.
According to his statement, BitFury plans to install one Bitcoin ATM at Tbilisi airport, and the second in the city center.
Ephrem Urumashvili said:
"The idea of placing a Bitcoin ATM came recently, and we have decided to place two ATMs. Now we are discussing the legal questions of our intentions and compliance with Georgian legislation. If there will be no discrepancies, soon the first Bitcoin ATMs will be available in Georgia."
Both machines will be two-way Bitcoin ATMs, which allows its customers to both purchase cryptocurrency and cash it out.
To date, there are two major Bitcoin mining centers in Georgia, in Gori and Tbilisi, that were opened by BitFury Group and a Georgian co-investment fund. However, cryptocurrency isn’t popular among local society. Some of the reasons for this are the generally low level of economic development, and a lack of accurate and detailed information about cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology. Most of the people know nothing about Bitcoin, and even those who have heard about it, still have only a superficial understanding of what it is. However, BitFury plans to change this tendency.
Editor’s note
After the release of this article, CoinIdol.com received a message from the marketing department of BitFury, signed by Jamie Smith, saying that Mr. Urumashvili's statement to a newspaper "Business Georgia" is 100% misunderstood. CoinIdol.com asked for the official letter with details about the future of these BTMs.
Why Ephrem Urumashvili said false information in his official announcement to "Business Georgia"?
Did BitFury get any prohibition to install these BTMs from the authorities of Georgia? Is this prohibition the reason, why department of BitFury’s marketing is trying to take the words of Ephrem Urumashvili back?
Is it possible that BitFury will close its business in Georgia?
CoinIdol.com is still waiting for the official letter with answers, signed by Valery Podnebesny and Valery Vavilov."For too long the U.N. has been unfairly biased in favor of the Palestinian Authority to the detriment of our allies in Israel," Nikki Haley said. U.S. blocks Palestinian from leading U.N. mission in Libya
UNITED NATIONS — The United States on Friday blocked the appointment of the former Palestinian prime minister to lead the U.N. political mission in Libya, saying it was acting to support its ally Israel.
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the Trump administration "was disappointed" to see that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had sent a letter to the Security Council indicating his intention to appoint Salam Fayyad, who served as the Palestinian Authority's prime minister from 2007-2013, as the next U.N. special representative to Libya.
Story Continued Below
"For too long the U.N. has been unfairly biased in favor of the Palestinian Authority to the detriment of our allies in Israel," Haley said.
Palestine is a non-member observer state at the United Nations and its independence has been recognized by 137 of the 193 U.N. member nations. But Haley said the United States doesn't currently recognize a Palestinian state "or support the signal" Fayyad's appointment would send within the United Nations.
U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private, said Fayyad is well-respected for his work in reforming the Palestinian Authority and spurring its economy and had the support of the 14 other Security Council members to succeed Martin Kobler in the Libya job.
Despite opposition to Fayyad, Haley indicated that the Trump administration wants to see an end to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We encourage the two sides to come together directly on a solution," she said.
Haley's statement came ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump on Feb. 15, and was welcomed by Israelis.
"This is the beginning of a new era at the U.N., an era where the U.S. stands firmly behind Israel against any and all attempts to harm the Jewish State," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said of the U.S. decision to block Fayyad's appointment. "The new administration proved once again that it stands firmly alongside the state of Israel in the international arena and in the U.N. in particular."
The new U.S. ambassador made clear that "going forward, the United States will act, not just talk, in support of our allies."
But Trump also indicated in comments to an Israeli newspaper Friday that there might be some difficult discussions with Netanyahu next week on Israel's settlement expansion. The U.S. leader was quoted as saying that Israel's settlement expansion in land claimed by the Palestinians does not advance peace.
Israel's settlement building has been a key obstacle to the revival of stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Most of the international community considers all Israeli settlements in territory the Palestinians want for a state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal and counterproductive to peace.(Editor's note: For background on this article and its unusual history, read this note.)
Artwork: Chip Taylor
The company formerly known as Apple Computer and now called simply Apple, Inc. is unique in many ways--including in its ability to drive even folks who admire it positively batty. It makes great products (usually), yet its secretiveness about them borders on paranoia, and its adoring fans can be incredibly irritating. Of course, its fans have to put up with some irritations, too: Simply being a member of the club still means you must endure unending jabs from the other side of the socio-political-techno aisle. But do they have to wear their suffering as a badge of honor?
Today, we--that's us, Narasu and Alan, veteran Mac users both--are going to get some stuff off our chests. We've enumerated ten things we hate about Apple (or its followers, or simply about the experience of using its products). But in the interest of fair play (not to be confused with FairPlay, Apple's DRM technology) we're also publishing another list--Ten Things We Love About Apple.
Use the Comment link at the end of this article to add your own gripes about Apple--or to defend it.
And so, with protective helmets in place, off we go:
1: Free Speech, Anyone?
Even if you're no Apple fan, this particular issue might not rise to the top of your own personal gripe list--but hey, we're journalists. So sue us.
Er, that's probably not the right turn of phrase to use, considering that in December 2004, Apple filed a lawsuit against the AppleInsider, O'Grady's PowerPage, and Think Secret Web sites for posting information about upcoming technologies that Apple had shared with outsiders under nondisclosure agreements. In the case of O'Grady, the news was of a FireWire interface for GarageBand. In the words of O'Grady himself: "yawn."
Apple pressured the sites to reveal their sources, and even worse, pressured the sites' ISPs. In May 2006, a California court said no way, ruling that online journalists enjoy the same First Amendment rights as "legitimate" offline journalists. Seems silly in today's world, doesn't it? Recently, the court ordered Apple to pay the sites' legal fees--about $700,000.
2. More Secretive Than Homeland Security
Those feds are secretive, but they're no match for Apple reps' infuriating stock answer: "We don't comment on future product plans." Being an Apple adherent means never knowing for sure if the shiny new MacBook or iPod you just bought is about to be rendered obsolete by a Steve Jobs keynote.
Of course, Apple is merely the most famous secretive Silicon Valley company, not the only hush-mouthed one. And tight lips make for explosive buzz when the company does decide to drop a bombshell. But contrast Apple's secrecy with Microsoft's lack thereof--Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and company love to talk about their company's upcoming products, and they still get their fair share of buzz. Even though many of those plans have a tendency to not actually come true.
3. Ain't Too Proud to Blame
When Apple shipped iPods containing a worm last year, instead of issuing a humble mea culpa, Apple took a swipe at Microsoft, saying, "As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it." As you can imagine, that didn't fly with security experts. How about an apology to the folks who were unlucky enough to buy the infected iPods, period?
4. iHate iAnything
Apple first floated the idea of product names with a leading lowercase letter in 1994 with eWorld, an ill-conceived online service that went belly-up after a year and a half. But when it introduced the original iMac in 1998, it hit on a phenomenal success--and prompted hundreds of third-party manufacturers to follow with sickeningly cute Bondi Blue products with names that also began with a lowercase "i." Now dozens of Apple and third-party product names begins with "i." Their manufacturers are all jumping on the bandwagon, hoping that a single letter will sway us to buy their stuff. Meanwhile, you can't even start sentences with the products' names.
Is it any wonder that we're inclined to like Apple TV in part because it turned out not to be iTV? Or that we're kind of sorry that Apple was able to strike a deal with Cisco to share the name iPhone?“I’m not going climbing till I hit 12,000 followers,” Mike chortled. He was being facetious. But he was also gazing into his iPhone as if it held the secret to growing a bigger penis.
“Mike,” not his real name, was about 150 “people” shy of hitting 12K on Instagram. I say “people” in quotes because, for all intents and purposes, they aren’t actually people; they’re just numbers. Multiplicative, addictive stats that ping up on your phone’s screen at random intervals. Like a spinning slot machine, the notifications are awfully transfixing and cause you to check your phone every 2.8 seconds.
We were a small group of climbers on a sponsored trip to make climbing films and stories and photos about ourselves for magazines and ad campaigns, and somehow create this even more perfect documentation of an experience that was already perfectly great.
A climbing photo of Mike had just been published on a major magazine’s Instagram feed—followed by some 10 million. When you get your tag on a feed like that, you’ll be gifted a biblical flood of new followers who shuffle in like a horde of zombies that can’t stop, won’t stop, hitting the Like button on all your shit.
“Boom!” Mike said about 90 seconds later. “Twelve thousand! OK … now we can go climbing.”
No Sendtember
About six months earlier, I experienced a malaise. I’d been writing up a storm and hadn’t climbed at all for a month, wasting an entire Sendtember. I was stressed out about money, life, and just what the heck I’m supposed to be doing with my time on earth. Just your average brand of petty existential angst normally associated with bored yuppies who have great lives but are mostly preoccupied with how much gluten they’ve been ingesting.
My friend Hayden Kennedy called out of the blue. “Dude,” he said, “I feel like standing on top of something. Ya know? Ya ever feel like that?”
I did. Summits are sacred to climbers, and if you live in the right place you don’t need to sell the farm and go the Himalaya to bag a rare one. The Utah desert is chock full of trophy-worthy peaks.
A weekend adventure with my good homie seemed to be exactly what I needed.
And this is where the story gets weird, because right as I hung up the phone, I started thinking ahead to the future, and the inevitable article I’d write, Instagrams I’d post, and Twitters I’d tweet, glorifying our weekend excursion, which hadn’t even taken place yet.
The captions I’d write became clear. I’d be restored by the very struggle of groveling up some gruesome vertical sandbox, and ultimately receive the gift of spiritual convalescence, which could only take place atop a wind-blasted desert tower.
My weekend played out before me vividly, as if it were a real event that had already happened—like deja vu, or the way any fictional story you write feels more real than reality. I was projecting myself into the future by turning climbs I hadn’t yet done into a story that I’d already read a thousand times.
The story was already written in my head—the beginning, middle and end, complete with a generic Buddhist affirmation to tie the whole piece together quite nicely. The obvious and absurd question became: Why bother even going climbing at that point?
I didn’t know the answer to that question. What I did know, however, was that I would be in for a major ass-kicking trying to follow Hayden up as many towers as possible. So with that, I packed up the car and headed west to meet my friend in a red-dirt wash.
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Driving west on I-70 into Utah gives one the feeling of crossing some kind of threshold. The ambiance quiets. Suddenly, there’s nothingness in all directions and you feel like you are floating in open, hushed emptiness.
Steering left off the highway takes you down a wormhole of pavement called River Road—a corridor that winds beneath the blinding red walls. The kudzu-choked river charges in parabolic arcs, never allowing the traveler to see more than a single turn ahead. The corridor bursts open at a vista of the Fisher Towers, luminous in layered sunset colors, like a surreal diorama comprised of rock and light.
River Road juts west here and new skylines of tumescent towers and squat mesas appear. Castle Valley. To enter this hidden world feels like entering your own personal Western storybook. And without a doubt, the main characters of this narrative are Castleton Tower, the Rectory, the Nuns, and the Priest.
I pulled into the Castleton parking lot and there was Hayden, propped up against the side of his Ford Transit conversion van. We cracked beers and made a fire and talked about life.
I imagine many people who hear Hayden’s name will be familiar with his climbing. He’s logged some impressive ascents in his 23 years on the planet. But I think few people know what a consistent all-arounder he is—the key word being “consistent.” Hayden climbs, off the couch, at a world-class level no matter what the medium may be. Trad, sport, bouldering, big-wall, alpine, expedition; limestone, granite or sandstone of all chossitudes.
In 2013, the Piolet d’Or jury “celebrated” Hayden and the late Kyle Dempster’s 2012 ascent of a new route, completed in alpine-style, on the south face of the Ogre I in the Karakoram, Pakistan.
(Side notes: Did you know that when you win the Piolet d’Or, you don’t actually get a golden ice axe?
You also don’t “win” a Piolet d’Or. You can merely be “celebrated” by one, which means you win a heavy, unwieldy plaque—ostensibly to hang on your wall next to your bookshelf of unread American Alpine Journals and that one copy of The Shangri-La Diet: The No Hunger Eat Anywhere Weight-Loss Plan.)
A few weeks before the Piolet d’Or ceremony, Hayden had sustained one of the worst injuries of his climbing career: a three-foot fall (that’s right: 3 feet) in the Movement bouldering gym in Boulder, resulting in a torn ACL.
When
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mill) 200 total from mill Bhatin Jaduguda 1967 Narwapahar Jaduguda 1995 Bagjata Jaduguda 2008 Jharkhand, East Singhbum dist. Turamdih Turamdih 2003 (u/g mine)
2008 (mill) 190 total from mill Banduhurang Turamdih 2007 (open pit) Mohuldih Turamdih 2012 Andhra Pradesh, Kadapa/YSR district Tummalapalle Tummalapalle 2012
2015 (mill) 220 increasing to 330 Andhra Pradesh, Kadapa/YSR district Tummalapalle Kanampalle? 2017? Telengana, Nalgonda district Lambapur-Peddagattu Seripally/Mallapuram 2024? (open pit + 3 u/g) 130 Karnataka, Yadgir (Gulbarga) district Gogi Diggi/Saidapur 2020? (underground) 130 Meghalaya, West Khasi Hills district Kylleng-Pyndeng-Sohiong-Mawthabah (KPM), (Domiasiat), Wakhyn Mawthabah suspended 340
However, India has reasonably assured resources of 319,000 tonnes of thorium – about 13% of the world total, and these are intended to fuel its nuclear power program longer-term (see below). AMD claims almost 12 million tonnes of monazite which might contain 700,000 tonnes of thorium.
In September 2009 largely state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corporation ONCC proposed to form a joint venture with UCIL to explore for uranium in Assam, and was later reported to be mining uranium in partnership with UCIL in the Cauvery area of Tamil Nadu.
Uranium imports
Following an IAEA safeguards agreement, an NSG resolution and finally US Congress approval of a bilateral trade agreement in October 2008, two months later Russia's Rosatom and Areva from France had contracted to supply uranium for power generation, while Kazakhstan, Brazil and South Africa were preparing to do so. The Russian agreement was to provide fuel for PHWRs as well as the two small Tarapur reactors.
In February 2009 the actual Russian contract was signed with TVEL to supply 2000 tonnes of natural uranium fuel pellets for PHWRs over ten years, costing $780 million, and 58 tonnes of low-enriched fuel pellets for the Tarapur reactors. The 300 tU Areva shipment arrived in June 2009. RAPS 2 became the first PHWR to be fuelled with imported uranium, followed by units 5&6 there.
In January 2009 NPCIL signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazatomprom for the supply of 2100 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate (UOC) over six years and a feasibility study on building Indian PHWR reactors in Kazakhstan. NPCIL said it represented "a mutual commitment to begin thorough discussions on long-term strategic relationship." The actual agreement in April 2011 covered 2100 tonnes by 2014. In March 2013 both countries agreed to extend the civil nuclear cooperation agreement past 2014. In 2015 the DAE renewed its contract for supply of 5000 tU from Kazatomprom over four years.
In September 2009 India signed uranium supply and nuclear cooperation agreements with Namibia and Mongolia. The latter was reaffirmed in May 2015, noting that Mongolian uranium “could help power India’s low-carbon growth.”
In March 2010 Russia offered India a stake in the Elkon uranium mining development in its Sakha Republic, and agreed on a joint venture with ARMZ Uranium Holding Co.
In August 2014 Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine (NMMC) in Uzbekistan signed a contract for supply of 2000 tonnes of U 3 O 8 to India during the four years to 2018, its first export to India. A further contract was signed in January 2019, for long-term supply.
In September 2014 a bilateral safeguards agreement with Australia was signed, then came into force in November, enabling supply from there.
In April 2013 a bilateral safeguards agreement was signed between the DAE and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), and in April 2015 Cameco signed an agreement to supply 3200 tonnes of U 3 O 8 (UOC) to India up to 2020. The first Cameco shipment arrived in December 2015.
In July 2015 the DAE reported to parliament that eight reactors (Kaiga 1-4, Madras 1&2 and Tarapur 3&4) were using indigenous sources of uranium and 14 reactors were using imported uranium. This situation was confirmed in July 2016 and July 2017.
In 2014 the DAE reported that India had imported 4458 tonnes of uranium since 2008 (2058 t from TVEL, 2100 t from Kazatomprom, and 300 t from Areva).
Uranium imports from 2014
Year Source Form Tonnes 2014-15 TVEL
Kazatomprom UO 2 pellets
UOC 297
283 2015-16 Cameco
TVEL UOC
UO 2 pellets 251
346 2016-17 Kazatomprom
Cameco
TVEL UOC
UOC
UO 2 pellets 1924
1234
187
Uranium fuel cycle
India's main nuclear fuel cycle complex is at Hyderabad in Telengana, established in 1971. It plans to set up three more to serve the planned expansion of nuclear power and bring relevant activities under international safeguards. The first of the three will be at Kota in Rajasthan, supplying fuel for the 700 MWe PHWRs at Rawatbhata and Kakrapar by 2016. Capacity will be 500 t/yr plus 65 t of zirconium cladding. The second new complex will supply fuel to ten 700 MWe PHWRs planned in Haryana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, but its site is not announced. The third will be at Chitradurga in the south of Karnataka state on a site with other science-based establishments, starting with a BARC enrichment plant, to supply fuel for light water reactors (see below).
DAE's Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) at Hyderabad has six facilities under safeguards, listed in the Annex to India’s Additional Protocol with IAEA. This includes several facilities related to fuel fabrication, as part of the civil-military separation.
The NFC undertakes refining and conversion of uranium, which is received as magnesium diuranate (yellowcake) and refined to UO 2. The main 1250 t/yr plant fabricates PHWR fuel (which is unenriched). A small (25 t/yr) fabrication plant makes fuel for the Tarapur BWRs from imported enriched (2.66% U-235) uranium. Depleted uranium oxide fuel pellets (from reprocessed uranium) and thorium oxide pellets are also made for PHWR fuel bundles. Mixed carbide fuel for FBTR was first fabricated by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 1979.
Heavy water is supplied by DAE's Heavy Water Board, and the seven plants have been working at capacity due to the current building program. Some $16 million worth of heavy water was exported to USA and France in 2013-14.
A very small centrifuge enrichment plant – insufficient even for the Tarapur reactors – is operated by DAE's Rare Materials Plant (RMP) at Ratnahalli near Mysore, primarily for military purposes including submarine fuel, but also supplying research reactors. It started up about 1992 as a unit of BARC, and is apparently being expanded to some 25,000 SWU/yr. A conversion plant is also being built there at RMP.
Some centrifuge R&D is undertaken by BARC at Trombay.
DAE in 2011 announced that it would build an industrial-scale centrifuge complex, the Special Material Enrichment Facility (SMEF), in Chitradurga district, Karnataka, also as part of BARC and having both civil and naval purposes. Construction had not started in mid 2015. India’s enrichment plants are not under international safeguards.
Fuel fabrication is by DAE's Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad. It services the Tarapur BWRs among others. This plant produces 1500 t/yr of PHWR fuel. DAE is setting up a second Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) – a PHWR fuel plant at Kota in Rajasthan, next to the Rawatbhata power plant – to serve the larger new reactors and those in northern India. It will have 500 t/yr capacity, from 2017, and government approval of Rs 2400 crore (24 billion rupees, $393 million) for this was in March 2014. Each 700 MWe reactor is said to need 125 t/yr of fuel. A third fuel fabrication plant is planned, with 1250 t/yr capacity, in Telengana, Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh. The company is proposing joint ventures with US, French and Russian companies to produce fuel for those reactors.
Reprocessing: Used fuel from the civil PHWRs is reprocessed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay, Tarapur and Kalpakkam to extract reactor-grade plutonium for use in the fast breeder reactors. The first ‘plutonium plant’ was commissioned in 1964 at Trombay, for weapons. Then the Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing (PREFRE) facility at Tarapur was commissioned in 1979, and in 2010 a second PREFRE plant with 100 t/yr capacity effectively replaced it. A new Kalpakkam plant (KARP) of some 100 t/yr was commissioned in 1998 in connection with Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), though it was shut down over 2003-2009 due to an accident, then upgraded. It is being extended to reprocess FBTR carbide fuel. Apart from this all reprocessing uses the Purex process. A P3A project is being built to increase the capacity at Kalpakkam.
Partitioning of Purex product in a multi-step solvent extraction process is being undertaken in a demonstration facility at Tarapur. Civil plutonium initially has gone into the FBTR, the amount being estimated at 200-250 kg. More recently most has been for the PFBR, which is expected to require 400 kg/yr in full operation. India’s civil plutonium stock at the end of 2014 is estimated at about 2.9 tonnes, mostly in connection with the PFBR.
Reprocessing capacity is understood to be about 100 t/yr at Tarapur and 100 t/yr at Kalpakkam, total 200 t/yr, but actually in operation about 115 t/yr producing 400 kg/yr plutonium, all related to the indigenous PHWR program and not under international safeguards.
An away-from-reactor (AFR) fuel storage and another store at Tarapur are under safeguards from 2012 and 2014 and are listed in the AP Annex.
The Power Reactor Thoria Reprocessing Facility (PRTRF) was under construction at BARC in October 2013, and is designed to cope with high gamma levels from U-232. The recovered U-233 will be used in the AHWR Critical Facility.
India will reprocess the used PWR fuel from the Kudankulam and other imported reactors and will keep the plutonium. This will be under IAEA safeguards, in new plants.
In April 2010 it was announced that 18 months of negotiations with the USA had resulted in agreement to build two new reprocessing plants to be under IAEA safeguards, likely located near Kalpakkam and near Mumbai – possibly Trombay. In July 2010 an agreement was signed with the USA to allow reprocessing of US-origin fuel at one of these facilities. Since then the first Integrated Nuclear Recycle Plant (INRP) with facilities for both reprocessing of used light water reactor fuel of foreign origin, and waste management has been designed. Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) in October 2015 won the Rs 943 crore contract to build this at BARC at Tarapur. The plant will process used fuel from new nuclear power plants, including Gorakhpur 1&2 at Haryana, Rajasthan 7&8, Kakrapar 3&4 and future PHWRs.
In 2003 a facility was commissioned at Kalpakkam to reprocess mixed carbide fuel using an advanced Purex process. In 2010 the AEC said that used mixed carbide fuel from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) with a burn-up of 155 GWd/t was reprocessed in the Compact Reprocessing facility for Advanced fuels in Lead cells (CORAL). Thereafter, the fissile material was refabricated as fuel and loaded back into the reactor, thus 'closing' the fast reactor fuel cycle for the FBTR.
Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility (FRFCF)
To close the main FBR fuel cycle the Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility (FRFCF) has long been planned, with construction originally to begin in 2008 and operation to coincide with the need to reprocess the first PFBR fuel. The PFBR and the next four FBRs originally to be commissioned by 2020 will use oxide fuel. After that it is expected that metal fuel with higher breeding capability will be introduced and burnup is intended to increase from 100 to 200 GWd/t.
In July 2013 the government approved construction of the Rs 9,600 crore (96 billion rupees, $1.61 billion) FRFCF at Kalpakkam. Work was expected to start in 2013, initially under the auspices of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR). It will serve the PFBR nearby, and will have capacity to cater for three such reactors. In August 2017 HCC was awarded an INR 7.64 billion/764 crore ($120 million) contract by IGCAR for building the FRFCF at Kalpakkam over 48 months. Earlier associated contracts for HCC covered infrastructure at Kalpakkam and a metal fuel plant – the Demonstration Facility for Metallic Fuels (DFMF) contracted in March 2016 for Rs 43.15 crore. The DFMF is to be followed by a commercial plant with 50 times the capacity.
Thorium fuel cycle development in India
The long-term goal of India's nuclear program has been to develop an advanced heavy-water thorium cycle.The first stage of this employs the PHWRs fuelled by natural uranium, and light water reactors, which produce plutonium incidentally to their prime purpose of electricity generation.
Stage 2 uses fast neutron reactors burning the plutonium with the blanket around the core having uranium as well as thorium, so that further plutonium (ideally high-fissile Pu) is produced as well as U-233.
AMD has identified almost 12 million tonnes of monazite resources (typically with 6-7% thorium) and 33.7 million tonnes of zircon.
Then in stage 3, Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWRs) will burn thorium-plutonium fuels in such a manner that breeds U-233 which can eventually be used as a self-sustaining fissile driver for a fleet of breeding AHWRs. An alternative stage 3 is molten salt breeder reactors (MSBR), which are firming up as an option for eventual large-scale deployment. See R&D section under IGCAR.
In 2002 the regulatory authority issued approval to start construction of a 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam and this is now under construction by BHAVINI. It is expected to be operating in 2016, fuelled with uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX, the reactor-grade Pu being from its existing PHWRs). It will have a blanket with thorium and uranium to breed fissile U-233 and plutonium respectively. This will take India's ambitious thorium program to stage 2, and set the scene for eventual full utilisation of the country's abundant thorium to fuel reactors. Six more such 500 MWe fast reactors have been announced for construction, four of them by 2020. This fleet of fast reactors will breed the required plutonium which is the key to unlocking the energy potential of thorium in AHWRs. This will take another 15-20 years, and so it will still be some time before India is using thorium energy to any extent.
So far about one tonne of thorium oxide fuel has been irradiated experimentally in PHWR reactors* and has reprocessed and some of this has been reprocessed, according to BARC. A reprocessing centre for thorium fuels is being set up at Kalpakkam in connection with Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR).
In October 2013 BARC said that premature deployment of thorium would lead to sub-optimal use of indigenous energy resources, and that it would be necessary to build up a significant amount of fissile material before launching the thorium cycle in a big way for the third stage (though the demonstration AHWR could be operating by 2022). Incorporation of thorium in the blankets of metal-fuelled fast breeder reactors would be after significant FBR capacity was operating. Hence thorium-based reactor deployment is expected to be “beyond 2070”. Surplus U-233 from FBR blankets could be used in HTRs including molten salt breeder reactors. See R&D section under IGCAR.
Design of the first 300 MWe AHWR (920 MWt, 284 MWe net) was completed early in 2014 at BARC. It is mainly a thorium-fuelled reactor but is versatile regarding fuel. Construction of the first one is due to start in the 12th plan period to 2017, for operation about 2022. At the end of 2016 large-scale engineering studies were validating innovative features of the design. No site or construction schedule had been announced for the demonstration unit. The AHWR can be configured to accept a range of fuel types including U-Pu MOX, Th-Pu MOX, and Th-U-233 MOX in full core, the U-233 coming from reprocessing in closed fuel cycle. A co-located fuel cycle facility is planned, with remote hMLP #19: A Reading (by Someone Who Has Never Read MLP)
My reading of Archie #647, the first and only Archie comic I've ever read ever, is one of favorite articles (go read it if you haven't. Spoiler alert: Archie's a monster and his world is insane) and it was a blast to write. Because of that, I have always wanted to do another reading, but I found that there was little I was that unfamiliar with. That is until I discovered IDW, the solicitor of such licensed titles as Transformers and G.I. Joe, was publishing a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic. I know pretty much nothing about My Little Pony. I know Tara Strong voices one of the... horses (ponies? Are they child horses? Like are there adult horses as parents? I don't really know.)? I know they have something of an fan base and that's about it. So, spending four dollars on the latest comic I dove, heart and eyes open, into My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #19. [caption id="attachment_54128" align="aligncenter" width="390"] [/caption]
So right away, I am greeted with two unicorns. Already I have been mislead. Unicorns and ponies are entirely different things, the main difference being one is an actual animal while the other is a mythological beast that totally wasn't on stickers adorning my trapper keeper if that what you're thinking.
But I took a look back at the cover and it appears there's a dragon and a half dozen winged ponies so I guess all bets are off.
Anyway one is a queen and the other is some kind of dark-furred vampire-pony (again, are they full grown or are these all children?)? It's worth pointing out that she's being guarded by an Egyptian themed pony, which makes no sense to me. Nothing else is Egyptian and even if they're going for just a generic spooky vibe, Egyptian guards aren't really spooky. Mummies though? Now mummies are super spooky.
Ho man, this is a text-packed comic. Lotta talking. Anyway, the vampire pony turns into mist and goes to hunt down who I ASSUME are the heroine ponies. They talk of breaking into a parallel world, which I am guessing is the one from the show, otherwise My Little Pony is a ton more Hammer film goth than I had originally guessed.
We then cut to some ponies in what appears to be Wayne manor talking a whole bunch about things I am entirely unfamiliar with. From the sounds of it, the ruler pony has turned to the dark side and is turning the place into late era Soviet Union levels of ruin.
There's some exposition from a fashionable boy unicorn the other lady ponies fancy (I could tell because of hearts). Which is new to me. I thought this was a magic land of all lady ponies, but I guess I was dead wrong. There are boy ponies. And they're xoxohawt. WHICH, by the way, alludes to sexual reproduction, meaning these ponies are children. So WHERE ARE ALL THE HORSES? This is some Ed, Edd, n Eddy shit, you guys.
Anyway, they try to find the differences in the two universes.
I count a reference to Fringe, Bioshock: Infinite, and another one for Doctor Who. I'm starting to see a pattern here. The hidden references. The sly winks. Is this what the Bronies are all about? I've gotta say, this is already a lot to work through to get a simple "hahaha, look at this. We get this!" kind of reference.
HOLD ON. This takes place in mirror world. So did the Archie comic I read. What the. What the. That is a chilling coincidence, you guys. I don't even know how this has happened. Might be... some kind of sign...
Anyway, I kinda zoned out and the boy unicorn and a lady unicorn princess are doing some strange activities with a wizard.
[caption id="attachment_54135" align="aligncenter" width="392"] [/caption]
Much to my chagrin, it appears these two unicorns are on some kinda date. Why would you bring a wizard along on a date? Who knows? I'm not a magical creature (yet).
But then, out of nowhere, for a brief, horrific moment I thought they were going to make more ponies.
[caption id="attachment_54136" align="aligncenter" width="283"] [/caption]
Mercifully, they just stop at a magical forest straight out of a 90s Disney movie and talk some more (seriously, there's a lot of talking). However, there's only thing more magic than friendship and its implied naughty business.
[caption id="attachment_54137" align="aligncenter" width="511"] [/caption]
BUT WAIT! In a tragic move befitting a Pixar movie, lady unicorn is forced to back to her home dimension and another wizard tells her she can never go back. In tears she runs away because she never got to say goodbye. This time it appears friendship is tragic.
BUT WAIT! Lady unicorn just uses magic to return to his world anyway because story conflict is for chumps. Is this starting to sound fever dreamy to you? Because it does to me.
Anyway, we cut back to the boy unicorn handing out more exposition to the heroine ponies -- wait, was that a flashback? -- and we learn that there's a crystal that the heroine ponies can use to trap the evil queen and her bloodsucking dark-furred sister (weird political commentary?). BUT WAIT! The vampire lady is in the shadows listening, and vows to stop her.
AND THEN THEY FIGHT? No. The boy unicorn armors up for an upcoming battle while talking even more to a purple unicorn named Twilight and the bad unicorns meet up again.
And then that's it.
It's over.
Final Thoughts
[caption id="attachment_54144" align="aligncenter" width="488"] [/caption]Ho man, this can't be like that show. It's mostly groan-worthy jokes and tons of talking. How could it garner such a fan base if it's like this? Maybe I'm just missing something from an earlier issue, but boy did nothing happen. At least Archie had horrible characters and a twisted world. Also, I did not learn anything about the world of My Little Pony except that there are, strangely enough, very little ponies. It's mostly mythological beasts and monsters. Anyway, if you can explain any of the this to me or have any obscure comic suggestions for me to read, leave a comment below!The Future Party today announced their 20/20 vision report – a plan to have a total net migration intake of 20 million people over the next 20 years to guarantee Australia’s future prosperity. The plan is built on the back of modelling results that show a demographic crisis will occur within 20 years without an immediate change to immigration policy.
Party leader and NSW Senate candidate James Jansson says it is time for a new voice to be heard on this issue and a new, mature debate to occur.
“Those Australians who love and value migration to this country, those Australians who know we need a real policy response to our ageing population, have had no say in our political debate.
Mr Jansson went on to criticise the current approach. “The government wants to take the productivity gains of the future, which should improve our standard of living, to instead fund the costs of an ageing population. We want the next generation of retirees to have at least the same security as today’s, without our children having to work harder and smarter just to stop the country going backwards.
“Today our aged dependency ratio – the number of working age Australians for each person old enough to retire – is 5.4. Under the government’s 16% reduction in average net migration intake this falls to 3.3 by 2033 and just keeps declining.
“The Future Party instead proposes to increase net immigration by 207%. This plan would see 20 million more people in Australia due to migration by 2033, plus another 4.9 million due to natural growth. This maintains an aged dependency ratio of 5.”
The model broadly accords with the findings of the most recent Intergenerational Report – but allows anyone to make their own assumptions about migration settings. Report co-author and Future Party director Jordan Rastrick criticised existing parties for being unwilling to engage in an honest and open conversation about the population issue.
“The analysis provided by the public service at the behest of the major parties tends to treat migration intake as a given, an assumption that has to be planned around. The truth of course is that migration intake is controlled directly by the policy settings of the government of the day – regardless of how uncomfortable they may be talking about it.
“Until now, the only parties who want to talk about population numbers have been the parties against population and against migration – but they prefer scare tactics and distortions over a rational debate.
“Prime Minister Rudd once supported a big Australia but backed away from his stance in the face of opinion polls. The Coalition tells us to worry about asylum seekers, and the Greens tell us to worry about 457 visa holders. However, little or no attention is paid to the huge contribution new Australians make, whether born here or overseas. And no one talks about how many working Australians we will need to pay for the pensions, aged care and health care of tomorrow.”
Full details are in the 20/20 vision report which can be downloaded here (PDF, 931 KB).
The model used to inform this report can be downloaded here (MS Excel, 1.44 MB).
Image credit: Lachlan Fearnley, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.Food not only nourishes the body but also affects its internal biological clock, which regulates the daily rhythm of many aspects of human behavior and biology. Researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports provide new insights into how adjusting the clock through dietary manipulation may help patients with various conditions and show that insulin may be involved in resetting the clock.
An internal biological or 'circadian' clock plays an important role in preferred sleep times, times of peak alertness, and the timing of certain physiological processes. The clock enables maximum expression of genes at appropriate times of the day, allowing organisms to adapt to the earth's rotation. "Chronic desynchronization between physiological and environmental rhythms not only decreases physiological performance but also carries a significant risk of diverse disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, sleep disorders, and cancer," says Dr. Makoto Akashi, of Yamaguchi University, in Japan.
The circadian clock involves two major pathways. The first, which responds to light, has been well characterized. The second, which responds to food, is less understood. Through experiments in cells and mice, Dr. Akashi and his colleagues found, using cell culture, that insulin, a pancreatic hormone that is secreted in response to feeding, may be involved in resetting the circadian clock. "Insulin-mediated phase adjustment of the clock in feeding-relevant tissues may enable the synchronization between mealtime and tissue function, leading to effective digestion and absorption," he says. "In short, insulin may help the stomach clock synchronize with mealtime."
The researchers' findings provide valuable information on how to adjust the circadian clock through dietary manipulation. "For example, for jet lag, dinner should be enriched with ingredients promoting insulin secretion, which might lead to a phase advance of the circadian clock, whereas breakfast would be the opposite," says Dr. Akashi. The findings also suggest that clock adjustments through feeding might not work well in individuals with insulin resistance, a characteristic of patients with type 2 diabetes. Also, there may be side effects related to the circadian clock when treating patients with insulin.Millions of huge killer hornets which eat bees and have caused the deaths of six people in France, could be heading to Britain because of the warm Spring, experts have warned.
Asian hornets, which are around 3cm long, are far more vicious than smaller varieties and carry a much more powerful sting.
Six people have already died from anaphylactic shock after being stung by the insects which originally come from China but have spread across the world.
Next month the Department of Environment’s National Bee Unit is to meet in Suffolk for a seminar on how to tackle the predators, which can devour up to 50 honey bees a day.
UK beekeepers have been sent email alerts by Defra asking them to be on the look-out for the menaces. Members of the public are being urged not to approach nests, which are usually found high in trees or on the sides of buildings.
Most people die after disturbing a nest and being stung multiple times, which can cause those with allergies to suffer a fatal reaction.
One victim was a 54-year-old man who died after he disturbed a nest and was attacked by a swarm in the Loire Valley.
Carolyne Liston, chairwoman of the Norfolk Beekeepers' Association, said Asian hornets are thought to have arrived in France after hiding away in a consignment of pottery imported from China in 2004.
"They are a very, very aggressive predator" she warned, “They wait by the entrance and grab foraging bees as they come back into the hive.
"They can absolutely decimate bee colonies.
"We are concerned they are going to come into Britain on someone's caravan who has been travelling in France."
The Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency is on standby to kill the hornets using special chemicals.
A Defra Spokesperson said: “There have been no confirmed sightings of Asian hornets in the UK. We are aware of the potential impacts they could have on honey bees and have plans in place to remove them if they are identified. This includes comprehensive monitoring and teams ready to destroy any confirmed nests.”
Experts say the UK's recent hot summers provide the perfect climate for the creatures to thrive.
April is on course to be one of the hottest in a century in the South of England as temperatures reached 25C in Kent on Wednesday.
An Asian hornet
The Met Office said more hot air from Spain will arrive this week, warming up the chilly conditions experienced by many areas over the weekend. Temperatures could reach 23C by Wednesday.
The South and West will be warmest while the cloudier East coast will be cooler with easterly breezes. The North and Scotland are due 18C.
The Met Office the settled spell would last until the weekend, when breezier conditions are due.
Asian hornet facts
The Asian Hornet, or Vespa velutina is an invasive species from Asia and was first spotted in Bordeaux, France, in 2005 and is now spreading rapidly.
It is a highly effective predator of insects, including honey bees and can cause significant losses to bee colonies
Although it is not yet present in the UK, it is considered likely to arrive soon, possibly across the channel from France or accidentally imported in pot plants, cut flowers, fruit and timber.
It is active between April and November.
Queens can be up to 3cm in length and workers around 2.5cm.
Entirely dark brown or black velvety body, bordered with a fine yellow band. It has a black head with orange-yellow face
The Asian Hornet is a day flying species which, unlike the European hornet, ceases activity at dusk. It nests in tall trees in urban and rural areas, and nests can also be found in sheds, garages, under decking or in holes in the wall or ground.
An Asian Hornet's sting is thought to be no more painful than that of a British hornet to humansIn Thailand, A Campaign For An Exiled Leader
Enlarge this image toggle caption Pailin Chitprasertsuk for NPR Pailin Chitprasertsuk for NPR
Election Results From The AP
Thai music blasts from a sound truck, as villagers in red shirts dance, listen to speeches, and eat sticky rice and spicy local cuisine at a local Buddhist temple. The residents of Baan Suksomboon, in northeast Udon Thani province, are here to declare that this is a "Red Village," organized in support of opposition candidate Yingluck Shinawatra.
But the faces on the campaign posters here are not Yingluck Shinawatra's. They belong to Thaksin Shinawatra, her older brother, who was ousted as prime minister in 2006.
"Since the first Red Village was created, we've made it clear that we want Thaksin to come back to govern the country as prime minister," says Anont Saennan, leader of Udon Thani's Red Shirts and an editor at a local newspaper.
As Anont is speaking, he gets a text message on his cell phone. It's Thaksin's staff, cancelling Thaksin's scheduled phone-in to congratulate Baan Suksomboon on becoming Thailand's 255th "Red Village." Apparently, Anont says, Thaksin is wary of provoking the authorities so close to the election.
Anont is a bit tense himself and says security agents have been shadowing him.
"We hear that the military has been telling village leaders to warn residents that anyone who comes here today will be arrested," he says. But both the authorities and the Red Shirts are restrained, and there are no arrests.
'Thaksinomics'
"We don't dare to organize in public," confides former chicken farmer Saifon Jettabootr. "We are scared that the government will use the law to arrest us. That's why we gather people here, using this Buddhist temple as our refuge."
Saifon says her participation in politics began with Thaksin. Her farm went under in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. She says that Thaksin gave farmers debt relief, easy credit and health care with co-payments of just $1 per treatment. She notes that her husband had his appendix removed for next to nothing.
When Thaksin became prime minister, he helped us. So we saw that we should pay attention to politics.
"Before Thaksin, we didn't care about politics or about who governed us," she says. "But then the economic crisis sent prices for gas, education and everything soaring. When Thaksin became prime minister, he helped us. So we saw that we should pay attention to politics."
Thaksin's policies — dubbed "Thaksinomics" by the media — helped the Thai economy bounce back from the financial crisis. They also helped him score two major electoral victories in a country where no prime minister had ever completed a full term. But he was later accused of corruption and ousted by a military coup.
With Yingluck's party winning a landslide in the election, she could grant her brother amnesty, and he could come home from Dubai, where he now lives in exile. But incumbent Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva warns that Thaksin masterminded the Red Shirt protests, which paralyzed Bangkok last April and May. They ended in a military crackdown and 91 deaths.
"I don't see that amnesty would lead to any reconciliation," he said in a recent speech. "I've talked to many Thais and the majority of them say they will not allow a corrupt fugitive or people who created unrest in this country to whitewash their misdeeds."
Since Thailand overthrew its absolute monarchy in 1932, the country has seen elections followed by street protests followed by coups. Observers are concerned that this election will do little to break those cycles.
Thailand's top general said Thursday that the military will not stage a coup, no matter who wins the election. But he has suggested that Yingluck's party leaders are disrespectful to the Thai king. The army leveled that same charge at Yingluck's brother when it deposed him.
The Outsider
At her final, rain-swept campaign rally in Bangkok, Yingluck carefully pointed out that she does not oppose the institution: the monarchy.
Enlarge this image toggle caption STR/AFP/Getty Images STR/AFP/Getty Images
"Some people accuse me and my party of having ill intentions toward our country and its institution," she told a boisterous crowd of supporters. "That hurts my feelings, because it's not true. But I won't debate with them to get votes. Instead I'll govern this country with my heart and my intellect."
Yingluck is a 44-year-old businesswoman with no previous political experience.
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has called the “religionization of politics,” whereby secular politics and policymaking will be reshaped by the logic and certitude of religious fundamentalism. As Bauman points out in a different context:
Much too little attention is paid to... the “religionization of politics,” arguably still more dangerous and often much more gory in its consequences [than the politicization of religion]. A conflict of interests calling for negotiation and compromise (the daily bread of politics) is then recycled into an ultimate showdown between good and evil that renders any negotiated agreement inconceivable and from which only one of the antagonists can emerge alive (the liminal horizon of monotheistic religions).18
If the Republican candidacy race of 2012 is any indication, then political discourse in the United States has not only moved to the right—it has introduced totalitarian values and ideals into the mainstream of public life. Religious fanaticism, consumer culture, and the warfare state work in tandem with neoliberal economic forces to encourage privatization, corporate tax breaks, income and wealth inequality, and the further merging of the financial and military spheres in ways that diminish the authority and power of democratic governance.19 Neoliberal interests in freeing markets from social constraints, fueling competitiveness, destroying education systems, producing atomized subjects, and loosening individuals from any sense of social responsibility prepare the populace for a slow embrace of social Darwinism, state terrorism, and the mentality of war—not least of all by destroying communal bonds, dehumanizing the other, and pitting individuals against the communities they inhabit.
The Dark Shadows of Authoritarianism
Totalitarian temptations now saturate the media and larger culture in the language of austerity as political and economic orthodoxy. What we are witnessing in the United States is the normalization of a politics that exterminates not only the welfare state, and the truth, but all those who bear the sins of the Enlightenment—that is, those who refuse a life free from doubt. Reason and freedom have become enemies not merely to be mocked, but to be destroyed. And this is a war whose totalitarian tendencies are evident in the assault on science, immigrants, women, the elderly, the poor, people of color, and youth.20 What too often goes unsaid, particularly with the media’s focus on inflammatory rhetoric, is that those who dominate politics and policymaking, whether Democrats or Republicans, do so largely because of their disproportionate control of the nation’s income and wealth.
Increasingly, it appears that these political elite choose to act in ways that sustain their dominance through the systemic reproduction of an iniquitous social order. In other words, big money and corporate power rule while electoral politics are rigged.21 The secrecy of the voting booth becomes the ultimate expression of democracy, reducing politics to an individualized purchase—a crude form of economic action and a claim to hermetic power. A politics willing to invest in such ritualistic pageantry only adds to the current dysfunctional nature of our social order while reinforcing a profound failure of political imagination. The issue should no longer be how to work within the current electoral system, but how to dismantle it and construct a new political landscape capable of making a claim on equity, justice, and democracy for all of its inhabitants. Obama’s once inspiring call for hope has degenerated into a flight from responsibility. The Obama administration has worked to extend the policies of the George W. Bush administration by legitimating a range of foreign and domestic policies that have shredded civil liberties (going so far as to claim the authority to kill Americans without recourse to due process), expanding the permanent warfare state, and increasing the domestic reach of the punitive surveillance state. And if Romney and his ideological cohorts, now viewed as the most extreme faction of the Republican Party, had come to power, surely the existing totalitarian and anti-democratic tendencies at work in the United States would very likely have been dangerously intensified.
The War against Youth
One measure of the increasing move toward authoritarianism in the United States is evident in that the war against democracy and for neoliberalism is now being directed with special force and intensity against young people, especially low-income youth and poor minorities. We now live during an era in which obscene violence is directed with impunity against young protesters, and youth increasingly serve as targets of myriad forms of public and state-sanctioned punishment.22 The purpose of this book is to bring into the realm of consciousness the degree to which U.S. public spheres, institutions, and values have been hijacked by a politics of distraction and by violent spectacles whose alleged entertainment value conceals an underlying culture of degradation, state-sponsored repression, and an unrelenting depravity that, while it affects everyone, has the most damaging effects on today’s and tomorrow’s youth. A catalogue of indicting evidence reveals the depth and breadth of the war being waged against the social state, and particularly against young people. Beyond exposing the moral depravity of a nation that fails to protect its young, such a war speaks to nothing less than a perverse death wish, a barely masked desire for self-annihilation. The willful destruction of an entire generation not only transforms U.S. politics into pathology but is sure to signal the death knell for America’s future. How much longer will the American public have to wait before the nightmare comes to an end?
For these dire reasons, the time has come for progressives and others to shift the critique of Obama (or the Romney-Ryan platform for that matter) away from an exclusive focus on the policies and practices of his administration and instead develop a new language for politics—one with a longer historical purview and a deeper understanding of the ominous forces that now threaten any credible notion of the United States as an aspiring democracy. Democracy in this case serves not only as a referent for engaging the gap between the existing reality and the promise of its principles and ideals, but also as a site of ongoing struggle that is never finished or completed.23
Toward a New Political Project
The first part of this book examines the trends and forces that are contributing to a widespread shift in American life toward authoritarianism. An awareness of the material and cultural elements that have produced these conditions is important; however, it is simply not enough. The collective response here must be to refuse to enter the current political discourse of compromise and accommodation—to think well beyond the discourse of facile concessions and to conduct struggles on the mutually informed terrains of civic literacy, education, and power. A rejection of traditional forms of political mobilization must be accompanied by a new political discourse, one that uncovers the hidden practices of neoliberal domination while developing rigorous models for critical reflection and fresh forms of intellectual and social engagement. As discussed in the second part of this book, young people across the United States and the globe are certainly doing so, despite the barbaric treatment to which they have been subjected over the past two decades, and particularly since the economic collapse of 2008.
Finding our way to a more humane future demands a new politics, a new set of values, a new understanding of politics, and a renewed sense of the fragile nature of democracy. In part, this means that the militant rhetorical war being waged by social conservatives guided by a distorted notion of religion or austerity under the guise of sound fiscal policy must be understood as a facet of contemporary authoritarianism. These tendencies have a long legacy in American history. But the current historical moment seems at an utter loss to create a massive social movement capable of addressing the totalitarian nature and social costs of a religious and political fundamentalism that is merging with an extreme market fundamentalism. In this case, a fundamentalism whose idea of freedom extends no further than personal financial gain and endless consumption.
Under such circumstances, progressives should focus their energies on working with the Occupy movement and other social movements to develop a new language of radical reform and to create new public spheres that will make possible the modes of critical thought and engaged agency that are the very foundations of a truly participatory and radical democracy. Such a project must work to develop vigorous educational programs, modes of public communication, and communities that promote a culture of deliberation, public debate, and critical exchange across a wide variety of cultural and institutional sites. Ultimately, it must focus on the end goal of generating those forma- tive cultures and public spheres that are the preconditions for political engagement and vital for energizing democratic movements for social change—movements willing to think beyond the limits of a savage global capitalism. Pedagogy in this sense becomes central to any substantive notion of politics and must be viewed as a crucial element of organized resistance and collective struggles.
The deep regressive elements of neoliberalism constitute both a pedagogical practice and a legitimating function for a severely oppressive social order. Pedagogical relations that make the power relations of casino capitalism disappear must be uncovered and challenged. Under such circumstances, politics becomes transformative rather than accommodating and aims at abolishing a capitalist system marked by massive economic, social, and cultural inequalities. A politics that uncovers the harsh realities imposed by casino capitalism should also work toward establishing a society in which matters of justice and freedom are understood as the crucial foundation of a substantive democracy. This book draws hope from youth movements doing this very thing, despite the intensification of emerging social and political forces that are relentlessly damaging young people and any prospects they might have for the future.
Rather than invest in electoral politics, it would be more worthwhile for progressives to develop formative conditions that make a real democracy possible. Central to such a project is the development of a new radical imagination that operates in the service of a broad-based social movement that can move beyond the legacy of a fractured left/ progressive culture and politics in order to address the totality of society’s problems. As Angela Davis has suggested, this means engaging “in difficult coalition-building processes, negotiating the recognition for which communities and issues inevitably strive [and coming] together in a unity that is not simplistic and oppressive, but complex and emancipatory, recognizing, in June Jordan’s words, that ‘we are the ones we have been waiting for.'”24 Developing a broad-based social movement means finding a common ground upon which challenging diverse forms of oppression, exploitation, and exclusion can become part of a wider effort to create a radical democracy. Language is crucial here, particularly language that addresses what it means to sustain a broad range of commitments to others and build more inclusive notions of community. Appeals to social and economic injustice are important, but do not go far enough. There is a need to invent modes of communication that connect learning to social change and foster modes of critical agency through which people assume responsibility for each other. This is not merely about skill sharing or democratizing education and politics; it is about generating a new vision of democracy and a radical project in which people can recognize themselves, a vision that connects with and speaks to the American public’s desires, dreams, and hopes.
Reclaiming a Discourse of Ethics and Social Responsibility
Questions of what it means to be a critical and engaged member of society (and how these are linked to the ways people understand themselves, their relations to others, and their relation to the world) are at the heart of a politics wedded to the primacy of the radical imagination. In part, this necessitates, as media scholar Nick Couldry has argued, reclaiming a discourse of ethics and morality, elaborating a new model of democratic politics, and developing fresh analytical concepts for understanding and engaging the concept of the social. The social has to be reconfigured so as to expose and eliminate a market-driven project—or what I refer to as the Big Lie—that individualizes responsibility while also silencing claims made in the name of democracy. Reclaiming a democratic notion of the citizen-subject goes hand-in-hand with inventing a new understanding of social conditions, civic responsibility, and critical citizenship.
Matters of education and how the public is educated (what I call public pedagogy) are central to a new understanding of politics. Issues of identity, desire, and agency must be considered as part of an energized struggle to reclaim the promise of a substantive global democracy. This entails teaching people to feel a responsibility toward others and the planet, to think in a critical fashion, and to act in ways that support the public good. In this instance, progressives need to create public spheres of engagement using new technologies and other tools that open up new modes of communication and social relations. These efforts should be situated in a larger project rooted in an understanding that critical education and democracy are the primary and mutually constituting elements of any society that can make a claim to promoting the health, justice, and equality of its citizenry. The radical imagination rejects the notion that a corporate-dominated market society represents the essence of democracy. In doing so, it connects economics to social costs and measures the political and spiritual life of a nation by the degree to which it offers collective security, justice, equality, and hope to existing and future generations. At the same time, it refuses the seductions of the prevailing economic and political system, whether in the form of an appeal to the virtues of the electoral system or the call for acting within the existing framework of reform. Young people have “experienced a lifetime of betrayal” and what they need is more “than protection from uncontrolled market forces.”25 Instead of reformist blabber, what is needed are critical viewpoints, modes of governance, and policymaking that address matters of democracy, public life, equality, and the redistribution of wealth and power. Crucial here is the development of new critical vocabularies, modes of knowledge, theoretical resources, and a far-reaching and visionary political project capable of informing and empowering those who have been reduced to the margins of society, barely surviving, while the upper 1 percent accrues highly disproportionate amounts of wealth, income, and power.
This means that progressives must take a cue from youth protesters the world over and develop new ways to challenge the corporate values that shape American and, increasingly, global politics. It is especially crucial to provide alternative values that challenge market-driven ideologies that equate freedom with radical individualism, privatization, and deregulation, while undermining democratic social bonds, the public good, and the welfare state. Such actions can be further addressed by recruiting young people, teachers, labor activists, religious leaders, and other engaged citizens to become public intellectuals who are willing to use their skills and knowledge to make visible how power works and to address important social and political issues. Of course, the American public needs to do more than talk. It also needs to bring together educators, students, workers, and anyone else interested in real democracy in order to create a social movement—a well-organized movement capable of changing the power relations and vast economic inequalities that have created the conditions for symbolic and systemic violence in American society.
Building New Educational Spaces
Regarding policy interventions, progressives can explore a variety of options to build coalitions with labor unions, environmental organizations, and public servants in order to develop a broad-based alternative party to push for much-needed reforms, including paid family and medical leave, a new equal rights amendment for women, literacy and civic engagement programs, a guaranteed minimum income, ecological reform, free child care, new finance laws for funding public education, the cancellation of higher education debt obligations for middle- and working-class students, health care programs, and a massive jobs program in conjunction with a Marshall Plan–like program to end poverty and inequality in the United States. But, to achieve these goals, progressives will invariably need to take on the role of educational activists. One option would be to create microspheres of public education that further modes of critical learning and civic agency, and thus enable young people and others to learn how to govern rather than be governed. This could be accomplished through a network of free educational spaces developed among diverse faith communities and public schools, as well as in secular and religious organizations affiliated with higher educational institutions. These new educational spaces, focused on cultivating both dialogue and action in the public interest, can look to past models in those institutions developed by socialists, labor unions, and civil rights activists in the early twentieth century and later in the 1950s and 60s. Such schools represented oppositional public spheres and functioned as democratic public spheres in the best educational sense and ranged from the early networks of radical Sunday Schools to the later Brookwood Labor College and Highlander Folk School in Tennessee.26 Stanley Aronowitz rightly insists that the current system “survives on the eclipse of the radical imagination, the absence of a viable political opposition with roots in the general population, and the conformity of its intellectuals who, to a large extent, are subjugated by their secure berths in the academy, less secure private sector corporate jobs, and centrist and center-left media institutions.”27
At a time when critical thought has been flattened, it becomes imperative to develop a discourse of critique and possibility—one that recognizes that without an informed citizenry, collective struggle, and dynamic social movements, hope for a viable democratic future will slip out of our reach. Threatening the future of not only youth, but any group marginalized by virtue of age, gender, race or class, is a growing democratic deficit among developed countries as the gap widens between the people and institutions elected to govern and the citizenry they represent. Chapter 1 of this book provides the contexts for understanding how democratic decline in America now works in tandem with a national education deficit, whereby the critical and civic literacies needed for people to engage as active citizens are undermined by both educational policies and practices in schools and the weakening of the public-political culture in broader society. If left unchecked, then tomorrow’s concern will be less a persistent democratic deficit than the rise of a new authoritarianism.28 Chapter 2 reviews how the forces of authoritarianism have evolved from neoliberal-infused political culture, which is driven to restructure society to empower the wealthy and erode the state’s ability to act as a defense on behalf of citizens. This is especially dire for society’s most vulnerable, who suffer disproportionately from the set of orthodoxies characterizing the dominant pedagogy of late twentieth-century neoliberal capitalism with respect to market deregulation, extreme patriotic and religious fervor, the instrumentalization of education, and the militarization of the entire society. These four fundamentalisms marshal a set of pernicious forces that fuel inequality, unemployment, cultures of cruelty and violence, a harsh penal system, the suppression of dissent, and a lack of access to education, among other ruinous social and economic conditions.
The permanent state of warfare abroad and at home has resulted in cultures of violence across several public spheres beyond the military. Chapter 3 focuses in more detail on U.S. popular culture and a growing celebration of military-like values, which has led not only to an infusion of militaristic technologies and ways of thinking across society, but also to the militarization of public spaces, such as schools. The normalization of violence is accomplished through the reproduction of violent pedagogies in contexts that lack (and sometimes actively destroy) the critical apparatuses by which the public becomes sensitized and thus resists the dehumanization, suffering, and social costs entailed by acts of violence. A mass culture of violence leads to the gradual acceptance of violence in everyday life—seen in, for example, grotesque spectacles such as The Hunger Games and the television series The Following. Chapter 4 turns to the tragic death of the African American youth Trayvon Martin, and the way media coverage fixated on the “hoodie” and its alleged symbolic power to trigger life-threatening fear and brutal violence supposedly apart from persistent forms of racism. Analysis of the “color-blind” media suggests that mass spectacles along with fantasies of post-racialism have diverted public attention away from the hidden modes through which neoliberal racism and social inequality continue to operate in American society, particularly through the criminalization of poor minority youth.
Through the alienation and isolation of increasing numbers of young people, the United States is moving ever closer to self-annihilation. Chapter 5 expands further on the war on youth through connecting it to Paul Virilio’s notion of a “suicidal state”—defined as a state that “works to destroy its own defenses against anti-democratic forces.”29 Capitulating to authoritarian tendencies, the government works systematically to disenfranchise its own youth, thus attacking the very elements of a society that allow it to reproduce itself. In the United States, but increasingly everywhere, youth are subject to social conditions that are based on mistrust and fear; they are isolated by society and considered expendable or redundant. Chapter 5 also explores how the demonization of young people in the broader culture and neoliberal values rooted in a virulent social Darwinism have now joined forces with increasingly pervasive forms of state-sanctioned cruelty—all of which escalate the violence used against young people and threatens to culminate in an unprecedented and disastrous global war on youth.
Pointing to the challenges inherent in opposing the warfare state and its culture of cruelty is important, but mere vilification of these ideologies is not enough. Political and pedagogical interventions that enter the conversation in ways that offer both critique and hope should be central in the struggle to create the conditions for a more critical and engaged citizenry. In chapter 6, educators committed to cultivating students as thoughtful citizens are called upon to engage with broader public discourse over the vital importance of public education, as well as the ongoing challenges besetting it, among which are a host of frightening projects rooted in totalitarian logic. There is an urgent necessity in such dark times for intellectuals and various cultural workers to bring the fruits of their scholarship to bear on the crucial issues of the day. In part, this suggests a pressing need for progressives to oppose the right-wing agenda to privatize (and thus demolish) one of the few remaining spaces where critical thinking can be fostered among all young people regardless of privilege and wealth: the public school system and the system of higher education. Religious fundamentalists, in particular, are attempting to steamroll democracy by limiting people’s access to critical education—democracy’s strongest pillar. Through appeals to moral superiority and self-interest, proponents of privatization like Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich work to disarm the citizenry and prevent people from seeing the most pernicious impacts triggered by privatization on educational policy and practices, most notably the expansion of charter schools, the narrowing of the teaching curriculum, the dismantling of financial and other supports for students, and the skyrocketing costs of higher education, much of which the Obama administration opposes. Most alarming is how the far-right arm of the Republican Party is using private religious schools to destroy the democratic edifice built on the separation of church and state, and ultimately to marshal support for a theocracy in the United States.
Since the emergence of the Occupy movement in 2011, the potential for collective resistance has grown exponentially. Chapter 7 encourages critical educators to join with Occupiers and other youth in supporting a collective cultural campaign that links the defense of accessible public and higher education to progressive social movements and independent media sources. What must be resisted are the “disappearing acts” of corporate-funded, anti-public intellectuals who erect walls around knowledge, while simultaneously rendering invisible those disadvantaged populations who are deserving of compassion and social protections. These gated intellectuals, often abetted by the dominant media, use privilege and ideological narrowness to divorce themselves from understanding the systemic elements that contribute to social and economic injustice. Their views reduce citizenship to consumption, support corporate greed and private interests, and fuel hyper-individualized notions of equality and freedom. In contrast, engaged public intellectuals might adopt a “borderless pedagogy” that crosses zones of knowledge control and policing and aims to democratize power and knowledge. These new modes of resistance are necessary because a sustainable democratic future will require more than electoral democracy or democracy in name only. It will require a multitude of public and free access forums along with the broad mobilization of traditional and new educational sites in which public intellectuals can do the work of resistance, engagement, and policymaking to support a democratic politics.
Chronicling how the Occupy Wall Street movement has broadly impacted political discourse, chapter 8 explains in detail why a movement that foregrounds the importance of critical education is especially necessary in the current historical moment. The Occupy movement initiated such a task by challenging the fatalism inherent in the capitalist system and developing a new vision of politics. Through the practical translation of theoretical discourses into action for social change, the hope produced by the Occupy movement extends its life to new movements and causes. In the face of police brutality leveled against peaceful protesters with impunity, generations both young and old have a duty to reverse the pressures of the punishing state and develop social movements that not only restore the principles and practices of democracy but build and sustain institutions and formative cultures that can provide a safe, dignified future to young people everywhere. As neoliberal educational policies organize schools today in alignment with punitive and market cultures, the abilities of educators to carry out pedagogies that will ignite students’ social responsibility and political consciousness are being stifled. In this new, corporatized climate, teachers are consigned to the role of technicians and are allowed to do little more than robotically carry out assigned curriculum, teaching-to-the-test mandates, or uphold harsh disciplinary policies. In response to this crisis of pedagogical agency among educators, chapter 9 unravels the current neoliberal attacks being waged on teachers in today’s culture of consumerism and violence. Taking up the media’s momentary celebration of teachers as protectors of youth after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in the fall of 2012, this chapter addresses the heightened difficulty teachers face in safeguarding the futures of young people. At this specific historical conjuncture teachers are subject to an onslaught of attacks against their role as public servants and critical intellectuals. In addition, the very concept of educator should be continually conceptualized as a defender of youth, rather than being celebrated as such only after this kind of tragedy—a short-lived praise quickly lost in the sea of assaults teachers remain subjected to at the hands of advocates for school privatization and market-based education. Importantly, this chapter calls for educators to fight against this anti-democratic configuration of education by reconceptualizing themselves as engaged citizens and public intellectuals committed to making the pedagogical more political and the political more pedagogical, nurturing the critical and civic capacities of the next generation that will challenge the emergent authoritarianism.
Chapter 10 focuses further on the educational foundations of a truly democratic society and the vital role of critical pedagogy for any democratizing movement. Unfortunately, the growing popularity of neoliberal narratives coincides with a trend of thinking about society through a strictly economic lens, and this has produced a generation that views education as a form of technical training whereby a student’s skills only matter if they can be commodified and traded in the marketplace. As the reigning market orthodoxy translates all aspects of our personal and social lives into the context of commerce, the mode of critique that searches for the gaps between the sociopolitical configuration of the moment and the ideal of democracy to come is quickly becoming a thing of the past, replaced by a desire not for our collective betterment and the public good, but for private gain of a distinctly selfish bent. When political engagement disappears, how can a movement toward equality and social justice even begin to emerge? This final chapter explains the crucial responsibility and pivotal role that critical educators as public intellectuals can assume in resisting the neoliberalization of society by using new political and pedagogical languages to recontextualize democracy outside of market values, while equipping young people with the critical skills and sense of agency they need to play an active role in struggling for and shaping a genuinely democratic future. Central to addressing the education deficit in America will be a robust, broad-based social movement that prioritizes a defense of public and higher education as the crucibles out of which engaged citizenship and democracy are forged.
As a whole, this book provides a context for understanding the war on youth through an examination of the regressive educational apparatuses and culture of cynicism that are now dominating the United States as well as Canada, all of which indicate how both societies are increasingly infused with violence. These real and symbolic forms of violence are promoted by a range of intersecting forces, including neoliberal policymaking, militarization, religious fanaticism, corporate elitism, and persistent racism. Despite widespread calls for electoral reform, the United States, in particular, has arrived at such a crisis in governance that it cannot possibly begin to engage prevailing issues through political reform alone. Education—and critical education in particular—must be taken seriously as a matter of primary importance among all who believe in the promise of U.S. democracy. The education deficit will require wholesale cultural and policy change if the United States is going to redress its devastating impact across all levels of society, particularly on young people. But with the emergence of Occupy Wall Street and other social movements, there is hope on the horizon. Indeed, abandoned by an increasingly punitive state and a generation of adults, youth are taking matters into their own hands and are asserting the power of democratic expression and collective struggle in a society that has all but relinquished its claim to equity, justice, social responsibility, and public life.
Notes
1. Zygmunt Bauman, “Has the Future a Left?,” Soundings, 35 (2007). Online: http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/journals/articles/bauman07.html.
2. David Blacker, The Falling Rate of Learning and the Neoliberal Endgame (Lon- don: Zero Books, 2013),
3.Charles H. Ferguson, Predator Nation: Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America (New York: Crown Business, 2012), 21. See, for example, Bill McKibben, The End of Nature (New York: Random House, 2006); Chalmers Johnson, Dismantling the Empire: America’s Last Hope (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2010); and Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete? (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2003)
4. Henry A. Giroux, Against the Terror of Neoliberalism (Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2008); Colin Crouch, The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism (London: Polity, 2011).
5.Glenn Greenwald, With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2011); Jeff Madrick, The Age of Greed (New York: Vintage, 2012). On the issue of inequality there is an abundance of research. Some recent work includes Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012); and a brilliant essay by Michal D. Yates, “The Great Inequality,” Monthly Review 63/10 (March 2012), http://monthlyreview. org/2012/03/01/the-great-inequality.
6. See Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron, Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1991); Stanley
Notes to pages 11–13 207
Aronowitz and Henry A. Giroux, Education Still Under Siege, 2nd ed.(New
York: Praeger, 1993). 7. See, for example, Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, “Let’s Just Say
It: The Republicans Are the Problem,” Washington Post, April 27, 2012, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html.
8. Jane Mayer, “Ayn Rand Joins the Ticket,” The New Yorker, August 11, 2012, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/08/paul-ryan-and-ayn-rand.html.
9. Rick Santorum, “Video: Town Hall Meeting,” C-Span, January 4, 2012, http://c-spanvideo.org/program/SantorumTo. Santorum believes that the “moochers,” code for the young, elderly, low-income poor, and disadvantaged minorities, are draining the public coffers. What he ignores, as Larry Bartels points out, is that “programs serving heavily minority and poor populations are not where the money is. According to the Census Bureau’s Consolidated Federal Funds Report, less than 8 percent of federal spending in 2010 was for unemployment benefits, food stamps, housing assistance, student aid, and the earned-income tax credit. Almost half was for salaries and wages, grants, and procurement; most of the rest consisted of Social Security and Medicare payments. Large-scale reductions in government spending would require significant cuts in big-ticket programs that mostly benefit the middle class.” See Bartels, “The Narcotic of Government Dependency,” The Monkey Cage, February 13, 2012, http://themonkeycage.org/ blog/2012/02/13/the-narcotic-of-government-dependency/.
10. Robert Reich, “Romney-Ryan Will Bring Back Social Darwinism,” Kansas City Star, August 14, 2012, http://www.kansascity. com/2012/08/14/3762436/robert-b-reich-romney-ryan-will.html.
11. Robert O. Self, “The Antisocial Contract,” New York Times, August 25, 2012,http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/the-antisocial-contract/.
12. George Lakoff and Glenn W. Smith, “Romney, Ryan and the Devil’s Budget,” Huffington Post, August 22, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost. com/george-lakoff/romney-ryan-and-the-devil_b_1819652.html.
13. Ibid. 14. Books on the public sphere almost constitute an industry. The classic is
Jürgen Habermas’s The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991). For an excellent reader on seminal articles on the public sphere, see Jostein Gripsrud, Hallvard Moe, Anders Molander, Graham Murdock, eds., The Idea of the Public Sphere: A Reader (Boulder, CO: Lexington Books, 2010). For some recent interesting work, see Ian Angus, Emergent Publics: An Essay on Social Movements and Democracy (Winnipeg, MB: Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2001); Daniel Drache, Defiant Publics
208 Notes to pages 13–21
(London: Polity Press, 2008); Dan Hind, The Return of the Public (London: Verso, 2010); and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Commonwealth (Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2009).
15. Proinnsias Reathnach, “Casino Capitalism and Global Recession: Historical Background and Future Outlook,” Irish Left Review, September 15, 2009, http://www.irishleftreview.org/2009/09/15/casino-capitalism-global-re- cession-historical-background-future-outlook/. The term “casino capitalism” was first coined by Susan Strange, in Casino Capitalism (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997). Also see Hans-Werner Sinn, Casino Capitalism: How the Financial Crisis Came About and What Needs to Be Done Now (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010); and Susmit Kuman, Casino Capitalism: The Collapse of the U.S. Economy and the Transition to Secular Democracy in the Middle East (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2012).
16. Editorial, “How to Profit in Our Casino Economy,” Casino Capitalism, September 8, 2010, http://www.casinocapitalism.com/about/.
17. Ibid. 18. Zygmunt Bauman, Living on Borrowed Time: Conversations with Citlali Rovirosa-Madrazo (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010), 132. 19. See Jeffrey R. Di Leo, Henry A. Giroux, Sophia A. McClennen, and Kenneth J. Saltman, Neoliberalism, Education, Terrorism: Contemporary Dialogues
(Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2012). 20. Chris Mooney, Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science—
and Reality (New York: Wiley, 2012). See also Joseph Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012); Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New York: New Press, 2012); and Dorothy Roberts, Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-Create Race in the Twenty-first Century (New York: New Press, 2011).
21. Ferguson, Predator Nation. 22. Henry A. Giroux, Zombie Politcs in the Age of Casino Capitalism (New York:
Peter Lang, 2011). 23. Democracy is a complicated concept and one of the most useful books I
have read mapping its divergent theories is Frank Cunningham, Theories of Democracy: A Critical Introduction (New York: Routledge, 2002). See also David Held, Models of Democracy, 3rd ed. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006); Marc Stears, Demanding Democracy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010).
24. Angela Davis, “The 99%: A Community of Resistance,” The Guardian, November 15, 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/15/99-percent-community-resistance.
25. Stanley Aronowitz, “The Winter of Our Discontent,” Situations 4/2 (Spring 2012): 40, 60.
Notes to pages 22–34 209
26. For a history of such experiments, see Paul Avrich, The Modern Schools Movement (Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2005); and Allen Graubard, Free the Children;: Radical Reform and the Free School Movement (New York: Pantheon, 1972).
27. Stanley Aronowitz, “The Winter of Our Discontent,” Situations 4/2 (Spring 2012): 68.
28. One particularly important source among the many dealing with the emerging authoritarianism in the United States is Sheldon S. Wolin, Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008). See also Henry A. Giroux, Against the New Authoritarianism: Politics After Abu Ghraib (Winnipeg, MB: Arbieter Ring Publishing, 2005); Tony Judt, “What Is Living and What Is Dead in Social Democracy?,” New York Review of Books 56/ 20 (December 17, 2009), http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23519.
29. Paul Virilio, “The Suicidal State,” in The Virilio Reader, ed. J. DerDerian (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 29–45.
1. BEYOND THE POLITICS OF THE BIG LIE
1. Tony Judt, Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century (New York: Penguin, 2008), 420.
2. Raymond Williams, “Preface to Second Edition,” Communications (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1967), 15.
3. Ibid. 4
|
expected to do much better than it did.
Twitter reaction to the story has been blistering:
Nostradeptus: What the heck about the Butler made the white superiority state think we’d riot? Nostradeptus: There is a reason they institute S&F laws has nothing to do with crime and everything with instilling fear in the Black community Nostradeptus: That way all they have to do is march out their police and we’re supposed to accept armed guards watching us watch a movie Nostradeptus: They got police dispatched to watch us watch movies, but drones, right bro? The NSA my brother right??? #fuxthemdudes Cocky McSwagsalot: The almost entirely black audience of #TheButler was subjected to watching the film while armed guards faced the audience. Why?
The furious Twitter reaction to the story prompted WJLA to get in touch with Tiffany, and they’ll be airing a report on the incident this afternoon, in which Regal Cinemas will reportedly respond to the controversy.
Update: Regal Cinemas has issued a statement, first reported by TheGrio.com’s Joy-Ann Reid:
Russ Nunley, a spokesman for Regal Cinemas, emailed theGrio the following statement Sunday afternoon: Regal Entertainment Group routinely employs security personnel to ensure the safety all of our guests and staff. When a theatre experiences sold out showings of any feature, security will assist with crowd control and guest assistance throughout the facility, including auditoriums. This weekend our Majestic theatre experienced a tremendous guest response to the feature the ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’ such that additional showtimes were added to meet our guests demands. At no time did local management receive any guest complaints or concerns about our security or staff, who worked diligently to meet all of our guests needs. To the extent any guests were dissapointed with their experience, we welcome the opportunity to address their concerns and provide them the best entertainment experience possible in their future visits to our theatres. [sic]
Here’s a video report on the story, from WRC-DC:
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] you use an Apple iPhone, iPad or other iDevice, now would be an excellent time to ensure that the machine is running the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system — version 9.3.1. Failing to do so could expose your devices to automated threats capable of rendering them unresponsive and perhaps forever useless.
On Feb. 11, 2016, researcher Zach Straley posted a Youtube video exposing his startling and bizarrely simple discovery: Manually setting the date of your iPhone or iPad all the back to January. 1, 1970 will permanently brick the device (don’t try this at home, or against frenemies!).
Now that Apple has patched the flaw that Straley exploited with his fingers, researchers say they’ve proven how easy it would be to automate the attack over a network, so that potential victims would need only to wander within range of a hostile wireless network to have their pricey Apple devices turned into useless bricks.
Not long after Straley’s video began pulling in millions of views, security researchers Patrick Kelley and Matt Harrigan wondered: Could they automate the exploitation of this oddly severe and destructive date bug? The researchers discovered that indeed they could, armed with only $120 of electronics (not counting the cost of the bricked iDevices), a basic understanding of networking, and a familiarity with the way Apple devices connect to wireless networks.
Apple products like the iPad (and virtually all mass-market wireless devices) are designed to automatically connect to wireless networks they have seen before. They do this with a relatively weak level of authentication: If you connect to a network named “Hotspot” once, going forward your device may automatically connect to any open network that also happens to be called “Hotspot.”
For example, to use Starbuck’s free Wi-Fi service, you’ll have to connect to a network called “attwifi”. But once you’ve done that, you won’t ever have to manually connect to a network called “attwifi” ever again. The next time you visit a Starbucks, just pull out your iPad and the device automagically connects.
From an attacker’s perspective, this is a golden opportunity. Why? He only needs to advertise a fake open network called “attwifi” at a spot where large numbers of computer users are known to congregate. Using specialized hardware to amplify his Wi-Fi signal, he can force many users to connect to his (evil) “attwifi” hotspot. From there, he can attempt to inspect, modify or redirect any network traffic for any iPads or other devices that unwittingly connect to his evil network.
TIME TO DIE
And this is exactly what Kelley and Harrigan say they have done in real-life tests. They realized that iPads and other iDevices constantly check various “network time protocol” (NTP) servers around the globe to sync their internal date and time clocks.
The researchers said they discovered they could build a hostile Wi-Fi network that would force Apple devices to download time and date updates from their own (evil) NTP time server: And to set their internal clocks to one infernal date and time in particular: January 1, 1970.
The result? The iPads that were brought within range of the test (evil) network rebooted, and began to slowly self-destruct. It’s not clear why they do this, but here’s one possible explanation: Most applications on an iPad are configured to use security certificates that encrypt data transmitted to and from the user’s device. Those encryption certificates stop working correctly if the system time and date on the user’s mobile is set to a year that predates the certificate’s issuance.
Harrigan and Kelley said this apparently creates havoc with most of the applications built into the iPad and iPhone, and that the ensuing bedlam as applications on the device compete for resources quickly overwhelms the iPad’s computer processing power. So much so that within minutes, they found their test iPad had reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 Celsius), as the date and clock settings on the affected devices inexplicably and eerily began counting backwards.
Harrigan, president and CEO of San Diego-based security firm PacketSled, described the meltdown thusly:
“One thing we noticed was when we set the date on the iPad to 1970, the iPad display clock started counting backwards. While we were plugging in the second test iPad 15 minutes later, the first iPad said it was Dec. 15, 1968. I looked at Patrick and was like, ‘Did you mess with that thing?’ He hadn’t. It finally stopped at 1965, and by that time [the iPad] was about the temperature I like my steak served at.”
Kelley, a senior penetration tester with CriticalAssets.com, said he and Harrigan worked with Apple to coordinate the release of their findings to ensure doing so didn’t predate Apple’s issuance of a fix for this vulnerability. The flaw is present in all Apple devices running anything lower than iOS 9.3.1.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment. But an email shared by the researchers apparently sent by Apple’s product security team suggests the company’s researchers were unable to force an affected device to heat to more than 45.8 degrees Celcisus (~114 degrees Fahrenheit). The note read:
“1) We confirmed that iOS 9.3 a ddresses the issue that left a device unresponsive when the date is set to 1/1/1970. 2) A device affected by this i ssue can be restored to iOS 9. 3 or later. iTunes restored the iPad Air you provided to us for inspection.’ 3) By examining the device, we determined that the battery temperature did not exceed 45. 8 degrees centigrade.”
EVIL HARDWARE
According to Harrigan and Kelley, the hardware needed to execute this attack is little more than a common Raspberry Pi device with some custom software.
“By spoofing time.apple.com, we were able to roll back the time and have it hand out to all Apple clients on the network,” the researchers wrote in a paper shared with KrebsOnSecurity. “All test devices took the update without question and rolled back to 1970.”
The researchers continued: “An interesting side effect was that this caused almost all web browsing traffic to cease working due to time mismatch. Typically, this would prompt a typical user to reboot their device. So, we did that. At this point, we could confirm that the reboot caused all iPads in test to degrade gradually, beginning with the inability to unlock, and ultimately ending with the device overheating and not booting at all. Apple has confirmed this vulnerability to be present in 64 bit devices that are running any version less than 9.3.1.”
Harrigan and Kelley say exploiting this bug on an Apple iPhone device is slightly trickier because iPhones get their network time updates via GSM, the communications standard the devices use to receive and transmit cell phone signals. But they said it may be possible to poison the date and time on iPhones using updates fed to the devices via GSM.
They pointed to research by Brandon Creighton, a research architect at software testing firm Veracode who is perhaps best known for setting up the NinjaTel GSM mobile network at the massive DefCon security conference in 2012. Creighton’s network relied on a technology called OpenBTS — a software based GSM access point. Harrigan and Kelley say an attacker could set up his own mobile (evil) network and push date and time updates to any phones that ping the evil tower.
“It is completely plausible that this vulnerability is exploitable over GSM using OpenBTS or OpenBSC to set the time,” Kelley said.
Creighton agreed, saying that his own experience testing and running the NinjaTel network shows that it’s theoretically possible, although he allows that he’s never tried it.
“Just from my experimentation, theoretically from a protocol level you can do it,” Creighton wrote in a note to KrebsOnSecurity. “But there are lots of factors (the carrier; the parameters on the SIM card; the phone’s locked status; the kind of phone; the baseband version; previously joined networks; neighboring towers; RF signal strength; and more). If you’re just trying to cause general chaos, you don’t need to work very hard. But if, say, you were trying to target an individual device, it would require an additional amount of prep time/recon.”
Whether or not this attack could be used to remotely ruin iPhones or turn iPads into expensive skillets, it seems clear that failing to update to the latest version of Apple iOS is a less-than-stellar idea. iPad users who have not updated their OS need to be extremely cautious with respect to joining networks that they don’t know or trust.
iOS and Mac OS X have a feature that allows users to prevent the devices from automatically joining wireless networks. Enabling this “ask to join networks” feature blocks Apple devices from automatically joining networks they have never seen before — but the side effect is that the device may frequently toss up prompts asking if you wish to join any one of several available wireless networks (this can be disabled by unselecting “Ask to Join Networks”). But enabling it doesn’t prevent the device from connecting to, say, “attwifi” if it has previously connected to a network of that name.
The researchers have posted a video on Youtube that explains their work in greater detail.
Update, 1:08 p.m. ET: Added link to video and clarified how Apple’s “ask to join networks” feature works.
Tags: apple, Apple 1970 bug, Brandon Creighton, criticalassets.com, iPad, iPhone, Matt Harrigan, Packetsled, Patrick Kelley, Veracode, Zach Straley“We’ve had some really talented teams during my time here, but in a way, we were a lot more offensive, and we weren’t so pitching and defense oriented,” Lee said. “In today’s game if you go out there and throw strikes and don’t give people extra outs, chances are good you’ll be successful. You’ll at least be in a lot of games.
“Our offense has been solid so far this season,” he continued. “But everything has started with the pitching staff and its ability to go out there and throw strikes. On top of that, this is the most stable defensive club I’ve had since I arrived.”
The Cougars have a rather intriguing pitching staff this spring. Charleston finished the 2013 campaign with a 4.20 earned-run average, and had a pair of talented starting pitchers in Jake Zokan and Matt Pegler. Both Zokan and Pegler are gone, but the Cougars found a way to be much better even without the duo. This year’s club has a 3.04 ERA with a young, but talented, weekend rotation leading the way.
Imposing freshman righthanded pitcher Bailey Ober is the most intriguing arm of the bunch. Ober is a tall 6-foot-8, 218-pounder, who has shown pinpoint command in four appearances and three starts. Ober has a 1.00 ERA in 27 innings, and also has 26 strikeouts as opposed to zero walks. Stuff-wise, Ober will sit 87-89 with his fastball, touching 90, but his stuff plays up because of his size. Ober also has a good changeup, along with a breaking ball that’s sharper than it was in high school. Ober threw his curveball in the upper-60s in high school, but that pitch is now thrown at 72-75 mph.
“Ober has been our guy. He really commands the strike zone well and doesn’t miss his spots,” Lee said. “He spots his fastball well and his changeup is very good. The breaking ball, over time, has become a much better pitch, too.”
Ober is joined in the weekend rotation by two more younger players -- sophomore righthanded pitchers Tayor Clarke and Nathan Helvey. Clarke joined the program after Towson University threatened to cut baseball, a move that ultimately was reversed. Meanwhile, Helvey is a second-year player who earned his wings last season by starting 10 games and tallying a 3.12 ERA in 52 innings. Both have been good at times this season, with Clarke shining bright with a 2.00 ERA in 27 innings, along with 21 strikeouts and eight walks, while Helvey has a 5.84 ERA in 24 2/3 innings, along with 22 strikeouts and nine walks.
From a stuff standpoint, Clarke is a rather intriguing arm to watch. He sits 88-92, and will bump a 93 with his fastball, while he mainly pitches in the 88-91 range. He also possesses a good slider and changeup, and has good feel for the strike zone. Meanwhile, Helvey is 88-90, touching 91, and also possesses a slider and changeup, with the changeup being his best secondary offering.
"Clarke is an over the top righty who just pounds the strike zone with pretty good stuff," Lee said. "Then there's Helvey, who isn't necessarily overpowering (like our other guys), but who does a good job of throwing strikes."
Charleston also has a good bullpen with junior righthander Chase Henry leading the way, while senior righty Michael Hanzlik is having a good year. Meanwhile, the Cougars hope to soon get back Eric Bauer (2.25), who has a wrist injury, while talented freshman righty Hayden McCutcheon is expected to have an MRI soon because of a bicep issue, and there's not timetable for his return at this point.
Henry has a fantastic 0.46 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with 23 strikeouts and three walks, and has good overall stuff with a fastball 88-92 with good sink, and a good changeup. Hanzlik attacks from a sidearm angle, and though he doesn't have blow-away stuff, he's a hard-nosed personality who attacks the zone.
"Henry was a three-sport guy out of high school, and he's just really athletic," Lee said. "Hanzlik is a big-time competitor and just does a great job of closing games for us by attacking the zone."
While the pitching staff is the primary reason Charleston has a chance to shine not only the rest of the regular season, but perhaps also in the NCAA postseason, the offense, as usual, has some key cogs with Blake Butler (.354) leading the way. The offense also is paced by hard-hitting Carl Wise (.323/1/20) and Brandon Murray, who while he has a.270 batting average, leads the team with four homers. As with Murray, shortstop Gunnar Heidt (.265/2/14) is someone to watch the rest of the spring.
It's been a lengthy process for Lee and the Cougars to get everything on the same page, but barring surprise, this program seems to have turned the corner.
TEN MORE MID-MAJORS TO WATCH
William & Mary (14-5): The Tribe could be a force to be reckoned with the rest of the season. They captured a very solid series win over Campbell last weekend, and have one of the nation's better offensive lineups with Michael Katz leading the way. Katz is hitting.360 with nine homers and 35 RBIs, while leading hitter Nick Thompson has a.417 average, four homers and 15 RBIs.
Texas State (13-7): Sure, the Bobcats have dropped midweek bouts to Texas and Rice in the past week, but they're still a very good mid-major to watch moving forward. The Bobcats have an excellent ace pitcher in junior righthander Austen Williams, who has a 2.87 ERA in 31 1/3 innings, while reliever Cory Geisler has appeared in nine games and has a 1.47 ERA in 18 1/3 innings.
Southeast Missouri State (13-6): Though the Redhawks suffered a tough 11-8 setback to Saint Louis in midweek action, this is still a very intriguing club with a good overall record. The Redhawks are hitting.319 as a club and have an interesting leading hitter in Derek Gibson, who's hitting.465 with 23 RBIs and a.481 on-base percentage.
New Mexico (13-7): It shouldn't come as a surprise, but Ray Birmingham's Lobos are beginning to figure things out. The Lobos swept Fresno State last weekend, and captured a very nice midweek victory over surging Kansas, 6-3. UNM typically is known for its offensive prowess, but the Lobos have an excellent starting pitching duo in Colton Thomson and Josh Walker. Thomson has a 2.17 ERA in 29 innings, while Walker has a 3.41 ERA in 37 innings.
Massachusetts-Lowell (8-2): Though the Riverhawks haven't been tested by premier competition just yet, the newest members to Division I have shined thus far with an 8-2 overall record. UML has one to watch in talented pitcher Mike Calzetta, who has a 1.04 ERA in 17 1/3 innings, along with 15 strikeouts and no walks.
Mercer (16-6): The Bears have dealt with some injuries so far this spring, but still have a very good club more than capable of reaching the NCAA postseason. In addition to being one of the better defenders in the Atlantic Sun, Michael Massi is having a strong year at the plate, hitting.373 with two homers and 14 RBIs.
Indiana State (14-3): Though the Sycamores dropped a tough contest to Illinois in midweek action, this is still a very surprising club with coach Mitch Hannahs leading the way. The Sycamores have an interesting arm to watch in lefthander David Stagg, who has started five games and has a 1.85 ERA in 34 innings, along with 34 strikeouts and 11 walks.
Illinois State (11-5): The Redbirds were expected to compete for the Missouri Valley crown going into the season, so it's no surprise they're sitting pretty with an 11-5 overall record. ISU has a pair of elite starting pitchers in Dan Savas (1.12) and Dylan Craig (1.74), while Paul Dejong leads the offense with a.426 average, three homers and 12 RBIs.
Elon (13-7): The Phoenix made a legitimate statement last weekend by taking two of three from red-hot Georgia Southern. There are several aspects of this club to like, but how about veteran righty Lucas Bakker? The Australia native has a 1.27 ERA in 35 1/3 innings, along with 31 strikeouts and eight walks, and shined against GSU last weekend.
Tennessee Tech (17-4): TTU was the preseason favorite to win the Ohio Valley Conference crown, and it's now easier than ever to see why. TTU has a really good one in versatile senior Brandon Thomasson, who's hitting.366 with nine doubles, two triples, six homers and 26 walks, while Daniel Miles is hitting.420 with five homers and 22 RBIs.Barnaby Joyce: Political forces eye hypothetical by-election in New England
Updated
Quietly, the battle for a crucial federal seat is being war-gamed by political forces, preparing for a by-election that might never take place.
The likelihood of a fresh poll in the north-western New South Wales seat of New England is heavily caveated.
It depends on the outcome of High Court proceedings in mid-October considering whether Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is ineligible to sit in Parliament because he was also a Kiwi when he stood for election last year.
Under Section 44 of the constitution, foreign nationals cannot be elected to the Australian parliament.
The Government only holds a one-seat majority in the Lower House. If Mr Joyce was to lose in a by-election, his Government could be facing the prospect of a hung parliament.
Is there an alternative?
Mr Joyce won convincingly at the last election. It is unclear whether he would face any serious competition in a by-election scenario.
Most political players contacted by the ABC stressed they did not want to second guess the High Court's ruling, but behind closed doors preparations are being made.
The former independent local member Tony Windsor said he was still interested in politics and was considering his options.
"I think it's pre-empting a lot of things to make a decision at the moment. A lot of it will depend on what the High Court does," he told the ABC.
"But I don't think the fire has gone out in terms of some of the policy issues that I've always stood for. In fact, I think they're more important now than they've ever been."
Mr Windsor held the seat from 2001 to 2013 when he stepped down citing family and health reasons.
He returned to politics last year, standing against Mr Joyce, but his performance fell short of expectations.
In the two-party preferred stakes he managed 41.5 per cent of the vote, with Mr Joyce being re-elected with 58.5 per cent support.
Mr Windsor has joined the High Court action against the Deputy Prime Minister and is being represented by Ron Merkel QC.
What about the other political forces that could be in play?
Labor traditionally runs a local candidate with little prospect of becoming a serious challenger, effectively vacating the field for Mr Windsor.
This time around there is talk of a candidate from Armidale, as the university town is considered a more Labor-friendly stronghold. Opposition senator Sam Dastyari has also just returned from a lightning trip to Tamworth and Armidale.
He conducted some soft diplomacy with "politics in the pub" events designed to attract Labor supporters.
Mr Joyce could also be faced with a contest on the right flank. One Nation is considering its options.
A spokesman for the party said the "prospect is real, but until the High Court makes its decision we are not speculating as to what the future will hold for New England".
The spokesman mentioned One Nation leader Pauline Hanson made a recent low-profile trip to Armidale and the small town of Quirindi in the electorate.
While the Shooters, Farmers and Fishers Party wrested the regional state seat of Orange from the Nationals last year, it has laughed off suggestions it would consider a federal tilt in New England.
Another possible contender some Nationals have expressed concern about is the head of the National Farmers Federation, Fiona Simson, but she told the ABC she was "not interested and very happy doing what [she was] doing".
The seat includes areas riven with agricultural and commercial complexity. The politics of water usage and ownership is a big issue, and renewed fears of widespread drought conditions will only ratchet up local animosities over environmental protection versus potential mining projects that could create jobs and bring cash injections to ailing country towns.
The Greens are preparing to run a candidate but, at the last federal election, high school teacher Mercurius Goldstein only managed to secure 2.9 per cent of the primary vote.
How much would the Government throw at New England?
Mr Joyce is the only one of the seven caught up in the citizenship debacle who sits in the Lower House. The rest, if found ineligible, can be replaced by other party representatives and will not alter the makeup of the Senate.
Labor is already accusing the government of pork barrelling in New England, particularly on roads infrastructure. The Opposition said a number of roads projects within the electorate have been fast-tracked in the lead up to the High Court action that were funded as far back as the 2013 Labor budget and were left to languish under the Coalition.
In Parliament, Mr Joyce brushed off Labor's accusations of election sweeteners. Speaking at a local announcement in New England on Friday he said he was not in campaign mode.
"I'll keep on doing my job and I'll let the High Court do its job," he said.
"I'll respect their verdict whatever it is."
Mr Joyce said he relied on the advice of the Government's senior lawyer, the Solicitor-General, to guide him.
"If he came out and said, 'oh mate you're for the high jump' I would have gone straight to a by-election. I wouldn't have hung around," he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also expressed absolute confidence the High Court will not strip Mr Joyce of the seat.
"The Government is very confident that the court will not find the Member for New England is disqualified from being a member of this house," Mr Turnbull, who is himself a lawyer, told Parliament last month.
"Very confident indeed."
Mr Turnbull left the chamber in no doubt about his view of the outcome of the case.
"The Leader of the National Party, the Deputy Prime Minister is qualified to sit in this house and the High Court will so hold," he said.
Constitutional lawyer George Williams has already warned the Prime Minister may live to regret that statement.
In an opinion piece for Fairfax newspapers George Williams has written that it's "far from clear that the High Court will decide in Joyce's favour".
If a by-election is held, Mr Joyce will have the heft and spending power of the government behind him. He will have the title of Deputy Prime Minister to tantalise voters. He will probably have the backing of mining industry magnate Gina Rinehart, who has been a big supporter, even attending a previous election-night party.
Mr Joyce would also have the Government's energy campaign to run on, which could have cut through in an electorate with growing concerns about renewed drought conditions and where power bills are biting.
But the Deputy Prime Minister is also fighting off critics of the Government's management of water policy in the Murray-Darling Basin and there are country farmers and communities that have switched over to renewables in a big way. Perceived bungling of the NBN rollout in parts of New England could also work against him.
Mr Windsor has identified those areas as policy weak points he could exploit, but Government MPs believe Mr Windsor's support of the former Gillard government in a previous hung parliament fell flat with the electorate and swinging voters will not want to see a repeat.
For now, the Government has to wait for the court process, while political foes feel buoyed by the uncertainty. Many of those with skin in this game question why Mr Joyce did not just stand down and go straight to the voters in a by-election as soon as his New Zealand heritage was revealed, rather than providing detractors time to get organised for a campaign.
Topics: political-parties, federal-parliament, government-and-politics, australia, nsw, university-of-new-england-2351, armidale-2350
First postedOver a period of three years, a group of astrophysicists from the University of Zurich has developed and optimised a revolutionary code to describe with unprecedented accuracy the dynamics of dark matter and the formation of large-scale structures in the Universe. As Joachim Stadel, Douglas Potter and Romain Teyssier report in their recently published paper, the code (called PKDGRAV3) has been designed to use optimally the available memory and processing power of modern supercomputing architectures, such as the "Piz Daint" supercomputer of the Swiss National Computing Center (CSCS). The code was executed on this world-leading machine for only 80 hours, and generated a virtual universe of two trillion (i.e., two thousand billion or 2 x 1012) macro-particles representing the dark matter fluid, from which a catalogue of 25 billion virtual galaxies was extracted.
Studying the composition of the dark universe
Thanks to the high precision of their calculation, featuring a dark matter fluid evolving under its own gravity, the researchers have simulated the formation of small concentration of matter, called dark matter halos, in which we believe galaxies like the Milky Way form. The challenge of this simulation was to model galaxies as small as one tenth of the Milky Way, in a volume as large as our entire observable Universe. This was the requirement set by the European Euclid mission, whose main objective is to explore the dark side of the Universe.
Measuring subtle distortions
Indeed, about 95 percent of the Universe is dark. The cosmos consists of 23 percent of dark matter and 72 percent of dark energy. "The nature of dark energy remains one of the main unsolved puzzles in modern science," says Romain Teyssier, UZH professor for computational astrophysics. A puzzle that can be cracked only through indirect observation: When the Euclid satellite will capture the light of billions of galaxies in large areas of the sky, astronomers will measure very subtle distortions that arise from the deflection of light of these background galaxies by a foreground, invisible distribution of mass – dark matter. "That is comparable to the distortion of light by a somewhat uneven glass pane," says Joachim Stadel from the Institute for Computational Science of the UZH.
Optimizing observation strategies of the satellite
This new virtual galaxy catalogue will help optimize the observational strategy of the Euclid experiment and minimize various sources of error, before the satellite embarks on its six-year data collecting mission in 2020. "Euclid will perform a tomographic map of our Universe, tracing back in time more than 10-billion-year of evolution in the cosmos," Stadel says. From the Euclid data, researchers will obtain new information on the nature of this mysterious dark energy, but also hope to discover new physics beyond the standard model, such as a modified version of general relativity or a new type of particle.
Literature:
Douglas Potter, Joachim Stadel and Romain Teyssier. PKDGRAV3: Beyond Trillion Particle Cosmological Simulations for the Next Era of Galaxy Surveys. Computational Astrophysics and Cosmology. 18 May 2017 doi:10.1186/s40668-017-0021-1For the sake of satisfaction, here they are side by side, where you can quite clearly see that they’re different. One’s a web font, the other a system font.
It’s easy, when given two chunks of text side by side, to flick your eyes between them and convince yourself eventually that one is easier to read than the other. But if that difference isn’t apparent without the direct comparison, then you probably have two typefaces that are both perfectly acceptable.
Is it easier to read than the first one? Harder to read? The same?
Now, I want you to promise me that you’re not going to scroll up.
So back to the question from the flow chart: “Does the web font make your site easier to read?”. I would like to think, that in the cold light of day, the majority of people would look at the above comparison and say no, neither of these is easier to read than the other. And if anything, the text on the right — according to a chap in the comments — is significantly easier to read. And that’s not the web font.
Conclusion: if your site doesn’t have much text, a web font will make little difference to readability. But if your site is all about reading, this one’s probably not so easy. I think Medium’s font definitely makes the text more pleasant to read. And I think New Republic’s font makes no difference whatsoever. You need to find a way to objectively answer this question for your site — for your readers.
And if you decide that a web font makes no meaningful difference to readability then you’re a step closer to the ultimate goal — not having to faff about with web fonts.
Can you load the font without a FOUT?
If you’ve got this far down the flow chart, the web font in question isn’t tied to your brand, and it doesn’t improve readability. But that of course doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it.
Unless you get a Flash Of Unstyled Text. Because that’s U-G-L-Y.
I’m sorry, New Republic, but to dive deeper I’m going to pick on you some more. It’s not because I’m mean, it’s because you’re sending 542 KB of fonts to my browser.
Here’s the article from the screenshots above loading.
Loading a New Republic article. Chrome DevTools network panel, throttled to “Fast 3G”, filtered for fonts only.
The body copy of the article is visible in 1.45 seconds. That’s a really solid effort.
Seriously, 1.45 seconds over 3G beats the pants off the vast majority of the internet [placatory shoulder pat].
Then at 1.65 seconds the image loads. But from this point on it’s all downhill like a cheese rolling festival.
Nine seconds later, at 10.85, the web font is ready and the text flickers as the system font is swapped out for the web font. Yuck.
But it’s not done yet. Oh no. At 12.58 seconds it flickers again as the 700-weight font is loaded (which is used in the opening sentence of every article — so this shifts the rest of the copy), then the text flickers again at 12.7 when the 400 italics arrives.
All this on top of the fact that most humans couldn’t tell the difference between the two fonts anyway.
Oh and from what I can tell, the ‘Balto’ and ‘Lava’ fonts used here are not only 542 KB, they’re also about $2,000/year. Sheish.
That certainly clenches my purse strings.
It’s funny, I think a lot of people will look at the title of this blog post and assume it’s a rant from some developer that doesn’t see the value in fine typography. But it’s quite the opposite. The behaviour described above is an assault on the visual experience, and it could be avoided by using a system font that would look damn-near identical.The Monterey Historics car week is one of the world’s great automotive events, and 2014 was a milestone year for Japanese classics. After all, seminal Nihon steel made strong showings at auctions, iconic Japanese cars raced at Laguna Seca, and Japanese automakers even held news-making unveilings there. All of that, however was merely a blink-and-you-missed-it blip on the larger radar of the traditional classic world.
Though there’s a lot of non-Japanese content in this article, we think it’s important to show some of our younger readers the larger scope of what goes on at an event like the Monterey Historics and how the J-tin figures into the big picture.
For 358 days out of the year Monterey is a sleepy little piece of land jutting into the Pacific and known mainly for its aquarium. Then for one crazy week in mid-August, the world’s richest car collectors descend upon it like top hat-wearing locusts and the entire peninsula is overrun with exotics. Ferrari 458 Italias become as commonplace as Altimas, so ubiquitous that no one even gives them a second glance.
Our steed for the week was the flagshippiest car you can buy from a Japanese automaker today, a Lexus LS in tricked out F Sport trim. When the Lexus brand debuted, the idea of a $40,000 Japanese car was unfathomable. Now, 25 years later, we were driving around in an $87,000 Toyota while classic ones traded for over $1 million. Times have changed, but there’s still a long way to go.
One of the keystone events of the Historics is The Quail, a gathering of rare classics and race cars. On the way there, a few miles out of Monterey, we tailed a bone stock and completely mint Lexus SC 400 for a bit, driven by a hotshoe lady who’s probably owned it since new. It is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful Toyotas ever built, but we wondered if it would ever find a place inside the gates at a Monterey show.
The parking area of The Quail is located on what is normally the resort’s golf course. The grass is softer and its fibers finer than the carpet in our own living rooms. We parked way in the back, but if we had known Lexuses were allowed to crash the Bentley Reserved Parking area, we would’ve saved ourselves a long walk.
Any car you could imagine was present at the Quail, as long as it didn’t hail from Japan. Everything from a Porsche 906 to a 1970 Chrysler Barracuda originally raced in France was parked on the lawn, and there were enough old Formula One racers and 1950s Ferraris to fill a dozen museum galleries.
Our friends from the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles brought a one-off 1954 Plymouth Explorer Concept, resplendent in green and penned by Luigi Segre at the famous Italian design house Carrozzeria Ghia. It’s a pity it was never produced, as it is even more stunning than Segre’s most famous creation, the VW Karmann Ghia.
Though the show was smaller than Toyotafest, Every European automaker you can name, plus Infiniti and Lincoln, had a display in hopes of courting the well-heeled clientele. Porsche built a makeshift structure nicer than many luxury homes, while Bugatti showed off one of each Legends Edition Veyrons arranged in a six-car semicircle, $18 million’s worth of VAG machinery.
In that elite company Nissan displayed
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looped condition, the random sequence played not once but six times in a row. At the start of the study, people listened to the sequences, which played automatically, one after the other. Some were in their original form and some were looped (it varied from participant to participant which sequence was heard in what form). Later, the test subjects heard each random sequence individually – once only, without repeats – and then rated how musical it sounded.
They had heard enough sequences that they all tended to blend together; they didn’t explicitly remember which segments they’d heard as loops, or even whether they’d previously heard the sequence at all. Nevertheless, they consistently found the sequences to be more musical when they’d heard them in looped form. Even without the aid of explicit memory, the repetitions of the random sequences had imbued them with a sense of musicality. No matter the constituent material, whether it’s strings of syllables or strings of pitches, it seems that the brute force of repetition can work to musicalise sequences of sounds, triggering a profound shift in the way we hear them.
To get a sense of how the process works, there’s a very simple trick you can try. Ask an indulgent friend to pick a word – lollipop, for example – and keep saying it to you for a couple minutes. You will gradually experience a curious detachment between the sounds and their meaning. This is the semantic satiation effect, documented more than 100 years ago. As the word’s meaning becomes less and less accessible, aspects of the sound become oddly salient – idiosyncrasies of pronunciation, the repetition of the letter l, the abrupt end of the last syllable, for example. The simple act of repetition makes a new way of listening possible, a more direct confrontation with the sensory attributes of the word itself.
Anthropologists might feel that they are on familiar ground here, because it is now understood that rituals – by which I mean stereotyped sequences of actions, such as the ceremonial washing of a bowl – also harness the power of repetition to concentrate the mind on immediate sensory details rather than broader practicalities. In the case of the bowl-washing, for example, the repetition makes it clear that the washing gestures aren’t meant merely to serve a practical end, such as making the bowl clean, but should rather serve as a locus of attention in themselves.
In 2008, the psychologists Pascal Boyer and Pierre Liénard at Washington University in St Louis went so far as to claim that ritual creates a distinct attentional state in which we consider actions on a much more basic level than usual. Outside of ritual, individual gestures aren’t usually interpreted on their own terms; they are absorbed into our understanding of the larger flow of events. Ritual shifts attention from the overall pattern of events toward their component gestures. Instead of noting only that a bowl is being cleaned, the witness to a ritual might notice the acceleration of the hand across the bowl’s edge during each wiping gesture, or the way the cloth bunches and then opens as it is dragged forward and back across the surface. What’s more, the repetition of gestures makes it harder and harder to resist imaginatively modelling them, feeling how it might be to move your own hand in the same way. This is precisely the way that repetition in music works to make the nuanced, expressive elements of the sound increasingly available, and to make a participatory tendency – a tendency to move or sing along – more irresistible.
our brains show more activity in their emotional regions when the music we are listening to is familiar, regardless of whether or not we actually like it
Given these similarities, it should be no surprise that many rituals actually depend on music. And music does seem to be a potently mind-expanding tool in its own right. The Swedish psychologist Alf Gabrielsson asked thousands of people to describe their most powerful experiences with music, then searched their responses for common themes. Many people reported that their peak musical experiences involved a sense of transcendence, of dissolved boundaries where they seemed to escape the limitations of their bodies and become one with the sounds they were hearing. These very deep and moving experiences can be partially explained by the shift in attention and the heightened sense of involvement brought about by repetition. Indeed, the psychologist Carlos Pereira and his colleagues at the University of Helsinki demonstrated that our brains show more activity in their emotional regions when the music we are listening to is familiar, regardless of whether or not we actually like it.
Even involuntary repetition, quite against our own musical preferences, is powerful. This is why music that we hate but that we’ve heard again and again can sometimes engage us unwillingly; why we can find ourselves on the bus enthusiastically grooving along until we realise that we’re actually listening to We Built This City by Starship. Repeated exposure makes one sound seem to connect almost inevitably to the next, so that when we hear ‘What is love?’, ‘Baby, don’t hurt me’ immediately plays through our minds. Few spoken utterances contain this irresistible connection between one part and the next. And when we do want bits of speech to be tightly bound in this way – if we’re memorising a list of the presidents of the United States, for example – we might set it to music, and we might repeat it. Listening seems musical when the current bit of sound feels like it’s inextricably pulled to the next bit of sound. Repetition intensifies this effect.
Can you make anything into music just by repeating it? No, there seems to be something special about sound. The few studies that have transferred musical devices, such as rhythm, repetition, and periodicity, to non-auditory domains – flashing lights, for example – suggest that the distinctive kinds of mental processing associated with music are harder to elicit when the basic material isn’t sonic.
It’s also worth pointing out that there are many aspects of music not illuminated by repetition. It might be possible to transform speech into song, but a single bowed note on a violin can also sound unambiguously musical without any special assistance. Repetition can’t explain why a minor chord sounds dark or a diminished chord sounds sinister. Still, it might be able to explain why a series of these chords can come to sound rousing and inevitable.
By tracing and retracing a path through musical space, repetition makes a sequence of sounds seem less like an objective presentation of content and more like a kind of tug that’s pulling you along. It captures sequencing circuitry that makes music feel like something you do rather than something you perceive. This sense of identification we have with music, of listening with it rather than to it, so definitional to what we think about as music, also owes a lot to repeated exposure.
The stunning prevalence of repetition in music all over the world is no accident. Music didn’t acquire the property of repetitiveness because it’s less sophisticated than speech, and the 347 times that iTunes says you have listened to your favourite album isn’t evidence of some pathological compulsion – it’s just a crucial part of how music works its magic. Repetitiveness actually gives rise to the kind of listening that we think of as musical. It carves out a familiar, rewarding path in our minds, allowing us at once to anticipate and participate in each phrase as we listen. That experience of being played by the music is what creates a sense of shared subjectivity with the sound, and – when we unplug our earbuds, anyway – with each other, a transcendent connection that lasts at least as long as a favourite song.House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., with Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wa., and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. (Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans head to Philadelphia on Wednesday for a three-day retreat to plan an aggressive legislative agenda that includes repealing and replacing Obamacare, overhauling the tax system, rebuilding the military and figuring out a way to pay for President Trump's border wall.
"The president is eager to get moving on this agenda, and so are we," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters Tuesday. "For too long, Washington has been too timid about addressing the big challenges facing our country. We want this to be a bold government. We want this to be a government of action."
The GOP lawmakers plan to hold joint House-Senate strategy sessions on tax reform, health care and national security. On Wednesday, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will host a session on their "200 Day Plan" for legislation. On Thursday, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and British Prime Minster Theresa May will address the group in three separate meetings.
After sessions Thursday afternoon on "Keeping America Strong" and "Keeping Our Promise on Health Care," senators will head back to Washington. House members will attend a dinner featuring remarks by retired NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and others.
On Friday, after breakfast with a wounded Iraq War veteran, a bus will take interested House members and their families to Washington to participate in the "March for Life" anti-abortion rally.
Republican leaders said they are conscious of the fact that this is only the third time since World War II that Republicans have held both Congress and the White House, and they intend to seize the opportunity to enact as many of their priorities as they can.
"With this unified Republican government, we have a chance, we have a moment, to rethink the way things are done in D.C., to be hopeful, to be optimistic, and to look forward, not backward," said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who serves as chairman of the House Republican Conference.
She said the Philadelphia retreat is important because "at the end of the day, it comes down to teamwork."
Read more:
Among the toughest challenges facing Republican congressional leaders: coming up with a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act that can win the support of at least some Senate Democrats; and increasing spending for the military and paying for a wall on the U.S-Mexico border without raising taxes. They also are trying to find a way to balance the federal budget while funding Trump's priorities — including a massive new investment in the nation's highways, roads, bridges and transit systems.
House Democratic leaders said Tuesday they would support a replacement plan for Obamacare if Republicans can come up with legislation that would not reduce the number of Americans with medical coverage, would not increase premiums or deductibles, and would not re-impose lifetime caps on the amount of medical expenses that insurers will cover.
The plan also must preserve Obamacare provisions that guarantee coverage of people with pre-existing conditions and allow young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26, Democrats said. Republicans have said they want to keep those provisions.
"Republicans, show me your plan, and if it does better than the ACA, deal me in," Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., the vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters Tuesday while expressing skepticism that Republicans will come up with a superior plan.
Republicans are still struggling with their new power now that they have a GOP president who is willing to sign what they pass on health care and other issues, said Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
"I think there is a difference between running for office and running a campaign to obtain power," Crowley said. "And then it is something completely different to execute...that power, use the leverage. My Republican colleagues are figuring that out."
Crowley and Sanchez said they were disappointed that House Republicans made their top priority this week the passage of legislation that would permanently ban federal funding for abortions and prohibit federal medical facilities and health professionals from providing abortion services.
"Congressional Republicans and their leadership are focusing this week on furthering their attacks on women's health," Crowley said. "Instead of voting on legislation that would help grow families'...paychecks or give Americans better access to health care, we will be re-litigating a woman's right to choose in this nation. This is not how we should be spending our time here in Congress."
Although Republican House leaders have the power to push through legislation without Democratic support, that's not true in the Senate, where a 60-vote super-majority is still required to pass most major bills. Republicans can use a procedural tactic to repeal Obamacare with a simple majority of 51 votes, but they'll need 60 votes to replace the law. There are 52 Republicans in the Senate.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2ksz7UfPresident Obama on Tuesday congratulated Hawaii, saying he was “even prouder” of his home state after legislators passed a bill legalizing gay marriage.
“I’ve always been proud to have been born in Hawaii, and today’s vote makes me even prouder,” said Obama in a statement.
Hawaii will be the 15th state to allow same-sex marriage, after the state Senate followed the House and passed legislation on Tuesday. Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie is expected to sign the bill.
“With today’s vote, Hawaii joins a growing number of states that recognize that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be treated fairly and equally under the law,” said Obama. “Whenever freedom and equality are affirmed, our country becomes stronger. By giving loving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry if they choose, Hawaii exemplifies the values we hold dear as a nation.”
He added that first lady Michelle Obama joined him in extending their “best wishes” to families who would “now be given the security and respect they deserve.”
Obama is the first sitting president to endorse gay marriage, publicly affirming his support in May 2012 after years of “evolving” on the issue.
His shift came shortly after Vice President Biden endorsed same-sex marriage during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Critics said Biden’s announcement forced Obama to announce his stand ahead of the 2012 election.
Last week, Obama also congratulated Illinois, the state he represented in the Senate, after it approved same-sex marriage.
Supporters of gay marriage have won a number of high profile victories in the last year, capped by the Supreme Court decision that struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act in June. That law defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, denying same-sex couples many federal benefits.
The high court also declined to rule on the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. That decision allowed same-sex marriages to resume in the nation’s most populous state.Authors: Steven Blockmans and Michael Emerson
Series: CEPS Commentary
On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom will hold a referendum on whether it should remain in the European Union or leave. A British exit, or Brexit, could have serious economic and political consequences for both the UK and the rest of the EU. Such an exit is a distinct possibility, with polling demonstrating a close race.
If Brexit becomes a reality, the UK's post-referendum trajectory will depend on whether the transitional period is a flexible but orderly exit carried out in a spirit of partnership with the EU, or whether the split is acrimonious and messy, without properly tying up all the legal loose ends. In a scenario in which pragmatism prevails over resentment, economic and financial tensions could be limited by London and Brussels negotiating an amicable separation agreement. However, broader political considerations, including the EU's desire to avoid further departures by making an example of the UK, might lead to a far more damaging outcome for all parties.
Impact on the UK
Shortly after a vote to leave, the UK would probably trigger the voluntary withdrawal procedure foreseen in the EU's 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which allows for a two-year period to reach a separation agreement. Without such an agreement, the UK – which currently enjoys unrestricted access to the rest of the EU under the Single Market rules – would revert to the default trade arrangement with the EU, based on World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
Under the latter scenario, the EU would apply its external customs duties to UK goods. It could also introduce non-tariff hurdles for goods (such as technical standards) and especially services (including licenses). Brussels would also be able to restrict London’s ability to conduct euro transactions and euro-derivatives transactions, and thereby undermine the position of the city as a financial centre. UK citizens could also lose their automatic right to work in the rest of EU. What's more, the EU’s new external border would divide Northern Ireland from the rest of the island and could thereby jeopardise the peace agreement.
Even in the event of a more amicable separation, there would still be multiple adverse impacts on the UK. Regarding the economic impact, an overwhelming majority of serious analyses from government, business organisations, think tanks and academia from within the UK, as well as from the International Monetary Fund and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, converge on the following propositions:
Reduced EU market access. The UK’s access to the EU Single Market would be less complete than under the status quo. All existing alternatives to EU membership have drawbacks. The Norwegian model – membership in the European Economic Area – would assure full market access, but is politically implausible for the UK since it would mean a loss of sovereignty due to the need to accept EU legislation without being able to influence the substance of the rules at the EU Council’s negotiating table. Switzerland's model of negotiating multiple separate sectoral agreements with the EU is considered attractive by some Brexiteers, but would simply not be on offer from the EU side. Indeed, the so-called ‘Swiss cheese’ model has broken down over issues of immigration and is severely criticised by politicians and officials in EU circles as ‘cherry-picking’. In addition, both Norway and Switzerland must allow free movement of EU citizens, a primary concern of those in the Leave camp. The enhanced free-trade arrangements like that recently agreed between the EU and Canada offer little under services, which are a major portion of the UK economy.
Damage to trade ties. The UK’s trade relationships with the rest of the world, beyond membership in the WTO, would also be subject to huge uncertainties. All of the EU’s existing preferential agreements with other countries around the world would cease to apply to the UK, and it would be a long and messy process to reconstitute them on a bilateral basis. As for the EU’s ongoing negotiations for new trade deals – for example with the United States, India, and Japan – the UK would not benefit from a faster inside track on these bilaterally. US President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton have made it clear that the UK would be sent to the ‘back of the queue’ for trade deals with the United States, an indication of the potential damage to the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the United States.
Risks to London. Domestically, the UK risks damaging all three of its economic ‘crown jewels’, namely London’s position as a financial centre, its large services-sector trade with the EU and its prime location as a destination for foreign direct investment aimed at the EU market. The UK is already suffering a number of negative macroeconomic impacts as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the referendum, including exchange rate depreciation and dented business confidence.
Although the full extent of the economic impact depends on many factors, including the eventual trade arrangement between the UK and the EU, most economists agree that it would clearly be negative. Indeed, eager to avoid setting a precedent, EU member states more inclined towards integration, such as Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg, would likely seek to impose tough terms for the separation agreement with the UK.
Regarding the future of the UK itself, a Leave vote could lead to a prolonged period of political instability. Politicians’ heads would roll, beginning with Prime Minister David Cameron, but also including other leaders in the Tory party who campaigned against Brexit. The split in the Conservative party would deepen, and new general elections might be called. Brexit could also undermine UK unity by potentially triggering a fresh referendum over Scottish independence, reinvigorating Welsh nationalism and dividing the more pro-EU London and southeast regions against the more eurosceptic Midlands and north.
From an international perspective, there is not a single voice among the UK’s friends in Europe, the Commonwealth or the world at large that supports the idea of Brexit. The EU has acted as a ‘multiplier’ for the UK’s foreign and security policy interests throughout the world, backed by the weight of the EU’s Single Market and the wide range of EU foreign policy tools, as well as its perceived neutrality. Secession would thus reverse that effect, reducing the UK's global influence.
Impact on the EU
Some argue that Brexit would lead to the collapse of the EU, but this is highly unlikely. The web of socioeconomic ties between the remaining member states has been woven so intricately and deeply over the past six decades that Brexit would not unravel the fundamental post-World War II order in Europe.
But unfortunately for the rest of the EU, the consequences of Brexit would not be limited to the UK. Brexit would fan the flames of growing anti-EU sentiment in Europe, emboldening nationalist and eurosceptic movements, and leading to a retreat from EU-level solutions to cross-border challenges. Brexit may also boost a new generation of nationalist leaders (most likely in France, Hungary, and Poland) to copycat the ‘blackmail tactics’ employed by David Cameron to obtain concessions from the rest of the EU. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has already emulated these tactics by calling for a national referendum in the hope of obtaining a popular mandate so as to better resist attempts by the European Commission to accept its quota under a new refugee relocation scheme.
In addition, by removing a major power from the EU, Brexit would increase the already dominant influence of Germany in the Union. This in turn could heighten tensions in countries suspicious of Berlin – including France, where Marine Le Pen and her far-right National Front party have gained strength ahead of the 2017 presidential elections. Germany and its like-minded partners in the EU would nevertheless try to put the house together again with renewed integration initiatives to counter the reputational damage of UK secession. Rhetorical resolve would be immediately forthcoming, but real action would be delayed as Germany will be caught up in its own national election in 2017.
How might Brexit impact on EU policies? There are four likely areas of change: the euro currency system, the EU’s budget and liberalisation, the nexus of immigration and border management and foreign and security policy more broadly.
First, in the wake of a Brexit, there is a risk that the euro will depreciate. In the longer run, however, the eurozone would have more power to drive economic and financial policy in the EU. France, Germany and Italy all say they want to make the euro system more robust on the fiscal side, but behind this simple statement lie profound disagreements, with Italy wanting eurobonds, Germany blocking anything that smacks of a transfer union and France making speeches about the need for an EU ‘finance minister’. Progress towards a capital markets union would also continue, although at a slower pace and in a different direction from London’s preferred approach. Some major US banks have already declared that they might relocate their European branches from London to Europe.
Second, without the UK, the EU budget would have to do without the UK’s €10.5 billion net annual contribution. This would certainly require a thorough review of budget allocations and revive a debate about raising new resources for the EU. Also, the weight of the ‘economically liberal’ bloc in the EU (currently the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia) would decline. Because of this, pundits have suggested that a post-Brexit EU would probably become more protectionist, yet there has been a growing consensus across the Union in favour of liberalising internal markets in goods, services and labour.
Third, on the immigration front there is much to be done. The refugee crisis of the past year has clearly demonstrated that the EU needs to move towards a centralised border control and asylum mechanism. Although such momentous moves are unlikely in the foreseeable future, the need for common action will only increase as migration pressure from Africa is added to the current movements from the wider Middle East, creating an ever-bigger challenge. At the same time, a Brexit would reduce the EU's ability to tackle cross-border organised crime and transnational terrorism, unless new coordination and cooperation mechanisms can be established with the UK.
Finally, foreign and security policy would perhaps be the least-fraught areas. It is undeniable that Brexit would seriously threaten the EU’s global standing and soft power status, its ability to play a greater role on global security issues and the likelihood of concluding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal with the United Sates before the end of President Obama’s term. On the other hand, EU decision-making without the historically ‘unruly’ UK would become simpler and lead to a more truly common Common Foreign and Security Policy. Indeed, without the UK, there would be less opposition to the establishment of a permanent structure for defence cooperation, with more pooling and sharing of capabilities, more cooperation on defence planning and the creation of a single military headquarters in Brussels.
Brexit would not only be bad for the UK, but would also be on balance bad for the EU. Both parties could waste years negotiating a new relationship. At a time when the post-World War II international order is under strain and Europe's societies are increasingly threatened by protectionism, it is abundantly clear that the EU needs more than ever to be able to resolutely face the big global challenges. But if the Remain vote prevails on June 23rd, the EU could be strengthened on multiple fronts – internally, through further liberalisation of the single market, and externally, as a robust pillar of a liberal order in an increasingly hazardous and chaotic world.
Steven Blockmans is Senior Research Fellow and Head of EU Foreign Policy at CEPS. Michael Emerson is Associate Senior Research Fellow at CEPS. This commentary was originally prepared as a Global Memo for publication by the Council of Councils (www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global_memos/p37922).
CEPS Commentaries offer concise, policy-oriented insights into topical issues in European affairs. The views expressed are attributable only to the authors in a personal capacity and not to any institution with which they are associated.poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201607/3459/1155968404_5035556352001_5035504982001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true “I thought about Donald Trump. And it’s a question of judgment and temperament, and this guy has not demonstrated to me the kind of coolness that you need in that situation,” Sen. Angus King said Thursday on CNN. Sen. Angus King: I can't vote for Donald Trump 'in good conscience'
For Angus King, it was a plane ride that did it.
The independent Maine senator said on Thursday that he will vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump this November, citing the presumptive Democratic nominee’s decision making and experience as secretary of state, as well as doubts about Trump’s aptitude to handle a potential nuclear apocalypse scenario.
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Recounting a recent trip to Joint Base Andrews, where he boarded the National Airborne Operations Center — basically a flying emergency command center for the U.S. government — the Armed Services Committee member said the experience “really shook me and influenced” his decision.
“We went up, took off across the country, and then had a nuclear attack exercise where an Air Force officer played the president and a secretary of defense, and we heard in our ear — the first thing we noticed there was a big clock showing missiles leaving. The big clock said 28 minutes. That was the time the president had to make a decision,” King told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” “What got me, Chris, it was almost physical, was in that situation, there's only one person. There’s no checks and balances. There’s no Congress. There’s no Supreme Court. There’s no consultation. There’s one person making a decision about the future of civilization.”
“When I got off that plane, you know, my knees were a little weak with that realization, how much power is in this one person. And then I thought about Donald Trump. And it’s a question of judgment and temperament, and this guy has not demonstrated to me the kind of coolness that you need in that situation,” King remarked.
The president would likely have to make a split decision while being evacuated in a helicopter when making that decision, King remarked, adding that he also thought about Clinton’s composure during her testimony during the House Benghazi Committee's 11-hour hearing last October.
“Never lost her temper, never lost her cool, never lost her patience, answered every question, was very solid, and I think most people, even people who were opposed to her, felt that was an amazing performance,” King continued. “That’s as good as you’re going to get as a photograph of somebody making decisions under pressure. Putting those two things together and realizing the incredible importance of the presidency, particularly in foreign policy, where as you and I have talked about, Congress is largely abdicated, I got to vote for Hillary Clinton. I just can’t in good conscience put somebody in that airplane whose coolness and sort of patience and judgment I have doubts about.”
As far as whether his words constituted an endorsement, King, who generally caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, suggested it made no difference.
“I'll use the word endorse. I don’t know what that means. I don’t think the people of Maine are holding their breath to see who I’m going to endorse. I’ve always thought endorsements are kind of artificial,” King said. “You can call it either way.”The former head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has delivered an extraordinary assault on Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister, saying his policies had left him fearing for the future of the state.
Meir Dagan accused Mr. Netanyahu of being more dangerous than Iran in a speech at a rally in advance of next week’s general election, which has seen the combative prime minister fighting for his political life.
“Israel is a country surrounded by enemies, but the enemies do not scare me,” he said. “I am scared of our leadership, by the absence of vision and the loss of a path, the loss of determination. By the hesitance and the impasse.
“And above all, I am scared by the crisis of leadership, which is the worst there has ever been until today.”
Mr. Dagan, a veteran of the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War, momentarily stunned a crowd of more than 35,000 people in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square when he broke down in tears during his address.
His verbal attack was the culmination of a weeks-long campaign of criticism by Mr. Dagan and others from the security establishment directed at Mr. Netanyahu.
They have challenged his hard-line approach to the West’s negotiations on Iran’s nuclear deal, most recently in his speech to the U.S. Congress, and for his failure to make progress on the Palestinian issue. Last week, Mr. Dagan accused him of causing “the greatest strategic damage to Israel on the Iranian issue.”
An entire election campaign has gone by without remembering the blood that was shed over the summer
There is also lingering controversy over last year’s war in Gaza.
“An entire election campaign has gone by without remembering the blood that was shed over the summer,” said Michal Kastan-Keidar, whose husband Lt. Col. Dolev Keidar was killed in the war.
“When you go to cast your ballots, vote for who will prevent the next war, for who is prepared to do everything possible to prevent more deaths.”Bitcoin fell Friday to its lowest since Nov. 1 as traders bet on its offshoot, bitcoin cash, instead.
The offshoot digital currency surged more than 40 percent to its highest since Aug. 19, and was last trading near $947, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin cash split off from the original version of bitcoin in August as a minority group of developers decided to implement an upgrade in an effort to increase transaction speeds for the digital currency.
An alternative bitcoin upgrade proposal, SegWit2x, which initially had more developers behind it, was called off Wednesday due to waning support.
Bitcoin three-month performance
Source: CoinDesk
Bitcoin hit a record high of $7,879.06 that day after the news, but quickly fell and was trading 9 percent lower on the day Friday afternoon near $6,500, according to CoinDesk. That marked its lowest since Nov. 1.
"You can see people playing back and forth between bitcoin and bitcoin cash trading depending on where they think near-term catalysts may be," said Chris Burniske, author of "Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond." "It's been a battle of investors versus traders that were stockpiling bitcoin to get their 'bitcoin2x dividend.'"
Investors at the time of a bitcoin split technically receive equal amounts of the offshoot currency. Disagreements over upgrade proposals have caused uncertainty over the future of bitcoin, but some traders had been buying bitcoin ahead of splits in order to benefit from a payout of a new digital currency and a potential relief rally in bitcoin following the split.
Creating bitcoin cash through the "mining" process was 13.6 percent more profitable than mining bitcoin, according to data on Coin Dance's website.
Bitcoin cash performance from Aug. 1 to Nov. 10The worst thing that ever happened to The Walking Dead was its ratings success.
Because AMC’s hit show was a hit from the start, TWD has never truly had to make its audience care. The show premiered at a time when American TV viewers were desperate for zombies and the idea of a show centered around the zombie apocalypse was still fresh and largely untested. The only thing less surprising than the show’s initial hit status was the ever-rising ratings that would chase it from season to season.
So think about what that does to the way producers and writers approach their project. Immediate success affects the way you plot out your stories and seasons. It removes a sense of urgency maintained by so many other shows unsure of their ongoing status. Compare that to something like Stranger Things or Westworld, both of which seemed to have tried to tell the strongest story possible in one season, knowing full well that they might have to use up all of their tricks just to be able to come back for another one.
There’s never been a concern like that for The Walking Dead. The show has never had to worry about being cancelled or losing its time slot or anything like that. It’s a juggernaut. And a juggernaut just keeps plodding forward at its own pace. Hell, it’s already been renewed for the next season. And why not? It’s the lynchpin in AMC’s television lineup.
This has created all sorts of thematic problems for the show. It allows TWD to revel in its own worst tendencies, none more so than failing to move the plot forward with every episode and relying on cheap gimmicks in order to goose discussion over meaty storytelling.
This was never more apparent than season six when the show was openly toying with audiences over the fate of Glenn rather than trying to tell immersive stories or create memorable television. TWD seemed more concerned with getting one over on snarky fanboys than it did on making you say to yourself, “That was a great episode.”
Everything culminated with a season finale remembered less for being a gripping episode of television (which it was) and more for the way it existed solely to act as a cliffhanger to the next season. Here’s what I wrote after realizing the sixth season had just been one long con job:
“The Walking Dead has become a series of cliffhangers without any kind of valuable payoff. Sure, we’ll find out who died in the first episode of Season Seven, but the emotional resonance will be long dead before that. They’re going to make us sit through a good chunk of that scene again, a scene we’ll already know all the beats of, destroying the impact. When it’s over, the show will begin another long slog towards Rick’s people overcoming the odds until we invariably reach another important plot point, at which time we’re sure to be left in the dark again by another blackout.”
The first episode of the seventh season finally delivered on the end results of Negan’s introduction and audiences showed up in droves to find out what would happen. The 17.03 million viewers who turned in made it the second-most watched episode of the show ever.
Since then, however, audiences seem to have started abandoning The Walking Dead like a zombie horde drawn to the sounds of a waiting meal elsewhere. The second episode clocked in at 12.46 million, which would have been one of the lowest-rated episodes of the previous season. After that, episodes have garnered 11.72 million, 11.40 million, and 11.00 million.
Yes, 11 million is still a ton of viewers. But to put it in perspective, The Walking Dead hasn’t seen numbers that low since the third season, when it finally broke the eight-figure barrier. Clearly, audiences have decided that they are less likely to opt in on what the show is offering them. Quite frankly, it’s about time.
There has been much discussion in the last few days about what’s going wrong for the show. Is it because the show is focusing on characters we don’t care about? It is because audiences didn’t like the way the premiere played out? Is it because the show is moving at a zombie’s pace?
Certainly all of those things are factors. Personally, I think it comes down to two very basic ideas.
First, the aforementioned lack of storytelling urgency. A lot of American genre shows have realized that shorter seasons can provide a smarter avenue to storytelling because it keeps the pressure on the writers to tell the most efficient story possible, while also making the most of the moments they have. The Walking Dead throws 16 episodes out there each season and while that might not be as many as some shows, it’s still too many.
It’s understandable that AMC would want to milk the show for all it’s worth, but the writers have rarely been up to the task of telling a complete story across the full season. Instead, the show usually feels like they know what the story should be and then they add filler to hold the audience in place until they can get to the point where the plot can move forward again. That leads to episodes which don’t feel worthwhile, character focuses we don’t care about, and a real sense that the writers are falling asleep at the wheel.
That leads into the second part: Predictability. For a show where (apparently) anyone can die at any moment and zombies could jump out and atack whenever it’s least expected, The Walking Dead has a fairly predictable pace. The first episode of the season is important. The last episode before the midseason break is important. The first episode after the midseason break is important. The season finale is important. All of the other episodes? Usually not that important.
You can see this trend play out all the way back in season two. In the season premiere, our crew encounters a swarm of zombies on the highway and Carl is shot. We then spent what feels like an eternity just hanging out on Herschel’s Farm. There’s one episode where the only thing of importance is a zombie in a well and you realize the entire hour existed just so they could show off that special effect. Then, eventually, the zombies magically show up in the season finale and the show kicks into high gear again.
These unecessary detours
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ürt, löst man das Problem nicht. Es gäbe andere Wege, das zu – Lanz: Aber das machen Sie doch auch, Frau Wagenknecht. Wagenknecht: Nein. Lanz:Doch. (zu Jörges und mit dem Finger auf Wagenknecht zeigend:) Aber das macht sie doch auch. Wagenknecht: Wo schüren wir billige Ressentiments? Lanz: Das machen Sie doch auch. Wagenknecht: Wenn wir zum Beispiel über Zuwanderung reden, dann müssen wir über niedrige Löhne reden. Dann müssen wir über Scheinselbständigkeit reden. Über all das. Das sind die eigentlichen Probleme. Lanz: Heißt das, … Wagenknecht: Und nicht 20.000 Menschen, die aus Bulgarien … Lanz: Da muss ich einmal einhaken. Wagenknecht: … die teilweise auch noch hochqualifiziert sind. Lanz: Da muss ich einmal einhaken. Das heißt, Sie unterstützen Europa uneingeschränkt? Das finden Sie gut?
(Hier beim Lesen einmal kurz innehalten, um die Fragenschärfe von Lanz angemessen zu würdigen.)
Wagenknecht: Ja, was ist Europa? Lanz: Ja, was ist denn Europa für Sie? Wagenknecht: Ich unterstütze … Lanz: Sagen Sie’s mal. Wagenknecht:… europäische Werte. Ich finde die europäische Kultur … Lanz: Die europäische Union. Wagenknecht: … großartig. Und ich finde die heutige Politik der Europäischen Union zutiefst falsch, weil es eine Politik ist, die vor allem große Unternehmen, große Konzerne, große Banken begünstigt und – Lanz: Raus aus dem Euro oder drinbleiben? Wagenknecht: Ja, das ist überhaupt nicht die Frage. Der Euro – Lanz: Raus oder rein? Wagenknecht: Der Euro ist jetzt — Na, rein können wir nicht, wir sind drin, und ob man ihn auflösen sollte ist, denke ich, jetzt aktuell nicht das Problem. Wir müssen nur gucken, wie wir die Europäische Krise — Lanz: Die Frage würde ich trotzdem nochmal gerne nochmal stellen. Euro — Ja oder Nein? Wagenknecht: Der Euro ist doch Realität. Wir … Lanz: Für Sie, Frau Wagenknecht. Wagenknecht: … entscheiden uns doch nicht, rauszugehen. Ich vermute … Lanz: Nein, aber Sie haben gesagt, Sie haben die besseren Ideen. Sie haben die besseren Ideen. Wagenknecht: Aber Sie müssen mich auch ausreden lassen … Lanz: Ja. Wagenknecht: … wenn Sie mir Fragen stellen und ich kann nicht antworten.
Als sich Wagenknecht zumindest sprachlich von der Formulierung im Entwurf des Europaprogramms der Linken distanzierte, wonach die EU eine „militaristische Macht“ sei, fragte Lanz:
Wer hat’s denn formuliert? War’s der Gysi? Wer hat das geschrieben? Haben Sie’s geschrieben? Oder nicht?
Lanz distanzierte sich von seinem eigenen Studiopublikum, das es wagte, Wagenknecht mehrfach zu applaudieren. Jaha, dafür bekomme man natürlich Beifall, wenn man so populistisch argumentiere, sagte Markus Lanz. Sagte Markus „Was verdient man da eigentlich im Europaparlament“ Lanz.
Ich habe die Sendung, ehrlich gesagt, nicht zuende geguckt. Ich hab’s nicht geschafft.
Markus Lanz. Das ist der Mann, den das ZDF, ein öffentlich-rechtlicher Sender, regelmäßig außerhalb des Kinderprogramms über Politik diskutieren lässt. Ein Mann, für den sich die Debatte um die richtige Europapolitik auf die Frage reduzieren lässt: Europa — Ja oder Nein. Ein Mann, für den sich die Debatte um die richtige Euro-Politik auf die Frage reduzieren lässt: Euro — Rein oder Raus. Und ein Mann, der dann wütend wird, wenn sich jemand nicht zu ihm in den Sandkasten knien will, um auf seinem Niveau zu diskutieren.
Die ZDF-Zuschauerredaktion hat auf Beschwerden über die Sendung offenbar unter anderem mit dem Hinweis reagiert, Frau Wagenknecht sei mit der Auseinandersetzung „zufrieden“ gewesen. Das mag sogar sein, denn sie musste nur klüger und besonnener wirken als Lanz und Jörges, um klug und besonnen zu wirken, weshalb sie außerordentlich klug und besonnen wirkte. Markus Lanz macht diese Sendung aber nicht für Frau Wagenknecht.
„In der aktuellen Sendung ist die Debatte sicherlich auch an einigen Stellen schärfer geworden als dies geplant und in der Nachbetrachtung für die sachliche Erörterung notwendig war“, formulierten die Diplomaten aus der ZDF-Zuschauerredaktion. Solche Situationen nehme der Sender „jedoch intern mit Markus Lanz gemeinsam stets zum Anlass der kritischen Analyse.“
Na, dann ist ja gut.Oh, boy.
If you were waiting for the next bombshell in the Michael Flynn saga, the wait is over.
On Friday evening, the Trump faithful got a rare piece of good news as it relates to the Russia probe when ABC was forced to admit that they had jumped the gun by reporting that Flynn – who admitted to lying to the FBI – was prepared to testify against “candidate” Trump. As it turns out, what they should have said was “President-elect” Trump and needless to say, that’s a big difference.
Of course it says something about just how desperate this situation has become when the only “good” news you get is that the decidedly bad news wasn’t as bad as it first appeared. That is, there is nothing “good” for the administration about their former national security adviser flipping and turning into a witness for Robert Mueller.
Over the weekend, things got materially worse as the New York Times released excerpts from an e-mail sent by former deputy national security adviser KT McFarland (known among the transition team as “Flynn’s brain”). According to multiple sources, McFarland was the senior transition official at Mar-a-Lago who talked with Flynn about communicating with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions.
The e-mail – from McFarland to Thomas Bossert and later sent to Flynn, Reince Priebus, Bannon, and Sean Spicer – reads as follows:
Ok, well on Wednesday, the New York Times is back and according to an account by a whistle-blower made public on Wednesday, Flynn once told a business associate that economic sanctions against Russia would be “ripped up” as soon as Trump was in office. Here’s the Times:
Mr. Flynn believed that ending the sanctions could allow a business project he had once participated in to move forward, according to the whistle-blower. The account is the strongest evidence to date that the Trump administration wanted to end the sanctions immediately, and suggests that Mr. Flynn had a possible economic incentive for the United States to forge a closer relationship with Russia. Mr. Flynn had worked on a business venture to partner with Russia to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East until June 2016, but remained close with the people involved afterward. On Inauguration Day, according to the whistle-blower, Mr. Flynn texted the former business associate to say that the project was “good to go.”
But you really don’t need the Times here. Because again, the correspondence this is based on is now public.
The account comes courtesy of a letter written by Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and addressed to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Committee, Trey Gowdy (you all know Trey, right? If not, see here).
Apparently, Mueller’s team had asked Cummings not to make this public until after certain steps had been taken in the investigation. Well now, it’s public.
The letter also includes other super-fun (and super-nefarious) soundbites attributed to Flynn’s associate. Soundbites like these:
Just got this text from Michael Flynn – we are good to go. Mike has been putting everything in place for us. Obama fucked everything up in my nuclear deal with the sanctions. This is going to make a lot of wealthy people.
You can read the full letter below.
It is not good.A A
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Police in Buffalo have released street surveillance video that shows a car swerving toward a group of people and plowing into a teenager, sending him flying head over heels into the air.
Three men were walking in the street around 3 a.m. Thursday when a car approached them. The video shows the men dashing for the sidewalk. The car is seen veering onto the sidewalk, where it hit an 18-year-old and narrowly missed the other two men.
The victim, Victor Jerez of Buffalo, was flung over the car and landed out of camera range. He was taken to a Buffalo hospital, where he was treated for multiple injuries and released, police said.
"The footage is extremely graphic," Mayor Byron Brown said at a news conference Monday. He said he was releasing the video in response to a spate of hit-and-run accidents in the region in recent days, including one in the suburban town of Lancaster that killed a 14-year-old boy on his bicycle.
"The purpose for showing this video footage is to dramatize how dangerous hit and run accidents are," the mayor said.
Police arrested the 19-year-old driver in Thursday's accident, Tornubari Gbaraba, within five minutes after witnesses described the vehicle to a 911 dispatcher. Gbaraba, an exchange student from Nigeria, was charged with assault, reckless driving and fleeing from a police officer.
A not guilty plea was entered at Gbaraba's arraignment May 3. He's scheduled to return to court Wednesday to have a lawyer assigned.A new report about the status of billionaires underscores the rise of the wealthy in China despite the lackluster performance of the world's richest in increasing their wealth in 2015. Published by UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers last Tuesday, the report claims that due to China's surging economy, Asia is able to create a billionaire every three days.
Asia's entrepreneurs dominate the list of new billionaires, according to the report. One hundred and thirteen Asians, 80 from China, joined the billionaire ranks in 2015, which accounts for 54 percent of the global total.
The report also reveals that China is on a fast track to creating new billionaires: In 2014 and 2015, China accounted for 69 percent and 71 percent of Asia's new billionaires. The proportion was only 35 percent in 2009.
Those in the technology, real estate, consumer and retail sectors have been greatly invigorated. But does the expanding billionaire club mean China is on a healthy and sustainable growth path?
Peking University released a report earlier this year warning that China's wealth and income inequality is getting worse. The study found that one-third of China's wealth is owned by the top 1 percent of households, and the poorest 25 percent only account for 1 percent of the country's wealth. For years, China's Gini co-efficient, a measure of inequality, has stubbornly remained above the level of 0.4, which indicates severe inequality.
The growth in the number of Chinese billionaires, which although displaying the stamina of the Chinese economy in one respect, has actually shed light on the risks that might destabilize Chinese society.
Concentrations of wealth at high-levels can push any country to the brink of social disorder.
Like China, the US also has a high Gini coefficient above 0.4 despite having the world's largest GDP. But the US has paid a high price, at least twice, for its ignorance over controlling wealth concentration. In 1928, an the eve of the Great Depression, the income share of the top 1 percent in the US reached as high as 23.9 percent. The year 2007 marked the historic recurrence when the proportion climbed to 23.5 percent.
China, as well as many Asian countries, is not learning enough from these lessons. The much-praised performance and prospect of surging economies needs down-to-earth and pertinent re-evaluation. More concrete measures must be introduced to ensure the balance between producing wealth and narrowing the gap between the rich and poor.The Scottish Tories could form a coalition with Labour and the Lib Dems to force the SNP out of power at Holyrood, it has been reported.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, a source close to Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said they would be “happy” to work with Labour after the next Holyrood elections in 2021.
Ruth Davidson meets her troops on Royal Park Terrace, Edinburgh. Picture: Toby Williams
READ MORE: SNP bid to reset Brexit debate
It means that even if the SNP emerges as the biggest party, it may not be able to form a government.
The source was as saying: “Our view is country comes before party - the Union is key. For us, it is about cutting the SNP down to size and kicking them out of power.
READ MORE: Ian Keith - Davidson must tell May to help save the planet
“We would be prepared to speak to Labour, speak to the Lib Dems, about forming an anti-SNP, anti-independence coalition, so the country needs right now is certainty and stability.”UPDATE: (5:32 AM)
Fargo police holding a press conference. They are telling people within the perimeter which is 8th Avenue North to 10 Avenue North and from East Broadway to 2nd St to shelter in place and asking people to stay in their homes.
Contact has been made with the suspect but limited. They are unsure what the status is of the man at this time. The shooter is not in custody at this time.
Police believe other family members have gotten out of the house and that the man is the only one inside at this time.
Officer Jason Moszer is still in the hospital with family by his side.
UPDATE (4:22AM)
Fargo Police and multiple agencies are still on scene at 308 9th ave North. Police believe the suspect is still inside the house and they are sending in a robot to see if the suspect is alive or dead.
The injured Fargo Police officer Jason Moszer is not expected to survive.
3rd and 4th streets are closed between 12th and 7th avenues North. Broadway remains open. Sanford hospital is still on lock down and visitors have to use the south entrance. The hospital ramp is closed also closed.
UPDATE (11:05PM)
Staff at the Fargo Civic Center tell us the lockdown has been lifted there. They tell us the Disturbed concert will be letting out around 11:15pm. Officers will direct concert goers to drive south when they leave the concert. They will not be allowed to drive into north Fargo. There are approximately 2,300 people at that concert.
UPDATE: Police are negotiating with a man inside a home in North Fargo. They say he called 911 to report a domestic disturbance before opening fire. Police tell Valley News Live that the man has multiple long guns inside the house.
Some nearby business have been taken out of lock-down and customers have been allowed to leave.
Valley News Live has confirmed that a police officer has been shot during the active shooter situation Wednesday night in north Fargo. No further details are available yet.
Neighbors in North Fargo are being told to get into their basements and businesses near downtown are not letting any customers leave.
The Fargo SWAT team is on scene and has an area near 3rd street north and 9th avenue north surrounded. Police are also trying to evacuate people from the area.
We have multiple crews on scene and will continue to update this breaking story.
Shots have been fired in a North Fargo neighborhood as police search for a man with a gun in the area of 3rd street north and 9th avenue north.
Police are searching the area and have set up a perimeter. A dispatcher tells Valley News Live that the original call came in as a domestic incident.
Police sent out a notification to neighbors in that area telling them to go to their basements.
We have a crew on the scene. Stick with Valley News Live for updates on this developing story.A mother's diet before conception can permanently affect how her child's genes function, according to a study published in Nature Communications.
The first such evidence of the effect in humans opens up the possibility that a mother's diet before pregnancy could permanently affect many aspects of her children's lifelong health.
Researchers from the MRC International Nutrition Group, based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and MRC Unit, The Gambia, utilised a unique 'experiment of nature' in rural Gambia, where the population's dependence on own grown foods and a markedly seasonal climate impose a large difference in people's dietary patterns between rainy and dry seasons.
Through a selection process involving over 2,000 women, the researchers enrolled pregnant women who conceived at the peak of the rainy season (84 women) and the peak of the dry season (83 women). By measuring the concentrations of nutrients in their blood, and later analysing blood and hair follicle samples from their 2-8 month old infants, they found that a mother's diet before conception had a significant effect on the properties of her child's DNA.
While a child's genes are inherited directly from their parents, how these genes are expressed is controlled through 'epigenetic' modifications to the DNA. One such modification involves tagging gene regions with chemical compounds called methyl groups and results in silencing the genes. The addition of these compounds requires key nutrients including folate, vitamins B2, B6 and B12, choline and methionine.
Experiments in animals have already shown that environmental influences before conception can lead to epigenetic changes that affect the offspring. A 2003 study found that a female mouse's diet can change her offspring's coat colour by permanently modifying DNA methylation. But until this latest research, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the MRC, it was unknown whether such effects also occur in humans.
Senior author Dr Branwen Hennig, Senior Investigator Scientist at the MRC Gambia Unit and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "Our results represent the first demonstration in humans that a mother's nutritional well-being at the time of conception can change how her child's genes will be interpreted, with a life-long impact."
The researchers found that infants from rainy season conceptions had consistently higher rates of methyl groups present in all six genes they studied, and that these were linked to various nutrient levels in the mother's blood. Strong associations were found with two compounds in particular (homocysteine and cysteine), and the mothers' body mass index (BMI) had an additional influence. However, although these epigenetic effects were observed, their functional consequences remain unknown.
Andrew Prentice, Professor of International Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and head of the Nutrition Theme at the MRC Unit, The Gambia, said: "Our on-going research is yielding strong indications that the methylation machinery can be disrupted by nutrient deficiencies and that this can lead to disease. Our ultimate goal is to define an optimal diet for mothers-to-be that would prevent defects in the methylation process. Pre-conceptional folic acid is already used to prevent defects in embryos. Now our research is pointing towards the need for a cocktail of nutrients, which could come from the diet or from supplements."
The authors note that their study was limited by including only one blood sampling point during early pregnancy, but estimates of pre-conception nutrient concentrations were calculated using results from non-pregnant women sampled throughout a whole calendar year. The authors also plan to increase the sample size in further studies.
This study was funded by the Wellcome Trust, UK; the Medical Research Council (MRC); the UK Department for International Development (DFID); the NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, USA; and the USDA, USA. Additional institutions involved in the study included the University of North Carolina, USA; University of British Columbia, Canada; and SRI International, USA.
PublicationSome of the women, who began protest by refusing dinner on Wednesday, wrote letters about fears of being deported, as well as inhumane treatment in facilities
More than two dozen women at an immigration detention centre in Texas began a hunger strike on Wednesday in protest at the conditions and their ongoing incarceration, a civil rights group said.
Grassroots Leadership published 17 letters from the women and said that at least 27 began their protest by refusing dinner at the T Don Hutto residential center in Taylor, near Austin.
In the letters, some of the women express fears they will be in danger if they are forced to return to Central America. Other concerns include inedible food, poor medical care, inadequate legal representation, harsh treatment from officials and a capricious process that sees some cases resolved far more quickly than others.
“They leave us in here while fighting the case and at the end they tell us that our case has been denied after keeping us locked up for a long time and they send us back. Also, the food they give us here is very bad, gives us stomach problems, and is almost always the same. All human beings have rights and opportunities in this country and we believe that we have a right to bail,” Patricia, from El Salvador, wrote.
“There are grave injustices being committed, detentions spanning eight months, 10 months, a year, a year and a half, just to end with them telling us that we have no rights and we will be deported with disdainful words and gestures to make us feel worthless,” wrote Magdrola, from Guatemala.
Another, Elda, from Guatemala, said that she has been detained since 22 December last year and that she will be deported because her case has just been denied. She said her two school-age daughters are US citizens who are depressed because they are not with their mother.
“They need me, they are very little,” she wrote.
Hutto – a former state prison – switched from a family detention centre to a women-only facility in 2009 after a settlement following lawsuits over conditions for children that were brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
It is run by a private company, the Corrections Corporation of America. A CCA spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment about the hunger strike and conditions. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said in a statement on Thursday that the agency is not aware of any strike: “ICE takes the health, safety, and welfare of those in our care very seriously and we continue to monitor the situation. Currently, no one at the T Don Hutto Detention Center was identified as being on a hunger strike or refusing to eat.”
South Asian men at centres in El Paso, Texas, and Jena, Louisiana, held hunger strikes earlier this month, while dozens of asylum-seeking mothers held a hunger strike at the Karnes City family detention centre in Texas earlier this year, arguing they had unjustly been refused bond.
Jeh Johnson, the homeland security secretary, last month pledged to improve conditions and reduce the length of stays at Karnes and the country’s two other family detention centres, in Dilley, Texas, and Berks County, Pennsylvania, after a rapid expansion prompted by the influx of migrants in the summer of 2014.
“We are transitioning our family residential center facilities into processing centers where individuals can be interviewed and screened rather than detained for a prolonged period of time,” Johnson said.
Earlier this year, Dolly Gee, a federal judge in Los Angeles, strongly criticised the conditions in which children were held and ordered the Obama administration to release them as soon as possible, setting a deadline of last Friday to comply with her ruling, parts of which were appealed by the government.
Mohammad Abdollahi, a spokesman for Raices, a Texas-based legal advocacy group, said that they and other organisations are closely monitoring the centres to see whether they are complying with the judge’s instructions.
Grassroots Leadership has filed a lawsuit aiming to block the Texas department of family protective services from using an emergency rule to temporarily license the Texas centres as childcare facilities, which critics allege is a way for the federal government to claim that it is in line with Gee’s ruling without making fundamental improvements.Wisconsin's Legislative Fiscal Bureau has announced that Governor Scott Walker's administration will skip a scheduled $108 million debt payment because of a budget shortfall. The state is allowed to skip this payment under its loan terms without defaulting, but costs will accumulate over the long term, "starting with an additional $19.3 million in the two-year budget starting in June," Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Wisconsin had a surplus last year, which spurred Walker to enact a new round of $541 million in tax cuts, the Washington Post's Jeff Guo writes. But since then, less revenue has come in than expected, leading to a $280 million shortfall that must be plugged by June 30. Skipping the debt payment lets Walker "avoid the spectacle of a state budget repair bill," Stein writes. The news will surely draw attention to Walker's handling of his state's finances as he gears up for a presidential run. Since taking office, Walker has cut taxes by nearly $2 billion.
Dinner with the supply-siders
The debt payment news came shortly before Walker dined in New York with Arthur Laffer, Steve Moore, and Larry Kudlow — longtime staples of the supply-side economics movement, which holds that cutting taxes will often increase government revenue by stimulating economic activity. In practice, after the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations slashed taxes, revenues fell and deficits increased.
"According to several attendees, when Walker talked about the need for sweeping tax cuts, [Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul] Gigot and Kudlow flashed thumbs-up signs," according to Robert Costa of the Washington Post. Later at the event, Costa writes, Walker compared his showdown with public employee unions to Ronald Reagan's famous face-off with federal air traffic controllers.
During Walker's trip to New York, he also met with several wealthy Republican donors, whose support he hopes to win for his likely presidential campaign. He has recently been winning increased attention as a potential top challenger to former Florida governor Jeb Bush for the GOP nomination.Apple has just announced the iPhone SE, a new 4-inch smartphone that offers a smaller and cheaper option to the company's flagship iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. It's like a mix between the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 generations of devices, taking the size and design of one and the latest specs and capabilities of the other. Apple calls the iPhone SE "the most powerful 4-inch smartphone ever."
At the heart of the iPhone SE is the 64-bit Apple A9 processor together with the embedded M9 motion co-processor, the same as the iPhone 6S. That means it can play games just as brilliantly as Apple's current flagship, plus it supports hands-free "Hey Siri" prompting. The camera is also carried over from the 6S, it's the same 12-megapixel iSight camera with a dual-tone flash and the ability to shoot Live Photos and 4K video.
Compared to the iPhone 5S that precedes the new SE at the 4-inch size, Apple's new smartphone has faster LTE, faster Wi-Fi (802.11ac), better battery life, new microphones, and the significant addition of Apple Pay support. Having sold 30 million 4-inch iPhones in 2015, Apple clearly considers this an important market that it needed to address with its latest specs and capabilities and that's what the iPhone SE aims to achieve.
"Many, many customers have asked for this," said Apple CEO Tim Cook during Apple's launch event. "And I think they're going to love it."
The new iPhone SE starts at $399 with 16GB of storage and maxes out at $499 with 64GB. It'll be available in gold and rose gold colors alongside more traditional light and dark options. Preorders begin on March 24th and the phone will be available on March 31st. The iPhone SE will be in more than 100 countries by the end of May.
Read next: Our iPhone SE reviewI
think I should get more credit for killing Hitler. And I know you’re thinking: “Who’s Hitler? I’ve never heard of a guy named Hitler.” But the only reason you’re saying that is because I went back in time and killed him. If I hadn’t built that time machine and gone back to kill Hitler, you’d all be saying to yourselves, “Man, I wish I had a time machine so I could kill Hitler.” In fact, growing up that was such a common sentiment it never dawned on me no one would know who he was when I returned. So I took out this ad in the Times to help explain why everyone owes me. I’m not looking to be a hero. But a thank-you would be nice.
First. Who is Hitler? Good question. Hitler was the dictator of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. He started World War Two. He took over most of Europe. And, most horrifically, he was responsible for the Holocaust, where he systematically slaughtered over 6 million Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals. Sound like someone you’d want to get in a time machine and kill? Yes. That’s exactly what I thought.
“But wait a minute,” you’re thinking, “Germany? That peaceful country that created the magical yogurt that cures diabetes? No one from Germany would do that.” Yes, they would. In fact, you wouldn’t know about Der Yogurtten Nein Diabetes because it would not exist. Because I killed Hitler, Germany spent the 1930s and ’40s developing that yogurt instead of committing mass genocide. Now, did I create that yogurt? No. That would be taking credit away from those brilliant Jewish, Gypsy, and homosexual scientists. But am I indirectly responsible? Yes. I am.
“But what about World War Two? I’ve never heard of that!” Well, remember the Everybody Gang Up On Italy War? Instead of that we had World War Two. It was basically the Everybody Gang Up On Italy War, except a lot of our effort was focused on fighting Germany, and instead of lasting two weeks, it lasted six years. Plus, we had to fight Japan at the same time. There was no, OK, Now Let's All Get Japan War that lasted two months. All of it was World War Two. It was really bad. Like, so bad we actually renamed The Great War just so we could put into perspective how bad it was. We retroactively named the worst war the world’s ever seen World War One because this war was so much worse we had to make it a sequel. And, again, all I’m looking for is a thank you.
You want more? Fine. The award-winning video games Call of Diplomacy, Call of Diplomacy 2, and Call of Diplomacy: Ghosts? Those were all me. Michael Jordan’s moustache? I’m the reason it’s cool and not insane. Our Moon colony? Honestly, I can’t figure out exactly how I’m responsible for that one but it has to be me because it certainly wasn’t there before.
Now, can I prove any of this? No. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hit myself for not bringing a newspaper headline with me, or a picture from a museum, or anything Tom Hanks has ever made (he was that guy from Bosom Buddies and then nothing). But I didn’t. And no, I can’t make another time machine. The original one burned up on the return trip and it relied on car parts found exclusively in Volkswagens, something you’ve never heard about. Plus, if we’re being completely honest, there’s no point in making another one. I’ve already done the one thing you’d want to use a time machine for and it hasn’t exactly been a boon for my social life.
Just a little credit, that’s all I’m asking for. I don’t need a statue, or a plaque. I mean, sure, some sort of medal or presidential recognition would be great, but honestly, I’d settle for the people I meet in the street looking me in the eyes and saying, “Thank you” instead of, “Why are you telling me about how you went back in time to kill a child?Since my first visit over three years ago, I have occasionally dreamed – and drooled – a little about The Country Way. My first foray into sausage patty making left me thinking about their huge sausage patty, wondering what they put in theirs (mine does not even come close; to memory, theirs is a rough grind, whereas my using what’s available at the supermarket has left much to be desired in terms of texture and even flavor). When I discovered that for part of our trip, we would be in San Jose once again, I decided I would have breakfast here. Every single morning that we were in San Jose.
The first morning, I decided to see if my memory of the huge sausage patty would hold up to reality. Prices have gone up a bit, but it’s been almost 3 years, if they hadn’t gone up, it’d be truly amazing. I ordered my country sausage patty and 3 eggs sunny side up with white toast (they also offer wheat and sour dough!) along with a large orange juice.
My order came pretty quickly – 10:30 on a Monday, the place was not even close to full. The eggs this time, while still yummy, were not cooked quite as proficiently as they were years ago, boasting a bit of albumen (I believe that’s what it’s called) – raw egg white – atop each egg. As a frequent orderer of sunny side up eggs, I am quite used to many places not fully cooking the white through (alternatively, if they do, then overcooking the yolk), so I can’t say that it really upset me much or grossed me out. I’m used to it.
uncooked egg white floating atop the egg
The sausage patty was actually even better than I’d remembered; the seasonings had been perfected and this time, perhaps because the place wasn’t so busy, it was fully cooked. I admit that last time, if you look carefully at the picture, the center of the patty was quite a bit pink, but it didn’t detract from my total enjoyment last time. This time, however, it was cooked through and had the right amount of oomph and salt to make it truly delicious.
The country fried potatoes were excellent; completely crispy through and through, with pieces so crispy, you’d swear they were potato chips, and just as thin to boot. A dash of salt and a swirl of ketchup, and they were absolute heaven.
Shamefully, I was unable to finish – again – and even left a whole egg yolk untouched. I appear to have eaten more of the sausage than I did last time, though.
The next day, I dragged B there, but due to a miscommunication or a misunderstanding – whatever you would like to call it – our timing was all off and after we sat down, ordered the above “House Breakfast” special, we discovered that we would be unable to take advantage of the special menu (which is dine-in only, no to-go orders) as we had to change it over to a take out order. Our waitress was polite enough about the whole thing, and gave me a cup to pour my orange juice into as well.
I still took pictures, as we raced back to his office in our rental car.
B’s scrambled eggs, bacon and country fried potatoes. Look how much potato they give you, it’s insane – this is in addition to the toast that I didn’t photograph.
My sunny side up with bacon and potatoes. Unfortunately, as can be expected, the potatoes do not translate well in a take out container (although I did see other people coming in and ordering breakfast to go, interestingly enough). The heat created moisture which led to condensation inside the container which led to the potatoes becoming quite a bit soggy. I was very sad. The bacon was nothing special, although I did appreciate the way the strips had been cooked – crispy with a chewy portion, which is how I prefer my bacon. Slightly chewy/fatty. I know, I’m weird; I don’t like it “fried hard” as the B will order. I was less than happy with my breakfast this morning, and zoomed off afterwards for a special shopping date with a special person (details to come… on ALL MY BENTO ARE BELONG TO ME, ooh…).
However, I still returned the next morning for my final breakfast at The Country Way (this SF trip, anyway).
I didn’t realize how spoiled I was for corned beef hash growing up until I reached adult hood and suddenly found that… it’s next to impossible to find really good corned beef hash. Why was I so spoiled for it growing up, then? Duh, because my dad made a phenomenal version that actually starts with canned corned beef. (I don’t even know if I’d call that corned beef now, knowing what I do about real corned beef, but whatever.) The kind of can that you open with a key and as a kid, I would always jostle with my brother to open it, until one day I cut my hand really badly opening it. From then on, I insisted he open the cans, but having lost the novelty of tormenting his kid sister, he wasn’t that interesting. Ah well. My dad would use fresh potatoes, whatever we had at the moment (perhaps occasionally already cooked from some other dish?), and fry that sucker hard – the corned beef hash was super crispy along the edges, sometimes even in the center, and it would just be so freaking good with sunny side up eggs (another taste I developed from my father; I was instructed that it is completely acceptable to slurp my yolks up straight from the white by putting my mouth to them BUT ONLY AT HOME. NEVER, ever, EVER at a restaurant or someone else’s house); poke the yolks and let them run over the corned beef hash, forming a semi-gravy, and just eat it that way or spoon some on toast and indulge in possibly the best breakfast EVERRR.
Leaving Memory Lane and returning to REALITY, though, this corned beef hash is probably the best rendition
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can just go home and voluntarily say what they’re going to do and then we’ll add it all up and hope it works out. And it turns out, no, it doesn’t work out. It adds up to three to four degrees of warming.
Did you feel that the fact that after the terror attacks there was a clamping down on people being able to demonstrate and protest outside the conference, did that have an effect, do you think, on the meetings?
I do think it had an effect, yeah, I do. There was a blanket ban on demonstrations during the summit. The way the government defined it under the state of emergency was “any gathering of more than three people of a political nature was banned.” And this was quite extraordinary. I pointed out that even George Bush and Dick Cheney didn’t ban protests after 9/11. There was not a blanket ban across the board. And that was what the Hollande government did. And it was a very, very fraught situation for France because regional elections happened during the summit and the Front National, which is the sort of fascist party in France, was gaining in the polls and so the summit became this tool for the Hollande government that was supposed to be a fantastic public relations moment for them and they were bound and determined to get that happy picture at the end where everyone’s cheering and going, “You’re awesome.” And they got it. And I do think that if demonstrations had been permitted, there would have been a different kind of debate, in particular around an issue like agriculture.
Because one of the things that was really striking about the summit is that it was the most corporate sponsored UN climate summit that any of us had ever seen. There had been encroaching corporate sponsorship at previous ones but in France you got the nuclear industry, you got the private water industry, which is very, very strong in France, and these huge agribusiness companies that sponsored the summit. And so they were marketing their product as climate solutions, whether it was so-called drought-resistant GMO seeds, or they call it climate-smart agriculture, which is the new way they’re marketing GMOs, or companies like [GDF Suez], water companies seeing water scarcity as a market opportunity for obvious reasons or the huge nuclear power companies marketing nuclear power as a better alternative to renewables.
So they all had a big megaphone inside the summit because they had access, they were sponsoring, they had a whole forum to themselves. We knew that was going to happen but the streets were supposed to be ours. The streets were the social movements, this was where we were going to be presenting our alternatives. And then we were just told, “No. You have to stay — you’re not allowed on the streets. So you can still have your little alternative summit in the middle of nowhere in the suburbs that nobody’s going to go to.” And that’s the way it played out. So I don’t know that it would have changed the agreement, but I think it would have changed people’s understanding of what happened. I think there would have been a million people in the streets of Paris without that ban. That’s what they were projecting.
And even within the conference center itself, a lot of countries never got to speak.
Oh, it was so tightly controlled.
Because I think that they realized that they didn’t need a consensus, they just needed a majority to get it through.
And it was ugly. There was a moment where it was almost like a test of “will you stand with France? Are you really going to screw France in their moment of need?” It was just ugly. And you’re talking about countries that are fighting for their own survival. They’ve got a lot of skin in this game. So it was a very, very tightly controlled summit. The good thing is that it played out over two weeks — I mean, these are long events — and it was kind of amazing to watch the city get its courage back, because at the beginning of the summit people were really scared and really tentative about being in the streets and really not sure about whether they were being disloyal. But by the end people were ready to take their city back, they were ready to take their streets back, they were ready to defend liberty. This thing in France about liberté, that this is what’s under attack. And the way that we’re going to defend ourselves is that we’re all going to stay home? Or go shopping? As if any of this sounds familiar? [laughter]
But it was particularly striking because it was Christmas shopping season so everything’s lit up and everybody’s shopping. You’re allowed to shop and you’re encouraged to shop and all the Christmas markets are on and all the football matches are on, you just can’t protest. And so at a certain point the Parisians just said, “Screw it, we’re doing it.” And so in the end people did take to the streets again and I felt really lucky to be part of that process of people getting their courage back. And I think it was very important.
We have less than a year now, as of today, of Barack Obama’s administration. What is your assessment of him as an environmental president?
Well, you know, he certainly, in the final year and change in office, he is showing us what leadership looks like. And to me it’s all the more frustrating, in a way, that he didn’t do much more of this starting immediately. What he has done in the last few years shows that there was actually quite a lot of executive power, which people were saying from the beginning. You know, as soon as it was clear, in Copenhagen in 2009, that the Senate was blocking Obama from introducing meaningful climate legislation, the push was for him to use executive authority, use the EPA, use the tool of federal leases, and there was just a refusal to do it. And now we’re seeing it in the final years, but it’s very vulnerable. You know, it’s vulnerable to a next administration. And I’m not just talking about Trump. I’m talking about Hillary Clinton, because [initially] Hillary Clinton was, when it came to the Keystone fight, ready to rubber stamp that pipeline from day one.
So I think he’s doing what needs to be done to be able to say that he’s got a good legacy. But it’s not enough. I always remember the moment after the cap and trade bill fell, after it collapsed, Bill McKibben wrote an article to the environmental movement going, “Look, we tried it your way. We tried the polite lobbying, closed door, not making a fuss, you know, give the guy a chance, let’s compromise route, and it delivered less than nothing. So now we’re going to try something else. We’re going to try street pressure, outside pressure, civil disobedience. We’re going to try being a royal pain in the neck and see if that gets results.”
I think we waited too long and lost some precious time. Because the thing about climate change is, you know, you hear the clock ticking so loudly, right?
There was a video you did for The Guardian last spring in which you said that sometimes capitalism gives us a gift, and that with the decline in global oil prices, the moment was rife for kicking the fossil fuel industry while it’s down. I was wondering if you could elaborate on that a little bit.
Oil has gone from $150 dollars a barrel to below $30 dollars a barrel in a period of 18 months. I mean this is incredible. Nobody predicted this. And, you know, it’s potentially a game changer. But it’s complicated, right? I mean it isn’t just, okay, well, this is going to be good for climate action, because when oil is cheap it encourages people to use oil. It encourages people to buy bigger cars, it encourages people to treat this commodity as if it is cheap, because it is cheap, and not think about the impacts. So we actually need oil to be more expensive. And that’s why this would be an excellent time to introduce a carbon tax.
But this comes back to the sort of central argument I’m trying to put out there, that we are not going to do the things that we need to do unless we engage in a battle of ideas. I don’t know, has anybody read or started reading Jane Mayer’s new book about the Koch brothers, Dark Money? I mean it’s an extraordinary book because it reminds us that we have been living, over the past 40 years, a very planned and concerted campaign to change the ideas that govern our societies. The Koch brothers set out to change the values, to change the core ideas that people believed in.
And there is no progressive equivalent of taking ideas seriously. So we’ve got lots of funding for campaigns for people working on all kinds of different areas but a metanarrative, like the Charles Koch metanarrative — and he’s said it explicitly — is that he is challenging collectivism, he is challenging the idea that when people get together they can do good. And he is putting forward the worldview that we’re all very familiar with that if you free the individual to pursue their self-interest that will actually benefit the majority. So you need to attack everything that is collective, whether it’s labor rights or whether it’s public health care or whether it’s regulatory action. All of this falls under the metanarrative of an attack on collectivism.
So what is the progressive metanarrative? Who funds it? Who is working on changing ideas that can say, “Actually, when we pool our resources, when we work together, we can do more and better than when we only act as individuals.” I don’t think we value that. So here we are in this moment when of course we should be introducing a carbon tax but it’s like almost unthinkable that we could. I mean, tax, we can’t say tax, everyone hates taxes, right?
So we can’t avoid those battles of ideas. We can’t avoid those big discussions about what our values are. Because if we don’t engage in them then we aren’t going to be able to introduce these very simple policy solutions. So yes, okay, the argument I made about the oil price shock is this creates the conditions where we could really change the game but we’re not going to be able to do it if we’re not willing to talk about an aggressive carbon tax. But to me, I think the Koch brothers are so interesting in the sense that it really does show us how much ideological ground we’ve lost. They never take their eye off it.
Charles Koch was asked recently whether he feels he has had enough influence. And his answer was revealing, he said, “Well, they haven’t nationalized us.” That’s his concern. So then you think about it, we would never, it would be so unthinkable to just talk about, well, why don’t we nationalize Koch Industries? That’s a crazy thing to say, but he’s thinking about it.
He’s also worrying about, “If I spend $900 million dollars on this election, by God, I want to get something back for my money.” And it’s frightening what he expects to get. But he’s disappointed in all the candidates, he said in that same interview.
Yes, he’s disappointed but he knows it could be worse. It’s amazing how much money they need to spend. Another way of thinking about it is it’s extraordinary how much money they have to spend and they don’t always win. That’s amazing.
And I do think it’s going to get harder for fossil fuel companies. It really is going to get scary. And they’re terrified of the Exxon investigations because if Exxon has been systematically misleading the public, if they knew, all of this is going to be coming out, then this raises huge questions about the legitimacy of their profits. And Exxon is the most profitable company in the history of the world, $42 billion dollars in profits in a single year. And here we are unable to pay for public transit, unable to pay for the kinds of infrastructure that we need to deal with the crisis that they have created.
This is a conversation that they’re going to really try to have not happen. And I know there are people here who are working on a carbon tax. And it’s great but often you’ll hear people say, “Well, it has to be revenue-neutral. It has to be fee and dividend. Don’t call it a tax.” Because we accept the Koch framework as a premise that if we’re going to take money from people we have to give it all back, all of it. That’s what fee and dividend means, it means we will tax you and we’ll give you the exact same amount back that you gave us. That leaves the government with nothing. So what are you going to use to pay for transit? What are you going to use to pay for a renewable energy grid? How are you going to get to 100 percent renewables? We have to talk about the fact that we need more money. It has come from somewhere. So I think it is really worth studying how the center was moved in that way.
The famous Overton window, moving us rightward. And the degree, just going back to what you were saying about the degree of denial, it’s just so flabbergasting and I was hoping you would tell the story that you tell about covering the annual meeting of the Heartland Institute and what happened with Oklahoma’s US Senator Jim Inhofe, which is such a great story.
So the Heartland Institute, which is a free market think tank that hosts this annual climate change denial summit, their influence is waning. They’re very interesting, because I think that somehow they managed to market themselves as somehow having some scientific credibility, but they’re not. They are a free market think tank and when we interviewed Joseph Bast, the head of the Heartland Institute, I asked him how he got interested in climate change and he said, very frankly, “Well, we realized that if the science was true that would allow liberals to justify pretty much any kind of regulation, so we took another look at the science.” [laughter] He’s very frank about this.
And in the book the name of the chapter is “The Right is Right” because they’re not right about the science but I believe that they understand the implications of the science better than most liberals in the sense that they absolutely understand that if climate change is real, it is the end of their ideological project. The entire scaffolding on which their attack on regulations, attacks on collective action rests falls apart. Because of course you need collective action, of course you need to regulate corporations, it’s over, it’s game over for them. So they have to do everything possible to deny the science. And what’s amazing to me is how many liberal think tanks devote almost no energy to talking about climate change.
So the issue is how hard it is to change people’s minds when they’re as invested in these ideas ideologically but also funding-wise. Jim Inhofe gets a lot of money from the coal industry. So he was supposed to be the keynote speaker of this particular Heartland conference. It was advertised, people were extremely excited to hear from him. And Joe Bast announced in the morning that James Inhofe was sick and he was not going to be regaling them that morning. People were very disappointed. It came out later — we didn’t know this at the time — I looked into it after, what was wrong with Jim Inhofe because I wasn’t sure, was he really sick or did he just for some reason think it wasn’t a good idea to hang out with these crazies?
And it turns out he really was sick and he was sick because — and he explained this — he’d gone swimming in a lake in Oklahoma and it was in the middle of a heatwave and there was an outbreak of blue-green algae, which is linked to climate change. He basically had a climate change illness. [laughter] And this is why he could not speak at the climate denial conference.
But this did not make him go, “Oh, maybe they have a point.” He sent a letter just saying, “I can’t be there because I’m sick,” basically from his hospital bed going, “Keep up the good work.” [laughter] So people sometimes ask me, “Well, how can I change the mind of my extremely right wing uncle who only listens to Fox News and so on?” And I tell them, “Honestly, I’m not sure that you should devote that much energy to trying to change his mind. You can if you want to but first, there’s a much larger group of people out there who are not that invested in protecting an extreme ideological worldview or protecting their own financial interests who actually probably believe that climate change is real but are scared, don’t know what they can do about it, are sort of in a state of soft denial, like most of us are in, like, ‘Oh, I can’t look at it, it’s just too awful.’ That’s a much better place for us to invest our energy than trying to convince James Inhofe, because if getting a climate change-related illness didn’t impact him in any way [laughter], I don’t think you just laying out the science is going to help.”
I want to change course a little bit — what brought you to this point? How did you become this articulate advocate of this cause? What changed you? When you say, this changes everything, what changed Naomi Klein?
I think my wake-up call was definitely [Hurricane] Katrina. And I was writing the book that I wrote before this, I was writing The Shock Doctrine. And I was in New Orleans during Katrina while it was still underwater and doing reporting. I was there when all the lobbyists were descending on Baton Rouge with their wish lists: Close down public housing. Privatize the school system. And New Orleans, it was just such a horrifying thing to witness firsthand. To me, it’s one of those events that actually becomes more shocking with time. With some things you kind of get used to them, but I think actually what happened in New Orleans, it was so shocking that we couldn’t actually believe it or metabolize it, in particular the fact that African-American residents were given one-way tickets out of their city, forcibly relocated, at gunpoint, people were loaded onto buses. And there was no plan to bring them back. And while they were gone, their homes were bulldozed. I mean this is, to me, the more I think about it, the more shocking it becomes and there was so much happening in that moment that I actually think that we could not fully understand that this was — local residents were calling it genocide and I think they had every right to call it that.
I’ve been pretty apocalyptic up until now, but This Changes Everything is actually an argument for our best chance to build a better society. The flipside of the fact that the right understands — that if the science is true it means their ideological project collapses — is that if the science is true, and it is, it’s an opportunity to put forward another vision for how we want our society to function. We have to do it. There is going to be some kind of adaptation and transition in the face of climate change. There will have to be new infrastructure, there will have to be new jobs. What kind of jobs do we want them to be? Right now in California, 4,000 of the state’s 10,000 firefighters are prison inmates being paid $1 an hour to put their lives at risk fighting fires. That’s what this economic system does in the face of climate change. We could be fighting for them to be living-wage jobs. We could say the people who got the worst deal under the extractive energy model should be first in line to have energy democracy, to own and control their own renewable energy to create jobs and keep skills in communities.
We have examples of this working. Germany has created 400,000 jobs in their energy transition. And so much of it is decentralized and community-owned, 900 new energy cooperatives in Germany. So we can do this in a way that heals wounds dating back to our country’s founding. This can be a process of healing and reconstruction. I think it can be incredibly inspiring. I forget what the question was. [laughter]
I was actually asking how you arrived at this point in your life.
So I arrived at it because The Shock Doctrine is about how our current system deals with crises, deals with shocks. And when I started that book, I was talking about wars. I went to Iraq after the invasion and reported for Harper’s about how the Bush administration was treating Iraq as their sort of playground to introduce extreme pro-corporate policies, like a 15 percent flat tax and to privatize all of Iraq’s industries and to get rid of the labor code and all of that. And I was looking at the history of how economic crises were used to push through extreme privatization policies and we see it happening in southern Europe right now, in Greece and Spain and Portugal.
And then, as I was writing The Shock Doctrine, I started to see it happening after natural disasters. So the first reporting I did was after the Asian tsunami. This was a devastating natural disaster, not linked to climate change, but that tsunami cleared beaches in Thailand and Sri Lanka, in India. And in country after country what we saw was developers using that as an opportunity to push new land laws that allowed resorts to take land from farmers and small fishing boats. Sri Lanka introduced a water privatization bill two days after the tsunami. So my mind started to focus on natural disasters, then Katrina happened. So this is how we got to it. So for me Katrina was like, “Am I seeing the future?”
What I felt when I was in New Orleans was this was science fiction but now. The future’s already here, this science fiction future that we’re so afraid of is already here in most parts of the world. So even though I see an opportunity for the shock of climate change to be a positive transformational moment, and I see that also because when I was researching The Shock Doctrine, I also researched how shocks like the market crash of 1929 became progressive moments and moments to expand democracy and expand participation and the inverse of the shock doctrine.
I believe that climate change could be that if we seized it. But what motivates me is not airy-fairy, la-la, like this is going to be so great, what motivates me is New Orleans. What motivates me is Katrina. What motivates me is that if progressives do not enter this space with a vision of how we respond to crisis that brings us together rather than apart, we are looking at a future of Katrinas because there will be more and more climate shocks intersecting with weak and neglected public infrastructure.
When the successful campaign of the Koch brothers and their ilk, which has systematically defunded the public sphere, intersects with more and more shocks to the system, which climate change generates and also which capitalism just generates on its own through market shocks, like the 2008 financial crisis, what will happen under our current system is that rather than course correct, each shock becomes an opportunity for more and more privatization, which is what happened in New Orleans, more attacks on the public sphere.
So rather than learning the lesson of Katrina, which is if you neglect the public sphere, when shock comes, you will [be] completely unprepared. FEMA can’t find New Orleans for five days. People are abandoned on their rooftops and in the Superdome. The system, the state, is totally nonfunctional, [and] what’s the answer? Privatize the school system, shut down public housing and create this kind of corporate utopia.
And so the problem with climate change is it’s going to keep delivering more and more of these shocks, not just weather shocks, but budget shocks. You think about the price tag attached to an event like Sandy, many billions of dollars. And so it’s going to create bankruptcies. And so what happens? Look at Flint, Michigan, look at what’s happening across Michigan where cities are handing over power because they’ve gone bankrupt to private managers and then you have water crises and layering on top of that it’s not just inequality, it’s racism and fear, security fears. People become more fearful of each other. That’s the other thing we saw in New Orleans. There was this sort of vigilante violence.
So climate change is an accelerant. We often talk about how when you interview a climate scientist like Michael Mann or James Hansen and you say, “Well, did climate change cause this storm?” They won’t say that. “No, it didn’t cause it, but it loaded the dice. So we were going to have the storm anyway but because of climate change you’ve got this super storm.” So what I would say is climate change does that but not just with the weather. If you’ve got a racist society, if you’ve got a problem of racism in your society and then you add climate change to it, then it goes crazy. If you’ve got a problem with inequality and then you add climate change to it, then it becomes sci-fi. So what brings me to this is that I’m not just worried about things getting hotter, and this is what I think that I wish more environmentalists would wrap their heads around: This is not just about things getting hotter and wetter, it’s about things getting meaner. And that’s why we have to talk about values and who we want to be in the face of this crisis.
If you have a culture that treats people like they’re disposable, that doesn’t value people, then, when you confront a crisis like climate change, those values will govern how you confront that crisis. And making a connection between the refugee crisis where the statistic was that 15 children died just this past week off of Greece, I think more than 45 people drowned. So if we live in a culture that allows people to disappear beneath the waves because we don’t value their lives enough, then it’s not that big a step to allow whole countries to disappear beneath the waves, which is what we are doing when we allow temperatures to increase by three degrees, four degrees.
I want to take some of these questions submitted by our audience: ““Of the candidates running for president, who do you believe will most effectively and aggressively move the issue of climate change?”
I think of the candidates Bernie Sanders has by far the best track record, so leaving aside the Republicans, it’s recognized by all the candidates that they’re sort of competing with one another over who’s more opposed to Keystone, who’s more opposed to Arctic drilling, who’s going to prosecute Exxon more and so on. So if we’re just looking at what people are saying, they’re actually pretty close together. Hillary’s climate policies are pretty good. Bernie’s are better.
But if we’re looking at track record, Bernie was standing with us on Keystone from the very beginning and Hillary was on the wrong side of Keystone in the beginning. So obviously I would trust him more, also because of where his money is coming from. And I think her ties to the oil and gas industry and the banks that fund them are really, really troubling. And frankly, I generally stay out of electoral politics and candidate endorsements and so on. And I haven’t endorsed a candidate. But I must say that it’s pretty darn exciting that Bernie and his operation have advanced as much as they have and have proven the critics wrong again and again. And this is a pretty interesting moment where a candidate as radical, if that’s what you want to call him, and plainspoken and certainly as independent as Bernie, could have as much momentum as he has. And I don’t agree with him on several foreign policy issues. And I don’t think he’s a perfect candidate. If I dreamed up who I would like to see, it probably wouldn’t be Bernie. But he’s doing it, so at a certain point you just have to say, “Wow, they’re pulling it off.”
Who’s not running that you would like to see run, Elizabeth Warren or someone like that?
Yes, I would have liked to have seen Elizabeth Warren run. I would have liked to see somebody who looked a little bit like the changing face of America. But that said, this is the person who is saying what needs to be said and who is building a movement that is gaining ground that people said could not be gained. So I had to ask myself, “Okay, well, why aren’t I publicly supporting Bernie?” These next five years are so critical when it comes to climate change. And even looking at what is going to happen based on what we find out in these Exxon investigations, who would we trust to make the most of that? To me it’s absolutely no question. I can’t think of anybody better than Bernie on that front — unless Bill McKibben himself decided to run.
“What is the most viable and efficient source of renewable energy?”
I think the sort of wonderful thing about renewable energy is that it isn’t one-size-fits-all. It really requires you to think about where you live and where you are in nature. And this is why I think when we think about shifting our energy from fossil fuels to renewables, it isn’t just sort of flipping a switch. It really is a paradigm shift because what fossil fuels sold was the illusion that it doesn’t matter where you live, the illusion of separateness from nature and dominance.
This was some of the most interesting research for me when I was writing the book was going back and reading the marketing material for the early steam engines. The way that the Watt steam engine marketed itself to British industrialists and the owners of fleets of ships was, “For the first time, you are the boss. You can sail your ships even when there’s no wind. You can build your factory wherever you want. You don’t have to be next to rushing water.” It’s very specific, right? Because before that you had to build your factories where there was hydropower. So that’s the wonderful thing about renewables, you actually have to think about where you live again. Maybe solar makes sense where you are, wind makes sense. It is not going to be the same everywhere or one will offset the other. I find decentralized renewables, whether it’s wind or solar or small scale hydro, to be most exciting because it decentralizes economic power at the same time that it decentralizes power. So because we face multiple crises, we have a crisis of concentrated wealth and concentrated power, why wouldn’t we seize the opportunity as we transition from fossil fuels to decentralized economic power as much as we can.
“Is it biologically possible to reverse climate change with seven billion people on the planet not just burning fossil fuels but eating, drinking, pooping, etcetera?”
So we’re not talking about reversing climate change. We’re talking about preventing catastrophic climate change, which is the road we’re on. At the same time as we can do everything possible to get to 100 percent renewable energy. It does mean reducing demand. But the issue around energy demand is much more about the consumption habits of a small minority of the world’s population than it is about numbers of people on Earth. It is a relatively small percentage of people on this planet who are responsible for the vast majority of emissions. Thomas Piketty has done a really interesting breakdown of the connection around wealth and emissions, showing that we really are talking about 10 percent of the world’s population being responsible for the vast majority of emissions.
So when we change the subject to population, which is what I think this is pointing to, my concern is that it’s not that population isn’t an issue. But I think that it changes the conversation away from the consumption habits of the wealthy to the procreation habits of the poor, which is convenient for us. But the truth is that where population is growing fastest are in parts of the world that are the poorest and have the lowest emissions, like sub-Saharan Africa. So there are certainly issues around how we consume but I don’t think that population is the overriding issue. I think it’s our consumption habits.
Along similar lines, “Shifting to sustainable organic agriculture is now being touted as a way to capture most of the excess CO2. Is this a real contender for dealing with climate change and why wasn’t it part of the Paris conference?”
Carbon offsetting and not organic agriculture, which is what this question is about, but other ways of using plants to capture CO2, are part of the Paris climate accord in ways that are worrying because one of the things that’s most striking about the Paris climate accord is that the word oil is not mentioned once, neither is coal. They talk about getting to zero net emissions, which is code for “you can emit as long as you plant lots of trees to absorb those emissions.” So there’s a lot of worries around how that will be done, not through organic agriculture but through tree farms and land grabs and the record of those kinds of projects is particularly bad for indigenous people, tends not to be done very equitably at all and is usually just an excuse for us to continue to pollute on the idea that if we plant trees somewhere else it will fix it for us.
But absolutely changing the way our agriculture system works, embracing agro-ecological methods that don’t use fossil fuel inputs and that sequester carbon in the soil is a huge part of the solution. And so is tree planting, by the way. Not to offset our emissions but actually to draw down carbon in the atmosphere that is already there because we are already at 400 parts per million. I’m on the board of 350 because we need to actually get down to 350. But this is a slow process and the best way is to do that, not tree farming but reforestation, sustainable reforestation and also agro-ecological farming.
“How do we activists engage and mobilize people whose lives are too busy, too consumer-oriented, too focused on improving opportunities and fortune for their children to consider climate change the number one political and economic issue that it is?”
It’s a great question and I think that the first way I’ll respond is how we don’t do it. We don’t do it by going, “My issue is more important than your issue. You may be worried about whatever your issue is, you’re worried about feeding your kids, you’re worried about education, but none of that’s going to matter if the world cooks, so you all should care about climate change.” That’s the way to really piss people off. [laughter]
I think that the way you do it is by coming together as a community — it’s something I think that can really only happen locally — and dream together. What would a response to climate change be that addressed the issues that are most important to people? I mean, of course, people are more focused on their kids’ futures and their immediate economic concerns and people are under enormous economic stress right now. And it’s not about saying, “Well, don’t worry about fighting for $15 dollars an hour, you should care about climate change.” It’s about saying, “We can create millions of living-wage jobs in public transit and in renewable energy, in reimaging our cities, we can improve our services, if we take this crisis seriously, if we engage in this battle of ideas.”
So I think politics is always about meeting people where they’re at and I think we have made some real errors in the environmental movement by engaging in this “My issue is bigger than your issue, what does it matter if everything burns?” That really alienates people because so many people in this country are engaged in legitimately very, very urgent issues, whether they’re fighting police violence, criminalization or for jobs that allow them to have a life and support their kids, or health care.
So it’s really about connecting the dots and laying out this vision. And it is an expansive vision and I think we need not to be afraid of that. I think there’s really two camps out there. There’s this sort of scarcity worldview where there’s a finite amount of political energy and we have to get people to care about climate change and not these other issues because our issue is so important. And there’s even a sense among some that maybe climate change is more winnable than some of those other issues. Poverty has always been with us but everybody’s affected by climate change, so we need to focus on climate change instead of that.
And then there’s the climate justice movement. And the climate justice movement is really about marrying the fights for economic and racial and gender justice with the imperative to get off fossil fuels. And I think that’s a much more winning strategy. It’s more complicated in terms of how you build those coalitions. It’s really, really hard to get in rooms with people you don’t usually work with and try to find common ground. But I think that it’s our only chance of winning. And I say this because when you think about the math of fossil fuel divestment, the fact that these fossil fuel companies have five times more carbon in their reserves that is compatible with what our politicians say we need to do, they’re fighting for their survival. That’s why they fight so hard. That’s why they pour so much money into opposition groups and it’s not a coincidence that the Koch brothers made their money in fossil fuels, they have so much to lose if we take this crisis seriously.
And I think that the climate movement has always been hurt by this perception that this is a luxury issue, that this is the issue for people who don’t have more urgent economic issues to worry about. And it’s that kind of idea that this is kind of a bourgeois concern. And so I think that when climate action is married with those urgent needs for jobs and better services and a better quality of life for people, that’s when people will fight to win. That’s when people will fight because they’re fighting for their lives. And they’re fighting not just for the future, they’re fighting for their present. And I think that’s the kind of movement we haven’t had yet. We haven’t seen what that looks like yet.
That’s a great place for us to end. Naomi, thank you so much.The final 2016 S&P+ projections are complete, but since I teased the idea of win probabilities in the primary SB Nation post, I wanted to use Study Hall as a repository for total win projections. Below you’ll find odds of each possible given record (overall and conference-only) for each team in the Pac-12. Enjoy.
Pac-12 total win projections
(Click on the images to zoom.)
Pac-12 conference-play win projections
Your North division favorites: Washington, Oregon, Stanford. They’re all within 0.5 wins of the top in projected conference wins. And nobody else is within 2.4.
Your South division favorites: UCLA and USC. S&P+ likes the Trojans more but likes the Bruins’ schedule much more. And Utah’s the only other team within shouting distance.
Your national title contenders: Washington and UCLA. They’re the only teams with at least a 10% chance of finishing 11-1 or better, though that might be splitting hairs—Oregon’s at 9.1%. (And yes, I would still personally trust Stanford over any of these teams. That schedule’s a bear, though.)(Reuters) - United Continental Holdings Inc’s UAL.N new chief executive has suffered a heart attack, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, barely a month after he took on the job of improving the airline’s profitability and reputation.
The board at United - the No. 2 U.S. carrier by capacity
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ing U.S. participation in the climate change deal, Russia had “American imperialism” to thank for the frosty summer in Moscow and Petersburg.
Putin wrapped up his initial response to Trump’s exit from the Paris agreement with the English phrase “Don’t worry, be happy.”
When Kelly asked if he would join European leaders in their condemnation of Trump’s decision on the deal, Putin forced another chuckle from the crowd when he remarked that he is not regarded as a European leader.
“In any case, they don’t think so,” Putin said, referring to the EU bloc, with which Moscow has had a frosty relationship since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Putin got a laugh at Kelly’s expense early on when he asked her if she had read the Paris deal herself. “She has not read it, I see,” Putin grinned at a crowd full of Russian officials laughing.
http://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-megyn-kelly-tense-anti-semit...We have previously detailed the ridiculous statistics produced by Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suarez, Leicester, Manchester United, Paul Pogba and Harry Kane. Now it’s time for that tall bloke with the hair and the catchphrases. Farewell, Zlatan.
Players with most club career trophies
37 – Maxwell
35 – Ryan Giggs
35 – Dani Alves
33 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Players with most club goals since turning 30
215 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
189 – Henrik Larsson
185 – Antonio Di Natale
155 – Cristiano Ronaldo
151 – Francesco Totti
151 – Aritz Aduriz
141 – Didier Drogba
136 – Luca Toni
124 – Teddy Sheringham
124 – Frank Lampard
118 – Alan Shearer
102 – Gianfranco Zola
86 – Ruud van Nistelrooy
Players to score 10+ PL goals in season they turned 35
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United, 2016/17) – 17 goals, 35y 125d
Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United, 2000/01) – 15 goals, 35y 19d
Frank Lampard (Chelsea, 2012/13) – 15 goals, 34y 325d
Tony Cottee (Leicester, 1999/2000) – 13 goals, 34y 299d
Gary McAllister (Coventry, 1999/2000) – 11 goals, 35y 132d
Alan Shearer (Newcastle, 2005/06) – 10 goals, 35y 247d
Players with 50-goal seasons for European clubs since 1945
Cristiano Ronaldo (6 seasons, each for Real Madrid)
Lionel Messi (5 seasons, each for Barcelona)
Gerd Muller (5 seasons, each for Bayern Munich)
Mario Jardel (2 seasons, one for Porto, one for Sporting)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2015/16 for Paris Saint-Germain)
Henrik Larsson (2000/01 for Celtic)
Hector Yazalde (1973/74 for Sporting)
Eusebio (1967/68 for Benfica)
Ferenc Puskas (1947/48 for Kispest)
Fastest Manchester United player to 15 goals
19 games – Ruud van Nistelrooy
20 games – Dwight Yorke
21 games – Robin van Persie
23 games – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Players with multiple Guldbollen awards for Swedish player of the year
11 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
2- Freddie Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson, Patrik Andresson, Tomas Brolin, Glenn Hysén, Ralf Edström, Bo Larsson
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic reached double figures for league goals in every season from 2006/07 to 2016/17. Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can better him, both doing so this season too.
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the only player to score in the UEFA Champions League with six different teams: Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of only two players, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, to have scored a goal in every minute of an official football game during their careers.
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the only non-Italian to be crowned Serie A’s highest goalscorer with two different teams (Inter in 2008/09 and Milan in 2011/12).
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the only player to score in his first five La Liga matches for Barcelona.
* Only ten players have been named in more UEFA Teams of the Year than Zlatan Ibrahimovic (4).
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the Sweden national team’s top goalscorer with 62 goals. Second is Sven Rydell (1923-32) with 49.
* The heaviest defeat Zlatan Ibrahimovic has ever suffered was with Manchester United in the 4-0 defeat to Chelsea in October 2016.
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored more goals for club and country since turning 30 (251) than he did before hitting the milestone (232).
* Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored more club goals since turning 30 (217) than Robbie Fowler (208) did in the entirety of his career.NORTH KIVU, Congo — Nana sleeps on a pillow of marijuana. It’s a trick his grandfather taught him to make the buds more potent, he explains while tending his sparse plot at the edge of a mud hut village. The current offering of a few dozen plants is unimpressive. But his crop was lush, he says, before Congolese army soldiers came and confiscated it. Across this eastern province, the epicenter of the country’s conflicts, many Pygmy communities grow marijuana, eking out a meager, and dangerous, living.
Marijuana is illegal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which occupies the bullseye of Africa. But after a brutal colonial regime, decades of dictatorship, and more than 20 years of civil war that left 6 million dead, there are few laws that can’t be bent. (National Geographic is not using full identifications of those involved in the marijuana trade for their protection.)
In one of the poorest countries in the world, a population of around 600,000 indigenous forest people, widely known as Pygmies, occupy the lowest economic rung. They’re marginalized by the non-indigenous Congolese population they call Bantu, and sometimes even kept as slaves. A recent study of the nearly 27,000 Pygmies living in North Kivu found that the majority survive on less than $1 per day (the average Congolese income is only slightly higher, at $2 per day). For them, marijuana can offer a reliable income. Their treatment at the hands of Congolese military and police is less predictable. Sometimes, they say, they are beaten and arrested for growing the plant. Other times, soldiers and police officers are their customers.
A lone marijuana plant marks the muddy path that leads to Nana’s village, an hour’s drive from eastern Congo’s war-torn capital, Goma. Wooden scooters piled with firewood clog the road there, while on the shoulder women roast corn over smoking charcoal. The constant jolt of car wheels dipping into potholes provides what’s wryly called a “Congolese massage.”
Twice a week, a small group of Pygmies rises at 6 a.m. and treks three hours into the forests of Africa’s oldest national park, Virunga. Above them looms the volatile volcano, Nyiragongo. In 1952, when the area was designated as a park, they were evicted and the hunting and gathering that fed them was outlawed. Their journey into the park is illegal, but they continue to return to their former territory to gather honey, potatoes, and medicinal plants. One of the dozen members of this Bambuti Pygmy community trained to identify the correct flora goes along to seek out an important crop they say their ancestors grew long before them: marijuana. In the forest, the plants grow wild, and the Pygmies harvest plants and seeds when their village stock is low.
“There nobody could break our traditions,” Mubawa, the 36-year-old chief of the village, says of the forest. Worldwide, it is estimated that 20 million indigenous people have been displaced in the name of conservation. Today, the land’s new guardians, heavily armed rangers, interfere with those traditions. Survival International, an advocacy group for indigenous populations, says that across the Congo Basin Pygmies “face harassment, arrest, beatings, torture and even death at the hands of anti-poaching squads.” On these foraging journeys, Mubawa says members of his community have been arrested or killed by rangers of Virunga National Park.
In a region where the environment is threatened by armed groups, oil companies, and poachers, Virunga is hailed as an example of successful and sustainable conservation. Rangers are extensively trained, and a community development program called the Virunga Alliance has become one of the area’s biggest employers. But tensions remain between those protecting the park’s two million acres—one-third of the world’s mountain gorillas call Virunga home—and communities that have relied on its ecosystem for centuries.
JON BOWEN, NG STAFF</br>SOURCE: WORLD DATABASE ON PROTECTED AREAS
Virunga’s chief warden, Emmanuel de Merode, says his administration sees “the community’s sense of alienation as a major problem in terms of environmental and social justice” and has been trying to improve relations. In some cases, rangers even accompany those who were displaced into the park to extract natural resources.
More often, those found hunting or gathering in the park are arrested. The rangers make an average of 20 arrests per week, de Merode says. Ethnicity is not specified in these reports, but de Merode says his staff cannot recall arresting any indigenous individuals within the past year and records show no reports of any killings involving Pygmies.
Risking Arrest, Pygmies Deal Weed to Survive in the Congo WATCH: In the forests of Virunga National Park, Pygmy foragers view wild growing marijuana as a source of stability in an unstable country.
There’s little work outside the forest for the indigenous Pygmy communities. Young men sell five-foot-long bundles of firewood gathered from the park or work as day laborers in the fields. Many have turned to marijuana. Mubawa strolls toward a small plot and grips a handful of plants, worth around 500 Congolese francs, the equivalent of 50 cents. Depending on how much a family grows, the plants bring $8 to $100 per week.
What they don’t sell is dried for medicinal purposes. When someone falls ill, a traditional healer is dispatched with marijuana. Ground seeds mixed with water cures stomachaches. Kneaded into a starchy tuber called cassava, they improve appetites. A tea of boiled leaves treats coughs, parasites, fainting, flu, and fever. Mubawa ponders a comparison for the all-purpose treatments. “Like in America,” he says, “you take coffee—it makes you strong.”
There’s new scientific backing for marijuana’s medical benefits. In a 2015 study researchers found that cannabis use among Pygmies in the neighboring Central African Republic actually decreased their body’s parasite loads.
View Images A man sorts marijuana plants outside his home with a machete, which he also uses to clear a path through the jungles of Virunga. Across the region of North Kivu, Pygmies have few economic opportunities. Many illegally hunt, gather plants, and collect firewood in the protected park to survive. Photograph by Michael Christopher Brown, Magnum for National Geographic
But the medicine and extra francs come at a high cost. There’s a small wooden shack behind the perimeter of their huts. Mubawa says that villagers are often arrested by the Congolese army for selling marijuana and held in that hut. Soldiers patrol the village nearly every day—three or four wander the area during our two-hour conversation—but it’s never clear whether they are there as customers or law enforcers. Villagers say that if the soldiers have recently been paid, they will buy the marijuana. If they haven’t, then they confiscate it and demand the growers pay a fine.
“If you have money, you pay, if not, they beat you until they get tired,” Mubawa says. “He has a gun; I have an arrow.”
From Gatherers to Farmers
When and how marijuana first arrived in Africa remains a mystery. The plant is indigenous to Asia, and the word Pygmies use for marijuana, bangi, comes from India. Some theories place its introduction with Arab traders as early as the 1st century A.D.; others put it much later, with the rise of the ivory trade in the 1700s.
View Images When indigenous Pygmy communities were forced out of Congo's national parks few were given ownership rights to their new land. Today, many of their villages are built on land they don't own. Photograph by Michael Christopher Brown, Magnum for National Geographic
At some point marijuana reached the Pygmies, who traditionally are hunter-gatherers and don’t cultivate crops. In the early 1970s, Barry Hewlett, now an anthropology professor at Washington State University at Vancouver, walked across the Congo Basin and drafted the first census of Pygmy marijuana use for his master’s thesis. He found the eastern Congo grew the most marijuana and offered the best quality. At that time, Pygmies were getting marijuana from farmers and only a few groups had begun to settle down and grow their own. But he isn’t shocked to hear that Pygmies have become the dealers. “In some cases it was their first domesticated crop,” he says.
From the village plots, the plant makes its way to the regional capital of Goma. There, in pulsating nightclubs, it’s easy to find a variety of illegal substances being peddled, mostly to wealthy local businessmen and foreign aid workers who power a luxury economy that exists alongside the typical Congolese one.
In his spacious office in Goma’s police headquarters, Police General Viral Awachango lists the issues he’s dealing with: armed militias, internally displaced people, natural disasters, a lawless border. He seems to have little time for the question of marijuana. “If Pygmies are using this marijuana as medicinal plants and limiting to just them, that’s fine, but we have to investigate,” he says. “Today marijuana is not only for Pygmies, but it has become a national issue.”
View Images A group of men from a Pygmy village hike toward Virunga to cultivate the marijuana plants they grow in the park's dense forests. Photograph by Michael Christopher Brown, Magnum for National Geographic
Behind the one-row tourist market, which provides last-minute baskets and masks to visiting foreigners, is the couch-stuffed clubhouse of a man known around town as the “King of Marijuana.” He talks shop with a group of young men as a woman expertly rolls a joint. He is one the biggest players in a flourishing illicit business that relies on Congolese soldiers, the United Nation’s largest peacekeeping force, visiting diplomats, and philanthropic celebrities. The 20 pounds a day that he moves comes from lawless rebel-held territories, and, he claims, the best strain is grown by Pygmies. Their technique of letting it sit for months makes it extra strong, he says.
In public, large quantities of marijuana are confiscated and burned by law enforcement. But many members of the Congolese army and police both use and sell the drug, according to interviews with Pygmies, soldiers, and the police general. They’re often underpaid and sometimes not paid at all, leading to widespread corruption—many extort civilians or run businesses on the side.
When JP is not clad in his tasseled blue army uniform, he dons the red, yellow, and green clothing of Rastafarians, smokes pot three times a day, and listens to reggae. For nearly two decades, the 41-year-old military sub-lieutenant has been supplementing his $100 a month army salary with a side business. “Instead of going to steal or loot it’s better that I sell marijuana,” he says. “I do it for my family to survive.” Marijuana, he adds, sends his six kids, ages four to 18, to school, where fees for books and uniforms can be prohibitive for the average Congolese.
Most of his stock comes from Pygmies, he says, pulling a bag from his pocket and pointing at the dark seeds, an indication that they’ve been stored for a long time. He pinches off a mess of buds and rolls it into a quarter-size ball. He sells up to 50 of these per day, mostly to members of his platoon, and makes around $10.
His bosses know that he sells, and he’s occasionally arrested, yet he says a $50 bribe guarantees he’ll avoid jail time. “If you arrest me today, I sell tomorrow,” JP says. “My children have grown up because of marijuana.”
View Images A young girl is surrounded by marijuana plants in a village that overlooks Mount Nyiragongo, the volatile volcano looming above Goma. Photograph by Michael Christopher Brown, Magnum for National Geographic
Pygmies view marijuana in a similar vein. The region is flooded with international aid organizations, but few groups are focused on indigenous rights. Holding the attention of the government, located 1,000 miles away in the capital of Kinshasa, has been unsuccessful.
“They forget they have native communities,” says Nicolas Mukumo Mushumbi, one of nine staffers at the Program for the Integration and Development of the Pygmy People, which lobbies for the rights of indigenous people in the Congo and maintains that Pygmies should be allowed to cultivate marijuana. “It was the tradition even before laws were written.”
There are few options for survival in the Pygmy shantytown outside a camp for internally displaced persons called Bulengo. “I’m sitting here because I have no job,” says one father with 10 children. He gestures at the plants growing beside his tiny mud-packed hut. “Because of selling this marijuana our children can get some food.”
On the outskirts of the camp live 65 Pygmy families. The makeshift community arrived in 2007 after fleeing rebel fighting in nearby territories. Since then thousands of other Congolese families escaping similar violence have settled in the camp.
But only the six Pygmy families who agreed to stop growing marijuana are officially listed as internally displaced people and receive humanitarian assistance, says the camp president. The others refused, and so are not registered. While they can access water and the health clinic, they’re not on the food distribution list.
“This clinic won’t stay here forever,” the community’s president reasons. “We will always have marijuana.”Beaverton Police said Saturday they are not looking for a baby giraffe despite reports one had escaped in a rural area.
A Craigslist entry posted just after midnight Saturday claimed that a giraffe had escaped from its owners on the south side of Cooper Mountain.
The "owners" said they suspected "Raffi" headed downhill towards vineyards, as he loves grapes.
"At this age, they are easily mistaken for a deer or even a llama, as nobody expects to see a giraffe in Beaverton," the Craigslist post said, encouraging anyone who saw him to call 9-1-1.
The post featured a photo that appears in coverage of a baby giraffe birth in New York earlier this year.
Neither the Washington County Sheriff's Office nor the Beaverton Police Department could confirm the incident, and said they hadn't heard from anyone claiming to have lost a giraffe.
"If it was in the city limits of Beaverton, I'm pretty sure it would not be legal," said Jeremy Shaw, spokesman for Beaverton Police.
News outlets including The Oregonian reported the story of the alleged missing giraffe before further reporting raised questions about its authenticity.
Portland-area residents aren't strangers to news of large and exotic animals roaming the region. In 2015, an oryx was caught after spending a day wandering through Forest Park.
And the area is home to a number of exotic animal parks and sanctuaries, including the WildCat Haven Sanctuary in Sherwood and Canby's A Walk on the Wild Side, which houses large cats, reptiles and farm animals.
-- Anna MarumA senior state official said that the governor would also ask Congress and the United States attorney general to review the role played by the Railroad Retirement Board, which almost never says no to disability claims.
And Mr. Paterson will seek to have the inspector general of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the Long Island Rail Road, investigate aspects of the railroad’s work rules, the senior official said.
In a statement in response to the Times article, the L.I.R.R. said that no one from the railroad or the transportation authority “was involved in the granting of these disability pensions by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.”
“The high rate of disability pensions awarded to former L.I.R.R. employees by this governmental body is alarming and out of sync with our workplace safety record,” the railroad said.
It also said in its statement that last month it had “sought the inspector generals from both the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board and from the M.T.A. to review this matter.”
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On Sunday night, the railroad released another statement, saying that it would cooperate fully with any investigation by Mr. Cuomo. “We will provide any information requested,” the statement said.
The L.I.R.R.’s disability rate has been three to four times that of the average railroad in recent years, and far outstrips Metro-North, which serves commuters north of New York City and has a work force of about the same size. For example, from 2001 through 2007, Metro-North had 32 cases of disabilities resulting from arthritis and rheumatism, compared with 753 at the L.I.R.R.
The disability problem has been compounded by labor contracts that allow longtime workers to retire with a pension as early as age 50 and by a tangle of negotiated rules that allow workers to reap four days of pay for a single day’s work. Such rules allowed eight senior train engineers to earn from $215,000 to $277,000 in 2006.
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While the federal government pays disability claims, a significant burden falls to taxpayers. Passengers could face another fare increase, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is seeking half a billion dollars a year from taxpayers to close a huge budget gap, as the railroad grapples with the cost of overtime, training replacements and early pension payments.
Mr. Paterson’s quick action comes as the state faces a $26 billion deficit over the next three years and expects a calamitous decline in tax revenue because of the financial woes that have buffeted the financial industry. The governor has made fiscal discipline the centerpiece of his six-month-old administration.
He will ask the inspector general of the transportation authority to specifically examine whether supervisors and soon-to-be-retiring staff members at the Long Island Rail Road are conspiring to inflate paychecks in retirement. Disability and pension payments are determined partly by what an employee earns in the five years before retirement.
The Times report found that some soon-to-be-retired workers were allowed to take advantage of work rules to increase their paychecks and, as a result, their future benefit payments.
“The thing that bothers me is that this had to be so rampant,” Mr. Paterson said. “I even would wonder if there was collusion between the supervisors and the employees.”
He added, “You would have thought a whistleblower would have shown up by now.”The playwright Owen McCafferty once said of growing up in Belfast in the 1970s: “We lived in a very black and white world then … and we should have been living in colour.” He was pleased with that line – who wouldn’t be. I was pleased just to be standing facing him when he said it. And he was absolutely right, even if I have photographic evidence that there was colour around then – most of it on me, and none of it matching. Belfast of old was a byword for binary oppositions: never mind the “peace” walls, we partitioned the city in our own heads – that street good, that street no-go.
Which is one of the reasons now I take such delight in walking along a street like Union Street, behind the city’s Central Library, even on a dark night, even on my own. Union Street in nights gone by was high up on my no-go list.
With every step I feel like I have been given, or been allowed to take, something back. And that’s before I reach the Sunflower Bar.
If I had to sum up all that has changed for the better in Belfast in recent years, I wouldn’t need to go further than the Sunflower. Actually, I wouldn’t even need to go into the Sunflower (though I am taking you in there in a minute), but just stand for a moment contemplating the neat row of pink tents stencilled on its outer wall.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Sunflower Bar. Photograph: Paul McErlane for the Guardian
Talk about succinct? Talk about a welcome addition to the city’s palette?
The Sunflower appeared four years back, blooming where previously the Tavern had glowered – one of the last pubs in Belfast to have Troubles-era security gates (“cages”) and cameras at its entrance. It can only be hoped that the bar, which was crowned the best in the city last year, can be spared the wrecking ball after the area was earmarked for an extensive rebuilding programme.
Pedro Donald, the new landlord, painted the gates bright green, hung baskets of flowers from them, and left them permanently open. And only then did the authorities in the form of the Department of Regional Development suggest that they were a public nuisance and try to have them removed.
The Sunflower is also home – upstairs, now, come on – to the Lifeboat, a monthly series of readings hosted by Stephen Connolly and Manuela Moser, two of the new generation of Belfast poets (Belfast produces poets the way Manchester United once produced footballing prodigies: every few years another first team/world-class anthology’s worth), who, when they are not Lifeboating, are working on their PhDs at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen’s University on the other side of the city.
I say “other side”, but really that’s just a walk, too – 20 minutes at a purposeful clip, half an hour if you dander. I recommend the latter: more chance you might meet something along the way, which is where most of the interesting things of my Belfast life have occurred.
I have always preferred being out in Belfast, making it up as you go along, to the more definitive going out, a carry over perhaps from the era when plans were of necessity a bit more, well, provisional.
Now, as then, the Linen Hall Library, halfway between Union Street (“Smithfield and Union”) and the university (“Queen’s Quarter’”), is a reliable diversion, and another venue, as it happens, for readings curated by young writers, in this case Michael Nolan and Padraig Regan.
Belfast, in fact, feels very much like a young person’s town just now, or rather once again: the people who founded the Linen Hall Library in 1788 were frighteningly young, barely out of their teens a few of them, and surprisingly (if your view of Belfast, that is, was served up on the television news for so many years) international in their outlook and politics.
If you want a different view of the city go there, even if it is just to gaze out the windows on to the grounds of the City Hall, home in winter to the Christmas market and in summer to unselfconscious sun worshippers (we don’t get so much of it that we can afford to be self-conscious in its presence).
Home restaurant
The Linen Hall is also on the doorstep of some of the city’s best new cafes and restaurants (we’ve forgotten about Queen’s: like I said, it happens when you dander), on Wellington Place – try Home – and, parallel to that, Howard Street, both of which had been in the doldrums for a few years as the Cathedral Quarter, bordering Smithfield and Union, exerted its gravitational pull on the city’s night (and even day) life.
That’s another thing that has changed for the better: there are more than enough people to go round the whole town, not least because of all the visitors who – and this delights me, too – want to come and spend the weekend with us.
My dad, when I was a kid, had this phrase he was fond of using: “I don’t care what anyone says, I like you.” Not so much a backhanded compliment as a slap in the chops turned chuck under the chin. I loved the smile he didn’t break into when he said it, the same smile Owen McCafferty didn’t break into when he said that thing about us not living in colour.
I always thought it was the kind of accolade Belfast merited: we didn’t care what anyone thought, or wrote (and they wrote a lot), we liked it.
And now it seems, without backhand or sidespin or the slap before the chuck, large numbers of people who weren’t born here like it too.
You would be hard pressed not to smile. As wide as a row of pink tents.
• Gull by Glenn Patterson is published by Head of Zeus (£14.99). To buy a copy for £11.99, including UK p&p, visit bookshop.theguardian.comI was at a meeting this past weekend, and one of the hottest topics of discussion was sperm shape. We call it “morphology”, and it’s how sperm look under the microscope. A technician counts up the number of normal looking sperm, and reports the percentage of the total. Here’s the odd part: with fairly generous criteria, (like normal means one oval head with one tail,) only about a third of a man’s sperm look normal. That means, for most men, most of their sperm are funny looking.
Is that a bad thing? Well, we all managed to get here with fathers that had for the most part funny looking sperm. Was it the best looking sperm that found its way into the egg and made you? That’s the million dollar question, and one for which we don’t yet entirely know the answer.
There are two ways to measure the look of sperm. One is using the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, which for the most part say that if a third of sperm look fairly normal, the whole lot are O.K. These criteria have been around for a while, about a half century. The new kid on the block is about twenty years old, and uses a much stricter definition to call a sperm ‘normal’. Thinus Kruger invented this stricter system, and so it’s often called ‘Kruger morphology’ or ‘strict morphology’. To calculate strict morphology, the technician takes measurements of the sperm, and if any are outside the normal range, the sperm is counted as abnormal. The usual cutoff for strict morphology is 4%, which means that 95% of your sperm can be funny looking, and you’d still be considered to have normal morphology. That should give you an idea of how oddly shaped most sperm are in the typical male.
One big challenge in assessing morphology is that even though it appears to be an objective way to describe sperm shape, it still includes a great deal of subjectivity on the part of the technician. The technician is like a referee. Sometimes he or she will let a sperm pass the shape test, sometimes not. From some labs, almost no sperm are called normal in shape. So the first thing you’ll want to do if you’re told that your sperm are especially strangely shaped is to have the test repeated, preferably at a lab that does a lot of semen analyses.
For as many scientific studies that say morphology predicts how sperm do, there are those that say it doesn’t. You might think, as I did, that if a man has especially odd looking sperm, it would affect the chances of sperm getting into the egg and be a good reason to have the sperm injected into the egg using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). ICSI is a technique used in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) where the sperm is injected directly into the egg. But in 2007, Keegan and colleagues published a study which reported that there was no advantage to using ICSI for semen with an abundance of funny looking sperm, meaning they did just as well getting inside the egg by themselves as men with “normal” looking sperm.
What does this all mean? Well, it could mean that sperm shape counts, but we don’t yet know how to measure it correctly. Or it could mean that the sperm shape doesn’t have much to do with its function–in other words, the shape of the boat doesn’t say much about how good the captain is that’s piloting it. I don’t know which is right, and I don’t think anyone does yet. So if someone tells you that your sperm is funny looking, don’t despair. It might not be the thing keeping your wife from getting pregnant.July 16th, 2013
[Updated: 2016] Technology has turned the world upside down. It facilitates daily lives and substitutes our perception of the reality. The things that years ago seemed to be impossible suddenly became a constant. In 1936 BBC began transmitting the world's first public regular hi-definition service, in 1950 television was recognized as the main medium for molding public opinion, afterwards it has become a must-have domestic appliance and did not leave this position for a quite long time.
Back then people were thinking that technologists achieved a lot and there is nowhere to move forward. Then the internet came to shake the whole world. Most companies cannot work these days if the office loses internet connection. Technology is still improving. Where the hell it can go further? Today 3D printers are commercially available in the market. Do you need a detail for the household? Would you like to get a unique wedding ring? Do you have a genius idea of cheap prosthesis production? Just create or download a 3D model and print it out!
Until you get used to it, it is always immensely hard to believe. Even when you start believing, you are not sure: is it real or fake? It is actually both. Computer graphic artists are up to completely blow our minds. Instead of going to the city streets and capturing cityscapes, landscapes or portraits with professional cameras, they decide to generate the same image, using 3D design software. And hurrah! Guess, they say, is it real or fake? We keep guessing, while surfing all around the virtual world. Damn,sometimes you sit for 5 minutes and: 1) Ask yourself if is it a photo-shot or a trick by a CG artist; 2) Try to convince yourself that technology can do that; 3) Come back to the idea that it must be a photo-shot, because computer is not that clever to restore the reality in digital; 4) You give up.
So, half a year has passed by and we have a second part of The Most Photorealistic 3D Renderings. Do not torture yourself thinking. I tell you, all of them are purely fake. There is no a single photograph or a photographical background at least. Every single detail in these renderings is generated by madly talented 3D artists. Enjoy and let the flow of inspiration grab you.
Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8
Yes, it is all made using computer graphics only. Even CGTrader's CEO, a 3D designer himself, was sitting for a while trying to convince himself that it just cannot be CG art. Marcin Gruszczyk is a master in the digitalization of reality. He estimates the level of erosion, the softness of the clouds, the tenderness of the lighting. The artist is crazy about the possibilities of computer graphics. We can easily see it. But..really? A background is not a photo?
Happy Birthday Nana
Dan Roarty is the 3D designer, who once in a while strikes madly. He makes a rendering, publishes it and gets all the possible awards. This one is a happy birthday present for his Nana, who passed away. Dan brings her back to life, creating enormously realistic artwork, using not a single photograph for textures. Everything is hand made.
Watch the making of the project by Dan Roarty.
A gallery of photorealistic renderings is not that photorealistic enough if the guru of extremely tasteful artwork, Marek Denko, is not included. He says that this image has nothing to do with lonely women or old architecture. The concept of Under The Southern Highway was to capture the composition of slightly contrasting elements that do exist together and accidentally create personally important places.
This is a rendering from the animation made by Marek Denko's studio NoEmotion. It looks like a photo-shot by a photographer-beginner, who has no clue about composition, perspective and other refinement of this art. Despite the external simplicity, as a rendering it is stunning, because each part of grass, every bush and all the millimeters of fence do matter here and are modeled with precise devotion. Watch the full animation on Vimeo.
Jack Nickolson is an inspiration himself. If it is not enough, watch the masterpiece of Stanley Kubrick - The Shinning. So, sir Nickolson pushed a young, but skilled 3D artist Hossein Diba to start modeling portraits. He took an exact scene from the movie and modeled it from A to Z. The artist says that the aim of this work was to capture the insanity in Jack's face. And, yeah. He did it.
No lies, it took for quite a while, until we all agreed that this bird is a complete masterpiece of computer graphics and not a shot of a crazy wild-life photographer. Look at the feathers and you definitely can feel the warm wind of Africa that ruffles them. Look at these deep as sky blue eyes that change colour while you watch, a strong beak, reminding each meal it caught. Look at this perfect combination of black and red somewhere in savannah. Yeah, I am speechless. That's it.
Lavoir
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The rise in costs for the popular benefits programs has been apparent for many years and budget hawks says it's best to tackle their unsustainable growth immediately rather than be forced to make more draconian cuts later. But Washington — whether government is divided or controlled by one party — has been unable to agree on ways to curb the growth of these programs.
Democrats prefer a mix of tax increases and relatively small cuts in Medicare, Social Security and other spending. Republicans have proposed more dramatic long-term cuts to Medicare but are dead set against further taxes, especially after President Barack Obama won rate increases on upper-bracket earners in January.
"The unsustainable nature of the federal government's current tax and spending policies presents lawmakers and the public with difficult choices," CBO said. "To put the federal budget on a sustainable path for the long term, lawmakers would have to make significant changes to tax and spending policies."
Obama inherited an economy in the worst recession since the Depression, which was largely responsible for the spike in the deficit above $1 trillion annually during his first term.
Most economists measure deficits and debt in relation to the size of the economy. By that measure, the debt would actually decline slightly under the current trajectory over the next five years, dropping from 73% of the economy now to 68% in 2018. But the ongoing retirement of the Baby Boom generation would contribute to rising debt after that, ultimately bringing the debt to 108% of GDP by 2038, with 8 percentage points of that figure caused by the economic drag the debt would have on the economy.
The report is one of a series by the agency and other budget watchdogs warning that spiraling long-term debt threatens to crowd out private investment, raise interest rates and limit Washington's ability to respond to a financial crisis.
The report comes as a divided Congress and Obama need to deal with two important problems: keeping the government funded beyond the Oct. 1 start of the 2014 budget year and permitting the government to borrow more money to pay those bills. Republicans hope to use the must-pass stopgap spending and debt limit legislation to derail "Obamacare" and force further spending curbs.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, said: "In the weeks ahead, I hope we work together to heed CBO's warning. We must provide relief to the families we serve. We should start by delaying Obamacare and paying down the debt to help grow the economy."
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1eLMSIzThis page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at List of humorous units of measurement. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Units of Measurement Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under Creative Commons License see Wikia:Licensing.
This is a sub-article to List of unusual units of measurement
Many comedians and humor writers have made use of, or invented, units of measurement intended primarily for their humor value. This is a list of such units invented by sources that are notable for reasons other than having made the unit itself, and of units that are widely known in the anglophone world for their humor value.
Contents show]
Conventional Edit
These units may or may not have precise objectively measurable values, but all of them measure quantities that have been defined within the S.I. system of units.
Systems Edit
Great Underground Empire (Zork) Edit
In the Zork series of games, the Great Underground Empire had its own system of measures, the most frequently referenced of which was the bloit. Defined as the distance the king's favorite pet could run in one hour (spoofing a popular legend about the history of the foot), the length of the bloit varied dramatically, but the one canonical conversion to real-world units puts it at approximately two-thirds of a mile (1 km). Liquid volume was measured in gloops, and temperature in degrees Q (57 °Q is said to be the freezing point of water).[1]
Potrzebie Edit
In issue 33, Mad published a partial table of the "Potrzebie System of Weights and Measures", developed by 19-year-old Donald E. Knuth, later a famed computer scientist. According to Knuth, the basis of this new revolutionary system is the potrzebie, which equals the thickness of Mad issue 26, or 2.263348517438173216473 mm.[2]
Volume was measured in ngogn (equal to 1000 cubic potrzebies), mass in blintz (equal to the mass of 1 ngogn of halva, which is "a form of pie [with] a specific gravity of 3.1416 and a specific heat of.31416"), and time in seven named units (decimal powers of the average earth rotation, equal to 1 "clarke"). The system also features such units as whatmeworry, cowznofski, vreeble, hoo, and hah.
According to the "Date" system in Knuth's article, which substitutes a 10-clarke "mingo" for a month and a 100-clarke "cowznofski," for a year, the date of October 29, 2007, is rendered as "To 1, 190 C. M." (for Cowznofsko Madi, or "in the Cowznofski of our MAD"). The dates are calculated from October 1, 1952, the date MAD was first published. Dates before this point are referred to (perhaps tongue-in-cheek) as "B.M." ("Before MAD.") The ten "Mingoes" are: Tales (Tal.) Calculated (Cal.) To (To) Drive (Dri.) You (You) Humor (Hum.) In (In) A (A) Jugular (Jug.) Vein (Vei.)
Length Edit
The beard-second is a unit of length inspired by the light-year, but used for extremely short distances such as those in nuclear physics. The beard-second is defined as the length an average beard grows in one second. Kemp Bennet Kolb defines the distance as exactly 100 angstroms,[3] (i.e. 10 nanometers), as does Nordling and Österman's Physics Handbook.[4] However, Google Calculator supports the beard-second for unit conversions using the value 5 nm [5], i.e. half the value according to Kolb and Physics Handbook.
Sheppey Edit
A measure of distance equal to about 7/ 8 of a mile (1.4 km), defined as the closest distance at which sheep remain picturesque. The Sheppey is the creation of Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, included in The Meaning of Liff, their dictionary of putative meanings for words that are actually just place names.[6] It is named after the Isle of Sheppey in the UK.
Smoot Edit
Main article: Smoot
The smoot is a unit of length, defined as the height of Oliver R. Smoot — who, fittingly, was later the president of the ISO. The unit is used to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge. Canonically, and originally, in 1958 when Smoot was a Lambda Chi Alpha pledge at MIT (class of 1962), the bridge was measured to be 364.4 smoots, plus or minus one ear, using Mr. Smoot himself as a ruler.[7] At the time, Smoot was 5 feet, 7 inches, or 170 cm, tall.[8] Google Earth and Google Calculator include the smoot as a unit of measurement.
Supposedly, the Cambridge (Massachusetts) police department got into the convention of using Smoots to measure the locations of accidents and incidents on the bridge. When the original markings were removed or covered over during bridge maintenance, the police had to request that someone reapply the Smoot scale markings.Template:Citation needed
Area Edit
Barn, shed, outhouse Edit
A barn is a serious unit of area used by nuclear physicists to quantify the scattering or absorption cross-section of very small particles, such as atomic nuclei.[9] It is one of the very few units which are accepted to be used with SI units, and one of the most recent units to have been established (cf. the knot and the bar, other non-SI units acceptable in limited circumstances).[10] One barn is equal to 1.0×10-28 m2. The name derives from the folk expression "Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn", used by particle accelerator physicists to refer to the difficulty of achieving a collision between particles. The outhouse (1.0×10-6 barns) and shed (1.0×10-24 barns) are derived by analogy.
Spatial volume Edit
This unit is similar in concept to the attoparsec, combining very large and small scales. When a barn (b) is multiplied by a megaparsec (Mpc) - a very large unit of length used for measuring the distances between galaxies - the result is a human-scaled unit of volume approximately equal to 2/ 3 of a teaspoon (about 3 ml).
Similar to the Barn-megaparsec, the Hubble-barn uses the Barn mentioned above with the Hubble Length, which is the length of the visible Universe as derived by using the Hubble Constant and the Speed of Light. This amounts to around 3.45 Gallons (13.1 L).
Bottlesworth Edit
This unit is approximately equal to a standard bottle of Champagne (0.75 litres), and is designed to allow the use of wine in scientific experiments in the science comedy Look Around You.
Power Edit
Donkeypower Edit
This facetious engineering unit is defined as 250 watts—about a third of a horsepower.[11]
Time Edit
Tatum grid Edit
The Tatum grid is the "lowest regular pulse wave that a listener intuitively infers from the timing of perceived musical events." It is named after the legendary jazz pianist Art Tatum.[12]
Friedman Edit
The Friedman is approximately six months, specifically six months in the future, and named after columnist Thomas Friedman who repeatedly used the span in reference to when a determination of Iraq's future could be surmised.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
These units describe dimensions which are not and can not be covered by the S.I system of units.
Earthquake intensity Edit
Tom Weller suggests the humorous Rictus scale (a takeoff of the conventional Richter scale) for earthquake intensity, as pertains to later media coverage of the event.[20]
Rictus Scale # Richter Scale Equivalent Media Coverage 1 0-3 Small articles in local papers 2 3-5 Lead story on local news; mentioned on network news 3 5-6.5 Lead story on network news; wire-service photos appear in newspapers nationally; governor visits scene 4 6.5-7.5 Network correspondents sent to scene; president visits area; commemorative T-shirts appear 5 7.5 up Covers of weekly news magazines; network specials; "instant books" appear
Information flow: Dirac Edit
Physicist Paul Dirac was known among his colleagues for his precise yet taciturn nature. His colleagues in Cambridge jokingly defined a unit of a dirac which was one word per hour.[21]
Beauty: Helen Edit
Helen of Troy (from the Iliad) is widely known as "the face that launched a thousand ships". Thus, 1 millihelen is the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship.
According to The Rebel Angels, a 1981 novel by Robertson Davies, this system was invented by Cambridge mathematician W.A.H. Rushton. However, the term was possibly first suggested by Isaac Asimov.[22] The obvious reference is Marlowe's lines from the 1592 play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" [23] The word Helen is also used in the book Pretties, the second book in the series Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. In that book, the characters joke about how pretty something looks in helens and megahelens.
The Catalogue of Ships from Book II of The Iliad, which describes in detail the commanders who came to fight for Helen and the ships they brought with them, details a total of 1,186 ships which came to fight the Trojan War. As such, Helen herself has a beauty rating of 1.186 helens, capable of launching more than one thousand ships.
Negative values have also been observed—these, of course, are measured by the number of ships sunk or the number of clocks stopped. An alternative interpretation of 1 negative helen is the amount of negative beauty (i.e. ugliness) that can launch one thousand ships the other way.
David Goines has written a humorous article[24] describing various Helen-units. It has a chart with the fire-lighting and ship-launching capability for different powers of "Helens". For example a picohelen (ph) (10−12 helens) indicates the amount of beauty that can "Barbecue a couple of Steaks & Toss an Inner Tube Into the Pool".
Thomas Fink, in The Man's Book,[25] defines beauty both in terms of ships launched, and also in terms of the number of women that one woman will, on average, be more beautiful than. One helen (H) is the quantity of beauty to be more beautiful than 50 million women, the number of women estimated to have been alive in the 12th century BC. Ten helena (Ha) is the beauty sufficient for one oarsman (of which 50 are on a ship) to risk his life, or be the most beautiful of a thousand women. Beauty is logarithmic on a base of 2. For beauty to increase by 1 Ha, a woman must be the most beautiful of twice as many women. One helen is 25.6 Ha. The most beautiful woman who ever lived would score 34.2 Ha, and 1.34 H, the pick of a dozen women would be 3.6 Ha, and 0.14 H.
Bogosity: Lenat Edit
The unit of bogosity, derived from the fictional field of Quantum Bogodynamics. The Lenat is seldom used, as it is understood that it is too large for normal conversation. Its most common form is the microlenat.[26]
Coolness: MegaFonzie Edit
A MegaFonzie is a fictional unit of measurement of an object's coolness invented by Professor Farnsworth in the Futurama episode, Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV. A 'Fonzie' is about the amount of coolness inherent in the Happy Days character Fonzie.[27]
Magical energy: Thaum Edit
The Thaum is a measuring unit used in the Terry Pratchett series of Discworld novels to quantify magic. It equals the amount of mystical energy required to conjure up one small white pigeon, or three normal-sized billiard balls. It can, of course, be measured with a thaumometer, and regular SI Prefixes apply (e.g. millithaum, kilothaum).[28]
A thaumometer looks like a greenish glass cube with a dial on one side. A standard one is good for up to a million thaums — if there is more magic than that around, measuring it should not be your primary concern.
It is not to be confused with the magical particle "thaum" from the same series of novels.
Obstruction: Pouter Edit
During WW2, scientists working for DMWD encountered a particularly obstructive British Naval Officer called Commander Pouter, for whom the unit of Obstruction was named, due to his implacable opposition to any work being carried out in the field for which he was personally responsible.
Subsequently, the micropouter was used, as it was hoped that no individual of a similarly difficult disposition would be encountered, and the pouter was too large a unit for everyday use.[29]
Pleasure and pain: Hedon and Dolor Edit
Philosophers talking about Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism sometimes use the conceptual unit of the hedon to describe the amount of pleasure, equivalent to the amount of pleasure a person receives from gaining one util of utility.[30] The converse unit of pain or displeasure is the dolor.[31]
Fame: Warhol Edit
This is a unit of fame or hype, derived from Andy Warhol's dictum "everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes". It represents, naturally, fifteen minutes of fame. Some multiples are:
1 kilowarhol — famous for 15,000 minutes, or 10.42 days. A sort of metric "nine-day wonder".
1 megawarhol — famous for 15 million minutes, or 28.5 years.
First used by Cullen Murphy in 1997.[32]
Also used simply as meaning 15 minutes; as the Warhol worm, that could infect all vulnerable machines on the entire Internet in 15 minutes or less.
Quackery: Canard Edit
The canard is a unit of quackery created by Andy Lewis in the need for a fractional fruitloopery index.[33] It is proposed as an SI Unit to replace the old Crackpot Index that was presented in 1998.
"Quack words include 'energy', 'holistic', 'vibrations','magnetic healing', 'quantum'. These words are usually borrowed from physics and used to promote dubious health claims."
It scores on a scale from 0 to 10 the quantity of quackery used.
A Quackometer (measurer of fruitloopery) can be found at http://www.quackometer.net/?page=quackometer. This website measures webpages and also association of names with quackery.
Twitter followers: Wheaton Edit
The Wheaton is a measurement of Twitter followers relative to celebrity Wil Wheaton.[34][35] The measurement was standardized when Wil Wheaton achieved half a million Twitter followers, with the effect that Wil Wheaton now has 3.91 Wheatons himself. As few Twitter users have millions of followers, the milliwheaton (500 followers) is more commonly used.
See also EditAs I monitor the news and the way that the U.S. government has chilled the speech of the institutional press of late; and as I work on the final stages of my dissertation, in which David Halberstam and J. Anthony Lukas play roles (Lukas a major one), I am reminded of Tony Lukas’s “Afghanistan Principle” of the relationships among news, truth and distance from the governmental subjects of your journalistic criticism. The following is excerpted from Halberstam’s book The Powers That Be (page 411 in my edition):
Lukas, who had spent six years as a New York Times correspondent in underdeveloped parts of the world, soon learned that if you were a Times man overseas, you could be as blunt and as tart and as perceptive as you wanted to be about the local government and there was surprisingly little home-office fallout. The closer you moved to the center of power in Washington or New York, the less you could say, and if you tried to apply the same freedom of expression in describing, for example, a water commissioner in New York as you did in describing, say, the Prime Minister of India, the comment would probably not run. The basis of the Afghanistan Principle was clearly that truth survives more comfortably at a distance.
All of which goes some way, I think, in explaining why The Guardian broke the NSA story, and why the U.S. Army has blocked all access to NSA coverage in The Guardian.
Not cool, Army.
AdvertisementsToday a friend of mine sent me a piece by Franklin Foer in The Atlantic. In the piece Foer gives some thought to what ails the Democratic Party, and he comes to a constructive conclusion–the party needs to reach out to the white working class. But the way Foer gets there troubles me. Too many liberal commentators don’t quite understand the division within the Democratic Party, even the ones who are actively trying to understand that division. Let me show you what I mean.
Like many pundits these days, Foer sees the party as split between a wing which emphasises race and identity and a wing which emphasises economic issues:
Two of the party’s largest concerns—race and class—reside in an increasing state of tension, a tension that will grow as the party turns toward the next presidential election.
He puts race and class up against each other, and he even says that this tension “will grow,” as if it were necessarily the case that the interests of the white working class and people of color conflict. But this dichotomy is too reductive. The two factions in the party do not see themselves as only caring about race or class–they have more sophisticated ideological positions which produce a suite of policy views on both issues.
The fundamental divide in the Democratic Party is between neoliberalism–the movement which has dominated the party since at least the late 70s–and left egalitarianism, the movement which dominated the party from the 30s to the 70s and which has been revived in the last few years as a form of anti-establishment left wing politics.
In the late 70s, the country was wracked by stagflation, and there were two competing explanations for this fact:
The Left Egalitarian Explanation: stagflation was primarily the product of the two oil shocks–the 73 OPEC embargo and the 79 Iranian revolution. It was a contingent condition and could be shrugged off if we relieved our dependence on foreign oil. If the economy didn’t rely on oil, then rising oil prices would have less impact on inflation and the rate could come down without generating excess unemployment or making other fundamental changes to the economic system. The Neoliberal Explanation: stagflation was primarily the product of structural problems–the unions were too powerful, and the economy needed to be reformed to make labor markets more flexible, making work more precarious and most importantly limiting wage growth so as to bring down inflation. More wealth and income needed to go to investors, and then the gains would “trickle down”.
Both the Democrats and the Republicans eventually embraced the neoliberal explanation. President Carter, who appeared to some like a champion of the left egalitarian view, appointed Paul Volcker to run the Federal Reserve. Volker immediately began raising interest rates to reduce the money supply, cutting inflation while at the same time leading to large-scale layoffs. The economic price we paid in 1980 for this policy helped Carter lose the election to Reagan, but Reagan also subscribed to the neoliberal explanation, and he intensified policies aimed at weakening labor. The 80s did not feature 70s-style oil shocks, and when Volcker and Reagan lowered the interest rate and raised spending in advance of the 1984 election, inflation did not return. Indeed by 1986 there was a global oil glut, with oil prices falling.
The effect of this was to solidify public confidence in neoliberalism, and the Democrats increasingly found they could not compete politically unless their candidates embraced it. So it became a firm tenet of the Democratic Party that left egalitarianism had to be repudiated, that economic growth was only possible if labor continued to weaken. The party’s rhetoric doesn’t always match this, but we’ve seen it again and again in the policy. Rising inequality has been produced by both Democratic and Republican administrations since the late 70s:
There are other ways to see this–inflation-adjusted wages are not much higher than in 1979:
And the “wage share” of economic output has fallen:
Nevertheless, for a while, median household income continued to rise, initially because women entered the workforce and later because of the subprime lending boom in the 00s:
As you can see, there hasn’t been any lasting gain since the late 90s, and we are only just now catching up to where we were immediately before the crash in 2008. Neoliberalism had the public’s confidence when it was continually producing increases in real median household income, but as those increases have become less reliable and more unstable, confidence in politicians who espouse neoliberalism has deteriorated, and this manifests, in both parties, as a reaction against those politicians who are seen as “status quo” or “establishment”. Neoliberalism only works as long as the trickling down actually happens.
But for neoliberal politicians, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the distribution of wealth and income in the country–indeed, strengthening labor and the unions and heavily taxing the rich would violate their core belief that sustainable economic growth comes from flexible labor markets and trickle down. Many older pundits and commentators came of age politically in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s, and for them left egalitarianism sounds retrograde, because it contradicts what is, for them, the key lesson we learned in the 70s. You can see this in Clinton’s reluctance to support the $15 minimum wage, in her reluctance to break up the big banks, in her support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, in her opposition to the financial transaction tax, and so on down the line. Neoliberals in the Democratic Party generally only support leftist economic policies when it is politically necessary to do so. They rarely follow through when in office because they don’t believe that distributive justice is a serious concern. For them, social justice is only about discrimination and status. The issue is not how many poor people there are or how many rich people there are, it is whether the cohort of poor people and the cohort of rich people look like the country as a whole, and whether the people in those cohorts who come from historically marginalised groups are treated with equal status and equal respect relative to the white men in those cohorts.
For neoliberal Democrats, justice looks something like this:
In the above chart, white men are the white bubbles, and the historically marginalised groups are the black bubbles. Roughly 1 in every 3 Americans is a white man. For neoliberal Democrats the problem is that the white men overly dominate the top end of the distribution. The answer, then, is to proportionalize the distribution of white space, and this means, in practice, moving some white men down the scale. In total, a little more than one full white bubble has moved down and a little more than one full black bubble has moved up. White men are likely to see that kind of politics as a threat to them, and at a time when everyone in the country is under economic stress and the economy feels like a zero sum game, it discourages them from supporting the Democrats. The Republican neoliberals think that it is every bubble’s personal responsibility to do the very best it can to move to the right end of the distribution, and if it doesn’t make it there then that’s its own fault. So for them, the status quo is justice:
Since the 80s, the fight between the two parties has been primarily about these two distributions, and that’s it. But the left egalitarians never completely disappeared. Some of them accepted that their preferred candidates couldn’t win elections and opted for “lesser evil” voting, some gave up and stayed home, some continued to organize politically to defend the welfare programs, labor rights, regulations, and other policies put into place by folks like Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and even post-war Republicans like Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. They still believe it’s possible to have strong economic growth with strong wage growth and with a fairer (though not necessarily strictly egalitarian) distribution, and in a political climate where neoliberalism is no longer trusted the way it once was, they have the opportunity to push something like this:
Here we have a proportionate distribution among the white and black bubbles, just like neoliberal Democrats have, but we have also eliminated the very richest and very poorest cohorts, instead opting to expand the middle class. There’s still some level of inequality, but the society has markedly less stratification. One of the consequences of this is that we are not constantly moving the white men down–we are also moving some white men at the bottom of the distribution up. The only white men who are really targeted here are the white men in the wealthiest column. Notice that we also hit a small number of top-end people from historically marginalised groups–that second wealthiest bubble goes from all black to one-third white. In total, 1 white bubble has moved down, 1/3rd of a black bubble has moved down, but 2 black bubbles and 1 white bubble have moved up. The rich white men are worse off, but the poor white men are better off, and historically marginalized groups have made gains at the same time–indeed, they’ve made larger gains than they would have if we’d just eliminated discrimination, because eliminating the wealthiest cohort gives the state more wealth and income to redistribute.
So for the left egalitarians it’s not class instead of race, it’s both class and race together, while for the neoliberals in the Democratic Party it’s race alone. Now, if the economy were booming and all people, even white men, were seeing their incomes increase, white men could get behind that, as they did in the 1990s. White men can support a party that increases their incomes in absolute terms, even if it increases the incomes of other groups at a faster rate. But because incomes are increasingly stagnant relative to the late 90s, the neoliberal Democrats appear to be attempting to expropriate white men as a bloc. When the pie doesn’t grow, the only way to increase your income is by making relative gains at someone else’s expense. At a time of weak economic growth, you need a redistributive scheme that has more winners and fewer losers. The way to get poor white men to support redistributing some of the rich white men’s income to historically marginalized groups is to give the poor white men their share of the spoils.
There are two reasons neoliberal Democrats can’t do that:
They don’t recognize that we have a distributive justice problem, so they can’t expropriate the top bubble, limiting the amount of redistribution they can do in the first place. They don’t recognize that we have a distributive justice problem, so they don’t recognize poor whites as an oppressed group that is worthy of help.
The Democratic Party’s problem isn’t about race vs class. Everyone agrees that discrimination is unacceptable. The difference is that neoliberals think the economy can only grow well with a highly unequal distribution, and the left egalitarians think it grows better when the distribution is a bit fairer. As neoliberalism continues to fail to deliver results and as the 70s recede further into the mists of history, more people, especially more young people, will be inclined to reject it. If the Democrats don’t offer an alternative, desperate and anxious people–especially white people–will continue to be pushed into the hands of Republican demagogues. The only way forward is left.The U.S. Postal Service has alerted thousands of workers that they will be laid off or transferred by September.
The agency on May 27 mailed specific reduction-in-force notices to 2,429 administrative employees, including 1,751 whose jobs will be cut. The remaining 678 notices informed employees they have been transferred to equal or lower-ranked positions.
Employees whose jobs have been eliminated can apply for vacancies posted as part of the reduction-in-force process. Applicants can request a lateral transfer to a similar function, or move to a position that is up to three levels below their current pay grade, said USPS Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President Tony Vegliante.
The vacancies are open through June 20, and any remaining positions will be posted on July 26.
The RIF process is part of an agencywide restructuring plan, announced this spring, to cut 7,500 jobs, including 20 percent of the administrative workforce and 10 percent of the postmaster jobs. USPS sent general RIF notices in April to employees who could be affected by reduction-in-force procedures.
According to Vegliante, different areas -- accounting or human resources, for example -- could be either overstaffed or understaffed, so the total number of positions affected in each varies. If employees whose jobs are being cut do not apply for and receive a different position, they will be separated on Sept. 9. In the meantime, staff will continue to work, Vegliante said.
"If their current job is going away, if they're in this process, they are assigned to the necessary work that needs to get done," said Vegliante. "People still are employed, are still getting a paycheck, and I still expect work for that. The best way to pass your time is to do something."
The Postal Service's restructuring plan also called for cuts to supervisor and postmaster jobs. According to Vegliante, the agency met its goal for supervisory positions simply by reassigning employees to openings based on changing needs at post offices and plants. Officials reevaluate the supervisor workforce every six months to ensure the agency does not build in more jobs than it needs. Plans to cut postmaster jobs are still in the works, however.
"We're moving along and making progress," Vegliante said. "We went through the toughest phases, and now we're going to bear down and find the right people for the right jobs, looking at qualifications and looking at performance."When we talk about comics today, readers still cannot help but think of the superhero genre. Comics? Yep. Batman just popped into your head. Or maybe it was Spidey. This isn’t a failed Rorschach test or a definitive indication of taste, it’s the same impetus behind people asking for a Kleenex when they really want a tissue: brand domination. Sixty years ago, Dick Tracy might’ve been just as likely to apparate into your mind upon hearing the words “comic books.” When superhero properties inspire multi-billion dollar film franchises, it’s not a matter of choice what the zeitgeist includes in our collective subconscious view of the medium. Comics are not and never have been seen as the sum of their parts. To the outside world (ie, anyone that doesn’t read comics on a regular basis), everything stands behind the cape. For many fans, nothing stands behind the cape.
Today, zombies are eating the capes. At least in the collective minds of readers new and old, The Walking Dead is now part of a larger conversation about what comics are today (everything) and who they are for (everyone), and that’s a good thing. This is because it is one of the best selling, non-superhero titles being published today. Both in mainstream media coverage and within the small world of comics journalism, focus tends to shift between legacy books that have existed in one form or another for the last fifty plus years, and the breakout hits. Unsurprisingly, both of those types of properties are the ones that are getting optioned for television and movies. The Walking Dead is not quite new, having been on comic shelves for the past twelve years, and on tv sets for the last five (yes, it’s been half a decade). Perhaps the success of this property compared to say, The Avengers, seems less consequential. But then think back to that visual of the zombie eating the superhero. It takes a while to leave an indelible mark on pop culture. It takes even longer for the effects to be recognized. Saying The Walking Dead is a huge seller and game changer in comics is an almost eye-roll worthy statement because it is so widely accepted. A lesser known truth, and one that is gaining more recognition, is that outside of the direct market, there are many independent non-superhero comics that outsell The Walking Dead.
Little girls are eating the zombies.
Raina Telgemeier’s books like Drama and Sisters have probably not yet popped into your mind while reading this article, despite being some of the bestselling graphic novels today. Cape and zombie titles wish they could sell like Telgemeier’s books. In a recent analysis of the Bookscan sales charts for the year of 2014 by Brian Hibbs for Comics Beat, Telgemeier’s titles reign supreme. These numbers don’t include the sales figures for the comic shop market, libraries, or book fairs, but considering Smile has been on the New York Times’ bestseller list for paperback graphic novels for 142 weeks, I think it’s safe to say that the direct market comic sales figures would not matter much in comparison to that level of success. This week alone, Drama, Sisters, and Smile make up the top three best selling paperback graphic novels.
The Walking Dead is still up there, filling in three of its own spots in the top ten best selling paperback graphic novels this week, along with two more Image titles, Saga and Sex Criminals. In the direct market (sales within comic shops), Image is slowly but surely cutting into the market share that is still dominated by Marvel and DC. The Walking Dead may be Image’s largest, most consistent seller over the last decade, but it is that coupled with more recent successful launches like Saga and East of West that have pushed Image to 10.4% of the unit market share in the direct market this past December. If their other breakout hits from last year, including Wytches, Autumnlands, and Bitch Planet continue to succeed, this could be Image’s biggest year yet, and that’s not even taking into consideration the titles they have slated for release in 2015 like Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang’s upcoming Paper Girls.
The fact that Image has so many top selling titles is great for diversifying the comic market, but the difference between Bookscan numbers (of the market outside of comic shops) and within comic shops show a troubling disparity. The fact that Raina Telgemeier’s books are behemoths everywhere but within comic stores is not a sign of a healthy comic market. Her books are selling hand over fist because Scholastic is targeting customers outside of the direct market model, they prominently feature young female characters, and that success should turn a lot of heads. Young readers buying graphic novels in droves outside of comic shops is good for the publisher and Telgemeier, but it doesn’t provide many opportunities for those readers to keep reading and discovering new comics in brick and mortar stores. If comic shops and publishers don’t react to what sells outside of their walls, they’re essentially just selling to the readers that are already in the door.
The most successful Image titles are the ones that are appealing to new readers, the ones outside of your local comic shop, the ones buying books digitally and online. That is part of the reason they make their way onto the New York Time’s and Amazon bestseller list. The Walking Dead was a big seller before it was optioned for television, but its status as cultural phenomenon was likely cemented by the hugely successful tv series. Image’s success is both a combination of expanding the appeal of comics outside of the direct market, but also syphoning market share away from Marvel and DC. Image readers are certainly fans both new and old to comics,
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permission from his HOA and the developer opted to ban the devices during the development period.
Today, Conord’s solar panels sit in a storage unit, gathering dust.
None of the builders or management companies contacted for this article would comment.
Despite the problems facing homeowners, solar energy is making headway.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments is spearheading an initiative to encourage cities to craft more solar-friendly regulations.
So far, more than 20 area cities are participating in the “Solar Ready II” project that is being underwritten by a $90,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Norman acknowledges that solar energy is becoming mainstream. “More and more builders are offering solar as an option,” he said. “That’s the growing trend.”
Advocates point out that the law gives developers the option to prohibit or allow solar arrays.
Homeowners thwarted in their attempts to go solar should enlist the support of their neighbors, advised Dave Power, deputy director of Public Citizen Texas, a consumer-advocacy group.
“If the neighborhood developer has a lot of really irritated homeowners, it’s going to make it difficult to sell additional lots,” he said.
And be persistent, he said. “Go to the meetings. Challenge the rules. Ask for a better reason than because.”By Lucie Paquet
Library and Archives Canada is proud to announce that it has acquired the archives of The Steel Company of Canada, more commonly known as Stelco. These archives are now part of our national heritage. They include more than 100 metres of textual records, thousands of photographs, technical and architectural drawings, and over 200 film and sound recordings. The Steel Company of Canada (Stelco) fonds, currently in archival processing, documents all aspects of the evolution of the steel industry from the beginning of its mechanization in the 1880s through to the 1980s.
The Steel Company of Canada Limited was formed in 1910 as a merger of five companies that had previously taken over some 40 smaller ones, operating in various areas of Quebec and Ontario: Hamilton Steel and Iron Company Ltd., Montreal Rolling Mills Company, Canada Screw Company, Dominion Wire Manufacturing Company, and Canada Bolt and Nut Company. Each one had its own speciality, from the primary production of steel for the rail, agricultural and marine sectors to consumer products. This new, large company enabled the Canadian steel industry to keep pace with strong American and European competition.
The account ledgers, correspondence, management minutes, patents and photographs provide a detailed account of the beginnings of this industry, its development and its challenges.
The archives not only document the company’s expansion, but also the development of several entire cities, towns and neighbourhoods.
Cities like Hamilton quickly became major industrial centres referred to as “steel towns.”
In the mid-twentieth century, the plants attracted many immigrants and the population in urban centres doubled in just a few short decades.
The Stelco archives bear witness to the working conditions of men and women who spent their whole lives in the plants.
Stelco and its workers had important responsibilities during the First and Second World Wars, responding to the demand for military materiel from the Canadian and British governments and contributing to the Allied victory.
But success did not stop there. The phenomenal growth of urban centres during the 1950s, real estate, energy resources, means of transportation and various consumer products created strong demand for steel.
There followed the creation of large industrial complexes and the introduction of a high-tech research centre, which enabled Stelco to develop new steel products and increase operations and production in all areas, both residential and commercial.
The Steel Company of Canada Limited (Stelco) exported its products worldwide, becoming one of the largest steel companies in North America. As an example, it was actively involved in the design and construction of the Expo 67 Steel Pavilion.
Over the coming months, we will introduce you to the world of Stelco—its plants, directors, employees, operations, innovations, products and challenges, as well as its social, sports and cultural activities.
Lucie Paquet is an archivist with the Science, Governance and Political Division of Library and Archives Canada.The official Instagram Beta app has picked up an update for Windows Phone. Yes, you read that correctly, and no this isn't a delayed April Fool's joke. After some time in the dark, the app has finally seen some developer love with a new release for consumers rocking Microsoft's mobile OS to enjoy.
There's only one issue. You guessed it - there's no changelog. It's not as though they had little time to prepare one through the mass number of months. Alas, we're simply glad it's still being updated. We'll assume version 0.4.3.0 implements a number of fixes to address problems users have reported.
So, give the update a download from the store and let us know if you notice anything new that we happened to miss.
Download Instagram for Windows Phone
A big thanks to everyone who tipped us!Abbas's initiative also ignores that Hamas could easily seize control of the West Bank through force or through the promised free and democratic elections, which recent polls show Hamas is assured of winning. Abbas is demanding something that would bring about his own demise.
What Hamas and Iran are saying is that if and when Israel pulls back to the pre-1967 lines, they, together with other Palestinians, would bring weapons into the West Bank to achieve their goal of eliminating the "Zionist entity."
If the West Bank had one quarter of the weapons that the Gaza Strip has, Israel would be eliminated in one day. This is what Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar told worshippers during a sermon he delivered on September 5.
Zahar, who, during Israel's Operation Protective Edge, spent his time in hiding, was speaking during Friday prayers at Martyr Abdullah Azzam Mosque in Gaza City.
Abdullah Azzam, by the way, was a Palestinian "scholar," teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden, the slain leader of Al-Qaeda. Azzam was killed in Pakistan in 1989.
Back to Zahar, who delivered his first sermon since the Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Hamas and Israel was announced in late August: he chose to remind Palestinians and the rest of the world of his movement's dream to destroy Israel.
"If only the West Bank had one quarter of what Gaza has of resistance tools, the Israeli entity would end in one day," Zahar declared, reiterating the claim that Hamas had scored a "big victory" in the war.
The Hamas leader went on to criticize those who still have doubts as to whether Israel could be destroyed.
"Those who were skeptical as to whether Palestine could be liberated are no longer doubtful after the enemy was hit from the Gaza Strip," Zahar said. "Can you imagine what would happen if the enemy is targeted from the West Bank, which makes up 20% of the size of Palestine?"
Zahar's wish to see the West Bank flooded with rockets and mortars and other "tools of resistance" was echoed by other Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders and spokesmen after the recent war in the Gaza Strip.
Zahar himself was quoted recently as saying that Hamas's goal now was to "move the Gaza example of resistance" to the West Bank.
Even the Iranians seem to think that the time has come to turn the West Bank into a launching pad for attacks on Israel.
During the war in the Gaza Strip, a senior Iranian commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohamed Reza Naqdi, announced that Tehran had plans to "arm Palestinians in the West Bank" in order to destroy Israel.
Naqdi boasted that the weapons used by Hamas and other Palestinian groups during the recent war had been manufactured and supplied by Iran.
The threats by Hamas and Iran regarding the West Bank show why it is critically important for Israel (and the Palestinian Authority) to insist on the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip as part of any long-term cease-fire agreement.
Even more significantly, these threats underline the need to keep the West Bank a demilitarized area in any future peace agreement, especially one that would see the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.
Moreover, these threats support Israel's insistence on maintaining permanent security control over the border with Jordan. Without such a presence, Iranian-made weapons would easily find their way into the West Bank.
What Hamas and Iran are saying is that if and when Israel pulls back to the pre-1967 lines, they, together with other Palestinians, would bring weapons into the West Bank to achieve their goal of eliminating the "Zionist entity."
Zahar does not even believe that there is a need for large amounts of weapons – just one fourth of what Hamas and Islamic Jihad already have in the Gaza Strip are sufficient, in his eyes, to destroy Israel in one day.
In the aftermath of Operation Protective Edge, it is not difficult to understand why flooding the West Bank with weapons poses an existential threat to Israel.
But this is also something that would wreak havoc on Palestinians in the West Bank.
Fortunately, Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority are fully aware of attempts by Iran and Hamas to turn the West Bank into a base for terrorism and jihadis.
Thanks to Israel, they are also aware of Hamas's effort to topple the Palestinian Authority and replace it with an Islamist government.
Last month, Israel announced the arrest of more than 90 West Bank Hamas members who planned to stage a coup against Abbas and renew terror attacks against Israelis. Were it not for Israel's effort, Abbas and his top officials would have been either killed or imprisoned by Hamas.
That episode explains why Abbas has now ordered a massive crackdown on Hamas members and supporters in the West Bank. During the Gaza war, Abbas refrained from such measures against his Hamas rivals out of fear of being accused of "collaboration" with Israel.
Mahmoud Abbas (r) meets with the Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal in Qatar, July 20, 2014. (Image source: Handout from the Palestinian Authority President's Office/Thaer Ghanem)
Since the cease-fire went into effect, Abbas's security forces in the West Bank have detained more than 80 Hamas men. They have also stopped Hamas-affiliated preachers from delivering sermons during Friday prayers.
Abbas will be able to rein in Hamas in the West Bank only if he pursues security coordination with Israel.
However, it would be unrealistic to expect Abbas or any Palestinian government to disarm Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas and the Palestinian Authority would not be able to survive for one day in the West Bank without the presence of the IDF, especially given Hamas's rising popularity among Palestinians in the aftermath of the war.
Last week, Abbas sent two senior officials, Saeb Erekat and Majed Faraj, to Washington to present his "new peace initiative" to Secretary of State John Kerry.
Abbas's initiative envisages the establishment of a Palestinian state within three years either through negotiations or by having the UN Security Council impose a solution on Israel.
Abbas's initiative, however, ignores the threat from Hamas and Iran to use the West Bank as a launching pad for destroying Israel. It also ignores that Hamas could easily seize control over a future Palestinian state by force or through the promised free and democratic elections, as assured by a recent public opinion poll published by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
Abbas is demanding a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines (including the border with Jordan). But he cannot offer any assurances that Hamas and Iran would not use this border to smuggle weapons into the West Bank.
In fact, Abbas is demanding from the Israelis and Americans something that would bring about his own demise. His only option for now is to hold onto power in the West Bank and continue to work with Israel against the common enemy – Hamas. The day Hamas agrees to lay down its weapons and abandon its dream of destroying Israel, he will then be able to go to the U.S. and Security Council and ask for an independent state next to Israel.Current stock: 0
THIS PRODUCT HAS 6 WEEK LEAD TIME
Luna Cycle is proud to announce the Apex, a bike that after two years of development we believe will be everyone’s first choice for an ebike. We have created an ebike that exceeds all other production ebikes in both performance and quality.
Quick Stats:
General Description
The Apex is the pinnacle of 2018 electric bike engineering.
This is the first bike to have Off-road only levels of throttle power combined with torque sensing pedal assist. The massive power you get is far above the lackluster pedal-assist-only, feeble drive designed for the 250 watt European Market. The Ultra was built for Luna Cycles for the US market to go on bad-ass bikes like the Apex.
The Apex is the the most difficult ebike we have ever built, put together piece by piece, and we are proud to be able to offer it to you. We love this ebike! At Luna we are true Ebike nuts and have been that way for many years before selling kits or ebikes. The Apex is a wicked combination of a high tech battery, the ultimate mid drive motor, and the most beautiful carbon full suspension frame partnered with A-list components that our competitors simply do not have access to.
The Apex is projected to be the Luna Flagship product. This is the ebike that shows what we are capable of achieving by a company that is dedicated to the future of ebikes.
Please note the Apex set in its highest power levels is not legal for road use. If you intend to ride on-road, please select the road legal 750 watt version on check out and we will limit the power of your Apex to 750 watts.
For an independent review of the Apex check out this article by electricbike-blog.com
Dream a Better Frame (in 3 sizes)
The Apex's futuristic shape is made from Grade 1 carbon fiber creating an appealing design using top-notch workmanship. You will not find tubular or flat surfaces on this bike. Every spar is angular, contributing to the custom, high-end look. Our primary goal when designing the Apex was not only functionality and performance, but designing a spectacular bike that was truly different from all others on the market.
Unlike many mainstream Ebikes, this frame is offered in 3 sizes (small, medium and large), and because it is carbon we created three separate molds.
Regarding selecting the right bike size, we think that if you are in doubt, you should default to the smaller size. We think that unlike traditional bikes, having the optimal sized bike is not as important. A smaller frame has its advantages on an Ebike; it will have a lower center of gravity and be easier to get on and off.
Full suspension fat bikes are increasingly rare, as they are typically much harder and more expensive to design and to manufacture. A full suspension electric fat bike with a powerful mid drive that doesn't flex and bob when you hit the throttle is nearly impossible to find. Luna set out to accomplish exactly this, and it did - in carbon.
To even compare this accomplishment the only thing we know that compares is the $9500 Specialized Levo which is only 530 watts (pedal assist only) and just making it to the market in carbon in 2017. Also, the Levo only has 1/3 the battery capacity.
We had a leading carbon frame engineer help us with the design and we went through several design changes and prototypes. This Ebike is designed as an Ebike, using 4x the amount of carbon in some critical stress areas to give this full suspension bike the toughness it needs to handle a high torque motor and a full suspension design.
Taking advantage of the latest in manufacturing techniques and using composite materials we were able to develop a bike that is completely unique, a shape never seen before in a production bike. We use a carbon fiber house that specializes in F1 car parts to make this shape and the molding process possible. We first focused on creating the perfect battery shape in a removable battery compartment, as large as possible. We used the most technically advanced and energy dense cells available, and then designed the rest of the frame around the battery. This is a purpose-built ebike from the ground up and it uses the best ebike battery ever manufactured, in the most unique shape to meet its goals. The days of production bikes with rear rack batteries, and bolt-on dolphin packs are numbered.
The Ultimate Power Mid Drive
We proudly worked hand-in-hand with Bafang to develop and manufacture this new massive " Mag Ultra" motor to make ebikes like the Apex possible. The Mag ultra is made from magnesium weighing 2 pounds less than the standard drive and puts out 3000 watts.. Standard ebike output can be programmed one of three ways: a street legal 750 watt version (1000 watt peak), a 1500 watt version, or to 3000 watts in "Ludicrous mode" (upgrade). We are ecstatic about the reliable and smooth power we have programmed in a shape that is integrated into the frame much like the Bosch or Brose motor, giving you serious torque and speed and maximum ground clearance. This motor has considerably more motor mass than the bolt on the BBSHD conversion kit but uses very similar engineering to the BBSHD, which has proven itself to be a reliable high-performance mid drive motor. The Ultra promises to be even better due to the increased motor mass and improved heat dissipating qualities, but at the same time still preserving the same silent and reliable performance.
We replace the internal nylon gears with stronger steel gears and use our own proprietary sine wave controller to make all this possible.
Torque Sensor
The Mag Ultra Drive has a pedal-assisted torque sensor built in which we have custom programmed to ensure a smooth, drama-free riding experience. You also have a thumb throttle for technical hill climbs or for when you just don’t feel like pedaling.
A torque sensor (read this article for more info)
senses how hard you are pedaling rather than just how fast to give you a more bionic feel when you apply pressure to the pedals. Luna did this in responses to the feedback from our customers who were requesting a torque sensor in our ebikes, many citing as the only argument on why they believe the Euro designed bikes are better. We’re thrilled to say that we have delivered, all while not compromising performance, which has been our staple for years. Why choose between a throttle or a torque sensor when you can have both?
Our Best Battery Pack Ever
The Apex uses the most advanced E-fusion ebike battery we have ever created. The pack uses the very latest in battery technology, incorporating top of the line Samsung 21700 cells. It is wire bonded (read story on wire bonding ebike battery) for the ultimate in safety and single fell fusing. It has it features the luna terminator bms, an ultra reliable BMS made with advanced components, to ensure that your battery is always balanced and safe. The BMS will allow the battery to put up to 75 amps continuously. With these new advancements, we are able to contain a battery that in 52v 28ah in this tiny case giving you a whopping 1500 watt hours for rides longer than you ever thought possible. Like the rest of the bike, the battery case in unconventional with a custom Space Age design incorporating rounded cues and complimenting the frame perfectly. All of our Apex packs are made here in the USA, using cutting-edge production methods. Each battery undergoes thorough various tests and quality processes before being shipped to the customer. It is completely sealed, waterproof, rugged and above all, safe.
A-List of Components
This bike has an "A-List" of components available, including the following:
The Rohloff (optional)
The German-made Rohloff 14-speed internal gear speed hub is our all-time favorite ebike component (read our article on electricbike.com). The Rohloff is a bulletproof transmission built into the rear hub of the bike. It gives you 14 speeds and a whopping 500 percent gear ratio while getting rid of clunky derailleurs, as well as the associated maintenance and mechanical issues. The Rohloff is bullet proof even on a high power ebike like this if you use some care while shifting. If you happen to blow the Rohloff out with all this ebike’s power, we will rebuild it for only $100 for the lifetime of the ebike. We have never managed to blow a Rohloff out, but do offer the rebuild service in case this does happen. The Rohloff is a heirloom product, and you will probably have it for life. It really is that good! It is pure ebike porn, and we think it is a conducive feature to add onto a high caliber mid drive ebike like the Apex. This ebike will come with the newly released Rohloff format for the thru axle wide dropout fat bikes.
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Because this is a build-to-order bike you can pick your favorite parts (please stick to the list of available upgrades). The Apex is a fully customizable bike because it is hand assembled in the USA at the Luna factory. This bike takes a full day for our expert mechanics to assemble, test ride, and pack. Each bike is extensively test ridden and adjusted before being sent in a large shipping box to the customer.
The cables are fished through the frame to make an ultra clean assembly, rarely seen these days on any ebike.
The bike only takes 2 minutes for the customer to assemble. You only need to straighten the handlebars, tighten, and ride. No further adjustment should be required.
Because of our careful assembly and testing process, please allow up to 50 days for shipment.Dear James McAvoy
I read with interest your comments in The Scotsman at the weekend. It’s a fair point you make about there being no movies dealing with the Highland Clearances. Hard to believe isn’t it? It’s one of the most significant landmarks in Scottish history, with no shortage of heartbreak and drama, but no one has yet dramatised it for the big screen. How could that be?
Don’t think this is an accident or an oversight because it’s not. I was brought up in the town of Thurso, less than thirty miles from the worst of the Strathnaver Clearances, but the subject was never mentioned at school. Yet there were kids in our school whose grandparents had listened to tales told by their older relatives who themselves were cleared off the land. This wasn’t ancient history to us. But it was a history too shameful to mention.
There is a wealth of stories from Scottish history crying out to get made into films but few of them ever do. It’s as if Wallace, Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots, Rob Roy and Bonnie Prince Charlie are the sum total of our history. Kings, queens and battles. Same as it ever was.
Period dramas are the stock-in-trade of English cinema and television. There have been hundreds of them, some based on historical events, others on the classics of English literature. They flood onto our screens – and by our I mean Scotland’s – on a regular basis. I’m not complaining about this. My mother enjoys them so why not.
But where are the corresponding period dramas from Scottish history? Where are the great movies set during the time of the Reformation, the Covenanters, the massacre of Glencoe, the Darien Expedition, the Act of Union, the hounding of the Jacobites, the Scottish Enlightenment, the trial of Thomas Muir, the massacre of Tranent, the Radical Uprising of 1820, the Highland Land League, the Industrial Revolution, the Victorian slums of Glasgow, or, as you say, the Highland Clearances?
The same applies to historical bio-pics. The lives of Robert Ferguson, Robert Burns, John Murdoch, Mary Ann Somerville, David Hume, Thomas Muir, Robert Louis Stevenson, RB Cunninghame Graham, or at the start of the twentieth century – Ethel Moorhead, John MacLean or John Logie Baird – were full of passion, high drama and incident. But where are the movies?
If you, or anyone else involved in cinema, are serious about making a film set during the Highland Clearances can I take the liberty of pointing you in the direction of a story that has been screaming out to be filmed since it was first published in 1968.
It has no parts for good-looking young actors like yourself. There’s no parts either for gorgeous young women in buxom push-up bras. It may cover the same period in time but Pride and Prejudice it is not.
The central character is an old woman, poor and frail, nearing the end of her days, who lives on her own. She’s worked hard all her life for little material gain. She has little education, nor much knowledge of life beyond her own small god-fearing community. (Think Breaking The Waves, except a century and a half earlier.)
What sustains her in her poverty and old age are her Calvinist beliefs. She believes her suffering will eventually end and she’ll get her reward in the afterlife. Death, she feels, can’t be that far away.
The story is set in a geographically isolated corner of Scotland once teeming with love, life and passion but subsequently ravaged, destroyed and then emptied by the Clearances. Today the same rivers run deep, fished and policed by the wealthy, but there is only the rubble of crumbling old buildings where children once played. And sheep.
The novel is called Consider The Lilies and was written by Ian Crichton Smith, one of our country’s finest poets. This magnificent book, set in the early years of the nineteenth century, has a very understated opening which in my opinion would translate beautifully to celluloid.
“Her name was Mrs Scott and she was an old woman of about seventy. She was sitting on an old chair in front of her cottage when she saw the rider.”
In the hands of a Robert Bresson or a Bill Douglas this could be transformed into high art.
Consider The Lilies is one of the great classics of Scottish literature. It is not a long novel by any standards, it’s hardly more than 140 pages. You could read it in a couple of hours. But it packs a big punch.
With the poet’s eye for detail you feel the dramatic changes sweeping through the Scottish Highlands. Ian Crichton Smith said his book wasn’t about the Highland Clearances. In the preface he writes: “This is not an historical novel. It is a fictional study of one person, an old woman who is being evicted.”
That’s the thing. Too many films want to chunter on about an issue rather than skillfully tease out an important story through characters. But you’ll learn more about what the Clearances must have felt like, by reading this novel, than through any academic treatise on the subject.
There are two main characters in the book. The old woman and her atheist neighbour, who challenges the dictats of the landlords and their factors in his own way. It is significant that Crichton Smith chooses to make the old woman his central character rather than the neighbour. The author once commented that “I do deeply think that women are stronger, more enduring than men.”
The author has done a lot of the work for you. In his deceptively simple prose, he skilfully draws you into the mind of a bewildered old woman who simply can’t understand why she should have to leave the only home she has ever lived in, the home she gave birth to her son in. Why should she drag her meagre worldly possessions for miles across the open countryside to live on a patch of barren land she has never been to before? She can’t believe that the church elders would ever permit such a thing to happen.
Old Mrs Scott can feel the ground beneath her feet shifting in more ways than one. But something magical happens. In the teeth of coercion and bribery, a frail old woman comes to commit an act of such breathtaking yet simple defiance that it is truly inspirational. She learns to say no. Isn’t that the stuff of great drama?
As the author explained: “Mrs Scott was to be broken out of her ideology to see how she could cope as a human being.” It is in her stubborn refusal to betray her friends, and in her own quiet resistance to the horrors of eviction, that her humanity burns more fiercely than all the flaming torches of her evictors.
Consider The Lilies not only sheds light on the Highland Clearances but is an invaluable piece of our cultural heritage. It deserves to be made into a top-notch movie. I’m sure once you’ve read it you’ll agree it is a source of inspiration, righteous anger against injustice, and an affirmation of dignity and basic human decency against all the odds.
I’d recommend shooting it in black-and-white, pacing it nice and slow, allowing the faces of the characters to tell the story as much as their words or actions. Think Bergman rather than Gibson. And it wouldn’t work with big name actors from the south. You’d need local actors from the Highlands with proper northern faces. And most of all, and this is absolutely vital if the film is to be a success, keep Ewan McGregor as far away from the project as possible.
I hope this has been helpful.
Yours sincerely
Kevin Williamson
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Go here to write for usWASHINGTON -- Pentagon leaders stepped before reporters today for the first time since the beheading of journalist James Foley, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warning that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) is "beyond anything that we've seen."
"ISIL is as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen. They're beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded," Hagel said at the briefing alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey. "…So we must prepare for everything. And the only way you do that is that you take a cold, steely, hard look at it and-- and -- and get ready."
One thing that was lacking, as with President Obama's Wednesday statement on the murder of Foley, was a hard game plan to move forward and defeat the terrorist organization.
"We continue to explore all options regarding ISIL and how best we can assist our partners in that area, the Middle East, and particularly in Iraq, against ISIL," Hagel said. "…We will continue to stay focused, as I said, on what we're doing now and exploring all options as we go forward."
Hagel stressed that U.S. assistance, such as airstrikes in the Iraqi operation to retake Mosul dam and helping Kurds defend Irbil, "have stalled ISIL's momentum and enabled Iraqi and Kurdish forces to regain their footing and take the initiative."
Not long before the Pentagon briefing began, though, new reports emerged of ISIS offensives. Al Iraqiya reported that ISIS forces had launched an attack on Amerli, a Turkmen town that has been under siege and crying for help since June 18 -- heroically holding off the terrorists until today.
Kurdish accounts on Twitter were also reporting a large convoy of ISIS fighters moving toward Mount Sinjar, now that international attention was turned away from the site of the Yazidi siege.
"The president, the chairman and I are all very clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. We are pursuing a long-term strategy against ISIL because ISIL clearly poses a long-term threat. We should expect ISIL to regroup and stage new offenses," Hagel said, not mentioning any of the terror group's latest moves.
Hagel returned a couple of times to the pre-Foley Obama administration mantra: that an inclusive government in Baghdad and ensuing political reconciliation would help stop ISIS.
"It's bigger than just a military operation and our efforts, as we executed the president's strategy on this, are specifically targeted, just as the president has said for the reasons he said," he said of the limited airstrikes to address such a widespread threat. "…We are doing everything we can within the confines of our influence to assist and recognize, as we've said, to deal with ISIL there in the Middle East and also recognizing that it is a threat, just as we've all said."
Dempsey said they think ISIS "can be contained, not in perpetuity."
"This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated. To your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in Syria? The answer is no. That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a nonexistent border," Dempsey continued.
"And that will come when we have a coalition in the region that takes on the task of defeating ISIS over time. ISIS will only truly be defeated when it's rejected by the 20 million disenfranchised Sunni that happen to reside between Damascus and Baghdad."
That, the chairman said, "requires a variety of instruments, only one small part of which is airstrikes."
Today is the one-year anniversary of the sarin attack on the suburb of Ghouta in which President Bashar Assad killed more than 1,400 people -- and the one-year anniversary of the crossing of President Obama's "red line" on Syria. Strikes in Syria would force the administration to decide if it still thought Assad should go, as Obama previously declared. Complicating the White House's determination if it should use Assad or not is mounting suspicion that the Syrian president -- widely thought to have originally held Foley in custody -- was handing American prisoners over ISIS, which enjoys safe haven and oil sales to the regime in return for helping keep Assad in power.
"Assad is very much a central part of the problem. And I think it's well documented as to why. When you have the brutal dictatorship of Assad and what he has done to his own country, which perpetuated much of what is happening or has been happening in Syria, so he's part of the problem, and as much a part of it as probably the central core of it," Hagel said.
"He is absolutely part of the problem," Dempsey added.
Hagel was asked if the U.S. was headed for another "long, hard slog" -- in the words of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- in fighting ISIS.
"When we look at what they did to Mr. Foley, what they threatened to do to all Americans and Europeans, what they are doing now, the -- I don't know any other way to describe it other than barbaric. They have no standard of decency, of responsible human behavior, and I think the record's clear on that. So, yes, they are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it's in Iraq or anywhere else," Hagel said.
"The conflict against those groups, most of which are local, some of which are regional, and some of which are global in nature, that's going to be a very long contest. It's ideological. It's not political. It's religious, in many cases. So, yes, it's going to be a very long contest," Dempsey added.
"…The immediacy is in the number of Europeans and other nationalities who have come to the region to become part of that ideology," Dempsey said of the threat to the West. "And those folks can go home at some point."BEIJING, Oct. 19 -- Beijing's former vice mayor received a suspended death sentence for taking more than $1 million in bribes, his attorney and state-run media said Sunday.
Liu Zhihua, 59, oversaw construction, real estate, sports and traffic projects for the Beijing Olympic Games until he was fired in June 2006 on suspicion of corruption. His high-profile antics and "decadent lifestyle" had attracted unwanted attention among the country's top leaders, according to Chinese news media reports.
The Intermediate People's Court of Hengshui, a city outside Beijing, sentenced Liu on Saturday to death, with a two-year reprieve. With good behavior, his sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment.
Liu is the highest-ranking Beijing official to fall from grace since Beijing party boss Chen Xitong was fired for corruption in 1995. Liu was expelled from the Communist Party at the end of 2006, a few months after President Hu Jintao moved to dismiss Chen Liangyu, the party secretary of Shanghai, for directing pension funds into illegal investments.
Liu was charged with accepting more than $1 million in bribes. He abused his power as vice mayor and director of the management committee of Zhongguancun Science Park from 1999 to 2006, doling out contracts, loans and other favors for money, the official New China News Agency reported. The court said bribes were pocketed by Liu and his mistress, Wang Jianrui.
Wang, 48, who worked for a Beijing construction and engineering company, was tried separately last week. Her sentence is pending.
Wang allegedly obtained Liu's assistance in securing projects for a tennis court, hockey ground and archery field at the Olympic Green, the Chinese magazine Caijing reported.
But Liu's attorney, Mo Shaoping, said the accusations against Liu did not mention Olympic construction projects.
Liu allegedly built a 150-room villa in the suburbs of Beijing. He was thought to have several mistresses, one of whom, Zhang Yike, videotaped them having sex. After becoming dissatisfied with Liu, she sent the hour-long tape to party officials, the Chongqing Evening News and Hong Kong China News Agency reported.
Liu, a former coal miner, was elected vice mayor in 1999. He reportedly wept three times during his trial, with his wife and son in attendance. He might appeal because he does not agree with all the accusations, the lawyer said.
"It's necessary to punish corruption because it's an issue of the government's survival," Mo said. "But the punishment should be fair and equal."
The judiciary should be independent and the trial fair, Mo added. "Otherwise, ordinary people will think corrupt officials are not rightly punished but simply have the bad luck to be caught or have a political conflict," he said.
China's judiciary is controlled by the Communist Party and rarely bucks leaders' decisions.
Many Chinese said they were unsurprised by Liu's case.
"Those officials only care about how to grab money. Some corrupt officials are caught, but there are more who are not caught," said Yuan Jianli, 52, a car repairman. "If you stand with the right team, even if you're corrupt, you'll probably be fine. If you're on the wrong team, you'll be caught. Politics in China is too dark, and we ordinary people can do nothing about it."
Researcher Zhang
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on their way. Seeing the police outside, Rajkovic took the two women with him as he tried to escape. The Crown said Rajkovic held a gun to the head of one of the women, but Rajkovic said in court Monday that he disputes that part of the story.
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Contrary to police statements about the incident, he was not using the women as a shield – he simply brought the women along because he thought officers would refrain from shooting at him if the women were near him, Rajkovic added. Rajkovic eventually let go of the women, who ran toward the police officers. Rajkovic then pointed his gun in the direction of the police and fired. Five police officers fired back, hitting Rajkovic with at least one bullet. He was placed under arrest, then taken to St. Michael’s hospital for treatment of an abdominal wound. Rajkovic’s accomplice escaped in a car. He is still at large. Authorities do not know who he is. The Special Investigations Unit, Ontario’s police watchdog, reported that it was unclear whether Rajkovic or an officer fired first, but absolved the police of any wrongdoing in the incident. “It was clear that... the risk of serious bodily harm or death to the officers or civilians would have been substantially increased had the officers not returned fire,” SIU Director Tony Loparco wrote in an investigation report. Rajkovic is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 14 for sentencing.Americans are sick and tired of the backroom deals and backscratching that goes on in Washington. Our nation’s capitol has become a modern Versailles, where the governing class has completely lost touch with the governed. Washington has become one big playground for an elite governing class that only cares about enriching themselves, rather than serving the American taxpayer.
Donald Trump understands this sentiment, and he has sold himself to the Republican primary electorate as an outsider who will upend the “establishment.” But the truth is that Trump is more like King Louis XIV than George Washington.
Were Trump to show up in Washington next year as President of the United States, he would fit in perfectly with the Beltway culture—a culture that rewards hucksters, cynics and egomaniacs who long ago sold their souls for a shot at power. Trump, like many in Washington, isn’t motivated by any political ideology or noble conviction, but by money and influence.
Trump regularly trashes the political system he has spent his career cozying up to and taking advantage of. Trump hasn’t been shy about his eagerness to give money to politicians of all stripes in exchange for favors. Since the 1980s, Trump has given more than $1 million to officials on the national stage he thought could advance his business interests, with no regard for their political party or ideology. He built much of his impressive real estate empire by giving money to New York politicians in order to get favorable treatment.
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Trump rails against lobbying, yet until last week, he had two lobbyists running his campaign, Paul Manafort and Corey Lewandowski (Lewandowski was fired last Monday). Throughout his career, Trump has regularly retained lobbying firms and lobbyists to help him. He even found himself in trouble in 2000 after he and his advisor, Washington insider Roger Stone, failed to register their lobbying activities and were fined $250,000.
Trump claims to be on the side of the little guy, but only if the little guy doesn’t stand in the way of Trump making money. Just ask Vera Coking. In the 1990s, Coking was a widow who had lived in her home since the 1960s. Trump wanted her property so that he could build a limousine parking lot. Trump worked with the city to try to force Coking out of her home. Coking was able to stay in her home, but only after a long legal battle.
Trump cares so much about the little guy that he also decided to make a university for them to attend. Many hardworking Americans enrolled, only to learn afterwards that it was never a licensed school. They were reportedly encouraged by the “university” to raise their credit card limit in order to pay for their education. The school also promised students they would learn from Trump and experts “handpicked” by Trump, but many students say their instructors knew very little about real estate.
Trump may have spent most of his life in New York City, but he is as disconnected from the concerns of average Americans as the Washington ruling class, even though he likes to claim he is one of them.
“It has not been easy for me,” Trump has said. “I started off in Brooklyn, my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars.”
His comments show just how out of touch he is. In reality, Trump’s father was one of the most successful and wealthiest men in the country when Trump was beginning his career. The idea that he’s just an “average Joe” is ludicrous. How many average Americans get a “small” million-dollar loan to begin their careers? And the reality is, Trump got far more than that, both in loan guarantees from his father and millions in un-cashed casino chips.
Trump has also helped use his money and power to further the careers of his loved ones. In 1982, Trump helped his sister, Maryanne Barry, get a federal appointment, according to a report. Trump had his attorney, the late Roy Cohn, lobby a White House aide in order to make sure his sister landed the job.
Does this sound like a man of the people and an outsider to the political establishment?
Trump isn’t an outsider who understands the struggles of the American people. He’s like other entitled politicians and bureaucrats. They don’t believe they work for the American people; they believe we work for them.
Trump doesn’t value his supporters; he believes they’re stupid enough to support him no matter what he does, even if that means committing murder.
“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody,” he proclaimed in Iowa, “and I wouldn’t lose voters.”
If that’s not entitlement, what is? And if Trump believes he can betray his supporters without sacrificing their loyalty, how can Americans know for sure he’ll keep his promises?
All King Louis XIV was missing were some steaks, some vodka and a fake university.
Adapted from Barons of the Beltway: Inside the Princely World of Our Washington Elite — and How to Overthrow Them, copyright © 2016 by Michelle Fields. First hardcover edition published June 21, 2016, by Crown Forum. All rights reserved.
While Fields was a reporter for Breitbart this March, she accused Trump’s then campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of physically assaulting her during a rally. Lewandowski denied the accusation.
Contact us at [email protected] Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has signed defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk to a two-year contract and defenseman Dustin Stevenson to a one-year contract. Per club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Bodnarchuk, 27, spent his time in the NHL during the 2015-16 regular season with Columbus and Colorado. In 16 games played for Columbus, he registered two assists (0-2=2) and eight penalty minutes. Claimed by Colorado on Jan. 5, he added two assists (0-2=2) in 21 games. He also posted eight points (2-6=8) in 14 games played for Lake Erie of the American Hockey League (AHL).
An eight-year professional, he has appeared in 42 career regular season NHL games recording four points (0-4=4) and 16 penalty minutes with Boston, Columbus and Colorado. He has recorded 142 points (32-110=142) in 487 career AHL contests with Providence, Manchester and Lake Erie. He helped Manchester with the 2015 Calder Cup Championship.
The 5-foot-11, 196-pound native of Drumheller, Alberta was originally selected by Boston in the fifth round (128th overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft.
Stevenson, 26, appeared in 45 games for Stockton of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2015-16 and registered eight points (2-6=8). He led the team with 104 penalty minutes on the season and he produced 82 shots on net. In 97 career AHL contests, he has amassed 19 points (5-14=19) for Stockton, Adirondack and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
In 2012-13, he played for Reading of the ECHL. That season, he helped the club to the Kelly Cup Championship, recording nine points (1-8=9) and 14 penalty minutes in 22 games played during the postseason.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound native of Gull Lake, Saskatchewan was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by Washington on April 5, 2010.In her response to the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 19 others in Arizona, Sarah Palin criticized journalists for manufacturing a “blood libel” against her. On a radio program this morning, Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC) said that the former Alaska Governor “just can’t seem to get it.”“You know, Sarah Palin just can’t seem to get it, on any front. I think she’s an attractive person, she is articulate,” Clyburn said on the Bill Press radio show, according to The Hill. “But I think intellectually, she seems not to be able to understand what’s going on here.”
Clyburn said that his experiences in the Civil Rights Era gives him a different understanding of the relationship between rhetoric and action, and says what he sees and hears today reminds him of what he heard back then.
“I have some experiences that maybe she does not have,” he said. “When I see and hear things today that are reminiscent of that period of time, I am very, very concerned about it, because I know what it led to back then, and I know what it can lead to again.”
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Across the Nation, Vigils Held for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords]
Listen:Last year, shortly after the injury, SB Nation published an article from a doctor who suggested Buster Posey could come back in time for the playoffs. This was a sliver of hope, see. I tweeted a link out, just as anyone still in stage one of the Kübler-Ross stages of grief might have done. There was doom and gloom and reality to be found later, but for a a brief, brief moment, there were straws at which to grasp.
Sam Miller, because he is an awful human being, responded with a link to a story about the Angels saying the same exact thing about Kendrys Morales. This was noteworthy because Morales was supposed to be back at the end of 2010, then he was supposed to be back by the start of 2011, then he missed 2011 entirely. Morales didn't have the same injury as Posey -- though he often refers to home plate as "the inanimate Scott Cousins" -- but it was still a chilling comparison.
Then there were the Jason Kendall comparisons. One thing that always bugged me about those is that Kendall had a fantastic, All Star season after his horrific ankle injury. He hit his career high in home runs that year, and he stole 22 bases. I have no idea what happened to him the following year, but there was never a direct chain of causality with the injury. That didn't mean the mere mention of Kendall's name wasn't going to send me into a panic, though. Jason Kendall was a catcher before May, 2011. After that, he was a bogeyman that kept me up at night.
At this time last year, we weren't even sure if he'd catch again. It was news when he was running in January. Three months before there were games, it was news that a baseball player could run. The quotes were cautiously optimistic and really guarded:
"For Jan. 9, he's doing pretty well," Groeschner said.
I didn't want to read that. I wanted to read, "I've never seen a recovery like this." I wanted to read, "HE HAS THE FACE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA, BUT HE HEALS LIKE WOLVERINE." I wanted boundless optimism. You know, the kind that would make you think Posey would somehow come back and be even better than he was before.
Quotes like that made me hope for a stepping stone of a season. Something that would build to a crescendo next season. But this year was supposed to be about getting back onto the field, hopefully catching 80 or 90 games without incident.
So the injury was one part of why this feels so danged important.
The other part has to do with the post-Matt Williams drought of homegrown hitters. It probably isn't becoming to complain about the lack of homegrown hitters winning the MVP, seeing as the Giants have won 46 percent of the MVPs in the National League since 2000*, so it shouldn't matter if the Giants drafted a guy or picked him up at a yard sale.
But there's something to it. From 2009:
Let's revisit the list of Best Position Players Drafted or Developed since Matt Williams (1986 Draft): C - Doug Mirabelli
1B - Damon Minor
2B - Deivi Cruz
SS - Royce Clayton
3B - Bill Mueller
LF - Marvin Benard
CF - Chris Singleton
RF - Armando Rios
That was not an embellished list! That wasn't made for the lulz. That was an earnest accounting of a decade-plus of Giants player development. And when the Giants were in the middle of that stretch, it felt like they were never going to get a homegrown star. It was going to be one of those things that perpetuated itself for decades. That would just be what the Giants were known for.
But they got a homegrown star. And he led them to the first two championships in San Francisco history. He started an All-Star Game. And now he's the MVP. The Seinfeld bit about how we root for laundry has some truth to it, but a player like Buster Posey makes us realize that we root for individuals all the time, some of them more than most.
And to see Posey win an MVP, just 18 months after wondering if his career was over, is one of the best experiences I've ever had rooting for an individual player. It's up there with Matt Cain's perfect game and Ryan Vogelsong's World Series win, which, huh, I guess this was a pretty neat season, guys. It's not like Posey's MVP is one more thing to throw atop the pile, either; it's as special as anything that happened this year.
Everything about Giants baseball has been better since Buster Posey has been around. It's the Golden Age of Giants baseball, even, right up there with the days of Mays, McCovey, and Marichal. You didn't need Posey to win an award to know that. The award still feels like some sort of validation, though. And that's just to a fan. I'm sure it feels like a heckuva lot more to Posey.
Buster Posey: the most valuable player in the National League. Has a ring to it.Bubba Watson was the pick among tour pros when asked last year who'd they'd least like to defend in a parking lot fight. But they might want to reconsider after seeing Watson come to Rickie Fowler's defense on Thursday at the Memorial.
Fowler missed a par putt on No. 9, his final hole of the day, and it prompted someone in the crowd at Muirfield Village to say something nasty. After Fowler tapped in for bogey and a rough 75, Watson quickly stepped in.
"Who said it? Not so tough now, are you?" Check out the clip via PGA Tour Live. You'll need to turn up the volume to hear Watson's comments.
As the announcers mention, Watson and Fowler are boys. Golf Boys, in fact. And you know what they say/sing about that tight-knit crew in West Side Story : "When you're a golf boy, you're a golf boy all the way! From your first living breath to your last dying day!"
Or something like that.
(Thanks to The Big Lead for catching)
WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOSDo you consciously choose your beliefs?
This is a question I’ve been pondering of late. As one who has experienced a dramatic change in beliefs it is a topic of interest no doubt. It came to mind recently because of a conversation I was having with a good friend that still believes the church is true. He made the comment that he thought I’d made a conscious choice to not believe in the church anymore.
It isn’t the first time my apostasy has been framed that way. As a choice to not believe. In discussion that declaration is often followed with the idea that the believer has chosen to believe. This is a concept that from personal experience that I think is simply false. I’d like to explain why.
I think the reality is we form our beliefs involuntarily. I can not think of a single instance where I made a choice to just stop believing during my crisis of faith. In fact it was as if my precious beliefs were torn out of my soul leaving me for a time empty inside. The last thing I wanted was to lose my religion, why would I actively choose to do so?
This I realize is counter to what you are taught in the religion. Often times you hear things like ‘choose this day whom ye will serve’ they frame things up in the idea that you choose to take a leap of faith after which belief follows. If you choose the religion you get all the blessings from it. And to be sure, they are some pretty awesome promises. Especially the LDS church, how many other religions tell you you get to be God if you follow their faith?
But aren’t the promises besides the point? Fundamentally don’t you choose a religion based on whether it is true or not? When you go car shopping do you buy the one that the salesman promises is made of solid gold? Do you buy ocean front property in Arizona because you really really want a beach house?
Want more proof you don’t consciously choose to believe what you profess to believe in? Take your deeply held belief and choose the opposite right now. Don’t worry you can choose back again in a second. Now while you are choosing the opposite belief, test it. Test whether or not you really did make a choice. Do something only a nonbeliever can do. Suppose for example you chose to not believe in God. Now while you are a non believer ask God to strike you dumb for your lack of belief. Can you do it? I’m betting dollars to donuts you can’t. I haven’t met a believer yet that can.
Fact is you just believe in your religion, you don’t choose it like you choose what car you are going to buy. There is no conscious choice. So belief is involuntary. Why is it the bigger question. Think about why you as a believer can’t rise to my challenge. Isn’t it as if you were superstitious and don’t want to temp fate? I think the reason boils down to a single emotion.
Fear. You fear the unknown. You fear death. You fear loss. You fear the idea that you alone are responsible for the mistakes you have made that you can never correct. This fear drives your belief and it is why you can’t just give it up on a whim. You can’t choose to stop believing anymore than you can choose to stop the beat of your heart. Why? Because of fear. Is it any wonder the church teaches you to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”
As long as you are afraid you will have no choice but to believe. For belief is rooted in fear and it is that fear which religion preys on.
You can’t choose your beliefs but you can choose to have the courage to face your fears. You can investigate your doubts rather than stuff them away on a shelf and tell yourself you are too dumb to understand these things. You can rise up and stand for your own principles.You can be your own person. It is possible to not be afraid, losing faith doesn’t mean have to mean losing hope. The truth of the matter is belief isn’t a choice, but fear is.
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Earlier this year, audiences got their introduction to our third new Spider-Man in 14 years in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. The decision to reboot the webslinger once again was not an easy one for Sony, but it came about as a result of an unprecedented collaboration with Marvel Studios that sees Marvel taking the creative lead on new Spider-Man movies while the character is allowed to exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, which are distributed by Disney. By all accounts, they got off to a swell start as Tom Holland’s much younger iteration of Peter Parker was a standout in Civil War, and production is underway on the new standalone film Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The decision to age Peter Parker down and tell a high school-set story was one of the first made when Marvel was granted creative control of the character, and while Homecoming will certainly stand out in that regard, the question remains how long that might last. So when Collider’s own Steven Weintraub got the chance to speak with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige at Comic-Con 2016, where the first footage from Homecoming debuted, he asked Feige if the intention is to keep Parker in High School should they get the chance to make sequels. Firstly, though, Feige acknowledged that this has been a very carefully plotted step-by-step process:
“The first step was reintroduce a new Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Civil War and have people leave the theater saying, ‘I love that Spider-Man. I wanna see more of him.’ I think that’s happened. The next step is making a great Spider-Man: Homecoming and a great film that showcases Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and makes everybody fall in love with him all over again.”
So, if Spider-Man: Homecoming is a hit, will the sequel keep Parker in high school? Feige said their early ideas for the new Spider-Man franchise involve taking a cue from another iconic series of films:
“Should we be able to make more after that? Sure. This is sophomore year, is the next one junior year? Is the next one senior year? Is there a summer break between each of those? I don’t know what, but it was sort of how do we do a journey for Peter not dissimilar for what the students of Hogwarts would go through each of their years, which was one of the early ideas we had for the movies.”
Indeed, the Harry Potter films—taking their cue from J.K. Rowling’s books—each follow a new year at Hogwarts, so the idea seems to be that if a series of new Spider-Man films move forward, we’ll get to continue to spend time with Peter Parker through the trials and tribulations of high school—with some city-saving and webslinging on the side. That’s certainly a different direction than previous Spider-Man movies—which is the point—and could prove incredibly fruitful should the plan come to fruition.
First, though, audiences have to respond to this initial film, and as part of the footage shown at Comic-Con, it was revealed that not only is Michael Keaton’s villain Vulture, but his costume is made of tech, not organic. Steve asked Feige if they considered making the character a metahuman, but the Marvel Studios president stressed the grounded nature of the MCU:
“That had been done in I think every prior Spider-Man film. Part of the fun of joining the cinematic universe, joining a world in which he now knows Tony Stark personally, has received a suit full of many things we haven’t seen yet that Stark Industries has supplied, it made sense to—cause that’s sort of the Marvel Cinematic Universe grounded nature is it is much more technologically based. In a world where Falcon flies around with a beautiful set of wings, it made sense that we had Vulture have technical origins.”
Tech-based villains? High school stories? Indeed, director Jon Watts‘ Spider-Man: Homecoming sounds like a refreshing change of pace. Here’s hoping the finished product is the goods when it hits theaters on July 7, 2017.According to Rob Rang of CBS Sports, the Philadelphia Eagles are one of the many teams showing interest in 2015 NFL Draft prospect Shaq Thompson.
"Thompson has either visited with, worked out privately or is scheduled to with seven other clubs: the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles."
As you can see, it's not clear whether Thompson actually visited (or will visit) the Eagles in Philadelphia but it's clear the team will have met with him before the end of the month.
It's not a shock to see the Eagles interested in this defensive prospect. The 6-2, 231 pound junior is an intriguing player. He's certainly versatile; he played at running back, linebacker, and safety in college. He finished his career at Washington with 146 tackles, 3.5 sacks, five interceptions, two passes defensed, three forced fumbles, and a total of five defensive touchdowns scored. As a rusher, he scored two touchdowns and gained 456 yards on 61 carries for a whopping 7.5 average.
It's not perfectly clear where Thompson will line up in the NFL. Some team have been working him out at both linebacker and safety. Thompson has said that his "heart is at linebacker" but he's open to being a strong safety in the Kam Chancellor mold. He said he's not open to playing running back.
While it's unclear how the Eagles view Thompson, it's worth nothing NFL analyst Mike Mayock thinks the 20-year-old prospect could be a safety for Philadelphia. Mayock actually ranks Thompson as his No. 2 safety behind Landon Collins at No. 1.
Here's a scouting report on Thompson via NFL.com.
"Strengths - Unmatched diversity in this year's draft. Played outside and inside as a linebacker and took snaps at safety against Stanford. Gained 456 yards rushing, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. Long, with athleticism and movement of running back playing linebacker. Like a magnet to the ball while pursuing in space. Second gear to finish the chase. Wins over top of second-level linemen. Can sink and search for cutback lanes as back-side defender against stretch plays. Glides laterally from gap to gap when playing inside. Reads the quarterback's eyes and shades the throwing lane as zone defender. Transitions easily from pursuit to coverage against play-action. Can cover running backs out of backfield. Instinctive with plus vision and twitch to make the big play. Scored four defensive touchdowns and forced three fumbles in 2014. Frequently attempts to strip ball. Fluid enough in space that safety could be a position consideration for the right team. Can be used as emergency No. 3 running back on game day. Had 19 tackles on special teams over last two seasons in kick and punt coverage. Football intelligence to process offensive and defensive playbooks. Strong work ethic and team-oriented player.
Weaknesses - Scouts question his natural NFL fit. Needs more mass on his frame. Played under listed weight at times. Aggressive, but lacks the play strength to back up his intentions near the line of scrimmage. Fails to consistently leverage his gap when forced inside box. Too easily redirected as blitzer. Gets blasted out of gaps by pulling guards. Must develop hands to keep linemen off of him and improve at slipping blocks. Not fully utilizing explosiveness. Fails to fire downhill and attack on the other side of the line. Ducks head into contact and will lose sight of the ball. Shoulder hitter in space rather than wrap-up tackler. Motor lets up at times when pace quickens.
Bottom Line - Long, twitchy athlete with outstanding range to become a highly restrictive defender. Able to make plays well outside of his area against both the run and pass. With his big-play potential, Thompson could become a unique chess piece in the hands of the right defensive coordinator, but there are a growing number of teams that are beginning to struggle with whether to project Thompson as a safety or 4-3 outside linebacker."
Here are his measurements via Mockdraftable.
ILB
SSGijs Verdick (Cycling Team Jo Piels) has died a week after suffering two heart attacks at the Carpathian Couriers Race in Poland. Verdick was 21 years old and riding his first season at continental level.
“We are very touched by this loss and very sad for the whole team. It is unreal what happened. For Gijs the transition to Cycling Team Jo Piels was the dream to come true. Gijs was a fine boy to race with and we will miss him enormously. Our sympathy goes out to the family, we wish you a lot of power and strength during the processing of this loss”, a statement on the team’s website read.
He is the second rider to die of a heart attack at a race this season after Daan Myngheer passed away in March following a cardiac arrest during the opening stage of the Criterium International..Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition(GPE) just got the Android 5.0 Lollipop treatment. But that doesn’t mean that other non-GPE users like you and I can not get the same update. After all, the only difference between the GPE S4 and the regular Touchwiz S4 are a few partition tables, and the fact that one of them do not come loaded with Touchwiz or Stock Android.
For this guide, you will need the following items:
Hardware
A quad core Galaxy S4 from any part of the world with an unlocked bootloader. This means any S4 not from AT&T, Verizon USA, or an i9500(the octa core S4 will NOT work). A USB cable(preferably the original one). A Windows PC.
Software
Samsung USB Drivers. Download link (Make sure to click “Direct download link” below, do NOT click the green “Download” button) ODIN. Download link (Make sure to click “Direct download link” below, do NOT click the green “Download” button) The Lollipop 5.0 ROM by danvdh. Download link (Download this file, and copy it to the Download folder on your phone before starting the tutorial) SuperSU. Download link (Download this file, and copy it to the Download folder on your phone before starting the tutorial) More packages, linked throughout the article.
The Tutorial
Let’s get started.
First, install the Samsung USB drivers. Double click the file you downloaded previously and install it like a normal application.
After installing the drivers, extract the ODIN ZIP to a folder named “ODIN”
Download TWRP recovery for your phone and put that file into the ODIN folder. Download link (Make sure to click “Direct download link” below, do NOT click the green “Download” button)
At this point, your ODIN folder should look like this
After you have confirmed it looks like that, turn off your phone.
This part is very important and takes some tries. Do everything sequentially.
Hold Volume down, home and power button together. You will be presented with this Press volume up(The physical button). You will see this. Do not panic Now, connect your phone to your computer and wait 15 seconds. Double click Odin3 v3.09 in the ODIN folder Now, click AP and then select the TWRP 2.8.1.0 for S4 Now, click Start Your phone will reboot. Now disconnect the USB cable, then turn it off again. After it is turned off, use Volume up, home and power button to boot the phone into recovery. Once you see the Samsung logo, let go of all buttons. You will see this. Press Wipe. Then press advanced and you will be presented with this screen. Select only the options I have selected
Select swipe to wipe Your phone will look like it is doing some black magic. Let it be. After it is done, Press the Home button at the bottom left corner of the screen(not shown) You will be back to the screen in step 7. Press install, then scroll down to sdcard Now navigate to the Download folder and select the file you had downloaded previously in the download folder: Danvdh-GPE-5.0-12142014.zip Now swipe the blue circle to confirm flash Let the black magic continue After the flash is done, you will see almost the same screen as step 10. Now restart from step 10, except this time select UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.37.zip instead of Danvdh-GPE-5.0-12142014.zip Now, you will need to reboot your phone. Press home again(bottom corner left), then select Reboot. Your phone will reboot to the following boot animation This step is important. Do not touch your phone for the next 10 minutes. If the welcome screen shows up, that’s awesome! Start using it. If it doesn’t show up, simply take the battery out, put it back and turn the phone on. It may take a few tries to finally get to the welcome screen, this is a well known bug among Google’s GPE and Nexus phones. Enjoy your S4 with Android Lollipop 5.0. You now have the official version of Lollipop on your phone and the exact same software that is put into the GPE Galaxy S4 minus OTA updates.Features:
2 stereo ADCs and 4 stereo DACs
Up to 96 kHz sampling rate with 8 audio channels (up to 192 kHz with 4 channels)
24 Bit word width
Separate interfaces to ADCs and DACs
Asynchronous sampling rates for playback and capture
Up to 3,2 ms round-trip-time
Mobile usage (the BeagleBone Green and the audio card both are supplied with 5V supply voltage)
Project Components / Source Locations:
Applications:
Mobile sound studio (simultaneously record several inputs with different audio effects applied and preview them on different outputs in real time)
Effect device for various music instruments
Open platform for DIY audio projects
DIY Eurorack modules
Hardware:
The sound card is based on the AD1938 audio codec with 2 stereo ADCs and 4 stereo DACs of Analog Devices Inc. and was designed by CTAG Fachhochschule Kiel.
To control and use the sound card via I2S and SPI the BeagleBone Green was used due to its Multichannel Audio Serial Port (McASP) of the AM335X SoC, which supports up to 16 audio channels on a single data line.
Audio system characteristics (using TLV272 OPs):
Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise (THD+N) ~ -88 dB Dynamic Range (DNR) ~ 110 dB Crosstalk ~ -98 dB
Surround Delay Demo Audio Effect:
To demonstrate the possibilities of the audio system (using BeagleBone Green), a surround delay effect was created running in real-time with the open source C++ library DSPatch of Marcus Tomlinson.
The following figure gives an overview of the signal flow, using the developed audio hardware and software drivers:
Every component has its own adjustable parameters, such as delay time, delay feedback, mix and so forth.
Moreover support for generic MIDI controllers was added to DSPatch to control effect parameters in real-time.
Signals are generated using a DAW (in this case Bitwig) on the host PC, sent to the analog in of the audio system, processed on the BeagleBone and sent back to the host using the analog out of the system.
Ongoing:
Implementation of Linux USB audio gadget to use audiosystem as external soundcard on several operating systems via USB
Project Logs:
Updated SD-Card image with most recent versions of JACK and SuperCollider
Soundcard drivers were merged to upstream BeagleBoard Linux kernel
Successful participation in Google Summer of Code 2016 CTAG face2|4 Audio Card drivers has been ported to BeagleBoard-X15 (AM5728) Library for signal operations using C66x DSPs (integrated in AM5728)
Detailed article:
The complete document (bachelor thesis), which covers some basic knowledge and the development and evaluation process as well, is published here (currently only available in German).
*There’s an optimized revision of the I2S soundcard already, so the audio system characteristics in the attached document are obsolete. The correct values are mentioned above.
Authors: Henrik Langer, Robert ManzkeTreasury Secretary Tim Geithner listens to a reporter's question during a news conference at the United Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 31, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Cohn
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will meet with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan in Beijing on Thursday on his way home from financial partnership talks in India, a U.S. Treasury spokesman said on Wednesday.
“The meeting will take place on Thursday, April 8, and it will be closed press,” said the spokesman, Andrew Williams.
“The secretary and the vice premier have been working together to find an opportunity to meet in person for some time. The meeting was confirmed yesterday,” he said.
Williams declined to talk about the meeting’s subject matter and said there would be no further statements about it. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Tony Munroe)| by Jason Allen |
A newly updated plan for the Mirvish+Gehry development on King Street West was released by developer Projectcore this week. Originally announced last October to much fanfare [after the story first broke here on UrbanToronto], the mammoth development proposal became the talk of the town. It will see nothing less than the entire remake of part of King Street West between Simcoe and John. Three Gehry towers will replace low-rise brick warehouse office buildings and the Princess of Wales Theatre. The new buildings will contain condos, a new OCADU campus, and gallery space to house David and Audrey Mirvish's significant collection of modern art.
The three towers of the David Mirvish Frank Gehry King Street West development in Toronto, image courtesy of Gehry and Partners
Now, for anyone who believed the original towers didn't go Gehry enough (not unlike some of the criticism he received for the design restraint shown at the AGO), your concerns have been heard. Gehry has doubled down here with a cohesive look of light and cloud glazing across the podium as well as the towers themselves. The three, at 82, 86 and 84 storeys from west to east, now comprise a true triptych, separate but clearly together.
Street level detail of the Mirvish and Gehry King Street West development in Toronto,
|
, the other end of the spring would be released to move backward, pushing on the bolt and bolt carrier, unlocking and cycling the action. This gave the rifle a very light felt recoil impulse, and also buffered the bolt from potential over-pressure cartridges.
The Farquhar-Hill was chambered for the.303 British cartridge, and in its military form fed from 19-round drum magazines. A large order for 100,000 rifles was placed by the British military, but cancelled when WW1 ended. A small number of the rifles were sold in the military pattern as well as in box magazines fed sporting patterns, but Farquhar was more interested in pursuing military contracts, and would continue to work with machine gun designs going into the 1920s.
Thanks to the Institute of Military Technology for giving me access to these two rifles: http://www.instmiltech.com
http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forgotten-weaponsA Utah woman will be the plaintiff and the defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit that has legal experts scratching their heads.
Barbara Bagley was driving her family's Range Rover Dec. 27, 2011 on Interstate 80 near Battle Mountain, Nev., when it slid on sagebrush on Interstate 80, and flipped. Her husband, Bradley Vom Baur, was sent flying from the vehicle, suffered major injuries and died nearly two weeks later in a hospital, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Bagley, 48, suffered a concussion, broken ribs, a shattered wrist and two punctured lungs. One of her dogs, a Shetland sheepdog named Dooley, ran from the scene and wandered the desert for 53 days before being found.
Now, a Utah court has ruled Bagley, the representative of her late husband's estate, may sue Bagley the driver in the fatal accident for wrongful death. In her suit, Bagley accuses herself of being negligent for failing to maintain a proper lookout and to keep her vehicle under proper control. She seeks an unspecified amount of money for damages that include medical and funeral expenses; loss of past and future financial support; the physical pain her husband suffered before he died from his injuries; and the loss of his love and companionship.
The lawsuit boils down to the definition of 'of another.' A Utah appeals court essentially agreed with Bagley's definition that Bagley the driver is a separate party from Bagley the estate representative. Bagley the driver is represented by her insurance company and the suit, according to one legal expert, is likely an attempt for her to collect on an insurance payout.
"So basically she's suing herself so that the insurance recovery can follow," Shima Baradaran, a University of Utah law professor, told ABC4 News.
Baradaran called the case rare and "pretty ludicrous."
The case was dismissed last year but was reinstated by the Utah appeals court.
"The jury would be asked to determine how much money will fairly compensate Barbara Bagley for the harm she caused herself. The jury will be highly confused—it cannot order a person to compensate herself," defense attorneys stated in a motion to dismiss the suit, according to ABC4 News. It is unclear if the case will be appealed at the Utah Supreme Court.
The single-vehicle accident occurred about 225 miles east of Reno. Her reunification with Dooley made local headlines, and brought Bagley some solace.
"It was a horrible day for me," Bagley recalled at the time. "But something inside me told me Dooley was still alive out there. I wasn't 100 percent sure, but I didn't grieve for Dooley like I did for my husband and our other dog."
Fox News' Edmund DeMarche and The Associated Press contributed to this reportThe British government’s approach since 2010 of seeking to enhance the UK's relations with the world’s emerging powers while balancing these with relationships with the United States and Europe has had only limited success. With constrained resources, and in the face of intense global economic competition, mounting security challenges and decaying international institutions, trying to commit the UK equally on all three fronts will not succeed in the future.
This paper calls for a different mindset and strategy towards the UK’s place in the world – one in which Britain is surrounded by three concentric circles of influence:
The first or ‘inner circle’ is the EU, the region with which the UK’s relationships need to be strongest and most active.
The ‘second circle’ consists of the protective and enabling set of economic and security relationships with the US.
Finally, an ‘outer circle’ comprises the UK’s other key bilateral and institutional relationships.
Should the UK vote to remain in the EU, policy-makers should commit to placing the EU at the centre of Britain's foreign policy, using the country’s economic weight, diplomatic skills and networks to play a leading role in leveraging more effective EU-wide policies.
Should the country vote to leave, the UK and the EU would enter an extended period of dislocation before arriving at a new, mutually diminished settlement. British policy-makers would be forced to deal and negotiate with the EU on critical policy issues from the outside. It is hard to see how that could lead to EU policies or an international context more in line with British interests.
Despite its structural flaws and competing national interests, the EU offers the best prospects for managing the rapidly changing global context, for three main reasons:
First, it allows the UK to leverage the EU’s global economic weight to enhance the UK’s economic interests internationally, including securing beneficial trade agreements and contributing to EU and global standard-setting and rule-writing. Conversely, leaving would require the UK to renegotiate over 100 trade agreements, and would disadvantage UK interests in EU markets, including making EU governments less likely to liberalize services.
Second, it gives the UK a say in designing new EU initiatives to strengthen both British and European security in the face of diverse threats, whether managing the flow of refugees and other emigrants; combatting terrorism; or managing a more assertive Russia and the fallout from a disintegrating Middle East.
Third, cooperating with other EU members offers a way of maximizing opportunities to find joint solutions to shared problems, whether in terms of responding to climate change; managing growing cyber insecurity; reversing the decay of governance in failing states; or combating the rise of dangerous non-state actors.CLOSE Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad resigns at the state capitol before being sworn in as the next U.S. Ambassador to China.
Buy Photo Longtime Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, left, is sworn in as U.S. ambassador to China after he resigned the governorship Wednesday, May 24, 2017. (Photo: Rodney White/The Register)Buy Photo
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is now, officially, Ambassador Terry Branstad.
On his 8,169th day in office, the longest-serving governor in American history formally resigned the office and was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to China.
Branstad submitted his resignation before a small crowd of family, friends and staffers before immediately taking the oath of office, formalizing a long-awaited transition that has been in the works for nearly six months.
"There’s no better job in the world than being governor of the state that you love," Branstad said just before signing his letter of resignation. "But sometimes we’re called to serve in ways that we never imagined. And now, I’m pleased to present my letter of resignation as I prepare for this exciting new adventure as the United States Ambassador to the People's Republic of China.”
Branstad, 70, was administered the oath of office by 8th Circuit Court Judge Steven Colloton, the highest-ranking federal judge in Iowa, just two days after he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on an 82-13 vote.
MORE:
OBRADOVICH: Branstad was a 'political freak of nature'
Kim Reynolds becomes Iowa's first female governor
The ceremony, which was held in Branstad's formal office and live-streamed to a larger crowd in the Capitol's rotunda, was attended by top legislative leaders and state officials. Branstad's family, including his five oldest grandchildren, filled the front row while Department of Management Director David Roederer roamed the room manning a handheld video camera.
Branstad spoke from a lectern perched atop the desk he uses for formal bill signings and proclamations. Displayed behind him was a black and white signed photograph of Chinese diplomats on a visit to Iowa.
Those decades-old ties to China have helped propel Branstad into his new role as he hopes to leverage a longstanding friendship with current Chinese President Xi Jinping into better relations with one of the United States' biggest geopolitical rivals.
And although Branstad has previously discussed the challenges that await him in his new role, he took the opportunity Wednesday to look back at his career and reflect on his 22-year tenure as Iowa governor.
"We have worked tirelessly to deliver more jobs, higher incomes, better schools and a smaller, smarter government for the people of Iowa," he said. "We have worked together to improve our business climate, cut taxes, improve career prospects for our teachers, reduce the cost of health care, protect the unborn and safeguard our most dearly held freedoms.”
His administrations have led Iowa through the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, the prosperity of the 1990s and the post-Great Recession economic recovery of the past six years. In 2017, he oversaw a legislative session that brought "historic" change to Iowa as Republican majorities ushered in abortion restrictions, gun rights enhancements, collective bargaining reform and a host of other business-friendly laws.
"The future of our state is on a bright path thanks in part to the hard work and dedication of Terry Branstad," House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said in a statement. "The people of Iowa are thankful for all that he has done as we look forward to his next endeavor working for all Americans."
In China, Branstad will take on what he has called the "opportunity of a lifetime" as President Donald Trump’s top emissary to the nation's leading geopolitical rival.
During his confirmation hearing, members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee quizzed him on issues ranging from intellectual property theft to human rights violations and nuclear threats stemming from North Korea.
"I see this as probably the biggest challenge that I’ve ever had in my entire life," Branstad said during that hearing. "And I want to do anything and everything that I can to try to find an acceptable solution for the benefit of the entire human race.”
Branstad is succeeded in Iowa by his lieutenant governor, Kim Reynolds, who was sworn in after Branstad's resignation.
"No one has been better prepared to become governor than Kim Reynolds," Branstad said as Reynolds looked on from the front row, smiling. "I am thankful for the friendships we have made throughout the 99 counties of Iowa — friendships that we will always cherish. And I’m grateful for the prayers from Iowans who have encouraged me along the way."
Secretary of State Paul Pate officially accepted Branstad's resignation at 10:14 a.m.
“It has been a great honor to serve with Gov. Branstad for many years," Pate said in a statement. "He is one of the most dedicated public servants in U.S. history and one of the most hard-working individuals I have ever known. I am humbled to accept his resignation and pleased to officially notify Kim Reynolds of the vacancy and her subsequent ascendancy to the position of Governor and all the powers of the chief executive of the state of Iowa."
CLOSE Political columnist, Kathie Obradovich talks about Terry Branstad and his historic run as Iowa governor.
Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/2rhfANOEmber Data v1.0.0-beta.12 Released
New Core Contributors
Long-time contributors Brendan McLoughlin and Sylvain Mina have been given collaborator status and will help us triage issues, merge pull requests, and contribute bugfixes and documentation.
New Features
store.fetch
When using Ember Data, the most common pattern in the model hook is to call store.find for your model:
1 2 3 4 5 export default var PostRoute = Ember.Route.extend({ model : function (params) { return this.store.find('post ', params.post_id); } });
store.find will return the instance of the Post record if it has already been fetched in the store. Sometimes, this is not desirable. For example, you may not know if you have already loaded the post in another request via sideloading, or you want the most up to date information. You could either check if the record existed using store.hasRecordForId, or just always call reload on your model in the route's afterModel hook.
store.fetch wraps this common pattern by reloading a record if it exists in the store, or reloads the record if it doesn't exist:
1 2 3 model : function (params){ return this.store.fetch('post ', params.post_id); }
Please give a warm thanks to Tom Coquereau for his pull request implementing this feature!
Bugfixes
relationship.createRecord() returns the record instead of a promise
Prior to Ember Data v1.0.0-beta.11, the following code would give you direct access to a record:
1 2 var post = store.createRecord('post'); var comment = post.get('comments').createRecord('comment');
In beta.11, it returned a Promise, meaning you couldn't call things like set/get on the resulting record. This regression has been fixed in beta.12 thanks to Sébastien Grosjean.
Breaking Changes
Internet Explorer 8 Requires Ember 1.8
A bug in Ember 1.7's Ember.create method (which is a polyfill for Object.create ) combined with a bug in es5-shim's Object.create prevent us from giving Ember Data users a good alternative to use. Internally, Ember Data uses Object.create for efficient caches. Ember 1.8 ships a working Object.create polyfill on Ember.create so if you are using Internet Explorer 8 and Ember Data in production, you should upgrade to Ember 1.8 as soon as you can.
If you are using browsers that provide Object.create, you do not need to do any additional work here. This includes mobile browsers, evergreen browsers (Chrome, Opera, Firefox), Safari, and IE9+.
Ember 1.7 Support Will Be Completely Dropped in Beta.13
Ember Data relies heavily on JavaScript language-level shims (such as the Object.create issue mentioned above) and other useful internals that Ember provides. Rather than creating our own detection algorithms and more polyfills for broken code in Ember 1.7, we are deciding to drop 1.7 support in the next release of Ember Data. We do so in order to not increase the final size of Ember Data's build. You should upgrade to Ember 1.8 as soon as you can.
Observing data For Changes Has Been Removed
Although model.get('data') has been private in Ember Data for a long time, we have noticed users may subscribe to changes on data for any change to the model's attributes. This means that the following code:
1 2 3 4 5 var Post = DS.Model.extend({ doSomethingWhenDataChanges : function (){ }.property('data') });
no longer works. Instead, you should just watch each attribute like you would with any Ember.Object :
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 var Post = DS.Model.extend({ name : DS.attr(), date : DS.attr(), doSomethingWhenDataChanges : function (){ }.property('name ','date') });
This change fixed some bugs around observers. Thanks to Christoffer Persson for helping to clean this up and fix some observer bugs around this!
Special Thanks
Thanks to Christoffer Persson for helping us implement bugfixes and API changes, as well as triaging issues.The British government has confirmed that it is ordering an extensive review of Rupert Murdoch's $15 billion planned takeover of Sky TV.
U.K. culture secretary Karen Bradley said Thursday that she had asked regulators to examine the takeover because of concerns over 21st Century Fox's (FOXA) "genuine commitment to broadcasting standards" and the increased influence the deal would give the Murdoch family over British media.
The Competition and Markets Authority now has 24 weeks to investigate the Fox-Sky deal. That means it won't happen before March 2018, if at all.
"I must then come to a final decision on whether or not the merger can proceed, including any conditions that will apply in order to do so," Bradley said in a statement.
Bradley had previously voiced concerns that the combined company would have the third largest reach of any news provider in the U.K., uniquely spanning television, radio, newspapers and digital publications. She raised new concerns on Tuesday about the company's commitment to broadcasting standards.
James Murdoch, Rupert's younger son and CEO of 21st Century Fox, said Thursday that Britain's impending divorce from the European Union made it "more important than ever" for the country to welcome investment.
"If the U.K. truly is 'open for business' post Brexit, we look forward to moving through the regulatory review process and this transformative transaction for the U.K. creative sector becoming an affirmation of that claim," he said.
A group of British lawmakers recently pressured Bradley to examine accusations of sexual harassment against former Fox News boss Roger Ailes and former star host Bill O'Reilly.
In a letter to the government official in July, the lawmakers argued that an initial review by Britain's media regulator had failed to address whether Sky's news division was at risk of becoming more like the American news channel.
"In the era of fake news it is all the more important we protect trusted news sources from getting into the wrong hands," former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband wrote on Monday in the London Evening Standard. "How can we possibly trust the Murdochs with total control of Sky News?"
Bradley reserved judgment on whether the "Foxification" of Sky News was a real danger, but said the issue might merit further consideration.
She did say that further review of 21st Century Fox's governance was warranted, as well as the procedures the company had in place for ensuring its broadcast of Fox News in the U.K. complied with broadcasting standards.
Fox announced in August that its controversial news channel would no longer be broadcast in the U.K. after failing to attract an audience.
Murdoch's media group said it was "disappointed" by Tuesday's announcement, adding it did not believe that Bradley had grounds to question its broadcasting standards. It urged her to take a final decision quickly.
O'Reilly and Ailes, who died in May, both denied the allegations against them.
Bradley said Thursday that Fox and Sky had decided against making further substantive responses to her concerns and therefore she was ordering an immediate review.
Related: U.K. officials find'significant failings' at Fox News over sex harassment claims
This is Murdoch's second attempt to buy Sky. A previous bid collapsed in 2012 in the wake of a phone-hacking scandal at his British newspapers.
Fox will have to pay Sky £200 million ($265 million) as a break fee if the new deal falls apart.
Sky (SKYAY) has 22 million customers in five European markets: Italy, Germany, Austria, the U.K. and Ireland.
Its stock was trading around £9.32 ($12.30) per share in London on Thursday, roughly 13% below the price Fox has offered for the 61% of the company it does not already own.Some of the greatest players disc golf has ever seen are helping the Australian Disc Golf Championships (ADGC) raise funds for Cancer Council Tasmania.
Between them, these superstars of the sport have won 29 Pro World Championships and 15 United States Disc Golf Championships!
Check the list! – Ken Climo, Paul McBeth, Nate Doss, Valarie Doss, Barry Schultz, Harold Duvall, Dave Feldberg, Will Schusterick, Avery Jenkins, Nikko Locastro, Cameron Todd, Ricky Wysocki, Nate Sexton and Michael Johansen.
Fundraising auction for Cancer Council Tasmania
The fundraising activity is an online auction of autographed 2015 Australian Championships posters.
There are five ADGC posters to be auctioned on ebay and these posters bear the signatures of these great players.
Poster #1
Signatures: Ken Climo, Paul McBeth, Nate Doss, Barry Schultz, Harold Duvall, Dave Feldberg, Will Schusterick, Avery Jenkins, Nikko Locastro, Cameron Todd, Ricky Wysocki, Nate Sexton and Michael Johannsen.
Auction status: SOLD $125.50
Poster #2
Signatures: Nate Doss and Valarie Jenkins.
Auction status: LIVE view item on Ebay
Poster #3
Signature: Paul McBeth
Auction status: LIVE view item on Ebay
Poster #4
Signature: Ken Climo
Auction status: LIVE view item on Ebay
Poster #5
Signatures: Ken Climo, Paul McBeth, Nate Doss, Barry Schultz, Harold Duvall, Dave Feldberg, Will Schusterick, Avery Jenkins, Nikko Locastro, Cameron Todd, Ricky Wysocki, Nate Sexton and Michael Johansen.
Auction status: LIVE view item on Ebay
International bids welcome
The auction is open to anyone anywhere in the world.
The posters will be carefully rolled and placed in mailing tubes and posted to the winning bidder.
Special thanks
The tournament would like to thank all the players who have supported this auction and also to Jordan Wheeler from the Perth Disc Golf Club who did such a great job collecting the signatures.
Please share
Please help spread the word about this fundraising activity, the more disc golfers that see it, the better chance we have of raising a good amount of money for Cancer Council Tasmania.More than 9,000 suspected terrorist plots against European countries have been discovered in recent years, according to German intelligence services. Security experts revealed in a report, seen by the Sunday Times, most of the recent cases are linked to migration of late 2015, when Germany opened its borders to Middle Eastern refugees to avoid a humanitarian emergency. The country registered 1.6 million asylum seekers in total around that time. Since 2015 police have received more than 1,900 reliable tip-offs about terrorists among the refugee population.
GETTY Merkel’s Open Door migrant policy has made Germany the TERRORIST HUB of Europe – security services
“No one knows exactly how many asylum seekers have left Germany without being registered Peter Altmaier
More than 70 investigations are underway, with authorities carrying out an average of three to four house searches a week. Many of America’s considerable intelligence resources in Germany are focusing on terror threats emanating from migrant communities. Germany has become Europe’s prime “terror hub”, intelligence sources said. With ISIS facing defeat in Syria, many more migrants are likely to travel by boat from Libya or Egypt to Europe, according to the intelligence sources whose electronic surveillance tools are trained on the route.
GETTY Germany has become Europe’s prime 'terror hub', intelligence sources said
Although the German authorities have evidence that about 25 ISIS terrorists have infiltrated the stream of refugees to attack Europe, the majority of those arrested are young men who became radicalised in Germany after communicating with ISIS handlers over social media. Tens of thousands of migrants were granted asylum in 2016 without being interviewed by authorities. More than two-thirds of the 1.6 million refugees in Germany are male and more than half arrived without any form of identification, according to official estimates.
Migrant crisis: Key locations before and after Tue, April 4, 2017 In these composite images, a comparison has been made between a scene at a key location during the height of the 2015 migrant crisis last year and the view there now Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 10 Aid workers help migrants up the shore after making the crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on November 16, 2015 in Sikaminias, GreeceSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is attempting to assuage the concerns that conservative activists have raised as late regarding the languid pace of judicial confirmations.
According to the Judicial Conference of the United States, 149 vacancies currently exist in the federal courts. President Donald Trump has named 50 judicial nominees since taking office, submitting a slate of approximately 10 candidates every month. Thus far, the Senate has confirmed just seven, including Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The president’s nominating pace is astoundingly fast compared to recent administrations. Former President Barack Obama named just 10 judicial nominees during his first year in office, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Former President George Bush named only four. Former President Bill Clinton’s only judicial nomination during his first year was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As such, the Senate has not been made to contend with so many nominees at this early stage of a presidency in modern history.
Still, conservative think tanks and advocacy groups like the Heritage Foundation and the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) have registered their complaints with GOP leaders, fearing the dispirited Republican Senate caucus will forfeit an unprecedented opportunity to reshape the federal courts.
To this end, JCN planned to put $250,000 behind a digital advertising campaign in the Washington, D.C. market, urging McConnell to abolish procedural rules and traditions allowing Democrats to stymie judicial nominees, or stage marathon confirmation sessions to approve as many nominees as possible.
McConnell’s office intervened, and promised to huddle with the group in the near future.
“The campaign, including the advertising, is in a holding pattern for now because Leader McConnell’s office has reached out and wants to have discussions about how best to proceed in the coming months in order to avoid the kind of judicial confirmations bottleneck that the groups are concerned about,” a spokesman for the group told Politico.
McConnell has also endorsed the abolition of the last procedural mechanism by which the minority party may block nominees to the federal appeals courts. The majority leader told The New York Times in September that he is prepared to do away with blue slips, an informal but enduring Senate convention by which senators representing states where judicial vacancies occur are given some deference as to whether nominees for that seat will proceed. By tradition, the Senate Judiciary Committee will not schedule a hearing for a judicial nominee until the relevant home state senators return blue slips.
“My personal view is that the blue slip, with regard to circuit court appointments, ought to simply be a notification of how you’re going to vote, not the opportunity to blackball,” he said.
He has also denounced Democratic obstruction on the Senate floor. When speaking before the confirmation of Judge Ralph Erickson to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, McConnell criticized Democrats for erecting needless procedural obstacles for consensus nominees.
“As I’ve noted before, the opposition they’ve shown to these nominees most of the time seems to have little to do with the nominees themselves, nor whether or not Democrats even support them — in many cases, our Democratic colleagues actually do support the nominees,” he said. “This has got to stop.”
Erickson was subsequently confirmed on a 95-1 vote after Democrats insisted on a cloture motion.
A final decision about the practice rests with GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democratic senators are currently withholding blue slips for several judicial nominees, including 8th Circuit nominee Justice David Stras and 9th Circuit nominee Ryan Bounds.
There are almost a dozen unfilled appellate vacancies arising from states with at least one Democratic senator. As such, it seems that a final confrontation over blue slips is inevitable.
The Senate is not in session this week.
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By Clementine Mills
A Socialist mate of mine once told me there were more pandas in Edinburgh Zoo than there were Tory MPs in the whole of Scotland. I told him there were more pandas in Wellington Zoo than there were lesbians in the whole of New Zealand. Or at least that’s how it felt as I clambered through adolescence in straight, suburban Auckland.
So you can imagine the bright-lights-big-city-hallelujah-montage moment when I moved to Australia aged 18 and set my little suitcase down in Newtown; all of the Birthdays and all of the Christmases rolled into one beautiful, tattoo covered, Smiths t-shirt clad, lesbian utopia.
But it wasn’t just the locals that hooked me, it was every damn thing about the place – it was boho heaven. People were impossibly friendly and open and they always looked after the little guy; a grass roots mentality meets a Woodstock culture somehow avoiding the hipster pretension, irreverently authentic and independent.
All Mecca, no Maccas if you will.
That was six years ago; Newtown today is a different place. I mean sure it still looks pretty much the same. There is still a shop devoted entirely to selling buttons – literally just buttons – that has magically survived the GFC; the skateboarding dude with the mohawk and the gargantuan snake draped around his shoulders like a terrifying scarf still cruises round from time to time; the old fella on the mobility scooter blasting Elvis from his stereo still rips up King St on a Friday night.
But the energy has shifted; the utopia’s been shattered and I don’t feel safe anymore.
Now before you call me a hippy harping on about bad vibes and some “I knew this place before it was cool” diatribe, I promise you it’s not like that; just let me talk you through one week in Newtown in 2015.
Sunday: I’m standing at the corner of King and Enmore with my girlfriend and a bus driver pulls up, opens his doors and shouts: “Can I watch?” drawing everyone’s attention to us. You’re in Newtown mate, you’re going to have a very long morning if you need to stop and yell out that corker of a pick up line every time you see a couple of lesbians.
Tuesday: It’s about 10pm and from my house on Mary St I see a man yelling at a group of girls. He throws a barrage of expletives their way. Then he calls them dykes. The girls turn around and he legs it back to Kelly’s. What a champion.
Thursday: I’m kissing my girlfriend goodbye and a guy comes up, wraps his hands forcibly around the backs of both of our necks, pushes our heads closer together and whispers “Yeah girls! I love it!” right in our faces. He laughs and continues on his seedy bar crawl without a backwards glance.
Friday: Stephanie McCarthy was due to play bass in her band at the Town Hall Hotel. Throughout the night a group of narrow-minded boy-men were giving her grief for being a trans woman. The men attacked Stephanie in an unmistakable act of transphobia.
Of course, a large percentage of people reading this will be more than familiar with Stephanie McCarthy’s ordeal and anyone who saw the heartbreaking photos that she posted on Twitter of the cuts and bruises that covered her face the morning after the attack will need no reminding of how that event shook our community.
The lock-out laws have brought a completely different type of people through to Newtown. The violence and fragile masculinity of King’s Cross has now seeped into this open, peaceful and accordingly assailable landscape. This new hybrid nightlife was never going to work. And when the inevitable conflicts do occur, time and time again we see them swept under the rug, the violence is palmed off with a blasé “boys will be boys” slap on the wrist – a social blind spot that is still so present in Australian culture.
In Berlin they don’t stand for this shit (Let’s face it, in Berlin they don’t stand for any shit – the McDonalds in Kreuzberg has been burned down by anarchist punks about three times now). Before Berghain became one of the most popular clubs in the world, it originally opened as the reincarnation of Ostgut- the legendary male-only gay fetish night. While Ostgut still happens once or twice a year, the club has now opened its doors predominantly to the mainstream. And though the history of the club goes right over the heads of the throngs of teenagers off their little tits on MDMA, the safety and integrity of the community remains uncompromised.
Berghain is infamously one of the hardest clubs to get into and it has nothing to do with what’s coursing through your bloodstream or the club reaching maximum capacity; it has everything to do with how the bouncer reads your energy. You just need to take one look at Sven Marquardt, the resident Berghain doorman, to know that if you’re a pack of homophobic, macho dickheads looking to start trouble, you are guaranteed to be turned away and walking back up that long dirt track with your cock between your legs.
Marquardt said in an interview with GQ Magazine (certainly the first and most probably the last time I’ll ever visit that website): “I feel like I have a responsibility to make Berghain a safe place for people who come purely to enjoy the music and celebrate—to preserve it as a place where people can forget about space and time for a little while and enjoy themselves.
Sing it Sven!
Where is our ultra cool guardian-bouncer-angel to protect Newtown from the impending plague of cretins and keep the local community safe? Even with the recent round of musical chairs in parliament, that seat remains depressingly empty.
Because the thing is: when you take any of the events from my week and consider them in isolation, they are just incredibly common examples of the discrimination that LGBTQI people around the world face on a daily basis. Transphobic and homophobic violence is reported with terrifying frequency across the U.S; queer people growing up in Uganda are bombarded with homophobic propaganda that places gay people in synonymity with pedophiles and lunatics; there are still pockets of the world that can legally “cure” people of their homosexuality as if the 1950’s never ended.
When you view the recent and ongoing decline of Newtown’s queer safe-space in the context of the grander scheme of things, it’s easy to get complacent; it’s easy to say “Wow, I’m being a real ungrateful, insular, privileged piece of shit right now, we really don’t have it that bad.”
But that’s the first mistake.
Experiences are relative but ethics and justice are not. We’re all fighting the same fight and it sure isn’t over just because we have gay bars and pride parades. The progress that LGBTQI activists have made over the past fifty years is astounding, but we have to keep it moving, we have to keep asking for what we need and want and we have to keep calling bullshit on anything that threatens what so many people have fought so hard for.There are topics that get the Action 2 News social media audience talking, but few inspire as much ire as roundabouts. Well, get this: Right now there are hundreds of experts in Green Bay from as far away as Germany and Japan attending a three-day conference that's entirely about roundabouts.
“Green Bay's probably the highest concentration of high-capacity roundabouts at interchanges, and that means that we can deal with the trucks, and the pedestrians, and the bicycles and the heavy traffic mass,” said Mark Lenters, Roundabout Practice Leader at Ourston. “And there's not many places in the country where you have that much of a concentration of high capacity roundabouts."
Cities are looking to Green Bay as they try to introduce roundabouts to drivers who may not have experienced them before.
For example, people in the state of Minnesota will soon hear the song and dance the Wisconsin DOT created for Northeast Wisconsinites five years ago. “The jingle, it's really hard to get out of your head,” laughed Mark Kantola of the Wisconsin DOT, singing, “Take it slow, take it slow!”
Roundabouts in the U.S. are much different than those in Europe which have been around for centuries.
“In Europe we mostly use the smaller roundabouts, the single-lane roundabouts, because they are the safest ones,” said Werner Brilon of Ettlingen, Germany. “We do not favor the large roundabouts as they are here in the United States."
This convention is in its fifth year and was held in Carmel, Indiana -- a suburb of Indianapolis -- last year. "It was time for the committee to invite the world to come and see what Green Bay has done. So Carmel... eat your heart out!” laughed Lenters.click to enlarge Susan Chambers, "Induced demand"
Metroplan
more environmental
Metroplan
be
The board of directors ofvoted today to approve an amendment to its long-range transportation plan to allow the state highway department toin downtown Little Rock. The highway department still needs to weed through environmental assessments and chose a contractor, but the amendment's passage jumps a bureaucratic hurdle in what has become an acrimonious discussion over the widening of I-30.The environmental study is scheduled to be completed by early 2018. If there are findings of significant environmental impact, there will beanalysis conducted, but it will not necessarily halt the project.While the amendment was supported by thestaff, it was harshly criticized in public meetings. Out of 118 public comments on the amendment, only seven spoke favorably of the amendment. The environmental impact study will require another public meeting. The Regional Planning Advisory Council, which advises Metroplan, also voted 10 to 8 to not support the amendment."We're headed down the path of a major widening of an interstate highway that cuts through the middle of our most populous area," said Jarod Varner, executive director of Rock City Metro, and the sole member of the Metroplan board to vote against the amendment. "It's going to lead our cities to design for cars and not people."Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola was the only other member of the board to speak on the amendment, which he defended at length, saying he had to be "pragmatic" while dealing with the "many, many competing issues.""If we could do this all over again, the highway probably wouldn't be where it is now," he said. "I've got to analyze this in this in terms of, 'Is what we are moving towards better than what we've got now?'""I think we've got some opportunities here," Stodola said.But, there has been a growing disagreement between RPAC — which has repeatedly questioned the expansion of I-30 — and the Metroplan board. Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton, a member of RPAC, told the board the "democratic process is something more and more people expect to be a part of." She advised them, while not voicing either approval or disapproval of the amendment, that the opinions of the community and RPAC should not "merely [exist] to check off a federally required box.""It's very important that the processinclusive of the fact that there are citizens in the community who care about this and who want to have a voice
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loops with a 16-bar intro before the drop. If they wanted tracks for that weekend, they'd just go and cut them as they were, because they weren't going to play them for more than 32 bars. You don't need to make a seven-minute epic when you only ever play the first minute.
"I was young, and gassed, so I rolled up to a party on my moped with my tunes one night when I was 16 years old, and went back to back with Benga – and we fucking smashed it up" – Chef
CHEF: I used to hear about this boy called Benga. People were like, "Yeah, this kid Benga, he's the boy wonder. He's 13 years old and he mixes like EZ." I was like; "I'll see it when I believe it." My mate had a UKG crew that I DJ'd with, and he said that I should do a clash with Smooth Criminals, which was Benga and Skream. I bumped into them at a house party and Artwork came up to me and said, "I've heard about you, Chef. A lot of people are rating you." I was young, and gassed, so I rolled up to a party on my moped with my tunes one night when I was 16, and went back to back with Benga – and we fucking smashed it up. We ended up playing together everywhere – in snooker clubs, house parties – after that.
SKREAM: We'd just turn up and take over at these parties, like fucking bass vigilantes. They'd book one of us, and 15 of us would turn up. There was a place called Bar Rendezvous, and I made a bootleg of Cleptomaniac's "All I Do" for a party there. It was a cover of the Stevie Wonder tune, but I made a bootleg of the flip, the Bump N Flex Dub; with this long intro on it, with me talking all pitched down on it. I'll never forget that.
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CHAPTER FOUR: "Bottom line: dubplates keep you in the room."
Mala at Black Sheep Bar, Croydon
CHAPTER BIOS:
Loefah: A producer, DJ and one of the core members of the DMZ club night and label, he also runs the Swamp81 label.
Joe Nice: Baltimore, Maryland-based DJ who started the first dubstep party in America, Dub War.
Chef: A dub cutter and engineer at Croydon's Transition Studios, he was also one of the early core DJs of the dubstep scene, joining Skream and Benga's Smooth Criminals crew as a teenager.
Mala: One of the founding members of the London-based DMZ club night and label, he's also one half of the production duo Digital Mystikz, along with Coki, as well as a solo DJ and producer.
Jason Goslin, AKA Jason Goz: The master engineer and dub cutter at Croydon's Transition Studios, Jason is regarded as essential to the creation of the dubstep sound.
Sgt Pokes: The main MC for the DMZ club nights, Sgt Pokes has MC'd dubstep parties for over 15 years.
LOEFAH: Transition is a cutting house based in Forest Hill, near where we lived in south London. We heard that's where Grooverider got his dubs cut, and that was enough for us, frankly, so I started going there in probably 2003. There were rules: you only paid for your own dubs if you wanted them for yourself. If Hatcha wanted one of my tracks to play out, he'd have to pay to get it cut to dub, and then that was his copy. It all depended on what rate you were on, too: I was on 25 quid for two sides of a 10-inch, 30 quid for a 12-inch. They swapped from 10-inch to 12-inch 'cause they "ran out" of 10-inch, around 2005-06, but that was a step up. Going back to 10-inch might have made us look cheap, y'know?
JOE NICE: I started pressing and stayed on 10-inch because it was less expensive but, for me, when I was playing the early Dub War parties, it was as much a visual cue as anything else. If someone sees me pull out something that doesn't look the same size from a distance, they're thinking, "Yo, is that a 10-inch? Yooo, 10-inch are dubplates. Yooo, Joe Nice has a dubplate? Oh shit – I gotta hear what this brother's gonna play." Bottom line: dubplates keep you in the room.
Jason Gosling, AKA Jason Goz, the master engineer and dub cutter at Transition Studios, London (Photo via Discogs)
CHEF: I was cutting dubs at Transition, and I saw that Jason [Goz], the master engineer, was looking to bring someone in to be a trainee. I said to him straight up, "That's my job, you can take that advert down." I was cutting dubs from 17-years old – I remember my first was Skream "Bubble", with Benga "Blood" on the flip. Jason really helped get the best out of not just me, but everyone.
MALA: It was very important for me to be part of finishing a track, and that meant going to Jason: hearing the difference between my finished version and Jason's version; seeing what subtle changes in frequencies he'd adjusted, what compression or limiting he might have applied. It was, and still is, expensive, but back then it was overtime money that was paying for my dubplates, so if you're paying 30 or 40 quid for two tracks, you'd got to be damn sure that those tracks were as good as they could possibly be.
What I learned most from Jason is that certain frequencies just won't translate on vinyl – and if you roll off, roll off and roll off the bottom end, it actually gets heavier. The one that sticks out the most is "Anti War Dub". I actually sampled that tune: there's a full song of "Anti War Dub", with verse and lyrics at a different tempo, which Coki recorded in Jamaica with [vocalist] Spen G. I time-stretched and sampled the vocal, so the version everyone knows sounds totally different from Coki's version. With my version, I remember Jason saying, "I don't need to do anything to this." I remember him saying he thought I nailed it.
LOEFAH: When I took "Twis Up" to Jason I'd been panning my bass, which is a real no-no, but I was trying to be clever and throw basslines across the club. When I gave it to Jason, he turned around in his chair and said, "We're going to have to cut this mono you know, bruv" – and I felt like such an idiot. Jason wouldn't tell you what to do, but if you asked the right questions – "How could I make my bass sound tighter?"; "Would it be a good idea to compress it, or limit it?" – he'd vibes with you. And not just for the quality of the sound, either: it's the way the tracks were built. Jason would get solid bottom ends, and the hard crack of a snare out of you. Other engineers may have tried to round those elements off, to make it more of a "poppier" mixdown, but he got it.
JASON GOZ: When I started out cutting for the reggae soundsystems it used to take me forever, and there was a lot of financial commitment involved. It took me four hours to cut a dub with four tracks on it once, and my brother said, "It's taken you four hours to earn 35 quid, are you mad?" I wasn't a mastering engineer. I wasn't even a dub cutter. I'd spend six months working to get money to buy a box of dubs, which was 220 quid at the time, then cut them and go home depressed because they didn't sound good. I learned to cut by playing them myself and not liking what I heard.
It worked out for everyone in the long run, though. I was learning when dubstep was beginning to grow, and it was perfect for all of us because there weren't any rules – and by the time dubstep had come into its own, I knew the sound that I was looking for. The thing that I loved most about dubstep was the bass – and historically, engineers are scared of bass. The sound of wood vibrating is my favourite sound in the world. I used to stand in [influential bi-monthly Brixton dubstep night, run by Loefah, Mala, Coki and Sgt Pokes]DMZ and think, 'I wonder what the foundations of this building are like?' – because the building was physically shaking.
Want to read more about dubstep and other dance music? Lucky you, we've got a whole website dedicated to it.
Towards the end of the peak of garage, I was cutting for people like Hatcha – when he was in a crew called Stonecold GX Crew, I believe – and he started bringing me this new stuff which he just referred to as "more tribal". He'd cut a few garage pieces with me and then slip that Something Else in, until gradually the focus became more and more about this Something Else. He was without a doubt the first person to bring dubstep to Transition.
There were times when I'd go out to a club, hear a track that I'd cut, then ring up the producer on the Monday and say, "I've cut it for you again." They'd be shocked – "What? Why?" "I didn't like the way it sounded," I'd tell them – and I wouldn't charge them for it again, either. If that dub is leaving Transition with my name on it, it has to be perfect. I've had so many arguments with sound engineers in nightclubs, and with other producers, too: people asking me to re-create Mala, Loefah, Coki. When DMZ blew up, it nearly gave me a nervous breakdown. I'd be getting 15, 20 calls a day while pulling a 70-hour week.
Because of that, at the time, I was always aware of the fact that if this sound got really big, I couldn't cut every dubstep record that came out – so I held the levels back. I didn't cut them too loud. I didn't make the music too un-dynamic because, physically, it needed somewhere to go. A lot of current pop is really loud, so for a given level on your hi-fi, it screams at you. An old Bob Marley track isn't as loud, though. It's dynamic: peaks and troughs, loud parts and quiet parts. That's what I mean when I say I held back, because there's only a certain point before it's no longer listenable.
Everyone came to Transition, but some really stood out. Benga was coming to me when he was 15 years old. I remember sitting there, in the studio, and I said to him, "You know what, bruv? I'm going to give you a discount. I can't believe you're saving your dinner money to cut dubs." Then there was when Kode9 came to me with Burial's music, and said, "Don't take too much time on it. He doesn't want too much processing," so I just made it presentable.
A lot of electronic music at the time was too computerised for me – quantized, even – but Burial reminded me of how Robbie from Sly and Robbie played bass. When he wants to hype it up, he'll sometimes play in front of the drum note, others on the note, sometimes behind the note – all to create mood. That's why I loved it when Kode9 brought me Burial's music: life isn't on the beat.
SGT POKES: When we turned up to play the big drum and bass raves with our boxes of dubs, Roni Size and his lot would turn up with their CD wallets, clock us, and be like, "These kids have got bags full of fucking dubplates. They're not mucking about." People used to talk about elitism and audiophilia with dubplate exclusivity, but the ability to keep a tune alive – and keep it on dubplate, white label and test pressing, for 18 months or more – was important. Like Coki's "Burnin'". I remember hearing it a few days before a DMZ and thinking, 'This is going to smash up the place.' In the club, drop it – four pull-ups. Skream and Benny play it – two pull-ups. By the end of the night, people were still screaming for it.
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CHAPTER FIVE: "We felt that we had the right to be precious."
Loefah, Mala and Coki at DMZ
CHAPTER BIOS:
Oris Jay: Also known as Darqwuan, the Sheffield-based producer and DJ helped to lead the breaks element of the dubstep sound.
Youngsta: Widely recognised as one of dubstep's key DJs.
Loefah: A producer, DJ and one of the core members of the DMZ club night and label, he also runs the Swamp81 label.
Martin Clark: A London-based journalist and DJ who has worked for a variety of UK publications and now runs the Keysound label and club night.
ORIS JAY: The culture of sharing tracks in the early days was a very special one. If you were in the Ammunition crew, you'd go through Sarah Lockhart. You have to imagine her as the early version of the internet for us: our "Soulja". Sarah would say, "I'm only going to give this tune to you and three other people, but I'll take your tune to this DJ and that DJ to play out." I'd give her a DAT tape, she'd take it down to the cutting house, and tell them who can get what depending on where and when they're playing.
If I wanted a Skream tune, I'd have to go from Sheffield to London, then to Croydon to meet Skream, where he'd give me a DAT tape. I'd take that tape to the cutting house, wait in the queue, and cut the dub without knowing what it'd sound like. You don't even know if it'll sound right till you played it: on the radio was cool, but it was how it sounded in FWD>>, on that soundsystem, that mattered most. Even if the dub costs 40 quid, I've probably spent double that trying to get to London, the cutting house, and back again, but you told yourself it was worth doing because when you played that dub out that night, you could be certain that no one else in the world had it.
YOUNGSTA: I know we would have to meet on road, so I'd meet Mala and Coki at Victoria station and they'd gave me dubplates that they'd cut for me. Since I was the DJ, they wanted to give it to me as a present. If they didn't give us their music they weren't going to get released and booked, so it was in both our interests. By a certain point I was only playing tracks by maybe four or five producers – Skream, Benga, Coki, some D1 bits – but I built a very close relationship with Loefah.
I met Loefah in 2002 at a Hatcha gig at the Egg club, near Kings Cross. By that point, Mala and Loefah had given their beats to Hatcha, and had come down to the night to hear them played out. A lot of people were saying that it was too minimal; that it wasn't "worthy" of a club, but that's what we were buzzing out to. The garage slowly disappeared from my sets as Loefah progressed, and it got to the point where we were both in so deep with one another.
LOEFAH: People were getting annoyed with us. It took about a year for people to start to get a physical groove with my tracks, but that was the best thing about it: it had vague influences, but nothing overt enough that it could be grasped right away. We wanted there to be no discernible garage influence at all. We were fed up with all the skippiness. We'd had ten years of breaks, from hardcore, jungle and drum and bass, so we started with half-step beats. I'd play tracks down the phone to Youngsta every night, and he was very critical. He'd be like, "Take that hi-hat out"; "That's too loud," telling me how to mix down over the phone.
Half-step was intricate. The backbone of it would be a kick and a snare on the half-time, so quite regular, and in between it would be this mad percussion; rattling off itself in the negative space, as a form of call and response. I see the space in between the drumbeats as just as much of an instrument as anything else in the track. From the outside it would look simple, but when you checked it, it was like, "Fucking hell, there's a lot going on in there."
"For a time, there were maybe 50 dubstep tracks in the whole world. If five of them are mine, I'm not just going to chuck them out there." – Loefah
YOUNGSTA: Loefah took it to the point where he changed the structure of the drums. Not straight syncopated 4/4. Not 2-step garage. It was about taking a break out and having as much space as possible, while still maintaining a groove. Some of it was so atmospheric that it was like a soundscape, but we didn't take it that far and that's what made it a winner. Me, I'm weird. I like things a certain way, and that was how you could make a whole new track out of a blend of two of Loefah's beats. Even if two beats are perfectly in key with each other – which they always should be, beat-matching aside – it's about the pin-point precision timing of mixing together two or three beats that are so perfectly in key, and so stripped back, that they have elements in each that the other doesn't; that when put together, they create a whole new tune.
You know how drum and bass breaks go well together because of how they're structured? And how house has a 4/4 beat? Percussion, melody and leads would vary massively for us, and the kicks could be where they wanted, but the snare? The snare would have to be on the half-time of the 140BPM beat, so that it would sound slower than 140BPM. That's why I've never practised. I haven't had any form of mixing equipment in my house for ten years. Loefah would give me a tune and I'd play it on Rinse, some time between 9 and 11PM, and that's it till the next club or radio show. It's like maths: if I knew that the snare is always there, my mixes would work.
ORIS JAY: The minute the CD got involved, though, that's when the sharing culture began to change. Because producers would burn tracks to CD, they'd bring sonically weaker, but more experimental, music to try out in the club. If I bring a dub to the club, I have to get that tune properly finished because it'll cost me 40 quid. A CD costs you, what, 60p? It was more instant, but then you get half-finished tunes played in the club.
MARTIN CLARK: Rinse had a party around the Christmas of 2004, in a converted toilet in east London called Public Life, which was right by where the Rinse studios are now. [DJ and Hotflush Recordings founder] Scuba was playing, and he asked Loefah for a tune of his, so that he could cut it. He didn't cut it, though. He played it off a CD, and Loefah was livid: "You played my track un-mastered, on a soundsystem! It's not fucking balanced."
LOEFAH: You have to realise: for a time, there were maybe 50 dubstep tracks in the whole world. If five of them are mine, I'm not just going to chuck them out there. We were funding DMZ ourselves – through student loans, and Mala and Coki's wages – so we felt that we had the right to be precious.
ORIS JAY: If I were to pin it right down, it came from the reggae soundsystem culture: you'd have guys with systems from different sides of Jamaica, and the most popular system would get booked for all the parties, so there's competition. If there are hundreds of DJs playing the same music, what makes you different from me? You find a new producer and say, "Let me play your music first. I'm not saying don't give it to anyone else, I'm saying don't give it to anyone else before me."
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CHAPTER SIX: "Who the fuck are these weirdos?"
Youngsta, Crazy D, Skepta and Plastician at FWD>>
CHAPTER BIOS:
Sgt Pokes: The main MC for the DMZ club club nights, Sgt Pokes has MC'd dubstep parties for over 15 years.
Loefah: A producer, DJ and one of the core members of the DMZ club night and label, he also runs the Swamp81 label.
El-B: A key producer and DJ in the transitional period between garage and dubstep, formerly part of garage duo Groove Chronicles.
Kode9: Scottish-born, London-based producer and DJ, who founded and continues to run the Hyperdub label.
Oris Jay: Also known as Darqwuan, the Sheffield-based producer and DJ helped to lead the breaks element of the dubstep sound.
Martin Clark: A London-based journalist and DJ who has worked for a variety of UK publications and now runs the Keysound label and club night.
Skream: Croydon-born producer and DJ who was picked up as the so-called teenage poster boy of the dubstep scene.
SGT POKES: For years, Hatcha, Youngsta, [Croydon DJ and producer] N-Type and Chef were the DJs. That was it. Those relationships, and that serious exclusivity, are what built the scene. They were also, in part, as a clubbing experience, reactions to how fucking boring drum and bass had become. Garage, too, had become badboy culture, with its cheesy pop vibes; British hip-hop never got the recognition it deserved. You just had dissatisfied customers from all these different scenes who were sick of feeling cheated.
LOEFAH: We weren't into the glitz and bottles of the jungle scene, but the other lot from Croydon – the garage boys – loved it. We used to go up to FWD>> in a south London convoy. We used to meet at Hatcha's house; me, Mala and Coki would be in Mala's car – a blacked-out Rover, like a dealer's car – and follow Hatcha, Skream, Chef, Plasticman [Croydon DJ now known as Plastician] and N-Type in their cars. Sometimes they'd get a stretch limo, in their tracksuit bottoms and shit. We'd park round the corner because we're from Norwood, innit, but they'd roll up in this hired stretch limo, not giving one fuck.
EL-B: Garage came to mean conformity for me: pathetic, manufactured shit. People from the hood have always loved to dress flash, so when you checked [Vauxhall club night] Liberty and Twice As Nice there was always gonna be shirt 'n' shoes, popping bottles and all that shit, but it got weird. Pre-2000, you were in garage raves with Arsenal and Chelsea players. After 2000, it was grunge-arse stoners and students.
KODE9: When it comes to dubstep in the clubs, you need to distinguish some stages. When FWD>> was at Velvet Rooms, around 2001-03, it was more of a garage crowd: a lot of DJs, producers and industry types, men and women, coming to party. It was when it moved to [recently closed East London club] Plastic People that it became that something else. One of the most important things that happened to catalyse dubstep was that, on a soundsystem like that, you could you get away with producing such minimal, heavy tracks – tracks that had one snare an hour, one hi-hat every two hours, loads of sub in between. That wouldn't have worked on any other system, as far as I'm concerned.
"Pre-2000, you were in garage raves with Arsenal and Chelsea players. After 2000, it was grunge-arse stoners and students" – El-B
ORIS JAY: There was a period around 2002-03 where the music started to split into distinct strands: the darker side of garage – where [dubstep] came from – then into breaks, broken beat and grime. None of the scenes were big, but all of them had a unique sound, and everyone's influences determined which direction the sound was going to go in. Take DJ Zinc's "138 Trek": even though it was classed as garage, even though the dubstep guys were playing it, it had a break-beat in it. The grime guys were different to the breaks mentality, because they wanted a beat that would give them space to rap in and around. Broken beat had vocals, but it was still underground. It was all at the same tempo, being played at the same place – but getting more, minutely specific.
Those intricacies were partly why a lot of the guys in the crowd were trainspotters. Someone else will have a track of mine, for example, but when I play it out I might play a VIP edit of it, so you know that it's me. Then you get the geeks going: "I know what this is, and this must be Oris Jay playing right now because this is a version I haven't heard before." If you were playing FWD>>, you had to come correct. You couldn't play what you played the week before.
"Grime and dubstep were like family, and family doesn't always get along" – Martin Clark
MARTIN CLARK: Everyone at FWD>> brought their own sounds, so there was a dynamic tension between everyone having enough of their own space and identity, and being connected enough to be related: the bare minimum things in common in order to make it coherent enough, and have space to explore.
This doesn't get stressed enough in this conversation, though: the fact that grime had a major influence on the evolution of dubstep. [DJ and co-founder of Rinse FM] Geeneus in particular saw the possibilities of dubstep: forming a relationship with Sarah [Lockhart], bringing Ammunition and Rinse together, then coming to FWD>> with [Rinse FM co-founder and influential DJ] Slimzee standing at the back. People would turn around and go, "Fuck, Slimzee's here."
Grime and dubstep were like family, and family doesn't always get on. Grime rode the wave of the garage club infrastructure, but when the police shut much of that down, they lost the money and access that came with it. I can sympathise with grime. They wanted more, right? It's an MC-focused culture. They wanted to be stars. Grime went into a lull after [Dizzee Rascal's debut album] Boy in da Corner when they realised there wasn't another quick Dizzee – or [that] the industry wouldn't accept another, more like. Wiley's Treddin' on Thin Ice wasn't the smash that he and others wanted it to be. The scene couldn't deliver commercially on its own hype, and that was the period of dubstep starting to develop properly.
Up until 2003-04, grime was much more creative than dubstep. What Wiley and Dizzee could do sonically was just shocking. Dubstep was still in this phase of essentially being dark 2-steppish garage – rolling along, resting on the darkness to give it an edge – and hadn't really engineered its own DNA yet. With grime, there was an almost addictive shock of how strange it was: the 8-bar structure and the energy of the MCs. Grime was running London, and they looked to dubstep and thought, 'Who the fuck are these weirdos standing about in a room in Shoreditch?'
After 2004, it wasn't that one was more creative than the other – 8-bar grime inspired a lot of Benga and Skream's early records, with that raw drum sound and the warping basslines, and Plastician had this amazing period with [record label] Terrorhythm. But dubstep gradually became a more transferable sound. [Grime and dubstep's] intermittent intertwining was very interesting, and unparalleled.
SGT POKES: The grime beat was always just a conduit for a tough ego for me. Dubstep MCs weren't MCs; they were hosts: "We are here to hear dubstep, and you are here to present it to us." The dances were de-militarised zones. It wasn't, "He plays dubstep, he makes dubstep" – all of us are dubstep. We didn't care if we played first or next, because it was an arc of a night. "What have you cut, what have you brought..." It was about being very aware of everyone else and the role that they were there to play. "If we all do well, then this sound does well."
I even started to think that MCs began to resemble DJs in the way dogs begin to resemble their owners. With [MC] Task and Youngsta, it wasn't about hype: "Yeah, take it well easy, mate." Task was, like, the anti-MC. With Hatcha, though, you heard that it was party time in [MC] Crazy D's voice: the lively lad about town, with that tribal madness. In fact, I remember Spaceape even used to hide sometimes when he was on the mic. It was real.
But when Wiley, JME and Jammer were at FWD>>, hearing [Skream's] " Midnight Request Line", the impact of the music being that good was important for both scenes. I think that a lot of the artists the grime MCs tried to work with were the ones with the big tunes smashing up the clubs, but they weren't necessarily the best producers to work with for their style. There was a lot of bootlegging, too: versions of a lot of tunes that were never OK'd, and that annoyed a lot of dubstep artists. It happened to Skream, I'm sure.
SKREAM: During the bootleg era, you had [Youngsta's] "Pulse X", but also Pulse Y, Z, fucking ABC, and all different "Eskimo" ones, too. "Midnight Request Line" came from how I used to take 8-bar grime instrumentals and try to make them darker. When I made "Midnight Request Line" I gave it to Hatcha and he didn't like it. There were two or three other tracks on the CD that he preferred, and I didn't think much else of it. Youngsta was really into it, though, and I sent it to [grime DJ and Boy Better Know member] DJ Maximum after Wiley, Skepta and Jammer talked about hearing it at FWD>>.
Hatcha still didn't really play it until I did him a VIP mix of it, actually, and Skepta didn't believe that I made it for ages, either. His exact words were, "You look like a student." To be fair, I was in a pink and green Ralph Lauren rugby top, with shorts and deck shoes. I didn't give off the most urban edge. It took him a while to believe I made it, but then it became Skepta's anthem for quite a while.
Around that time – and this was quite a grime thing, to be fair – if you had a big record you'd have other, similar versions. I had seven or eight [versions of "Midnight Request Line"] that were all phone-related – fuck knows, don't ask me why – and I worked with JME on them. I remember Skepta calling me up, moody as anything, being like, "Why are you working with my brother? Why aren't you working with me?" because he blew up "Midnight Request Line" to a different crowd. He was pissed, but I was like, "Bruv, I've tried to get you in the studio for so long, and you've been unprofessional." So JME and I ended up doing " Tapped".
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CHAPTER SEVEN: "Why the fuck would I give a fuck about your postcode?"
Hijak at Rinse FM in 2006
CHAPTER BIOS:
Kode9: Scottish-born, London-based producer and DJ, who founded and continues to run the Hyperdub label.
Skream: Croydon-born producer and DJ who was picked up as the so-called teenage poster boy of the dubstep scene.
Sgt Pokes: The main MC for the DMZ club nights, Sgt Pokes has MC'd dubstep parties for over 15 years.
KODE9: Both grime and dubstep were encouraged by the fact that those producers weren't allowed into the wider garage scene. They took that insult of the word "grime" and turned it into something positive. Others came from a Metalheadz background, like raves at the [Hoxton club] Blue Note around 94-95, so they'd all been in the same room together ten years before, but hadn't met until dubstep was happening. It was a shrinking. People often say that grime came first – which, from the outside, may seem true – but dubstep was bubbling away. It was just that everyone, bar a dozen weirdos in one or two clubs, fucking hated it.
For me, 2002-03 was the heyday of grime, and 2003-05 was the heyday of dubstep, even though neither were getting any real recognition from the other. And, to be quite honest, I found it funny how territorial the grime crews and south London dubstep lot were. Being this weird Scottish alien, I could take it all as good music, and that's why it was a no-brainer for me to play both grime and dubstep at FWD>> and on Rinse. They were the same speed, it's all from the same city – why the fuck would I give a fuck about your postcode?
I still think the sonic relationship between grime and dubstep was a path that could have been explored more. It's weird – apart from "Midnight Request Line", grime DJs didn't gravitate towards dubstep tracks until dubstep became much more aggressive and wobbly – and that was a fucking disaster. It was heartbreaking to see grime DJs – and I loved everything they did previously – finally coming over into dubstep and playing absolute shite.
When I started on Rinse, I was the only Scottish guy with a bunch of Cockneys. I was petrified to talk for the first few months because I was a total fanboy of London music culture, so it felt wrong for me to be on pirate radio here. Around 2003, though, Rinse asked me to do the FWD>> show. I think it was weekly on a Tuesday, straight after [Wiley's influential grime collective] Roll Deep Crew's show, which was 7-9PM. This was when Rinse was [still a pirate station and] up in the tower blocks in Bow, too. It was a total shithole; a room built inside a room, with the only "soundsystem" being one battered-to-fuck ghetto blaster with one speaker working. It was ropey as hell.
Listen to Wiley and Kode9's Rinse show here
SKREAM: Rinse used to be fucking mental. When I started my show, the studio was in some mad old studio space in Limehouse, with a transvestite porn set-up in the same building. You used to walk out at like 2 or 3AM and see really creepy looking people. I was in and out for my show, mostly. You used to get some pretty ghetto people in there at that time, but you'd just get stoned and drunk, and go home.
KODE9: At that point, Rinse weren't archiving the sets, but there was a website called barefiles.com. It was on it, too: by the time I'd got home from doing my show, the set would already be online. I really do think that, along with the articles on Hyperdub, and the streaming files on dubplate.net, BareFiles had quite a big influence on how early dubstep spread overseas.
SGT POKES: Damn [laughs] – don't even talk to Sarah [Lockhart] about BareFiles. There was this really awkward moment once: BareFiles was run by this kid who was just into the music, a reclusive stoner with a couple of servers in his house, running some gambling website for this older guy, who started archiving everything with a guy called Boom Noise. At first they were called the Bare Noise Files, and Rinse turned around and got a bit gangster on them, saying, "You can't be taking our recordings and hosting them," and so on – so they had to take it all down. It was about preserving a moment, though, so....
KODE9: When I used to teach at the University of East London, I'd go straight from class to go do the FWD>> show on Rinse. I was just finishing teaching one day, in the January of 2006, when I got a phone call out of the blue. It was Wiley. He said, "Hi mate, do you mind if I come on your show and guest tonight?" I was completely floored – starstruck, even. Since I started Hyperdub, and thought about what dubstep could be, and what grime could be, it was the first time I got to actualise these ideas. It was a shock to him as well, because I'm not sure he knew what he was getting himself into. But that was the most fun I ever had doing a radio show. In a way,
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was really jarring. There was definitely a tension [onstage], and obviously we’d find out later that there was a lot of tension between them.
Santiago: I think they really complement each other vocally. She’s the charmer of the band. A lot of girls look up to Kim. If they want to be a rock chick, they have to be like Kim.
Deal: When journalists used to say things like, “Why doesn’t Kim sing more?” Charles would leave the table. He would act so bad. That obviously became a button. So what does a journalist want to do? Fucking press that, time and time again. “Gigantic” [on which Deal sings lead] was our first single. People liked it. People sang along even then. You’d have to ask Charles if that bothers him. I don’t know and I don’t care. It’s none of my business.
Thompson: I have an ego. You have to have an ego to do this. At the time, we would be playing and I would say to myself, “I’m doing all the work. She’s smoking a cigarette and the crowd is loving her. Why am I knocking myself out writing all these damn songs?”
Deal: Tanya Donelly started coming over, bringing her guitar, and we were playing together. I had gotten bored.
Donelly: Initially, the Breeders were just us playing guitar together and hanging out and drinking beer. But both of us loved dancing, so we decided we were going to do a dance project, and it was going to be both David Narcizo, the Muses drummer, and David Lovering drumming. I’d play guitar and she’d play bass. We had some originals, then were gonna do “Tell Me Something Good” by Rufus and Chaka Khan, but we sucked at it. We didn’t have the funk. We were thinking, we’ll have this organic dance band — no machines, no loops, just guitars and drums. It was dumb. So we decided to have a regular old band.
Deal: Ivo found out and said send him a copy of what we were doing. So we said, “Here’s what we’re doing,” and he said, “Okay, record it. We’ll put it out.”
Albini: I instantly preferred it to the Pixies. It had the playful nature of children’s music and this girlish fascination with things that were pretty, but it was also kind of horny. And that juxtaposition at the time was unusual. You didn’t get a lot of knowing winks from female artists. But I also think that musically it was quite distinct from everything else that was around.
Deal: People think that since they like my voice, obviously I’m being oppressed [in the Pixies]. Or because they prefer my voice, they think I should sing more. I don’t want to sing at all! I’d rather play the drums.
Albini: There was a discussion at the time that Kim [making] that record [Pod, which Albini recorded] was causing some friction within the Pixies. It was an unrealted enterprise. I don’t see why it would matter.
Thompson: It just became a grouchy thing. More than anything, it was just people being unhappy in their personal lives.
Marc Geiger (agent; co-creator, Lollapalooza festival): There were some issues, and that probably was part of the problem. I’ll let you interpret.
Farman: The relationship between Charles and Kim was complicated. By the time I was aware of anything, there was none of the camaraderie that you’d expect from a band who had been together for so long. When I did go on the road with them, there wasn’t any antagonism or tension, but… This is so hard. I’m so sorry. I wanna tell you, but… Okay, at one point Charles and Jean decided they were gonna drive in their big yellow Cadillac rather than get on the bus.
Thompson: I had a traveling companion. I suppose it was an attempt at privacy.
Angel: I’ve heard that [there were romantic tensions], but I don’t know.
Oliver: I read that there was something [between Charles and Kim], and that it didn’t work and it led to an adverse chemistry between them.
Dando: I definitely heard a bunch of rumors, but I’m not talking about any of that stuff.
Chas Banks (former European tour manager, Pixies): There’s no way Charles and Kim ever had sex together. It’s like this: Certain actors and actresses have that sexual chemistry onscreen. Then they go home to their husbands and wives. That’s how it was with Charles and Kim onstage.
[The Pixies refused to comment about the rumored affair. Their spokesperson would only say, “People have said a lot of things about the Pixies over the years, but the band doesn’t pay attention to most of it.” — ed.]
Deal: Everyone had gone out to L.A., but I didn’t know that. So I called up Charles to find out when we were gonna get together to rehearse, and he said, “I don’t want you to come out.” “What do you mean, ‘I don’t want you to come out’?” I called Deborah Edgeley from 4AD. I said, “I heard we were rehearsing.” And she said, “Yeah, Joe’s out there.” I thought, “Oh my God, Joe’s out there?” And I knew David had moved out there. Everybody’s out there? So I asked her, “Charles said he doesn’t want me to come out. Does that mean they don’t want me to come out and play ever?” She goes, “I don’t know, Kim. Go out there, ask them.”
I was so sad. I flew out on my own. It was so weird taking a flight by myself, booking my own hotel room. Then I get a phone call from the manager. Me and him had never talked. It was weird. He said, “You are to meet here the next day.” I go, “Okay.” I still have no fucking idea what’s going on. It’s a lawyer’s office! David, Joe, and Charles are there with our manager and the lawyer. And I walk in — it’s like, “Ohhh, I’m fired.” I mean, I didn’t say that. It was so hurtful, it was odd, it was awkward. Charles started talking about [how] I got $11,000 to record Pod. And I guess Surfer Rosa cost less or something. Anyway, the lawyer stopped him from talking about it, because she said that wasn’t relevant to the discussion about why I’m fired. I knew they were wrong, but it really didn’t matter because the fact that all three of them were thinking that — it doesn’t matter if they’re wrong, I’m wrong. I was there to get fired. Then I think Joe and David pussed out and decided they hadn’t given me a warning and so this would be my warning. I don’t know what about. I think Joe feels like an asshole that it happened. David — he’s just gonna say, “Right on,” ’cause David always says “Right on” about everything.
Lovering: I just think of it as a little spat that we had, just from being too tight. I think people’s heads, including my own, were somewhere else. It was a lot more extreme than it should have been.
Santiago: You have to ask Kim and Charles.
Deal: Charles will get mad at you if you ask about it.
Thompson: First of all, a lot of the so-called tension and negativity within the band that people have alluded to over the years is much exaggerated. It was almost thrust upon us because people were looking for it. The band actually got along fine. I did kick a guitar at Kim once onstage in Germany because she was late for the gig. She was like an hour late; it was a sold-out gig.
Banks: She was very lax when it came to being professional and on time.
Thompson: I have since apologized to her. It was just one of those stupid things you do. Now, if someone was an hour late for a gig, I’d just be like, “Rock’n’roll, man.” it wouldn’t be a big deal. But when you’re young, you’re hyper, you’re full of yourself. Your crew pick up on it, and they go, “Oh, Charles is upset.” The gig happened and all was well. I didn’t need to get frustrated. I just picked up the guitar with my foot and hurled it across the stage at her. She was just like, “Fuck you!” That was the only time we had a fight onstage. The audience loved it, of course. It was just embarrassing. It was one of those things that as soon as you’re doing it, you’re kind of like, “Oops, I shouldn’t do this.” I’m not an aggressive person, not physically anyway, and I felt really bad about it afterwards. There was much made of us not getting along because there’s not much of a story with us. We don’t have any kind of image, there is no vision, there is no plan. We’re just four people playing songs. That’s all there is. We’re not trying to do anything except express ourselves. It’s kind of abstract. People have a difficult time with abstraction, and they always want to figure it out. So they say, “Oh, there’s tension in the band. They don’t get along.”
Jeff Craft (international booking agent, Pixies): Charles is a complete 100 percent professional. I know that there are plenty of rock’n’roll bands that have difficult characters in them, and the bands managed to find a way of moving forward. But you can’t do that with somebody like Charles, because he is a very straight guy. And he expects a certain amount of commitment and professionalism from the people around him. If he doesn’t get it, then they go, you know?
Angel: They’d have no band if they fired Kim. She was the soul of the group. It’s like the Stones firing Keith Richards because he’s a fuck-up, I mean, come on! You can’t do that.
Thompson: I moved to California in January of 1990 and I played a couple of gigs while traveling across the country. Why did I do it? Gas money.
St. Thomas: I remember going to see him solo, while the Pixies were still together. I remember thinking, “Why is he doing this?” I remember thinking, “Well, that was good, but it wasn’t the Pixies.”
ALL OVER THE WORLD (1990-1991)
Thompson: [Eventually] we moved to [L.A.] to record Bossanova. Kim didn’t, but Joey and Dave did. It’s a natural place to go. It’s warm there. I grew up there. I didn’t even want to move there — my girlfriend wanted to. It wasn’t like, “We’ll never leave our beloved Boston.” We didn’t give a shit! A lot of musicians move to L.A. for no particular reason other than the weather’s really good and it’s laid-back.
Santiago: I remember going to L.A. and hating it. It’s hot, smoggy. I ended up living in L.A. I’ve been there for over ten years. People are always saying, “Good luck trying to leave.”
Oliver: Before I even received the music, my partner Chris Bigg and I were talking about a Pixies planet, just this image of a Pixies world, which was strange because [Charles had] come up with all these extraterrestrial references.
Thompson: I did have some UFO experiences when I was younger, and I decided to tap into that and explore. I thought it might be fun. I don’t know if I wrote my best songs while doing it, but whatever. Again, it’s like you start to get rid of the jabberwocky “I’m going to sing the first words that come into my head” approach. In a way, that kind of thing is good, but in a way that can become kind of hack. You sit down and you want to write a song about something. It’s hard to keep that abstract surrealist thing going. Or I just wasn’t talented enough to keep it going.
St. Thomas: I’ve spoken to Charles many times about UFOs. He’s just fascinated by science fiction and he got into the whole Roswell thing. That’s usually what he would talk about, these very odd topics: UFOs or the most random things. But if you got him on a topic, he’d know so much about it. We talked about Bob Hope once for an hour. He was telling me all these things about California and Bob Hope and I was like, “Why would you know all this stuff?”
Santiago: Bossanova was different from the other albums. It’s mellower. It’s a pretty record. We got a lot of flak for that. Everybody said we went soft.
Thompson: I think there’s good stuff and less good stuff on every record we made. It’s a mixed bag from beginning to end. And I have no favorite, because it’s a mixed bag. Maybe Doolittle has a few more A-list songs. And let’s be honest: Surfer Rosa is a great record, but “Tony’s Theme” is not one of my best songs.
Azerrad: They headlined the Reading Festival in August of 1990. That show was kind of a make-or-break thing. They were stressed out about it. Gil Norton had actually taken them up to a rehearsal hall in Manchester and they worked out all the kinks as if they were doing preproduction for a recording. And sure enough, they go on and the place exploded. The crowd was just heaving up and down as one, and there was this great cloud of sweat and steam coming off them. The band was just pounding. Every song seemed like this epic statement, even though a lot of them were two minutes long.
Santiago: Yeah, Reading. I think I threw up before the show. Goddamn, it was a lot of people.
Lovering: That was our first [big] headlining thing. That was probably the most money we made for a gig at the time. We played a secret gig the night before, at a little pub in Reading. And that was the hottest gig we ever did, as far as temperature. It was absolutely deadly. I played in my underwear.
Geiger: After Reading, I went on the road with them in Germany. They did shows with David Bowie and Midnight Oil at big, 50,000-people festivals. [Then] I offered them Lollapalooza. I offered it to them the first year and they turned it down. Charles didn’t want to do it.
Kurt Cobain [from unpublished interview transcripts for Azerrad’s Come As You Are]: When I heard the Pixies, I said to myself, “This is exactly what I’ve been doing and what I really want to do. Now that there’s a band like this who’s actually becoming popular, maybe some people would really enjoy this stuff, so I’ll start writing more pop songs.”
Deal: Yeah, Kurt did [talk us up], didn’t he? And David Grohl would do that too. Maybe people listened.
Thompson: I didn’t like Nirvana. Not at the time, when they first hit, but I will never like whatever is popular. If everyone’s going, “Have you seen this Quentin Tarantino film everyone’s talking about?” it’s like, “Guess what I’m not gonna go see next week?” That’s where my snobbery just takes over. In retrospect I can hear it and go, “Oh yeah, they have talent.” But they don’t sound like the Pixies — they sound like Nirvana. No one sounds like the Pixies.
Azerrad: Success in rock’n’roll has a lot to do with timing. Not only do you have to get all the breaks, but you also have to capitalize on them. When everything started breaking the Pixies’ way, their train engine was running out of coal.
Santiago: I don’t know. Maybe Charles did that hard-rock thing on purpose. I couldn’t wait to get to it because I think I got slammed in some stupid guitar magazine. Trompe Le Monde is hilarious. There’s so much shredding on it!
Norton: I was trying to do something a bit grander since the band was a bit grander — more arena rock.
Thompson: We were making the records at too fast a pace, which was a good learning thing, but there wasn’t enough criticism. Everyone was just, “Give us more.” I blame nobody but myself. You’re 25 years old, you’re smoking pot all day; I don’t think you have the best perspective. You can do no wrong, and I was just really getting into being in a studio and learning. You start to get curious and you go, “Oh, that’s how that works. Everybody out of the way!” You stop relying on the producer to give you advice. You stop relying on the engineer. You start telling them. A lot of what the Pixies did early on was spontaneous. Then you start writing in a studio and working with chord progressions and writing lyrics really fast. You can get some good results, but then you keep doing that over and over, and it can’t sustain 45 minutes of music every year. So you end up with what might be interesting recordings, but maybe they just don’t have any “Monkey Gone to Heaven”s or “Where Is My Mind?”s or “Gigantic”s. You just have “Rrraaaahhhhh!” You have more coffee-fueled late-night musings. It just doesn’t sustain itself.
Lovering: Our whole thing was just pumping ‘em out. I think I would have been happier if I’d had a little more time to play the songs.
Norton: [Kim’s presence] got less every time, especially when we did Trompe Le Monde. I wasn’t happy by the end of that, because there was one song, “Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons,” that I thought was perfect for her to sing. Charles didn’t want her to sing it. He definitely didn’t want her to have a big imprint on the songs.
HEAD ON (1992-1993)
Craft: I know that U2 are massive fans of the Pixies, but [the 1992 tour] was a complete waste of time.
Santiago: When I heard about it, I was so stoked. They were the biggest band in the world. And they wanted us to support them! It was nice. But I noticed that [Charles and Kim] weren’t enjoying it, and I was just like, “Man, that’s a fucking drag.”
Lovering: That was probably the biggest tour we opened. It was also the only tour where no one knew who we were.
Marts: It didn’t seem to be a secret that U2 had asked Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana to open up for them [first], and I guess those bands passed and Pixies said yes.
Lovering: What’s sad for me is that we played our hometown; we played the Boston Garden, where I saw my first show, all my sporting events, everything. So it was the most amazing thing to be playing Boston Garden, not only opening for U2, but on St. Patrick’s Day. Oh man, I thought it was gonna be a huge show.
St. Thomas: I remember sitting there, thinking, “This is so fucked up! How can you people just go get a hot dog and a beer!” The Pixies didn’t get booed, they just got that lukewarm applause.
Lovering: Our dressing room was the regular men’s room. I swear to God. We did the show — no one acknowledged [us]. It was amazing. Of all the shows we did with U2, all over North America, that was the worst, where just no one had a clue who we were.
Farman: The show in L.A. really sucked. The U2 crowd didn’t get it. They came for the spectacle and the Pixies are never about a spectacle.
Azerrad: I saw the U2 tour at Madison Square Garden. There was no life in [the Pixies’] set. I walked out incredibly disappointed. I thought, “This is where they really crack it in the U.S., and the goods were not there anymore.”
Deal: The last show we did was in April ’92, our own show in Vancouver. Afterwards, Charles said something about taking a sabbatical. I was like, “Oh, for how long?” And he goes, “I believe a sabbatical is one year.” And that’s the last conversation we had, the last time we talked, and the last sentence was, “I believe a sabbatical is one year.” Asshole. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but that’s a fucking stupid last sentence.
Thompson: We took a break. I just turned the break into a 12-year break. I didn’t announce it to anybody. What was I going to do, have a band meeting? People are always like, “Oh my God, the band broke up! Black Francis sent a fax to the band!”
Deal: In January of ’93 I was in San Francisco recording [the second Breeders’ album] Last Splash. I was in the studio and [my sister] Kelley comes up to me and says, “The Pixies broke up.”
Geiger: Why did they break up? Charles and Kim. Personal issues. I think there were all kinds of issues. I’m not going to go into it.
Craft: It’s fair to say that Kim’s partying and tardiness led to the breakup.
Banks: You can do a lot of damage with too much marijuana and too much wine. That’s all it was with Kim. Honestly, she didn’t stop.
Deal: You know, I haven’t drunk alcohol or done drugs for a year and a half.
Thompson: What people do is their business. There were a bunch of young people traveling the world, playing nightclubs. There were a lot of drugs and alcohol, but not any more than anyone else. Rock musicians tend to think they have a monopoly on drugs, sex, and rock’n’roll.
Deal: [Charles] was promoting his solo record. Maybe he just got sick of people asking about the next Pixies record and thought, “You know what? There ain’t gonna be one.”
Thompson: I was needing to socialize with other people or not socialize at all.
Watts-Russell: I think it was the best thing for them to split. They made some great records, and it was time to end. And they were hating each other, so why the fuck not?
Norton: I felt one more album would’ve established them as a really big band. I could feel [the end] coming, though, because Trompe Le Monde was a hard one to do. All the stuff between Charles and Kim — you could feel there was animosity.
Albini: I remember hearing about the fax after the fact. And I remember hearing that the story is pure bullshit, that there is no fax.
Watts-Russell: It doesn’t exist. If you ask all members of the band about “the fax,” they wouldn’t tell you it existed unless they’ve all decided to perpetuate the myth.
Thompson: Yeah, it happened! People make such a big deal about that. I mean, what is the alternative? There was no e-mail. How was the band supposed to break up? It was a little cold-hearted, but so what? What are you supposed to do? Call a press conference?
Deal: I didn’t have a fax machine. Joe didn’t have a fax machine. David didn’t have a fax machine. Whatever, man.
Lovering: About a year after the U2 tour I got a phone call from our manager, saying the band was broken up. I had some inkling that maybe we had done what we could do.
Farman: It was devastating. There was a sense of disbelief because it didn’t come directly from Charles. It came from Ken. And for David and Joey — not for Kim so much because she had the Breeders — but their whole life had been the Pixies. They’d never really done anything else. So they were ill-prepared.
Santiago: Charles called. I think he said, “Joe, I just broke up the band.” And I was like, “Really?” I didn’t know what to say. After Bossanova, I suspected that every tour was our last one. And when he finally told me that’s it, I was like, “Good, I don’t have to wonder anymore.” A band has its shelf life, as they say. I went into this little depression — maybe not a little, my wife would say huge. I stayed in my room. We definitely ended on an exclamation point and not a comma.
Thompson: We were kind of played out. We started to get mixed reviews. Our concerts were still full, but we weren’t ascending or anything. Maybe we were getting a little boring. We were on this boring tour — nothing against U2, but an opening slot is thankless. We were not getting much of a reaction and feeling a little tense, especially me. I needed to get away from that band and those people. Kim went and did some records; I went and did some records. Dave got into magic. Joey got into his music and started a family. It’s not really that big of a deal, and sending a fax to break up a band is not that big of a deal, either. To me, that’s kind of beautiful. I actually apologized for the fax, because they didn’t see it coming. But what better way to avoid all the emotion than to just say, “Bye!” It’s a “Dear John” letter. “Sorry babe, I’m leaving. Love ya.” It’s perfect. Psychologically, it probably wasn’t the healthiest thing to do. There was no closure — I’ll give them that. But it’s better than having some big fight or someone quitting the band and putting out a couple of shitty records with a different lineup, getting into some kind of legal squibble. It was sort of like, “Fin.”
Harvard: The Pixies would have dragged great Boston bands along with them. So I have always lamented that the Pixies crapped out when they did. Boston could have been Seattle.
Dando: [Laughs] Thank God they broke up.
Azerrad: Kim took that residual Pixies goodwill and her own charisma and talent and parlayed it into a big success for one album.
St. Thomas: Nirvana took the Breeders on tour. I think they were really into it because Nirvana was opening doors for them.
Deal: We were on MTV. It was really odd — to be on 4AD and to be used to being under the radar all the time.
Thompson: I wasn’t surprised that [Last Splash] was so successful. And people love Kim.
Santiago: I told her when I saw her, “Man, I’m so envious of that Breeders record.” [Laughs] And she said, “Good!”
St. Thomas: People were so excited about the first Frank Black record and the Breeders record because we were all missing the Pixies in our lives.
Farman: When Nirvana ended, Dave Grohl used to call Dave and see if he wanted to drum for Foo Fighters.
Lovering: It was just something that passed by. I think it was just some talk. That would have been really nice to play, you know.
THE HAPPENING (1994-2004)
Farman: I thought there was way too much bad blood for [a reunion] to ever happen.
St. Thomas: I became friends with Charles and Kim a lot more after they broke up. They were out there promoting themselves, and they became more accessible. I ended up doing interview CDs with both of them. I did one for the Breeders and one for him, and it was always clear that you couldn’t bring up the Pixies.
Craft: For years, we weren’t allowed to even mention the word Pixies. It was taboo.
Geiger: Charles put it out there pretty strongly that it was a non-issue, so it’s not like you could say, “Hey, Charles, let’s talk about the Pixies reunion.” He was completely, vehemently against it in every way.
Craft: The breakthrough came when he started playing Pixies songs with Frank Black and the Catholics.
Geiger: His attendance started to get better. You can say it was Dog in the Sand and the other [solo] records, or you can say it was because he was doing Pixies songs. Joey played with him, David would open up with the magic act, so you’re kind of half there.
Lovering: I did a bunch of tours with other bands — Cracker, Nitzer Ebb. But nothing was equal to the Pixies. It just kept trickling and trickling until I just gave up drums. I have a friend, Grant-Lee Phillips, who was in Grant Lee Buffalo. We were both into magic when we were young, so one day we went to an international magicians’ conference in Los Angeles, and we saw some magic that blew us away. So I just rediscovered magic and went fully into it. It’s been about six, seven years now that I constantly have a deck of cards in my hand if I’m not in the shower or sleeping.
Santiago: [Eventually] I took some antidepressants and started going, “Hey, look at this! There are trees!” I started learning computer programs and was like, “You can record in a computer? How the fuck do you do that?” I co-scored a film [Crime and Punishment in Suburbia] and a TV show [Undeclared].
Angel: I used to ask Charles [about a Pixies reunion] every year, “When are you going to do it?” He’d always hem and haw, and I’d say, “You know you’re going to do it eventually.” He’d say, “No, no.” At one point a few years ago, he said, “Everybody thinks there’s all this money to be made. The offers aren’t that good.”
Santiago: I don’t know what happened. Maybe the mathematicians did something and said, “Hey you guys, it’s woth it!”
Angel: I know [Charles] is expecting his first child [with his girlfriend, Violet]. That’s another reason you want dough. Also, the kinds of tours he and the Catholics have been going on for years are exhausting. This is easier.
Deal: I think [that last scene in] Fight Club got “Where Is My Mind?” popular. I don’t know how people know our music now. For some reason, over the decade we got popular.
Geiger: There are four factors [that led to the new popularity]. One is Kurt Cobain, hands down. When America’s youth lost Kurt and were looking for answers and influences, the Pixies got the benefit. The Pixies’ music at one point was described as “abrasive,” but when you hear the 27-song set now, it sounds like 27 number-one pop hits. The music aged unbelievably well. Also, the way they broke up, and the purity — they kept their artistic credibility, they didn’t sell out in their videos. The biggest factor is the world coming to accept the underground again. Four years ago, if the Pixies got back together, I don’t think they’d have the same success they have now, because the world is looking for artists of substance and they’re sick of being fed product.
Angel: They’re good songs. They’re timeless. Little Richard songs are timeless 50 years after the fact. Mozart is timeless. Good shit is timeless.
Geiger: Ken Goes called one day and said that Charles was thinking about the reunion, and would I talk to him? Charles and I went to dinner and had a very long discussion about the pros and cons.
Thompson: There were a lot of things that needed to happen. Points A, B, C, D, E, F, and G had to happen. There are some reasons I won’t talk about, but I’ll tell you one thing, I went into therapy. My relationship of 16 years ended and I started seeing a therapist. My personal therapy extended to other things in my life. I started to realize, “Okay, I have a problem with this because of this.” Or “That person is doing this because of this.” Also, you just chill out a little bit with age. Add to those things a lot of money and…
Santiago: It was a shock when he called me for the reunion. I was like, “Wow, fuck, we better be good. We have to start practicing.”
Lovering: My life this past year had gone down the shitter. My relationship was absolutely horrible, involving police and prison, and financially it was bad. I was drinking a lot. I was kicked out of my house. One day I was going to the bank, I had to withdraw some money, and I didn’t have enough money to take out. It must have been the most depressing day I’d ever had. And then my cell phone rings. It was Joe. “Guess what?” he says. “The Pixies are getting back together!” It was amazing. I think magic saved my life to a certain point and kept me alive, and then that just blew me away.
Deal: So last August, Joe calls me up and says, “Pixies are gonna start playing shows, would you be interested?” I said, “Oh, really?” Then I went, “I don’t know.” And he said, “Here’s Charles’ number. He wants you to call him.” So I left him a message saying, “I hear the gang’s getting back together.” I hadn’t talked to him since April of 1992. And he called back and said, “So what do you think about it?” I said, “Sounds exciting.” Me and him actually didn’t talk about it much, but me and Joe talked about it quite a bit, and Joe really wanted to do it. So I said, “Yeah, I’ll do it, as long as things are cool, Joe.” So I went out to L.A. We had about four separate rehearsals, four days each. It was strange at first, but after about 45 seconds it didn’t feel funny at all.
Santiago: It felt good. Dave, Kim, and I met up first, because we knew Charles knew the songs, so we met in L.A. to get our shit together before he comes over. I was nervous with Dave because he hadn’t been at a set in a while.
Lovering: It was like muscle memory; everything came back. It was amazing. But we were still walking on eggshells around each other.
Geiger: Paul Tollett, the promoter of the Coachella festival, was also a massive Pixies fan, and it was his dream to get the Pixies to play.
Paul Tollett (president, Goldenvoice concert promotions; organizer, Coachella festival): The Pixies had been on our list always, but we never thought it was even a possibility. We never really officially approached them. Marc Geiger called me and said, “Are you interested in the Pixies?” almost joking, and I said, “Of course. I’d love it.” Radiohead we’ve been trying to get every year as well. Last year Radiohead said they couldn’t do it, but they’d be interested in next year. But when you hear that, you never believe it. Then they called and said they were ready to do it. Thom [Yorke] said that Pixies and R.E.M. changed his life in college.
Farman: Watching them play at Coachella was insane. I cried!
Santiago: People were cheering. I was just choked up. It was like, “Wow, goddamn it, this is weird!” We were just soaking it in.
Thompson: It was a show, you know? I enjoyed it. It’s an audience and I’m there to perform and that’s what I’m focused on. It’s a gig. It’s not the coming of the aliens or anything.
Albini: It was amazing to see 50,000 people who’d never seen this band before but for whom this band was really important. But I couldn’t tell you what about their music appeals to so many people. I think they’re one of those bands that make an impact on their immediate audience, and then those people leave their records to their kid brothers when they go away to college. Then those people get into the band and then when they go off to college, they leave that bigger pile of records to their kid brothers.
Wayne Coyne (singer/guitarist, the Flaming Lips): The Pixies — they sounded just like them and didn’t seem to be a tired or disgruntled version of themselves.
Thompson: Now I see Kim as our secret weapon. She’s like, “Hi.” And the crowd goes crazy. Or “Gee, it’s hot.” And they just lose it. I don’t even talk onstage anymore.
Craft: They’re getting on better now because they’re olders and wiser. It’s because Kim has stopped drinking — I’m sure you’re aware that this is a dry tour. As a result, she’s playing well and doing everything that she’s been asked to do.
Deal: The good thing is now we don’t have to have a dynamic, because all we do is travel to a place and people are happy that we’re there. We’re not working together. This is not a hard thing to do.
Watts-Russell: It’s uncool and being done for the money — that’s one answer. The other answer is God bless them. They deserve it. And I really hope they’re having a good time, because it appears that the audience is.
Deal: People are so happy to see it. Not just excited that they like a band playing. It’s more than that. It’s like, “Oh my God, you’re back! We haven’t really missed you because we’re too young to remember you, but if we were old enough, we’d miss you!”
Thompson: I forgot how much I like this band, how much I like being in this band.
LOVELY DAY (2004-?)
Deal: Is there gonna be a new Pixies record? I don’t know.
Santiago: There are people who want us to make another record. We have one new song [“Bam Thwok,” written, and rejected for the Shrek 2 soundtrack
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come here to go to the flower shop, get their hair done, that kind of thing. They don’t come to buy a gun.”
Suddenly, tiny Cherrydale became the target of a tremendous amount of ire from pro-gun activists. On May 29, the NRA attacked the neighborhood on three of its news channels. In one segment, a host named Jennifer Zahrn said that “a group of neighborhood busybodies is trying to run a small firearms dealer out of town before he even opens for business.” After noting several times that Gates is a former Marine, she announced that “bigoted smear campaigns against law-abiding gun owners and gun stores are nothing new. That’s why it’s important that the five million members of the NRA stand strong and fight these bullying tactics wherever they strike.”
In an interview on the NRA talk show “Cam & Co,” Gates suggested that his store would make the community safer. “It’ll bring a bigger police presence to the area,” he claimed. He also told the show’s host how he learned about the neighborhood’s opposition to his shop. “We had a customer who first tipped us off about [an] email listserv chain.”
Gates was referring to a Google group created for Arlington residents to discuss the gun shop. Several business owners on the strip say that they later learned that someone with an opposing viewpoint had surreptitiously joined it as a kind of spy. They made this discovery because, around the same time, they began to receive strange, angry phone calls from an Arlington resident named Steve Konsin. One by one, he called each proprietor and demanded to know whether they were for or against the gun shop. He said he wanted to be present for the next meeting, whenever it happened. When a worker at the Thai restaurant hung up on him, he called right back and insisted he speak with the manager. “I’m with my wife in the hospital,” he claimed. “She became ill from eating your food.” M.J. Hussein, the owner of Portabellos, says the caller told him that he and a bunch of others planned to boycott his restaurant. “I told him to go ahead and protest,” remembers Hussein, whose business was already suffering because his liberal clientele was scared off by the mere prospect of a gun store moving in.
Konsin was ultimately found out because he wasn’t very good at covering his tracks. He didn’t mask his caller ID, and soon the business owners on the strip realized they were being harassed by the same person. They then combed through the Google group and discovered Konsin’s name, which led them to promptly shut it down. I reached Konsin on the phone and explained that Cherrydale business owners had tied him to a series of hostile phone calls. “Hmm,” he told me. “That’s interesting.” Then he hung up.
In late May, trolls began to surface on the Yelp review pages of businesses on the strip. One person said of the flower shop, “AVOID AVOID AVOID. The owner is an antigun bigot. Take your business elsewhere.” Another commenter said of the yoga studio, “I learned that this business has joined with others to attempt to bully [the mall’s landlord] into refusing to rent space to a non-competing business. To me, yoga is not about bullying others into our wishes.”
By mid-June, it appeared there was nothing Cherrydale residents could do to prevent the opening of Nova Firearms. The store plans to open in August. For now, the opposition has trailed off with one final, desperate effort to stir up a backlash.
On June 17, Dylann Roof allegedly shot and killed nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, with a Glock.45 bought lawfully at a licensed gun store. The webmaster of another protest site, nogunshop.org, tried to tie the news to Nova’s planned opening in Cherrydale, pointing out that Nova’s McClean store sells Glock.45 pistols.
UPDATE: Since this story was reported, Kostas Kapasouris, the landlord, has backed out of his lease with Nova Firearms.
[Photo: Flickr user Ron Cogswell]Let's say you're poor, live in Silicon Valley, and are employed at a local pizza franchise. To make ends meet in this insanely over-priced environment, you worked 8 hours at one pizza shop and then 8 consecutive hours at a second shop owned by the same person. That franchise owner owes you overtime pay. But, what if he doesn't pay?
The case of the underpaid pizza worker, whom the owner only compensated for regular pay, without any overtime, is in fact a recent case now currently before The Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition, which helps workers earn their fair wages and brings visibility to worker stories.
The Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition is currently working with The Workers Lab in Oakland on a phone app that will help workers more easily report wage theft from employers and work to recover their rightful payment. Complementing the Coalition, advocacy and the Workers Lab's technology the Stanford Center for Facility Engineering (CIFE) is leading a team of subject matter experts and DataKind data science volunteers to take a 'big data' approach to spotlighting wage theft using employee demographic and employer violation data.
Recently, we sat down with Santa Clara University School of Law Adjunct Faculty member and Supervising Attorney of the Workers' Rights Clinic of the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center's, Ruth Silver Taube, CEO of The Workers Lab, Carmen Rojas, Data Scientist, Annamaria Prati and Stanford University Engineering PhD student, Forest Peterson to discuss fighting wage theft in Silicon Valley.
Tell us about The Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition:
Ruth Silver Taube:
The Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition grew out of the frustration of seeing client after client with unpaid wage theft judgments. Inspired by the legislative successes and advocacy of similar coalitions in San Francisco, Houston, and Miami Dade, we approached 25 community groups to form a Coalition to combat wage theft through advocacy and direct action. The Coalition issued a Wage Theft Report and held press conferences to publicize the extent of the problem in the County. For example, between April, 2011 and April 2014, there were 1073 wage theft judgments recorded in Superior Court by the San Jose Office of the Labor Commission. Of $8.4 million awarded by the San Jose Office of the Labor Commission in 2012 and 2013, only $2.8 million were collected. The vast majority of workers who experience wage theft never collect what they're owed, even after a court orders their employers to pay. A 2013 study from UCLA and the National Employment Law Project examined the outcomes over 160,000 claims filed with the California Labor Commissioner and found that among those who complete the lengthy process winning a judgment for unpaid wages, only 17% recover any of their stolen wages. The Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition actively works to end wage theft, defend workers' rights, and enforce wage theft judgments. It hopes to accomplish this through policy advocacy, community organizing and outreach, direct action, education, leadership development, and resource coordination. It works with affected workers and their families, particularly low-wage workers who have been victims of the crime of wage theft. Through its advocacy, Santa Clara County, the City of San Jose, and the Santa Clara Unified School District have adopted policies and an ordinance to revoke contracts and permits of businesses that don't pay wage theft judgments. It has also shone a spotlight by holding rallies at the most egregious wage theft violators like Crazy Buffet and Bayview Care Home.
Tell us about your app:
Carmen Rojas:
WorkerReport, the app developed by The Workers Lab and SeeClickFix, permits workers to report wage theft and health and safety hazards to one of three organizations located in Oakland, Seattle, and Santa Clara County. In the first year of The Workers Lab's operation, we heard time and time again from advocates across the country that the gains of the Raise the Wage movement were void if we (the field) didn't find a way to strengthen the enforcement of worker protections. That's how WorkerReport was born. Can an app for enforcement give workers a platform to hold employers accountable? Will they use it? What types of organizations are suitable for administering the tool? Can we use the data collected in the app to impact enforcement policies in the public sector? We're eager to learn more about these questions and more we're excited to share back with others in the field about how the app does or doesn't resonate with working people. There are a lot of people out there who believe an app like this can be impactful in the industry and we want to put that hypothesis to the test before the field rushes toward pouring resources into building tools like this. By collaborating with an established technology company like SeeClickFix, we were able to get the app off the ground swiftly to test in three different cities. We will be closely monitoring user uptake throughout the testing phase and incorporating feedback from workers and our testing organizations to improve the app's functionality.
Tell us how workers will use it:
Forest Peterson:
Our goal is to reduce the barriers to workers asking for help and documenting the theft of their wages. The first hurdle is getting the app on workers' phones - the next is gaining trust so workers report wage theft.
The app is handy to use - it asks for a few features about you such as location, employer, industry, and the type of theft. Workers can describe the problem and attach photos of the hazard or paystub. Documenting the hours worked each week over time builds a record. Photos are particularly relevant to prove the type of work you are performing; work that could be misclassified as a lower pay rate than should be paid.
The information is then provided to the Law Center. They will contact the worker, make an appointment, and provide free legal assistance. There is a pattern to wage theft; low income, immigrant, often monolingual workers are at a higher risk for exploitation. Specific groups have sprung up that specialize in niche exploited groups such as day worker centers, fast food worker organizations, care home worker organizations, undocumented student workers, public works groups, and the various construction trade groups such as the Foundation for Fair Contracting, the Laborers' Union, and the Building and Construction Trades Council. The Law Center will pass the complaint on to the organization best situated to address that case or handle the case themselves.
For example: A sheetmetal worker in the south county is working on a new commercial building. He submits a report that the crew is not paid an overtime rate and the jobsite is unsafe due to spilled chemicals. The law center will route this complaint to the regional office of the sheetmetal workers' union. The union representative will then likely notify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and in parallel investigate the wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner, the Department of Labor, and a private attorney. The report is useful to show evidence and to prove violations.
The app targets a range of workers in various situations. Language is a common barrier so the app follows the language in which the phone is configured. For example, a Tagalog speaker has an app in Tagalog. Language is such a common issue in wage theft that the Law Center regularly holds clinics and partners with groups that serve Spanish, Vietnamese, and Tagalog speaking workers such as the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California, the Filipino Bar, and the Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants (PAWIS).
Further, the app allows for anonymous submission - contact information is optional. There are drawbacks - the app requires a user account and logging in. Trust must be placed in the developer of the app to hold the account confidential. How big the privacy and trust barrier is, we will see.
Even if the worker submits an anonymous report without contact information this is helpful to spotlight industries and occupations. We believe that crowdsourcing will provide a short-term detection of wage theft clusters. In this respect the more reports - even for minor issues or related safety, environmental damage, and community impacts - the better analysts can detect issues early.
Tell us about the data you are gathering and what you are doing with it:
Annamaria Prati:
We are building a model that uses Census data and business characteristics, such as industry codes, demographics, or county average wages, to predict the likelihood a business is practicing wage theft. We are especially interested in predicting egregious cases where the victims are minimum wage earners, there is a large number of victims, or a large amount of money is withheld. The eventual goal is to generate a list of companies or industries with the highest likelihoods for committing wage theft to better allocate investigative resources.
We have four data scientists working on several models to find the highest possible predictive power. The methodology in that is that if all the models have similar results, then we can have greater confidence in those results.
Right now we have a key concern about missing data and the impact it could have on the model; for example, maybe the most vulnerable populations are under-reporting wage theft, or perhaps reporting is more likely in certain industries. If we are right about this missing data, then our model will not predict well for those populations. So, in addition to our predictive models using the existing data, we are also building a model that statistically identifies the missing data and infers the values to enable more accurate predictions.
Of course with the app and the group's outreach, the data will only get better with time, and so will our model!
Any interesting cases you can tell us about:
Ruth Silver Taube:
These cases were provided by me and another attorney to the statewide Fair Paycheck Coalition for inclusion in a list of the Dirty Dozen wage theft violators during a campaign for a state wage theft bill, SB588 that was recently signed by Governor Brown.
We have seen rampant wage theft in the long-term care industry. Owners of small nursing homes can easily evade liability for unpaid wages by selling or transferring assets to another "shell" corporation, rendering obsolete an employee's judgment for unpaid wages against the first company name.
The owners of Bayview Care Home, a six-bed facility in San Jose, California, performed exactly this evasive maneuver. Like many low-wage workers who seek to recover unpaid wages, a mother and son went to the California Labor Commissioner to recover unpaid overtime wages. At his Labor Commission hearing, the son proved he was owed $53,145.39. The mother proved she was owed $25,693.29. Under the law, Bayview Care Home had 10 days to pay or appeal the Labor Commissioner's decisions before they became final judgments issued by Superior Court. Bayview neither paid nor appealed, and instead transferred the care home's assets to another entity, declaring bankruptcy as to the first business entity against whom the mother and son's judgments were entered. "Bayview Care Home" no longer exists on the books, but the same owner now operates a "new" company in the same location.
To date, the state's only nonprofit legal services provider dedicated to recovering unpaid wage judgments, the Wage Justice Center, is still trying to collect the mother and son's judgments. The son is now working with the Pilipino Association of Workers and Advocates (PAWIS) and the Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition to stop exploitation of immigrant workers, who are commonly targeted for wage theft. The mother and son have yet to see a penny of the money the court ordered Bayview to pay.
Another case involved North Coast Couriers, Inc. (NCCI). NCCI is a large and profitable courier company based in San Leandro with clients across the country. It has contracts to deliver to and from banks such as Bank of America, CitiBank and Union Bank, title companies, and pharmacies like Walgreens.
One NCCI worker, Miguelangelo Carceioly, worked as a courier and sorted pharmaceuticals that were destined for Walgreen's, an NCCI client. Despite working overtime for 15 years, he was classified as an independent contractor, and never received overtime pay. He won a judgment in Superior Court for $130,593, but was unable to collect the wages owed to him.
NCCI paid its couriers as employees until 2004 when it made the decision to start treating them as independent contractors. In 2006, they were involved in two Alameda County Superior Court class action lawsuits alleging unpaid wages by their couriers which settled for $850,000. NCCI settled this case on behalf of the class of workers but instead of learning their lesson and paying workers as required by law, it devised a scheme of asking its dispatchers and managers to create companies for them to issue independent contractor payments to couriers. By creating these intermediaries NCCI's owners wanted to create a situation where couriers were paid checks by dozens of entities so they could hide the wage theft. Miguelangelo began receiving wage checks with no deductions from at least four of these entities even though his courier route did not change and he still wore an NCCI shirt and displayed an NCCI badge.
A federal judge recently awarded $5 million in back wages and damages to more than 600 drivers for NCCI in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor, concluding it had deliberately misclassified its drivers as independent contractors to avoid minimum wage and overtime payment.
Wage theft in the restaurant industry is widespread. A report by the Department of Labor found that nationwide, over 80% of restaurant workers experience wage theft. Crazy Buffet, a Sunnyvale restaurant, is an example of a business that has persistently violated labor laws, a repeat offender that has changed its name, yet continues its practices.
Since 2010, Crazy Buffet has had 21 wage complaints against the company. The California Labor Commissioner has ruled that workers were owed $511,687.43 in lost wages, overtime and penalties. In addition, the restaurant also has $1.6 million in California Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE) fines.
The company that owns the restaurant has changed its name eight times, at various times known as Sunnyvale Buffet, Lion Buffet, Mega Buffet, United Buffet, Sofie, and Crazy Buffet, but the name of the restaurant remained unchanged, and each time it remained at the same Sunnyvale address.
Workers have yet to collect on their claims, and the restaurant continued to do business until it closed on June 1, 2015.About
*KICKSTARTER STAFF PICK*
“This is… #awesome! I love it!” - Chris Messina, inventor of the hashtag
HashKey is a unique one-key keyboard dedicated solely to the awesome hashtag. No more wondering how to do a hashtag on your computer or having to press two keys to make it happen! We want to save social media nerds around the world valuable seconds and celebrate the mighty hashtag’s contribution to digital communication!
Brushed aluminium prototype - please note all HashKey tiers are for our plastic moulded prototype version, which we are currently creating and which we will share pictures of w/c Dec 1 we hope!
"Where's the hashtag key? How do I do a hashtag?"
My girlfriend (@littlemisswilde) and I are both social media nerds. People are always asking us "where's the hashtag key?" or "how do I do a hashtag on my computer?" We thought it was finally time to do something about it!
HashKey
We came up with the idea of a one-key USB keyboard with nothing more than a hashtag key on it. After researching, we found that no-one had ever manufactured a one-key keyboard - although people had tried to hack them together.
"Great! Fun and clever idea!" - Shed Simove, inventor
We have developed a prototype and completed a feasibility study for our design for HashKey with our design and build partners RPD International who have brought other Kickstarter projects such as BleepBleeps to life. We're trying to raise enough funds to get HashKey into production and bring it to early-adopter social media addicts around the world, with a view to producing it in greater quantities and taking to retail if it proves a success. We'd love to be able to offer bespoke versions in different colours and other variations!
Brushed aluminium prototype - please note all HashKey tiers are for our plastic moulded prototype version, which we are currently creating and which we will share pictures of w/c Dec 1 we hope!
n.b. the original prototype in the video and pictures was made with brushed aluminium - and we have made a decision to initially create a plastic moulded version as it drastically reduces the cost and we want the HashKey to be as affordable as possible! *UPDATE* we finally have our plastic prototype....
Our plastic moulded prototype - the finished thing will look more like this.
Possible stretch goal / upgrade
If we surpass our funding goal, we may be able to create a stretch goal to put the aluminium version into production and offer it as an upgrade to those who have backed the standard plastic version tier. We would also love to explore the possibility of a Bluetooth-enabled version!
Please note that all reward tiers including a HashKey are for our plastic moulded prototype first generation version. We are currently creating this and hope to share pictures w/c Dec 1. If you back us you'll be one of the first few in the world to own the HashKey and help shape future versions!
Brushed aluminium prototype - please note all HashKey tiers are for our plastic moulded prototype version, which we are currently creating and which we will share pictures of w/c Dec 1 we hope!
Click here to download press pics
http://thehashkey.com
http://twitter.com/thehashkey - #helpthehashtag
https://www.facebook.com/helpthehashtag
Video shot & edited by Clint Trofa
Photos edited by Ben Davis
r.e. use of copyrighted material from 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' owned by NBC in our video, we believe we are using the clip under fair use permitted by the recently-passed EU law on parody videos, but will remove the footage immediately if asked to.
Kickstarter Staff Pick!.- On July 8 Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Servant of God Alphonse Gallegos, who was auxiliary bishop of Sacramento from 1981 to 1991.
The late bishop is now called Venerable, and only one miracle worked through his intercession is needed before he can be beatified.
“This is wonderful news for all those who knew him,” Fr. Eliseo Gonzalez, vice-postulator of Venerable Gallegos' cause of canonization, told CNA.
Fr. Gonzalez is a member of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, in which Bishop Gallegos was ordained a priest in 1958. Since the cause for canonization opened in December 2005, Fr. Gonzalez has been working to tell the bishop’s story.
He explained that many people who knew Bishop Gallegos considered him a “living saint.”
The bishop was born Feb. 20, 1931 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was the eighth of 11 children. His mother and father, Caciana and Joseph Gallegos, were very pious, according to testimonies collected for the canonization cause. The family prayed daily rosaries together and often had lessons on the catechism.
Bishop Gallegos was born with a “severe myopic condition” impacting his eyesight. Though he had many surgeries, the bishop’s poor vision “remained chronic.”
In an effort to seek “better educational opportunities for their children as well as medical treatment for him,” Venerable Gallegos’ parents moved the family to Los Angeles in the early 1930s.
It was there that Bishop Gallegos found his religious vocation. The family put down roots in an area known as “Watts”, and they began attending San Miguel parish, which was run by the Order of Augustinian Recollects. Bishop Gallegos began “nurturing a deep desire to follow the religious life.”
Venerable Gallegos entered the Order of Augustinian Recollects as a novice in 1950. A year later, he professed his first vows, and his solemn vows three years later.
“His visual handicap, however, limited his ability to read and to master all the study requirements for the advancement to the priesthood,” his biography explained.
In 1954, Venerable Gallegos was moved to the order’s major seminary, Tagaste Monastery, in Suffern, New York. But his vision worsened, making his studies more difficult. He had great difficulty reading his breviary so he was given a dispensation to pray the rosary instead.
“His situation was such that doubts were raised concerning his preparation for the priesthood,” but he was ordained a priest May 24, 1958, given his holiness, humility, and community spirit.
Venerable Gallegos’ ministry as a priest began at Tagaste Monastery. He spent eight years working with the neighboring hospitals and religious communities. After, he was appointed novice master for the Augustinian Recollects' Province of St. Augustine in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1972, he returned home to be pastor at his home parish in Watts.
The neighborhood was predominantly African-American and poor. Riots in the 1960s had left the area divided and filled with gangs, crime, and poverty. The priest made it his priority to focus on the local children, greeting them daily at the parish’s school.
On the weekends, Venerable Gallegos would spend time with the lowriders of the community, blessing their cars and encouraging the Hispanic youth to pursue a college education. He also took care of the elderly and opened his home to anyone in need. He later served at Cristo Rey parish.
Word spread of his service, and in 1979 Venerable Gallegos was appointed director of the newly-created Hispanic affairs office of the California Catholic Conference. In this role he worked with bishops in both northern Mexico and California on such issues as immigration and evangelization. His work there led to his appointment as auxiliary bishop of Sacramento in 1981.
“He was Hispanic, yet he ministered to a very diverse group of people,” Olympia Nunez, Venerable Gallegos' long-time secretary, told CNA.
“We had a Korean community, Chinese, African-American, Hispanic, and he was the person in charge of all these groups.”
Nunez said the bishop was incredibly kind and outgoing, and never complained about his disability.
“Once a year for his birthday, everyone got together and celebrated with different ethnic foods and customs,” Nunez reflected. “He brought all these people together.”
The bishop’s episcopal motto was “love one another.” He advocated for the culture of life, and personally paid Catholic school tuition for the poor.
Fr. Gonzalez called Bishop Gallegos an inspiration and example of hope and fortitude for all.
“If he was able to accomplish such great things, why can’t we? With God’s help we can also accomplish great things.”
On Oct. 6, 1991, Bishop Gallegos and his driver were returning home from Gridley, about 60 miles north of Sacramento. They had car troubles, so the two got out and started pushing the car to the side of the road. Another vehicle, driving in the same direction, struck the bishop.
More than 2,000 people were present at his funeral, and lowriders formed one of the longest funeral processions ever documented.
In addition to his pastoral concern for the poor, Venerable Gallegos was known for his commitment to the culture of life. He had been at a gathering in Gridley to pray the rosary for an end to abortion the day he died.
With the announcement of the bishop's cause advancing, Nunez said: “He doesn’t belong to just Sacramento or California, he now belongs to the United States in general, and to the world, as an example of a good, humble, generous human being.”
In order for him to be canonized, two miracles through the intercession of Venerable Alphonse Gallegos must be verified.
The faithful are encouraged to visit Venerable Alphonse Gallegos’ body at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in downtown Sacramento, his life-size statue in Bishop Gallegos Square, and a mini-museum displaying the bishop’s personal items in Oxnard, some 65 miles west of Los Angeles.
Update: July 21, 2016 Minor corrections added throughout.Update 24 May, 2016: Overwatch has gone live and we can now confirm the prices of the shooter’s loot boxes.
Overwatch is finally out, and we can reveal the prices of its in-game loot boxes. While not required, you can pay real world money to unlock these loot-stuffed reward crates if you want to take shortcuts instead of unlocking them through play. Here are the price for the various bundles:
2 boxes – $1.99 / £1.59
5 boxes – $4.99 / £3.99
11 boxes – $9.99 / £7.99
24 boxes – $19.99 / £15.99
50 boxes – $39.99 / £31.99
Check out all the Overwatch characters, since they’re all available free, forever.
Update 23 May, 2016:Blizzard have clarified that there will be microtransactions upon release, in the form of loot boxes.
During our interview with Michael Chu there was a misunderstanding about Overwatch’s microtransactions, as detailed below. Blizzard have now confirmed to us via a spokesman that there will in fact be microtransactions in the game at launch, taking the form of loot boxes. Details and prices of these will be revealedonce the game launches.
Original Story: 23 May, 2016:There is a long history of debate around Overwatch microtransactions and possible payment model. That it is not free-to-play still surprises some, while worries over what Blizzard will charge for continue to circle. In an interview today with Michael Chu, one of the game designers, we reconfirmed that Blizzard don’t plan to make us pay for new heroes or maps at any point in the future. There’s also no microtransaction system in the game at all at launch.
Chu was very specific when I asked, saying “You will not have to pay for heroes and maps.” This is the same statement game director Jeff Kaplan gave a few months ago after questions over the game’s payment model were brought to the fore, but it’s nice to hear on the eve of launch that nothing has changed in the intervening period.
Chu also said that the build of the game going live tonight contains no microtransactions of any sort, confirming that “for now, they’re just unlocked through levelling up.” Kaplan told us last year that they were considering charging for these Overwatch loot boxes, perhaps at the price point of a Hearthstone pack, but apparently it hasn’t yet come to fruition.
That in mind, I asked Chu what their plan for support going forward would be, considering it’s a game that could live forever. He, and perhaps Blizzard, don’t know yet.
“Forever’s a long time,” he laughed. “It’s not really an area of expertise for me because, thankfully, one of my favourite things about working at Blizzard is we have a great business team who handles all this for us. I’m just focused on what this new content will be and I’m faithful that we’ll find a way to distribute it.”
Not launching with a monetization plan is a rarity in the modern world so those business folks likely do have some ideas in mind. Blizzcon is many months away in November, while Gamescom in mid-August is another common stomping ground for the developer and their announcements. Kaplan has teased a summer of new content in dev diaries and elsewhere – seems like we’ll see that before we’re asked for any more money.Kevin Barry's latest book, "Beatlebone," tells the fictional story of ex-Beatle John Lennon after he escapes from New York in 1978. Barry told DW's Sabine Peschel what made the book so difficult to write - and why he had no choice but to become an author.
DW: Kevin Barry, Ireland is not a very large country, but its contribution to world literature is immense. There are more Irish authors than one could name in an afternoon. What made you decide you wanted to be one of them?
Kevin Barry: I think that Irish people love the sound of their own voices. We love to tell stories. And it's not unconnected with our weather, where it rains almost 300 days of the year and we're trapped indoors and have nothing to do except to make up really crazy stories and to try and entertain ourselves. I think this honestly explains part of the great tradition of Irish literature. I almost fell naturally into a storytelling mode, I guess.
So it's kind of unavoidable, being born in Limerick?
I think it is! When I go back and visit Limerick now - I live now in the Northwest of Ireland, in County Sligo - and visit the family and old friends, we tell each other the same stories again and again and the details of the stories aren't important, it's the way we tell them and how much fun you can get out of the rendition of the story. It's almost like singing.
In 2011, you received the International Dublin Literary Award that was endowed with 100,000 euros. You once said in an interview: "I'll only be content when I receive the Literature Nobel Prize." How far along are you in reaching this goal?
This comment I made has ended up on my Wikipedia page and I was kind of being mischievous. I think they will never give me the Nobel Prize now. I've been too presumptuous, so I haven't got a hope. But I have been lucky to win some prizes and it's always nice to get literary awards, especially when they've got large sums of money attached to them.
Let's talk about your book "City of Bohane." The name sounds so Irish. How did you find that name?
It was very difficult to begin the novel, because I knew that I wanted to build a little city of my own. But I didn't know what it was called. I was searching for months subconsciously for a name. I kind of had a vision; it was sent to me one night. I sat suddenly awake in bed and I said out loud the single word: "Bohane." And it sounded just right and it felt right for the city. It's actually a very old Irish surname, not very common. It felt right for the imaginary city somewhere out on the West Coast of Ireland.
Why is your novel set in 2053, almost 40 years in the future?
This was an amazement to me. I had no idea that the novel was set in the future. But I was about halfway through writing the first chapter of the book and I found myself typing the sentence: "Long gone in Bohane the days of the discos." And I remember saying: "Wow! This is actually set in the future!" And this was a wonderful discovery, because it meant I could invent and let my imagination have free reign and go wild on the page. I didn't need to stick too close to the actual and I could just let imagination take over.
There are no mobile phones, no computers. Why is your future so "retro"?
I guess it struck me actually as I was proceeding with the book and writing the first chapters, that it was kind of a Western. Essentially all of the archetypes of the characters were classic Western archetypes. I enjoyed the fact that no technology was appearing. There weren't even motorcars, there were some old trams. So clearly there had been some sort of catastrophe. We don't know what it was or what occurred. But I started to have great fun with this kind of retro city. And it's set in the 50s, but it could be the 2050s, it could be the 1950s, it could almost be the 1850s. In some ways, it's kind of a Victorian future. Some critics used the term "steampunk," as you would have in graphic novels, and that's quite close, I think, to the kind of approach I'm using.
Is this a reaction to the fast changes in Ireland? You mention time a lot in your book.
I think whenever a writer sits down and writes a story that's set in the future, in lots of ways really they're just projecting on and describing the present moment in an exaggerated kind of way. Between the late 1990s and around 2009-2010, Ireland went through vast changes. Very quickly the whole fabric of the country changed. There was a huge economic boom, a huge economic collapse, and for the first time massive immigration into the country. The energies of the cities changed in wonderful ways and in some negative ways and there were new tensions.
In some ways, "City of Bohane" is my Celtic tiger novel and it's kind of describing the changes in the cities at this time in a very kind of abstracted way. I wasn't even aware of this when writing it. Writers are very often the last people to find out what their books are about.
You said you were writing an epilogue, an anti-realistic novel. On the other hand, you are open about many of your sources of inspiration, naming authors like Anthony Burgess, Cormac McCarthy and James Joyce throughout your work. Their work was fictional of course, but based on social circumstances of their time. What historical or social circumstances are in the background of "City of Bohane" - or are there any?
No, I think that there are. I think a lot of the experience of the novel as it's presented comes from my own experience of growing up in cities like Limerick and Cork, which could from time to time be very troublesome cities with lots of gang fights and lots of criminal strife between different sectors of the cities and very influential in that way. It's true that there are whole myriads of influences on the novel drawn from popular culture. Certainly film, television and graphic novels are very important to me in terms of influence, as is music. Mentioning Anthony Burgess, "A Clockwork Orange" was a very important book for me.
Also I think when I was writing the novel, around 2009 or so, my big kick at the time was probably the box sets of American TV shows like "The Wire" and "The Sopranos" that I was watching. I found those shows had stolen an awful lot of narrative technique from the novel, so I was thinking that there were ways of stealing some of that back and using those shows as influences in terms of the way they used montage and very quick cuts between scenes and so forth.
The book was also influenced by the fact that I've been writing a lot of scripts myself. It very much moves scene to scene. Somebody pointed out to me that many pages in the book read like a graphic novel. There are so many influences going on, you can only hope you really make something original from all of them.
Your book is written in Limerick and Cork accents. How did you find the basic tone of your book?
In lots of ways I'm less of a writer and more of a frustrated actor. I perform the work aloud as I'm writing it. I do all the lines, the dialogue and the descriptions out loud. I think my ultimate project is to mess with the fundamental English sentence and to try and pack as
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ART medicines provided to HIV/AIDS patients.
"The latest round of HIV Sentinel Surveillance was completed in 2011. The data generated there has been used for estimation of HIV burden and projection of HIV epidemic trends in the country," a statement said.
"The HIV estimations 2012 indicate an overall continuing reduction in adult HIV prevalence, new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in India".
Released on the eve of World AIDS Day, the report says adult HIV prevalence at national level has continued its steady decline from estimated level of 0.41 percent in 2001 through 0.35 percent in 2006 to 0.27 percent in 2011.
The estimated number of people living with HIV was 20,88,642 in 2011, the report said. It is estimated that about 1.48 lakh people died of AIDS related causes in 2011 in India. Deaths among HIV infected children account for 7 percent of all AIDS-related deaths.
It is estimated that around 1.16 lakh new HIV infections among adults and around 14,500 new infections among children occurred during 2011.
IANS
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.Sacred Provides You the easy and proper steps to do Durga puja at your Home.
These are following proper steps to perform Durga puja:
1. Dhyanam (Prayer or chant the beej mantra)
To Perform Durga Puja Dhyanam is the first and foremost step. Dhyanam is the Prayer or the Meditation process in which we should chant Durga Beej Mantra.
2. Avahana (Invocation)
The Second step to do Durga Pooja is to worship the God to come into the place of Idol.This is Known as Avahana or Invocation. At the time of Invocation we should recite Durga Avhana Mantra.
3.Aasana (Offering Seating)
The Third Step is to offer Seat to God. As, whenever any guest come to our House we offer them Aasana or a well cleaned place or ant cloth, in the same way offer a New, clean, decorated Red cloth to Maa Durga to be seated.
4.Paadya (Washing of feet)
The fourth step is to wash the feet of Maa Durga gently by pouring Water as she gets sitted.
5. Arghya (Washing of hands)
Arghya is the fifth step when the Goddess Durga is sitted and her feets are washed then we offer Water to wash her Hands.
6. Aachamana (Offering Drinking Water)
Then we Offer Drinking Water to Goddess Durga in her Mouth that is known as Aachamana.
7. Snana (Bathing with Water or panchamruthas)
Wash Goddess Durga Idol with Panchamruth i.e. Milk, Yoghurt, Ghee, Honey, Sugar, Sandal Powder as offering Bath and then Sprinkle water.
8.Vastra (Offering New Cloths)
Offer New Clothes to Maa Durga which contains Chunari, Blouse Piece& Makeup Kit with Flowers and Garlands.
9.Yajnopavita (Sacred thread)
Offer Sacred Thread with Flowers and Akshathas with Sindur, Chandan, Loung, Mewa, Nariyal.
10.Gandha (Sandal Paste)
Now put Chandan Paste to the forehead of Goddess Durga.
11.Archana (Offering Flowers)
Now Offer Flowers to Goddess Durga by reciting her 108 names and offer one flower of each name.
12.Dhoopam (Incense)
After offering Flowers, now enlight Insence Stick to spread its fragrance.
13.Deepam (Oil Lamp)
Enlight Oil Lamp to Goddess Durga which symbolize bringing of Light into Life.
14.Naivedyam (Offering Specially prepared food)
Offer Sweets, Fruits to Goddess Durga which is known as Naivedyam.
15.Tamboolam (Offering Betel Leafs and Betel Nuts)
Now offer Betel leaves and betel nuts to Goddess Durga.
16. Durga Aarti
17. Durga Mantra
Durga Puja Vidhi:-Expect Dean Pees To Utilize 2 Deep Safeties Against Jaguars
Over the past couple of weeks, the Ravens have found their best Safety combination in Will Hill and Jeromy Miles. Hill and Miles have been playing a majority of the defensive snaps with SS Darian Stewart as the back-up Safety for Miles. This allows Defensive Coordinator, Dean Pees, to utilize 2 deep safeties while the front four goes after the Quarterback. By rushing four and dropping seven into coverage, the Ravens can protect their inexperienced corners while forcing the Quarterback to throw underneath to the flat or check down receiver.
Discuss this on the BSL board here.
The key to this defensive scheme is the pass rush of the front four. Over the last 4 games against Baltimore, opposing Quarterbacks are under pressure an average of 42% against total dropbacks. Let’s look at a couple of plays against the Dolphins where pressure by the front four and two deep Safeties helped the Defense.
Pressure generated by the front four lead to a sack.
Safety help up top forces Tannehill to throw to his check down receiver.
Safety help up top in conjunction with pressure from the front four leads to a hurried throw to the check down receiver.
Share this post onOn Monday, Kyle Alexander and CAustin (aka the Puckologist) wrote a post on Raw Charge titled “It’s still okay for an NHL team to draft goaltenders.” This is a topic that isn’t exactly new in the hockey analytics community – on this site alone Garret and myself have written a few posts about how unpredictable goalies are and the general consensus in the hockey analytics community being that goalies are simply not worth drafting in the early rounds of the draft, due to the variability on their results compared to other skaters (particularly forwards).
The Raw Charge guys in their post don’t totally disagree, but do think the talk of avoiding goalies is a bit exaggerated by some, concluding:
However, the gap between goalie drafting and forward drafting isn’t nearly as stark as it’s been made out to be. It’s much more worthwhile to make drafting and development at all positions better than to attempt to specialize in elite forwards to the exclusion of other positions.
Essentially, the Raw Charge guys argue:
1. The Gap between skaters and goalies’ success and failure rates isn’t as big as people think – most evaluative measures used in such studies disfavor goalies by using metrics such as GP by a certain age, where goalies rarely get opportunities to meet such thresholds.
2. The response to whatever gap there actually is should be to try and improve goalie evaluation – similar to how Swedish and Finnish goalie federations’ improved early goalie training to improve their goalie crop – rather than to eschew goalies altogether.
3. The failure of goalies may also have to do with poor development processes rather than bad evaluation.
While all three points do have merit, I think they’re both quite a bit overstated.
On the first point, even if you try and use objective measures of performance instead of simply accounting for “success” vs “failure” (as the RC guys do in the post) there is still a huge gap in how goalies perform relative to draft spot as compared to skaters. As Garret pointed out in one of this site’s first posts: Compare this for skaters:
To this for goalies:
Both of the above images courtesy of Matt Pfeffer with the Y axis being based on GVT.
GVT is being used here not just through the first few years of a career, where goalies are indeed disadvantaged (When I did my goalie Marcel projections, there was a single goalie under peak age (24) with enough sample for the projections – Robin Lehner). And it’s pretty clear here the gap just makes goalies drafted prior to the 3rd round at best an unworthy gamble. Not that this disagrees with what the RC guys are saying – but it should be clear the gap between skaters and goalies is real and VERY relevant.
Where I really disagree is on the second point. There’s no question that goalie evaluation can improve at all levels – at the NHL for instance, we just had a contending team act as if Ryan Miller was a massive improvement over Halak/Elliott/Allen (nope) and stake its trade deadline on that move. And at the amateur level, Rhys J (That’s Offside!) has noted that teams often seem to ignore save percentage when evaluating junior goalies, which obviously is kind of silly (ignoring data in making an evaluation is pretty much always going to be bad – especially with goalies for whom the eye test can be VERY misleading).
That said, goalies are pretty much always going to be harder to evaluate than skaters and it’s hard to see it getting that much better (especially since it’s not like skaters can’t be evaluated better at the junior level either!) for the same reason why goalies are such a problem at the NHL Level: Goalie performance is just naturally more variable due to sample size. And scouting goalies isn’t ever going to really get a decent sample size like you can get from a few years’ data in the NHL – the stats are going to cover a smaller amount of games (during which goalie skill is more likely to actually change than in the NHL) as is the scouting. Whereas it may be possible for national programs to improve the development of goalies by improving training methods, evaluative methods are not going to get much better samples with which to work.
As to the third point – it’s definitely true that development processes may get better – hell, that’s why goalies have gotten so much better since the 80s such that they’re where they are now. At the same time, again, it seems more likely that the failure of so many goalies has to do with the fact that scouting them pre-draft involves dealing with tiny samples for both eyes and stats in a position where small sample size flukes are most notable.
Overall, it would be crazy to say not to draft goalies at all in the draft in favor of skaters throughout the entire draft, but it just seems unlikely that goalie evaluation and development will improve to the point that drafting goalies early will ever make sense.by
For those of us who enjoy working on our cars (or don’t particularly enjoy it but know that it’s a necessary evil) there are plenty of simple things we can do to help maintain our cars and keep them in peak running condition. Not surprisingly, cars that are properly maintained also tend to get much better gas mileage as well.Â
Here are some simple car maintenance things you can do yourself in your own driveway that will help keep your car in good condition as well as help to increase its gas mileage:
Check your tire pressure. Improperly inflated tires can reduce your car’s gas mileage by up to 2%. Considering your tires will naturally lose roughly 3% of their air pressure each month, this is probably the task you’re going to have to do most often. Go ahead and spend a couple of bucks on an air pressure gauge, and when the pressure gets below what your car’s manufacturer recommends, go ahead and put some extra air in the tires the next time you’re at the gas station. Replace dirty air filters. An excessively dirty or clogged air filter can cause your car’s gas mileage to drop by as much as 10%. Most air filters are easy to check, take less than five minutes to replace and should set you back less than $15. Replace worn spark plugs. Driving around with worn or fouled spark plugs will cause your car’s air/fuel mixture to be ignited less efficiently, and will reduce your car’s performance and fuel economy. This job may take a little bit of time, but it shouldn’t take too much money. Check your gas cap’s gasket. If your car’s gas cap doesn’t get a proper seal, you’re going to let gas simply escape from your car. If the gasket looks old and cracked, go ahead and get a new gasket from your local auto parts store. It’ll take you less than 5 minutes and a couple of bucks to get the job done. Switch to synthetic motor oil. This one’s probably the most labor intensive and expensive job out of the five, but it should be enough to help you get an extra boost in fuel economy. Simply put, synthetic motor oils tend to do a better job reducing engine friction, meaning your car’s engine will run more efficiently. Translation: a more efficient engine tends to get better gas mileage.
Anyway, most of this stuff is pretty simple, even if you don’t know a ton about cars. That being said, if you don’t feel comfortable or have absolutely no idea what you’re doing, take your car up to your local mechanic and have them do this work for you.
Either way, it won’t take a lot of time or money to help your car get the best possible gas mileage.'I used to be sick all the time': Dozens of Americans who claim to be allergic to electromagnetic signals settle in small West Virginia town where WiFi is banned
Green Bank, West Virginia is situated in the middle of the National Radio Quiet Zone
All electromagnetic signals are banned within the zone including WiFi and cellphones
The zone was set up to protect the world's largest radio telescopes from electronic interference
Americans from across the country have resettled in Green Bank to get away from the signals, which they find physically damaging
More than 30 people have relocated to Green Bank as of 2013
A small remote town where Wi-Fi is banned has become an unlikely haven for people claiming modern technology has been making them ill.
The so-called 'Wi-Fi refugees' are flocking to the tiny settlement to escape painful symptoms including burning skin, chest pains and acute headaches.
The sufferers argue the affliction - a condition known as Electromagnetic Sensitivity - has been eased by the move and report feeling much better.
Behind the times: Dozens of Americans have relocated to the small town of Green Bank, West Virginia in hopes of escaping electromagnetic signals Green Bank is in the middle of the National Radio Quiet Zone which was established to provide optimum conditions for telescopes Refugee: Diane Schou moved to Green Bank from Iowa when she started noticing pain whenever she was near a cell phone or device with WiFi
Many have relocated to Green Bank, West Virginia, from across America to avoid mobile phones, Wi-Fi hotspots, TV and radio transmissions. As of 2013, 36 people have relocated to Green Bank.
One, Diane Schou, travelled nearly 1,000 miles from her former home in Iowa to join the isolated town of just 147 residents.
Diane said: 'I used to be sick all the time when I lived in Iowa. I was in constant pain.
'If anyone came near me with a cell phone or a device with Wi-Fi I would be in agony.
'But since I've moved to Green Banks the illnesses have cleared up.'
Condition: People who claim to suffer from pain associated with WiFi and other signals say they have Electromagnetic Sensitivity Sweden is the only country to recognize Electromagnetic Sensitivity as a real condition
Green Bank, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, falls in the middle of the 13,000 square mile National Radio Quiet Zone.
Here, mobile phones, radio and TV transmitters and Wi-Fi are forbidden to prevent interference with one of the world's largest radio telescopes.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory telescope is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope.
Nearly 4 per cent of the UK and US population could be affected by EHS, estimates reveal.
But despite nearly 30 studies being carried out into the phenomena, Sweden is currently the only country to recognise it as a medical condition.
Sufferers there can claim social support the same as if they had other disabilities.
Another EHS sufferer, former bank vice-president Deborah Cooney said she felt she was being'slowly poisoned' back in San Diego, California.
New life: Deborah Cooney, one of Green Bank's newer residents, moved from San Diego where she says she was being'slowly poisoned' by a WiFi smart meter installed next to her home
The 50-year-old said her symptoms developed after hundreds of Wi-Fi enabled smart meters were installed next to her home in 2011.
Deborah said: 'It began with a constant ringing in my ears. I couldn't sleep in the house anymore and felt sick all the time.
'Any food I brought into the house would make me feel ill. I got heart palpitations.
'It was like I was slowly being poisoned.'
Even her pet cat Mimi, a purebred Himalayan, became ill from the harmful radiation she believed had been emitted from the smart meters, she added.British judge grabs sex offender by throat
Updated
A British judge grabbed a convicted sex offender by the throat and pinned him to the floor to stop him escaping from court, a trial heard on Tuesday.
Judge Douglas Marks Moore, 60, wrestled 34-year-old Paul Reid twice as he attempted to flee from Woolwich Crown Court in London last August.
Reid made his desperate bid for freedom after giving evidence in his trial, jurors at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court in London, heard.
"One thing stood between Paul Reid and freedom -- the judge trying his case," said prosecutor Rupert Gregory.
"As he went through the door his honour Judge Marks Moore grabbed him round the throat to try to bring him down.
"Together they went down three steps and then Mr Reid broke free and ran down the judge's corridor.
"The judge gave chase. Just as Mr Reid was about to open a push-handle fire door, HHJ Marks Moore rugby-tackled him around the throat and waist and brought him crashing to the ground, landing on top of him.
"He held him there, struggling and protesting, until the prison officers managed to catch up, secure him and return him to custody."
The 34-year-old Reid is now standing trial for escape and attempted escape, both of which he denies.
The case continues.
-AFP
Topics: courts-and-trials, human-interest, law-crime-and-justice, england, united-kingdom
First postedHowever some managed to write 'lock her up' repeatedly when he was asked about 'Crooked Hillary'
When it comes to his online campaign, Donald Trump has no limits and speaks freely without fear of the backlash.
But his first appearance on Reddit's Ask Me Anything (AMA) was far more controlled, as he only answered friendly questions and ignored negative comments.
The Republican nominee's question-and-answer thread on the community website was heavily moderated - leaving many comments unanswered.
He promised it would be 'huge', but he only answered about eight questions in total.
When the billionaire was asked about Hillary, there were messages mimicking the chant of 'lock her up, lock her up' that was heard at their party's convention last week.
Scroll down for video
Donald Trump is seen sitting at his laptop on a flight to Ohio, answering questions during his debut on Reddit's Ask Me Anything
He also said: 'Keeping Crooked Hillary Clinton out of the White House,' was the best way to keep money out of politics.
Trump also slammed Obamacare and the mainstream media. In response to a statement that 90 per cent of media is owned by six companies, he wrote: 'I have been very concerned about media bias and the total dishonesty of the press. I think new media is a great way to get out the truth.'
Introducing himself to the thread, he wrote wrote: 'This is going to be SO huge and I'm looking forward to answering your questions. I'm doing this in flight to visit the great people of Toledo, OH, so Internet connection might be spotty.
'I promise you, I'll answer all the questions I can. I want to do BIG things for America and as your President, I WILL Make America Great Again!'
One person he did respond to wrote: 'Hello Mr. Trump. I'm 29 years old, registered Libertarian and have voted that way my entire life.
'I feel closely aligned with what the party stands for, and am passionate about it. However, this election I am starting to think that, while I think a Libertarian candidate is what's best for America long term, that you may be what America needs right now.
'I also feel like you care about this country so, so much, and you want what's best for it. This is a difficult decision for me, because on the issues I seem to either firmly believe or strongly disagree with what you have to say.
'I think you may be the best possible candidate for our economy, but I do fear some of your international policies,
'I know that I am not the only 3rd party voter that feels this way. So my question to you is, what do you say to people like me who are on the fence about voting 3rd party(Johnson/Stein) or for you?'
He promised the question-and-answer sessions be 'huge', but he only answered about eight questions in total
Trump responded by saying: 'Americans in every party are tired of our rigged system and corrupt politicians, and want to reform our government so it no longer benefits the powerful at the expense of everyone else.
'They know I will fix it so it works for them and their families. Hillary Clinton's message is that things will never change. My message is that things have to change, and they have to change right now.
'We have to change a foreign policy that has led us to one economic disaster after another, and an economic policy that has failed our poorest citizens.
'We will never fix a rigged system by relying on the people who rigged it in the first place.
'I am going to return the government to the people.'
Another Reddit user said: 'As you may know there are a lot of young Bernie Sanders supporters out there who have become disillusioned by both the conduct of the DNC and by the policy positions of Secretary Clinton (many of these Bernie Sanders frequent this site).
'What is the most important thing you would like to convey about yourself and your policy positions to the people who voted for Bernie in the primary but are now considering either staying home or voting third party in November?'
The Donald responded by saying: 'Though Bernie is exhausted and has given up on his revolution, many of his voters still want to keep up the fight.
The billionaire real estate mogul addressed a crowd of supporters at the Lackawanna College in Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning, ahead of the third day of the Democratic convention
'I expect that millions of Bernie voters will refuse to vote for Hillary because of her support for the War in Iraq, the invasion of Libya, NAFTA and TPP, and of course because she is totally bought and sold by special interests.
'She and her husband have been paid millions and millions by global corporations and powerful interests who will control her every decision. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.
'We welcome with open arms all voters who want an honest government and to fix our rigged system so it works for the people.Today is a good day! VMware have released to GA vCloud Director 9.0 (build 6681978) and with it come the most significant feature and enhancements of any previous vCD release. This is the 9th major release of vCloud Director, now spanning nearly six and half years since v1.0 was released in Feburary of 2011 and as mentioned from my point of view it’s the most significant update of vCloud Director to date.
Top Enhancements:
Having been part of the BETA program I’ve been able to test some of the new features and enhancements over the past couple of months and even though from a Service Provider perspective there is a heap to like about what is functionally under the covers, but the biggest new feature is without doubt the HTML5 Tenant Portal however as you can see below there is a decent list of top enhancements.
Multi-Site vCD – Single Access point URL for all vCD instances within same SP federated via SSO
On-premises to Cloud Migration – Plugin that enables L2 connectivity, warm and cold migration
Expanded NSX Integration – Security Groups, Logical Routing for east-west traffic and audit logging
HTML5 Tenant UI – Streamlined workflows for VM deployment, UI Extensibility for 3rd party services/functionality
HTML5 Metrics UI – Basic Metrics for VMs shown through tenant portal
Extensible Service Framework – Service enablement, SSO Ready
Application Extensibility – Plugin Framework
PostGres 9.5 Support – In addition to MSSQL and Oracle, Postgres is now supported.
…and more under the hood bits
I’m sure there will be a number of other blog posts focusing on the list above, and i’ll look to go through a few myself over the next few weeks but for this GA post I wanted to touch on the new HTML5 Tenant UI.
There is a What’s New in vCloud Director 9.0 PDF here.
New HTML5 Tenant UI:
The vCD team laid the foundation for this new Tenant UI in the last release of vCD in bringing the NSX Advanced HTML5 UI to version 8.20. While most things have been ported across there may still be a case for tenants to go back to the old Flex UI to do some tasks, however from what I have seen there is close to 100% full functionality.
To get to the new HTML5 Tenant UI you go to: https://<vcd>/tenant/orgname
Once logged in you are greeted with a now familiar looking VMware portal based on the Clarity UI. It’s pretty, it’s functional and it doesn’t need Flash…so haters of the existing flex based vCD portal will have to bite their tongues now 🙂
The Networking menu is inbuilt into this same Tenant portal and you you can access it directly from the new UI, or in the same way as was the case with vCD 8.20 from the flex UI. Below is a YouTube video posted by the vCD team that walks through the new UI.
There is also VM Metrics in the UI now, where previously they where only accessible after configuring the vCD Cells to route metric data to a Cassandra database. The metrics where only accessible via the API and some providers managed to tap into that and bring vCD Metrics into their own portals. With the 9.0 release this is now part of the new HTML5 Tenant UI and can be seen in the video below.
As per previous releases this only shows up to two weeks worth of basic metrics but it’s still a step in the right direction and gives vCD tenant’s enough info to do basic monitoring before hitting up a service desk for VM related help.
Conclusion:
vCloud Director 9.0 has delivered on the what most members of the VMware Cloud Provider Program had wanted for some time…that is, a continuation of the commitment to the the HTML5 UI as well as continuing to add features that help service providers extend their reach across multiple zones and over to hybrid cloud setups. As mentioned over the next few weeks, I am going to expand on the key new features and walk through how to configure elements through the UI and API.
Compatibility with Veeam, vSphere 6.5 and NSX-v 6.3.x:
vCloud Director 9.0 is compatible with vSphere 6.5 Update 1 and NSX 6.3.3 and supports full interoperability with other versions as shown in the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix. With regards to Veeam support, I am sure that our QA department will be testing the 9.0 release against our integration pieces at the first opportunity they get, but as of now, there is no ETA on offical support.
A list of known issues can be found in the release notes.
#LongLivevCD
References:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/vCloud-Director/9.0/rn/rel_notes_vcloud_director_90.html
https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/vcloud/vmware-vcloud-director-whats-new-9-0-white-paper.pdf
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PinterestMatt Canavan discussed taking out Italian citizenship with his family in 2005 but says he never signed any documents or forms and believed the matter never progressed.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce on Wednesday defended the former resources minister as an "exemplary person" and said Senator Canavan's mother was "at her wits' end" that her son's promising political career had stalled.
Senator Canavan resigned from the Turnbull government ministry on Tuesday night after publicly declaring his mother signed him up for Italian citizenship without his knowledge.
Asked how that could happen given the rigorous application progress required to obtain Italian citizenship, Mr Joyce said: "Well, Senator Canavan has stated to me that he did not complete any forms, so it was a discussion the family had and he thought that's where it's rested. I think they've found the forms and they're unsigned."CTVNews.ca Staff
Canada Border Services agents stopped more than 150 U.S. sex offenders from entering Canada, in part due to a partnership with United States customs, the federal government announced Monday.
In 2014 alone, information provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents helped CBSA agents refuse entry to 59 sex offenders, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said.
Blaney also announced that 51 “dangerous individuals” have been removed from Canada since 2011, thanks to the “Wanted by the CBSA” program.
The program was launched as a tool to help border officers locate criminals with outstanding deportation orders.
"In this past year alone, more than 30 dangerous criminals were identified and intercepted by the agency thanks to the support of the Canadian population," Blaney told a news conference at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.
Blaney said Canadians who called a special hotline helped authorities track down people on CBSA’s “wanted” list.
"If we're here, it's to thank the Canadian population for its collaboration in supporting the work of the CBSA in putting its hands on 50 dangerous criminals during the last three years," he said.
With a files from The Canadian PressWhile thousands attended a memorial service in Slovakia Thursday to honor Pavol Demitra, Jaroslav Halak was preparing to open the NHL season with a tribute of his own back in St. Louis.
The Blues’ No.1 will honour his former Slovakian teammate on the back of his mask after Demitra was among 37 players, coaches and staff of Russia’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey club to die last week when the team flight crashed en route to the first game of the Kontinental Hockey League season.
InGoal Magazine has the first look the emotion-filled backplate, which depicts Demitra with arms raised after scoring for Slovakia during the 2010 Olympics, which he led in scoring. The images come courtesy of artist Jason Livery from Head Strong Grafx, who painted the backplate and will present it to Halak Sunday:
Halak isn’t the first goalie to honor lost teammates as hockey’s horrific summer ends – Minnesota’s Josh Harding paid homage to ex-teammates Demitra, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien (and his grandmother) on his new Wild mask.
Be sure to check out more impressive paint jobs on the Head Strong Grafx website, and the rest of Halak’s new mask photos below. While the backplate is 100 % Head Strong Grafx, the rest of the mask was originally painted by a friend of Halak’s from back in his native Slovakia, but he asked Head Strong to make some changes:Posted in: Android, Mobile Accessories
ZeroLemon, maker of ridiculously large aftermarket batteries that hold the energy of a thousand suns, has created a new monstrosity for the LG G3. The 9,000mAh battery holds enough charge to last till LG makes the G4.
As with the previous models for other smartphones, the battery comes as part of a case that replaces your back cover. As a side effect of this you will lose things like NFC and wireless charging but the former is fairly useless and who need to charge when you have 9000mAh.
Also, because the G3 has its buttons on the back, the case has the buttons on it that you can press the activate the actual buttons below but I’m not sure how tactile these would be. The case is ruggedized and should protect the phone from drops and small earthquakes. There is also provision to attack the holster/kickstand that comes with the battery case.
Jokes aside, if you want a really large battery and are willing to compromise on looks, functionality, and general usability, then ZeroLemon has you and your phone covered.
Source • ViaOn July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened its gates for the very first time. While this was a momentous and historic occasion for Disney, the day did not go quite as planned. Disneyland opening day was referred to by cast members as “Black Sunday” due to all of the problems experienced at the park. So just what exactly went wrong when Disneyland first opened?
As Disneyland opened, workers were still busy trying to get the park ready. Trees were still being planted and some of the paint was still wet.
. Trees were still being and some of the paint was. Due to a problem with counterfeit tickets, over twice the number of invited guests showed up to attend the opening day festivities, making the park quite crowded.
, over twice the number of invited guests showed up to attend the opening day festivities, making the park quite crowded. To make matters worse, each park ticket had a designated time to enter the park to prevent overcrowding. But the guests who entered early in the day were not leaving after a few hours as expected. So, they were letting more people in and no one was exiting the park.
to enter the park to prevent overcrowding. But the guests who entered early in the day were after a few hours as expected. So, they were letting more people in and no one was exiting the park. Because more visitors than expected showed up, the Disneyland restaurants and refreshment stands ran out of food and beverages.
and ran out of food and beverages. The asphalt on Main Street had just been poured the night before and was still wet. Women’s high heels were sticking in the pavement.
on Main Street had just been poured the night before and was still wet. Women’s were sticking in the pavement. Many of the rides broke down on opening day. The Storybook Land Canal Boats had to be pulled by cast members in rubber boots. At the time, there were no guide rails for Autopia ; Therefore, some of the cars crashed into each other, making them inoperable.
broke down on opening day. The Storybook Land Canal Boats had to be by cast members in rubber boots. At the time, there were no guide rails for ; Therefore, some of the cars into each other, making them inoperable. Due to a plumbers’ strike during the construction of Disneyland, Walt Disney had to choose between having working bathrooms or working water fountains on opening day. Walt chose bathrooms, which was probably a good choice; however, the temperature that day reached over 100 degrees, leaving guests hot and thirsty.
during the construction of Disneyland, Walt Disney had to choose between having or working on opening day. Walt chose bathrooms, which was probably a good choice; however, the temperature that day reached over, leaving guests hot and thirsty. A gas leak in Fantasyland lead to the land being temporarily closed for part of the day.
in Fantasyland lead to the land being temporarily closed for part of the day. The Mark Twain riverboat was filled beyond capacity, as the capacity for the boat had not yet been determined. When the crowd moved from one side of the boat to the other to see the sights, the boat began to list from side to side and water came over the deck. A few days later, with over 500 guests on board, the Mark Twain almost sank and became stuck in the mud. Disney then established a capacity of 300 in order to prevent this from happening again.
riverboat was filled beyond capacity, as the capacity for the boat had not yet been determined. When the crowd moved from one side of the boat to the other to see the sights, the boat began to list from and water came. A few days later, with over 500 guests on board, the Mark Twain and became stuck in the mud. Disney then established a capacity of 300 in order to prevent this from happening again. Due to the Disneyland opening day disaster, many press reviews speculated that the park would not last long. Walt and his staff worked to correct the problems experienced on opening day, and then invited the press back to experience a normal day at Disneyland.
Despite all of the opening day disasters, Disneyland went on to become a huge success. It is now considered the Happiest Place on Earth and is visited by millions of guests each year.
You may also enjoy these posts:Paris is a step closer to a bid for the 2024 Olympic Games after city lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to back a campaign. A majority of the 163 lawmakers voted in favour of a bid with only a few Greens and left wing councillors voting against it. If the bid goes ahead Paris will go up against Boston, Rome and Hamburg, if the German city gives its support in a referendum.
"We'll consult the French people" - Anne Hidalgo, Paris mayor
"I think 2016 is a good time to consult the people, because 2016 is one year before the International Olympic Committee’s decision. You know that a bid must have the support of the population; you have to run events, talk, get the French people involved, not just Parisians or people from the region. They must also see the benefits, the hope, that getting behind this collective effort would have. So, I would see this consultation taking place in 2016. We’ll discuss it together with everyone working on the bid and then we’ll also see the ways and means to do it. Nothing is set in stone yet; we’ll work together on it."
"Parisians need referendum to decide on Olympics" - David Belliard, Paris councillor, Europe Ecology – The Greens
"We have two main criticisms. The first one is that the International Olympic Committee will not pay taxes for the Olympic Games. It will earn a lot of money and it will not pay taxes. The second criticism is that we want people in Paris and in the Ile-de-France region to have a referendum. We think that this kind of event, it’s very important and will have a lot of consequences on finances, the way of life. We want that people have the opportunity to say whether they want Olympic Games or not."
"Can contain the budget for Paris 2024 Olympics" - Jean-Francois Martins, assistant to the mayor of Paris in charge of sports and tourism
"One of our major assets is that we already have a lot of international sports infrastructure in Paris: Paris Bercy, Stade de France, Roland Garros. So we already have all the major venues for sports events, the only thing we have to build in this case will
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modern desktop PC, replication now takes only a few minutes, although a significant amount of memory is required.
Evolvability [ edit ]
It has been argued that the problem Von Neumann was trying to address was not self-reproduction per se, but the evolutionary growth of complexity.[3] His “proof-of-principle” designs showed how it is logically possible, by using a general purpose programmable (“universal”) constructor, to exhibit an indefinitely large class of self-reproducing machines, spanning a wide range of “complexity” (in von Neumann's sense of “the ability to do complicated things”), interconnected by a network of potential mutational pathways, including pathways from the most simple to the most complex. This is an important result, as prior to that it might have been conjectured that there is a fundamental logical barrier to the existence of such pathways; in which case, biological organisms, which do support such pathways, could not be “machines”, as conventionally understood. But the result does not show what other conditions are necessary, in practice, for evolution along such pathways from simple to complex to be spontaneously realised or followed. In his unfinished work he briefly considers conflict and interactions between his self-reproducing machines;[2]:147 but in practice, his particular model cannot yield evolutionary dynamics because the machines are too fragile - the vast majority of perturbations cause them effectively to disintegrate.[3]
Animation gallery [ edit ]
Example of a 29-state read arm.
See also [ edit ]More than $1 million worth of laser beams and road-side alarms are the latest in a long line of attempts to fix one of the state's most dangerous low-hanging bridges.
The state government will spend $1.2 million on new technology, it was announced on Sunday morning, in an effort to stop trucks running into Footscray's Napier Street bridge which has been hit more than 70 times in 12 years.
Marsha Thomson and Luke Donnellan have announced new technology to help prevent bridge strikes. Credit:Scott McNaughton
But Roads Minister Luke Donnellan conceded that a suite of expensive measures at the notorious Montague Street bridge in South Melbourne have not completely stopped large vehicles from colliding with the obstacle.
The bridge strikes at Napier Street have continued despite more than 20 warning signs posted on approach roads, alerting drivers to the danger.(Newser) – Strolling through a Guyana rainforest one night, a scientist heard some rustling and thought he'd encountered a furry mammal. Well, he was right about the furry part. The creature was actually a Goliath birdeater spider, LiveScience reports—the world's biggest type of spider, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It can weigh up to 6 ounces. For comparison, National Geographic reports a black widow weighs roughly.035 ounces; that's 170 times lighter. Scientist Piotr Naskrecki writes its weight is "about as much as a young puppy," while its leg span can be a foot long, comparable with a kid's forearm, notes LiveScience. The body itself is fist-sized, Naskrecki says. The fangs? Two inches long. The thing won't kill you, but its bite feels "like driving a nail through your hand."
And when it rubs its legs on its body, it can fire out hairs carrying tiny barbs, which can really hurt and itch if they get you in the eyes. Ultimately, however, it seems the spider is just unpleasant, and not too common: "A chicken can probably do more damage," Naskrecki notes, adding that he's only seen one three times in as many as 15 years spent working in South America. Though MNN reports the spider was given the "birdeater" name after being discovered while eating a hummingbird, "they rarely have a chance to [kill birds] while scouring the forest floor at night," Naskrecki writes on his blog. "Rather, they seem to be feeding on what is available in this moist and warm habitat, and what is available is earthworms—lots of them." (A possibly freakier spider story: A spider burrowed into a man's chest for three days.)Ireland v Serbia: Player Ratings
Ireland played out a Nil-Nil draw with Serbia in Belgrade tonight.
With Shane Long being withdrawn near kick-off as a precaution, Ireland started off playing a 4-5-1, with O'Shea and O'Dea at centreback and Kelly and McShane in the full back slots in defence.
Whelan bossed the area in front of the back four with McCarthy and McClean both playing beyond him in central midfield. Simon Cox and McGeady were the wide men as Walters foraged alone up front.
Nearly every player on the pitch deserves an extra rating point for seeming to bother about this meaningless match friendly being played in Eastern Europe ahead of the kick-off of the Premier League season.
Ireland played with an energy and degree of enthusiasm that saw them emerge from Belgrade with a credible draw, though they didn't really threaten or have their own goal threatened throughout the match in a significant manner.
Here's JOE's player ratings:
Kieren Westwood - 6
Was nearly caught out badly in the first half when he hesitated to go for a ball outside his box in the 13th minute and needed two attempts to clear the ball, against less lethargic opponents that could cost him and Ireland.
Aside from that his distribution was great. He pinged the ball long and accurately when necessary which will be good from Trap's perspective, less so from those looking for more subtle build-up play.
Made a couple of great saves, particularly from one free-kick in the 70th minute which he saw late. Not a bad replacement for Given.
Stephen Kelly - 5
Okay performance from the Fulham man. Made a few overlaps in the first half but Tomic and Lekic did target him as the weak link to attack as the game went on. Probably needed more support from McGeady.
John O’Shea - 5
Decent performance, but never as commanding as Richard Dunne when drafted into the centre back position. Didn’t impose his authority when Serbia got near the Irish box.
Darren O’Dea - 7
The newly signed Toronto FC man was the better of the two centre halves. Made a couple of well-timed and crucial interventions. Alert, quick and assured and in fairness never lets Ireland down when called upon. A good night for the 25-year old.
Paul McShane - 6
Quite solid and confident going for the ball. Ventured forward on the overlap a good few times in the first half and offered an outlet for Cox when he got caught running into cul de sacs.
Aiden McGeady - 5
Grew into the match and looked quite good in the second half, but was Ireland's most wasteful player in possession in the first half. When he switched wings with Cox in the second half he had more joy and began to link up well with McCarthy and McGeady.
Glenn Whelan - 5
Was able to sit in front of the defence and do his job with less hassle than usual as he the shield of McCarthy and McClean in front of him. Usually swamped by the extra midfielder most teams employ against the Irish 4-4-2 system. Needs to be more incisive with the ball at his feet.
James McCarthy - 7
Constantly beckoning for the ball, creating angles and outlets for the pass and offering himself. It seems like a simple thing to do but it's a job no Irish player has done well since Steven Reid and Roy Keane before him. He needs to be included in any Irish midfield Trap will use in the qualifiers. His athletic prowess was more than able to allow him to perform his defensive duties.
James McClean - 7
He hinted on Twitter that he'd be playing midfield and that's exactly where he did play as Ireland played a variation of the 4-5-1. He played slightly ahead of both Whelan and McCarthy and did so brilliantly in the first half. His rampaging runs and pressing of opposing midfielders on the ball added an urgency to the Irish midfield that we haven't seen in a long time.
Who knows if he'll play centrally or out wide for the qualifiers? It doesn’t matter really, his enthusiasm needs to be included in the first XI regardless.
Jonathon Walters - 5
A largely thankless job of running around, winning headers and hassling defenders. His movement was good for his chance in the 18th minute but his shot could have been better, We need to more threatening up front, but that's tough when Walters is isolated up front like this and not required to drop deep for the ball like he does for Stoke.
Simon Cox - 5
Not a winger.
Didn't do anything wrong. Didn't add anything either.
He needs to play as a striker near the box where he comes alive, not as a winger where he's left as isolated and forlorn as Walters is up front.
Substitutes:
Paul Green (for Whelan ''60) 4
Patrolled in front of the back four when Whelan came off. Passing wasn't great, misplaced a six-yard pass into touch at one stage.
Andy Keogh (for McClean ''70) 4
Ran a lot, showed a lot of energy but for no reason or with any purpose. In fairness it's hard to run with a purpose or strategy in a match that not many of the players care about. Like Green misplaced a few basic passes.
Seamus Coleman (Aiden McGeady''80) and Joey O'Brien (Jonathon Walters ''80) Not on long enough for rating.
Usually there would be enough time to give a rating for ten minutes of play, but by the time O'Brien and Coleman came on no player was really interested in the match beyond making sure they didn't sustain an injury in it with the Premier League kicking off. Would be harsh to judge a performance under those circumstances.
Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni - 7
Trap tried out a new system so points have to be given for innovation.
The 4-5-1 has potential although leaving Walters as the top striker might not be ideal as he is a deep-lying forward. His notion that Cox has value as a winger persists and it is unlikely that Cox or McClean will play in the positions they did today for the World Cup qualifying matches so what was the point?
He should really be rated on what he will do with his full squad back for the competitive games but we're only rating him on tonight.
Experimentation and trying out things is something we needed to see today and we got that. Can’t complain.Borrowers matter so do savers. Kotak Mahindra Bank holds rates for savers upto 1 crore. 6% continues for saving between 1 lakh and 1 crore. — Uday Kotak (@udaykotak) August 3, 2017
When Gadfly suggested last year that Indian banks, hobbled by bad loans, should stop lending to preserve depleted capital, we didn't expect the country's largest lender to fall for the joke.It has. On Friday, State Bank of India, which just became bigger after a merger with some smaller associated lenders, reported a meager 1.5 percent increase in loans outstanding at the end of the June quarter from a year earlier, practically hitting stall speed.To the extent that credit growth at SBI is a barometer of animal spirits in the country, the message to investors is a somber one. At a price-to-equity ratio of 23, the benchmark Nifty index is expensive; and given that SBI just earned a return on assets of 0.25 percent, bank shares look particularly frothy.CEO Arundhati Bhattacharya inherited a miserable portfolio of dubious corporate loans, which post-merger have swelled to almost 10 percent of the total.If that wasn't enough, Bhattacharya was knocked off balance by the deposit tsunami unleashed by the government's move to declare 86 percent of the country's currency illegal in one fell swoop last November. A 4 percent year-on-year increase in deposit costs during the quarter, combined with an 8 percent decline in interest income on advances, shows the squeeze she's facing.To her credit, Bhattacharya managed to boost consolidated earnings by 436 percent. But nobody is going to even look at the measly 20 billion rupee ($312 million) profit number when SBI has yet to provide for 300 billion rupees out of its 500 billion rupees exposure to 12 soured large corporate accounts.To this, add a spike in SBI's nonperforming agricultural loans, which could get worse if more Indian state governments resort to waiving distressed farm debt. SBI shareholders, including the government, should brace themselves for a long, dark night ahead.Retail lending is the only bright spot. Trouble is, more nimble, non-state-controlled players are thinking the same thing. With ICICI Bank Ltd. launching an instant credit card for pre-approved customers, SBI will have to focus its energy on a multi-cornered fight in home loans. The pressure on net interest margins, which have tumbled to 2.5 percent, will intensify as specialist SME lenders drive down yields further.For a bank that gets 23 percent of India's domestic deposits without having to make much effort, not being able to lend profitably is frustrating. That's why SBI slashed rates on small savings recently without even waiting for the central bank to reduce its policy benchmark. By contrast, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. jumped up and announced that it won't follow the SBI's lead because it values its relationship with the middle class.Lending is already toast. If the formidable deposit franchise also comes under pressure, then SBI will only exist as a parking lot for its 280,000 employees -- 70,000 more than before the merger. That'll make it the Air India Ltd. of banking -- a bloated state behemoth, minus the planes.(This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners)UK authorities expressed concern that ferries to France across the English Channel and the Palace of Westminster are facing an increased risk of terrorist attack in the wake of the atrocities in Paris, local media reported, citing government sources.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The country’s authorities have reportedly highlighted passenger ferries as a weak link in defense against terrorists, citing fears that extremists could hijack a ferry and commit slaughter.
"Security at airports has been tightened in recent years and having done that there is a displacement affect. The more you make one area of attack less attractive, you inevitably make another more attractive," The Telegraph quoted a senior source in the government.
The members of parliament, as well as employees at the Westminster Palace, were issued with new guidance on what to do in the event of a terrorist attack on the site, according to the media.
On November 19, a few days after attacks claimed by ISIL islamists killed 130 people in Paris, UK government published resources for the public on how to behave in a similar terrorist attack.Scientific papers, books and links about orcas and other cetaceans. Most of what we know about the Southern resident orca community comes from a long-term demographic survey conducted by the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island. The Center has been conducting photo-identification research on this orca population continually since 1976.
For a general description of orca natural history focusing on the Southern Resident orca community, see Orcas of the Salish Sea.
For a history of the listing of Southern Resident orcas as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act, see Orcas In Our Midst, Volume 2, The Next Generation.
For an introduction to orca natural history and the Salish Sea Watershed the Southern Resident orcas depend on, see Orcas In Our Midst, Volume 1, The Salish Watershed
Offshore orcas
Transient orcas
Some fascinating facts about orcas Newborn orcas are 7-8 feet long, 3-400 lbs. Adult females worldwide are 17-24 feet, 5-9,000 lbs. Adult males worldwide are 22-30 feet, 8-12,000 lbs. Southern resident male orcas are 21-24 feet. Southern resident females are 18-21 feet. Orcas have a 16-17 month gestation period. Females usually have one calf every 4-5 years. Males usually live into their 40s and females into their 60s. Males become sexually mature in their early teens, and fully grown in their early 20's. An adult orca consumes 100-300 pounds of food a day, depending on size and energy needs. Southern Resident orcas rely on salmon, specifically chinook in the summer and chum in the fall, for their survival. Chinook salmon constitutes over 70% of their diet. The brain of an adult orca may weigh 12-15 pounds, or about four times the size of human brains. Like all whales, orcas are voluntary breathers and need to be at least "half awake" at all times. Their brain has the ability to split activities so they sleep with half their brain while the other half keeps the body still breathing. Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family, or delphinidae. Like all dolphins, orcas use sophisticated biological sonar, called echolocation. Orcas are found throughout the world's oceans, but tend to prefer the cooler, more productive polar and temperate waters. Orcas can swim up to 30 mph and can travel 75-100 miles or more per day. Orcas have no predators. Orcas live in matrilineal family groups presumably led by elder matriarchs. Two or more matrilines may form a pod. Both male and female offspring typically remain with their maternal family for life. Genetic evidence indicates that mating occurs between, and not within, pods. A pod's or maternal family's unique repertoire of calls is called a dialect. The J, K and L pods, which frequent Puget Sound, are known as the southern resident community. Each orca in the Southern Resident community is photographically identified each year by the shape of the dorsal fin, as well as shape of gray markings, called the "saddle patch" behind the dorsal fin. Several pods may belong to a clan that shares certain vocalizations, and several clans may associate as a community. Often when pods of the same clan or community meet after separation, they physically intermingle and engage in vigorous surface activity, accompanied by almost non-stop vocalizations. Communities remain apart from one another, generally staying in separate habitats and using completely distinct vocalizations. A wide variety of types of orcas have been observed, including "residents," which eat only fish, "transients," which eat only mammals, and "offshores," found several miles from shore, but not all orca communities worldwide may fit those descriptions. Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network covers the south end of the Salish Sea, from Victoria to Vancouver, BC and from the San Juan Islands to Seattle and Olympia. The Sighting Network is comprised of volunteers who observe and report on the travels and behaviors of the Southern Resident Community of orcas (J, K and L pods), as well as gray whales and other cetaceans in the area.Nicosia, Cyprus - Christos Christou sits at his desk in Nicosia sipping iced coffee, a motorcycle jacket slung over the back of his chair.
The modest headquarters of Golden Dawn's Cypriot branch are located on the third floor of an office building amid the vacant commercial real estate of the capital. Three small flags stand on the corner of his desk - a Greek flag in the centre, Golden Dawn's black-and-gold faux-swastika on the right and that of his own party, ELAM, on the left.
Christou, a radiologist, joined the far-right Golden Dawn party while studying in Athens, and after becoming a member of the party's political council was sent by its leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos to assume leadership of ELAM - the party's full name is the National Popular Front - in 2011.
"There is a strict cooperation between Golden Dawn and ELAM," he says. "A lot of our members were in Golden Dawn and they came back. Golden Dawn participates in our events, and we go there for their events."
Following the September murder of anti-fascist Greek rapper Pavlos Fyssas, authorities in Greece have cracked down on Golden Dawn, investigating the party as a criminal organisation and arresting its political leadership on a number of charges. Those arrested include Michaloliakos himself, on charges of leading a criminal organisation, and five other members of parliament.
Christou is quick to denounce the arrests as politically motivated and "illegitimate."
"The Greek government is in panic because of the strengthening of Golden Dawn. The Greek people embrace Golden Dawn and the government is afraid," he said.
Modelled on Golden Dawn
ELAM seeks to boost its popularity by mirroring the methods that made Golden Dawn the third-most popular political force in Greece: charging the political system with corruption, hosting charity events exclusively for Greek citizens facing hardship, and offering an image of military discipline and nationalistic solutions for a country wracked by economic crisis. Meanwhile, charges that party members have intimidated and attacked migrants and political opponents have dogged ELAM since it was founded in 2008.
On October 27, the party held a conference at a hotel in central Nicosia marking the fifth anniversary of its establishment. In the surrounding streets pairs of men, with the party's logo emblazoned on their black shirts, stood watching the arrivals. In a fiery speech delivered to 200 members Christou spoke of the need to oppose the group's critics.
"When we are called 'terrorists,' we answer back that we are Greek nationalists and will do whatever it takes to help our country," he declared in statement rousing the audience to cheers and applause. "Our ideas are like a fire, and will spread."
Turnout to the event was lower than at previous conferences, according to the party's foreign relations spokesperson, Stratos Karanikolau. "Our supporters are afraid following the terror of what happened in Greece," Karanikolau said. "Normally we would have around 400 people at an event like this."
While Cypriots of all ages filled the audience, many of the seats were occupied by young adults and teenagers young enough to be high school students. "The heart of a 17-year-old youth is more pure than that of a corrupted politician," Christou told his audience.
The appeal of such groups to the younger generation is symptomatic of the political establishment's inability to provide economic opportunities and a vision of a positive future, according to George Pittas, a media commentator in Cyprus and Greece. "It offers a social and political identity to people looking for something not offered by the major political parties," Pittas said. "The seed is here, and it is dangerous."
In a country where youth unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent, Pittas sees fertile ground for ELAM's message. "Today, a young person of 16 or 17 sees the EU collapsing and their dreams failing," he said. "The political parties of the left and right are part of the established order, whereas ELAM are anti-everything."
In 2008 Pittas was subjected to threats and intimidation in what he suspects was a reaction to his anti-fascist journalism. "The back window of my car was smashed, and a message read that next time it would be my head," he recalled. "It was probably the very anti-nationalist tone to my articles. I despise nationalism."
The economic crisis in Cyprus is becoming more acute - particularly since March, when the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and EU agreed to a 10bn euro ($13.5bn) bailout of the country's banking system in return for the seizure of a portion of deposits and an approved austerity programme. Unemployment has risen to 17 percent and the country's economy contracted by more than five percent since March.
'Illegal migration'
With more people dependent on austerity-depleted welfare payments, the issue of migration has become an easy one for ELAM to focus its attention on.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Christou blamed "illegal migration" for exacerbating the hardship felt by many Cypriots. "Thousands of illegal immigrants come to Cyprus, and they get a lot of financial aid when at the same time our people are suffering hunger," he said.
But Doros Polykarpou, the executive director of KISA - a refugee and migrant advocacy body - is sceptical of this argument. "Where is the illegal migration?" Polykarpou asks. "According to the police, we have had 230 people who entered from the north and applied for asylum this year." Cypriot law does not consider it illegal to enter the country for the purpose of seeking asylum.
In 2010 Polykarpou was injured when an anti-racism festival in the coastal city of Larnaca descended into violence when participants in a nationalist demonstration, including members of ELAM, cut power to the event and attacked festivalgoers. A Turkish Cypriot singer was stabbed and 13 people were hospitalised.
Charges of rioting were directed at Polykarpou by Cypriot authorities and dismissed by the Larnaca District Court in June 2012. "I had things thrown at me, I was kicked in the head and had paint thrown on my body and the next day the police filed charges against me and KISA," he said with a smile.
A split island
Central to ELAM's platform is its rejection of any federal solution to reunifying the island and ending the nearly four-decade-long Turkish occupation of Cyprus' north.
In the future... we will make enosis [union with Greece] to help the Hellenic nation survive. - Christos Christou, ELAM leader
While Christou says Turkish Cypriots "respecting the law" are welcome in a reunified Cyprus, he does little to hide views of racial superiority over the cultural origins of the island's non-Greek inhabitants. "We believe there are people making enduring civilisations - like the Greeks, Chinese and the Indians - and there are those who deteriorate civilsations, like the Turkish and their expansionism," he said.
Underpinning such a worldview are the ideals of political Hellenism and the creation of a greater Greek state, largely dormant since the defeat of Greek forces in Anatolia by Kamal Ataturk's Turkish republican army in 1922.
In Cyprus, a campaign for enosis - political union with Greece - was featured in the 1950s guerilla campaign against British rule, which led to its independence in 1960. In 1974, a pro-enosis coup in Cyprus led in part to the Turkish army's invasion - and division - of the island.
For some Cypriots, the idea of union with Greece continues to resonate. "To say that we want enosis now might sound like a utopia, but in the future when - and if - in Greece Golden Dawn will be in government and ELAM in Cyprus, then we will make enosis to help the Hellenic nation survive," Christou declared.
ELAM's leadership appears confident of future success, despite receiving a little less than one percent of the popular vote in the 2011 parliamentary elections. A recent opinion poll conducted by local daily Phileleftheros found that ELAM's popularity had increased to 1.9 percent - just shy of the 2 percent needed to win seats in parliament. Elections for the European Parliament take place next year and parliamentary elections are due in 2016.
Meanwhile, Polykarpou fears the worsening economic climate may help ELAM realise electoral success. "Cyprus will go into a deeper crisis in the next two years," he said. "There will be more unemployment and less money to protect people. More people will be on the streets depending on charity. And if ELAM show they are protecting people, they will get elected."I knew the Stanley Cup playoffs would bring a fresh round of the Predators management’s obsession with Blackhawks fans, and I'll be danged if they haven’t resorted to God, 'Merica and other things you hear in country music.
For those of you new to this story of Predators management’s quest to keep Hawks fans out of Bridgestone Arena, it began last December when Hawks fans overran the place the way they seemingly can overrun any arena.
The Predators, including the coach, were stunned at how they lost home-ice advantage and were determined not to let that happen again.
Early in 2015, Predators management sent a long email to season-ticket holders bragging about how great their home-ice advantage is.
Yes. Well. If you have such a great home-ice advantage, you don’t need to tell every ticket buyer about it.
You also don’t need to consider enacting strict ticket-buying and reselling policies aimed at keeping Hawks fans out. The Predators, I believe, were considering everything short of DNA swabs.
I wrote about it here back then, congratulating Hawks fans for putting so much blood in Nashville’s urine. And that was just the regular season.
The Predators sold playoff tickets in a staggered plan that started with offering season-ticket holders the chance to buy extras. Then came sales at Nashville Kroger stores on a Saturday and Bridgestone Arena sales the next day, both requiring in-person purchases.
When tickets finally went on sale online, they could be purchased only by those living in zip codes within the team’s TV viewing audience.
But tickets remained unsold. And they’re available on StubHub. Expect red, Predators management.
Truth seems to be fluid down there. First, it was the team that was upset by the Hawks horde, but now one of the Predators’ wonks is saying fans told the team they’re not coming again "if it’s like that."
The story being told keeps changing, but the truth remains the same: Blame the Predators fans.
Predators management is willing to look silly and take the hit for fans who don’t buy all the tickets and don’t always use them.
Photos of Blackhawks winger Patrick Sharp.
But Predators management can’t blame their own fans. That would be bad business.
So, the Predators’ suits blame Hawks fans who do nothing more than buy on StubHub. That’s the smart public relations move, however nonsensical.
Predators fans, meanwhile, know how well the Hawks travel and that their fans will pay more than face value.
Predators fans might sell their first-round tickets for enough to cover their second-round tickets. It’s an old strategy used by fans of teams expected to go deep in the playoffs or by fans of teams that must prove worthy of money and emotion.
And if there is no second-round, then Predators fans might ask why management didn’t obsess over beating the Hawks on the ice instead of in the stands.
But here’s the best part of the Predators’ obsession with Hawks fans: They’ve pretty much admitted they’ve lost that battle and will try to defuse Hawks fans they’re expecting inside and in good voice.
Instead of a solo performer singing the national anthem in Nashville, the artist will ask the fans to join in. The Predators played it that way in their last two home games with Vince Gill and Charlie Daniels.
Obviously, this is an attempt to mitigate the Hawks fans’ cheering during the anthem.
“It would almost be against God, country and apple pie to shout and cheer through the person next to you singing the anthem of the United States of America, wouldn’t it?’’ Predators president Sean Henry asked in the Tennessean.
Frankly, I don’t know why it’s any different than cheering when there’s a person with a big voice standing on the ice with a microphone singing the anthem of the United States of America through a big sound system.
Does that make NBC anti-God and anti-'Merica for making it a point to show Jim Cornelison’s anthem?
The Predators figured to try something big, Hawks fans. It doesn’t get much bigger than God and 'Merica. But then, things are always tougher in the playoffs.The Ta'unars dominated Atlanta
Tallyband
Herald of Nurgle
7x3 Nurglings
2xBurning Skyhost
9x3 Screamers
Brett Perkins - Various Factions
Tau CAD
fireblade
2x5 strike team
Ta'unar supremacy suit (triaxis ion cannonx2, pulse ordnance multidriver)
imperial bunker with (escape hatch, 1 x barricade)
CAD Renegades of Vraks
Command squad covenant of nurgle warlord carapace armor
20 plague zombies
19 plague zombies
29 plague zombies
2xwyvern
Assassin detachment:
Cullexus
Inquisition detachment:
Coteaz
2x(2 x acolyte; 1 psyker)
Daemon CAD:
Fateweaver
2x3 Nurglings
Andrew Gonyo - Tau
Tau CAD
Etheral
2x1 Crisis Suits
2x1 Tetras
Ta'unar,(Tri-Axis, POMD)
Riptide Wing
3xRiptide, Burst Cannon, SMS
Piranha Firestream Wing
1xPiranha
3x3 Piranha (Possibly 1 squad of 2)
It should also be noted that Thomas Byrd won all 5 of his games, but finished 4th in Battle Points although he did win Best Overall for the event. His list was as follows:
Corsair CAD
Corsair Prince, Cegorath's Rose, Cloud Dancer, Shadowfield, ML 1, Void Sabre
2x3 Cloud Dancers, Splinter Cannons
5 Cloud Dancers
2x2 Hornets
Warp Hunter
Eldar CAD
Autarch, Jetbike, Banshee Mask, Shard of Anaris
Farseer, Jetbike
2x3 Windriders, Scatter Lasers
2x3 Windriders, Shuriken Cannon
5 Warp Spiders
Vaul's Wraith, D-Cannon
Skatchach Wraithknight, 2 Inferno Cannons, 1 Scatter Laser
Your Best Overall Winner Thomas Byrd
Since the event was so wide open on army construction and list building this was as close to no holds barred I think as you can get at a major event. They did limit super heavy and GMC lords of war to just 1 per army (except knights of course), but anything within the points and within a battle forged detachment was allowed. Of the top 9 tables, 6 of them featured the Ta'unar Supremacy Suit. This thing dominated Warzone Atlanta.
I'll have my own personal review of the event later on this week. It was a unique event and I'm not sure there is one quite like it in the country. My friends and I had a blast and we cannot wait until next year.
Warzone Atlanta 2016 has come and gone and what an amazing event it was! I'm glad I got to be a part of it this year and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fun, relaxed yet competitive 40k event. It was an absolute blast. I'll be going over my own personal experience at Warzone later, but for now I wanted to break down what everyone is really interested in. The winning lists for the event: Warzone Atlanta has a different environment than most other major events. Your first day consists of 3 rounds. The first match is completely random. From there, the last 2 rounds you're paired against other opponents with similar battle points. The next day, the organizers take the results of all the competitors (of which there were 110 this year) and break them into groups. Group 1 consists of all the top players from day 1, Group 2 has the next highest battle point totals, and so on until you get to Group 12. Each group has 9 players per group.So, the guys in Group 1 were the top tables. These were the guys who got massive battle points on day 1. They fight there way through 2 rounds to determine the winner of their bracket. The other groups all do the same as well. So, although you might have had a less than stellar day 1, you can still be eligible for some awesome prize support in day 2 if you win 1st or 2nd in your group. Pretty awesome!The top 3 lists at Warzone Atlanta (courtesy of Daniel Hesters) based solely on battle points were as follows in order:Mike Twitchell - Daemonic IncursionFour men have been arrested during dawn raids across Sydney's south west as part of a major police investigation into a network of taxi drivers who have allegedly been doubling as mobile cocaine dealers.
Police claim that, under the cloak of routine taxi work, a syndicate of cabbies has been operating a "cocaine delivery service" to hundreds of homes and the doorsteps of some of Sydney's most popular pubs and nightspots.
One of the guns found during Strikeforce Illinois. Credit:Police Media Unit
Following a four-month surveillance operation, more than 100 police from the Central Metropolitan region, Tactical Operations Unit, Riot Squad and South West Metropolitan Region Enforcement Squad swooped on five addresses in Auburn, South Granville and Guildford shortly after 6am on Friday.
Search warrants were executed at the locations and four cab drivers taken into custody. Police says they found drugs, large amounts of cash and firearms.Eddie Alvarez will fight at least one more time in Bellator.
The former Bellator lightweight champion has agreed to fight for the promotion on Oct. 12, which will fulfill the final fight on his current contract. Alvarez confirmed the news with MMAFighting.com on Wednesday.
According to Alvarez, his opponent has yet to be signed. The fight will take place Caesars Windsor Hotel & Casino in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The promotion is expected to announce his opponent and the fight in the coming days.
Following the fight, Alvarez will officially become a free agent. Bellator will have the right to match any offer he receives from another organization within three months after the fight takes place. If they don't, he will be free to sign wherever he chooses. Alvarez said he will focus on training and winning this upcoming fight and then deal with his next contract afterwards.
Alvarez (23-3) got back on the winning track in April when he defeated Shinya Aoki at Bellator 66 via first-round TKO. He has been a member of Bellator since Bellator 1 in April 2009.Social media is an essential tool that, when used correctly, can exponentially increase the visibility of your brand within an arena where many simply get lost in the crowd.
It can be hard knowing where to begin when it comes to using platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to increase awareness of your brand or company. Social media marketing raises your profile, so a strong online presence
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SharePoint.OpenDocuments.1
So basically if the JavaScript is able to load “SharePoint.OpenDocuments.4” then it knows that it’s Office 2010. Since these ActiveX controls can be run without permissions no prompts are given. Below is a simple script that could be used if say in this example checking Windows 7 with IE8 has got installed Office 2007/2010 or Java 6. No Skype ActiveX controls gets installed that can be run without permissions so I couldn’t work out how to check if Skype is installed without triggering prompts in Internet Explorer. If you do know how to check without triggering prompts please do share.
<HTML> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript"> // // if (CheckIEOSVersion() == "ie8w7") { if (CheckOfficeVersion() == "Office2010") { // Exploit call here } else if (CheckOfficeVersion() == "Office2007") { // Exploit call here } else if (JavaVersion() == "Java6") { // Exploit call here } else if (SkypeCheck() == "") { // Exploit call here } } // // function CheckIEOSVersion() { var agent = navigator.userAgent.toUpperCase(); var os_ie_ver = ""; // if ((agent.indexOf('NT 5.1') > -1)&&(agent.indexOf('MSIE 7') > -1)) os_ie_ver = "ie7wxp"; if ((agent.indexOf('NT 5.1') > -1)&&(agent.indexOf('MSIE 8') > -1)) os_ie_ver = "ie8wxp"; if ((agent.indexOf('NT 6.0') > -1)&&(agent.indexOf('MSIE 7') > -1)) os_ie_ver = "ie7wv"; if ((agent.indexOf('NT 6.0') > -1)&&(agent.indexOf('MSIE 8') > -1)) os_ie_ver = "ie8wv"; if ((agent.indexOf('NT 6.1') > -1)&&(agent.indexOf('MSIE 8') > -1)) os_ie_ver = "ie8w7"; if ((agent.indexOf('NT 6.1') > -1)&&(agent.indexOf('MSIE 9') > -1)) os_ie_ver = "ie9w7"; if ((agent.indexOf('NT 6.2') > -1)&&(agent.indexOf('MSIE 10') > -1)) os_ie_ver = "ie10w8"; return os_ie_ver; } // // function CheckOfficeVersion() { var offver = ""; var checka = 0; var checkb = 0; // try { checka = new ActiveXObject("SharePoint.OpenDocuments.4"); } catch (e) {} try { checkb = new ActiveXObject("SharePoint.OpenDocuments.3"); } catch (e) {} // if ((typeof checka) == "object" && (typeof checkb) == "object") offver = "Office2010"; else if ((typeof checka) == "number" && (typeof checkb) == "object") offver = "Office2007"; // return offver; } // // function JavaVersion() { var javver = ""; var javaa = 0; // try { javaa = new ActiveXObject("JavaWebStart.isInstalled.1.6.0.0"); } catch (e) {} // if ((typeof javaa) == "object") javver = "Java6"; // return javver; } // // function SkypeCheck() { var skypever = ""; return skypever; } // // </SCRIPT> </HTML>THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Seven days. That's how much time Matt LaFleur had to get over a stinging Super Bowl LI defeat and move on to the new chapter in his life -- as offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.
LaFleur, who was quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons when they suffered a 34-28 loss to the New England Patriots in overtime on Feb. 5, spent some much-needed time with his wife and children last week.
He tried his best to forget about the 28-3 lead his Falcons blew, but he failed.
Former Falcons quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur said of Super Bowl LI, "I don't think it's ever going to leave me, to be honest with you." Todd Kirkland/Icon Sportswire
"I don’t think it’s ever going to leave me, to be honest with you," LaFleur said while meeting with Rams beat reporters on Thursday. "I was grieving for a couple days, there’s no doubt about it. But if you live in the past, you’re not going to go anywhere with your future."
LaFleur was quarterbacks coach with the Redskins from 2010 to '13, while the Rams' new head coach, 31-year-old Sean McVay, coached tight ends. LaFleur coached quarterback Everett Golson at Notre Dame in 2014, then coached Matt Ryan with the Falcons from 2015 to '16, when Ryan won MVP. McVay will call the offensive plays for the Rams in 2017, so LaFleur said his role will consist of trying to "organize and kind of set the table for Sean because he's not always going to be able to be with us."
LaFleur most recently worked under Kyle Shanahan, the new head coach for the division-rival San Francisco 49ers.
Under Shanahan, the Falcons' offense scored 540 points during the regular season, tied with the 2000 St. Louis Rams -- nicknamed "The Greatest Show On Turf" -- for the eighth-most points in NFL history. But Shanahan has taken a lot of heat in recent weeks for his aggressive playcalling while holding a sizable lead late in Super Bowl LI, with many believing it ultimately cost his team a championship.
"It is what it is," LaFleur said. "Unfortunately, we’re in a profession, and if you’ve got thin skin, you’re not going to last very long. So you take the good with the bad. There was a lot of good this year [from the Falcons]. I don’t second-guess anything [Shanahan] did for one second. That’s how we played all year long. We were aggressive. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. And that’s the way it is. But I think it’s funny when people do criticize him. We put up ungodly numbers."Chinese investors are increasingly looking to buy British property, taking advantage of the low sterling after Brexit.
Juwai, China’s biggest international property portal, said the number of Chinese buyer inquiries into UK property in the month after Britain voted to leave the European Union was 40pc higher than average.
Bernie Morris, head of Juwai’s EMEA division, said: “The data show that the Brexit vote has definitely boosted Chinese buyer interest in UK property. The chief mechanism has been the reduction in the value of Sterling against the dollar and the yuan.
“Now, with politics stabilizing and a competent new government in place, the UK looks like the same old safe haven as ever – but cheaper.”
Chinese interest in British property has been falling for months, particularly after a slowdown in the Chinese economy in the first quarter of this year.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
July 26, 2013, 6:01 PM GMT By Nidhi Subbaraman, NBC News contributor
As well as a bold fashion choice, a new line of strategically colored striped and patchy neoprene wetsuits could give divers and snorkelers an as unappetizing appearance — at least to sharks.
"Divert" and "Elude" are the official names of the designs from Australian manufacturer Radiator, though the cold black eyes of a shark may read them as simply, "Tastes Bad" and "Invisible." Both cost about $460.
YouTube
Elude, with patches of blue and blue-green (or blue-and-white) patterning, is designed to camouflage a diver or snorkeler in the water. The Diverter is a pungent black and white striped garment that's meant to confuse the shark when it gets close.
The suits were conceived in research labs at the Ocean Institute at the University of Western Australia, and based on the observations that sharks are sensitive to visual cues in the last moments before they lunge.
"Many animals are repelled by a striped pattern which indicates the potential prey is unsafe to eat," Shaun Collin, part of the team that designed the suit at UWA told BBC News. At the very least, the suits might buy the swimmer some time to make a getaway.
Wearing a suit is all the more important if your diving companion is wearing one, the Shark Mitigation experts say: if your companion's underwater attire successfully confuses the shark, "then it may turn to you."
But some say the suits might just make you look like tastier morsel.
"That striped suit that is supposed to look like a lionfish is about as nice a thing as you can do to attract a shark, because of the contrast between dark and light," George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research told National Geographic.
Radiator warns that though the suits have been tested, the research is ongoing. For example, current tests have been carried out in clear water, but the suits' effectiveness in deeper, murkier water remains to be seen. If you see a shark, they explain on their website, the best advice still is: Leave!
Before you pull out your credit card, it may be wise to note that toilets have a better track record for maiming humans that sharks do. And as for whether the suits will protect you against Sharknado? Well, that's anybody's guess.
Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.Apple’s track record when it comes to admitting to faulty design is somewhat spotty, but customers can put another notch in the win column thanks to a new refund program that addresses an iMac part failure.
According to a report by MacRumors, the company has distributed an internal update regarding an issue with the display hinge on iMacs sold between December of 2012 and July of 2014, noting that the Apple will now absorb the cost of repairs and refund past repairs that were paid for out of pocket.
MUST SEE: Apple may soon be sending drones to map your neighborhood
Reports on Apple’s support forums show that many, many iMac owners have ran into trouble with the iMac’s screen hinge losing its ability to hold the display at any given angle. The faulty hinge makes it so the screen tilts forward immediately, rather than holding itself at the desired level.
Apparently a plastic washer is to blame for the hinge losing its integrity, and while the part that causes the issue is tiny, the repair costs for replacing the hinge can be significant. In some cases, the final bill totals over $100, which is a pretty hefty dent.
If you’re an iMac owner with a busted hinge, the repair will now be covered in its entirety, provided you take it to an Apple authorized repair center and your computer falls within the timeframe that the guidelines dictate. If you already had the hinge repaired, and paid for it yourself, you can contact Apple in order to begin the refund process and get your repair cost back.The ancient Egyptian sunken port-city of Thonis-Heracleion is now having some of its secrets revealed thanks to new research from the University of Oxford. The port-city served as the obligatory gateway to Egypt sometime around the first millennium BC, being the place where incoming cargo from other regions was inventoried and taxed, before being transferred to Egyptian ships for transport down the Nile.
The region where this city was once located is now under water, and is located about 6.5 kilometers off of the present day coastline. Makes you wonder what the coastlines of the world will look like in a thousand or so years, and what modern cities will be underwater by then. When you factor in modern anthropogenic climate change, and the rate at which the seas are predicted to rise with it, it is likely to be quite a few.
“This obligatory port of entry, known as ‘Thonis’ by the Egyptians and ‘Heracleion’ by the Greeks, was where seagoing ships probably unloaded their cargoes to have them assessed by temple officials and taxes extracted before transferring them to Egyptian ships that went upriver. Before the foundation of Alexandria, it was one of the biggest commercial hubs in the Mediterranean because of its geographical position at the mouth of the Nile.”
The city is a somewhat recent archaeological find, the first traces of the city were found only as recently as the year 2000, by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM).
“In the ports of the city, divers and researchers are currently examining 64 Egyptian ships, dating between the eighth and second centuries BC, many of which appear to have been deliberately sunk. The project researchers say the ships were found beautifully preserved, lying in the mud of the sea-bed. With 700 examples of different types of ancient anchor, the researchers believe this represents the largest nautical collection from the ancient world.”
“The survey has revealed an enormous submerged landscape with the remains of at least two major ancient settlements within a part of the Nile delta that was crisscrossed with natural and artificial waterways,” said Dr Damian Robinson, Director of the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Oxford.
“One of the key questions is why several ship graveyards were created close to the port. Ship 43 appears to be part of a large cluster of at least ten other vessels in a large ship graveyard about a mile from the mouth of the River Nile,” explained Dr Robinson. “This might not have been simple abandonment, but a means of blocking enemy ships from gaining entrance to the port-city. Seductive as this interpretation is, however, we must also consider whether these boats were sunk simply to use them for land reclamation purposes.”
Elsbeth van der Wilt, working on the project from the University of Oxford, said: “Thonis-Heracleion played an important role in the network of long-distance trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, since the city would have been the first stop for foreign merchants at the Egyptian border. Excavations in the harbour basins yielded an interesting group of lead weights, likely to have been used by both temple officials and merchants in the payment of taxes and the purchasing of goods. Amongst these are an important group of Athenian weights. They are a significant archaeological find because it is the first time that weights like these have been identified during excavations in Egypt.”
Over 300 statuettes and amulets dating back to the Late and Ptolemaic Periods were also found in the area, amongst them both Egyptian and Greek subjects are depicted.
Sanda Heinz, from the University of Oxford, said: “The statuettes and amulets were all found underwater, and are generally in excellent condition. The statuettes allow us to examine their belief system and at the same time have wider economic implications. These figures were mass-produced at a scale hitherto unmatched in previous periods. Our findings suggest they were made primarily for Egyptians; however, there is evidence to show that some foreigners also bought them and dedicated them in temples abroad.”
Image Credit: Sunken Ship via Wikimedia CommonsThe International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences’ Webby Awards turn 20 this year, and the IADAS is celebrating the milestone by including a vast and diverse list of nominees that celebrate innovation, inspiring talent and digital success. Michelle Obama, Jimmy Kimmel and Netflix are among this year’s nominees.
“This class of 20th annual Webby nominees, both veterans and newcomers alike, continues to challenge convention and transform the world in ways we could have only imagined in 1997,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards. “The Webby Awards has celebrated inspiring talent and visionary innovation on the Internet,” he added.
PBS, the Onion and Smithsonian were nominated for inaugural Webby Awards and also received nominations for this year’s ceremony.
Snapchat, Netflix, Slack, Hotline Bling and WhatsApp are nominated for People’s Special Achievement Webby.
The celebrity and public figure nominees include Rihanna, Ellen DeGeneres, Tyler Oakley, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfeld, Caitlin Jenner, Michelle Obama, One Direction, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and the Weeknd.
Related Sandra Bullock Moms Who See 'Bird Box' Will Think: 'That River Is My Journey as a Parent' TV Roundup: Amy Schumer Stand Up Special 'Growing' Drops First Trailer (Watch)
Vice Media, HBO, Google, National Geographic, CNN, PBS and CBS Interaction are among the organizations nominated this year.
The awards cover a varied spectrum of innovation on the Internet from streaming services to podcasts to cutting-edge mobile experiences. Nominees in these categories include Netflix, Spotify, Pandora, HBO GO and CNNGo.
This year the Webby Awards will also be honoring virtual reality platforms in the first-ever Webby Awards’ virtual reality categories. The nominees include the New York Times’ VR series “The Displaced,” CNN’s VR at the Democratic Debate, Stella Artois’ “Buy a Lady a Drink” and VRSE’s “Walking New York.”
Legacy media and new media outlets, like the New York Times and Vice Media, will be competing against each other for best websites, apps and online videos.
To vote, visit webbyawards.com.
The winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 21. The ceremony will be available to stream on May 17 on the Webbys’ website.
Highlights from the 20th Annual Webby Award nominees follow:
Animals (Social)
– Catstacam
– Doug the Pug
– Goats of Anarchy
– Jimmy the Bull
– National Geographic Social Media
Best Overall Social Presence (Social)
– CNN’s Social Media
– Game of Thrones
– Mashable
– NASA Social Media
– The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Best Podcast (Mobile Sites & Apps)
– Reply All
– Stuff You Should Know
– 99% Invisible
– The New Yorker’s Podcasts
– Re/code Decode with Kara Swisher
Best Use of Mobile Camera (Mobile Sites & Apps)
– GIPHY CAM
– musical.ly
– Splice
– Heads Up!
– Layout
Best Web Personality/Host (Online Film & Video)
– Tyler Oakley
– Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
– The Slow Mo Guys
– Kid President
– Carmelo Anthony
Celebrity/Fan (Websites)
– U2.com
– One Direction: Made in the A.M.
– Team Coco
– ellentv.com
– Kendal Jenner
Comedy: Individual Short or Episode (Online Film & Video)
– Anaconda – The Education Version (with Nicki Minaj)
– Go to College Music Video (with First Lady Michelle Obama)
– Dennis Quaid’s On-Set Freak Out: The Full Video
– Fight Club for Kids (with Chuck Palahniuk)
– Trumptastic Voyage (The Simpsons)
Comedy: Long Form or Series (Online Film & Video)
– If Google Was a Guy
– Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
– Billy on the Street with First Lady Michelle Obama
– Celebrities Read Mean Tweets #9 (Jimmy Kimmel Live)
– Epic Rap Battles of History
Culture & Lifestyle (Social)
– Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Instagram Account
– MoMA Instagram
– Refinery29 Facebook
– Tastemade Snapchat Discover
– The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Instagram Account
Entertainment (Mobile Sites & Apps)
– Star Wars app
– Marvel Unlimited
– Saturday Night Live app
– The A-Z of YouTube: Celebrating 10 Years
– Phallania
Events (Social)
– Coders vs. Cancer
– #RugbyBattle
– Instaconcert
– The 69th Annual Tony Awards: An Integrated Digital Experience
– The 16th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards – Social Media Celebration
Fashion & Beauty (Social)
– #MINDFCUK
– Madewell Social Media
– Kiehl’s Act Any Age
– Lilly Pulitzer for Target
– W Magazine
Games (Mobile Sites & Apps)
– You Must Build a Boat
– Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes
– Vainglory
– Her Story
– Two Dots
Humor (Websites)
– Cracked.com
– Funny or Die
– John Oliver – Leap Second
– ClickHole
– The Onion
Media Streaming (Websites)
– 92Y On Demand
– TED
– HBO NOW
– PBS.org
– Pluto TV
Music (Websites)
– triple J Hottest 100
– Inside Abbey Road
– Pitchfork
– Spotify – Year in Music 2015
– Beyoncé – Official Site
News (Websites)
– CNN.com
– The Guardian
– Quartz
– The Intercept
– NYTimes.com
Public Service & Activism (Social)
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It's unclear what day David Roberts came to school wearing the button. But on Nov. 8, the Clovis Unified School District told him he was no longer allowed to teach at Clovis West.
Roberts, who is white, had worked for the district 15 years. According to the Fresno Bee, Clovis West High School has the largest percentage of black students (5%) in the entire district (3%). According to the Education Data Partnership, about 43% of the Clovis Unified School District's students are white.
A teacher (David Roberts) wore #BlackLivesMatter pin to class. Now, he is banned from this Clovis school..
According to the Fresno Bee, an incident report was submitted to the high school's human resources department on Nov. 8 by Deputy Principal Tony LeFore, school secretary Dawni Peisch and teacher Gabe Calderon. Roberts was substituting for Calderon when he wore the button. The three administrators wrote that students were offended by the pin, and that Roberts was not following the lesson plan.
"I was informed by an instructional assistant that the substitute teacher was wearing a political button and that some students were offended, and he wasn't following the lesson plan," the report read.
The report also claimed that Deputy Principal LeFore spoke with Roberts about the incident, informing him that the school is a "politically neutral" space. Roberts promptly removed the button from his shirt.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article118591388.html#storylink=cpy
Roberts said the report was wrong to claim he didn't follow the lesson plan. He told the Fresno Bee that the plan in question only instructed him to conduct a test and assigned readings. Roberts said he believed he was terminated because LeFore told him a parent made a complaint, but did not provide any evidence of this to the Fresno Bee.
"A pin that reads 'Black Lives Matter' is not a political button," Roberts told the Fresno Bee. "It is a peaceful request to end this violence. It is not a protest. It is not intended to be anti-police and does not imply that black lives matter more than other lives. It simply says they matter, too."
75 yo White Teacher banned from school for wearing #Blacklivesmatter button The sight of this button send racist into a Rage.
Roberts said several students approached him after class and shook his hand out of appreciation and respect.
"That's why I was doing it: to show solidarity to the kids," Roberts added. "They really appreciated it. They understand it."
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article118591388.html#storylink=cpy
Roberts has received several complaints from members of the school district in the past for his political views. In 2012, Roberts was banned from Buchanan High School, which is in the same district, after a student complained that he "was against capitalism" during a lesson for an Advanced Placement World History class. Roberts insists that lesson was still within state standards.
"Clovis Unified claims you have to be neutral, but they're not neutral," Roberts told the Bee. "There's a set of beliefs you're expected to have there."
A learning institution should be a place where students should be challenged and exposed to different thoughts and philosophies. Ideally, it should also promote discussion of issues relevant to the world at large, and make students aware of realities outside of their community bubble. With that in mind, banning a substitute teacher who has worked with the school district for over a decade for simply noting that black lives matter seems antithetical to the purpose of education.
Clovis Unified School District did not yet respond to Mic's request for comment.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article118591388.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article118591388.html#storylink=cpyHow the Wallabies backline can handle the Lions’ big cats
Nick Bishop is an elite level video analyst and coach who has worked with the 2001 Lions, 2005 Welsh Grand Slam winners and England squads. In this series exclusive to Green and Gold Rugby, he gives a unique insight into how the Lions will view the Wallabies.
Perhaps the single most glaring discrepancy between the two sides when you see them lining up for the national anthems in Brisbane for the all-important first Test will be the physical difference in the size of the backs.
The current generation of Welsh backs contains three three-quarters who are likely to be significantly bigger than their Wallaby opposite numbers:
• Jamie Roberts 6’5 and 110kgs
• George North 6’4 and 109kgs
• Alex Cuthbert 6’6 and 108kgs
We could also throw in Roberts’ partner in the centre Jonathan Davies who is hardly a shrinking violet at 6’1 and 104kgs, while Warren Gatland will also have the option of picking England’s Manu Tuilagi, at 6’1 and 112kgs probably the most powerful back of the lot.
THE LIONS ATTACK
Scott Allen has offered a good explanation of the Wales attacking system under Gatland in his series of articles on G&G Rugby. The Lions will have a clear difference in purpose when they are whipping around the corner towards one touch-line using their forwards, or stretching the width of the field using their backs. For a start the forward phases will take about 5-6 phases to reach the far side-line, whereas the stretch phase will usually be a one-phase attack with the backs spaced to fill the entire width of the pitch.
Here is a fairly typical example from the recent Wales-Ireland Six Nations match:
http://youtu.be/uSeRdzozsd0?t=1h13m18s
From a lineout at 55:10 [game time] the Welsh forwards plus Jamie Roberts bang away for 8 phases, always moving same-way off a single pass from the base, with an occasional pick & go or in-pass [to Roberts] thrown in. When the width of the field – and hopefully the defence – has been exhausted, at 56:09 on the 9th phase the ball is moved wide back to the near side with long passes.
What is the intent behind this pattern? The basic idea is to whip around the corner quickly enough to absorb key defenders so that they cannot ‘reload’ or react fast enough to realignment by the attackers. When the ball comes back on the one-phase ‘stretch’ the theory is that there will be individual mismatches, emphasised by the wide spacing between attacking players. When the attackers are as big and powerful as George North [in this example at 56:17] the odds of a score or a line-break are considerably shorter for the offense!
The theory is not without its drawbacks. On the ‘stretch’ phase, at least two of the backs have to make long, accurate passes because of the wide spacing between attackers, and the Welsh backs have not always shown an ability to execute those passes well, as Jonathan Davies illustrates in this instance. There is also a danger of attackers becoming isolated in contact, especially if they can be cut down quickly by low tackles, see 22:45 in this clip:
http://youtu.be/Gt0RSygmX_M?t=26m5s
On the wider front, there is also the question of how Gatland would integrate the likes of Brian O’Driscoll and Tommy Bowe – fine footballers that they are – into this pattern. Neither of them are giants, and Bowe in particular may find his position in the Test team comes under threat from Alex Cuthbert for that very reason.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR DEANS’ SELECTION IN THE BACKS?
To begin with, he’ll need to have solid defence in the 10 channel from set-pieces when the Lions send Roberts or George North come down that avenue. From this point of view you can see why Deans apparently wants James O’Connor at 10 as a first-up defender, and not Quade Cooper. Whoever plays there has to have some real grit and be able to front up physically all day long.
Edge defenders who can tackle efficiently in one-versus-one situations and get into the space between the passers to disrupt the ‘stretch’ phase will also be at a premium. Adam Ashley-Cooper can certainly do all of those things, and I suspect Nick Cummins will have a significant role to play on one wing – especially if Digby Ioane is ruled out by injury. I would have Israel Folau on the other wing. Folau is a big man physically and his rugby league experience will have taught him good technique in one-on-one tackle situations.
With Will Genia nailed on at 9, that leaves two spots open at 15 and 12. At 12 there will be a big temptation for Robbie Deans to select Pat McCabe. McCabe is a whole-hearted type who never gives less than his best and is good value at the bits and pieces around the tackle, a little like Brad Barritt for England. He is also reasonably physical, without packing as big a punch as either Roberts or Tuilagi in that department. However he is not anyone’s idea of a second distributor [very un-Australian!] and does not offer another kicking option.
I believe Australia will need that second #10 to help make use of the considerable amount of ball the Lions will kick away to them. From anywhere up to halfway, the Gatland policy is to kick long or high but nearly always infield, so kick returns may well become a prime source of possession for the Wallabies. To make maximum use of the ball they get, in my opinion Deans needs Christian Lealiifano to play 12. Lealiifano brings some physicality to the 12 spot but it is his ability to get the ball wide quickly off either hand that may well be turn out to be key to Australia’s chances.
The excellent England defence coach Andy Farrell will be working in the same role for the Lions, and his kick-chase team did show some weakness in the space between the wing and a forward defending inside him on the edge of the field in the match Australia played at Twickenham in the autumn (game time 34:25):
http://youtu.be/uWzZ5xU3-hI?t=56m14s
I suspect Kurtley Beale may well be in the mood to make a strong statement on the pitch after his recent problems, and for much the same reason as Lealiifano he should be returned to full-back, his best position for the Lions series.No less than a counter-revolution has begun in social science, threatening to turn much of the Enlightenment topsy-turvy.
Not only is it fast gaining support within its own disciplines of anthropology, psychology and economics, but it has begun to influence other, “harder,” sciences too. The repercussions may be astounding, altering our view of how cultures think and act; changing our approaches from scholarship to trade to foreign policy, war and peace, development and politics; affecting how we view others and how we comprehend ourselves. Ultimately, it may equal what Newton did to the hard sciences, and Einstein did to Newton.
It appears to overturn our notions of human universality; ultimately challenging our views of even democracy and human rights, uprooting mighty ideologies many centuries old. It seems to amplify some observations of Edmund Burke on a culture’s unique patrimony, and the more thorough-going analysis of Russell Kirk, while armed with the weight and majesty of scientific fact. Still new, with its full implications far from clear, it is quite possible that this will be the default perspective when today’s toddler reaches university, and may dominate respectable thought and policy one or two generations thereafter.
Unfair to other involved scientists, and their forbearers, the tale still has to start somewhere. So it often begins in 1995 with a graduate student using economic game-theory in his anthropological research (a fine account and analysis, by reporter Ethan Watters, is here). Joe Henrich worked among Peru’s remote Machiguenga people, who are largely self-sufficient herdsmen and small-scale farmers and deal sparingly with the outside world. The Machiguenga play the part of Newton’s apple.
Henrich used a variant of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, with two anonymous players; one is given $100 to distribute as he chooses, while the other can only accept the offer or cancel the game and leave both players with nothing. Watters explains that the test would;
…see whether isolated cultures shared with the West the same basic instinct for fairness. In doing so, Henrich expected to confirm one of the foundational assumptions underlying such experiments, and indeed underpinning the entire fields of economics and psychology: that humans all share the same cognitive machinery—the same evolved rational and psychological hardwiring.
Henrich expected the usual results: North American participants usually offer an even split, and punish unfairness although it also hurts themselves. But the Machiguenga settled for anything: after all, they reasoned, even a pittance is free money, and becoming the player who proposed the split was merely another’s good luck. Fair allocation, as we see it, wasn’t important; and no sensible Machiguenga was going to let such quibbling stop both players from getting something for nothing. Meanwhile we looked odd: Americans, with the world’s largest percentage of people in prison, might have seemed keen to punish others even in their games, even if it also punished themselves.
Later, in a global series of fourteen similar experiments, Henrich found recipients who rejected even 60% of the prize money. Those came from a culture sophisticated in giving and receiving gifts, in which such generosity was not uncommon, but where canny people often reject a big gift fearing the social debt or demanded reciprocity that might come later: after all, if the giver subsequently asked to buy your farmland or marry your daughter, a rejection could be socially worse than the initial economic loss of unexpected funds. One game has many interpretations.
After Henrich returned from Peru, his research met with hostility from University of British Columbia anthropologists. His unorthodox use of economic games in anthropology seemed “heavy-handed and invasive…and the word ‘unethical’ came up.” Allies found him a job between the Economics and Psychology Departments, where psychologists Ara Norenzayan and Steven Heine were sympathetic: “Heine focused on the different ways people in Western and Eastern cultures perceived the world, reasoned, and understood themselves in relationship to others. Norenzayan’s research focused on the ways religious belief influenced bonding and behavior. The three began to compile examples of cross-cultural research that, like Henrich’s work with the Machiguenga, challenged long-held assumptions of human psychological universality.”
Among their first discoveries was that most previous data was biased. In the top six psychology journals, “more than 96 percent of the subjects tested in psychological studies from 2003 to 2007 were Westerners—with nearly 70 percent from the United States alone. Put another way: 96 percent of human subjects in these studies came from countries that represent only 12 percent of the world’s population.” Western respondents were readily available, but the sample was misleading and the presumed universality was false; moreover the Americans were, as the three scientists put it, “weird.”
Americans are indeed exceptional, they discovered, but not superior. Digging through 1960s research, Watters explains that they found “the Müller-Lyer illusion, (which) showed that where you grew up would determine to what degree you would fall prey to the illusion that these two lines are different in length.” Westerners, spending most of their lives in cubic rooms, are misled by perspective seen in corners, so to them the left line (with the splayed-out fletches at either end) looks longer. Africa’s nomadic Bushmen, who live outdoors and rarely see walls and corners, immediately and correctly see both lines as equal in length. Compared to children in the Yucatan, American kids are somewhat retarded, taking until age seven to stop anthropomorphizing animals, while the rural Mexican children understand the differences much earlier. There are many examples.
Going further back, the 1950s research of “pioneering social psychologist Solomon Asch…discovered that test subjects were often willing to make incorrect judgments on simple perception tests to conform with group pressure. When the test was performed across 17 societies, however, it turned out that group pressure had a range of influence. Americans were again at the far end of the scale, in this case showing the least tendency to conform to group belief.” Vast differences were discovered “in spatial reasoning, the way we infer the motivations of others, categorization, moral reasoning, the boundaries between the self and others, and other arenas.”
The differences are not genetic, of course. Human brains, evolved before the Upper Paleolithic and hard-wired before birth, are consistent among Americans, Congolese pygmies, Swedish air-hostesses, and Japanese pearl-divers. What matters, Watters explains, is:
The growing body of cross-cultural research…suggested that the mind’s capacity to mold itself to cultural and environmental settings was far greater than had been assumed. The most interesting thing about cultures may not be in the observable things they do—the rituals, eating preferences, codes of
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383, the hue of the model was adjusted in Meshlab after reconstruction. One model (CM-340) was initially reconstructed using CMPMVS, but a second model with more detail was created using commercial photogrammetry software (RealityCapture, Capturing Reality s.r.o.).
The models are most effectively viewed dynamically in a custom viewer that can be found at http://umorf.ummp.lsa.umich.edu (search for ‘Cerutti’; for refit assemblies, elements may be ‘ghosted’ by using the ‘V’ key (toggle to reverse) to examine details of fit that would otherwise be obscured by neighbouring fragments), but we offer brief animations (.mp4 files) of isolated fragments and refit assemblies in the Supplementary Videos. To facilitate viewing on the web, models were simplified to 2 million faces using Meshlab. Natural colour models use downsampled vertex colour data from CMPMVS44. Some models are presented in flat grey for better visualization of topography. Animations and stills for Fig. 2 were created using Blender (Blender Foundation).
Uranium-series dating
Samples
U-series isotope analyses were determined by thermal-ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) at the USGS Denver radiogenic isotope laboratory on specimens collected and curated by the SDNHM. Initial attempts used specimens of bone (Spl.1 and SDNHM-09) from the initial backhoe excavation. Subsequent dating efforts focused on cortical-bone profiles from specimens of rib or limb bone found in situ from mapped areas of bone concentrations (CM-20, CM-225 and CM-292), including specimens with spiral fractures. Specimens were sectioned across the long axis of the bone and polished (Extended Data Fig. 9e–g). The degree of mineralization in cortical bone is high; however, low-U calcite filling micropores do not contribute appreciably to the isotopic composition of the high-U hydroxyapatite bone matrix. Dark-stained material (mostly Mn oxides) was avoided where possible; however, stained and unstained material yielded similar U–Th concentrations and isotope compositions.
Subsamples were obtained using carbide dental drills to collect 0.003–0.098 g of powder (median of 70 analyses = 0.0172 g). For cortical profiles, bone sections were mounted on a manually controlled milling stage. Subsampling proceeded sequentially from outer to inner surfaces (Extended Data Fig. 9e–g). Powdered material from each step was collected on glassine paper, and any remaining powder was removed under magnification using dissecting needles and compressed air.
Chemical separation
Samples were transferred to fluoropolymer vials, weighed, spiked with a mixed 236U–233U–229Th tracer solution, and digested using ultra-pure 7 N nitric acid at 110 °C overnight. Solutions were dried, then redissolved in 7 N nitric acid. Purification of U and Th fractions used standard column chromatography with around 0.5 ml of AG1 × 8 resin and a sequence of 7 N nitric acid, followed by elution of Th using 6.5 N hydrochloric acid, and elution of U using 0.05 N nitric acid. Total process blanks ranged from 10–20 pg U and 20–100 pg Th.
Analytical measurement
Purified salts were loaded onto the evaporation side of double rhenium filament assemblies for U and onto single rhenium filaments sandwiched between layers of graphite suspension for Th. Isotope ratios of U (234U/235U, 236U/235U, and 236U/233U) and Th (230Th/229Th and 232Th/229Th) were determined in multi-dynamic peak-hopping mode on a Thermo Finnigan Triton TIMS equipped with a single discrete-dynode secondary electron multiplier and a retarding potential quadrupole (RPQ) filter that increased abundance sensitivity to better than 10 ppb. Measured 234U/235U and 236U/235U atomic ratios were corrected for mass fractionation using the known 236U/233U isotope ratio in the tracer solution.
Replicate analyses of U-isotope standard (NIST 4321B) yielded a mean 234U/235U atomic ratio of 0.007291 ± 0.000012 (2 standard deviations (s.d.) for 129 analyses), which is within error of the accepted value (0.007294 ± 0.000028). Corrections for instrument bias were made by normalizing 234U/235U values measured for unknowns by the same factor needed to adjust ratios measured for the SRM 4231B standard. Measured and calculated atomic ratios were converted to activity ratios (AR) using accepted decay constants45,46, and the assumption that all U has an atomic 238U/235U composition of 137.88 (ref. 47). Replicate analyses of solutions of 69 million-year-old U ore48 in radioactive secular equilibrium analysed in the same manner yielded a mean 234U/238U AR and 230Th/238U AR values of 1.0002 ± 0.0041 and 0.9996 ± 0.0081, respectively (2 s.d. for 20 analyses), both of which are within analytical uncertainty of the expected values of 1.000. Results for an in-house late Pleistocene Acropora coral dating standard49 (age of 119.6 ± 1.9 ka) yielded an average age of 119.1 ± 3.3 ka (±2 s.d., n = 23) and an average initial 234U/238U AR value of 1.152 ± 0.005 (±2 s.d., n = 23), which is within uncertainty of accepted values for seawater50 (1.150 ± 0.006).
All uncertainties for isotope ratios and associated data are given at the 95% confidence level and include within-run analytical errors based on counting statistics, external errors based on reproducibility of standards, and errors propagated from uncertainties assigned to the assumed detrital component and the amount of detrital material present in a given sample (negligible for all analyses of bone).
Data availability
The U–Th isotopic data that support the geochronological findings of this study are available in machine-readable form at USGS ScienceBase (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/) with the DOI: 10.5066/F7HD7SW7.Hubble Space Telescope. NASA, ESA, and Debra Elmegreen (Vassar College) et al.
It’s a cosmic growth spurt. A small “tadpole” galaxy is creating a lot of new stars thanks to an influx of gas smashing into it – something that probably helped turn our own galaxy into a giant long ago.
First discovered in the 1990s, tadpole galaxies have bright heads lit by newborn stars, trailed by long dimmer tails. Astronomers had thought the odd objects resulted when two galaxies collided.
Recent observations, however, suggest an alternative idea: intergalactic gas falls onto a small galaxy and sparks the birth of stars, which light the tadpole’s head. This theory arose because most tadpole heads have a low level of heavy elements – which is surprising, because stars create these elements. But intergalactic gas has few heavy elements itself, so the area where it falls will be similar, just as astronomers observe.
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Debra Elmegreen of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and her colleagues pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at Kiso 5639, one of the nearest tadpole galaxies, located 80 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy’s disc is 8800 light years across, and its head is 2700 light years wide.
Star spawn
Hubble looked for in-falling gas. “We don’t see the smoking gun,” Elmegreen says. “We were hoping there might be some obvious big cloud nearby, which there wasn’t.”
Nevertheless, team member Bruce Elmegreen of the IBM Research Division in Yorktown Heights, New York, cites indirect evidence favouring the gas in-fall idea. First, the Hubble observations reveal that a large fraction – 30 to 45 per cent – of the newborn stars in the galaxy’s head reside in star clusters. That’s a characteristic of collisions, suggesting a gas cloud recently crashed into the galaxy.
Second, the galaxy’s head is spawning lots of stars per unit of gas – another characteristic of collisions.
The work has larger implications, because giant galaxies such as the Milky Way started life small. When young, our galaxy may have gone through a tadpole phase every time a large gas cloud smashed into it, triggering a starburst that set part of the galaxy’s disc aglow.
Journal reference: The Astrophysical Journal, in press; ArXiv: arxiv.org/abs/1605.02822For the frequent business traveler who’s sick of living out of a suitcase or anyone who dreams of seeing the world without leaving their familiar luxuries behind, new membership service Stayawhile might just change the accommodation game.
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All of the brand’s current locations are in doorman, elevator buildings that have a variety of amenities, ranging from roof decks and community lounges to pools, fitness centers, and valet parking.
To become a Stayawhile member, you’ll need to fill out an application, which includes a credit and background check for $200. After your application is approved, you’ll be able to live in any available Stayawhile property for a minimum of 30 days at a time. From there, all that’s left is selecting your accommodations and moving in.
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Rentals start at $1,000 per week including Wi-Fi, utilities, housekeeping, and all applicable taxes.Rupert Murdoch addressed the students and faculty of Georgetown University this afternoon, explaining the “creative destruction” wrought upon the news and entertainment industries by changing technology. Murdoch cast himself as a relentless competitor, which he is, who has taken on entrenched monopolies and oligopolies around the world, which is also true. (FishbowlDC’s Patrick W. Gavin live-blogged the event.)
As speeches go, it neither electrified the crowd nor induced itchy posterior syndrome. Murdoch got off a couple of good jokes about the similarities between the Jesuits, who founded Georgetown, and his company, News Corp.
“The Jesuits and News Corp. attract highly talented people from all over the world. The Jesuits and News Corp. like to challenge the status quo. And both the Jesuits and News Corp. have a reputation of independence and innovation. Of course, there are some differences. I don’t want to discourage anyone from considering the priesthood, but I will tell you that at News Corp. we don’t insist on vows of poverty or chastity,” Murdoch said. “And as chief executive, I can tell you I’m not sure about the degree of obedience, either.”
The rotten old bastard did his best work while taking questions from the crowd after his 20-minute set, answering candidly about his ambitions to buy Newsday (it would make a good business fit with his struggling New York Post), why he won’t be buying Yahoo (he says he doesn’t have as much money as Microsoft’s Mr. Gates), and press bias (he thinks a thousand points of view should bloom, or something like that).
He miscued, however, at a couple of junctures. While talking about political bias and the news, he said:
The Washington Post [company] has a site called Slate, and the guy who runs that calls me the Antichrist.
Jacob Weisberg, the guy who runs Slate, has never called Murdoch the Antichrist, according to Nexis. Nor have I. Perhaps he was confusing Weisberg with the guy who runs the New York Times? A September 2007 Vanity Fairpiece by Michael Wolff reported that Times Executive Editor Bill Keller once “angrily confronted” Murdoch lieutenant Gary Ginsberg and said, “How can you work for the Antichrist?”
Keller says he didn’t “confront” the Murdoch employee, whom he had known for a while. And he wasn’t angry.
“I greeted Gary, smilingly, with something like, ‘So I gather you’ve gone to work for the Antichrist.’ It was a joke,” Keller writes via e-mail. “Maybe it’s true, as someone said, that there’s no such thing as a joke. But it was a joke.”
The only question to derail Murdoch was a politely worded query from a Chinese student who wanted to know what steps News Corp. would take to support freedom of speech, human rights, and democracy in China.
“I’d better be careful answering this—I always get into trouble when talking about China,” Murdoch said to many laughs. “Especially from my Chinese wife.”
Murdoch then recounted the criticism he’s faced for evicting BBC News from his Asian satellite-TV company, Star. The BBC was paying $10 million a year for the slot, he told the assembly.
“The BBC has a lot more money than I; they can get their own transponder and their own satellite. And that was taken as me kowtowing to the Chinese government. And I’ve had that hung around my neck forever,” he said.
Hold it right there, Rupe, and let me tighten that necktie with a retrospective of your comments about the BBC and Star.
After News Corp. purchased Star in 1993, it dumped the BBC because its news coverage displeased Chinese authorities, a point that was widely reported as fact. The company downplayed those stories for a few months until Murdoch told his biographer, William Shawcross, the truth. Chinese leaders “hate the BBC,” Murdoch told Shawcross. Of his critics, Murdoch said, “They say it’s a cowardly way, but we said in order to get in there and get accepted, we’ll cut the BBC out.”
This turnabout was reported in both the June 14, 1994, Wall Street Journal (“Rupert Murdoch … has acknowledged months after the fact that he yanked British Broadcasting Corp. news from his satellite television service in northern Asia in hopes of soothing bad relations with China”) and the June 14, 1994, Financial Times (“Mr. Rupert Murdoch … has finally admitted that he kicked BBC World Service Television off his Star TV system in Asia to please the Chinese government and help establish the satellite service there.”)
(One of Murdoch’s top guys tells a similar story in his recent book Rupert’s Adventures in China: How Murdoch Lost a Fortune and Found a Wife.)
Then, 13 years later, Murdoch decided to recant his confession, insisting in the May 24, 2007, Financial Times that:
Star was losing $100m per year; we had to pay $10m per year to the BBC. I said “Let them pay it themselves,” and they did. We also cancelled two other third-party channels—MTV and Prime Sports. At that stage we never ever had any request from anybody in China. Indeed, there was no discourse at all.
That he’s a demonstrably poor teller of lies proves, once and for all, that Murdoch is not the Antichrist.
****** What I do call Murdoch every chance I get is a genocidal tyrant. But even a genocidal tyrant can have a good day. Like today! One of his newspapers, the Australian, ran a lengthy review of Rupert’s Adventures in China, which the Australian Web magazine Crikey calls “earnest, broadly discursive, insightful and sometimes amusing.” What makes this newsworthy, of course, is that the Murdoch-owned Far Eastern Economic Review spiked a review of the book last month in an act of what the author of Rupert’s Adventures would describe as “anticipatory compliance.” Send your Murdoch musings to [email protected]. (E-mail may be quoted by name in “The Fray,”Slate’s readers’ forum, in a future article, or elsewhere unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent disclosure: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.)
Track my errors: This hand-built RSS feed will ring every time Slate runs a “Press Box” correction. For e-mail notification of errors in this specific column, type the word Georgetown in the subject head of an e-mail message and send it to [email protected] just outside one of Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors registered radiation levels on Wednesday 13 times the previous day’s reading, the operator of the crippled nuclear plant said on Thursday.
Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said combined Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 readings just outside the damaged No. 2 reactor jumped to 1,200 becquerels per liter on Wednesday, the highest levels recorded since late 2011.
Regulatory limits for Cesium, which emits powerful gamma radiation and is potentially fatal to humans, is 90 bq/liter for Cesium-137 and 60 bq/liter for Cesium-134.
A TEPCO spokesman said the sudden spike in radiation was caused by construction work near the No. 2 building, Reuters reported.
News of the spike in radiation levels is the latest setback this week for TEPCO, which has been harshly criticized for its handling of the nuclear disaster in the wake of the massive quake and tsunami that hit the power station in March 2011, triggering three reactor meltdowns.
On Wednesday, six workers were exposed to radiation after a pipe connected to a contaminated water treatment system was mistakenly detached. Reuters estimates that at least 7 tons of water escaped the system.
Earlier, a worker accidentally switched off a water pump used to channel water into the reactor building.
Crews are using chemicals to fortify the soil around the Fukushima reactor buildings - hundreds of meters from the port entrance that connects to the Pacific Ocean - to prevent contaminated water from flowing into the ocean. The pressure from injecting chemicals into the ground forced contaminated soil out into the port area, the spokesman said.
TEPCO also said Cesium-137 readings just outside the silt fence next to the No.2 reactor increased to160 bq/liter, a number that exceeds the regulatory limit and almost double the previous day's reading.
Radiation from radioactive water leaking from the plant is mostly confined to the harbor around the facility, officials have said.
TEPCO, which is using hundreds of tons of water in an effort to keep the reactors from overheating, has struggled to contain the buildup of radioactive water at the plant.
The accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, situated 220 km (130 miles) from Tokyo, are fueling doubts over TEPCO’s abilities to oversee a hugely complicated cleanup that is expected to take decades.
Last week, the beleaguered Japanese energy company said 430 liters (113 gallons) of contaminated water had leaked from a storage tank at Fukushima and probably flowed to the ocean.
Meanwhile, Japanese officials have said there is no environmental threat to other countries as radiation will be diluted by the sea.
Tokyo, despite lingering concerns over the long-term safety situation at Fukushima, was selected last month to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
In September, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the International Olympic Committee that problems at Fukushima were "under control" and any contamination is limited to the harbor next to the crippled plant.
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority last week ordered TEPCO to hire additional workers and report within a week on its cleanup progress.
Abe declared on Sunday that the country would be grateful for any help from abroad to contain the crisis.Sometime soon -- say around Sept. 23, give or take a day or two -- a 6-ton, 35-foot-long satellite will fall out of the sky, NASA warns.
But don't be alarmed. Donald J. Kessler, a retired senior scientist for orbital debris research at NASA, says you've got nothing to worry about. The chance of getting hit is remote. Very remote.
That's not to say NASA isn't taking the situation seriously.
In a news release on its website, the space agency said it will post updates weekly up until four days before the anticipated reentry, then daily until about 24 hours before reentry, and then at about 12-hours, six hours and two hours before the thing actually plummets to earth.
The updates will come from the Joint Space Operations Center of U.S. Strategic Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a group that works around the clock "detecting, identifying and tracking all man-made objects in Earth-orbit, including space junk."
For his part, Kessler thinks all the fuss is a little ridiculous.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Question
POV pusher on "list of coup" articles, please see links
The Signpost: 25 February 2015
Lugansk People's Republic - article name
Toddy1 (talk) I am sorry, but what I have done has probably annoyed you. I have listed your proposal for a change of name for the article on "Lugansk People's Republic" on Wikipedia:Requested moves. I have worded this in a neutral way. I think it should have been done that way all along. The move discussion initiated by your request for comment has revealed a good case based on English-language usage for the move (almost as strong as the essentially similar case for Sievierodonetsk → Severodonetsk). The case against both moves is based on the primacy of the native language argument - and if we allowed that argument we would rename Germany: Deutschland.--08:51, 28 February 2015 (UTC)
I don't want a move discussion. If you want to move the article, why don't you start your own? RGloucester — ☎ 15:20, 28 February 2015 (UTC)
You've got mail!
Message added 03:29, 1 March 2015 (UTC). It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{ You've got mail }} or {{ YGM }} template. Hello, RGloucester. Please check your email – you've got mail!
Your edits on Battle of Debaltseve
Really, I don't understand you. Must there be everywhere ″they said" or ″he said"? What is the problem with ″the separatists claimed"? You are not entitled to revert everything. This page is not only for you, but for all editors, if you like it or not. So when I have time, I will try to find a new wording according to the specification that you gave to me. But then I expect your cooperation and not repeated reverts. -- Zbrnajsem talk ) 18:40, 3 March 2015 (UTC)
Yes, everything must simply say "they/he/she said". "Said" is the only neutral word, as it is a simply statement of fact. Words like "informed", "claimed", &c. make implications that are non-neutral. We only accept neutral statements of fact, which is why the MoS says what it says. No new wording will work. Only "said" is appropriate. If you continue to use non-neutral wording, I will continue to revert you in line with our MoS. Prose is used to assign veracity to statements, based on reliable sources. Weaselling around with "claims" is unacceptable. RGloucester — ☎ 18:44, 3 March 2015 (UTC) Why are you questioning RGloucester about this, Zbrnajsem? I left you a clear message regarding this issue on your talk page on 1 March. Again, please read WP:WORDS. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 04:39, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
You have gone far enough. You were blocked twice (or thrice if separate blocks count regardless of reason). Please let people comment on the recent RM, okay? And enough of ownership behaviours. -- George Ho talk ) 04:22, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
No, I shan't do. I don't let disruptive editors get their way. I'm not that type of person. Until you recognise the error of your ways, you shan't see much acquiescence from me. RGloucester — ☎ 04:24, 4 March 2015 (UTC) Look, you got what you wanted: two separate articles. Well, I don't count December bombings as independently notable because its article is a stub. And I will see the fit of your errors. --George Ho (talk) 04:28, 4 March 2015 (UTC) I don't want anything. Apparently, the only one that wants something is you, considering that you keep launching disruptive move requests for no reason. What it is that you want, however, is a different matter. There should not be a December bombing article, because I haven't published my draft yet. RGloucester — ☎ 04:30, 4 March 2015 (UTC) Examples, please. --George Ho (talk) 04:33, 4 March 2015 (UTC) Examples of what? RGloucester — ☎ 04:34, 4 March 2015 (UTC) Whatever "disruptive" RMs I've created besides the one we are talking about. --George Ho (talk) 04:37, 4 March 2015 (UTC) The original Odessa clashes one is a good example. A similar example is your "RfC" at Talk:List of individuals sanctioned during the Ukrainian crisis, or your "RfC" at the Benghazi attack article. I don't know why, but you seem to make RMs and RfCs that are destined to go nowhere, and that simply waste time and cause disorder. Stability, peace, and harmony are essential to one's soul's health. Perhaps you need a dose of those? I don't think you understand the gravity of the situations you are placing yourself in. RGloucester — ☎ 04:43, 4 March 2015 (UTC) Consensus agreed to the original RM. How did you repay? Changing the layout of the article and dealing with administrations trying to clean up the mess that you are solely involved in. Also, you think I'll be blocked for things that are considered disruptive? Wait and see when I'll report you about your recent actions. --George Ho (talk) 04:47, 4 March 2015 (UTC) I did exactly what the RM participants wanted, which was to have an expanded scope article. There was no mess. Whether anyone will be blocked is irrelevant, and I couldn't care less. I do know that I'm certainly being less disruptive than you here, even if others don't see it my way. Today I wrote an article on Nelya Shtepa. Her's is a story that I think people should know. I'm quite pro-Ukraine/Europe, but even I see the absurd nature of what's happened to this poor women. The Nemtsov shooting, for example, got a ton of press, but the abduction and murder of Shtepa's main defence witness got none. Instead of messing around with petty rubbish to make a point, like you, I'm actually writing articles and making maps. I'm sorry that you're sad that no one responded to your RfC there, but perhaps there is a reason for that. Perhaps you should take that meaning onboard. RGloucester — ☎ 04:53, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
As promised, you've been reported again on ANI. -- George Ho talk ) 05:06, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
Talkback
Disambiguation link notification for March 4
Said, claimed etc.
RGloucester, please read the following carefully.
"Said, stated, described, wrote, and according to are almost always neutral and accurate. Extra care is needed with more loaded terms. For example, to write that a person clarified, explained, exposed, found, pointed out, or revealed something can imply that it is true, where a neutral account might preclude such an endorsement. To write that someone insisted, noted, observed, speculated, or surmised can suggest the degree of the speaker's carefulness, resoluteness, or access to evidence when that is unverifiable.
To write that someone asserted or claimed something can call their statement's credibility into question, by emphasizing any potential contradiction or implying a disregard for evidence. Similarly, be judicious in the use of admit, confess, and deny, particularly of living people, because these verbs can convey guilt when that is not a settled matter.
So there is no reason for me or anybody else to evade expressions like "they stated", "New York Times wrote", "he described the situation like", "according to Mr. XY", etc. All these expressions are equal with "to say". Next time please give me exact informations. -- Zbrnajsem talk ) 18:04, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
The New York Times cannot "write", as it isn't a person. Are you a native of speaker of English? It seems you have trouble with using English as it is used by people that speak it. "expressed themselves" was a particularly peculiar addition, as it doesn't make any sense. Changing "that" to "who" is inappropriate per MOS:RETAIN. In British English, "that" and "who" are considered interchangeable. The article is written in BrE. RGloucester — ☎ 18:07, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
My knowledge of your language has always been considered good or at least sufficient. I spent together four months in England and Scotland in my youth. English Wikipedia is not limited only to native speakers of English, it is a global project. Please do not give me advice for everything. In the said article, there is very probably the following expression: "The New York Times said" (I read NYT on internet frequently). According to you, a daily cannot say or wrote anything. What is to be written instead? --Zbrnajsem (talk) 18:38, 4 March 2015 (UTC) And yet this: "Who" is certainly better than "that" from the stylistic point of view. Why cannot this be improved? Improvements of wordings are by no means forbidden by Wikipedia rules, dear colleague. And thus you have no right whatsoever to revert everything what I write. Only in cases like "They expressed themselves" maybe, but please evade complete reverts. I am editor of Wikipedia since 2011, and I know most of the rules. They could be applied in my favour. --Zbrnajsem (talk) 18:46, 4 March 2015 (UTC) Use of the verb "to say" is acceptable, because it has a metaphorical meaning that can be applied to objects. Oxford Dictionaries describes this meaning as: "(Of a text or a symbolic representation) convey specified information or instructions". "To write", on the other hand, has no such meaning, and can only be applied to people. Newspapers cannot "write", but they can "say". You fail to recognise the distinction between the two verbs. "Who" is not considered better than "that" in British English. That's only the case in American English, where the distinction between the two is much more firm. Per MOS:RETAIN, the existing variety is retained, meaning that the British English remains. If you were actually improving the wording, that'd be true. However, you are not. You are making it incomprehensible and wrong. RGloucester — ☎ 18:52, 4 March 2015 (UTC) Synecdoche Rhoark (talk) 05:21, 16 March 2015 (UTC)
All of this might be quite correct - in your view. I am surprised that everything concerning the language in the said article should be really unchangeable. There is nothing like this in say German Wikipedia.
OK, I found this: Consistency within articles: While Wikipedia does not favor any national variety of English, within a given article the conventions of one particular variety should be followed consistently.
Very nice. I see that this rule has been written in American English. How do I know that the article on Battle of Debaltseve was written in British English? Of course, I suppose you are British (a Briton - would it be correct like this?), and you have as I guess written a substantial part of the article. So I apologize to have remarked that the said article had a dull language. I am sorry, but I felt so. -- Zbrnajsem talk ) 22:01, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
I agree that it is dull, but it is dull intentionally. I could easily inject flourishes. I naturally speak in a very over-enriched way. We are not supposed to do that, however. Speaking plainly is the only way to speak neutrally, which is what we are obligated to do by our policy on WP:NPOV. The language is not unchangeable, but changes that violate our policies and guidelines will be reverted by someone, if not me. I started the article. The variety of English used by the starter of the article is maintained, unless there is some reason why it should not be, such as WP:TIES. RGloucester — ☎ 23:58, 4 March 2015 (UTC) OK, RGloucester. What I see is that this said article is really neutral in its content. If there were such a neutrality everywhere in Wikipedia, it would be a blessing. --Zbrnajsem (talk) 06:56, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
Not News
DGG ( Is not among the reasons for speedy deletion, because it is to some extent a matter of judgment. talk ) 01:18, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 04 March 2015
Comment
ncr Your comment directed at me seems unfair and a bit inappropriate. I did not say or imply that those 2 google scholar hits are reliable sources that would be useful to use in the article under discussion; I was explicitly looking for references that had some distance from the subject. And while I didn't detect that one plagiarized from Wikipedia as you suggest it did, I did check them both and was aware that the other only mentioned the Odessa clashes as an item in a tabulation of such events (which seems to be a good example of what I was looking for). Who are you to judge which persons are suitable to participate in a Requested Move discussion (which calls for uninvolved editors to come help make a decision)? Please, that is uncalled for and personally directed, unnecessarily. I respond here rather than at the discussion as this is getting off-topic. sincerely, -- do am 21:28, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
Your actions dictate my response. Carry yourself well, and you shan't have any issues with me. RGloucester — ☎ 21:29, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
Don't wari
I believe the question that one must ask is "What is ending?" Regardless, the Wikipedia capability for vertical script is quite limited. Sad, no? RGloucester — ☎ 04:29, 12 March 2015 (UTC) I wish I could override their css with my own. What is ending? --Iryna Harpy (talk) 04:42, 12 March 2015 (UTC) It is a change of outlook, an adjustment of the angle of approach. Nothing more. RGloucester — ☎ 05:11, 12 March 2015 (UTC) Posthumanism is the mother of reinvention. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 05:19, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
Dude, either you're a propagandist or I don't know what
It saddens me that thise whole "reliable source" business is being used to crush reasonable logical arguments. I've made this point all over Wikipedia, not only here. It tends to be the way that massmedia outlets trump scientific or official sources in general. (I'm mostly active in various sociological discussions). So I see you're clamping down on the Illovaisk battle thing. Not sure why, since you seem to be getting alot of acknowledgement bout your historical expertise and such. You should know if you've done any amount of personal research about this subject, checked out some videos, read som witness statements from Ukranian soldiers that they tried to break
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. As for broader questions, the answers may remain murky for years. Has the mix of economic trauma and aging made us prudent -- or merely fearful? Has economic resilience survived -- or given way to a stand-pat society?Cat's Cradle is a science fiction novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. His fourth novel, it explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way. After turning down his original thesis in 1947, the University of Chicago awarded Vonnegut his master's degree in anthropology in 1971 for Cat's Cradle.[1][2]
The title of the book derives from the string game "cat's cradle". Early in the book, the character Felix Hoenikker (a fictional co-inventor of the atom bomb) was playing cat's cradle when the bomb was dropped, and the game is later referred to by his son, Newton Hoenikker.
Plot [ edit ]
At the opening of the book, the narrator, an everyman named John (but calling himself Jonah), describes a time when he was planning to write a book about what important Americans did on the day Hiroshima was bombed. While researching this topic, John becomes involved with the children of Felix Hoenikker, a Nobel laureate physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb. John travels to Ilium, New York, to interview the Hoenikker children and others for his book.
In Ilium John meets, among others, Dr. Asa Breed, who was the supervisor "on paper" of Felix Hoenikker. As the novel progresses, John learns of a substance called ice-nine, created by the late Hoenikker and now secretly in the possession of his children. Ice-nine is an alternative structure of water that is solid at room temperature. When a crystal of ice-nine contacts liquid water, it becomes a seed crystal that makes the molecules of liquid water arrange themselves into the solid form, ice-nine. Felix Hoenikker's reason to create this substance was to aid in the military's plight of wading through mud and swamp areas while fighting. That is, if ice-nine could reduce the wetness of the areas to a solid form, soldiers could easily maneuver across without becoming entrapped or slowed.
John and the Hoenikker children eventually end up on the fictional Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, one of the poorest countries on Earth, where the people speak a barely comprehensible creole of English (for example "twinkle, twinkle, little star" is rendered "Tsvent-kiul, tsvent-kiul, lett-pool store"). It is ruled by a dictator, "Papa" Monzano, who threatens all opposition with impalement on a giant hook.
San Lorenzo has an unusual culture and history, which John learns about while studying a guidebook lent to him by the newly appointed US ambassador to the country. He learns about an influential religious movement in San Lorenzo, called Bokononism, a strange, postmodern faith that combines irreverent, nihilistic, and cynical observations about life and God's will with odd, but peaceful rituals (for instance, the supreme act of worship is an intimate act consisting of prolonged physical contact between the bare soles of the feet of two persons, supposed to result in peace and joy between the two communicants). Though everyone on the island seems to know much about Bokononism and its founder, Bokonon, the present government calls itself Christian and practicing Bokononism is punishable by death on "the hook."
As the story progresses, it becomes clear that San Lorenzo society is more bizarre and cryptic than originally revealed. In observing the interconnected lives of some of the island's most influential residents, John learns that Bokonon himself was at one point a de facto ruler of the island, along with a US Marine deserter. The two men created Bokononism as part of a utopian project to control the population. The ban was an attempt to give the religion a sense of forbidden glamour, and helps draw people's attention away from the economic problems of the country. It is found that almost all of the residents of San Lorenzo, including the dictator, practice the faith, and executions are rare.
When John and the other travelers arrive on the island, they are greeted by "Papa" Monzano, his adopted daughter Mona, and around five thousand San Lorenzans. It becomes clear that "Papa" Monzano is extremely ill, and he intends to name Franklin Hoenikker his successor. Franklin, who finds it hard to talk with people, is uncomfortable with this arrangement, abruptly hands the presidency to John, who grudgingly accepts. Franklin also suggests that John should marry Mona.
The dictator later uses ice-nine to commit suicide rather than succumb to his inoperable cancer. Consistent with the properties of ice-nine, the dictator's corpse instantly turns into solid ice at room temperature. This is followed by the freezing of Dr Schlichter von Koenigswald, "Papa" Monzano's doctor and a former S.S. Auschwitz physician, who accidentally ingests the ice-nine upon Monzano's examination.
John and the Hoenikkers plan to gather the bodies of both Monzano and his physician in order to ritualistically burn them on a funeral pyre, thereby eliminating the traces of ice-nine. They also begin systematically cleansing the room with various heating methods, taking the utmost care not to leave any trace of ice-nine behind.
It is here where John inquires as to how the ice-nine came into "Papa" Monzano's possession. The Hoenikkers explain that when they were young, their father would riddle them with the concept of ice-nine. One day, they find their father has died taking a break from freezing and unfreezing ice-nine to test its properties. With the sweep of a cloth, Frank Hoenikker collects residual amounts of ice-nine from a cooking pan, as was the various collection and examination methods of their father when creating the substance. A dog licks the cloth and also instantly freezes. Witnessing this, the young Hoenikkers finally deduce the properties of ice-nine. They collectively cannot determine who had what part in gathering the ice-nine, but chunks of the substance were chipped from the cooking pan supply and placed in mason jars then later in thermoses.
John and the Hoenikkers pause the ice-nine decontamination to attend John's inauguration festivities. During the festivities, San Lorenzo's small air force presents a brief air show, but one of the airplanes malfunctions and crashes into the dictator's seaside palace, causing his still-frozen body to tumble into the ocean; all the water in the world's seas, rivers, and groundwater turns into ice-nine, sure to kill almost all life in a few days.
The freezing of the world's oceans immediately causes violent storms and tornadoes to ravage the landscape, and John manages to escape with Mona to a secret bunker. Upon hearing the storms subside after several days, they emerge. Exploring the island and looking for survivors, they discover a mass grave where all the surviving San Lorenzans had killed themselves with ice-nine, on the facetious advice of Bokonon. Displaying a mix of grief and resigned amusement, Mona kills herself as well. A shocked John is later found by survivors (an American couple he had met on the plane to San Lorenzo and Felix Hoenikker's two sons), and he lives in a cave for several months, during which time he writes a memoir revealed to be the novel itself.
The book ends by his meeting a weary Bokonon, who is contemplating what the last words of The Books of Bokonon should be. Bokonon states that if he were younger, he would have climbed to the top of Mt. McCabe, placed a book about human stupidity at the peak, and, through the administration of ice-nine, "make a statue of myself, lying on my back, grinning horribly, and thumbing my nose at You Know Who"; it is strongly implied that John is inspired to do just that, with the novel as the "book about human stupidity."
Major themes [ edit ]
Many of Vonnegut's recurring themes are prevalent in Cat's Cradle, most notably the issues of free will and man's relation to technology.[3] The former is embodied in the creation of Bokononism, an artificial religion created to make life bearable to the beleaguered inhabitants of San Lorenzo through acceptance and delight in the inevitability of everything that happens. The latter is demonstrated by the development and exploitation of ice-nine, which is conceived with indifference but is misused to disastrous ends. In his 1969 address to the American Physical Society, Vonnegut describes the inspiration behind ice-nine and its creator as the type of "old-fashioned scientist who isn't interested in people," and draws connections to nuclear weapons.[4]
More topically, Cat's Cradle takes the threat of nuclear destruction in the Cold War as a major theme. The Cuban Missile Crisis, in which world powers collided around a small Caribbean island, bringing the world to the brink of mutual assured destruction, occurred in 1962, and much of the novel can be seen as allegorical.[5]
Style [ edit ]
Like most of Vonnegut's work, irony, black humor and parody are used heavily throughout. Cat's Cradle, despite its relatively short length, contains 127 discrete chapters. Vonnegut himself has claimed that his books "are essentially mosaics made up of a whole bunch of tiny little chips...and each chip is a joke."[3]
Background [ edit ]
After World War II, Kurt Vonnegut worked in the public relations department for the General Electric research company. GE hired scientists and let them do pure research, and his job was to interview these scientists and find good stories about their research. Vonnegut felt that the older scientists were indifferent about the ways their discoveries might be used. The Nobel Prize-winning chemist Irving Langmuir, who worked with Vonnegut's older brother Bernard at GE, became the model for Dr. Felix Hoenikker. Vonnegut said in an interview with The Nation that "Langmuir was absolutely indifferent to the uses that might be made of the truths he dug out of the rock and handed out to whoever was around, but any truth he found was beautiful in its own right, and he didn’t give a damn who got it next."[6]
Setting [ edit ]
San Lorenzo General location of San Lorenzo Flag of San Lorenzo Cat's Cradle location Other name(s) Republic of San Lorenzo Created by Kurt Vonnegut Genre Satire Type Dictatorship Ruler "Papa" Monzano Notable locations Bolivar (capital) Anthem San Lorenzan National Anthem Language(s) San Lorenzan dialect of English Currency Corporal
The Republic of San Lorenzo is a fictional country where much of the book's second half takes place.
San Lorenzo is a tiny, rocky island nation located in the Caribbean Sea, positioned in the relative vicinity of Puerto Rico. San Lorenzo has only one city, its seaside capital of Bolivar. The country's form of government is a dictatorship, under the rule of ailing president "Papa" Monzano, who is a staunch ally of the United States and a fierce opponent of communism. No legislature exists. The infrastructure of San Lorenzo is described as being dilapidated, consisting of worn buildings, dirt roads, an impoverished populace, and having only one automobile taxi running in the entire country.
The language of San Lorenzo is a fictitious English-based creole language that is referred to as "the San Lorenzan dialect." The San Lorenzan national anthem is based on the tune of Home on the Range. Its flag consists of a U.S. Marine Corps corporal's chevrons on a blue field (presumably the flag was updated, since in the 1920s Marine Corps rank insignia did not include crossed rifles). Its currency is named corporals, at a rate of two corporals for every United States dollar; both the flag and the monetary unit are named after U.S. Marine Corporal Earl McCabe, who deserted his company while stationed at Port-au-Prince during the American occupation in 1922, and in transit to Miami, was shipwrecked on San Lorenzo. McCabe, along with accomplice Lionel Boyd Johnson from Tobago, together threw out the island's governing sugar company, and after a period of anarchy, proclaimed a republic.
San Lorenzo also has its own native religion, Bokononism, a religion based on enjoying life through believing "foma", harmless lies, and taking encouragement where you can. Bokononism, founded by McCabe's accomplice Boyd Johnson (pronounced "Bokonon" in San Lorenzan dialect), however, is outlawed – an idea Bokonon himself conceived, since forbidding the religion would only make it spread quicker. Bokononists are liable to be punished by being impaled on a hook, but Bokononism privately remains the dominant religion of nearly everyone on the island, including the leaders who outlaw it. Officially, however, San Lorenzo is a Christian nation.
Characters [ edit ]
'The narrator' is a writer named Jonah, also known as John, who describes the events in the book with humorous and sarcastic detail. While writing a book on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he becomes involved with the Hoenikker children. He begins the book by stating "Call me Jonah", alluding to the first line of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. In a way, John and Ishmael, the narrator for Moby-Dick, share the same traits as simultaneously a protagonist and a minor character.
. In a way, John and Ishmael, the narrator for, share the same traits as simultaneously a protagonist and a minor character. Felix Hoenikker is the "Father of the Atom Bomb." Felix Hoenikker was proclaimed one of the smartest scientists on Earth. An eccentric and emotionless man, he is depicted as amoral and apathetic towards anything other than his research. He needed only something to keep him busy, such as in his role as one of the "Fathers of the Atomic Bomb", and in his creation of "ice-nine," a potentially catastrophic substance with the capability to destroy all life on Earth, but which he saw merely as a mental puzzle (a Marine general suggested developing a substance that could solidify mud so soldiers could run across it more easily). During experiments with "ice nine", Felix takes a nap in his rocking chair and dies. It is the narrator's quest for biographical details about Hoenikker that provides both the background and the connecting thread between the various subsections of the story.
Dr. Asa Breed is Felix Hoenikker's supervisor. He takes the narrator, John, around Illium and to the General Forge and Foundry Company where the late Felix worked. Later in the tour, Dr. Breed becomes upset with John for "misunderstanding what a scientist is, what a scientist does." [7]
Newton "Newt" Hoenikker: The dwarf son of famed scientist Felix Hoenikker, and a painter. He is the brother of both Frank and Angela Hoenikker. His main hobby is painting minimalist abstract works. He briefly had an affair with a Ukrainian dwarf dancer named Zinka, who turned out to be a KGB agent sent to steal ice-nine for the Soviet Union.
Emily Hoenikker is Felix Hoenikker's beautiful wife, who died giving birth to Newt Hoenikker. According to Dr. Asa Breed, the complications at Newt's birth were the result of a pelvic injury she sustained in a car accident some time before. Breed was a lover of Emily before she got married to Felix.
Franklin "Frank" Hoenikker is Felix Hoenikker's son, and Major General of San Lorenzo. He is the brother of Newt and Angela Hoenikker. He is an utterly technically minded person who is unable to make decisions except for giving technical advice. His main hobby is building models.
Angela Hoenikker Conners is Felix Hoenikker's daughter and a clarinetist. She is the sister of Frank and Newt Hoenikker, and is married to Harrison C. Conners. In contrast to her dwarf brother, Angela is unusually tall for a woman. She used to take care of her father after her mother's death and acts as a mother figure to Newt. She and her brothers all have samples of ice-nine, which they found along with their father's body, dead in his chair. She dies when she blows on a clarinet contaminated with ice-nine.
Bokonon co-founded San Lorenzo (along with Earl McCabe) and created the religion of Bokononism, which he asked McCabe to outlaw. He was born as Lionel Boyd Johnson.
Earl McCabe co-founded San Lorenzo and is a marine deserter who ruled San Lorenzo for many years.
"Papa" Monzano is the ailing dictator of San Lorenzo. He was once Earl McCabe's right-hand man and chosen successor. He appoints Frank Hoenikker as his successor, and then commits suicide with a piece of ice-nine. He is the adopted father of Mona Monzano.
Mona Aamons Monzano is the adopted daughter of "Papa" Monzano, to integrate different races into the harshness of his rule. She is considered "the only beautiful woman on San Lorenzo." She agrees to marry John, but commits suicide with ice-nine.
Julian Castle is the multi-millionaire ex-owner of Castle Sugar Cooperation, whom John travels to San Lorenzo to interview. He abandoned his business ventures to set up and operate a humanitarian hospital in the jungle of San Lorenzo.
H. Lowe Crosby is a bicycle manufacturer John meets on a plane to San Lorenzo. His main goal is to move his factory to San Lorenzo, so he can run it with cheap labour.
Hazel Crosby is the wife of H. Lowe Crosby, who asks all the Hoosiers she meets around the globe to call her "Mom."
Philip Castle is the son of Julian Castle, and the operator of the hotel Casa Mona on the island on San Lorenzo. He also wrote a history of San Lorenzo that the narrator reads on his flight to the island. Bokonon taught both him and Mona when they were young. Through reading the index of Castle's book, Claire Minton deduces that he's a homosexual.
Horlick Minton is the new American ambassador to San Lorenzo, whom John meets on a plane. He was blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer during the McCarthy era.
Claire Minton is the wife of the new American ambassador to San Lorenzo, and is an index writer.
Lyman Enders Knowles is an elevator operator at the research institute where Felix Hoenikker worked.
Terms introduced in the novel [ edit ]
The religion of the people of San Lorenzo, called Bokononism, encompasses concepts unique to the novel, with San Lorenzan names such as:
karass – A group of people linked in a cosmically significant manner, even when superficial linkages are not evident.
– A group of people linked in a cosmically significant manner, even when superficial linkages are not evident. duprass – a karass of only two people, who almost always die within a week of each other. The typical example is a loving couple who work together for a great purpose.
– a karass of only two people, who almost always die within a week of each other. The typical example is a loving couple who work together for a great purpose. granfalloon – a false karass ; i.e., a group of people who imagine they have a connection that does not really exist. An example is "Hoosiers"; Hoosiers are people from Indiana, and Hoosiers have no true spiritual destiny in common, so really share little more than a name.
– a false ; i.e., a group of people who imagine they have a connection that does not really exist. An example is "Hoosiers"; Hoosiers are people from Indiana, and Hoosiers have no true spiritual destiny in common, so really share little more than a name. wampeter – the central theme or purpose of a karass. Each karass has two wampeters at any given time, one waxing and one waning.
– the central theme or purpose of a. Each karass has two wampeters at any given time, one waxing and one waning. foma – harmless untruths
– harmless untruths wrang-wrang – Someone who steers a Bokononist away from their line of perception. For example, the narrator of the book is steered away from Nihilism when his Nihilist house sitter kills his cat and leaves his apartment in disrepair.
– Someone who steers a Bokononist away from their line of perception. For example, the narrator of the book is steered away from Nihilism when his Nihilist house sitter kills his cat and leaves his apartment in disrepair. kan-kan – An object or item that brings a person into their karass. The narrator states in the book that his kan-kan was the book he wrote about the Hiroshima bombing.
– An object or item that brings a person into their karass. The narrator states in the book that his was the book he wrote about the Hiroshima bombing. sinookas – The intertwining "tendrils" of peoples' lives.
– The intertwining "tendrils" of peoples' lives. vin-dit – a sudden shove in the direction of Bokononism
– a sudden shove in the direction of Bokononism saroon – to acquiesce to a vin-dit
– to acquiesce to a stuppa – a fogbound child (i.e. an idiot)
– a fogbound child (i.e. an idiot) duffle – the destiny of thousands of people placed on one "stuppa"
– the destiny of thousands of people placed on one "stuppa" sin-wat – a person who wants all of somebody's love for themself
– a person who wants all of somebody's love for themself pool-pah – shit storm, but in some contexts: wrath of God
– shit storm, but in some contexts: wrath of God Busy, busy, busy – words Bokononists whisper when they think about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is
– words Bokononists whisper when they think about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is Now I will destroy the whole world – last words of a Bokononist before committing suicide
– last words of a Bokononist before committing suicide boko-maru – the supreme act of worship of the Bokononists, which is an intimate act consisting of prolonged physical contact between the naked soles of the feet of two persons
– the supreme act of worship of the Bokononists, which is an intimate act consisting of prolonged physical contact between the naked soles of the feet of two persons zah-mah-ki-bo – Inevitable destiny
– Inevitable destiny Borasisi and Pabu, the Sun and Moon; the binary trans-Neptunian object 66652 Borasisi and its moon, 66652 Borasisi I Pabu, now bear their names. † Borasisi, the Sun, held Pabu, the Moon, in his arms and hoped that Pabu would bear him a fiery child. But poor Pabu gave birth to children that were cold, that did not burn...Then poor Pabu herself was cast away, and she went to live with her favorite child, which was Earth.
and, the Sun and Moon; the binary trans-Neptunian object 66652 Borasisi and its moon, 66652 Borasisi I Pabu, now bear their names.
References in popular culture [ edit ]
Reception [ edit ]
After The Sirens of Titan and Mother Night received good reviews and sold well in paperback, large hardcover publisher Holt, Rinehart, and Winston issued Cat's Cradle.[11] Theodore Sturgeon praised Cat's Cradle, describing its storyline as "appalling, hilarious, shocking, and infuriating", and concluded that "this is an annoying book and you must read it. And you better take it lightly, because if you don't you'll go off weeping and shoot yourself".[12]
Ban [ edit ]
In 1972, the board of Strongsville, Ohio banned the book without stating an official reason, although notes from the meeting include references to it being "completely sick" and "garbage". However, this ban was overturned in 1976 by the US District Court. In 1982, it was also challenged at Merrimack High School in New Hampshire.[13][14]
Awards and nominations [ edit ]
Cat's Cradle was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1964.
Film, television or theatrical adaptations [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Bokononism All text from Cat's Cradle that refers to Bokononism (including the Books of Bokonon)
that refers to Bokononism (including the Books of Bokonon) The Books of Bokonon online
Further reading [ edit ]Just off 81 Layne's Country Store has been there since 1954, when a young couple started a business.
“That would be my mother and father," says Steve Layne, who owns the store with his wife now. "When he got out of the military, him and my mother were married, and he wanted to get a job immediately so he opened a country store.”
It is where, under the flags, you could get produce in the summer and country hams all year long.
“The sandwich making started back in the early days when they were building 81," explains Angela, Steve's wife. "There wasn’t anywhere around here to get anything to eat. And the guys would walk up over the hill here and Mr. Layne would make them a baloney sandwich.”
“He made sandwiches for the locals," Steve says. "And he never really advertised it that much, but it was just one of the things that went along with the country store.”
And one of the most popular was the country ham sandwich. So popular now, that someone entered it into a USA Today contest for the best in all of Virginia.
Angela remembers: “I just got an email one day. The email asked for a picture of our country sandwich. They were from USA Today, they were doing an article on the top 50 places in Virginia to get a country ham sandwich.”
“It isn’t something that we entered," says Steve. "Somebody either nominated us or somebody put us in the running for it.”
Steve explains that they make the sandwich with hoop cheese, a sharp Wisconsin cheddar.
"It gives it kind of a unique taste, especially if you toast it,” he says.
Which, with the country ham, lettuce and tomato, they hope will make for a winning combination.
Thursday morning, they were in eighth place.
But Steve says: “We’re thankful for any rating we would get. We’re just thankful for our customers.”
They have a link to the competition on their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/laynescountrystore/From Islamist extremists to spurned lovers to Russian President Vladimir Putin, speculation continues to swirl about who killed opposition leader Boris Nemtsov last week, a stone's throw from the Kremlin, and why.
Igor Eidman, Nemtsov's cousin, pins the high-profile assassination squarely on Putin.
But he suspects it was a slur used by the 55-year-old politician to describe Putin in a recent interview -- rather than Nemtsov's long-standing criticism of his policies -- that may have prompted the president to order the hit.
"For people with a criminal mentality like Putin's, such words can mean a lot more than concrete actions," Eidman tells RFE/RL.
Eidman says that in an interview with a Ukrainian television station, Nemtsov used a word -- yobnuty (ебнутый) -- to describe Putin that roughly translates as "f***ed up."
"A criminal boss cannot tolerate verbal abuse, otherwise he loses his authority. When Boris pronounced this word, my first thought was that he could be killed," Eidman says.
Just hours after his cousin's assassination, Eidman published an angry open letter that pointed the finger at Putin and dismissed theories that Russian ultranationalists gunned down Nemtsov for vocally denouncing Moscow's support of separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
"Don't you know all our 'extremists' are closely watched and entirely controlled by the FSB?" he wrote. "The hand of the killer was guided by the Russian secret services. And only Putin could have given the order for such an assassination."
Eidman also gives credence to suspicions that Nemtsov could have been killed to prevent the release of a damning report he was preparing on Russia's actions in Ukraine, titled Putin And The War.
"The publication of such a report could have seriously undermined Putin's secret war," he wrote in his letter.
Eidman, a sociologist, political commentator and occasional blogger for RFE/RL's Russian Service, has rarely spoken publicly about his cousin, although the two men were close.
Nemtsov had studied physics with Eidman's father, a well-known professor who himself had studied under world-famous physicist Vitaly Ginzburg, a Nobel laureate and one of the fathers of the Soviet hydrogen bomb. In the last decade of his life, Ginzburg was also a vocal opposition supporter.
"He was a very talented physicist, a star," says Eidman of Nemtsov. "At the Scientific Research Institute, where he worked and presented his papers, he was one of the youngest -- if not the youngest -- and most promising scientists."
He clearly remembers Nemtsov's first foray into public life, in the late 1980s, when he joined the lobbying effort against plans to build a nuclear plant close to his hometown of Nizhny Novgorod, then called Gorky.
With the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster still fresh in people's mind, the protests drew strong popular backing and thrust the young Nemtsov onto the public scene.
His clout as an environmental and civic activist quickly grew.
"People started turning to him," Eidman recalls. "He was young, he was dynamic, interesting, smart, and he was an eloquent speaker."
After unsuccessfully running for a seat in the newly formed U.S.S.R. Congress of People's Deputies in 1989, Eidman says Nemtsov seriously considered abandoning politics and resuming his scientific career. He says Nemtsov's wife at the time, Raisa, was also fiercely opposed to his entering politics.
Strongly encouraged by his friends and supporters, including Eidman himself, Nemtsov eventually decided to run for a seat in the Russian legislature in 1990, this time with success.
After a meteoric rise to power and a stint as Nizhny Novgorod governor, Russian President Boris Yeltsin named him first deputy prime minister in 1997, aged just 37.
Eidman says rumors that Yeltsin was grooming him for the presidency are not exaggerated.
"He had high ratings at the time and, it seemed, real chances," he says. "In addition, Yeltsin gave him all sorts of photographs with messages such as 'I hand over the reins of power' that clearly hinted he saw him as a successor."
The advent of Vladimir Putin to the presidency gradually drove Nemtsov into the opposition and, Eidman believes, ultimately caused his death.
"Putin is a bandit," he rages in his letter.
The investigators' suggestion that Nemtsov was used as a "sacrificial lamb" in a plot to discredit the Kremlin also riles Eidman.
"What's awful is that this murder cannot discredit Vladimir Putin," he tells RFE/RL. "Putin is already so hopelessly discredited in the eyes of the world that one more crime will not change anything about his reputation, which he has destroyed with his own hands."It looks like even the circus can get in on some of that tech investment money.
The modern traveling technological spectacle known as Two Bit Circus has scored $6.5 million dollars in Series A funding. The group of investors, which include Intel Capital, were lead by Techstars Ventures and Foundry Group.
Two Bit Circus is part performance art, part gadget symposium, a roaming exhibit that takes advantage of modern technology, science, and interactivity and morphs it into a live storytelling and educational experience. One of the group’s major projects under the Two Bit Circus umbrella, the Steam Carnival, has a gaming and virtual reality focus. Audience members are exposed to game-based exhibits that use both digital and real-world objects to form a cohesive interactive experience.
A major focus of this round of funding will be to push the Steam Carnival concept into a national brand, while also bolstering its virtual reality and game development resources. This will also help build up Two Bit Circus’ conference and event presence.
With this cash also comes two new additions to Two Bit Circus’ board of directors: Mark Solon, managing partner at Techstars Ventures, and Ryan McIntyre, managing director and co-founder of Founder Group.
“Two Bit Circus’ traction to date, with its high-profile customers, clearly demonstrates their leadership position in this expanding market,” said Solon.
Two Bit Circus’ resident roustabout and CEO, Brent Bushnell (son of Atari founder, Nolan Bushnell), is obviously excited about the deal, “We’re thrilled to be working with such great partners to bring our crazy circus to a broader audience.”
The timing for this funding comes on the heels of the Steam Carnival’s next appearance, which will take place at San Francisco’s Pier 48 from November 6 to the November 8.The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America is a book published in 2014 by two professors at Yale Law School, Amy Chua and her husband, Jed Rubenfeld. Amy Chua is also the author of the 2011 international bestseller, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.
According to the preface, the authors find that "certain groups do much better in America than others—as measured by various socioeconomic indicators such as income, occupational status, job prestige, test scores, and so on— [which] is difficult to talk about. In large part this is because the topic feels racially charged." [1][page needed] Nevertheless, the book attempts to debunk racial stereotypes by focusing on three "cultural traits" that attribute to success in the United States.
Background [ edit ]
Following her widespread fame with Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in 2011, Chua wrote this book with her husband Jed Rubenfeld after observing a more prevalent trend of students from specific ethnic groups achieving better academic results than other ethnic groups. For example, a striking demographic pattern that more Mormon students in Yale are emerging than a couple years ago. According to an interview conducted by Harry Kreisler from the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, the authors explained such phenomenon prompted them to "look further into how those groups perform outside of school, and come to a conclusion that for some reasons, those groups have a tendency to experience most upward social mobility than others." [2]
Before its publication, The Triple Package drew attention for its highly controversial assertion that though with tough economy, shrinking opportunity, and rising economic inequality, certain communities are outperforming the national average, experiencing upward mobility and educational attainment at dramatically high rates, and that this success has to do with certain inherent characteristics belonging to these cultural groups. This led critics to note the book was "sure to garner just as much (if not more) controversy as her first book did."[3]
Thesis [ edit ]
The central argument of the book is that that various ethnic groups that are "starkly outperforming" [4] the rest in America possess three distinct traits. These virtues are the presence of a superiority complex, the simultaneous existence of a sense of insecurity, and a marked capacity for impulse control.
Superiority complex [ edit ]
By definition, superiority is "a deeply internalized belief in your group's specialness, exceptionality, or superiority." The authors claim that this element is derived from various sources. First, from a religious perspective, Mormons are introduced to their people's magnificent history and civilization. Second, from a social viewpoint, Nigerian immigrants belonging to the prestige entrepreneurial Igbo people. Third, a mixture of both: for example, Jews as "a moral people, a people of law and intellect, a people of survivors."[1][page needed]
Insecurity [ edit ]
The authors define insecurity as a species of discontent – an anxious uncertainty about your worth or place in society, a feeling or worry that you or what you've done or what you have is in some fundamental way not good enough." Immigrants for example are prone to insecurity because of social and financial anxiety, resulting in the sense of being discriminated against; a perception of danger; feelings of inadequacy and angst of losing their established social standing and possession.[1][page needed]
Impulse control [ edit ]
The authors refer to impulse control as "the ability to resist temptation, especially the temptation to give up in the face of hardship or quit instead of persevering at a difficult task."[1][page needed] For instance, Mormon culture celebrates strict self-discipline with their temperance, two-year mission, and abstinence from sexual relations before marriage. Chua compares that with the Marshmallow Experiment, where a child can either enjoy a piece of marshmallow instantly or wait and have twice as much of the treat later.[2] She concludes that delayed gratification is one of the most important elements in the Triple Package.
The authors add that a superiority complex and insecurity are not mutually exclusive. The coexistence of both qualities "lies at the heart of every Triple Package culture", producing a need to be recognized and an "I'll show them" mentality because the superiority a person has is not acknowledge by the society. Namely, immigrants suffer status collapse though moving up the economic ladder. Thus, this circumstance results in anxiety but also "a drive and jaw-dropping accomplishment."[1][page needed]
Methodology [ edit ]
The book categorizes the cultural groups regarding their religion, national origin, and ethnic group. By cultural groups, they refer that as members of the group that tend to be united or pass on a certain sense of outlooks and cultural values to their next generations.
During an interview with Harry Kreisler,[2] the authors explained how they collected the data by going through months of Census data, all available economic data, and from personal experience; and at last narrowed down to the eight cultural groups listed as the successful groups in the United States: Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerians, Cuban exiles and Mormons.
As both authors belong to one of the above groups and coming from an immigrant family, namely Chua being Chinese and Rubenfeld
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arian habitat.
That’s why members of our organizations support smart legislative proposals to improve forest management, like Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. We also support active participation in land and resource planning by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other federal agencies.
By making our voices heard, we can help ensure that federal lands are managed to ensure the wildlife habitat and outdoor opportunities we depend on, while also providing reasonable grazing, logging and other activities that support local economies.
We need our elected officials to stand up for us and help us work together to improve the management of Montana’s public lands. We hope that our legislators will put aside the rhetorical games and focus on real improvements in land management.
Skip Kowalski is president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, Tony Jones is president of the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association, J.W. Westman is a member of the Laurel Rod and Gun Club and Casey Hackathorn is president of Hellgate Hunters and Anglers.
Read or Share this story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/opinion/guest-opinions/2014/06/28/improve-federal-land-management-montana/11575789/For a fun and educational experience, visit New Mexico's Land of Fire and Ice. Let your imagination soar as you enjoy the self guided walking tour to the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano.
The trail to the Bandera Volcano winds gently up and around the majestic natural landmark to a lookout point located within its southern breach for a breathtaking view of inside the caldera and a stunning, elevated view of the rugged lava flow that poured forth when it rose up in a fiery spectacle 10,000 years ago. Approximately 1,200 feet across and 800 feet deep, Bandera has been called one of the best examples of a volcanic, cinder-cone eruption in North America. Standing as a magnificent monument to Earth's volcanic fury, Bandera overwhelms proportion.
The trail to the Ice Cave wanders over Bandera's lava field among twisted, old-growth forest, along the same pathway that early Pueblo people followed to discover a natural phenomenon that they described as "Winter Lake." Early American settlers and the US Calvary were also drawn to this natural wonder and called it "The Desert Ice Box." Located in a section of collapsed lava tube, the Ice Cave is a unique combination of physical factors that have combined to form a natural ice box and has been accumulating ice for over 3,000 years. Inside the Ice Cave, the temperature never rises above 31 degrees Fahrenheit and where natural layers of perpetual ice glisten blue-green in reflected rays of sunlight. A rich history of refreshing splendor, the Ice Cave has attracted people down into its mysteriously cool depths for over 1,200 years.
Situated atop the Continental Divide at 8,000 feet elevation, the Land of Fire and Ice is located in a Ponderosa Pine, Piñon, Juniper, Douglas Fir, Gambel Oak and Quaking Aspen forest/high desert mix. It is a rare treat to spot Rocky Mountain Elk, Mule Deer, Wild Turkey or a Black Bear but common to observe typical small forest animals and a wide variety of wild birds. The Land of Fire and Ice is home to the oldest known and living Douglas Fir tree in New Mexico, nearly 1,300 years old. it is healthy and still producing pine cones.
The Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano is a family owned and operated natural landmark and tourist attraction, a proud heritage established in the early 1900's. The Candelaria family welcomes nearly 30,000 visitors annually. People from around the world and of all ages enjoy the tour and the family's genuine, friendly, New Mexico Hospitality. The Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano is an authentic and natural, educational field trip for schools and groups and provides unique opportunities to learn about New Mexico's cultural and geologic history. It is a self guided walking tour that includes two trails and an interpretive trail guide / brochure. The Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano is open every day of the year and the tour takes about one hour to experience at a leisurely pace.
Experience the breathtaking beauty of this sacred place. Visit the Land of Fire and Ice and capture some of New Mexico's most unique photographic scenery.As a marketer, you may often need to work with a lot of data. This could mean dealing with numbers (such as page views, conversions, and subscribers) or text (such as URLs, titles, and keywords). Since time is always in short supply, it helps to have a couple of time-saving Excel tricks up your sleeves. Here are 7 Excel tips that will save you time and make you super-efficient while working with Excel. #1 Use Excel Filters for a Drilled Down View If you have a huge dataset, you can easily drill down and filter the data using the Excel Filter feature. Here is an example of subscribers data with their country and time listed as shown below:
If you want to quickly get a list of all the subscribers from the US, you can use Excel filters to do this in a few seconds. Here is how to do this: Select any cells in the data and go to Data –> Sort & Filter –> Filter. This will apply a filter icon at the top row of the data set.
Open the filter drop down for countries, deselect all the countries and select ‘US’.
Click OK. This would instantly hide all the other results and only keep the results of the US visible. To remove the filter, simply click on the filter icon again. #2 Use VLOOKUP Function To Extract Matching Data VLOOKUP is undoubtedly the most popular Excel function. It enables you to scan through a huge data set, find the data point you are looking for, and return a corresponding value. To make its importance clearer, let me give you a simple example. If you appear for an exam and results are posted on a notice board, how would you find your score. You’ll go through the names and as soon as you find your name, you’ll look for the marks in front of your name. Right.. isn’t it? That’s exactly what VLOOKUP function does for you. It goes through a huge list, finds the data point you’re looking for, and returns the associated value. In the example below, you can see how it gets the score in cell D3 as soon as the name is changed in cell D2.
Here is a detailed tutorial and examples of the VLOOKUP function in Excel. #3 Use Pivot Table to Quickly Summarize Data in Excel Pivot Table is a simple drag-and-drop feature that allows you to summarize data in seconds. For example, if you have a list of subscribers from various countries, you can easily summarize your data and answer these questions: How many subscribers do I have from each country?
How many subscribers did I get in June 2016?
How many subscribers in June 2016 were from Asia? Pivot Table is mighty useful and is the one tool every marketer should have in their arsenal while working with data in Excel. #4 Highlight Cells with Duplicate Content If you work with a lot of data, you’re likely to face the trouble of battling duplicate data points. Here is a quick way to highlight cells that contain duplicates: Select the cells in which you want to highlight duplicates.
Go to Home –> Conditional Formatting –> Highlight Cell Rules –> Duplicate Values.
In the Duplicate Values dialog box, specify the color and click on OK. This would instantly highlight all the cells that have duplicates in the list.
#5 Quickly Insert Current Date and Time You can easily enter the current date or time in an Excel cell using keyboard shortcuts. I use these shortcuts on a daily basis when I have to mark some tasks as completed on my to-do list in Excel. To enter current date In PC: Control + : (hold the Control key and press colon key)
In Mac: ^ + : (hold the ^ key and press colon key) To enter current time: In PC: Control + Shift + : (hold the Control and Shift keys and press the colon key)
In Mac: ⌃ + ⇧ + : (hold the ⌃ and ⇧ keys and press the colon key) #6 Insert a Comment in a Cell As marketers, you juggle with so many things at once that things are bound to be forgotten. Inserting comments in cells is a great way to keep track of the changes or highlight data points with additional notes/explanation. This would be helpful when you revisit the data sometime later or share it with someone else. To insert a comment: Right-click on a cell and select Insert Comment. This will show the comment appear for that cell.
Write the note in the yellow box.
Press the Escape key when done. A cell that contains comment gets a small red triangle in the top-right part of the cell. The comments become visible when you hover the mouse over it. Bonus Tip: The fastest way to insert a comment is to use the keyboard shortcut: Shift + F2. #7 Use Text to Column to Split Text Text to Column feature comes in handy when you want to split text based on a pattern. For example, suppose you have a dataset of email ids as shown below and you want to separate the user name and the domain name.
The pattern here is that these two are separated by the ‘@’ character. Here are the steps to quickly split the username and the domain name: 1. Select the cells (A1:A11 in this example). 2. Go to Data –> Data Tools –> Text to Column. 3. In the Convert Text to Columns Wizard, make the following changes: Step 1: Make sure delimited is selected.
Step 2: Select Other and enter @ as the delimiter.
Step 3: Specify the destination cell. 4. Click Finish. This would instantly split the email ids into username and domain name.Image copyright Alan Richardson Image caption Jessica Hedley tried to save David Christie by giving him first aid
A nurse who killed a cyclist in a head-on smash as she overtook a lorry in Fife has been ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid work and banned from driving for two years.
Jessica Hedley, 25, tried to save David Christie with first aid following the crash on the A92 near Freuchie.
She had denied causing his death by careless driving, but pled guilty on the second day of her trial last month.
Hedley had been overtaking a truck at about 04:30 on 21 February 2015.
She hit Mr Christie who was travelling home to Ladybank after going to an all-night garage in Freuchie.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard the 49-year-old was riding a bike equipped with a light and was wearing a high-visibility yellow tabard when the crash happened.
Image copyright Supplied Image caption David Christie died in hospital five days after the collision
Martin Green, 31, a close family friend of Mr Christie, was the last person to see him before he went out on his bike to make the two mile trip to the garage.
Mr Green said: "I had been with him all day and night. We had been drinking on and off.
"He got changed and went to cycle to Freuchie to get cigarettes.
"I expected him to be back in about 40 minutes but I got concerned when he didn't come back and phoned the police."
Defence solicitor Ross Donnelly said Hedley has been extremely remorseful from the outset.
"This incident has had a considerable impact on her and she has required treatment for panic attacks, anxiety and depression," he said.
Hedley will now face an inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.In this extract from his new memoir, the comedian and actor revisits a village childhood overshadowed by the violent temper of his father and the premature death of his mother. Below, he talks to Alex Clark
My first home was a house called Slieve Moyne in the village of Woodhall Spa, in Lincolnshire. In later years I would think of the place as Tatooine, the planet Luke Skywalker imagines to be furthest from the bright centre of the universe. But for now, it was the universe and one with which I was perfectly content. There was just one problem. When we first meet Luke on Tatooine, he has an issue with his mysteriously absent father. My father, on the other hand, was all too present. And his name might as well have been Darth Vader. Actually it was Paul. It’s a silly comparison of course. Dark Lords of the Sith aren’t constantly wasted.
It’s the mid-1970s and I live with Mum, Darth Vader and my two older brothers, Mark and Andrew.
Imagine a child’s drawing of a house. This one would show three bedrooms upstairs, the little one with Rupert the Bear wallpaper for me, the middle one for the grownups and the one at the other end containing Mark and Andrew wearing denim waistcoats and walloping each other with skateboards (because that’s what Big Brothers do). There is smoke coming out of the chimney, as it should in all drawings of this kind; in this case provided by Darth holding double pages of the Daily Mail against the fireplace to encourage the flames. Sometimes he gets distracted while doing this because he’s shouting at James Callaghan on TV, and the paper catches fire. He has to throw the lot into the fireplace, which, of course, sets fire to the chimney.
He has laid the fire using the logs and sticks that he chopped up with the chainsaw left leaning against the back door, the one he uses for his job as a woodsman on the local estate (my Daddy is a woodcutter). The Mummy will be in the tiny kitchen, standing over an electric hob (because that’s what Mummies do) and stirring Burdall’s Gravy Salt into a saucepan of brown liquid.
If it has to come out at all, let it come out as anger. You’re allowed that. It’s boyish and man-like to be angry
It’s a static picture, of course, so we can’t see that the Mummy’s hands are shaking because she knows that the Daddy has spent all afternoon in the pub and has come home in one of his “tempers” (because that’s what Daddies do). If, during tea, one of the Big Brothers speaks with his mouth full or puts his elbows on the table, the Daddy has been known to knock him clean off his chair. The Mummy will start shouting at the Daddy about this but, of course, she can’t shout as loud as the Daddy. No one can shout as loud as the Daddy or is as strong as the Daddy, which is why the Daddy is in charge. The Little Brother will start crying at this point and will most likely be told to shut up by the Big Brothers who are themselves trying not to cry because that’s another thing that they’ve learned doesn’t go down well with the Daddy.
I remember the summer’s day when I was watching the Six Million Dollar Man battling with Sasquatch and the following moment I was being lifted an impossible number of feet into the air and thrashed several times around the legs with a pair of my own shorts that had been found conveniently nearby. Dropped back on the settee, I looked at those navy-blue shorts with a baffled sense of betrayal. They were my shorts. My navy-blue shorts with the picture of Woody Woodpecker on the pocket. And he’s just hit me with them. Maybe in the seconds before I was watching Steve Austin, I’d spilt something or broken something. Maybe I’d got too close to the fire or the chainsaw. Who knows? Actually telling a child why he was being physically punished was somehow beneath the dignity of Paul’s parenting style.
There are happy early memories from Slieve Moyne too, of course. Singing along with Mum whenever her beloved Berni Flint appeared on Opportunity Knocks; the thrilling day the household acquired its first Continental Quilt (a duvet), which my brothers and I immediately used as a fabric toboggan to slide down the purple stairs; playing in the snow, playing in the garden – all the sunlit childhood fun you’d expect from times when Dad was out.
Best of all was sitting on the back seat of the car, Mum driving us between the golf club where my grandparents (and Auntie Trudy) work in the kitchen and our new bungalow in the next village. It’s a journey we made many times a week and the tap of her wedding ring on the gearstick is one of the happiest sounds of childhood. It means that I’m alone with Mum.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Robert Webb aged seven, at home with his mother. Photograph: courtesy Robert Webb
“Quiet boy”, “painfully shy”, “you never know he’s there”: these are some of the phrases I catch grownups using when they talk about me. But not here, not in the car with Mum. And definitely not when Sailing by Rod Stewart comes crackling over the MW radio. The gusto of our sing-a-long is matched only by the cheerful lousiness of my mother’s driving.
“We are SAAAAILING” (tap, second gear), “we are SAAAAILING” (tap, into third), “cross the WAAAATER, tooo the SEEEA” (tap, stall, as she tries to take a left turn), “we are sail –” (tap, handbrake, ignition), “we are s –” (tap, ignition, choke, window-wipers), “to be NEEEAR you” (triumphant restart, cancel window-wipers, tap, crunch into first), “to be FREEE!”
I like it here. There are no men, and there are no other boys. I don’t seem to be very good at being a boy and I’m afraid of men.
One man in particular.
To be fair, there were moments when he was affectionate. For example, if he was in a good mood he might crouch down in front of me, put his massive fist under my nose and say in a joke-threatening way, “Smell that and tremble, boy!” For years I wasn’t quite sure what this phrase meant – “smellthatandtremble” – it was just a friendly noise that my dad made when he was trying to make me laugh. Oh, and I laughed all right. I mean, you would, wouldn’t you?
But in general, I’m afraid my memories of those first five years in that house tend towards the nature of a bad dream. To avoid real bad dreams, the trick was to make sure there was a gap in my bedroom curtains where the light could come in. But the real problem was not avoiding the night-time imaginings but the daytime reality. Not the Phantom, but the Menace. And he was unavoidable.
A classic of this sci-fi/horror genre was the episode called “Do an eight, do a two”. This family favourite has me, aged five, sat in the living room with a pencil and paper, being yelled at by Dad to “DO AN EIGHT! DO A TWO!” It had come to his attention that I wasn’t doing very well in my first year at primary school and that, in particular, I was unable to write the numbers 8 or 2. Actually, I could write an 8, but I did it by drawing two circles, a habit which Mrs Morse of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School found to be lacking calligraphic rigour. Anyway, the rough transcript of “Do an eight, do a two” goes like this:
Dad: DO AN EIGHT! DO A TWO!
Mum: He’s trying! There’s no point shouting!
Dad: JUST DO AN EIGHT!
(Five-year-old, sobbing, does an eight with two circles)
Dad: NOT LIKE THAT! DO A PROPER ONE!
(Five-year-old dribbles snot on to the paper and does some kind of weird triangle)
Dad: WHAT’S THAT MEANT TO BE? DO AN EIGHT!
Mark: Or a two!
(Eleven-year-old Mark, desperate for any rare sign of approval from Dad, has joined in)
Dad: WHY CAN’T YOU DO ONE? JUST DO AN EIGHT!
Mark: Or a two if you like, Robbie! Why not do a two, probably?
(Mum takes five-year-old on her lap. Five-year-old thinks it’s over)
(Comedy pause, titters from the studio audience)
Mum: Try and do a two, darling.
(Five-year-old freaks out. Then somehow manages a wobbly two)
Dad: DO A TWO!
Mum: HE’S DONE A BLOODY TWO!
Dad: DO ANOTHER ONE!
Mark: Or an eight!
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dressed up as Zorro.
You might be thinking “this is nothing” compared to your own experiences with a domestic hardcase. Or maybe you’re wondering how my mother put up with it for an instant. The truth is, we were all terribly afraid of him. In any case, Mum was probably just biding her time at that point. She had already made her plans. Before the end of that first school year, she divorced him and he moved out.
**************
I started keeping a diary after my 17th birthday. Early in March 1990 I wrote:
“My concern for Mum deepens. I’m quite ashamed to realise that this is the first reference in this diary to worrying about anyone but myself. Mum has been in hospital since last Friday with what was supposed to be a chest infection. In fact she has a few cancerous cells on her lung. She might have to have chemotherapy. Jesus Christ I’m so worried – I love her so much. I must resolve to be less selfish, to talk to her about things more often. Life without her is unthinkable. Literally unthinkable.”
And then, at the end of an entry a few weeks later:
“Found out for sure, the week before last, on Wednesday March 21st, that Mum definitely isn’t going to recover. She has about four months. I don’t want to talk about it. Even to you.”
That day, I had arrived home from school and felt a sudden tightness in my chest. Dad’s van was parked neatly outside the bungalow.
Dad is at the kitchen table with Derek, Mum’s second husband. He starts talking and the world ends.
“Y’mum’s poorly, boy. It’s terminal.”
You can get quite a lot of juice out of that word “terminal”, if you speak with a Lincolnshire accent and are quite drunk. The way he says it, the “er” sound is dug from the very depths of his diaphragm.
I look across at Derek, who is leaning an elbow on the table with a hand covering his mouth. He nods a tiny confirmation. Incredibly, somewhere in the room, Dad is still talking. “It’s ’orrible, boy, but that’s life. Now, I don’t know if you want to come and live with me or … ” he looks around the kitchen, “I mean, you’re probably going to need a cleaner, Derek, because … well, it’s hard keeping a place clean.” Derek nods. “Josie, who cleans my house, she could probably come and do a couple of hours a week.”
Derek says, “What does she charge, like?”
“Well, I give her a fiver, mate.” Derek is alarmed by the prospect of paying Josie £5 and he’s about to haggle, but stops because he’s noticed I’m crying.
“I know, boy,” Dad says, “it’s ’orrible.”
Here I am then, with Mum about to vanish, stuck here in the kitchen with the Idiot Brothers talking about Dad’s cleaner.
When Dad leaves, I notice that on the side of the van is painted the name of his business, which today looks less like an advertisement than like a rare flash of self-awareness: Paul Webb, Ltd.
I’m next to Mum on her bed, later that day. With effort, she draws herself up on her stack of pillows. “I’m sorry, darling, that wasn’t a very nice way to find out. I should have told you myself.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest School portrait aged 17, around the time of his mother’s death.
I make an ineffectual gesture to help with the pillows but I’m scared of getting in her way. She’s got Dallas on the portable telly with the sound turned low. Bobby Ewing is having a long meeting with assorted oil barons.
“Don’t worry about me,” I say. Her skin is a yellow-grey now and at the top of each breath there’s a distant gurgle which gets closer by the week. All the signs that I chose not to see suddenly reveal themselves with pathetic eloquence. She’s obviously dying.
She says, “Now then, is there anything you want to ask me? Or is there anything you want to say to me?” I feel a thousand future selves lean in to listen with interest. I rack my brain: there is no question up to the task and no statement either, apart from “I love you”, but I don’t trust myself to say that without losing it. I don’t want to do that; I’m her son and I want to be strong. So I say the thing that bothers me most about being 17 and me.
“I suppose … I mean, this isn’t important.”
“Go on … ”
“I’m a virgin.”
She starts to smile, but doesn’t want to look like she’s taking the piss. Also, smiling takes effort and she’s working hard to talk. She says, “I won’t say I’m surprised; I won’t say I’m not surprised. But you’ll catch up.”
“All my mates have got girlfriends.”
“You’ll overtake them. In everything.”
This emboldens me, so I try a promise. “I’m going to get three As and go to Cambridge, Mum.”
She’s ready for this one. “I know you’ll be happy wherever you end up, Rob. I’m proud of you already, so don’t worry.”
**************
What are we saying to a boy told to “man up” or to “act like a man”?
Often, we’re saying, “Stop expressing those feelings.” And if a boy hears that enough, it actually starts to sound uncannily like, “Stop feeling those feelings.”
It sounds like this: “Pain, guilt, grief, fear, anxiety: these are not appropriate emotions for a boy because they will be unacceptable emotions for a man. Your feelings will become someone else’s problem – your mother’s problem, your girlfriend’s problem, your wife’s problem. If it has to come out at all, let it come out as anger. You’re allowed to be angry. It’s boyish and man-like to be angry.”
When people saw Dad walking down the street in Woodhall Spa, they did not think: “Ah, there goes Paul Webb, a walking powder-keg of repressed grief.” Paul’s public face was beloved by more or less the entire village. Generous with his time, charismatic, cheeky, and straightforwardly kind. Everyone adored him. But then, they didn’t have to live with him.
**************
Mark drives me directly to school from my mum’s funeral. My Queen Elizabeth Grammar School sixth-form blazer and tie are both black and so, this morning, I had an off-the-peg funeral costume so long as I unpicked the gold badge from the blazer.
I had the badge in my back pocket during the funeral. I sew it back on in the car, quickly and about as well as you’d expect for someone who would normally have asked his mum to do it.
There’s a lower sixth form trip to Nottingham, to a university fair. It’s a sort of open day where many university admissions officers will be gathered in a big hall to hand out prospectuses and have a chat. I don’t want to miss it.
In Nottingham, the university reps are seated behind desks around the sides of a huge hall to talk to A-level students from far and wide. The longest queues are to see the guys from Nottingham or Leicester Polytechnics (they become universities a year later), followed by a medium number for big civic universities like Leeds and Manchester, a shy smattering for Bristol and Durham and then … I peer into the far corner – ah yes. A grey-haired lady with a Cambridge sign on her desk is sitting completely alone.
I start walking towards her, wondering who the hell I think I am.
I hover awkwardly next to the empty seat across from her. She looks up suddenly and says “Please!”, gesturing to the chair.
I take the seat, saying, “I … I just thought I’d … say hello.”
“I’m glad you did.” She gives me a conspiratorial smile and waits. I don’t have a thought in my head. “Well, I’m doing my A-levels … ” Oh, you dick. Every fucker in the room is doing their A-levels. “ … and erm … ” I go completely dry.
“And you have an interest in applying to Cambridge,” she offers.
“Yes!” I almost shout with relief and embarrassment. I’m actually blushing. This was a terrible idea. Just keep talking. “I’m only at a grammar school… ” “Which one?”
“Er, it’s in a market town in Lincolnshire. I mean, it’s only … ”
“Queen Elizabeth’s. In Horncastle.”
I stare at her. “Yeah. You’ve heard of us, then.”
“We’ve heard of everyone.”
Oh my God. She’s going to recruit me as a spy! Do I want to be a spy?! No, not really! I’m still looking at her, dumbfounded.
“And is there a particular subject you’re interested in studying at Cambridge?”
I wish she would stop saying Cambridge. People will hear. “English.”
“My own subject. And a particular college?”
“King’s.”
“My own college! Well, now!” If this were a first date, it would be going quite well.
“The thing is … I only got four As and four Bs for my GCSEs. So, y’know, nothing to write home about.”
She gives a little chuckle. “But nothing to be ashamed of. I assume one of your As was in English?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re doing English at A-level.”
“Yes.”
“And you expect to get an A in that.”
“ … Yeah, I do actually.”
“And you could manage one more A grade? Another A and a B, possibly?”
My confidence evaporates and suddenly this is ridiculous.
AAB? I haven’t finished an essay in five weeks.
“Well, that might be … it’s been a bit tricky lately. It’s sometimes hard to get started, what with … I mean, like this morning, it’s not as if … ” I can hear my voice start to wobble.
She’s frowning in concern and puts her palms flat on the table. “What was it about this morning? Sometimes if we can identify a particular barrier to … ”
“Well, this morning doesn’t really count because it was my mum’s funeral. But generally, I’ve just found it … ”
“I’m sorry, did you say that this morning was your mother’s funeral?”
“Yeah.”
“This morning?”
Robert Webb: My family values Read more
“That’s right. So it’s all gone a bit … I feel stupid for even thinking about … your … university.” She’s looking at me with a level of compassion that makes me want to tell her to cheer the fuck up. I blink at the wall behind her, feeling dizzy, and put a hand on my edge of the table to steady myself, even though I’m sitting down.
She says, “I’m very sorry to hear that news. May I at least offer you some reassurance, erm …?”
“Robert.”
“Let me at least say this, Robert. I’m Catherine, by the way. You’re sitting in the right chair, talking to the right person. It’s not stupid in the slightest for you to think of us.”
Catherine talks briefly about open days and how I ought to come and have a look around at least two colleges. Then she reaches across and gives my hand a quick squeeze. “Good luck.”
Back at school, I wait till no one else is in the form room and ask my English teacher Mrs Slater if it’s ridiculous for me to think of Cambridge. “No, not ridiculous,” she says quickly, and then, “We’ve certainly sent dimmer people than you there.” This is encouraging. “Although,” she adds thoughtfully, “not for quite a while.”
**************
Mark and Dad see a note on the bed, reading “YOUR BEDMAKER’S NAME IS ALISON”. Finally, Little Lord Fauntleroy has staff
“Dad, can we have a quick word?” This is the first time I’ve actually asked to talk to him about anything. I got the offer of a place from Robinson College, Cambridge. But then my A-level grades didn’t cut it.
“Erm, you know you said that I could come and live with you if … ”
“Yes?!”
“Well, if the offer’s still open … ”
“Oh, YES mate! Good old boy! You don’t need to ask, bo – Rob. It’s your home, Rob. Good!”
“It’s just I’ve got to retake these exams and … ”
“You can have your old room, mate. Now, it’s mucky as hell at the minute because I’m propagating marigolds in it, but I know exactly where to put them. When are you thinking of moving in?”
“Well, I need to tell Derek. It’s really only for a few months, what with these exams and … ”
“Derek been driving you up the wall. And little Anna-Beth, bless ’er. It’s not what you NEED, is it, boy? You need some bloody PEACE, mate. For your exams!”
“Yeah.”
“Now my lady-friend Delia comes to stay with us a few days a week, but we won’t mind her. You remember Delia, boy?” Ah yes, Mum used to call her Delilah.
“Yep.”
“She’ll not bother you, mate, you do your own thing.”
I say, “So I’ll tell Derek tonight and p’haps move in at the weekend.”
“Righto, boy.”
I break the news to Derek that night and he makes it easier for me by saying all the wrong things. “Well, y’poor old mum wanted you to stay here with us.”
This is how he’s been referring to Mum for the last 16 months – “y’poor old mum”. I suppose it’s meant with love, but the condescension of it drives me nuts. In my memory, she’s alive and well, not poor and old.
“Anna-Beth’s gonna miss yer.” I take another breath. I feel terrible about my little sister. It doesn’t occur to me that when he says she’s going to miss me, he’s actually saying that he’s going to miss me. If he liked me that much, why had he been so annoying? In fact why is he being so annoying now?
The priority now in the masculine mind of the boy who claims he doesn’t like masculinity is to become angry with Derek. Obviously I’m still heartbroken about Mum, so I’m angry with Derek. I feel guilty about abandoning Anna-Beth, so I’m angry with Derek. I feel sorry for Derek, so I’m angry with Derek. There again, even if I noticed any of this, I wouldn’t share it with Derek because I’m obviously afraid of upsetting Derek, which itself makes me angry with Derek.
Now that I am a man, I have graduated to an advanced level of blaming other people for unwanted feelings.
I say, “I just need a change of scene.”
**************
After another stretch of consistently failing to do any revision, and then pulling out of my November resits, I go home to tell Dad that I’m going to be living with him for another seven months. I’ll do my “straight-talking” – short, concise sentences, fairly loud. He appreciates that.
“Dad, I haven’t been very honest with you about the amount of work I’ve been doing.”
“Righto, boy.”
“I’ve actually done nothing.”
“OK.”
“I’ve found it really hard to concentrate. I don’t know why – maybe I … ”
“Y’mum just died, mate.” He says it like it’s the most obvious reason in the world, which it suddenly is. So much for my straight-talking. I wasn’t expecting this.
I say, quietly, “Yeah, but that was over a year ago.”
“It was yesterday, boy. Might as well have been yesterday.”
He’s still grieving too. I had no idea.
“It’s ’ard, Rob, what you’re doing. I couldn’t do it. I was a dead loss at school.”
“Beaker says it’s curtains for Cambridge.”
He looks up. “What does that wally know?”
“Well … he knows quite a lot, but … we’ll see.”
“We will see, boy. We will. ‘Curtains’,” he says. Bugger Beaker.”
**************
Next year Dad is driving his Vauxhall Cavalier with Mark in the passenger seat. I’m crammed in the back, along with a massive suitcase and a new but artfully battered rucksack. Normal service has been resumed: Dad completely lost it trying to take the front wheel off my bike before stuffing both parts into the boot.
“What do you think the bird situation will be like at Cambridge then, Bobs?”
Luckily, I’ve never called them birds out loud, so I won’t have to adjust that bit of vocabulary. I’ve been practising for years talking the way I think a Cambridge student talks, but only to a selected audience – Carole, Heather Slater and a couple of other teachers.
I’m currently under the impression that it’s all to do with irony and detachment. I think that whatever they say, clever people don’t mean it. I expect in the next hour to be in the exclusive company of people who would never dream of calling a spade a spade. The very idea! Surely, it’s all going to be rather camp. And by the time we pass Huntingdon, my accent is finally in line with the geography of England. It was a good four years ago that I started to say “carstle” instead of “caastle” and “ahp” instead of “oop”. All the affectations are coming home, I think. To the place where they won’t be affectations any more. No more pretending.
We find my room at Robinson College and Mark and Dad nearly piss themselves when they see a note on the bed, reading “YOUR BEDMAKER’S NAME IS ALISON”. Finally, Little Lord Fauntleroy has staff.
I walk them back to the car. Mark now has business cards and he gives one to me. On the back, he’s written, “Whatever the time, day or night, if you need me, give me a call.” It occurs to me for the very first time that he’s worried about me being here on my
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judge had approved such sleuthing, with adequate due-process considerations, our assumption could only be that investigators were on to something. Such an investigation would suggest significant cause for concern about Trump’s activities on the campaign trail. Odd indeed that Trump would risk planting exactly these kinds of questions in the minds of the American people he now serves.
Meanwhile, as noted by Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy — the conservative champion leading the congressional review of the Benghazi attacks — if the eavesdropping process wasn’t handled legally, the system in place should require the kind of a paper trail that allows the truth to come out.
Any information “that the current Department of Justice has that suggests the previous Department of Justice acted inappropriately,” Gowdy said, “they are welcome to release it.”
Yes, it is always possible that political operatives are playing an improper role. But we would hope to see some factual basis presented when a president accuses a former president of this kind of subterfuge.
To drain the swamp, as Trump insists he wishes to do, he might find the task a bit easier if he stops releasing more sewage into the mix.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.Story highlights Calif. teens walking to get burger when struck by lightning
Doctor: Holding hands spared them serious injury
(CNN) California teens Lexie Varga and Dylan Corliss may do a lot more hand-holding after a frightening encounter with nature.
The rising high school senior and junior, respectively, are recovering from minor injuries after being struck by lightning Thursday in Claremont.
According to a doctor, the injuries could have been much worse had it not been for the fact that they were walking hand in hand.
"These two were lucky they that they were holding hands. It helped to diffuse the electrical current that ran through their bodies," Dr. Stefan Reynoso told CNN affiliate KCAL
Corliss said he and Varga were walking to grab a burger when lightning lit up the sky. Next thing they knew, they both were on the sidewalk, screaming and looking at each other, terrified.
Read MoreCLOSE A Safer Florida and Florida Licensing on Wheels parked between the baggage claims for terminals one and two to help those who lost their belonings in yesterdays chaos. Katie Klann/Naples Daily News
People wait in a line in terminal 1 at the Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood International Airport on Jan. 7, 2017. (Photo11: Katie Klann, Naples Daily News)
FORT LAUDERDALE — Less than 24 hours after Terminal 2 in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was turned into a bloody shooting gallery, things started getting back to normal Saturday.
The hundreds of police cruisers and SWAT vans that enveloped every corner of this airport in the hours after the shooting were mostly gone by 5 a.m., when the airport reopened. The empty terminals and sidewalks from the night before were filled with stranded passengers fighting to find new connections.
The baggage area on the ground floor of Terminal 2, though, remained barricaded by a swarm of law enforcement officials still processing the crime scene of the shooting the killed five people and injured six.
Teresa Gresho, 50, sat in Terminal 1 as her husband tried to rebook flights back to their home in Golden, Colo., and said many passengers were frustrated and lashing out at airport employees. Gresho, surrounded by her bags, her daughter and her impatient grandson, said those people needed to take more time understanding what had just happened.
“This one airline employee finally said, ‘Do you realize people died yesterday?’” Gresho said. “I don’t want to sit here either, but I’m alive.”
A screen with jetBlue departures provides updates from canceled and delayed flights at the Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood International Airport on Jan. 7, 2017. (Photo11: Katie Klann, Naples Daily News)
Mark Gale, director of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, said some cargo flights resumed around midnight and passenger operations started at 5 a.m. Delta flights were mostly shut down, and the airport was running at about 85% with the hopes of reopening Terminal 2 by Saturday evening, he said.
One of the biggest complications has been returning lost items to the passengers evacuated in such a hurry Friday, leaving behind luggage, cell phones, backpacks and all kinds of personal items. In all, Gale said they had 20,000 items and were working to reunite people with their belongings.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to help people who lost IDs in the mad dash to evacuate the airport. And Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., said her office was working with the State Department to connect people with their consulates if they lost passports.
About 10,000 passengers spent the night in Port Everglades and said the quarters were cramped but reasonable. “I’ve slept in worse,” said Alfonso Hall, 87, a retired Air Force master sergeant and veteran of wars in Vietnam and Korea.
Hall was about to board his flight home with his wife to San Antonio after a vacation in the Bahamas when the shooting broke out Friday. They spent more than five hours on the airport tarmac, but said airport officials treated them as well as could be expected, constantly handing out water and snacks.
He and his wife found a bench to sleep on overnight at Port Everglades and had no idea when they would be able to rebook a flight back home. But Hall, still carrying the airplane pillow and blanket he was given at Port Everglades, said most people realized they were lucky to be there.
“Surprisingly, people were calm,” he said. “Everyone seemed to be in a good mood when you consider the circumstances.”
Andre Pauw, who jumped over the counter of an airport restaurant Friday when he heard someone screaming about a shooter and spent four hours on the tarmac with other passengers, said he was shocked when he finally got on a bus and made it to Port Everglades that night.
“They had pasta, salad, some fruit,” said Pauw, 50, who said he couldn’t sleep overnight because of the adrenaline but found a bench to sit on. “I can’t believe they got that many people out of here and accommodated.”
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2i4wIR4Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that it would be a “major upset” if the Cowboys are able to trade QB Tony Romo this offseason. According to Schefter, the Cowboys will have to release him.
This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise, seeing as the consensus belief has been that the Cowboys will end up designating Romo as a post-June 1 release at some point this offseason.
A report from earlier in the week said that Dallas was now expected to trade Romo to either Broncos or Texans. However, both teams made it clear that they weren’t going to part with assets to get Romo would instead wait to see if he’s available as a free agent.
Adam Schefter reported Friday night that Fox Sports would like to replace John Lynch, who is the 49ers’ GM, with Romo. According to Schefter, there are other networks interested in Romo, his goal remains to play this season.
Some have wondered if retirement could be a serious consideration for Romo, given the injuries he’s dealt with in recent years and the fact that he would have to move on to a new team to keep playing.
Plus, reports have said for some time now that Romo had interest from TV networks, so this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.
Romo, 36, is entering the fourth year of his seven-year, $119.5 million contract that included $55 million guaranteed. He stands to make base salaries of $14 million (2017), $19.5 million (2018) and $20.5 million (2019).
According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Romo as a post-June 1 release will free up $14 million in available cap space while creating a staggering $10.7 million in dead money.
In 2016, Romo appeared in one game and completed three of four passing attempts for 29 yards and a touchdown for the Cowboys.
We’ll have more regarding Romo as the news is available.Two people are dead after a crash on U.S. 301 in Bradenton, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The crash, involving a 2005 Infiniti and a semi truck, happened at 2:50 a.m. at the 63rd Avenue E intersection.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the semi, which was pulling tandem trailers, was heading south on U.S. 301, approaching the intersection with a green left turn arrow displayed on the signal.
At the same time, Kenneth Jackson, 29, of Palmetto, was driving the Infiniti RX35 north in the outside lane toward the intersection, which had a red light displayed.
Troopers said Jackson swerved into the right turn lane, driving around a witness, then failed to stop for the red traffic light. The front of the Infiniti hit the right side of the semi's first trailer, then the car went under the trailer, across the median and into the southbound lanes before coming to a stop on the west shoulder.
Jackson and his passenger, Daniel Carter, 25, of Sarasota, died from their injuries.
Both the northbound and southbound lanes of U.S. 301 were shut down between State Road 70 and Whitfield Avenue but have reopened.
A fatal crash involving 2 vehicles blocked all lanes of U.S. 301 at 63rd Avenue E on Wednesday morning, Feb. 3, 2016 in Bradenton. (Roger Johnson, staff)Face 5-year jail, stiff fine if you eat or possess beef
HYDERABAD: Voices of outrage boomed out across varsities in Hyderabad on Wednesday against the ban on eating of beef in Maharashtra as hundreds of students flocked to restaurants to gorge on their favourite ‘beef biryani’ and also distributed dozens of food packets on university grounds.Dubbing the protest as ‘Let’s eat Kalyani biryani,’ a variety of beef biryani made famous by the Kalyani nawabs of Bidar who came to Hyderabad in the 18th century, dozens of students distributed biryani and ‘chilli beef’ on the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus on Wednesday.Organized by the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) of UoH, about 200 students shouted slogans decrying the ban in Maharashtra and took part in a ‘beef festival’, saying their move was to express solidarity with people of Mumbai and uphold a food culture, which is “being trampled upon by fascist forces” in the country.“In a democracy, food habits of all should be respected. Banning beef is a form of discrimination against the already marginalized communities,” said D Prashant, president of ASA.While over 200 students procured biryani packets and distributed it at a shopping complex in UoH, hundreds of students of the Osmania University (OU) and the English and Foreign Languages University (Eflu) also took part in the ‘beef festival’ at UoH where a documentary, ‘Caste on the Menu,’ was screened.Angry students said eating beef was part of the food culture of Dalits and Muslims in the country, and any move to ban it will be resisted vehemently.In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, cow slaughter is prohibited, but slaughter of buffalo and ox is allowed if the bovine is more than 14 year-old and not fit for breeding, agricultural operations or able to produce milk.Protesters said the ban on beef would affect a large majority of people whose livelihood is associated with the tanning and cheap meat trade industry. “There are communities whose livelihood is associated with meat and leather. This ban robs them of their livelihood and we will oppose it tooth and nail,” said Muhammed Ashraf, vice-president, ASA.In the past, beef festivals were held on various campuses in the city as part of a larger agenda of asserting identities of certain communities for whom beef is a staple diet.In 2011, students of Eflu had conducted a similar festival which was opposed by Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. “Student leaders of ABVP had unleashed violence during that festival. They desecrated our food by urinating on it,” alleged B Sudarshan, a research scholar at OU.In 2012, students of OU too conducted a similar festival.“While we live in a secular country, in most hostels, vegetarian food is imposed on students of the varsity. We want all non-vegetarian dishes, including beef on the menu,” Sudarshan added.This is such good news - for those people who will be able to afford the treatments that will eventually result from this research. But let's not lose sight of the prize: health care for all!
President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to sources close to the issue.
Although the exact wording of the order has not been revealed, the White House plans an 11 a.m. ceremony to sign the order repealing one of the most controversial steps taken by his predecessor, fulfilling one of Obama's eagerly anticipated campaign promises.
The move, long sought by scientists and patient advocates and opposed by religious groups, would enable the National Institutes of Health to consider requests from scientists to study hundreds of lines of cells that have been developed since the limitations were put in place -- lines that scientists and patient advocate say hold great hope for leading to cures for a host of major ailments.They killed everyone they could find in the remote village of Cinq. They murdered with guns and machetes and set babies and pregnant women on fire. They attacked the clinic and killed 90 patients and medical staff.
The April 24 attack was carried out by one of Africa’s newest armed militias: Bana Mura.
The group has destroyed at least 20 villages in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last two months, according to the United Nations.
In a statement Tuesday, the U.N. commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Hussein, called the region a “landscape of horror.”
Here is what you need to know about the new crisis threatening to plunge the country into a new civil war:
Who are the Bana Mura?
Last year, an anti-government rebel group named Kamuina Nsapu sprang up in the opposition-dominated Kasai region. As the insurrection spread, human rights groups accused both the rebels and the Congolese army of committing atrocities.
In recent months, a new militia appeared, calling itself the Bana Mura. Filled with ethnic rivals of the Kamuina Nsapu, the militia appears to have been created, armed and supported by the government, according to Hussein, the U.N. human rights commissioner.
In the last two months, the Bana Mura carried out horrific attacks on villages aligned with the rebels, he said.
“My team saw children as young as 2 whose limbs had been chopped off. Many babies had machete wounds and severe burns,” Hussein said.
“One 2-month-old baby seen by my team had been hit by two bullets four hours after birth. The mother was also wounded. At least two pregnant women were sliced open and their fetuses mutilated.”
He said witnesses testified that members of the Congolese armed forces and police accompanied Bana Mura during its attacks while government agents or officials had armed and directed the group.
42 mass graves were found and two U.N. investigators, including an American, were killed. Will the deaths be investigated?
The U.N., Human Rights Watch and other groups have called for an independent international inquiry into the massacres, and the U.N. Human Rights Council last week authorized such a probe.
But the Congolese government has rejected that idea as a threat to its sovereignty, and without its cooperation any investigation is unlikely to get far.
Human rights advocates want to examine the mass killings as well as the slayings of U.N. investigators Michael Sharp of the U.S. and Zaida Catalan of Sweden, who were kidnapped and killed in March with their Congolese interpreter, Betu Tshintela, and driver, Isaac Kabuayi.
The U.N. is conducting its own investigation into that incident. The Congolese government has released video to support its claim that the rebels were responsible, but there are doubts about its authenticity.
How many people have died in the fighting?
Because of the violence, it has been difficult to access parts of the Kasai region to assess casualties. The Catholic Church used reports from its parishes to produce the first comprehensive count: 3,383 dead since October.
In a dossier released Monday, the church said some of the attacks were carried out by government forces and some by militia groups. More than 3,800 houses have been destroyed, it said.
The death toll is sure to rise. Although the Kasai fighting has been going on since August, there has been no sign of peace negotiations to end the rapidly spreading conflict.
“There is no peace process,” said Stephanie Wolters, an analyst on the Democratic Republic of Congo with the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. “It will have to happen. But the government will not want to relinquish control over that process and that will delay and further escalate the situation.”
President Kabila's term expired in December but he still clings to power. What has been the impact?
One family has ruled the nation since 1997, when dictator Mobutu Sese Seko was toppled by Laurent Kabila. He was assassinated in 2001 and succeeded by his son, Joseph Kabila, who remains in office in violation of term limits set out in the constitution.
The family’s vast business interests help explain why the family is reluctant to give up power, Wolters said.
The government delayed elections last year, saying that 18 months were needed for the voter-registration process. It now promises election by the end of 2017, though it has made little progress toward that goal.
Late last year, when the opposition held protests in the capital, Kinshasa, over Kabila's refusal to leave office, security forces responded with violence, leaving dozens dead.
Meanwhile, efforts to negotiate a transitional government have had little success, and Kabila has appointed his own prime minister and government.
Kabila has always struggled to control the country, with its sprawling geography, terrible roads and myriad armed groups, but his lack of legitimacy has further weakened his control, according to Wolters.
“The impression about Kinshasa is that it is clinging to power and is willing to take the country with it,” she said.
As Kabila’s legitimacy has waned, signs of chaos have spread across the country. Last month, some 4,200 prisoners, including high security offenders, broke out of prison in Kinshasa.
“The disproportionate response of the army in Kasai, the disproportionate response in Kinshasa to the opposition protests, these are all signs of a regime that knows it doesn’t have many choices left,” Wolters said. “It’s all signs of end-of-regime desperation.”
What do the Congolese people want?
Congolese citizens want elections as soon as possible and for Kabila to leave power, according to a nationwide opinion poll conducted in May by the Congo Research Group at New York University.
It found that 24% of people approve of Kabila and that 83% support a deal made between the government and opposition parties in December to hold elections by the end of the year.
Kabila has lagged behind prominent opposition figures in other polls by the group.
The death of Etienne Tshisekedi, a veteran leader of the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, in Brussels in February has divided and weakened the opposition and fueled uncertainty over whether Kabila will leave office peacefully. The government has not allowed his body to be repatriated, perhaps out of fear that the return would spark new opposition protests.
“People continue to protest against Kabila. That’s not going away,” Wolters said. “It’s very clear that the government lacks legitimacy. There’s still no electoral calendar. There’s still no language about Kabila leaving office.”
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Twitter: @RobynDixon_LATMajor law enforcement organizations are calling for “immediate action” to halt encryption on smartphones in a new report. The Paris attacks, the report implies, could have been thwarted, but the tech industry is refusing to take the blame.
A 45-page report titled ‘A Law Enforcement Perspective on the Challenges of Gathering Electronic Evidence' was released Tuesday by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National District Attorneys Association. It maintains that smartphones manufactured by the likes of Apple and Google should no longer come with built-in encryption, unless the government has easy access to encryption keys.
‘No back door’: Apple CEO says encryption is ‘a must’ in today’s world https://t.co/hjAXod0GDmpic.twitter.com/7cTZ5u8N9d — RT America (@RT_America) October 21, 2015
“Historically, the impact that advances in technology had on law enforcement capabilities was moderated by industry’s willingness and ability to comply with a law enforcement legal demand for access to evidence on a device or in a network,” the report reads.
Recent history is reviving the debate over mass surveillance and privacy. The November 13 attacks in Paris prompted speculation on the part of some government officials that the terrorists communicated through encrypted technology, which would explain how they were not prevented. However, a cellphone containing unencrypted text messages sent by the terrorists was found near the scene, and there is no evidence encryption was used to plot the attacks.
“The inability of law enforcement to overcome these barriers (known as ‘going dark’ in the law enforcement community) has already led to numerous instances where investigators were unable to access information that could have allowed them to successfully investigate and apprehend criminals or prevent terrorists from striking,” the report continued.
In a Washington Post interview, an unnamed lobbyist for the tech industry summed up the industry’s reaction, saying, “there’s no proof that terrorists used encrypted networks. Law enforcement, you missed this, stop trying to blame us.”
Back in March, NSA Director Mike Rogers attempted to ease tension at the heart of the debate. “I don’t want a back door,” Rogers told the Princeton University audience. “I want a front door. And I want the front door to have multiple locks. Big locks.”
Attempted compromises such as partial keys held by multiple agencies, as favored by Rogers, could ultimately be proposed as updates to current legislation. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act were both targets for reform in the “Law Enforcement Perspective” report released Tuesday.
The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requires telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon to open themselves up to government taps on their data for investigative purposes, while the Electronic Communications Privacy Act gave government agents the power to collect business records, including emails, that are at least 180 days old.
The problem with any compromise aimed at both protecting encryption and keeping it unlocked for law enforcement, privacy advocates say, is that it would detract from the simplicity of encryption which is its major strength. Complicating encryption systems inevitably makes them easier to crack, but that isn’t the only problem some foresee. Even if the government had access, it doesn’t mean terrorists wouldn’t use encryption crafted outside the US or in the black market.
“You can’t tamper this way with strong encryption without making us all less secure, because the bad guys will exploit the vulnerabilities you introduce in the process. This isn’t about security versus privacy; as experts have explained again and again, it’s about security versus security,” Dan Gillmor, founding director of Knight Center for Digital Media at Arizona State University, wrote in a Medium blog post.
The Obama administration won’t be tampering with any encryption legislation, according to congressional testimony from FBI Director James B. Comey in October, “but it makes sense to continue the conversations with industry,” Comey told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary and Senate Intelligence Committee hearings in July, Comey gave a glimpse into what that conversation may sound like, saying, “a whole lot of good people have said it’s too hard. Maybe that’s so. But my reaction to that is: I’m not sure they’ve really tried… Maybe the scientists are right. But, I’m not willing to give up on that yet.”
Dean Garfield, president of the Information Technology Industry Council, told the Washington Post coming up with an encryption code solely crackable by the government and not by hackers or terrorists "simply does not make sense."
Obama is now obliged to publicly address encryption https://t.co/XzqcFBCTvfpic.twitter.com/yERNA2QxZS — RT America (@RT_America) October 30, 2015
The conversation has continued, especially since the Paris attacks, in the 24 hour news media. In recent weeks, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) told MSNBC, “I think that Silicon Valley has to take a look at their products. Because if you create a product that allows evil monsters to communicate in this way, to behead children, to strike innocents, whether it’s at a game in a stadium, in a small restaurant in Paris, take down an airliner. That’s a big problem.”
Fellow Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon disagreed, blogging at Medium that, “weakening encryption will make it easier for foreign hackers, criminals and spies to break into Americans’ bank accounts, health records and phones, without preventing terrorists from ‘going dark.’”The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER -- Canada's two hottest housing markets experienced above-average home sales last month, according to local real estate board figures, as buyers appear to be snapping up properties ahead of new mortgage requirements in January.
Vancouver area home sales jumped 7.1 per cent from September to October with 3,022 properties sold, and 35.2 per cent from the same month last year, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
The federal government's plans to tighten mortgage requirements helped spur short-term activity, said the board's president Jill Oudil in a statement.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions will implement new lending guidelines at the beginning of next year. Among the changes being considered is a requirement that homebuyers who do not require mortgage insurance still have to show they can make their payments if interest rates rise.
"We have definitely seen some spur in activity, likely for any buyers that are wanting to make sure they jump in before the change in the rules," she said.
Additionally, some buyers may be trying to beat any further Bank of Canada interest rates hikes, she said.
In Toronto, home sales rebounded by 12 per cent from September to October with 7,118 homes sold, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board. That's down about 27 per cent from Oct. 2016.
Every year, the board generally sees a jump in sales between the two months, said board president Tim Syrianos, but this year's "was more pronounced than usual" compared to the previous 10 years.
"While the number of transactions was still down relative to last year's record pace, it certainly does appear that sales momentum is picking up," he said.
The Greater Toronto Area's hot housing market was dampened after the provincial government imposed a number of measures, including a tax on foreign buyers, earlier this year.
In addition, the Bank of Canada raised interest rates twice in recent months to the current overnight rate of one per cent, signalling a clampdown on cheap borrowing and driving the big bank prime rates and the cost of variable-rate mortgages higher. The cost of new fixed-rate mortgages have also risen as yields on the bond market moved up.
The policy-driven changes in the Toronto market, which include a tax on foreign buyers, have followed the trajectory of the Vancouver market, with a pullback directly after new rules were introduced followed by a pick up after a relatively short time, said TREB's director of market analysis Jason Mercer.
"It appears that the psychological impact of the Fair Housing Plan, including the tax on foreign buyers, is starting to unwind."
TREB will conduct its annual poll this month and next, which will include a look at whether recent and proposed government policy changes impacted potential homebuyers and sellers' intentions, he said.
The average selling price for a home in Vancouver last month was $1,042,300 -- up half a per cent from September and 12.4 per cent from the same time last year, according to the Vancouver board.
In Toronto, the average selling price was $780,104, up less than one per cent from September but up 2.3 per cent compared with October 2016, according to the Toronto board.
Price growth in both cities was driven by appreciation in townhomes and condos.
In the Vancouver area, the benchmark price of a condo rose to $642,000 in October. That's up one per cent from the previous month and 22.7 per cent from Oct. 2016. The townhouse price jumped to $802,400 -- up two per cent from September and 17.7 per cent from the same month last year.
Oudil attributes that to high demand with limited supply, as well as shifting preferences for smaller yards due to hectic lives.
The average price of a townhouse in the GTA was up 7.4 per cent year-over-year at $629,507, while the average condo price was $523,041 up 22 per cent year-over-year, the most of any housing type.Hinduism, for its part, has surprising connections to American democratic culture. In the early 1800s, transcendentalism came into vogue, with its stripped-down sensibility, and spiritual approach to nature and society. The movement’s fans (who include some of The Atlantic’s founding fathers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau) invoked basic Hindu texts in their philosophy and composed wildly popular essays tinged with ancient Hindu scriptures.
The Indian American presence on the political stage was delayed until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which opened up the quotas preventing Indians from migrating to the United States and sharply increased the presence of Indians in America. Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American member of the House of Representatives, a Sikh who converted his PhD in math to a successful farming career in California, garnering support for a brief Congressional career. But the Indian American presence in Congress since then has been limited, the only blip being former Congressman—and now governor of Louisiana—Bobby Jindal.
The history of Indians—and relatedly, Hindus—in American political life might seem to justify, at least at first blush, a greater political presence for this group. Indian Americans, after all, have established themselves as a cultural mainstay. There’s the stereotype, rightly or wrongly, of Hindus (and, by default, Indian Americans) as doctors, engineers, spelling-bee stars, math wizards, and computer geeks. But Indian Americans have long been teased for their heavy accents (think Apu in The Simpsons) and squeezed into the niche of a “model minority,” with no room for political influence outside of the arenas of math and science.
Pop culture, though, has helped erode these views. Mindy Kaling’s successful run of The Mindy Project has made her a darling of prime time TV watchers for portraying a ditzy doctor who often confuses her Indian background with what Americans understand about the land of her ancestors; Aziz Ansari (a Muslim) made Parks and Recreation’s comedy one that transcended (and poked fun at) America’s understanding of race; and Kal Penn made it not only possible to envision an Indian American in a stoner comedy (the Harold and Kumar franchise) but also translated his time volunteering with the Obama campaign into a role connecting to Asian-Americans on behalf of the President’s administration.
Gabbard’s status has helped the Hindu presence on the national political stage. But it also illustrates a sensitive split in who can and cannot run for Congress: Successful candidates tend to be Christians, with names and personas that are more palatable to other Americans.
Take Jindal, for example. The governor of Louisiana has sparked controversy in the Indian American community for what is often seen as a denial of his Hindu origins (Jindal converted to Christianity as a boy). Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina and the other leading Indian American on the national stage, also converted to Christianity after being brought up a Sikh.Cook County's sweetened beverage tax will not apply to purchases made with food stamp benefits, county officials said this week, marking the second reversal on the matter since the tax was approved in November.
That means more than 872,000 people in Cook County won't have to pay the penny-per-ounce tax on sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages, which goes into effect July 1. Under federal law, purchases made with benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are exempt from state and local taxes.
The county had hoped to apply the beverage tax universally by having retailers fold it into the selling price of the products, like overhead costs, instead of tacking it on at checkout. But a ruling from the state Department of Revenue posted online Thursday said that approach would constitute an "overcollection" because the higher selling price would then be subject to sales tax.
Now, the county plans to primarily collect the tax at the point of sale; it will appear as a separate line item on a receipt. Opponents of the tax said the late-in-the-game change was problematic for retailers.
"The coalition does not oppose the (SNAP) waiver, but there is certainly confusion and uncertainty on how to implement the tax," said David Goldenberg, spokesman for the Can the Tax Coalition, a group funded by the American Beverage Association, the industry trade group that represents companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Likewise, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce described the rollout of the tax as "a mess" and called on the county to delay implementation until Jan. 1.
Ivan Samstein, Cook County's chief financial officer, said the changes to the implementation of the tax have been a product of working with various state and federal regulatory agencies, as well as collecting input from people and businesses that will be affected by the tax.
A look at the numbers behind Cook County's new soda tax. How will the tax work and how much will it cost consumers? (Phil Geib / Chicago Tribune) A look at the numbers behind Cook County's new soda tax. How will the tax work and how much will it cost consumers? (Phil Geib / Chicago Tribune) SEE MORE VIDEOS
"Every affected industry is always in opposition to new taxes. We're not surprised we're seeing vocal opposition from industry groups. That's the nature of the way things work in a democratic society," Samstein said.
Over a full year, the sweetened beverage tax is projected to bring in about $223.8 million a year, according to county estimates. The revenue is intended to fill a gaping hole in the budget and prevent the further erosion of services.
Samstein declined to comment on how the SNAP exemption will affect the county's revenue projection, saying county finance officials are working on budget forecast figures that will be presented to the Board of Commissioners by the end of the month.
In April, following an interim ruling from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, county officials said the tax could be applied to SNAP purchases so long as it wasn't imposed at the point of sale.
This latest reversal brings the county back to its original position in October, when officials acknowledged that it's unlikely the tax could be applied to sweetened beverages bought with food stamp benefits.
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Twitter @GregTrotterTribAstronomers peering across the universe think they’ve caught a dozen quasars—extremely bright and distant objects powered by ravenous supermassive black holes at the centers of ancient galaxies—in a disappearing act. Or at least transitioning into their quiescent and dimmer counterparts: galaxies with starving black holes at their cores. The surprising find has astronomers asking whether these objects are shutting down permanently or simply flickering out for the time being.
Last year Stephanie LaMassa from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (then at Yale University) discovered the greatest change in luminosity ever detected in a quasar. She was digging through data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey when she found that a quasar had dimmed in brightness by a factor of six in just 10 years. Its spectrum changed, too, from that of a classic quasar to a regular galaxy.
Astronomers suspect that all quasars, which were common in the early universe, will eventually transition into humdrum galaxies. The nomenclature “active galactic nuclei” is useful in understanding why. Quasars belong to a larger class of objects called active galactic nuclei, all of which are powered by actively feeding supermassive black holes. Naturally, active galactic nuclei can turn inactive: Over tens of thousands of years black holes run out of gas and dust to eat, so quasars dim and grow quiescent.
There is nothing controversial about the idea that active galactic nuclei can become inactive. What LaMassa and her colleagues doubted was that a quasar could go from active to inactive in just 10 years. Such a dramatic change should occur on a timescale that dwarfs human lifetimes. They looked for different explanations but did not find any that satisfied them. So when LaMassa presented her results at the January 2015 American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, it set in motion a rush among the astronomical community to explain her disappearing quasar—and find new ones.
In March Andrea Merloni at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany studied LaMassa’s mystery object and suggested that it was not a typical quasar at all. Instead, Merloni proposed, a single star passed near a supermassive black hole and was rapidly torn apart, causing a bright flare that astronomers mistook for a quasar. The light from an event like this would fade over the course of just a few years. Although the explanation matched the timescale, some astronomers found problems with the argument. Julian Krolik, a theorist at Johns Hopkins University who was not involved with either Merloni’s or LaMassa’s studies, points out that a supermassive black hole would not necessarily tear apart a star in the way that Merloni proposed. “The larger-mass black holes can swallow a star whole,” he says, and if that happened, there would be no flare.
LaMassa’s talk in January created enough of a controversy that three additional teams conducted their own research, searching for further examples of these so-called “changing-look quasars.” In September each team posted papers to arXiv, a preprint server used by the astronomy and physics communities. Three teams—one led by Jessie Runnoe of the Pennsylvania State University, one by John Ruan of the University of Washington and another by the University of Edinburgh’s Chelsea Mac
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after a final report from the Malaysian authorities failed to provide any concrete conclusions about the reasons why the plane disappeared or any indication where the wreckage might be.
See related MH370: is missing Malaysia Airlines plane in Cambodian jungle? Missile that downed MH17 came from Russia, investigation rules The mystery of MH370, EgyptAir flight MS804 and seven other planes that vanished The fate of missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 is likely to remain a mystery after a final report from the Malaysian authorities failed to provide any concrete conclusions about the reasons why the plane disappeared or any indication where the wreckage might be. MH370 vanished in March 2014 with 239 people – mostly Chinese nationals – on board, during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Beijing.
Its disappearance prompted one of the biggest search missions in history, yet a four-year multimillion dollar joint operation by Australian, Malaysian and Chinese investigators failed to find any sign of the plane.
In June, a final “no find, no fee” search by private seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity was called off, with Malaysian authorities confirming there would be no further searches unless new evidence came to light.
What happened to flight MH370 has become one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. The huge gap in reliable information about the aircraft’s fate has been filled with suggestions from armchair sleuths, aviation experts, authors and conspiracy theorists.
Here are some of the wildest theories on how and why MH370 disappeared:
Shot down
In mid March, an Australian man has made the sensational claim that he has found the wreckage of MH370 using Google Earth.
Peter McMahon, a mechanical engineer and amateur crash investigator, spent years combing the Indian Ocean on Google Earth looking for the plane.
According to Mr McMahon, the wreckage of the flight - which he claims is riddled with bullet holes - is located just a few miles south of Round Island, which is governed by Mauritius, in an area of the ocean that has not been searched by crews, the Daily Mail writes.
McMahon “took his claims one step further”, the site adds, by saying he also believed US officials were refusing to search the area, and were withholding information from the public.
“They have made sure that all information received has been hidden from the public, even our government, but why,” he told reporters.
“They do not want it found as it’s full of bullet holes, finding it will only open another inquiry,” he added.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai has rubbished McMahon’s claims, and said that the images McMahon circulated had also analysed by Civil Aviation Authority Malaysia (CAAM).
“CAAM has found McMahon's claims to be baseless,” the New Straits Times reports. “Hence, the people should not be taken for a ride on the matter.”
What happened to flight MH370, which disappeared mid-flight in March 2014, has become one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries, and the huge gap in reliable information about the aircraft’s fate has been filled with suggestions from armchair sleuths, aviation experts, authors and conspiracy theorists
Here are some of the wildest theories on how and why MH370 disappeared.
Remote cyber hijacking
In his book Beneath Another Sky: A Global Journey into History, respected writer and historian Norman Davies says technology designed to prevent another 9/11-style terror attack by allowing planes to be controlled remotely could have been exploited by cyber-spooks.
He suggests MH370, which was equipped with Boeing’s Honeywell Un-interruptible Autopilot on-board computer, could have been hacked and then reprogrammed and flown to a secret location.
He told The Sunday Times the plane may have been carrying sensitive material or personnel to Beijing, making it the subject of two kidnap attempts.
“There are reports that the cargo detailed in the manifest didn’t add up. I don’t know what it might have been carrying but it may have been carrying something somebody didn’t want to get to China.”
Because of this Davies suggested the plane could have been “remotely kidnapped by a hacker and then a second hacker or remote controller took it over”.
“The first kidnap was by the Americans, who wanted to stop the plane getting to Beijing and planned to divert it to Diego Garcia [a US naval base in the Indian Ocean], and then somebody hacked it to stop it from getting there” he said.
“Several other theories back up this possibility, pointing to the widely held belief that the official cargo manifest detailing what was actually on the Boeing 777 was wrong” says the Daily Mirror, and while it seems taken straight out of a modern-day spy film, a similar theory has been touted before.
Back in March 2014, just days after the plane went missing, the Sunday Express reported that hackers could have accessed the aircraft’s flight computer using a mobile phone and reprogrammed the speed, altitude and direction. “It could then be landed or made to crash by remote control,” the paper suggests, and it may be worth noting that the woman who came up with the theory “runs her own company training businesses and governments to counter terrorist attacks”.
Putin knows
Vladimir Putin has known all along where the missing Malaysia Airlines jet is, according to a volunteer investigator.
Speaking to the Daily Star, Andre Milne said flight MH370 made a "soft ditch" landing in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian Ocean, and that the Russian president was aware of this from the start.
"Satellites that were placed by the Russians saw the wreckage, he said. "Putin would have been given that information".
Putin kept quiet because he only discovered the fate of the jet thanks to a secret spy satellite, adds Milne, who previously appealed for £1.3m funding to scour the area for the missing jet.
He said: "The reason President Putin did not raise his hand and march in and say we found it is because technically he would have been admitting committing espionage."
Insisting that witness statements corroborated his theory, Milne added that if a search party ventured to the Bay of Bengal, they would find "wreckage with no flaperon" on the seafloor.
Mystery passenger
Was there a mysterious extra passenger on board who took control of the doomed Boeing 777, plunging it into the sea?
That's the theory that emerged on the same day a lawsuit was filed in the US on behalf of the families of the victims of the MH370 crash.
According to volunteer investigator Andre Milne, the plane's official manifest says that 239 people went missing. He says there were officially 226 passengers on the flight (four failed to board) and another 12 crew, which makes a total of 238.
Milne told express.co.uk: "So now we have an 'extra' person on board MH370."
He added: "The extra passenger likely acted in conjunction with larger external operational support to take full command and control of the cockpit of MH370."
A spokesperson for the official MH370 investigation team said: "We are aware of this discrepancy. The actual number of passengers on board was 227."
He added that the apparent discrepancy appeared on a computerised "load sheet" which was sent out two hours before the plane took off.
"The actual figures can differ from that transmitted on the load sheet due to last minute changes," he said.
Cracks in the plane
Perhaps the most prosaic, yet also most believable, theory as to why the plane went down does not centre around a conspiracy at all, but well-documented faults with the plane that could have led to it crashing.
Six months before the plane disappeared, the US aviation watchdog warned airlines of a problem with cracks in Boeing 777s that could lead to a mid-air break up or a catastrophic drop in pressure.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a final warning just two days before MH370 disappeared after one airline found a 15-inch crack in the fuselage of one of its planes.
However, the Daily Mirror claims: “Boeing said that the FAA alert did not apply to the missing jet because it did not have the same antenna as the rest of the Boeing 777s”, further fuelling conspiracy theories.
The ‘Asian’ Bermuda Triangle
One of the most popular theories on social media is the idea that there could be a second Bermuda Triangle somewhere in the Indian Ocean, explaining MH370’s sudden disappearance.
A number of planes and boats have gone missing in an area of the North Atlantic known as the Bermuda Triangle over the years, including five Torpedo bombers that mysteriously vanished there in 1945.
In a bid to back-up this hypothesis, some people – including one Malaysian minister – pointed out that the area where MH370 vanished is on the exact opposite side of the globe to the Bermuda Triangle.
Unfortunately those people are wrong; the exact opposite side of the globe is closer to the Caribbean than Bermuda, The Sunday Times notes.
The pilot wanted to 'create the world's greatest mystery'
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott says he believes flight MH370 was brought down intentionally by a pilot who wanted to "create the world's greatest mystery".
Speaking ahead of the third anniversary of the plane's disappearance, he said: "I have always said the most plausible scenario was murder-suicide and if this guy wanted to create the world's greatest mystery why wouldn't he have piloted the thing to the very end and gone further south?
"Then there was the analysis that suggested there might be a prospective place to the north."
Search teams considered murder-suicide early on in their investigations, "but there was little to no evidence uncovered to support it", the Adelaide Advertiser says.
However, investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas does support the idea and says the fragments of evidence so far discovered point to an intentional act by the pilot.
According to Williams-Thomas, a piece of wing found on Reunion Island, 3,000 miles from the search area, was "in an extended position that only a pilot could've done" and the only explanation for it being like that at the time of impact was that the person flying the plane was trying to bring it down on purpose.
The latest hypothesis suggests the plane may have been ditched in the Indian Ocean by the pilot, who flew the aircraft right until the very end.
According to reports in The Australian, lead air crash investigator Captain John Cox believes evidence from the recovered wing flaps suggests the doomed plane was dumped intentionally.
“Based on that analysis I think it is likely, possibly highly likely, that there was an attempt to ditch the airplane,” he said.
Around 20 pieces of debris believed to be from MH370 have washed up on coastlines around the Indian Ocean. The most significant of these was the remains of a wing flap found on Reunion Island off the coast of east coast of Africa in 2015, and has since been positively identified as belonging to the missing Malaysian Airways flight.
However, “Captain Cox’s suggestion of a ditched aircraft does not support the popular theories that the plane was destroyed in a ‘death dive’ or a ‘ghost flight’” says the Daily Mail.
North Korea took MH370
It didn't take long for the most secretive nation in the world to be dragged into the MH370 rumour mill. Shortly after the plane disappeared, several conspiracy theorists questioned whether North Korea might be the "missing link" in the mystery.
They pointed to South Korea's claim that North Korea nearly took out a Chinese plane carrying 220 passengers on 5 March 2014, with Chinese Southern Airlines reportedly passing through the trajectory of a North Korean missile just seven minutes after it was fired. Three days later, MH370 disappeared.
While some think Pyongyang shot down the plane, others think it might have hijacked it and diverted it to North Korea. One anonymous aviation worker told eTurboNews Group that somebody out there wanted "a really, really huge plane" and that they were most likely after the Boeing 777's technology. Would supreme leader Kim Jong-un go that far? "Kidnapping and human trafficking has always been part of North Korea's scary agenda," said Nelson Alcantara, eTN editor-in-chief. One Reddit user claimed the "perfect place" to perform a hijack would be over the sea soon after take-off. "The North Korean government is bat shit crazy," he added. "There's no telling what crazy logic they might have for taking a plane."
On the moon
Three weeks after MH370 went missing, the Sunday Sport announced that the aircraft had been found... on the moon. The front page splash, complete with a doctored photograph of a plane on the surface of the moon, claimed to be a "world exclusive". Drawing attention to an unexplained blip on the radar seen close to flight MH370 before it disappeared, the newspaper said: "The simplest explanation is that this is an intergalactic spacecraft that has swallowed the Boeing 777 whole and transported it to the moon for some extra- terrestrial reason."
The "scoop" came 26 years after the tabloid published a very similar story about a B-52 bomber, also coincidentally discovered "on the moon". The incredible find turned out to be just as true as other celebrated Sunday Sport stories, such as "Aliens turned our son into a fish finger" and "Statue of Elvis found on Mars". When it emerged that no such bomber could be found on the lunar surface, the paper ran a follow-up headline on its front page: "World War 2 bomber found on moon vanishes".
Grid of energy
One unusual theory bases its claims on the presumed location of where the MH370 went down.
Adherents to the "grid of energy" theory believe the Boeing 777 crashed on "a vortex energy point on the Earth's secret' free energy' grid", Illuminati Watcher says.
The idea goes that a web of "vortex points" around the world projects energy that the Illuminati – a mysterious group seeking to establish a "New World Order" (read our full Illuminati explainer here) – knows how to harness.
That or it has something to do with "ancient aliens".
"The Ancient Astronaut Theory claims that aliens of the past used energy vortex points to travel around the globe, or potentially make mapping points (e.g. the Pyramids of Giza)," Illuminati Watcher explains. "This hidden energy grid is one way of getting off of traditional energy sources like oil and coal, so obviously the people in control of these Big Energy industries would want to keep it quiet."
For more on these grids of energy, check out this episode of the History Channel documentary Ancient Aliens:
Ancient.Aliens_"Aliens and the Secret Code" s03... by 1BadboyMMA
404: Plane not found
Soon after MH370 went missing somebody noticed that the aircraft in question was the 404th Boeing 777 to have come off the production line. The significance? On the internet, a "404 error" message is returned when a web page can't be found. It was therefore interpreted as a hidden message about the fate of the plane, although what it might signify about its fate was unclear. There was a further twist when a group called the Lizard Squad, describing itself as a "cyber caliphate", hacked the Malaysian Airlines website and replaced its content with a message reading "404 – plane not found". But the group made no other claims or demands, and its actions seem to be no more than online mischief.
The plane was shot down by the US military
A French former airline director who has been investigating the disappearance of flight MH370 has claimed that the missing plane was shot down by American fighter jets who feared that it had been hijacked and was about to be used to attack the US military base on the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia.
Marc Dugain, who once ran French airline Proteus, said that he had been warned not to look too closely into the case of MH370 by a British intelligence officer who told him that he was taking "risks", according to France Inter. Dugain had travelled to the Maldives and interviewed witnesses "who reportedly told him they had seen a 'huge plane flying at a really low altitude' towards the island bearing the Malaysia Airlines colours", The Independent reports.
Several months ago, a book called Flight MH370 – The Mystery, suggested that MH370 had been shot down accidentally by US-Thai joint strike fighters in a military exercise in the South China Sea. The book also claims that search and rescue efforts were deliberately sent in the wrong direction as part of a cover-up, the Daily Mail reports.
The Reunion debris is fake
Relatives of the passengers who were on MH370 reacted with a mixture of grief and disbelief following the announcement by the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, that the wreckage found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion came from the missing plane, The Guardian reports.
"I want to kill him," said Zhang Meiling, 62, whose daughter and son-in-law were travelling on the plane. "What he said is nonsense. I just want to kill him."
Others said that in their view, the discovery of wing parts had been faked. "I don't believe it," said Bao Lanfang, 63, whose son, daughter-in-law and grandchild were on MH370. "It has been 515 [days] – that is enough time for them to have produced fake debris."
The case of the murdered diplomat
The most recent addition to the ranks of MH370 conspiracy theories surrounds the death of a Malaysian diplomat who had spent years investigating the crash.
In September this year, the Honorary Malaysian Consul in Madagascar Zahid Raza was shot dead in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo in an apparent assassination. Amateur US flight investigator Blaine Gibson, who worked with Raza in tracking down debris from the plane, told Malay Mail that the diplomat "appeared to have been specifically targeted" and claimed that he has also received death threats.
Dr Victor Iannello, an original member of the independent group of specialists that helped Australian investigators try to pinpoint the plane's crash site in the southern Indian Ocean, said the timing of Raza's assassination just days before he was due to deliver several new pieces of debris to the Malaysian Ministry of Transport, "makes a possible link to MH370 even more suspicious".
Yet others have sought to debunk and connection between Raza's death and his search for the missing plane. French-language news website Zinfos 974 has suggested the diplomat was a marked man long before meeting Gibson and speculated he was killed as payback for alleged involvement in the 2009 abduction of several residents of Indo-Pakistani descent known collectively as Karens.
However, Dr Iannello has contested these claims saying no evidence of his involvement with Karens has been found. Writing in his blog, he went on to say that this could be "disinformation" to distract attention away from the real motive behind the shooting. He went on to add that it was "surprising that the assassination of Mr Raza has been met with stony silence from both Malaysia and France, despite his ties to both countries".
Life insurance scam
In March 2014, Malaysian police refused to rule out the possibility that the entire incident may have been a complicated insurance scam.
"Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities," said Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police.
At the time, authorities said they would consider all possible motives, no matter how unlikely they seemed, and would investigate all passengers and crew for any sign of unusual behaviour.
"We are looking very closely at the video footage taken at the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport)," he added. "We are studying the behavioural pattern of all the passengers."
MH370 and MH17 were in fact the same plane
One theory that gained traction in the summer of 2014 was the suggestion that the airliner that crashed in a field in Ukraine was in fact the lost flight MH370, not the scheduled flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
According to the theory, proposed by a number of sites, including humansarefree.com, MH370 was hijacked and forced to land safely in an undisclosed location. Some believers say that the plane was taken to the US military base Diego Garcia – believed to be within range of where the MH370 disappeared – and then deliberately crashed near Donetsk by US agents months later in a "false flag" operation designed to discredit Russia.
Subsequent world events have played into the theorists' hands, as a number of countries accused Russia of providing military support to Ukrainian separatists – including Buk missile launchers capable of shooting down planes at high altitudes. The EU and US subsequently tightened their sanctions on Moscow.
To support their argument, some commentators, such as Opob News, point to the fact that wreckage found in Ukraine seems to have a different configuration of windows to the actual MH17, and that a Malaysian flag on the side of the fuselage is not in the right place. Others have suggested that these pictures are fake.
Alien abduction
Five per cent of Americans surveyed by Reason.com believe that the plane was abducted by aliens. Some bloggers have pointed to a number of recent UFO sightings in Malaysia as evidence for extraterrestrial intervention. Alexandra Bruce, from Forbidden Knowledge TV, "proves" the involvement of aliens with her analysis of radar data. She claims that footage posted on YouTube shows the presence of something that "can only be termed a UFO" in the skies over Malaysia. Of course, that means something that is "unidentified" rather than aliens.
The idea that aliens were somehow involved in Flight MH370's disappearance was dealt a blow when "UFO expert" Nigel Watson poured scorn on the theory with an article on the technology and science fiction site Omni Media.
"With the passage of time MH370 has joined the ranks of other unsolved aircraft disappearances, which have been associated with UFOs," Watson wrote.
These include, he said: flight pioneer Amelia Earhart, who vanished in 1937; the disappearance of band leader Glenn Miller over the English Channel in 1944; "Flight 19" - five US Navy Avenger torpedo bombers which went missing over the Bermuda Triangle in 1945, and 20-year-old Australian pilot Frederick Valentich, who went missing during a training flight over Bass Strait in 1978, shortly after he reported being followed by bright lights in the sky.
"Speculation about such cases being caused by craft occupied by extra-terrestrial beings or by elusive sky creatures is nothing new," says Watson, so it is not surprising it has also been applied to the case of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Nevertheless, he adds, it is unlikely that aliens were responsible for any of the disappearances and "in the case of MH370 there is likely to be a more Earthly explanation for its disappearance".
The great tragedy of the case "is that with the passage of time the facts are getting increasingly lost and distorted, making the burden for the grieving relatives heavier with each insubstantial clue or unproved theory", Watson says.
A 9/11-style false-flag hijack mission
No conspiracy is complete without Israeli involvement, and MH370 is no exception. According to this theory, Israeli agents planned to crash the Malaysia Airlines plane into a building, as in the September 11 attacks, and then blame the atrocity on Iran. Proponents point to the quick identification of two Iranian nationals travelling on forged passports and claims that CCTV images released of the pair had been doctored. More extravagantly, some have claimed that a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 identical to the one that went missing "had been stored in a hangar in Tel Aviv since November 2013".
The CIA is behind it
In a blog post, Malaysia's former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, wrote that he believes the US Central Intelligence Agency must know something about the plane's fate. He also claimed that Boeing, the plane’s maker, and “certain” unnamed government agencies, are able to take control of commercial airliners such as the missing Boeing 777 remotely if necessary. "Airplanes don’t just disappear," he wrote on his blog. "Certainly not these days with all the powerful communication systems, radio and satellite tracking and filmless cameras which operate almost indefinitely and possess huge storage capacities.... For some reason, the media will not print anything that involves Boeing or the CIA."
China and Edward Snowden
Reddit user Dark_Spectre has a theory that links the disappearance of MH370 with Edward Snowden's revelations about the extent of US surveillance.
The theory is based on the fact that the flight was carrying 20 employees of Freescale Semiconductor – a company that may have worked with the NSA to develop surveillance technology, according to Snowden's documents.
Dark_Spectre writes: "We have the American IBM Technical Storage Executive for Malaysia, a man working in mass storage aggregation for the company implicated by the Snowden papers for providing their services to assist the National Security Agency in surveilling the Chinese. And now this bunch of US chip guys working for a global leader in embedded processing solutions (embedded smart phone tech and defence contracting) all together… on a plane… and disappeared. Coincidence?"
The Reddit sleuth suggests that the apparent disappearance of flight MH370 may actually have been the result of an audacious attempt by China to capture a group of private contractors who helped the NSA to conduct spy operations against them. "Honestly, what would 200 lives be to the Chinese intelligence community for the opportunity to find out exactly the depth and scope of our intrusion," Dark_Spectre concludes.A photo from Jared Lee Loughner’s MySpace page
The videos posted by Jared Lee Loughner on YouTube at first appear to be a jumble of disjointed thoughts. He claims to be a “conscience dreamer” concerned with “English grammar structure” and “mind control” who wants to see the United States return to the gold standard. Yet Loughner expressed these wild ideas in an organized form: the logical syllogism.
A syllogism is a form of argument in which a conclusion is inferred from a set of premises. “All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Socrates is mortal,” goes the famous Greek inference. In one video, Loughner offers syllogisms of his own, including: “If A.D.E. is endless in year, then the years in A.D.E. don’t cease. A.D.E. is endless in year. Therefore, the years in A.D.E. don’t cease.”
“Yeah, that’s him,” says Kent Slinker, when I read him some of Loughner’s syllogisms over the phone. “That kind of nonsensical, disconnected thinking.” Slinker, an adjunct philosophy professor at Pima Community College, taught Loughner in Introduction to Logic during the spring semester of 2010. Slinker’s impression of Loughner was that of “someone whose brains were scrambled.”
Loughner was a model student when it came to attendance—he always showed up on time to the twice-a-week class, at least before he dropped out toward the end of the semester. But in other respects, he was a mess. He didn’t perform well on tests. He would ask questions that didn’t make any sense. “His thoughts were unrelated to anything in our world,” says Slinker. One time, he handed in an assignment with geometric doodles instead of answers. Slinker also remembers that Loughner would have “exaggerated ‘Aha!’ moments just completely not connected to anything in class.” He was mentally checked-out. “He always was looking away, not out the window, but like someone watching a scene play out in his mind.”
Starting about halfway through the semester, Slinker says, he tried repeatedly to talk to Loughner one-on-one. “I wrote [on his test] saying, Please talk to me after class so we can discuss your performance and explore alternative assignments,” says Slinker. But at the end of class, Loughner would cast his eyes down and run out the door.
Eventually, Slinker and the chair of the philosophy department, David Bishop, who taught Loughner in a different philosophy class at the same time, discussed ways to get help for Loughner. But for the school to give a student special treatment, the student has to “self-identify” as having problems, says Slinker: “If we could get him to go to a testing center, then we could help him.” But they were never able to engage him enough to raise the subject.
In retrospect, there were no conventional warning signs, says Slinker: “I never sensed violence from him.” Asked whether Loughner ever brought up politics, Slinker says “never.” The class didn’t talk about current affairs. That said, Slinker did point students to political ads for examples of logical fallacies.
Slinker heard about the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday while reading the Arizona Daily Star online. The news was especially shocking, considering that Slinker had also taught Spencer Giffords, Gabrielle’s father, in a philosophy class in the summer of 2009.
Slinker hit it off with the elder Giffords, who had handed the family tire company over to his daughter, so much so that Giffords invited Slinker to his 75th birthday party, where Slinker briefly met Gabrielle. “She was full of energy, full of life, always with a smile, very sincere,” Slinker remembers. As for Giffords Sr., says Slinker, “It was like, this is my long-lost friend and we’ve been separated by so many years.” Giffords gave Slinker a picture of his daughter with her husband and President Obama.
The odd thing about Loughner’s syllogisms is that they’re not far off from examples Slinker might use in class. “When you teach logic, you draw a distinction between truth and inference,” says Slinker. To illustrate that, a teacher might say, “If chickens could fly upside down, then George W. Bush would be president in 2098.” The statement isn’t true. It just serves as a premise from which to draw conclusions. The purpose, says Slinker, is “to show it’s the form of the argument rather than the content that’s the expression of validity.” But that only works when talking in the abstract. In real-world logic, premises matter. “If the premises aren’t true,” says Slinker, “all bets are off.”
Like Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.The New York Giants averaged just 5.2 yards per passing attempt Sunday night vs. the Dallas Cowboys, part of the reason they lost, 19-3. Yours truly complained on Tuesday that there was too much “dink and dunk” in the passing offense, and not enough plays that attacked down the field.
Were there opportunities for deeper throws? It’s only fair to try to find out, so I went to the All-22 film to take a look. There weren’t many chances for Eli Manning to get the ball deeper down the field, but there were a few. Let’s look at a handful of plays.
Play 1
First quarter, 2nd and 5 NYG 30-yard line, 11:57
This play ended up as an incompletion to Paul Perkins. That, I believe is Sterling shepard highlighted at the bottom and Brandon Marshall at the top. It looks like there is a chance to hit either for a 15-20-yard gain. Unfortunately, center Weston Richburg gives up inside pressure, forcing Manning to move and try to dump the ball off.
Play 2
Second quarter, 2nd and 7, NYG 14-yard line, 11:57
This is a play where I haven’t the faintest idea why Manning didn’t throw the ball to either Evan Engram (highlight above) or Brandon Marshall (highlighted below as the deep receiver just a split second later).
Manning took the easy throw to Shepard for a 12-yard gain, but this play could have gone for a lot more.
Play 3
Second quarter, first and 10, NYG 21-yard line, 6:04
After a play fake, Manning rolls right, He appears to have Shepard in the Cover 2 soft spot between the corner and safety. He hesitates, though, and dumps the ball off to Engram for a 3-yard gain. The Giants were penalized here as Richburg ended up illegally downfield.
Play 4
Third quarter, 2nd and 4, Dallas 48-yard line, 12:39
I put this one here, but it’s actually a good decision by Manning. That is Marshall streak down the seam against what appears to be man-to-man coverage, right? Perfect time for a deep shot, right? Give the big man a chance. Only the ball has already been delivered to Shepard and when it was Marshall was bracketed by two defenders.
Play 5
Fourth quarter, second and 12, NYG 45-yard line, 12:58
This is a “maybe” in my mind. That is Marshall down at the bottom with one-one-one coverage deep down the left sideline. Manning was looking right the whole way, though, and by this time the ball is already out for a 9-yard completion to Roger Lewis Jr.
Final Thoughts
I can see absolutely acceptable reasons for why the ball didn’t go down the field farther on all of these plays, with the probable exception of the third one. There were two choices for big plays there, and plenty of time to throw the ball down the field.
My $.02, and this is more of a nagging thought than anything I’ve had verified by people who know more about quarterback play than I do, is this. In his younger days when the Giant offense was run by Kevin Gilbride I think Manning would have stood in there and made the deep throw, taking the shot at making the big play. Now, with McAdoo running the shots we hear constantly about the desire to find completions. I wonder if, because of the offense he is now in, Manning sometimes passes on the deep 50-50 ball in favor of an easy completion. Just a thought.Poor Maureen Dowd doesn't know how to make fun of Barack Obama. It's actually pretty easy! Everyone misses Bill Clinton because he enjoyed extramarital sex with interns and oddly unattractive women, he had a southern accent, and he was kind of chubby. Everyone will miss George W. Bush because he's stupid. Those traits are so, so easy to mock! But the problem is jokes about those traits were and are and always have been terrible. Have another Big Mac, Bubba! Then put a cigar in someone's vagina! Hey George Bush you look like a chimp! And, like a chimp, your grasp of complex concepts like grammar is often lacking! Jesus. Stop already. Obama's a godsend, because he lacks those easy buttons. So everyone has to be more creative with their humor. Allow us to help you!
The Big Fuss The secret-the the thing that has so many literal-minded idiots terrified at things like that New Yorker cover-is simple: you don't need to mock the man, you can mock the aura surrounding him. Barack's messianic tendencies have been greatly exaggerated but there's no topping that Rolling Stone cover with the halo. So when The Onion put Obama on the cover of Tiger Beat, it was funny because it was an absurd exaggeration of the truth (see how that works?).
Filth & Fury Plus Obama's strongest supporters are showing themselves to be severely humorless, and that's funny! The gradual shift from constant outrage over matters that probably justify outrage-the mood of the Bush years-to this new era of outrage-for-the-sake of outrage is a scary omen for the future of liberalism in this country and also a great punchline.
Dos and Don'ts
Don't: Try to cleverly call him effete. Looking at you, Maureen! The guy dresses nice, sometimes, but he doesn't actually have those effeminate signifiers that everyone seems to think other male Democratic politicians possess. So stop fucking calling him "Butterfly" because that makes no sense.
Do: Call him "elite!" It's funny because he represents an aspirational black middle class and so we have to put him and his wife back in their place! Haha no, seriously, it's funny because making fun of Harvard is funny. Don't make latte jokes though, it's not 1997.
Don't: Make fun of his funny name. It's painful when Slate does it, yes, but even the reliable Daily Show writers fall into the trap. "Baracknophobia" is not the level of punmanship we've come to expect from you guys. It is funny to call him "Barry," though.
Do: Make fun of how people are terrified of his funny name and his foreign background. When faced with polls that suggest Americans do truly believe that Barack Obama was raised by The Iron Sheikh and spent his school years snorting the remains of 9/11 victims, all you can do is laugh and contemplate a life a sea.
Special Cases: Black comedians. Can they make fun of Barack Obama? Sure! But other black people will get even angrier about it, depending on the material and the audience. Of course, you knew that already.
Note to Cartoonists: Yes, his ears stick out. Good work catching that one.
In Short: Yes, so far, there is nothing "buffoonish" about Barack Obama. And that is a good thing, for people who enjoy laughing at things that are actually funny! But please, please, please, white people-don't whine about not being allowed to make fun of him because everyone will get mad at you. Just think about it for a minute! If your joke is funny, make it! If it is not funny, make one (1) different joke.
[Note: We forgot the credit the illustrator! Lukas Ketner drew this for Willamette Week.]There is a school of thought, as Canada heads into an election year, that real change — the kind that reshapes a nation — is impossible. In an era of slow growth, constrained finances and constant polling, the most voters can expect is tinkering, marketing and low-cost policy adjustments. Superficially, this theory makes sense. All three federal parties are bunched in the middle of the spectrum. The majority of voters want balanced budgets and stable taxes. There are no blockbuster issues — free trade, a radical lurch to the left or right, a makeover of medicare or a national unity crisis — on the horizon.
Even if Prime Minister Stephen Harper wins a fourth mandate this year, Ottawa is likely to bend to pressure at home and abroad on climate change, writes Carol Goar. ( Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
But dig deeper and the hypothesis collapses. There are major challenges facing the nation: an aging population, an unsustainable economic strategy, a widening gulf between the privileged few and the rest of the population, a reputation for truculence on the world stage, a dearth of jobs for talented young people, a toxically outdated Indian Act, an impenetrable shell of government secrecy and a mean-spiritedness toward the poor, the unemployed, asylum-seekers and young offenders. Look beyond their apparent convergence on fiscal matters and there are differences — important differences — among the leaders. At the
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worn” khaki pants. Short hair, no facial hair.
Anyone with information regarding this incident, please call the Burlington Police Department at 658-2704 or Crime Stoppers at 864-6666.Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania to Officially Launch Sunday
Thu, 09/27/2012 – 14:42
Washington, D.C—The Secular Coalition for America is excited to announce the official launch of the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania, expected to officially launch on Sunday. The Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania is the third chapter to launch as part of the SCA’s greater effort to establish 50 new state chapters throughout the country this year.
The Secular Coalition for America is a lobbying organization representing nontheistic Americans and advocating protecting and strengthening the secular character of our government. The Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania will lobby state lawmakers in favor of a strong separation of religion and government.
Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania Executive Board Co-Chairs, Justin Vacula, 24 of Scranton and Brian Fields, 35 of Newville are expected to sign the “Memo of Understanding” that marks the official launch of the chapter, on Sunday at the PA State Atheist/Humanist Conference:
Date: Sunday, September 30, 2012 Time: 3:45 and 4:30pm Location: PA State Atheist/Humanist Conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Harrisburg, PA
“With legislation like the ‘Year of the Bible’ in Pennsylvania, it’s clear now, more than ever, that we need a secular voice speaking to our state government,” said Fields. “What sets the Secular Coalition for America apart is their dedication to directly supporting the separation of church and state, by speaking directly to those legislators that are responsible for protecting it.”
A recent Pew Forum study indicated that 28 percent of Pennsylvania residents do not express an absolute belief in God, and 46 percent disagreed that “religion is very important to their lives.” Another Pew study found that nationally 54% of Americans feel that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters, and 38% says that there has been too much expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders – a number that has grown to its highest point since the Pew Research Center began asking the question more than a decade ago.
Vacula said he sees the role of the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania as protecting that separation of religion and government—to the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.
“Pennsylvania is notorious for recklessly breaching the walls of church/state separation,” said Vacula. “Secularists in Pennsylvania need a voice to counter pious politicians and inform lawmakers that infusing religion with government is unacceptable.”
Since June, the SCA successfully held initial organizing calls for new chapters in 38 states. The remaining 12 states will hold initial organizing calls in October. The Secular Coalition plans to have all chapters up and running in every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico, by the end of the year. A Secular Coalition affiliate is already functional in Arizona and the first chapter, in Colorado, was announced earlier this summer. The Secular Coalition for South Carolina is also launching today.
Edwina Rogers, Secular Coalition for America Executive Director said she is excited to see the Pennsylvania chapter launch. The state chapters play an integral role at the state level, as well as the national level, she said.
“In our current U.S. Congress, 38 percent of Representatives held local office first,” said Rogers. “When we get to law makers at the local level, not only are we going to help curb some of the most egregious legislation we’re seeing, but we are also building relationships and working to educate legislators on our issues, before they even get to Washington.”
The Secular Coalition, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, represents 11 nontheistic member organizations and has as traditionally focused advocacy efforts on federal legislation. The SCA will continue to lobby at the federal level, while state chapters will lobby at the state level. Participation in the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania is open to all Pennsylvanians that support a strong separation of religion and government, regardless of their personal religious beliefs.
For chapter co-chair bios and additional chapter information, please visit: http://secular.org/states/chapters/pennsylvaniaImage: Flickr/Peter Trimming
We live in an age of semi-autonomous weapons. Nearly every major military power uses computer-controlled systems to guide some of their heaviest artillery on land and at sea. But a new artificial intelligence system by Canadian company Deep Vision could make robot guns more accurate than ever before—and they're starting by making humans better shots.
Deep Vision's system, called Dynamic Fall-of-Shot Feedback (DFOSF), is designed to be implemented on navy ships. Computer vision algorithms track where rapidly fired bullets hit the water in relation to a designated target. The system tracks both small arms fire and the intended recipient, and provides live feedback to the gunner about how accurate their shots are.
For now, the system is being developed as a training tool for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy using funding from the Center for Defence Enterprise (CDE). Small arms fire at sea is relatively common, but traditional training exercises require physical retrieval of a dummy target to gauge how well the sailors-in-training did.
But Deep Vision believes DFOSF could make training more efficient, and the system has been used on pre-recorded footage of live fire training exercises to demonstrate.
It's difficult enough for a human observer to pick out where bullets hit the water in rough seas, much less a computer program. To accomplish this, DFOSF uses a technique called data abstraction, which reduces computational complexity by compressing a ton of pixel data into a simpler, more manageable representation.
"You can think of it like each object type having its own word in a language that the machine understands," Deep Vision Chief Science Officer Michael Outhouse wrote in an email. "A car could have its own representation, and likewise, so would the impact from a bullet on the water surface."
But training could just be the beginning for DFOSF, according to Outhouse. The technology could also one day be used to help autonomous or semi-autonomous weapons hit their target.
"As assistance to fire control systems, the tracking provides guidance for firing," Outhouse explained. "The detection of where shots landed also has merit, and can potentially be used to rapidly and automatically correct for atmospheric disturbances between the firing vessel and the target."
Current generation autonomous weapons systems, such as the US Navy's Phalanx defense system for ships and the United Kingdom's Taranis drone all make numerous "decisions" on their own in terms of target detection and destruction before a human operator approves their actions. It's possible that, if implemented in these systems, DFOSF could supplement these abilities too.
There's no immediate indication that DFOSF would replace any humans in the control loop of such systems, but it could be seen as yet another step toward what anti-killer robot lobbying groups like the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) call "lethal autonomous weapons systems"—robots that kill people on their own, without human guidance or intervention.
The technology is still in its nascent stages, and Deep Vision's ambitions are certainly grand considering that the system hasn't even made it into training yet. But investment by the United Kingdom's army technology incubator, CDE, indicates a willingness to try the technology in the field one day soon.A 58-year-old man died on Tuesday three days after setting himself on fire during a demonstration held in Yerevan in support of opposition gunmen occupying an Armenian police station.
The man, Kajik Grigorian, poured petrol on himself and set himself alight shortly after more than a thousand protesters sympathetic to the gunmen blocked the city’s Marshal Bagramian Avenue on Saturday.
Although other protesters quickly put out the fire, Grigorian suffered serious burns and was hospitalized. He died of the burns in the hospital, according to the Armenpress news agency.
The gunmen seized the police compound in Yerevan’s Erebuni district on July 17 to demand the release of Zhirayr Sefilian, the jailed leader of their radical opposition movement, and President Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation. They surrendered to law-enforcement authorities late on Sunday.
Two police officers were killed during the two-week standoff.PROVO, UTAH
If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves, Robert L. Millet declared Dec. 3, echoing the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
“Hence, if somehow, by some unfortunate means, people begin to misconstrue God, they never really grasp what man is,” said Brother Millet, emeritus professor of religious education at Brigham Young University.
Speaking in the Varsity Theater on the university campus, Brother Millet delivered the annual Truman G. Madsen Lecture on Eternal Man, sponsored by the Wheatley Institution. He titled his address “Joseph Smith and the Recovery of ‘Eternal Man.’”
Brother Madsen, who died in 2009, was the founding senior fellow of the Wheatley Institution and a longtime professor at BYU whose rigorous intellectual acumen and commitment to spiritual and moral values were reflected in works that have influenced generations of scholars in the Church.
Quoting Brother Madsen, whom he called his hero, Brother Millet said, “One begins mortality with the veil drawn, but slowly he is moved to penetrate the veil within himself. He is in turn led to seek the holy of holies within his own being.”
Brother Millet noted that in the centuries following the death and resurrection of Christ, the deaths of His 12 apostles and the loss of priesthood keys, debates ensued regarding many theological points, particularly the nature of God and the Godhead.
“Issues that received special attention included: What is the relationship between the Father and the Son? Was Christ a created being or was He co-eternal with the Father? Is Christ subordinate to the Father, or is He equal in power and glory? Who or what is the Holy Spirit, and does that Spirit proceed from God the Father, from God the Son, or from both the Father and the Son? Are there three divine beings, two Gods or one God?”
In an effort to satisfy the accusations of Jews who insisted there is only one God, and at the same time incorporate Greek philosophical concepts, Christianity began to redefine the Godhead, Brother Millet explained.
“They adopted a strict monotheism, a belief that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons but ontologically one being,” he said, adding that religious leaders began to teach of God as being “incomprehensible and unknowable,” incorporeal, without body, parts or passions, and the belief that He never changes.
“The redefinition of God that had been formalized and codified through Christian councils created, quite naturally, a very different view of man,” Brother Millet noted.
“It is only natural for those who believe that God and humanity are basically of a different substance and thus of a different race to also believe that God is a totally unattached and uncreated being, to conclude that there was a time when only God existed and thus that the creation had to be ex nihilo, out of nothing,” he explained.
Quoting author Karen Armstrong, Brother Millet said such doctrine “tore the universe and the children of God away from God, thus transforming the inhabitants of planet Earth into an entirely different nature from the substance of the living God.”
Joseph Smith, he said, “was charged to restore a correct knowledge of God and man. To assist humanity in accomplishing this near-impossible task, God had been about the business of orchestrating things in preparation for that revolution we call the Restoration. This ‘marvelous work and a wonder’ was not to take place without immense and intricate preparation by divine providence. Hearts would be open to a new revelation in an unprecedented manner; nothing was to be left to chance.”
The First Vision of Joseph Smith in 1820 “is essentially the beginning of the revelation of God to man in this final dispensation,” Brother Millet said.
“Joseph Smith learned also by revelation that man is an eternal being,” he explained. “Of man’s divine capabilities, Joseph said on one occasion, ‘We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect, and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin.’”
Brother Millet said that about 30 years ago, he encountered an anti-Mormon book distributed free to about 50,000 homes where he lived. The author, a Protestant minister, purported to warn people against the Mormon missionaries, saying they would deliver their message “and prevail upon you to pray about it. This you must not do.”
The author wrote that because human nature is so corrupt, men and women can never trust their thoughts, feelings or prayers, that one could only trust the Bible.
“How tragic!” Brother Millet exclaimed. “How terribly unfortunate for a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ to discourage anyone from thinking, feeling and praying about matters of eternal import. I also shook my head, almost in disbelief, wondering how a person could possibly trust the Bible in its teachings if he or she could not think, feel or pray without fear of deception.”
Brother Millet summarized, “Our discussion tonight is not about lowering a high and holy God to the level of lowly and languishing humanity. It is about worshiping a being with whom we can identify, one who may be known, understood, approached, one with body, parts and passions, Who, like His beloved Son, may be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.”
[email protected]Perhaps the only real surprise in new Bond film Spectre is that the eponymous immoral organisation has not branched into sports administration.
Sport matters because it has the potential to do what very little else in the world can: uniting communities, stirring the soul, strengthening the body, building bonds between disparate nations, offering individuals identity and an escape. But sport is not getting the governance it deserves.
Governance is a dull word. So is administration. It is critical, and it is critical that it is done right, because otherwise we are all being cheated.
Wada commission leader Dick Pound said Russia seemed to have been running a "state-supported" doping programme
Sportspeople are being swindled of their careers, of their reputations, of their future. Us sports lovers are being defrauded of our trust, our emotional energy and our financial largesse.
Another day, another deluge of dirty laundry. On Monday, an independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency revealed a toxic epidemic of doping, cover-ups and extortion running across Russian athletics and spreading into the sport's international governing body.
Dope cheats, protected by the people paid to catch them. Extortion to ensure their complicity. The destruction of thousands of samples, the involvement of secret police. All this while those at the top of the sport face trial for corruption and money laundering.
We should be surprised by the depth and reach of this latest scandal. But how can we be, when it stems from a pattern so familiar across the sporting world?
There is governing body Fifa, in charge of the world's single most popular sport, with 14 of its current and former officials and associates on FBI charges of "rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted" corruption. Its long-term oligarch Sepp Blatter is currently suspended, along with Uefa president Michel Platini, in the wake of a separate Swiss criminal case.
There was the International Cycling Union under former president Hein Verbruggen, found by a 227-page report released last March to have colluded with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong to cover up his positive dope test at the 1999 Tour de France.
Lance Armstrong has since admitted to doping and has said he would "probably cheat again in similar circumstances"
There is the International Cricket Council (ICC), run by N Srinivasan who was banned from running his own national governing board by the Supreme Court of India. His scandalous lack of accountability was outlined in detail by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf and in human terms by recent film Death of a Gentleman.
There is F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who had his bribery trial in a German court settled in exchange for a £60m payment, and he left court a free man with no stain on his character.
And there was the IOC before the Winter Games at Salt Lake City, expelling six of its members for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from officials behind the city's bid in 2002.
There might be the temptation to shrug with cynicism, to claim that everyone is at it, to suggest that where such power and money flows there will always be temptation and a failure to resist it.
Do not. Athletics rewards very few with great financial dividends. It demands not just inherited talent but relentless hard work, much of it physically exhausting, little of it glamorous.
When its governing body behaves less like global sheriff than bent cop, it renders all that not meaningless, but self-destructive. Who would put themselves through so much pain for so long only to be denied on the biggest stage by someone who has been aided and abetted in taking shortcuts? And who would want to be known for their sport when so many then assume all involved have been guilty of the same deceptions?
It is the sort of double-cross and double blow that no clean athlete deserves, traduced by the cheats, smeared by the actions of those who have already duped them once.
Russian athlete Yuliya Zaripova, who won gold at London 2012 in the 3,000m steeplechase, has since been banned for doping
The existence of widespread doping in Russian athletics has been talked about in the sport for years. It became a repetitive joke: when did you ever see a Russian runner looking tired in the finishing straight?
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) should be fighting that plague and protecting the reputations of its true stars.
For those who watch from the outside, who invest financially in tickets and television subscriptions and emotionally in the big nights and great races, there is a betrayal equally as significant.
Who to trust? When to throw yourself into the moment? When to celebrate something you yourself could only dream of doing?
Media playback is not supported on this device Russia could be suspended - Coe
There were 17 track and field medals for Russia at the London Olympics - eight golds, four silvers and five bronzes. Across the whole Games they won 81. That is a very large asterisk to attach to the largest sporting event this country will ever see.
With every scandal a little more faith leaches away. When you can't trust what you are watching, when you wonder where your money is going and what price others are paying for the events you love to watch, then the leak becomes a flood.
What to do? Some say keep caring. Others, be angry. Demand more.
Elite sport happens because you watch, listen and read. Sponsors come calling because you come with it.
That money is there because of you, so exert the control you have. Those who do not agree with the ICC cutting the number of teams in its one-day World Cup from 14 to 10, further eviscerating the smaller nations, can deluge it with complaint.
Media playback is not supported on this device Russian doping 'worse than thought'
If you watched Death of a Gentleman and were distressed to learn that India, Australia and England carve up more than half of all Test revenues between them, you could join the film's Change Cricket campaign.
Don't hear the word administration and look at the latest scores instead. If the voting process that awarded Fifa's World Cup to a small desert state with a questionable human rights record disturbs you, campaigners would suggest you boycott the sponsors who bankroll it.
Where is your money going? Where is your affection being exploited? There are those who turn off the Diamond League when dope cheats are welcomed back. Others stop buying the trainers of companies who give those cheats shoe contracts. The fan is not an impotent consumer.
Qatar is hosting the 2022 World Cup
The UCI has begun its rehabilitation under Brian Cookson. The International Olympic Committee changed forever after Salt Lake. Athletics must do the same, even as football currently seems unable to free itself from its own moral mineshaft.
A scandal this grave demands action on an unprecedented scale. Suspend countries from events. Take events away from others. Think less of the organisation's reputation and more of the sport's survival.
When journalists publish allegations of doping, do not call it a "declaration of war on the sport" as new IAAF president Lord Coe did this summer. If former head of anti-doping Gabriel Dolle is convicted of bribery and corruption, re-examine the other cases under his jurisdiction and retest frozen samples.
Wada's budget last year was £17.5m, less than some footballers earn on their own. Match its funding to the scale of the problem.
Sport only survives if we all keep coming back. We come back because we believe in it. If that trust goes, everything else falls with it. It is a bottom line that brooks no argument.For the fourth consecutive year, the NCAA awarded Boise State's football program with a Public Recognition Award for having a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) among the top-10 percent of the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Boise State, Clemson, Duke, Northwestern and Rutgers are the only FBS programs to finish in the top-10 percent each of the last four years.
Boise State, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Rutgers, Stanford, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Utah State earned the Public Recognition Award this year.
According to the NCAA Research Twitter account, Boise State ranked fourth in the latest football APR report. Duke, Northwestern and Wisconsin are the top three and Utah State is fifth.
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The full APR reports for each school will be announced May 14. Idaho announced last month that it would be banned from postseason play and lose practice time for not meting NCAA APR standards. UNLV, a member of the Mountain West, is also banned from the postseason for its low APR score.
This APR report covers the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.
"As a department and university, we are very proud of the academic success football, women’s golf and all our sports continue to achieve," Boise State Director of Athletics Mark Coyle said in a statement released by the school. "These results are a direct result of the hard work not only by our student-athletes, but by the coaches and academic staff in our department, as we prepare our young people for success after they graduate from Boise State."
Boise State and Utah State are the only Mountain West football programs to earn a Public Recognition Award. The Broncos have had the top score in their conference of the last seven APR reports – five in the WAC and two in the Mountain West.
The Broncos' women's golf team also received the award for the first time. The team posted a 3.65 grade-point average in the fall semester.
Wide receiver D.J. Dean and women's golfer Sammie Pless were the only Boise State student-athletes to earn 4.0 GPAs in consecutive semesters. Dean has done it two consecutive semester; Pless three.
APR track the academic progress of each scholarship student-athlete and counts eligibility, retention and graduation.NEW YORK – American Jews show among the highest levels of support for gay marriage, from all American subgroups measured in recent polls, according to figures published this week by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
According to five polls of Americans in 2012 and 2013, with the most recent conducted in March 2013, 76 percent of US Jews support legalizing same-sex marriage, while 18% oppose and 8% did not express an opinion.
The figure is remarkably high, particularly when compared to the number of Protestants (34%) and Catholics (53%) who support same-sex marriage.
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Jewish support is higher than the support among Democrats (61%), self-described “liberals” (72%), and even among Americans without religious affiliation (75%).
The sample size of Jews — just 210 out of over 9,900 respondents — made a breakdown into age, attendance of religious service, or political views impossible. But for larger segments of the study, those factors had a dramatic effect on views on gay marriage.
The youngest adult Americans are twice as likely to support gay marriage as the oldest. Some 66% of Americans aged 18-29 support it, while just 33% of those over 65 expressed support.
All religious groups and political subdivisions saw much higher support for gay marriage among the young. For example, 39% of Republicans aged 29 or younger support legalizing gay marriage, compared to just 16% of Republicans over 65. Among Catholics, support is twice as high (72%) among those aged 18 to 34 as it is among those over 65 (36%).
Women were also more likely to support gay marriage (52%) than men (44%).
The rate of attendance of religious services also has an effect on views on gay marriage. Some 60% of respondents attend religious services less than once a week, while 40% attend once a week or more. Those with lower attendance were twice as likely, at 60%, to support legalizing gay marriage, compared to the lowers levels of support, 28%, from those with higher attendance.Detroit is the Most Dangerous City in America for the second year in a row, according to data released today by the FBI. Detroit maintains this ranking despite an overall violent crime decrease of 2.5 percent over the course of 2013, the latest year for which the FBI has released crime statistics. Oakland also maintained its #2 ranking for the second year in a row, followed by Memphis, which moved to #3 after its rank at #4 last year. Look at the list below to see the full Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities in America.
Click here to see full Crime in America 2015 coverage, including Top 10 Safest Cities.
Click here to view a slideshow of the Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities Over 200,000.
#1 Detroit, Michigan
Detroit once again tops the list of Most Dangerous Cities with a violent crime rate of 2,072 per 100,000; however, that number reflects a nearly 2.5 percent decrease from the previous year. In the wake of its bankruptcy, Detroit has worked to bring greater efficiency and effectiveness to its public services. James E. Craig was appointed Chief of Police in July 2013, and since then the department’s homicide clearance rate rose from 11 percent to 43 percent, and almost every major crime category experienced decreases. Craig set a goal of reducing overall crime by 10 percent in 2014, which will make Detroit a city to watch in the coming months.
Violent Crime Rate: 2,072/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 45/100,000 people
Population: 699,889 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:297
Median Household Income: $26,955 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 38.1%
Rank last year: #1
#2 Oakland, California
Oakland, California maintains its spot as the #2 Most Dangerous City in the United States for the second year in a row; however, after reaching a 10-year high in violent crime in 2012, the city managed to decrease its crime rate last year. Despite an over 10 percent increase in violent crime during the first six months of 2013 relative to the previous year, the year-end statistics revealed an overall decrease in violent crime of approximately one percent. This reduction may have been spurred by the creation of new, smaller police districts. The Oakland Police Department expanded the number of police districts from two to five, each with its own captain responsible for the local crime rate. The new district plan took effect halfway through 2013, the results of which will be interesting to observe over time.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,977/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 22/100,000 people
Population: 403,887 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:632
Median Household Income: $51,683 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 20.3%
Rank Last Year: #2
#3 Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis took over St. Louis’ position as the #3 Most Dangerous City in America, rising up one place from #4 last year. Although Memphis moved up on the list, the city still managed to decrease its violent crime rate by more than 5 percent. The city had 124 murders, 437 rapes, 3,133 robberies, and 7,200 aggravated assaults.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,656/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 19/100,000 people
Population: 657,691| Officer to Population Ratio: 1:284
Median Household Income: $36,817 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 26.2%
Rank last year: #4
#4 St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis continued its downward trend in violent crime this year, moving down one spot to be the #4 Most Dangerous City in the United States. The city saw its fewest number of total crimes since 1966. Despite this trend, St. Louis still has the fourth highest violent crime rate among large cities in the United States. The city’s encouraging 20 percent drop in crime during the first six months of 2013 continued through the year’s end, as violent crime went down 10 percent for the entire year. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson has attributed the trend in crime reduction to several of the city’s new policing changes, such as the implementation of hotspot policing, movement from state to local control of the police force, and the redistricting of its police districts.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,594/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 38/100,000 people
Population: 318,563 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:248
Median Household Income: $34,384 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 27.0%
Rank Last Year: #3
#5 Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio is ranked the #5 Most Dangerous City in America this year after its previous ranking at #8. It is one of the few cities that experienced an increase in violent crime last year. Fueled largely by increases in the number of robberies and aggravated assaults, Cleveland’s violent crime rate increased by nearly seven percent. The number of murders did manage to decrease from 84 in 2012 to 55 in 2013; however, that trend may be reversing itself, as the city is poised for an increase.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,478/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 14/100,000 people
Population: 389,181 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:264
Median Household Income: $26,556 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 34.2%
Rank last year: #8
#6 Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland is the #6 Most Dangerous City in the United States, moving down one spot from #7 last year. Despite its slight decrease in violent crime–which went down by less than 1 percent–Baltimore saw an increase in the number of murders. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts told CBS Baltimore, “Our homicide number…is unacceptable. Period. No excuses.” Baltimore is second only to Detroit in its number of total murders, as the city experienced 233 homicides last year. Despite Baltimore’s increase in murders and consistent violent crime rate, Batts did note that citizen complaints against police officers decreased nearly 50 percent last year.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,401/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 37/100,000 people
Population: 622,671 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:220
Median Household Income: $40,803 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 23.4%
Rank last year: #7
#7 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin jumped onto the list of the Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities for the first time last year after an investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the police department misreported more than 500 violent crimes between 2009 to 2012. The city moved up the list to its current position as the #7 Most Dangerous City with a violent crime rate of 1,364 violent crimes per 100,000 people. These statistics are the first comparable numbers after the FBI’s audit of the Milwaukee Police Department, as it now has two consecutive years of accurate crime data–both years ranking the city in the Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities list. The numbers show that murders in Milwaukee are at a five-year high, with 104 in 2013.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,364/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 17 per 100,000 people
Population: 600,805 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:323
Median Household Income: $35,823 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 28.3%
Rank last year: #10
#8 Birmingham, Alabama
Ranking #8 on Law Street’s list of Most Dangerous Cities is Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham continued its downward trend in violent crime in 2013 with an 11 percent reduction, moving the city down this list from its spot at #6 last year. During the first half of 2013 the city was poised to show a large drop in its number of murders; however, a two-week period in June saw 11 homicides, which prevented significant change by year’s end. Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper noted that lowering the number of murders is proving to be a challenge for the city.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,345/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 30/100,000 people
Population: 212,001 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:254
Median Household Income: $31,467 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 28.9%
Rank last year: #6
#9 Newark, New Jersey
Newark is a newcomer to the list this year. It is currently the #9 Most Dangerous City in America, moving into the Top 10 and displacing both Stockton, California and Atlanta, Georgia. Newark moved up 10 places this year after the city’s violent crime rate rose by nearly 10 percent, the largest increase among the cities on this list. A 23 percent increase in the number of robberies was the primary reason Newark rose up the rankings this year. The total number of murders also increased in Newark going from 96 in 2012 to 112 last year, an increase of over 16 percent.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,264/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 40/100,000 people
Population: 278,246 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:276
Median Household Income: $34,387 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 28.0%
Rank last year: 19
#10 Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri–a newcomer to the Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities list–ranks #10 this year. The city displaced Atlanta, Georgia, which was ranked #10 last year. Despite the fact that Kansas City moved into the Top 10, its violent crime rate did in fact decrease by less than one percent from 2012 to 2013. The city of nearly a half-million people experienced 99 murders, 377 rapes, 1,662 robberies, and 3,726 aggravated assaults.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,260/100,000 people | Murder Rate: 21/100,000 people
Population: 465,514 | Officer to Population Ratio: 1:341
Median Household Income: $45,150 | Pop. Below Poverty Line: 18.8%
Rank last year: #12
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Research and analysis by Law Street’s Crime in America Team: Kevin Rizzo, Chelsey Goff, and Anneliese Mahoney.
Click here for additional information on Law Street’s crime-ranking methodology.
Sources:
FBI: Violent crime, population, murder, and officer statistics, measured January – December 2013.
U.S. Census Bureau: Median household income, measured 2007-2011.
U.S. Census Bureau: Poverty, measured 2008-2012.
Featured image courtesy of [Dan DeLuca via Flickr]TACKLING a crossword can crowd the tip of your tongue. You know that you know the answers to 3 down and 5 across, but the words just won’t come out. Then, when you’ve given up and moved on to another clue, comes blessed relief. The elusive answer suddenly occurs to you, crystal clear.
The processes leading to that flash of insight can illuminate many of the human mind’s curious characteristics. Crosswords can reflect the nature of intuition, hint at the way we retrieve words from our memory, and reveal a surprising connection between puzzle solving and our ability to recognise a human face.
“What’s fascinating about a crossword is that it involves many aspects of cognition that we normally study piecemeal, such as memory search and problem solving, all rolled into one ball,” says Raymond Nickerson, a psychologist at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. In a paper published earlier this year, he brought profession and hobby together by analysing the mental processes of crossword solving (Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, vol 18, p 217).
1 across: “You stinker!” – audible cry that allegedly marked displacement activity (6)
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Most of our mental machinations take place pre-consciously, with the results dropping into our conscious minds only after they have been decided elsewhere in the brain. Intuition plays a big role in solving a crossword, Nickerson observes. Indeed, sometimes your pre-conscious mind may be so quick that it produces the goods instantly.
At other times, you might need to take a more methodical approach and consider possible solutions one by one, perhaps listing synonyms of a word in the clue.
Even if your list doesn’t seem to make much sense, it might reflect the way your pre-conscious mind is homing in on the solution. Nickerson points to work in the 1990s by Peter Farvolden at the University of Toronto in Canada, who gave his subjects four-letter fragments of seven-letter target words (as may happen in some crossword layouts, especially in the US, where many words overlap). While his volunteers attempted to work out the target, they were asked to give any other word that occurred to them in the meantime. The words tended to be associated in meaning with the eventual answer, hinting that the pre-conscious mind solves a problem in steps.
Should your powers
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53.4% Total 3,486,703 100% +11.7% 2000 White 2,695,560 67.2% +12.0% Black 1,185,216 29.5% +14.0% Other 131,236 3.3% +229.4% Total 4,012,012 100% +15.1% 2010 White 3,062,000 66.2% +13.6% Black 1,290,684 27.9% +8.9% Other 274,680 5.9% +109.3% Total 4,625,364 100% +15.3%Study: Calif. Pot Measure May Not Hurt Drug Cartels
A new report from the RAND Corporation says that legalizing marijuana in California will not help end Mexican drug cartel violence. The study says California's pot market accounts for only a tiny fraction of the cartels' revenues.
But supporters of Proposition 19, a ballot measure in California to legalize marijuana, say that regulating pot will reduce cartel violence.
According to Richard Lee, a marijuana activist and a key backer of Proposition 19, it's the best way to undermine drug cartels.
"If you look at the violence in Mexico, that just can't continue," Lee says. "The strongest argument is to make a first step toward ending the violence in Mexico. It's worse than Iraq and Afghanistan."
Lee and other Proposition 19 backers say legalizing pot in California will slash cartels' profits. Marijuana has been their cash crop for decades.
Cartel Diversification
But David Shirk, who directs the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, doubts that losing the California market would hurt the drug gangs that much.
"The reality is that you would probably have to legalize the consumption of marijuana throughout the United States -- or in several significantly sized states -- to have any kind of reverberations here in Mexico," says Shirk.
Regardless, pot isn't the cartels' meal ticket anymore, says Joe Garcia, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"They diversified," he says. "There's a larger increase of manufacturing of meth. Eighty percent of what U.S. authorities seize comes from Mexico."
Garcia says Proposition 19 wouldn't touch cartels' profits from their other illegal activities: "Heroin, cocaine, extortion, gun running, bulk cash smuggling, whatever," he says.
And he says the violence that comes with smuggling those drugs, cash and guns will continue.
'Lives And Peace'
South of the border, Mexican President Felipe Calderon opposes Proposition 19. He says it represents inconsistency. For example, Calderon says he wonders how U.S. drug policy can demand Mexico crack down on drug trafficking and also encourage consumption, like he says Proposition 19 does.
Jorge Ramos, mayor of Tijuana, fears Proposition 19 could mean smugglers would pump even more pot through his city to feed California's demand.
"They're going to intensify trying to put marijuana at the other side of the border, and that's cost us a lot of lives and peace here in Tijuana," Ramos says.
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities say Mexican drug trafficking groups are already growing hundreds of tons of marijuana in California, mostly on public lands. Authorities have arrested dozens of Mexican nationals tending these fields. However, they haven't been able to tie them to major Mexican cartels.
Some authorities fear Proposition 19 will open a new legal market for this marijuana, and Mexican drug groups will cash in.Questions emerge over motives behind ending Flint’s ties to Detroit water system
By James Brewer and Jerry White
29 January 2016
New evidence has emerged that challenges the official explanation of why Flint’s state-appointed emergency manager decided to end the city’s half-century practice of buying water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). While the move was explained as a cost-cutting measure, an April 2013 email surfaced this week revealing that DWSD officials offered to sharply reduce rates to Flint, with a potential cost saving of hundreds of millions.
With the approval of then-state treasurer Andy Dillon, Flint’s emergency manager rejected Detroit’s offer and decided to join a competing multi-county body called Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA), which had a multi-year plan to construct of 70-mile pipeline to link Flint directly to Lake Huron. The April 2013 decision set into motion the city’s switch to the highly polluted Flint River in April 2014, a move that was supposed to be temporary, until the pipeline was completed.
The Flint River
The highly corrosive water caused lead to leach from the city’s antiquated pipe system, resulting in the poisoning of city residents and irreparable neurological damage, particularly to thousands of children, which will have multi-generational effects.
Dillon made the “ultimate decision” to switch Flint from Detroit water, according to released emails from Governor Snyder’s office. While the former state treasurer claimed the switch to the Flint River was not linked to his decision, Snyder’s former chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore, recently told the Detroit News, “I think the Flint River was always part of the KWA plan.”
Earlier this week, Bill Johnson, the former public affairs director of the Detroit water system, released an April 15, 2013 email from then-DWSD director Susan McCormick. The email sent by McCormick to her board describes a proposal for an immediate 48 percent rate reduction from $20 to $10.46 per 7,500 gallons. “When compared over the 30-year horizon the DWSD proposal saves $800 million, or said differently—saves 20 percent over the KWA proposal,” she wrote.
The very next day—April 16, 2013—then Flint Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz, along with Genesee County officials, signed the agreement to join the KWA and informed the DWSD that they would stop buying its water by April 2014. Then-mayor Dayne Walling stated publicly, “This is going to be a great chance to start over. Flint and Genesee County are best served by joining this pipeline.”
On June 28, 2013, the much-publicized beginning of the pipeline’s construction was described by the state news web site Mlive.com as “a veritable who’s who of politicians, business leaders, chamber of commerce officials and state department heads gathered … to celebrate the groundbreaking.”
As early as March 2012 Dillon had met with Flint city officials to discuss switching from Detroit to KWA. A study by the engineering firm Tucker, Young, Jackson and Tull, which was commissioned by Dillon, found it was far more cost-effective to stay with DWSD. Their results were ignored, based on claims by Dillon that their numbers were wrong.
The decision to switch to the KWA despite potential cost-savings for Flint raises several questions about the real motivation of state and local officials for the move.
Did then-state treasurer Andy Dillon make the decision to sever Flint—Detroit’s largest customer—from Detroit in order to deliberately exacerbate the financial crisis in Detroit?
In the year before the April 2013 decision, Snyder and Dillon were deeply involved in the conspiracy to declare a “financial emergency” in Michigan’s largest city and set in motion the installation of an unelected emergency manager in Detroit who would throw the city into bankruptcy. In March 2013, using highly dubious estimates of the city’s liabilities—particularly in regards to pensions and other so-called legacy costs—Snyder announced an emergency and installed the new EM, Kevyn Orr, a partner in the Jones Day law firm.
There was ample warning that the Flint switch would have disastrous effects, from the warning by Oakland County officials that the loss of the city would result in higher costs for remaining suburban customers, to the warning of DWSD’s Bill Johnson, who said it would lead to the “greatest water war in Michigan’s history.”
Was the move part of a wider plan to privatize publicly owned water system and “monetize” the DWSD, which was viewed by private investors as the most valuable asset in the city of Detroit?
Attorneys at Washington, DC-based Jones Day had previously written on using the federal bankruptcy courts to overturn state constitutional protections for public employee pensions and city charters and other legal obstacles to the sell-off of public assets. Dillon, a former investment banker, played a key role in bringing in Jones Day to do just that.
In early 2014, Kevyn Orr made public that he had been actively seeking a buyer for the century-old municipally owned water system in Detroit for some time. Orr contracted Veolia North America (VNA), a branch of the massive French transnational known as the “world’s leader in water services,” to downsize DWSD, slash costs and maximize payments to the big bondholders who controlled the water department’s debt. This coincided with a campaign to shut off water to tens of thousands of residents behind on their bills.
It is noteworthy that in April 2011, two workers died and millions of gallons of sewage were dumped into a nearby river after a catastrophic mechanical failure at a wastewater treatment plant in Gatlinburg, Tennessee owned by the local municipality and operated by Veolia Water.
In February 2015, Flint officials hired Veolia to do a study of the city’s water. This was during the period when the city was in violation of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act because of excess trihalomethanes and E.coli in the water. Residents had been up in arms over the water quality since the April 2014 switch to Flint River water.
In March 2015, Veolia announced that the water met federal and state standards, echoing the lies of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). VNA did not reveal the high lead levels, although the toxin had been flowing into the city’s water for 10-11 months without any corrosion control. Veolia’s recommendation was to use chemical treatments to alleviate complaints about the discoloration of the water.
Was the plan to turn KWA into a revenue-generating authority to funnel money to private companies and wealthy bondholders? In the 1980s and 1990s deindustrialized cities built casinos to cover a portion of their debts. Water has now become a major source of money for distressed cities like Detroit. Were the rate hikes and mass water shutoffs in Flint leading up to the crisis aimed at attracting private investors for a similar plan?
“Getting away from DWSD and getting towards a quasi-private operation was the idea all along,” Steve Paraski, a former DWSD Master Plumber, told the WSWS. “The KWA is just a front for Veolia North America and Veolia is a big-time Jones Day client.”
Speaking on the influence of Veolia on the DWSD operation, Paraski said, “The DWSD said they needed only 100 employees to function. With five 24-7 water treatment plants in the region, serving 4 million people, how is that possible?
“VNA was in on this. They said 1,300 civil servants were too many. But you really need that many to run the operation. How would they do this? With low wages and in-house training.
“Flint’s system has $500 million of future debt. Their water plant is over 100 years old and hasn’t been functioning for decades. Flint knew in the 1960s that their water plant was antiquated.
“So why did Flint leave? To create a crisis within the DWSD to enable the GLWA [Great Lakes Water Authority, the entity that currently controls what once were DWSD’s regional assets] to take over and eventually be run privately.”
President Obama, whose appointee at the Environmental Protection Agency was complicit in covering up the lead poisoning of Flint residents, has deliberately pushed for the privatization of essential social services, from public education to water systems. While handing trillions to Wall Street and the Pentagon, the administration has systematically starved states and municipalities of federal funding, forcing them deeper and deeper into debt. The administration then promotes “Public Private Partnerships” to begin the process of privatization.
The White House has provided an insulting $80 million to Flint under conditions in which a massive marshaling of resources is needed to provide children with lifelong health care and education. Weeks after Governor Snyder and Obama announced states of emergency not a single lead water pipe has been replaced in Flint. University of Michigan Earth and Resource Scientist Dr. Martin Kaufman is working with the city to create a database of 15-20,000 Flint homes that have lead service lines. Although more than 200 local plumbers are available to start the job of replacing the pipes, no one has called them, a plumbers’ union official said.
The author also recommends:
Regional disputes deepen over control of Detroit water system
[31 May 2014]
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Raghuram Rajan +
would not stay on for a second term +
Rajan, a former IMF chief economist +
'rockstar central banker' +
LONDON: The Reserve Bank of India will survive any Governor and it is important not to "personalize this office",had told The Economist magazine days before his announcement that hewho is credited to have predicted the 2008 global financial crisis, has been often hailed as theever since becoming RBI Governor in September 2013 and for containing rupee volatility amid global market uncertainties."What is important is to not personalize this office. It will survive any Governor, it is bigger than any Governor," the Economist magazine quoted Rajan as saying in its latest edition.The comments are believed to have been made amid intense speculation on whether he would get an extension or not as RBI Governor — in the run-up to his own disclosure in a publicly-disseminated " Message to RBI staff " that he would return to academia after the end of his current three-year tenure Besides, he has also been often praised for containing inflation to a large extent and for forcing the banks to do a "deep surgery" to clean up their books of bad loans. At the same time, he has also been criticised by some quarters for his hawkish monetary policy stance and refusing to heed to demands for lowering interest rates to boost the economy."Though a relative newcomer to the cut and thrust of Indian policymaking, Rajan knows better than to offer any comment on his reappointment," the magazine wrote.It said Rajan "need not even leave his office atop the Reserve Bank of India's tower in Mumbai to gauge two factors central to India's prosperity".The Economist further quoted him as saying while looking down, the ships sailing to nearby docks provide clues as to the buoyancy of foreign trade — "The imposition of steel tariffs earlier this year, a knock-on effect from China's slowdown, all but stopped traffic for a time".It further said Rajan "favours incremental reforms over wholesale ones. He has made it easier to move money in and out of India, but not abolished capital controls in the way you might have expected from a former IMF chief economist".According to the magazine, Rajan's three-year term is the shortest of any G20 country and the recent governors have been given second terms as much as seven months in advance.In a separate article in its web edition after Rajan announced his decision against a second term, the Economist called it "one of India's favourite parlour games" coming to an end, while adding that a clean-up of the banking system that he initiated upset "India's powerful -- and indebted -- industrialists".Nearly 21 million Americans were directly affected by drug or alcohol addiction last year — roughly the same amount of Americans who have diabetes, according to a new report from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on addiction.
Yet just one in every 10 of those people got treatment.
"We would never tolerate a situation where only one in 10 people with cancer or diabetes gets treatment, and yet we do that with substance-abuse disorders," Murthy told the Washington Post.
RELATED: Opioid addiction reaches crisis level in the US
5 PHOTOS Opioid Addiction has reached crisis level in the US See Gallery Opioid Addiction has reached crisis level in the US (Photo: WPIX) (Photo: WPIX) (Photo: WPIX) (Photo: WPIX) (Photo: WPIX) Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE
Also in 2015, according to the new report, more than 27 million people reported misusing legal prescription drugs or using illegal ones. More than 66 million people said they had engaged in binge drinking sometime in the previous month.
The answer to the problem is complex, says Murthy, and should include things like increased screenings for addiction in doctor's offices. But, he argues, it's also time to change our perception of people who've struggled with addiction.
"We also need a cultural shift in how we think about addiction. For far too long, too many in our country have viewed addiction as a moral failing. This unfortunate stigma has created an added burden of shame that has made people with substance use disorders less likely to come forward and seek help," Murthy writes.
"We must help everyone see that addiction is not a character flaw — it is a chronic illness that we must approach with the same skill and compassion with which we approach heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Murthy's view is one that has been echoed time and again by neuroscientists, economists, psychiatrists, and people who themselves have struggled with addiction. Several peer-reviewed scientific studies done over the past decade support the idea as well.
In her recent book, "Unbroken Brain," neuroscience journalist and author Maia Szalavitz calls addiction a learning disorder, much like ADHD, and says it needs to be treated as such. This treatment regimen would vary based on the individual but could include things like cognitive behavioral therapy, a form of psychotherapy in which the therapist and patient work together to swap unhealthy learned patterns with more constructive ways of thinking, and potentially medication.
Addiction "is a form of pathologic learning," Szalavitz told Business Insider earlier this year. "Overwhelming changes occur in the brain region involving areas that evolved for things like love and sex and feeding."
RELATED: How opioids affect your health
12 PHOTOS What opioids do to your health See Gallery What opioids do to your health Opioid painkillers capitalize on our body's natural pain-relief system. We all have a series of naturally produced keys ("ligands") and keyholes ("receptors") that fit together to switch on our brain's natural reward system — it's the reason we feel good when we eat a good meal or have sex, for example. But opioids mimic the natural keys in our brain — yes, we all have natural opioids! When they click in, we can feel an overwhelming sense of euphoria. Photo credit: Getty Opioid painkillers can have effects similar to heroin and morphine, especially when taken in ways other than prescribed by a doctor. When prescription painkillers act on our brain's pleasure and reward centers, they can make us feel good. More importantly, though, they can work to reinforce behavior, which in some people can trigger a repeated desire to use. Photo credit: Getty You may also feel sleepy. Opioids act on multiple brain regions, but when they go to work in the locus ceruleus, a brain region involved in alertness, they can make us sleepy. Why? The drugs essentially put the brakes on the production of a chemical called norepinephrine, which plays a role in arousal. Photo credit: Getty Your skin may feel flushed and warm. Photo credit: Getty You'll begin to feel their effects 10 to 90 minutes after use, depending on whether they're taken as directed or used in more dangerous ways. Some drugmakers design versions of their medications to deter abuse. Extended-release forms of oxycodone, for example, are designed to release slowly when taken as directed. But crushing, snorting, or injecting the drugs can hasten their effects. It can also be deadly. Between 2000 and 2014, nearly half a million Americans died from overdoses involving opioid painkillers and heroin, a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. The most commonly prescribed painkillers were involved in more overdose deaths than any other type of the drug. Photo credit: Getty Your breathing will slow as well. Photo credit: Getty Depending on the method used, the effect can last anywhere from four to 12 hours. For severe pain, doctors typically prescribe opioid painkillers like morphine for a period of four to 12 hours, according to the Mayo Clinic. Because of their risks, it's important to take prescription painkillers only according to your physician's specific instructions. Photo Credit: Getty Overdosing can stop breathing and cause brain damage, coma, or even death. A 2014 report from the American Academy of Neurology estimates that more than 100,000 Americans have died from prescribed opioids since the late 1990s. Those at highest risk include people between 35 and 54, the report found, and deaths for this age group have exceeded deaths from firearms and car crashes. Photo Credit: Getty Combining them with alcohol or other drugs — even when taken according to the directions — can be especially deadly. Since they slow breathing, combining opioid painkillers with other drugs with similar effects can drastically raise the chances of accidental overdose and death. Yet they're often prescribed together anyway, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Unfortunately, too many patients are still co-prescribed opioid pain relievers and benzodiazepines [tranquilizers]," the institute said. In 2011, 31% of prescription opioid-related overdose deaths involved these drugs. Photo credit: Getty Abusing opioid painkillers has been linked with abusing similar drugs, like heroin. A CDC report found that people who'd abused opioid painkillers were 40 times as likely to abuse heroin compared with people who'd never abused them. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says that close to half of young people surveyed in three recent studies who'd injected heroin said they'd abused prescription painkillers before they started using heroin. Photo credit: Getty You may also develop a tolerance for the drugs so that you need more to get the same effect over time. Tolerance to opioid painkillers happens when the brain cells with opioid receptors — the keyholes where the opioids fit — become less responsive to the opioid stimulation over time. Scientists think that this may play a powerful role in addiction. Photo credit: Getty Suddenly stopping the drugs can result in withdrawal symptoms like shakiness, vomiting, and diarrhea. Taking prescription painkillers for an extended period increases the likelihood that your brain will adapt to them by making less of its own natural opioids. So when you stop taking the drugs, you can feel pretty miserable. For most people, this is uncomfortable but temporary. But in people who are vulnerable to addiction, it can be dangerous because it can spurn repeated use. "From a clinical standpoint, opioid withdrawal is one of the most powerful factors driving opioid dependence and addictive behaviors," Yale psychiatrists Thomas Kosten and Tony George write in a 2002 paper in the Journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. Photo credit: Getty Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE
That means addiction will create what she calls "very powerful drives" — strong desires to take the drug repeatedly even if it's not providing any pleasant effects — something that runs contrary to what many people think of when they think of an addict who uses simply because it feels good.
"We've just been getting this completely backwards, by failing to address the role of learning," Szalavitz said. "If you want to call it a disease, the kind of disease it is is a learning disease."
Read the Surgeon General's full report, titled "Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health" >>
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My baby makes me feel bodaciously high — and it's a deep mystery of science
If you have depression, you likely aren't getting the treatment you need
Consumer confidence rebounds from a 2-year low, but with an important catchPreparing the hive for the Winter
As the temperature starts to drop and the leaves start to fall it’s time to prepare the hives for winter.
A beekeeper assesses the hive and checks whether the bees have good food supplies.
This year has been very strange for bees. The non-existent winter and mild spring enabled many plants to flower and fruit unusually early here.
But this seems to have meant that the crops and flowers finished fruiting early too.
Consequently our bees have been left with less foraging.
We believe this has led to one colony having European Foul Brood. This disease strikes weakened hives.
But we tackled it securely and the bees are doing well.
When we assessed this hive a few weeks ago it was clear that their food supplies were low.
So we have been feeding them for about three weeks. They have consumed plenty of sugar water. So at the weekend, we took the feeder away.
Meanwhile it was a good time to add insulation to the hive.
Through the winter, bees continue to sustain the hive temperature at approximately 34 degrees. Bee keepers should avoid disturbing the hive and releasing warmth.
The bees themselves reduce their activity and use various strategies to keep the hive warm.
They use body tremoring, they block holes or cracks with propylis, and this includes reducing the hive entrance if necessary. They focus themselves in a concentrated dense cluster and use similar techniques to penguins where they take turns to move to the centre of the cluster so they don’t get cold on the edge.
As bee keepers we provide foam insulation.
Other winter precautions can include taking care to secure the hive against wind with straps and guy ropes.
In one of our other hives we’ve woven a screen from bramble and raspberry stick prunings. It helps to shield the hive entrance from any snow glare. The bees can be fooled by bright light into exploring in unsuitably cold temperatures which can lead to high losses.
We have also used a jute sack of fine wood shavings to provide insulation too.The Toronto sloth that correctly predicted the World Cup winner has rejected honours from the city – repeatedly.
Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly was to present Bob the sloth with a congratulatory scroll on Thursday at the Toronto Zoo, but the furry mammal refused it at least three times.
And when the two-toed sloth did accept the scroll – awarded for its apparent precognition – the animal dropped it within seconds, seemingly losing interest.
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Kelly said the three-year-old sloth's laziness resembled that of his teenage son, "eating, sleeping and just hanging."
Earlier this month, a German flag and an Argentine flag were presented to Bob, who made his prediction by grabbing the black, red and gold flag of Germany. Two days later, Germany won the match 1-0.
Zoo employees say Bob correctly predicted 14 World Cup matches this year prior to the final and has an accuracy rate of well over 70 per cent.
"There were a lot of people out there who were predicting the eventual winners," Kelly said.
"The one person – in quotation marks – who has the best record of predicting the victors was Bob the sloth."
Kelly also joked that he asked the sloth for predictions on the upcoming mayoral race, adding the animal replied he would "take his time" because "he's a sloth."
The zoo said Bob will be available for a meet-and-greet session this weekend.The hunger strike that began with 1,000 participants in mid-April has now grown to 2,000 according to the the Palestinian prisoner support network Addameer.
The first prisoners to go on hunger strike, Thaer Halalheh and Bilal Diab, have now entered their 70th day without food and Israeli Physicians for Human Rights reports that they are “very close to death”. Both Thaer Halalheh and Bilal Diab are detained in what is known as “administrative detention” meaning that they have not been charged with any crime and have received no trial. Hassan Safadi is now on his 63rd day of hunger strike and his health is reported to be rapidly deteriorating. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel reports that on May 3rd Safadi was “held down by prison guards and forcefully given treatment by a prison doctor via an injection in his arm.” Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has pointed out that this forced injection is, “in strict violation of the principles of medical ethics and the guidelines of the World Medical Association and the Israeli Medical Association… Hassan also recounted having refused water for a several days until he was moved to Ramleh Prison medical clinic. Upon his arrival, he was beaten by prison guards, and the prison doctor refused to record the injuries sustained from the attack.”
The hunger strikers are demanding an end to the practice of administrative detention, which refers to the Israeli policy of indefinitely imprisoning Palestinians without charge or trial. In addition, the hunger strikers are demanding an end to solitary confinement, the denial of family visits, and are requesting access to university education.
This mass hunger strike furthers the wave of resistance that began last December when Khader Adnan began his hunger strike on December 17th, 2011 to protest his arrest and imprisonment in administrative detention. The Israeli authorities were forced to agree to release Adnan after mass solidarity protests began spreading across the world. Soon afterwards, on February 16th, 2012, Hana Shalabi began her hunger strike against her imprisonment in administrative detention and after 43 days Israel was forced to release her into the occupied territories.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights and Princeton University professor Richard Falk aptly points out that this hunger strike has received almost no attention in the corporate media. Instead, Falk writes, they seem to be obsessed with the plight of Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese human rights activist who recently escaped house detention in China. Falk blasts liberal columnists such as Thomas Friedman who have been for years been using their privileged positions to preach non-violent resistance to the Palestinians and yet are now completely silent in the face of mass Palestinian non-violent resistance. In fact, as Falk points out, The New York Times did not even devote “one inch” of space to the hunger strikes until the 65th day of Thaer Halalheh and Bilal Diab’s hunger strike.
The United States currently gives complete and unconditional military, economic, and diplomatic support to the Israeli government.Russ Steele writes:
I wrote about the possibility that Katla is Iceland might become active again in this decade here, based on a swarm of earth quakes. Now those quakes are getting more intense.
Every time Katla has erupted in human history the human race has suffered. Now, with our dependence on air travel to transport food and people for business and tourism the impact will be significant in the short term. Long term the shortening of the growing season will impact the global food supply. The northern grain growing regions in the US, Canada and Russia will be unable to produce the surpluses that have fed hungry mouths around the world. Some regions will shift southward, but will not be enough to feed the hungry.
Now the Katla quakes are becoming more intense, over shorter intervals. More details here.
======================================================
The Volcansim blog writes:
A possible small eruption under the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap in south Iceland has produced a surge of glacial meltwater, a jökulhlaup, which has caused flooding and cut the main road through the area. A bridge has been swept away, and local evacuations are apparently taking place.
======================================================
Last summer, nearly a year ago today, I wrote:
Katla volcano in iceland sees 14 earthquakes in 48 hours. This may mean nothing, or it may be a prelude to an eruption. Either way it bears watching.
The difference between then and now is that the grouping of the epicenters has more focus. I’m not sure if that means anything, but it is worth noting.
Last year I also drew attention to this statement from Iceland’s president:
Katla Volcano usually erupts every century, says Iceland’s President Olafur Grimsson. and the last eruption was in 1918. “The time for Katla to erupt is coming close.”
“I don’t say if, but I say when Katla will erupt,” Grimsson says. “We have been waiting for that eruption for several years.”
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RedditA 3.8 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of North Yorkshire.
The tremor was detected about 100 miles (150km) east of Scarborough in the North Sea at 18:52 GMT on Tuesday.
A British Geological Survey (BGS) spokesman said people may have experienced a "minor tremor", but the quake would not have caused any structural damage.
Four earthquakes measuring between 3.0 and 3.9 magnitude are detected in the North Sea each year, the BGS says.
Live updates and more from across North Yorkshire
Image copyright British Geological Survey Image caption The tremor was recorded at a number of BGS seismic stations, including one at Glaisdale in North Yorkshire
One caller to BBC Radio York, June, said she had "felt the shake" while cooking in her top floor flat in Scarborough.
"I had some oil in my frying pan and as I moved it across to the sink I lost all control of it all of a sudden," she said.
"The oil went all over the carpet in the kitchen."
Largest known earthquake
According to the BGS, up to 30 earthquakes are felt by people in the UK each year. A few hundred smaller ones are recorded by sensitive instruments.
The largest known British earthquake occurred 60 miles (97km) offshore near the Dogger Bank in 1931. It had a magnitude of 6.1, causing minor damage to buildings on the east coast of England.
The most damaging UK earthquake was in the Colchester area of Essex in 1884 when about 1,200 buildings needed repairs.The independent watchdog for the National Archives and Records Administration is entering his 18th month on paid time off following allegations of professional misconduct, a case that has cost taxpayers $377,000 in his salary and legal fees paid by the government.
Inspector General Paul Brachfeld ’s long span on paid administrative leave while his case is investigated prompted three senior Republicans in Congress last week to rebuke the archivist of the United States, Brachfeld’s boss and the official who placed him on leave.
In a stinging letter, the lawmakers told David Ferriero that by allowing the case to drag on, he has wasted taxpayer money, compromised the watchdog mission of the inspector general’s office and called his own leadership into question.
“The failure to resolve this matter in a timely way threatens the independence of IGs and frankly raises questions about your leadership,” wrote Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee; Sen. Tom A. Coburn (Okla.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Brachfeld, 56, a career civil servant, was placed on leave Sept. 14, 2012 after an agent on his staff with whom he had clashed filed a complaint with two federal offices that investigate claims of government wrongdoing. A handful of other employees in the inspector general’s office also filed complaints.
They included allegations that Brachfeld altered audits; provided sensitive law enforcement information to reporters for CBS News’s “60 Minutes” before law enforcement officials had approved its release; made derisive comments about transgender people; had a security guard fired because of his race; and used vulgar language with some female staff members.
Brachfeld has denied the allegations. A review by the Office of Special Counsel concluded a year ago that he did not violate any personnel practices that are prohibited by the government. The other inquiry, by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, is drawing to a close, said several law enforcement and congressional sources with knowledge of the investigation.
“I have every confidence I’ll be cleared,” Brachfeld said in an interview. “I never dreamed the case would go on this long.”
By sidelining Brachfeld for so long with a “seemingly unlawful imposition” of extended paid leave, the archivist has “decapitated the office that Congress established to be the taxpayers’ watchdog of your agency,” the lawmakers wrote in their five-page letter Friday.
Ferriero did not respond to several e-mails seeking comment. Archives spokesman Chris Isleib declined to comment on specifics of the case, saying that agency personnel matters are not public. Isleib noted that the matter is under review by the panel that investigates complaints against inspectors general, “a process whose timing National Archives does not control,” he said in an e-mail.
In a letter in August addressing the lawmakers’ concerns about the lengthy leave, Ferriero wrote that he “bears no animus towards Mr. Brachfeld.”
“I am aware the length of his leave is frustrating to all involved,” the archivist wrote, “but I do not control the schedule and timeliness of the outside investigations that, in my judgment, warrant keeping him on leave.”
The case has highlighted concerns about due process for inspectors general, whose role as government watchdogs combating waste, fraud and abuse requires them to be independent. At large federal agencies, the nominees for the position are confirmed by the Senate; at smaller agencies that include the Archives, inspectors general are hired and can be fired by the head of the agency.
The situation has brought to light federal agencies’ common practice of placing employees on paid leave when they are accused of breaking rules. The leave can go on for months and even years. Brachfeld, who lives in Silver Spring, has received his full senior executive salary of $187,000 with benefits, vacation and pension contributions by the government. Ferriero hired an outside law firm to handle the case; the firm has been paid $129,000 to date.
His case has prompted the Government Accountability Office to review the government’s use of paid administrative leave and whether it is abused. The GAO, Congress’s investigative arm, is looking at the frequency, duration and “associated salary cost” of this kind of time off, according to a Jan. 31 document laying out the terms of work.
Brachfeld has had a long government career that includes high-level auditing positions with the Treasury Department, the Federal Election Commission, the former U.S. Customs Service and the Federal Communications Commission. Since becoming the inspector general of the Archives in 2000, he has built a reputation as a hard-charging, creative watchdog over the agency responsible for preserving historical records.
He also enjoys the limelight and has sought to bring publicity to the work of his office, which has rankled some colleagues.
When Ferriero placed Brachfeld on leave, he referred the allegations to the special counsel’s office and the inspector general council, which said it would wait for the special counsel to complete its work. The special counsel cleared Brachfeld of the allegations of prohibited personnel practices but said other allegations were beyond its purview. Ferriero resubmitted the
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) dribbles through traffic, in pre-season NBA action, Utah Jazz Utah Jazz's Trey Burke (3) drives around Los Angeles Clippers' Jordan Farmar, left, during the fourth quarter of an NBA pre-season Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) and Dante Exum (11), defend as Los Angeles Clippers guard Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) reacts to Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder's words as he co Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Trey Burke (3) defends for the Jazz, as Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) takes a shoMore car parking means more business, and taking away parking means taking away profits. Parking brings in customers to stores and downtown areas, and makes it more convenient for people to shop and buy more when they do. Free parking is guaranteed to promote business, sales and thriving downtowns, despite the overhead costs.
But is it? Does it? I, backed by a multitude of research, evidence, and common sense, say no.
As a local college student, I have witnessed the effects of plentiful parking firsthand. I’ve spent nights running through the parking lots around an eerily empty downtown St. Paul, searching for bus stops along streets with cars whizzing by. Is this how we want our downtown to feel? I know I am more attracted to busy, walkable areas with convenient public transit. I don’t need or own a car, and most of the students I know bike or take transit in lieu of driving. Vast stretches of parking, metered or free, do nothing to improve my local business or downtown experience; in fact, they detract from it.
Offering free parking lots only leads to expensive, large deserts of wasted space, both the public as well as the business owner. These expanses take over shopping areas and downtowns, contributing to sprawl and making it more difficult to complete daily trips with anything but a car. In Saint Paul, a local transportation planner mapped and photographed off-street parking lots and garages and found 29,000 spots with low occupancy rates, ranging from 30 to 74 percent. And a survey that examined 27 US districts where parking was thought to be scarce instead found that on average, parking supply exceeded demand by 65 percent. In my four years here as a student, I have never seen parking lots approach capacity. Instead, they usually serve as open space for shortcuts to avoid busy streets when I bike into and around downtown. Cities like St. Paul around the country continue to transform their urban spaces into expansive dead zones, making it more “convenient” to travel into downtown while at the same time eliminating room for the dynamic attractions that lure people there in the first place.
Parking is expensive as well, as many studies and articles have discussed– each space can cost between $15,000 and $25,000 to construct — and parking requirements costs the public hundreds of billions of dollars per year. Roughly 99% of all parking is free, due to these public subsidies, and this pushes the average cost of driving way down. But the financial burden of this convenient and plentiful storage space, shouldered by all, only benefits those of us behind the wheel. And are those benefits worth it? A review of 16 different studies in the U.S. and Europe between 1927 and 2001 found that cars searching for free parking contribute over 8 percent of total traffic, adding to congestion as well as the noise and air pollution that harms public health and the environment.
Instead of contributing to this system of inequality, businesses, especially those that offer free parking, should help to more evenly distribute the cost to require the people behind the wheel and in the parking space pay their rightful share. The Twin Cities’ Bicycle Benefits program, launched by the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and St. Paul Women on Bikes, offers a discount to bicyclists at nearly 80 local businesses. This is a good start, but in my opinion, providing discounts and incentives not only to bicyclists, but also to pedestrians and public transit users as well would more effectively reduce parking demand, open up dead space for more efficient and dynamic use, and save everyone money. While I aim to bike for the majority of my local trips, sometimes walking or public transit is a safer or more practical choice. Knowing that I could still receive a discount as any kind of alternative commuter would certainly increase my loyalty and positive word-of-mouth to other students and friends alike.
In addition to reducing costs on cyclists and transit users, local businesses should focus on encouraging bicycle infrastructure near their property in place of more parking spaces. Far from limiting accessibility, bike racks and bike lanes bring in more customers: for example, after New York City installed the first protected bike lane in the country on 8th and 9th Avenues, there was a 49% increase in sales, and similar phenomena have occurred in Colorado and other places. Customers on bicycles have been shown to spend more than customers who arrive by car; instead of rushing by at high speeds, cyclists move at a more leisurely pace where specials, bargains, and shop windows can catch their eye and result in more frequent stops and more impulse decisions. I know I am more likely to stop into a bakery, craft store, or any number of places that jump out at me while I am cycling, especially if I can see a convenient bike rack; I have gone on many rides with friends that included impromptu ice cream snacks, or even picking up something at CVS, Kowalski’s, or the cute new gift shop on the corner. So instead of further skewing the cost inequality and investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in vast empty lots, businesses should pay $150-500 for a bicycle rack, encourage bike lanes outside their doors, and watch their profits grow.
There are plentiful local opportunities to implement these ideas. The new Whole Foods at Snelling and Selby in St. Paul would have been an exemplary choice for alternative transit incentives, but none exist; in addition, aside from the two lines of bike racks, free parking is plentiful next to the giant supermarket, occupying space that could have been used for more local businesses. I routinely walk to the Kowalski’s on Grand that is undergoing construction, and would be delighted to find more bike parking to counter the two enormous adjacent lots, in addition to a reward for walking instead of driving to pick up some groceries. To be sure, future business projects should take advantage of the public comment period to gauge local interest in these kinds of developments and act accordingly.
Free parking is an expense that is unevenly and unfairly distributed, causing many problems while solving comparatively few. Incentivizing all kinds of alternative transportation would go a long way towards a more livable St. Paul and more livable America. I know I would be more likely to spend time downtown or patronize local businesses if there was more bike infrastructure or rewards for utilizing alternative transportation. This is an opportunity we should seize, not ignore, to promote transportation cycling in our city and reap the environmental, social, and economic benefits.
Written by Clara Friedman. Clara graduated from Macalester College in 2016 with a major in Biology major. Always active outdoors, her interest in biking and transportation was sparked by a cross-country bike tour last year. You can find her rowing on the Mississippi, making bicycle-related prints in the studio, and growing basil.
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By Dan Durkin–
(CBS) Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the NFL equivalent of the boogeyman for defensive coordinators. Restless and sleepless nights ensue when that matchup against the Packers shows up on the schedule.
Quite simply, Rodgers is the most difficult player in the league to game plan for. He processes presnap and postsnap information at the speed of a computer, has flawless, repeatable mechanics and can accurately deliver every required throw from any arm angle on time with optimal velocity and pinpoint accuracy.
No team in the league does a better job of tying together the quarterback’s dropback with their unfolding route combinations than the Packers. Thus, in order to have defensive success, rush and coverage units must work in tandem. Rodgers must be moved off of his launch point, and defensive backs must challenge the receivers’ releases to disrupt the rhythm and the interconnected timing of the Packers’ passing game.
Choosing how to challenge Rodgers can be a double-edged sword for a defensive coordinator, as it will be for Vic Fangio and the Bears when they host the Packers on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Sending extra blitzers from the second and third level of the defense may have negative consequences. Rodgers will likely identify and expose where the coverage was weakened and find the void left in the wake of the blitzer.
Ideally, a team will create safer pressure packages — those in which four or five rushers are sent, so the math in the secondary still favors the defense.
Defensive coaches spend countless hours looking at tendencies and blocking rules of their opponents’ protection schemes. So what will advanced scouting of Green Bay’s film reveal?
The Packers’ predominant personnel package is 11 — one running back, one tight end and three receivers. Narrowing it down even further, within that grouping, they tend to operate out of shotgun spread formations with an offset running back with hopes of getting as many receivers out into routes as possible, while still being able to protect the passer.
After focusing my attention on cutups of this personnel grouping from the Packers last few games, I started charting out their pass blocking, paying particular attention to one data point — which way the center turns.
As innocuous as it sounds, that’s a critical detail when determining protection schemes and blocking rules.
Assuming the tight end is in the slot or flexed out in a formation (as the Packers typically do), the center is the middle man of a five-man blocking unit. So whichever direction he’s turning, the line is creating a three-man blocking surface (center-guard-tackle) in that direction, leaving two blockers on the backside.
My analysis concluded that the Packers’ tendency is to turn their center away from the offset running back. They zone protect (each player is responsible for any man threatening his immediate gap) to the side the center turns and man protect on the backside.
Here’s an illustration from last year’s Packers-Cowboys divisional round playoff matchup to help demonstrate.
(All images courtesy of NFL GamePass)
Notice the center turning away from running back Eddie Lacy to create the three-man blocking surface and the man blocking rules on the backside.
How can this information then be used to devise a pressure package?
By knowing which way the center turns, a defensive coordinator can use twists and line stunts to the man-side of the protection to pressure the quarterback with four and five rushers.
On the man-blocked side of the line, twists and stunting players along the defensive front can “pick” a blocker and create a free, or at least less-obstructed, pass rush lane. It can also get a pass rusher matched up against a running back, which is a scenario that typically favors the defense.
This design achieves the goal of safe(r) pressure without exposing the back end of the defense.
During his tenure in San Francisco, Fangio had a successful run against Rodgers. Undoubtedly, the talent he had to work with played a big role in the 49ers’ success against the Packers, but when you dig into the tape, you’ll see how he schemed safe pressure by running line games up front to get Rodgers off his launch point.
Here’s an animated example from the Packers-49ers season opener in 2013.
Behind this five-man pressure, Fangio was able to play a hybrid, matchup zone coverage with a deep safety over the top while keeping the numbers in favor of the defense.
Focusing in on the littlest of details can make a big impact on the success or failure of a play. Teams certainly self-scout their own tendencies and try to be less predictable, but these are the types of advantages coaches are seeking when putting together a game plan.
Beating the Packers is a tall task for the rebuilding Bears. While only one team can walk away victorious Sunday, pay attention to the small victories that happen within each play thanks to advanced scouting and coaching — and ultimately the players executing.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.Following the closure of Sleeping Dogs developer United Front Games in October, new details have emerged of the sequel that might have been.
The original Sleeping Dogs had a notoriously rough development, beginning life as True Crime: Hong Kong under Activision, before being picked up and rebranded by Square-Enix.
Released in late 2012, the game followed an undercover police officer, Wei Shen, in Hong Kong as he sought to bring down the Triads that blighted the city. Despite strong reviews, the game failed to match Square-Enix’s expectations, and although a spin-off multiplayer game called Triad Wars entered development, the series seemed to languish.
A recent report by Waypoint, however, reveals that a sequel was pitched by United Front Games in early 2013 before ultimately being cancelled later that same year without ever entering active development. The report goes on to detail some of the features that the development team had planned for Sleeping Dogs 2.
Although Wei Shen would remain the protagonist, he was to be joined by a corrupt partner in Henry Fang, and the setting would expand to incorporate not just Hong Kong but the megalopolis of the Pearl River Delta (though the report fails to specify which cities or regions that would include). In keeping with the expanded scope, the story would branch, forcing players to choose between playing as Shen or Fang for certain missions while the other character performed their own tasks. In addition, players would have been able to arrest any NPC in the world, though the effects of this are not mentioned.
Perhaps the biggest change to the original formula, and a rather novel idea within games in general, is that the game was billed as being “massively single player”, with player actions being monitored by the cloud in order to determine the crime levels and city dynamics in other people’s games.
Finally, interactivity within the game would further be bolstered by a mobile/tablet app from which players would be able to control the police force.
Although this version of the game is, more than likely, long-buried, one of Waypoint’s sources theorises that Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider) or another of Square-Enix’s more experienced studios may have the opportunity to make Sleeping Dogs 2 at some point in the future, and we’ll be watching out for it.
OnlySP reviewed Sleeping Dogs on its original release, giving it 9/10 and saying, “it isn’t without shortcomings, but when you consider that this is a debut outing from a studio that hasn’t created a game like this before you realise that this is more than just a very strong game in its own right. Like the original Assassin’s Creed, this is a great foundation for a future franchise.”Rapper 50 Cent is accused of bullying an apparently disabled teen, whom he alleged, in a video he posted on Instagram Sunday, of being high on drugs.
The rapper, who is legally named Curtis Jackson, shared a video of an encounter he had with a teen janitor at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport over the weekend.
After the teen reportedly did not respond to him, the rapper started filming the encounter on his phone.
“The new generation is crazy,” 5o Cent said on the video, which shows a young man pushing a cart of cleaning supplies.
“What’s your name?” 50 asked the teen. “Look at him, what kind of s—t you think he took before he got to work today? He high as a motherf—ker right here in the airport. Pupils dilated, everything. … The new generation is f—king crazy.”
Watch the video:
An Instagram user quickly identified the young man in the video as Andrew Farrell, 19, according to cincinnati.com.
“I went to school with him,” wrote rusty_stone9. “He has extreme social difficulties just to let you know. He has a hard enough time getting through life without jackasses like you making fun of him. I hope you feel good about yourself. You just lost a huge fan.”
Farrell’s mother, Amanda Kramer, told the outlet her son has overcome numerous challenges, and despite suffering from severe social anxiety disorder, a form of autism, and a hearing impairment, he obtained the job on his own and shows up for work every day.
“Why would you attack my kid like that?” Kramer said. “It doesn’t say much about his character when he has to attack a kid he doesn’t even know.”
Kramer added, “Everything he said about him is not true. He gets up. He goes to work. He does his job. He goes home. He doesn’t bother anybody. … He doesn’t talk to people very often. He’s got a social anxiety disorder. He also has a hearing impairment.”
Farrell told the outlet he was “just starting work” and minding his own business when 50 Cent approached him.
“I want people to know that he’s a good kid. He doesn’t get in trouble. He’s not a drug addict,” said Amanda Kramer, who also requested an apology from the rapper.
50 Cent has deleted the video and has not commented on the incident.
At least one Cincinnati bar is now boycotting 50 Cent’s Effin Vodka brand.Written by Dalya Alberge, CNN
In Sanne De Wilde's photographs of Pingelap, a tiny coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean, nothing is quite as it seems. Her images depict a tropical paradise where the jungle vegetation is pale pink, the sea is gray and local inhabitants are seen in black and white.
But the Belgian photographer has captured the world not as she sees it -- but as she imagines the islanders do.
Dubbed the " Island of the Colorblind," Pingelap is home to an unusually high proportion of people who cannot distinguish color. While achromatopsia (also known as "total" colorblindness) occurs in around 1 in 30,000 people globally, the incidence in Pingelap's small population is believed to be between 4% and 10%
The condition has been traced back to a former king, one of around 20 islanders to survive a catastrophic tsunami in the late 18th century. With most of his subjects wiped out, the king is believed to have helped repopulate Pingelap by having numerous children.
many of his descendants inherited a rare gene that causes Butmany of his descendants inherited a rare gene that causes achromatopsia. The hereditary condition continues to be passed down through generations.
Color is 'just a word'
Fascinated with how genetics shape people and communities, De Wilde has published her extraordinary images in a new book, "The Island of the Colorblind." The photographs were shot on Pingelap and a larger island called Pohnpei, almost 300 kilometers away.
"The Pingelapese formed small communities on Pohnpei," De Wilde explained. "(But even) among the Pingelapese there, the percentage of achromatopsia is still very high."
De Wilde attempts to see through the eyes of its colorblind residents by manipulating the tones and hues of her images. In a monochrome world, color is "just a word" to those who cannot see it, she said.
Islanders claim to "see" red the most, so De Wilde accentuated and manipulated the color by shooting in infrared.
Others told her that green is their favorite color, though it is one of the shades they are least able to recognize. The photographer believes that this is the Pingelapese people's way of conveying love for the jungle vegetation around them.
Seeing the world differently
Born in Antwerp, the 29-year-old photographer has won awards for profiling people who see the world differently -- or who are themselves perceived as different -- including her series on dwarfism in China.
In another series, titled "Samoa Kekea," she documented albinism in Samoa. De Wilde sees a connection between this project and her study of colorblindness in Pingelap.
"Albinism is a genetic condition" she said. "And you could say that -- due to natural borders the sea creates -- genes circulate in small island communities."
After talking about her Samoa photographs on the radio, De Wilde was contacted by a listener who told her about Pingelap. It had previously been the subject of a book by British neurologist Oliver Sacks, who died the week before the photographer flew to the island in 2015.
'A tiny dot in the big blue'
"It wasn't easy to get to Pingelap," De Wilde said. "It is a little atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A tiny dot in the big blue.
"I flew to the US, from the mainland to Hawaii, then hopped to the Marshall Islands. I eventually set foot on Pohnpei, one of the bigger islands of the Federate States of Micronesia. From there I took a four-seat charter plane to Pingelap."
Upon arrival, she found one street and no shops or restaurants. Islanders live off coconuts and the fish they catch, living a life that De Wilde described as "very basic."
"(People with) achromatopsia are extremely light-sensitive, which is a burden on a super sunny, tropical island," she said. "In the daylight, the world looks like a burned-out image. They can hardly keep their eyes open when outside.
"They don't see color at all. That's why everything appears to them in shades of grey -- everything in between black and white. I didn't change any colors. The infrared camera did. And the other images I just converted to black and white using Photoshop."Two new trailers have been released for David Cronenberg's new film Cosmopolis. The film looks completely insane, and that's what makes me want to see it. Cronenberg has made some pretty incredible and jacked up films in his career, and this movie will fit right in with the Cronenberg movie collection.
The film is an adaptation of Don DeLillo's 2003 novel of the same name, and story centers on Robert Pattinson's billionaire character, who is on a journey in a luxurious, hi-tech stretch limo to get haircut in a crazily bizarre semi-futuristic Manhattan. Of course... insanity ensues.
This movie is classic Cronenberg at his best. This also looks like it could be Pattinson's best movie role to date. The film also stars Sarah Gadon, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, and Jay Baruchel.
Here's the synopsis:
New York City, not-too-distant-future: Eric Packer, a 28 year-old finance golden boy dreaming of living in a civilization ahead of this one, watches a dark shadow cast over the firmament of the Wall Street galaxy, of which he is the uncontested king. As he is chauffeured across midtown Manhattan to get a haircut at his father’s old barber, his anxious eyes are glued to the yuan’s exchange rate: it is mounting against all expectations, destroying Eric’s bet against it. Eric Packer is losing his empire with every tick of the clock. Meanwhile, an eruption of wild activity unfolds in the city’s streets. Petrified as the threats of the real world infringe upon his cloud of virtual convictions, his paranoia intensifies during the course of his 24-hour cross-town odyssey. Packer starts to piece together clues that lead him to a most terrifying secret: his imminent assassination.
Cosmopolis doesn’t have a US release date yet. It will be playing at Cannes, and open in France on May 23rd. Watch the two trailers below and tell us what your favorite Cronenberg movie is.Offspring frontman Dexter Holland is definitely PRETTY FLY (FOR A WHITE GUY) after jetting around the world in 10 days.
The spiky-haired punk rocker touched his twin-engine Cessna Citation airplane down in Los Angeles on 25 November (04) after a 40,230 kilometre (25,000 mile) solo flight.
Holland says, "I got my pilot's license back in 1996, and I've always wanted to do it. I just like flying airplanes.
"Some people are into golf, some people are into shooting deer. I'm into flying."
Holland admits it wasn't an easy flight - he braved freezing temperatures over the Bering Strait, a volcanic eruption in Iceland and swarms of locusts in Egypt. He crossed three continents and three oceans.
He adds, "People keep thinking I was nuts to even consider doing this. I suppose it's like the guy who climbed Everest said, 'Because it was there.'
"There were some moments where I would be flying over the ocean, looking down and seeing how cold it was outside, thinking, 'Boy, I'd sure like to get back into American airspace.' Some moments where I was so far out there, there was no radar to track me. A lot of times there was nobody else out there."With the adventure of 2013 behind us it is time to look forward and upward! As always I am going to attempt multiple resolutions. I expect to successfully achieve like one... So that's something at least. But here are my resolutions!Start living a healthier lifestyle. Being more active in general as well as working out. Eating better healthier foods. My friend Damien and I are going to be each others accountability buddies and coaches! I almost said couches!Read. I don't have the best reading skills or speed and I know I need to get better especially with college so I'm hoping if I start reading more difficult books and focusing on making my reading ability better I'll get better! Start creating more creative content! I've pretty much given up on painting or drawing of any sort but I love writing, acting, and making stuff! so I really want to do more of that to help my brain keep active.So those are my resolutions, I do need one thing from you. Yes you! I need a s…Outernet wants to launch hundreds of microsatellites into orbit. Image: Wikimedia
When the Outernet project was first announced in February, some commenters on the web figured it was a scam. The plan does have a certain pie-in-the-sky utopian ring to it: thwarting censorship and ensuring information as a human right throughout the globe by beaming crowdsourced content from nanosatellites in outer space, funded by VC seed money and user donations.
Really?
But the plan, while ambitious, is quite serious, and the many moving pieces are progressing along, Outernet founder Syed Karim told me over the phone yesterday. He dismissed the naysayers: "I mean, why does it matter if someone thinks it's not feasible. Why not just wait and see? Why get into a debate on something that will eventually prove itself out?"
To be clear, the idea here isn't another Facebook/Google-style effort to carry internet access through the sky to the last mile on drones and balloons. Not exactly. Karim describes it as mix between modern-day shortwave radio and BitTorrent from space. It's a media company, seeded by the Digital News Ventures investment firm, and the goal is to provide access to content, information, apps, and tools—free—to every global citizen.
The shortwave radio comparison is apt. Shortwave frequencies helped localize radio so you could tune in from anywhere, even in rural areas in the middle of nowhere. Now take that concept and add multicast web content, and replace radio towers with a satellite constellation in low orbit, and you start to get a sense for how the Outernet would work.
It would start as a one-way broadcast; users could interact with websites sent on Outernet's channels, but not access the whole web. Karim has a vague plan to let the users dictate the content that's provided, not a team of editors acting like gate-keepers. Users could request the information they want to see—say a farmer in Bangladesh wants to learn more about the weather conditions and crop prices for the rice he's growing—through the Outernet Facebook page, and the team will look for trends and common topics to help decide what channels to broadcast.
Seem a little half-baked? That's because it is. At this point, the team is thinking less about content curation and more about how to build the space satellite-based broadcast distribution system in the first place.
"The goal for the alpha constellation, something that could theoretically be deployed in two years, is for 24 satellites across 4 orbital planes," said Karim. That's a Roomba-style satellite constellation, with six satellites per plane, enough "to offer more or less continuous global coverage, with some hiccups in here and there," he said.
Image: Outernet
He's talking to SpaceX to negotiate a price for launching the microsats into orbit, which will be the most expensive chunk of the Outernet pie in the sky. In a Reddit forum in February, Karim said that SpaceX's bulk rate for launching microsatellites is $57 million for 13,000 kg. While this is just a fraction of what traditional communication satellites cost, it's hardly chump change. He declined to get into pricing details over the phone, only to estimate it would cost less than $10 million for the entire Outernet project to become fully operational.
Karim has also reached out to the International Space Station to request time onboard to test the system, and expects an answer by June.
In the meantime, the team is working on building their own microsatellites to send into orbit, and receivers to spread throughout the ground—they're currently crowdsourcing design ideas on CrowdSPRING.
Sixty percent of the planet still lives outside the internet infrastructure, and this is where the Outernet equipment comes in. The receivers will sell for about $100 each, which Karim hopes will create a network of thousands of beam spots. Outernet content would also be transmitted from ground stations to wi-fi routers or smartphones.
Those transmissions would be open and beamed globally, which Karim argues would help secure the connection against jamming or other censoring attacks, though "security is a tough nut,” he admitted. “I can't say this is a bulletproof solution. If someone is hell bent on taking something down, be it a hacker or government agency, I can't assure that they won't succeed."
You can think of Outernet transmissions like open-source code, he explained. "There's no malware in Ubuntu because you have thousands of developers constantly reviewing the codebase," he said. "Censorship is something a little different. A bad actor could jam the signals, but this would have a localized effect. I am not aware of anyone being able to jam multiple spot beams all over the world."
Karim, who described himself as a "failed economist and a failed librarian," has been studying the social and economic impact of internet access for years, and believes he’s finally arrived at a workable solution that can be pulled off at a relatively low cost. He said the seed funding from Digital News Ventures would be enough to test the first broadcast, and if the company grows the way he's hoping—to tens or hundreds of millions of users—it would try to turn a profit the same way any other media company does—namely, by selling ads.
That's a long way off. According to the timeline on the Outernet website, the plan is to develop prototypes by June, start the first data broadcasts by July, begin transmission testing on the space station by September, and be up and running by summertime next year. "This means that by July, you can stick any Ku-band satellite dish—the kind you see all over Asia and Africa—and receive broadcast data from Outernet," said Karim.
Outernet still has a lot of hurdles to clear to prove it’s possible: getting bandwidth, building its proprietary microsats, striking a deal with SpaceX to launch its payload, getting approval from the ISS, cherry-picking from millions of webpages to program content, and finding a way to pay for it all.County Health Rankings has released its ordered list of the healthiest counties in the state of Texas on March 29. Out of 243 total counties that reported data to County Health Rankings, Travis County ranked fifth. Here is how County Health Rankings got that number:
1. Residents of Travis County have access to high-quality clinical care and are ranked eighth throughout the state. The county has a ratio of 1,170 residents to 1 primary care physician. The ratio for dentists is 1,470-to-1 and the ratio for mental health providers is 450-to-1. About 84 percent of residents are monitored for diabetes and 62 percent receive mammography screening. Roughly 19 percent of residents are uninsured, which is below the state average.
2. According to County Health Rankings, Travis County residents have the 10th highest quality of life. About 15 percent of residents are in poor or fair health, compared to 19 percent throughout the state of Texas.
3. Travis County also ranks eighth among health behaviors of residents. Approximately 13 percent of adults smoke in comparison to 15 percent throughout Texas. In the county, 20 percent of residents are obese, in comparison to 28 percent throughout Texas and 26 percent among top performing U.S. counties. About 24 percent of residents exhibit excessive drinking habits, which is higher than both the Texas average and U.S. top performing county average at 17 and 12 percent, respectively.
4. In stark contrast to most of Travis County’s high ranking health statistics, residents experience a low-quality physical environment. The county ranks 210 among all Texas counties. Twenty-two percent of those in Travis County experience severe housing problems, in comparison with 9 percent of those living in top performing U.S. counties. Seventy-four percent of Travis County residents drive alone to work and 33 percent of those experience a long commute. Throughout Texas, these numbers are 80 and 36 percent, respectively.
A press release from Austin Public Health said the County Health Rankings are used to show that where we live matters to health. The report, released by theUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation compares health differences on a broad range of measures among almost every county in the United States. The rankings help counties understand what influences how healthy residents are and how long they will live. To do that, a variety of measures are examined including access to healthy foods, rates of smoking, obesity and teen births.
For more information about how Travis County’s health stacks up alongside other Texas counties, take a look at this report.With the No. 19 pick in the NBA draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected Kevin Huerter from the University of Maryland.
After 10 consecutive seasons reaching the playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks failed to win 25 contests in 2018. Gone are All-Stars Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague, each of whom the franchise groomed at various points during their decade of playoff bliss. Now the team is faced with a daunting rebuild under second year general manager Travis Schlenk and first year coach Lloyd Pierce.
Huerter becomes the first Maryland player to be selected in the first round since center Alex Len was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 2013. Huerter was projected to be available in the 16 to 24 range and the Hawks get a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, who has the ability to spread the floor.
In two seasons at Maryland, Huerter averaged 12 points, five rebounds and three assists on 46 percent shooting from the floor. As a sophomore, Huerter connected on 73 three-pointers on a sparkling 42 percent accuracy from long range.
The Hawks have been looking for consistent production from the two guard spot ever since Tim Hardaway Jr. left the team to join the New York Knicks in free agency last summer.
Huerter will join a young Hawks core of point guard Dennis Schroder and forward John Collins, two of the team’s first round draft picks from prior years, as well as dynamic guard Trae Young, who was selected with the fifth overall pick of this year’s draft (pending the trade with the Dallas Mavericks being finalized).Head to a Ronda Rousey fight, and you’ll see her mom, Dr. AnnMaria De Mars, leading her cheering section. But that wasn’t always the case.
Before Rousey parlayed an Olympic bronze-medal judo career into a lucrative and dominant run as UFC women’s bantamweight champion, the undefeated 28-year-old fighter pitched her new career ambitions to her mom.
As Rousey explained to host Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday’s “The Tonight Show,” her mom wasn’t exactly supportive of the idea.
“I don’t know if I can swear, but that was her first inclination – it involved a lot of swear words,” Rousey said. “Making (the language) cleaner, she said, ‘This is the stupidest idea I’ve heard in my life, and considering the ideas you’ve had, that’s pretty bad.'”
Dr. De Mars, the first American woman to win the World Judo Championships, eventually came around, of course. Now, she can be found in the cage after each Rousey victory, as she was on Feb. 28 at UFC 184, where the champ scored a remarkable 14-second victory over Cat Zingano:
Up next for Rousey (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is a UFC 190 pay-per-view headliner with Bethe Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC). The event takes place Aug. 1 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Rousey, who owns 10 first-round stoppages in 11 career wins, looks for her sixth consecutive title defense. Her past three have come in an average time of 32 seconds.
Rousey’s appearance on “The Tonight Show” was part of the UFC’s publicity efforts to legalize MMA in New York state, which is finally showing signs of progress.
For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.Lessons from Plutarch to Planet Money, including the First Rule of kidnapping insurance: Don't tell anybody about your kidnapping insurance
Gabriel Rossman -- Sociologist at UCLA. His work applies economic sociology to media industries. He blogs at Code and Culture and is the author of Climbing the Charts
Planet Money podcast had an Treasure Island) but in other respects it's very different. In particular, whereas early modern piracy was mostly about seizing cargo and the crews were left alone if they surrendered promptly, Somali piracy is more similar to piracy in antiquity in that it's basically maritime kidnapping. The typical instance of Somali piracy isn't that different from what a young Julius Caesar experienced when he was kidnapped by pirates and held
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he wrote, “you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye” if President Barack Obama’s bailout plan went forward as auto executives requested.
“That [bailout] saved the auto industry,” Maddow said. “It was a success and Mr. Romney is trying to deny the fact that he was against it, and he’s trying to take some of the credit for it.”
This video is from NBC’s “Meet the Press,” broadcast Sunday, October 28, 2012.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economyUpdate: In an 8-K filed Monday, SunEdison said it will cut 15 percent of its workforce -- 5 percent higher than what was mentioned in the memo. SunEdison will hold an investor call on Wednesday at 8 am to detail the company's new strategy.
In mid-September, SunEdison rented out the House of Blues in Disneyland and held a private party for hundreds of solar professionals at the industry's biggest U.S. conference, Solar Power International.
It started off as a normal gathering. People mingled at multiple bars. A house band played on a small stage upstairs. Waiters handed out meat on sticks.
Suddenly, all the televisions throughout the bar displayed a mysterious countdown clock. When it hit zero, the party transformed. In a blur of multi-colored lights and electronic music, go-go dancers, and men in yellow body suits carrying giant glow sticks filled a multi-level stage in the back of the building. Balloons rained down on the dancing crowd. People sported body paint, fake mustaches and oversized sunglasses.
It was a celebration that a company at the top of its game would throw. Except SunEdison was not at the top of its game.
At the time of the party, the company’s stock had tumbled from a 52-week high of $33.45 down to $11.50. And the stock price of its YieldCo, TerraForm Power, had fallen from $42.15 to $21.61 over the summer. In July, SunEdison had a market cap of more than $9 billion. Today, its market cap is $2.6 billion.
In retrospect, the countdown clock could be interpreted as an ominous sign.
Investor confidence had been wavering for some time. Many were having a hard time understanding SunEdison's acquisition spree -- specifically, the $2.2 billion purchase of the residential installation company Vivint Solar in July.
Executives called the Vivint acquisition a big step toward creating the first renewable energy supermajor. The street wasn't fully convinced of the plan.
With its stock still under pressure, SunEdison is now culling its workforce. According to a company-wide memo from CEO Ahmad Chatila released on September 30, SunEdison will be laying off around 10 percent of its 7,300 employees. Many employees received notices on Friday.
"Overall, the proposed changes result in an overall reduction of about 30%, 20% being from non-labor expenses and about 10% from headcount reduction. And this process will take some time to complete. Most of the changes will be announced during the fourth quarter with some final steps expected in the first quarter of 2016," reads the memo.
The staff reduction will come through integrating acquired companies and "eliminating redundancy." It will also come from simplifying management structures in different areas of the business, and focusing on a smaller range of geographic regions.
The cuts have reached all the way to the VP level, but not the executive level. Sources within the company expressed worry and surprise that the cuts didn't impact the architects of the Vivint acquisition.
When asked for comment, SunEdison would not address the cuts specifically.
"We are proposing to take several actions around the world to optimize our business, align with current and expected market opportunities and position ourselves for long-term growth. In October we plan to provide investors with a more comprehensive view of our business structure and go-forward strategic growth plan in a conference call," wrote spokesperson Gordon Handelsman in an email.
The company is expected to inform investors of its new strategy sometime this week.
"Now it is time to take the next step in optimizing our business. Over the next six months, we are going to optimize our platform to take advantage of efficiencies, enhance cost savings, increase gross margins, and target investment areas with the greatest opportunity," wrote Chatila in the memo.
A view from the crowd at SunEdison's party at Solar Power International.
Chris Cook, a founder of SunEdison who recently went back to the company after Solar Grid Storage was acquired, was told on Friday morning that he was no longer employed. "The only remaining Solar Grid Storage personnel that had joined SunEdison are in solar sales and are no longer in the SE Advanced Solutions storage group," said Cook.
"As a founder of Solar Grid Storage, which SunEdison acquired in part in January, I believe storage has a very strong future, especially when mated with renewable technologies, so the cuts in this area seem shortsighted," he said. "I continue to believe the best value proposition for storage is to combine with solar to provide customer benefits like backup power, plus services to the grid. Now that the SunEdison team has seemingly lost interest in those types of projects, it might be a good time to start developing them again."
Teams within SunEdison are already looking to sell off portfolios of projects, say other sources within the company.
What is behind SunEdison's recent troubles and coming cutbacks?
The company has been hit by a confluence of factors. Recent acquisitions have nearly doubled SunEdison's debt load and increased negative operating cash flow. The Vivint acquisition, which wasn't an obvious fit with SunEdison's culture and traditional business of building large solar-power plants, added to investor skepticism.
Some investors have dumped the stock due to low oil prices and turmoil in commodity markets -- a problem for other public solar companies as well. However, short sellers have targeted SunEdison more than its competitors. The stock has become a playground for hedge funds.
Most importantly, some worry that SunEdison has morphed from a project developer into a financial engineering firm that is too complicated for executives to manage.
In a long blog post this week, John Hempton of Bronte Capital provided his take on the company.
It took us a while to understand why they have fallen so hard. The argument comes down to complex accounts, lots of debt and a peculiar acquisition of door to door marketing company (Vivint). The Vivint acquisition -- which looks strange -- was poorly explained and was bundled with a few details that indicated that the margins on projects dropped down to the captive [YieldCos] are declining caused a run on the stock. Moreover, there were lots of hedge funds [that] had oversized positions in SunEdison before the collapse. There clearly was a rush to the exits.
The equity and debt cost for SunEdison has risen substantially, and this seriously impedes the economics of the company. It's that strange thing about financials that lower prices for equity and debt reduce the future cash flows.
Just this week, analysts from CreditSights said they believe SunEdison now faces a margin call on a $410 million loan that it closed using stock from the TerraForm YieldCo.
Although Hempton was critical of SunEdison, he said he was long on the stock. "Given that the company is priced as if insolvency is likely, this stock should produce a good return from here," he wrote.
The company, he believes, is not on the verge of collapse, as many have speculated. Rather, it needs to be more disciplined and risk-averse. The round of job cuts will signal to investors that SunEdison is ready to make changes.
Stockholders and analysts have wondered why executives have been silent about recent turmoil.
During an earnings call just two months ago, Chatila talked about the company's leadership and growth: "Our business continues to accelerate, and you can see the confidence we have not only in the team's ability to execute, but in our ongoing shift in the energy market, which shows the continued move toward solar and wind energies and their growing importance around the world."
In a vote of confidence in the company, Chatila purchased 9,700 shares of stock in August and an additional 4,800 in September. He now owns 850,472 shares in the company. Chief Financial Officer Brian Wuebbels also purchased 50,000 shares in August.
Those running SunEdison talk passionately about their mission to become the most powerful renewable energy developer in the world. They want to transform the energy business through building large power plants, installing home solar systems, deploying battery storage and electrifying developing countries with microgrids. They want to do it in a way that's equitable and supports women and minorities in the workforce. And they want to do it all with ferocious speed.
That is part of the problem. Critics think SunEdison's expansion into too many areas is expensive and complicated.
Leadership now has to make some hard decisions. Laying off hundreds of people is just one. Some believe the company should abandon the Vivint Solar deal, sell off projects, or bring in new executives to monitor and limit the company's complex financial deals with its YieldCo. Others think the company should be sold and taken private. It will certainly mean cutting back on development or project acquisition plans.
More details on SunEdison's plans to "align with current and expected market opportunities" will be forthcoming this week.
A slowdown in project construction or constraints on capital would be a blow to SunEdison's YieldCo, which was built on the promise that an unending volume of projects will bring ever-higher dividends to investors. Whatever the course of action, SunEdison's plans to become a renewable energy supermajor are getting more complicated.
Hempton thinks Ahmad Chatila, the man behind SunEdison's recent business strategy, should be replaced. He praised Chatila's visionary approach to building the company ("He has created -- from very little -- a worthwhile, valid and large business"), but said SunEdison would be better suited to a "boring" executive.
"The ideal CEO would be someone from [for example] the risk management department of Goldman Sachs. What you want is a dull suit occupied by someone whose job it is to pull wings off butterflies. Someone whose job it is to ensure -- and be seen to ensure -- that bad projects are not funded," Hempton wrote.
In conversations with people inside SunEdison, no one called for Chatila's resignation. One senior official described "tremendous respect" for leadership, but also said that they had a "rocket-ship attitude" toward growth. That aggressive strategy commanded awe within the company -- but less so among investors.
"This company has got to become dull and predictable, and it has to get there fast. Anything short of dull and predictable will end badly," concluded Hempton.
In its most recent earnings declaration, SunEdison targeted 2,100 to 2,300 megawatts of completed renewable energy projects for all of 2015. The company has 1.9 gigawatts of projects under construction -- a number that could change on the next earnings call.
Listen to a detailed conversation about SunEdison's recent acquisition bonanza below:Reports of attacks in Syria attributed to Israel may indicate—one could certainly assume—a new stage in Israel's defense against Hezbollah and Iran.
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This self-defense has lasted for more than a decade, but now it seems that it focuses on one particular thing: defense against artillery; mainly, the missiles and rockets that Iran provides the Hezbollah to strike a critical blow against Israel's home front.
Explosions in Damascus airfield
Hezbollah and Iran's goal is to be able to threaten vital infrastructures—water, electricity, healthcare services, transport, airfields and emergency supplies—in a way that Israel will have a difficulty to recover from should a strike occur.
The new stage in Israel's strategic defense may have not started today, but is now picking up pace as Israel has completed its multi-layer missile defense system David's Sling, which became operational several weeks ago—completing what may be the most important layer in Israel's defense system.
This system, formerly known as Magic Wand, is designed to intercept enemy planes, drones, tactical ballistic missiles, medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, fired at ranges from 40 km to 300 km, which essentially covers most of Israel's territories.
The Iranians and Hezbollah understand that the IDF's missile defense system, which is the first and only of its kind, challenges them and their ability to threaten and deter Israel. Even if they are not interested in starting a war with Israel at the moment, they always seek to preserve their level of deterrence against it.
David's Sling (Photo: Defense Ministry)
For that reason, Iran has decided to change course and instead of arming Hezbollah with hundreds of thousands of imprecise missiles, they are now transitioning to an arsenal comprised mostly of precise missiles and rockets, some of which are even GPS-guided.
The explanation for that is simple: The Iranians and Hezbollah understand that David's Sling is capable of intercepting more than 80% of their rockets, and so they intend to battle it using sheer volume—making it so that the IDF's defense system has too many threats to defend against than it possibly could.
The Iranians also want to make sure that at least some of the missiles that will manage to pierce through Israel's defense system will not just land in open fields, and so they are upgrading Hezbollah's massive artillery—which is estimated to have more than 130 thousand missiles and rockets.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah (Photo: Reuters)
The aim is for the arsenal to be comprised of a larger percentage of guided and precise missiles and rockets, which even if only a few of them manage to avoid being shot down they will still inflict massive amount of damage.
This strategy is obvious to the IDF and worries Israel's security operators a great deal. In fact, due to Iran's increasing potential of nuclear capabilities it is now considered to be the main and most dangerous threat to the State of Israel due to its potential for large devastation in Israel's home front.
The important role of military Intelligence
Israel is fully aware of these threats, and is therefore making efforts to gain intelligence on Iran's attempts to arm Hezbollah with precise artillery and prevent Israel from stopping those shipments, sent to Hezbollah forces through Syria.
The attacks attributed to Israel on arms depots in Syria, if indeed carried out by it, show the increases efforts by both the Iranians to arm Hezbollah and by Israel to prevent it from taking place.
Iran is sending these shipments by—among other methods—commercial flights of Iranian or Iranian-owned airlines out of the assumption that Israel won't know that a regular commercial flight from Tehran to Damascus will also carry missiles and rockets, most of which in pieces.
Iranian airplanes (Photo: airplane pictures)
It is not unthinkable that Israel's intelligence is working to learn of these attempts.
The battle between Iran and Israel's intelligence systems is held behind a thick cover of secrecy. The Iranians don't want to admit that they are arming Hezbollah through Syria since it breaches rules made by the United Nations Security Council. On its end, Israel is not admitting or denying that it is sabotaging these shipments.
And so, both sides are exploiting plausible deniability for their own interests, even if these "military installations" are hard to hide or ignore once they catch fire do to some "unknown missile strike."
(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)A few days before Labor Day, Widowspeak will release their third full-length via Captured Tracks. It feels like an ideal time of the year to engage with the duo's latest batch of patiently paced dream-folk, at least here in the Northeast: not swelteringly hot, but still warm enough to comfortably hang around outside long after dusk. The band has been regularly leaking songs from the album all summer long, and "Dead Love (So Still)" is the latest. Despite the depressing image its title conjures, the track itself is an optimistic-feeling swirl of twangy, textured guitars and dreamy-as-hell vocals.
"I wrote an early version of this song when I was 19," singer Molly Hamilton told FADER in an email. "It was one of those naive situations where I thought I was with someone and he didn’t, but the energy and emotion I’d invested in our non-relationship still made its inevitable end feel significant. The mood [of the album version] is a lot more lighthearted than the first. I’ve had so many more experiences since then that require letting things go, and I’m a lot more okay with closed doors than I used to be." All Yours is out September 4th; check tour dates here.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protectionism and populist policies in the developing world could rise as countries face increasing head winds from a growing European sovereign debt crisis and a weakening economic recovery in the United States, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Thursday.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick speaks during an opening news conference of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
Zoellick warned another crisis was building at a time when the budgets of many developing economies had not fully recovered from the 2008 financial storm, adding to their fiscal strains.
He told Reuters in an interview more than half of developing countries’ budgets have deteriorated by 2 percent of gross domestic product since 2007, and more than 40 percent of developing nations now have government deficits in excess of 4 percent of GDP.
“If the situation deteriorates further, then developing countries’ growth could turn down, their asset prices could drop and then their non-performing loans could increase,” Zoellick said.
“With these pressures and prospects we have to anticipate possible protectionist pressures, beggar-thy-neighbor policies and a risk of a retreat to Populism,” he added.
While he still believed advanced economies could avoid a double-dip recession, Zoellick said his concerns were growing unless they acted forcefully to tackle their problems.
“A crisis made in the developed world could become a crisis for developing countries,” he said. “Europe, Japan and the United States must act to address their big economic problems before they become bigger problems for the rest of the world.
“Not to do so would be irresponsible,” he added.
Developing economies, he said, had grown more resilient over the past decade and were in a better position to withstand another crisis but they were still concerned about the spillover effects from troubled advanced economies.
Some of the largest impacts to poorer countries would be felt through a decline in global demand, which would affect trade and commodity prices.
Zoellick said $6.1 trillion was wiped out globally in stock market declines over the past couple of months, which is equivalent to 10 percent of global GDP.
A meeting of finance leaders from emerging market economies — China, India, Russia, South Africa and Brazil — in Washington on Thursday called for ‘decisive action’ by advanced countries to tackle the deterioration in their economies.
“The best role for the BRICS countries is the same as the best role for any country, which is to focus on what they need to do at home to get through the current financial dangers and to move on to long-term growth,” he said.
Zoellick said he was paying close attention to consumer and business confidence in emerging economies.Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has obviously never had a mandatory sonogram. This observation is not based entirely on the likely Republican presidential candidate self-identifying as a man or his ostensible lack of a vagina, but also on Walker's characterization of the procedure -- which he agreed to mandate for Wisconsin women seeking abortion care -- as "lovely."
During an interview with conservative radio host Dana Loesch last week, Walker bragged about his anti-choice record, highlighting his recent decision to sign a bill that requires women to undergo medically unnecessary ultrasounds before having an abortion. According to the GOP governor, the measure is partly an effort to coerce women into staying pregnant, but Walker also stood behind it because he thinks ultrasounds are just "a cool thing."
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"The thing about that, the media tried to make that sound like that was a crazy idea," Walker said of the mandatory ultrasound law. "Most people I talked to, whether they’re pro-life or not, I find people all the time that pull out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids’ ultrasound and how excited they are, so that’s a lovely thing. I think about my sons are 19 and 20, we still have their first ultrasounds. It’s just a cool thing out there."
But Walker also came clean about the real intention of the law, which is to prevent abortion through manipulative means. "We just knew if we signed that law," the governor added, "if we provided the information that more people if they saw that unborn child would make a decision to protect and keep the life of that unborn child."
Listen to the segment, via Right Wing Watch, below:Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 368 Caption Close
Image 2 of 368 As econd-half Thunder surge erased a10-point Rockets lead and left point guard PatrickBeverley(12) and his teammates wondering what might have been Friday. As econd-half Thunder surge erased a10-point Rockets lead and left point guard PatrickBeverley(12) and his teammates wondering what might have been Friday. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 3 of 368 James HardenÕs 26 points in FridayÕs season-ending loss did not come easily, as the RocketsÕ top scorer had to battle through the likes of DeAndre Liggins, left. James HardenÕs 26 points in FridayÕs season-ending loss did not come easily, as the RocketsÕ top scorer had to battle through the likes of DeAndre Liggins, left. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 4 of 368 Thunder guard Kevin Martin made his former team pay with 25 points Friday, including slamming home two past the Rocketsâ Chandler Parsons. Thunder guard Kevin Martin made his former team pay with 25 points Friday, including slamming home two past the Rocketsâ Chandler Parsons. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 6 of 368 Rockets shooting guard James Harden leaves the court to the cheers of the crowd after the final game of his first season in Houston. Rockets shooting guard James Harden leaves the court to the cheers of the crowd after the final game of his first season in Houston. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 7 of 368 Rockets center Omer Asik, left, jams one home before Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka can do anything about it Friday night at Toyota Center. Rockets center Omer Asik, left, jams one home before Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka can do anything about it Friday night at Toyota Center. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 8 of 368 Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) is the recipient of a turnover by Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) during the fourth quarter. Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) is the recipient of a turnover by Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) during the fourth quarter. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 9 of 368 Rockets center Omer Asik drives past the Kevin Durant. Rockets center Omer Asik drives past the Kevin Durant. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 11 of 368 Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin enters the game in the first half. Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin enters the game in the first half. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 12 of 368 Rockets fans head for the exits during the fourth quarter of the loss to the Thunder. Rockets fans head for the exits during the fourth quarter of the loss to the Thunder. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 13 of 368 Kendrick Perkins hits the floor for five pushups after he and the Rocketsâ Francisco Garcia were called for a double technical after tangling in the first half. Kendrick Perkins hits the floor for five pushups after he and the Rocketsâ Francisco Garcia were called for a double technical after tangling in the first half. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 14 of 368 Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel sits court side during the first half. Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel sits court side during the first half. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 16 of 368 Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) hugs point guard Reggie Jackson during the fourth quarter. Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) hugs point guard Reggie Jackson during the fourth quarter. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 17 of 368 Chandler Parsons (25), Patrick Beverley (12) and James Harden (13) leave the court during timeout during the fourth quarter. Chandler Parsons (25), Patrick Beverley (12) and James Harden (13) leave the court during timeout during the fourth quarter. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 18 of 368 Kevin Durant dunks over Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia. Kevin Durant dunks over Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 19 of 368 Rockets small forward Chandler Parsons is slow to get up after a collision with Thunder small forward Kevin Durant. Rockets small forward Chandler Parsons is slow to get up after a collision with Thunder small forward Kevin Durant. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 21 of 368 Rockets guard Carlos Delfino looks on from the bench during the first half. Playing with a sore right foot for several weeks, Delfino believes he aggravated the injury on the dunk, an injury that will require surgery to repair a bone fracture. less Rockets guard Carlos Delfino looks on from the bench during the first half. Playing with a sore right foot for several weeks, Delfino believes he aggravated the injury on the dunk, an injury that will require... more Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 22 of 368 ames Harden right, drives past Nick Collison. ames Harden right, drives past Nick Collison. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 23 of 368 Francisco Garcia reacts after he is called for his fifth foul. Francisco Garcia reacts after he is called for his fifth foul. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 24 of 368 Rockets guard Francisco Garcia reacts after being called for his fifth foul. Rockets guard Francisco Garcia reacts after being called for his fifth foul. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 26 of 368 Rockets forward Chandler Parsons drives on Thunder shooting guard Kevin Martin. Rockets forward Chandler Parsons drives on Thunder shooting guard Kevin Martin. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 27 of 368 Rockets guard Francisco Garcia picks up the ball after a 3-pointer by Thunder point guard Derek Fisher, who celebrates in the background, during the fourth quarter. Rockets guard Francisco Garcia picks up the ball after a 3-pointer by Thunder point guard Derek Fisher, who celebrates in the background, during the fourth quarter. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 28 of 368 Rockets shooting guard James Harden reacts to a call. Rockets shooting guard James Harden reacts to a call. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 29 of 368 Rockets forward Chandler Parsons, right, went down hard at the end of the half after a collision with the ThunderÕs Kevin Durant (35), but no foul was called and Oklahoma City took a four-point lead into the break. less Rockets forward Chandler Parsons, right, went down hard at the end of the half after a collision with the ThunderÕs Kevin Durant (35), but no foul was called and Oklahoma City took a four-point lead into the... more Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 31 of 368 Rockets forward Chandler Parsons and point guard Jeremy Lin look for a call on Thunder small forward Kevin Durant, Rockets forward Chandler Parsons and point guard Jeremy Lin look for a call on Thunder small forward Kevin Durant, Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 32 of 368 Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin walks off the court at the end of the first half. Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin walks off the court at the end of the first half. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 33 of 368 Rockets head coach Kevin McHale directs his team during the first half. Rockets head coach Kevin McHale directs his team during the first half. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 34 of 368 Rockets fans cheer their team during the first half. Rockets fans cheer their team during the first half. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 36 of 368 City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka shoots over Rockets center Omer Asik. City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka shoots over Rockets center Omer Asik. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 37 of 368 Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrates with power forward Serge Ibaka. Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrates with power forward Serge Ibaka. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 38 of 368 Rockets forward Chandler Parsons is knocked to the floor by Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Rockets forward Chandler Parsons is knocked to the floor by Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 39 of 368 Rockets forward Chandler Parsons is slow to get up after a collision with Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Rockets forward Chandler Parsons is slow to get up after a collision with Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 41 of 368 Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia holds up one finger as he looks toward a Thunder player. Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia holds up one finger as he looks toward a Thunder player. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 42 of 368 Thunder guard Kevin Martin shoots over Rockets power forward Greg Smith. Thunder guard Kevin Martin shoots over Rockets power forward Greg Smith. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 43 of 368 Thunder guard Kevin Martin drives to the basket as Houston Rockets guard James Harden defend. Thunder guard Kevin Martin drives to the basket as Houston Rockets guard James Harden defend. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 44 of 368 Thunder power forward Nick Collison disagrees on a call by NBA official Mike Callahan. Thunder power forward Nick Collison disagrees on a call by NBA official Mike Callahan. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 46 of 368 Rockets guard James Harden is knocked to the floor. Rockets guard James Harden is knocked to the floor. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 47 of 368 Rockets mascot Clutch tries to distract Thunder power forward Nick Collison as he shoots a foul shot. Rockets mascot Clutch tries to distract Thunder power forward Nick Collison as he shoots a foul shot. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 48 of 368 Rockets shooting guard James Harden watches as his shot bounces off the rim after getting past the Thunder's Thabo Sefolosha. Rockets shooting guard James Harden watches as his shot bounces off the rim after getting past the Thunder's Thabo Sefolosha. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 49 of 368 Rockets guard James Harden speaks with referee Sean Corbin. Rockets guard James Harden speaks with referee Sean Corbin. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 51 of 368 Rockets forward Chandler Parsons is knocked to the floor by a pick from Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka to free Kevin Durant. Rockets forward Chandler Parsons is knocked to the floor by a pick from Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka to free Kevin Durant. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 52 of 368 Rockets center Omer Asik has the ball knocked away buy Thunder guard Kevin Martin. Rockets center Omer Asik has the ball knocked away buy Thunder guard Kevin Martin. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 53 of 368 Thunder forward Kevin Durant loses the ball as Rockets guard James Harden defends. Thunder forward Kevin Durant loses the ball as Rockets guard James Harden defends. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 54 of 368 Rockets small forward Chandler Parsons dunks past Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Rockets small forward Chandler Parsons dunks past Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 56 of 368 Fans react after a basket by the Rockets' Chandler Parsons. Fans react after a basket by the Rockets' Chandler Parsons. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 57 of 368 Rockets forward Chandler Parsons andThunder forward Serge Ibaka chase a rebound. Rockets forward Chandler Parsons andThunder forward Serge Ibaka chase a rebound. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 58 of 368 Rockets center Omer Asik has the ball knock away by Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Rockets center Omer Asik has the ball knock away by Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 59 of 368 Rockets shooting guard James Harden tries to get past Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Rockets shooting guard James Harden tries to get past Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 61 of 368 Rockets shooting guard James Harden reacts after scoring a basket. Rockets shooting guard James Harden reacts after scoring a basket. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 62 of 368 Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia throws his arms in the air during the first half. Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia throws his arms in the air during the first half. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 63 of 368 Thunder head coach Scott Brooks, small forward Kevin Durant (35), referee Mike Callahan (24) and Rockets center Omer Asik (3) rush in to separate Thunder center Kendrick Perkins from Rockets guard Francisco Garcia. less Thunder head coach Scott Brooks, small forward Kevin Durant (35), referee Mike Callahan (24) and Rockets center Omer Asik (3) rush in to separate Thunder center Kendrick Perkins from Rockets guard Francisco... more Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 64 of 368 Rockets head coach Kevin McHale is held back by the Francisco Garcia as Thunder center Kendrick Perkins looks on after a double technical fouls on Garcia and Perkins. Rockets head coach Kevin McHale is held back by the Francisco Garcia as Thunder center Kendrick Perkins looks on after a double technical fouls on Garcia and Perkins. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
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Image 66 of 368 Francisco Garcia reacts after scoring a basket against during the first half. Francisco Garcia reacts after scoring a basket against during the first half. Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
Image 67 of 368 Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley (12) drives past Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka (9) and point guard Reggie Jackson (15). Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley (12) drives past Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka (9) and point guard Reggie Jackson (15). Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 68 of 368 Rockets shooting guard James Harden, right, leads the team huddle before Game 6. Rockets shooting guard James Harden, right, leads the team huddle before Game 6. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 69 of 368 Rockets fans cheer their team before Game 6. Rockets fans cheer their team before Game 6. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 71 of 368 May 1: Rockets 107, Thunder 100 Rockets center Omer Asik fights for a rebound against Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Asik had 21 points for the Rockets, to go with 11 rebounds, and was 13-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Thunder lead best-of-seven series 3-2 less May 1: Rockets 107, Thunder 100 Rockets center Omer Asik fights for a rebound against Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Asik had 21 points for the Rockets, to go with 11 rebounds, and... more Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 72 of 368 Thunder fans react as Kevin Durant tumbles to the floor. Durant had 36 point in the game, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Thunder fans react as Kevin Durant tumbles to the floor. Durant had 36 point in the game, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 73 of 368 Rockets shooting guard James Harden scoops up a turnover by Thunder small forward Kevin Durant. Rockets shooting guard James Harden scoops up a turnover by Thunder small forward Kevin Durant. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 74 of 368 James Harden and Patrick Beverley celebrate following the victory. James Harden and Patrick Beverley celebrate following the victory. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 76 of 368 Rockets center Omer Asik defends against Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Rockets center Omer Asik defends against Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 77 of 368 Rockets head coach Kevin McHale smiles as he leaves the court. Rockets head coach Kevin McHale smiles as he leaves the court. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 78 of 368 Thunder small forward Kevin Durant loses the ball as he tries to drive between Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia and point guard Patrick Beverley. Thunder small forward Kevin Durant loses the ball as he tries to drive between Rockets shooting guard Francisco Garcia and point guard Patrick Beverley. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 79 of 368 Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka dunks past Rockets center Omer Asik. Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka dunks past Rockets center Omer Asik. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
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Image 81 of 368 Rockets center Omer Asik is fouled by Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka. Rockets center Omer Asik is fouled by Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 82 of 368 Rockets guard Francisco Garcia knocks the ball away from Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Rockets guard Francisco Garcia knocks the ball away from Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle
Image 83 of 368 Thunder guard De
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snow in central, northern and eastern parts of Scotland, particularly early on Wednesday.
Snow and sleet fell in parts of Scotland on Monday - but there were no major problems with the transport network.
The Met Office said about 3cm (1.2in) of snow had fallen on some lower areas, with heavier falls on high ground.
A severe weather warning posted on the Met Office website said: "Temperatures will fall rapidly this evening, where skies clear, with wet surfaces then readily freezing.
"The picture will be complicated by further areas of wintry precipitation in some areas.
"The public should be aware of the likelihood of further difficult travel conditions, with icy stretches forming quite widely on untreated surfaces."
The main transport routes have remained largely clear, although Grampian Police have responded to 77 road accidents, including two fatal crashes, since snow started to fall in the north east on Friday.
The number of accidents was double the average reported at this time of year, the force said.
Ch Insp Ian Wallace said: "After the recent drop in temperatures, snow and ice have been affecting our roads and there has been a noticeable increase in the number of road traffic collisions reported to the police.
"Driving during the winter months requires a different approach to be employed, namely using dipped headlights, reducing your speed, increasing your stopping distance, using smooth steering and avoiding harsh acceleration and braking.
"Some simple changes to the way you drive can make a big difference and reduce the chances of you being involved in a collision."
We are continuing to closely monitor the situation Scottish government spokesman
However, other police forces reported no major problems on the roads.
Transport Scotland's multi-agency response team (Mart) was operational on Sunday night and Monday morning to monitor how the transport network was coping with the conditions.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "The Scottish government's resilience room and Transport Scotland's multi-agency response team both stand ready to co-ordinate activity across the network and address any wider severe weather impacts should conditions later this week require a national response.
"We are continuing to closely monitor the situation, particularly in relation to key areas of transport, utilities and flooding.
"In the run-up to the first widespread snowfall of winter, we have seen a wide range of agencies and organisations working together and reacting quickly to weather alerts to put in place their response plans. This activity has played its part in keeping disruption to a minimum in difficult conditions.
"The travelling public also deserve praise for the way they have reacted and behaved. However, no-one is being complacent and whilst the weather alerts remain in place, the focused response will continue."The danger, data experts say, lies in trusting the data analysis too much without grasping its limitations and the potentially flawed assumptions of the people who build predictive models.
The technology can be, and is, enormously useful. “But the key thing to understand is that data science is a tool that is not necessarily going to give you answers, but probabilities,” said Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mr. Brynjolfsson said that people often do not understand that if the chance that something will happen is 70 percent, that means there is a 30 percent chance it will not occur. The election performance, he said, is “not really a shock to data science and statistics. It’s how it works.”
So, what happened with the election data and algorithms? The answer, it seems, is a combination of the shortcomings of polling, analysis and interpretation, perhaps both in how the numbers were presented and how they were understood by the public.
Mr. Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Amanda Cox, the editor of The Upshot, and Mr. Wang of the Princeton Election Consortium said state polling errors were largely to blame for the underestimates of Mr. Trump’s chances of winning.
In addition to the polling errors, data scientists said the inherent weakness of election models might have caused some forecasting errors. Before an election, forecasters use a combination of historical polls and recent polling data to predict a candidate’s chance of winning. Some may also factor in other variables, such as giving higher weight to a candidate who is an incumbent.
But even with decades of polls to analyze, it is difficult for forecasters to predict accurately a candidate’s chance of winning the presidency months or even weeks ahead of time. Dr. Mutalik of Yale compared election modeling to weather forecasting.The parent of a teen girl who is “transitioning” to become a boy is urging the increasing number of families coping with the radical transgender movement to fight back rather than succumb to its ideology.
“It took us completely by surprise,” Kristie Sisson told Breitbart News in an interview. “Because Danielle had a normal childhood, did all of the typical girl things – from dressing up like the princesses, to playing with dolls, to wearing make-up, perfume, and jewelry.”
Sisson says that, in the fall of 2016, just weeks before her daughter – then a high school senior – told her parents she was going to start to dress like a boy, she had taken her daughter shopping for school clothes, and Danielle had chosen girl’s clothing.
The Sisson family had moved from Long Island, New York, to North Carolina after Danielle completed public middle school. When the family moved to North Carolina, the parents enrolled Danielle in a private high school.
“She did have a hard time adjusting, because she just didn’t fit the mold – she wasn’t the tall, thin, blond like many girls in North Carolina are,” Sisson says. “But that’s not to say she didn’t have friends. I think she was well-liked, but hadn’t found that ‘best’ friend.”
Sisson explains that, as a growing teen, Danielle was a little overweight, “curvy,” and somewhat shorter than other girls in her grade. However, she was a good student and worked for the family business – a family entertainment center – where, her mother says, Danielle was exposed to a variety of people and employees of different backgrounds.
Sisson says she noticed Danielle was often “mimicking” other people her age. For example, she says Danielle became good friends with a girl who was a lesbian, and, shortly afterward, told her parents she herself was a lesbian. Then, she became friends with a gender-confused girl who said she was transgender.
“I never told her she could not be friends with either of these girls,” Sisson says, noting Danielle seemed to change drastically in the fall of 2016 when she became friends with two girls at the private school who had begun the transition process to become boys. At that point, Danielle told her parents she wanted to dress like a boy.
“I have three sons, so I know the difference between a girl’s psyche and a boy’s,” says Sisson, noting that there was never a question in their family that Danielle was “all girl.”
Nevertheless, Sisson acknowledges her daughter may have suffered from depression and specifically points to the parents’ concern that, when Danielle was in elementary school, she had a music teacher who was later convicted of sexual misconduct with students.
“We suspected the teacher had done something to our daughter, but she never would admit to it,” Sisson says, adding that Danielle had also started “cutting” during middle school by nicking herself with her razor and then telling her friend what she had done – behavior that appeared soon after a health class presentation in school that covered the topic of cutting.
Since Danielle was insistent she wanted to become a boy, Sisson says she and her husband found a therapist who said she specialized in transgender and homosexual teens, one who assured the parents she would not simply affirm Danielle’s desire to become a boy.
Three months after the therapy started, Sisson says she and her husband discovered Danielle was smoking pot, drinking, and writing in her journal that she wanted to commit suicide. Additionally, she notes Danielle had begun to take classes in Buddhism.
Eventually, Danielle told her parents her therapist had recommended to her that she begin hormone treatments to start the “transition” process.
The parents subsequently began to look for another therapist – one who could address Danielle’s self-destructive behavior. At the same time, Danielle was also prescribed anti-depressants by a doctoral-level nurse who, Sisson says, began referring to Danielle as a “he” after spending just 30 minutes with her.
When Sisson took her daughter for her physical before she began college, she told the doctor that Danielle wanted to begin hormone transition treatments once she turned 18 in June. The doctor told Danielle, however, that she was moving too quickly on a decision she had made only six months earlier.
“He told her you need to slow down, you don’t just jump in and start taking hormones, and you’ve got a lot of changes that are taking place right now in your life,” Sisson recalls. “He told her you need to graduate high school, enjoy your summer, go off to college, get used to living on your own, and focus on your school work. Come back and see me in December.”
Sisson says, despite Danielle’s insistence on becoming a boy, she agreed to dress as a girl for all of her graduation-related activities.
Then, during the summer between high school graduation and the start of college, Sisson says her daughter had a lesbian relationship with a girl. Her mother notes Danielle apparently was quite interested in boys early on, had crushes on members of the band One Direction, and placed posters of popular male actors on the walls of her room. Nevertheless, Sisson says she was willing to accept Danielle being a lesbian.
“It was very hard to accept, but I also thought maybe she was just trying to experiment a bit,” she explains.
Danielle earned a partial scholarship at the University of Alabama and also qualified for honors classes, her mother reports. Her parents discovered Danielle had made arrangements on her own with the school’s housing department to room with another transgender student. By that time, Sisson says Danielle was wearing boy’s clothing, had shaved her hair very short, and had begun to wear a binder to flatten her breasts.
“I found out she had spent a lot of time online in her bedroom, researching different websites that offered self-tests to determine if she was transgender,” the mother explains.
Sisson says Danielle’s decision to completely take on a boy’s appearance came upon the family rather suddenly.
“She lost a lot of weight, changed her diet – she became vegan like one of the girls during her senior year of high school who was also anorexic,” the mother says. “It completely changed her personality, her relationship with her dad and I, and her brothers.”
When Danielle’s mother and father attended their first parents’ weekend at the University of Alabama in the fall, Sisson says they never met any of Danielle’s friends. She adds they knew their daughter was still spending time online with her girlfriend back home in North Carolina.
“We later found out Danielle was spending a lot of time in the school’s ‘safe space’ for students who identify with the LGBT community,” she continues. “I found out she had joined a fraternity for transgender and gay men. So, she had completely immersed herself in this transgender world.”
Eventually, Sisson says Danielle broke up with her girlfriend from North Carolina and met another girl at school, who may have been encouraging Danielle to transition to become a male.
When Danielle arrived home for a break in the fall, Sisson says her daughter seemed unhappy. The parents discussed with her their concern that she was moving too quickly on this transgender path. Danielle, however, was apparently unhappy being at home, spent no time with her brothers, and refused to speak with her parents about their concerns.
While visiting Long Island relatives for Thanksgiving, Sisson says Danielle would not discuss her situation with her parents, who ultimately told her they would not continue to pay her tuition if she would not speak with them about their concerns.
Meanwhile, Danielle had been garnering support for herself and had connected again with a former middle school friend. Her friend’s mother – a social worker from New York – attempted to get support for Danielle by posting on the website College Confidential that Danielle’s parents had “abandoned” her.
“[T]hey are cutting him [sic] off financially and will no longer pay his college tuition or have him on their health insurance or support him in any way,” the parent wrote, asking for help for Danielle.
Sisson said she and her husband were subsequently labeled as “awful parents” who are “transphobic” and “homophobic” on various websites as Danielle’s story spread. The public rush to affirm Danielle’s decision to become a boy had driven a further wedge between her and her parents.
Eventually, Danielle set up a GoFundMe campaign, raising over $10,000 in only eight hours. Her friends from middle and high school and college contributed to her fund, as did friends of her brother. She also reportedly received a $5,000 anonymous donation. Though her campaign is currently closed, Danielle ultimately raised $13,210 for her tuition and medical “transition” expenses.
Earlier in December, an article at the Crimson White – the University of Alabama’s news publication – observed Danielle had achieved “overnight online fame and support after starting a GoFundMe to raise tuition funds after losing the financial support of his parents.”
“I definitely want to devote a lot of time to helping other people who are in the position that I’m in,” Danielle said, according to the school news report. “After getting all of this really overwhelming support, it matters so much to me to give back to others and pay it forward.”
“There are so many parents like me – the same identical story,” Sisson says, noting the website 4thWaveNow and other online support groups for parents whose children decide they are transgender and then move quickly into hormone treatments and even surgeries.
“It’s very easy for these kids to get the hormones and start taking testosterone,” she says, noting that Planned Parenthood now administers the hormones.
“I feel like it’s the parents against the world,” the mother continues. “The therapists, the doctors, the schools – everyone is pushing this very liberal agenda and this transgender movement, and it’s harming our children.”
“Danielle is going to end up mutilating her body,” she laments. “She wants to have a mastectomy. She wants to have a hysterectomy.”
Considerable evidence is mounting that support for “gender transitions,” is imposing substantial medical and developmental risks on children.
A growing number of pediatricians, mental health professionals, and gay rights activists are warning American parents about the dangers of the new “gender ideology,” which pressures parents to impose risky and dangerous treatments on their children.
“Transgender ideology is not just infecting our laws,” writes pediatrician and researcher Dr. Michelle Cretella, mother of four and president of the American College of Pediatricians. “It is intruding into the lives of the most innocent among us – children – and with the apparent growing support of the professional medical community.”
Cretella says she has “witnessed an upending of the medical consensus on the nature of gender identity” which intimidates professionals who question the claim that some children can and should try to change their sex.
Despite the fact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has said transition-affirming procedures for children are too risky, she observes the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Pediatric Endocrine Society have all endorsed affirming transition.
Cretella’s organization asserts gender ideology is harmful to children and that transgendered children are psychologically confused and at risk for mental health disorders:
No one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex. Gender (an awareness and sense of oneself as male or female) is a sociological and psychological concept; not an objective biological one … A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking. When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind, not the body, and it should be treated as such.
“According to the DSM-V, as many as 98% of gender confused boys and 88% of gender confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty,” the college adds. “Conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse.”
Similarly, the self-described “left-leaning,” pro-LGBT rights association, Youth Gender Professionals, asserts it is risky to affirm young people who claim to be transgender and provide them with hormonal and surgical treatments to change their bodies.
“Our concern is with medical transition for children and youth,” they write. “We feel that unnecessary surgeries and/or hormonal treatments which have not been proven safe in the long-term represent significant risks for young people.”
The organization’s members say they are alarmed that many immature teenagers are deciding they are a member of the opposite sex simply as a result of “binges” on social media sites.
“There is evidence that vulnerable young people are being actively recruited and coached on such sites to believe that they are trans,” the professionals say.
Despite such potential mental health problems associated with gender confusion, children in some states are no longer legally permitted to see a therapist who does not automatically affirm a request for gender transition. Youth Gender Professionals sees such state prohibitions as dangerous since they may block the process of critical thinking and evaluation of the young person regarding the reasons why he or she desires to become a transgender member of the opposite sex.
“While the sentiment behind this legislation is laudable, in some cases, it is being interpreted to mean that therapists cannot explore gender identity with a youth who is professing to be trans,” argue the professionals. “This would mean we can’t ask why; we can’t explore underlying mental health issues; we can’t consider the symbolic nature of the gender dysphoria; and we can’t look at possible confounding issues such as social media use or social contagion.”
Researchers Paul Hruz, Lawrence Mayer, and Paul McHugh address the problem caused by media hype and political debate overshadowing actual questions about the health and psychological well-being of children in a paper titled “Growing Pains,” published at The New Atlantis.
The authors write:
There is strikingly little scientific understanding of important questions underlying the debates over gender identity — for instance, there is very little scientific evidence explaining why some people identify as the opposite sex, or why childhood expressions of cross-gender identification persist for some individuals and not for others. Yet notwithstanding the limited data, physicians and mental health care providers have arrived at a number of methods for treating children, adolescents, and adults with gender dysphoria.
The authors warn of decisions made to help “affirm” a gender-confused child’s perceived identity, without any connection to scientific fact or research.
“Though there is little systematically collected data on the number of young people (or even the number of adults) who identify as transgender or who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery, there is some evidence that the number of people receiving medical and psychotherapeutic care for gender identity issues is on the rise,” they write.
“It is, in this sense, still experimental — yet it is an experiment being conducted in an uncontrolled and unsystematic manner,” the researchers warn.
Sisson adds:
People have glorified this movement. Children like my daughter who had been seeking acceptance, now have found a group of people that they feel has accepted them. And it’s all a lie. Her whole life has boiled down to this movement. She believes this is what she has to do to be happy for the rest of her life. I feel like this is the new trend – there are many girls and boys claiming to be transgender, and it’s just not true. They’re trying to find acceptance, and, as parents, we have to fight it – we have to fight this radical movement.
Like the medical and psychological professionals who are stunned that their professions have allowed themselves to be swept up in a political movement that puts young children and adolescents at risk, Sisson explains her reaction as a parent.
“It’s very hard because there are many doctors and therapists who will not voice their concerns against it,” she observes. “They’re going along with it because they fear for their jobs and their lives. Even teachers are being punished for referring to transgender students as the wrong pronoun.”
“It has to stop,” Sisson asserts. “We have to come together as parents and not fall for this liberal agenda.”By
(Description from the official website: www.blues.org)
The International Blues Challenge represents an worldwide search for the Blues Band and Solo/Duo Blues Acts ready to perform on the international stage, yet just needing that extra big break. Each Affiliate of The Blues Foundation has the right to send a band and a solo/duo act to represent its organization at the IBC.
The IBC is judged by blues professionals from across the world who have years of experience in listening to, producing, and creating blues music. The Blues Foundation has established a set of criteria by which all acts are evaluated throughout the five days of the IBC.
Affiliated organizations are required to stage a regional preliminary IBC competition, with the winner of that event representing the organization in the International Blues Challenge held annually in Memphis, TN along historic Beale Street. While Affilated Organizations are encouraged to follow The Blues Foundation’s structure and rules during their local challenges, each organization is free to structure its preliminary rounds as it sees fit, as long as a true challenge between multiple acts takes place resulting in a single band and/or solo/duo act being identified.
Here are the performances we’re airing every weekday at 9:00pm. You can then hear a marathon of these recordings starting at 6:00pm on Saturday, concluding with a performance by the 1st place band at 11:00pm!
MONDAY
Wes Lee – Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola – Solo/Duo Category
Ruth Wyand – Triangle Blues Society in Durham, NC – Solo/Duo Category
SOBO Blues Band – Israel Blues Society – Band Category
TUESDAY
Sugar Brown – Toronto, ON Blues Society – Solo/Duo Category
Johnny Fink & the intrusion – Dayton, OH Blues Society – Band Category
King Bee – Magic City Blues Society in Birmingham, AL – Band Category
WEDNESDAY
Akeem Kemp Band – from Arkansas Blues Society – Band Category
Al Hill – Nashville Blues Society – Solo/Duo Category – 1st Place & Best Solo Guitar
Vince Johnson & The Plantation All Stars – Memphis, TN Blues Society – Band Category
THURSDAY
Felix Slim – Hondarribia, Spain Blues Society – Solo/Duo Category
Sam Joyner – Vicksburg, Mississippi Blues Society – Solo/Duo Category
Rae Gordon & The Backseat Drivers – Cascade Blues Assoc. in Portland, OR – Band Category – 3rd Place
FRIDAY
Brody Buster’s One Man Band – Kansas City Blues Society – Solo/Duo Category – 2nd Place & Best Harmonica
Randy McQuay – Cape Fear Blues Society in Wilmington, NC – Solo/Duo Category
The Souliz Band Featuring Sugar & Spice – Suncoast Blues Society in Tampa, FL – Band Category – 2nd Place
END OF MARATHON ON SATURDAY
Dawn Tyler Watson – Montreal Canada Blues Society – Band Category – 1st PlaceResidents of the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid in North Sinai have described to The New Arab how successive Egyptian air raids killed a family, including five children.Witnesses said war planed launched attacks on different districts of the city and without prior warning, leading to civilian deaths.According to a witness, an Egyptian F-16 targeted a tented home of a family on farm land, leading to the deaths of a woman and her five children.Local sources from the Bedouin community told The New Arab that shelling had targeted farmers and hit their farm land, while armed groups in the area had not been affected.Internet was down at the time, so residents were unable to inform human rights groups and media about the attacks.Abu Abdullah al-Sawarka, a local resident, said that the family - whose identities are yet to be confirmed - had been displaced from the Sheikh Zuwaid area after the Egyptian army destroyed their home.The children's father disappeared several months ago, and believed to be detained by Egyptian authorities.The Sinai Observatory for Human Rights said the massacre was contrary to the conventions and human rights covenants ratified by the Egyptian State.The Observatory said in a press statement that they were told an F-16 aircraft had targeted areas south of Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah, resulting in the deaths of a woman and five children.The Observatory accused the Egyptian military of "ethnic cleansing" in the Sinai and called on authorities to refrain from targeting civilians.Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace after its military overthrew President Mohammad Morsi from the now banned Muslim Brotherhood movement.Some Sinai militant groups pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group leadership based in Syria and Iraq in November 2014.Meanwhile, human rights groups have accused the Egyptian military of committing numerous abuses in counter-insurgency operations against the group in the Sinai.In March, the army said it killed at least 60 IS militants in an air raid on the group's positions in North Sinai. The military has also razed the homes belonging to thousands of families in the Rafah area - along the border with the Gaza Strip - in a bid to crack down on smuggling through the area's notorious tunnels.SCP-2354
Item #: SCP-2354
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: All instances of SCP-2354 are to be located and rendered inaccessible. This effort is to be headed by Mobile Task Force Pi-7 ("Button Pushers"), with assistance from other task forces involved with building-based anomalies if deemed necessary.
In order to detect and render SCP-2354 instances inaccessible, Procedure 2354-05 is to be administered to elevators in buildings believed to be affected by the anomaly. This procedure involves:
Visual examination of the floor selection buttons. The buttons used to access SCP-2354 usually do not correspond to an actual floor on the building. These buttons can be removed with little repercussion.
Sequential operation of all floor selection buttons. SCP-2354 instances can uncommonly be accessed with floor selection buttons that correspond to actual floors. In this case, the floor selection buttons require rewiring to render SCP-2354 inaccessible.
Operation of elevator by individuals affected by achromachia. Very rarely, usage of floor selection buttons that function normally can instead lead to the building's SCP-2354 instance if the user is affected by achromachia. Study of this phenomenon is currently in progress.
All Foundation facilities should remain non-compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to prevent SCP-2354 instances from manifesting within them.
Foundation legal researchers are currently looking into the feasibility of repealing the ADA to neutralize SCP-2354. This should not be attempted until SCP-2354's relationship with the bill is fully understood.
Description: SCP-2354 is the collective designation for extradimensional floors that manifest in multi-story buildings in the United States. Instances of SCP-2354 affect buildings owned by businesses in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S. Code § 12101). These include businesses with public accommodations and businesses that employ disabled people. Upon meeting all the criteria necessary for ADA compliance, an SCP-2354 instance manifests in a building.
SCP-2354 resembles other floors in affected buildings in terms of appearance and purpose, but contains a distinct dissimilarity. Every button inside SCP-2354 is recessed 300 meters. These recesses are not spatially anomalous, and form long, hollow protrusions from the objects they appear on. The recessed buttons also retain functionality, albeit with a noticeable delay. The layout of the floor incorporates features that account for obstructions made by these protrusions, such as underpasses and crossover bridges. Notable artifacts found within SCP-2354 are listed in Addendum 02.
Instances of SCP-2354 do not appear to physically exist in affected buildings and are only accessible via elevator. Floor selection buttons manifest in the elevators of buildings affected by SCP-2354. These buttons, upon being pressed, will transport all of the elevator's occupants to the affected building's SCP-2354 instance. The mechanism by which elevators travel to SCP-2354 is currently unknown, as the elevator remains stationary between floors while the SCP-2354 instance is occupied.
SCP-2354 instances display signs of prior usage. Forms, records, and internal memoranda can be found in most instances of SCP-2354. These documents generally pertain to mundane vocational matters consistent with the business's operations. However, abnormalities can be found in documents describing the floor's employees, in that they do not describe human beings with normal anatomies. A compilation of these descriptions can be found in Document 2354-03.
Addendum 01: It is believed that SCP-2354 instances began manifesting as a result of EE-0742, an extranormal event that occurred in the U.S. Capitol's Senate Chamber on May 9, 1988. During this event, Senator ██████ ████ (D-██) delivered a speech proposing a bill that would protect disabled individuals from discrimination. Interspersed throughout the speech were references to the senator's brother, who suffered from "extreme achromachia." The senator repeatedly emphasized the need to protect "phalangeally challenged individuals" like his brother and dedicated three hours of speech to detailing how the bill would accommodate them.
Foundation agents embedded in the HELP removed the sections pertaining to this disability, believing they described a condition of anomalous cause. Subsequent investigation of Senator ████ revealed that his brother does suffer from achromachia, but not to the degree described in the speech. The senator was later detained and all participants in the bill's proposal were amnesticized. The modified bill was later signed into law as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Addendum 02: Notable artifacts found within SCP-2354 instances.The Association of American Universities announced on Monday that it had invited Boston University to join its exclusive group of prestigious research institutions.
This is the third time since 2009 that the association has made a change in its usually stable rolls. It added a new member, the Georgia Institute of Technology, in 2009, and lost two, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Syracuse University, last year.
Robert A. Brown, president of Boston University, said he was "taken aback" by the invitation he received during a telephone call last week. The university is still relatively new to the ranks of very successful research institutions, he said, after some 40 years of efforts to join them.
"This is just a tremendously gratifying occasion for a young research university, a tremendous recognition of what this institution has accomplished," Mr. Brown said.
The university will benefit from membership by hearing the practices of elite institutions and being able to weigh in on federal issues that affect the association's members, Mr. Brown said. In addition, it means a lot to the university's faculty to be affiliated with an AAU member, he said.
The association offered Boston University the opportunity to join after a review of the institution's research productivity as well as more-subjective criteria, such as the quality of its faculty and doctoral programs, said Hunter R. Rawlings III, president of the organization.
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Boston University not only has a strong showing in its amount of federally sponsored research, Mr. Rawlings said, but it continues to improve in that area.
Mr. Rawlings said the AAU's membership committee tries to make its considerations on a very broad set of benchmarks in order to avoid basing its decisions only on raw statistical information.
The addition of Boston University brings the association's total membership to 62, including 60 in the United States and two in Canada. The last new member, Georgia Tech in 2009, was the first in nearly a decade.
But the criteria for membership have sparked heated controversy in recent years, and questions about which universities deserve to be counted among the continent's elite. In 2010 the association adopted revised membership criteria that compared members to nonmembers on their amount of sponsored research and eliminated the assumption that current members would retain their status indefinitely.
In 2011, after reviewing the research performance of at least two universities, the association took its first vote ever to remove an institution from membership—the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. At nearly the same time, Syracuse University announced that it would voluntarily leave the association.
The association's membership is comfortable now with the number of members, and the "membership committee is not in a hurry to add or subtract any members," Mr. Rawlings said. "My guess is there will be a little time before any more changes take place. Membership has made it clear they don't want a large organization."The Sibiu manuscript discovered in 1961, is a collection of around 450 pages that include among many other things, details of three-stage rockets and manned rocket flight.
Most of us are unaware of the fact that there are countless ancient manuscripts scattered across the globe, describing what many consider as improbable achievements of the past.
What would you say If I told you that there is an ancient manuscript that dates back nearly 500 years, and describes liquid fuel, multi-stage rockets, and even manned rockets?
You’d either say I’m crazy, or it’s just fake news.
*Have you noticed how people these days call out as fake news anything that they find hard to believe or goes against their belief system?
Anyway, the Sibiu manuscript is real, it’s not fake news, and it does, in fact, describe—among other things— liquid fuel and multi-stage rockets, and it was officially published in the 16th century, although many believe it was written using texts that go back further in time.
The Sibiu Manuscript was found in 1961 by Doru Todericiu, a professor of Science and Technology at the University of Bucharest. The manuscript contained around 450 pages which were recovered from the archives of the city of Sibiu, in Romania.
To the surprise of Todericiu, the ancient text was flooded with drawings and technical data on artillery, ballistics and detailed descriptions of multistage rockets.
Referred to as the Sibiu manuscript ever since, the ancient text is believed to have been written by a man called Conrad Haas, between 1550 and 1570.
Conrad Haas is believed to have been a military engineer who worked for the Kingdom of Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania.
The ancient manuscript origins aren’t very clear, nor are the origins of its author who according to historians is believed to have been born in either Austrian or Transylvania and became the head of the arsenal of the Austrian Empire under King Ferdinand I.
The Sibiu manuscript, written entirely in German, was found to be a theoretical treatise on the construction of different types of weapons, including—for the first time in history—multistage rocket technology. It also includes details on the combination of fireworks with weapons, the design of fins in the shape of a hang glider as well as the creation of fuel mixtures with the use of liquid fuel.
It remains a mystery whether or not Haas managed to use his designs and put into practice, but there are some who claim that a rocket launch was carried out in Sibiu in 1550, but there is no documentary evidence to support these claims.
We do know from history that Johann Schmidlap, a 16th-century Bavarian fireworks maker, and rocket pioneer, was the first to experiment with two-stage and three-stage rockets around 1590.
Before the discovery of the Sibiu manuscript, the earliest details of a three-stage rocket was attributed to Kazimierz Siemienowicz, a Polish specialist in artillery, who published details about rocketry in his 1650 treatise Artis Magnae Artilleriae Pars Prima.
Conrad Haas wrote down a few interesting sentences in his manuscript in which he talks about the military use of rockets (translated):
“But my advice is for more peace and no war, leaving the rifles calmly in storage, so the bullet is not fired, the gunpowder is not burned or wet, so the prince keeps his money, the arsenal master his life; that is the advice Conrad Haas gives.”Chris Christie is the governor of New Jersey. Many in the Republican party want him to run for President although he says that he does not want to run. Governor Christie is also fat. David Letterman spent some time last night making a series of fat jokes about him. I found them to be more mean-spirited then Letterman’s normal fare (as did the LA Times – trigger warning: It contains the jokes and the comments are, sadly, what you would expect.)
The argument goes that David Letterman makes fun of Donald Trump’s hair and Lindsey Lohan’s dress so it’s ok to make fun of Chris Christie’s body.
First, I’m not particularly a fan of David Letterman or his style of making fun of people for laughs. The thing that makes Christie stand out to me is that there aren’t a ton of kids with Donald Trumps hair, and there aren’t a lot of kids who are forced to wear Lindsay Lohan’s dress everyday. But there are a lot of fat kids, and making jokes about Governor Christie being fat sends fat kids (and fat adults) the message that no amount of accomplishment will ever stop the fat jokes. You could be a state governor being asked to run for President of the United States and people will still be making the same dumbass jokes that you heard in elementary school.
This is in the same vein of Jennifer Hudson’s comment that before Weight Watchers her “whole world was can’t” when before WW she was a finalist on American Idol, won a Grammy for her first CD, an Oscar for her first film, and 29 other awards. But she just couldn’t get anything done because the was fat. Right.
Of course the diet companies want us to believe that no accomplishment is good enough until we are thin. If we stop believing that, they might lose some of their 60 Billion Dollars a year.
I think that David Letterman’s actions are an example of a frequent occurrence. We see it in internet comments and personal conversations, even news interviews. The diet company has managed to make David Letterman into a walking advertisement for them. He starts the ball rolling with the whole “it’s ok to make fun of fatties because they could stop all the stigma if they would just find a way to be more aesthetically pleasing to me” then everyone in the comments chimes in with all the rest of the rhetoric we know so well. Like these idiots who send me hate mail thinking that they are powerful and badass when they are really little workers for the diet industry – and they do it for free – what’s the word for that…
So, I think tragically, fat people hide. Not because they want to, but because they don’t want to be publicly humiliated. So they don’t run for city council, they don’t take that class, they don’t go to the gym, they don’t go for their Ph.D to become a professor, they turn down that opportunity to speak at a local organization. Not because they don’t want to do these things, but because they fear the junior high school teasing that can come along with it
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capable of doing so. This gentleman's advice sums up the best strategy: recognize the risk inherent in solo travel and accept no further risks. This means staying on the trail, making sure people know where you are going and when you will be home, and avoiding dangerous situations such as exposed cliffs and stream crossings. Cell phone coverage is poor throughout most of Yosemite and even satellite tracking systems have a track record of failure within the park, so counting on help arriving or someone finding you if you are seriously injured may not be a realistic plan.
This hiker fortunate enough to be able to walk after his fall. He did a great job taking responsibility for his mistakes and working to self-rescue. However, had he been farther in the wilderness, unable to walk further, or unable to reach help before nightfall, his situation could have deteriorated rapidly. We appreciate his candor and willingness to share his story. On the weekend of February 14, 2015, a 23-year-old male backpacker was hiking along the rim of Yosemite Valley near Dewey Point. Upon reaching the point, overwhelmed with the spectacular view, he decided to attempt to access another spire just a little farther out. This effort required some scrambling, and he ultimately fell down the slope, sustaining a broken arm and several more minor injuries.While he was able to get back to the trail, he was unable to carry his pack. He decided to leave it and head west along the trail to Tunnel View to seek help. Fortuitously, he encountered a ranger hiking in the area, who was able to help him out the last two miles to the road. The Yosemite Valley ambulance crew met the pair at the trailhead and transported the patient to the Yosemite Medical Clinic for care.Upon speaking with the subject, he was most anxious to convey to other Yosemite hikers and backpackers that, if they choose to hike alone, they assume additional risks in doing so. With that in mind, they should do all in their power to mitigate any further risks along the way. He left the trail and entered loose, steep, difficult terrain—a choice that could have been deadly if he had not been able to stop his fall. He suggested that those travelling alone should "have a little more humility," and recognize they are far from help if things do not go as planned.While hiking solo is not advised, it is often a long-held preference for those who are experienced and capable of doing so. This gentleman's advice sums up the best strategy: recognize the risk inherent in solo travel and accept no further risks. This means staying on the trail, making sure people know where you are going and when you will be home, and avoiding dangerous situations such as exposed cliffs and stream crossings. Cell phone coverage is poor throughout most of Yosemite and even satellite tracking systems have a track record of failure within the park, so counting on help arriving or someone finding you if you are seriously injured may not be a realistic plan.This hiker fortunate enough to be able to walk after his fall. He did a great job taking responsibility for his mistakes and working to self-rescue. However, had he been farther in the wilderness, unable to walk further, or unable to reach help before nightfall, his situation could have deteriorated rapidly. We appreciate his candor and willingness to share his story.If SCOTUS punts, Linda Hirshman won’t be discouraged:
[I]n Poe v. Ullman, Justice Harlan’s dissent from the Court’s standing decision was a rough draft for his opinion four years later in Griswold, and, indeed, is one of the most-cited and influential opinions in the modern era. If the Court votes to duck on Perry, it may very well happen that Justice Ginsburg will write a similarly persuasive dissent. This feminist luminary cannot be pleased to see her egalitarian writings about the abortion case used to urge the Court, as several legal commentators have done, to withhold equal protection from another disadvantaged group like gay and lesbian people. Although she says she is staying on, time passes, and she is unlikely to see another case of this magnitude directly in the area of her legacy.
While we are still on the topic, I recommend David von Drehle’s time-line of the movement from its very beginnings. (Also a must-read: a profile of Mary Bonauto, truly our Thurgood Marshall.) I’m particularlygrateful for the mention of Jeb Boswell, the astonishingly brilliant Yale historian whose book, Christianity, Homosexuality and Social Tolerance, lit the same fire in me as it did Even Wolfson, when we were both coming of age. It’s a world-shifting book, and all I can say is that I wish he’d had time to perfect his subsequent book on early same-sex unions in Christianity. He died of AIDS, like much of his generation. But the texts he found for Christian rites of union for two people of same gender were never in dispute as artifacts – just in dispute as to cultural meaning. Aaron and I used a prayer from an 8th century male-male union rite in our own wedding.
But when I say “very beginnings”, I mean simply the legal and cultural shift in the US from the early 1990s onwards. There’s a dangerous tendency to believe that somehow, this was the first time in human history that gay people had sought marriage, or deemed themselves worthy of it. That’s not true – and my anthology finds examples from 14th century China to Native American culture to African matriarchies. Here is Montaigne, writing in the late 16th Century, of an incident he had heard of:
On my return from Saint Peter’s I met a man who informed me humorously of two things: that the Portuguese made their obeisance in Passion week; and then, that on this same day the station was at San Giovanna Porta Latina, in which church a few years before certain Portuguese had entered into a strange brotherhood. They married one another, male to male, at Mass, with the same ceremonies with which we perform our marriages, read the same marriage Gospel service, and then went to bed and lived together. The Roman wits said that because in the other conjunction, of male and female, this circumstance of marriage alone makes it legitimate, it had seemed to these sharp folk that this other action would become equally legitimate if they authorized it with ceremonies and mysteries of the Church. Eight or nine Portuguese of this fine sect were burned.
“This fine sect”… “these sharp folk”. Montaigne was one of the first supporters of marriage equality. But he had to tell us in code. As we congratulate ourselves, let us recall the profound pain this stigmatization caused for so many throughout history, and the brutal repression they had to endure – even being burned alive for seizing their own destiny and declaring the church their own.
(Illustration: Burning of two sodomites at the stake outside Zürich, 1482, by Spiezer Schilling)Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Peter Biles: "What is clear is that the Gaddafi forces certainly still have the capacity to respond"
Anti-Gaddafi forces have been forced to pull back from Bani Walid after meeting fierce resistance from those loyal to the ousted Libyan leader.
Fighters came under heavy shelling and gunfire after entering the town, 90 miles (140 kilometres) south-east of the capital Tripoli.
Further to the east, forces are continuing an assault on Sirte, another remaining Gaddafi stronghold.
Earlier, the UN voted to give Libya's seat to the transitional authorities.
The move, which faced only minor opposition, clears the way for National Transitional Council (NTC) chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
US officials say President Barack Obama will meet Mr Jalil on the sidelines of the gathering on Tuesday.
The UN has also passed a resolution to ease sanctions against Libya, including on its national oil company and national bank.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said about $19bn (£12bn) in Libyan assets frozen in the UK would be gradually released as a result.
Concern for civilians
Shortly after entering Bani Walid, NTC forces were hit by sniper fire, mortar attacks and rocket barrages as they tried to advance on the city centre.
"We have received orders to retreat. We have been hit by many rockets. We will come back later," Assad al-Hamuri, a fighter, told Reuters as forces began their withdrawal.
Correspondents said that not for the first time, anti-Gaddafi forces appeared to be in some disarray, as they were forced to retreat from Bani Walid following an initial advance.
Around Col Gaddafi's hometown, Sirte, there were fierce exchanges as the two sides battled for control.
The BBC's Ian Pannell, in Tripoli, says the latest attacks suggest the battle for the remaining contested areas of Libya could be entering a decisive phase.
But there is concern for the tens of thousands of civilians still believed to be living in both Bani Walid and Sirte, and who have been surviving for weeks with limited access to food, water and electricity, our correspondent adds.
The fresh advance on Bani Walid came after a deadline set by the NTC forces to allow civilians to leave the town expired.
Gaddafi's troops are between the houses, there are a lot of snipers on the roofs Mabrook Salem, NTC fighter in Sirte Fighting for the symbolic city of Sirte
The BBC's Peter Biles, outside Bani Walid, says smoke could be seen from the town and explosions heard, while a number of ambulances have been coming from Bani Walid carrying wounded.
Earlier, soldiers at a checkpoint told him that the driver of Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam has been captured.
In an televised audio message, Col Gaddafi's spokesman said loyalists had inflicted heavy losses on fighters in Bani Walid, and were prepared for a long fight.
"The battle is far from over," Moussa Ibrahim said in comments broadcast on Syria-based Arrai television station.
"We have prepared ourselves for a long war. We have the equipment and the weapons."
"We assure everybody that the Sirte and Bani Walid fronts are strong, despite the heavy, unbelievable and merciless Nato bombardment on hospitals, families and schools," he added, according to Reuters.
'Snipers on roofs'
Meanwhile, columns of NTC fighters backed by tanks launched an early morning assault on the coastal town of Sirte, Col Gaddafi's hometown.
Anti-Gaddafi forces claimed that Sirte airport had been taken from loyalists, while fierce fighting was also reported south-east of the city centre.
"Gaddafi's troops are between the houses, there are a lot of snipers on the roofs," fighter Mabrook Salem told Reuters.
"We attack them with rockets, it makes a lot of damage but it is the best way to control them," he said.
Bani Walid and Sirte are among the last strongholds of those loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi, after Tripoli fell to NTC forces last month.
In a separate development, the government of Niger has said it will not send Col Gaddafi's son, Saadi, back to Libya, saying there was no guarantee the 38-year-old would receive a fair trial in his home country.
"With regard to (our) international obligations, we cannot send someone back there where he has no chance of receiving a fair trial and where he could face the death penalty," government spokesman Marou Amadou said.
"On the other hand, if this gentleman or any other person is wanted by an independent court... which has universal competence over the crimes for which he is pursued, Niger will do its duty," he added.
We cannot send someone back there where he has no chance of receiving a fair trial and where he could face the death penalty Marou Amadou, Niger government spokesman
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Col Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, but not for Saadi, a former footballer.
In New York, the UN General Assembly voted in favour of giving Libya's seat to the NTC, despite some opposition from Latin American governments.
The 193-member assembly voted 114 to 17, with 15 abstentions. Some African nations called for a decision to be postponed.
The move allows Mr Jalil to attend the General Assembly meeting.
US officials said Mr Obama would meet Mr Jalil to discuss the NTC's plans for the post-Gaddafi era.
The meeting would allow Mr Obama to "congratulate chairman Jalil on the success of the Libyan people of ending the Gaddafi regime", US deputy security adviser Ben Rhodes told AFP news agency.
France and the US welcomed the UN developments, calling the transfer of the UN seat to the NTC a "historic" step.
"This vote confirms the reintegration of Libya in the concert of nations which is welcoming the representatives of the new Libya," said France's UN ambassador Gerard Araud.After officially launching in Chicago just two weeks ago, New York-based ridesharing option Via View Profile We are hiring has already expanded its services to new areas in the city, fulfilling the company’s promise of a swift expansion.
“We are a corner-to-corner service,” Via’s Chicago general manager Chris Snyder said. “We avoid all sorts of unnecessary detours that you might otherwise see if you were trying to pick up multiple people and put them into the car at the same time. This ends up being a really efficient, affordable, and convenient mode of transit that’s a nice upgrade from the public transit experience — but also much more affordable than a taxi or private car.”
Via, which offers its shared rides in professionally chauffeured vehicles for a flat fee of $5, was initially available in select areas — mostly River North and the Loop.
Now, Via’s coverage has been expanded to include Lakeview and Lincoln Park, with dropoffs available anywhere east of Clark and north up to Belmont.
“Despite the CTA being a great transit system, a lot of folks have a very challenging commute, either because they have to walk a long way or because trains and buses are really over subscribed,” Snyder said.
He added that the service will continue to expand aggressively in the upcoming weeks.
Chicago marks Via’s second expansion into a new market, and their presence in the city isn’t only growing in terms of geography. The company already has a team of four working out of Chicago, and Snyder said that number is growing.
Earlier this year, Via closed a substantial Series B round — to the tune of about $27 million — which brought their total funding amount just shy of $38 million.
But Via isn’t without its competitors, especially as services like Uber continue to expand their ridesharing empires.
“There’s a huge demand in general for ridesharing in Chicago,” Snyder said. “We were the first true ridesharing company to launch in Chicago. Obviously now UberPool is joining the party. But we really think that we set ourselves apart by occupying this middle ground between people in private cars and people in really crowded subway trains.
Photo via Via.
Have a tip for us or want to share news about your company? Email us via [email protected]Minecraft is easily my most played game. I must have easily clocked 1000 hours or many many more. That said I’m not sure I actually enjoy the game. I recently played Minecraft in single player and after 3 or 4 hours I had built a decent shelter, farms and mined enough to gather plenty of resources… then proceeded to get bored enough to never touch that world again.
In many ways it was similar to my experience back when I first tried Minecraft around 5 years ago. I bought the game due to the viral attention the game had received with people calling it electronic Lego. I waited until survival mode was released and eventually bought the game. I played for a couple of days on single player. Built a house on the top of a hill. Messed around with rails back before powered rails and found them to be a waste of time. Quite quickly I became bored and wondered if Minecraft had been a waste of money.
Out of blind luck and Youtube’s awful recommendation system I ended up being recommended a video of Minecraft griefing on a large public server. I was aware griefing was an issue which put me off trying the game online. Anyway the server looked interesting with some nice builds so I googled the p.nerd server and found out that anti griefing measures were active on the server so I thought it was worth the risk.
I ended up playing on the second map of the server p.nerd.nu. I entered the game and found a wall of rules. Ok all seems interesting and the initial spawn area was crowded with buildings. I followed a random road and found some more interesting builds. I ended up in a crappy little town of Cobble. Not far from spawn. So I went to the top of a nearby hill and built a small stone house. Ok so multiplayer had turned out much like single player and I was losing interest.
However, I ended up meeting the couple of players who had built the Town called Cobble. The word town is rather generous at this stage. It was about 4 houses with an interesting feature and a hidden underground area. So I ended up joining the build and helping develop the town. I soon started recruitment of newer members and the town grew…
And the town rapidly grew. A group of us organised over voice chat and the unplanned town just exploded in active players.
Minecraft became a very enjoyable experience but not for the game play itself. Working together with other players became the main reason I played. Running Cobble was a fun experience. In retrospect we built a giant eyesore on the PVE map, but we formed a community that has had members keep in contact for years since.
Minecraft became about the online community for me. I made a lot of very good friends who I still play a range of games with and am connected with via a range of social media. Currently, making plans over Facebook for another big Minecraft build when another map restart takes place, which should be soon. Should be good fun with around 15 players from the large scale Minecraft builds.
Minecraft has been a unique experience for me as the game play itself does not seem that interesting, but the online community and friendships I have made easily makes this one of the most played games I own.
AdvertisementsDon't Call This 12-Year-Old Concert Pianist A Prodigy
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nick Suttle/Courtesy of the artist Nick Suttle/Courtesy of the artist
Musician Emily Bear has composed more than 350 pieces for the piano. She's recorded six albums, performed at the White House and Carnegie Hall, and worked closely with her mentor, music legend Quincy Jones. And get this: She's 12.
Live Performance Hear Emily Bear's On-The-Spot Composition For NPR's David Greene
Bear is what some call a prodigy: a child who shows extraordinary ability at an early age. This week, Morning Edition is talking about kids like Emily — finding out what it's like to raise a child who's so gifted and exploring some of the science that may or may not explain these talents.
As NPR's David Greene discovered, Emily Bear will happily write a song about anything you suggest — but she'd rather you not refer to her as a prodigy. Greene recently spoke with the musician and her mother, Andrea Bear; you can hear their conversation, as well as some of Emily Bear's playing, at the audio link.President Barack Obama has a new surveillance controversy on his hands.
The U.S. spied on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Iran nuclear negotiations, prior to the landmark deal that was signed in July.
The Wall Street Journal reports that White House officials gathered information on Netanyahu that would help them counter his campaign to block the deal.
The NSA monitored Netanyahu's communications with his senior aides, as well as members of Congress and Jewish groups in the U.S., the report said.
A spokesman for the White House declined to comment on the matter directly while asserting the government's policy of conducting foreign surveillance if there is a'specific and validated national security purpose.'
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President Barack Obama has a new surveillance controversy on his hands. The U.S. spied on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, during the Iran nuclear negotiations, prior to the landmark deal that was signed in July
The NSA monitored Netanyahu's communications with his senior aides, as well as members of Congress and Jewish groups in the U.S., the report said
The controversy one comes less than two months after Netanyahu's last visit to the White House. The two leaders met in the Oval Office in November for their first sit-down since the completion of the nuclear accord with Iran
The revelation that Members of Congress were caught up in the dragnet raised fears within the Obama administration that it would be accused of spying on Congress, with one official referring to it as an 'oh s*** moment'.
Obama apologized last year for spying on U.S. allies after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden fled the country and released a trove of classified information about its surveillance operations.
U.S. officials who spoke to the Journal said Obama felt there was a 'compelling national security purpose' to monitor Netanyahu during the Iran deal, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The NSA began keeping tabs on the Israeli Prime Minister late in Obama's first term in office. The surveillance was driven by fears that Israel was planning an attack on Iran.
The agency carried on with its spying operations, and discovered that Netanyahu had leaked details of the Iran negotiations - which could have jeopardized the deal - and had coordinated talks with American Jewish groups. He also asked undecided U.S.lawmakers what it would take to win their vote.
Realizing the spying could cause the administration headaches, the White House left it up to the NSA to decide what to share, and the agency obliged, deleting names of Members and 'trash talk' on the administration.
A spokesman for the Embassy of Israel in Washington told the Journal the allegations 'are total nonsense.'
National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement: 'We do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike.'
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said this morning that the situation'might be worse' than the Journal's report disclosed.
The NSA began keeping tabs on the Israeli Prime Minister late in Obama's first term in office. The surveillance was driven by fears that Israel was planning an attack on Iran
'I want to be very careful. I’m on, a member of the Intelligence Committee, so obviously I want to be very careful of what I say about information of this kind,' Rubio, a GOP presidential candidate, said during an appearance on Fox and Friends. 'Obviously people read this report, they have a right to be concerned this morning about it.'
Those concerns are 'legitimate,' he said, according to Politico, but said, 'We have to be very careful about how we discuss it, especially since there’s a press report that I don’t think gets the entire story.'
He then said, 'I actually think it might be worse than what some people might think, but this is an issue that we’ll keep a close eye on.'
The accusations could prove damaging to Obama during his final year in office. He's been dogged by surveillance controversies throughout his two terms.
The latest one comes less than two months after Netanyahu's last visit to the White House. The two leaders met in November in the Oval Office for their first sit-down since the completion of the nuclear accord with Iran.
They notably did not take questions from the press before or after their talk, which was meant to thaw tensions between the two men following Obama's dogged pursuit of the international agreement with Israel's sworn enemy, Iran.
Two years before Snowden revealed the vast extent of the NSA's surveillance, causing a rift a between Obama and multiple world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
A year ago Obama promised to scale back spying on U.S. allies.
The administration permitted the NSA to continue targeting other leaders, however, such as Netanyahu, and top aides to Merkel.
In a lengthy commentary on the United States' relationship with Israel in response to the Journal's piece, Price said, 'When it comes to Israel, President Obama has said repeatedly that the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct. This message has always been backed by concrete actions that demonstrate the depth of U.S. support for Israel.'Jack Luskin, who built a Baltimore-based chain of electronics and home appliance stores over nearly five decades with the help of his famous slogan “The Cheapest Guy in Town,” died Friday of complications from an infection at his home in North Palm Beach, Fla. He was 89.
The Baltimore native started Luskin’s in 1948 in Pimlico with his brother, Joe, selling refrigerators at a time when consumers stored food in iceboxes. The brothers would follow ice delivery trucks through neighborhoods, then knock on residents’ doors to persuade them to switch to the new appliance.
Luskin’s eventually expanded into televisions and other electronics, opening one of the larger-format stores of the time overlooking the then-newly built Beltway in Towson in 1964. Mr. Luskin gained fame as a TV pitchman, starring in commercials where he would appear to leap from televisions to washing machines. The chain grew to 56 stores in 11 states before shutting down in 1995 amid the rise of bigger-box retailers.
Mr. Luskin’s two sons, Kevin Luskin and Cary Luskin, worked with their father in the business and then continued the family’s retail tradition, launching The Big Screen Store chain in 1996.
Mr. Luskin’s daughter, Jamie McCourt, was recently named by President Donald Trump to be U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco.
Mr. Luskin and his wife, Jean, retired to Florida. The couple had been married 68 years.
“Our dad was, by anyone’s definition, a one-of-a-kind original,” Kevin Luskin said Saturday. “He started with literally nothing but vision, drive and incredible energy. His life is a true rags-to-riches story. Cary and I loved working with our dad, which started from the time we were little kids.
“Our family had an incredible run with Luskin’s, and the experience we gained from working with Jack laid the groundwork for the companies we have today,” Kevin Luskin said. “Our dad left his indelible mark on the lives of untold numbers of people he came in contact with through business and life. … Baltimore has lost an icon.”
Both Kevin Luskin and his older brother, Cary, helped out in the stores as children, then worked there full time after college. Other family members, including Mr. Luskin’s mother, also pitched in at the business. The two brothers now operate a dozen Big Screen Stores in Maryland and Virginia.
“We were so lucky, Kevin and I,” Cary Luskin said. “He included us in everything. … He was generous to a fault. He was generous to people with his time, and he always made people feel incredibly wonderful.”
David Nevins, president of the Nevins & Associates public relations and marketing firm, said he looked up to Mr. Luskin, whom he had known for nearly 40 years. Mr. Nevins said Mr. Luskin was a visionary both in the design of his stores and his approach to advertising.
“Luskin’s was really the inventor of the big-box store concept that Best Buy and formerly Circuit City and other retailers occupy today,” Mr. Nevins said. “It was a unique approach to retailing in which you would put all under one roof televisions and radios and washing machines and so forth.”
And the slogan “Cheapest Guy in Town” memorably communicated Mr. Luskin’s model of discount retailing, Mr. Nevins said.
“How many slogans can you think of that you remember 50 years later as if they were developed yesterday?” Mr. Nevins said.
Kevin Luskin said his father was so well known from his stores and commercials that when people see his last name — whether at a restaurant or a doctor’s office — they inevitably asked if he’s related to Jack Luskin.
Mr. Luskin was born in Baltimore, the son of Russian immigrants Nathan and Dora Luskin, who came to the U.S. with little money or knowledge of English and who eventually opened a small grocery store. The family lived above the store on Spalding Avenue near Pimlico Race Course.
Mr. Luskin graduated in 1945 from City College, which he long credited with giving him a foundation for success.
He was inducted into the high school’s Hall of Fame in 2014, which became “one of the proudest moments of his life,” Cary Luskin said. In a speech to City College students and alumni, “Jack brought the house down with these four words: ‘City College made me.’ ”
After graduating from high school, he served in the Army. He and his brother used their Army separation pay to start their business, at first just a small space to store refrigerators on Park Heights Avenue.
They opened an 8,000-square-foot store at 4900 Park Heights Ave. about a year later in 1949, then a second store in Eastpoint in 1956. When they added televisions, they were able to keep prices lower than their competitors by keeping overhead low.
They opened their third store in 1964 in Towson Overlook on Cromwell Bridge Road in Towson, now the site of a Big Screen Store. Cary Luskin said no banks would finance the construction of the Luskin’s overlooking the Beltway, so his father persuaded his TV and appliance suppliers to let him delay payments until after the store was built, which Mr. Luskin told them would boost their products’ sales. After building the store, he was able to obtain a loan and pay the suppliers, Cary Luskin said.
Cary Luskin recalled that his father considered his employees part of his family, but always said they worked for the customer, not for him.
“He would say, ‘The customer is the reason you’re here,’ ” Cary Luskin said, and “ ‘I sign the check, but you work for the people walking through that door.’ ”
Mr. Luskin’s philanthropy included supporting many Jewish causes. He helped fund the Baltimore Holocaust Memorial’s sculpture of victims engulfed in flames, created by artist Joseph Sheppard, in the 1980s.
Mr. Luskin was inducted to the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame in 2005.
A funeral is planned for 10 a.m. Monday at Temple Emanu-el, 190 County Road, Palm Beach, Fla., followed by interment at Star of David Cemetery, 9321 Memorial Park Road, West Palm Beach, Fla.
In addition to his wife and sons, who all live in North Palm Beach, and his daughter, who is relocating from California to Paris, Mr. Luskin is survived by eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
[email protected]
[email protected]
twitter.com/lmirabellaBrothers Joe and Bob Johnson's survival-horror title Miasmata will be published for PC through Steam and GOG.com, reports Eurogamer.
The brothers, operating under the developer name IonFX, have been developing Miasmata for four years on Joe's self-made MILO engine. Miasmata sets players in the shoes of a plague-infected scientist stranded on Eden, a tropical island devoid of all human life. Players will navigate the island through landmark recognition and hand-drawn maps scattered throughout the world.
Players must find their missing colleagues as well as a cure for their strange illness, and a mysterious creature stalking the island poses a serious threat thanks to some carefully-programmed AI.
"He responds to sounds, smell, and has a vision-cone," Bob Johnson told Eurogamer. "You can duck behind trees and rocks and things, and you can also hide in tall grasses and bushes. Objects on the ground have different properties, so if you step on some crunchy sticks or leaves, he may become more aware of you.
"The creature is invincible, but you will have to fight him sometimes in order to get an opportunity to flee," he added. "You can use rocks, sticks, knives, torches, etc. to attack him. This may scare him away for awhile. You can also throw objects in another direction and that may distract him. You'll throw a torch, for example, and his head will follow it and he may go investigate it. He'll become progressively more dangerous as you go through the game."
Miasmata was approved for distribution through Steam on Steam Greenlight late last month.In a joint investigation with Reveal at the Center for Investigative Reporting, the News4 I-Team continues its look at the Maryland charity Planet Aid and its possible connection to a controversial Danish organization called the Teachers Group. (Published Tuesday, May 24, 2016)
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include an additional statement from Planet Aid.
At first, signing up for Planet Aid’s “Manager In Training” program at its Elkridge, Maryland, headquarters seemed like the perfect job, Meredith Crocker said. She answered a Craigslist ad for the charity in 2013.
“The idea that they were both working for the environment and trying to help people at the same time seemed really cool," Crocker said.
Having just received her master’s degree in international development economics, Crocker said she was initially attracted to Planet Aid’s message of saving the environment by recycling the clothes donated to its bright yellow bins.
Planet Aid makes as much as $42 million a year selling those clothes, according to its financial filings submitted to the Internal Revenue Service, indicating the money goes toward feeding and educating impoverished communities in Africa.
But in a joint international investigation with Reveal at the Center for Investigative Reporting, the News4 I-Team found Planet Aid is connected to a controversial Danish organization called Tvind, also known as the Teachers Group.
Danish court records obtained by the I-Team and Reveal say the group was founded about 1970 by Mogens Amdi Petersen, who required his members to live communally, give over control of their money, their time and decisions like "the right to start a family."
The FBI kept a file on Tvind, which both the I-Team and Reveal obtained, that details how Petersen created dozens of international companies and charities, including Planet Aid.
In the file, investigators state, "Little to no money goes to the charities" with "funds ultimately controlled by" the Teachers Group "who divert the money for personal use."
Petersen is now on the run -- wanted by Interpol -- after the Danish government charged him with charities fraud and tax evasion.
Danish authorities seized more than 80 computers from Petersen and the Teachers Group and, according to the Danish court records, found a document where Petersen instructed his closest followers to ensure funds collected by their charities “are placed so that at any time they are available to us, that they are never available to others, that they are protected from theft, taxation and prying by unauthorized persons” and to “lay down a twisted access path with only ourselves as compass holders.”
In those court documents, Danish prosecutors allege Teachers Group members were instructed to sign documents pledging to “transfer all their available income to joint savings” while also promising to let the Teachers Group decided where they work and to “forgo their personal rights, such as the right to start a family to their own wish.”
The I-Team reached out to Planet Aid and its leaders for comment, emailing and mailing letters with a lengthy list of questions about these allegations. The I-Team also provided a detailed description of the allegations to the charity’s public relations team, who sent us a short statement before the story aired.
But following the broadcast of this story, Planet Aid provided a second, longer statement that said, in part, “Planet Aid wishes to address head-on the unfounded allegations in NBC’s recent stories. None of the allegations against Planet Aid are true. Petersen has nothing to do with Planet Aid now, nor has he at any time in the past. Planet Aid was not founded by Petersen and Planet Aid’s leadership has no financial or organizational links with him.”
Crocker said, "I can definitely see that there are cult-like aspects to" her experience while working for the charity.
Crocker explained how, several months into her job at Planet Aid, she was sent to One World Center in Dowagiac, Michigan, for training.
Crocker said she was housed with other employees and, as a requirement of her job, had to give back almost 20 percent of her $28,000 salary to pay for the training sessions.
According to its website and financial statements, One World Center is operated by the Institute of International Cooperation and Development, or IICD, which the FBI file says is also controlled by the Teachers Group.
“They’re like, ‘OK, you have to be on 24 hours,’” Crocker said of her time at One World Center. She recounted how she was told, “’There's not really alone time, and we do everything together.’”
Crocker said she was then told to panhandle for money. “’We're going to send you out in these groups to go on to the street, and all that money is going to come back and be for the group, rather than send you to Africa. You all have to get that money together.’ And I was like, ‘It's starting to get a little weird.’"
Another Planet Aid employee, Zuri Blandon, told the I-Team he also handed over about 20 percent of his salary before he started training at One World Center, where, he said, he was told he needed to ask strangers for money outside of places like grocery stores.
“It was like a big bucket of icy cold water,” he recalled of the feeling he had when he was told he needed to raise $70,000 before Planet Aid would send him to Africa. “You have to find funds somehow. They made it sound like an obstacle course: If you can accomplish this, you can accomplish anything.”
But Blandon said it wasn’t until he actually arrived in Mozambique that he became truly disenchanted with Planet Aid. “I was working at headquarters with students who wanted to be teachers,” he said. “My job was to set up a teacher’s college, and I was trying to find books written in English to put in the library.”
Blandon said he emailed the Planet Aid facility where he had previously worked because he had personally seen thousands of donated books moving through the warehouse there. “No one wanted them, but I wanted them,” Blandon said. “I asked if they could ship a box of books to me. It made sense. It was the whole point of the project.”
But Blandon said he was told, “Planet Aid couldn’t afford to ship any books. I was told to ask friends and family to pay for it. I was livid. At that point I realized it was all a façade.”
Reveal reporter Matt Smith also interviewed Planet Aid employees in Malawi about Planet Aid and its connection to Petersen. “In Africa
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must secure a victory to stand any chance of getting out of their group.
Wenger has been outspoken against doping, especially in a recent interview with L'Equipe Sport & Style, and questioned why UEFA rulings means there is no way of disqualifying a team from continental competition unless more than two players fail a test.
Asked if he found the regulations strange, Wenger said: "Yes, of course. It's a surprising rule. UEFA applies the rule that is planned but I personally don't agree with the rule. You cannot say that they had a doped player but the result stands.
"That means you basically accept doping. But it is the rule and we accept that. We have to look at ourselves and deal with our own performance."
The Frenchman believes the rules need to be altered but admitted he did not know how much public backing he would receive after seeing UEFA's doping team visit Arsenal's training ground shortly after his recent comments.
"I don't know if I would have the support of anybody but I came out on that and as a result we had a doping control from UEFA on Friday," he added.
"We had 10 people on Friday to control us. I do not want to speculate too much on the career of a player. In between [the match in September and now] he has been punished. There are two things: our performance on the day and the fact that they had a doped player."
Wenger's comments brought a response from UEFA, pointing to the relevant section of the WADA code and the governing body's use of blood tests in addition to urine tests.
UEFA spokesman Pedro Pinto said in a statement released to Press Association Sport: "UEFA's anti-doping regulations regarding the consequences for teams for doping offences are strictly in accordance with article 11 of the WADA code that states that 'where more than one team member in a team sport has been notified of a possible anti-doping rule violation, the team shall be subject to target testing for the event. If more than two team members in a team sport are found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation during the event, the team may be subject to disqualification or other disciplinary action.'
"Blood testing is a key part of UEFA's anti-doping arsenal. UEFA has in fact been blood testing since 2008. In the 2014-2015 season, UEFA carried out 2,318 tests -- 2,024 urine tests and 294 blood tests."
Mamic told Wenger he should write his own rules if he wants to see the Croatian side kicked out of the Champions League.
"Wenger can think and talk about what he wants but there are other people who make decisions about that and that will be in the future," said Mamic, whose side will be appealing Ademi's ban.
"I can suggest him to write the rules for UEFA. I think this situation is not the point of this press conference so we don't need to talk about Ademi."
The 2-1 loss in Croatia was the first of three damaging defeats in Arsenal's first four Group F matches which have left their European hopes hanging by a thread.
Even victory on Tuesday night may not be enough if Bayern Munich fail to beat Olympiakos in Germany.
Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 when they visited Munich a fortnight ago and they have now only won one in five.
They passed up the chance to move to the top of the Premier League having slipped to defeat at West Brom on Saturday -- a result made worse as key midfielder Francis Coquelin suffered a serious knee injury.
The 24-year-old has developed into a first-team regular at Emirates Stadium with Wenger confirming he will be missing for at least two months and is hoping a scan does not rule the France international out for even longer.
''I'm always a bit cautious,'' he said when asked about the seriousness of Coquelin's injury.
''It is at least two months but I'm cautious as we had so many bad surprises on scans that I do not want to speculate more than that. Certainly for the next two months we play without Coquelin.
''It is of course a disappointment to lose him in the longer term but we have in the squad the players who can compensate. We have lost a player of quality for a while but we know that can happen."Last month I seemed to anger some of my regular correspondents when I asked why IRS worker Lois Lerner was able to employ the 5th Amendment in the way she had. I was bothered by the way she seemed to be benefiting from the “best of both worlds” in terms of dancing around the law while apparently flaunting the national interests her job would require her to support. I suppose the lawyers in the crowd have made their case well enough for now, but rather than dragging her into court, how about if we just fire her? That could be the result if a new proposed rule is put in place.
Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks has sponsored legislation that would make refusing to testify in front of Congress a firable offense for federal workers, The Hill reported Thursday The legislation is nicknamed the “Lerner” bill, after Director of IRS Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner, who plead the Fifth Amendment in front of a House committee on May 22 about her role in the IRS’s targeting of tax-exempt tea party groups. Lerner infuriated GOP members of the House by first stating that “I have not done anything wrong,” before pleading the Fifth, leading South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy to argue that Lerner waived her rights by delivering that short statement. California Rep. Darrell Issa later agreed with Gowdy.
Here’s the wording of the applicable portion of the rule:
“Any federal employee who refuses to answer questions in a congressional hearing after being granted immunity shall be terminated from employment.”
I know some of the usual list of suspects will claim that this is just another way to deprive somebody of their constitutional rights, but I can’t see how this applies here. We’re not talking about prosecuting somebody in court, but rather terminating their employment for failure to fulfill their duties. And as a reminder, Lerner is still sitting home collecting a full, fat paycheck on your dime. The proposed rules have some other offerings as well, which might snag a few bigger fish beyond Ms. Lerner.
“If three-fourths of the congressional body to whom the testimony was given finds that a Federal employee willfully or knowingly gave false testimony in a congressional hearing, then such employee shall be terminated from employment.”
The Daily Caller points out James Clapper as a possible fish to be caught in that particular net, but I can’t help but think of a few more names. Eric Holder, anyone? Susan Rice? I might suggest Hillary, but you can’t really fire somebody who is already retired. Of course, we could be treading out onto some thin ice here. If we start passing rules saying that anyone in Washington, DC who is caught lying has to be fired, would there be anyone left in the Capital?
Wait… for a moment there I starting thinking that might be a bad thing. Clearly I need more coffee.Foto: Index
PODIGNUTA je kaznena prijava protiv Alojza Tomaševića, nasilnog HDZ-ovog župana.
Prenosimo objavu iz policije u cijelosti:
Kaznena prijava i zabrana prilaska
"Policijski službenici su dovršili kriminalističko istraživanje nad 56-godišnjim hrvatskim državljaninom s područja Požege kojega se sumnjiči da se 2. listopada 2017. godine, u večernjim satima, nasilnički ponašao prema 56-godišnjoj supruzi zbog čega je protiv njega podnesena kaznena prijava za kazneno djelo „Tjelesna ozljeda“ iz čl. 117. st. 2. Kaznenog zakona te optužni prijedlog iz čl. 4. Zakona o zaštiti od nasilja u obitelji.
Također mu je oduzeta puška za koju posjeduje oružni list te pištolj koji je neovlašteno posjedovao zbog čega je protiv njega podnesen optužni prijedlog sukladno Zakonu o oružju.
Napominjemo, da je policija izrekla 56-godišnjaku zaštitnu mjeru zabrane približavanja žrtvi u trajanju od osam dana", piše u priopćenju.
HDZ-ov župan tvrdi da je nije taknuo
Podsjetimo, požeško-slavonski župan Alojz Tomašević pretukao je ženu u ponedjeljak. Sinoć se oglasio priopćenjem u kojemu "odgovorno i s punom čašću" tvrdi kako je nije ni taknuo. Nakon njega, na Facebooku se oglasio i Ivan Ike Mandurić i pružio potporu nasilnom županu.
>> Javio se HDZ-ov župan koji je pretukao ženu, tvrdi da je nije ni taknuo
>> Šatoraški pop brani HDZ-ovca koji tuče ženu: "On je branitelj, to nešto govori"
Šamaranje i bacanje na radijator
U javnosti je odjeknula vijest ako je HDZ-ov župan Požeško-slavonske županije Alojz Tomašević premlatio ženu i zbog toga završio u policiji.
"To je bilo šamaranje i guranje. Dobila sam udarac u desnu stranu kad me bacio na radijator. Par puta me ošamario", rekla je za Index o napadu Mara Tomašević, pretučena supruga HDZ-ovog župana.
>> Pretučena žena HDZ-ovca rekla nam je sve: Muž je mlati godinama, a Plenković ignorira njena pisma
"Uho me malo boli, ali dobro je, mogu raditi", rekla nam je nakon što smo je upitali zašto je na poslu nakon svega što se dogodilo. "Moj posao je takav da ga ne može samo jedna osoba obavljati", kazala nam je Mara, inače kuharica u požeškoj osnovnoj školi.
Mara Tomašević nam je opisala ružne detalje odnosa nje i supruga. Nasilje je, kako navodi, trajalo dvije godine, sve otkad je saznala za njegovu ljubavnicu. Konačno je odlučila izaći u javnost nakon što ju je prekjučer pretukao pa je morala intervenirati i policija.
"Ono sinoćnje šamaranje i bacanje na radijator nije bilo prvi put. To se dogodilo u ove dvije godine sigurno deset puta. Razbio mi je mobitel, ne znam što bih rekla. Zato sam i slala mail Plenkoviću, ne može takva osoba... Jedva sam čekala da završi taj prvi mandat, vjerujte mi. Da mogu nešto pokrenuti. Rekla sam mu kako se ne može tako ponašati, da to neće proći. Takvo ponašanje nije dolično takvoj funkciji. On mi je rekao: 'Meni nitko ništa ne može, ja ću proći'. I ostalo je tako", rekla nam je Mara Tomašević.
Ignoriranje mailova
Njene mailove HDZ je ignorirao gotovo pet mjeseci. Index je objavio sadržaj jednog maila.
>> Objavljujemo mail u kojem je pretučena žena HDZ-ovca molila Plenkovića za pomoć
Plenković je potvrdio da mu je žena požeško-slavonskog župana Alojza Tomaševića pisala vezano za suprugovo obiteljsko nasilje te istaknuo da mu na taj mail njegovi suradnici nisu skrenuli pozornost jer ga "očito" nisu percipirali kao dovoljno relevantan u šumi mailova koji svakodnevno pristižu, zbog čega je izrazio žaljenje te poručio da očekuje da se svi navodi provjere.
Nacionalno vijeće HDZ-a na telefonskoj sjednici odlučilo je raspustiti županijsku organizaciju požeško-slavonskog HDZ-a nakon što je objavljena informacija o obiteljskom nasilju župana.The United States yesterday (25 April) offered its backing for a NATO naval operation off the cost of Libya, in support of a controversial Italian plan to close the Western Mediterranean refugee route to Europe.
“Barack Obama said he was willing to commit NATO assets to block the traffic in human beings and the people smugglers that we refer to as modern slavers,” Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told reporters after meeting the US president and the leaders of Britain, France and Germany in Hanover, Germany.
The talks touched on the refugee crisis and instability and Islamist infiltration in Libya, from where 350,000 people have travelled by sea to Italy since the start of 2014.
Italian Minister of Defence Roberta Pinotti had earlier revealed that preparations for a naval blockade were already advanced, with approval expected when NATO leaders meet on 7 July in Warsaw.
US officials confirmed that Washington is fully on board.
The naval action envisaged is part of a broader Italian strategy to stop people using Libya as a launchpad for reaching Europe.
Italy prepares for surge in refugees The number of refugee arrivals in Italy this year is already 80% higher than in the same period in 2015. At the UN’s Geneva conference on Syrian refugees last Wednesday (30 March), Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, announced that 3,700 people had been rescued over the previous five days alone.
This will involve flying refugees with no claim to asylum back to their home countries, which will be paid to set up reception centres to reintegrate them.
Those plans have been slammed by refugee and rights groups, and the EU has also come under fire from Pope Francis for what the Catholic leader sees as an arbitrary distinction between asylum seekers and economic migrants.
Germany seeks EU command
Germany has said it supports naval action to combat trafficking of weapons as well as people, but wants it under EU rather than NATO command.
“Through the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea, the US has shown its willingness to take part in combating illegal immigration here,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Hanover.
“The USA is fully engaged and ready, in connection with the migration route from Libya to Italy, to share responsibility if necessary.
“However, we now have a European mission, EUNAVFOR, also called Sophia, which is working quite well.”
Aid organisations say over half the boat people arriving in Italy have a clear-cut right to refuge from persecution or conflict and many more deserve proper examination of their asylum applications.
But this year’s influx has been overwhelmingly from sub-Saharan Africa, a region the European Union considers safe for people to be returned to.
Under Italy’s proposals, an existing NATO mission, Operation Active Endeavour, would be “recalibrated” into one overseeing the Libyan coast.
NATO’s operation to stop refugee boats reaching the Greek islands from Turkey is the first of its kind for the alliance.
NATO mission criticised for sending refugees back to Turkey NATO’s new mission against illegal people-smugglers in the Mediterranean has drawn criticism from human rights activists, who have highlighted that EU border protection agency Frontex follows different principles when it comes to rescuing people. EURACTIV Germany reports.
An operation off Libya would be more complicated given the presence in some coastal regions of Libya of Islamic State fighters.
The NATO presence could act as a deterrent to traffickers putting to sea with their human cargoes.
‘Appalling conditions’
But it is currently unlikely they would seek to turn boats back on the model Australia has adopted in recent years.
“It is worth remembering that Libya is not party to the Geneva convention and that conditions in its detention centres are appalling,” said Libya expert Mattia Toaldo.
“I don’t think NATO will turn boats back but I do think Italy will start flying people home direct from Sicily.”
Any repatriations depend on readmission agreements being concluded with individual countries.
African leaders showed little enthusiasm for that at a summit with their EU counterparts in Malta last year but Brussels’ vast aid budget means it has plenty of leverage if needed.
EU seeks deal with Africa to stem migrant flows EU leaders hope Thursday (12 November) to clinch an aid-for-cooperation deal with their African partners to tackle an unprecedented migration crisis and rebuff fears a “fortress” Europe is emerging.
EU's migration cash for Africa falls short The European Union’s efforts to stem the flow of refugees from Africa was undermined today (12 November) by member states who failed to match EU money for a €1.8 billion trust fund to the tune of €1.72 billion, raising just €78 million.
Libya’s fledgling administration, known as the government of national accord (GNA), last week offered to enter into a Turkey-style deal with Italy to take back refugees.
Such an accord had been seen as a distant prospect because of the rights and safety issues but Renzi said Monday he did not see why it could not happen.
Italy is preparing to lead a UN-backed peacekeeping force into Libya if and when the GNA has consolidated power sufficiently to be able to ask for outside help without facing a domestic rebellion.
The force, expected to involve 6,000 troops, will be charged primarily with training up Libyan security forces but will also be able to call on US warplanes and drones based in Italy for protection if required.The cow protection movement has been a religious and political movement aiming to protect the cows, whose slaughter has been broadly opposed by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.[1][2][3] While the opposition to slaughter of animals, including cows, has extensive and ancient roots in Indian history, the term refers to modern movements dating back to the colonial era British India.[4] The earliest such activism is traceable to Sikhs of Punjab who opposed cow slaughter in the 1860s.[5][6] The movement became popular in the 1880s and thereafter, attracting the support from the Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayananda Saraswati in the late 19th century,[7] and from Mahatma Gandhi in the early 20th century.[8]
The cow protection movement gained broad support among the followers of Indian religions particularly the Hindus, but it was broadly opposed by Muslims. Numerous cow protection-related riots broke out in the 1880s and 1890s in British India.[9] The 1893 and 1894 cow killing riots started on the day of Bakri-id, a Muslim festival where animal sacrifices are a part of the celebration. Cow protection movement and related violence has been one of the sources of religious conflicts in India. Historical records suggest that both Hindus and Muslims have respectively viewed "cow protection" and "cow slaughter" as a religious freedom.[10]
The cow protection movement is most connected with India, but has been active since the colonial times in predominantly Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar.[11][12][13] Sri Lanka is the first country in South Asia to wholly legislate on harm inflicted against cattle. Sri Lanka currently bans the sale of cattle for meat throughout all of the island, following a legislative measure that united the two main ethnic groups on the island (Tamils and Sinhalese)[14], whereas legislation against cattle slaughter is in place throughout most states of India except Kerela, West Bengal, and parts of the North-East.[15]
Attitudes towards the cow [ edit ]
Hinduism [ edit ]
According to Nanditha Krishna, the cow veneration in ancient India "probably originated from the pastoral Aryans" in the Vedic era, whose religious texts called for non-violence towards all bipeds and quadrupeds, and often equated killing of a cow with the killing of a human being especially a Brahmin.[16] The hymn 10.87.16 of the Hindu scripture Rigveda (~1200–1500 BCE), states Nanditha Krishna, condemns all killings of men, cattle and horses, and prays to god Agni to punish those who kill.[17][18]
The iconography of popular Hindu deity Krishna often includes cows. He is revered in Vaishnavism
According to Harris, the literature relating to cow veneration became common in 1st millennium CE, and by about 1000 CE vegetarianism, along with a taboo against beef, became a well accepted mainstream Hindu tradition.[19] This practice was inspired by the belief in Hinduism that a soul is present in all living beings, life in all its forms is interconnected, and non-violence towards all creatures is the highest ethical value.[19][20] Vegetarianism is a part of the Hindu culture. God Krishna, one of the incarnations (Avatar) of Vishnu, is associated with cows, adding to its endearment.[19][20]
Many ancient and medieval Hindu texts debate the rationale for a voluntary stop to cow slaughter and the pursuit of vegetarianism as a part of a general abstention from violence against others and all killing of animals.[21][22] Some significant debates between pro-non-vegetarianism and pro-vegetarianism, with mention of cattle meat as food, is found in several books of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, particularly its Book III, XII, XIII and XIV.[21] It is also found in the Ramayana.[22] These two epics are not only literary classics, but they have also been popular religious classics.[23]
The Mahabharata debate presents one meat-producing hunter who defends his profession as dharmic.[21] The hunter, in this ancient Sanskrit text, states that meat consumption should be okay because animal sacrifice was practiced in the Vedic age, that the flesh nourishes people, that man must eat to live and plants like animals are alive too, that the nature of life is such every life form eats the other, that no profession is totally non-violent because even agriculture destroys numerous living beings when the plough digs the land.[21] The hunter's arguments are, states Alsdorf, followed by stanzas that present support for restricted meat-eating on specific occasions.[21]
The pro-vegetarianism sections of these Hindu texts counter these views. One section acknowledges that the Vedas do mention sacrifice, but not killing the animal. The proponents of vegetarianism state that Vedic teachings explicitly teach against killing, its verses can be interpreted in many ways, that the correct interpretation is of the sacrifice as the interiorized spiritual sacrifice, one where it is an "offering of truth (satya) and self-restraint (damah)", with the proper sacrifice being one "with reverence as the sacrificial meal and Veda study as the herbal juices".[24][25] The sections that appeal for vegetarianism, including abstention from cow slaughter, state that life forms exist in different levels of development, some life forms have more developed sensory organs, that non-violence towards fellow man and animals who experience pain and suffering is an appropriate ethical value. It states that one's guiding principle should be conscientious atmaupamya (literally, "to-respect-others-as-oneself").[21]
According to Ludwig Alsdorf, "Indian vegetarianism is unequivocally based on ahimsa (non-violence)" as evidenced by ancient smritis and other ancient texts of Hinduism. He adds that the endearment and respect for cattle in Hinduism is more than a commitment to vegetarianism, it has become integral to its theology.[26] The respect for cattle is widespread but not universal. According to Christopher Fuller, animal sacrifices have been rare among the Hindus outside a few eastern states and Himalayan regions of the Indian subcontinent.[26][27] To the majority of modern Indians, states Alsdorf, respect for cattle and disrespect for slaughter is a part of their ethos and there is "no ahimsa without renunciation of meat consumption".[26]
Jainism [ edit ]
Jainism is against violence to all living beings, including cattle. According to the Jaina sutras, humans must avoid all killing and slaughter because all living beings are fond of life, they suffer, they feel pain, they like to live, and long to live. All beings should help each other live and prosper, according to Jainism, not kill and slaughter each other.[28][29]
In the Jain tradition, neither monks nor laypersons should cause others or allow others to work in a slaughterhouse.[30]
Jains have led a historic campaign to ban the slaughter of cows and all other animals, particularly during their annual festival of Paryushana (also called Daslakshana by Digambara).[31] Historical records, for example, state that the Jain leaders lobbied Mughal emperors to ban slaughter of cow and other animals, during this 8 to 12 day period. In some cases, such as during the 16th century rule of Akbar, they were granted their request and an edict was issued by Akbar.[32][33]
Buddhism [ edit ]
The texts of Buddhism state ahimsa to be one of five ethical precepts, which requires a practicing Buddhist to "refrain from killing living beings".[34] Slaughtering cow has been a taboo, with some texts suggest taking care of a cow is a means of taking care of "all living beings". Cattle is seen as a form of reborn human beings in the endless rebirth cycles in samsara, protecting animal life and being kind to cattle and other animals is good karma.[34][35]
The Buddhist texts not only state that killing or eating meat is wrong, it urges Buddhist laypersons to not operate slaughterhouses, nor trade in meat.[36][37][38] Indian Buddhist texts encourage a plant-based diet.[20][19]
Sikhism [ edit ]
Amritdhari Sikhs, or those baptized with the Amrit, have been strict vegetarians, abstaining from all eggs and meat, including cattle meat.[39][40]
Sikhs who eat meat seek the Jhatka method of producing meat believing it to cause less suffering to the animal. Both initiated and uninitiated Sikhs are strictly prohibited from eating meat from animals slaughtered by halal method, known as Kutha meat, where the animal is killed by exsanguination (via throat-cutting).[41] According to Eleanor Nesbitt, the general issue of vegetarianism versus non-vegetarianism is controversial within Sikhism, and contemporary Sikhs disagree.[39] The uninitiated Sikhs too are not habitual meat-eaters by choice, and beef (cow meat) has been a traditional taboo.[39][42][43]
Christianity [ edit ]
There are no explicit food restrictions in Christianity. The diet rules, states Tanya MacLaurin, vary among Christian denominations, with some not advocating any restrictions.[44] According to David Grumett, Rachel Muers and other scholars, many Christian saints[45] and preachers of Christianity such as Charles Spurgeon, Ellen G. White, John Todd Ferrier, and William Cowherd practiced and encouraged a meat-free diet.[46] Devout Catholics and Orthodox Christians avoid meat on Fridays and particularly during Lent, states MacLaurin.[44]
Islam [ edit ]
According to the verses of the Quran, such as 16:5–8 and 23:21–23, God created cattle to benefit man and recommends Muslims to eat cattle meat, but forbids pork.[47] Chapter two (The Cow) of Quran permit cow slaughter with certain restrictions such as verse 2.68 states "a cow neither with calf nor immature; (she is) between the two conditions", "cow has never till a land or water the field" (verse 2.71), "cow should be bright yellow in color" (2.69).[48][49][50]
Cattle slaughter had been and continued to be a religiously approved practice among the Muslim rulers and the followers of Islam, particularly on festive occasions such as the Bakri-Id.[47]
Muslims sacrifice cows during the Bakri-Id festival. Although goat slaughter is an available alternative for the festival, according to Peter van der Veer, Muslims [in India] have considered it "imperative not to bow down to Hindu encroachments on their 'ancient' right to sacrifice cows on Bakr-Id".[51]
History in India [ edit ]
There can be little doubt, states Peter van der Veer, "that protection of the cow already had a political significance before the [colonial era] British period".[6] The Mughal emperor Akbar banned the killing of cow.[52] After the collapse of the Mughal Empire, cow slaughter was a capital offense in many Hindu and Sikh ruled regions of the subcontinent. The East India Company continued the ban on cow slaughter in many domains. Henry Lawrence, after the British annexed Punjab, banned cattle slaughter in it in 1847, in order to win the popular Sikh support.[52] In the 1857 revolt, the Muslim emperor Bahadur Shah II threatened to execute any Muslim caught sacrificing a cattle during Bakr-Id.[52] The independence leader of India, Mahatma Gandhi, championed cow protection.[8][53][54] Later in 1970's Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi launched the Gosamrakshana.
Sikhism [ edit ]
According to Mark Doyle, the first cow protection societies on the Indian subcontinent were started by Kukas of Sikhism, a reformist group seeking to purify Sikhism.[55] The Sikh Kukas or Namdharis were agitating for cow protection after the British annexed Punjab. In 1871, states Peter van der Veer, Sikhs killed Muslim butchers of cows in Amritsar and Ludhiana, and viewed cow protection as a "sign of the moral quality of the state".[6] According to Barbara Metcalf and Thomas Metcalf, Sikhs were agitating for the well-being of cows in the 1860s, and their ideas spread to Hindu reform movements.[5]
Cow protection has triggered riots and vigilantism since at least the 19th century. According to Mark Doyle, the first cow protection societies on the Indian subcontinent were started by Kukas of Sikhism.[55] In 1871, states Peter van der Veer, Sikhs killed Muslim butchers of cows in Amritsar and Ludhiana, and viewed cow protection as a "sign of the moral quality of the state".[6] According to Barbara Metcalf and Thomas Metcalf, Sikhs were agitating for the well-being of cows in the 1860s, and their ideas spread to Hindu reform movements.[56]
Spread of the movement [ edit ]
In the 1870s, cow protection movements spread rapidly in the Punjab, the North-West provinces, Awadh and Rohilkhand. Arya Samaj had a tremendous role in skillfully converting this sentiment into a national movement.[57] Vijaypal Baghel has been dedicating to save cow and conducting a mass movement in the northern India.
The first Gaurakshini sabha (cow protection society) was established in the Punjab in 1882.[58] The movement spread rapidly all over North India and to Bengal, Bombay, Madras and other central provinces. The organisation rescued wandering cows and reclaimed them to groom them in places called gaushalas (cow refuges). Charitable networks developed all through North India to collect rice from individuals, pool the contributions, and re-sell them to fund the gaushalas. Signatures, up to 350,000 in some places, were collected to demand a ban on cow sacrifice.[59]
The cow protection societies petitioned that the cows are essential economic wealth because "these animals furnish bullocks for agriculture, manure for enriching the soil, and give milk to drink and feed the owner", states Tejani. Further, these societies stated that cow slaughter be banned in British India for public health and to prevent further famines and reduce price inflation in agriculture produce, and that such a policy would benefit Christians, Hindus and Muslims simultaneously.[60]:47 By the late 1880s, bands of cow protection activists would seize cows on their way to slaughterhouses and cattle fairs and take them to cow shelters.[59][61]:217 During the religious riots of the 1890s, those who slaughter cows and eat beef were denounced in public meetings.[62]:68
Arya Samaj [ edit ]
Arya Samaj and its founder Dayananda Saraswati were one of the early supporters of the cow protection movement.[63][7]
Dayananda Saraswathi published the Gokarunanidhi (Ocean of mercy to the cow) in 1881. It strongly opposed cow slaughter.[64] According to Śekhara Bandyopādhyāẏa, during Dayananda’s time, cow protection movement was initially not overtly anti-Muslim, but gradually became a source of communal tension.[65] Many cow protection leaders also insisted that their cause was neither religious, nor motivated by prejudice.[60]:48
Religious antagonism [ edit ]
According to Shabnum Tejani, the cow dispute has been overwhelming interpreted as evidence of "fundamental antagonism between Hindus and Muslims".[60]:48 The cow protection societies were careful in their public statements, states Tejani, but an "anti-Muslim sentiment" was a part of their movement. This is evidenced by the brochures and pamphlets they distributed in the 1880s and 1890s to mobilize support for cow protection.[66][60]:48 For example, a common theme were illustrations and posters of a "villainous Muslim stalking the god-fearing Brahman and his gentle cow"; often the Muslim was depicted with a long sword.[60]:48 Dramas were staged that depicted Muslims secretly abducting cows and then sacrificing them at Bakr-Id. The movement even set up tribunals to prosecute Hindus who sold cows to Muslims or the British.[62]:68
After the 1893 major cow-related riots, the response of some Hindus to Muslim view on cow-protection was to blame "the unfortunate ignorance and fanaticism of the uneducated members of the Mahomedan community", states Tejani. The response of Muslims to Hindu opinions, add Tejani, was equally stark.[67] Muslim volunteers went around distributing pamphlets and raising community funds to defend Muslims arrested during cow-killing riots of the 1890s.[10] These stated that "Hindus have begun rebellion and had without rhyme or reason become enemies of our life and property, honour and reputation... we are forbidden to make sacrifices - Hindus interfere in our legitimate luxury".[10] A ban on cow sacrifice, stated these Muslims, is a beginning not only of an end to their right to animal sacrifice, but "tomorrow from their even proclaiming the hour of prayer and the day after from praying altogether".[10]
Colonial era laws [ edit ]
The section 295 of Indian Penal Code, enacted as the British India's colonial state law, stated that "anyone who destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship or any object held sacred by a class of persons", either by intent or knowledge that such an action would cause insult to the religion of those persons, was to be arrested and punished by imprisonment.[61]:217 In 1888, the High Court of the North Western Provinces (now part of Pakistan) declared that cow is not a "sacred object".[51][61]:217
Sandra Freitag states that this ruling dramatically accelerated cow protection movement, because people believed that the state had selectively denied a religious right to them, while Muslims believed that the state had affirmed their right to sacrifice a cow on Bakri-Id festival.[61]:217–218 Individuals and local groups began providing cow protection when the state refused to recognize what they considered sacred. According to Freitag, thousands of people would block roads, seize cows from butchers and take them to shelters.[61]:217–218 In other cases, crowds "as large as 5,000 to 6,000 people" would march for hours to gather before Muslim landlords to pressure the landlord from proceeding ahead with cow slaughter on a Muslim festival. Some groups would hold mock trials of those accused of cow sacrifice or those who sold the cow for sacrifice, simulating the colonial era court procedures, then sentencing those they declared guilty.[61]:217–218
Violence [ edit ]
Cow-protection related violence is perpetrated by individuals or groups for the purposes of protecting cows and related cattle from slaughter or theft. Cow protection (gau rakshak) groups emerged in British India in the 19th-century, starting with Sikhs of Punjab in the 1860s.[55] The earliest recorded instances of violence in the colonial era India are from the 1870s.[6] The cow protection movement spread thereafter,[5] and the 1880s and 1890s witnessed many instances of major cow-related violence. The cow-killing riots of 1893 were the most intense civil disturbance in the Indian subcontinent after the 1857 revolt.[68] Numerous cow-related Hindu-Muslim riots broke out between 1900 and 1947, in different parts of British India, particularly on Islamic festival of sacrifice called Bakri-id, killing hundreds.[69][70][71] After the Partition of the Indian subcontinent into a Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, one of the significant triggers of riots, the killings of Hindus and Muslims, and other violence in the 1950s and 1960s was cow slaughter.[72]
History in Myanmar [ edit ]
In predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, the Cattle Slaughter Act became the local law during the colonial era, and it restricted the killing of cattle.[73] Permission was needed in advance, and violators were subject
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stay on regardless of the result - the letter has been signed by all the cabinet ministers who broke ranks to back Leave, including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.
Mr Cameron promised to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership ahead of last year's general election, following relentless pressure from his own MPs and the UK Independence Party, which was taking votes - and later - MPs from Mr Cameron's Conservatives.
He initially suggested he would be prepared to back an out vote if he did not get what he wanted from his renegotiations.
Image copyright AP Image caption SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon casts her vote
But once the date of the referendum was announced he threw himself into the campaign for Britain to remain, arguing the country would be "stronger, safer and better-off" in the EU.
Nearly all of Britain's opposition parties, including Labour and the Scottish National Party, backed remaining in the EU, along with the majority of business leaders.
The Leave campaign - headed by former mayor of London and Conservative MP Boris Johnson - argued that the only way Britain could "take back control" of its own affairs would be to leave the EU.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Boris Johnson heads to the polling station
The Leave campaign dismissed warnings from economists and international bodies about the economic impact of Brexit as "scaremongering" by a self-serving elite.
Immigration was a key issue in the campaign, with the Leave campaign arguing that net migration from the EU could never be reduced while the UK was signed up to free movement rules.Jesé Rodríguez’s match lasted all of two minutes – his recovery is likely to take months. The player suffered a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Real Madrid confirmed the extent of the injury after the player underwent an MRI, having gone straight from the Bernabéu to a clinic. In general such an injury would mean a minimum of six months out.
Jesé was holding the ball near the right corner flag when Kolasinac challenged hard from behind, with both men going down. Jesé was clearly in pain after the challenge and clutched his right knee. The Real Madrid striker took the full weight of the Shalke player on his knee in the fall.
Jesé was taken off on a stretcher with the Real Madrid doctors carrying out an initial examination on the touchline. The striker tried to get back to his feet, but he was unable to stand. Gareth Bale came on for him.A recent article by Korean media is making rounds online, being ridiculed by Korean netizens for sounding farfetched and attempting to start drama against Luhan.
The article titled “EXO Deserter Luhan, is he swearing? Meaningful picture.. the topic of controversy” accuses Luhan of pointing the middle finger in a photo, after receiving an award in China. The full article, as published on January 17th, reads as below:
Luhan, who left EXO and is currently active as a solo artist in China, took a picture celebrating his award. The picture is a hot topic of controversy among Korean netizens. On the 15th, Luhan posted on Weibo a picture with the words “2014 Weibo Night.” In the picture, Luhan is in a very dandy outfit and smiling cutely but pointing at the award with his 3rd finger giving rise to split interpretations about the image. Netizens have responded with comments such as “What is with that finger??”, “Is that his way of saying thank you??”, and “I don’t understand.” Luhan is currently active as an actor in China after notifying SM Entertainment about his wish to nullify his contract in October.
Despite this, however, comments on the article by netizens are the exact opposite, pointing out that he is definitely not holding out his middle finger and that the reporter is attempting to create controversy.
Netizen comments included, “Is the journalist blind? Anyone can tell it’s his index finger.” and “How can anyone take that as a middle finger ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
Source: OSENImage copyright Edgargo Latrubesse Image caption The Amazon basin is the largest and most complex river system in the world
The Amazon basin could suffer significant and irreversible damage if an extensive dam building programme goes ahead, scientists say.
Currently, 428 hydroelectric dams are planned, with 140 already built or under construction.
Researchers warn that this could affect the dynamics of the complex river system and put thousands of unique species at risk.
The study is published in the journal Nature.
"The world is going to lose the most diverse wetland on the planet," said lead author Prof Edgargo Latrubesse, from the University of Texas at Austin, US.
Cascading problems
The Amazon basin covers more than 6.1 million sq km, and is the largest and most complex river system on the planet.
It has become a key area for hydroelectric dam construction.
But this study suggests that the push for renewable energy along the Amazon's waterways could lead to profound problems.
The international team of researchers who carried out the research is particularly concerned about any disruption to the natural movement of sediment in the rivers.
This sediment provides a vital source of nutrients for wildlife in the Amazon's wetlands. It also affects the way the waterways meander and flow.
“[The sediment is] how the rivers work, how they move, how they regenerate new land, and how they keep refreshing the ecosystems," said Prof Latrubesse.
The Texas researcher said that at present environmental assessments were being carried out for each dam in isolation, looking at their impact on the local area. But he argued a wider approach was needed for the Amazon.
"The problem is nobody is assessing the whole package: the cascade of effects the dams produce on the whole system."
Image caption The team says a fuller assessment needs to be done before the dam-building progresses further
The researchers have highlighted the Madeira, Maranon and Ucayali rivers - all tributaries of the Amazon River - as areas of great concern.
These rivers are home to many unique species, and the scientists say these would be under threat if even a fraction of the planned dams go ahead.
Prof Latrubesse said: “All of these rivers hold huge diversity, with many species that are endemic.
“Thousands of species could be affected, maybe even go extinct.“
The researchers warn that any damage could be irreversible, and they say any risks must be considered before the dams are allowed to go ahead.
Follow Rebecca on TwitterOnly 8,000 French fans are expected for Toulon v ClermontLess than half the stadium’s 82,000 seats have been sold
Organisers fear there may be 40,000 empty seats when Clermont Auvergne and Toulon contest the European Champions Cup final at Twickenham on Saturday week. The 82,000-capacity stadium is set to be half empty for the first final since the old Heineken Cup was mothballed last year.
Despite the presence of two French clubs, it is understood no more than 8,000 supporters are planning to travel to London for the final. The defending champions, Toulon, have already returned 40% of their ticket allocation and Clermont have been allocated only 5,000 tickets. To date barely 30,000 tickets have been sold for the showpiece fixture.
The likely upshot is the smallest crowd for a European final since Toulouse beat Perpignan in front of 28,600 spectators in Dublin in 2003. Over the intervening 12 years the majority of finals have been sellouts, with 81,744 watching Leinster beat Ulster at Twickenham three years ago.
This time the newly formed tournament organisers, European Professional Club Rugby, are expecting the lowest attendance at a major Twickenham final in the professional era. There are plans to offer a number of cut-price deals to clubs and schools while numerous hospitality tickets have also been allocated but individual seats remain available for £38.
Had Saracens and Leinster not lost in the semi-finals the situation would have been less acute but moving the final to the start of May, a mere 13 days after the competing sides were confirmed, has been another contributory factor.
The French clubs insisted on shifting the date from the end of May because they did not want to disrupt the latter stages of their Top 14 championship and Premiership Rugby were happy to accommodate their wishes.
It was also not impossible to predict that Clermont and Toulon, who are now going for a hat-trick of European titles, might be leading contenders to make the final.
The two heavyweights could face each other three times in six weeks as they are scheduled to meet in the Top 14 next month and are favourites to contest the French championship final in Paris on 13 June.
The easiest solution – to stage the final in France – may well come to pass next year, with French club officials having already lodged a bid to host the 2016 final in Marseille.
Toulon are hoping the presence of their English flanker Steffon Armitage will generate some local support at Twickenham. “We’ve got Steffon Armitage, so hopefully we can really get the English to rally behind us,” said Ali Williams, Toulon’s former All Black forward. “Hopefully a few of our English supporters can come along and put red and black on.”
Armitage’s older brother Delon looks likely to miss the final after reportedly fracturing a bone in his hand against Leinster on Sunday. The New Zealand fly-half Aaron Cruden is also set to sit out this autumn’s World Cup after tearing his cruciate ligament. Cruden will undergo reconstructive knee surgery and is likely to be out for at least six months.For a Los Angeles Police Department disciplinary panel, the evidence was persuasive: Rookie officer Christopher Jordan Dorner lied when he accused his training officer of kicking a mentally ill man during an arrest. But when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge examined the case a year later in 2010 as part of an appeal filed by Dorner, he seemed less convinced. Judge David P. Yaffe said he was "uncertain whether the training officer kicked the suspect or not" but nevertheless upheld the department's decision to fire Dorner, according to court records reviewed by The Times. As the manhunt for the ex-cop wanted in the slayings of three people enters its sixth day, Dorner's firing has been the subject of debate both within and outside the LAPD. An online manifesto that police attributed to Dorner claims he was railroaded by the LAPD and unjustly fired. His allegations have resonated among the public and some LAPD employees who have criticized the department's disciplinary system, calling it capricious and retaliatory toward those who try to expose misconduct.
One of the people who posted a comment posted this:
CarlLeeMcGill at 11:26 PM February 10, 2013
All cases placed under State Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe should be reviewed. He is the favorite judge of the LAPD, and I know, personally, that he takes the side of the City of Los Angeles when employees are being railroaded. He is a reason why Yaffe's credibility is tainted in cases that came before him.
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
The Demand submitted by Fine cites specific cases where illegal payments to Judges led to obstruction of justice, including one such case where State Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe admitted in court testimony to taking the illegal payments. Fine also cites where Judge Yaffe admitted in his Minute Order on July 13, 2010 that he lied to the higher courts when ruling against him following Fine's petition to the U.S. Supreme Court citing "Fraud Upon the Court"
JUDGE YAFFE RESIGNS
It is believed the unexpected resignation of State Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe a few weeks ago was prompted by both the Richard I Fine case and the Sturgeon vs. County of L.A. case won by the Judicial Watchorganization. The November 2008 Sturgeon ruling held the County payments to State Judges were illegal.
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1tH6k)When Friends Ask: Why Do You Avoid Adding
Vegetable Oils? Begin by telling them, “The fat you eat is the fat you wear,” and remind them that there is nothing attractive about wearing olive, flaxseed, or corn fat.* For this reason alone, most of your friends and family should steer clear of so-called “healthy oils” derived from plant-foods. Gaining weight can be expected from consuming high-fat whole foods, such as nuts, seeds, avocados and olives, as well as “free oils,” which are usually purchased in bottles. However, the shared propensity for weight gain is where the similarity between unprocessed plant foods and free oils ends. I consider whole foods, even those with high concentrations of fats, to be health-promoting. However, people interested in losing weight should avoid nuts, nut butters, seeds, seed spreads, avocados, and olives, since they all serve as sources of concentrated, easy to consume, calories. When I was growing up we had nuts in their shells as a special treat for Christmas. Now these same nuts come bare-naked, salted, and sometimes roasted in additional oils—and the twist of the lid of the jar brings effortlessly to your lips (and your hips) handfuls of fat-laden, calorie-concentrated rich food. These same foods, however, may be a welcome addition for growing children and active adults. But they should be used sparingly by most of us. Chemically speaking, free oils are chains of carbon found in a purified state. Extraction processes have removed all of the other ingredients of the whole food. Thus, free oils are no longer intermixed with the naturally-designed and balanced environment of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and ten thousand other chemicals found originally in the plants. Free-oils are not food—at best these are medications, causing some desirable effects, and at worst; they are serious toxins causing disease. *The main distinction between fats and oils is whether they’re solid or liquid at room temperature. Oils Are Essential for Health The human body can synthesize from raw materials almost all of the organic compounds needed to build and maintain itself. However, there are a few basic elements that it cannot synthesize. These must be obtained from the food, and include 11 vitamins, 8 amino acids, and 2 kinds of fat. Fortunately, except for two vitamins (vitamin D from the sun and B12 from bacteria), all of these essential nutrients are made by plants and found in abundant quantities in a diet based on whole starches, vegetables, and fruits. Fats are made of chains of carbon which differ in length, and the number and positions of double bonds (a chemical term for a dual linkage between carbon atoms). Animals cannot create double bonds after the third and sixth carbon on the chain. Only plants can make this arrangement. The result is that only plants can synthesize omega-3 and omega-6 fats. These are referred to as “essential fats.” We, like all other animals, must get these essential fats directly by eating plants or indirectly by eating animals that ate plants and stored these essential fats in their tissues. For example, fish store the omega-3 fats made by algae—fish cannot synthesize this kind of fat.
Common Fats (fatty acids) Linoleic acid is from plants and is the most common kind of omega-6 fat consumed by people. Gamma linolenic acid is an omega-6 fat from plants, and in an isolated form, is used as a medication. Alpha linolenic acid is from plants and is the most common omega-3 fat consumed. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is an omega-3 fat made by animals, including fish, from alpha linolenic acid. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fat made by animals, including fish, from alpha linolenic acid.
Linoleic Alpha linolenic Gama linolenic Eicosapentaenoic safflower flax borage cold water marine fish sunflower hemp black currant seed hemp seed canola (rapeseed) primrose soybeans soybeans walnut walnut pumpkin leafy green vegetables sesame purslane flax perilla Essential Fat Deficiency Is Essentially Unknown In our bodies these plant-derived, essential fats are used for many purposes including the formation of all cellular membranes, and the synthesis of powerful hormones, known as eicosanoids (prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and thromboxanes). Our requirement is very tiny, and even the most basic diets provide sufficient linoleic acid to meet our requirement, which is estimated to be 1–2% of dietary energy.1 Therefore, in practical terms, a condition of “essential fatty acid deficiency” is essentially unknown in free-living populations.* Essential fatty acid deficiency is seen when sick patients are fed intravenously by fat-free parenteral nutrition. In these cases, correction of the deficiency can be accomplished by applying small amounts of soybean or safflower oil to their skin—giving you some idea of the small amount of oil we require.2 Plan on your diet of basic plant-foods supplying an abundance of essential fats delivered in perfectly designed packages, functioning efficiently and safely. *Some people talk about a “relative deficiency” of essential fats created by a large intake of saturated animal fats, synthetic trans fats (as found in margarine and shortenings), and/or omega-6 fats compared to their intake of omega-3 fats, and they believe many of our common chronic diseases are the result of this imbalance.1 This is quite different from true essential fatty acid deficiency which would result in: loss of hair, scaly dermatitis, capillary fragility, poor wound healing, increased susceptibility to infection, fatty liver, and growth retardation in infants and children.1 Free Oils as Medications When the oils are removed from their natural environments—for example, from the seeds of corn, soybeans, safflowers, or flax, or the fruit of an olive or avocado—they are no longer a food. Yes, they do supply concentrated calories—but the rest of the original nutrition found in the plant parts is absent. In this state, the free oils can display powerful pharmacological effects—some beneficial and some harmful. This would be analogous to removing vitamins and minerals from plants and making supplements. I don’t call supplements food, do you? However, the effects of concentrated, isolated oils are usually even more potent than those seen with supplements. Omega-3 and omega-6 oils inhibit the aggregation of platelets, slowing down the coagulation of the blood—thus these oils “thin the blood.” This well-known property can be beneficial for reducing the risk of a blood clot forming in the heart arteries—the cause of a heart attack. A common practice is to take omega-3 (fish or flaxseed) pills to reduce the risk of heart disease.3 Omega-3 and omega-6 oils suppress the immune system, reducing inflammation. As medications they have been tried in autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, eczema, and psoriasis.4 Other disorders, such as migraine headaches, Alzheimer’s disease, and PMS have also been treated. The reports of benefits are variable and often questionable; as a result, their use has not been well accepted in most medical practices. As silly as this may sound, it has been suggested that eating essential fat may cause people to lose weight. However, a 12-week, double-blind evaluation of evening primrose oil as an “anti-obesity agent” on 100 women found no significant difference in the weight loss achieved by those taking primrose oil compared with placebo.5 Fats (and oils) are the metabolic dollar stored for the day when food is no longer available. Even “healthy oils” are moved from the spoon to the flesh with such efficiency that you should assume every drop you eat makes that journey. Free Oils as Toxins As with all other medications, there are adverse effects from consuming free oils, when added from a bottle to meals or taken as pills. The most obvious adverse effect is people gain weight when they eat even so-called “healthy oils,” like olive oil. When 54 obese women in a Mediterranean country were studied, these women were found to be following a diet low in carbohydrates (35% of the calories) and high in fats (43% of the calories). Of the total calories from fat, 55% came from olive oil.6 My point: a Mediterranean diet which is loaded with olive oil, rather than fruits and vegetables, will make you fat. Omega-3 and omega-6 oils thin the blood, which make a person more susceptible to bleeding.7,8 This side effect from taking essential oils to prevent a heart attack could become fatal after an automobile accident or if an artery in the brain were to rupture, such as occurs in a hemorrhagic stroke.
Do Vegetable Oils Really Prevent Heart Disease? Common knowledge is vegetable oils are protective against heart disease, but there is evidence that questions the real life benefits: Serial angiograms of people’s heart arteries show that all three types of fat—saturated (animal) fat, monounsaturated (olive oil), and polyunsaturated (omega-3 and -6 oils)—were associated with significant increases in new atherosclerotic lesions over one year of study. 9 Only by decreasing the entire fat intake, including poly- and monounsaturated-oils, did the lesions stop growing.
Dietary polyunsaturated oils, both the omega-3 and omega-6 types, are incorporated into human atherosclerotic plaques; thereby promoting damage to the arteries and the progression of atherosclerosis. 10
A study in African green monkeys found when saturated fat was replaced with monounsaturated fat (olive oil), the olive oil provided no protection from atherosclerosis. 11
One of the most important clotting factors predicting the risk of a heart attack is an elevated factor VII. All five fats tested—rapeseed oil (canola), olive oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, and butter—showed similar increases in triglycerides and clotting factor VII.12 Most likely, the heart benefits of a Mediterranean diet are due to it being a nearly vegetarian diet. The Mediterranean diet is a good diet in spite of the olive oil.13
Free oils may be toxic to the body tissues. Both omega-3 and omega-6 fats are associated with an increased risk of opacification of the lens of the eye, resulting in cataracts.14 Omega-3 and omega-6 oils could benefit people with autoimmune disorders. On the other hand, excessive intake of these fats may actually aggravate these disorders.15 More importantly, we need our immune system functioning at full capacity to fight off infections and cancer. Free oils have been demonstrated to suppress many natural microbe killing mechanisms (with a marked decrease in cytokine, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma).16 Research on animals suggests the omega-6 variety of oils is very cancer-promoting and the omega-3 variety may be beneficial for cancer prevention.17 However, this may not be the case. In one animal experiment on colon cancer, a fish oil diet and a safflower oil diet induced, respectively, 10- and 4-fold more metastases (number) and over 1000- and 500-fold more metastases (size) than were found in the livers of rats on the low-fat diet.18 Other, animal experiments also have shown essential fats to be cancer promoting.19,20 Most importantly, population studies tell us that, worldwide, the lower the total fat intake, the less the risk of common cancers, such as breast, colon and prostate.21-23
Practical Ways to Eliminate Oils in Cooking
Don’t add vegetable oils when cooking Use non-stick pots and pans Brown or soften vegetables in water Sauté with non-fat liquids Replace oil in baking with fruit or tofu Use commercial fat-replacers Lighten texture with carbonated water Detailed information on cooking without oil
The Final Step Not a day goes by that I don’t hear someone say to me, “My diet is completely vegan, but I am still 40 pounds overweight.” The oily sheen on her face and hair are a clear give away that she hasn’t been willing to stop adding the half cup of extra virgin olive oil to her spaghetti sauce. Many people fall short of their health and appearance goals because they have yet to eliminate all the added vegetable oils from their cooking. Eating out is a major stumbling block. More often than not, even after using the best communication skills with the waiter, the diner plate still glistens with an oil slick. Avoiding free vegetable oils is the last important hurdle for people seeking better health. Take the final step—just say “No” to these really unessential added oils. References: 1) Sanders TA. Essential fatty acid requirements of vegetarians in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Sep;70(3 Suppl):555S-559S. 2) Marcason W. Can cutaneous application of vegetable oil prevent an essential fatty acid deficiency? J Am Diet Assoc. 2007 Jul;107(7):1262. 3) Mozaffarian D. Does alpha-linolenic acid intake reduce the risk of coronary heart disease? A review of the evidence. Altern Ther Health Med. 2005 May-Jun;11(3):24-30; 4) Namazi MR. The beneficial and detrimental effects of linoleic acid on autoimmune disorders. Autoimmunity. 2004 Feb;37(1):73-5. 5) Haslett C, Douglas JG, Chalmers SR, Weighhill A, Munro JF. A double-blind evaluation of evening primrose oil as an antiobesity agent. Int J Obes. 1983;7(6):549-53. 6) Calle-Pascual AL, Saavedra A, Benedi A, Martin-Alvarez PJ, Garcia-Honduvilla J, Calle JR, Maranes JP. Changes in nutritional pattern, insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance during weight loss in obese patients from a Mediterranean area. Horm Metab Res. 1995 Nov;27(11):499-502. 7) Allman MA, Pena MM, Pang D. Supplementation with flaxseed oil versus sunflowerseed oil in healthy young men consuming a low fat diet: effects on platelet composition and function. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1995 Mar;49(3):169-78. 8) Nordstrom DC, Honkanen VE, Nasu Y, Antila E, Friman C, Konttinen YT. Alpha-linolenic acid in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. A double-blind, placebo-controlled and randomized study: flaxseed vs. safflower seed. Rheumatol Int. 1995;14(6):231-4. 9) Blankenhorn DH, Johnson RL, Mack WJ, el Zein HA, Vailas LI. The influence of diet on the appearance of new lesions in human coronary arteries. JAMA. 1990 Mar 23-30;263(12):1646-52. 10) Felton CV, Crook D, Davies MJ, Oliver MF. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and composition of human aortic plaques. Lancet. 1994 Oct 29;344(8931):1195-6. 11) Rudel LL, Parks JS, Sawyer JK. Compared with dietary monounsaturated and saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat protects African green monkeys from coronary artery atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1995 Dec;15(12):2101-10. 12) Larsen LF, Bladbjerg EM, Jespersen J, Marckmann P. Effects of dietary fat quality and quantity on postprandial activation of blood coagulation factor VII. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1997 Nov;17(11):2904-9. 13) Keys A. Mediterranean diet and public health: personal reflections. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Jun;61(6 Suppl):1321S-1323S. 14) Lu M, Taylor A, Chylack LT Jr, Rogers G, Hankinson SE, Willett WC, Jacques PF. Dietary fat intake and early age-related lens opacities. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Apr;81(4):773-9. 15) Namazi MR. The beneficial and detrimental effects of linoleic acid on autoimmune disorders. Autoimmunity. 2004 Feb;37(1):73-5. 16) Purasiri P, Mckechnie A, Heys SD, Eremin O. Modulation in vitro of human natural cytotoxicity, lymphocyte proliferative response to mitogens and cytokine production by essential fatty acids. Immunology. 1997 Oct;92(2):166-72. 17) Sauer LA, Blask DE, Dauchy RT. Dietary factors and growth and metabolism in experimental tumors. J Nutr Biochem. 2007 Apr 4; 18) Griffini P. Dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids promote colon carcinoma metastasis in rat liver. Cancer Res. 1998 Aug 1;58(15):3312-9. 19) Coulombe J, Pelletier G, Tremblay P, Mercier G, Oth D. Influence of lipid diets on the number of metastases and ganglioside content of H59 variant tumors. Clin Exp Metastasis. 1997 Jul;15(4):410-7. 20) Klieveri L. Promotion of colon cancer metastases in rat liver by fish oil diet is not due to reduced stroma formation. Clin Exp Metastasis. 2000;18(5):371-7. 21) Carroll KK. Experimental evidence of dietary factors and hormone-dependent cancers. Cancer Res. 1975 Nov;35(11 Pt. 2):3374-83. 22) Rao GN. Influence of diet on tumors of hormonal tissues. Prog Clin Biol Res. 1996;394:41-56. 23) Weisburger JH. Worldwide prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases based on knowledge of mechanisms. Mutat Res. 1998 Jun 18;402(1-2):331-7.Michael O’Leary, the CEO of the fee-happy European airline Ryanair, isn’t scared of a little controversy. In fact, he seems to actively welcome it, periodically making outrageous statements (“The best thing you can do with environmentalists is shoot them”) and announcing possible new money-makers for the airline such as in-flight porn and pay toilets. Well, O’Leary is in the news again, this time for referring to Ryanair passengers—the people who have made him a rich man—as “idiots.”
In his defense, O’Leary didn’t call all Ryanair passengers “idiots.” Just the passengers who forget their boarding passes, or who for whatever reason can’t get their boarding passes printed out before arriving at the airport. In exchange for such idiocy, O’Leary finds it perfectly reasonable for his airline to assess a financial penalty: For example, a family of five recently had to fork over around $380 to have their boarding passes printed at an airport in Spain.
The UK Telegraph reported the tale, in which Suzy McLeod and her family were charged €60 per person (about US$380 total) because they’d failed to print their boarding passes before heading to the airport in Alicante for a flight back to England. McLeod wrote of the experience on Facebook:
“I had previously checked in online but because I hadn’t printed out the boarding passes, Ryanair charged me €60 per person! Meaning I had to pay €300 for them to print out a piece of paper! Please ‘like’ if you think that’s unfair.
(MORE: Why September Is a Great Month for Travel Deals)
More than half a million people “liked” what she posted. To which O’Leary, in his usual sensitive manner, replied:
“We think Mrs McLeod should pay 60 euros for being so stupid,” he said. “She wasn’t able to print her boarding card because, as you know, there are no internet cafes in Alicante, no hotels where they could print them out for you, and you couldn’t get to a fax machine so some friend at home can print them and fax them to you… She wrote to me last week asking for compensation and a gesture of goodwill. To which we have replied, politely but firmly, thank you Mrs McLeod but it was your ****-up.”
After describing the woman and anyone else who doesn’t print out boarding passes in advance as “idiots,” O’Leary later backtracked slightly, explaining to the Irish Independent, “I was not calling her stupid, but all those passengers are stupid who think we will change our policies or our fees.”
(MORE: 12 Things You Should Always Haggle Over)
O’Leary also admitted that he himself had been known to be stupid. Not for, you know, insulting the people who have made him a very wealthy man (i.e., Ryanair customers), but for once forgetting his passport when embarking on a trip.
Fee-heavy carriers like Spirit and Ryanair have proven to be the most profitable players in the airline business, and it would be stupid to think for a second that Ryanair would change its business model now. To these airlines, it doesn’t matter whether the fees are reasonable or not. Spirit recently introduced a $100 fee if a passenger wants to bring a carry-on bag aboard the flight and fails to pay for it in advance. The slips of paper that Ryanair had to print out for the McLeod family cost the airline maybe 5¢.
It’s understandable that neither Ryanair nor Spirit is willing to make exceptions for customers, even when there are extenuating circumstances. If it did so even for a few passengers, it would be expected to do the same for many others as well. Before you knew it, the revenues from fees wouldn’t be quite so enormous.
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It is equally understandable, though, that a traveler would never want to do business with a company that is known for charging astronomical fees at every turn—or one run by a guy who blatantly insults his customers.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.I just watched the Super Bowl, and boy, am I bored. What’s worse, I am left with an empty, restless, lonely sense of ennui and purposelessness in the pit of my soul, which hovers mere inches above the pit of my stomach. Watching the Weather Channel would have packed more thrills and suspense. If this grotesquely overhyped midwinter sporting spectacle truly represents our national communal High Holy Day, I”d say it’s high time we start working on a more exciting culture, people.
As I”ve stated several times with an overbearing sense of gravitas and a nauseating flourish of false piety, I do not personally own a television. But after reading about the Gay Grammies and the “multicultural crap” that allegedly pockmarked the opening ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics, I figured I’d watch the 2014 Super Bowl and scrutinize what would undoubtedly be relentless Cultural Marxist agitprop shoved down the gullible nation’s throats like so many rotting dollops of guacamole on stale nacho chips. Alas, I was denied even that perverse pleasure. From start to finish, the entire limp event was so unremarkable that I couldn’t even find much that pissed me off”which really pissed me off.
“Living in an authoritarian prison is the price we pay for freedom.”
This year’s game was being touted as the “Pot Bowl,” seeing as both teams represented the largest cities in the only two states to have entirely legalized cannabis. Both Washington and Colorado have tremendous natural beauty and tremendously annoying people. Although I’ve smoked bales of weed over my lifetime, I don’t personally care much for the city of Seattle. Denver I like even less. Still, I was pulling for the Broncos mainly because they have a player with the fantastic name of Zane Beadles.
I can’t even remember the last time I watched a Super Bowl”probably the last time the Eagles played, whenever that was. This time around, the cruel and sadistic football gods denied me and the rest of the 110 million or so viewers even the slightest shred of excitement, mystery, or intrigue. We had been promised a close and thrilling game, with Denver favored by a slim 2.5-point margin; instead they lost by 35. The only blips of drama came through watching sideline shots of Peyton Manning, a genius of a quarterback, as his face slowly melted realizing that this game will forever mark him as a heel and a choker and a goat and a chump. I genuinely felt bad for him even though, quite frankly, his forehead is too big and he comes off as sort of a dick.
The game was played in the magnificently ugly and instantly carcinogenic New Jersey town of East Rutherford, about ten miles as the terrorist crow flies from where the World Trade Center was blown to dust on 9/11/2001. Security precautions involved such insane measures as Black Hawk helicopters and “hidden snipers.” There was even a series of “suspicious powder” scares near the stadium days before the game. But although it would have made the festivities far more exciting, there were no terrorist attacks. There were merely snipers and choppers and pat-downs and vehicle scans and bomb-sniffing dogs and 4,000 security agents and an elaborate constellation of intelligence-sharing and surveillance. Living in an authoritarian prison is the price we pay for freedom.
Pay to Play - Put your money where your mouth is and subscribe for an ad-free experience and to join the world famous Takimag comment board.C.J. Minster, Lisa Savage and Alli McCracken (left to right) take a break from pushing for the Bring Our War Dollars Home resolution to hang out with one of Baltimore's finest, while the U.S. Conference of Mayors held its annual meeting across the street in June 2011. (Photo courtesy CODEPINK)
How CODEPINK convinced America’s mayors to adopt their first antiwar resolution since the Vietnam War.
No matter how lean our movement feels, we can build on these victories. So bake some cupcakes and approach city council representatives about a War Dollars Home resolution.
You can weed and till the ground all you want, but if there is no clear plan as to what to plant, well, that’s a lot of back-breaking work without much
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to try out Material theme here as it was not listed under this new theme store.
EDIT: There is now a kernel that allows deep sleep, so check it out!
Special thanks to,, thatotherguy, and everyone else at the T-mobile Note5 forums. Following up the development of this flashable build in real time was a great experience, and a testament to the dedication and inventiveness of XDA.In most MMOs today, roles such as shopkeeper, merchant, innkeeper, bounty hunter, and courier, when even possible, are constrained by the rules of the game engine. Things like quests or tasks, parties and raids, trade, auction houses, and mail systems are either NPC-driven or governed by built-in game mechanics. Instead of providing opportunities for immersion, role playing, and dramatic situations, they instead act as a 4th wall, forcing players to interact in the world (like a theme park), rather than with the world.
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In this week's design journal, we're going to talk about Player Contracts - perhaps the most important feature of Chronicles of Elyria. Contracts give power back to the players, unlocking an infinite number of occupations and professions and allowing them to play roles in Elyria even we haven't thought of. The foundation for marriages, guilds, trade agreements, in-game mail systems, families, and even governments, Contracts play a crucial role in Chronicles of Elyria and solidifies its place as one of the first true sandbox MMOs.
Before I forget, I promised the very active community over at ChroniclesofElyria.com I’d slip an Easter egg into each design journal. Pay close attention, somewhere here-in lies the subtle hint of a previously (and still) unannounced feature. Think you know what it is? Come discuss!
Figure 1 – In-game view of a character with their backpack on
Purpose of Contracts
Contracts in Chronicles of Elyria are first and foremost about solving the trust issues inherent in existing MMORPGs. In our world we negotiate, make deals, and provide cash in advance all the time. We do that because we trust the legal system and peoples’ moral code. In most MMOs there’s no legal system to speak of and the anonymity afforded by the Internet often brings out the worst in people. This creates an environment where, rather than enabling massive collaboration, people are forced to play a game with potentially tens of the thousands of people, as a single-player game.
Don’t believe me? Let’s take the classic example of needing to get an item built. You haven’t raised your mining or blacksmithing skills but you still want to be a competitive swordsman. You learn that there’s a powerful sword but to create it you need to gather 10 lbs. of iron ore and some rare gems - in addition to having the necessary crafting recipe.
First, you’re going to realize you don’t have the necessary mining skill to harvest the ore or the gem. You have three options: either raise your mining yourself, buy the items from the auction house – requiring no player interaction, or spam trade chat asking for someone to trade with, which rarely creates long-term, meaningful business relationships.
Assuming you manage to procure the necessary materials, you’re now faced with a second problem – you lack sufficient skill, and likely the recipe, to craft the item. The most logical solution would be to take the materials to an appropriately skilled craftsman and ask them to make it for you. But, in doing so you encounter the real trust issue. You’ve just acquired a very expensive, very rare gem which you now must hand over to someone else for them to create the item for you. As you open the trade window you ask yourself “What’s stopping them from keeping these rare materials for themselves, selling it on the auction house, or even crafting the weapon and selling it back to me at higher than the agreed upon price?” In most games, the answer is nothing. In Chronicles of Elyria, the answer is Contracts.
Initiating Contracts
There are two types of contracts in Chronicles of Elyria, Explicit and Implicit, and each one is initiated differently. Explicit contracts are more like your traditional contracts. They’re written documents which are reviewed and signed by all members who want to execute them. Signing the contract means you agree to uphold your end of the bargain or face the pre-arranged consequences. Contracts, explicit or implicit, can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. This allows for an agreement between you and another, between you and several other people, or amongst a collection of people.
Figure 2 – In-game view of a contract in a character’s inventory
Explicit Contracts
As seen in Figure 2 above, Explicit Contracts function as any other object in your inventory. You can buy, sell, trade, examine, or activate them. When you activate a contract you select another person to initiate a trade negotiation with. And, just like there are different types of potions in the game, there are different types of contracts.
Each type of contract acts like a template until the point in which it’s activated. At that point, all the blank spots for things like names, quantities, costs, and references to items or activates are filled in during negotiation. You can see an example of an early Trade Contract in Figure 3 below.
As Chronicles of Elyria uses Contracts in place of what would normally be Quests or Tasks in other MMOs, it shouldn’t surprise you there are contract templates for many of the same activities you’d be asked to do in other RPGs. For example, there are contracts to:
Deliver an item to someone
Activate an Item
Destroy an item or building
Capture or retrieve someone
Escort someone to a given location safely
By providing stock contracts for the above activities it’s immediately possible for players to create tasks in the same way NPCs do. You could log off for the day and leave your OPC behind, offering X amount of money or other objects in exchange for placing resources in your shop. When someone drops the resources in your warehouse, they can collect the money from you. But how does the Soulborn Engine know the contract is complete? I’m glad you asked.
Characters going about their daily lives are constantly doing things. They’re going in and out of regions, interacting with items, talking to people, trading, engaging in combat, etc. There are literally dozens of things your character can do while in Elyria and each of them generates a Character Event.
Whenever you a sign a contract the Soulborn Engine begins waiting for you to perform specific Character Events related to the contract and uses those to track your progress.
This system is also used to help you track your progress on-screen. Selecting a contract you’ve accepted from your inventory allows you to track the contract’s objectives. This, like in most MMOs, gives you an on-screen reminder of what you're trying to do and whenever you complete an objective the user interface is updated to reflect your progress.
Authoring Contracts
While we’re not going to spend any time in this design journal talking about how crafting works – that’ll be part of the next design journal, I did want to talk briefly about who writes them and who uses them.
Contracts are complicated - even in our world. The more clauses and conditions they have the more difficult they are to author correctly. When designing the contract system we had a choice between making it something anyone can do and making it the focus of a specific type of crafter.
In the end, we decided that contracts can be used by anyone while they’re written by those with a specialization of the Scribing skill called Contract Writing. In addition, how complex a contract can be – the number of clauses and conditions it supports, is directly proportional to the skill of the writer. Characters just starting out will only be able to write simple Trade Contracts, while those more advanced can write guild charters and patents, marriage agreements, and even laws.
Figure 3 – Early In-game view of a Trade Contract
Contracts are made to be broken – and enforced
Like most features in Chronicles of Elyria, the Contract system introduces a fun new mechanic which is inherently exploitable. It’s designed to increase your confidence that it’s safe to do business with someone, however - like in our world, that's not always the case.
Whenever you initiate a contract there’s a set of consequences for breaking it. If either party breaches the contract they’re at risk of having to pay the consequences. These consequences can be enforced but it's up to you, or someone on your behalf, to enforce them.
Enforcing Contracts
We’ve put systems in place to make enforcing contracts easier. Once a contract is believed to be broken, and assuming you have a copy of the contract, you can use it to generate a Bounty Token. This token gives the possessor the right to apply consequence to the person who broke the contract. This can mean taking money or items off of them, reclaiming things from their homes, or even incapacitating them and bringing them back to face justice.
Which types of consequences are allowed is based on regional laws. Depending on the County you're in it may be legal to retrieve your stuff yourself. In others counties it may be necessary for a Sheriff to reclaim your goods. And, in yet other counties – those which have chosen a more lawless disposition, there may be no way to enforce a contract at all.
Figure 4 – Early In-game view of a Trade Negotiation
As I mentioned before, this all assumes you have a copy of the contract in which to enforce it. If someone were to somehow get the contract from you before you enforced it, there’d be no proof the contract ever existed at all.
Implicit Contracts
Unlike explicit contracts, implicit contracts don’t require participants to sign them to take effect and they’re instead initiated in other ways. The two best examples of implicit contracts are laws and enchanted or artifact items, and each one is initiated differently.
Local, Regional, and National leaders can draft laws as part of their region. Once signed in as law, anyone who steps foot within their jurisdiction is bound by the implicit contract. This gives governments a huge amount of flexibility with respect to customizing what is and is not allowed within their domain, and what the consequences are.
To make understanding the legal system easier there are different types of contracts for different types of laws. There are contracts for the tax code, criminal code, citizenship, land ownership, inheritance, and even government type. As with other types of contracts it’s impractical in most situations to advance your Contract Writing skill to a point where you can draft laws. Instead you’ll want to retain the services of a skilled Contract Writer to draft the laws on your behalf. Then you can use the regional management UI to institute the laws.
Item Contracts
The other common type of implicit contract are enchanted or artifact items. With these, simply equipping or wearing the item is enough to initiate the contract. Perhaps the most important example is the Ring of the King. Once someone with sufficient claim puts it on, they are bound by contract to fulfill the role of the king. This grants them all the benefits and privileges therein, but breach of contract means death and a land without leadership until the next person accepts the contract.
What’s next?
Next week we're going to back-track slightly and talk about the Skill System and Skills in Chronicles of Elyria. You'll learn how skills are categorized, advanced, and most importantly used to do or create some fun and amazing things. And, in line with CoE's design goal #3, you'll learn how every skill the characters use, requires some degree of player skill.Every single day of 2014, an average of 42,500 people worldwide were forced from their homes by war, conflict, unrest and persecution — enough to fill the Air Canada Centre twice over.
Syrian refugees carry a baby over the border fence into Turkey from Syria in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey on Sunday. Syria was the world’s largest source of both internally displaced people and refugees at 11.5 million last year, according to a new UN report. ( Lefteris Pitarakis / ASSOCIATED PRESS )
The startling revelation in the latest annual global refugee report has prompted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to declare this “a dangerous new era” in worldwide displacement. “We are witnessing a paradigm change, an unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement as well as the response required is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before,” Antonio Guterres, the UN agency’s commissioner, said in a statement. “It is terrifying that on the one hand there is more and more impunity for those starting conflicts, and on the other, there is seeming utter inability of the international community to work together to stop wars and build and preserve peace.”
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According to the 97-page annual report to be released in Geneva on Thursday, the number of people forced to flee their homes skyrocketed to 59.5 million last year — the highest ever reported for a single year — from 51.2 million in 2013 and 37.5 million a decade ago. Worldwide, one in every 122 people is now either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum, it said. At least 15 conflicts have erupted or re-ignited in the last five years, according to the report: eight in Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan and this year in Burundi); three in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, and Yemen); one in Europe (Ukraine) and three in Asia (Kyrgyzstan, and in several areas of Myanmar and Pakistan). Few of these crises have been resolved and most still generate new displacement, the UNHCR said. Meanwhile, in 2014, just 126,800 refugees were able to return to their home countries — the lowest number in 31 years. “With huge shortages of funding and wide gaps in the global regime for protecting victims of war, people in need of compassion, aid and refuge are being abandoned,” said Guterres.
“For an age of unprecedented mass displacement, we need an unprecedented humanitarian response and a renewed global commitment to tolerance and protection for people fleeing conflict and persecution.” Over the last couple of years, the world has struggled to address the growing number of refugees seeking safety by undertaking sea journeys — reminiscent of the exodus of Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s and early 1980s — on the Mediterranean, in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, and in Southeast Asia.
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Syria was the world’s largest source of both internally displaced people and refugees at 11.5 million last year, followed by Afghanistan with 2.6 million and Somalia with 1.1 million. Ironically, the report said, it’s the global poor who are housing the majority of refugees. Almost nine out of every 10 refugees were in regions or countries considered economically less developed; a quarter of all refugees were in countries among the UN’s list of least developed nations. The United States resettled 73,000 UN-referred refugees in 2014, the largest number in the world, followed by Canada (12,300) and Australia (11,600). Overall, the Americas saw a 12 per cent rise in forced displacement. Elsewhere, Europe experienced a 51 per cent increase in the displaced population, mainly a result of the conflict in Ukraine, Mediterranean crossings and the influx of Syrian refugees in Turkey. A 19 per cent upswing, primarily of Syrians and Libyans, was reported in the Middle East and North Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa was up 17 per cent; and Asia saw a 31 per cent rise, many of them Rohingya displaced from their homes in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Excerpts from the UN report
Read more about:Image caption US prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Mr Martin-Artajo
Former JPMorgan employee Javier Martin-Artajo has been arrested by Spanish police in connection with the "London Whale" trading scandal at the bank.
The 49-year-old is wanted in the US for allegedly altering bank records to hide $6.2bn in trading losses.
A Spanish police statement said he was arrested in Madrid after he was located and asked to turn himself in.
Spain's High Court, which is usually responsible for deciding extradition requests, has taken on his case,
American prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Mr Martin-Artajo and fellow ex-JPMorgan trader, Julien Grout.
The pair are alleged to have marked up the market value of an investment portfolio to hide its plummeting value. The shortfall has been attributed to Bruno Iksil, a trader who became known as the "London Whale".
The duo are accused of keeping false records on the trades and committing wire fraud, charges they both deny.
The US Department of Justice claims the two two were responsible for hiding more than $660m (£425m) in losses.
Mr Iksil has not been charged and is co-operating with the authorities.Joe Arpaio gained notoriety as sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County for his hardline stance on illegal immigration and the harsh conditions he maintained at the jail he oversaw. | Ross D. Franklin/AP Arpaio considering run against Flake
Controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio said Monday that he is considering another run for public office, including a potential primary challenge against Sen. Jeff Flake.
Arpaio, a vocal supporter of Trump’s during the campaign, was unseated last November from his position as Maricopa County sheriff. But with his name in the spotlight once again following a pardon from Trump last week, Arpaio said he could mount another bid for public office.
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“I could run for mayor, I could run for legislator, I could run for Senate," the former sheriff told The Washington Examiner. He said “I'm sure getting a lot of people around the state asking me" to challenge Flake (R-Ariz.), who refused to endorse Trump during last year’s election and has been among his most vocal GOP critics.
“All I'm saying is the door is open and we'll see what happens. I've got support. I know what support I have,” he said.
Arpaio gained notoriety as sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County for his hardline stance on illegal immigration and the harsh conditions he maintained at the jail he oversaw. He was found guilty last month of criminal contempt of court, a case that stemmed from his office’s continued racial profiling of Latinos in violation of a court order.
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Trump pardoned Arpaio for the conviction late last Friday, one in a flurry of controversial announcements from the White House that came just as a category four Hurricane made landfall along the Texas coast. On Twitter, Flake was critical of the pardon, writing that "I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course."
Throughout his political career, Arpaio has frequently floated himself as a candidate for higher office and used those trial balloons to raise campaign money. When he announced in May 2014 he wouldn’t seek the state’s open governorship that year — he had teased a potential bid in a fundraising email two months prior — the Arizona Republic noted it was the fifth time Arpaio publicly considered running for governor but ultimately passed on the race.
Kelli Ward, whose 2016 primary challenge of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) failed, has already announced that she will challenge Flake in 2018. In her race against McCain, Ward suggested that the longtime senator should be unseated based on his age, telling a POLITICO reporter that he was unlikely to serve out another full six-year term.
Arpaio, who is 85 years old, bristled at the notion that his age might count against him if he were to run for office again. He told the Examiner that “there is discrimination against senior citizens, big time" and that “the bottom line is there's no way I'm going to go fishing. I have no hobbies.”
"They just say Sheriff Joe Arpaio comma 85 years old. Why do they always say that?” he said. “I'm proud to be my age. I work 14 hours a day. If anyone thinks my age is going to hold me back, I've got news for them."
Steven Shepard contributed to this report.Play Facebook
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President Donald Trump was on diplomatic desk duty Saturday, fielding a flurry of prearranged phone calls from foreign leaders as his executive order creating an immigration crackdown in the United States caused a ripple of confusion at airports around the world.
After a hectic first week in the White House, Trump took calls privately from the Oval Office. The day of diplomacy included cordial congratulations given to the new leader of the free world, as well as serious discussions about some of the world's most pressing issues.
President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel from the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 28, 2017. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images
While Trump took the calls, he began getting push back from Democrats and human rights groups angered over his executive order closing the nation’s borders to U.S. legal permanent residents and visa-holders from certain Muslim-majority countries. His day also included the introduction of more executive orders.
Trump has been juggling discussions with foreign leaders this week, just nine days into his unorthodox presidency. He hosted British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House on Friday and earlier tried to smooth over tensions with another U.S. ally, Mexico, whose president bristled at Trump's rhetoric surrounding the building of a border wall.
The phone calls with foreign leaders Saturday included:
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Trump's most anticipated conversation was with Putin, whose country is accused of engaging in cyberattacks to influence the recent U.S. election.
The approximately hour-long call was described as "positive" and "a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair," The White House said in a statement.
The White House said the pair discussed a number of international issues from fighting terrorism to the conflict in Syria. They also discussed the crisis in the Ukraine, the Kremlin said on its website.
"Both President Trump and President Putin are hopeful that after today's call the two sides can move quickly to tackle terrorism and other important issues of mutual concern," the White House said.
Putin and Trump agreed to work on stabilizing U.S.-Russian relations, which became strained under the Obama administration, the Kremlin said.
Putin congratulated Trump and wished him success, the White House said.
The leaders also said they would "maintain regular personal contacts," the Kremlin added, and would work out a date to meet face-to-face.
According to White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Trump took the call while he was with some of his top advisers, including Vice President Mike Pence, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and chief of staff Reince Priebus.
After speaking with Chancellor Merkel for 45 minutes @POTUS is now onto his 3rd of 5 head of government calls, speaking w Russian Pres Putin pic.twitter.com/RPAWIgcO2C — Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 28, 2017
Trump, who has repeatedly praised the Russian president, told reporters on Friday that it's "very early" to talk about lifting any sanctions against Russia that were imposed by the Obama administration as punishment.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
The call between Trump and Merkel lasted about 45 minutes, according to Spicer, and covered a slate of international affairs, including Russia and Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa.
The conversation also centered around keeping NATO strong and having a stable transatlantic relationship, the White House said.
.@POTUS speaks with German Chancellor Merkel from the Oval Office. One of five heads of government calls today pic.twitter.com/xMNl3A3Iw0 — Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 28, 2017
Trump last year called for NATO members to pay their fair financial burden as part of the alliance, and suggested the U.S. otherwise might not step in to defend members under attack in the Baltic — setting off concern among the international community.
Trump and Merkel discussed how NATO thrives with all allies "contributing their fair share to our collective security," the White House said.
The pair's discussion likely required more diplomatic savvy after Trump spent his presidential campaign both slamming Merkel for "ruining Germany" over her immigration stances and calling her as his favorite world leader at one point.
Trump on Saturday agreed to attend the G-20 Summit in Germany in July, and said he would invite the chancellor to Washington. Also in the room during the call were Bannon and Priebus.
French President Francois Hollande
Hollande was more pointed in his first official phone conversation with Trump. He warned the real estate mogul-turned-politician against taking a protectionist approach in the U.S., which could have economic and political consequences, a statement from the French president's office said.
"In an unstable and uncertain world, turning inward would be a dead-end," Hollande told Trump, according to the statement.
Hollande announced last month he will not run for re-election this year after a first-term undermined by high unemployment and the rise of French nationalism.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Trump spoke with Abe about maintaining the U.S.-Japanese alliance and affirmed America's "ironclad" commitment to ensuring the security of Japan, the White House said in a statement.
Among the other topics discussed were newly sworn-in Defense Secretary James Mattis' upcoming trip to Asia, including Japan, as well as continued cooperation on handling North Korea and deepening bilateral trade.
The White House did not detail whether Trump and Abe discussed the auto industry, which has been regularly admonished by the president. Japanese officials in recent weeks have expressed frustration over the attacks, including Trump's rebuke of U.S. automakers that build cars in lower-cost foreign factories.
Trump and Abe agreed to meet at the White House on Feb. 10, Spicer said.Manhattan Season One came to a twisted and dramatic end last night. EPs Tommy Schlamme and Sam Shaw took time to tie up some loose ends—Charlie’s job security, Glenn Babbit’s fate, and Reed Akley’s position between Frank Winter and true success. However, they left viewers with a slew of questions and possible further conspiracy theories. Now that we know WGN America has renewed the show for a second season, we have a whole list of questions we need answered upon its return.
1. What, exactly, happened to Frank?
The last we saw of Frank, he was in the back of a car with a flour sack over his head, being driven into the desert. Telling the truth to his wife (and the tape recorder in his closet) may have set him free mentally, but it resulted in him being physically bound and gagged. Can one of America’s most brilliant scientists really meet his unfortunate demise over the things he said on that tape? John Benjamin Hickey was brilliant in Manhattan’s premiere season, even garnering awards whispers. They can’t possibly replace him… can they?
2. Is Liza really crazy?
If Frank is “taken care of” for this season’s transgressions, it might be a moot point. However, so many questions involving Dr. Liza Winters were left unanswered. Viewers know Liza suffered from some sort of mental breakdown in the past, but had it actually reared its head, again, during her radiation scare? It seems almost impossible to believe that someone could have come in to the Winters’ home and switched radiation meters while Liza was out burning sheets, but an entirely “clean” reading from their beds also seems doubtful. The conspiracy is infuriating, but even more maddening is not knowing Frank’s part in the bait and switch. Did he pull out the bottle of antipsychotics while fully aware that Liza wasn’t actually having a breakdown?
3. Who exactly was Meeks meeting in that bar?
Ugh. Meeks’ trip to his mother’s funeral wasn’t the sham you wanted it to be, was it? Raise your hand if you thought Meeks was going to head to California to visit Sid Liao’s wife. Instead, Meeks turned up at a bar where he proceeded to sit near a stranger, and tell him that the scientists were now focusing entirely on the Implosion bomb.
4. What’s with Abby’s stomach issues?
Girlfriend spent a lot of time worshipping the porcelain god during the finale. At first, it made sense, given the amount of stress she was under. At the very end of the episode, though, she looked over at her son and then down at her stomach while rubbing it. Classic TV foreshadowing for a pregnancy!
5. What about the Isaacs’ marriage?
First, Abby asked for a divorce and, then Charlie demanded she go home in order to stay safe from the paranoia at Los Alamos. It seems the competition is over (for now) and everything is on more solid ground, so will their marriage heal itself? Or could a possible baby act as a shabby glue job for their broken relationship?
6. And what’s ahead for Helen?
Helen and Charlie are like the El Camino: cool in concept, terrible in reality. From celebratory kisses to escapist sleepovers, one way or another, Helen and Charlie continue to find themselves in each other’s arms. With Paul Crosley no longer in the picture, and Abby potentially staying put, where will the second season find these lovers?
7. Will Callie stay, even if her parents leave?
This might seem like a crazy question, given how hell-bent Callie was on fleeing from New Mexico at the beginning of the season. Now that she’s in a relationship with the soldier who killed Sid, will she still be gung-ho for PCSing from Los Alamos? If her father is murdered (seems likely), and her mother is sent packing, she could marry her boyfriend and stay put. But, will she?
8. Can Fritz lock in his lady friend?
Still not entirely clear on what kind of relationship Jeannie thinks she has with Fritz? You’re not the only one. In the finale, the dorkiest of the implosion team was sure he could afford a ring, and save his favorite girl from continuing to sell herself to the rest of the guys at Manhattan. Will she be as keen on that idea as he hopes? We’ve already seen one proposal go awry.
9. Will we ever find a likable side to Occam?
As hard as it is to see Richard Schiff as anyone other than The West Wing’s Toby Ziegler, he’s playing a very different character this time around. Occam is menacing and conniving, willing to do anything to weed out possible atomic spies. Is there a more despicable character on television right now? And yet, because it’s Schiff, we long for a reason to love him. Will we ever find one? (Probably not.)
10. What about Little Boy?
Manhattan Season One took us through the demise of the first iteration of the atomic bomb, Thin Man, but the nuclear race isn’t over. History tells us that Winter’s implosion bomb, Fat Man, is actually the second bomb we dropped during warfare. The first bomb was dropped three days earlier and was called Little Boy. It had some basic similarities to the bomb Akley was working on, but there were significant differences. What will happen to make the resident scientists in Los Alamos reopen the gun model of Akley’s bomb? We have about a year of waiting, before we find out.
If you didn’t catch the first season of Manhattan, the entire series is available on Hulu. Capable of creating wry laughter even with a stomach in knots, Shaw and Schlamme produced an absolute masterpiece for WGN America, and the sophomore season only promises to improve exponentially.Research reveals why some people are constantly under attack from the bloodsucking insects, while others walk free.
For those unfortunate enough to feature highly on the mosquito hit list, summer nights are synonymous with mosquito bites. Yet others hardly ever get bitten. So how do the bloodthirsty insects select their victims?
Scientists rubbed petri dishes against their stomachs
The mosquito season gives rise to countless speculations about possible solutions to the age-old mystery of mosquito preferences.
The insects’ tastes may seem arbitrary. However, research reveals that when mosquitoes make their choice between potential victims, it all comes down to scent:
“Mosquitoes are attracted by carbon dioxide and heat, which everyone gives off. But mosquitoes are also attracted by certain scents,” says Karl-Martin Vagn Jensen, the head of research at the Department of Agricultural Science at Aarhus University.
Mosquitoes are attracted by carbon dioxide and heat, which everyone gives off. But mosquitoes are also attracted by certain scents. Karl-Martin Vagn Jensen
According to Jensen, it has not yet been established exactly what the scents in question are. But research does indicate that some scents are more attractive to mosquitoes than others.
“All the lab employees rubbed petri dishes against their stomachs. In that way, their scents were deposited on the dishes, which were then put in an enclosure full of mosquitoes,” he says.
“The mosquitoes repeatedly landed on some of the petri dishes, but didn’t go anywhere near the others. “
Vitamin B does not scare off mosquitoes
The experiment is one of several to squash one of the many myths concerning the unfortunate art of mosquito attraction.
The theory about vitamin B has been tested very, very thoroughly, and it doesn’t hold. Karl-Martin Vagn Jensen
While some believe that it is in fact sour blood that keeps the insects at bay, or that the mosquitoes can detect blood disease, others are convinced that vitamin B provides protection against mosquitoes.
However, there is no indication that any of these theories are correct, says Jensen:
“There is no truth to that. The theory about vitamin B has been tested very, very thoroughly, and it doesn’t hold.”
Perhaps taking inspiration from popular fiction, there are also those who swear by garlic as an excellent repellent against the winged bloodsuckers. According to the researcher, though unsubstantiated, this strategy may not be entirely fruitless:
As far as I know, there is no scientific proof that eating garlic works. But there may be something to the theory that it’s possible to mask your scent with garlic. Karl-Martin Vagn Jensen
“As far as I know, there is no scientific proof that eating garlic works. But there may be something to the theory that it’s possible to mask your scent with garlic,” he says.
Effective mosquito repellents on the market
The only reliable method of protection against mosquitoes is to use one of the effective repellents that are sold over the counter.
Mosquito repellent contains some smells that confuse the mosquitoes. The first thing a mosquito does when looking for prey is to see if there are any animals or people in the vicinity.
“When the mosquito comes closer, it uses smell, heat and carbon dioxide to decide whether to bite. But if it is confused by a repellent, it will never get that far,” says Jensen.
However, even repellents do not provide complete protection against the persistent insects.
“Repellents reduce the number of bites by as much as 70 percent. That’s all well and good, but you’ll still get bitten once in a while.”
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Read this article in Danish at videnskab.dkAn Aussie with survival skills to rival Crocodile Dundee has emerged from a nine-day ordeal stuck in remote swampland looking well-fed, well-watered and generally pretty relaxed.
If it wasn't for the insect bites covering his body, rescuers say it'd be hard to believe Ian Graham spent more than a week stuck in an East Kimberly bog, with only his pet Labrador Missy for company.
It's fair to say – as far as survivors of such ordeals go – that the ingenious 38-year-old didn't do it too tough.
Mr Graham and Missy had not long polished off an ample meal of freshly caught fish, washed down with some rainwater he'd collected, when help arrived.
And rescuers were stunned to see the rather elaborate camp he'd created using bits from the four-wheel drive that had landed him in trouble in the first place.
"He pulled the bonnet off and was using it for shelter and he'd pulled the seats out, which he was using as a makeshift bed," said Sergeant Graham Sears, of Western Australia's Kununurra police.
"He was catching water from the rainfall, I don't know how... and he was catching fish to eat. He managed to get himself a fire started. He kept that going and he cooked himself up a fish.
"Ian was feeding the dog with what he caught."
Mr Graham and his dog were finally found at Cape Domett on Tuesday, 70km from where police believed he'd gone fishing in the Keep River National Park on December 7.
Mr Graham, an electrical linesman from Kununurra, slept in the shanty he fashioned from parts stripped from his 4WD after it failed to start following a full day of fishing that day.
The vehicle then got bogged in by tidal movements, Sgt Sears said.
Mr Graham's partner Lana Penny raised the alarm when he failed to return, and at one point said she feared a croc had eaten him.
All the while, Mr Graham was safe in his lean-to at Cape Domett.
The only problem was he'd told Ms Penny he was headed to Keep River, mistakenly believing Cape Domett was part of that area.
After much angst and a lot of searching, a helicopter hired by Mr Graham's brother finally found him early on Tuesday.
"He was very happy to be home and very happy to be reunited with his family," Sgt Spears said.
"Medically, he got bitten by a few midgies while he was out there, but apart from that he is fit and healthy."How much did your local MP spend last year?
Updated
Federal politicians claimed almost $49 million in expenses over the first half of 2016, new documents have revealed.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop claimed the largest amount over the period from January 1 to June 30, according to the latest figures on parliamentarians' entitlements published by the Finance Department, totalling $839,810.
The majority of that amount was overseas travel undertaken through her role as Foreign Minister.
Find out how much your local MP claimed
At least two of Ms Bishop's colleagues have also come under pressure after charging taxpayers to attend a New Year's Eve party hosted by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
George Brandis, Peter Dutton and Mitch Fifield were on official business in Sydney on New Year's Eve in 2015 with a combined travel bill to taxpayers close to $7,000.
The offices of Senators Brandis and Fifield both described the event as an "official function at Kirribilli House".
Federal politicians claimed more than $55 million in the second half of 2015.
What were the claims for?
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, political-parties, australia
First posted
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47,055 Americans that died from drug overdoses, and opioids were involved in 61% of these cases. Since 2013, the rates of drug-overdose deaths have exceeded the number of deaths from car accidents. This is not uniquely an American problem, but the U.S. uses an astonishing 80% of the world's opioids, while representing only 4.6% of the world's population. The New England Journal of Medicine has just written that the rising death toll has been rivaled in modern history only by that at the peak of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s.
On Friday, the Washington Post reported that an Arizona-based maker of fentanyl, the drug most commonly reported in many of these deaths, just donated $500,000 to oppose legalization of medical marijuana. This at a time when studies have shown that today about 75% to 86% of heroin users started with prescription opioid pain relievers. So the first exposure to opiates is far more likely to come not from heroin (as was overwhelmingly true in the 1960's), but rather from prescription drugs.
To find out more about Vitality Biopharma and its development of cannaboside pharmaceuticals, please visit www.vitality.bio and to read Mr. Brooke's article "What We Should Know About Opiates and Prescription Drug Abuse," please visit the CEO Blog at www.vitality.bio/investors/news.
About Vitality Biopharma ( OTCQB : VBIO)
Vitality Biopharma is dedicated to unlocking the power of cannabinoids for the treatment of serious neurological and inflammatory disorders. For more information, visit: www.vitality.bio. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27(a) of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects and development stage companies. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Wow, super week did not disappoint in the entertainment value but wow, it made every fantasy predictor’s life hell. Let’s do a quick rundown of things that happened unexpectedly last week.
Fnatic went 4-0 this week. Fnatic have been incredibly inconsistent the entire year, which was shown by how they were constantly hovering around 1200 elo in the EU LCS. They had one of the hardest weeks imaginable and they really crushed everybody. Props to them, and congrats to anybody that started them. Alliance. The exact opposite of the Fnatic situation. They were primed and ready to 4-0 this super week, but losses to CW and Fnatic severely hampered that (and let’s not talk about the SK surrender). Their 2-2 was an extreme disappointment to their fans, and to their fantasy owners. Millennium. 1-3. Played Roccat, Gambit, Fnatic, and SHC. They were the chosen ones. They expected an easy super week and failed. Not really surprising, but definitely hurt many Woolite fans was CW getting stomped in all but one of their games. NA. As Jatt reminded us 574 times throughout the final day of super week, NA had games that were on average longer than any week ever in NA. Caused an upswing in points for many NA players as they outperformed EU (overall, not single scorers) finally. TSM. Even though they went 3-1 this week and tied for first, they didn’t have any of the typical TSM stomps that is common in their wins. They scored way below average and were poor picks. Curse. They had the hardest schedule in either NA or EU, and they went 3-1. Wow. Great job to those guys. CLG did decent, but wow, did they start well only to fall flat in the last two days. Many fantasy owners became sad as they watched CLG be ineffective in their last two games. Dig, same as CLG, but most fantasy analysts actually weren’t predicting much from Dignitas.
Week 7 Analysis
Super Week crushed all of my predictions. I accurately predicted the middle of the road teams and their players’ scores, but top teams that underperformed (Alliance, TSM), snowball teams that get a lot of points on wins (SHC, Mil, EG), and teams that always play close games and rarely get shut out (CW) completely skewed my results. Overall, I was about 4.75% inaccurate and only +/- 12 points precise. The accuracy is good, but good accuracy doesn’t mean that it is acceptable. Precision is just as important. I could throw 4 darts at a dartboard and get one dart in each of the 4 cardinal directions and I would have perfect accuracy but that doesn’t mean I’m good. My precision would be terrible. Surprisingly, my precision was much better in NA than in EU, but my accuracy was better in EU than NA. This is due to NA only being imprecise because the games lasted longer than expected. EU had better accuracy because it had the extremes. A player like SELFIE was in the extremely positive aspect while a player like cowTard was in the extremely negative aspect, and they averaged to what I predicted. However, I am disappointed in my failures to predict, but sports would not be exciting if you can figure out what happens just by looking at numbers and charts.
Week 8 Method
I am changing my elo chart so that the “K” value is 45 instead of 64. This gives fewer points to teams doing well and more points to teams doing poorly. It also causes less fluctuation from a team doing well one week and another team doing poorly. I think elo is the best way to calculate the predictions, but as usual, I will provide all 3 of my methods in the reddit thread.
Top Lane
FNC SOAZ 35.66 points
Fnatic took EU LCS by storm last week by going 4-0 with a fairly difficult schedule. They play another tough schedule this week, but games against SHC always net many points, and FNC has the strength to dismantle SK. SOAZ has been playing amazingly as of late, and I expect him to continue.
LMQ Ackerman 34.07 points
The LMQ boys are always fun to watch. Their games almost always devolve into kill-fests, and LMQ almost always gets a lot of points. They play two streaky teams this week, coL and Dig. Unfortunately, they play Dig on Day 1 so it is more likely for them to lose that game. I would say LMQ has a moderate risk this week.
CRS Quas 33.90 points
Quas and the rest of the Curse roster dominated last week by going 3-1 while playing 4 of the top 5 teams in NA. Now they play the bottom 2 teams in NA. I expect them to win both games this week, and that causes all of Curse to be my sleeper OP picks for this upcoming week.
Jungle
CW Airwaks 43.61 points
This guy plays an entirely different game than every other jungler in LCS. I think he plays CoD because it seems like kills are the only thing that matter to him. If CW manages to pull out a win, Airwaks will probably be the #1 jungler for the week, and they will be playing the extremely questionable Gambit. So……… Start this guy.
Mil KottenX 36.26 points
I think KottenX is a risk (Mil players are always a risk with their playstyle) but I think that he will do well this week. Mil will be playing Alliance and even though they look vulnerable at the moment, Mil looks even more vulnerable. The game vs CW will be where he gets most of his points.
FNC Cyanide 35.16 points
See what I said about SOAZ. Fnatic is looking stronger than ever after going 4-0 last week, and they play SK and SHC this week. Cyanide hasn’t disappointed all split, and he will continue to perform.
Mid
Mil Kerp 43.60 points
I have some serious doubts about Kerp putting up 44 points this week. Yes, he plays CW this week, but Mil went 1-3 last week and now they play Alliance as well. He wouldn’t be my #1 going into this week, but he is statistically the #1.
CW Cowtard 43.57 points
WARNING: cowTard may not start this week!
I’m predicting cowTard to score more points in 2 games than he did in 4 games last week. That’s how poorly CW played last week. Here’s to hoping they still don’t know how to close out games and continue to rack up kills on a severely weakened Gambit this week.
LMQ XiaoWeiXiao 42.37 points
LMQ will most likely win at least 1 game this week, and I expect a hard-fought game with Dignitas as well. It is very likely for XWX to get these points this week, and depending on the Dig game, he can very easily surpass this total.
ADC
CW Woolite 51.08 points
Again, CW let down a lot of people last week. This week they will probably get 30 points each at least in the Gambit game (unless new Gambit is stronger than predicted) and they will probably play Millennium competitively. I think this is very feasible.
Mil Creaton 44.45 points
I would not start Creaton this week even though he has a high expected total. I think anybody expected over 35 points this week will perform better than him because Mil looks to be in a slump and they play one of their games against Alliance.
FNC Rekkles 43.21 points
You can never go wrong with starting Rekkles on your fantasy team. He is extremely consistent and will always put up good numbers with very few deaths. It helps that Fnatic looks stronger than ever, but Rekkles is a must-start every week (unless you are in a 4-man league).
Support
FNC Yellowstar 36.01 points
Supports are very reliant on how well their team does. Fnatic is doing well. Yellowstar will do well. He also played amazingly all super week. Start him.
Mil Jree 31.70 points
Definitely not. He performs relatively worse than either Creaton and Kerp, and I recommended against both of those guys. I don’t see Mil performing that well this week, and even if they go 1-1 I don’t think they will score very well in their loss.
CRS Xpecial 30.64 points
Curse plays EG and coL this week, and Xpecial did extremely well last week (especially considering his schedule). I would start anybody for Curse (except for maybe IWD) this week. They played very well last week, and they have an “easier” schedule this week.
Teams
Curse 31 points
I’ve been talking about Curse this entire article. But it is hard to ignore. They played amazingly last week against tougher competition, and their slow games will cause them to get more team objectives just because of the game length.
Fnatic 30 points
Fnatic has been playing very well recently, and there is a chance that they 2-0 their competition this week. I don’t see much of a downside in playing Fnatic as a team.
Alliance 27 points
Alliance will still be Alliance. I don’t think their 2-2 super week will cause them to regress that hard, but it is important to keep an eye on these things. They are still a strong team, and probably still the strongest in EU.
Closing
Firstly, I’d like to express how surprising many of the results of super week are. As a spectator it’s amazing and wonderful because it means that all the games matter. And an analyst, it’s awful because the games don’t end as expected. Hopefully everybody still performed well in their respective leagues!
Secondly, I’d like to send a tremendous thank you to /u/_Zaga_ and his amazing site http://flcspro.com. Without his data aggregation, I would not be able to continue this series due to having less time now that I am back at school. I now have more data than what I was collecting manually, plus I don’t have to input the data manually anymore. I just finished setting up my previous work with his site, so now that I have extra time, I look to include some more information in the upcoming week!Millennials get a lot of stick. They call us overly-sensitive snowflakes and lampoon us for spending money on lavish brunches instead of saving up for house deposits.
Apparently we’re all obsessed with ourselves, take too many selfies and are awful humans for organising hook-ups via dating apps.
But it could in fact be that the baby boomers are a more egotistical generation than millennials.
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According to writer and venture capitalist Bruce Gibney, baby boomers are a “generation of sociopaths.”
In his new book, he argues that their “reckless self-indulgence” is in fact what set the example for millennials.
Gibney describes boomers as “acting without empathy, prudence, or respect for facts - acting, in other words, as sociopaths.”
And he’s not the first person to suggest this.
Back in 1976, journalist Tom Wolfe dubbed the young adults then coming of age the “Me Generation” in the New York Times, which is a term now widely used to describe millennials.
But the baby boomers grew up in a very different climate to today’s young adults.
Shape Created with Sketch. A selection of the most powerful millennials in the world Show all 5 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. A selection of the most powerful millennials in the world 1/5 Kim Jong-un 2/5 Mhairi Black 3/5 Neymar 4/5 Kim Kardashian-West 5/5 Alexander Wang 1/5 Kim Jong-un 2/5 Mhairi Black 3/5 Neymar 4/5 Kim Kardashian-West 5/5 Alexander Wang
When the generation born after World War Two were starting to make their way in the world, it was a time of economic prosperity.
“For the first half of the boomers particularly, they came of age in a time of fairly effortless prosperity, and they were conditioned to think that everything gets better each year without any real effort,” Gibney explained to The Huffington Post.
“So they really just assume that things are going to work out, no matter what. That’s unhelpful conditioning.
“You have 25 years where everything just seems to be getting better, so you tend not to try as hard, and you have much greater expectations about what society can do for you, and what it owes you.”
And millennials now are facing far higher levels of debt and unemployment than their parents.
Gibney puts forward the argument that boomers - specifically white, middle-class ones - tend to have genuine sociopathic traits.
He backs up his argument with mental health data which appears to show that this generation have more anti-social characteristics than others - lack of empathy, disregard for others, egotism and impulsivity, for example.
“We have an enormous amount of data about the boomer mainstream, and it matches up surprisingly well with the description of antisocial personality disorder,” Gibney explains.
But even if this is true, it’s worth noting that there isn’t much historical mental health data with which to compare the stats for baby boomers.Do Opera Mundi
A Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos (CIDH), órgão jurídico da OEA (Organização dos Estados Americanos), condenou o Brasil, na quinta-feira (15), por um caso de trabalho escravo e tráfico de seres humanos em uma fazenda no Estado do Pará envolvendo 85 funcionários.
Segundo a sentença da CIDH, “o Estado brasileiro não demonstrou ter adotado medidas específicas e nem ter atuado com a devida diligência para prevenir a forma contemporânea de escravidão à qual essas pessoas foram submetidas, nem para por fim a essa situação”, mesmo tendo conhecimento do caso.
Como consequência da condenação, o Brasil deverá realizar medidas de reparação para com as vítimas, o que inclui retomar as investigações do caso para julgar e punir as partes cabíveis, e pagar indenizações aos funcionários afetados.
Por danos imateriais, a corte fixou o valor de US$ 30 mil (mais de R$ 101 mil) para cada um dos trabalhadores presentes na fiscalização do dia 23 de abril de 1997 à fazenda, e US$ 40 mil (cerca de R$ 136 mil) para cada um dos 85 funcionários da fazenda Brasil Verde presentes no local durante as fiscalizações de 15 de março de 2000.
A corte afirmou que supervisionará o cumprimento da sentença e só dará o caso por encerrado uma vez que o Brasil tenha realizado as obrigações determinadas.
O caso diz respeito à fazenda Brasil Verde e remonta aos anos de 1989, 1993 e 1997, quando as autoridades relataram “falhas” e “irregularidades” trabalhistas após inspeções, e ao ano de 2000, quando os trabalhadores foram finalmente libertados, após dois jovens fugirem do local e denunciarem a situação ao Ministério do Trabalho.
Investigações mostraram que os funcionários eram provenientes de regiões pobres do país e recrutados por traficantes de pessoas. Uma vez na fazenda, suas carteiras de trabalho eram tomadas. A jornada de trabalho dos empregados era de 12 horas ou mais, com uma pausa de meia hora para o almoço, durante seis dias por semana.
As instalações onde viviam os funcionários também eram precárias: cabanas sem eletricidade e redes no lugar de camas. E a alimentação, descontada dos salários, era insuficiente.
Em relatos, os funcionários disseram ser vigiados por seguranças armados e relataram ser ameaçados constantemente.
Este é o primeiro caso de escravidão moderna julgado pela CIDH, de forma que o Brasil é o primeiro país a ser condenado por escravidão.
“A Corte observou que o conceito de escravidão e suas formas análogas evoluíram e não se limitam à propriedade sobre a pessoa. Desta maneira, para defini-la [escravidão] deve-se observar a demonstração de controle de uma pessoa sobre a outra, que chegue a se equiparar com a perda da própria vontade ou diminuição considerável da autonomia pessoal”, disse o CIDH no documento.
Opera Mundi não conseguiu entrar em contato com a Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos do governo federal. No entanto, o jornalista Leonardo Sakamoto, em seu blog publicou uma nota da secretaria comentando a condenação.
“Consideramos que a sentença da Corte IDH, não obstante condenatória ao Estado brasileiro, representa uma oportunidade para reforçar e aprimorar a política nacional de enfrentamento ao trabalho escravo, especialmente no que se refere à manutenção do conceito, assim como em relação à investigação, processamento e dos responsáveis pelo delito”, disse o órgão.Plan each day of your trip like magic
Everyone has different interests and time constraints. No matter how popular an itinerary is, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for the perfect day or the perfect trip. Google Trips can help you build your day around places you already know you want to visit.
Say your friends told you that you have to see the Sagrada Familia — and you’re looking for suggestions on things to do around that spot. Press the “+” button in the day plans tile to jump into a map view containing all the top attractions in your destination. If you’re time constrained, you can specify above the map whether you have just the morning or afternoon, versus a full day. Then simply tap and pin the Sagrada Familia to build your itinerary around it. Google Trips automatically fills in the day for you. If you want more options, tap the “magic wand” button for more nearby sights. You can pin any new spots you like, and if you want even more, each tap of the “magic wand” instantly gives you a new itinerary with updated nearby attractions like Palau Macaya or Parc del Guinardo, so you can build your own custom itinerary in minutes while munching on your morning churro.Three new games confirmed for Linux and Mac
4 March 2015
We’re happy to confirm we will be bringing Batman: Arkham Knight, GRID Autosport and Company of Heroes 2 to SteamOS, Ubuntu and OS X.
Batman: Arkham Knight is the explosive finale to Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy, in which Batman must save the city he is sworn to protect from Scarecrow’s diabolical plan. As Batman, players will deploy gadgets, drive the Batmobile and face off against a fiendish lineup of super-villains in an open-world Gotham city.
GRID Autosport immerses players in the thrilling world of professional motorsport with a huge career mode that spans 22 spectacular locations around the world. As they master touring cars, endurance vehicles, prototypes and more, players will battle for position in ferocious races where every pass counts.
Company of Heroes 2 is a real-time strategy game that challenges players to become a commander of the Soviet Red Army on the Eastern Front in 1941. Players will master intense tactical combat as they engage in frontline warfare from Stalingrad to Berlin.
We’ll bring you more information about the games later in the year.Nigel Farage has declared he will not stand in the General Election insisting that his role as an MEP gives him a bigger influence over Brexit.
The former Ukip leader had been contemplating making his eighth attempt to get a seat in the House of Commons.
But he said he has instead decided to use his profile in European politics to put'real pressure' on Brussels to back a'sensible deal' for the UK.
Nigel farage, pictured this morning, has ruled himself out of standing in the General Election
But he acknowledged that the thought of standing had been 'tempting' – particularly given his former Ukip colleague turned bitter rival Douglas Carswell's decision to stand down in Clacton.
Mr Farage used an article in the Daily Telegraph to claim the Essex seat would have given him an 'easy win' if he had stood, but to rule out standing.
He wrote: 'If I compare the platform I have in Strasbourg to being a backbench MP, there is frankly no comparison.
'The Brexit negotiations will take place in Brussels and the European Parliament will not only have a large impact on them, but ultimately will have the right of veto any deal at the end of the two-year process.
'I believe I can use my profile in European politics to put real pressure on MEPs to vote for a sensible deal with the UK.
'Just weeks after we are due to leave, there will be the next set of European elections.'
He added: 'MEPs who are attempting to be re-elected need to feel the heat and the threat of losing their seats if they don't back a sensible deal.
The former Ukip had been considering running for the Commons for the eighth time
'There will be parties that campaign on a grown up ticket, and I will happily visit and speak in European capitals to drive the point home.'
Mr Farage, who has failed seven times to win a seat at Westminster, said a victory in the snap election would have been a 'vindication' for him – but he had come to the conclusion that he would have more influence in Strasbourg and Brussels.
He said Clacton was 'now Carswell-free, and perhaps the number one Eurosceptic constituency in the country by demographics'.
'It would be a very easy win and for me, a personal vindication to get into the House of Commons after all these years of standing in elections,' he said.
Mr Farage promised to 'help and support' Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, who he had earlier said faced'six weeks to prove himself' in the job.
Mr Nuttall has faced criticism over his leadership in the face of damaging internal battles in the Eurosceptic party and his own disastrous by-election bid in Stoke-on-Trent.
Arron Banks, a multimillionaire Ukip donor and close friend of Mr Farage, is planning to run for MP in Clacton.India Tragedy Seen as Transitional Moment
Activists in India look to the unabated anger at the death of a young woman as a turning point in their struggle to combat violence against women.
As the world now knows, on December 16, six men sexually harassed, gang raped, and used a metal pipe to assault a 23-year-old woman on a bus in Delhi, India. She was traveling home from the cinema after watching "Life of Pi" with a male friend. The six men assaulted her friend when he tried to protect her.
As details of the attack emerged, people across Delhi reacted with intense anger. Thousands of people participated in daily protests for more than two weeks. Candle light vigils took place outside the hospital where the young woman fought for her life. Outrage spread globally after she died from her injuries on December 28.
After I learned about this despicable incident and as I followed the growing public indignation, I contacted various anti-violence activists in India to find out their reactions and viewpoints.
Radhika Takru, digital media strategist at the nonprofit organization Breakthrough, told me she felt sick over the horrific incident, especially as it happened near the route she takes to work. “The way such an ordinary circumstance turned into such a horrific incident makes you question your own ordinary circumstances,” she said.
Dhruv Arora, founder of GotStared.At, wrote he was “horrified” and that it was “another sad day in the history of the city.”
Indeed, this was just one more crime in a city where women routinely feel unsafe because of street harassment, where rape—a vastly under-reported crime—is reported every 18 hours, and in a country where there were more than 24,000 reported rape cases in 2011, including many gang rapes. So, I wondered, why did this particular incident garner so much response and outrage?
Amitabh Kumar, a leader of the campaign I Stand for Safe Delhi, told me he thought it was because “young India is sick of the hypocritical approach of blaming the victim…This time we were not going to let this happen.” He continued, referring to the spontaneous nature of the demonstrations, “Also, there was no ‘leader,' hence the common girls and boys felt empowered to speak out loud, to stand against this injustice.”
Takru answered my question, too. “[She] was our age, you see. She went to see a movie with a male friend at the cinema, the one that every young person in Delhi has visited at some point in their lives…Young people in Delhi and around the country stood up because they saw themselves, or someone they loved, in her.”
The public outcry led officials to speed up the trial of the alleged assailants. It also resulted in meetings between anti-violence groups and the police and government officials to discuss proposed measures for change, including fast tracking all future sexual violence cases through the court system. I Stand for Safe Delhi said its proposals for sensitization training for the police force, crime mapping in the city, and more female police officers were well received.
The unprecedented outrage by the public and swift responses by government leaders and police make many people optimistic that this is a turning point for efforts to prevent gender violence.
Kumar wrote, “This is a milestone for women's movement in India as it has reached the hearts of many.” He felt the circumstances of the case sensitized the general public to rape and challenged victim-blaming in a significant way.
Mallika Dut, the president of Breakthrough, said, “I hope this moment will mark India's transition as a country that is the worst place for women to one which led the charge for serious recognition for women's human rights the world over.”
Takru recently told me, “We haven't forgotten her: families, friends, colleagues, and commuters talk about her every day. She's united a country and maybe, just maybe, we'll see the change we've been waiting (and working!) for this year.”
Activists know the best way to ensure that this is a turning point is by keeping people engaged. The anti-violence group Blank Noise launched a “Safe City Pledge” campaign to do just that. Through the campaign, they urge people not to tell women to stay home but to make cities safer by considering what they, as individuals, can do to make it so.
“Building a safe city is every person’s responsibility,” said Blank Noise founder Jasmeen Patheja. “[The campaign] is about each of us being accountable; each of us being citizens and each of us taking our Safe City Pledge.”
Anyone can participate by sharing their pledge on twitter (with the hashtag #SafeCityPledge), by taking a photo holding a sign with the pledge and posting it on Facebook, and by joining offline pledge events.
On January 1, dozens of people participated in pledge events across India, and many more events will take place over the next few weeks. Signs from an event in Bangalore read, “I pledge not to remain a mute spectator,” “I pledge to respect women,” and “I pledge to not be afraid to walk alone.”
Organizers hope to ensure this as the turning point when the world takes gender violence seriously. They encourage supporters to think locally about how to make public places safer for women.
Make your #SafeCityPledge today by clicking here.Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Cops in Coventry are regularly called out to deal with 999 calls about witches, ghosts and aliens.
Police have been called out to at least 20 'paranormal' incidents in the last five years, according to Freedom of Information figures.
Among the bizarre requests for help were ten about witchcraft, six concerning ghosts and four from people who had spotted UFOs.
The overwhelming majority of the calls were made between 2009 and 2011 with a handful of queries in the next few years.
Police responded to all of the calls, with most being graded as routine.
Several were classified as public safety or welfare issues, but two were listed as hoax calls and another two were put down to anti-social behaviour.
One call, made from Stoke in 2010 to reports of ghostly activity, was attributed to a wailing pet.
Ghosthunter Dave Eaves, who has been exploring paranormal activity for 16 years, said some of the ghost stories could well be true.
“Coventry has got over 1,000 years of history and was the fourth largest medieval city,” he said.
“It was known as a city of execution. People were sent to Coventry to be hung, drawn and quartered.
“Anywhere with that much history of death, crime and negativity would expect some sort of paranormal activity.
“We go out to households to reports of paranormal activity. Nine times out of ten it is explainable.
“Sometimes it’s creaky pipes, other times it’s creaky floors. Sometimes it’s even faulty alarm clocks.
“Sometimes we can’t explain it though. There are parts of Coventry where it’s more common.
“Stoke, for example. Around the back of Ball Hill there used to be a suicide burial pit.”
Coventry is rich in paranormal history, with stacks of buildings in the city reporting things that go bump in the night.
The Establishment bar and restaurant, St Mary’s Guildhall and the Golden Cross Pub all claim to occasionally receive visitors from the other side.
Dave and the Spookhunters regularly visit Coventry locations on ghost walks.
Tomorrow they are hosting a Valentine’s Day walk at Stoneleigh Abbey.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - Ride sharing businesses such as Uber and Lyft are legal statewide in Missouri.
In recent years, there has been a patchwork of regulations from local government to local government regulating ride sharing companies. Governor Eric Greitens says the new bill sets up a consistent statewide framework for the companies to operate within.
“And frankly, it’s time for Missouri to join the rest of the country by rolling back these regulations, taking on special interests, and allowing companies like Uber and Lyft to grow here, and also so those drivers who want to participate in this can earn some additional income," Greitens said.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Taxi Cab Commission, which had opposed ride sharing businesses in the past, released a statement Friday from chairman Tom Reeves, saying:
"MTC will begin working with stakeholders to ensure that passengers using locally-regulated vehicles-for-hire enjoy the highest levels of security and reliability, and that the taxi industry remains a competitive employer of thousands of St. Louisans."
The president of Laclede Cab says the new law puts his company at an unfair advantage because it will still have to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fees to the commission, but ride sharing businesses won't. Uber and Lyft have been popular with millennials, but the governor says the new law is important to everyone.
“It’s not just lots of millennials, but lots of people take advantage of these services, you know? Blind people who came and testified... they found the being able to use services like Uber and Lyft allow them to navigate their community in a better way."Huub Stevens has paid the price for Schalke’s recent slump in results and has been sacked as head coach of the club.
Schalke have picked up only two points in their previous six Bundesliga fixtures and have fallen to seventh in the table after the surprise 3-1 home defeat to Freiburg.
Before this run, Schalke had made their best start to a domestic campaign in 14 years but the club nevertheless has decided to remove the 59-year-old Dutch coach before the winter break.
Schalke’s U17 coach Jens Keller is set to take over on an interim basis and a press conference has been organised for later on Sunday.
Stevens began his tenure in September 2011 and guided Schalke to third in the league last campaign as well as into last-16 of this season’s Champions League after topping Group B.Photo taken at an after-hours party at the AIPAC convention back in March (just kidding, I did it all in Photoshop years ago and it still cracks me the hell up).
First off, did you notice when Israel-Firster Jew, Eric Cantor, lost the retardican primary in Virginia, all the TV whores were (still are) yammering how it’s “probably not just immigration” since Lindsey Graham won his primary in South Carolina? They say Graham is a “moderate republican” when it comes to immigration (Amnesty, etc.), so Cantor’s loss could not be hung on that alone. In other words, Graham survived, even though he’s still a big Jew tool.
Well, Senator Graham ran against a half dozen different candidates, too, so the votes against him were strung out all over the place. Hell, it would not surprise me in the least that some of those other candidates were backroom funded by “certain interests.”
It’s like a big joke — you can see right through the BS these days!
Second, Senator Lindsey Graham has long been suspected of being a big closet fag, possibly even a filthy pedophile to boot (not a lot of difference for the sick homos, who dig young boys big time). I guarantee you the hypocrite Jews controlling the narrative have so much disgusting dirt on this Shabbos goy punk, it’s not funny.
Now Graham is going batcrap crazy about the Muslim Sunni, rag-tag ISIS army advancing out of Syria and taking over Iraq. He’s saying once the “evil terrorists” succeed, we’ll have ourselves another “9/11” here in America. Yeah, I guess he should know, since his Jew handlers are all probably MOSSAD agents in the first place.
Senator Lindsey Graham, has been behind arming and funding the Muslim groups fighting Syria’s Assad (long time buds with Israel’s enemy, Shiite Iran), by US/Israel, the corrupt Gulf states and Shiite-hating, “princely” Saudi Arabia. He’s now raising Cain that some of these wild-haired Jihadis will threaten America — just as soon as they finish chopping off a few heads and installing a “Muslim Caliphate” in Iraq.
Only back in 2011, Graham was going off that Iran just might nuke the South Carolina city of Charleston. Now the crazy Senator wants America to ally with evil Iran so we can bomb the crap out of those ISIS Jihadis menacing Baghad with fast moving pick-up trucks and war booty military equipment we gave Iraq (including surface-to-air missiles, for crying out loud).
Man, you can’t win with all the mess the Zio idiots got us into!
Yesterday, MSNBC* had on Bilderberger Jew, Paul Wolfowitz (right), one of the biggest Zionist Neocons responsible for America being over in Iraq from
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were part of Cylon's army that tried to take over the city.
What is certain is that the coup attempt failed. Cylon was defeated but managed to escape and hide in a temple. The men who fought for him were not so lucky, and just like the individuals in the mass grave, they were executed.
Archaeologists have started using innovative scientific techniques worthy of a CSI episode to learn more about what happened and to see if they can get clues to confirm this theory.
The tests conducted on the skeletons include DNA profiling as well as radiographic and isotopic analyses to shed light on these people's age, geographic origin and social status. The archaeologists might also get an idea of whether these men were related and whether they were in good health overall.
All this information could help confirm whether these men were likely to have been Cylon's supporters. Preliminary results back up the idea that these were Cylon's men, as they appear to have been young and healthy when they died, as would be expected of fighters in an army. However, more investigations will be needed before the full picture can emerge – the DNA analyses in particular are awaited with impatience to establish the relationships between these people who were executed together in such a violent manner.An Indian judge has been mocked after bizarrely claiming during a legal argument about sacred cows that peacocks shed tears to conceive.
At a hearing in Rajasthan, judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma urged India's government to declare the cow - considered sacred in Hindu-majority India - as the national animal since it is 'as pious as a peacock'.
'The peacock is a lifelong celibate. It never has sex with the peahen. The peahen gets pregnant after swallowing the tears of the peacock,' Sharma said on his last day in office before retiring.
Sharma's comments, made in response to an NGO's petition on the condition of state-run cow shelters, sparked a flurry of jokes and comments on social media.
A judge in western India has claimed that peacocks shed tears to conceive, setting off a social media storm in the country (file picture)
'Profoundly ironical, that it was the peacock (not its tears but plumage) that led Darwin to propose the landmark theory of Sexual Selection,' said Anand Ranganathan on Twitter.
Some users posted wildlife footage of peacocks mating to disprove his theory, while several pointed to suggestions on Quora, a user-generated question-and-answer site, that his celibacy claim came from ancient Hindu epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana.
In his 145-page order, Sharma cites Hindu scriptures to bolster his case -- listing the'miraculous' age-defying qualities of cow dung and urine.
At a hearing in Rajasthan, judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma urged India's government to declare the cow - considered sacred in Hindu-majority India - as the national animal since it is 'as pious as a peacock' (file picture)
'(Mother cow) is the only animal that inhales as well as exhales oxygen,' he said.
'Cow urine has the miraculous property of destroying any kind of germs. It provides strength to mind and heart. It stops ageing,' he said, adding that its horns 'acquire cosmic energy'.
'Houses plastered with cow dung are safe from radio waves.'
Cows have increasingly become a focal point of nationalist discourse in India where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing government has made cattle protection a key theme since coming to power in 2014.
HOW PLUMAGE SIZE MATTERS IN THE PEACOCK MATING RITUAL Peacocks are known for their unusual mating rituals Peacocks are known for their unusual mating rituals - but contrary to the outlandish beliefs of judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma, the birds do still have sex. Mating rituals see males flashing their stunning tail feathers and using their distinctive blue and green colours to advertise their sexual and physical fitness. In late spring peacocks establish their territory before spreading their plumage in a fan shape and strutting back and forth, shaking their feathers to make a rattling sound. Both males and females have the avian reproductive organ known as the cloaca which transfers sperm between partners, according to sciencing.com. Peahens will lay up to six eggs which hatch after about 30 days of incubation. Earlier this year, research by Texas A&M University found the size and width of a peacock's proud plumage attracts the gaze of males who are sizing up their rivals and of females potentially looking for mates. 'We found that they are mostly looking at the lower portion of each other's displays in a similar way that the peahens were assessing the males as mating partners,' said Jessica Yorzinski, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University specializing in evolutionary biology. The study said peacocks spent about a third of their time gazing at the feather displays of their rivals. 'They allocated less than 5 percent of their time during our sample periods gazing at females,' the study said. Both males and females mostly looked at the bottom portion of the displays, likely assessing the width of the trains, which positively correlates with the length of the train, the study said. Yorzinski said that previous research indicated males with longer trains are more successful in establishing territory and gaining mates. 'We found that they are mostly looking at the lower portion of each other's displays in a similar way that the peahens were assessing the males as mating partners,' said Jessica Yorzinski, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University specializing in evolutionary biology. The study said peacocks spent about a third of their time gazing at the feather displays of their rivals. 'They allocated less than 5 percent of their time during our sample periods gazing at females,' the study said. Both males and females mostly looked at the bottom portion of the displays, likely assessing the width of the trains, which positively correlates with the length of the train, the study said. Yorzinski said that previous research indicated males with longer trains are more successful in establishing territory and gaining mates.
The government last week prohibited the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter across India, sparking protests in states where beef is eaten.
The slaughter of cows, as well as the possession or consumption of beef, is banned in most but not all Indian states. Some impose up to life imprisonment for infringements.
At least a dozen people, mostly Muslims, have been killed by Hindu mobs in recent years over rumours that they were eating beef, slaughtering cows or smuggling them.Food and Drink
FISHY BUSINESS
Treat yourself to the full seaside experience at our tasty pop-up fish and chip shop on Camden Beach!
Step inside to discover wooden walls adorned with seaside paraphernalia, nautical regalia and a menu complete with all your fishy favourites!
Open 12pm – 9pm Wednesday – Sunday
STOLI LEMONADE VAN
Stolichnaya Premium Vodka will be taking up residence on the Beach in their bespoke Stoli Lemonade Van. Enjoy a great selection of ice-cold Stoli Lemonades including their key drink of the summer The Stoli Mint Lemonade; plus don’t miss your chance to try the ultimate summer refreshment from London’s leading gelataria, Gelupo, THE Stoli Lemonade sorbet.
Open Monday to Friday 5pm to 11pm and Saturday to Sunday 12pm to 11pm
RUM SHACK -A- LACK
Enjoy a Pusser’s cocktail in the decidedly functional environment of our rum shack! Other rum shacks ain’t apache on this one.
Open Monday to Friday 5pm to 11pm and Saturday to Sunday 12pm to 11pm
PORK
Our shipping container watering hole, Pork, this year will be transformed into a craft ale and cider bar serving up some of the best sausages in town.
Open 5pm – 11pm Monday – Friday. 12pm – 11pm Saturday and Sunday
Download the free Roundhouse Drinks and Snacks app to get your drinks delivered directly to your beach hut or your numbered sombrero on Camden Beach presented by Stoli.A global network controlled by users, rather than being dominated by corporations like Google and Facebook will offer more security, privacy activist and software developer Dmytri Kleiner told RT, referring to Kim Dotcom’s notion of an “alternative internet.”
The founder of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, who is wanted in America for alleged copyright violations, pledged this week to create an ‘alternative internet’ to defend online privacy and freedom.
Telecom giants in the US are set for a significant victory if Washington goes ahead with its plan to repeal so-called 'net neutrality' rules, enacted to prevent internet service providers from potentially cornering parts of the digital market and charging extra fees.
Meanwhile, global corporations like Google and Facebook are gathering ever-increasing troves of personal data from sometimes unwitting users. Just this week, Google was outed for secretly collecting location data from Android phone users, even after they turned off location settings and had no SIM card in their devices.
So is there a way to escape from the increasing arbitrariness of the ‘regular internet’?
RT: What are your thoughts on Kim Dotcom's idea? How is it possible to build an alternative internet?
Dmytri Kleiner: The current internet as it exists right now suffers from a lot of privacy concerns. A lot of those privacy concerns – some of them are inherent to the architecture of the platforms, but a lot of them are related more to the business models of a lot of the kind of companies that make money on the internet. Companies like Google and Facebook make their money by targeting advertising. And targeting advertising requires to know a lot more about you than untargeted advertising. So the more they know about you, the more they can sell these ads for.
Kim Dotcom's proposal is not something that I’ve seen too many details about, although he has been mentioning MegaNet for a few years now I think, as early as 2015. And there are a lot of things that sound pretty good about what he is proposing. Especially the idea of using mobile devices more actively. It is not clear what he means by that – whether he means there will be an overlay network on top of the kind of IP internet that adds anonymity along the lines of something like Tor or Tox; or whether he plans to use Bluetooth, or NFC (Near Field Communication,) or direct Wi-Fi capabilities of the mobile phones themselves to create a so-called mesh network along the lines of Briar or several other applications. But in any case, more development in this area would certainly be good – the better platforms that consumers have that deliver privacy and anonymity – the more we have – the better. But that won’t necessarily affect the actual concerns of data being collected by the likes of Google and Facebook.
RT: What about the speed at which people can use the internet. With these net neutrality rules being rolled back is Kim Dotcom's idea a way of circumventing those alternative rules that are going to come into force?
DK: We need to know more about the architecture to make a claim either way. If it is planning to use the kind of radio capabilities of mobile phones themselves, and the Bluetooth and NFC and Wi-Fi capabilities those phones have to create another mesh network, then you could have an advantage that it is much more difficult to block than centralized things. So net neutrality wouldn’t affect it directly. However, it is still may be a slower service to what people used to right now, given a neutral internet.
RT: What would be the drawbacks be to an alternative internet? Some people might say there is too much anonymity, and perhaps there would be sort of fair game for criminals and the like? What’s your response to that argument?
DK: It seems to me the criminals aren’t having a terrible amount of difficulty operating on the internet as it is today. Having a more alternative internet that is more controlled by its users, gives us better options in order to protect ourselves. We can have collaborative moderation, and collaborative block lists and stuff like that that could make user-driven ways to defend against this stuff more effective, rather than being completely in the hands of Facebook and Google and Twitter, and only being able to access the protections that they provide.
‘Govt's most experienced privacy cop’: How the FCC’s reversal of #NetNeutraility may affect you https://t.co/23cWehe1eMpic.twitter.com/myZYGW2zeX — RT (@RT_com) November 22, 2017
RT: Can you see the public taking to this alternative internet quickly, or would there be problems for them to connect? What are your thoughts on its accessibility?
DK: There are a lot of questions need to be looked at there. One is how user-friendly and usable this kind of stuff is. We know without a clear business model, like advertising that Facebook and Google have, you have to question where the investments are going to come from to create the kind of rich user experience that users are used to; to market it, to promote it, to support it – and all that kind of stuff. I mean given the right support I definitely think that an alternative could be made and it could be very popular.
However, it is not clear where that support could come from short of public institutions because as a private entrepreneur Kim Dotcom can only spend money that he can earn back. And it is not clear how he would earn money on such a thing, given that advertising and surveillance would not be used.INDIANAPOLIS — Larry Walker will be here Sunday, just like every Memorial Day weekend for the past 60 years. From his sun-bathed perch high in the Northwest Vista, he’ll watch with excitement as 33 cars race toward him from Turn 1 to begin the 100th Indianapolis 500.
Walker, 69, knows he could be performing this rite of spring for the final time. And it saddens him. So does the fact that scores of his friends, long-time ticketholders around his age, have told him they won’t return after reaching this milestone installment, either.
“I have neuropathy in my leg and the walk is starting to wear at me,” Walker told USA TODAY Sports. “This is what I keep hearing from friends of mine — after the 100th running, they’re not coming back. I’m hearing it a lot. Times have changed.”
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is at a brick-paved crossroads.
In one direction is the path to the future vitality of the 107-year-old track and its continued place as one of America’s great sporting cathedrals. In another is a slow but unyielding road to ruin.
No doubt, Sunday’s race is a hallmark moment in the history of the venue at 16th and Georgetown. But the 101st might be more important as an indicator of whether it becomes a revitalized center of a revitalized sport or a fading icon. The turnstiles will decide it.
HISTORY: How the Indy 500 became more than a race
Those prospects occupy the people charged with taking care of the speedway’s present and future, and those whose indelible memories of the place help form its glorious past.
“A hundred years is sort of a tent pole year, and that’s why we’ve all along tried to position it as ‘This isn’t an ending point, this is just one more in what has so far been 99 really important events,’ ” IMS President Douglas Boles told USA TODAY Sports. “The hundredth will be an important one. So will the 101st.”
Theory on the future of IMS is like religion in Indiana because connections with the 2.5-mile track are so personal for devotees tracing bloodlines back decades to afternoons under blue skies, pork loin sandwiches, whatever was in the cooler and (Back Home Again in) Indiana raising goose bumps on skin just beginning to sunburn.
Everywhere there is seemingly an anecdotal uncle from Bloomington or Terre Haute who fell in love with the racing when Parnelli Jones and Mario Andretti were forging legends. He has attended every race since the 1960s, trudging toward the 100th running like some elephant graveyard, whereupon he can finally rest, either too old or too infirm or just too out-priced and disgusted with the hassle of it all.
Walker, who says he’ll be attending his 62nd Indy 500 on Sunday, said his $109 tickets are expensive but a bargain compared to the nearly $300 he expends each game for season tickets to the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. He remains an ardent racing fan, but he’s part of a shrinking and aging minority in a city whose fabric would seemingly be made of checkered cloth. Walker, a custom home builder who once owned 200 tickets a season but has whittled his allotment to 58, struggles to give away the last ducats, especially to anyone not in his 50s, he said.
“(The Indianapolis 500) has done so well because of the age group of, say, from early 50s to mid-70s, (but) we’re all getting old, not able to get around and we’re dying off,” he said. “The kids coming up don’t care.”
LEGENDS: Foyt, Mears, Andretti share favorite memories of Indy 500
Walker and Boles appear to be speaking to different fans. Boles said that repeat customers are the main driver of the audience each year, and he has spoken with a few subscribers who said they will not return after this running. A mass exodus of long-time subscribers, each eliminating multiple-ticket accounts from the stands, could produce a stark reduction in attendance from Sunday to whatever 2017 generates. Boles’ hope is that fans who do not renew will pass the mantle of ticker buyer to the next generation as it had been to them.
“When I talk to folks, especially ones who have been long term, there are people who are getting to the point where coming with 400,000 people in a venue and parking and walking is taxing,” Boles said. “But those are the same folks who have introduced their kids and their grandkids to the event. And those tickets, as people decide they’re done, typically, they have that next generation of the family that picks them up and continues to move forward.”
IMS officials would not reveal demographic data from its subscriber base, including average age of account holders and their ticket allotments. Since January, Boles has attempted to make roughly 10 calls daily to some of the 235,000-plus who have purchased grandstand tickets for the race this year, targeting those who purchased that day, renewed tickets for seven to 15 years and long-term buyers.
TELEVISION: Indianapolis blackout lifted after Indy 500 sellout
“It’s interesting, especially to someone who is brand-new, the excitement around it, and how they want to be here for the hundredth and they followed IndyCar racing but never felt that magnet of, ‘Oh, I’ve got to go see this one,’ ” Boles said. “And then I think there are a lot of conversations where there are people who have gone for 20, 30, 40 years and then quit going for whatever reason. Life change, kids, whatever. For them to come back is exciting.
“So we have to deliver that experience when they get here, both on track and off that makes them say, ‘You know what? This is what I am going to continue to do on Memorial Day weekend.’ That’s how we try to keep that momentum going. It’s a great opportunity for us.”
Old fans, new fans
Fans will cram the sold-out race Sunday, with the throng of about 350,000 — including 235,000 in the grandstands — poised to be the largest since the sport’s apex before the acrimonious CART-Indy Racing League split in the mid-1990s. There will be an opportunity there, Zak Brown, Group CEO of CSM Sport & Entertainment, told USA TODAY Sports.
“IndyCar is growing,” he said. “Attendance and television is up and competition is great, and with the 100th running of the Indy 500, they have a real opportunity to convert new fans. Demand is the highest I’ve ever seen it at Indy since I’ve been in the business.”
CAPTAIN: Roger Penske keeps foot on the gas after 50 years in racing
But a milestone Indy 500 is not the only potential indicator of the speedway’s momentum. A lengthy “Centennial” period that began in 2009 with commemorations of the anniversary of its opening is concluding. The final NASCAR season for transplanted Hoosier and four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon spiked sales for the Brickyard 400 last July as he was central to the track’s marketing campaign. Native son Tony Stewart will enter his final edition of the Cup race this season — albeit in a more understated manner — removing one more natural hook for a local fan base that has become increasingly tepid toward what once was a marquee event.
“When you think about it from the Brickyard standpoint, our ticket sales were better than they had been for a long time (in 2015), and we attribute a lot of that to Jeff Gordon,” Boles said. “We got a little bit of that with the Tony Stewart effect. I think Tony not running (the first eight races because of an injury) made it a little harder for us to grab that moment and surround that particular event.”
Track officials say there is no evidence of a potential ticket-buying hangover for the 500, but one could come soon. Boles said traditionally 70% to 80% of ticket subscribers renew for the following year and most of those do it in the two weeks after the event.
“(Non-renewals) is a risk, but I’ve had very few conversations with people who have said to me, ‘I’ve come for 50 years and I’m going to be at the hundredth and I’m not going to come back,’ ” Boles said.
Walker understands the difficulty speedway officials face, specifically that the sell has become harder.
“I’m not saying they’re morons and they don’t know what they’re doing,” he said. “That’s not the case. Times have changed, and they’re grasping at straws.”
‘Tradition you can’t buy’
A.J. Foyt knows about American classics. He was the first driver to win the Indy 500 four times — a record shared with Al Unser and Rick Mears — the Daytona 500 and the Rolex 24 twice, but he said despite NASCAR’s advantages in market share and popularity and the grandeur of a revitalized Daytona International Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 remains paramount.
Stunned that he lived to see the 100th edition of the race that “made me,” Foyt said its future is secure. It will continue to define its time, he said.
GOT COMPANY: Other sporting events to hit 100-milestone
“Indianapolis is like the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “You can have the sorriest horse alive. If he wins one race, if he wins the Derby, he’s a Kentucky Derby winner, and that’s the same way with Indianapolis. Daytona is great, it’s beautiful, I enjoyed it, but it’s not Indianapolis.
“It’s tradition you can’t buy.”
Foyt’s analogy works on more levels than he might realize, some that could worry the IndyCar community. The Kentucky Derby has survived for 142 installments as the nation grew from an agrarian to mechanized society and horses became more of a nostalgic remembrance of a bucolic past than a relevant part of the present. Horse racing as a sport and as an industry captures the American fancy for generally no more than the first Saturday in May except when a 3-year-old reaches the Belmont Stakes with the opportunity to win a Triple Crown.
Similarly, open-wheel racing, its supremacy ravaged by fractious politics that resulted in the creation of rival but diminished series until reunification in 2008, and the opportunistic ascendancy of NASCAR, captivates the mainstream at the end of May, but battles for relevance before and after. Being a part of Americana is a wonderful thing, except when formulating a sustainable, 12-month business plan.
MARIO ANDRETTI: Still feels the call of Indy 500
“Highlighting its history and tradition matters, but so, too, does the overall positioning of the sport the other 364 days (of the) year, especially given the clutter this time of year with so much going on,” said David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. “Successfully leveraging its history, when complemented by the positioning and featuring of the drivers as the sport utilizes new forms of media to captivate (young) fans, is vital.”
Television ratings have improved relative to poor showings in recent years but have not matched the earnest insistence of competitors and series officials that IndyCar’s product is as worthy as it has ever been.
“I’ve always felt, and I think a lot of us have, that the hardest part is getting them to come to a race whether it’s Indy or anywhere,” said driver/team owner Ed Carpenter, whose stepfather, Tony George, is a member of the family that owns IndyCar and IMS. “And I meet more people who have a better experience than not.
“I don’t think anyone expects the 101st to have the exact same attendance as this year, but I’ll be shocked if it’s not bigger than what last year’s was. The product is good, the experience is great. I think we’re going to capture people. That’s just here. Hopefully the buzz that’s generated from a TV standpoint will kind of invigorate us moving forward.”
At least now, the moment could be primed for a series whose sense of timing has been, at times, self-defeating.
“I think (this) opportunity couldn’t come at a better time because I think we’re in a position as a series to take advantage of it,” Rahal Letterman Lanigan co-owner Bobby Rahal said. “I look at this as our opportunity to use this as a springboard to the future, not as ‘This is it. It’s not going to be this good again.’ ”
The prospect of a return to the grand times — with his son and driver, Graham a part of it — made the 1986 Indy 500 winner smile.
“I know it’s going to be nuts, crazy, huge,” Rahal said. “But I’m probably understating it.”
The moment and the opportunity.
Follow James on Twitter @brantjamesHow Defenders Of NSA Dragnet Surveillance Are Stretching A 1979 Ruling To Pretend It's Constitutional
from the not-quite dept
On the question of whether surveillance of every American's phone calling is constitutional, Lee notes how the government and its defenders will rely on a 1979 case called Smith v. Maryland. In that case, the government caused a telephone company to install a pen register at its central offices to record the numbers dialed from the home of a suspected robber. Applying doctrine that emerged from Katz v. United States (1967), the Court found that a person doesn't have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in phone calling information, so no search occurs when the government collects and examines this information. It takes willfulness of a different kind to rely on Smith as validation the NSA's collection of highly revealing data about all of us. Smith dealt with one suspect, about whom there was already good evidence of criminality, if not a warrant. The NSA program collects call information about 300+ million innocent Americans under a court order.
And the Supreme Court is moving away from Katz doctrine, having avoided relying on it in recent major Fourth Amendment cases such as Jardines (2013), Jones (2012), and Kyllo in 2001.
Defenders of the legality of the NSA's dragnet approach to surveillance often point to the concept of the third party doctrine, and specifically to the case Smith v. Maryland, in which the Supreme Court said that it was okay for law enforcement to get phone records without a warrant because the information was held by a "third party" and the original caller had no expectation of privacy in data given to that third party. We've questioned the legitimacy of the third party doctrine for years, and folks like Al Gore and Alan Grayson have discussed why it's a stretch to say that the ruling applies to the NSA hoovering up all phone call data.Jim Harper, who has spent more time than anyone I know thinking about the third party doctrine over the years, has a good post explaining some of the history and why it's a huge stretch to say that Smith v. Maryland means the NSA can scoop up all data More importantly, however, Harper points out that the Supreme Court's more recent decisions suggest that it is moving away from the third party doctrine as established in that Katz case that the court relied on for Smith v. Maryland:In other words, the facts of the NSA dragnet are extremely different than the facts in Smith v. Maryland, and the Supreme Court itself appears to at least be less willing to immediately give the stamp of approval to any collection of "third party" data as somehow being immune from the 4th Amendment. Defenders of the NSA spying like to just say "Smith v. Maryland" and act like that settles everything. However, it's far from clear that it applies at all in this case.
Filed Under: 3rd party doctrine, nsa, nsa surveillance, privacy, supreme courtIf you’re an ecommerce business or selling any sort of products to consumers, you’ve likely come across product recommendation systems. Anyone making a purchase from bigger online brands like Amazon or NetFlix has likely been recommended books to buy or videos to watch. Indeed, many marketers and sales consultants have written about the effectiveness of product recommenders increasing sales.
What do product recommenders do?
The problem solved by product recommenders is simple to state but difficult to do: take all your customers’ past behaviors and find which products they are likely to buy next. Such recommendations solve two problems:
Determine the next product to buy. Most companies have too many products for customers to easily manage and browse. Giving them a ranked list, optimized for their tastes, will make it easier for them to buy something new. Lead lists for outbound campaigns. Similarly, if you are a company with a large number of customers, choosing which to contact or e-mail can be a costly decision. Product recommenders let you rank which customers are likely to buy a certain product, so you can target your sales efforts more effectively.
One of the most well-known forms of product recommendation is called “collaborative filtering”. In one form of this filtering, customer purchase histories are compared to each other. Those with similar purchases are then grouped together and products that the group likes, but which a certain individual in the group has yet to buy, will be recommended.
As an example, suppose you are someone who has previously watched all Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies, but nothing else. A collaborative filter could see that others who have similar patterns have also watched the lesser-known “American Graffiti”, and this would then be recommended to you.
Best-in-class recommendation engines
Most product recommenders, particularly for smaller companies, suffer from what is known as the “cold start” problem. If you have too few recommendations or if a customer has never made a purchase, how do you know what to recommend? More importantly, once they start buying, how do you make the recommendation as accurate as possible?
At Canopy Labs, we approach the problem through “cross-domain” recommendations. Rather than taking past purchases by themselves, we look at all aspects of a customer’s behavior to better understand what they are like and make recommendations. Here is the data we take into account:
Email activity. Imagine that every email communication you send your customers were also a product. Those who open e-mails and click links are implicitly showing their preferences for content and offers. We use this to group people in a similar way we group through purchases.
Imagine that every email communication you send your customers were also a product. Those who open e-mails and click links are implicitly showing their preferences for content and offers. We use this to group people in a similar way we group through purchases. Website browsing. As with emails, people browsing a website are implicitly making a decision to follow certain links, content, or ideas. We track this data to segment customers and also look at individual decisions for product recommendations.
As with emails, people browsing a website are implicitly making a decision to follow certain links, content, or ideas. We track this data to segment customers and also look at individual decisions for product recommendations. Demographics. If all else fails, we group customers by demographics, geography, and related statistics. In this way, even people who do not browse your website or read your emails can still get more personalized recommendations.
If all else fails, we group customers by demographics, geography, and related statistics. In this way, even people who do not browse your website or read your emails can still get more personalized recommendations. Of course, past purchases. Finally, we take into account the actual purchases customers have made, just like most other recommendation systems.
Depending on industry and size of the company, the way you take into account the information above differs. For example, North American fashion retailers tend to benefit from past purchases and email activity — possibly because fashion trends are somewhat similar across North America. On the other hand, local commerce sites (e.g., daily deals websites, discount sites, etc.) often require demographic information to be taken into account for their product recommenders. This is likely because many of their products are location-specific and not available in all regions.
Find out more about how to personalize your emails.Several weeks ago, we talked about bringing our giant Digi-Comp II to Maker Faire. But now we’re back, and we wanted to show everyone how it works– not just the many folks who came by to see it at Maker Faire.
For those of you just joining us: The Digi-Comp II is a classic 1960’s educational computer kit– an automatic binary digital mechanical computer, capable of conducting basic operations like adding, multiplying, subtracting, dividing, counting, and so forth. These operations are all conducted by the action of marbles rolling down a slope, directed by mechanical switches and flip flops that act as logic gates. Our version is a modern, larger-than life remake. A functional clone, but sized up to use billiard balls instead of small marbles.
(The video is embedded here; if you can’t see it, click through to view it on YouTube.)
The machine isat roughly 4×8 feet, and somewhat difficult to video or photograph. To get the overhead view for our video, we ended up moving the machine out to our loading dock and standing above it. The overview shot above required the further assistance of a ladder perched above the edge of the loading dock.
You can find additional photos of our giant Digi-Comp II in this flickr photo set
See also our prior blog post about this machine, and, of course, digi-compii.com for future updates.How Freddie Roach Transformed Manny Pacquiao Into A Champion
Robert Greene Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 4, 2013
In theory, there should be no limit to what we can learn from mentors who have wide experience. But in practice, this is rarely the case. No better can this be seen than in Freddie Roach’s growth as a mentor.
By 2012, Freddie Roach had compiled an unprecedented winning percentage and had been awarded Boxing Trainer of the Year an astounding 5 times. But in 1978, Roach was just a promising lightweight boxer in search of a trainer that could elevate him to the next level. Freddie quickly settled on Eddie Futch, one of the most legendary boxing coaches in the field.
Futch had a magnificent résumé. As a young man he had sparred with Joe Louis. Barred from turning professional because of a heart murmur, he became a trainer, working later with some of the most illustrious heavyweights, including Joe Frazier. He was a quiet, patient man who knew how to give precise instructions; he was a master at improving a fighter’s technique. Under his guidance, Roach advanced quickly, winning his first ten bouts.
Soon, however, Roach began to notice a problem: in training he listened intently to what Futch had to say, and put it into practice with relative ease. But in actual bouts, the moment he exchanged blows with his opponent, he would suddenly throw out all the technique he had learned and fight on pure emotion. Sometimes this worked, but he took a lot of blows, and his career started to sputter. What surprised him several years into the process was that Futch did not really seem to notice this problem of his. With so many fighters in his stable, he tended to keep his distance; he did not give much personalized attention.
Finally, in 1986, Roach retired. Living in Vegas and moving from one bad job to another, in his off-hours he began to frequent the gym where he had trained. Soon he was giving advice to fighters and helping out. Without getting paid, he became a de facto assistant to Futch, even directly training a few of the fighters himself. He knew Futch’s system well and had internalized many of the techniques he taught. He added his own wrinkle to the training sessions. He took the mitt work—the large padded gloves that a trainer uses in the ring to practice various punches— to a higher level, creating a longer and more fluid practice session. It also gave Roach a chance to be more involved in the action, something he missed. After several years he realized he was good at this and left Futch to begin his own career as a trainer.
To Roach, the sport was changing. Fighters had become faster, but trainers such as Futch still promoted a rather static style of boxing that did not exploit these changes. Slowly, Roach began to experiment with the whole training dynamic. He expanded the mitt work into something larger, a simulation of a fight that could go on for several rounds. This allowed him to get closer to his fighters, to literally feel their full arsenal of punches over time, to see how they moved in the ring. He began to study tapes of opponents, looking for any kind of pattern or weakness in their style. He would devise a strategy around this weakness and go over it with his boxers in the mitt work. Interacting so closely with his fighters, he would develop a different kind of rapport than what he had with Futch—more visceral and connected. But no matter the boxer, these moments of connection would inevitably fade in and out. As they improved, the fighters would begin to tune him out, feeling like they already knew enough. Their egos would get in the way and they would stop learning.
Then, in 2001, an entirely different kind of fighter came through the doors of Roach’s gym in Hollywood, California. His name was Manny Pacquiao, a 122-pound left-handed featherweight fighter, who had had some success in his native Philippines but was looking for a trainer in the States, someone who could elevate his game to another level. Many trainers had already passed on Pacquiao—they watched him work out and spar, and he
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big issues and suggests Bernie Sanders is not as loyal to the incumbent.
Generally, that's a solid strategy, given the President's high ratings with Democratic voters.
But Julie Pace of The Associated Press said Nevada could be an exception. The recovery there has been slow, and so touting Obama's record might not work as well as in other states where the jobs have come back faster. The talking points may favor Sanders and his platform of leveling the economic field.
Pace said, "Sanders can talk about the idea that these possible recessions will continue to come unless you do have these big systemwide changes that he's talking about." That could be a natural sweet spot for Sanders and a point of contention for Clinton.
2) Don't blame Bernie -- Team Clinton had advance warning on women issue
The big Bernie Sanders rout in New Hampshire included the fact that the senator from Vermont won a higher percentage of votes from women, despite Hillary Clinton's campaign theme that electing her as the first female U.S. president would make history.
A good slice of the edge came from Sanders' big advantage among younger voters.
But Jackie Kucinich of The Daily Beast shared reporting that Team Clinton was warned long ago there was a problem.
Kucinich said pollsters told her, "This (happened) before the Bernie Sanders rise. And so you have to think that maybe instead of tearing Bernie Sanders down, this is a problem with Hillary Clinton and her appeal to that demographic."
3) Rubio and Bush hunt for big-name endorsements
After South Carolina and Nevada, the presidential nominating calendar gets more crowded and busy, so candidates are looking for all the help they can get from high-profile surrogates.
And because of that, CNN's Manu Raju reports, Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are angling to win endorsements from some popular members of Congress. Sen. Tom Cotton is one lawmaker being heavily courted; though he's a freshman, the senator from Arkansas and military veteran has become a leading conservative voice on national security issues.
And of course, South Carolina may just set the tone when it comes to what's at stake.
"Let's say if Jeb Bush does better than Marco Rubio or vice versa, then you'll see a wave of support potentially from members of Congress and it will really show the party start to coalesce behind someone," Raju explained.
4) There are some big-name Democrats who could shift things, too
Some big-name Democrats also remain neutral in the presidential race, including two heavy hitters who might swing some votes if they go public with a preference.
The biggest get, of course, would be President Obama. He has not endorsed, though by all accounts from White House insiders he favors Hillary Clinton.
Sen, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also is still neutral; her endorsement could have a big impact with liberals who aggressively tried to get her to join the 2016 fray.
Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker explained some of the calculations at play.
"A lot of Sanders supporters started as Warren supporters, wanted her to run for president. Of course she didn't. But my understanding is, from talking to Democrats, is that even though 39 out of the 44 Democrats in the Senate have endorsed Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren does not plan to endorse in this primary. But you can bet if this race goes on and Sanders and Clinton are locked in a fierce battle, there will be enormous pressure on her to change her mind."
5) All in? A big South Carolina choice for Kasich
Initially, Ohio Gov. John Kasich planned to dip his toe in South Carolina for some media attention, post-New Hampshire. Then, he'd move on to states down the road a bit that he viewed as more open to his candidacy.
Now, though, there is a debate inside Team Kasich about whether to make a more aggressive South Carolina play.
He felt great after Saturday night's debate, the crowds have been good, and some polling suggests room for the Ohio governor to make a play for place or show in the Palmetto State.
So the candidate and top advisers are debating the schedule for this week, mulling whether to spend more time in South Carolina or to stick with the original plan.
The upside: If Kasich can again run ahead of Rubio and Bush, as he did in New Hampshire, he would have bragging rights among the so-called establishment candidates.
But there are risks, too: If he commits and then has a disappointing finish, precious time and money will be gone -- and the perception of Kasich's place in the race, and his long-term viability, could take a turn for the worse.Managers of private equity firms like Romney are often paid under an arrangement in which they receive both a set fee for their management, as well as a share of the profits that the firm makes for investors. While their management fees are taxed at normal income tax rates, the share of investor gains that go to a private equity manager (called "carried interest") are treated as capital gains, and thus taxed at a top rate of 15 percent. (Hedge fund managers and partners in real estate ventures also benefit from receiving carried interest.)
The argument for a lower capital gains rate is that it encourages investment. Whether that's true or not, private equity managers are allowed to pay the capital gains rate on the profits they make managing someone else's money, not for any risk that they take themselves. Treating carried interest as capital gains is an unjustifiable tax break that needs to be eliminated.
Congress has attempted to close the carried interest loophole on a number of occasions, with the Democrats passing legislation to close it three times when they controlled the House of Representatives. But intense lobbying and Senate intransigence has kept the tax giveaway in place.
Senate Republicans like Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) claim that changing the tax treatment of carried interest would somehow cause a drop in private equity activity. But as the venture capitalist Fred Wilson put it, closing the carried interest tax loophole won't dry up any money for investments, because the tax on the source of capital wouldn't be changing.
"Wealthy families, endowments, pension funds, and the like, will still put the capital in the places where they will get the highest after tax return," Wilson explained. "And the fund managers will still have to compete with each other to get access to that capital and their incentives will still be to produce the highest returns they can produce, regardless of whether they are paying capital gains or ordinary income on their fees."
Former Office of Management and Budget Director and current Citigroup Vice Chairman of Global Banking Peter Orszag said that the carried interest loophole is akin to a famous actor's portion of a movie's revenue being taxed as capital gains, a proposition that most people would hopefully find absurd. Citizens for Tax Justice opined that carried interest "is clearly compensation for services and not a return on investment," and that private equity managers "should pay income taxes at ordinary rates on their compensation, just like everyone else, from the folks who sweep their floors or answer their phones to CEO's exercising stock options and professional athletes getting playoff bonuses."
Thanks to a lucrative retirement package, Romney is still making millions from Bain, much of which is likely being taxed as carried interest. (While Romney has refused to make his tax returns public, he's said that all of his income is taxed at investment rates.) Analysts have estimated that Romney's tax rate is about 14 percent, lower than that of many middle class families.
Leaving aside the questions over whether Romney and Bain's modus operandi adds value to the economy, there's certainly no value added by letting private equity managers treat the paycheck they receive from investors as capital gains: that particular tax loophole just lets very wealthy money managers avoid paying the top tax rate, for no real reason.
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We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected] playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Joanna's mother, Angela: "I've lost a wonderful daughter"
The family of a woman who was murdered by her boyfriend after a 999 delay have been told they cannot sue two police forces for negligence.
Joanna Michael, 25, from St Mellons, Cardiff, rang 999 twice before Cyron Williams stabbed her to death in 2009.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) ruled she was failed by South Wales and Gwent Police.
The Supreme Court said Ms Michael's family would not be able to proceed with claims against the two forces.
Ms Michael's parents and children won the right to try to bring a claim for damages against both police forces in 2011, but it was thrown out by the Court of Appeal because police officers have immunity from negligence claims.
'Wonderful daughter'
The family had hoped the Supreme Court would overrule the ruling, but were left disappointed on Wednesday when the justices sitting decided by a 5-2 majority to dismiss the family's appeal.
Speaking on the steps of the court Ms Michael's mother Angela said: "I have lost a wonderful daughter. The children have lost a loving mother and provider.
"I brought this case to secure damages for the children and also to make the police answerable for their failures to deal effectively with serious domestic violence cases."
She added: "I take some comfort that the appeal may bring this problem to the attention of the nation. It is unacceptable in modern Britain that a doctor can kill a patient through a negligent act or omission and be liable to pay compensation, but where the police fail and someone dies, they are immune in negligence."
The seven justices also unanimously dismissed a cross-appeal by the chief constables of South Wales and Gwent Police.
The forces wanted to block the appeal court judges' linked ruling that the family should be allowed to go ahead with a claim that their Article 2 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights were breached by a police failure to protect Joanna's life.
Reading out the judgement, Lord Neuberger passed on his "considerable sympathy" for Ms Michael's family.
Image copyright Wales News Service Image caption Boyfriend Cyron Williams admitted killing Ms Michael
Jailed for life
On the night of the murder on 5 August 2009, Williams, 19 at the time, broke into Ms Michael's home and found her with another man.
She called 999 at 02:29 BST and told the Gwent Police operator that Williams was at the house and had threatened to kill her.
The call went through to Gwent Police but was passed to South Wales, the force covering the area of Ms Michael's address.
Once transferred, the call should have been graded as requiring an immediate response, but was instead graded at a lower level.
When officers had still not arrived, Ms Michael called 999 again at 02:43 BST and was heard screaming before the line went dead.
Police arrived at 02:51 BST but in the 22 minutes it took them to respond to her first call, the mother of two had been stabbed 72 times. Her children were in the house at the time.
Williams was jailed for life in March 2010, after admitting murder at Cardiff Crown Court.It’s “pride” day tomorrow in many places. Type “pride month” into Google. One long endless sodomy flag (to use the polite term) decorates the results. Google is proud of sodomy. Evidently they want you to be, too.
Why “proud of sodomy”? Well, it is “pride” month, and the pride meant is that felt by those who are same-sex attracted and those suffering from gender dysphoria. The so-called “LGBT community”. A “G-man” in this “community” is proud of being sexually attracted to other men.
Both the desire and the manifestation of that sexual attraction is sodomy, which in the original and best definition meant “carnal copulation in a manner against nature” (Webster, 1913). The Oxford English Dictionary has “any form of sexual intercourse considered to be unnatural.”
“L-women” who are also proud of their sexual attraction to women are thus proud of desiring sodomy, too. Men who pretend or who believe they are women, and vice versa, have any manner of sexual desires. But they are at least proud of their delusion, if not also of desiring sodomy.
Sodomy, then, is a good and useful word. True, it is a judgmental word, in that it indicates an unnatural desire. But reality is often harsh and judgmental. And we can’t evade reality.
If you enjoy sodomy, you may take (meager) comfort that unnatural by itself does not mean immoral. It takes a deeper argument to get from unnatural to unlawful, immoral, unsupportable and the like. And even the most adamant supporter of “gay rights” has to admit that sodomy does not lead to natural sexual procreation.
So we can all agree on definition of the word.
Logic insists that when a man says he is proud of “being gay”, he is proud of his desire for sodomy with other men. That is all “being gay” means, a desire for sodomy—and not for friendship or love. A man may befriend or love another man in the complete absence of any sexual desire. The word we use for this is friend. There is nothing “gay” about friendship.
Very well, “pride marches” and “pride month” are logically equivalent with “pride for desiring sodomy” and “pride in sodomy month.”
Now the “rainbow” or “gay” flag is used by supporters of sodomy everywhere, as all know. It expresses pride in desiring sodomy, and further says that this desire is good. Nobody can dispute this. Thus we can call the creation the “(desire for) sodomy flag” or “sodomy colors”.
Google is only one of a slew of public corporations who are participating or signalling support for desiring sodomy. Before we answer why this is so, consider how these groups announce their agreement.
Pepsi issued a can imprinted with the sodomy flag. Colgate displayed the sodomy colors in toothpaste, stacked on one brush. Rice Krispies has the sodomy colors on their package in the shape of a heart with the words “So much to love about”.
Facebook, Instagram, and some others created apps to stitch or overlay the sodomy colors onto random photographs. Dr Martens shoes, Levi’s, GlassesUSA, Converse, American Eagle Outfitters, Nike, Urban Outfitters, all have custom products with the sodomy colors.
Starbucks flies the sodomy flag, as does the entire city of San Francisco. Bank of America announces its “employees around the country celebrate Pride“—in sodomy, of course.
One can go on and on like this. Indeed, the trick is not to find a major corporation celebrating pride in desiring sodomy. The magic is in discovering one that celebrates pride in natural sex. Indeed, I was only able to find companies everybody already knew about, like Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby. It might make a fun exercise for readers to see if they can unearth others.
If the CDC’s statistics are a reliable guide, something over ninety-five-percent of the people who work at these corporations are not themselves “members” of the “LGBT community”. And the companies must know their actions in supporting sodomy discriminate against their (among others) Muslim and Christian employees and customers.
That makes the utilitarian argument some advance for why companies support pride in sodomy weak. Sodomy-pridefuls buying up Oreo cookies and the like won’t produce more than a blip in sales.
No, the pride in sodomy for those who don’t personally care for sodomy is for another reason, and a banal one. Virtue signaling.
Dull explanation, but true. These companies, celebrities, and non-sodomy fanciers want to tell the world how enlightened they are that they support those who do desire sodomy.
Sodomy, though it is unnatural by definition, always has limits. It is another useful exercise to project those limits. Supporters won’t give support for merely man-on-man anal sodomy forever. They’ll want something out of the deal, too. Signalling virtue will pale. Just what “freedoms” do you suppose these folks will demand?Yet in the West, Ahmadi spokesmen like the execrable Harris Zafar and Qasim Rashid carry water for the same Islamic supremacists who would cheerfully slit their throats if they were both back in Bandung, and instead target those who stand up for the Ahmadis and decry their persecution.
“FPI Attacks Ahmadiyah Mosque on Eve of Idul Adha,” from the Jakarta Globe, October 26 (thanks to Lachlan):
Bandung. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Thursday night inflicted damage on a mosque run by Ahmadiyah devotees in Astana Anyar, Bandung.
Dozens of FPI members passed by the An Nasir Mosque at around 9 p.m. and witnessed Ahmadis preparing for the Islamic holiday of Idul Adha. The FPI demanded that they stop what what they were doing, but the Ahmadis refused.
“We were waiting for the cattle to be slaughtered when the FPI came,” Hendar, an Ahmadiyah adherent, said as quoted by Tempo.co. “In the beginning, they came in peace. But at 10:30 p.m. they became outraged and started destroying lamps and windows located on the first floor [of the mosque]. There were ten Ahmadis, including some women, inside the mosque.”
Muhammad Asep Abdurahman, an FPI board member with the group’s Bandung chapter, said at the Bandung Police office that the FPI had objected to the Ahmadiyah activities because such actions were prohibited by the West Java government.
Before the destruction occurred, Bandung police officers brought Ahmadiyah and FPI representatives to a police office to negotiate the situation, but nothing materialized.
“Because negotiations reached a dead end, we returned to the location to destroy [the mosque],” Asep told Sindonews.com. “I, myself, destroyed the mosque’s windows while other members did nothing.”
Asep threatened the Ahmadis and warned that they must stop their religious activities or face another attack.
Bandung Police deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dadang Hartanto noted that the police did not anticipate the attack.
“The destruction was carried out spontaneously,” Dadang said. “It was probably triggered by an Ahmadi that insulted the FPI.”
Metrotvnews.com reported that none of the FPI members were arrested by police for destroying the mosque.
West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said that such vandalism was not justified….
“Violence is wrong,” he said. “But we should also think about what triggered the incident. When a sacred religion [is] being tainted, it insults [the faithful]. All sides should… understand the regulation.”A brand new Alien: Covenant still shows an armed Daniels. Entertainment Weekly has just posted a new still of Katherine Waterston as Daniels! The new still shows an armed Waterston channeling her inner Ripley in this Aliens looking costume. Alongside the brand new image are several comments by Waterston and Ridley Scott:
“If 2012’s kinda-sorta Alien prequel Prometheus was confusing, Scott says this film will provide some answers. “Covenant is really going to show you who did it and why.”
There’s nothing new really said in the other comments but you can check out the full article for the additional comments.
Waterson recently spoke about similarities between Daniels and Ripley, saying that: ““We [Ridley Scott] never really talked about it,” Waterston replied. “I mean, I — obviously I love her, and I love what she did,” Waterson explained, adding that there were “obvious parallels” to be found between the two characters. Waterston made sure to add, “But we never — we never talked about that.”
Keep a close eye on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest on Alien: Covenant! You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get the latest on your social media walls. You can also join in with fellow Alien fans on our forums!Exclusive Preview | ‘Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps’ # 18
There’s a new order in the universe: the unity of Green Lantern’s Light and Sinestro’s Might!
Once, they were sworn enemies, but now, the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps have formed an uneasy alliance to protect the universe side-by-side. With Sinestro out of the picture, his daughter, Soranik Natu, is attempting to remake his followers into a force for good. Many of the Sinestro Corps have actually signed on for Soranik’s plans, but things are about to get much more complicated and the fragile peace may not last.
In CraveOnline’s exclusive preview from Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps # 18, Green Lantern Gorin-Sunn is joined by Space Ape on a joint patrol of a lifeless planet…which isn’t so lifeless any more! Meanwhile, there’s trouble brewing on Mogo, as some of the Green Lanterns aren’t exactly thrilled to see the giant yellow power battery go up near their own.
This issue was written by Robert Venditti, with art by V Ken Marion. The main cover was by Mikel Janin, while Kevin Nowlan provided the open order variant cover. Here’s the official description from DC Comics:
“THE PRISM OF TIME” part one! The Green Lantern Corps has united with their once mortal enemies the Sinestro Corps, but there’s a storm brewing on the horizon as an enemy from the future arrives to rip the two apart. There will be no peace in this time.
Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps # 18 will be released on Wednesday, April 12 in comic book stores everywhere.
What did you think about this preview? Let us know in the comment section below!Ahoy! This here is the 108th Featured Article. "Nami" has been featured, meaning it was chosen as an article of interest.
Contents show]
Early One Piece Edit
Nami's design and personality (and arguably her background story as well) is the result of a long process with several other similar characters. The first apparent character in the process of developing towards Nami was Silk in Romance Dawn, Version 1, who was then followed by another girl called Ann in Romance Dawn, Version 2. Each one of the girls had her own personality which seemed to have been placed into Nami's overall design.
An unclear matter of the scar that Nami inflicts on herself is seen in a panel of artwork in the One Piece Loguetown Novel. When Nami got angry with Arlong, she stabbed herself in the arm where his crews flag was with a knife several times. Even when the tattoo was removed, there remained the scar. The new tattoo Nami gained replaced her old one, but covered the scar.
However, in the Novel a panel of Nami in a bath is seen with the scar left over from stabbing herself on her back, the new tattoo did not cover the scar at all. Since the Loguetown novel contained elements of original storyline Oda did not add, there is the possibility that this was an early design idea. However it is unclear if this was Oda's intended idea, as the novel is not put together by Oda but only based on his ideas and his artwork.
According to One Piece Green: Secret Pieces, Nami was initially going to be a battle-axe user.
Gallery Edit
Nami shown with a scar in the One Piece Loguetown novel's bath scene. Nami's scar before getting the new tattoo. Nami's concept from One Piece Green Nami from Color Walk 1 - "Early days".
Anime and Manga Differences Edit
Nami's Introduction Edit
In the anime, Nami is introduced in the series as early as the first episode. She appears on the ship Alvida attacks and while Alvida's men are raiding the passenger ship she was on, Nami snuck on board to steal her treasure. After Luffy defeats Alvida, Nami is seen leaving the scene when Luffy and Koby lower their ship next to hers, almost causing Nami's ship to turn over. Luffy and Nami briefly look at each other for the first time before they immediately part ways when a huge cannon ball impacts and makes a huge splash between them.[19]
She is later seen when they encounter Captain Morgan; while Luffy and Koby talk about the Marine a brief scene shows her sitting in the same bar listening to their conversation.[20]
None of these scenes appear in the manga.
Tattoo Edit
In several Color Spreads and Color Covers, Nami's tattoo after the Arlong Park Arc is depicted as black, while in the anime, it is the same shade of blue as her previous Arlong Pirates tattoo.
Nami's current tattoo as depicted in the manga. Nami's current tattoo as depicted in the anime.
Straw Hats' Separation Edit
Nami's adventure in Weatheria is extended in the anime. In the anime, when a storm comes to Weatheria, Nami combines the wind knot with her Clima-Tact to neutralize the storm.
Major Battles Edit
Filler and Movie Battles Edit
Merchandise Edit
As a main character, she appears often in the fan merchandise. Nami has been featured in the series of models Portrait of Pirates three times. She has featured in trading figure sets such as One Piece Motion Figure box and the One Piece Styling Figures. She was released in the One Piece DX Figure - Swim Suit Style set which included her and Luffy. When the Wii game One Piece: Unlimited Adventure was released Nami was one of the crew produced as a figure in the One Piece Locations Trading Figures series. Her Portrait of Pirates Sailing Again figure is set to be released winter 2012/11.
She was issued alongside Bellemere in a One Piece DeQue set featuring the Straw Hats and their past mentors/loved ones. She has featured in One Piece Gashapon sets. She featured in the One Piece Monkey Island Mascot Keychain/Cellphone strap series alongside Luffy.
Songs Edit
Video Games Edit
Playable Appearances Edit
Support Appearances Edit
Non-Playable Appearances Edit
Other Appearances Edit
Crossovers Edit
Other Media Edit
Nami is shown during the One Piece Premier Show 2012 as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates against the New World pirate, Chameleone.
Translation and Dub Issues Edit
"Nami" (波) is Japanese for "wave".
Mostly, Nami did not suffer any major alterations from Japanese to English dub by 4Kids. However, since the Arlong Park Arc, Nami was the subject of various edits.
The most common edit, as seen in the Alabasta Arc when she wore a dancer's outfit, was to remove any cleavage made visible by her outfits. In fact, all of the female characters had their cleavage and breast lines removed or heavily reduced. In line with this edit was the addition of a bathing suit on her body during the bath scene near the end of the arc. Another such scene where she used her "Happiness Punch" against the men who were peeking at her and Vivi from the wall separating the male and female baths. One major edit saw the alteration Nami has suffered was the absence of her stabbing the tattoo on her left arm when she is mad at Arlong.
In the FUNimation TV Edit dub version, these edits towards Nami are not as restrictive, notably during the Skypiea Arc, where she wore a bikini top with no edits to her breasts.
When Nami pretends to stab Usopp during the Arlong Park Arc, several changes were made in the 4Kids dub. Instead of revealing Nami did not really stab Usopp later, the dub immediately reveals she did not intend on hurting him. Also, instead of stabbing herself, she asks Usopp for his rubber knife so it will appear she stabbed him. Usopp is also informed of her plan, compared to the original version where he wasn't aware of Nami's intentions.
Nami's decision to give up on the 1,000,000,000 she agreed with Igaram to be the reward for delivering Vivi to Alabasta was changed in the FUNimation dub to have her say that she was disappointed that she wasn't able to get the reward money in the end.
Nami's epithet (泥棒猫, Dorobō Neko) can be translated as cat burglar, however it can also mean a woman who steals men from other women.
Trivia Edit
Nami's personal jolly roger. Nami's personal jolly roger (pre-timeskip) as detailed in the One Piece Magazine Nami's post timeskip jolly roger. Nami's personal jolly roger (post-timeskip) as detailed in the One Piece Magazine.
Nami has her own jolly roger, which has a blue-and-white-striped bandanna (which somewhat matches the pattern on the blouse she wore in her initial appearance), a winking eye, a tongue sticking out, one hand doing the "OK" sign (a Japanese hand motion signifying money), Nami's hair, and a diamond-star. After the timeskip, one circle represents the whole skull instead of having the mouth and lower jaw separate, possibly to make its hair seem longer to match Nami's. The hair is now mussy instead of neat curls, also matching Nami's wilder hair. The pattern on the bandanna is changed to match the pattern of the bikini top Nami wore in her initial appearance after the timeskip. The skull no longer winks and now wears earrings and the arm has her bangle and log pose. It also has Nami's tangerine-pinwheel tattoo behind it.
In One Piece Color Walk 1, several of Nami's habits are revealed before her character development in an early drawing that featured her alongside Luffy and Zoro: She is seen reclining in a deck chair, before the crew had acquired a ship. She began using a deck chair on board the Going Merry and later the Thousand Sunny, often sunbathing or catching up on the news. She is charting a map, and has a log book nearby with both a navigational compass and a drawing compass, hinting at her desire to draw a map of the world. She is wearing reading glasses, which she occasionally uses later on, such as the Skypiea Arc. She has taken off her boots to be barefoot. Nami tends to avoid wearing shoes, and in Chapter 96, it is shown that Nami does not have shoes with her while she is relaxing in her deck chair. She has a pencil instead of a pen. It was later revealed that she drew charts for Arlong in pen so much that it was soaked with her blood. She is shown with a wine glass as opposed to Luffy and Zoro's normal glasses. Nami's drinking habits tend to be more tame than her fellow crewmates, save for the time she was goaded into drinking in excess at Whisky Peak. In contrast, Zoro has two glasses of alcohol, putting special emphasis on how much he loves to drink compared to either Nami or Luffy (who has just one glass).
, several of Nami's habits are revealed before her character development in an early drawing that featured her alongside Luffy and Zoro:
In Chapter 97, Nami can be seen trying on some clothes. One of the outfits is almost identical to Robin's clothes in Alabasta, and her second outfit resembles that of Boa Hancock's prototype designs.
Nami is one of the few people to be entrusted with Luffy's straw hat when he is about to battle a rather strong or powerful enemy (the other one being Usopp in the combat at the Davy Back Fight), as seen during the Arlong Park, Drum Island and Skypiea Arcs. She has also been seen with his hat in several chapter covers. In the One Piece TV Special Episode 2, she was wearing it almost throughout the entire episode, similarly to Movie 2, Clockwork Island Adventure.
TV Special Episode 2, she was wearing it almost throughout the entire episode, similarly to Movie 2,. Nami is the only Straw Hat to invite someone to join the crew before Luffy could ask them. She asked Chopper if he wanted to travel with them during the Drum Island Arc.
As revealed in the Jaya Arc, Nami hates bugs and is especially terrified of spiders, which Sanji is as well.
In the 6th Japanese Fan Poll, Nami is currently ranked as the eighth most popular character in One Piece. This makes her the most popular of all the female characters in the series.
Oda's wife, Chiaki Inaba, cosplayed Nami at Jump Festa 2002.
When a reader asked Oda with whom Nami is in love with, Oda answered that there will not likely be any romance among the Straw Hat Pirates. Oda explained that he does not portray romance in One Piece as the series is a shonen comic, and the young boys who read the comic are not interested in romance. [citation needed]
SBS-Based Trivia Edit
Nami's birthday, July 3, comes from her name since 7-3 can be derived from Na-mi. [13]
Despite being one of the weakest members of the crew physically, Nami is able to hurt Luffy with normal strikes (although given the situations in which this happens, it may be purely for comical effect). When questioned by a fan on this, Oda replied that Nami beats up Luffy's spirit. [22]
Nami's favorite foods are mainly tangerines and other kinds of fruit. [23] Her least favorite food is orangette because if she wants fruit, she will eat regular fruit. [24]
Her least favorite food is orangette because if she wants fruit, she will eat regular fruit. Nami also does not like ice cream, the same as Zoro, Sanji, and Franky. [25]
Nami's favorite food to cook is roasted duck with tangerine sauce. [26]
Nami's favorite type of island and season is summer on a spring island. [27]
Nami's specific numbers are 03 and 73 (7=Na - 3=Mi). [28]
Nami's specific color is orange. [28]
Nami smells like mikan and money. [28]
If the Straw Hat Pirates were a family, then Nami would be the daughter. [29]
Nami's animal resemblance is a cat. [30]
If One Piece was set in the real world, then Nami would be from Sweden. [31]
Nami's thoughts are "Money, Money, Money, Money, Beauty", and like the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates, "Friendship". [32]
When asked which flower Nami resembles the most, Nico Robin's japanese voice actress replied she most resembles a sunflower. [33]
Nami's blood type is X, the same as Chopper's and Brook's. [34]
Nami bathes every day, the same as Sanji and Robin. [35]
Trafalgar D. Water Law calls Nami according to her name, Nami-ya. [36]
Nami represents the prefecture of Ehime. [36]
Nami typically sleeps at 11:00 P.M. and gets up at 7:00 A.M. [37]
If the Straw Hat Pirates were not pirates, then Nami would be a childcare worker. [38]
If the Straw Hat Pirates had a 50-meter race, then Nami would come in seventh place.[39]
References EditAs you might know, localStorage is quite powerful when it comes to quickly storing information in the user’s web browser, and it has also been around in all web browsers a long time. But how do we store files in it?
Please also make sure to read Storing images and files in IndexedDB.
Using JSON for powerful control
Let’s start with some basic information about localStorage. When storing information in localStorage, you use key/value pairs, like this:
localStorage.setItem("name", "Robert");
And to read it out, you just get the value of that key:
localStorage.getItem("name");
That’s all good and well, and being able to save at least 5 MB, you have a lot of options. But since localStorage is just string-based, saving a long string with no form of structure isn’t optimal.
Therefore, we can utilize the native JSON support in web browsers to turn JavaScript objects to string for saving, and back into objects when reading:
var cast = { "Adm. Adama" : "Edward James Olmos", "President Roslin" : "Mary McDonnell", "Captain Adama" : "Jamie Bamber", "Gaius Baltar" : "James Callis", "Number Six" : "Tricia Helfer", "Kara Thrace" : " Katee Sackhoff" }; // Stores the JavaScript object as a string localStorage.setItem("cast", JSON.stringify(cast)); // Parses the saved string into a JavaScript object again JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("cast"));
Storing images
The idea here is to be able to take an image that has been loaded into the current web page and store it into localStorage. As we established above, localStorage only supports strings, so what we need to do here is turn the image into a Data URL. One way to do this for an image, is to load into a canvas element. Then, with a canvas, you can read out the current visual representation in a canvas as a Data URL.
Let’s look at this example where we have an image in the document with an id of “elephant”:
// Get a reference to the image element var elephant = document.getElementById("elephant"); // Take action when the image has loaded elephant.addEventListener("load", function () { var imgCanvas = document.createElement("canvas"), imgContext = imgCanvas.getContext("2d"); // Make sure canvas is as big as the picture imgCanvas.width = elephant.width; imgCanvas.height = elephant.height; // Draw image into canvas element imgContext.drawImage(elephant, 0, 0, elephant.width, elephant.height); // Get canvas contents as a data URL var imgAsDataURL = imgCanvas.toDataURL("image/png"); // Save image into localStorage localStorage.setItem("elephant", imgAsDataURL); }, false);
Then, if we want to take it further, we can utilize a JavaScript object and do a date check with localStorage. In this example, we load the image from the server through JavaScript the first time, but for every page load after that, we read the saved image from localStorage instead:
HTML
<figure> <img id="elephant" src="about:blank" alt="A close up of an elephant"> <noscript> <img src="elephant.png" alt="A close up of an elephant"> </noscript> <figcaption>A mighty big elephant, and mighty close too!</figcaption> </figure>
JavaScript
// localStorage with image var storageFiles = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("storageFiles")) || {}, elephant = document.getElementById("elephant"),
|
help) There is a staircase back to the Dungeon, spattered with blood here. Things that are here: an orcish leather armour; an orcish hammer You found a dart trap! You climb upwards. Welcome back to the Dungeon! There is a staircase to the Orcish Mines here. ##).˜˜˜˜f..........# #..f.˜˜..########.# ######........# #.#..............# #.#..............########.#.......................# #.########...........<.# #.# #.............# #.# #.............# #.# #.............# #.# #.##.@#####...# #.########.##### #...# #..........# #...# #..........# #...# #.########.# #...#..# #.# #...#..# #.# #...#..# #.# #...#..########.# #...#...........#########...# There are no monsters in sight! Vanquished Creatures A tentacled monstrosity (D:15) Kirke (D:15) Aizul (D:18) Gastronok (Lair:5) Jozef (D:10) Azrael (D:16) 8 slime creatures A yaktaur captain (D:16) An ettin (Orc:3) A dragon (D:16) 8 hydras Erica (Orc:3) Harold (Orc:3) 2 rakshasas A stone giant zombie (D:16) 18 death yaks (Lair:8) Nergalle (D:17) 8 centaur warriors A soul eater (Orc:2) 3 catoblepae (Lair:8) A stone giant skeleton (D:17) A frost giant skeleton (D:16) 3 unseen horrors 9 hill giants An orc knight (D:16) An iron troll zombie (D:16) A harpy zombie (D:15) An orc sorcerer (D:18) Joseph (Orc:3) Urug (D:14) 2 giant amoebae (D:15) A wolf spider (D:15) 3 griffons A cyclops (D:16) A lindwurm (Lair:8) 2 feature mimics 3 black mambas Maurice (D:12) A stone golem (D:10) An ettin zombie (D:16) 3 elephant slugs 2 sixfirhies (Orc:2) A hydra skeleton (D:16) 11 elephants 3 yaktaurs (D:15) An ice dragon skeleton (D:17) 10 spiny frogs Psyche (D:12) A wandering mushroom (D:9) 30 ugly things A redback simulacrum (D:16) A spriggan skeleton (D:14) Prince Ribbit (D:9) An iron devil (Orc:2) A komodo dragon (Lair:6) 3 blink frogs (Lair:2) 10 trolls A two-headed ogre (D:10) A raven (shapeshifter) (D:17) A wraith (D:13) 3 basilisks A vampire (D:15) 58 yaks 2 wyverns 2 wood golems (D:10) 4 fire elementals (D:16) A blue devil (Orc:2) 4 hogs (D:15) 4 trapdoor spiders (Lair:5) A clay golem (D:18) A deep elf fighter (D:16) A hungry ghost (D:14) 17 war dogs 4 fire drakes A merfolk (shapeshifter) (D:16) A rock worm (D:18) 10 hippogriffs 3 manticores (D:13) A yaktaur zombie (D:16) A giant slug zombie (D:16) A neqoxec (Orc:2) A manticore zombie (D:4) 2 soldier ants A cyclops zombie (D:18) 3 hell hounds (D:16) 12 orc warriors 5 sky beasts 3 yak zombies 16 ice beasts A hippogriff zombie (D:4) A troll zombie (D:15) 2 phantoms 21 centaurs 2 boring beetles (Lair:8) 2 rotting devils (Orc:2) A warg (Orc:2) A wolf (Lair:5) 2 big kobolds 7 crocodiles 9 ogres 4 giant slugs A brain worm (D:15) A centaur skeleton (D:14) A giant frog zombie (D:4) 3 agate snails 19 giant frogs A fire crab simulacrum (D:16) 10 water moccasins A water moccasin skeleton (D:7) 4 jellyfish 14 killer bees 2 eyes of draining 2 big kobold zombies 9 electric eels A killer bee zombie (D:9) 23 wights An ogre zombie (D:4) 2 shadows 2 goliath beetles A boulder beetle simulacrum (D:15) A quasit (Orc:2) 10 crimson imps 6 iguanas 25 orc wizards 2 scorpions 6 hound zombies A gnoll shaman (D:5) 5 hounds 7 worker ants 4 porcupines 14 orc priests A worker ant zombie (D:7) 9 sheep 9 jellies A mummy (D:9) 2 goliath beetle zombies 21 adders 6 giant centipedes 56 green rats An adder zombie (D:7) 3 iguana zombies An inept feature mimic (D:2) 13 gnolls 2 iguana skeletons A shadow imp (D:14) 4 giant mites 2 adder skeletons (D:7) 5 worms 5 grey rats 2 bat skeletons (D:4) 4 giant geckos A gnoll skeleton (D:4) An ooze (D:6) 119 orcs 5 giant cockroaches 16 hobgoblins 27 jackals 19 quokkas A ball python (D:1) 22 bats 3 giant gecko zombies 2 giant newts 13 goblins 2 hobgoblin skeletons (D:4) 3 illusory rakshasas (D:15) 32 kobolds A kobold zombie (D:4) 3 orc skeletons 2 orc zombies 22 rats A rat skeleton (D:5) 3 ballistomycetes (D:9) A bush (Lair:7) 7 fungi 4 plants 1035 creatures vanquished. Vanquished Creatures (others) A human (D:15) A hound (Lair:1) An orc wizard (Orc:2) 2 goblins 2 kobolds 2 giant spores An orc skeleton (D:4) 2 rats 4 plants 7 toadstools 23 creatures vanquished. Grand Total: 1058 creatures vanquished Notes Turn | Place | Note -------------------------------------------------------------- 0 | D:1 | Wrath, the Minotaur Fighter, began the quest for the Orb. 0 | D:1 | Reached XP level 1. HP: 19/19 MP: 0/0 179 | D:1 | Killed monsters: 0 trivial, 8 easy, 0 tough, 0 nasty; 0 corpses 179 | D:1 | Reached XP level 2. HP: 17/26 MP: 0/0 965 | D:2 | Reached skill level 4 in Armour 996 | D:2 | Killed monsters: 7 trivial, 7 easy, 0 tough, 0 nasty; 4 corpses 996 | D:2 | Reached XP level 3. HP: 2/33 MP: 1/1 1989 | D:2 | Reached skill level 1 in Traps & Doors 1989 | D:2 | Killed monsters: 14 trivial, 2 easy, 2 tough, 0 nasty; 10 corpses 1989 | D:2 | Reached XP level 4. HP: 38/40 MP: 1/1 3116 | D:3 | Killed monsters: 11 trivial, 6 easy, 1 tough, 0 nasty; 7 corpses 3116 | D:3 | Reached XP level 5. HP: 47/47 MP: 1/1 3171 | D:3 | Found a blossoming altar of Fedhas. 3380 | D:4 | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple. 3414 | D:4 | Reached skill level 5 in Fighting 3436 | Temple | Entered the Ecumenical Temple 3608 | Temple | Became a worshipper of Warmaster Okawaru 3668 | D:4 | Reached skill level 5 in Armour 4012 | D:4 | Killed monsters: 17 trivial, 2 easy, 3 tough, 0 nasty; 5 corpses 4012 | D:4 | Reached XP level 6. HP: 55/55 MP: 2/2 4172 | D:4 | Reached skill level 6 in Fighting 4211 | D:4 | Noticed an ogre 4227 | D:4 | Killed an ogre 4227 | D:4 | Killed monsters: 8 trivial, 3 easy, 3 tough, 0 nasty; 3 corpses 4227 | D:4 | Reached XP level 7. HP: 47/61 MP: 2/2 4229 | D:4 | Acquired Okawaru's first power 4502 | D:4 | Noticed a manticore zombie 4520 | D:4 | Killed a manticore zombie 4520 | D:4 | Reached skill level 7 in Fighting 4520 | D:4 | Reached skill level 5 in Polearms 4579 | D:4 | Noticed a sky beast 4602 | D:4 | Killed a sky beast 4828 | D:5 | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon 4831 | D:5 | Killed monsters: 6 trivial, 2 easy, 6 tough, 0 nasty; 0 corpses 4831 | D:5 | Reached XP level 8. HP: 70/70 MP: 2/2 4861 | D:5 | Reached skill level 1 in Dodging 6054 | D:6 | Reached skill level 8 in Fighting 6393 | D:6 | Killed monsters: 17 trivial, 18 easy, 8 tough, 0 nasty; 19 corpses 6393 | D:6 | Reached XP level 9. HP: 75/78 MP: 3/3 6483 | D:6 | Reached skill level 1 in Invocations 7188 | D:7 | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines. 7239 | D:7 | Found a snail-covered altar of Cheibriados. 7721 | D:7 | Paralysed by a potion of paralysis for 5 turns 7749 | D:7 | Learned a level 2 spell: Stoneskin 7905 | D:7 | Reached skill level 9 in Fighting 9266 | D:8 | Acquired Okawaru's second power 9277 | D:8 | Killed monsters: 30 trivial, 24 easy, 16 tough, 0 nasty; 32 corpses 9277 | D:8 | Reached XP level 10. HP: 78/86 MP: 9/9 9410 | D:8 | Reached XP level 9. HP: 76/79 MP: 8/8 9497 | D:8 | Killed monsters: 5 trivial, 8 easy, 1 tough, 0 nasty; 3 corpses 9497 | D:8 | Reached XP level 10. HP: 88/88 MP: 9/9 9833 | D:9 | Reached skill level 5 in Dodging 10309 | D:9 | Killed an escape hatch mimic 10309 | D:9 | Reached skill level 10 in Fighting 10517 | D:9 | Found a staircase to the Lair. 10733 | D:9 | Received a gift from Okawaru 10785 | D:9 | Reached skill level 5 in Invocations 11085 | D:9 | Noticed Prince Ribbit 11107 | D:9 | Killed Prince Ribbit 11452 | Lair:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts 11453 | Lair:1 | Found a frozen archway. 11821 | Lair:1 | Killed monsters: 40 trivial, 20 easy, 25 tough, 1 nasty; 27 corpses 11821 | Lair:1 | Reached XP level 11. HP: 91/95 MP: 12/14 12267 | Lair:1 | Reached skill level 11 in Fighting 13084 | Lair:2 | Reached skill level 10 in Armour 13193 | Lair:2 | Received a gift from Okawaru 13349 | Lair:2 | Reached skill level 10 in Polearms 14113 | D:10 | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon 14148 | D:10 | Reached skill level 1 in Earth Magic 14231 | D:10 | Noticed Jozef 14457 | D:10 | Reached skill level 1 in Spellcasting 14966 | D:10 | Paralysed by Jozef for 5 turns 15043 | D:10 | Killed Jozef 15043 | D:10 | Killed monsters: 56 trivial, 27 easy, 29 tough, 1 nasty; 53 corpses 15043 | D:10 | Reached XP level 12. HP: 100/105 MP: 18/18 16286 | Lair:3 | Received a gift from Okawaru 16289 | Lair:3 | Got a pitted demon trident {god gift} 16290 | Lair:3 | Identified the +14,-2 demon trident "Ameales" {god gift} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts) 16311 | Lair:3 | Found an iron altar of Okawaru. 16840 | Lair:4 | Found a staircase to the Swamp. 16875 | Lair:4 | the staircase to the Swamp was a mimic. 16886 | Lair:4 | Killed a staircase mimic 17197 | Lair:4 | Noticed a seven-headed hydra 17208 | Lair:4 | Killed a seven-headed hydra 17575 | Lair:5 | Noticed a seven-headed hydra 17603 | Lair:5 | Killed a seven-headed hydra 17603 | Lair:5 | Reached skill level 12 in Armour 17800 | Lair:5 | Received a gift from Okawaru 17812 | Lair:5 | Got a crystal battleaxe {god gift} 17963 | Lair:5 | Found a staircase to the Snake Pit. 17964 | Lair:5 | Noticed Gastronok 17976 | Lair:5 | Reached skill level 10 in Dodging 18032 | Lair:5 | Killed Gastronok 18032 | Lair:5 | Reached skill level 5 in Traps & Doors 18552 | Lair:5 | Found a hole to the Spider Nest. 18879 | Lair:6 | Noticed a five-headed hydra 18889 | Lair:6 | Killed a five-headed hydra 19277 | Lair:6 | Reached skill level 5 in Earth Magic 19277 | Lair:6 | Killed monsters: 43 trivial, 24 easy, 30 tough, 5 nasty; 46 corpses 19277 | Lair:6 | Reached XP level 13. HP: 107/112 MP: 18/18 19702 | Lair:6 | Received a gift from Okawaru 20371 | Lair:6 | Gained mutation: Your natural rate of healing is unusually fast. [potion of mutation] 20371 | Lair:6 | Gained mutation: Your flesh is cold resistant. [potion of mutation] 20371 | Lair:6 | Gained mutation: You are frail (-10% HP). [potion of mutation] 20378 | Lair:6 | Was placed under penance by Okawaru 21106 | D:11 | Noticed a six-headed hydra 21114 | D:11 | Killed a six-headed hydra 21268 | D:11 | Reached skill level 13 in Armour 21286 | D:11 | Found a portal to a secret trove of treasure. 21615 | Lair:1 | Identified a scroll of acquirement 21723 | Orc:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Orcish Mines 21740 | Orc:1 | Was forgiven by Okawaru 22344 | Orc:1 | Found a roughly hewn altar of Beogh. 22783 | Lair:7 | Noticed a four-headed hydra 22790 | Lair:7 | Killed a four-headed hydra 23201 | Lair:7 | Found a staircase to the Slime Pits. 23259 | Lair:7 | Noticed an eight-headed hydra 23269 | Lair:7 | Killed an eight-headed hydra 23522 | Lair:7 | You fall through a shaft! 23522 | Lair:8 | Entered Level 8 of the Lair of Beasts 23539 | Lair:8 | Received a gift from Okawaru 23565 | Lair:8 | Got a crude cloak {god gift} 23569 | Lair:8 | Identified the +2 cloak "Rurhyll" {god gift} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts) 24188 | Lair:8 | Noticed a five-headed hydra 24208 | Lair:8 | Killed a five-headed hydra 24208 | Lair:8 | Reached skill level 5 in Spellcasting 24477 | Lair:8 | Got a black book 24707 | Lair:8 | Identified the Tome of Torrid Battle Magic (You found it on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts) 24942 | Lair:8 | Killed monsters: 86 trivial, 51 easy, 24 tough, 3 nasty; 84 corpses 24942 | Lair:8 | Reached XP level 14. HP: 51/107 MP: 18/20 25213 | Lair:8 | Reached skill level 14 in Armour 26323 | Lair:7 | Got an ancient chain mail 26343 | Lair:7 | Identified the +10 chain mail of Amorality (You found it on level 7 of the Lair of Beasts) 26728 | D:12 | Noticed Maurice 26740 | D:12 | Killed Maurice 26871 | D:12 | Found Gifop's Magical Wand Shop. 26987 | D:12 | Noticed Psyche 26992 | D:12 | Killed Psyche 27093 | D:12 | Reached skill level 5 in Shields 27857 | D:13 | Received a gift from Okawaru 27874 | D:13 | Got a steaming cap {god gift} 27917 | D:13 | Identified the +2 cap "Tuekhlu" {god gift} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 13 of the Dungeon) 28253 | D:13 | Killed monsters: 19 trivial, 56 easy, 30 tough, 0 nasty; 36 corpses 28253 | D:13 | Reached XP level 15. HP: 114/116 MP: 21/21 28427 | D:14 | Entered Level 14 of the Dungeon 28562 | D:14 | Noticed Urug 28572 | D:14 | Killed Urug 28901 | D:14 | Found Ghuol's Magic Scroll Shoppe. 28910 | D:14 | Bought a scroll of enchant weapon II for 66 gold pieces 28910 | D:14 | Bought a scroll of enchant weapon I for 66 gold pieces 29113 | D:15 | Entered Level 15 of the Dungeon 29390 | D:15 | Reached skill level 15 in Armour 29427 | D:15 | Noticed a tentacled monstrosity 29433 | D:15 | Killed a tentacled monstrosity 29433 | D:15 | Reached skill level 15 in Polearms 29874 | D:15 | Gained mutation: You are clumsy (Dex -1). [mutagenic meat] 29875 | D:15 | Gained mutation: You have very sharp teeth. [mutagenic meat] 29932 | D:15 | Gained mutation: You are weak (Str -1). [mutagenic meat] 29933 | D:15 | Gained mutation: Your flesh is very cold resistant. [mutagenic meat] 29999 | D:15 | Reached skill level 10 in Traps & Doors 30335 | D:15 | Noticed Kirke 30347 | D:15 | Reached skill level 1 in Transmutations 30348 | D:15 | Received a gift from Okawaru 30366 | D:15 | Killed Kirke 31356 | D:15 | Reached skill level 1 in Axes 31388 | D:16 | Noticed Azrael 31409 | D:16 | Killed Azrael 31659 | D:16 | Found Bueremay's Antique Armour Emporium. 31672 | D:16 | Reached skill level 5 in Axes 31781 | D:16 | Killed monsters: 11 trivial, 63 easy, 37 tough, 2 nasty; 35 corpses 31781 | D:16 | Reached XP level 16. HP: 97/126 MP: 22/22 31809 | D:16 | Gained mutation: You have a fast metabolism. [potion of mutation] 31809 | D:16 | Gained mutation: Armour fits poorly on your strangely shaped body. [potion of mutation] 32564 | D:16 | Got a pitted plate armour 32903 | D:16 | Identified the +1 plate armour of the Ancient Deaths (You found it on level 16 of the Dungeon) 33128 | D:17 | Noticed Nergalle 33142 | D:17 | Killed Nergalle 34022 | D:18 | Found a sparkling altar of Nemelex Xobeh. 34031 | D:18 | Noticed Aizul 34049 | D:18 | Killed Aizul 34350 | D:18 | Paralysed by an orc sorcerer for 3 turns 34383 | D:18 | Noticed Roxanne 34940 | Orc:3 | Reached skill level 15 in Fighting 34940 | Orc:3 | Reached skill level 10 in Shields 34972 | Orc:3 | Received a gift from Okawaru 34984 | Orc:3 | Got a twisted battleaxe {god gift} 35008 | Orc:3 | Found Shoufecytu's Armour Shop. 35134 | Orc:3 | Noticed Erica 35143 | Orc:3 | Killed Erica 35227 | Orc:3 | Noticed Harold 35240 | Orc:3 | Killed Harold 35339 | Orc:3 | Noticed Joseph 35347 | Orc:3 | Killed Joseph 35717 | Orc:2 | Lost mutation: Your natural rate of healing is unusually fast. [a neqoxec]
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Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.11-a0-1764-g8b3edee (tiles) character file. Wrath the Impaler (Minotaur Fighter) Turns: 35818, Time: 01:43:15 HP 124/129 AC 29 Str 27 XL: 16 Next: 58% MP 22/22 EV 12 Int 10 God: Okawaru [*****.] Gold 2357 SH 29 Dex 13 Spells: 1 memorised, 23 levels left Res.Fire : +.. See Invis. : + c - +14,-2 demon trident "Ameales" {god gift, Res.Cold : + +. Warding :. p - +10 chain mail of Amorality {Acc+4 Dam+6 S Life Prot.: +.. Conserve :. z - +3 shield {rflct} Res.Poison:. Res.Corr. :. N - +1 wizard hat {Int+3} Res.Elec. :. Clarity :. u - +2 cloak "Rurhyll" {god gift, rF+} Sust.Abil.:.. Spirit.Shd :. M - +2 pair of gauntlets {Str+3} {god gift} Res.Mut. :. Stasis :. J - +1 pair of boots {Lev} {god gift} Res.Rott. :. Ctrl.Telep.: + f - amulet of the gourmand Gourmand : + Levitation :. n - ring of teleport control Ctrl.Flight:. A - +3 ring of dexterity @: very slightly contaminated, somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy A: retaliatory headbutt, fangs 1, horns 2, cold resistance 2, deformed body, fast metabolism 1, -10% hp, Str -1, Dex -1 a: Heroism, Finesse, Renounce Religion, Evoke Levitation You are on level 7 of the Dungeon. You worship Okawaru. Okawaru is exalted by your worship. You are very full. You have visited 4 branches of the dungeon, and seen 30 of its levels. You have collected 2469 gold pieces. You have spent 132 gold pieces at shops. Inventory: Hand weapons a - a twisted battleaxe {god gift} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 3 of the Orcish Mines) c - the +14,-2 demon trident "Ameales" (weapon) {god gift, flame, rN+} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts) It emits flame when wielded, causing extra injury to most foes and up to double damage against particularly susceptible opponents. It protects you from negative energy. Missiles m - 5 javelins (quivered) Armour p - the +10 chain mail of Amorality (worn) {Acc+4 Dam+6 SInv} (You found it on level 7 of the Lair of Beasts) It affects your accuracy (+4). It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+6). It enhances your eyesight. u - the +2 cloak "Rurhyll" (worn) {god gift, rF+} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts) It protects you from fire. z - a +3 shield of reflection (worn) (You found it on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts) J - a +1 pair of boots of levitation (worn) {god gift} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 9 of the Dungeon) M - a +2 pair of gauntlets of strength (worn) {god gift} (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 15 of the Dungeon) N - a +1 wizard hat of intelligence (worn) (You took it off Gastronok on level 5 of the Lair of Beasts) Magical devices b - a wand of teleportation {zapped: 3} (You took it off Harold on level 3 of the Orcish Mines) x - a wand of fire {zapped: 3} (You found it on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts) y - a wand of cold {empty} (You found it on level 4 of the Lair of Beasts) B - a wand of disintegration {zapped: 8} (You found it on level 4 of the Lair of Beasts) F - a wand of disintegration (You found it on level 16 of the Dungeon) I - a wand of enslavement (You found it on level 16 of the Dungeon) V - a wand of lightning {empty} (You found it on level 11 of the Dungeon) W - a wand of fireball {empty} (You found it on level 17 of the Dungeon) Comestibles d - 10 bread rations t - 13 meat rations v - 4 chokos P - a honeycomb U - 2 apples Scrolls k - a scroll of immolation o - 3 scrolls of fog q - 4 scrolls of remove curse s - a scroll of recharging w - 2 scrolls of detect curse H - a scroll of identify K - a scroll of teleportation Jewellery f - an amulet of the gourmand (around neck) (You found it on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts) i - an uncursed ring of fire (You found it on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts) n - a ring of teleport control (right hand) (You found it on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts) A - a +3 ring of dexterity (left hand) (You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon) Y - an uncursed ring of protection from cold (You found it on level 18 of the Dungeon) Potions g - a potion of brilliance j - 6 potions of curing l - a potion of invisibility G - 2 potions of speed L - 2 potions of water R - a potion of restore abilities Skills: * Level 15.1 Fighting - Level 8.5 Axes + Level 15.6 Polearms + Level 15.5 Armour - Level 12.2 Dodging * Level 10.2 Shields - Level 10.0 Traps & Doors - Level 5.2 Spellcasting + Level 2.4 Transmutations - Level 8.0 Earth Magic - Level 7.0 Invocations You have 23 spell levels left. You know the following spells: Your Spells Type Power Failure Level Hunger a - Stoneskin Trmt/Erth ###....... 41% 2 ##..... Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations Branches: Dungeon (18/27) Temple (1/1) D:4 Orc (3/4) D:7 Lair (8/8) D:9 Snake (0/5) Lair:5 Spider (0/5) Lair:5 Slime (0/6) Lair:7 Elf: Orc:3-4 Vaults: D:14-19 Altars: Ashenzari Cheibriados Elyvilon Fedhas Kikubaaqudgha Makhleb Nemelex Xobeh Okawaru Sif Muna Trog Vehumet Xom Yredelemnul Zin the Shining One Beogh Shops: D:12: / D:14:? D:16: [ Orc:3: [ Portals: Trove: D:11 (give +4,+5 demon blade) Annotations D:18 exclusion: Roxanne, Roxanne Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations You reflexively headbutt those who attack you in melee. You have a pair of horns on your head. You have very sharp teeth. You are clumsy (Dex -1). Your flesh is very cold resistant. Armour fits poorly on your strangely shaped body. You have a fast metabolism. You are frail (-10% HP). You are weak (Str -1). Message History b - a wand of teleportation {zapped: 3} You may choose your destination (press '.' or delete to select). Expect minor deviation. You are very lightly contaminated with residual magic. There is a stone staircase leading down here. (D) Dungeon (T) Temple (O) Orcish Mines (L) Lair (P) Snake Pit (N) Spider Nest (M) Slime Pits Where to? (Enter - Orc:3 @ (x,y),? - help) There is a stone staircase leading up here. You climb upwards. There is a stone staircase leading down here. (D) Dungeon (T) Temple (O) Orcish Mines (L) Lair (P) Snake Pit (N) Spider Nest (M) Slime Pits Where to? (Enter - Orc:1,? - help) There is a staircase back to the Dungeon, spattered with blood here. Things that are here: an orcish leather armour; an orcish hammer You found a dart trap! You climb upwards. Welcome back to the Dungeon! There is a staircase to the Orcish Mines here. ##).˜˜˜˜f..........# #..f.˜˜..########.# ######........# #.#..............# #.#..............########.#.......................# #.########...........<.# #.# #.............# #.# #.............# #.# #.............# #.# #.##.@#####...# #.########.##### #...# #..........# #...# #..........# #...# #.########.# #...#..# #.# #...#..# #.# #...#..# #.# #...#..########.# #...#...........#########...# There are no monsters in sight! Vanquished Creatures A tentacled monstrosity (D:15) Kirke (D:15) Aizul (D:18) Gastronok (Lair:5) Jozef (D:10) Azrael (D:16) 8 slime creatures A yaktaur captain (D:16) An ettin (Orc:3) A dragon (D:16) 8 hydras Erica (Orc:3) Harold (Orc:3) 2 rakshasas A stone giant zombie (D:16) 18 death yaks (Lair:8) Nergalle (D:17) 8 centaur warriors A soul eater (Orc:2) 3 catoblepae (Lair:8) A stone giant skeleton (D:17) A frost giant skeleton (D:16) 3 unseen horrors 9 hill giants An orc knight (D:16) An iron troll zombie (D:16) A harpy zombie (D:15) An orc sorcerer (D:18) Joseph (Orc:3) Urug (D:14) 2 giant amoebae (D:15) A wolf spider (D:15) 3 griffons A cyclops (D:16) A lindwurm (Lair:8) 2 feature mimics 3 black mambas Maurice (D:12) A stone golem (D:10) An ettin zombie (D:16) 3 elephant slugs 2 sixfirhies (Orc:2) A hydra skeleton (D:16) 11 elephants 3 yaktaurs (D:15) An ice dragon skeleton (D:17) 10 spiny frogs Psyche (D:12) A wandering mushroom (D:9) 30 ugly things A redback simulacrum (D:16) A spriggan skeleton (D:14) Prince Ribbit (D:9) An iron devil (Orc:2) A komodo dragon (Lair:6) 3 blink frogs (Lair:2) 10 trolls A two-headed ogre (D:10) A raven (shapeshifter) (D:17) A wraith (D:13) 3 basilisks A vampire (D:15) 58 yaks 2 wyverns 2 wood golems (D:10) 4 fire elementals (D:16) A blue devil (Orc:2) 4 hogs (D:15) 4 trapdoor spiders (Lair:5) A clay golem (D:18) A deep elf fighter (D:16) A hungry ghost (D:14) 17 war dogs 4 fire drakes A merfolk (shapeshifter) (D:16) A rock worm (D:18) 10 hippogriffs 3 manticores (D:13) A yaktaur zombie (D:16) A giant slug zombie (D:16) A neqoxec (Orc:2) A manticore zombie (D:4) 2 soldier ants A cyclops zombie (D:18) 3 hell hounds (D:16) 12 orc warriors 5 sky beasts 3 yak zombies 16 ice beasts A hippogriff zombie (D:4) A troll zombie (D:15) 2 phantoms 21 centaurs 2 boring beetles (Lair:8) 2 rotting devils (Orc:2) A warg (Orc:2) A wolf (Lair:5) 2 big kobolds 7 crocodiles 9 ogres 4 giant slugs A brain worm (D:15) A centaur skeleton (D:14) A giant frog zombie (D:4) 3 agate snails 19 giant frogs A fire crab simulacrum (D:16) 10 water moccasins A water moccasin skeleton (D:7) 4 jellyfish 14 killer bees 2 eyes of draining 2 big kobold zombies 9 electric eels A killer bee zombie (D:9) 23 wights An ogre zombie (D:4) 2 shadows 2 goliath beetles A boulder beetle simulacrum (D:15) A quasit (Orc:2) 10 crimson imps 6 iguanas 25 orc wizards 2 scorpions 6 hound zombies A gnoll shaman (D:5) 5 hounds 7 worker ants 4 porcup
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cas in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in June with the Olympic Mountains in the back. Resident orcas in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in June with the Olympic Mountains in the back. Photo: Captain Jim Maya/www.mayaswhalewatch.biz
Image 33 of 42 Feeding transient Orcas, Salt Spring Island, BC, in April. Feeding transient Orcas, Salt Spring Island, BC, in April. Photo: Captain Jim Maya/www.mayaswhalewatch.biz
Image 34 of 42 Feeding on Steller Sea Lion, Rosario Strait, in April. Feeding on Steller Sea Lion, Rosario Strait, in April. Photo: Captain Jim Maya/www.mayaswhalewatch.biz
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Image 36 of 42 Feeding on Steller Sea Lion, Rosario Strait, in April. Feeding on Steller Sea Lion, Rosario Strait, in April. Photo: Captain Jim Maya/www.mayaswhalewatch.biz
Image 37 of 42 Transient Orcas spy-hopping at Orcas Island in March. Transient Orcas spy-hopping at Orcas Island in March. Photo: Captain Jim Maya/www.mayaswhalewatch.biz
Image 38 of 42 Transient orcas fooling around at Orcas Island in March. Transient orcas fooling around at Orcas Island in March. Photo: Captain Jim Maya/www.mayaswhalewatch.biz
Image 39 of 42 Steller Sea Lions on Whale Rocks, San Juan Islands, with Cattle Point Light in the background in August. Steller Sea Lions on Whale Rocks, San Juan Islands, with Cattle Point Light in the background in August. Photo: Captain Jim Maya/www.mayaswhalewatch.biz
Image 40 of 42
Image 41 of 42 Captain Jim Maya on the job. Captain Jim Maya on the job. Photo: www.mayaswhalewatch.bizAs the June 5 elections approached, the anonymous phone calls to Mexican journalist Pedro Canché became more frequent and more ominous. "The Caribbean is a big sea, you'll never be found," one said. "I hope you've written a will," said another. A third caller told Canché, "Remember what happened to Rubén Espinosa," referring to the photographer murdered in Mexico City on July 31 last year. "Do you want that to happen to you too?"
"They always hung up after immediately, I don't know who the callers were," Canché, an indigenous journalist and one of a handful of independent reporters in the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo, told CPJ. He said he received most of the threatening calls between May 25 and June 1, just as the campaign for last Sunday's election for state governor were about to end. He said he was unable to report the calls to the police because he wasn't able to tape them.
Canché has not only been dogged by death threats. Since early this year he has been the target of an online smear campaign by websites accusing him of, among other things, illegally trafficking tropical lumber--Canché also owns a furniture business--and having a "depraved lifestyle."
He said several websites were involved in the campaign. CPJ could corroborate at least two, one of which was taken offline shortly after election day. The other is the website of Respuesta, a tabloid newspaper with no apparent party affiliation, but close ties to whomever is in government.
"Most of those articles were so ridiculous that they made me laugh", Canché told CPJ. "But that newspaper has a big circulation in the state and some people might believe it. It hasn't had much impact on my work, but I do take it seriously."
Canché has been a long-time critic of the administration of outgoing governor Roberto Borge, of the ruling Party of the Institutional Revolution. The reporter, who publishes most of his work on his website, Pedro Canché Noticias, is no stranger to intimidation against the press. In 2015 CPJ documented how he spent 271 days in prison on charges of sabotage, for allegedly organizing protests against high water bills in the region south of Cancún, only to have the conviction thrown out by a federal judge later.
CPJ spoke with Canché last weekend in Mexico City. He said he decided to spend the election weekend in the relative safety of the capital due to the threats and smear campaigns against him, which he believes were caused by him not choosing to back any party or candidate for governor during the campaign. "All the media in Quintana Roo have been co-opted by political parties and the state government," he told CPJ. "Whosoever chooses not to support any party, like I did, will be threatened and smeared."
While CPJ was not able to verify his claim about media bias, the harassment against Canché was not an isolated case. Reporters, media outlets, and press freedom organizations across Mexico reported cases of journalists being harassed during the regional elections that were held in 12 Mexican states. They also spoke of an increasingly hostile climate against journalists as the campaigns neared their end.
Voters in 12 states elected new governors, mayors, and members of state congresses in the largest electoral event before the end of President Enrique Peña Nieto's term in 2018. Some of the most violent states in the country, including Veracruz and Tamaulipas, were among those holding elections. In Veracruz alone, six journalists have been murdered in relation to their work since outgoing governor Javier Duarte began his term in 2010, according to CPJ research. In another nine cases of killed journalists, CPJ is investigating the motive.
CPJ research indicates that a majority of the journalists murdered in Mexico in recent years reported on politics. Violence against journalists, activists, and rival political workers during electoral campaigns and on voting day is common in the country. The freedom of expression group, Article 19, closely monitored the latest elections and reported at least 19 attacks or acts of harassment against journalists on June 5.
In Mexico City, which was holding elections for a new constitutional assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution for the capital, the newspaper Reforma reported that two of its journalists were surrounded by sympathizers of the Party of the Democratic Revolution. The two reporters, whom the newspaper did not name, were investigating rumors of vote-buying in the southern borough of Tlalpan, when they were surrounded for at least an hour by about 50 people wearing clothes that carried the Party of the Democratic Revolution logo, according to reports. The outlet was the only one that had reporters at the scene at that time. The crowd allowed the journalists to leave only after they had erased photos from their cameras. The newspaper said members of the crowd also threatened the journalists with violence if they were to publish anything. The party has not commented publicly on the case. Repeated attempts by CPJ to reach a spokesperson for the party were not immediately successful.
Three journalists investigating allegations of vote-buying in the city of Nuevo Casas Grandes, in the northern state of Chihuahua, were detained on election day. Saturnino Martínez Nava, who runs the website La Revisa NCG and works as a correspondent for national broadcaster, Televisa, Cecilia Fuentes Arvizu, of newspaper El Diario del Noroeste, and Karina Hernández Acuña of the website Akro Noticias, were arrested by municipal policemen, according to reports.
Gustavo Valdez, manager of the local edition of El Diario, Chihuahua's biggest newspaper, told local media the police had not justified the arrest of the reporters. Proceso, a Mexico City investigative weekly, reported that the mayor, Rodolfo Soltero Aguirre, ordered the arrests of the journalists who were accused of breaking into a voting booth, thus violating the right of voters to cast their ballot in secret. La Revisa NCG said the reporters were given permission to enter the voting booth by a guard, who later denied he had done so when confronted by policemen.
Other media reported that Soltero told local media he ordered that the journalists be freed. Martínez was released shortly after his arrest, but Fuentes and Hernández remained in custody for another eight hours. None of them face further action.
CPJ was unable to reach the municipality of Nuevo Casas Grandes for comment. Mayor Soltero, a member of the Party of the Institutional Revolution who was not up for re-election and will leave office this year, apologized in La Revisa NCG for what had happened.
Political analysts largely agree that last weekend's elections were a victory for the conservative opposition National Action Party, which won governor in seven states, and a heavy defeat for the Party of the Institutional Revolution.
[Reporting from Mexico City]It’s easy to see how government damages the economy as a taxpayer. Every dollar the government takes from you is another less dollar you have to spend in the private (a.k.a. the real) economy. Plus, as they continue to accumulate debt, that’s just more interest on the debt we have to pay. For every dollar you send to the government, you’re already guaranteed to get less than a dollar back in value.
Some of the costs government imposes aren’t as easy to see. Take regulation as an example. Often believed as a way of keeping business in check, businesses can also use regulation to their advantage (a phenomenon known as “regulatory capture.”). Why would a company like Philip Morris support heavy restrictions on tobacco advertising? Because it’ll prevent future competitors from joining the market. Why do the big banks favor Dodd-Frank? Because the costs it imposes disproportionately burdens small banks. The list of examples could go on for an entire series of articles.
Another cost of regulation is time. Every minute spent complying with a regulation is a minute that could’ve been spent towards furthering the business. According to a recent report by the National Association of Manufacturers, “the average U.S. company pays $9,991 per employee per year to comply with federal regulations. The average manufacturer in the United States pays nearly double that amount—$19,564 per employee per year. Small manufacturers, or those with fewer than 50 employees, incur regulatory costs of $34,671 per employee per year. This is more than three times the cost borne by the average U.S. company.”
So, for employing a single worker at a small manufacturing plant, the regulatory cost is roughly that of hiring two minimum wage workers all year. And we wonder why jobs are being sent overseas.
Luckily for us, we may finally see a reversal in the unbroken trend of increased regulation during every presidential term. The only time when the number of net regulations actually decreased was during Reagan’s first term. Among the executive orders President Donald Trump took after taking office is one which required two regulations to be repealed for every one to be implemented. It would ensure that only the most vitally needed regulations would be passed – and would help drain the swamp of the useless ones.
And in the meantime, Trump’s cabinet is already taking steps to cut down on regulation.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday that he and others on the economic team of President Donald Trump “are up to our eyeballs” in their search for government regulations to be undone. Speaking on CNBC Friday morning, Ross said he would seek the input of business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Small Businesses and others. He estimated that the Trump administration may ultimately save U.S. businesses “way into the tens of billions of dollars and very possibly approaching a hundred odd billions of dollars.” “Many of these were put in by executive orders and by agency rules, and those wouldn’t require acts of Congress. So we are up to our eyeballs in trying to make sure we identify all the problems,” Ross said. “So it’s a lot to do there. I think that will be one of the most fruitful areas that the administration can attack quickly.”
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Read this Next on ThePoliticalInsider.com ‘Avengers’ Star Compares Donald Trump to a Plantation Owner
The Code of Federal Regulations is going to be on the chopping block – hopefully the Federal Government’s $3.5 trillion budget is next. Are you glad to see that the Trump administration is fulfilling its pledge to “drain the swamp’? Share your thoughts below!DENVER – The for-profit school Heritage College abruptly shut its doors Tuesday, leaving several Denver students in limbo.
The school operated 10 campuses in several states, including the Denver location at 4704 Harlan Street.
Several students were outside the Denver campus Tuesday evening demanding answers.
Rosa Purciaga just wants a better life for her and her daughter. She was proud to be a Heritage College student with just two months until graduation.
“We’re trying to pursue a career finally and be somebody, and they just close down without letting us know,” said Purciaga.
She and other students are panicking with no idea what comes next.
The school specializes in medical tech, but abruptly closed Tuesday saying it had no money to keep the doors open.
Taylor Diamond just paid almost $15,000 cash for tuition and has her receipt to prove it.
Now she fears it’s gone.
“That was all the money I had. It was invested in me before I was born. But that’s really all I had,” said Diamond.
Emotional students rushed the school clinic and administrative offices, worried about their confidential personal files inside.
The file room was unlocked earlier Tuesday, but a student told Denver7 they’ve locked the door since.
Heritage hasn’t returned Denver 7’s request for comment, but students gathering at the empty school say they deserve answers.
“We put in a lot of work, hours, and it just feels like everything we did is gone. All the time we put in is gone,” said Sandra Ganot.
Teachers say they haven’t been paid for weeks.
One staff members had to cancel their child’s birthday party because of the sudden layoff, and Tuesday’s move takes food off the table and puts some in a really bad spot.
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Or, keep up-to-date on the latest news and weather with the Denver7 apps for iPhone/iPads, Android and Kindle.Noon update: UM junior Juwon Young, who was expected to get playing time this season, is away from the team and his status for next season is in serious doubt as UM investigates a potential NCAA violation involving the linebacker, our ace contributor Peter Ariz and I have confirmed today. (Update: in the wake of this post, UM announced Young has been suspended indefinitely for violation of department rules).
Multiple people inside the UM football program do not expect Young to be on the team this season. One source cautioned that he's in limbo and it's still possible he could return but he's not in a good position.
The matter, according to a source, involved Young gaining use of a luxury vehicle from a car agency. It's unclear if Young paid for the vehicle or if he intends to.
UM also is investigating whether standout defensive end Al Quadin Muhammad was involved with this car agency and whether he committed an NCAA violation.
Muhammad has not been cleared, but he remains on the team, according to a source with direct knowledge. Multiple sources told Ariz that they expect Muhammad to be on the team next season.
UM, whose NCAA probation is ending in October, is investigating both players' involvement and would report the matter to the NCAA if it confirms any violations occurred.
After appearing in four games in his first season (2014), Young had 57 tackles, including three for loss, one interception and one forced fumble in 10 games last season.
He was expected to get playing time this season, potentially behind freshman revelation Shaquille Quarterman at middle linebacker.
Muhammad is expected to start at defensive end if he's cleared. He had 54 tackles and five sacks last season and is UM's best pass rusher.
HEAT SIGNINGS
The Heat didn't have a draft pick Thursday but has begun the process of signing players who went undrafted, a process that has brought considerable talent to the team, including Udonis Haslem and Tyler Johnson.
South Carolina small forward Michael Carrera and former St. John's power forward/center Chris Obekpa both agreed to play on Miami's summer league teams in Orlando and Las Vegas, according to Carrera's agent (Miami Beach-based Seth Cohen) and Obekpa's agent (Aaron Turner).
Former Toledo center Nathan Booth also agreed to play on the Heat's teams in Orlando and Las Vegas, according to Sheridan Hoops' Michael Scotto.
Carrera averaged 14.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal per game for the Gamecocks last season. He's considered a very good defender and his three-point game improved dramatically last year, with Carrera shooting 40.5 percent on threes (51 for 126). He shot 44.9 percent from the field overall.
Carrera will play for Venezuela in the Olympics this summer, Cohen said.
"When I speak to NBA people, they say his relentless approach to every possession, and his ability to defend from the 1 to the 4, coupled with his long-distance shooting, is what makes him attractive," South Carolina coach Frank Martin told The State in Columbia, S.C.. "Unbelievable teammate."
Obekpa, a 6-10 center from Nigeria, led Division 1 in blocks as a freshman at St. John's (4.0 per game) and averaged 2.9 and 3.1 blocks the following two seasons. He averaged 5.8 points and 7.0 rebounds in his final season at St. John's (2014-15).
He then transferred to UNLV but sat out last season, in accordance with NCAA transfer rules, and decided to turn pro after the season. Obekpa has worked to develop a mid-range jump shot.
Booth, 6-9, averaged 19.3 points and 9.0 rebounds last season and shot 49.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent (33 for 88) on three-pointers.
Meanwhile, Louisville announced that the Heat signed 6-6 shooting guard Damion Lee, who averaged 15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals and shot 42.8 percent from the field and 34.1 percent on three-pointers.
Check back for more later.... And please see the last post for Hassan Whiteside news and where UM's Sheldon McClellan signed.... Twitter: @flasportsbuzzThe 'Strictly Come Dancing' star has covered the 2005 indie disco classic with a dose of razzle dazzle
How do we know it’s Christmas? Because the great and the good from the world’s of light entertainment are all releasing albums, that’s how. From Shane Richie to Len Goodman via Nick Knowles, all of your nan’s favourite lads are putting out records, and Strictly Come Dancing‘s Anton du Beke is one of them. ‘From The Top’ is the toe-tapping telly star’s debut album – it comes out on November 24 and literally features a cover of ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. Do you see what he’s done there?
“I love the Arctic Monkeys and this is a very different version of one of their tracks,” he’s said. “I hope they don’t mind what we’ve done with it. They might not have has it down as a swing track but it definitely works!” Listen below and see if it has you tap-tapping across the floor of your office/living room/common room.
The ‘From The Top’ tracklisting is:He was found in this car park (Picture: Photofusion/REX/Shutterstock)
A man who was waiting for his wife to finish shopping at Asda was caught masturbating in the car park.
The former carpenter was caught in the solo act on Valentine’s Day.
Coward, 25, left son and girlfriend in overturned car after crashing in police chase
The 51-year-old claimed that ‘one thing had simply led to another’ while he waited for his wife to pick up the groceries.
Timothy McTinghe claimed he had been rubbing his leg after suffering from pins and needles, though later admitted outraging public decency.
The former carpenter had been visiting Asda in Brighton Marina, East Sussex, with his wife and dog.
He pleaded guilty at Brighton Magistrates Court in East Sussex (Picture: PA)
While waiting with their pet in a Ford Focus witnesses saw what McTinghe was doing to pass the time.
Because he had not intended for people to see, it was not deemed a sexual offence.
Pair'murdered missing woman and claimed her benefits'
Ed Fish, defending the man, said it was just an ‘act of complete foolishness’.
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‘He went shopping with his wife in Asda. She went into the shop and he was in the car looking after the dog,’ Fish explained.
‘While there, his leg went numb. He tried to get the circulation back in his leg and it moved on to something else.
He was ‘understandably extremely embarrassed’ about the incident (Picture: Google)
‘He didn’t think anybody else would be able to see him. Having been told someone else had seen him, he was mortified.
‘He was understandably extremely embarrassed about what occurred.’
Lonely paedophile is allowed to befriend fellow sex offender because he feels isolated
McTinghe, who was once a carpenter, now works in music production.
He had never been in trouble with the law before, the court heard.
The Brighton-based man admitted outraging public decency and was ordered to complete 20 sessions of rehabilitation, as well as paying £85 court costs.
MORE: Couple casually have sex on Ryanair flight while ‘cabin crew did nothing’
MORE: Farage called a ‘b*llock-faced foghorn of ignorance’ by author Philip PullmanAugust 28th 2017 would have been Jack Kirby’s 100th birthday. And while both Marvel and DC are each honoring the man’s work in their own ways, the fact is it simply isn’t enough.
I have faithfully proselytized on behalf of Kirby’s legacy whenever the occasion to do so has arisen. I enjoy doing so, though it always stings that there is a need to do so…
The contradiction inherent in those feelings is at the core of the man, what he achieved and what he endured, and perhaps who and what he was.
He did it all, and I feel blessed for having experienced his creations, but while he was with us he was never fully recognized, feted or celebrated to the extent he merited. Knowing that was the case has marked my perception of the industry he helped create and illuminate.
And that’s without mentioning how it makes me feel about Stan Lee (yeah, Dave Baker, I bought a button) The fact that they all called him “The KING” but so often treated him like a servant, enrages me.
Every time I see one of Kirby’s creations on the screen I wonder what he would’ve thought if he were watching along with me. Pride? Justifiably. He knew some of those characters and stories were gold.
Anger? With reason. Billions in revenue, and his name flashes past in tiny letters somewhere at the end of the film. Surprise? Possibly. He was just working and cranking out ideas and pages, providing for his family, slapping a fresh page on his drawing table, starting up in that upper left corner and working his way across and down until he was finished and moved on to the next one, page after page after page.
Did he suspect what he was doing would end up leading to the domination of an industry? Yet it often seems too few know who he was or what he truly did. That’s why I help spread the word.
Whether it’s to a moviegoer who sees Stan doing one of his contractually enforced cameos and says, “That’s the guy who created the Marvel universe!” or to a comics reader who perhaps should know better and I find myself telling, “You do realize Challengers of the Unknown came out well before FF, right?”
Unfortunately, people don’t know.
When I was a young, hot-headed (slightly more empty-headed) tween, I even got in a fistfight over the King’s art—another dilettante had the temerity to suggest the man couldn’t draw, to which I forcefully replied that not only could he draw, but that he was arguably the greatest visual storyteller the medium had ever seen (personally, I’d only dare put a handful of others in the same sentence; Eisner, Caniff, and Foster) and as for said “drawing ability” the evolution of his style and his line, his abstraction and the liberties and license he took with “reality,” spoke to the fact that he wasn’t just a guy who drew comics, he was a true ARTIST.
I try not to punch people to make those points any more. I just guide them to one of the many issues of the Jack Kirby Collector John Morrow publishes, or one of the gorgeous IDW Artist Editions of the King’s work… and then I say a silent ‘thank you’ to Charles Hatfield for writing Hand of Fire so I don’t feel like I’m the only guy who noticed these things about the man’s oeuvre.
Those publications are proof that many are finally giving the man his due. I just wish he and his beloved wife could have lived to have seen it…and I wish it were more.
At the most recent D23 Expo that Disney held, Jack Kirby was named a Disney Legend, as was an emotional Stan Lee who’d recently lost his wife. Jack’s son Neal accepted the award on the great man’s behalf and explained that his father, “would be very humble and proud… He was probably the most humble person on the face of the planet.”
I’m so happy Disney did that… but it’s still not enough.
I believe Neal Kirby when he says his father would have been humble in the face of the accolades. And obviously it isn’t possible to go back in time and award them to him during his lifetime. However, there are some things we can do.
We can donate to The Kirby Museum. We can set the record straight, spread the word for those who don’t know, and share the work with those who haven’t truly seen it.
And on August 28th we can remember the man who left us this amazing gift he created and say, “Thanks, Mr.Kirby.”Leave a comment to enter to WIN a sparkly J.Crew crushed glitter magic wallet from their current collection! There are 2 ways to enter! This giveaway has ended. Thanks for playing! If you missed out, checkout the giveaways page for current giveaways.
I urge you to check out J. Crew’s amazing collection this season. They have some real knockouts in their current collection.
Case in point:
From top:
Crushed glitter magic wallet, $16.50 Silk pleated galette dress, $365 Silk dupioni rosette dress, $495 Wool pencil skirt, $198 Pleated Paulette top, $168 Sequined starland tank, $138 Infinity bracelet, $68 Glimmer tights, $26.50
Giveaway: To enter to win the J. Crew crushed glitter magic wallet in Gold as shown above, follow these instructions: Required: Comment here! Yep, that’s it! (Click back to this blog on Dec 6th after 5pm to see if you won) Optional: You can also increase your chances of winning by tweeting this post (click the “Like This Post?” icon at the end of this entry), then come back here and post the link (URL) to the tweet as another comment. You may only do this once.
Winners are chosen randomly via random integer generator (based on your comment’s number). Contest ends December 6, 2009. Please check back after 5pm on Dec 6th to see if you are a winner. You’ll have 3 days to respond! Good luck!! See the PSS giveaway rules here
Sorry, open to U.S. residents only. I can’t ship internationally!Adani Group plans to convert the once sick Dhamra Port into country's biggest seaport with industrial park, and set up LNG and LPG terminals there.
"We anticipate Dhamra to have 35 berths having 315 million tonne capacity. This will make it the largest port in India having an industrial cluster," chairman Gautam Adani said on Thursday."In the next five years, Dhamra port would be a gateway to the Asean region," Adani said while addressing Make in Odisha conclave.
"We are seeking support of the authorities for building an industrial park in Dhamra in line with what we have built in Mundra port," Adani told a gathering where Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik was present.
Adani acquired Dhamra port two years ago and turned it around in 12 months.
"We have now added a massive 15-million-tonne berth, and as a result, our cargo handling increased by an astounding 52% last year. And by March, we are adding another berth, thus adding 50 million tonne in three years," he said while addressing Make in Odisha Conclave at Bhubaneswar.
Parallely, the group is investing Rs 5,200 crore for a 5-million-tonne LNG terminal and another Rs 2,300 crore for an LPG terminal of 2.5 million tonne.
"These two projects will change the face of Dhamra port," he said.
Apart from investing in port logistics, Adani is also creating infrastructure for the coastal and riverine movement of coal, which is found in abundance in this part of the country.
"We have also created 2 million tonne of coal movement capacity through National Waterway 5 (NW-5). This will be a game changer for transportation of coal across Brahmani river from Talcher to Dhamra. Consequently, this will allow coastal movement of coal along entire Indian coastlines," he told the gathering of industry captains like Sashi Ruia, Anil Agarwal, ITC COO Sanjiv Puri, among others.
The NW-5 consists of the stretches from Talcher to Dhamra on the Brahmani River - a distance of 265 kilometre.
Along with other planned investments like one in edible oil refiner AdaniWilmar, the group's investments in the state would rise to Rs 15,000 crore in the near future.
Adani's investment commitment was the biggest among other industry captains.
Saroj Poddar of Adventz group talked of putting in Rs 9,000 crore for a brownfield urea plant of Paradeep Phosphate, Hindalco's investing Rs 4,000 crore, and Tata Steel has committed Rs 12,000 crore to take Kalinganagar capacity from 3 million tonne to 8 million tonne.Apr 27, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; Los Angeles Angels left fielder J.B. Shuck (3) grounds into fielders choice to second allowing shortstop Erick Aybar (2) (not pictured) to score during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
As we wrote earlier, the Chicago White Sox signed outfielder J.B. Shuck off waivers from the Cleveland Indians on Monday afternoon. Now the question is, can Shuck become a player the White Sox can really use on their everyday roster in 2015?
Shuck made his MLB debut on Aug. 5, 2011 with the Houston Astros, playing in 37 games at the age of 24 with the Astros. In that limited time frame, Shuck batted.272 with an on-base percentage of.359.
After not playing in the majors in ’12, he played 129 games in 2013, and that season he put up some very nice numbers as a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Here are his ’13 numbers:
• 129 games
•.293 batting average
• 128 hits
• 25 extra base hits (20 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs)
• 39 RBIs
•.331 on-base percentage
•.366 slugging percentage
• 0.8 WAR
This past season, he didn’t fare so well with a.145 batting average and.168 on-base percentage in 38 total games with the Angels and the Indians.
But the question I have is what if that was just a bad sequence of events? What if it was just a “sophomore slump” for Shuck and the ’15 season is the season he gets everything back on track?
Is Shuck the player the White Sox need at the left field position? Because they are in the market for an upgrade at the spot, or so it seems.
Dayan Viciedo played 145 games this past season for the White Sox, including 55 games in left field. For the season, Viciedo batted.231 with a.281 OBP and.405 SLG. Viciedo also struck out 122 times, so there needs to be some type of upgrade in that spot.
Also for Viciedo, he did total 21 home runs, with 22 doubles and three triples, but I believe the White Sox could use some consistency at the plate next season, and Viciedo just isn’t consistent enough.
In July 2013, FanGraphs.com wrote the following on Shuck in a quote from Angels manager Mike Scioscia:
“You always want on-base skills throughout your lineup — guys setting the table for other guys,” said manager Mike Scioscia. “We have Mike Trout hitting either one or two, so for him to get RBI opportunities, we need to be able to feed into his group in the lineup. That’s where a guy like J.B. Shuck can be important to us. He can get on base and feed our lineup.”
The White Sox need players like that in the lineup for Jose Abreu and whomever the White Sox choose to be their designated hitter next season.
After looking over a lot of stats and articles on Shuck, this is a good pickup for the White Sox. If he can get back to his ’13 form, this pickup could be a quality steal for the team.
He won’t cost the club much, and even if at best he’s a player they use off the bench, it would be an upgrade to the bench they’ve used the past couple seasons.
Just from how he’s played, if given a full season (or over 100 games of MLB time in a season) Shuck could become a quality player for the White Sox.
If nothing else, maybe he’ll make others work more on their game, which will make spring training interesting.The conflation of the terms “gender” and “biological sex” concomitant with the term “gender” as being something separate and distinct from biological sex, has led to the existence of biological sex being dismissed as a “social construct”. Free of any ties to reality, “gender” is not limited by the biosocial binary of sex.
Nonetheless, “gender,” when used as a synonym for biological sex, it is untrue to say that there are more than two “genders“:
“Male and female. There is a penchant in left-leaning academia to distinguish between gender and sex, but the distinction is sophistry. Sex refers to biological differences between men and women, and gender refers to cultural or social differences between men and women, but since the vast majority of social differences are rooted in biology, it’s a bit of a moot point. “The promotion of the idea of multiple genders is part of a larger, liberal project to engage the chaos and destruction of anarchy. Why the left wants to do this is difficult for me to understand. Base hedonism? I don’t know. But the central idea is this: the insistence that there are more than two genders prioritizes feelings over facts. The simple fact that some people feel confused over their identities doesn’t change the fact that there are only two genders, any more than the existence of people born with out legs or who have had legs amputated proves that humans are not bipedal. The left insists it does. “Feelings > facts “The actual individuals who embrace this kind of nonsense cannot see this, of course. They are also literally incapable of thinking critically. The wildly left wing college campuses are designed as propaganda factories that deliberately and consciously impair student’s ability to examine issues with their full critical faculties engaged. “In the liberal arts, of course.”
And how!
Colleges are engaging in Gender Lysenkoism and declaring that “gender is fluid and a matter of preference“:
“Consider Oberlin College’s definition of gender: ‘A spectrum or constellation of different behaviors, attributes and identifications.’ Or a recent announcement from UCLA that gender is a ‘spectrum.’
“… “The [University of California] application also asks: ‘What sex were you assigned at birth, such as on an original birth certificate?’ Only two choices are offered: male and female. The ‘assigned’ terminology implies gender can be reassigned. “… “At the University of Pittsburg, students are taught genders can change over time, and officials released their ‘Gender-Inclusive/Non-Sexist Language Guidelines and Resources’ document, encouraging professors to ask students to write down a preferred pronoun, such as he/she/they/zi/zie (although they are welcome to change their preference later).”
But you can still disagree, right? Nope, colleges can go after your.
“A Loyola alumni office employee discussed her views on sexual orientation, which align with the Roman Catholic Church [Loyola being a Catholic University], with three students who were hanging up posters on the subject on April 14. “Cosette Carleo, one of the students involved, told […] that the hate crime under investigation is ‘denying transgenderism.’ “Carleo’s account agrees in part with an email by the husband of the employee with whom she tangled. “The employee told Carleo, who identifies as gender-neutral, that only two genders exist, male and female, according to the student. Carleo told The Fix that statement was the hate crime. “Carleo responded that ‘you can have your opinion’ as long as it doesn’t ‘deny my existence.'”
She and her husband both were suspended before they were able to tell their side of the story
But it’s still a free country and at least the police won’t get involved, right?
LOL. No.
“The Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) met and released a statement on April 15, notifying the LMU community that BIRT, along with Public Safety and the Los Angeles Police Department, is looking into the events of April 14 as reported by the three students.”
The result of this mandatory indoctrination is cringe worthy:
Bookworm of Brookworm Room, sums up this madness via an updating of the “Emperor’s New Clothes” entitled ” The Emperor’s Pretty Clothes — a modern
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