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'," he said of the tough message Islamabad sent to Taliban leaders, most of whom are believed to be operating out of Quetta, the capital of southwestern Balochistan Province.
"[We told the Taliban leaders that] we have hosted [them] enough for 35 years, and we can't do it anymore because the whole world is blaming us just by [their] presence here," he said.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States, and China last week agreed on a road map to end the Afghan war through negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban.
Taliban representatives are expected to join Afghan officials in the first round of peace talks in Pakistan during the next few weeks.
Aziz, however, took pains to convince Washington's audience that Islamabad has abandoned its support for the Islamist militant groups.
"After our government came into power in 2013, there has been a significant change in our policy. We are now moving against all terrorists without discrimination," he said.
Speaking alongside US State Secretary John Kerry on February 29, Aziz said Pakistan now has little interest in fomenting violence in neighboring Afghanistan.
"Who would like to set one's own neighbor on fire with the hope of saving one's backyard?" he asked.
This article was originally published on gandhara.rferl.org and has been reproduced with permission.Among chief executives and chairs of FTSE 100 companies, there are 17 men called John (or Jean) - more than the total of seven female bosses
There are far more men called John leading the UK’s biggest companies than women, according to a Guardian namecheck of the FTSE 100 that shows the starkness of the gender divide at the top of the corporate world.
Among chief executives and chairs of FTSE 100 companies, there are 17 men called John (or Jean) - outnumbering all the female bosses put together. Men called David or Dave also outnumber women, by 2:1.
By contrast, the number of women women at the top of British companies can be counted on two hands: a grand total of seven. Véronique Laury became chief executive of Kingfisher in January, joining a select group of CEOs that includes Liv Garfield at Severn Trent, Moya Greene at Royal Mail, Alison Cooper at Imperial Tobacco and Carolyn McCall at Easyjet. Only two women occupy the role of company chair - Dame Alison Carnwath at Land Securities and Susan Kilsby at pharmaceutical group Shire.
Women v David/John/Sir
Female leaders of FTSE 100 companies are outnumbered by Davids, Ians, Marks or Andrews (or variations of those names) by nearly 5:1.
The corporate clout of Johns is mirrored across the other side of the Atlantic, where the New York Times found more men called John than women running the biggest companies in the US. Their study was inspired by a recent Ernst & Young report, which showed that for every one women on the board of American companies, there were 1.03 Jameses, Roberts, Johns and Williams.
In Australia, however, Peters are in the lead. More men with that name hold the chief executive and chair positions of companies in the ASX200 – Australia’s 200 largest listed companies – than women.
The Guardian’s survey of the FTSE 100 reveals a particularly British twist: there are more men with knighthoods leading British companies than women. A total of 19 company chairmen and chief executives use the title ‘Sir’, nearly three times as many as women of any rank.
Almost 23% of boardroom roles are now filled by women, up from 12.5% in 2010, following a government-backed campaign urging companies to ensure at least 25% of their top team is female. But most are non-executive, part-time directors. Smashing the glass ceiling for chief executive and chair jobs is proving to be harder: only 3.5% of these roles are occupied by women.
The prevalence of Johns and Davids is not just a feature of the corporate world. Out of 650 MPs, 23% are women, nearly 5% are called David or Dave and 3.5% are named John. The Conservative party, boasts 17 Davids, including its leader David Cameron, compared to 48 women. On the Labour benches, there are 86 women and 10 Davids/Daves, while the Liberal Democrats have seven women and three Davids.
Heather Jackson, founder of An Inspirational Journey, an organisation that advises companies on getting more women into senior roles, said putting the spotlight on the FTSE 100 highlighted the problem of gender imbalance in a simple way. “Put like that it summarises how far we have to go to get more female CEOs at the top.”
She said it takes “a good twenty years to get a good CEO in place, developing them from middle management”. But, she added, too many companies were cutting back on programmes and training aimed at improving gender balance at the top.
“The systems and processes are in place, but it is the desire to implement that is going wrong,” she said. “They are talking about it rather than walking it.”Spotlight | Firefly Space Systems
SAN FRANCISCO — At least 25 companies have announced plans to build rockets to meet the growing demand for small-satellite launches, but Firefly Space Systems does not plan to blend into that pack.
“The driving theme of our company is to distinguish ourselves as soon as possible from the crowd that talks about doing this and to join an elite group of people that can actually field technology to get things to space,” said Thomas Markusic, Firefly chief executive.
Markusic, a propulsion engineer who worked at NASA, the U.S. Air Force, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin before founding Firefly, plans to build a family of simple expendable rockets offering dedicated rides for satellites weighing less than 1,000 kilograms.
“Think of this as the Model T of rockets, a simple widely used vehicle for getting from point to point, or in this case getting to space,” he said.
Firefly’s initial launch vehicle, Firefly Alpha, an all-composite rocket with a pressure-fed aerospike engine, is designed to send 400 kilogram payloads into low Earth orbit or 200 kilograms into sun-synchronous orbit for $8 million. Firefly plans to use cellphone technology to send telemetry data from the ascending rocket. “We are using commercial electronics technology in our avionics to a larger extent than anyone has ever done before,” Markusic said.
Markusic left his job as Virgin Galactic’s vice president for propulsion in December 2013 to found Firefly because he saw a dearth of launch options for the burgeoning small-satellite market. “There is great competition and cost reduction in the medium- to heavy-lift area, but there’s very little that’s available in the small class,” he said. “Firefly and other companies popping up are aiming to fill that gap.”
In October, NASA announced the award of fixed-price contracts to Firefly, Los Angeles-based Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic of Long Beach, California, to provide dedicated rides into orbit for the cubesats NASA transports under its Cubesat Launch Initiative. NASA plans to pay Firefly $5.5 million, Virgin Galactic $4.7 million and Rocket Lab $6.95 million for launches scheduled to occur by April 2018.
To date, cubesats have flown primarily as secondary payloads on larger rockets, which meant their builders had little control over the launch timing or orbital destination. While those piggyback rides were welcomed by cubesat pioneers eager to test components or conduct scientific research, some of the entrepreneurs building miniature satellites to gather data or relay communications are eager for rides to specific altitudes and inclinations.
Firefly Space Systems at a Glance
Established: January 2014
Top Official: Thomas Markusic, chief executive
Employees: 61
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
“When you are riding as a secondary payload on a large launch vehicle, you sometimes have to wait a couple of years and you are subject to the technical specifications of that launch,” said Amir Blachman, Space Angels Network managing director in Los Angeles. “Whereas if you can pay to get a custom launch for a smaller payload, you can tailor the timing and all the other elements of the mission to your specific needs.”
Firefly executives say they will attract customers with low launch prices and strong customer service. The company plans to enable a customers to track the progress of their launch vehicle through its production cycle and, if possible, to watch the launch in virtual reality.
“The customer side of the launch vehicle market has been ignored for years,” said Maureen Gannon, Firefly business development vice president. “We want to be a leader in customer experience.”
After establishing its business with Firefly Alpha, the company plans to offer multiple space transportation vehicles. “Firefly Alpha is the first step toward a next generation of larger vehicles with increased payload capability and reusability,” Gannon said.
One of the benefits of starting the company by building a small rocket is the capital investment. “From a capital standpoint, this type of program is available to more people than the mega programs like SpaceX is doing,” Blachman said.
“The cost does not scale linearly with vehicle size,” Markusic said, adding that a vehicle twice as large might cost eight times as much to develop because it would require custom machine tools.
Firefly plans to raise roughly $100 million to build and launch Firefly Alpha. Through a seed round, the company raised between $10 million and $20 million. The company plans to raise the balance through Series A and B funding rounds.
Firefly has 61 employees and plans to have a staff of about 150 when it begins sending satellites into orbit in 2018. Firefly received a $1.2 million economic incentive package from Cedar Park, Texas, where the company built a 1,850-square-meter research and development facility as well as a 80-hectare test site.
In Firefly’s first year and a half, its engineers have tackled some of the company’s greatest technical risks. In September, Firefly announced its first successful ground test of its rocket engine.
By 2017, Firefly plans to begin conducting suborbital launches. “We will learn a lot about the vehicle so when we have someone’s precious payload on the top, it will not be the first time this thing has ever performed,” Markusic said.
Firefly plans to conduct is first orbital flight in March 2018, an ambitious goal for a company established in 2014.
“When I started the company, I committed myself to the idea that we would be very successful very quickly or we would fail very quickly,” Markusic said. “The goal is not to build a company that can sustain itself for 10 years and never get to space. The goal of the company is to get to space in three or four years or not exist.”Microsoft has released the Windows 10 Insider build 14971 for PCs today, and the new bits bring several new features that will be included in the upcoming Creators Update to be released in early 2017. First, Microsoft Edge now supports unprotected EPUB e-books and provides a customizable reading experience similar to what you can enjoy now with PDF files. This build also includes the Paint 3D Preview app which was first demoed at the company’s Windows 10 event in late October.
Among other highlights, Powershell is now replacing Command Prompt as the default command shell in File Explorer, though you can turn if not if you don’t like it. Lastly, as we reported earlier today this new build features a new Get Office app which now lets you manage your Office 365 subscription, install select Office apps, view recent documents and more.
Please find the full version notes below:
Read EPUB books in Microsoft Edge: The reading experience will get even better with the Windows 10 Creators Update! In addition to providing a great reading experience for PDF files – you can now read any unprotected e-book in the EPUB file format with Microsoft Edge. When you open an unprotected e-book in Microsoft Edge, you will be taken into a customizable reading experience where you can change the font and text size and choose between 3 themes: light, sepia, and dark. As you read, you can leave bookmarks. To navigate through an e-book, you can use the table of contents or seek bar at the bottom of the browser. And you can also search for words or phrases and use Cortana to define specific words.
You can download and read unprotected e-books from places like Feedbooks, Project Gutenberg, Free eBooks (requires sign-up), ePubBooks (requires sign-up), Open Library and even our own Microsoft Press. Try out reading an e-book in Microsoft Edge and let us know what you think!
Bringing 3D to Everyone via the Paint 3D Preview app: Starting with this build and going forward, the Paint 3D Preview app is now included as part of Windows 10. Opening Paint from Start will now take you to the Paint 3D Preview app. Please try it out and let us know what you think we should improve or add next! Currently, Paint 3D Preview is only available in English (aka, regardless of your display language, the text will be in English) – support for other languages will be coming soon. Remix 3D Preview, the community counterpart to Paint 3D Preview, is expanding to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland for Windows Insiders today! Remix 3D Preview is currently only available in English but we will continue to expand our region and language support. You can check it out at Remix3D.com and from within the Paint 3D Preview app.
PowerShell in the Shell: In an effort to bring the best command line experiences to the forefront for all power users, PowerShell is now the defacto command shell from File Explorer. It replaces Command Prompt (aka, “cmd.exe”) in the WIN + X menu, in File Explorer’s File menu, and in the context menu that appears when you shift-right-click the whitespace in File Explorer. Typing “cmd” (or “powershell”) in File Explorer’s address bar will remain a quick way to launch the command shell at that location. For those who prefer to use Command Prompt, you can opt out of the WIN + X change by opening Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, and turning “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the Start button or press Windows key+X” to “Off”.
Fun fact! It’s PowerShell’s 10 year anniversary this week. Hop over to Channel 9to see some of the videos we’ve been sharing about it. If you’re looking to learn more about unleashing the “power” in PowerShell, this page is a great resource.
Improved Typing Experience with Japanese and Chinese Input Method Editors (IMEs): This build includes many improvements in this space – here are some of the highlights:
Improved Chinese IME reliability. In particular, we fixed an issue where the IME might crash due to an incompletely downloaded or corrupted dictionary file
In particular, we fixed an issue where the IME might crash due to an incompletely downloaded or corrupted dictionary file Improved Conversion Accuracy for the Japanese IME. We also fixed various issues, in particular, when conversion was used mixed with prediction, and an UX issue when trying to change phrase segmentation.
. We also fixed various issues, in particular, when conversion was used mixed with prediction, and an UX issue when trying to change phrase segmentation. Improved resource usage when typing with the Japanese IME. In particular, we fixed an issue that could result in unexpected graphic glitches after using the IME for an extended period of time.
Get Office (Beta): We’ve heard your feedback about the Get Office app, and today we’re happy to announce Get Office version 2.0 for Insiders in the Fast ring! (Well, technically, version 17.7614.2377.0). Whereas before Get Office was largely a collection of links to help you get started with Office, the new and improved app will help you explore and manage your Office experience. Easily discover and launch apps and see all your recent Office documents in one place! We still have the familiar help links, but we’ve redesigned the experience to make easier to find what you’re looking for. As you try out the new app, please log feedback – we’d love to hear your thoughts!William Hague to meet Ricardo Patino over WikiLeaks founder confined to embassy in London since August last year
Ecuador's foreign minister has arrived in Britain for talks with William Hague over the future of the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who has been confined to the Ecuadorean embassy in London for almost a year.
Ricardo Patino met Assange on Sunday and will meet Hague on Monday. On Wednesday it will be one year since the WikiLeaks founder walked into the embassy in Knightsbridge in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sex assault and rape accusations, which he denies.
In August last year, Ecuador granted him political asylum but the British authorities have made clear that he will be arrested if he leaves the building.
Patino said Assange was in "good spirits" despite the "limitations of his accommodation".
He added: "I was able to say face to face to him, for the first time, that the government of Ecuador remains firmly committed to protecting his human rights and that we continue to seek cast-iron assurances to avoid any onward extradition to a third state.
"During the meeting we were able to speak about the increasing threats against the freedom of people to communicate and to know the truth, threats which come from certain states that have put all of humanity under suspicion."
Since Assange entered the embassy, the Metropolitan police have maintained a round-the-clock guard, which cost £3.3m up to March.
Patino has previously accused the British government of trampling on the human rights of the Australian national by refusing to allow him to travel to Ecuador. Assange said last year he expected to wait six months to a year for a deal that would allow him to leave the embassy. On Sunday he said: "I remain immensely grateful to the support Ricardo, President [Rafael] Correa and the people of Ecuador have shown me over the last year."
He fears answering the allegations in Sweden would make him vulnerable to onward extradition to the US to face potential charges relating to the WikiLeaks releases, fears dismissed by Swedish prosecutors.Gladstone Institutes and Salk Institute researchers have assembled brain-wide maps of neurons that connect with the basal ganglia, a region of the brain involved in movement and decision-making.
Developing a better understanding of this region is important as it could inform research into disorders causing basal ganglia dysfunction, including Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
Team leaders Gladstone Investigator Anatol Kreitzer, PhD, and Salk Investigator Edward Callaway, PhD combined mouse models with a sophisticated tracing technique known as the monosynaptic rabies virus system.
“Taming and harnessing the rabies virus — as pioneered by Callaway — is ingenious in the exquisite precision that it offers compared with previous methods, which were messier with a much lower resolution,” explained Kreitzer, who is also an associate professor of neurology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, with which Gladstone is affiliated.
“We took the approach one step further by activating the tracer genetically, which ensures that it is only turned on in specific neurons in the basal ganglia. This is a huge leap forward technologically, as we can be sure that we’re following only the networks that connect to particular kinds of cells in the basal ganglia.”
At Gladstone, Kreitzer focuses his research on the role of the basal ganglia in Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders. Last year, he and his team published research that revealed clues to the relationship between two types of neurons found in the region — and how they guide both movement and decision-making.
These two types, called direct-pathway medium spiny neurons (dMSNs) and indirect-pathway medium spiny neurons (iMSNs), act as opposing forces. dMSNs initiate movement, like the gas pedal, and iMSNs inhibit movement, like the brake.
The latest research from the Kreitzer lab further found that these two types are also involved in decision-making behavior, and that a dysfunction of dMSNs or iMSNs is associated with addictive or depressive behaviors, respectively. These findings were important because they provided a link between the physical neuronal degeneration seen in movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s, and some of the disease’s behavioral aspects. But this study still left many questions unanswered, such as how other brain regions influenced the function of these two neuron types.
Tracing brain pathways
The monosynaptic rabies virus system uses a modified version of the rabies virus to “infect” a brain region, which in turn targets neurons that are connected to it. When the system was applied in genetic mouse models, the team could see specifically how sensory, motor, and reward structures in the brain connected to MSNs in the basal ganglia. And what they found was surprising.
“We noticed that some regions showed a preference for transmitting to dMSNs versus iMSNs, and vice versa,” said Kreitzer. “For example, neurons residing in the brain’s motor cortex tended to favor iMSNs, while neurons in the sensory and limbic systems preferred dMSNs. This fine-scale organization, which would have been virtually impossible to observe using traditional techniques, allows us to predict the distinct roles of these two neuronal types.”
“These initial results should be treated as a resource not only for decoding how this network guides the vast array of very distinct brain functions, but also how dysfunctions in different parts of this network can lead to different neurological conditions,” said Callaway. “If we can use the rabies virus system to pinpoint distinct network disruptions in distinct types of disease, we could significantly improve our understanding of these diseases’ underlying molecular mechanisms — and get even closer to developing solutions for them.”
This research was supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.Apple plans to issue bonds in Taiwan for the first time with the aim of raising $1 billion, sources familiar with the matter said, joining a queue of big global names that have sold billions of dollars on the island’s busy debt market.
Liquidity in the Taiwanese bond market is flush, with long-term buyers of debt, primarily life insurance firms, seeking creditworthy names and chasing higher yields. Blue-chip multinationals regularly issue dollar bonds of such size on the island, home to Apple’s supply chain.
In December, U.S. chipmaker Intel (intc) sold $915 million of 30-year bonds with yields of 4.7%. A month later, global brewer Anheuser Busch InBev (ahbif) issued a $1.47 billion bond of the same maturity at 4.915%, according to data from the Taipei Exchange, the island’s over-the-counter market.
Cash-rich and yield-hungry investors in Taiwan have made the island a haven for debt financing. These investors tend to hold through maturity, letting issuers lock in cheap pricing.
“Taiwan insurance companies don’t have enough good (quality) fixed-income investment targets,” said an official at a local securities house, declining to be identified as he was not authorized to talk to the media.
“But their funds continue to grow because in this low rate macro-environment. Consumers prefer to buy financial products offered by insurance companies rather than park money in a bank deposit,” he said.
The planned offering is likely to help Apple (aapl) secure solid partnership with its suppliers, analysts said. Taiwan is home to Apple’s massive supply chain that includes iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry (hnhpf), contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (tsm) and lens producer Largan Precision.
The U.S. dollar bonds will have a tenor of 30 years and be calleable after the second year, the sources told Reuters on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Apple declined to comment when asked about the plan.
So far this year, upwards of $16 billion in new U.S. dollar bonds have been issued, already more than half of the $29 billion in U.S. dollar bonds sold for all of 2015, OTC exchange data shows.
The OTC exchange, where corporate bonds can trade in the secondary market, said it was not aware of any plan by Apple to issue bonds. In Taiwan, bond issuers only need three days or less to notify the exchange before being listed.
Market participants have been looking at initial yields of around 4.2% to 4.3% on the planned Apple bonds, two of the sources said.
The island’s 30-year government bond, which is less liquid in the secondary market, was last quoted around 1.6475%.The Common Core national education standards are deeply unpopular with conservatives and left-leaning teachers unions. But since it's not a wedge issue, the Democratic Party has no idea how to exploit it for political gain.
Instead, the party is simply ignoring Common Core altogether, according to internal emails recently leaked by Wikileaks. Eric Walker, a communications director for the DNC, explicitly told staffers that they "should not be touching it at all." Here's the relevant section of his email:
Common Core is a political third rail that we should not be touching at all. Get rid of it. Most people want local control of education so having Cruz and Trump saying it on a DNC video is counterproductive. Would get rid of any references to that.
Common Core was a bipartisan reform first backed by the Bush administration and enthusiastically pushed by the Obama administration, which incentivized the states to adopt it. The standards themselves were birthed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal was to create a set of universal math and English standards, but critics contend that Common Core essentially creates a national curriculum—one that has been very poorly implemented.
Conservatives don't like to cede control over educational matters to the feds. But a lot of liberals don't like Common Core, either. That's because it requires teachers to prepare students for high-stakes standardized testing, which they claim undermines their autonomy within the classroom.
Donald Trump has promised to put an end to Common Core. Some states that have formally backed out of the standards actually continue to abide by them—they just don't refer to it as Common Core. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, supports Common Core, though it's clear we won't hear her talk about it anytime soon.August 15, 2014
The Mysterious Destroyed "Russian Armored Vehicles"
Yesterday the Guardian's Shaun Walker claimed to have seen Russian military vehicle crossing the Russian border into Ukraine. I wrote elsewhere that I am skeptical of that claim:
I'd be very careful in believing the stuff Shaun Walker writes. He was with the [aid-]convoy yesterday and the convoy is halted some 20-30 kilometer away from the border. How could he have observed the (not really well defined) border from there?
Said differently: The Guardian and Shaun Walker have certainly not be neutral in their reporting and publishing about the Ukraine conflict. There is no reason for the Russian army to invade Ukraine especially not in near an aid-convoy which is covered by dozens of "western" journalists.
But this afternoon the Ukrainian government claimed that its troops overnight had destroyed a some Russian vehicles:
Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, told David Cameron in a phone call on Friday that a column of Russian armoured vehicles had been destroyed.
Now everyone in the media is jumping from the Shaun Walker report to the destroyed "Russian armored vehicle" to claim that it was a Russian military convoy that was attacked and destroyed within Ukraine.
But all armored vehicles in Ukraine are "Russian armored vehicles" as they all were constructed during the Soviet times. All the 123 tanks and APC destroyed in this conflict, most of them from the Ukrainian army, were "Russian armored vehicles". The insurgents use such vehicles as does the Ukrainian army. So even if Poroshenko's claim is true, and there was no proof presented for it at all, there is actually nothing factual that lets one connect "Russian armored vehicles" to actual Russian army vehicles.
The Russian government asserts that no Russian army vehicles have entered Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has claimed for several month that a Russian invasion is imminent or already occurring and a lot of other nonsense. Unless there is additional evidence that actual Russian army vehicles really entered Ukraine I will rather believe the Russian government.
Posted by b on August 15, 2014 at 02:15 PM | Permalink
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next page »Right on the heels of publicly admitting that he has a serious alcohol addiction, former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson has made a few other astounding claims about his life. The Sydney Morning Herald leaked some juicy details from Tyson's new tell-all memoir, and they just may change the way fans view his volatile years in boxing. The 47 year old legend describes in sad detail his love of alcohol and drugs, dating all the way back to infancy, stating that he was given booze when he was a baby, and tried cocaine for the first time when he was just 11 years old.
Of particular interest are the revelations that he fought high on drugs for several of his high profile fights and went so far as using a fake penis filled with someone else's urine to pass his drug tests.
"I was a full-blown cokehead," Tyson says in Undisputed Truth.
He listed several instances where he was taking drugs right before fights, including bouts with Lou Savarese, Danny Williams and Andrew Golota. He also claims that he was high on cocaine before the infamous press conference with rival, Lennox Lewis that ended with Tyson biting Lewis' leg.
Among other shockers in the book, Tyson gives insight to "Herculean" mood swings, insatiable womanizing, and the mismanagement and ultimate squandering of his considerable fortune. There are stories of paying off a woman who had been bitten by his pet tiger, to the tune of $250,000.
"Iron Mike" still stands by his claims of innocence regarding the rape of Desiree Washington, and says that his punishment for the crime he was convicted of was unjust. He does, however, go on to reveal that his incarceration was a comfortable one, and that he often dined on lobster, and even had an affair with his drug counselor.
The Undisputed Truth by Mike Tyson will be published in Britain by HarperCollins on November 21.As the temperature is dropping outside I am less keen to spend a lot of time in the garden and I now have the perfect reason to stay inside and keep warm. The chicks are about to hatch!
my choices here) and the next forty-eight hours should see the arrival of our first chicks for 2017. At the tail end of last year I chose which breeds I would hatch for the first batch to add to our ever-changing flock (read about) and the next forty-eight hours should see the arrival of our first chicks for 2017.
I will update my blog as the hatch progresses, but I'll post more regular updates on Twitter, so if you want to see the news as it happens, please follow me on Twitter @Liz_Zorab or search for my hashtag #hatchwatch2017. The link on the right hand column of this blog should work (but with all things technical, I can't guarantee that I've set it up correctly!).
I wasn't expecting to see any progress today, they aren't due to begin hatching until tomorrow, but as so often happens one little chick seems extra-keen to enter the world and has already pipped. As I understand it, chicks need to break a hole in the membrane that is inside the egg, they then have a little air to breathe while they break a small hole in the shell. Often this appears as just a crack, but it seems to be enough to allow air into the egg for it to breathe (this is what is called pipping). Then over the next day or so it makes more and more holes in the shell in a line that eventually splits the eggshell into two and with some shoving and heaving it manages to push the two sections of shell apart and ta-da, it has hatched.
Alison's Animals) I could hear faint cheeping noises, so I knew that at least one chick was making a bid for freedom. If I'd thought more carefully about it, I could have invited Alison to come for a cuppa tomorrow so that she could watch them hatching too. For anyone who isn't familiar with the name, Alison is a well-known animal cartoon artist, you will probably have seen her work on placemats, calendars, cards and mugs. I am very impressed by folks who can draw as my hand/eye coordination is dreadful and so I appreciate what a great talent it is to have (and Alison is certainly very talented). Sitting in the kitchen over a cuppa and slice of cake with Alison (from) I could hear faint cheeping noises, so I knew that at least one chick was making a bid for freedom. If I'd thought more carefully about it, I could have invited Alison to come for a cuppa tomorrow so that she could watch them hatching too. For anyone who isn't familiar with the name, Alison is a well-known animal cartoon artist, you will probably have seen her work on placemats, calendars, cards and mugs. I am very impressed by folks who can draw as my hand/eye coordination is dreadful and so I appreciate what a great talent it is to have (and Alison is certainly very talented).
I'm sure that the temperature has dropped again this afternoon. As I was giving the birds some corn (I was wrapped up like a Michelin Man yet again) and the tree surgeon arrived with another trailer load of well composted wood chippings. Hopefully the weather will be warmer in after the weekend and I will be able to move some of the compost to the raised beds. In the meantime, I plan to spend as little time as possible outside and as much as possible sitting in the kitchen watching new life emerge from little eggshells. And to that end, I think it's time to put the kettle on and make a cuppa!
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Last July, at an amphitheatre in Holmdel, New Jersey, I watched thousands of people scream “nigga” at the tops of their lungs. The occasion was a Lil Wayne concert, where he’d just given the 17,500-strong crowd an order: “If you came to have a hell of a motherfucking time tonight, say, ‘Hell! Yeah! Nigga!’ ” A lot of people had evidently come to have a hell of a motherfucking time; that many were white didn’t stop them from using Wayne’s exact language to let him know.
Turning my head to see three tanned Jersey girls bellow “Hell yeah nigga!,” I was perplexed. The weight and sting of the word nigger derive from two interconnected levels of context: that which organizes each specific utterance of the word, and that which has accrued and clung to it over centuries of nasty history. At the Lil Wayne show, the first kind of context was dizzyingly hard to parse. During a moment of performed interactivity, a black rapper, on a stage, had commanded an audience including many nonblack fans to repeat a quasi-affectionate corruption (nigga) of a hateful word (nigger), that nonblack people are not supposed to use, much less holler with glee. How did all these twists and turns add up? Were the white fans who yelled “nigga” really speaking the word? Maybe Wayne was speaking through them, like a ventriloquist. Or maybe they were quoting Wayne’s usage, reading aloud from his script from within the borders of a linguistic neutral zone he’d created for them. Or maybe they should have just kept their mouths shut.
I was reminded of that concert last week when a message was published on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Twitter account that included the word “ni**a” (asterisks hers), prompting a small controversy. Paltrow, who is friends with Jay-Z, had attended a concert in Paris given by Jay-Z and Kanye West. The MCs have taken to playing their hit song “Niggas in Paris” over and over to close out their concerts, and in Paris they did it 11 times straight. The part of the Paltrow tweet that scandalized people read: “Ni**as in paris for real.” An attached photograph showed Paltrow on stage at the show with three men, indicated by the rest of the tweet to be R&B singer The-Dream and two Jay-Z affiliates, Ty Ty and Bee-High. After people objected to Paltrow’s wording, she tweeted a protest: “Hold up. It’s the title of the song!” (In a subsequent, and not entirely convincing, development, The-Dream took responsibility for the offending tweet, claiming to have sent it himself from Paltrow’s phone while intoxicated.)
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Lawyers for the prosecution, making the case that Paltrow was in the wrong, might point out that the title of the song is actually “Niggas in Paris,” and that, by removing the title from quotation marks and making it a phrase in a sentence, Paltrow had used the word nigga, not merely mentioned it, as her follow-up tweet claimed. In this reading, Paltrow effectively identified the black men pictured with her, along with Jay-Z and Kanye West (and maybe even herself?) as “niggas,” then suggested that this was justified because Jay and Kanye had used the word first. Nigga, ubiquitous in hip-hop, is a relatively softer and bendier word than nigger, but it is precisely this softness that is alarming, because white people risk mistaking the nonhurtful meaning it can carry deployed as an address between black speakers for a license to use it themselves.
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Lawyers for the defense might argue that the quotation marks were hanging implicitly over Paltrow’s tweet and, noting their client’s considerate use of asterisks, which is how the song title is often stylized, motion for dismissal. In this view, the correct, and fair, way to interpret Paltrow’s tweet is something like “ ‘Niggas in Paris’ in Paris, for real”—Paltrow’s only crime was attempting a less ungainly construction. It’s a high-stakes game of millimeters. Whichever side you pick, had Paltrow included the quotation marks in her tweet, I suspect it would have lessened, if not wholly mooted, the outcry.
The case is significant because “Niggas in Paris” is the most popular piece of Western culture to ever feature the word nigga so prominently. The song is a huge crossover hit with no combative, polarizing agenda, and this, along with its era, makes it distinct from, say, N.W.A’s |
that can accommodate the smaller cords. One of the best parts, however, is that after a long day on the rock, I can neatly flake my rope back into the pack without any of those annoying kinks and twists as with other auto-locking devices.
I’ve heard a lot of people say that a major drawback to the Cinch is when the climber is working out the moves on a route, and therefore weighting and unweighting the rope in quick succession. And initially I agreed. I found that when my climber said, “Okay, on me,” it sometimes took me a couple of extra seconds to “release” them. As it turns out I just needed to change my hand position slightly. Now that I’ve gotten accustomed to the Cinch, I don’t think a hangdog situation is any harder to manage with a Cinch than with a GriGri – it’s just different, and there’s a slight learning curve that most intelligent individuals can figure out pretty quickly.
I haven’t tried the Cinch in a multi-pitch situation yet, mostly because with a toddler on the ground, those opportunities don’t present themselves that often, but I do know several folks that are big Cinch fans even for big walls. As with a Grigri, you can only thread one strand through the device at a time, so unless you’re simul-rapping, you still have to carry an ATC – so I guess the biggest factor to consider in that situation is how much gear you want to carry up with you.
My Stance on Trad
It is true that any auto-locking device will put more force on your gear and give a “harder” catch, and for that reason many swear only by an ATC when it comes to trad climbing. But for me personally, as a small woman that is outweighed by all my climbing partners, and by my husband even twice as much, almost all of my catches take me off the ground, leaving me no choice but to provide a soft catch. So long as the rock quality is good and the gear is not ridiculously small (and thereby not rated at full strength in a fall), I think having an assisted brake for when I get launched sky high catching a whipper is more valuable than the slight amount of force shaved off with a non-auto-locking device. Less impact on good gear is a moot point if the belayer gets slammed into the wall and loses their brake hand.
The Bottom Line
In the interest of full disclosure I received my Cinch free of charge, but that didn’t affect this review in the least. I had plenty of belay devices already and certainly didn’t “need” another. I wholeheartedly believe that the Cinch is an excellent choice for all types of climbing, and in my opinion, is the best auto-locking device on the market right now. Not only does it perform better than its competition, but its lighter AND cheaper – so to me the choice is obvious! As another disclaimer, the Cinch (or any other belay device for that matter) will never replace an attentive and experienced belayer – just because the word “auto” is in there doesn’t mean your belayer can shift to auto-pilot, so choose both your belay device AND belayer wisely! Who else loves (or hates) a Cinch? Feel free to put in your two cents!Several TSA officers were caught up to no good recently. Twenty-one Transportation Security Administration officers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and an American Eagle employee were busted stealing employee parking passes.
An investigation began in March by the airport's Department of Public Safety after American Eagle reported that 129 parking passes were stolen from an office located in Terminal B, NBC reports.
The theft led to an elaborate scheme in which an American Eagle worker stole the cards and recruited TSA officers to sell them to co-workers for $100 each. The American Eagle worker is now charged with count of Class A misdemeanor theft.
"American Eagle has a zero-tolerance policy for this type of activity. We have worked closely with the DFW Airport Department of Public Safety to investigate this matter. The individual involved is no longer employed by American Eagle," an American Eagle spokesperson said.
One of the TSA officers accused of selling the parking passed was arrested and received a felony charge of theft or service. Another officer was also arrested on a Class A misdemeanor charge of theft of service in connection with multiple violations.
The other 19 TSA officers are being charged with a Class B misdemeanor theft of service as they were accused of using the passes without obtaining them properly. TSA officers at the airport are required to pay $102 every quarter to park in two employee parking lots. The stolen $100 parking passes were a better deal as they allowed the employees to park for a year.
The arrests were made over the weekend. The American Eagle employee has been fired and at least eight of the 21 TSA agents involved have been suspended indefinitely without pay.
See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018United’s defensive control
In order to disturb Chelsea’s usual possession, United set up to:
Allow Chelsea to make the first pass to the side before initiating pressure.
Press Chelsea in wide areas while blocking passes back inside; creating zones where they can sustain pressure.
Aggressively and tightly mark Chelsea’s forward passing options.
Have a spare man at the back and in midfield to provide cover to their pressing.
Their pressing of Chelsea would begin with United’s front two against Chelsea’s back three (as they did in the previous meeting). They were positioned either side of Luiz to allow them to quickly shift towards the first pass wide, while Pogba and Fellaini would move up to mark Chelsea’s central midfielders. Young and Valencia moved up to cover the wing-backs, and they would use Herrera and Darmian to mark Hazard and Pedro—leaving Costa between Bailly and Rojo.
As Chelsea moved the ball to the side, United shift across to press the ball and mark the options around the ball. In the following example Cahill gets the ball with back to play, but he is forced to turn and play forward with the ball as Lingard had previously pressured his pass back to Begovic. He passes to Hazard who is under immediate pressure (and is thus forced to play first time): Fellaini moves from Matic to continue pressure on the ball; Lingard pressures Kante from behind; and Rashford leaves Cahill to close down the space around Matic.
Along with the sustained pressure on the ball in these areas, United have cover from both Pogba in midfield (the far side midfielder would switch from man-to-man to zonal as the ball moved up the opposite wing) and Rojo in the backline.
United continued to cause problems for Chelsea’s possession by applying markers and pressure to Chelsea’s first forward pass to the feet of one of the front three coming short, while passes behind the defence were both matched and supported with cover (where they would slow down the attack, win the ball or foul the man on the ball).
When defending around their own box, United’s defenders had a numerical advantage, were aggressive to compete for the ball and make clearances, and marked Chelsea’s options in the box—such as Darmian following Pedro’s run across and Pogba following Kante back into the box.
The intensity and aggression of their central defenders was particularly important in the second half, where, upon the introduction of Fabregas, Chelsea began playing long passes behind the defence for Costa to compete for. Costa is very good at dominating these situations, especially in the box, and United’s central defenders were alert and strong to both follow the pass and prevent him from pushing past them with the ball to create an opportunity to shoot. Throughout the match the defenders also tried to provoke Costa in order to get him sent off or to put him off his game (as well as Costa doing the same to them).
Controlling Chelsea’s counter attacks
In addition to defending Chelsea’s possession, United dealt with the threat of Chelsea’s counter attacks very well, from both set pieces and when they lost possession in Chelsea’s half.
United maintained at least two players back around the halfway line on their own free kicks so that when, for example, Chelsea tried to counter from United’s free kick in the first half they were able to delay the attack, before the players that had been inside Chelsea’s box (for the free kick) were able to get back and win the ball. United also had numbers back on their corners: Valencia marked Hazard, Herrera was on the edge of the box by Pedro and both Darmian and Rojo were in midfield to provide cover.
When United lost the ball high in Chelsea’s half, the balance they had in possession (always maintaining four players behind the ball) allowed them to have a numerical advantage, while Herrera and Darmian would both be close to Hazard and Pedro to prevent them breaking freely, as well as pressuring them immediately if they were to receive the ball.
United with the ball
With the ball United would play long from De Gea, finding Fellaini in midfield (either centrally or moving to side). When he was able to win the first ball centrally he could flick the ball forward onto Chelsea backline, where Rashford and Lingard were quick to apply pressure to the second ball—resulting in an early chance for Rashford.
In possession, United maintained numbers in deep areas to keep stable possession and provide balance as they advanced. Valencia and Young would move up as the wingers; Herrera and Darmian would remain close to the backline in fullback positions; Rashford and Lingard moved wide and between the lines to receive the ball and look to advance in wide areas; and Pogba and Fellaini were free to move for the ball at the back and move forward into Chelsea’s half (moving wide in the final 3rd to support the wide striker and winger on the ball).
By advancing up the wings and taking the ball to the side of the box, United were able to create further problems for Chelsea. Even when Chelsea were able to win the ball out wide, they would be under pressure to clear the ball and forward options were blocked. From there United could recover the ball and look to quickly attack the box.
Sustained possession in these areas led to high crosses to the second post (Fellaini and Pogba making a arched runs around the back), where United could keep the ball in play even if the ball went over to the other side. Their second goal came at the end of just such a sequence of play with Pogba chasing down an overhit cross (from a free kick out wide) after Chelsea failed to get out of their own half for the first four minutes of the second half.
Finally the front two were important for counters in different ways. When they won the ball, they would always have Rashford finding space to run in behind Chelsea’s defence (both centrally and wide) to create immediate chances. His mobility gave him a big advantage over Chelsea’s defenders in these situations, and he continued to cause problems throughout. When the counters were delayed, Lingard was often there to receive and keep the ball for the team as support joined.
Conclusion
Similar to the pervious encounter, United were aggressive to press Hazard. But while Chelsea were able to cause problems in the last game was by consistently getting the ball to Hazard to keep testing United’s players pressuring him and draw a series of fouls—eventually leading to a red card—in this game, Chelsea made more errors when trying to play the ball forward from the back. United also held on to the ball for longer periods in the first half, further reducing the opportunities Chelsea had for getting the ball to Hazard. Later in the game United were prepared to defend their own half for long periods to maintain their lead, bringing Carrick on to prevent Chelsea having a numerical advantage in midfield, while also having threats to counter when they won the ball.In March this year ShapeShift, the cryptocurrency conversion service, was swindled out of around $200,000 USD worth of BTC/ETH/LTC. A chunk of that money - 315 BTC - has been sitting at the same address since it was stolen. Until last week…
The story behind the hack is fascinating, more so because of the transparency with which ShapeShift – via CEO Erik Voorhees – shared intimate details of the attack. It turns out to have been an inside job: funds were initially stolen by an employee, then more was stolen by a hacker to whom this employee had sold sensitive company information.
Luckily, ShapeShift does not hold any funds on behalf of users so it was ‘only’ company money that was stolen which helped to insulate them from much negative fallout.
I highly recommend reading the article “Looting of the Fox: The Story of Sabotage at ShapeShift” written by Erik Voorhees about the hack, it’s totally worth it: https://news.bitcoin.com/looting-fox-sabotage-shapeshift/
If reading isn’t your thing you could listen to the interview the Epicenter Bitcoin guys did with Erik Voorhees shortly after this all went down: https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/epicenter-bitcoin-130-erik-voorhees-fooling-the-fox-the-story-of-the-shapeshift-hack
Voorhees describes the initial theft by a recently hired company employee, ‘Bob’, of 315 BTC and even shares the address to which the stolen coins were sent.
I checked out the address on Blockchain.info yesterday and noticed that someone (presumably Bob, or someone connected to Bob) had moved funds from that address on 30th June. The money moved four times over two days. The end result? Around 35 BTC (~24K USD) was moved to other addresses and the remaining 278 BTC is now sitting in a new address. You can view the transactions yourself by following the money from the initial address here:
https://blockchain.info/address/1LchKFYxkugq3EPMoJJp5cvUyTyPMu1qBR
I did some searching and haven’t found any mention of this online yet. Not sure if ‘Bob’ has been apprehended, if he’s still ‘on the run’ and trying to get some cash to fund his new life on the lam, if the ShapeShift guys somehow managing to get their hands on some of the loot, or if there’s more to the story than has been shared so far...
It seems the story is not over. I wonder if we'll hear anything else on this from the ShapeShift team?Sambalpur, March 17: The public health engineering department (PHED) will launch a door-to-door campaign to urge residents to regularise illegal water supply connection.
Executive engineer of the department M.R. Nanda said: "Our staff will visit every house that has an illegal water connection with a letter urging them to regularise it. An application form will also be given to them along with the letter. If anybody wants to take the step, he can fill up the form and give it to our staff. He will later be called to deposit required amount to legalise the connection,"
The PHED is also organising fair at different parts of the city to appeal to the households to regularise the illegal water connection.
So far, three Jala Sanjoga Mela have been organised at different parts of the city. More than 200 people regularised their illegal connection at these fairs.
"We will continue holding such event at different parts of the city. At the same time, we will also issue letter to every households. Residents, who have not been able to regularise their connections at the fairs, will get an opportunity to do it when our staff visit them," said Nanda.
The decision to launch a drive to regularise the illegal water connection was taken after the district administration and the PHED had a tough time identifying the leakages in drinking water pipes after the outbreak of the jaundice in the city.
Reports said Sambalpur has about 42,000 households of which, only 12,500 households have legal water connection.
"This is a welcome move. Several people, who want to regularise their connection, will be able to do it," said a resident, BIjaya Sahu.Mark Duffy has written the Copyranter blog for 10 years and is a freelancing copywriter with 20-plus years of experience. His hockey wrist shot is better than yours.
The Internet has killed the agency star.
There have been plenty of recent posts declaring that “traditional” advertising is dying or dead. But most of them were wishful-thinking pieces written by digital businesspeople benefiting financially from its demise.
This guy (warning: buzzwords out the wazoo) says it’s dead because “digital” has lowered the barrier “to create quality content and clients (are) amenable to hearing ideas from anyone.”
This guy (again, warning: buzzword barrage) says, “… the reason is simple: Consumers want, and expect, to be heard.”
Ahead of the curve, Wired in 1994 asked, “Is Advertising Dead?” In the article, the writer predicted that during the 2015 Super Bowl, you would be given a choice as to what commercials you wanted to watch, and then computers aided by satellites would instantly create a customized spot set right in your neighborhood: a bit over-ambitious, but not that far from the truth, a truth that is just a few years away.
Dan Wieden, the de facto spokesperson for traditional advertising says that the digital revolution “will transform us or render us inert.”
At this point, “inert” is winning.
Big-agency profits are dropping. This will continue and accelerate in the next five years. Digital “content” spending continues to rise sharply. At the same time, ad blocking is also rising exponentially. It’s the end of the advertising world as we know it: how do we feel?
Oh, the big agencies are half-assedly trying to stay relevant by haphazardly hiring “digital native” creatives. And these young writers and designers are subsequently walking right back out the revolving doors when they discover that these agencies headed by old white men are completely clueless. The good ones are then eagerly gobbled up by digital shops and in-house creative studios.
And these digital shops and studios keep telling us that millennials don’t want to be “sold” product benefits; they want brands to be less “brandy.” Brands need to create “human” “engaging” content without worrying about whether it increases revenue (WHAT?) because Gen Y is too savvy to be pitched to.
Therefore, more and more, what’s being created is — not “ads” — but films, docuseries, events, journalism-vertising, crowdsourced stories, etc. “Authentic storytelling” is the new image advertising. Here we are now: entertain us (without selling us). And the digital agencies are very eager to produce this content — because it’s easy to create ads that don’t sell.
Many brands are all-in on this non-selling “authentic” movement, because they are getting millions of views (fraudulent views, shhh).
Authentic storytelling is not a new thing. This classic DDB VW commercial from 1964 was authentic, entertaining and — look at that — sold the Hell out of the car.
But producing content that’s authentic, entertaining, informative and sells is difficult, and it takes time. And this generation greatly dislikes things that are hard and time-consuming.
What’s an old-school creative to do then? Well, you still have the mystical “Big Idea” phenomenon in your quiver — but good luck finding clients willing to wait for it, pay for it and, most importantly, believe in it.
Creative directors? You’re as good as dead, too. You better get yourself a back-up plan, quickly. Maybe create a Big Idea app?Do you smell that? Take a big sniff of the air. Does it smell like football season?
Okay, it may still feel like summer here in Southern California, but football season is indeed upon us! The Packers and Seahawks kick off the NFL season tonight, and once again the San Diego Chargers close out opening weekend by playing in the final game of a Monday Night Football double-header.
The Chargers and Cardinals may not be playing tonight, but that doesn't mean it's too early to kick off a conversation with the fine folks over at Revenge of the Birds. Just how well do you know the Arizona Cardinals? Sure we just saw them a week ago in the final preseason game, but that was a completely different team than the one the Chargers will see on Monday night.
Watch as the conversation between our own Richard Wade and Revenge of the Birds' Jess Root unfolds live and in real-time. Feel free to participate in the comments below!Stocks finished lower on Friday after a report that Michael Flynn was directed by President Trump to talk to Russians sent investors on a wild ride.
ABC News reported that Flynn, the former national security adviser, would testify that he was directed to make contact with Russians during the presidential campaign in 2016. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his postelection contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.
ABC said later in an updated report that Flynn will say Trump asked him to make contact with Russia "initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria."
In a statement, Flynn said he agreed to "cooperate with the Special Counsel's Office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country."
"If you believe the market has been rallying in the last 13 months [on Trump, this report] potentially unravels all of that," said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities. "Markets don't like uncertainty and this is the ultimate uncertainty."
The major averages hit their session lows on the report, with the Dow Jones industrial average briefly dropping 350.45 points before closing 40.76 points lower at 24,231.59.
View Related ChartIn this post we're going to go through an explanation and tutorial of IAM policies. The long, deep, dark of AWS documentation can sometimes (understatement) overcomplicate concepts. In fact, it's so generally overly wordy and jumbled, and of course this is all my opinion, that it results in a ton of copy-paste mania.
I've tried my best to keep it brief and simple in order to reduce the pain that we'll all inevitably deal with while diving deep into docs. However, since it's such a wide topic, its still a bit longer than I wanted. I do have a nice tl;dr at the end though that will hopefully hit the pure basics and be useful as a reference.
Let's look at what we'll be covering:
Table of Contents:
In the beginning... there is the natural, general flow of working with IAM policies (of which I am guilty of):
develop app feature deploy to AWS realize you need IAM get overwhelmed by docs fall asleep trying to read the docs begin copy and pasting example policies to fit your app bashing your head and fingers against the keyboard until it works
Not a good pattern right?
So let's just break it all down into one simple statement.
What is an AWS IAM Policy?
A set of rules that, under the correct conditions, define what actions the policy principal or holder can take to specified AWS resources.
That still sounds a bit stiff. How about:
Who can do what to which resources. When do we care?
There we go. Let's break down the simple statement even more:
The "Who":
"Who" is trying to do stuff? This can be a User, Groups of users and "roles.".
The first two are self-explanatory. The last one is just allows us to let other things, like EC2 servers, become the "Who."
(We can also allow for federated users to be the "who" but we won't dive into that.)
The "What":
"What" actions can the "Who" take? Run EC2 instances? Put objects to S3? Put logs to cloud watch?
The "Which":
"What" actions can the "Who" take on "Which" resources?
So the "Who" can put and get objects to S3? But to which S3 buckets? All of them? Only ones in us-east-1?
The "When":
When do we care? If the IP matches a certain range of IPs? If the date-time is before a particular day? If the AWS user's username includes the string "cheese"?
Let's translate our simple statement over to one that follows AWS's policy language now.
A Simple Policy Example:
{ "Version": "2012-10-17", "Id": "some-unique-id", "Statement": { "Sid": "1", "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": {"AWS": "arn:aws:iam::111222333444:user/colonel"}, "Action": [ "s3:PutObject", "s3:Get*" ], "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::kfc-bucket/*", "Condition": { "DateGreaterThan": { "aws:CurrentTime": "2017-02-28T00:00:00Z" } } } }
"Version" - There's only two verisons - 2012-10-17 and 2008-10-17. Always use the newest.
"Id" (optional) - Suggested to be a uuid. Required by some services, but not by many. We won't use this property in our examples.*
"Statement" - Remember: who can do what to which resources... and when. This is the meat of Policies. This can be one of those statements or an array of many.
Everything else is inside of a statement.
"Sid" (optional) - an ID for each of the individual statements. Optional and isn't even exposed in the IAM API, so we won't do cover this.*
"Effect" - Either Allow or Deny. If we used Deny in the above example, it would just flip the policy. We would deny the user colonel from getting and putting objects to the kfc-bucket. That would be sad.
"Principal" - The "Who." In this example we specify the ARN, Amazon Resource Name (unique AWS id of a resource), of the IAM user colonel.
"Action" - The "What." The two actions in our example are s3:PutObject and s3:Get*. They perform any action that begins with the characters Get (i.e. GetObject, GetBucket, etc) and put things to/from S3.
"Resource" - The "Which." Which resource they can do "what" to, is anything in the bucket kfc-bucket.
"Condition" - The conditions that must present for this policy to be relevant, is when the current date is greater than Feb 28, 2017 (when US East 1 went down).
Even though there are a number of properties, 99% of the time will be spent on "Principal", "Action", "Resource" and "Condition". Because of this, that will be our main focus.
Let's walk through these primary sections.
For IAM Users and Roles, we just grab its ARN (found in the IAM console or returned in the CLI) and follow the format of:
"Principal": {"AWS": "<ARN OF YOUR IAM USER OR ROLE BUT NOT GROUPS>"}
So groups don't work. Kind of frustrating. I'm sure there's a good reason for it, but we'll talk about how to use policies on groups later on.
For AWS services:
"Principal": { "Service": "ec2.amazonaws.com" }
This allows an AWS service as the Principal. In this case our "who" is the EC2 service. Anytime we want another AWS resource to do something for us independently, we need to give it permissions i.e. a EC2 server putting objects to S3.
Note: ec2.amazonaws.com is just AWS's "friendly" name to specify EC2 as a service.
We can also use an array to specify multiple Principal s. For example:
"Principal": { "AWS": [ "<Arn of user 1>", "<Arn of user 2>" ] }
NOW. HUGE Gotcha. If we're making and attaching policies to IAM users, groups and roles, the principal (or Who) isn't needed. That's because when you attach a policy to an IAM user for example, the policy assumes that the user who we've attached the policy to is the principal.
But... why is there a Principal field then? Even though the majority of our policies are attached to IAM users, groups and roles, they're also used in places without these assumptions. The most common ones are: S3 buckets, Glacier, SNS, SQS and AWS Role Trust Policies.
In fact, if you've done anything with S3, you've seen the infamous "Bucket Policy." Those are just policies! And they're the type where we need to specify the principal. The main difference on those is that the only resource or "which" that they care about is the bucket the policy is on.
Before we move on, I mentioned that groups can't be specified as principals. Well, as we just mentioned, the principal is implied on IAM users and groups. Therefore, if we wanted a group to be the principal, just attach a policy to the group and the principal will be assumed to be the group. I bring this up just in case you try and specify a group ARN an on an S3 bucket policy, it won't work.
The "Who" Users vs The "Who" Resources
What's the difference between attaching a policy to an IAM user vs a resource like an S3 bucket?
The easiest way to explain the difference here is to use this analogy:
If the policy is attached to the user, group or role it's like a permission slip. If it's attached to the resource, it's like a VIP list.
If it's with the user, just imagine the user colonel walking around with a permission slip. He shows up to a resource, we'll call kfc-bucket, and requests objects. To determine permissions we look at the slip, and he gets the objects or doesn't. Since the slip is with the user, we don't need to know who it applies to, obviously it's for the user.
If it's with the resource, then imagine colonel walking around with nothing. Instead, the permission slip is on the kfc-bucket. When colonel shows up to the kfc-bucket, we check the permission slip on the bucket and that's where we determine if he gets the objects or not. Since the slip is with the resource, we need to know who is allowed in or not, therefore we need to specify the principal s.
AWS Roles and Principal s
Even though IAM users and groups imply a "who" on their permission policy, IAM roles do so only after we've specified the who via a "Trust Policy." Therefore, when creating a role we have to pass it these two separate policy documents:
1) The "Trust Policy" is a policy that does nothing more than state "who" can assume this role. Yes, they look exactly like normal policies.
2) The Permissions Policy is just what we've shown so far. "What" actions can the owner of this role take to "which" resources?
IF we're creating IAM roles in the console, guess what? We don't really worry about the first policy. Instead, when creating a role we select a service that will serve as the who:
This sets up that first "trust policy" document for us. Then we attach a policy to the role like we would a user or group.
For the CLI (or CloudFormation) however, we have to do both steps. Let's say we want to create a role for AWS CodePipeline. To do so we first need to create the role with the following "trust policy":
{ "Version":"2012-10-17", "Statement": { "Effect":"Allow", "Principal": { "Service": "codepipeline.amazonaws.com" }, "Action":"sts:AssumeRole" } }
This should look familiar because it's just another policy. The differences are that it has the principal pointing to the CodePipeline service and allows the action of assuming a role. This points out the fact that to use a role, a service (i.e. CodePipeline) must have the permission to do so.
The CLI call for this would be:
aws iam create-role --role-name CodePipelineExampleRole \ --assume-role-policy-document '{"Version":"2012-10-17","Statement":{"Effect":"Allow","Principal":{"Service":"codepipeline.amazonaws.com"},"Action":"sts:AssumeRole"}}'
And NOW we can go about attaching policies for permissions like normal.
aws iam put-role-policy --role-name CodePipelineExampleRole \ --policy-name CodePipelineExamplePolicy \ --policy-document file://some-policy.json
note: you can pass json files to the CLI like above
some-policy.json might be something like:
{ "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": [ "codebuild:BatchGetBuilds", "codebuild:StartBuild" ], "Resource": "*" }, //.. more policy statements ] }
So TL;DR steps for roles:
1) Attach a trust policy - What service can assume this role? aka take the action sts:AssumeRole
2) Attach the permissions policy - "What" actions can the owner of this role take to "which" resources?
Making The "Who" aka Principal In a Nutshell (TL;DR)
If we're attaching the policy to an IAM User or Group - no action other than attaching the policy to said user or group is needed. The "Who" or principal is assumed to be the User or Group.
If we're attaching the policy to a Resource - like an S3 bucket, the "Who" or principal needs to be specified. It can be ARNs of users, roles; AWS services like ec2.amazon.com ; or even other AWS Accounts.
If we're attaching the policy to a Role - we specify the "Who" or principal by attaching a "trust policy" that says who can assume the role. From there we attach the normal permission policies, WITHOUT a principal, and the "Who" is determined by the trust policy.
What can our principal do? We've already seen some of the actions in action (ha). From our original example:
{ "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": { "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": {"AWS": "arn:aws:iam::111222333444:user/colonel"}, "Action": [ "s3:PutObject", "s3:Get*" ], "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::kfc-bucket/*", "Condition": { "DateGreaterThan": { "aws:CurrentTime": "2017-02-28T00:00:00Z" } } } }
The actions are any action that begins with Get and PutObjects with respect to S3.
The format of action is a string or array of actions that take the format of:
<service>:<action in service>
Examples are:
"Action": [ "codecommit:GetBranch", "s3:GetObject", "lambda:InvokeFunction" ]
Actions like the above specify exact actions the policy refers to.
Some examples using the wildcard character:
"Action": [ "ec2:*", "s3:Get*", "cloudformation:*", ]
In these, the wildcard represents anything. So for the s3:Get* that would apply to any action that begins with the string Get.
This is where it can be a bit overwhelming. Where do you find all of these actions? How do you know what you're policy needs?? There's so many!
To answer the first question, use this link:
List of all actions by services
Once on this list, select the service your interested in getting action s for. At the top of the page there will be an "Actions for." This is a list of all action s that can be used in IAM Policies.
For the second question, this is dependent upon your application, infrastructure and specific needs. What actions are needed specifically? To be completely honest, this is going to take some diligence, trial and error until you become more familiar with the relationships between actions.
Making The "What" aka Actions in Nutshell (TL;DR)
Figure out what actions are needed for your services. Find the exact name of these actions and add them to the Action section. Use this link to ID the actions If unsure of what the needs are and have a safe AWS development environment, keep the actions general (via the wildcard * operator) and then cherry pick the ones you need when the service is fully built.
Which Resource can our Principal take Action on? It's our target. The most general target of all is just:
"Resource": "*"
This means everything. Apply this to EVERYTHING. And obviously that's not good. Maybe we want to make it for just EC2 services in US East 1:
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1::*"
Maybe we want it for an exact S3 bucket:
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:us-east-1:111222333444:kfc-bucket"
This would map to the bucket kfc-bucket that is in us-east-1 belonging to the AWS Account with an ID of 111222333444.
Maybe we want any S3 bucket or Ec2 resource in US West 2:
"Resource": [ "arn:aws:ec2:us-west-2::*", "arn:aws:s3:us-west-2::*" ]
Quick aside - the anatomy of an ARN, Amazon Resource Name, is as follows
arn:aws:[service]:[region]:[account]:resourceType/resourcePath
We can also leverage the concept of Policy Variables to make these ARNs even more dynamic. Suppose we want to allow get/put to a folder named after the current IAM user in a bucket called userbucket :
{ "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Action": [ "s3:GetObject", "s3:PutObject" ], "Effect": "Allow", "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::userbucket/${aws:username}/*" } ] }
The ${aws:username}, and all policy variables, are data that are sent up with requests. There's a variety of them like aws:CurrentTime or aws:SourceIp. A full list is here:
Policy Variables List
A note on resource in context of S3. IAM policies can imply the "who" or the prinicpal when we attach a policy to them. One might think that a bucket would imply the resource be itself. However, it doesn't. When attaching a policy to an S3 bucket (aka bucket policy), we must still specify the resource, which is always the S3 bucket optionally followed by nested folders/objects within.
Making The "Which" aka Resource in a Nutshell (TL;DR)
Get the ARN or ARNs that you'd like the policy to apply to and specify them in the Resource property. Leverage wildcards and policy variables to target more general sets of resources.
"When" can our Prinicpal take actions on a resource? When conditions permit.
In |
the affair. Elizabeth is disconcerted to learn her husband was alone with Abigail. She believes John still lusts after Abigail and tells him that as long as he does, he will never redeem himself.
Mary Warren enters and gives Elizabeth a 'poppet' (doll-like puppet) that she made in court that day while sitting as a witness. Angered that Mary is neglecting her duties, John threatens to beat her. Mary retorts that she saved Elizabeth's life that day, as Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft and was to be arrested until Mary spoke in her defense. Mary refuses to identify Elizabeth's accuser, but Elizabeth surmises accurately that it must have been Abigail. She implores John to go to court and tell the judges that Abigail and the rest of the girls are pretending. John is reluctant, fearing that doing so will require him to publicly reveal his past adultery.
Reverend Hale arrives, stating that he is interviewing all the people named in the proceedings, including Elizabeth. He mentions that Rebecca Nurse was also named, but admits that he doubts her a witch due to her extreme piousness, though he emphasizes that anything is possible. Hale is skeptical about the Proctors' devotion to Christianity, noting that they do not attend church regularly and that their second child has not yet been baptized; John replies that this is because he has no respect for Parris. Challenged to recite the Ten Commandments, John fatefully forgets "thou shalt not commit adultery". When Hale questions her, Elizabeth is angered that he does not question Abigail first. Unsure of how to proceed, Hale prepares to take his leave. At Elizabeth's urging, John tells Hale he knows that the girl's afflictions are fake. When Hale responds that many of the accused have confessed, John points out that they were bound to be hanged if they did not; Hale reluctantly acknowledges this point.
Suddenly, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse enter the house and inform John and Hale that both of their wives have been arrested on charges of witchcraft; Martha Corey for reading suspicious books and Rebecca Nurse on charges of sacrificing children. A posse led by clerk Ezekiel Cheever and town marshal George Herrick arrive soon afterwards and present a warrant for Elizabeth's arrest, much to Hale's surprise. Cheever picks up the poppet on Elizabeth's table and finds a needle inside. He informs John that Abigail had a pain-induced fit earlier that evening and a needle was found stuck into her stomach; Abigail claimed that Elizabeth stabbed her with the needle through witchcraft, using a poppet as a conduit. John brings Mary into the room to tell the truth; Mary asserts that she made the doll and stuck the needle into it, and that Abigail saw her do so. Cheever is unconvinced and prepares to arrest Elizabeth.
John becomes greatly angered, tearing the arrest warrant to shreds and threatening Herrick and Cheever with a musket until Elizabeth calms him down and surrenders herself. He calls Hale a coward and asks him why the accusers' every utterance goes unchallenged. Hale is conflicted, but suggests that perhaps this misfortune has befallen Salem because of a great, secret crime that must be brought to light. Taking this to heart, John orders Mary to go to court with him and expose the other girls' lies, and she protests vehemently. Aware of John's affair, she warns him that Abigail is willing to expose it if necessary. John is shocked but determines the truth must prevail, whatever the personal cost.
Act Three
The third act takes place thirty-seven days later in the General Court of Salem, during the trial of Martha Corey. Francis and Giles desperately interrupt the proceedings, demanding to be heard. The court is recessed and the men thrown out of the main room, reconvening in an adjacent room. John Proctor arrives with Mary Warren and they inform Deputy Governor Danforth and Judge Hathorne about the girls' lies. Danforth then informs an unaware John that Elizabeth is pregnant, and promises to spare her from execution until the child is born, hoping to persuade John to withdraw his case. John refuses to back down and submits a deposition signed by ninety-one locals attesting to the good character of Elizabeth, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. Herrick also attests to John's truthfulness as well.
The deposition is dismissed by Parris and Hathorne as illegal. Rev. Hale criticizes the decision and demands to know why the accused are forbidden to defend themselves. Danforth replies that given the "invisible nature" of witchcraft, the word of the accused and their advocates cannot be trusted. He then orders that all ninety-one persons named in the deposition be arrested for questioning. Giles Corey submits his own deposition, accusing Thomas Putnam of forcing his daughter to accuse George Jacobs in order to buy up his land (as convicted witches have to forfeit all of their property.) When asked to reveal the source of his information, Giles refuses, fearing that he or she will also be arrested. When Danforth threatens him with arrest for contempt, Giles argues that he cannot be arrested for "contempt of a hearing." Danforth then declares the court in session and Giles is arrested.
John submits Mary's deposition, which declares that she was coerced to accuse people by Abigail. Abigail denies Mary's assertions that they are pretending, and stands by her story about the poppet. When challenged by Parris and Hathorne to 'pretend to be possessed', Mary is too afraid to comply. John attacks Abigail's character, revealing that she and the other girls were caught dancing naked in the woods by Rev. Parris on the night of Betty Parris' alleged 'bewitchment'. When Danforth begins to question Abigail, she claims that Mary has begun to bewitch her with a cold wind and John loses his temper, calling Abigail a whore. He confesses their affair, says Abigail was fired from his household over it and that Abigail is trying to murder Elizabeth so that she may "dance with me on my wife's grave."
Danforth brings Elizabeth in to confirm this story, beforehand forbidding anyone to tell her about John's testimony. Unaware of John's public confession, Elizabeth fears that Abigail has revealed the affair in order to discredit John and lies, saying that there was no affair, and that she fired Abigail out of wild suspicion. Hale begs Danforth to reconsider his judgement, now agreeing Abigail is "false", but to no avail; Danforth throws out this testimony based solely upon John's earlier assertion that Elizabeth would never tell a lie.
Confusion and hysteria begin to overtake the room. Abigail and the girls run about screaming, claiming Mary's spirit is attacking them in the form of a yellow bird, which nobody else is able to see. When Danforth tells the increasingly distraught Mary that he will sentence her to hang, she joins with the other girls and recants all her allegations against them, claiming John Proctor forced her to turn her against the others and that he harbors the devil. John, in despair and having given up all hope, declares that "God is dead", and is arrested. Furious, Reverend Hale denounces the proceedings and quits the court.
Act Four
Act Four takes place three months later in the town jail, early in the morning. Tituba, sharing a cell with Sarah Good, appears to have gone insane from all of the hysteria, hearing voices and now actually claiming to talk to Satan. Marshal Herrick, depressed at having arrested so many of his neighbors, has turned to alcoholism. Many villagers have been charged with witchcraft; most have confessed and been given lengthy prison terms and their property seized by the government; twelve have been hanged; seven more are to be hanged at sunrise for refusing to confess, including John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. Giles Corey was tortured to death by pressing as the court tried in vain to extract a plea; by holding out, Giles ensured that his sons would receive his land and possessions. The village has become dysfunctional with so many people in prison or dead, and with the arrival of news of rebellion against the courts in nearby Andover, whispers abound of an uprising in Salem. Abigail, fearful of the consequences, steals Parris's life savings and disappears on a ship to England with Mercy Lewis.
Danforth and Hathorne have returned to Salem to meet with Parris, and are surprised to learn that Hale has returned and is meeting with the condemned. Parris, who has lost everything to Abigail, reports that he has received death threats. He begs Danforth to postpone the executions in order to secure confessions, hoping to avoid executing some of Salem's most well-regarded citizens. Hale, deeply remorseful and blaming himself for the hysteria, has returned to counsel the condemned to falsely confess and avoid execution. He presses Danforth to pardon the remaining seven and put the entire affair behind them. Danforth refuses, stating that pardons or postponement would cast doubt on the veracity of previous confessions and hangings.
Danforth and Hale summon Elizabeth and ask her to persuade John to confess. She is bitter towards Hale, both for doubting her earlier and for wanting John to give in and ruin his good name, but agrees to speak with her husband, if only to say goodbye. She and John have a lengthy discussion, during which she commends him for holding out and not confessing. John says he is refusing to confess not out of religious conviction but through contempt for his accusers and the court. The two finally reconcile, with Elizabeth forgiving John and saddened by the thought that he cannot forgive himself and see his own goodness. Knowing in his heart that it is the wrong thing for him to do, John agrees to falsely confess to engaging in witchcraft, deciding that he has no desire or right to be a martyr.
Danforth, Hathorne, and a relieved Parris ask John to testify to the guilt of the other hold-outs and the executed. John refuses, saying he can only report on his own sins. Danforth is disappointed by this reluctance, but at the urging of Hale and Parris, allows John to sign a written confession, to be displayed on the church door as an example. John is wary, thinking his verbal confession is sufficient. As they press him further John eventually signs, but refuses to hand the paper over, stating he does not want his family and especially his three sons to be stigmatized by the public confession. The men argue until Proctor renounces his confession entirely, ripping up the signed document. Danforth calls for the sheriff and John is led away, to be hanged. Facing an imminent rebellion, Putnam and Parris frantically run out to beg Proctor to confess. Hale, guilty over John's death, pleads with Elizabeth to talk John around but she refuses, stating John has "found his goodness".
Characters (in order of appearance)
Influence and originality
During the McCarthy era, German-Jewish novelist and playwright Lion Feuchtwanger became the target of suspicion as a left-wing intellectual during his exile in the US. In 1947 Feuchtwanger wrote a play about the Salem witch trials, Wahn oder der Teufel in Boston (Delusion, or The Devil in Boston), as an allegory for the persecution of communists, thus anticipating the theme of The Crucible by Arthur Miller; Wahn premiered in Germany in 1949. It was translated by June Barrows Mussey and performed in Los Angeles in 1953 under the title The Devil in Boston.
Casts
Historical accuracy
In 1953, the year the play debuted, Miller wrote, "The Crucible is taken from history. No character is in the play who did not take a similar role in Salem, 1692."[14] This does not appear to be accurate as Miller made both deliberate changes and incidental mistakes. Abigail Williams' age was increased from 11 or 12[15] to 17, probably to add credence to the backstory of Proctor's affair with Abigail. John Proctor himself was 60 years old in 1692, but portrayed as much younger in the play, for the same reason.[16][17]
Miller claimed, in A note on the historical accuracy of this play, that "while there were several judges of almost equal authority, I have symbolized them all in Hathorne and Danforth".[16] However, this conflates Danforth with the historical and extremely influential figure of William Stoughton, who is not a character and is only briefly mentioned in the play. Both men were subsequent Deputy Governors, but it was Stoughton (who, alone among the judges, was a bachelor who never married[18]) who ordered further deliberations after the jury initially acquitted Rebecca Nurse. He refused to ever acknowledge that the trials had been anything other than a success, and was infuriated when Governor Phips (whose own wife, somehow, had been named as a possible witch) ended the trials for good and released the prisoners.[19]
Danforth did not sit on the Court of Oyer and Terminer. In fact he is recorded as being critical of the conduct of the trials, and played a role in bringing them to an end.[20] In the play, Thomas and especially Ann Putnam are disconsolate over the fact that only one of their children has survived to adolescence. In real life, the Putnams (who both died in 1699) were survived by ten of their twelve children, including Ann Jr. Thomas Putnam's conduct during the witch trial hysteria has been amply documented to have been almost entirely due to financial motivations and score-settling, something the play only makes reference to after introducing the Putnams' fictional deceased offspring as part of the plot narrative.[21][22]
In the 1953 essay, Journey to The Crucible, Miller writes of visiting Salem and feeling like the only one interested in what really happened in 1692.[23] Many of Miller's characters were based on people who had little in the public record other than their statements from the trials, but others survived to expand, recant, or comment on the role they played at Salem, including jurors, accusers, survivors, and judges.[24] Rev. Parris issued his first in a series of apologies on November 26, 1694, and was removed from his position in 1697.[25] In 1698, Hale finished composing a lengthy essay about Salem that was reprinted by Burr in 1914.[26]
Language of the period
The play's action takes place 70 years after the community arrived as settlers from Britain. The people on whom the characters are based would have retained strong regional dialects from their home country. Miller gave all his characters the same colloquialisms, such as "Goody" or "Goodwife", and drew on the rhythms and speech patterns of the King James Bible to achieve the effect of historical perspective he wanted.[1]
Title
Miller originally called the play Those Familiar Spirits[27] before renaming it as The Crucible. The word "crucible" is defined as a severe test or trial; alternately, a container in which metals or other substances are subjected to high temperatures. The characters whose moral standards prevail in the face of death, such as John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse, symbolically refuse to sacrifice their principles or to falsely confess.
Adaptations
Film
Opera
The play was adapted by composer Robert Ward as an opera, The Crucible, which was first performed in 1961 and received the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music[29] and the New York Music Critics' Circle Award.[30]
Television
The play has been presented several times on television. One notable 1968 production starred George C. Scott as John Proctor, Colleen Dewhurst (Scott's wife at the time) as Elizabeth Proctor, Melvyn Douglas as Thomas Danforth, and Tuesday Weld as Abigail Williams. A production by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End in 2006 was recorded for the Victoria and Albert Museum's National Video Archive of Performance.[31]
See also
References
Notes
Sources
Bibliography
EditionsCalifornia native Vince Staples and Chicago’s own No I.D. are two names popular in their own right when it comes to music. As Vince Staples prepped his debut album Summertime ‘06 for its June 30 release a few months back, respected hip-hop veteran No I.D. had no problem lending a helping hand to the talented 22 year old rapper. With No I.D. being a prominent figure in the music industry for over 20 years, the tandem of him and Staples was sure to create some buzz. In a recent sit down with HYPETRAK Magazine both were able to discuss topics such as advice exchanged between the two, their musical processes and growth as artists. Peep some of the discussion below and read the full story on HYPETRAK.
With this being your debut album, the themes you revisit must be very personal and important to you.
V: I feel like it’s an important album because it’s a story of what goes on in these communities. When you look at the way that urban situations are perceived, they’re not really understood. The most successful music is usually the most violent music; likewise with movies. When tragedy falls upon a person in real life, and they lack the ability to rise above it, then people say “they made a mistake,” “they’re stupid” or “they threw their life away.” Those outside of the situation don’t really know where it comes from. To them, there’s only one type of person in these environments. To them, there’s only one way to be, dress, talk and act, and everyone is a criminal and a problem. They don’t understand the truth behind what those people have to deal with. There’s a whole world out there that nobody cares about, literally. I know that because I come from it. Nobody’s ever once asked us “what’s going on” and “how’s your day.” No one’s ever asked us that at all. There are 300 cities in the U.S. and Long Beach is in the top 100 as far as being dangerous goes. It’s a beautiful place but I feel like the scenery hasn’t been painted well. It’s just all a depiction of “we do this over here because we’re crazy.” That’s not real, that’s sad for the people who have to keep going through all this because these cycles don’t stop until understanding comes about. I’m trying to bring understanding.
These themes are very real but unfortunately, not everyone will be able to see or understand this reality. In order to connect with your audience or bring in new listeners, how do you make sure such heavy themes are accessible? Are there particular traits you look for in choosing your singles?
V: There’s no such thing as a single release or a release date. Nobody cares about any of that stuff. Everything’s on the Internet; the best song will be the best song. The songs that impact the most are going to be the songs that impact the most. It’s really all in the hands of the people now, so I don’t choose – I let that take its course. We think about things that stand the test of time – the Michael Jackson and Tupac albums, not singles. If you put out a single and nobody likes it, then nobody likes it, period. There’s no way around it. I’ve never tried to put out a single and said, “This is the one,” because you can’t pick that, that’s not how it happens. What’s a hit? Was an Adele song a hit before Adele came out? No. Was a Drake song a hit before Drake came out? No. Was a YG song a hit before YG came out? No. There’s no such thing as a hit. If that was the case, we’d only be hearing the same songs. It’s something that connects with people, and I can’t really pick what connects with people. I just make songs that I have to make. I should feel like every song should potentially be huge. No one really ever knows what’s going to be big, they just choose songs that are reminiscent of something they once felt. It has to happen to the right person at the right time and situation for it to become a hit, so I don’t really try to focus on singles. I just aim to make the best body of work – no one is talking about the best single from 10 years ago.
N: I agree, I mean, a hit is just something that worked. Once it works, then everybody calls that a hit and try to make something that sounds like that. It’s like research; it’s not a hit when it didn’t hit. Adele wasn’t the biggest artist in people’s eyes before it worked. Now we have 50 more who try to be that. For me, it’s a connection with the most amount of human beings who are interested. That sometimes can’t be researched because it’s a new thing, and if that’s the case, then it’ll just go in a circle – which happens – but every now and then somebody has to break the cycle in order to make a new direction.
V: It’s the Internet age, there’s no way to not connect with them because they’re going to bother you all day – whether it’s Instagram posts, tweeting or just being around. You have to embrace people because we’re all people at the end of the day, nobody’s better than anyone else – being on eye-level with them is a very important thing, at least for me.
You and Vince definitely fall into the theme of generations, being talented artists of your respective eras. How do you make the most of this collaboration, and why is this generational teamwork beneficial for both of you?
N: I’m 20 something years away from doing my first record. First of all, being able to still do music at this level is not just a blessing but a challenge. It’s a cheat code. My passion right now is to be able to go to a person like him, tap into where he is, but give him the cheat codes so he won’t have to make five to 10 years of mistakes just because technology eliminated the need to work with people who know things. So many people can just pick up their laptop and make a record and put it on the Internet. It’s already around the world before they even got a chance to think about what they’re doing. To me, this is a whole other reality, and with me stepping into a new reality with a new person that’s going to represent his next 20 years, we must be able to take the bits and pieces of information from each other and multiply it.
What’s the most valuable piece of advice that you’ve told Vince then?
N: As an artist, you have a lifespan in people’s ears. If you start off on top, then where are you going? I’d just start off as a kid. The first mixtape we put together has no famous producers. People walk into the game with Bugattis and Ferraris. Okay, so where are they going? I don’t know, because they’re already there, they became big. They have bricks, millions, all the women, and all the cars. Alright, cool man. Now what? What do you have next? Jets? It’s not even about being humble, because I want Vince to have edge – people should have edge. It’s more about discovering your ownership. If you’re the man before you discover it, who can champion that? It’s about letting people champion you to be the man instead of proclaiming that you’re the man. It’s like “cool, I don’t have to vote for you, you’re already the man.” Compare that to “he’s like me, look at him grow; I’m rooting for him.” I think I help him retrieve the confidence needed to let him be himself and not to overdo it, that’s my focus. I tell him to not worry about who produces his records, and not to worry about what he does. I tell him to just let the people catch up, and pretty soon he’s going to have a group of people that loves him. Not who did your record, who you’re standing next to, or how much money you’ve got. Just you!
V: I understood my place. I understand that I might not ever be the biggest, most successful artist. That I might not be able to sell a million, a thousand, or even 50 records ever in my life, but that’s not my job. My job is to shed light on the realistic aspects of where I came from, because at the end of the day, that’s what matters, nothing else. When you’re dead and gone, nobody is going to talk about how many records you sold. They’ll talk about what you’ve done to change things, and if you’ve never changed anything you’ll never matter.At least common sense and compromise can win in one corner of New York: On Tuesday, Westchester struck a deal to allow ride-sharing services like Uber to operate in the county, with optional fingerprinting for drivers.
The option will let drivers pay a $90 fee for a decal showing they’ve passed a county background check.
That’s reasonable. And it ends county officials’ threats to ban app-based car services unless they agreed to fingerprinting.
The services had been banned outside New York City, but a new state law lets counties allow them or ban them — but not add new regulations.
Westchester threatened to prohibit the services, claiming state regs don’t do enough to ensure drivers are safe. That would’ve pleased the taxi industry, which is trying to keep the competition out — but also left Westchester as the only county in New York to ban the services.
Happily, just as when Mayor de Blasio tried to impose a cap on Uber cars in the city, consumers revolted. Riders love the convenience and generally lower prices of the new services — and won’t accept a ban.
So now riders will be able to hail Uber and Lyft cars, and anyone concerned about extra safety can choose drivers with county-issued decals.
If only that spirit of compromise would spread to Albany...Download: thepurplebay
So the download pack for today, 27th July 2012 is based on female vocals and mainly garagey, 2steppy vibes. The suns out so garage vibes are so nice to jam to, and the female vocals just seem to fit perfectly. Be warned though, I’ve not just left one sort of sound in, tried to mix it about abit, and slapped in a few slowed down tracks. Also Moony had 2 live garage tracks and hes one of my favorite producers right now so I slipped in two tracks from him, as I did for Detz.
Tracklist:
1) Detz – April: (Soundcloud) (Twitter)
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2) Moony – Go: (Soundcloud) (Twitter)
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3) Wih’lo – Don’t Need: (Soundcloud) (Bandcamp)
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4) Cyril Hahn – Say My Name: (Soundcloud) (Tumblr)
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5) Squarehead – Never Leave You: (Soundcloud) (Twitter)
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6) Aaron Lipsett & Fion – Cognac: (Aaron Lipsett) (Fion)
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7) Village – Me & U (Soundcloud) (Facebook)
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8) Moony – Just Wanna Be (The Remix EP)
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9)Detz – Febraury(Soundcloud) (Twitter)
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The president discussed options during a dinner at the White House with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that also included talks on tax reform, infrastructure and trade. Trump has showed signs of shifting strategy to cross the aisle and work with Democrats in the wake of the high-profile failures by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“We’re working on a plan for DACA,” Trump said as he left the White House on Thursday for a trip to survey hurricane damage in Florida.
Trump said that he and Congress are “fairly close” to a deal and that Republican leaders Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) are “very much on board” with a deal that would address DACA. The agreement must include “massive border security,” Trump said in response to shouted questions about whether he had reached a deal on the terms Schumer and Pelosi had described.
“The wall will come later” he said, apparently confirming a central element of the Democrats’ account.
Earlier Thursday, amid backlash from conservative supporters, Trump had sought Thursday to reach out to his GOP base with messages claiming his agenda would remain intact on signature issues such as the border wall.
In a series of tweets, Trump wrote that “no deal” was made on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, an Obama-era program that has allowed 690,000 dreamers to work and go to school without fear of deportation. He further wrote that agreements on “massive border security” would have to accompany any new DACA provisions, and insisted that “the WALL will continue to be built.”
But he again put lawmakers on notice that he favors some protections for the so-called “dreamers.”
“Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military?” Trump wrote in back-to-back tweets. Really! … They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own — brought in by parents at young age. Plus BIG border security.”
The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017
A possible alliance between Trump and the Democrats on immigration would represent a major political gamble for a president who made promises of tougher border control policies the centerpiece of his campaign and pledged to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border. A majority of Republicans, especially in the House, have long opposed offering legal status, and a path to citizenship, to the nation’s more than 11 million undocumented immigrants.
In a sign of the potential trouble for the president, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), an immigration hard-liner and early Trump supporter, wrote that if reports of a potential immigration deal are accurate, the president’s “base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair. No promise is credible.”
President Trump meets Sept. 6 with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other congressional leaders in the Oval Office of the White House. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Trump has vacillated over the fate of the dreamers, who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. Under mounting pressure from the right, Trump moved two weeks ago to begin dismantling the program.
In announcing the decision, the president made clear that he expected Congress to pursue a plan to protect the DACA recipients, offering a six-month delay until their two-year work permits begin to expire in March.
In a statement, the White House described the meeting as “constructive” and said the administration “looks forward to continuing these conversations with leadership on both sides of the aisle.”
A similar positive readout was given by Schumer, who said Thursday that he expected White House to “support enshrining the DACA protections into law.”
“What remains to be negotiated are the details of border security with a mutual goal of finalizing all the details as soon as possible,” Schumer said during a Senate floor speech. “While both sides agreed that the wall would not be part of this agreement, the president made clear he intends to pursue it at a later time and we made clear that we will continue to oppose it.”
“Details will matter, but it was a very, very positive step” to have Trump agree to seek legal protections for “dreamers.”
Schumer noted that lawmakers have in the past supported a bipartisan plan to spend billions of dollars on border security technology to track illegal border crossings and to hire more U.S. Border Patrol agents.
He dismissed talk of a border wall as “A ‘Game of Thrones’ idea for a world that is closer to ‘Star Wars.’”
Congressional aides familiar with the exchange said that Trump and the party leaders agreed to move quickly on legislation to protect dreamers, though aides did not disclose whether they agreed that the goal should be for dreamers to eventually be offered a path to citizenship.
In a statement, Schumer and Pelosi said they had “a very productive meeting at the White House with the President. The discussion focused on DACA. We agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.”
In a letter to her Democratic colleagues in the House, Pelosi said she hoped the deal could be done “in a matter of weeks.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that DACA and border security were discussed, but she said excluding border wall funding from a package deal was “certainly not agreed to.”
While DACA and border security were both discussed, excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to. — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 14, 2017
Earlier in the day, Trump held a bipartisan meeting with a group of House members. Afterward, several Democrats involved in those talks said the president also had made clear that he did not expect border wall funding to be included in a legislative deal on the dreamers. They said Trump was not giving up on the wall but that he emphasized the money could be added to another bill, though he was not specific.
“He said, the wall doesn’t have to be necessary,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) told reporters at the White House. “He said we’re going to add [wall funding] somewhere else. … We’ve told him we don’t want to tie this [together]. He said, ‘DACA, we’re going to do it early. We’re going to do some kind of border security.’ He brought up the wall. He said that doesn’t have to be on this DACA bill.”
Democrats, and some Republicans, have resisted funding for a wall, saying such a structure is not worth the billions of dollars it would cost.
Breitbart, the conservative news outlet headed by former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, called reports of an immigration deal a “full-fledged cave” by Trump on “amnesty” for the dreamers.
Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) have introduced legislation, called the Dream Act, that would offer dreamers a path to citizenship. The number of undocumented immigrants that would potentially be covered by that bill, however, is expected to be far larger than the number of those who have DACA protections, a prospect that would probably engender more Republican opposition.
Cuellar said that he told Trump the Dream Act has sufficient bipartisan support to pass and that the White House should be pushing for a vote. Trump, Cuellar said, told the group: “Oh, it will be on the floor.”
But Trump also instructed Democrats to consider tougher restrictions on legal immigration, including provisions of a bill called the Raise Act, introduced by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and David Perdue (Ga.), which would slash legal immigration levels by half over the coming decade. Immigrant rights groups are strongly opposed to such measures, but Trump endorsed that legislation during an appearance with the GOP senators at the White House last month.
And Republican leaders are already wary of the spending agreement Trump brokered with Democrats last week on a three-month spending plan to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government funded.
Pelosi and Ryan met earlier Wednesday to begin discussing the broad parameters of the forthcoming immigration debate. Ryan’s team signaled that despite the administration’s eagerness to quickly seal the deal, it will take awhile.
AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman, said that regarding the plight of the dreamers, the speaker “reiterated that any solution needs to address border security and enforcement, which are the root causes of the problem. Discussions among the Republican conference will continue in the coming weeks.”
Ryan is already facing growing pressure from House conservatives who have begun to question his leadership and have even floated names of possible replacement as speaker. An agreement between Trump and Democrats on a bill to protect dreamers could potentially put Ryan in the position of having to decide whether to bring it for a vote with the prospects that it might pass with more Democratic support than among the GOP.
Brian Murphy and Anne Gearan contributed to this report.The Dolphins were dealt a crushing blow last Saturday when Dustin Keller shattered his knee against the Houston Texans. The pass-catching tight end is out for the season, but it's a mistake to write off Miami's passing game, according to Greg Cosell.
The NFL Films senior producer cites one simple reason for optimism: second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
"After watching (Dolphins) tape, believe it or not, I don't think (Keller's) as big a loss as we would have thought," Cosell said on Thursday's FantasyGuru.com podcast. "I was really impressed with Tannehill's development.... Maybe there's not one player who would put up the specific numbers we thought Keller would, but I don't think this short-circuits their pass game because of Tannehill's development. So I still think they'll have a very solid pass game."
Tannehill landed No. 1 on our Making the Leap series because his steady growth over the course of last season suggests a passer with the requisite skills to shine at the NFL level. Dolphins |
Commerce in Tirana developed a board of businessmen. They took a chartered flight to Israel with 130 people on board in October 2013, and they combined their business forum with a WATEC exhibition (water technology). They developed close ties in the field of agricultural development.
In November 2014, a mission is being planned for Israeli businessmen to come to Albania. Cohen says this is “in order to make follow-ups and new contacts and increase the economic ties between our two countries.” The purpose is to encourage Israeli businessmen. “They are directed to west Europe. They are directed to the U.S. We want them to work, also, in the Balkans and in this new country, Albania.”
Since Albania is now beginning succession talks, Cohen feels that Israeli companies will bring start-up high tech businesses to Albania. “We want to share with Albania our experience, our relative advantage in agriculture and ecology…. We have historic ties. Albania is also supporting Israel in the international organizations.”
Cohen pointed out that Albania did not vote for the unilateral declaration of the independent country of Palestine two years ago. Albania abstained, which was important to the Jewish State.
A country like Albania is an asset to Israel, because not only is it demonstrating political friendship and economic cooperation, it is a nation that lives in peaceful coexistence between Sunni Muslims, Christian Orthodox, and Catholics. And, as Cohen declares, “It is important to have an Israeli flag in this friendly country.”
As long as the U.S. continues to coordinate its foreign policy with the EU; and, as long as new countries like Albania want to integrate into the EU; new European friendships for Israel will flourish. Israel’s foreign policy seems to be working effectively, too, as nations continue to visit the Holy Land to establish political and economic ties in this new era of “soft power” diplomacy.The topic of President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court came up at Thursday night’s Democratic Debate and Sen. Bernie Sanders said if were elected president, he would ask Obama to withdraw his nominee, Merrick Garland.
“If elected president, I would ask the president to withdraw that nomination,” Sanders said Thursday.
The Vermont senator clarified that he believes the president has every right to nominate someone to fill the seat left vacant by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. “A third grader in America understands the President has the right to nomination someone to the Supreme Court,” Sanders said, while adding that Republican leaders in the Senate have vowed not to hold hearings or votes for Obama’s nominee.
But, Sanders has a very specific litmus test for Supreme Court justices and in his opinion, Garland is not up to snuff on Citizens United. Any nominee, he said, would need to make it “crystal clear” that he or she would vote to overturn Citizens United.
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It wasn’t the first time Sanders voiced his disinterest in the president’s nominee, though he has said he would vote to confirm him. In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Sanders said, “I think there are some more progressive judges out there.”
When asked Thursday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she did not want to engage on hypotheticals. President Obama, she said, is “on the right side of history.”
Contact us at [email protected] convicted of domestic violence in California will be permanently barred from possessing a gun even if no physical injury was inflicted, a state appeals court has ruled.
The decision Tuesday by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno is the first in California since the U.S. Supreme Court in May clarified a 1996 law that extended the federal ban on firearms possession to those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.
The federal law previous to 1996 had limited the ban to felonies, but many spousal battery cases are prosecuted as misdemeanors, with lesser sentences. Rejecting arguments that the ban should apply only to those who injure their spouses, the high court said the federal law must be applied state-by-state, depending on each state's definition of the misdemeanor crime.
The Supreme Court ruling opened the door for an expansion of the gun ban in states like California that define domestic violence broadly. Lynn Rosenthal, President Obama's adviser on violence against women, said the ruling would "save women's lives."
California's misdemeanor domestic violence law covers "any willful and unlawful use of force or violence" against one's partner. The "force" includes any deliberate contact that causes physical or mental harm.
This week's case involved Scott James of Tulare County, who pleaded no contest in 1996 to a misdemeanor charge of battery against his wife.
James applied to be a reserve deputy sheriff in 2008, and when he tried to buy a gun in 2011, he was turned down on the grounds that he had been convicted of domestic violence.
James sued, saying the crime he admitted did not necessarily involve violence or physical injury. State courts had reached different conclusions on whether the gun ban applies only to violent attacks, but the appeals court, citing the recent Supreme Court ruling, said Tuesday that it covers all spousal battery cases.
This interpretation "furthers Congress' intent to keep guns out of the hands of perpetrators of domestic violence," said Justice Jennifer Detjen in the 3-0 ruling. "A zero-tolerance policy is not promoted by requiring agencies (and ultimately courts) to differentiate between, for example, a slap and a punch, or a poke to the chest and a poke in the eye."
The Calguns Foundation, which was not a party to the case, said Wednesday that the state Supreme Court should step in to protect gun owners' rights.
"We believe the definition (of domestic violence) that's used in this case is entirely too broad," said foundation spokesman Craig DeLuz.Burns & McDonnell, which is seeking the exclusive contract to build and privately finance a new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, has made campaign contributions to Mayor Sly James and all 12 of his council colleagues.
Council members insisted to The Star that it won’t stop them from critically reviewing the proposal, before an expected decision June 15.
“They give to everyone,” Councilman Quinton Lucas acknowledged Tuesday. “I would understand public concern related to that. But we are still able to be objective decision-makers.”
Lucas, who received $5,125 from the company prior to the 2015 general election, said the council realizes how the public can view campaign contributions as a way of increasing the donor’s influence in public policy.
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“We should be mindful of that fact,” he said, adding that the council must make sure it isn’t giving Burns & McDonnell undue favoritism.
Lucas said many of his council colleagues are viewing Burns & McDonnell’s unusual financing proposal with a skeptical eye, and the council’s decision isn’t being directed by the company. To that end, the council has already approved a $475,000 legal services contract to try to make sure the city scrutinizes the proposal and, if it moves forward, negotiates the best deal for the city.
Councilman Lee Barnes, who received $5,250 in 2015 from Burns & McDonnell, said he also received contributions from other engineering firms that may want to compete for this airport work.
“Most engineering firms gave to my campaign,” said Barnes, himself an engineer, who emphasized those contributions aren’t guiding his decision. Instead, Barnes said he wants to determine whether the public even wants a new single airport terminal, before it gives that job to Burns & McDonnell.
Mayor James was first elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. Prior to his first election, he received $3,000 from Burns & McDonnell. Prior to his 2015 election, he received $6,250, including $400 in an in-kind contribution for a Nov. 6, 2013, fundraiser the company held.
That fundraiser was eye-opening because 259 of Burns & McDonnell’s employees contributed more than $37,000 to the mayor, mostly in $100 checks. For that quarter, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission disclosure report, Burns & McDonnell employees contributed more than $50,000 to the mayor.
James said he has never kept track of things like employee contributions to his mayoral campaigns. The mayor raised nearly $2 million in his runs for office from countless donors, including engineering and architecture firms that compete with Burns & McDonnell, plus developers, development attorneys, big law firms and civic officials.
James, who is a staunch supporter of the Burns & McDonnell idea, said the contributions have nothing to do with his public policy votes.
“It never has, never will,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference.”
The mayor denied any undue influence from campaign contributions.
“If the idea is to try to show some sort of corrupt attitude, it’s not selling. Not with me,” James said. “It never has. I get contributions to run campaigns just like everybody else who’s running for office.”
Observers say Burns & McDonnell is almost without peer in Kansas City in terms of its campaign contributions across the board — to federal, state and local races and to both Republicans and Democrats.
They say that’s just part of the company’s culture of civic activism, including major United Way contributions, the Battle of the Brains science competition at Union Station, and its championing of the Big 5 agenda to lift up Kansas City.
“Our employee owners are active in their community and on issues that they care about,” said Mike Talboy, Burns & McDonnell’s director of government affairs. Talboy said the Nov. 6, 2013, fundraiser grew out of employees’ support for James.
While 259 employees made contributions that day, that’s in the context of a company that employs about 3,000 people locally. Talboy said no one is required or pressured to contribute to political campaigns.
“There is zero obligation. And we make that very clear, on any political activity,” Talboy said.
Two scholars who have studied ethics in government said the public shouldn’t assume Burns & McDonnell’s contributions will sway the council on the airport. For one thing, they note, Kansas City has contribution limits. In 2015, there was a primary election and a general election for the council. During each race, an individual or company couldn’t donate more than $3,150 per mayoral candidate, $2,625 per at-large council candidate, and $1,575 per in-district candidate.
The Missouri Ethics Commission also requires disclosure of those contributions, so there is transparency, unlike with the “dark money” contributions that often color politics in Jefferson City.
Walter Siewert, former professor of public ethics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said Kansas City’s contribution caps limit the depth of a company’s influence and that he didn’t see any “red flags” in Burns & McDonnell’s contributions.
However, he said that if the council wanted to avoid even the appearance of any kind of influence-peddling, it could open up the airport approach to other companies through a competitive bid.
Allan Katz, professor of public affairs and political science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said the community should focus on the airport proposal’s pros and cons, not on whether Burns & McDonnell made campaign contributions.
He said it’s not at all unusual for such a large firm, like other large organizations and unions, to get financially involved in politics. He also said that if City Council members can’t take their money and still vote against them, “they don’t belong in politics.”
In some cases during the 2015 election, Burns & McDonnell supported more than one candidate in a race, such as the opponents running against Katheryn Shields and Teresa Loar. The company contributed $1,000 to Loar shortly before the primary and $2,625 just prior to the general election. It contributed $2,625 to Shields after she defeated Jim Glover in the general election. It also contributed $1,575 to Heather Hall after she was elected.
Both Loar and Shields are giving heavy scrutiny to the Burns & McDonnell proposal but say the late contributions, and the backing of their opponents, have nothing to do with that.
“I certainly wouldn’t hold it against them,” Loar said, adding that the contribution wouldn’t sway her one way or another. “It would take a lot more than that to buy my vote.”
Shields said Burns & McDonnell is a great company and “they’re definitely a group that you want to have on your side.”
But she said the council’s decision on the airport will be based on its merits, adding, “ I think the proposal will either rise or fall based on the strength of the proposal.”Ocuair
A British company is the first in history to fly a drone across the English Channel -- a feat which was also the longest ever single flight of a quadcopter.
The team from Ocuair, a commercial drone company, flew the drone across the 32 kilometre stretch of water earlier this month on an "unusually sunny and calm morning". The flight, starting in France and finishing in Dover, took just 72 minutes and, the team says "demonstrates the future potential of commercial drone technology".
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The journey wasn't easy -- because the English Channel is so busy, the drone had to dodge between two large boats. And 23 kilometres into the journey, the drone's GPS guidance stopped working, meaning the team had to manually guide it for the last 20 minutes of the flight, something they describe as "extremely challenging".
To adhere to current drone regulations, the pilot had to follow in a boat within at least 500m of the drone.
Read next I tried to keep my unborn child secret from Facebook and Google I tried to keep my unborn child secret from Facebook and Google
"Given that the team were operating on the very edge of what is practically possible for a quadcopter, the weather conditions were critical," the team wrote in a celebratory blog post. "Any type of adverse wind would have had a severe impact on the drone, meaning it might not make the distance. Given he was flying over water, there are no second chances or emergency landings".
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The success of Ocuair's flight is likely to be music to the ears of companies such as Amazon and Google, who are both experimenting with drone delivery services.
It's a rare piece of good news for drones, which have been beset by bad press. Researchers have warned that the flying machines could be used by terrorists and the Zano drone Kickstarter was recently investigated by trading standards after failing to deliver. And the Metropolitan Police have even considered training a team of 'drone hunting eagles' in order to rid the skies of pesky drones.
Ocuair staff believe the flight will help to develop drone technology further; team leader Richard Gill described the flight as an attempt to "push the technology in a meaningful way". "The UK leads the world in terms of legislation, so I thought it would be good to see us lead the world in commercial UAV applications too," he wrote. "I wanted to do something meaningful to stand out and show what this technology is capable of. Companies like Amazon, with their Prime Air service, have seen the commercial potential of drones. This attempt pushes the boundaries of what is technically possible." "This record is important in the context of future drone activity because in proves that drones can be reliably used over a distance."This is an adaptation of a talk I gave at JSConf 2015.
Your README is Trolling Me
If you’ve been hanging around the Internet long enough, you’ve probably learned how to draw a horse from Van Oktop. But here’s a quick refresher:
Credit: Van Oktop http://oktop.tumblr.com/post/15352780846
A few essential details were left out between step 4 and 5. But they’re not particularly obvious. Do I need some image editing software? Do I need to know how to use an airbrush? Do I need years of artistic experience?
Sometimes, when trying out an Open Source project, I get the same feeling that some key information is left out of the “Getting Started” section of the README.
Sure, OSS maintainers are working for free, and it’s certainly not reasonable to expect top-notch documentation for somebody’s side-project. But I’m not just talking about missing docs. I’m talking about the Troll README.
Oftentimes, a project will enumerate a series of steps, promising a quick jump start to getting the project up and running. But there are clear and obvious pitfalls that a new user is likely to hit, which go unacknowledged.
Sometimes you’ll see evidence of this in a project’s issues list, with scores of users “+1”ing the same problem they all experienced right out of the gate. But equally likely is confused silence.
Giving Up Quietly
Maybe they’ll throw up their arms in frustration. Maybe they’ll feel stupid, thinking that there must be something obvious that surely everyone else had figured out on their own. But the reality is that there will always be a sizable portion of users that won’t try to hunt down some obscure error. They’ll just move on to something else.
These are tragic missed-opportunities — Users exploring a new project who could have evolved into full-fledged evangelists and contributors, yet gave up because something that seemingly should have been simple just didn’t work.
Simple acknowledgements of likely pitfalls really go a long way in keeping users sane and productive. Unfortunately, they are often omitted, leaving users to scratch their heads, shrug, and give up.
Hitting Close to Home
When I joined WalmartLabs in early 2014, this phenomenon of unacknowledged pitfalls, wasted time, and abandonment of hope had already occurred in one particular area: End-to-End Testing (e2e testing). I just didn’t know it yet.
For anyone not familiar with e2e testing, it refers to using automated tools to launch real web browsers that follow a script to interact with a webpage in the same way a real user would. Most all e2e testing solutions are extensions of a browser automation library called Selenium.
Anyone who has to support a long list of browsers (especially old IE) thirsts for e2e testing. It promises to take the tedium and time out of this certification process. But just as quickly as people are enamored by this technology, they usually grow to despise it.
Our own QA team had been desperately trying to get e2e testing up and running for a long time, but had mostly given up on it. We weren’t alone. Even Google’s own Testing Blog described a similar experience, comparing e2e testing to “a movie that you and your friends all wanted to see, and…all regretted watching afterwards.”
This blog points out the three biggest problems with e2e testing:
It’s Unreliable: False-positives waste everyone’s time It’s Slow: Test suites often take hours to complete It’s Unhelpful: Hard to pinpoint cause of failure
If You Want Something Done Right…
We set out to build our own cross-browser end-to-end testing solution that would succeed in the real world. It was going to be awesome!
Our goals were that it should be:
Collaborative: Low barrier-to-entry, allowing QA and Dev to easily write tests together Fast: Allowing e2e tests to run as part of PR verification builds Reliable: No test flake!
We tried many of the popular NodeJS wrappers for Selenium that provide nice clean APIs, and settled on NightwatchJS for its simple API and widespread adoption.
Right out of the gate, test flake hit us hard.
Like a Croissant
For an engineer, the only thing more maddening than something that doesn’t work, is something that doesn’t work sometimes.
When a testing system produces errors in a non-deterministic manner, without obvious causes, we call this “test flake” and it sucks. Test flake consumes debugging time, and erodes confidence in the system when users start to doubt the validity of reported errors.
We introduced e2e testing as a pilot project in our “cart and checkout” team. While initial enthusiasm was high, test flake quickly started to erode it. Errors would pop up, then disappear the next time the tests ran. Developers began to doubt the validity of what the system was telling them. We needed to fix it, or risk losing the hearts and minds of our dev consumers forever. We rolled up our sleeves and began to tackle the root causes of test flake.
Whack-a-Mole
Over the first few weeks, we quickly learned that many, many people had been dealing with the same flakey behavior for years. Common causes of e2e test flake include:
Driver bugs : When Selenium’s own browser-specific adapters, themselves, have bugs. For instance, sometimes IEDriver claims to have clicked an element, but it didn’t.
: When Selenium’s own browser-specific adapters, themselves, have bugs. For instance, sometimes IEDriver claims to have clicked an element, but it didn’t. Network hiccups : Selenium communicates over a very chatty HTTP API. When you’re running hundreds of tests every day, that’s thousands of HTTP requests. Even the occasional dropped packet can cause significant test failures.
: Selenium communicates over a very chatty HTTP API. When you’re running hundreds of tests every day, that’s thousands of HTTP requests. Even the occasional dropped packet can cause significant test failures. Service instability: Most organizations choose to outsource browser farm maintenance to services like SauceLabs or BrowserStack. While these services provide a great benefit, they are not immune from their own instabilities. Sometimes remote VMs fail to initialize, or time out for no apparent reason.
Other random things: Every now and then, we’d hit an error which didn’t have any Google matches — or worse yet, a single result from years ago with no resolution. Even months into our project, we’d continue to find brand new sources of flake such as this.
Like good engineers, we dutifully tried to play whack-a-mole and address each source of test flake directly. But it became clear quickly that we’d never be able to solve every source of flake, especially when we couldn’t even establish a comprehensive list of what test flake includes.
We were starting to get discouraged. After having come so far, test flake seemed an insurmountable impasse.
Zombies and Soup
Our baseline for test reliability came from our experience writing unit tests, where reliability is excellent. You can run a unit test a million times and get the same result because there are so few moving parts: tests run locally on your computer, and no network is involved.
In a moment of frustration, I made this into a silly metaphor — In the world of unit testing, the process of wanting a test result, and then getting it is like being hungry, and grabbing a can of soup from the cupboard. It’s right there. You grab it. You’re done.
But with e2e tests, the process for getting your can of soup is more like:
Get in the car Drive to the grocery store Along the way, drive through a Zombie apocalypse Grab a can of soup off the looted shelves (if you’re lucky) Try to get back home with your brains intact
Obviously nobody wants to deal with all this, when all they want is a damn can of soup. But does that mean that e2e testing is doomed to be just out of reach for everyone as a reliable tool?
Back to Math Class
After weeks of banging our heads on the desk, we took a step back and thought about what we were really trying to solve. The main issue was that QA and Developers both expected test results to be truthful. By giving them a flakey system — in mathematical terms — we were breaking an axiom they depended on.
axiom (n) a premise or starting point of reasoning… a premise so evident as to be accepted as true without controversy.
We began to think about a new distinction:
Previous goal: Make Selenium error-free
New goal: Make the test results reliable.
Devs should be able to count on test results as axiom. We should be able to say, You worry about writing good tests — we worry about infrastructure.
So how could we make the test results reliable, when the underlying technology itself was not?
One Weird Trick for Solving Test Flake
If a test fails, retry the test.
That’s it. Really.
We took a seemingly-hacky solution, and baked it right in.
We wrote a test orchestrator that, in the event of a test failure, would retry the test a certain number of times before reporting it as a failure. We found that 3x was a good number. After making this change, virtually all false-positive test results were eliminated.
In the early stages of our e2e testing project, we’d get nervous about reporting failures to developers, not knowing if we’d be sending them on a wild goose chase. But with this solution in place, we could now be confident that any reported failure was extremely likely to be a real problem.
Now this is where we lose a lot of street cred amongst the purists:
So you just keep brute-force-hammering away at crappy technology until it works?
I like to answer this with a continuation of our earlier zombie-soup metaphor:
Instead of getting in your car to go the grocery store, you’re now getting in an armored convoy.
Is it overkill?
Yeah.
Is it inefficient?
Absolutely.
But is it going to get you to the grocery store?
Hell. Yes.
At the end of the day, an ugly solution that fixes a previously broken axiom is infinitely better than a thousand failed attempts at a clean solution.
Calling it What it Is
Finding ugly solutions to ugly problems isn’t a particularly glamorous task. It’s really akin to shoveling shit.
But once that shit was shoveled, we regained our lost momentum, and began to have significantly more fun with our e2e testing project.
We built a massively-parallel test runner, to compress long-running test suites into a fraction of the execution time.
We forked the TestSwarm project, and built some beautiful dashboards to show test results over time. This also helps with the problem outlined in the Google Testing Blog, where it’s hard to pinpoint the source of a failure.
Recognizing that tests might sometimes be flakey due to real application bugs and not just flakey infrastructure, we built some analytics tools to identify outliers — specific tests or browsers that required retries more than others:
At this point we started to hear the same thing over and over:
This is awesome! You should really Open-Source this.
At first we thought, “No way. This is all just a bunch of hacks. Nobody wants this.”
But then we stopped to think about all the other people who had wasted time trying to solve test flake, then gave up. What if we could prevent others from wasting that time, and allow them to start from a stable axiom? Then they could invest their time in solving more interesting and rewarding problems!
We began to think of Shoveling Shit not as an inglorious exercise, but as an invaluable practice in the Open Source world where difficult and messy problems get in the way of getting shit done.
We should all strive to practice Shoveling Shit as a Service (#SSaaS) — not in the sense of a hosted service (though that would be interesting) but rather a service you provide to your Open Source community.
Shit Shoveling 101
Here are the basics you need to know to jump on this revolution with us:
Momentum > Perfection : Getting stuck on messy problems is often demoralizing and unproductive. Don’t get stuck chasing a perfect solution to every problem. Smoothing Over > Giving Up : Think of all those 80%-solved problems that never see the light of day. Smoothing over one problem might let you solve a hundred more. Useful > Precise : If you can help someone else smooth over a bump, it doesn’t matter how much duct tape and rubber bands you have. Open Source > Closed Source : Release when it’s ready? Nah. Release when it’s useful! Even if in some small way.
Join Us
We’ve come a long way with our e2e testing solution, and now we’re releasing it to the world.
Translating the “armored convoy” metaphor into a nautical theme, we’re releasing the following tools as part of an e2e test ecosystem called “TestArmada”:
magellan: A framework-agnostic test runner that handles retries, browser-as-a-service integration, and reporting to dashboards and CI
magellan-nightwatch: The first (we hope, of many) plugins that make magellan drive an existing node-based webdriver.
admiral: Beautiful dashboards for tracking magellan results over time.
We’re hoping to grow this ecosystem over time, and we need your help! Come join us at http://testarmada.github.io
What will your #SSaaS story be?
Follow us and let us know, at https://twitter.com/TestArmadaThe world is on the verge of a cyber shock “similar to the 2008 financial crisis,” a new study says, outlining major triggers for potential disruption and urging governments and organizations to learn from the experience gained during the credit crunch.
Zurich Insurance has drawn a parallel between the mortgage market problems, which resulted in the global financial crisis seven years ago, and a potential major cloud provider failure, the consequences of which might be just as grave.
“Just imagine if a major cloud service provider had a ‘Lehman moment’, with everyone’s data there on Friday and gone on Monday,” the report written by the Swiss insurance group in cooperation with the Atlantic Council think tank says. “If that failure cascaded to a major logistics provider or company running critical infrastructure, it could magnify a catastrophic ripple running throughout the real economy in ways difficult to understand, model or predict beforehand.”
Problems in the US sub-prime mortgage market in 2008 led to banking crisis which later resulted in a global economic downturn.
The current “interconnected nature of the internet” leads to the increasing danger of cyber risks, spurring similar type of scenario.
“Few people truly understand their own computers or the internet, or the cloud to which they connect, just as few truly understood the financial system as a whole or the parts to which they are most directly exposed,” Chief Risk Officer at Zurich Insurance, Axel Lehmann, said in a statement.
The new study says part of the problem in 2008 was that before the credit crunch “risks were assessed by financial institutions individually” and urges governments and organizations not to repeat the same mistake when it comes to tackling cyber threats.
The study warns people against being misled by the fact “the internet has been incredibly resilient (and generally safe) for the past few decades.” With the system getting ever more complex and ever more connected to real life, bigger shocks to it are unavoidable.
A company should no longer focus primarily on its own internal cyber security as an threat might be coming from outsourced services it’s getting or from its suppliers. Those are on the list of the seven “risk pools” the study outlines.
Seven hundred and forty million data files were potentially exposed or stolen worldwide in 2013, making the year the worst in terms of the internet security thus far, according to the statistics given by the Online Trust Alliance and cited in the survey, which warns that the situation is only going to become aggravated.
“While our society’s reliance on the internet grows exponentially, our control of it only grows linearly, limited by outdated government procedures and ineffective governance.”
One of the major proposals in the report is supporting the idea put forward earlier by Microsoft, of establishing a G20+20 group, 20 governments and 20 global information and communications technology firms – to work out ways of ensuring viable security in cyberspace.Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney thrust himself into the the Susan G. Komen controversy on Monday when he said in a radio interview that he agreed with Komen's decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding.
When Minnesota radio host Scott Hennen asked Romney whether Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the leading U.S. anti-breast cancer charity, should continue to give Planned Parenthood grants for cancer screenings and mammogram referrals, Romney said, "I don't think so."
"I also feel that the government should cut off funding to Planned Parenthood," the former Massachusetts governor added. "Look, the idea that we're subsidizing an institution which is providing abortion, in my view, is wrong. Planned Parenthood ought to stand on their own feet, and should not get government subsidy."
Romney could not have picked a worse time to associate himself with Susan G. Komen's anti-Planned Parenthood agenda. The cancer charity is roiling in a massive backlash for announcing it would defund Planned Parenthood because of a congressional investigation. Karen Handel, Komen's staunchly anti-abortion vice president for public policy, was the main force behind the decision and the attempt to disguise it as nonpolitical, The Huffington Post reported on Sunday. Komen leadership last week reversed its Planned Parenthood decision and apologized.
Romney has a long way to go to convince conservatives of his anti-abortion credentials. He emphasized in the interview on Monday that he is a "pro-life individual" and was a "pro-life governor." Nevertheless, he sought Planned Parenthood's endorsement during his 2002 gubernatorial campaign, attended a Planned Parenthood fundraiser, and answered in a Planned Parenthood questionnaire that he supported state-funded abortions.After Fox News' Sarah Palin made the entirely unsupported claim that a taped voicemail proved that "corrupt bastards" in the media were conspiring to fabricate smears of Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller, Fox News heavily promoted the allegation. By the next day, Glenn Beck joined Palin in calling for the reporters to be "purged."
October 28-30
October 28: Voicemail from KTVA reporter to Joe Miller's aide recorded. According to Jerry Bever, the general manager for Anchorage, Alaska, CBS affiliate KTVA, a reporter for the station inadvertently left a voicemail on a cell phone belonging to Randy DeSoto, a spokesman for Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller on Thursday, October 28.
October 30: Breitbart's sites begin posting voicemail, claiming it showed reporters "conspiring to set up some kind of smear of Joe Miller. On October 30, Miller issued a press release including a transcript and audio of the voicemail. At 10:26 p.m. ET that day, Breitbart's websites began posting transcript and audio, claiming that the recording proved that "the reporters were conspiring to set up some type of smear of Joe Miller" and that the recording "calls into serious question what type of campaign coverage CBS' KTVA has been providing Alaskans all along, given their reporters' willingness to conspire against Miller."
October 31
Early morning: Palin Twitter post alleges "CBS/media plot against Joe Miller" and calls reporters "[c]orrupt bastards." In a post to her Twitter account Sunday morning, Sarah Palin, who has endorsed Miller, wrote:
Palin linked to a RedCounty.com blog post timestamped 11:56 p.m. ET on October 30 that suggested the voicemail proved there was "a concerted effort on the part of this local CBS affiliate to brainstorm a way to damage Miller the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate."
9:15 a.m. ET: Palin brings "corrupt bastards" claim to Fox News Sunday and says she "can't wait until it busts out all over the nation. On Fox News Sunday, Palin discussed Senate races in Delaware and Alaska. She claimed that "we have the tape that proves is, that the CBS reporters, the affiliate in Alaska conspired to make up stories about Joe Miller. We have the tape, Chris, and I can't wait until it busts out all over the nation." Asked to repeat her claim by host Chris Wallace, Palin again said that "we have it on tape" and added "Those are corrupt bastards."
12 p.m. ET: Fox News' Cameron reports that Fox News "cannot verify" Palin's claims. Several hours after Palin made her claims on Fox News Sunday, Fox News' Jon Scott introduced a segment to discuss what he called "new developments out of Alaska," which Scott claimed "sounds as though reporters from a local affiliate there are sort of plotting against Joe Miller." Fox aired Palin's claim that "corrupt bastards" were conspiring against Miller and a portion of the audio recording. Correspondent Carl Cameron reported that Fox News "cannot verify" the claims Palin made on Fox that morning and that Fox News had "not been able to confirm it, nor have we been able to listen to the entirety of the message before the conversation that wasn't supposed to be recorded." Cameron further reported that Fox News was "not exactly sure what the authenticity of this is."
1:09 p.m. ET: KTVA calls claims that Palin pushed on Fox News "absurd." In a statement released that afternoon, KTVA authenticated the audio but flatly rejected Palin and Breitbart's allegations about it, saying, "The perception that this garbled, out of context recording may leave is unfortunate, but to allege that our staff was discussing or planning to create or fabricate stories regarding candidate Miller is absurd. The complete conversation was about what others might be able to do to cause disruption within the Miller campaign, not what KTVA could do."
1:09 p.m. ET: Politico's Ben Smith writes, "The transcript does not, in fact, make it terribly clear what they're talking about." In contrast to Palin and Breitbart's claims that the tapes proved a conspiracy on the part of local reporters to fabricate smears about Miller, Politico's Ben Smith reported on KTVA's statement and wrote, "The transcript does not, in fact, make it terribly clear what they're talking about."
1:15 p.m. ET: Fox's Springer says, "We could not see any obvious signs of bias" against Miller in KTVA's reporting. On Fox News' America Live, correspondent Dan Springer reported, "We actually had some of our staffers look at some of the more recent articles and stories that KTVA has done to see if there was any obvious bias or hit pieces against Joe Miller, and we couldn't find that. We could not see any obvious signs of bias or hit pieces done by KTVA against Joe Miller."
1:40 p.m. ET: Wash. Post's Sargent writes "it's unclear from the recording precisely what, if anything, was being plotted." In an entry on his Washington Post blog, Greg Sargent posted the statement from Bever and wrote, " [I]t's unclear from the recording precisely what, if anything, was being plotted. And now the station is adamantly denying the charges, claiming the audio was clipped and taken out of the fuller context."
2:15 p.m. ET: Fox News continues to push Palin's allegations. On America Live, host Megyn Kelly hosted Fox News political analyst William Kristol to discuss Palin's allegations. Kristol said that "it looks to me like they are seriously saying, 'Let's find something that will put this event in the worst light.'" Kristol further said that the audio showed that the KTVA reporters were looking to "drive a story, you know, to other news organizations that makes Joe Miller look bad."
3:15 p.m. ET: Fox News reairs Palin's Fox News Sunday allegations |
and he hails from from Hilversum.
Peter Arno Broer / DER SPIEGEL Stevie Verduijn and Gideon Halberland
"Everything here looks clean, but you constantly get harassed if you look even a little bit different." -- "We're supposed to show tolerance to the Africans. Fine. But they don't try to understand us." -- "There are bad vibes here. Recently they threw stones at buses." -- "We were mugged once at the bus stop. They took Gideon's iPhone and a girlfriend was groped all over the place. We weren't alone, but nobody said anything." -- "That was the worst thing. Who am I voting for? PVV." -- "Me too. Wilders is saying what everyone is thinking but no one dares to say. I like that." -- "He says extreme things to provoke others, so that you can recognize the extremists and send them away. His hair cut? It's dead hair if you ask me. It's been bleached too often."
Holland Didn't Become Less Liberal Overnight
"The Netherlands didn't suddenly become less liberal," says Ton Nijhuis, director of the Duitsland Instituut in Amsterdam, an organization that facilitates Dutch-German networks and exchanges. "Pim Fortuyn, a predecessor of Wilders, always said he was defending our freedom against the intolerance and premodern thinking of many immigrants. Today, it can be dangerous in some neighborhoods to show yourself as obviously gay or Jewish, and this is not seldom due to Moroccan youth."
Nijhuis thinks there's been a blind spot in the political landscape in past years. Most voters, he says, have more conservative values than the established parties. "They are also more supportive of redistributing wealth than of globalization. They long to return to the imaginary good old days when people behaved themselves and could trust their neighbors. It's this fallow political soil in which Wilders thrives."
In Germany, Nijhuis says, people often think that the only problem is Geert Wilders. "They overlook the fact that enthusiasm for Europe also isn't particularly pronounced among the established political parties either. For us Dutch, Europe is mostly a free market, not something we are passionate about."
'Nothing Changes'
The city of Almere is located up to nine meters below the sea level, which is about the level of John de Vaal's political mood. Together with his son Nick, the 52-year-old cleans the shop windows in the pedestrian zone directly across from City Hall. At least when he's working, he can be his own master.
"I'm not going to vote. It doesn't have any effect anyway. Wilders is also just a big mouth. None of them know what is ailing the workers. There are good things and bad things about each party, and they have to work together. It's always a compromise. And nothing changes. That's the problem in Holland. They sit in The Hague and when there are elections, they come out with their flyers, but after that they disappear. Crime is a major problem in Almere. It looks clean here, but it isn't clean. Last week, there were five break-in attempts at homes on our street. I have lived in Almere for 24 years. Back then, I fled from the crime in Amsterdam. Back then it was good here. It's not just the Moroccans who are creating the problems. It's also the Dutch, who allow their kids to hang around the streets at night because they are too busy with their jobs."
The city of Almere was tailored with social mindedness and fairness in mind, for active citizens. It is also a monument to Dutch social democracy. Which makes it all the more bitter that the PVDA only managed a minority coalition in the municipality, together with the Socialist Party and the center-right.
'Votes for Wilders Are Cries for Help'
But since the 1990s, the PVDA has been focused on the same kind of cuts to the social-welfare system that made Germany's Social Democrats highly unpopular among voters. Slick politicians like Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the snazzy finance minister and president of the Euro Group, are the face of the party. "They are management types with perfect speeches and perfect suits. They would never allow themselves to be seen with a coffee stain on their shirt. Why should the people trust them?" That's what a leading member of the party says off the record.
There have been instances, he says, of Labor Party-led city councils advising people to just move away if they had problems with overly pious Muslim neighbors. Nor did it help that the social workers said it was the peoples' duty to be patient with the new arrivals. They laid the blame on those who had actually been behaving correctly, the leading party member says.
That made people angry. If you make just 15,000 euros a year, you can't simply pick up and move. Such people have the right to be protected. "So they are disappointed. They feel abandoned and they have realized that no one is listening to them. Voting for Wilders is a cry for help."
The social democrat's party is currently polling at under 10 percent.
Ria Faaij is the 58-year-old owner of a lotto and tobacco shop in the center of Almere Haven.
Peter Arno Broer / DER SPIEGEL Ria Faaij
"Everyone comes to my shop and they all talk. I hear everything - complaints about debtor aid, welfare, unemployment. There are all kinds of problems in the Netherlands. My mother is 90 years old now. She paid into the pension system for 42 years. Now she gets a cleaner for three hours once every two weeks, after so many years of hard work. The parties talk a lot, but nothing happens. Who am I going to vote for? The Party for the Animals. Animals are the most honest of creatures."
There's no five-percent hurdle in the Netherlands for gaining seats in parliament. The country's party system is increasingly starting to look like a bazaar of special interests. Currently, 11 parties are represented in the Dutch House of Representatives. Some 80 parties registered for the election, of which 28 were approved, including two parties representing senior citizens, the Party for the Animals (which is running at about 4 percent in the polls) and two for the Christians.
There is a "Party of Non-Voters" that is seeking to attract voters by promising to do what it promises to do. There's Europe's first party of immigrants, the DENK movement. It is demanding quotas for immigrants on boards, an anti-racism police and equal treatment for Koran schools. No other party is seeking to advance the multicultural approach to such an extent.
Elfriede Brown says she won't be voting for that party, insisting that she is too much of an "old-fashioned Dutch woman" for that. She has just finished her shopping - a package of cinnamon tea is peaking out of her basket - and her hair is a maze of braids all tied back with a white scarf.
During the 1970s, Suriname, Holland's colony on the border to Brazil, established its independence. Many of them retained their Dutch passports and moved to the Netherlands, with quite a few landing in social housing in southeastern Amsterdam. In 1992, an Israeli 747 jet crashed into a high-rise apartment building in the area and Brown, who is 61 today, lost her apartment in the disaster. That's what brought her to Almere.
Peter Arno Broer / DER SPIEGEL Elfriede Brown
"I was born as a Dutch girl in Suriname. Dutch is my mother tongue. I don't think about skin or hair color. My neighbors are Muslim, but they say that the Koran is a message of love. That may be. I'm a Christian and I vote for the Christian Union party. The way that Wilders preaches hate against the Muslims isn't good. It's possible that many of my acquaintances are voting for him. But they don't admit it. Me, me, me and I don't care about anybody else: That's the attitude. Foreigners are not given any preferential treatment when it comes to the allocation of apartments. I know this because I worked for a residential building firm for 35 years. It really angers me when people here believe these untruths."
In polls last week, Geert Wilders was in a virtual tie with incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte's VVD, but his lead appears to be shrinking as the vote approaches. Given that every other party has ruled out the possibility of a coalition government with Wilders' PVV, the next government will likely be another centrist coalition - just as in Almere. Precisely the kind of government many in the Netherlands no longer want.
The city of Almere was a dream the Netherlands once had for itself. The sea had been reclaimed, things had been carefully planned and the community at large had been governed pragmatically. Now the area has once again become fallow ground, only this time politically. The ties between the parties and to the church have been loosened. Everything has become more fluid and things are beginning to shift.
What remains is the old hope that the dikes will hold.The NFL announced today the 32 team nominees for the WALTER PAYTON NFL MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE. Representing the best of the NFL’s commitment to philanthropy and community impact, each of these players was selected as his team’s Man of the Year and is now eligible to win the national award. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award recognizes a player for his excellence on and off the field and is among the league’s most prestigious awards.
Three of the nominees will be selected as finalists for the award, named for Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back, WALTER PAYTON, who died in 1999. Finalists will be announced in January 2017.
The winner will be announced in Houston at NFL Honors, a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally on February 4, the night before Super Bowl LI, from 8-10 p.m. (ET and PT) on FOX.
“We’re proud to honor these outstanding men who represent the NFL’s best on and off the field,” said NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL. “Our players have a unique platform to make a difference far beyond the field of play. We salute these individuals who are exemplary in their commitment to making a positive impact in communities across the globe through their dedicated service and philanthropic efforts.”
"There are so many wonderful stories about the work these men are doing in their communities," said Nationwide's Chief Marketing Officer TERRANCE WILLIAMS. "Nationwide is proud to shine a national spotlight on the difference that these 32 individuals are making in the lives of others. We congratulate this year's nominees and thank them for their leadership."
This year, in addition to a donation to a charity of his choice, each nominee will also receive a donation in his name to implement the NFL and United Way’s Character Playbook *Program in his club’s market. *Character Playbook, launched in April at the NFL Draft, is a national education initiative focused on youth character development and healthy relationships. This interactive digital program uses evidence-based strategies to educate students on how to cultivate and maintain healthy relationships during their critical middle school years with a focus on positive character development and social-emotional learning.
As a result of the enhanced contributions, a total of $1 million will be donated in the name of the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, with $500,000 going to a charity of his choice and $500,000 supporting the expansion of Character Playbook *across all NFL markets. The two finalists will each receive a $125,000 donation to the charity of their choice and a $125,000 donation in their names to *expand Character Playbook *and the additional 29 team winners will receive a $50,000 donation to their charity of choice and an additional $50,000 donation in their name to implement *Character Playbook in their club market. Donations will be courtesy of the NFL Foundation, Nationwide and United Way Worldwide.
To further celebrate and promote the 32 nominees, Nationwide, the presenting sponsor of the Award, will host the second annual Charity Challenge. As part of the social media challenge, each nominee will have a unique hashtag, and fans will be encouraged to tweet using the player hashtags. The player hashtag that generates the most mentions will win an additional $25,000 donation to his charity of choice, courtesy of Nationwide.
For more information on the team nominees and the award, visit NFL.com/manoftheyear.
Below is a list of team nominees:
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">2016 WALTER PAYTON NFL MAN OF THE YEAR TEAM NOMINEES</span> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
TEAM </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
NOMINEES </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Arizona Cardinals </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Larry Fitzgerald </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Atlanta Falcons </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Matt Ryan </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Baltimore Ravens </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Steve Smith Sr. </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Buffalo Bills </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Eric Wood </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Carolina Panthers </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Greg Olsen </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Chicago Bears </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Sam Acho </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Cincinnati Bengals </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Andy Dalton </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Cleveland Browns </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Joe Thomas </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Dallas Cowboys </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Sean Lee </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Denver Broncos </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Virgil Green </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Detroit Lions </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Don Carey </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Green Bay Packers </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Jayrone Elliott </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Houston Texans </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Brian Cushing </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Indianapolis Colts </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Joe Reitz </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Jacksonville Jaguars </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Julius Thomas </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Kansas City Chiefs </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Alex Smith </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Los Angeles Rams </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Johnny Hekker </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Miami Dolphins </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Mike Pouncey </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Minnesota Vikings </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Chad Greenway </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
New England Patriots </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Rob Gronkowski </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
New Orleans Saints </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Roman Harper </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
New York Giants </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Eli Manning </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
New York Jets </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Brandon Marshall </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Oakland Raiders </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Dan Williams </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Philadelphia Eagles </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Jon Dorenbos </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Pittsburgh Steelers </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Arthur Moats </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
San Diego Chargers </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Jeremiah Attaochu </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
San Francisco 49ers </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Torrey Smith </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Seattle Seahawks </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Cliff Avril </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Tampa Bay Buccaneers </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Vincent Jackson </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Tennessee Titans </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Jurrell Casey </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="306" valign="top">
Washington Redskins </td> <td width="300" valign="top">
Pierre Garçon </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>From Chronicle Staff Writer Susan Slusser at Phoenix Muni
Yep, Alberto Callaspo might be on the smaller side for a first baseman – 5-foot-9 or thereabouts – but he will be Oakland’s first baseman when the team faced left-handed starters.
Manager Bob Melvin confirmed that’s the plan this morning (Melvin had been discussing this as a possibility since December) and he said that he has no qualms about putting Callaspo out there. Callaspo never had played first base before this spring, and he has not looked entirely comfortable there at times, but he does have good hands and the A’s believe he’ll continue to improve as he gets more accustomed to the spot.
Brandon Moss and Daric Barton will play first against right-handed starters, though Moss, at least initially, is more likely to get DH at-bats. I’m not sure how well-suited he will be for that, considering Moss’ high energy level; not every position player can handle regular DH duty, but Barton is certainly the superior defensive player, while Moss is the power hitter.
Melvin suggested today that he’s planning to stick with Josh Donaldson in the second spot in the lineup and Jed Lowrie third, though often that was reversed last year. Lowrie, a very good contact hitter, often swings early in the count when he feels he’s got a good pitch to hit – but that doesn’t always allow room for Coco Crisp to run. Donaldson loves having runners at second base, and he’s more apt to take a pitch or several to let Crisp steal second.
In addition, Lowrie is a switch hitter, like Crisp, and Melvin likes to sprinkle his switch hitters around the lineup to break up all the pure left-handers.
With Donaldson, a right-handed hitter, batting second followed by Lowrie, Yoenis Cespedes (right-handed) can hit cleanup rather than fifth when Melvin wants to go left-right-left-right.
Melvin, by the way, feels as if the homer Cespedes hit two days ago will go a ways toward getting on track. Sometimes that’s what it takes for a power hitter, he said.
In other news of the day, Nick Punto (hamstring) will not play today or tomorrow but he should be good to go for the Bay Bridge series.
Melvin said that Craig Gentry will DH in a minor-league game today and get six at-bats there, and Ryan Cook and Fernando Rodriguez will both throw an inning in that game. All three are on the DL; Cook and Gentry are expected back on April 5.
With a day off Sunday, No. 4 and 5 starters Dan Straily and Tommy Milone will split duties in Saturday’s game against the Giants at the Coliseum. (Scott Kazmir will start Thursday at AT&T, and Jesse Chavez on Friday.)
Melvin said that Jarrod Parker’s Tommy John surgery went well yesterday, but he has not yet spoken to Parker, who is unlikely to be able to pitch for the A’s again until several months into next season. Typically, second elbow ligament reconstructions require four months more recovery time than first surgeries, which means Parker is looking at coming back in about 16-17 months.(CNN) Congress returns Monday from its Fourth of July break to face a critical three-week sprint during which Republican leaders hope to resolve key stalled issues before leaving town again at the end of the month for the long August recess.
The most pressing issue for Republicans is to put some momentum behind a deal on health care, which appears to have stalled during their recess. Congress also faces thorny talks on the budget and taxes, a hearing for President Donald Trump's nominee to replace James Comey as head of the FBI, and what to do about Russian sanctions.
Health bill in trouble
The top priority for Senate Republicans is to find a deal on health care reform, elusive until now -- and possibly out of reach -- because of the deep ideological and policy divides between GOP moderates and conservatives.
Trump highlighted the importance of the issue first thing Monday morning on Twitter.
"I cannot imagine that Congress would dare to leave Washington without a beautiful new HealthCare bill fully approved and ready to go!" Trump tweeted just before 7 a.m. ET.
I cannot imagine that Congress would dare to leave Washington without a beautiful new HealthCare bill fully approved and ready to go! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017
Those dug-in corners of the caucus disagree on several issues, including how robust insurance regulations should be, how quickly to phase out the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid and how deeply to slash funding for the program, which is currently providing health coverage to more than 70 million Americans or nearly one-fifth of the country.
Right now, there is no Senate vote scheduled on this long-sought Obamacare repeal and replace bill and it's not clear when or if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will call one.
Vice President Mike Pence, who's been a key voice in the health care discussions, went horse back riding Saturday with Sen. Roy Blunt, the vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, as well as another crucial official in the health care debate: Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Thanks @RoyBlunt for joining @SeemaCMS @SecretaryZinke & me on ride thru Rock Creek Park & thanks to @usparkpolicepio for your work everyday pic.twitter.com/rWSM0Gyznh — Vice President Pence (@VP) July 8, 2017
McConnell further fueled speculation that the bill is doomed when he told a hometown audience that if a deal cannot be reached soon, he would move to shore up struggling private insurance markets under Obamacare, something that would require cooperation with Democrats to achieve. But those comments are also being viewed as a warning shot -- a wake-up call of sorts -- to fellow Republicans: They can vote for an imperfect bill or give up on their years-long quest to gut Obamacare.
One of the proposals the CBO is examining was written by Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, a key player in the talks who currently opposes the bill. It would allow insurance companies to offer inexpensive, bare-bones plans in an effort to drive down premiums, a top priority for the conservatives. But if it's included in a final bill, it could push away moderates and make it impossible for a bill to pass. Moderates worry that the Cruz amendment would lead to premium hikes for the sick, weaken protections for those with pre-existing conditions and cause insurers to flee.
"I think there's very little interest in the caucus in touching pre-existing conditions, so I have a hard time seeing the addition of the 'Consumer Choice Amendment,'" said one GOP Senate aide, referencing the formal name of Cruz's amendment. "And outside health policy folks have said that would set up a death spiral for the markets."
Sen. John McCain did not sound very optimistic about his party's chances for repealing and replacing Obamacare when he described Sunday the Senate proposal as "probably going to be dead."
"I fear that it's going to fail, and then we should convene a Republican Conference and say, 'what are we going to do'?" McCain said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Introduce a bill. Say to the Democrats, 'here's a bill.' It doesn't mean they don't -- that they control it. It means they can have amendments considered. And even when they lose, then they're part of the process. That's what democracy is supposed to be all about."
McCain argued Republicans risk repeating the mistakes Democrats made when they passed the Affordable Care Act without any votes from the opposing party.
"Only, guess what?" he asked moderator John Dickerson. "We don't have 60 votes, John."
Key GOP meeting Tuesday
McConnell recently colorfully compared finding a path to 51 votes in the Senate to trying to solve a Rubik's Cube. And with about 10 GOP senators holding back their support, McConnell's challenge remains three-dimensional.
A key event to watch this week will be the Republican policy lunch Tuesday in the Capitol when McConnell and other GOP leaders may lay out for their wary rank-and-file members any emerging compromise to see if they can support it.
He delayed the vote until after the July 4 break. Now, some Republicans are calling for the August recess to be canceled if a deal isn't reached by then. And it's not clear McConnell will want to drag the issue out any longer. He also has other key issues demanding the Senate's attention -- including government funding, a debt ceiling increase and tax reform, a top priority of the GOP Congress and the White House.
Spending, taxes, debt
In the House, GOP leaders are trying to unlock stalled budget talks. Again, moderates and conservatives are clashing over spending levels and priorities. Conservatives want more money for defense and to slash spending on domestic programs and entitlements. But moderates are digging in to protect many of those programs.
Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday he's hopeful of getting a budget passed before the August break.
"I would prefer to pass one in July before we have to get all of our fall work done," he told reporters. "So, that's my goal, my preference. We're going to get back with our members starting Tuesday to talk about that."
The outcome could be critical to the legislative agenda for congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump because if a budget resolution is approved by the House and Senate, Republicans will be able to use special budget rules to pass a tax overhaul without the threat of a filibuster from Senate Democrats. Republicans currently are attempting to use those same rules to pass the health care bill, evidence that passing a tax a bill could prove just as tricky.
One pressing issue Congress won't need to deal with until the fall is raising the debt limit. The Congressional Budget Office announced recently it can keep paying America's bills through October. That will give lawmakers more time to haggle over whether to pass a straight increase in the ceiling or attach spending cuts as many Republicans want to do as part of it.
Russia investigations continue -- new FBI nominee to testify
The Senate confirmation hearing for FBI nominee Chris Wray is likely to draw much attention this week. The Senate judiciary committee is scheduled to consider his nomination on Wednesday, and the hearing will inevitably revive talk of Comey's firing by Trump. But it also comes after Trump talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin about his country's alleged interference in the US elections when they met last week.
The House and Senate Russia investigations get back in gear this week after taking the July 4 recess off. Members of the House intelligence committee, in particular, are expected to have a busy July as they continue their closed-door interviews with Democratic and Republican witnesses.
Also, the House will face pressure to take up a Russia sanctions bill that got stalled over a procedural issue in the days before Trump's bilateral meeting with Putin. Democrats accused Republicans of deliberately delaying final passage of the bill -- by citing an occasionally enforced rule known as "blue slip" -- until after that important first meeting between the two world leaders. Republicans denied that was their intent, insisting that the "blue slip" violation, which mandates that bills generating revenue begin in the House, had to be addressed first. An agreement was reached and the Senate passed a slightly tweaked version of the measure just before recess, and now Senate Democrats will push House Republicans to put the sanctions bill on the floor for a vote in the coming days.
Finally, the Senate armed services committee will hold a hearing Thursday examining allegations Moscow orchestrated a failed coup attempt in Montenegro last year. The ambassador to the US from that country, which is now part of NATO, is scheduled to testify.Letter to the Editor
Watts Up With That?
23rd July 2012
Nothing illustrates the anti-human ethos of the Greens better than their support for “biofuels”.
That trendy name cannot hide the fact that encouraging and mandating the burning of food for motor fuel creates nothing but negatives for the environment and for human welfare, but will have no effect on climate.
The biofuel scheme relies on taxpayer subsidies and legislated market-sharing. It wastes land, fuel, fertiliser, water and financial resources to produce ethanol from sterile monocultures of corn, soya beans, palm oil and sugar cane. Most of the land used was cultivation that once produced food. Some is stolen from peasant landowners or obtained by ploughing natural grasslands or clearing virgin forests. The distilling process produces good alcohol but an inferior motor spirit that can damage some engines and has only 70% of the energy of petrol and diesel.
The biofuel schemes have already inflated world food prices. Shortages and famines will increase. This food-burning policy is taking us back to the hungry years before tractors, harvesters, trucks and diesel fuel when teams of draft horses, working bullocks, stock horses and farm labourers consumed 80% of farm output. Some may like to return to those bucolic days, but then most city populations would not find food on their supermarket shelves. In trendy green jargon, big cities would be “unsustainable”.
Here is a new slogan which is kind to humans AND the environment:
“Don’t Burn Food for Fuel”.
Viv Forbes,
Rosewood Qld Australia
[email protected]
I am happy for my email address to be published.
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RedditFROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: 'Win' release, Terrain Builder, Object IDs
PRECEDENCE: Flash
SITUATION
Thursday is the day we will finally deliver the complete "The East Wind" campaign. We made the commitment to bring you three episodes, and we're glad to now make good on that. Combined, we think the episodes produce for a worthy singleplayer experience. Don't forget to explore beyond the primary objectives. There are side objectives that expand on the goings-on, e.g. when patrolling away from your camps.
And there's lots more in the 1.14 "Win" update:
To-199 Neophron CSAT CAS jet
A-164 Wipeout NATO CAS jet
Tempest CSAT heavy truck with variants (transport, fuel, repair, ammo, etc.)
(transport, fuel, repair, ammo, etc.) Altis Points Of Interest: Ghost Hotel compound and Stadium
13 new music tracks in the Soundtrack Bonus folder for (Digital) Deluxe Edition owners
We hope you'll enjoy experimenting with the sandbox content and playing through the full campaign! Our team is now turning its gaze back onto Arma 3 Zeus, prepping it for release in the coming weeks.
INTELLIGENCE
Terrain modders will be glad to hear we can finally release our terrain tool, which we've renamed Terrain Builder (formerly Visitor). This is the version we use internally for the most part. As it's not yet fully tested outside of our office environment, there may be issues with this initial release. It should however be a big step forward for creating custom terrains.
One significant change this version of TB brings with it is the introduction of static object IDs. Until now these IDs would often get regenerated when we updated Stratis and Altis. With this change, any placed object should retain its ID forever. We would still recommend not relying on these IDs in your scenarios or scripts, but realize some advanced applications cannot be handled differently. The environments included with the 1.14 update are using this technology already.
At the same time, we're renaming Oxygen to Object Builder, making the Arma 3 Tools suite more consistent. One more addition, based on popular demand, is the P-drive. This simple batch file should create a virtual drive with all necessary components for Buldozer viewer in Object Builder. Later we would like to make setting up the viewer more straightforward.
Achievement Unlocked! Yes, we've added 5 Steam Achievements to Arma 3. They are all campaign-related and basically give you bragging rights for completing the episodes. Don't worry about us adding a lot of typical shooter achievements. We don't think many of these fit the style of Arma (e.g. Kill 50 enemies using headshots!). There are other types of achievements which we do believe can work, such as those rewarding the use of the editor and Steam Workshop. We are also taking into account the results of a survey we ran about achievements and other online services a long time ago.
OPERATIONS
There are many more changes to Altis than the new keypoint locations! There is a set of new objects to enrich the immersion, as well as lots of fixed Feedback Tracker issues. Environment Lead Martin Pezlar gives us the run-down in a new OPREP.
LOGISTICS
Designer Karel Mořický and programmer Filip Sádovský continue to wrap up their work on the initial Zeus release. Recently, they have changed the (mouse) control scheme to follow the industry standard for Real-Time Strategy. This was also needed to allow for context-sensitive waypoint placement on objects for example. Some of the controls can be mapped in the options, and you may need to reset or remap them if you've tried Zeus previously. Their most-recent work is less visible: it was time to prepare the content for translation.Welcome to the weekly Economy Corner where I suggest the Best Bang for the Buck options at each position (Price Paid/Points Earned). Most of us probably won’t crack the top 100 in the Global Overall league. In fact, I’d be happy to just hit the top 1,000. However, we all have the capability to achieve #1 in our private leagues against our friends, coworkers, and fellow club supporters. I am here to help you achieve that.
Value Play Examples from Week 6 (Week 6 price) –
Goalkeeper: Paying only $3.9 for Diop LA who scored 9 points compared to paying $5.9 for Bingham SJ who scored 3 points.
Defender: Paying $6.2 for Moor TOR who scored 1 point compared to paying $4.3 for Wingert RSL who scored 8 points
Midfielder: Paying $9.1 for Schweinsteiger CHI who scored 4 points compared to paying $6.4 for Mulholland RSL who scored 10 points.
Forward: Paying only $8.7 for Dwyer SKC who scored 10 points compared to paying $11.9 for Giovinco TOR who scored 9 points.
Recap of Week 6 Suggestions
Big Win: Goalkeepers Bono TOR and Ousted VAN suffered through a 2-2 draw and a 3-0 loss. They still both scored 3 points and avoided a price decrease.
Swing and a Miss: All three forwards; Montreal and Minnesota were shutout, and Barnes ORL only played 22 mins. They weren’t the only forwards to have problems this week. Even as their teams won, Urruti DAL, Accam CHI, and Ortiz DC had bad performances and their prices decreased this week.
The Push: Midfield. Once again Medujanin PHI produced points regardless of the scoreline, he earned 6 fantasy points while Union lost at home 3-1 to Portland. Godoy SJ had his first game in which he didn’t score a goal or get credit for an assist, he still earned 5 points. What kept all this goodness from being this weeks Big Win was Tabla MTL. Tabla played a full 90, but his only fantasy accomplishment was earning a yellow card and a price decrease.
Biggest Regret: Believing Sporting KC and Colorado Rapids would be another 0-0 draw.
*Weekly disclaimer: I’m not saying these choices will perform better than high priced Frei, Hedges, Lodeiro or Giovinco; these are simply value plays so that you can still squeeze Frei, Hedges, Lodeiro or Giovinco all into you starting XI.
Week 7 Value Suggestions
Goalkeepers As of writing this Melia SKC and Diop are the highest selected goalkeepers, I expect that to change as more people update their teams for the week.
Kann ATL $4.8 – Kann has yet to score less than 4 fantasy points in a game. Yes this is Atlanta’s third game in a row on the road. However, Atlanta on average has only allowed 1 goal per game; Montreal is only averaging 1 goal per game. Would not be surprised if Atlanta steals 3 points in this one.
Bendik ORL |
.Just 15% of us voted for the new UK police and crime commissioners, and their attempts to appoint 'youth commissioners' keep running into trouble. Is it worth it?
Last November we went to the polls to elect our first ever police and crime commissioners. The government wanted the PCCs, now in place in 41 of the 43 police areas in England and Wales, because it believed they would improve police accountability and allow the service to "reconnect" with the public. We were not especially convinced: 15.1% of us bothered to vote, significantly fewer than the 23% who turned out in the 1999 European polls. Surveys suggest 90% of us don't know who our elected PCC is.
Heartened by such a ringing democratic endorsement of their role, some new commissioners are now seeking to further boost their popularity by hiring salaried "youth commissioners" or "ambassadors" to act as "champions for young people". (The successful candidate is expected to do this "dynamically", "innovatively" and "proactively".)
This is going as well as you might expect. The first youth commissioner, Paris Brown, lost her £15,000-a-year job before she'd even begun after it emerged that she had posted a string of ill-advised tweets. Undeterred, the Kent PCC, Ann Barnes, is continuing her search and said last week she had 26 applicants for the job Brown was obliged to vacate.
The Cheshire police commissioner, John Dwyer, is also currently advertising for a "youth ambassador" on a salary of between £23,799 and £25,449. This has drawn predictable criticism – although to be fair, the job expects candidates to have three A-levels and three years' experience of working with young people.
Still, safer by far to adopt the approach of Conservative PCC for Humberside, Matthew Grove, who recently told pupils about his plans to appoint four youth ambassadors to be "the voice of young people at the very heart of policing", but made clear the positions would be voluntary.
Best tread carefully when most people don't know who you are or what you do – and the rest, on the whole, don't much care.According to a report from Dianna Marie Russini of NBC Washington, the Eagles are one of two finalists for free agent safety Jairus Byrd. The other team reported to be in the running is the Washington Redskins.
Sources say it will be between the Eagles or The Redskins for Jairus Byrd #NFLFreeAgency — Dianna Marie Russini (@NBCdianna) March 11, 2014
Exciting! The Eagles' interest in Byrd seems legitimate. They need a safety and Byrd is the top player on the market. Adam Caplan recently reported that the Eagles inquired about trading for Byrd last season. ESPN's Adam Clayton mentioned yesterday that the Eagles have been talking to Byrd's agent.
It's fun to see two division rivals competing for the same top free agent. Both teams will have a lot of money to offer, and that will ultimately be the deciding factor here. But if the price tag is close, it's possible Byrd will favor playing for a winner. Given the success of the Eagles' in 2013, that could give them the advantage. Then there's this report from Ian Rapoport:
Would be really surprised if #Redskins were in on Jairus Byrd, from what I’m hearing. We’ll see his market. Return to Bills still possible — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2014
So perhaps the Redskins aren't in on Byrd after all?
It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds. There's likely more to all of this than we currently know. Stay tuned to BGN for more updates.Contents show]
Resources Edit
An extensive and detailed guide to selecting, buying, seasoning, using, cleaning and caring for cast iron cookware
Buying Edit
All cast iron skillets are the same, don't waste your money on a more expensive brand or antique items. Iron is iron, unless you're lining a bomb shelter. If anyone tells you that one brand of iron is better than another, that person is a dummy/
Lodge is a good value brand you can get from Walmart. You will have to reseason it though.
richsoil.com recommends Griswold:
My impression is that general consensus to get the best cast iron skillet is to buy a Griswold cast iron skillet from ebay (try for a number 10 cast iron skillet for about $35 plus shipping). The other techniques are just too much work or add too much frustration.
In general, used cast iron cookware seems to be just as good as new. [add links to reddit discussions if any]
Seasoning Edit
[the hows and whys]
Care and Handling Edit
The easiest way to keep a clean cast iron skillet is to make pan sauces in it after cooking protein. The process of deglazing removes the sticky bits.
When the cooking is done - scrub the pan with hot water and remove all food from the pan. Dry the pan, and then take a small drop of cooking oil and wipe the cooking area with a paper towel and oil. This prevents rust.
Do not use soap on a cast iron skillet. If you can't scrub off bits - boil water in the skillet to blast off really tough food particles.We’ve all seen dewdrops form on spider webs. But what if they flung themselves off of the strands instead?
Researchers at Duke University and the University of British Columbia have now observed this peculiar phenomenon, which could benefit many industrial applications. As long as the strands are moderately hydrophobic and relatively thin, small droplets combining into one are apt to dance themselves right off of the tightrope. The discovery could form the basis of new coalescer technologies for water purification, oil refining and more.
The findings were reported online on August 14, 2015, in Physical Review Letters.
“We were studying how insect wings with a hairy structure clean themselves, and an undergrad Adam Williams saw two droplets merge and suddenly leave a strand of hair,” said Chuan-Hua Chen, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke. “Since we couldn’t easily reproduce the effect, we thought it was just an artifact, perhaps due to the slight breeze created by the humidifier in the experiment.”
But thanks to some ingenuity from Kungang Zhang, a graduate student in Chen’s group, they discovered that the “dancing droplets” are real, and are more likely to propel themselves off of a strand if they merge from opposite sides -- a finding that allowed the team to study the phenomenon in detail.
As a droplet grows larger, it stores energy on its expanding surface. When two droplets merge, the mass stays the same, but the surface area decreases. This causes a small amount of energy to be released. As long as the drops are only attached to a small solid area, the released energy is enough to fling them away. This proves true so long as the strand is reasonably hydrophobic, such as the Teflon-coated fibers in the experiment, and the diameter of the strand is a few times smaller than that of the droplet.
In previous research, Chen and his team showed a similar self-cleaning method from the wings of cicadas where droplets could launch themselves from a flat surface. That surface, however, was super-hydrophobic due to the nanostructure of the wings.
“In engineering systems, these nanostructures are concerns for reliability,” said Chen. “Our new finding provides a solution without resorting to these super-hydrophobic surfaces.”
A potential application of the dancing phenomenon is in water purification technologies. Current methods use gravity or shearing forces to remove accumulated droplets from fibrous webs, much like those found on your morning walk through the woods. If the droplets get too large, however, they can clog the gaps in the web. But with this new finding, fibrous woven materials could be engineered with Teflon-like coatings and large enough gaps to never clog before droplets jump off.
“Before we demonstrated this, people thought you’d never be able to get the self-propelled phenomenon on a moderately hydrophobic surface,” said Chen. “But now we’ve shown that you don’t need super-hydrophobicity to get this dancing effect. All you need are round fibers instead of flat surfaces.”
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation.
###
“Self-Propelled Droplet Removal from Hydrophobic Fiber-Based Coalescers.” Kungang Zhang, Fangjie Liu, Adam J. Williams, Xiaopeng Qu, James J. Feng, and Chuan-Hua Chen. Physical Review Letters, 2015. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.074502Mike Nudelman/Business Insider July 20, 2012, was a big night for Dave Girouard.
It had been four months since he quit his job as head of Google Enterprise to pursue a bold new idea of his own. Now it was coming together. Crowded around a long wooden table with him at the trendy Foreign Cinema restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District were his small, dedicated team; serial entrepreneur Andy Palmer, one of his enthusiastic investors; and six college students, bright-eyed kids with big plans who just needed a little boost. In front of him sat a stack of yellow envelopes containing a total of $210,000.
The group laughed and talked excitedly over glasses of wine and plates of seafood. It was the first time most of them had met in person, and they were eager to share their stories and dreams for the future. Paul Gu discussed the income-prediction model he was building. Omri Mor explained his work on a music platform.
Around 8 p.m., Girouard tapped his glass and stood. He reminded the table that the young people and the exciting things they were doing were the reasons he had left Google to start this company, Upstart. He thanked the six students there for being the guinea pigs in a totally new venture.
Two or three minutes later he wrapped it up. "We're counting on you," he told the students. "Don't spend it all in one place. And do the right thing — make us proud."
With that, he passed out the envelopes.
Dave Girouard, co-founder and CEO of Upstart, prepares to pass out $210,000. Courtesy/Upstart
The Dream Machine
The stated goal of Upstart is to connect bright, ambitious young people with wealthy individuals who want to invest in their futures — and, with any luck, help them achieve their dreams. "Upstart was founded to help people do what they were meant to do," the company announced at its launch in August 2012. "Many talented college grads take jobs they're not excited about, rather than following their true passions. Whether constrained by debt or just comforted by traditional career options, too many students take the perceived'safe path.'"
Upstart, in essence, wants to put a fork in the road.
The venture is one among several attempts by companies to figure out how to give young people with brilliant ideas the financial means to see them through. Across the nation, a generation of would-be entrepreneurs, artists, thinkers, and innovators are being held hostage to student debt, limited credit, and financial instability. Grads with world-changing ideas often wind up abandoning them for the more stable path of a traditional job. In a great socioeconomic irony, the people who may stand to benefit the most from a healthy dose of capital tend to be the least able to obtain it.
"Younger people who are in the early part of their careers are underserved by the financial markets," says Girouard, Upstart's co-founder and CEO. "We're thinking of our mission much more broadly as a huge and important part of our whole economy."
The pursuit of an audacious dream can lead to great success, but it also demands risk. Upstart aims to spread that risk around through a shrewd model known as a human capital contract. Under these arrangements, borrowers receive funding from investors in exchange for a percentage of their future income over a set period. On Upstart's platform, the borrowers are known as "upstarts" and the investors are termed "backers."
What makes human capital contracts unique is that the investment made is not in a particular company or idea, but in a person. After all, supporters argue, companies are no more than the product of the people who create them. So why not simplify the investment process? Why not treat the person as the startup — or, by Girouard's clever inversion — the upstart?
Upstart and its main competitor, Pave, are harnessing the power of the market to support young people with the energy, ambition, and creativity to make a genuine mark in their chosen fields of endeavor. Rather than appealing to donors' charitable instincts — like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and other crowdfunding sites — they are trying to create a scalable marketplace that can transfer capital from wealthy people who have it to innovative people who need it, utilizing big data and new algorithms that aim to quantify a candidate's future potential.
"We've always been about democratizing access to funding and knowledge," says Oren Bass, one of Pave's co-founders. "You have people who are young, energetic, full of aspirations and energy and hope, yet they lack a suitable funding option that lets them go after these careers and these dreams of their choosing."
One of those people is Andrew Galasetti, a self-published author and aspiring writer. Galasetti, 25, grew up in a poor household with his mother, a struggling artist, and an older sister after his father abandoned the family. Galasetti inherited his mother's creative spark but struggled with a learning disability. Despite that, he nurtured ambitious plans for his future. In 2012, he graduated from Georgian Court University, a small Catholic school in New Jersey, with a bachelor's in English, big dreams, and years of student loans to repay.
In December 2013, Galasetti turned to Upstart. Over the next two months, he aimed to raise $25,000 from backers to promote and publish an upcoming novel, establish a publishing company, and solidify his career as a writer. On his blog, he called it "A leap of faith with Upstart."
"What if everyone could pursue their passions, purpose, and fulfill their dreams? Wouldn't this country and the world be a better place?" Galasetti wrote on Dec. 7. "Upstart is trying to tackle these big questions. They may very well be the leap of faith into the right direction to make this a reality for more people. This is something special that I need to be a part of."
The exact percentage of future income that each upstart, or Talent, as Pave calls them, gives up is determined by an elaborate funding algorithm each company has created to predict an applicant's earning potential. The models take into account a set of data points that includes education, standardized test scores, credit history, and job offers. The contracts themselves can be either five or 10 years in duration. In years where the borrower's earnings fall below a certain threshold, no payments are made. Upstart defers them and tacks up to five additional years onto the contract, while Pave counts these years in the participation period unless the Talent is enrolled in a full-time academic or training program. Upstarts can give up no more than 7% of their future income, and Talents no more than 10%.
Backers on both platforms are required to be SEC-accredited investors, which for individuals means they have either a minimum net worth of $1 million or earn more than $200,000 per year. Upstart targets an 8% return for them and Pave a 7% one, but backers can see an upside of up to five times their initial investment should their picks achieve great success. The backers have no control over how upstarts and Talents use the funds they raise, though they are encouraged to provide mentoring and advice.
For their part, Upstart and Pave make money by taking a cut of the funding exchange. Upstart collects 3% of what students raise up front and charges an annual 0.5% on investments to backers. Pave takes 3% off what Talents raise and then 1.5% of each repayment.
Filmmaker Clara Aranovich raised $50,000 from 15 backers on Pave. Pave To the borrowers, high-flying dreamers like Galasetti, Upstart and Pave are selling a kind of freedom. For the backers, these platforms offer a feel-good investment option — the chance to support a new generation while realizing a decent return. And the unspoken implication is that the next Mark Zuckerberg could be hiding somewhere in the unsponsored pool. Back an upstart or a Talent, and you just might bottle lightning.
For this novel funding approach to take off, Upstart and Pave have made the lofty bet that they can take a generation of unpredictable young people — people with little or no work experience or credit history — and turn them into something highly predictable, a human asset class that even the most risk-averse investors will consider a smart place to put their money.
But the higher stakes are being played out on the other side of the equation by the upstarts and Talents. They will be the ultimate measure of whether these companies can truly democratize access to capital.
"It's actually going to have a big effect on the socioeconomic makeup of America if we're successful," Bass says. "It's a huge leveling of the playing field."
Chasing Efficient Markets
In September 2011, Paul Gu dropped out of Yale.
Gu had just been named one of the inaugural Thiel Fellows. The program, created by billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, annually awards $100,000 apiece to 20 or so of the nation's top students if they agree to leave school for at least two years and work on an entrepreneurial venture instead.
Gu and a Yale friend, Daniel Friedman, were working in Yale's computer science lab when they got the call. "We pretty much jumped into the air to chest-bump and promptly dropped our phones with the Thiel Foundation still on the line," Gu told the Yale Daily News.
Leaving Yale wasn't a tough decision. Gu's prospective bachelor's degree in economics and computer science interested him less than the chance to apply what he'd learned to real-life situations. In both college and high school, he'd always been more engaged in his own studies of efficient markets and investing than his academic work. He figured he could always return to finish his degree later. He turned down an offer from a major Wall Street firm. He had a $100,000 safety net to do what he pleased.
Paul Gu, a Thiel recipient and co-founder and head of product at Upstart. Courtesy/Upstart
In January 2012, Gu started tinkering with an idea for the ultimate efficient markets model — one that could predict someone's income over time. A model like that had huge potential. Instead of sizing up interest and profitability in specific ideas, entrepreneurs would be able to quantify the value they themselves offered to potential investors. Executed properly, it could transform the broader loan and fundraising industries.
It was the exact model that Dave Girouard was looking for.
The two met in the early spring and hit it off immediately. Gu liked the idea of Upstart and saw a perfect place to develop his idea. Girouard offered the then 21-year-old a unique deal: a spot on the founding team and a chance to take part in Upstart itself as one of the inaugural seven student-entrepreneurs — the ultimate Upstart poster child.
In April, Gu packed up his Tribeca apartment and flew from New York to Palo Alto.
Before he met Paul Gu, Girouard spoke with two other entrepreneurs — Pave co-founders Oren Bass and Sal Lahoud. All three were interested in the same concepts, but after initial discussions it became clear that they disagreed on the details.
Girouard wanted to create a product that would enable entrepreneurs to get their ventures off the ground. Bass and Lahoud had a broader conception of a platform that would appeal not only to Silicon Valley types, but also to artists, teachers, writers, and just your average motivated person with ideas. In the spring of 2012, they went their separate ways.
Two years down the line, Upstart's and Pave's platforms are nearly identical. And for both, the operational key to their success lies in the funding algorithm.
These proprietary measures — at Upstart built by Gu and a full-time data scientist, at Pave by a data scientist-demographer and a Yale professor of labor economics — are what make the two companies function. They determine how much capital upstarts and Talents can raise, how much of their income they'll give up in exchange, and how much risk they represent for potential investors. At both Upstart and Pave, the algorithms have been built using longitudinal data — information gathered over a long period of time — from universities, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, among other sources. Upstart has admitted to signing some "very nasty government confidentiality agreements" for the privilege.
The reliance of companies like Upstart and Pave on predictive algorithms highlights an inherent irony at the very heart of their approach. The more effective these companies are at forecasting the future success of their borrowers, the better their business prospects. But rather than leveling the playing field and giving a boost to the deserving young people who most desperately need one, such models will naturally tend to favor applicants who already have clear advantages. The cheapest capital will be available not to those most in need, but rather to the likeliest winners — in other words, those who would probably succeed with or without the company's help.
Scroll through the glossy profiles of fund-seekers on these sites and the same alma maters flash past again and again: Harvard Business School, Wharton-UPenn, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Brown, Yale. On Pave, Talents must fit into one of three so-called "affinity groups": Columbia graduates, women entrepreneurs, or "rising stars." Pave's featured "success stories" include a filmmaker who graduated Dartmouth and turned down a spot at Oxford, and a USC grad who worked as an associate at BlackRock.
"For sure we want to fund as many people in as many different industries and sections of society attending different universities as possible," Bass says. "We had to start with a very limited focus because we're a startup, but eventually we want to be funding people from all walks of life."
Not any time soon, from the looks of it. "We do filter by taking probably the top 5% of applicants," Bass admits. "They go through a vetting process where we look at your achievements and your suitability."
Arguably, such hotshots are already leaving their struggling peers in the dust. Their glide path to prosperity is all but assured. Showering them with mentorship and easy capital may be good business, but it's questionable whether such an approach will narrow the opportunity gaps that are built into the system, or end up widening them.
On Upstart, investors browsing the pool can sort the candidates by interests, education, and intended use of funds. The education selection is broken down into four options: "STEM," "Top Ranked Schools," "MBA," and "JD." It's a quick way to identify the cream of the crop. Gu says the model suggests that an MIT degree in something computer science-related is best for maximizing starting salary, while a Princeton economics combination optimizes mid-career earnings.
Screenshot from Upstart
Emily Oster, an associate professor of economics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, thinks such algorithms are ill equipped to help people in lower income brackets. "At the bottom of the income distribution, most people are not considering college or other higher education," she explains. "They are also likely to look like worse credit risks on observables. As a result, this group is unlikely to be in a position to take advantage of this option."
Meanwhile, she points out, those at the top of the spectrum are unlikely to need the model, as they typically have plenty of options for financing their goals. Of course, that doesn't mean they'd be unlikely to get funding — smart people with good credit history and strong education credentials still make great bets for backers. But in the middle of the income distribution, she says, there are plenty of people who stand to benefit from increased capital flow.
Girouard says Upstart aims to be "very democratic" insofar as it "certainly shouldn't be based on how much income your family has or that background." Still, he admits that "there's no question" the advantages certain people enjoy will give them a leg up on the platform. "It's not our desire, but if you have better grades, better schools, better access to other schools…" he trails off.
"That's kind of a systemic challenge that our country has."
The Winners
Upstart Trina Spear's impressive resume includes a 2011 degree from Harvard Business School and finance jobs at Citigroup and Blackstone. Backers leapt to fund her profile last January. In a single month — half the time Upstart allots for borrowers to reach their funding goals — she raised $20,000 in exchange for a mere 1% of her 10-year income.
"I think at the time I was the fastest-funded upstart," she mused. "I have 13 backers and a few of them ended up investing in the business too."
Trina Spear, an upstart, has an impressive resume. Courtesy/Trina Spear
The 30-year-old Spear is putting the funds toward what remains of her business school loans and living expenses as she raises seed funding for her medical apparel startup, FIGS. She didn't consider using the Upstart money for her actual company — she was confident she could get it from other sources. Because Spear hasn't started taking a salary, she falls below Upstart's annual earnings cutoff and is deferring her repayments.
Spear says that for her, the real value of Upstart is in the access it affords her, not to funds but to powerful connections. After one of her backers, Andy Palmer, made a direct investment in FIGS, he introduced Spear to a number of venture capital firms that also ended up backing her business. "It's not just really about the money," she reiterates. "You could probably obtain cheaper capital just by getting a credit card loan."
Her background in finance has also given her an acute understanding of the model she's become a part of. Spear recognizes that companies like Pave and Upstart are playing the same numbers game with individuals that major venture capital firms do every day with startups and businesses. "They're looking for the winners," she says. "And they need the Facebooks and Twitters to offset the majority of startups that fail."
That investor logic is also why Spear questions whether Upstart's model will catch on with enough backers to make it scalable. Right now, the massive upside that finding the next Facebook or Twitter founder could bring just isn't there. For example, what if a young Mark Zuckerberg had put a profile on Upstart or Pave back in 2006 and raised, say, $30,000 in exchange for 3% of his 10-year income? His maximum repayment would have been capped at five times his initial funding amount — so $150,000. That's not a bad return, exactly, but in light of Facebook's current valuation of some $170 billion, it looks like pocket change.
Platforms like Upstart and Pave want to have it both ways. By capping the maximum return backers can realize, they hope to protect upstarts from making exorbitant payments in the event of an extreme success. To remove or raise the caps could risk driving top talent away from the platforms, since the potential costs to them would tend to outweigh the value of whatever funding they received up front. It could also disincentivize borrowers from being as successful as possible, since a large share of their winnings would be paid out to other people.
On the other hand, the ventures hinge on investors buying into the idea that human capital is a safe investment and, on occasion, can yield sizeable returns. The cap on repayment can't be too low or else backers won't find the risk worth their while. And that's also why borrowers like Spear are so appealing. She offers investors a high degree of stability. Even if FIGS tanks and she re-enters the traditional job market, Upstart's algorithm knows she'll do just fine.
'If You Care About Returns...'
To understand why someone would put money into a new and untested investment model, it's important to consider Upstart's pitch to backers. "Income share agreements (ISAs) provide better risk adjusted returns than other asset classes, and are a great way to diversify one's portfolio," the company's website declares.
Screenshot from Upstart
That bold statement is supported by a compelling chart.
Screenshot from Upstart
Higher estimated return. Lower estimated volatility. And far better risk-adjusted returns. In other words, a more stable and more profitable investment than just about any other asset class available. People aren't as good as stocks and bonds — they're better.
"Certainly one person can be enormously successful or far less successful than our model would have suggested," Girouard explains, "but if you care about returns, which naturally most people do, then we always suggest you invest in a pool of upstarts. The model doesn't have to be perfectly predictive for one person to be very, very useful in terms of an investment tool."
The investing logic is sound, but as with the funding algorithm, it points to another inherent irony in the human capital contract model. If people are a safe investment because of their collective predictability, then it makes far more sense to put money behind a large, diversified group than a scattered few individuals. Grouped together, the weak returns or losses of one or two are cancelled out by the moderate successes of many others. This, in fact, is now an option available on Upstart. Backers can invest directly into an overall fund of people on the site that targets an 8% return. Many backers also choose to invest in one or two dozen upstarts, while only mentoring a small handful of them, if any.
A model like this is premised on investors caring about what happens in the aggregate, not at the individual level. In that case, what happens to the promise of mentorship, which is one of the key incentives for borrowers? What happens to the uplifting notion of wealthy people stepping in and helping the younger generation chase their dreams?
Even if upstarts behave like stocks, they're still people. From their perspective, what happens at the individual level is the only thing that matters.
Tempering The Dream
Girouard says the last year has been a great one.
Upstarts now number 254, and more than 300 backers have registered, offering funds that top $3 million altogether. Of those who have already made an investment on the platform, around 30% return to invest in another upstart every month. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 payments have been made to backers with zero defaults. Pave has published 88 Talent profiles and has more than 1,800 backers registered.
Upstart itself isn't profitable yet, but it's supported by $7.8 million in seed funding and has big-name backers like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. It's also toying with other ways of monetizing its product. Down the line, the company could license its algorithm out to credit card companies, auto loan providers, and any other number of industries that are interested in assigning rates to people for financial purposes.
"I was talking to somebody from a traditional bank that just issues credit cards, and they were noting that the lack of any good income prediction algorithm pretty much throughout any industry is a huge problem," Gu says. "So potentially you could imagine that we take this income prediction and license it out to others who could use it in basically any situation where it would be helpful to know what somebody's future trajectory could look like."
With growth has come realism. When Upstart first launched, it was marketed to fund-seekers as a route to following passions and achieving lofty goals. For backers, it was the chance to mentor a young person and share a small portion of the profits. Today, any would-be upstart who experiments with the company's income calculator, an online tool that is at once fascinating and terrifying, will note that certain career paths tend to bring better borrowing rates and income forecasts. It is a quiet tempering of dreams.
"I think that while we think Upstart is solving a big problem for a lot of people and it's adding tremendous value, we don't pretend that it will solve the problem of funding or equality of opportunity in every sense," Gu admits. "There are huge inequalities of opportunity that result from differences in people's circumstances when they're younger, and those are things that we're likely to not be able to affect."
Screenshot from Upstart
As for Andrew Galasetti, the bright-eyed writer from New Jersey looking to overcome one more obstacle in the formidable hand life dealt him, the leap with Upstart fell short. On Feb. 8, he wrapped up a two-month funding period that yielded $10,300 in exchange for 2.77% of his 10-year income. The bittersweet total was just 41% of what Galasetti had hoped to raise, and only cleared Upstart's all-or-nothing funding threshold of $10,000 after he appealed to his existing backers for a little more support with days to go in his campaign.
Galasetti isn't letting the results get him down. He says the money will still be enough to let him focus on his writing and creative endeavors, and he's moving forward with plans for his second book, "To Breathe Free." But his story is a cautionary one for Upstart, Pave, and any companies like them that talk of funding dreams and democratizing access to capital. For these models to fulfill such lofty promises, people like Galasetti with tough pasts and middling earning potentials need to be the norm on the platform, not the outliers. It's too easy to count fully funded Ivy League grads and top-notch MBAs as success stories when those people would likely have reached their destinations with or without Upstart and Pave to nudge them along.
For the lucky ones like Spear, the price of $20,000 was 1% of her future, while for the less fortunate like Galasetti it was far higher. But, as Spear says, such things are the "cost of doing business."
"Like anything else in life, if you're not as smart or talented, or as ambitious or as creative, you're probably not going to make it as far. If you don't work hard and get good grades, you might not get as good a job," she says.
"There's always going to be people that are better than others and have more opportunities than others. That's just life."
Read more of Business Insider's long-form features »▲ Here are some photos taken with Mi 6! How do you like it?
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▲ With a 5.15" screen, Mi 6 has excellent hand feel. It is splash-resistant, with the SIM tray also sealed against splashes
▲ Here's a first look at Mi 6. Notice the new four-sided 3D glass feature? Mi 6's sides are also made from stainless steel, which gives a beautiful high-gloss outline.
▲ Mi 6 debuts the Snapdragon 835 processor in China. SD 835 is based on the cutting edge 10nm processor, that's smaller, faster, more efficient, has less consumption. Mi 6 also comes with 6GB RAM, 5.15" display, and dual camera!
▲ Without further ado, let us now look at the Mi Phone that we have all been waiting for, Mi 6.
▲Today we are launching yet another beautiful product. Stay tune to watch our live updates here. It definitely a launch event not to be missed. We waited 7 years just for the birth of this Mi device.
▲ Mi Fans are posing "six" together. The launch event will be starting in 10 minutes!
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▲ 203 days for you, 7 years for Mi. The launch event will start at 2PM (Beijing Time).
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Your favourite colours of Mi 6?Now that we've terraformed a new home for future fiction, we need you to help us populate it.
Submissions for Terraform are open to the public, and the ask is simple: We're looking for 2,000 words or fewer—a nice, digestible internet length—of speculative fiction honing in on the tech, science, and future culture topics driving the zeitgeist.
We're looking especially for nearer-future fiction; think a bit more along the lines of sentient chat bots or climate-changed dystopias and less far-flung alien space operas. And we don't care what form it comes in: Classic-style SF short stories, social media posts from beyond the horizon, fictive data dumps, experimental graphic narratives, and so on. Our baseline rate is $0.20 a word.
Please limit one story per submission. Include a brief, one or two sentence-long description of the story in the body of the email, along with the word count, and any description about yourself or your publication history you'd like to add. We are not currently considering previously published works.
Remember, we'll run one new story every week. Terraform is a qualifying market for the Science Fiction Writers of America.
NOTE: Due to the overwhelming number of submissions we receive, we can no longer respond to every one of them. If you have not heard from us within four months, you can assume the story has not been accepted for publication.
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the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations.
In Counts 1 and 2, the indictment alleges that from July 1, 2015, through February 19, 2016, the Johnson brothers illegally manufactured marijuana plants and maintained an illegal drug house at 900 N. Rockwell, Oklahoma City. If convicted, they each face up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the manufacturing charge and up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the manufacturing charge.
In Count 3, the indictment alleges that the Johnson brothers conspired to use computer software to digitally manipulate images of Unites States Federal Reserve Notes. It is alleged that three types of printing technologies were used, including offset lithography, inkjet, and toner technology, to print the counterfeit notes onto sheets of paper. It is alleged that the paper was chemically treated prior to printing the counterfeit notes to prevent potential image distortion by inhibiting the ink’s ability to be absorbed into the paper. The printed sheets were dried on drying racks after which the defendants would sell cuts and uncut sheets to buyers throughout the United States. The counterfeiting operation is alleged to have taken place in commercial office space leased by Daniel Johnson on May 1, 2014, at the Regency Park Plaza in Oklahoma City. It is alleged that the Johnsons manufactured approximately $149,200 of completed counterfeit currency that was found inside the Regency Park Plaza office on Februay19, 2016. If convicted, each defendant faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the Count 3 conspiracy charge.
Count 4 alleges that Daniel Johnson specifically engaged in counterfeiting United States currency. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on this charge.
Count 5 alleges that Daniel Johnson illegally possessed analog, digital and electronic images of United States currency. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on this charge.
In Counts 6 and 7, Daniel Johnson is also charged with being a prior convicted felon illegally in possession of ammunition on February 19, 2016, and a firearm and more ammunition on May 19, 2016. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
Benjamin Johnson was arrested earlier today and appeared before a United States Magistrate Judge this afternoon. Daniel Johnson remains at large and is considered a fugitive. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts is asked to contact the United States Secret Service or the FBI.
The public is reminded the indictment merely contains accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Reference is made to court filings for further information.
The case is being prosecuted by United States Attorney Mark Yancey and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Brown.By x344534, May 25, 2014
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s.
My path to green syndicalism was anything but a straight line. I was initially ignorant of anarchism and libertarian socialism, because what gets labeled "libertarian" in the United States of America is actually anything but anarchist or libertarian, but instead is the most extreme and dogmatic brand of capitalism.
Let's be absolutely clear here. Capitalism cannot survive without the state. It takes a massive, centralized, armed-to-the-teeth, authoritarian government to enforce business contracts, "private property" rights, virtual "intellectual property" rights (the idea that ideas can be owned and controlled), rent, usury, and the notion that corporations are individual people. Nobody in their right mind would voluntarily consent to a system of institutionalized inequality which results in starvation, homelessness, disease, squalor, wage slavery, sexism, racism, and ecological degradation if they had the freedom (yes, you heard me correctly, I said "FREEDOM!" that ever ubiquitous buzzword that capitalist ideologues cast so effortlessly about in defense of their way of life which is anything but free to those forced into subservience under its dictates) to choose.
What initially blocked my path to real libertarianism, meaning libertarian socialism was the twisted demented pretzel logic of the so called "libertarian" capitalists in their polysyllabic but ultimately empty peonage to their Laissez-faire capitalist religion.
One individual in particular, Bryan Caplan--who lived in the dorm room next to mine at the (state-funded) University of California at Berkeley--even tried to "convert" me to his faith by handing me a reading list if his holy prophets: Ludwig Von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Henry Hazlitt, F. A. Hayak, Robert Nozick, and--of course--Ayn Rand.
Naturally, I didn't bite. I had a good deal of exposure to the demented nonsense of Rand already, and any philosophy or economic theory that supported this crazy dingbat's contention that there's any "virtue" in selfishness or that big corporate business is "a persecuted minority" couldn't have anything useful to say to me.
Thanks to a combination of my intelligence, inquisitiveness, stubbornness, and some plain good luck, I found thinkers and philosophers who offered clues to real libertarian ideas. These included Noam Chomsky, Murray Bookchin, Vandana Shiva, Rudolf Rocker, Christipher Alexander, bell hooks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Neil Peart (yes, that's correct, the drummer and lyricist of Rush), Chuck D (of Public Enemy), Graham Purchase, John Bellamy Foster, Carl Sagan, William Least Heat Moon, Bakunin, Marx, Engels, and Kropotkin (among others). Then, I met Judi Bari.
Judi Bari clarified matters for me greatly and showed me how one could be a radical environmentalist and an advocate for class struggle at the same time. Plus, she kept mentioning this group called, "the IWW."
I had no idea who the IWW was or what it stood for. For all I knew they were the International Socialist Organization (whom I was well acquainted with, but not at all interested in joining). Then, one day when seeking out a workers' collective to try and join as an alternative to the horribly depressing and soul killing capitalist retail job I had managed to get after graduating from that fabled weapons laboratory we call a "public university", a spokesperson from a network of such shops clued me in to what the IWW was and is.
I had heard Noam Chomsky (who would later join the IWW himself) describe himself as an "anarcho syndicalist" and a "libertarian socialist", but never fully understood what those terms meant or what an economy and political system organized around those ideas would look like. The IWW revealed to me how that would work in practice.
And, thanks to the influence of Judi Bari and Earth First!, the IWW was (and is) in many ways the first organization to promote green syndicalist ideas in practice (though the IWW is not limited to those concepts).
Over the following years, I came to realize how easy it was to prove just how flawed the thinking of so-called "libertarian" capitalists actually are, and really all I need to have done was read the following passage from the Preamble to the IWW Constitution:
The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.
As time passed and I gained life-experience I saw that capitalism and freedom are actually incompatible. Just to be sure, I read anarchist and socialist literature voraciously and the knowledge that I gained from doing so validated my experiences. My deepening understanding of the interconnectedness of the environment further showed me the flawed pseudoscience that the Ludwig Von Mises "Austrian" school of economics actually is, and I came to realize that ever more fully as I wrote my own book about the green syndicalist organizing efforts of Judi Bari.
As for Caplan, I assumed he'd passed into obscurity (after all, disciples of Ayn Rand are a dime a dozen. The capitalist class spares few expenses in funding ministries of propaganda to promote itself, and said ideologues serve that function all too effectively, but there's nothing particularly noteworthy about most of them). In this particular case, I was mistaken.
I was scanning social media when I happened a link on this article in Salon by Michael Lind, when lo and behold, starring back at me was the smug mug of this long forgotten Randroid, featured on Faux "News". Of course. It had to happen!
What was worse that seeing an old nemesis being given limelight that he scarcely deserved was Lind suggesting that this acolyte of Rothbardism wasn't just famous, but that he is quite possibly the heir apparent to Von Mises and other, similar commissars. Lind contends that Caplan is a cut above the rest and may someday be remembered as great a thinker as Karl Marx--albeit diametrically opposed to the latter--even if Lind finds Caplan's views abominable.
I nearly lost my cookies.
If the past half-decade should teach us anything, it's that any pretense that capitalism could be reconciled with democracy has been utterly and irrevocably destroyed. The myths of Thatcherism and Reaganism--which so dramatically eclipsed post World War II Keynesianism--have themselves expired.
No matter, says Lind. Bryan Caplan argues that given the choice between (presumably statist) democracy (which Caplan calls "national socialism" without any trace of irony) and plutocracy, most people will choose the latter because they value "freedom" (whose?!?) so much they'll tolerate capitalist created inequality. What's more, Lind suggests that Caplan has conducted a number of statistical studies and derived a body of equations that prove it. Hogwash!!!
I don't know what objectivist crack Caplan has been smoking, but history shows again and again that the opposite is true, and that plutocratic capitalism is about as far from true libertarian society as one can get. And what's worse is that social democratic liberal capitalists like Lind actually accept this reframing of "libertarian" and "socialism".
There is no freedom, other than the freedom to starve, under plutocracy. Capitalism has as much to do with actual freedom as a Renaissance Faire has to do with medieval England, and what Caplan and his fellow propagandists describe as "socialism" is actually a form of state capitalist corporatism that has very little actual social control over the wealth of society, let alone workers' control over the means of production.
The type of world that Caplan and his friends envision has never existed in the real world, nor could it. The "anarcho"-capitalist economic model is based on pure theoretical abstraction that is reductionist to the point of irrelevance. Historically capitalism evolved from colonialist imperialism and the appropriation of lands that were once held in common by relatively libertarian communalist societies (I challenge Caplan and his true believers to show me an example of any competing capitalist examples). The authoritarianism inherent in the process of enclosure that destroyed the commons and led to the creation of private property is about as far from liberty (for those on the receiving end at any rate) as night is from day.
The only way that anyone can reframe capitalism as "libertarianism" is to distort reality, speak purely in the abstract, play word games, and lie with statistics.
Perhaps Lind isn't disputing this and is merely saying that Caplan is a brilliant mind and a formidable commentator, that those of us in disgreement with him ignore at our peril. But does that really matter?
If plutocracy became the order of the day by some dystopian circumstance and the silver tongued deceptions of one of its commissars, it would not long endure in any case, because it will destroy human civilization through the process of ecocide. According to anarchist Gary Elkin, Capitalism cannot be reconciled with the environment due to the problem of externalities, the outsourcing of social costs to the nonprofit gaining masses not part of the capitalist class, which includes all non human species and the ecosphere itself.
Capitalism also cannot be reconciled with these four principles identified by ecosocialist Barry Commoner:
Everything is connected to everything else,
Everything must go somewhere,
Nature knows best, and
Nothing comes from nothing.
Finally, in her seminal text, Revolutionary Ecology, Judi Bari pointed out that capitalism depends on profit which--going beyond Marx--is not solely the uncompensated "surplus" labor of the workers, but wealth taken from the Earth and not replenished through natural cycles.
Capitalism destroys our very means if survival, and all around us we see people organizing to stop that destruction, if not for the blood if the workers, for the good if their homes and their communities. Everywhere one looks, people are rising up against tar sands mining, deforestation, oil spills, fracking, crude-by-rail, nuclear power, GMO crops, suburban sprawl, and mountain top coal removal--all extractive processes that Caplan supposedly believes that most people will sit back in "tolerate" in the name of "freedom" (i.e freedom of the capitalist class to make a profit at the expense of the neighborhoods, livelihoods, and environment of the masses).
If Caplan were correct, we'd expect to see mass demonstrations in favor of these horrible things, but we don't (unless they're fake "demonstrations" manufactured by capitalist front groups, which would be utterly unnecessary if people actually supported capitalism in all of its naked greed and avarice!)
Further, the capitalist class, particularly the "libertarian" Koch Brothers are doing everything they can to promote the accelerated extraction and ongoing infrastructure maintenance of centralized, capital intensive fossil fuels and the suppression of clean, decentralized, libertarian renewable energy--no doubt in large part due to the very real fear by private, capitalist utility companies that distributed renewable energy threatens their very existence as an economic model! And, in fact, this is happening much faster than anyone (including Caplan, certainly) seems to have predicted!
Caplan also represents the same interests who are engaged in climate change denial, no doubt because dealing with the problem of climate change necessitates an end to capitalism. All of Caplan's charts and graphs, all of his predictions, and all of his pontificating will not change this.
But no matter. The capitalist class will continue to seek out minds like those of Bryan Caplan whose genius is not in telling us how things really are, but is instead the pushing of pseudo-scientific clap trap suggesting that black is white, slavery is freedom, fracking isn't bad for the environment, toxic sludge is good for you, and that scientific consensus has not proven that global warming is due to human (specifically capitalist) causes!
But then what do I know? I work on a boat. My book about Judi Bari hasn't (yet) been published. You won't see my face on Faux "news" any time, and Lind doesn't even know my name.
If there is any justice in the universe, not to mention any chance if humanity's survival, history doesn't have to immortalize green syndicalists like me, but it will have to properly assign the Bryan Caplans of the world--no matter how adeptly they can lie with charts and statistics --to their rightful place, and that's along with those who believed the world is flat, that the sun revolves around it, and our solar system and its relatively minor star are the entirety if the universe.
If we are going to have a future at all, our future will be green, our future will be syndicalist, and the Bryan Caplans will be just another footnote in our history.LaLiga Santander Striking comparison with Ronaldo et al.
LaLiga is experiencing something of a shake-up among its goalscoring stars but one man has managed to remain a constant force as the 2017/18 seasons kicks into gear: Lionel Messi.
A look atop the Pichichi leaderboard after 11 games sees the Barcelona talisman leading the way with 12 goals, and after Messi comes Simone Zaza on nine and Cedric Bakambu on eight, with Rodrigo Moreno and Antonio Sanabria on seven.
All these players are highly-rated and turn out for decent clubs, but they are not considered to be top class stars among the globe's elite performers. To find those familiar names, one must look much further down the chart.
Boasting just one goal apiece in LaLiga are Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Kevin Gameiro with Antoine Griezmann, Gareth Bale and Wissam Ben Yedder on two and Luis Suarez racking up a mere three strikes.
Therefore, these seven strikers have only scored 12 goals between them, the same as Messi has managed on his own.
Some of these names have experienced a big drop off from last season, such as Ronaldo who had banged in five goals from eight games at this stage of the season in 2016/17, a return at the time considered to be below his usual standards.
Benzema, too, has failed to match last year's numbers with three to his name at this point 12 months ago, while Griezmann had notched six strikes.
By far the biggest reduction in form, however, comes at the Camp Nou as Messi's teammate Suarez reaches a tally of three goals, five less than he'd managed after 11 weeks of 2016/17.With Carmageddon right around the corner, there's no better time to talk about Los Angeles's desperate need for better transit options. The Van Alen Institute is coming to town to showcase the winners of their competition, Life at the Speed of Rail, and they're hosting a panel at Caltrans to talk about the role of design in California's high-speed rail future. We're thrilled to sponsor this event that focuses on how high-speed rail will change L.A., from shifting the city away from car culture to creating a massive transportation hub in downtown.
Life at the Speed of Rail
Tuesday, July 12
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Thom Mayne, Morphosis
Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times
Michael Lejeune, Metro
Dana Cuff, UCLA cityLAB
John Rahaim, San Francisco Planning Department
Alissa Walker, GOOD
Andrew Colopy & Diana Lind, Van Alen Fellows
Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
100 South Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
RSVP at rsvp[at]vanalen[dot]org
Event flyer [PDF]
Be sure to RSVP as seating is limited. Check out the finalists from the competition (some ideas are pretty incredible) and start thinking about what questions you have about the future of transportation in L.A. See you there!
Live in Los Angeles? Join GOOD LA and you'll get one good L.A. story (like this one!) in your inbox each day. You can also follow GOOD LA on Facebook and Twitter.
Top image: What Will You Do? by Rael San Fratello ArchitectsVIRGINIA BEACH, VA—Defiantly refusing to call the concert venue by the current title appearing on its facade and in promotional materials, Virginia Beach locals confirmed to reporters Tuesday their city’s renamed arena will always be the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater to them. “Verizon Wireless Amphitheater is the name I grew up with, and that’s what I’m alway going to call it. Period,” said Kevin DiClaudio, 25, claiming that the people in charge of the arena had to be “out of their minds” if they thought he was going to start referring to the venue as the Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater after all these years, seeing as how everyone in town and throughout the greater Hampton Roads area knew it by its previous moniker. “People won’t even know what I’m talking about if I use that new name. But if I say Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, it brings up all these memories. It’s where we go see the fireworks every year. It’s where my dad took me to a Jimmy Buffett concert when I was young. You can’t just go changing history like that.” DiClaudio later added that he still couldn’t bring himself to visit the rebranded Food Lion over on Sandbridge Road, saying he wanted to respect the property’s long, rich history as a Bloom supermarket.
AdvertisementNEW YORK (AP) — Greta Van Susteren is out as a nighttime host on Fox News Channel, replaced temporarily by Brit Hume starting Tuesday.
Fox did not publicly explain Van Susteren’s abrupt exit after 14 years, although a person close to the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity described it as a financial disagreement. Van Susteren was not immediately available for comment, and the news wasn’t reflected on her popular blog or Twitter feed.
The Washington-based lawyer came to Fox from CNN 14 years ago. For several years, her “On the Record” program aired at 10 p.m. ET, but moved to 7 p.m. when Fox gave a prime-time show to Megyn Kelly.
Hume is a senior political commentator for Fox. He said he’s taking on Van Susteren’s show through the election.The Berkman Center is pleased to announce the publication of a new paper from the Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data project team. In this paper, Effy Vayena, Urs Gasser, Alexandra Wood, and David O’Brien from the Berkman Center, with Micah Altman from MIT Libraries, outline elements of a new ethical framework for big data research.
Emerging large-scale data sources hold tremendous potential for new scientific research into human biology, behaviors, and relationships. At the same time, big data research presents privacy and ethical challenges that the current regulatory framework is ill-suited to address. In light of the immense value of large-scale research data, the central question moving forward is not whether such data should be made available for research, but rather how the benefits can be captured in a way that respects fundamental principles of ethics and privacy.
The authors argue that a framework with the following elements would support big data utilization and help harness the value of big data in a sustainable and trust-building manner:
Oversight should aim to provide universal coverage of human subjects research, regardless of funding source, across all stages of the information lifecycle.
New definitions and standards should be developed based on a modern understanding of privacy science and the expectations of research subjects.
Researchers and review boards should be encouraged to incorporate systematic risk-benefit assessments and new procedural and technological solutions from the wide range of interventions that are available.
Oversight mechanisms and the safeguards implemented should be tailored to the intended uses, benefits, threats, harms, and vulnerabilities associated with a specific research activity.
Development of a new ethical framework with these elements should be the product of a dynamic multistakeholder process that is designed to capture the latest scientific understanding of privacy, analytical methods, available safeguards, community and social norms, and best practices for research ethics as they evolve over time.
The full paper is available for download through the Washington and Lee Law Review Online as part of a collection of papers featured at the Future of Privacy Forum workshop Beyond IRBs: Designing Ethical Review Processes for Big Data Research held on December 10, 2015, in Washington, DC.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CNS-1237235. 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.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
CLINTON COUNTY, Indiana-- The 17-year-old girl accused of crashing into a Clinton County, Indiana, home and killing two sisters was going over 100 mph and was driving under the influence when she left the road, according to court documents.
Alia Sierra is facing ten felony charges, including two counts of reckless homicide for the July 12 crash that killed Haleigh Fullerton, 17, and Callie Fullerton, 8.
According to WXIN-TV, the girls’ mother, Bridget Fullerton, was walking into the room as the car came crashing through the home; she was flown by helicopter to an Indianapolis-area hospital for treatment. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Sierra is also facing multiple felony charges of operating a vehicle under the influence. According to court documents, a urine screen taken after the crash showed she tested positive for opiates.
Detectives determined she was driving 107 mph when she went off the road, through a ditch and field before crashing into the Fullerton residence.
Four juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 were also in the car with Sierra at the time of the crash. The front passenger told detectives he asked Sierra to slow down before they hit a bump that sent them off the roadway.
Another passenger in the back seat told detectives he had asked Sierra to let him out of the car several times because she was going too fast. He said Sierra called her car "the beast" and talked about how fast it would go before the crash.
According to WXIN-TV, Sierra is facing the following charges:
2 counts reckless homicide (level 5 felony )
2 counts causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance (level 5 felony
2 counts causing death when operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (level 5 felony)
1 count causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated (level 5 felony )
1 count causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II substance in the body (level 5 felony)
1 count criminal recklessness (level 6 felony)
1 count criminal mischief (level 6 felony)WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers using a new gene-scanning method have found a potential way to fight cancer by silencing genes that tumors need to stay alive.
They found a previously unknown gene that keeps tumor cells from killing themselves but that does not appear to be needed by normal, healthy cells. A second team found another new genetic process that also appears to be unique to tumors.
Both discoveries relate to a gene mutation involved in as many as 30 percent of cancers, the researchers reported in two studies in the journal Cell — an attractive target for a potentially useful and profitable drug some day.
The studies also point to a quick and effective new way to look for ways to fight cancer, using RNA interference or RNAi, itself a hot area in biotechnology.
Both teams of researchers focused on a known cancer-causing gene called KRAS. Mutations in KRAS are involved in 30 percent of cancers including leukemia, pancreatic and lung cancers. But so-called targeted cancer drugs do not work well against these tumors.
“It’s been a real frustration,” said Gary Gilliland of Harvard Medical School, who led one of the studies. “We know the mutation but we haven’t been able to do a thing about it.”
One important field of cancer therapy has been angiogenesis inhibition — stopping tumors from building blood vessels to feed themselves. Gilliland’s team and another group led by Stephen Elledge of Harvard and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute looked for other things tumor cells need.
“Cancer cells aren’t super cells,” Elledge said in a statement. “They are very sick cells that have needed to make a lot of compromises.”
To find these compromises Elledge and Gilliland, who now works at Merck Research Laboratories, used high-throughput RNAi. The employed small stretches of genetic material called RNA to slow down genes systematically.
“This strategy allows us to ask what the best targets are, with no preconceived notions,” Elledge said.
Scanning the entire human genome, Elledge’s team found some genes that KRAS cancers depend on to survive. One group they found are on what is known as the PLK1 pathway.
Gilliland’s team focused on a type of gene known as a kinase, already targeted successfully by cancer drugs. They found one called STK33 that appears to keep cancer cells from self-destructing when they are supposed to.
“The beauty of the strategy is that it would take only 50 to 70 percent knockdown of STK33 to kill a cancer cell,” Gilliland said. “It relies on a unique frailty of the cancer cell that normal cells don’t have.”
The work is highly experimental and will take years to translate into human research. But, Gilliland said, “We were looking at genes that we thought we could target easily with drugs.”UPDATE 10.05am: A TEEN who posted a hate-filled rap about the Werribee sex DVD online has been failed by the system, an expert says.
Adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said one of the ringleaders behind the infamous DVD received the appropriate sentence.
Dr Carr-Gregg said the system had failed the teen in question, but said his chance of reoffending may have increased with a jail term.
“The reality is if you send someone to jail at that age the likelihood that they are going to reoffend is huge,” he said.
“The sexual offending program is massively more effective and on research and statistics the kids are much less likely to reoffend.
“It would appear that that has been the case fore six out of seven of these kids.”
In an expletive-riddled diatribe posted on a website under his nickname, the 19-year-old boasts the attack video was viewed more "than the 10 o'clock news".
In 2006, the thug encouraged friends as they sexually assaulted and spat on a girl in a sickening attack filmed and distributed on a DVD titled "C--- the Movie". He also set the 17-year-old girl's hair on fire beside the Werribee River.
Eleven youths were charged over the humiliating Werribee DVD, with most placed on youth supervision orders, but only one of those is featured in the rap song along with four other rappers not involved in the film.
All were required to attend a counselling program for young sex offenders.
Dr Carr-Gregg said there was no proof that the teen would not have made the rap song if he had been sent to jail.
“What we have to recognise is that while everyone gets their jollies from the whole idea of retribution, what we actually have to think about long-term is what’s best for society,” he said.
“What’s best for society is that these kids - who made serious errors of judgement, performed gross indecency on a developmentally-delayed kid – should be given the chance not to do that again.
“It would appear on the balance of what we hear today that it’s worked six out of seven times.”
In the rap, the teen brags of his notoriety and vows to commit more violence.
"I hope it hurts to reminisce when you think about us Werribee kids, all things we did," he sings.
The teen escaped jail over the crime but attacks "c--s who judges us", saying they can all "get f---ed".
Victims of crime advocate Noel McNamara said the song was "disgusting". He said it proved the teenager treated his crime like a joke and should have been sentenced to jail.
Eleven youths were charged over the humiliating Werribee DVD, with most placed on youth supervision orders.
All were required to attend a counselling program for young sex offenders.
Another rapper also sings that the gang doesn't need to be tested "because we proved we're worthy" and that "fame will never end".
The song, which refers to the victim by her first name, includes the lyrics: "You're gunna to love c--- the movie".
The teen and two other amateur rappers expose themselves as violent racists and boast about bashings.
"I split lips and f--- I hate nips," is one of the rants.
"We're beyond saving," they chant. "It's Werribee until I'm locked up. Why don't you go and find out what we done."
Other lyrics suggest the Werribee crew think they are above the law and refer to the sexual assault.
"I'm still untouched.
"When hair got flamed.
"They didn't show her nude, when you look, you look, on YouTube."
During the rap, youths can be heard laughing at news sound bytes deriding their actions.
It is believed the female victim and her family are aware of the degrading recording. Police have not examined the song.
Victorian Women's Trust executive director Mary Crooks said the rap song was "unnerving".
"They are anti-social and misogynistic... it really troubles me," she said.
But a "music producer" involved with the rap showed no remorse, saying the victim enjoyed herself during the attack.
"She said at court she had a good time that day," he said. "She was a willing participant that day.
"He doesn't say anything about the attack. Quote the lyrics where he says that stuff, because he doesn't. Other people said stuff about it. Not him.
"How would you feel if you were the family of the victims that were wrongly accused of things that didn't happen."This article originally appeared in The Individualist in 1971, and was reprinted in the Journal of Libertarian Studies in the Fall 2002 issue.
Mention "free-market economics" to a member of the lay public and chances are that if he has heard the term at all, he identifies it completely with the name Milton Friedman. For several years, Professor Friedman has won continuing honors from the press and the profession alike, and a school of Friedmanites and "monetarists" has arisen in seeming challenge to the Keynesian orthodoxy.
However, instead of the common response of reverence and awe for "one of our own who has made it," libertarians should greet the whole affair with deep suspicion: "If he's so devoted a libertarian, how come he's a favorite of the Establishment?" An advisor of Richard Nixon and a friend and associate of most Administration economists, Friedman has, in fact, made his mark in current policy, and indeed reciprocates as a sort of leading unofficial apologist for Nixonite policy.
In fact, in this as in other such cases, suspicion is precisely the right response for the libertarian, for Professor Friedman's particular brand of "free-market economics" is hardly calculated to ruffle the feathers of the powers-that-be. Milton Friedman is the Establishment's Court Libertarian, and it is high time that libertarians awaken to this fact of life.
THE CHICAGO SCHOOL
The Theory of Money an... Ludwig von Mises Best Price: $3.00 Buy New $10.37 (as of 08:45 EST - Details)
Friedmanism can be fully understood only in the context of its historical roots, and these roots are the so-called "Chicago School" of economics of the 1920s and 1930s. Friedman, a professor at the University of Chicago, is now the undisputed head of the modern, or second-generation, Chicago School, which has adherents throughout the profession, with major centers at Chicago, UCLA, and the University of Virginia.
The members of the original, or first-generation, Chicago School were considered "leftish" in their day, as indeed they were by any sort of genuine free-market criterion. And while Friedman has modified some of their approaches, he remains a Chicago man of the thirties. The political program of the original Chicagoans is best revealed in the egregious work of a founder and major political mentor: Henry C. Simons's A Positive Program for Laissez Faire.1 Simons's political program was laissez faireist only in an unconsciously satiric sense.
It consisted of three key ideas:
a drastic policy of trust-busting of all business firms and unions down to small blacksmith-shop size, in order to arrive at "perfect" competition and what Simons conceived to be the "free market"; a vast scheme of compulsory egalitarianism, equalizing incomes through the income-tax structure; and a proto-Keynesian policy of stabilizing the price-level through expansionary fiscal and monetary programs during a recession.
Extreme trust-busting, egalitarianism, and Keynesianism: the Chicago School contained within itself much of the New Deal program, and, hence, its status within the economics profession of the early 1930s as a leftish fringe. And while Friedman has modified and softened Simons's hard-nosed stance, he is still, in essence, Simons redivivus; he only appears to be a free-marketeer because the remainder of the profession has shifted radically leftward and stateward in the meanwhile.
And, in some ways, Friedman has added unfortunate statist elements that were not even present in the older Chicago School.2
The Chicago School on Monopoly and Competition
Let us take the leading elements of Simonsian collectivist laissez faire in their turn. On monopoly and competition, Friedman and his colleagues have happily come a long way toward rationality from the old ultra-trust-busting of Simons. Friedman now concedes that the major source of monopoly in the economy is the activity of government, and focuses on repeal of these monopolizing measures.
The Chicagoans have gotten progressively more friendly to large business operating on the free market, and such Friedmanites as Lester Telser have even emerged with excellent arguments on behalf of advertising, previously anathema to all "perfect competitionists." But while in practice Friedman has become more libertarian on the monopoly question, he still retains the old Chicagoite theory: that in some way, the absurd, unreal, and unfortunate world of "perfect competition" (a world in which every firm is so minute that nothing it does can affect its demand and the price of its products) is better than the real, existing world of competition, which is dubbed "imperfect."
An infinitely superior view of competition is found in the totally neglected school of "Austrian economics" which scorns the "perfect competition" model and prefers the real world of free-market competition.3 So while Friedman's practical view of competition and monopoly is not too bad, the weakness of his underlying theory could permit at any time a return to the frenetic trust-busting of the Chicagoans of the 1930s. It was not very long ago, for example, that Friedman's most distinguished associate, Professor George J. Stigler, advocated before Congress the trust-busting break-up of U.S. Steel into many constituent parts.
Friedman's Chicagoite Egalitarianism
A History of Money and... Murray N. Rothbard Best Price: $6.66 Buy New $5.31 (as of 04:40 EST - Details)
While Friedman has abandoned Simons's call for extreme egalitarianism through the income tax structure, the basic lineaments of statist egalitarianism still remain. It remains in the Chicagoite desire to lay the tax structure's greatest stress on the income tax, undoubtedly the most totalitarian of all taxes. Chicagoites prefer the income tax because, in their economic theory, they follow the disastrous tradition |
“Easter” (or Pascha) because there is a “likeness between them and the days on which the events referred to actually transpired.” Notice that it is readily granted that the event does not repeat or continue. Augustine says that “so many years have passed since…” He even says “it is not the very day on which the event took place, but one corresponding to it by the revolution of the same time of the year…” Easter Sunday, as we continue to celebrate it, is not the day on which the crucifixion or resurrection “really took place,” but rather when they are “sacramentally celebrated.” The same thing is then said to be true of the Eucharistic sacrifice. This is true because sacraments “have some points of real resemblance to the things of which they are the sacraments.” They are signs. It is “in virtue of this likeness” that they “bear the names of the realities which they resemble.
None of this means that the sacraments are “merely” symbolic, nuda signa as it would later be termed. Augustine does believe that the Holy Spirit makes a real grace present in the whole sacrament, and yet it does not do this by circumventing or transforming the sign but rather precisely by using the sign as a sign. It does this precisely by causing something else to come into the mind as a consequence of itself.
Conclusion
We have demonstrated the way in which Augustine uses “sign language” to promote his sacramental theology as well as his larger understanding of communication. He applies the name of the “real thing” to the symbol, and he maintains that this is a true way of talking because of the nature of signs. This explanation rather neatly explains the various instances of “realistic” language applied to the sacraments, and it keeps within the parameters Augustine himself sets. The signs do not become the things signified but rather bring them to mind and in doing so transfer their effects.EXCLUSIVE: Packers Fan Saves Ticket from Sewer, Video Goes Viral
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Under the watchful eyes of a Bart Starr statue, CBS 58 meets the fan who made a catch any Packers quarterback would be proud of.
Omar Velaochaga grew up in the Waukesha area and said last weekend's Packers vs. Cowboys game was his first time to the stadium in Titletown. We meet up with him at Jeff's Sport Memorabilia in Brookfield.
"We were probably, I would say, five feet away from the metal detectors to get into Lambeau when it happened, Velaochaga said.
Velaochaga is the focus of a video posted to YouTube by his friend Chris Bucher. It's been shared and viewed close to a million time online across social media.
And it all started with a joke, Velaochaga said.
"There is this grate or the sewer lid and the sarcastic person that I am, I guess, I take out the ticket out of my pocket and I taunted in front of him like 'What? Like one of us is going to drop it?'," Velaochaga said.
"We all watch it, in slow motion, just falling down, until it got really close to the grate. And I was like, I hope it lands. And then it just goes right under it," Velaochaga said.
That's when a random person in line yelled that the grates come off. And despite the rainy weather, Velaochaga made a decision.
"I'd rather be this guy - the one that went into a sewer - than be the guy who lost his ticket in the sewer and sat in the car for three hours while everybody else went into the game," Velaochaga said.
That's when the camera starts rolling.
"So I just go a couple steps down and I just couldn't reach it. So I'm trying to figure out how to get it," Velaochaga said.
"So I decide to just dip my foot just enough. The ticket was floating which is the craziest part that we could just see it float. So I just dipped my foot and grabbed it with the top of my foot," Velaochaga said.
"You hear the claps and cheers and people yelling 'He's going in! He's going in!' Velaochaga said.
Until now Velaochaga has been anonymous. And after reading thousands of online comments he says he still feels good about his choice to get a little dirty.
"Packer fans are like 'I would do the same. You totally did what any good Packer fan would have done. You do what you gotta do.' And then you get the other side: 'That's where you belong. Get back in the sewer. Did you see Clay Matthews washing his hair down there?' Some crazy comments," Velaochaga said.
"I did not smell, by the way. It wasn't that bad. It's not like there was anything weird floating down there," Velaochaga said.
Security is seen watching the events unfold. One officer commented "In 275 we've never seen this".
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emailI’m going to start by saying that I already covered a lot of ground on the topic of Grey Goo in my preview which I released just under 2 weeks ago. I’m going to endeavor to not cover the same topics the same way I did before. I also, and I cannot stress this enough, am intentionally not intending to review this (or any) game as such. I feel that the diverse nature of gamers in general and RTS enthusiasts in particular make it feel presumptuous to me to tell you how to spend your money. Instead, my goal will be to provide context such as “players of X game are likely to find something in this title that appeals to them” or “players who focus on game story are unlikely to be satisfied by this title” within the text and conclusion of any of my non-reviews. I feel that this is a more honest and direct method of providing players with tools to make informed choices about a game. That being said, let’s begin!
Intro
Real-time strategy is a fairly insular community, both in terms of people who play these games and to a certain extent to the people who create them. You could probably count on one hand the number of core IPs in the RTS space, and one of the main ones hasn’t seen a new title since 2010… That’d be the Command and Conquer games, with the controversial-at-best C&C 4 being the latest release. Arguably, C&C 3 was the latest relevant title in the franchise – I’m not counting Tiberium Alliances for reasons I hope are obvious, and Red Alert 3 seemed to be something of a flash-in-the-pan, for better or worse. Anyway, it’s rare to see new RTS IP come out these days – all of the big money seems to be in WoW or Call of Duty ripoffs, or in DOTA or League of Legends ripoffs these days. It’s the brave studio who’s still making any strategy title at all, and many of those are being eminently safe by sticking with the formula that made their studio in the first place, with often incremental changes that we see in StarCraft 2, Company of Heroes 2 or the successive Total War games. Even many ‘new’ RTS and other varieties of strategy games coming out over the next year are franchise follow ups. All that to say, Grey Goo is in an interesting place. In an era where many companies have made so many iterations of their titles that they don’t number them any more, games like Grey Goo are assumed to be indie titles simply because the publisher doesn’t flood the TV screen with ads, buy up all the ad space on major tech sites, or that the title isn’t the 90th in a series. Grey Goo is a new entrant into the RTS field, developed by a studio that’s staffed by some of the people who created the field in the first place. It’s a return, in some ways, to the earliest days of RTS. In some ways, it’s something entirely different. But Grey Goo is anything but pretentious about this – it is content to have crafted a quiet, solid RTS experience that stands on its own elegance of design and while I do have my quibbles with some of the decisions that Petroglyph has made, I do hope that it is successful enough for us to see future games exploring this universe
Graphics
I always like to start with the low hanging fruit – typically, the graphics. The game is pretty good looking for what it is, though certainly not in the way that Company of Heroes is. Units and structures in Grey Goo are detailed, but look almost intentionally modeled after plastic or pewter game pieces – Human units in particular evoke the minimalism of white plastic chessmen. In contrast, the scenery is verdant and wild, with industrialized set pieces in particular looking pretty darn nifty. The game’s color palette, especially that of the terrain, tends to be a little muddy, with most guides out there recommending that Gamma be set to 125% to get better visualization, particularly on twilight maps where the sunsets oranges and purples serve to further muddy things up visually. Visually, my only real complaint is the look of large outcroppings of rock or catalyst veins. The jungle scenery and mechanized terrain doodads are quite well done, but large aggregations of rock or ‘hardened Goo’ textures just don’t do it for me in this game. Easily my favorite visuals in Grey Goo are the Goo factions “formless” units – that is, Mother Goos and Proteans, and the Human Core. The Core pulses, throws out holograms, and has awesome little shimmery lines all throughout. To me, it’s one of the most visually striking command centers in a game, and feels very much like the beating heart of the Human faction. Proteans contain some neat fluid dynamics and despite their near featurelessness are pretty iconic in their own right. I do wish, however, that there was some additional distinction between Small, Large and Mother proteans. Mama Goos have a little glowing cluster crowning their blob to set themselves apart, but Large Proteans in particular seem to lack a defining characteristic.
Streamlining Gameplay
I think I mentioned this before, but it definitely bears repeating: Grey Goo is essentially looking to distill the RTS formula to its core. The marketing for this game has been about ‘returning to the roots of the genre’ and the practical face of this is, essentially, cutting out any and all perceived clutter.
Economic Systems
Part of this is reflected in the game’s resource management system: Human and Beta players build a refinery, place an extractor and pretty much are then able to forget about the supply chain. Lost harvester units are replaced automatically over time, and extractors are free and can be placed from a global button on the screen (I’m sure there’s also a hotkey for this).
Here’s a quick breakdown of the game’s economy system for the Human and Beta factions
Refineries cost 800 resources, making them incredibly non-trivial to produce, much like refineries in C&C games. This means that in the early game, production and income are constrained quite a bit until players can get 3 or more refineries online, but this would come at a huge opportunity cost in terms of producing offensive units. Over time, as 5 or more Refineries come online, the pace of the game speeds dramatically as unit production of heavier units goes through the roof.
Players have to purchase additional resource storage in the form of structures. This is effectively more costly to Beta as they have to commit precious hub space to increase their cash reserves.
Harvesters are automatically sent from refineries to extractors. They can be killed en route, slowing down income. However, if they are damaged but not killed, they return from within structures at full health.
Harvesters explode when killed if they’re hauling resources. This can outright kill harassing forces, especially close ranged ones like Drovers, or Formless Goo
Unlike in StarCraft, units and structures are be purchased without the player being required to have all available resources. Beginning production of a unit or structure puts a drain on income at a rate/ per second until production is completed. This allows players to stall out their economy if they don’t carefully manage it, which I think is an important strategic consideration. Paying attention to income/expenditures is very important to being a good Grey Goo player.
The Goo, of course, work differently. Their main resource comes in the form of Mother Goo hitpoints. Mothers gain HP by ‘eating’ the steam that comes out of catalyst vents, or by eating units. This turns into ‘potential HP’ which metabolizes at a constant rate into real HP. I cover this in my preview however. The main point here: Goo ‘resource operations’ can be harassed just like Human and Beta ones, simply by damaging Mother Goo units.
Unit Design
Unit design, particularly in tier 1 units, is noticeably consistent across the 3 factions. The initial 2 units in each faction are different in subtle but important ways (actually that’s true of many of the game’s units) with most of the differentiation coming in terms of range, move speed, damage profile (dps, damage per shot, fixed/turret, fire while moving etc) hit points and armor having often slight variations. This is definitely in keeping with the game’s goal of cutting out clutter, but asymmetrical design is one of the hallmarks of RTS games and is something I definitely appreciate. Now, while the Beta and Human factions have the most similarities between their units, the economics of these factions to produce some meaningful differences. First off, Humans tend to have supply line problems as they cannot locate harvesting facilities nearby resource veins in most cases, so as the number of refineries they have goes up, they get some extensive harvester trains going – think long distance mining in StarCraft 2. Beta and Goo are able to cut this down considerably. Additionally, without teleporters, Humans have some significant force projection issues in the early game and into the midgame. This makes air dominance a big deal for Humans. Likewise, Human units cannot self-repair out of the box, while Goo units auto-heal when not in combat and Beta have repair pads. These small differences (and others) end up dramatically influencing how players interact with the game map and their approaches to combat.
Actual unit combat in Grey Goo feels more akin, honestly, to Supreme Commander than StarCraft or even Command and Conquer. In C&C games, units tend to have a specific role: rocket infantry to take on tanks, flak troopers to hit aircraft, et cetera. In StarCraft, units tend to have more flexible applications that can be influenced by micro or unit abilities, as how Banelings counter Marines, unless the player controls their Marines well and can split and back them away to minimize losses from the Baneling explosions. Grey Goo feels like neither of these games, with unit effectiveness coming down to range, speed, armor piercing and splash damage mostly. I’m reminded of how I chose unit compositions in Supreme Commander matches – high rate-of-fire units to minimize overkill on weak units, high damage, low ROF units with armor piercing to deal with heavier tanks, etc.
Competition
Which, of course, brings me to the competitive side of the game. I am still, after about 30 or so hours put into playing the game, unsure of how the competitive side of this game will take off. Petroglyph have carefully crafted a very specific type of game, without the blitzkrieg strategery of StarCraft or other traditional ‘eSport’ titles. The early game is quite slow-paced, and the variety of actions units can perform is drawn from a very limited palette. Once the flush of excitement of learning the game has worn off, it definitely still remains to be seen whether there’s enough meat in this game to meet the expectation of competitive, number crunching RTS fanatics. I myself am having tons of fun playing the game, but I’m basically in the 50th percentile of RTS players and nowhere near the level of top players in StarCraft, or Company of Heroes, or Command and Conquer. Petroglyph’s vision of the old-school ‘beer and pretzels’ RTS has been realized, I think exceptionally well – to me, the game seems crafted in a purposeful and even humble manner, reverent of the roots of RTS. But is that really what the players want? I’m really not sure. So far, I’m quite enjoying the game, but the gut reaction of a midlevel RTS player isn’t going to make or break a game’s competitive community.
Story
This article is already tediously long, but single player is very important to many RTS gamers so I feel I cannot again leave this out. I can unreservedly recommend Grey Goo to RTS gamers who are looking for a decent story. Grey Goo’s story is not a hackneyed yarn about contesting some magical resource – catalyst is just a thing. It’s important, but not Spice Melange or Tiberium important. It’s not a space opera, comic bookish yarn about prophecies or magical space crystals – it’s much more Asimov than Lucas in its presentation. It’s a story of confusion and loss, of protecting populaces and understanding foes. It’s incredibly well presented in terms of production and actually fairly challenging – I had to change the game difficulty after the 4th campaign mission. Like the rest of the game, Grey Goo’s campaign isn’t pretentious or over the top, just well crafted and remarkably solid. I say bravo here.
Recommendation
Grey Goo is assuredly a game in the lineage of Command and Conquer. Many of the design choices have taken nods from the classic Westwood experience – the semi-automated nature of resource harvesting, the renewable (and single) resource, the necessity of player to watch their expenditures so as to not stall out their production, the soul of this game is the soul of Command and Conquer games in many ways. But its heart is its own. I cannot unreservedly recommend this game to any specific subgenre of RTS gamer. Those who are nostalgic about Command and Conquer are more likely to enjoy it than others, but the combat model is not what they’d expect from C&C games. StarCraft gamers may find the game shallow or slow, though perhaps they might find the pace refreshing and the combat interesting, as I do. Those interested in single player are likely to be satisfied with the well composed story and interesting faction variation. There’s a lot here to love, if what was left out of the game (relative to whatever you’re comparing it with) isn’t a deal-breaker for you. Thanks for reading. -waywardStaff Sgt. Robert Bales, guilty of murdering 16 Afghan civilians, used a controversial malaria drug linked to paranoia, hallucinations and psychosis while serving in Iraq, according to his lawyer.
Whether Bales took the same drug in the days leading up to his murderous rampage near a remote Army outpost in Afghanistan is unclear, even as a new document has emerged suggesting he did.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a 2012 "adverse event" notification from a pharmacist who reported that an unnamed Army soldier taking mefloquine murdered Afghan civilians.
The pharmacist's report states that a patient, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury, was treated with mefloquine despite restrictions on its use due to the drug's propensity "to cross blood-brain barriers" and incite psychotic behavior.
The document has surfaced just weeks before Bales faces a sentencing trial on Aug. 19 to determine whether he will spend the rest of his life in prison or eventually be eligible for parole.
Bales' lawyer, defense attorney John Henry Browne, told The Seattle Times that he has documents indicating his client took mefloquine -- known by the brand name Lariam -- while in Iraq. It was there that Browne said Bales suffered a mild traumatic brain injury.
In an interview this week, Browne would not say if he will raise Bales' use of mefloquine as a possible contributing factor to his crimes.
Browne said that Bale's medical records for his deployment to Afghanistan are incomplete, and that he hasn't asked the Army whether there was a follow-up investigation after the massacre to determine if the drug was used at the outpost.
"We know that he was given Lariam while in Iraq," Browne said. "We just don't have a complete set of medical records for that period (in Afghanistan). "He (Bales) can't help us. He just says he took 'whatever they gave me.' "
Browne also appeared skeptical of the pharmacist's report, saying he had no indication that it was filed by anyone with direct knowledge of Bales' use of the drug in Afghanistan. He said it was possible that it was filed by someone who just heard of details of the case through media reports.
Army officials have been silent on the question of whether Bales took mefloquine in Afghanistan. When asked by The Seattle Times, the Army declined to comment, citing confidentiality laws that protect a patient's records.
In June, the Joint Base Lewis-McChord infantry soldier pleaded guilty to the killing spree that took place in the early-morning hours of March 11, 2012.
Even if Bales took mefloquine only in Iraq, the drug could still have had a long-term impact on his mental health, with some symptoms resembling that of post-traumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury, according to Dr. Remington Nevin, a former Army physician who has studied the effects of the drug.
Nevin notes that Roche, the manufacturer of the drug, recently filed an updated product documentation, which acknowledges the drug "may cause long-lasting serious mental-health problems," and that adverse reactions may occur and persist up to several months after the drug is discontinued.
Browne said Bales took the drug during all three of his tours in Iraq, including the last stint that ended in 2010.
While in the Army, Nevin studied the use of mefloquine by military personnel. He said many service members took mefloquine in 2003-2004, the time period of Bale's first deployment in Iraq. But its use by the Army was phased out during the Iraq war, and it would be "highly unlikely" that Bales would have taken it during his final two tours there.
In Afghanistan, where malaria risks are much higher, mefloquine has continued to be used by some military personnel, according to Nevin.
An Army memorandum suggested that soldiers with brain injuries should not receive the drug. And if they did, Army rules called for it to be documented in medical records. Nevin said that often did not happen.
At Camp Belambay, the small outpost where Bales served, all kinds of rules were broken by the mix of Special Forces and infantry soldiers, according to testimony during earlier court-martial hearings. Soldiers, including Bales, took illegal steroids and shared Jack Daniels cocktails, although alcohol was prohibited, according to the testimony.
Bales twice left the outpost to carry out massacres at two villages. In between the killings, he awoke another soldier and asked him to "smell his gun," before finally returning to the camp wearing a blue cape and bloodstained clothes.
The FDA notification from an unnamed pharmacist appears to refer to these crimes because it cites the initial number of victims reported by the Army. The document was released to Nevin and The Military Times under the federal Freedom of Information Act. It does not detail whether such records exist for the unnamed patient involved in the homicides.
The adverse event notifications are supposed to assist the FDA in its safety surveillance of drugs. But the filing of such reports does not imply that there is a link between an adverse event and a drug, and they often lack enough information for the FDA to figure out if there is any link.
This report was first sent to Roche, the drug's manufacturer, on March 29, 2012, a few weeks after Bales was charged with the crimes. Roche then forwarded it to the FDA as required by federal law.
A Roche spokesman told The Times that many of the details about the patient's use of mefloquine, such as the dose, frequency and form, were not included in the report.
"We took a look at it, and we decided we needed to submit it," said Chris Vancheri, a spokesman for Genentech, which is part of the Roche Group.
In Afghanistan, the mefloquine pills were often referred to as "greenies," and in years past were sometimes distributed in blister packs that did not contain any of the manufacturer's warnings, according to a Special Forces soldier who took them while on two tours of duty in Afghanistan.
"There was no screening," said the soldier, who requested anonymity because he is still on active duty.
The soldier said that some soldiers actually took a liking to mefloquine because it gave them vivid dreams.
While Nevin was in the Army, his research found that about one in seven military personnel received mefloquine despite mental-health diagnoses that should have put the drug off-limits.
In 2009, concerns about mefloquine prompted the Defense Department to make mefloquine a third choice for anti-malarial protection among U.S. troops, behind two other drugs.
Then in a Jan. 17, 2012 memorandum, the assistant secretary of defense noted that some military personnel received mefloquine "without appropriate documentation in their medical records and without proper screening."
The memorandum requested that all services -- within 90 days -- ensure that military personnel are "appropriately screened and informed" when taking mefloquine, and that their prescriptions are recorded in their medical records.
By the time the review was completed, Bales had been charged with the murders of Afghan civilians.Michael Wilce of Central London, UK took 20 composite shots to create this image of the Venus transit on June 8, 2004.
On June 5, skywatchers around the world will be treated to a rare astronomical event when Venus dances across the solar disk for the last time this century.
The so-called transit of Venus is a much-anticipated event that has attracted wide interest around the globe. To prepare for the historic spectacle, here are some frequently asked questions (and answers) on the rare celestial sight:
What is the transit of Venus?
When Venus crosses in front of the sun, astronomers refer to this as a "transit." As the planet moves along its orbital path, it will travel across the solar disk, making it appear to observers on Earth as a small black blemish on the face of the sun.
What's so special about it?
Due to the tilt of the planet's orbit, transits of Venus are some of the rarest astronomical sights because they only occur in pairs eight years apart, once every 100 years or so. The last Venus transit occurred on June 8, 2004, and the next one will not be visible again until the year 2117, more than 100 years from now. [Transits of Venus Through History (Gallery)]
Prior to 2004, the last pair of Venus transits took place in 1881 and 1889.
World visibility of the transit of Venus on 5-6 June 2012. Spitsbergen is an Artic island – part of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway – and one of the few places in Europe from which the entire transit is visible. For most of Europe, only the end of the transit event will be visible during sunrise on 6 June. (Image: © Michael Zeiler, eclipse-maps.com (via ESA))
How can I watch the transit?
As Venus passes in front of the sun, the planet will cover only a small fraction of the solar disk, which means observers need to protect their eyes. It is very dangerous for humans to stare at the sun (even mid-transit) without proper eclipse glasses or solar filters for binoculars and telescopes.
To observe the sun, dense filters are used to block damaging rays. The only safe filters are #14 welder's glass, which is sold in specialized welder's supply stores. Special eclipse glasses are also available from telescope stores and astronomy clubs (they should only cost a couple of dollars).
Another way to watch the transit is using a "pinhole camera," which can be made from a large cardboard box. [Video: How to Make a Pinhole Camera]
If you plan to watch the transit with binoculars or a small telescope, you will need a proper full-aperture solar filter.
When and where can I see the 2012 transit of Venus?
Venus will cross the face of the sun on June 5, 2012, and will be visible from many parts of the world. Since the event takes place across the International Date Line, the transit will occur on Wednesday, June 6 in Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe.
Skywatchers in North America, Europe, Asia and eastern Africa will be well-placed to see at least part of the transit in person.
To see if there are any local events in your hometown to view the transit of Venus, NASA has put together a map showing the location of various viewing parties around the world on its Sun-Earth Day website: http://venustransit.nasa.gov/2012/transit/event_locations.php
If, however, you are unable to witness the event in person, several organizations will be broadcasting footage from observatories and telescopes online.
For example, NASA will be hosting a webcast on June 5 that will last the entire length of the Venus transit. Viewers who tune in will be able to see the entire event unfold, through footage streamed live from t he summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. These views will be accompanied by commentary from astronomers and transit experts. The webcast is currently scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. EDT (2145 GMT).
For more information, SPACE.com has put together a handy guide for how to watch the transit of Venus online: http://www.space.com/15956-venus-transit-online-skywatching-webcasts.html
What time will I be able to see the transit of Venus?
The transit will begin at around 6:09 p.m. EDT (2209 GMT) on June 5, and will last roughly seven hours. People located in the mid-Pacific region, where the sun will be high overhead throughout the transit, are particularly lucky because they will be able to witness majority of the event.
Still, others in North America, Europe, Asia and eastern Africa should be able to see at least part of the transit in person.
In North America, the best time to view the transit will be in the afternoon, in the hours before sunset on June 5. In Europe, Africa and Australia, Venus will be traveling across the sun as it rises in the morning on June 6.
Skywatchers throughout most of Asia and across the Pacific Ocean should be able to view the event any time on Wednesday. Still, it's important to keep in mind that these guidelines are all contingent on local weather and conditions.
For more information on viewing times, check out this article: http://www.space.com/15910-venus-transit-2012-observing-tips.html
Can the transit of Venus be seen from space?
Yes. In fact, NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who is currently aboard the International Space Station, is planning to be the first to photograph the Venus transit from space. Pettit is planning to snap pictures of the celestial event from the station's seven-windowed Cupola observation room.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is also planning to watch the transit from space. According to agency officials, the satellite will use observations from the event to calibrate its instruments and glean information about Venus' intensely hot atmosphere.
What are the different stages of the transit?
Astronomers refer to different phases of the transit of Venus based on "contacts." When the planet first touches the outer edge of the sun, this is known as first contact. Second contact occurs when Venus appears to be completely on the sun. Third contact refers to when Venus touches the sun's inner edge, and fourth contact follows when the planet is totally separate from the sun.
This website can be used to calculate local transit times, including the various stages of contact: http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/where-when/local-transit-times/
Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.More than 1,500 jobs have been created in Caerphilly County Borough through recent European Union funding.
Recent information from the Welsh European Funding Office shows that between 2007 and 2013 the gross number of jobs created through the European Regional Development Fund stood at 1,573.
Over the same period there were also 14,674 people gaining qualifications through the European Social Fund.
Caerphilly AM Jeff Cuthbert said European money was making a difference in Caerphilly County Borough and pointed to recent rail improvements.
He said: “Last December we saw the opening of Energlyn and Churchill Park railway station. The new station was funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.
“EU funding will soon help transform a number of railway stations across Wales including Ystrad Mynach which will benefit from a new ticket office, passenger waiting facilities on both platforms, and general improvements to the station environment.
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“I welcome this European investment in infrastructure projects in my constituency.”
He added that EU funding was crucial to future projects.ISPR says Pakistani troops befittingly responded; Foreign Office summons Afghan envoy to lodge protest
ISLAMABAD: At least four soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed and four others were injured on Sunday as militant groups fired rockets from across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Agency.
“Four Pakistan Army soldiers were killed and four others injured due to rocket fire,” an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.
“According to reports, rounds fired from Afghanistan side opposite Khyber Agency by terrorists hit a 8,000 feet high Pakistani post in Akhandwala Pass,” the statement added.
“Pakistani troops befittingly responded and eliminated the group of terrorists.”
Read: Cross-border fire from Afghanistan injures two
The attack comes a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reiterated his call on Pakistan to adopt the “same definition” for terrorism for attacks in Afghanistan as it does for attacks across the Durand Line.
“Pakistan should have an understanding of the situation in Afghanistan and use the same definition of terrorism with regards to Afghanistan as it does domestically,” Ghani said in a meeting with outgoing Swedish Ambassador to Afghanistan Peter Semneby.
In a statement released from the Afghan Presidential Palace, Ghani added the region and the world were in agreement with Afghanistan on the fight against terrorism, especially on the links between terrorism and criminal economy.
Pakistan lodges protest with Afghan envoy
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office summoned Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Janan Mosazai and lodged protest over the killing of four soldiers in the rocket attack.
“The Ministry lodged a strong protest against the mortar shelling from Afghanistan in Khyber Agency this morning…,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Read: Ghani urges Pakistan to use same definition of terrorism for Afghanistan as it does domestically
It is the second time Pakistan has called the Afghan ambassador to the foreign ministry in less than a week amid growing tensions between the two countries.
“The Afghan envoy was asked to urge his government to investigate the incident and share the result of the inquiry with the Government of Pakistan,” the statement added. “Pakistan fully condemns terrorism in all forms and manifestations and is willing to collaborate with Afghanistan to fight the common enemy. However, the attacks against our military personnel are unacceptable.”
The Afghan ambassador said he would convey the message to the authorities concerned, and also expressed condolences on the killings, the statement added.
Read full storyPDK is the only available transmission. Wide Fuchs-style wheels, as well as the front and rear bumpers and valances, are also Sport Classic carry-overs.
But your attention is drawn first to the signature double-bubble hood cover and the shortened windscreen, abbreviated to the tune of 60mm. Unlike previous Speedsters, the rake of the screen remains unchanged. But also unlike its forebears, you don’t have to sign papers saying you understand your Speedster is not waterproof; this one emphatically is.
The hood mechanism is more complex than complicated and putting it up or down requires none of the wrestling demanded of you by a Boxster Spyder.
To raise it, electrics lift the hood cover, which you then manually hinge back to provide access to the hood itself. You then pull the hood into place and dive inside to secure it to the windscreen, before leaping out to lower the cover again, dive back inside to tension the rear roof struts and finally use the electrics once more to clamp it down on the now safely closed roof cover. Porsche says one person, suitably trained, can do it in under two minutes.
The weight shed by removing various electric roof motors and adding aluminium doors and PCCB carbon brakes is matched exactly by that gained by the wide body and endless equipment list, meaning the Speedster weighs not one kilo more or less than a C2S Cabriolet. The result is that it drives very much as you’d expect, offering flashing performance, admirable body rigidity and superb steering, chassis balance and poise.
But you could say as much about any convertible 911, and this is not why the Speedster will sell.
Instead, it will go to those who buy into an interior so covered in leather that even the air vents and coat hooks are swaddled in the stuff. They’ll love the anodised steel kickplates, the unique series number of their car (which they can choose) and the ‘Speedster’ inlaid into the handbrake.
It is, in short, a car for completists or for those turned on by ownership of something others cannot have. It’s a great car, but that’s more because it’s a 911 than because it's a Speedster. Its value, therefore, is defined almost entirely by your desire to be Exclusive.The services I attended at Philadelphia’s Congregation Temple Bethel were loud and joyous, but I felt totally out of place. That was a familiar feeling, of course. My two Jewish parents raised me without any religious education. (My father, a butcher, takes an almost perverse delight in flouting his non-belief with gestures like giving me lard as a Christmas present.) But I was more at ease this morning, because it was not expected that I understand the rituals because I look like a Jew. I was one of the only white people in shul that morning, and it was nice to look as out of place as I usually feel.
Bethel is an African American synagogue founded in the 1950s by a woman known as “Mother” Louise Elizabeth Dailey. Today it has an estimated membership of 500 families.
Their mode of worship looked more Pentecostal to me than Jewish. A praise band played |
should be -- which is in the dock at The Hague or in a federal prison -- is because President Obama and his administration made the decision not to prosecute any of the people who implemented this torture regime despite the fact that it was illegal and criminal," Greenwald said.
Cheney asserted in a Dec. 14 interview that torture "absolutely" worked and said he would do it again "in a minute." Greenwald told HuffPost Live's Alyona Minkovski that Obama is partially to blame for Cheney's controversial sentiment.
"When you send the signal, as the Obama administration did, that torture is not a crime that ought to be punished, it's just a policy dispute that you argue about on Sunday shows, of course it emboldens torturers like Dick Cheney to go around and say, 'What I did was absolutely right,'" Greenwald said.
Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation with Glenn Greenwald here.
Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!Black-footed ferrets released back at spot where they were rediscovered 35 years ago
Today, one of North America’s most endangered mammals, the black-footed ferret, took another step towards recovery thanks to a historic reintroduction.
Cheyenne -
Today, one of North America’s most endangered mammals, the black-footed ferret, took another step towards recovery thanks to a historic reintroduction back to the ranches where the species was rediscovered in 1981 after having been believed to be extinct. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the owners of two ranches, released 35 black-footed ferrets. The ferrets were released on the Lazy BV and Pitchfork Ranches, outside Meeteetse, Wyoming.
Beginning in 1986, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service founded a successful captive breeding program for black-footed ferrets. Captive breeding continues even today and captive bred and raised ferrets have been released throughout western North America.
“This is a historic moment for the recovery of this species. It is an honor for the men and women who serve the public and wildlife in Wyoming to be a part of this effort. This is a biologically sound and historical place to host a reintroduction and we thank the ranch owners for their commitment to recovery of black-footed ferrets. The decades of hard work from Game and Fish and our numerous partners show in these recovery efforts,” said Scott Talbott, director of Game and Fish.
“Bringing the black-footed ferret home to Meeteetse is an extraordinary achievement, which is a source of pride not only for the citizens of Wyoming, but for conservationists everywhere. Countless partners have worked together for decades to ensure the survival of this remarkable species, and their diligent efforts are just as notable as the ferret's return. Today is a special day for those partners, for all of us at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and for anyone who values having wild creatures on the landscape where they belong,” said Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The release of black-footed ferrets back onto private land is possible due to the 10 (j) rule that creates special provisions to give landowners protection if a ferret is killed during legal activities. Last year, a statewide rule was put in place to give landowners assurance they will be able to manage their properties without the concern they might break the law by inadvertently harming a ferret. Implementation of the 10(j) rule ensures the concerns of private landowners and landowners adjacent to reintroduction areas are addressed comprehensively.
Black-footed ferrets almost exclusively eat prairie dogs and rely on prairie dog burrows for shelter, safety, and a place to raise young. Each ferret requires 50-100 acres of prairie dog colony to survive.
The national Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team has released ferrets at 24 sites across the continent. Current numbers in the wild are encouraging, but more reintroduction sites are needed to fully recover the species so that it no longer requires federal protection.
(Wyoming Game and Fish (307) 777-4600)
- WGFD -Now that Canada Post has announced the end of home delivery is at hand, our already busy walkways could well be cluttered with even more stuff.
Here in Toronto, City of Unintended Consequences, the sidewalks are choked with any number of obstacles, everything from pedestrian billboards and newspaper boxes to light standards, utility poles, bus shelters and garbage bins junkier than the trash they contain.
How the good burghers of Toronto will respond remains to be seen, but chances are they won’t be happy. Indeed, if history tells us anything, it is that this is a cause that will arouse the NIMBY hordes to unprecedented outrage.
In the rush to rid itself of the burden of putting envelopes through doors, many expect the post office is very likely to opt to drop off the mail at receptacles conveniently located on sidewalk corners across Toronto.
5 key changes you need to know
Though we have yet to hear the specifics of Canada Post’s plans, it is not known as a hotbed of forward thinking and innovation. Chances are it will want to do what it has been doing forever in the suburbs, namely put up large metal structures filled with individual mailboxes where they’re most accessible and leave it up to the neighbourhood to deal with the mess. Lost among the blight of sprawl, one thing looks much like any other.
In more urban areas, the situation is different. For one thing, our 19th {+ } century forbearers who built the city weren’t as anxious to squander space in the same way we have in the post-war period. Their Toronto was a tight, compact community where proximity was more important than mobility.
Today, by contrast, the (false) assumption of mobility has led to the notion that people will simply drive wherever they need to go, including the corner mail container.
But what Canada Post will quickly discover is that there’s nowhere to put their equipment. The sidewalks simply aren’t big enough and, as mentioned, they’re already chock-a-block with various bits and pieces. Besides, the house-proud residents of Cabbagetown, the Annex, Rosedale, Riverdale, the Beach, Forest Hill, Moore Park, etc., etc., won’t take kindly to having their well-tended sidewalks become part of a suburban mail-delivery system.
There was a time when Toronto Hydro would construct actual houses to disguise sub-stations when they had to be in residential neighbourhoods. Unless you looked closely, it was hard to tell the fake home from the real thing. No one would seriously expect Canada Post to treat the city with such delicacy.
Perhaps local cafes and convenience stores can be coerced into putting aside an inside wall for mailboxes. Maybe it could be the nearest supermarket, library, drugstore, LCBO….
For years, it seems most post offices have been stuck in the back of some Shoppers Drug Mart or other. Who knows, perhaps at this point the chain could just take over Canada Post once and for all.
Virtually anything would be preferable to intruding on our sidewalks with more things that don’t belong or should be somewhere else.
Unlike Torontonians, however, official Toronto has little appreciation of sidewalks. For example, when Bloor St. was cleaned up, trees planted and granite paving added, it was business that paid; not only did the city not help, it actively made the process much more onerous than it needed to be.
For obvious reasons, no one would even think of allowing Canada Post to put its boxes on city streets. But sidewalks are as important to pedestrians as roads are to drivers, no matter how special the delivery.
Christopher Hume can be reached at [email protected] Muslim: Mr. Khizr Khan, Here is My Copy of the Koran, Would You Like to Borrow It?
Guest Post by Dr. Mark Christian
A former Muslim and Executive Director Global Faith Institute
America is being Khanned!
Once again, the American public is being duped by Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Party, and Pakistani-American immigration lawyer Khizir Khan. They say that birds of a feather flock together and it couldn’t be more true than when we are speaking about this group of pathological liars.
Khan, as we all know because of the “heart-wrenching” tales spun by the liberal media following his DNC appearance, is the Gold Star parent of a hero, his deceased son, Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2004 while serving in the U.S. Army.
As a speaker at the Democratic National Convention, Khan was presented to the public as a grieving parent who loves America, the Constitution, and the American way. He even went so far as to wave around his pocket version of the Constitution and challenge Donald Trump: “Have you read the Constitution? I will lend you my copy.”
America – you’ve been conned once again. Khan wasn’t at the DNC with the purpose of honoring his fallen son. His appearance was political theater intended to lure Donald Trump into a CAIR-devised scheme, baiting him with the Muslim immigration theme. He asked if Trump had read the Constitution, questioning the constitutionality of a temporary ban on Muslim immigration as Trump has proposed in the past.
When Trump hit back, asking why Khan’s wife, Ghazala, did not speak at the DNC and suggesting that it could have to do with sharia, Khan denied that sharia was a part of Islam (now, please understand, sharia simply means “law” in Arabic).
It’s interesting then that Khan has authored paper after paper related to Islamic law. Who does he think he’s kidding? I would like to ask him, have you read your Quran, Mr. Khan? Allow me to give you a copy!
The very reason Khan’s son was killed is because of the Quran itself and the sharia law contained within. The Iraqi who drove the vehicle with the suicide bomb that took his son’s life did so for one reason – he was hoping to claim martyrdom by waging jihad. How do I know? Because I know what the Quran says. Khan also knows what the Quran says but Khan chose to deceive the American people and Hillary is helping and benefiting from it.
Once again, birds of a feather flock together.Xamarin.Forms is a cross platform that allows us to easily create a user interface layout that can be shared across Android, iOS and Windows Phone. We can share most of the code across Mobile platforms. If our resources are limited and you are mostly going to focus on the functionality rather than the design, Xamarin.Forms is the best to develop a cross platform.
Let’s start.
We will try to create a sample Application in this session, how to create a login page, and how to navigate from one form to another. In the coming articles, we will focus on the menu and toolbar.
Step 1
File->New Project ->Templates ->Visual C# ->Cross platform ->Blank App(Xamarin.Froms.Portable). Select blank app, the project name and project location.
Once the application is created, it will look as given below. EmployeeInfo is our shared project. We can place our code and design and this project is going to be shared by both Android and iOS.
Step 2
Before doing anything, I just created some folders for my convenience and now, we have to create a login page. For this, right click in View folder and Select Add-->New Item.
Select Cross-Platform under Visual C# --> Forms ContentPage, add a name and click OK. Likewise,create MainPage.
Step 3: We can add a login form and the code is given below:
MainPage.cs Before doing anything, I just created some folders for my convenience and now, we have to create a login page. For this, right click in View folder and Select Add-->New Item.Select Cross-Platform under Visual C# --> Forms ContentPage, add a name and click OK. Likewise,create MainPage.We can add a login form and the code is given below:
public class MainPage : ContentPage { public MainPage() { Content = new StackLayout { VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center, Children = { new Label { HorizontalTextAlignment = TextAlignment.Center, Text = "Welcome to EmployeeInfo Xamarin Forms!" } } }; }
LoginPage.cs
public class LoginPage : ContentPage { private readonly Entry _userName; private readonly Entry _password; public LoginPage() { var add = new Button { Text = "Login", TextColor = Color.White }; _userName = new Entry { Placeholder = "UserName" }; _password = new Entry { Placeholder = "Password", IsPassword = true }; add.Clicked += Add_Clicked; var stackLayout = new StackLayout { Spacing = 20, Padding = 50, VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center, Children = { _userName, _password, add } }; Content = stackLayout; } private void Add_Clicked( object sender, EventArgs e) { if (_userName.Text == "a" && _password.Text == "a" ) { Application.Current.MainPage = new MainPage(); } else if ( string.IsNullOrEmpty(_userName.Text) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(_password.Text)) { DisplayAlert( "Error", "Username and Password are required", "Re-try" ); } else { DisplayAlert( "Failed", "Invalid User", "Login Again" ); } } }
App.cs
public class App : Application { public App() { MainPage = new LoginPage(); } protected override void OnStart() { } protected override void OnSleep() { } protected override void OnResume() { } }Image: Ben Harmon/Creative Market
A rude designer has mixed together Comic Sans and Papyrus typefaces together, thus creating the Nelly and Tim McGraw of fonts.
The eye-tearing combination was concocted by Ben Harman, a once respectable graphic designer who's gone rogue. Just kidding, his stuff is great, but this is certainly not.
The "world's first genetically engineered superfont," he as describes it, is called Comic Papyrus and will forever haunt your dreams. "Your two most favoritest fonts ever have FINALLY been smooshed together typographically, just as Darwin intended. Cross-bred. Cross-awesomified," he adds.
The font combines the tear-inducing curves of Comic Sans used by kindergarten teachers everywhere with the sneeze-starting texture in Papyrus. There has been a few attempts at this before, but this one is actually downloadable (and useable) for $5.
But we'd rather spend five bucks donating it to a rehab program to get him back on the right track.For white people who aren't dwelling enough on their collective racial guilt, the Elizabethtown College Democrats have a solution: wear a white puzzle-shaped pin as perpetual a reminder of your white privilege. All the white kids who are really down with social justice are doing it.
The College Fix reports that the Democrats club at the small, private liberal arts college in Pennsylvania have launched a campaign over the weekend to make forgetful white students more mindful of their skin color and why it's bad, particularly the pale denizens of the predominantly white region of Lancaster County.
“Discussions about race are often perceived as being only open to people of color, but I think it is just as important for white people to partake in conversations about race,” wrote Aileen Ida, president of the College Democrats, in an email to The College Fix.
She said white people are aiding and abetting the systemic oppression of people of color unless they are actively doing something about it. Toward that end, wearing a white puzzle pin virtue-signals that as a white person, you acknowledge your role in that oppression and you want everyone to know you're "woke" about it, so you don't get beat up like you would if you were wearing a Make America Great Again cap on campus.
“No matter how accepting someone is, that doesn’t stop them from being part of a system based on centuries of inequality,” continued Ida. Translation: no matter how not racist some white people are, they're still racist.
She added that the campaign transcends politics. Riiight. Nothing political about this, no sir.
Take a quick glimpse of what our campaign will involve! pic.twitter.com/bH2EC1lILl — Etown College Dems (@EtownCollegeDem) February 10, 2017
Asked if all white students are privileged, Ida said “Yes,” but not necessarily socioeconomically privileged. There are all kinds of ways to be privileged, although she wouldn't cite any examples for The College Fix.
“I believe that this [inherent white privilege] can be seen in the day-to-day life of people of color versus the day-to-day life of white people,” Ida said. “Most people of color don’t have a choice but to consider how their race affects their life on a daily basis, this is not true for most white people.”
She also clarified that students of all races, not just whites, can wear the pins, in order to spark a campuswide discussion that crosses racial divides. But mostly white people, because they're the oppressors.
The Elizabethtown College Democrats’ ongoing campaign also “forces everybody to think about racial issues people face daily,” as its Facebook page states. Because obsessing every moment of the day over where you fit into the whole matrix of racial oppression instead of simply treating everyone the same will be great for race relations.On the liberal reaction to Charlottesville-don't be happy about it Anonymous 08/17/17 (Thu) 01:09:36 No.1984506
Why are liberals lining up to defend antifa and their friends now? Isn't it great, how even Mitt Romney and Rachel Maddow praise antifa now? Not really…
First, we must take a look at how the liberals are portraying this event. The noble, patriotic counter protestors, peacefully stood in opposition against the evil unamerican Nazis. It's just like the human vs. orcs narrative that the fascists peddle, but a liberal version. Instead of the "nigger hordes" coming to destroy the noble white american order, it's now about the "nazi hordes" coming to destroy the noble liberal multicultural capitalist establishment. And what do the liberals mean when they say that "there is no such thing as the alt-left"? They don't mean that the alt-left is an incorrect term to describe the actual radical left. What they really mean is that there is no violent leftist opposition to the American establishment they praise so much, no radical leftist movement comparable to the alt-right. No, there is nothing but moderate liberals here, patriotically defending their country from ebil Nazis.
By painting antifa et all as peaceful, patriotic liberals, the liberals are attempting to assimilate the radical left, and, at the same time, call Trump un-American for DARING to equivocate AMERICAN ANTI-RACIST PATRIOTS with EVIL NAZIS. (Of course, most members of antifa do want a revolution, I don't think that anarchists are liberals unlike some Tankies, but the movement could easily be overrun and coopted if we aren't careful.)
What we need to do is to separate ourselves from liberals, to show that we aren't their tools, but revolutionaries aimed to destroy both orders, the fascist and liberal side. To do this, we need the liberals to do what Trump did: criticize "both sides". That way, people opposed to fascism will look at the liberals as weak fence-sitters, and move left. And how do we do this? Keep in mind that one great liberal value is "pacifism". If you are violent at a protest and you aren't a cop, you're bad to liberals, for being violent. That's part of the reason why they were so mad at the fascist murderer with the car. By breaking that liberal value and smashing it into the ground in our fight against those Nazis, we can separate ourselves from the liberal center. They'll distance themselves and start criticizing "both sides" again in the name of moderation. We could even go after liberal capitalism as well, think the G20 protests.
Stop trying to curry favor with the liberals and the many liberal-leaning proles by being peaceful. That will just make you into a liberal. If you want to earn brownie points in the eyes of the proles, instead of becoming liberals, start being like the Greek anarchists and start directly helping communities instead. By fighting alongside unionized workers in their strikes and struggles with the capitalists. By using illegalism and agorism, so loathed by the 'law and order' liberals, to help poor people get their hands on overpriced epi-pens and whatnot. By fighting gentrification with force. By cleaning roads and neighborhoods that the government won't touch. And, finally, by beating the shit out of Nazis in a way that the establishment liberals will rush to call "too extreme". This, and not liberal cocksucking, is how we grow our movement. Hell, we could even embrace the "alt-left" term to distinguish ourselves from liberals. I know that we're the True Old Left, and there's nothing alt about us, but the alt-right is just as much the True Old Right. It's just a way to separate ourselves from the liberals. And trust me, we need to separate ourselves from the liberals.No sports take bugs me quite like “Pete Rose sucks!” My colleague Patrick Redford gave us one of those last night.
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Redford is funny as hell and smart as hell and someday he’ll run the world. But he’s still impressionable, as made obvious when he turned his otherwise wondrous and timely post about the great and undercovered Ichiro Suzuki into an excuse to piss on Pete Rose. His slams echoed the Deadspin Editorial Board’s lamest position, which is that Pete Rose Is Bad.
Whenever anything involving Rose comes up around these parts, the chorus sounds something like: “Oooh, he bet on baseball! Oooh, he was an asshole! Oooh, he bet on baseball! Oooh, his hits didn’t travel real far. Ooooh, he bet on baseball. Ooooh. Ooooh. Ooooh.”
Fuck oooh. Of course he bet on baseball. Of course he was an asshole! Of course he bet on baseball. Of course his hits didn’t go real far! Of course he bet on baseball.
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And? Rose’s assholishness was his greatest selling point. For all his rings and singles, the biggest things he ever did on the field were knocking out a catcher in an All-Star game and beating up a scrawny Mets shortstop nicknamed “Twiggy” in the playoffs. He flaunted his jerk attributes in every interview. I rooted against Rose before I or anybody knew about the betting. But I loved watching him. He was the best heel baseball had in his day.
His enemies made me root for him. Siding with Bart Giamatti over Pete Rose now seems to me like siding with Ken Starr over Bill Clinton in the Lewinsky mess. The Dowd Report commissioned by Giamatti has aged about as well as the Starr Report, a whole lot of gobbledygook over something that—as the Tim Donaghy saga taught us—nobody truly, madly, deeply gives a shit about. And then Bud Selig? Who’s better for baseball, the guy known for halting an All Star Game in the 11th inning and calling it a tie or the guy known for running over a catcher to win an All-Star Game in the 12th inning?
Redford: Stick to Ichiro.GENEVA, Switzerland, May 12, 2014 (ENS) – Air quality in cities worldwide fails to meet World Health Organization guidelines for safe levels, putting millions at greater risk of respiratory disease, lung cancer and other serious, long-term health problems, the health agency said, releasing new data this week.
About half the residents of reporting cities are exposed to air pollution at least 2.5 times higher than World Health Organization Air Quality Guideline levels.
Only one in every eight people living in reporting cities breathes air that complies with the levels WHO recommends.
“Too many urban centers today are so enveloped in dirty air that their skylines are invisible,” said Dr. Flavia Bustreo, WHO assistant director-general for family, children and women’s health. “Not surprisingly, this air is dangerous to breathe. So a growing number of cities and communities worldwide are striving to better meet the needs of their residents – in particular children and the elderly.”
WHO’s new Urban Air Quality database covers 1,600 cities across 91 countries – 500 more cities than the previous database issued in 2011, showing that more cities are monitoring outdoor air quality, with growing recognition of air pollution’s health risks.
The database covers the period from 2008 to 2013, with the majority of values for the years 2011 and 2012. In most cities where there is enough data to compare today’s air quality with that of previous years, the data show that air pollution is getting worse.
Some of the most polluted cities are: Dakar, Senegal; Mexico City, Karachi, Pakistan; Delhi, India, Ulaanbataar, Mongolia and Seoul, South Korea.
WHO officials point to the many factors that contribute to this increase – reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity, dependence on private motor vehicles; inefficient use of energy in buildings, and the use of biomass for cooking and heating.
Some cities are making improvements, the WHO database indicates, demonstrating that air quality can be improved by such measures as banning the use of coal for heating buildings, using renewable or clean fuels for electricity production, and improving the efficiency of vehicle engines.
“Effective policies and strategies are well understood, but they need to be implemented at sufficient scale,” said Dr. Maria Neira, WHO director for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.
“Cities such as Copenhagen and Bogota, for example, have improved air quality by promoting ‘active transport’ and prioritizing dedicated networks of urban public transport, walking and cycling,” she said.
WHO is calling for greater awareness of the health risks caused by air pollution, implementation of effective air pollution mitigation policies; and close monitoring of the situation in cities worldwide.
With this level of attention to the issue, Dr. Neira said, “We can win the fight against air pollution and reduce the number of people suffering from respiratory and heart disease, as well as lung cancer.”
In April, WHO issued new calculations estimating that in 2012 outdoor air pollution was responsible for the deaths of some 3.7 million people under the age of 60.
Releasing these figures, WHO emphasized that indoor and outdoor air pollution combined are among the largest risks to health worldwide.
There are many components of air pollution, both gaseous and solid. But high concentrations of small and fine particulate pollution are linked most closely with high numbers of deaths from heart disease and stroke, respiratory illnesses and cancers.
Measurement of fine particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter (PM2.5) is the best indicator of the level of health risks from air pollution, WHO doctors say.
In high-income countries, 816 cities reported on PM2.5 levels with another 544 cities reporting on PM10, from which estimates of PM2.5 can be derived.
But in low-and middle income countries, annual mean PM2.5 measurements came in from just 70 cities; another 512 cities reported on PM10 measurements.
The report observes that individual cities can take local action to improve air quality. When they do, economic development flourishes, as shown by some big cities in Latin America which meet, or approach, the WHO Air Quality guidelines.
“We cannot buy clean air in a bottle, but cities can adopt measures that will clean the air and save the lives of their people,” said Dr. Carlos Dora, co-ordinator, Interventions for Healthy Environments, in the WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.
Measures that work include ensuring that houses are energy efficient, that urban development is compact and well served by public transport routes, that street design is appealing and safe for pedestrians and cyclists, and waste is well managed.
The new database was compiled from official national and sub-national reports, national and sub-national websites containing measurements of PM10 or PM2.5, relevant national agencies and the Asian Clean Air Initiative for Asia, and Airbase for Europe.
Data from UN agencies, development agencies, and articles from peer reviewed journals also were used.
Despite the upswing in air quality monitoring, many cities in low and middle income countries still lack capacity to do so. There is a particular shortage of data in WHO’s Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions.
The release of this new database on May 7 is one step WHO is taking toward a plan for preventing diseases related to air pollution.
This involves the development of a global platform on air quality and health to generate better data on diseases related to air pollution and strengthened support to countries and cities through guidance, information and evidence about the health gains associated with cleaner air.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2014. All rights reserved.With less than a week left until Election Day, people weren't exactly waiting with bated breath for comic Louis C.K. to announce which candidate he would be supporting.
But during an appearance on Conan Tuesday night, the actor and comedian went for it anyway, throwing his weight behind Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
It started out harmlessly enough: "I think she is great. It's not a lesser of two evils... I would take her over anybody."
After that, however, things devolved.
C.K. went on to insist that it's not having the first women in the White House, but the "first mom" that gets him excited. Mothers, he explained: feed, teach and protect their children. He said mothers, without even trying, give everyone and everything 200% of their energy and care.
Well, that sure is a roundabout, and maybe even benevolently sexist, way to characterize the person many have called the most qualified presidential candidate in history, but OK. Still, though, C.K. continued downward.
"I don't want somebody who's likable or cool anymore," he says. "We need a two-faced, conniving, crazy — just somebody who's just got a million schemes.... We need a tough bitch mother who nobody likes."
It's nothing Clinton hasn't heard before. Typically, though, words like "crazy," "conniving" and "bitch" are coming out of the mouths of her enemies, not her supporters.
Sure — we could all pretend that the right response to C.K.'s endorsement is to have a "sense of humor" and accept it as part of his comedic persona. Or we could just call it what it is and say that an endorsement that calls someone a two-faced bitch isn't an "endorsement" so much as it is a backhanded compliment.
Yeah, Clinton's probably better off without this one.GAINESVILLE — Mowing less frequently along Florida’s highways boosts pollinator and wildflower biodiversity and would likely save money on gasoline and manpower, new University of Florida research shows.
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are studying how to preserve pollinators and wildflowers along the state’s roadsides. Pollinators visit flowers, searching for food in the forms of nectar and pollen. During flower visits, pollinators may deposit pollen from a different flower. The plant uses the pollen to produce a fruit or seed. Many plants cannot reproduce without pollen carried to them by foraging pollinators.
The best-known pollinators are bees, but UF/IFAS researchers are studying butterflies as roadside pollinators. Among their other benefits, butterflies serve as indicator organisms. They signal when environmental changes are affecting ecosystems before the effects are apparent to humans or many other organisms, said Jaret Daniels, a UF/IFAS associate professor of entomology.
Florida Department of Transportation officials supported UF scientists in the study and appreciate the results because they want to create an environment that fosters biodiversity and conserves critical ecosystem services like pollination, Daniels said. People sometimes complain to the FDOT when roadsides become overgrown with grass and flowers; thus, the department must mow to maintain aesthetics and clear an area for safety.
A March 2014 UF/IFAS report concluded that the FDOT could reduce right-of-way vegetation management costs by 30 percent by implementing sustainable management practices such as reduced mowing.
“Our new study will provide mowing recommendations for the FDOT,” said Daniels, the faculty advisor for Dale Halbritter, a former UF/IFAS entomology masters student and current doctoral candidate, who led the research. “FDOT is committed to biodiversity conservation and ecological services that roadsides can offer. They additionally have a strong commitment to pollinator and monarch butterfly conservation.”
“Mowing less frequently has the potential to accomplish the FDOT’s objectives and enhance the abundance of floral resources,” Daniels said. “More research is needed to determine the long-term impacts of different mowing regimes on Florida resources and pollinators in Florida.”
For the study, researchers counted live and dead butterflies along roadways in Alachua County in the spring, summer and fall of 2011, during various FDOT mowing intervals. Although the study was conducted in Alachua County, its findings are applicable to other southeastern states, Daniels said.
They found butterfly mortality was reduced along roadways that were mowed less frequently.
The study by Daniels and Halbritter is published in the journal Florida Entomologist. The article can be found here: http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/85018.
Brad Buck is a science writer for the University of Florida IFAS Communications department.A massive suicide bombing took place at the Wagah border crossing between Pakistan and India today (near Lahore), killing at least 60 people and wounding 200 others.
The bombing took place in the parking lot of the border crossing, where the Pakistani border forces were finishing a flag-lowering ceremony that they do every day. The toll included both Pakistani troops and a number of civilians.
The flag-lowering ceremony occurs at sunset every day, and regularly attracts a crowd. The attacker was believed to be wearing a suicide vest and infiltrated the crowd, detonating just as the flag lowering finished.
Jamaat-e Ahrar, a group that broke off from the Pakistani Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) earlier this year, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it is part of an ongoing campaign to force the implementation of an “Islamic system in Pakistan.”
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzThe Rulers
During its nearly 800-year lifespan, Al-Andalus witnessed the rise, and demise, of numerous dynasties. Other Muslim lands in the east also experienced transitions of leadership from one Muslim ruling group to another. However, unlike these other areas, it was the political and military shifts in Al-Andalus that ultimately weakened Muslims’ hold on Iberia.
Initially, almost the entire peninsula came under Umayyad rule. By the 10th century, the Umayyads projected the image of a strong and vibrant state that could withstand any onslaught from the Christian north.
However, from the 11th century onwards, local petty kings and Amazigh (Berber) dynasties based in Morocco came to rule Al-Andalus. As a result, the size of Al-Andalus steadily contracted. Christian rulers claimed cities like Toledo, Valencia, and Zaragosa, bringing about the birth of Reconquista.
By the mid-13th century, Córdoba, Seville, and other Muslim cities had been conquered. Al-Andalus was now about one-eighth its former size. It existed only in areas controlled by the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. The surrender of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 marked the end of a once-magnificent Hispano-Islamic civilization.
Umayyads
Petty Kings/Muluk al-Tawa’if
Almoravids
Almohads
Nasrids Umayyads (711-1031 CE) Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, died in 632 CE in Medina. Following his death, several of his close companions succeeded him as caliphs. The term caliph is a transliterated version of the Arabic word for "successor" or "representative." They included Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.
During this time, Muslims had extended their rule outside Arabia to include much of today’s Middle East and parts of North Africa. Thus, they reduced the size of the Byzantine Empire and brought the Sasanid Empire in Persia to an end.
In 661 CE, opponents of Ali assassinated him. Then-governor of Syria, Mu’awiya, acquired leadership of the caliphate and moved the capital to Damascus. He was of a member of the elite Meccan tribe of Banu Umayya.
Mu’awiya designated his son, Yazid, to be his successor. In effect, this designation created the first Muslim dynasty: the Umayyads. During the next century, his descendants expanded Muslim rule northwards into Anatolia and Central Asia, eastwards to the borders of India and westward across North Africa.
In 711, Amazigh (Berber) commander Tariq ibn Ziyad led an Umayyad force across the Mediterranean into Spain. They defeated the army of the Visigothic king, Roderic. The caliph in Damascus appointed an Umayyad governor to rule most of Iberia. The Muslims called this new land “Al-Andalus.”
In 750 CE, the Abbasid family rallied support among opponents of the Umayyads and overthrew the dynasty. The Abbasids were a noble clan descended from one of Muhammad’s uncles. They took control of the caliphate and established their new capital at Baghdad.
While many of his relatives were killed, a young Umayyad prince named Abd al-Rahman sought refuge among his Amazigh (Berber) mother’s tribe in North Africa. He crossed over to Spain. In 755, he gained control of Córdoba. There, he became amir (ruler) of Al-Andalus, which was independent from the Abbasid caliphate.
Others followed Abd al-Rahman's example, such as Idris -- a descendant of Ali -- who established the Idrisid Dynasty in Morocco around 788.
The Umayyad amirate lasted until 929 CE. An Umayyad descendant named Abd al-Rahman (III), who was not content with the title of amir, declared himself caliph. In doing so, he openly challenged the Abbasids’ claim. He also countered the Shi’i Fatimids in North Africa, who had recently taken the title of caliph, as well.
The 10th century Umayyad caliph |
thing is that both the rich and the rest of us benefit from more and better-paying jobs for middle-class Americans. That would also increase the demand for goods and services, which means more profit for the rich, who would realize increased sales. All economic groups would end up paying more taxes to help reduce the federal deficit. Federal aid to the needy would decrease. It's a win-win situation.
What do Republicans have to offer in comparison? Very little. Their primary economic goal is to protect their rich donors. Increase taxes on the rich? You've got to be kidding! Don't you know that the top earners are the job creators, and their wealth trickles down to benefit those of lesser means? Surely you can't deny the fact that the less fortunate are lazy and incompetent takers who deserve their lower station in life.
The trickle-down theory is a farce. The excessive earnings of the rich aren't about to result in hiring more employees or expanding their business interests. Instead, after they've purchased about all they can stand, they put the rest in savings in overseas banks, and nobody else benefits from that extra wealth.
Ask yourself which party it was that provided affordable health care for the masses. Who was it that saved moderate-income families from going bankrupt because of health concerns? Then ask which party has fought Obamacare tooth and nail.
There's a lot more, but it all points in the same direction. For whatever reason, Republicans have decided to back the excessively well-to-do at the expense of those lower down the economic ladder. The Democrats, on the other hand, appear more amenable to watching out for the welfare of those who are rapidly losing their fair share of the American pie.
Unless you're one of the really rich ones, why would you continue to choose Republicans to represent you in Washington? The next big choice we have is this November, when we vote on candidates to represent us in the U.S. Congress. We can choose Democratic for all four districts. Think hard on whether it's really in your best interest to keep voting Republican when that party's primary goal is to favor the demands of billionaires.
Ray Hult is a committed progressive Democrat and the author of several books on the topic of agnosticism. He worked for the FBI for 27 years as a special agent stationed in California, Texas and Utah.Youth baseball organizers in the Toronto area — and across the country — say they haven't experienced such an increase in interest among kids since the Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series championships in the early 1990s.
Howard Birnie, president of the Leaside Baseball Association, told CBC News registration in his league is up 25 to 30 per cent this year compared to 2015.
He said registration is full for leagues in Leaside, East York, North York and north Toronto with most of the newcomers being young children between the ages of four and seven.
Birnie acknowledged he is not surprised by the increased interest.
"We were expecting it after last fall," he said, referring to the post-season push by the Jays. "We went through it before back in the '90s with the Jays after they won in '92 and '93."
Andrew Pace works as a camp and clinics director with the East York Baseball Association and also credits the recent success of Canada's only Major League Baseball team for getting youngsters into the game.
The president of a Toronto-area baseball organization credits the Blue Jays' success for a spike in interest from young players. He says registration is full for youth leagues in Leaside, East York, North York and north Toronto. (CBC) "Our house league registration used to take months to fill up. Now it's one or two days and we have a wait list of 50 in each of our divisions. So there's definitely a demand there," he said.
You could feel the buzz, and even today, kids are checking their phones, checking the score. Everyone seems more excited. - Jake Gallo, assistant high school baseball coach
Jim Baba, executive director of Baseball Canada, said he has heard many parts of the country that have been without baseball for years have started to bring back their programs to meet demand.
"You see the stories all across Canada of people wanting to try the sport," he said.
Last year, there was an eight per cent boost in registrations across the country, according to Baba, who added that this year's bump should be even higher.
"I think we'll hopefully see a 10 per cent increase," Baba said. "I could easily see that happening — it could be even greater than that just based on the exposure."
Blue Jays fever
Organizers say the Jays deserve credit for the increased interest after they acquired some elite names at the trade deadline and brought excitement to the city.
"Sitting at our events in the fall, you really saw the talk all about Blue Jays and all about the sport and we couldn't ask for a better marketing tool than the Toronto Blue Jays," Baba said.
"Just how they were winning and that exposure to our sport in August, September and October was tremendous and it hopefully will help us with numbers in the spring."
Last year, there was an eight per cent boost in registrations across the country, according to the executive director of Baseball Canada, who added that this year's increase should be even higher. (CBC)
Jake Gallo, assistant baseball coach at Toronto's Northern Secondary School, said the captivation with the Jays is getting children involved in a sport they have never played before.
"You could feel the buzz, and even today, kids are checking their phones, checking the score," he said. "Everyone seems more excited."
Jonathan Gold is a Grade 12 student who says people his age are becoming big fans.
"It's huge," he said. "More people are watching, more people are playing."
Lack of diamonds
But the increased participation is leaving some baseball players without a place to play.
"There are only so many good diamonds that we can use," said Gallo. "There really isn't that many great diamonds in the city."
Baba also noted how diamonds were lost in the 2000s as other sports became more popular.
One of the issues with existing diamonds is that they usually aren't maintained, according to Pace.
Jake Gallo, an assistant baseball coach at a Toronto high school says that they made a second team at his school because so many kids wanted to play last year. (CBC)
This has left some baseball organizations in a helpless situation.
"We're limited with the facilities we have. Most of the time we do maintenance ourselves at city parks," said Birnie.
"It's a shame because some kids won't get to play and they could be the next best ballplayer."
But as long as the Jays keep winning, youngsters such as eight-year-old Spencer Carthy will keep swinging a bat.
"It makes me kind of want to play more because they're getting better and I want to get better and I want to do what they do," he said.BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said 9/11 was important for the US and 8/11 for India
BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has said the "9/11" terrorist attack in the United States and notes ban announced in India on "8/11" last year are important dates for the world.He said this while addressing a rally organised in support of notes ban last night at the Patnipura square here."8/11 and 9/11 -- both these dates are important for the world. The (Narendra) Modi government has initiated a major step to curb corruption by announcing demonetisation on 8/11 (November 8 last year) and America had resolved to end terrorism after the 9/11 (September 11, 2001) attacks," Mr Vijayvargiya said.He added that the decision to scrap high-value currency notes caused hardships to those who were in possession of black money, the corrupt people and those funding terrorists.The BJP leader, who is also the party's West Bengal in- charge, claimed that post notes ban, bribes were being accepted in the form of gold bricks, instead of cash, in the government establishments of that state."Two months ago, I came to know from a businessman in West Bengal that the mode of corruption had changed in that state after the notes ban and bribes, in the government system, were now being given in the form of cadbury. He had also told me that cadbury meant a one-kg gold brick," he said."Now, the corrupt people in West Bengal are taking cadbury instead of cash. Modi will also find a way to deal with this practice as corruption harms the poor," he said.The country had to decide whether it would support the Prime Minister or those who were against a historic decision like demonetisation, Mr Vijayvargiya added.BJP vice-president Shyam Jaju, who was also present at the event, pointed out that the Congress was agitating against the notes ban across the country."This is not a fight between the BJP and the Congress, but one between patriots and traitors," he said. Mr Jaju claimed that the notes ban had enhanced the credibility of India in the world and boosted country's foreign investments.The 2017 SSAA National Sporting Clays Championships were this year hosted by the SSAA Townsville Branch on the state-owned facility situated 20 minutes from the city in North Queensland. The competition was a two-day affair on September 2 and 3, the first weekend of the new season, and could be described as a nice spring walk in the North Queensland bush.
A modest field of 57 competitors, primarily from around Queensland, but with a sprinkling of travellers from Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales, were treated to traditional Townsville weather for the entire event. Warm days with a pleasant breeze, cool nights and clear, rainless skies made for excellent conditions for all to explore the natural bushland that nestles around the facility’s regular firing ranges with the common goal of smashing as many targets as they could manage.
Two courses, each of six stations for a total of 25 targets on each course, had been provided by the locals, making great use of the dry creek beds, large mounds, tree-lines, scrub, grasslands and open areas to provide all comers with a variety of challenging yet achievable targets. As is the nature of Sporting Clays, each course presented a smorgasbord of different targets, including variations of color, size, speeds and directions, to the delight of those who were primarily involved in other shotgun disciplines but took the chance to show their mettle on a national stage.
From one end to the other, the 12 stations were spread along a line of about a kilometre, so after traversing through both courses twice each day, everyone was glad to be able to take a break at lunch and then consume some soothingly cool refreshments in the afternoon while the few volunteers worked frantically to tally the scores and prepare the courses for the following stages.
By the end of day one, everyone had been given a good look at what Townsville had to offer, with post-shoot conversation turning invariably to ‘the one that got away’, discussions of favourite and most dreaded targets and some friendly ribbing over the scoresheets. Those scoresheets showed that all grades were going to be hotly contested on day two and bragging rights on a perfect round of 25/25 were still up for grabs.
By the lunchbreak of day two, we had our first perfect round. Townsville local Matthew Baldwin had managed to rack up the 25/25 with his trusty side-by-side, no less. The tension within his squad was palpable on the last station, where on the final two targets Matt managed to hit the same tree twice on each of his first barrel shots, precisely as the target passed behind the trunk. In each instance though, he showed the right stuff and nailed the targets with less than a metre to the ground. The cheers rang out throughout the range and the group were finally free to discuss the feat with Matthew as they returned to the main shed for a well-deserved sandwich.
Immediately after the break, Tasmanian visitor Nick Towns became the second, and only other shooter for the weekend, to obtain the elusive ‘25’ patch.
At the end of the day, it was all smiles as the final scores were tallied and the awards passed on by SSAA Townsville President Michael Norris and Shotgun National Discipline Chairman John Norris. The Overall Men’s High Gun went to Alex Towns, with Ladies’ High Gun going to Zoe Zawara. AA Grade Champion was Aaron Knowles, A Grade was won by Dean Crouch, B Grade by Clint Storer and C Grade by another local, Jason Kenny. Veterans Champion was Craig Phillip and Super Veteran Champion Noel Benson, while William Bosworth and Zed Winkelmuller were the Junior 15+ and Sub-Junior Champions respectively.
The diversity of the competitors proved just how much of a family sport shooting is. There were fathers shooting with sons (with some dads proud to be outshot by their kids), partners shooting together, families gathering from across the country, and friends old and new. The oldest shooter was 75 and the youngest 12, but all came together on a truly level playing field to walk and joke and tell a tale while challenging each other to ‘smoke another one’ and out-perform their last round.
Thanks go to SSAA Townsville Discipline Captain Roy Slater and President Michael Norris who, with the other club volunteers, were able to put on a great event enjoyed by all. A deserved mention to the local Townsville Cleveland Bay Lions Club team, who were on site to provide lunch for competitors on both days. The closing day finished early as Townsville is, for most, a long way from home and so their journeys were then underway.
SSAA Townsville would also like to thank all the competitors for coming along and making this year’s National Championships such a success. The spirit with which the weekend was conducted went a long way to promoting our much-loved discipline among spectators and competitors alike, with many voicing their new-found appreciation for the sport. Congratulations to all.This article is about the theme song. You may be looking for the full version of the theme song.
"Phineas and Ferb Theme" (the actual name being "Today is Gonna Be a Great Day") is the theme song of the show and is performed by Bowling for Soup.
The lyrics for the Phineas and Ferb theme were first heard in "Rollercoaster" and have remained the same through all episodes, except for "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!", "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!", "That's the Spirit", "The Curse of Candace", "Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension", "For Your Ice Only", "Happy New Year!", "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel", "Phineas and Ferb Save Summer", "Night of the Living Pharmacists", and "Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars". In 2008, the theme song was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Main Title Theme Music".
Contents show]
Lyrics
There's a hundred and four days of summer vacation
Then school comes along just to end it
So the annual problem for our generation
Is finding a good way to spend it
Like maybe...
Building a rocket
Or fighting a mummy
Or climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Discovering something that doesn't exist
Phineas: Hey!
Or giving a monkey a shower
Surfing tidal waves
Creating nanobots
Or locating Frankenstein's brain
Phineas: It's over here!
Finding a dodo bird
Painting a continent
Or driving our sister insane
Candace: Phineas!
As you can see,
There's a whole lot of stuff to do before school starts this fall
Phineas: Come on Perry!
So stick with us
'Cause Phineas and Ferb are gonna do it all!
So stick with us
'Cause Phineas and Ferb are gonna do it all!
Candace: Mom! Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!
Season 2
In Season 2, at the end of the song, the images from the Original Pitch are changed to images of Phineas and Ferb in Season 1. In order, these scenes are taken from "Leave the Busting to Us!", "The Fast and the Phineas", "Rollercoaster", "Greece Lightning", "Out to Launch", "Flop Starz", "Mom's Birthday" and "S'Winter".
As of the second-season episode "Don't Even Blink", when the song gets to the "like maybe" part, Phineas' smile broadens as the camera zooms in. Before that, he has a neutral expression on his face.
Also, when Candace plays "Whack a Pest" in the title sequence of Season 2, you can see the sides of the game board.
Season 3
In Season 3 at the end of the song, images from Season 1 are changed to images from Season 2 which were taken from "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!", "Ain't No Kiddie Ride", "Spa Day", "Tip of the Day", "Wizard of Odd", "Hide and Seek", "The Baljeatles", and "Atlantis".
Season 4
In Season 4 at the end of the song, images from Season 2 are changed to images from Season 3 which were taken from Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, "Doof Dynasty", "Moon Farm", "The Remains of the Platypus", "Escape from Phineas Tower", "Tri-Stone Area", "Excaliferb", and "Bully Bromance Breakup".
"Doof 101"
In the Season 4 episode " Doof 101 ", Dr. Doofenshmirtz sings a version of the theme song with altered lyrics.
Doof: There's 261 days 'til next summer vacation
"Last Day of Summer"
In the Season 4 episode "Last Day of Summer", one lyric from this song is altered and can be heard as part of the song "Curtain Call/Time Spent Together"
Phineas and the cast: There's been 104 days of summer vacation. We've had a lot of fun, and sung a lot of songs. So we think it's time for a big celebration. And it's been a great summer, so we thank you for comin' along!
Winter Vacation
Main article: Winter Vacation
Little League World Series
Little League World Series Theme
Phineas, Ferb, and Candace on the field Song by Bowling for Soup Released: August 2011 Length: 0:57 Bowling for Soup chronology Previous: "Winter Vacation" Current: Little League World Series Theme Next: "Phineas and Ferb Theme (Halloween Variation)" Video Phineas and Ferb - Little League World Series 2011
In 2011, the song was adapted by Disney sibling networks ESPN and ABC for the Little League World Series
There's limited days left in summer vacation,
and we figured out how to spend them,
The Little League World Series
in Williamsport, PA
to try and get on ESPN
Like maybe...
Hitting a home run,
or throwing a Ferb ball,
or making the crowd do the wave! Blowing a bubble while stealing a base,
Doofenshmirtz: Safe!
Or giving Dugout a quick shave!
Turning double plays,
creating rally caps
or eating a hot dog at bat.
Doofenshmirtz: Ball 4!
Giving base running signs,
making a perfect bunt
or catching a ball with a hat!
Brent Musburger: Amazing!
A worldwide pool of teams have come here to play
and they're tryin' to win it all!
ESPN and Phineas and Ferb are ready to play ball! (X2)
Umpire: Play ball!
Candace: Mom! Phineas and Ferb are taking over the Little League World Series again!
Halloween Variations
Halloween Opening
The title sequence Song by Bowling for Soup Released: October 7, 2011 Length: 0:57 Bowling for Soup chronology Previous: Little League World Variation Current: Halloween Opening Next: Winter Theme Video Phineas and Ferb - Opening Halloween Special 2011 Phineas and Ferb - Opening Halloween Special (2013) 2012-2013
New background images during Phineas and Ferb's dance with spiders coming down on a silk thread, a hand reaching out of the ground next to a grave, and Doonkelberry Bats flying.
The "fly-by" pictures include scenes from "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" and "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!", along with a production/concept picture for "Are You My Mummy?"
Candace complains, "Mom! Phineas and Ferb are making a Halloween special!"
A theremin is heard in the last few bars over the song and over Candace's line.
For the 2011 Halloween special " That's the Spirit " and " The Curse of Candace ", the original song was used, but the ending of the title sequence was changed as follows:
For the 2012-2013 Halloween specials "Druselsteinoween"/"Face Your Fear" and "Terrifying Tri-State Trilogy of Terror", the theme song was rethemed for Halloween. The following changes were made:
Some ghoulish music is added.
Female background vocals going, "Wah-wah-oooh" like in "Monster Mash" by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and the Crypt Keepers.
Many scenes are dimmed to give off the appearance that they take place at night.
The sun is replaced with a live-action moon.
A spooky voice says, "Like maybe..."
A skeleton is seen behind Ferb on the rocket.
The unicorn-turtle is replaced by a goblin wearing a sorcerer hat behind a tombstone.
The monkey is replaced by a skeleton.
Another skeleton is seen behind Ferb in the garage when they create nanobots.
Rover is seen in a graveyard instead of the backyard.
The racecar is being painted purple and a skull replaces the number two.
A skeleton replaces a kid behind Isabella in the rollercoaster.
A scary voice akin to Boris Karloff says "Come on, Perry" instead of Phineas.
A skeleton pops out of the holes in the Whack-a-Pest game.
Also in the Whack-a-Pest scene, there are more singers than the original one
The ending from the 2011 Halloween special is reused with different background music.
Second Winter Themed Song
Main article: Phineas and Ferb Winter Vacation
Background Information
Phineas and Ferb - Opening Original Pitch
A skeleton of a unicorn-turtle is used as a chess table in the Gravity Falls episode "Little Dipper". Creator Alex Hirsch told Dan that it is only a coincidence, but "would prefer fans think it was on purpose." [2]
episode "Little Dipper". Creator Alex Hirsch told Dan that it is only a coincidence, but "would prefer fans think it was on purpose." The song is referenced twice in "Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars". The lines "Building a rocket or fighting a mummy" are heard as the boys' speeder's horn, and Linda mentions "Giving a Bantha a shower" as one of the items on Phineas' list.
In the Russian dub of the series, Season 1 used the Season 2 intro. When the second season started airing in Russian, the intro was the same as Season 2, except it's been re-dubbed and the lyrics changed slightly. Starting from the third season and onwards, the series used the same intro as in other countries.
In the character commentaries on the Phineas and Ferb: 104 Days of Summer! iTunes collection, Candace's line is dubbed over with "Mom, Phineas and Ferb are repurposing old episodes with new commentaries!"
Errors
After "Rollercoaster", the main characters' voices have changed as their actors aged, but Phineas's original voice has remained intact during the opening.
In some scenes the clouds are moving, in others, they are not.
Songwriters
BMI Work # 9365299 (original theme song)
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The links of mayoral hopeful Sadiq Khan’s former brother-in-law to one of the UK’s most notorious extremist organisations are revealed today.
Top London lawyer Makbool Javaid was married to the Labour Party candidate’s sister Farhat Khan until 2011.
In the Nineties Mr Javaid took part in events in London with the extremist group Al-Muhajiroun while he was Mr Khan’s brother-in-law, having married the Labour politician’s sister in 1989.
He appeared alongside some of the country’s most notorious hate preachers, including the now banned cleric Omar Bakri, in 1997 and 1998.
Mr Javaid’s name appeared on a fatwa in 1998 calling for a “full-scale war of jihad” against Britain and the US.
Mr Khan attended a conference alongside his then brother-in-law in 2004 but today said that he has had no contact with Mr Javaid for at least 10 years and that he has always condemned extremism.
Al-Muhajiroun — founded in the Eighties by Bakri and another well-known radical London preacher, who cannot be named for legal reasons — became notorious after praising the 9/11 atrocity, the 7/7 bombings and other al Qaeda acts of terror.
It became a banned organisation in 2005. In literature from the Nineties, on which Mr Javaid is described as a “spokesman” for the group, it calls on Muslims to fulfil their “Islamic duty” and launch jihad “physically, financially and verbally”.
One video of a Trafalgar Square rally in 1997 shows him railing against regimes of the “kufr”, a derogatory term for non-Muslims.
He calls for the re-establishment of an Islamic state, berates the West for introducing the “diseases of nationalism, of racism, of secularism” and urges followers to further the faith “until Islam becomes dominant or until they kill me”.
In his animated address at the foot of Nelson’s Column a crowd can be heard shouting “Allahu Akbar”.
His name appeared next to Bakri’s on the fatwa declaring war on the UK and US in 1998, the year he attended another event in Trafalgar Square.
Mr Javaid, 54, now a partner of law firm Simons, Muirhead and Burton, denies ever being a spokesman for the group, says he never authorised his name being included on any of the group’s literature or the fatwa and condemns its contents.
Today he said he “regrets” his Trafalgar Square speech and added that he was “naive” at the time.
The former London School of Economics student now has links with the controversial advocacy group Cage, according to his Facebook page.
He is “friends” on Facebook with its research director Asim Qureshi, who described Islamic State butcher Jihadi John as a “beautiful young man”.
He is also a Facebook “friend” of Cage director Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee released without charge following his arrest after travelling to the Middle East.
Mr Javaid says he has not used Facebook for years, adding that it does not reflect his friendships.
In another video unearthed by the Standard, he appeared in a 2012 broadcast by The World This Week — and was described as a “patron” of an organisation called Cageprisoners.
The group, which morphed into Cage, has been linked to the late Anwar al-Awlaki, an al Qaeda figurehead who praised the killing of western civilians. Mr Javaid says he was never a patron of Cageprisoners and appeared on the programme as a human rights lawyer.
He appeared on the 2012 broadcast alongside the brother of Syed Talha Ahsan, from Tooting, who in 2013 pleaded guilty after being extradited to the US for providing material to support terrorism by running a pro-jihadist website from London.
His co-defendent was Babar Ahmad, for whom Mr Khan campaigned to try to stop his extradition to the US before being elected as an MP in 2005. Ahmad later admitted terrorism charges.
Mr Khan attended at least four meetings organised by the Stop Political Terror group campaigning for Ahmad, also a Tooting resident, and spoke outside Woodhill Prison alongside Adnan Siddiqui — now a prominent member of Cage — in 2004. He was also billed as a speaker at two similar events alongside Ahmad’s family in February and March 2005. He shared a platform with Ahmad’s father at an event in Parliament as recently as 2012.
Mr Khan says he supported the campaign for Ahmad to be tried in the UK in his then role as a human rights lawyer and chair of human rights group Liberty.
According to records, Mr Javaid and Ms Khan registered their marriage with Lambeth council in 1989.
However, it is understood the pair divorced in 2011 after separating five years earlier.
Mr Javaid lived with Mr Khan’s sister and their children in a £500,000 semi-detached house in Norbury, south London. He was formerly head of litigation services at the UK Commission for Racial Equality — now the Equality and Human Rights Commission — and has been described by The Legal 500 journal as a “highly respected discrimination law practitioner” who is “business minded”.
Mr Javaid, former chairman of the Society of Muslim Lawyers, was billed as a speaker at several Al-Muhajiroun rallies and his name appeared on several press releases and leaflets for the group during the mid-Nineties.
Some call for the “domination of the world by Islam” and for all Muslims to dismantle western governments and establish an Islamic State, or Khilafah.
Other literature refers to the West as “evil”, berates Israel as a “cancerous entity” and urges Muslims not to vote in elections. Mr Javaid is billed as a speaker at events outside London mosques in the literature.
He claims he did not know at that time that Al-Muhajiroun was a hate group and never authorised his name being included in its literature.
Al-Muhajiroun has for years been linked to a number of extremists — including Lee Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo, who attended meetings and demonstrations, and Abdul Waheed Majeed, from Crawley, who became the first British suicide bomber in Syria in February 2014.
Today Mr Javaid said: “Of course I regret the speech I gave and some of the things I said and did in my younger years.
“Twenty years ago I was naive. I certainly didn’t realise how easily some of my actions could be interpreted as being critical of Britain — the best country in the world.
“This was nearly two decades ago now and I have grown and changed. I love Britain, I love the rich diversity of London and I love our culture.”
Mr Khan told the Standard: “I have had no contact with him for more than a decade. I have always condemned the hideous organisations that promote extremism.
“Extremism is a cancer in British society that must be rooted out. I have outlined tough plans to root out extremism and tackle radicalisation as Mayor of London.”
It is understood that the mayoral hopeful attended the 2004 event in his capacity as a lawyer and human rights campaigner.
He did not comment on when he became aware of Mr Javaid’s involvement with Al-Muhajiroun.SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley lobbied hard in Washington in 2012, and despite some friction with regulators, fared fairly well. In 2013, though, government scrutiny is likely to grow. And with this scrutiny will come even greater efforts by the tech industry to press its case in the nation’s capital and overseas.
In 2012, among other victories, the industry staved off calls for federal consumer privacy legislation and successfully pushed for a revamp of an obscure law that had placed strict privacy protections on Americans’ video rental records. It also helped achieve a stalemate on a proposed global effort to let Web users limit behavioral tracking online, using Do Not Track browser settings.
But this year is likely to put that issue in the spotlight again, and bring intense negotiations between industry and consumer rights groups over whether and how to allow consumers to limit tracking.
Congress is likely to revisit online security legislation — meant to safeguard critical infrastructure from attack — that failed last year. And a looming question for Web giants will be who takes the reins of the Federal Trade Commission, the industry’s main regulator, this year. David C. Vladeck, the director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, has resigned, and there have been suggestions that the chairman of the commission itself, Jon Leibowitz, will step down.It is now conventional wisdom that CPAC this year has been a triumph for conservative hawks, and that, while Rand Paul is still popular in the hall, his extended moment as the lead act in that particular hootenanny finally may have passed. Folks are up there wanting to get their war on, and the laptop bombardiers in the audience are lapping it up. (This shebeen is in the market for any photo of the audience taken at that moment when Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods asked for all the veterans in the house to stand.) ISIS is coming for all of us, and most of the potential Republican candidates are waiting for it with Leadership, Authenticity, Exceptionalism, and a vast arsenal of featherweight banalities. But all of this substance-free talk is driven by a serious -- and rather dingy -- new argument that was best summed up by the Princess herself, and by Dakota Meyer, the Medal Of Honor winner who introduced her yesterday. Ostensibly, the two were there to talk about how our veterans need better care and better job opportunities. (Oddly enough, neither of them mentioned that bipartisan veterans benefits bill that Bernie Sanders shepherded to a vote last year only to have the Republicans in the Senate kill the bill dead.) For his part, Meier said,
"We're not afraid to fight. Trust me. But how about give us a fight that we can win. A fight where politicians and bureaucrats stay out of our lane."
Thus inspired, the Princess was more explicit.
"Did we actually win in Iraq and Afghanistan before we waved the white flag? The jury is still out..."It doesn't look like victory...the Middle East is a tinderbox, and it is coming apart at the seams...[the rise of ISIS] "was predictable. Military brass warned the left: Do not pull out without residual force...The rise of ISIS is the direct result of this administration's refusal to heed that warning...We must provide our troops the political will to win and the rules of engagement to win. How many Americans are harmed today because of politically-correct rules of engagement?...Aside from God almighty, what's the only force that can keep these forces at bay...The only thing standing between us and savages - its the red, white, and blue! It's the United States military!" "We are in a long-term civilizational struggle against the forces of evil, and if we're going to beat them we better get serious about victory"
(The Princess is getting high marks for finding her way to a verb most of the time on Thursday. She began her remarks by citing Washington's farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavernin New York City. Of course, if the Palins had rolled up there, they likely would have been scratchedfrom Fraunces for life.)
You don't need a backhoe to dig out the subtext here, the one that likely is going to be both a primary line of attack for the Republicans, and also their attempt to whitewash in history the colossal blunder committed by the previous Republican administration in launching the war in Iraq. We've already heard quite a bit from the John McCain-Huckleberry Butchmeup axis of weebles about how everything was going swimmingly after the surge until the president made the blunder of abiding by a Status of Forces agreement signed by his predecessor. This is the inevitable second act of that drama -- that our troops were hamstrung by civilians and kept from achieving "final victory," whatever the hell that was supposed to be. The fact that there wouldn't be an Islamic State had we not by our blundering allowed it to be born in Iraq will be drowned out by however it is that you say Dolchstosslegende in Arabic. It will be ugly. And it will be heard.Migrants preparing to cross from the U.S. to Canada at the border last August. Thousands of people have crossed over into Canada in hopes of finding residency there, including Haitians who worry that their Temporary Protected Status could soon end under the Trump administration.
The State Department has told Homeland Security officials that more than 300,000 Central American and Haitian immigrants should no longer be protected from deportation, according to the Washington Post. The immigrants, most of whom entered the country illegally, are currently shielded under the Temporary Protected Status program, which gives them temporary permission to live and work in the U.S. instead of being returned to countries that are deemed unsafe after facing natural disaster, armed conflict, or other emergency situations.
Per a letter from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to DHS secretary Elaine Duke this week, the State Department believes that conditions in Central America and Haiti have now improved to the point that TPS designation is no longer necessary. The legally required assessment came as the DHS prepares to announce by Monday whether it will renew TPS protection for more than 60,000 Honduran and Nicaraguan immigrants in early January. Tillerson’s letter doesn’t bode well for them or for two other large groups of American residents: nearly 60,000 Haitian immigrants with TPS whose protection expires in late January, and almost 200,000 Salvadorans whose protection expires next March.
Some of these immigrants have been in the U.S. for as long as two decades, and many own homes and businesses. One study has estimated that TPS holders have almost 275,000 U.S.-born children in their families. Should the designations not be renewed, these immigrants would have at least six months to get their affairs in order and leave the country. If they chose to stay, they could face arrest and deportation.
The DHS insisted on Friday that no decision had yet been made regarding the renewals, but Trump administration officials have repeatedly emphasized that the program was only meant to be temporary, not a justification for long-term residency. Though the Trump administration’s strict anti-immigration stance is well-established at this point, immigrant advocates are still holding out hope that Homeland Security officials will extend the TPS |
feathery end
Bees drilling holes in wood
I get many e mails from people telling me bumblebees are drilling holes in the wood of their house/shed etc. the insects doing this are usually carpenter bees, not bumblebees. The mouthparts of a bumblebee are not strong enough to drill holes in wood, nor can they bite with any strength. This can be seen in the photograph above showing the mandibles (jaws) of a worker bumblebee.
Related pagesSlug Signorino
I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii, but since I can’t afford a plane ticket I’m planning on walking there. How many three-by-four-and-a-half-inch sponges will I need to pack to absorb the Pacific Ocean? —Dave F., Springfield, Mass.
Now, Dave. Surely you realize this isn’t a practical plan. Let’s think about it a bit:
1. You can’t isolate the Pacific from the other oceans of the world—you’d have to soak up most of the seawater on earth. But OK, we’ll pretend you could strategically pile the saturated sponges so they blocked water from running into the Pacific from the Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic oceans.
2. The Pacific Ocean has a total water volume of around 158,000,000 cubic miles. This may not be an easy quantity to grasp, so let’s express it in financial terms. A good surgical sponge made of polyvinyl alcohol can absorb about 14 times its own weight in water. A sponge of the size you specify can therefore absorb about 7.2 fluid ounces of water. To soak up the entire Pacific, you’ll need about 3.1 sextillion sponges, costing maybe $8 sextillion. Perhaps you can negotiate a volume discount.
3. But hang on. Trying to stack up all those sponges will compress them to the point where more than 99 percent won’t be able to absorb any water, defeating your purpose.
4. Fear not. You’ve now cornered the world market on surgical sponges. Sell a few, buy yourself a plane ticket. Better yet, buy yourself a plane.
I’m an English teacher and have a student who wants to know if a hairless cat will grow hair if you put Rogaine on it. We assume it’s not safe, so we won’t try it, but we are still curious to know if Rogaine works for our feline friends as well as people. —Paige Pittman, Indianapolis
Trying to grow hair on your own Mr. Bigglesworth is foolish. For one thing, people pay top dollar for Sphynx cats and other “hairless” breeds precisely because of their odd appearance—it’d be like buying a vintage convertible and welding a hardtop onto it.
Sphynx cats aren’t actually hairless, but rather have fine hairs that fall out early in the growing cycle. In contrast to humans, where male pattern baldness results from scalp follicles gradually going dormant, Sphynx cats are from birth genetically incapable of growing more substantial hair.
Some might posit otherwise: The active ingredient in Rogaine is minoxidil, originally an anti-hypertension drug that relaxes blood vessels and would surely have vanished into the dustbin of medical history if more than 80 percent of patients taking it hadn’t started regrowing scalp hair. Exactly why this happens is unclear, but because it appears to increase blood flow to the scalp minoxidil may encourage hairs to enter their growing cycles faster. Since Sphynx cats have some hair, just exceptionally fine, couldn’t regular application of Rogaine goose up their hair-growing cycle and make them, if not truly hairy, at least hairier than they are?
It’d be cruel to try to find out. Minoxidil can be used on some animals with care, and has been used to regrow hair on cats under veterinary supervision. But there’s significant risk—we ran across vet reports of cats that died after their owners simply went ahead and applied minoxidil to hairless patches. Given the danger and the likelihood that minoxidil-induced hair growth on a Sphynx cat will be minimal to nil, my advice, teacher, is to leave those kits alone.
How fast do you have to be traveling to pass unharmed through moving helicopter blades? Is it even possible? —Mike Nielsen
So Mike. This is a thought experiment, right?
Let’s take a common helicopter, such as an Army UH-60 Black Hawk. (“Take” is to be understood figuratively.) The Black Hawk is equipped with a four-blade rotor that spins at 258 revolutions per minute and describes a 53.7-foot circle. To simplify the math, we’ll assume you’re six feet tall, two feet wide, and one foot thick, moving straight down toward the helicopter’s blades feet first.
Assuming you were able to time your descent so you’d enter the plane of the rotor just as one of the blades had passed—and let’s all say it: you can’t—then if you were heading toward the very end of the blades, about 26 feet out from the center of the hub, you’d have to be traveling at 72 miles per hour to get through unscathed. OK, you say, but what if I don’t time it just right and the oncoming blade is a lot closer than I meant it to be—what’s a safe speed then? In that case, if you’re not going at better than maybe 5,900 miles an hour, I don’t think you’ll like how this thought experiment works out. —Cecil AdamsChinese find suggests barley was used for booze before being grown for food - and that beer could have played a role in the development of society
Chinese villagers could have been raising a pint 5,000 years ago, according to new research.
Archaeologists studying vessels unearthed in the Shaanxi province of China say they’ve uncovered beer-making equipment dating from between 3400 and 2900 BC - an era known as the late Yangshao period - and figured out the recipe to boot.
The beer of yesteryear Read more
“China has an early tradition of fermentation and evidence of rice-based fermented beverage has been found from the 9000-year-old Jiahu site. However, to our knowledge, [the new discovery] is the first direct evidence of in situ beer making in China,” said Jiajing Wang of Stanford University, first author of the new research.
The team examined residues in the vessels to reveal that the brew was made from a wide range of plants, including broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi) and barley.
The discovery marks the earliest known evidence of barley being used in China, suggesting that the crop arrived in the country around 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Funnel for beer making from the Mijiaya site n the Shaanxi province of China. Photograph: Image courtesy of Jiajing Wang.
That, archaeologists add, is intriguing since it suggests that the crop might have been used for making booze before it was grown for food, and that beer could have played a role in the development of society.
“The production and consumption of Yangshao beer may have contributed to the emergence of hierarchical societies in the Central Plain, the region known as ‘the cradle of Chinese civilisation’,” the authors say.
How to make Viking heather beer Read more
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers from the US and China describe the analysis of a collection of complete funnels and pottery fragments from the Mijiaya site in the Shaanxi province of China whose shapes and styles, indicate that they were used for different stages of beer-making, a function backed up by analysis of residues within the vessels.
Wang and her colleagues unpicked the brew’s recipe by examining these yellow residues and scrutinising the sizqe and shape of starch grains and phytoliths - tiny pieces of silica that form within plant cells.
Their analysis revealed that broomcorn millet, Job’s tears, lily, yam, barley and even snake gourd root (Trichosanthes pilosa) went into the beer. What’s more, they say, the type of damage to the starch grains, together with chemical analysis of the residues, suggests the drink was produced by methods familiar to modern brewers. “The beer was made by going through three processes, including malting, mashing, and fermentation,” said Wang.
But despite cracking the beer’s recipe, the archaeologists admit they can’t say how its flavour would measure up to a modern pint. “I really have no idea,” said Wang. “That is beyond our research methods.”Image caption Muslim groups say there is still a cultural pressure for South Asian women victims of polygamy to "accept this is their lot"
When Dr Zabina Shahian married Pervez Choudhry she thought he would be the man with whom she would settle down for the rest of her life and start a family.
But she did not know the former Conservative party leader on Slough Borough Council was still married.
Choudhry, 54, who claimed he did not realise the marriage in Pakistan was legally valid in the UK, was given a community order after admitting bigamy.
A "devastated" Dr Shahian now wants to help other women who are victims of polygamous marriages - a practice a leading family lawyer says is "rife" within the British Muslim community.
Image caption Pervez Choudhry pleaded guilty to bigamy
Dr Shahian believes the episode has meant she has "missed the boat" at starting a family.
The GP, in her 40s from Erdington in Birmingham, spent more than two years and thousands of pounds gathering evidence against Choudhry.
The investigations, which involved a private detective, revealed Choudhry married his first "arranged" wife in 1986, with whom he had three children but never legally divorced.
But Dr Shahian, who did not want her picture published, realises she was lucky, as a career woman, to have been able to afford the detective fees and also to have support from her family to go through with the prosecution.
However she said some members of her local South Asian Muslim community were less understanding.
What Islam does not allow is the mistreatment of women, full stop Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, Muslim Council of Great Britain
"When I go down to my parents I get all the neighbours looking at me.
"As a Muslim woman I'm supposed to keep a low profile. I feel like I've committed a crime here although I'm the victim.
"You're supposed to keep your mouth shut and you're supposed to just carry on. It is impregnated into our culture."
Despite this she is determined to help other Muslim women who find themselves the victim of polygamy, women who may not have the same financial security and who may feel cultural pressure not to speak out.
The Choudhry bigamy case was unusual, as more commonly the actions of Muslim men who take more than one wife are not answerable under UK law.
Polygamy 'widespread'
This is because they are able to avoid having their second or third marriages registered in the UK by having a Nikah ceremony instead - an Islamic non-registered marriage contract not recognised under British law.
For a Nikah wedding to be recognised in the UK, the marriage needs to have an accompanying civil ceremony.
Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, director of think tank The Muslim Institute, said men could exploit the "cruel loophole" of the Nikah, allowing them to have more than one wife under Islamic law but not having to register the marriage in the UK, which means the woman would have no spousal rights if the marriage were to fail.
Image caption Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui says some Muslim men exploit the "cruel loophole" of the Nikah
"They dump their first wife and simply go to Pakistan, Bangladesh or wherever and marry again," he said.
Leading family solicitor Annemarie Hutchinson, who represents Muslim women, said no official statistics were available but that Dr Shahian joined thousands of Muslim women in the UK who were victims of polygamous marriages.
"There are lots and lots of second marriages and second wives - it's rife."
But in cases where prosecution would be possible, she said there would be no case "unless the first or second wife pushes for it".
"It's bigamy but the police won't prosecute because there would be thousands of cases," she said.
A Muslim Marriage Working Group, set up by the Ministry of Justice, met on Monday for the first time to identify the issues "some Muslim women experience when they do not have a legally registered marriage", according to a spokesman.
But combating a cultural pressure on some Muslim women is difficult, says Dr Siddiqui.
There are a lot of women who due to their circumstances accept being the second wife Dr Zabina Shahian, Victim of bigamy
Polygamy "is so widely spread they don't blame men having a second wife or a third or fourth wife," he said.
"They accept this is their lot."
Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain and who is an imam, said in the Koran it stated men were allowed to take more than one wife, but only under strict rules that included obtaining consent from the first wife and treating all wives equally and fairly.
He did not think there were many polygamous marriages in the UK but "condemned" the actions of men who flout the polygamy rules.
He also described as "sad" the "cultural pressures" that prevent women standing up for justice.
"Whatever cultural norms there may be, what Islam does not allow is the mistreatment of women, full stop."
Dr Shahian said: "Islam does not allow deceit and lies, but there are a lot of women who, due to their circumstances and due to their financial problems, accept being the second wife.
"I hope a lot of women out there who are suffering would put a stop to this."The Michigan State Spartans athletic department announced earlier this week that 61,931 season-ticket packages have been sold for the 2014 season, making it the second-highest total in the school’s history, behind the 2012 season in which 63,831 were sold.
There’s no question that more-and-more Spartan fans flock to East Lansing because of the product that head coach Mark Dantonio has put out on the field every weekend.
So what type of team will run out of the tunnel in the north endzone at Spartan Stadium this Saturday? Most likely a team that’s looking to exact vengeance from their week two defeat against No. 2 Oregon Ducks.
Fresh off of a bye week, The No. 11 Michigan State Spartans (1-1 overall) will take on the Mid-American Conference bottom feeder, Eastern Michigan Eagles at home. This will be their second to last non-conference opponent on the schedule before No. 24 Nebraska comes to town to open up Big Ten play.
The last time these two teams faced off was on Sept. 22, 2012, when the Michigan State Spartans walked away with a 23-7 victory at home. However, the Eagles almost pulled off the upset when they headed back to the locker room at halftime leading 7-3.
But it shouldn’t be a surprise that Michigan State is coming into this game as a 45.5 point favorite over their in-state foe, considering that Eastern Michigan is now 1-2 following back-to-back road loses to Florida and Old Dominion.
Led by first-year head coach Chris Creighton, the Eagles are ranked 116th in rush defense and 86th in passing defense. Due to the fact that Creighton’s defense is prone to giving up an abundance of points on the board, as well as big plays through the air and on the ground, quarterback Connor Cook shouldn’t have a problem picking apart Eastern Michigan for four quarters.
Offensively, the Eagles don’t poise a threat against the Big Ten powerhouse that’s ranked 2nd in rush defense and 3rd in passing defense. This season, Eastern Michigan has only scored 31 points, that includes 28 during week one against Morgan State.
Senior transfer Rob Bolden will likely get the start at quarterback for Eastern Michigan on Saturday. He received quite a bit of playing time last week at Old Dominion when he helped the Eagles record their first scoring drive in the third quarter.
This will be Bolden’s first start at quarterback since transferring from LSU to Ypsilanti. The redshirt senior originally committed to Penn State before deciding to transfer to the Tigers following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal in 2012.
Eastern Michigan is currently 0-9 against Michigan State, which dates back to 1898 when they first began the rivalry. The Spartans have also won 28 of the last 31 games against MAC opponents.This post may contain sponsor, affiliate, or referral links. Please read our full disclosure here. Clicking any of the links contained within this post does not cost you more but it does afford me the opportunity to keep cookin' and sharin' here at The Gluten-Free Foodsmith. Thank you for your support!
We are going to win BIG in June with this giveaway. I am so excited to share. When Tina and I sat down to figure out the giveaways, we knew we wanted to up the prizes from last month and decided that gift cards were the way to go. We are also giving away a lovely 4 pack of dishcloths with each prize (if criteria is met), too. Tina shares my love of crocheting and worked these up in record time for this cooking giveaway.
As you can see, there are two prizes available. The first is a $100 gift card to spend at Williams-Sonoma + a beautifully handcrafted 4 pack set of dishcloths.
And if we have more 1500 entries or more, we will also be gifting to one lucky runner-up, a $50 gift card for Stonewall Kitchen + another pretty set of (4) dishcloths.
Who wants to win BIG cooking in June?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
see full giveaway rules here
We are so excited to be able to offer such awesome cooking prizes for this fine month of June. Maybe you’ll find some grilling needs or begin a new collection of dishes, maybe some pots and pans… Either way, we’ll get you on your way.
Don’t miss out, this is a two-tiered prize giveaway…
Tell your mother, your brother, all your friends, it’s a cooking extravaganza going on right here!
Enter to win, today, and good luck to ALL!
Cheers
Don’t miss out on our other 2 giveaways – more than $500 in prizes between the three. Just click the pic below for instant access:
Are you on a weight loss journey? Be sure to check out some of Tina’s Healthy Recipes to get you going in the downward direction. It’s okay to be a loser here!
How will you spend your gift card? And let us know what you’d like to win in July!Police: Robbery suspects targeting women in Downtown Austin Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved These two men are accused of robbing several women in the summer of 2015. APD looking for men robbing women downtown These two men are accused of robbing several women in the summer of 2015. prev next
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin police are issuing a warning to women who visit the downtown entertainment district.
Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved These two men are accused of robbing several women in the summer of 2015.
Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved These two men are accused of robbing several women in the summer of 2015.
Police say two men have been robbing people, specifically women, who are walking to their cars between the hours of 2-4 a.m. There are three main spots where the suspects are targeting the victims: Rainey, Seventh Street at Waller Street and Fifth Street at Comal Street. On Wednesday, APD said each of the robberies happened in dimly lit or dark areas and 4 of the 5 robberies targeted women.
"As we are aware, downtown has dark areas and lit areas and these victims are being caught in the dark," said Det. Steven Nash.
KXAN spoke to victim, Michelle Le, on Tuesday night who admitted she lost track of where she was before a man held her up at gunpoint.
"I was not paying attention to my surroundings. I was completely zoning out," said Le. "He pointed a gun at me, I froze, I let him take my purse."
The robberies occurred between June 26-July 26 and police believe the two men are taking personal items.
The suspect vehicle is described as a gray or tan 4-door sedan, possibly a Buick, with collision damage to the left rear of the vehicle.
Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved
Police said there are two main spots the thefts are happening -- in the Rainy Street district near Seventh and Waller and in the area of Fifth and Comal.
The suspects are described as:
Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved
Suspect #1
Hispanic male
Early 20s
Approximately 5'9" in height
Beard
Has a distinctive walk
Heavy set build
Suspect #2
Black male
Early 20s
Approximately 6' in height
Shoulder-length dread locks
Thin build
While most of the victims have been women, authorities want to remind everyone to be aware of their surroundings and to report suspicious activities immediately to 9-1-1.
Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact the Robbery Unit at (512) 974-5270.Last Wednesday morning, longtime NFL reporter Ed Werder became the face of the most recent round of ESPN layoffs when he was the first employee to reveal that he had been laid off by The Worldwide Leader in Sports. Werder’s announcement sent shock waves throughout the sports media industry and set the tone for the day, which was filled with one surprising layoff after another.
After 17 years reporting on #NFL, I've been informed that I'm being laid off by ESPN effective immediately. I have no plans to retire — Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) April 26, 2017
But during a recent appearance on the Doomsday Podcast, Werder revealed something that’s almost as stunning as the fact that he lost his job. According to him, he got a call from his boss on Wednesday informing him that he no longer had a job. But in almost the same breath, Werder was also asked if he wanted to cover the NFL Draft for ESPN. He had been scheduled to cover the Saints throughout the draft process, and ESPN wanted him to stay on the beat, even though they had just handed him his walking papers. Not surprisingly, Werder said no.
"When they finished telling me I was laid off, they said this was effective immediately," he said. "And the next thing they told me to do as a former employee of ESPN was stay and cover the Saints draft, which seemed like an odd way to begin your unemployment. But it seemed like it was my option, and I chose not to. I just didn’t feel like it was the right place for me to be, alone in a hotel room and then out in public as a former employee, representing ESPN with the New Orleans Saints. So I went home without covering any picks this time from New Orleans."
POST CONTINUES BELOW
Werder—who questioned the future of ESPN in the podcast and revealed that he received calls and texts from NFL head coaches, general managers, past and present players, and even Roger Goodell following his firing—also talked about what he is planning to do next. In short, he doesn’t think he’s going to accept a job anywhere anytime soon, since he’s still technically under contract with ESPN even though he’s not working for them anymore.
"ESPN has told me, and I’m sure all of the others who were let go, that they are going to honor our contracts," he said. "At the same time, their expectation is that we are going to honor those contracts. What I’ve subsequently found out by having dialogue through a lawyer with the legal department is they are not anticipating allowing you to negotiate your way out of your contract. They’re allowing us to go pursue other opportunities if there are some. But if you get a job you want, what I’ve been told is if you want the job, take it knowing you’re not going to be paid by ESPN. You’re not gonna double dip, we’re not gonna just offset."
POST CONTINUES BELOW
As if the ESPN layoff stories weren’t already crazy enough, this adds yet another layer to it. Let’s hope Werder is able to get back to work as soon as possible.An upstate New York man from Callicoon is accused of holding his family hostage in their home for almost a week while he drank beer and slugged liquor.
Benito Lopez was arrested Monday on three felony charges of unlawful imprisonment and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child after he allegedly held his girlfriend, 11-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter captive beginning on New Year's Eve.
The 40-year-old was on probation for felony drunk-driving. When authorities responded to a tip that Lopez was preventing the three individuals from leaving the home, they didn’t find any weapons, but they did discover 15 cases of empty beer cans and some liquor bottles.
Lopez is being held in Sullivan County Jail on $5,000 bail.
“She was pretty much held against her will,” Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said of Lopez’s girlfriend.
After Lopez took away his family’s electronic devices and disconnected the phone, his girlfriend used Facebook to alert a family member about the situation. “She made believe she was playing some games online when she actually had Facebook up,” Chaboty said.
[Times Herald-Record] [New York Daily News]Sweden has been conducting a radical experiment in free speech. Since December, it has been handing the @Sweden Twitter account over to a "normal" Swedish citizen to tweet as they like. "The qualifications are that they have to be interesting, Twitter-literate and happy to post in English," reported the NYT recently, in a piece that touched on some of the more interesting missives from @Sweden, including photos of a moose hunt, a candid criticism of Sweden's foreign secretary, a Muslim Swede's discussion of the ubiquity of the name Muhammad among immigrants, and an 18-year-old's listing of his favorite leisure activities, including masturbation. The most controversial missives of all have come in the days after the NYT story, though. As Slate notes: "After NYT Profile, @Sweden Goes Off the Rails."
The Twede of the week is a woman named Sonja Abrahamsson, a 27-year-old mother. Her offensive tweets have included a Henry Blodget-worthy digression on "what's the fuzz with Jews?," the claim that "before WWII Hitler was one of the most beautiful names in the whole wide world," a photo of Freddy Mercury with strawberries captioned "hungry gay with aids," a video on "breastfolding," the need to get some eggs so she wouldn't "starve like an African child," that her life might be easier if she "had downs syndrome," and the suggestion "that Happy Feet is probably the worst movie ever." In other words, Sonja is a troll. For those who don't speak Internet lingo, a troll is a person who posts deliberately provocative messages "with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument." Sonja has very effectively trolled Twitter and the international media.
The 140-character equivalent of reality television was the brainchild of the country's tourism agency and a PR firm. Each "Curator of Sweden" gets to be "sole ruler of the world’s most democratic Twitter account." They are nominated via email; then a committee of three, including a director from PR firm Volontaire, decides on the winner. So why did they hand the account over to a troll? Some possibilities:
1. It's possible they didn't know she was a troll. She doesn't look like a troll. She's a gorgeous, blond-haired, 27-year-old mother of two. Though if they took a quick look at her blog, there were some pretty obvious clues, including her name there: 'Sonja "Hitler" Abrahamsson.'
2. They thought their advice to her would work. According to the NYT, each Twede is told, "Please, do this with some dignity — remember that this is an official channel and there are a lot of people reading this, so don’t make a fool of yourself." Though Patrick Kampmann, Volontaire’s creative director, tells the NYT it's a "soft suggestion."
3. They hoped to attract travelers from the mystical and magical land of 4Chan.
4. They wanted to send a very specific message about their country: "We're raunchy. We're not overly political correct. Visit Sweden!" As Sonja tweets: "In sweden we have a saying: There is no stupid questions, only stupid answers. Do you have that saying in your countries as well?" (Bonus: The country is also not hung up on noun-verb agreement.)
5. Sweden wanted to dramatically show how committed it is to freedom of speech and the power of the unfettered Internet. This is the land of the Pirate Party after all. Swedish officials have expressed no consternation over the controversial tweets, reiterating their opposition to censorship. "It’s very important for us to let everyone take a unique viewpoint,” said Tommy Sollén, Social Media Manager at VisitSweden, to the WSJ. Anecdotally, all of the people I've talked to about this have been impressed by Sweden's stance (though not necessarily by Sonja's tweets).
Sweden has certainly put itself on the map with its Curators, and this one in particular. It may be one of the most attention-grabbing tourism campaigns of all time. While Virginia "is for lovers," Sweden is for "lovers of free expression." We'll see if this pays off in more plane tickets to Mother Svea.
If nothing else, Sweden has definitely rid itself of the reputation of "most boring country in the world."Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
A father and son have been discovered in the Vietnam jungle 40 years after they vanished during the war with the United States.
Ho Van Thanh fled from Tra Kem village in shock with two-year-old Ho Van Lang after a mine exploded killing his wife and two other sons.
Thanh made a den in the trees and survived by foraging for fruit and vegetables and growing corn.
He and his son have not had contact with anyone since.
Villagers chopping firewood raised the alarm after spotting two “jungle men” behaving oddly.
Thanh, 82, and 41-year-old Lang, who wore loincloths made out of tree bark, were found after a five-hour search.
They are now having full medical check-ups.
Officials in Quang Ngai province said Thanh speaks a small amount of the minority Cor language but his son knows only odd words.
Attempts will now be made to slowly reintegrate them.In this 360AnDev talk, Ana discusses what she’s learned about security and data privacy. Smartphones have become an extension of the user, allowing them to buy merchandise, pay for services and hold a strong social presence. This places strict demands on security and data privacy.
If you want your users to be comfortable using your app, you must place emphasis on utilising the security methods at your disposal.
This talk will cover the best practices in app security, demonstrate common mistakes and pitfalls and show what we’ve learned in our own experience in the mobile banking industry.
My name is Ana. I come from a company in Europe that’s called Infinum. We do design and development. We’re an agency. We work with a lot of clients.
In my line of work, I take care of security for banks. Security in general is a vast topic. I will try to focus on basic things that we can do to improve security in our applications. Throughout the presentation you’ll see that adding them up results in a good product.
Banks tend to have different approaches to security. Some focus on prevention, but most banks tend to focus on mitigation. That means that one day, when somebody makes a huge withdrawal from your account, they will call you up and ask you, “Did you pay a certain amount of money to that company?”
This is great, but it’s something that should be an added layer of security. The first layer should be the one you put in in the quality of your application and all the standards that you apply to the build itself.
Build integrity (1:46)
Let’s start with the basics: build integrity. What I mean by build integrity is, all the little things you can do when creating a project. Creating your super secure application, you can do small things that aren’t very complicated but will have a huge impact later on.
You need to add a release key store to your application. We have a big team, and it often happens that a few of us have to work on the same application. While we’re in debug mode, I really hate it when I give my phone to another colleague and tell him to deploy his changes on my phone, and he has to reinstall it because the signatures don’t match.
A good rule of thumb, which we have begun using, is that when you create project you create a release keystore immediately. And you sign all your builds with that one. The simple reason is that you will need that release keystore for publishing to your Google Play account. The other reason is that you don’t get irritating reinstalls between your team members as you develop.
One release keystore can be used for all build types. I suggest you do use it for all build types. You really don’t want to lose that keystore. Ever. You learn from experience.
Our experience was that a few years ago we had a colleague that worked on a project from scratch. He developed an application. He finished the application and pushed it to our Google Play account. A few months later he left the company. And a few months after that, the client said, “Oh, we would like an upgrade.” Fine. “What do you want us to do?” They give us the specification. We implemented.
Then there comes the day when you have to push that update to your Google Play account. And we don’t have the keystore. Our colleague was super secure and placed the keystore outside of the git repository. Somewhere else. The problem is that we didn’t know where that somewhere else was. So you have to tell your client, “Whoops, we made a mistake. We cannot publish your application.” That’s really bad for you. You don’t want to end up looking like an amateur.
Thankfully, the laptop that the colleague was using was still in our company. That problem was averted, but I cannot describe the shame that you feel when you tell the client that you have misplaced the only thing that’s needed for another publish or an update of the application.
Your keystore needs to be safe. If somebody acquires your keystore, they hopefully won’t have access to your Google Play account, hopefully. If they do acquire your keystore, they can repackage your application, add some malicious code inside, and put it somewhere else. Publish it on a different site. Send emails to random people saying, “Hey, this is a new cool version of Facebook. Why don’t you download it from this link?” If they signed it with your keystore, or Facebook’s keystore, the users will hopefully not download it, but if they do, they will be able to upgrade the app.
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This is a huge issue. Keeping your keystore separately stored somewhere, not in your git repository, is mandatory.
signingConfigs { release { storeFile file ( "myapp.keystore" ) storePassword "password123" keyAlias "keyAlias" keyPassword "password789" } }
You don’t keep your release keystores in your git repository because again, somebody could technically get to them, and if you have a large team and your team members leave, you don’t necessarily want them to have access to it.
Another thing that people do is put keystore data directly in their build.gradle files. You don’t want to put this data directly in your build.gradle because, again, somebody can get to it.
local. properties KEYSTORE_PASSWORD = password123 KEY_PASSWORD = password789
This is just one alternative. It’s an easy, obvious, and unimportant one, but you can put key-value pairs in your local.properties or build.gradle properties or somewhere else. You can use system environment variables and then reference them, or you can use properties and then parse them.
try { storeFile file ( "myapp.keystore" ) storePassword KEYSTORE_PASSWORD keyAlias "keyAlias" keyPassword KEY_PASSWORD } catch ( ex ) { throw new InvalidUserDataException ( “…” ) }
But the main reason is that you can reference something that doesn’t contain the actual data from your keystore. That’s one way to mitigate this issue.
Another thing that people usually do by default, but don’t know the implications of, is to enable obfuscation. You usually obfuscate to minimize the app. To remove unnecessary resources. To shrink the build. But you also make your code unreadable. And it’s crucial because making your code unreadable for you will also make it unreadable for somebody else.
release { minifyEnabled true proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile ('proguard - android. txt'), ‘ proguard - rules. txt'signingConfig signingConfigs. release }
This is, again, from the generated build.gradle file. You see references to.txt files that contain rules for your Proguard rules.
People don’t like Proguard. Builds fail because when you add Proguard in the beginning, you develop, you add libraries, but you kind of forget to add rules for those other libraries. And most self-respecting libraries have a little section in their readme that says, “For Proguard, please add these two lines.” But people don’t do that until they have to release their build.
That’s the last bullet here, staging versus production. You wait until production to try out your build that has Proguard in it. You should add Proguard to all your builds, whether it’s debug or whether it’s staging or production. It will cause problems when you try to debug it, but at least you’ll know straight away that you have forgotten to add some kind of rule.
Again, builds failed, and then you have to go through the libraries that you added, and try to find the one that broke the build and add rules for that. If you add it as you develop and add other libraries, then you should have fairly little problems with |
many representations of gay men that reduce them to (often mindless) Adonis stereotypes, and it is warmly recommended to all would-be ethnographers.” —Times Higher Education
"This examination of fat gay men, a marginalized and stigmatized group within the already marginalized and stigmatized group of homosexual men in general, is a critical missing piece in GLBTQ studies... [a] valuable contribution for those interested in fat studies as well as gay studies." —Choice
"Fat Gay Men is a well-written, insightful, and fascinating examination of how big gay men cope with fat stigma by using a variety of techniques to reconfigure their shame. It is unique in being the first book-length ethnographic study of fat men within the thin-preoccupied gay culture." —Sex Roles
“The language in this book is playful and erotic, while still offering readers observant insights into the lives of those skirted to the edge of the gay community. I recommend Fat Gay Men to anyone who is interested in reading a book about courage, stigma, pool parties and sex—this book has the potential to liberate peoples’ assumptions of what being a big, gay man means in society.” —Queer Brown Voices
“Fat Gay Men is one of the first sustained studies of the politics of fat, gay male embodiment in metropolitan Western culture. Although it is an academic monograph, Whitesel’s accessible, lively writing style – and command of the critical material – would also make it an excellent text for undergraduate teaching….Whitesel’s own emotional investment in the politics of this group is extremely engaging and infectious and so all readers, whether gay, straight, fat or thin, should feel they are not simply reading about the subcultural activities organized by Girth & Mirth but instead recognize and relate to this narrative of struggle on the road to acceptance.” —Sociology of Health & Illness
“[…] Fat Gay Men will undoubtedly prove to be a useful text for scholars across disciplines, particularly those interested in cultural sociology, ethnographic methods and methodology, fat studies, disability, gender, sexuality, and queer studies.” —Cultural Sociology
"In his lively (and fabulously titled) Fat Gay Men, Jason Whitesel, a gender studies professor at Pace University, attempts to rescue these guys from the bottom of the homosexual heap." —Slate
“Whitesel gives good insight into an interesting subculture…Whitesel’s work is important, well written and helpful.” —Sexuality and Culture
"[A]n interesting look at how a doubly marginalized population negotiates and reconstructs stigma by coming together to perform ritualistic acts in order to regain a consciousness of normalcy in their lives. It’s an important source for understanding the subjective experience of being fat, suffering as an interactive experience, and the reactive comportment to size discrimination in gay society.” —Communication Booknotes Quarterly
“Whitesel is refreshingly self-reflexive about his role as a researcher, his ‘thin privilege’ and the methodological techniques he employs. A particular strength of the text lies in its ability to capture the highly personal experiences and narratives of participants with sensitivity and insight; this is a testament to Whitesel’s strengths as an ethnographer and his ability to access insider knowledge.” —European Association of Social Anthropologists
"Even though gay men have bear culture, Whitesel argues that fat men still exist at the margins of gay culture.... Whitesel uses his own insider/outsider status as a gay man to critique the gay rights movement, looking at the ways in which gay fat men are battling stigma, and questioning why the social consequences of being fat and gay are so extreme." —Advocate.com, "18 Must Read Books We Missed Last Year"
"[T]o say the field is overwhelmingly concerned with fat female experience is something of an understatement.... [I]t has meant that studies of fat men and, more so, of gay fat men have, until now, been few and far between, making Whitesel's Fat Gay Men a welcome and much needed addition to the literature of the discipline." —Journal of Gender Studies
"Whitesel does the Girth and Mirth community justice by giving them a platform for voicing the pains and pleasures of being fat and gay in contemporary American culture." —Journal of Homosexuality
"Fat Gay Men: Girth, Mirth, and the Politics of Stigma captures the immediacy of the joyful and affirming performances that larger gay men use to challenge various aspects of fat stigma and the sometimes traumatizing life events that animate the resistance of ‘big men,’ while at the same time making all the necessary connections with the evolving theoretical literature. Ethnographers typically exhibit skill either in thick description or in theoretical interpretation. Jason Whitesel is the rare ethnographer who has clearly mastered both." —Peter Hennen, author of Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the Masculine
"Fat Gay Men is fascinating look at the world of men who are doubly stigmatized by body size and sexuality. It captures the courage and humor by which they confront fat-phobia in gay culture as well as in larger society. An original, impressive contribution to LGBTQ, gender, body, and performance studies." —Kathleen Blee, author of Democracy in the Making: How Activist Groups FormGet the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.
Visceral Games has pledged that it won't abandon the PC version of Battlefield Hardline after player figures dropped substantially following the game's launch in March.
Speaking during the latest Don't Revive Me Bro podcast, multiplayer producer Zach Mumbach acknowledged that, although the PC version of Hardline got off to a strong start, player figures are now below where Visceral would like to see them.
But this wasn't entirely unexpected, Mumbach explained. Comparing the number of Battlefield Hardline players on PC against those for Battlefield 4 doesn't tell the whole story. This is because EA never expected Hardline to do as well as Battlefield 4, Mumbach said.
"No one ever said that we were supposed to be a ridiculous juggernaut like BF4," he explained. "This is our first Battlefield game. This is our first big multiplayer shooter. The company is very happy with where our game is at right now. We do a ton of market research and surveys. We knew, going into making this game, that we were cutting off a certain percentage of Battlefield players that are like, 'Hey, look, nothing against you guys, but we're into military. We play the military game.'"
"For whatever reason, that percentage is just higher on PC. The guys that are really into the war simulation and the military stuff, it's just a higher percentage on PC," Mumbach added. "The expectation wasn't to do BF4 numbers. The expectation was to do good numbers. And we had good numbers on PC for a bit there at the start, then it sort of tailed off. Believe me, we think about it every day. The easy answer for us is to abandon that platform. But we're not gonna do that."
The console version of Battlefield Hardline is doing really well, Mumbach said. Earlier this week, Electronic Arts announced that a whopping 80 percent of all Battlefield Hardline copies sold were on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
So how can Visceral draw people back into the PC version of Battlefield Hardline?
Mumbach explained that a new Battlefield Hardline update in the works will introduce better netcode, and this may inspire some lapsed players to return. Looking beyond that, Mumbach said he hopes Visceral and Origin can team up and add Battlefield Hardline to its free "Game Time" promotion that lets PC players try a game for a set number of hours.
Outside of that, Mumbach also said it will be important for Visceral to listen to PC players' feedback and make changes to the game based on their input.
EA has not announced an official sales number of Battlefield Hardline. However, CEO Andrew Wilson stated this week that the company is "very happy" with how well the game has sold.
"We're very happy with how well the game has sold to date, and more importantly, that we've brought many new fans into the Battlefield universe," Wilson said at the time
For more on Battlefield Hardline, check out GameSpot's review.The ESPN Original Documentary about Ric Flair won the top spot in the Tuesday cable ratings this week by scoring a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49 with 1.83 million total viewers. Meanwhile, FX’s “American Horror Story: Cult” scored the second-highest spot of the night with a 0.8, which was one-tenth higher than its previous 0.7. USA’s weekly “WWE Smackdown” broadcast rounded out the Top 3 and managed to tick up one-tenth from a 0.7 to a 0.8 this time around as well.
Additionally, the fifth season premiere of The History Channel’s “The Curse of Oak Island” scored a 0.8 on the network, which was one-tenth higher than its fourth season premiere last year. USA’s “Damnation” also made its series premiere last night and scored a 0.3, which is slightly lower than some of the other notable series premieres that have aired on the network over the past year or so.
On MTV, “The Challenge: Dirty 30” held steady with an o.5 for the second week in a row, while Bravo’s “Below Deck” ticked up from a 0.4 to an o.5.
Top 25 original cable shows among adults 18-49 for Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Show Net Time Total viewers (000s) 18-49 rating ESPN ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY ESPN 10:00 PM 1,831 0.9 AMERICAN HORROR STORY FX 10:00 PM 1,820 0.8 WWE SMACKDOWN USA 8:00 PM 2,603 0.8 CURSE OF OAK ISLAND HISTORY 9:00 PM 2,949 0.8 CURSE OF OAK ISLAND HISTORY 8:00 PM 1,943 0.5 CHALLENGE: DIRTY 30 MTV 10:00 PM 719 0.5 BELOW DECK BRAVO 9:00 PM 1,297 0.5 IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG OWN 9:00 PM 1,716 0.4 SPORTSCENTER LATE ESPN 11:30 PM 869 0.4 RACHEL MADDOW SHOW MSNBC 9:00 PM 2,762 0.4 HANNITY FOX NEWS 9:00 PM 3,565 0.4 TOSH.O COMEDY 10:00 PM 660 0.4 SNOOP DOGG JOKERS WILD TBS 10:00 PM 979 0.4 LAST WORD W/L. ODONNELL MSNBC 10:00 PM 2,446 0.4 ANDERSON COOPER 360 CNN 8:00 PM 1,513 0.4 ANDERSON COOPER 360 CNN 9:00 PM 1,561 0.4 ALL IN W/CHRIS HAYES MSNBC 8:00 PM 2,385 0.4 TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT FOX NEWS 8:00 PM 2,939 0.4 ANDERSON COOPER 360 CNN 10:00 PM 1,473 0.4 SPORTSCENTER LATE ESPN 12:00 AM 670 0.3 SPONGEBOB NICKELODEON 7:00 PM 1,458 0.3 MOONSHINERS SPECIAL DISCOVERY 9:00 PM 915 0.3 HOUSE HUNTERS HOME 10:00 PM 1,486 0.3 INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE FOX NEWS 10:00 PM 2,909 0.3 STORY, THE FOX NEWS 7:00 PM 2,728 0.3
Source: The Nielsen Company(The Apple Watch uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to receive data, and researchers say there is no proven harm from those frequencies on the human body. Wearables with 3G or 4G connections built in, including the Samsung Gear S, could be more harmful, though that has not been proved. Apple declined to comment for this article, and Samsung could not be reached for comment.)
Researchers have also raised concerns about having powerful batteries so close to the body for extended periods of time. Some reports over the last several decades have questioned whether being too close to power lines could cause leukemia (though other research has also negated this).
So what should consumers do? Perhaps we can look at how researchers themselves handle their smartphones.
While Dr. Mercola is a vocal proponent of cellphone safety, he told me to call him on his cell when I emailed about an interview. When I asked him whether he was being hypocritical, he replied that technology is a fact of life, and that he uses it with caution. As an example, he said he was using a Bluetooth headset during our call.
In the same respect, people who are concerned about the possible side effects of a smartwatch should avoid placing it close to their brain (besides, it looks a little strange). But there are some people who may be more vulnerable to the dangers of these devices: children.
While researchers debate about how harmful cellphones and wearable computers actually are, most agree that children should exercise caution.Wolf of Wall Street may have been backed by donations linked to an international money laundering scandal, says the Swiss-based charity
The actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio is being urged to repay donations connected to the Malaysian fund that backed his hit film The Wolf of Wall Street and is now subject to a US justice department investigation and asset seizure effort.
The calls come from the Bruno Manser Funds, a Swiss-based charity focused on protecting the Malaysian rainforest. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the organization accused the star of “double standards” for accepting donations linked to an international money laundering scandal.
Wolf of Wall Street film linked to money'stolen from Malaysian fund', US claims Read more
The charity claims that while DiCaprio has been engaged in an effort to protect the last remaining tracts of rainforest in Sumatra, the scandal-plagued 1MDB fund, which participated in a fundraising Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation auction at Christie’s in 2013, is connected to Malaysian deforestation less than 500 miles away.
“We are deeply disturbed that Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation accepted assets that originate from the proceeds of corruption in Malaysia. This is a disgrace and in total contradiction with the declared aims of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation,” said Lukas Straumann, director of the Bruno Manser Fund. “We call on DiCaprio to apologize and pay back all this dirty money to the Malaysian people.”
He told the Hollywood Reporter: “We hear he has a genuine commitment to nature and championing indigenous rights … but if it comes to accepting stolen money, that’s a simple no go.”
According to the fund, DiCaprio received money from controversial businessman Jho Low and Riza Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz, the stepson of the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak – both figures named in a justice department asset seizure complaint and connected to the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.
The Manser fund claims the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation received money from a Christie’s charity auction in 2013, where Low is alleged to have used $1.1m of diverted 1MDB funds to buy two works of art by Ed Ruscha and Mark Ryden.
The charity claims that political corruption in Malaysia is a “major driver” of deforestation, with local politicians handed lucrative logging contracts as bribes.
“It’s a corrupt system and directly affects the way natural resources are being handled,” Straumann told the Hollywood Reporter. “Politicians in Malaysia have earned billions of dollars from cutting down the rainforest illegally.”
An investigation by the Hollywood trade paper found further examples that the publication claims were channels for 1MDB funds to enter DiCaprio’s charity. It claims Low and Joey McFarland, cofounder of Red Granite, the production company behind The Wolf of Wall Street, were among those who helped raise $3m for the foundation by buying marked-up bottles of champagne at DiCaprio’s birthday party.
1MDB: The inside story of the world’s biggest financial scandal | Randeep Ramesh Read more
Last year, Low donated a Roy Lichtenstein sculpture, 1982’s Brushstroke, valued at roughly $700,000, to the foundation, which was then auctioned at a charity event in St Tropez.
The Swiss charity is named for the environmentalist Bruno Manser, who lived in Sarawak, Malaysia, with the Penan tribe, one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in the region. Manser organized several blockades against timber companies, angering Malaysian authorities, and later became a prominent campaigner for rainforest preservation and the rights of indigenous peoples. He disappeared during his last journey to Sarawak in May 2000 and is presumed dead.
The claims place DiCaprio in an awkward position. His latest environmental documentary, Before the Flood, is due to have its premiere at the Toronto international film festival next month. The film, by Fisher Stevens, the documentary film-maker behind 2010’s Academy Award winner The Cove, follows DiCaprio around the world as he draws attention to environmental issues.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leonardo DiCaprio and Fisher Stevens take a break from working on the forthcoming climate change documentary Before the Flood, on 23 August 2016 in New York City. Photograph: Michael Stewart/WireImage
The Bruno Manser letter comes a week after THR published a lengthy story questioning the DiCaprio foundation’s ties to 1MDB. In it, Straumann alleges that the actor was paid as much as $25m for The Wolf of Wall Street from funds allegedly siphoned off from 1MBD. “Money was stolen from the treasury and went straight into Leo’s pocket,” Straumann is quoted as saying.
The justice department complaint does not target DiCaprio specifically – he’s referred to twice in the 136-page document and only as “Hollywood Actor 1” – but any funds originating with 1MDB that ended up in the foundation or were paid to DiCaprio directly for work or as a credited producer on The Wolf of Wall Street could legitimately be targeted by the justice department.
DiCaprio started the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998. It is “dedicated to the long-term health and wellbeing of all Earth’s inhabitants”, according to the organization’s website.
The foundation has donated $3m to the WWF tiger conservation program in Nepal with the other $3m grant heading to Oceana to help save the oceans and marine animals from unsustainable fishing methods. It recently donated $1m to the Elephant Crisis Fund.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Network, the grant “will be sued to save elephants from the current ivory poaching crisis by funding on-the-ground projects that stop poaching, trafficking and the demand for ivory”.
“Elephant poaching is a brutal crisis, with more than 30,000 elephants killed last year alone,” said DiCaprio. “The decimation of these animals is something we have the power to stop, and the Elephant Crisis Fund is a crucial part of the solution. I am honored to support them.”
Earlier this week, Terry Tamminen, CEO of the foundation, told THR the organisation had made grants of more than $30m this year and described the foundation as “an incredibly efficient, highly effective philanthropic organization that, through its relationship to the California Community Foundation, is supporting credible organizations that are carrying out some of the most important work on the planet”.The Ride Channel was nice enough to run Backstreet Atlas, the mini doc about two guys skating from Boston to New York, on their YouTube page. You might remember that we interviewed Adam and Zach about their journey back in April.
Living in New York, it’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming the entire world revolves around you. (At least until a hurricane comes through and you realize you’re just on an island with expensive coffee in a corner of the Atlantic Ocean…) People barely consider nearby cities outside of Philadelphia, Boston, D.C. and maybe Baltimore, but the northeast is a pretty big place. They were able to condense their two hundred-mile / two-week trip into a twenty-minute video, and while it doesn’t even have a big flip in it (!!!), it’s a fun video that does a great job of getting you hyped to explore a bit further than your own backyard, or just to go skate in general.
Solid work from all those involved. Have a good weekend.
Alternate Vimeo Link. “Keep it real, I guess.”Democrats on Sunday warned Donald Trump against mentioning former President Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions in the upcoming presidential debate, arguing the issue is old news.
"We want this campaign to be about the issues," Hillary Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook insisted in a Sunday interview on CBS News. "Look, the Clintons had a rough time in their marriage 20 years ago. That was litigated out. At this debate tonight, and in in the rest of this campaign, we want to focus on the issues, and that is what Hillary is going to do."
The remarks come amid the weekend firestorm caused by Friday's publication of lewd comments Trump made about women in 2005. Trump has long said that if gender became an issue in the campaign, he would bring up the former president's improprieties. In the hours leading up to a presidential debate scheduled for Sunday evening, many of his supporters seemed to be urging him to make good on that threat.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2587267
Those leading the charge included Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick and Paula Jones, all of whom have alleged that Clinton perpetrated sexual misconduct against them. The allegations were amplified and put on display by the Drudge Report throughout the weekend, which prominently featured claims from the three that they were "terrified" of Hillary Clinton, and an accusation that she "enabled" her husband's alleged misconduct.
Mook nonetheless said that while he viewed Trump's past comments as "horrifying and unfortunate," Trump should stick to the issues in the next debate. "This race is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, not between Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.
"If we need to discuss the issues that were raised in that video with Donald Trump, that is fine. But the question here is, what is Hillary Clinton's take on that issue? Not her husband's," Mook added.
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi struck a similar chord in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd, saying that she did not believe Trump would bring up the former president. "No, because you know why? Elections are about the future. They're about the future. He's talking about something, Bill Clinton, he's not on the ballot."
Trump provided cause to believe Pelosi's forecast could be mistaken. Taking to Twitter even as Clinton's surrogates engaged in the circuit of Sunday interviews, Trump repeatedly tweeted out one of the same reports linked by Drudge earlier in the day. "Broaddrick, Willey, Jones to Bill's Defenders: 'These Are Crimes,' 'Terrified' of 'Enabler' Hillary," said the message, linking to a video interview with the three published by Breitbart.
Exclusive Video–Broaddrick, Willey, Jones to Bill's Defenders: ‘These Are Crimes,’ ‘Terrified’ of ‘Enabler’ Hillary https://t.co/DMfLsIbtU1 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2016
With the clash just hours away, Pelosi did make an effort to hedge her bets, arguing that voters should turn against Republicans based on the issues rather than Trump's words. "What's really important to note about all of this is, there's not a dime's worth of difference between Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress when it comes to issues that really affect people's lives.
"Disrespect for women, whether it's disrespect by saying equal pay for equal work, respecting a woman's decision to make about the size and timing of her family, whether it's about Medicare and Social Security... issues that relate to the well-being of women are more important than locker room talk," Pelosi said.Gambling law expert Nelson Rose says federal regulators "simply gave up" when confronted with the impossibility of implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). After receiving a flood of objections from financial institutions, the Treasury Department will not require them to figure out the difference between legal and illegal online gambling, a distinction Congress deliberately left vague and regulators refuse to clarify. The Bush administration's final regulations under the UIGEA, issued last week, require American credit card companies to invent new codes for certain transactions and require financial institutions to ask their clients to avoid illegal gambling. Otherwise, Rose says, "everyone else can basically continue to do what they are now doing," including American gamblers who use overseas intermediaries to place bets and collect their winnings. Money sent to individual gamblers does not even qualify as a "restricted transaction," Rose notes, and the regulations "now make it clear that payment processors should not waste their time checking on where money is sent by individuals." The government concedes "there are no reasonably practical steps that a U.S. participant [financial institution] could take to prevent their consumer customers from sending restricted transactions cross-border."
I interviewed Rose for my June reason article about the online gambling crackdown. Last week Radley Balko noted that the Bush administration rushed to finish the UIGEA rules before its rule making authority expired, under the guidance of a former lobbyist for the NFL, one of the UIGEA's major backers.A B.C. man who won a $25-million Lotto Max jackpot is sharing his newfound wealth, showing up unannounced at local charities and businesses, and making sizeable donations.
Bob Erb, 60, bought the winning Nov. 2 lottery ticket at a Chevron gas station in New Hazelton, but manager Dean Paranich says it almost didn't happen.
"When he came in to get his ticket, I actually gave him something that he didn't want for the same draw. Instead of a ticket for two consecutive draws I gave him a ticket with two plays for only one draw and I was going to cancel the ticket," said Paranich.
"And he just said, 'Oh no, no I'll take that one. You never know,' he said, 'It could be the winner.' And I'll be dammed if it wasn't the winner!"
Erb has since shared some of his winnings with the gas station staff, giving them each $10,000 and $20,000 to Paranich for selling him the winning ticket.
"As cashiers that sell lottery tickets we always make jokes 'If you win big, don't forget about me!' But it's pretty much unheard of that the winners actually come back and give that much money to the place that they bought it," Paranich said.
Erb has also been surprising charities with large donations, including $20,000 to the Happy Gang Centre for Seniors in Terrace.
Kay Derksen was working there when Erb came in for lunch and sat down beside her.
"I heard him say, 'Twenty thousand... what day is it today?' So he wrote the cheque out and I said, 'This is, this is really something!' I said, 'My!' I said 'Is that really what it is? Twenty thousand?'" recalls Derksen.
"Just a regular everyday guy, giving us this money because he won some. So he's definitely sharing with the community," she said.
Erb is a marijuana activist and seasonal construction worker. He has said he intends to continue working and will donate his wages to the food bank.Image copyright Family handout Image caption Julie and Mike Bennet held hands as they said goodbye to each other for the last time
The children of a terminally ill couple who died of cancer within days of each other have shared a photograph of their parents' last moments together.
The image shows Mike Bennet, 57, and wife Julie, 50, from Irby in Wirral, holding hands in a Merseyside hospice.
It was taken shortly before Mr Bennet died on Monday from a brain tumour.
Relatives and friends have launched a fundraising campaign to help the couple's three children, Oliver, 13, Hannah, 18 and Luke 21.
It raised thousands in the first 24 hours.
Friend Sue Wright said: "I told her the community would come together to help look after her kids - and she opened her eyes and smiled."
Ms Bennet, a primary school teacher from Sommerville School, died on Saturday at St John's Hospice.
Image copyright Family handout Image caption Julie and Mike Bennet leave three children, Oliver, Hannah, and Luke
She was diagnosed in May last year with cancer which began in the liver and kidneys and then spread to other organs.
Her husband, a self-employed cabinet maker, had been fighting a brain tumour since 2013 and had been nursed at home by Ms Bennet and the children until his wife became too ill to care for him.
Friend Heather Heaton Gallagher said the "down-to-earth" family are "known to all for their generosity" and "love for life."
"Words cannot express our desperate sadness for such a beautiful family," she said.
"Julie has kept the children in a normal routine whilst dealing with Mike's illness over the past few years.
When Julie became ill, she made it her purpose to create as many memories as a family for the children to hold onto.
"We have set up a JustGiving page and overnight that reached an incredible £15,000, but these three kids need to have a future."From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
Work In Progress
This article is still under construction. It may contain factual errors. See Talk:Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain for current discussions. Content is subject to change.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Release Date: 2015 Developer: Kojima Productions Publisher: Konami Series: Metal Gear Platforms: PC
Xbox360
Xbox One
Playstation 3
Playstation 4 Genre: Action-adventure, stealth
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a 2015 third-person stealth-action open-world game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami, and is the direct follow on to the short first "episode" of the story, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Set in 1984, a decade after Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the story begins after the destruction of the old Mother Base facility by a team from the mysterious Cipher organisation's strike unit, XOF. Big Boss has been in a coma for nine years and much has changed, but, awakening as XOF assaults the hospital he is recovering in, he must come up with a plan to get his revenge on Cipher.
As well as the singleplayer campaign, the game features an online competitive "FOB mode" where players can invade Forward Operating Bases belonging to each other and steal resources and troops. While it was not present at launch, patches have also added a new version of Metal Gear Online.
The following weapons appear in the video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
For weapons relating to its sister game, see Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.
Overview
The Phantom Pain expands on the gameplay systems of Peace Walker, extending some and simplifying others. The game takes place in an Assassin's Creed-style continuous open world rather than a series of short missions, with two main map hubs in Afghanistan and Africa. The loadout system is similar to that of Peace Walker, with the player character only able to equip a small number of firearms at a time; like Ground Zeroes it is further restricted by the three slots for firearms being set up by class, with two being primary weapons (the player character's back and hip} and one a secondary weapon (their leg holster). Sniper rifles, machine guns, shields and launchers go on the back slot, assault and battle rifles, grenade launchers and shotguns on the hip, and pistols and SMGs on the leg. Additional non-firearm items can be equipped in one of two radial menus, one of which is for support weapons such as mines and grenades and the other for equipment. There is now also a "tool" category including the binoculars, iDroid, analyser and Fulton devices, which do not require equip slots and do not need to be selected to be used.
As before, the gameplay systems centre on a large offshore facility called "Mother Base," this time a platform in the Seychelles, which is used as justification for the various in-game systems. The player can recruit additional troops for the new mercenary unit, "Diamond Dogs," by either accepting volunteers or using the rather comical "Fulton Recovery" mechanic to kidnap enemy soldiers by launching them into the sky using magic balloons, though these now require clear air above the extraction target to be used unless the late-game "Wormhole Fulton" device has been researched. In addition, upgrades allow the Fulton device to be used to extract larger objects such as resource containers, emplaced weapons and vehicles.
While the player character is able to pick up weapons used by enemies in the game world, this does not add them to the player's inventory permanently; to select new weapons from the loadout screen, they must be developed via the R&D department using points acquired by the Combat Team (as well as numerous other means). All weapons have a minimum level for at least one of the various Mother Base teams, before which they cannot be developed. Unlike Peace Walker, blueprints for weapons are generally only required to produce later versions, not to begin development. Certain high-level weapons also require staff with specific skills be part of the R&D team.
Like Ground Zeroes, The Phantom Pain uses fictional "frankengun" hybrids for most of the player-usable weaponry, much as Resident Evil 6 did. This appears to have been done so that the game's R&D tech tree could feature weapons which were clear upgrades to each other, and for parts commonality in the weapon customisation system. Weapons are sorted by a tree structure where similar weapons can be upgraded linearly (ranked from 1 to 6 originally, now 1 to 11), producing better guns of fundamentally the same type. Distinctly different types are typically offshoots with their own rank.
Resource management is more complex, with the money-substitute Gross Military Product (GMP) points being augmented by physical resources such as metals and fuel which must be gathered, and plants which must be found in the game world. Resources can be found in processed or unprocessed states; processed material is added to Mother Base's current stockpile, while unprocessed material (found as large shipping containers) must be processed first by the Base Development department, which also generates further unprocessed resources at regular intervals. The ammunition manufacturing system in Peace Walker (which manufactured ammo so quickly that running out was never an issue) is replaced with a system of charging the player for equipping weapons as well as researching them; all weapons cost GMP to equip, while high-end weapons require additional resources as well. For example, a rocket launcher may require fuel resources, or a tranquilizer gun a specific amount of soporific digitalis plants.
Side-missions now all take place in the game world; as before these include vehicle battles, though these are now battles against regular tanks and infantry rather than protracted endurance matches with battleship-strength super-vehicles supported by entire platoons. Presumably because it would be difficult to allow the player to use them in the open world, it is no longer possible to capture helicopters. As before, captured vehicles can be used in a side-mission battle mode, though this mode ("Deployment") is more restrictive than before, with very specific requirements on what combinations of units can be used for each battle, some requiring the use of a particular vehicle but otherwise not allowing them to be used at all. As before, the rewards in this mode use a random drop mechanic, but generally if a blueprint is one of the rewards its drop rate will be 100%.
At any time in the game world, the player can use the support function to request ammunition supplies, new weapons or equipment, or an entire pre-set loadout. Unlike Peace Walker, it is also possible to request vehicles be dropped as support, including tanks. The player can also select one of several "buddy" characters to assist them, and switch between them using the support system.
Weapon customisation is not initially available and requires recovering a "legendary gunsmith," found in a mission unlocked about a fifth of the way through the game. Following this, any parts on weapons the player has researched can be swapped between them, with restrictions based on the class of weapon involved and whether it has fixed parts or the right attachment points. Underbarrel weapons must be researched as separate standalones which have the relevant ability; they can then be attached to a gun with an appropriate mounting point.
Suppressors still work similarly to Peace Walker with a weapon only getting one suppressor which will wear out over time; this can now be manually detached to save its lifespan, however. The suppressor will automatically detach with a loud snapping sound when it wears out; it can be restored by finding (very rare) suppressor pickups in the game world, or by calling for a support drop which will include suppressors for all weapons that have them. There are three possible grades of suppressor durability, with the normal two "low" and "medium," higher-level weapons allowing use of the latter. A handful of weapons have level three suppressors that do not degrade.
Initally the weapon tech trees stopped at Rank 6 for all weapons; patches have since added weapons at the final two tiers. Several Rank 9 weapons were added on December 17th 2015. Later patches introduced even higher level weapons: as of April 2017, some weapons go up to level 11.
Handguns
"WU Silent Pistol"
The "WU Silent Pistol" [Windurger No.2 Silent Pistol] tranquilizer gun is shown passing over to Phantom Pain. Its permanent suppressor and "ghost ring" sight is only accessible at level 5, and earlier versions without it heavily resemble the AMC Auto Mag Pistol with the addition of a polymer frame and tritium glow-in-the-dark night sights. The gun is the equivalent of the XM9 from MGS2, Mk.22 Mod 0 featured in MGS3, Portable Ops & Peace Walker, and the Ruger Mk. II from MGS4, and as in those games is manually operated. A lethal version is available, though the weapon retains its slide-lock mechanism and therefore does not fire in semi-auto. An unsuppressed, golden version is available with the Collector's Edition of the game. It is also possible to develop a lethal version.
High Standard.44 AutoMag TDE (Covina, CA) -.44 AMP (Auto Magnum |
played by the very nice actress Lena Headey. She joins us now. Lena, welcome to WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME.
LENA HEADEY: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Now, I know the cliche that you are but an actor. You are not the parts that you play, yet at the prospect of speaking to you, I was actually terrified. Does this happen to you a lot?
HEADEY: Yeah, it does seem to. People do seem to think that I'm going to be some wicked witch, and then they're always surprised to find out I'm just a little clumsy nerd.
SAGAL: Really? Do you enjoy playing somebody who is so pointedly not cheerful and happy?
HEADEY: Yeah, it's cathartic because I guess, you know, it's not socially acceptable to be a complete and utter manipulative cow. So I can get it all out...
SAGAL: I guess so. I feel that both for people who haven't seen "Game Of Thrones," and I pity them, or for people who have seen it and can't keep the names straight, could briefly describe who your character is?
HEADEY: She is the power-hungry mother of three children by her brother, desperate to sit on the throne and run the seven kingdoms.
SAGAL: Right.
HEADEY: And she's not a very nice girl.
SAGAL: No, she's not.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: And so for six seasons, we've basically seen her manipulate, lie, lure people to their deaths and do various unpleasant things.
HEADEY: Yeah, she's had a few rough days.
SAGAL: I understand.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Because the people on the show, the characters, are so incredibly unpleasant and are constantly doing very unpleasant things to each other, I imagine your cast parties are, like, blowout fun because you must have to, like, let off all the steam of being horrible to each other.
HEADEY: There's a lot of Olympic drinking, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Now, you have played a lot of very - I will - for lack of a better word - nerdy roles. You were in the big classic nerdy Greek combat movie "300" as the...
HEADEY: Yeah.
SAGAL:...Sexy Queen Gorgo. So the nerds must freak out when they see you on the street.
HEADEY: Yep, I get a bit of nerd love.
SAGAL: You do?
HEADEY: (Unintelligible).
SAGAL: What is nerd love like?
HEADEY: Loud. And...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Did you - I have to ask you this question - you, like a lot of the actors on "Game Of Thrones, did not read the books, right?
HEADEY: No.
SAGAL: And is that because you didn't want to find out what happened to your character in another medium or they're just a ridiculous nerd thing and you would never go near such a thing?
HEADEY: Both of those things.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: And...
HEADEY: I did try. My mother read them all obsessively. And so I get the kind of shortened versions.
SAGAL: So wait a minute, your mother has read all of George R. R. Martin's novels.
HEADEY: Yeah, she loves to go oh, I know what happens to you next.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: I have to ask you, your character, Queen Cersei, was forced by circumstances that are way too interesting to get into, to walk naked in a walk of shame, as somebody's...
HEADEY: Yes.
SAGAL:...Yelling shame through the entire town. That was a very long sequence. Now, first of all, did you actually have to do that?
HEADEY: Yes, I was actually there, contrary to popular belief, in the place doing the whole thing. But I was not naked though.
SAGAL: You were not naked?
HEADEY: Not my body.
SAGAL: That was not - really? Did they do the computer thing where they gave you somebody else's body?
HEADEY: They did, yes.
SAGAL: Did you get to pick whose body it was?
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Because given the opportunity, I would really enjoy to have some - my head put on somebody else's body.
HEADEY: You'd think, but I - you know what? I was just like if somebody is brave enough to do this with me, then I don't care what they look like.
SAGAL: Right.
HEADEY: I really don't.
SAGAL: There was one guy in that sequence who leaps out and exposes himself to your character. And all I could think of with that guy was like hey everybody, I got a part in "Game Of Thrones."
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: It's going to make me.
HEADEY: I know because, you know, we all sat around for, like, three days sort of tag-teaming on and off that set. And he was there; we were sort of having coffee. And I was like so, what are you - what are you doing? He was like oh, I'm flashing my willy at you.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: So what's interesting is for people that may not know, the series is based on this very lengthy complicated series of books. But last season, season six, they caught up with the end of the books. So nobody knows what's happening next except you, Lena Headey...
HEADEY: Yeah.
SAGAL:...Because the production has been finished, right? It's going to be broadcast in a couple of months. So what are the secrecy rules? I mean, what do they tell you about what you can and cannot say?
HEADEY: I can't tell you a thing.
SAGAL: You cannot tell me a thing.
HEADEY: No.
SAGAL: If you were to tell me something, what would happen to you?
HEADEY: It's more what would happen to you.
(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)
HELEN HONG: Somebody would jump out and flash their willy at you for sure.
SAGAL: Oh, no.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Lena Headey, we have asked you hear to play a game we're calling...
BILL KURTIS: You Win And You Die.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: So the "Game Of Thrones" in the show you star in is not particularly fun to play...
HEADEY: Yes.
SAGAL:...Ask Ned Stark. So we thought we'd ask you about three even worse games. Answer two of them correctly, you'll win our prize for one of our listeners - Carl Kassel's voice on their voicemail. Bill, who is actress Lena Headey playing for?
HEADEY: Chris Shields of Beaverton, Ore.
SAGAL: All right, you ready to play, Lena?
HEADEY: Yes, I'm ready.
SAGAL: All right, now, which of these is a real board game that you could go out, buy and play with your family today if you wanted to? Is it A, Swedish Parliament in which you and your friends recreate the Swedish national elections around your dining room table, B, "Family Time" in which you play a member of a family trying to decide something to do that will keep you from fighting tonight or C, Mule in which you try to smuggle as many drugs across the border using your own body cavities as possible.
ROY BLOUNT, JR.: Ooh.
(LAUGHTER)
HEADEY: God, one of them sounds more interesting, but I'm going to go for the second one, the family thing - the non-fighting.
SAGAL: So a game called Family Time...
HEADEY: Yes.
SAGAL:...In which you and your family gather around and play the roles of a family trying to decide to figure out what to do...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL:...Of an evening. So that's your choice, you're going to go for Family Time?
HEADEY: I am, yes.
SAGAL: All right. I'm afraid it was Swedish Parliament. That is an actual game that you can buy. It was listed as one of the 10-worst board games ever made by a British newspaper, The Guardian. And then they published an apology because all these fans of "Swedish Parliament" wrote in and said, you know, it's really quite interesting.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: All right, in 2013, a designer created a new iPhone game that quickly got banned from the App Store. Was it which of these - A, Send Me To Heaven, which challenges you to throw your phone as high as you can into the air...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL:...B, Big Jerk - the object of that game is to walk by as many people as you can while staring at your phone or C, Drug Mule which is an iPhone version of the board game I mentioned in the previous question.
(LAUGHTER)
HEADEY: I - I'm going to go for the second one.
SAGAL: You're going to go for Big Jerk?
HEADEY: (Laughter).
SAGAL: You're going to go for that?
HEADEY: I feel very solid in my answer.
SAGAL: I - I - no. No, I'm afraid the game was Send - (laughter) - the game was Send Me To Heaven. And it was invented by a guy who just wanted to see how many people he could trick into wrecking their iPhones by hurling them as high as they could into the air.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: And really, the comments on the game in, like, the app store were I broke my phone.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: All right, let's see if you can get one right. The 1960s were a golden age of board games. One of the less-successful games from that era is which of these - A, Digestion Monopoly, which is like regular monopoly except after you choose your piece you swallow it.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Whoever gets their's back first wins.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: B - B, I say, Connect Two or C, a board game called Big Funeral. You play by planning a funeral.
HEADEY: Oh, I don't want to get it wrong. But I know, I am going to say the funeral game.
SAGAL: The funeral game - you're right, it is in fact the funeral game...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL, APPLAUSE)
SAGAL:...Big Funeral. Bill, how did Lena Headey do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Lena got one right out three. And, you know, Lena, that's really good.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: I see you've also watched the show. Hedge your bets, Bill.
KURTIS: I don't want on her bad side.
SAGAL: Hedge your bets with this woman. Lena Headey stars in "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies," based on the original draft of the Austen novel. It's in theaters now, and you can see her in the new season of HBO's "Game Of Thrones." That premieres in April. I am lining up in front of my television now. Lena Headey, thank you so much for joining us.
HEADEY: Thank you, guys.
SAGAL: Thank you, Lena.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KILLER QUEEN")
QUEEN: (Singing) She's a killer queen. Gunpowder, gelatine, dynamite with a laser beam. Guaranteed to blow your mind...
SAGAL: In just a minute, Bill says words, some of which rhyme. It's our Listener Limerick Challenge. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute with more WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME from NPR.
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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."After tonight, while it is clear we are on the right side, this year, we will not be on the winning side," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) when he suspended his presidential campaign on March 15, after losing the Fla. primary to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. (Reuters)
"After tonight, while it is clear we are on the right side, this year, we will not be on the winning side," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) when he suspended his presidential campaign on March 15, after losing the Fla. primary to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. (Reuters)
Years of carefully laid plans to repackage the Republican Party’s traditional ideas for a fast-changing country came crashing down here on Tuesday when Sen. Marco Rubio suspended his campaign for the presidency after a crippling defeat in his home-state primary.
Since Mitt Romney’s devastating loss in the 2012 presidential election, the Republican National Committee and leading voices at think tanks, editorial boards and Capitol Hill symposiums have charted a path back to the White House based on inclusive rhetoric and a focus on middle-class issues.
Nobody embodied that vision better than Rubio, a charismatic standard-bearer for conservative orthodoxy who readily embraced the proposals of the right’s elite thinkers. The senator from Florida spoke urgently and eloquently about raising stagnant wages and eradicating poverty. He had an immigrant’s tale to match the rhetoric. And on foreign affairs, he was a passionate defender of the GOP’s hawkish tilt.
But Rubio’s once-promising candidacy, as well as the conservative reform movement’s playbook, was spectacularly undone by Donald Trump and his defiant politics of economic and ethnic grievance. The drift toward visceral populism became an all-consuming rush, leaving Rubio and others unable to adjust.
“The party finds itself catching up to its base. Those very elegant papers it published and conferences it held may have been good and smart, but they didn’t really matter,” said William J. Bennett, a conservative talk-show host and former education secretary in Ronald Reagan’s administration. “Instead, everyone who’s been prominent for the last 15 to 20 years finds themselves getting pushed out.”
The Fix's Chris Cillizza breaks down why Marco Rubio was never going to be president. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)
Rubio’s fall comes weeks after others who advocated for conservative reforms, such as former Florida governor Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, dropped out of the race, and as the donors and institutions who have long supported hawkish fiscal and foreign policies find themselves scrambling to hold onto the consensus that has shaped the GOP for decades.
For many of them, Trump represents a threat to the traditional order of the party and its platform. He does not support overhauling Social Security — a key plank for Romney and GOP congressional leaders — and he was a vocal critic of the 2003 invasion of Iraq in its aftermath, setting him apart from much of the party’s high command.
Rubio, whose ascent was propelled by a network of powerful players for years, was supposed to be the candidate best positioned to stop Trump and prevent a Republican rupture.
“Rubio was ready and briefed on policy, that’s for sure, but I just think he never connected,” said former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is friendly with Trump. “He sounded like someone who was trying to be a lot for a lot of people. That’s hard to do.”
Following Romney’s defeat in an election many Republicans thought they should have won, party leaders concluded that the only way to regain the presidency would be to engage the growing and diverse electorate that President Obama had won over twice. The RNC drafted an “autopsy” that recommended bolstering appeals to women and minority voters, while reform conservatives drafted their own manifesto.
Rubio had been building his base among these Republicans since January 2011, when he began his Senate term. He joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and began to speak at think tanks and meet with scholars, most of them former staffers from George W. Bush’s administration. He hired a number of them for his own staff.
During his breaks in the Senate, Rubio would often tell colleagues how he was reading papers sent to him from former Republican officials or how he was about to have lunch with another bold-faced name from the Bush years. On his computer, he kept a “drop box” of related policy files compiled by his advisers.
Meanwhile, a group of writers and intellectuals on the right were frustrated and stewing about the GOP’s lack of outreach to working-class voters during Romney’s campaign. By 2013, they began to call themselves “reform conservatives” and sought to turn the party policy discussion away from its emphasis on small business and toward working men and women, as well as families, who were struggling.
As Rubio took the lead on immigration reform that year — a move that riled the hard right — he continued to augment his relationships with reform conservatives who were unveiling plans for new child tax credits and revamped federal subsidies. He put out a book, “American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone.”
Rubio followed a similar path with foreign-policy hawks as they began to look for a favorite ahead of the 2016 contest: a flurry of meetings and op-ed articles and, most critically, solidarity on the issues as they bubbled up.
Although Rubio entered 2015 hobbled with parts of the GOP base because of immigration, he carried goodwill among those two constituencies that were driving the Republican establishment: the reformers and the hawks.
“The critique was there: The Republican Party was out of touch,” said Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former George W. Bush speechwriter. “But the breakdown occurred because we got into a cycle where policy didn’t matter at all. Policy was not just secondary, but it was almost not even in the conversation. And when people tried to interject policy — whether it was Rubio or Bush or others — there was just no appetite for it. It didn’t catch on.”
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said that Rubio campaigned in a way that quickly became obsolete.
“Rubio was prepared, much like Jeb Bush, for a reasonable dialogue in Washington policy language, offering positions that reflect 40 years of national security and foreign-policy experts. All of that disappeared. The market didn’t care,” Gingrich said.
Rubio’s hawkish foreign policy footing, thought to be an asset, was challenged. Trump’s claims of being “militaristic” even though he was inclined against intervention muddled how voters perceived the candidates, disassociating American power with the hawkish ideology of Rubio and the Bush orbit. Trump’s denunciations of George W. Bush’s decision to go into Iraq did not make the hawkish cause any easier.
“Trump has sounded hawkish without sounding graceful, and he’s expressed admiration for authoritarians. So it was a weird mix for all of the candidates,” said Kori Schake, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution who has advised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “At the same time, Republicans are still wrestling with the legacies from the Bush administration... and I don’t think we’ve made peace on that.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, having won his home-state primary on Tuesday, could be someone whom Rubio’s coalition turns to next, although his maverick style has turned off some in the establishment. Still, he, too, holds hawkish views and has a compassionate pitch on domestic policy with a call to help people “living in the shadows.”
Stuart Stevens, who served as chief strategist to Romney’s 2012 campaign, chalked up Rubio’s troubles as a sign of a first-time presidential candidate still learning how to run nationally and inspire voters, rather than as a sign of the Republican Party’s cracking apart. In a year infused with anger, he said, Rubio failed to meet the moment with the policies he had spent years studying.
“Rubio had been told that he’s the future of the party. But it’s not enough to say, ‘I have a great future, vote for me,’ ” Stevens said. “You have to do more than use your biography. You’ve got to connect your ideas in a real way to the economy.... People ended up walking out of Rubio rallies misty-eyed and out of Trump rallies with blood in their eyes.”
Whit Ayres, Rubio’s pollster, spent the past several years compiling data and published a book showing that Republicans could not afford to alienate minority voters, especially Hispanics, if they ever hope to retake the White House. Watching Rubio’s concession speech on Tuesday night, Ayres was despondent.
“After 2012,” he said, “you thought we’d learned our lesson.”
Ed O’Keefe in Miami contributed to this report.There’s a war on in the audio world. A very silly war. It crops up from time to time, wasting energy and helping to polarize opinions about things that just aren’t worth fighting about.
I’m talking about the ongoing war between subjectivists and objectivists – And I’m here to demand that you never, ever pick one side or another. Instead: pick both.
First, a little background: Just who are these people?
Subjectivists, at their best, are those who believe that process and individual experience are of primary importance in the studio; That the value of subtle choices between tools cannot be boiled away by the reductionist overreaches of science, and perhaps most importantly, that what seems best on paper is not always what sounds best on the ear.
Objectivists, in their best moments, are pragmatic, clear-eyed realists who are interested in evidence rather than anecdotes or testimonials. They are concerned with what’s essential, what’s provable, and what can be shown to get results. They believe – correctly in fact – that everything that we can hear can be measured. And they’re interested in that measurement and evidence, not because they don’t value art or the energy people put into it, but precisely because they do.
If both these outlooks sound more or less equally appealing, then I’m glad to hear it. Like most dichotomies, the subjectivist-objectivist dichotomy is a false one. There’s no good reason I can think of to force yourself into choosing between solid knowledge and personal preference. Yet at times, there’s no end to the enmity between the camps anyway.
But I suppose all the arguing makes some sense. We audio obsessives can be a persnickety breed, especially when we’re allowed to get together on the interwebs before letting off steam.
At our worst, the subjectivists among us can be a bunch of audiophile cranks and kooks who are superstitious about our sound, buying up bags of magic beans for our hi-fi systems and obsessing over the directionality of cables. And our objectivist sides are no better, sometimes turning us into grating know-it-alls – poindexters and party-poopers who are so busy studying the forest that we can’t stop to appreciate the charm of any given tree.
Tell a die-hard subjectivist the basic truth that simple 16-bit CDs in fact have higher fidelity than tape or vinyl in every way that can be measured, and he may look at you like you’re lying. Tell a die-hard objectivist that you prefer the sound of tape or vinyl anyway, and he may cock his head like you didn’t hear him just then about the whole “fidelity” thing.
Demonstrate to an ardent subjectivist that he might not be able to hear the difference between two similar sources, and he’ll likely tell you the test is rigged. Tell an objectivist that his newer, cleaner, cheaper, quieter alternative isn’t floating your boat and it can come across as a personal affront from a backward-looking curmudgeon.
But all that this level of mistrust does is to stoke people’s insecurities, when they should instead be borrowing from the best of each other’s perspectives.
An objectivist can tell you that the room you record and mix in matters a lot. We can test it and measure it and show that any improvement there, up to a point, will have a greater impact on the quality of your recordings than a purchase of any high-end piece of boutique audio gear. We can play you blind clips of a fancy microphone in an untreated garage and a cheap mic in well-balanced room, and leave you certain that your resources are best devoted to the things that make the measurable difference.
But a subjectivist can remind you that the relationships we have with our tools can go beyond mere measurement, and that sometimes the story that a piece of equipment tells is just as important as the sound it can be shown to make. There are times when design, heritage or tradition can inspire confidence, and confidence is essential to artistic expression. Without it, there is no music worth hearing.
An objectivist can tell you what tool is the most neutral, which one is more colored, by how much, and in what capacity. But only a subjectivist can tell you which one is worth using. A subjectivist, for his part, can tell you what tools he likes the sound of. But only an objectivist can really find out why – and figure out how to reproduce it.
We all have both extremes inside of us, and we’re well served to recognize it. When we don’t, we make mistakes.
In 1965, CBS bought the Fender musical instrument company. After a time, they redesigned some of the line, in part to cut costs. But also because “objective” engineers saw easy ways to improve circuits in ways they thought might make sense: they could figure out ways to make guitar amps provide a cleaner tone at a louder volume. But what looks better on paper doesn’t always sound better at the ear. The CBS-era revisions of Fender’s classic amps are still worth less to this day. Take away familiar and euphonic sounding distortion and people may notice. Not all of them will like it.
Throughout the ages, subjectivists have gotten things wrong as well. They’ve fallen for all sorts of tricks: the silly notion that freezing or applying green sharpie to a CD can improve its sound. A full list of disproved notions is too long and too embarrassing to list here, but the most important thing to remember is that when they get it wrong, they really do hear a difference. It’s just that the difference exists inside the mind, rather than out in the air or inside the ear. When you put too much weight and credibility onto your internal experience, it can lead to unsupportable lapses in judgment.
Comfort, workflow, inspiration, sonic coloration – all of these things are essential in design, particularly in an age in which we quickly find ourselves up against a point of diminishing returns when it comes to raw audio quality and transparency.
To this day, every truly meaningful advance in sound technology has come when objective measurement and subjective preference meet. And that tradition continues at every truly successful audio company today – both inside the box and out.
Justin Colletti is a Brooklyn-based audio engineer, college professor, and journalist. He records and mixes all over NYC, masters at JLM, teaches at CUNY, is a regular contributor to SonicScoop, and edits the music magazine Trust Me, I’m A Scientist.Confirmation that the iconic, and dominant, title-winning McLaren-Honda partnership of the late 1980s and early 1990s would reform from the season after next was delivered in May, with the Japanese firm having been enticed back to the sport by the impending advent of more efficient, turbo engines.
Although McLaren's long-term future as a works engine team is now secure, the identity of their drivers into the 2015 Honda era remains unknown with incumbents Jenson Button and Sergio Perez yet to even be officially confirmed for next season, although the former's one-year extension has been sealed.
McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh stirred the'silly season' market at last month's Singapore GP by suggesting he would be open to bringing Ferrari star Fernando Alonso back to Woking should the Spaniard become available, a story that continued to rumble on in Korea.
Honda's glorious first period as engine supplier to McLaren included two seasons when the team paired both Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in their line-up and Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai admits having strong drivers again will be a key element in hitting the ground running.
"Of course in the 1980s we had a splendid time with McLaren with Senna and Prost as very good drivers. It was a wonderful time," Arari told Sky Sports News in Japan ahead of the country's race this weekend.
"However, at the moment we are completely undecided of anything about drivers and what we should do now is to have good drivers, [a] good team and good organisation.
"Those things have to be ready, has to be right, in order to have a good start."
Although Honda last built F1 engines, albeit to the current V8 specifications, when in the guise of a team owner in 2008, and rivals will have had a year's head start with racing their all-new power packages, Arari made clear it was targeting instant success.
"We decided to participate again from 2015, that's means we are committed fully to get wins. That is the very target from the very first year," he insisted.
Honda has been linked with a move to hire current Mercedes Team Principal Ross Brawn to head up its engine project, who headed up the final year of its works operation five years ago and then took on the Brackley team when the Japanese firm abruptly withdrew from F1.
Mercedes took to Twitter on Monday to deny reports emanating from Germany that Brawn had informed the team over the Korean GP weekend of his intention to quit at the end of the season. From Honda's side, Arari has now admitted he hadn't even heard the speculation that Brawn was on the company's radar.
"I've never heard of that and it is a surprise! I don't think it will happen," he added.A NEW poll in Scotland shows that members of the public want to see restrictions on who can refer to themselves as a lawyer.
There are current and long standing legal restrictions on who can call themselves solicitors or advocates. However, there is no such restriction on the use of the term lawyer with anyone able to use that title, even those without any legal education.
The most infamous example in recent years was Giovanni Di Stefano, the self-styled “Devil’s Advocate” who claimed he was a lawyer as he tried to take over Dundee Football club. Di Stefano fooled many people around the world, including media news teams, with his claims to be the lawyer representing, among others, Ian Brady, Harold Shipman, Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.
In 2013, Di Stefano was sentenced to 14 years in prison, still claiming in court that he was a lawyer because he had asked Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic for an honorary law degree and got one.
The Law Society of Scotland is now calling for the term “lawyer” to be used only by those who have recognised legal qualifications and are regulated, as is the case for solicitors and advocates. Its recommendation is backed by independent research, which found that almost nine out of 10 Scottish adults – 87 per cent – think there should be restrictions on who can describe his or herself as a lawyer.
The findings follow on from previous research which highlighted that nearly two-thirds of consumers did not recognise the difference between a solicitor and a lawyer.
Law Society of Scotland President Graham Matthews warned that a lack of clarity may mean consumers are unaware that they are seeking advice from an unregulated legal adviser rather than a fully qualified, insured and regulated Scottish solicitor.
He said: “The terms solicitor and lawyer are often used interchangeably, with a public perception that all lawyers are fully qualified and regulated. However, it is not necessary for someone to have any kind of qualification, knowledge or experience in law or to be regulated to be able to call themselves a lawyer. While all solicitors can be referred to as lawyers, not everyone who calls themselves a lawyer is entitled to call themselves a solicitor.
“A Scottish solicitor must complete many years of legal study, gain the necessary qualifications, undertake a two-year traineeship and professional training every year, and comply with a code of ethics and the Law Society’s rules and guidance, giving the public reassurance and confidence in their professional standards and abilities.
“We know from research carried out in 2014 that the vast majority of people – at 95 per cent of those surveyed – consider their solicitor to be trustworthy.”
The Law Society has also said that the current review of legal services presents an opportunity to fully assess the scope of the unregulated legal sector in Scotland.
Matthews added: “It is important that everyone who needs legal advice finds the right professional for their particular circumstances safe in the knowledge that there are public protections in place in the unfortunate event of anything going wrong.
“While substantially less than one per cent of solicitors’ work results in any kind of complaint, consumers are assured that there are clear processes in place to be able to seek redress if necessary.
“We have an opportunity to find out just how widespread the unreg- ulated legal sector is in Scotland while the legal services review is ongoing.
“We will urge the independent review to recommend reforms to make sure all those who seek legal advice are afforded proper protections.”Hwæt! Mitt Romney is visiting London this week and is in full racial cringe mode for all he's worth (which is a very great deal).
A member of his advance party, a Romney "adviser" whose name and exact title are not known to us, told the London Daily Telegraph that:
We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and [Romney] feels that the Special Relationship is special … The White House didn't fully appreciate the shared history we have. Mitt Romney would restore 'Anglo-Saxon' relations between Britain and America, By Jon Swaine, July 24, 2012
This adviser and another, equally anonymous, further told the Daily Telegraph that:
Romney would seek to reinstate the Churchill bust displayed in the Oval Office by George W. Bush but returned to British diplomats by Mr. Obama when he took office in 2009. One said Mr. Romney viewed the move as "symbolically important" while the other said it was "just for starters," adding: "He is naturally more Atlanticist."
Needless to say, Romney has repudiated the offending adviser's remarks. And needless to say, the Left wants more.
All of which is definitely worth a "Hwæt!" — the interjection that Anglo-Saxon writers employed to get their readers' attention, meaning something like "Lo!" or "Listen up!"
Being of Anglo-Saxon heritage myself, I naturally know this stuff.
The Daily Telegraph reporter who was passing this on to us allowed that the adviser's remarks "may prompt accusations of racial insensitivity," suggesting as they do that "Mr. Romney was better placed to understand the depth of ties between the two countries than Mr. Obama, whose father was from Africa."
Just a few points here. First, it takes a great deal less than this to "prompt accusations of racial insensitivity" nowadays. Just being a white candidate standing against a black one will do it. [Va. state senator blames racism for Romney gains, By Laura Vozzella, July 24, 2012]
And then, while Barack Obama, Sr. was indeed from Africa, the son's acquaintance with the father was very slight. Barack, Sr. abandoned his wife and child when Barack, Jr. was little more than one year old. Our President was raised mainly by middle-class white Americans. He himself is a middle-class American, quite a typical one of his generation.
"The Negro is an American. We know nothing of Africa." Martin Luther King's aphorism applies quite precisely to Barack Obama.
It is true that the President has made brief trips to Kenya, but as Steve Sailer has described in America's Half-Blood Prince, he misunderstood everything he saw and heard there. The President's warm feelings towards Africa are based on ignorance and sentimentality—just as is the case for many middle-class white Americans.
Barack Obama's low appreciation of "the depth of ties between" the U.S.A. and Britain has very little to do with his father's having been African, far more to do with his mother's having been a leftist kook who despised her own race and nation.
What about that "Anglo-Saxon heritage"? You can pick nits here about just how Anglo-Saxon the British and Americans are. Here's some ceorl ("a low person, a peasant") called Max Fisher [Email him]picking like crazy at the Atlantic blog:
The idea that Anglo-Saxon invaders defined or even significantly influenced British genetics has been "widely discredited," according to National Geographic, … It seems that Anglo-Saxons represented an elite minority, not the country in its entirety, and one that did not rule permanently … In the 2000 U.S. census, only 8.7 percent of Americans identify their ancestry as English, which is ranked fourth behind German, Irish, and African-American.
Hmm. Taking a half-full approach, you could rephrase that to say that of the three commonest white ancestry groups in the U.S.A., two are from the British Isles and the third is from the nation of which Anglia and Saxony are both regions. That's a total 34.7 percent on the 2000 Census figures (page 3 here).
Why stop there? You can add in the 7.2 percent of census respondents who gave their ancestry as "American," since doing so is a trait restricted almost entirely to the Scotch-Irish. Add in those who actually did respond with "Scotch-Irish" (1.5 percent) or "Scottish" (1.7 percent), and we're up to 45.1 percent.
And heck, since we've included the Germans, let's throw in the Swedes (1.4 percent), Norwegians, and Dutch (1.6 percent each). That gets us to 49.7 percent. I have no numbers for Danes, Austrians, and Swiss-Germans |
program's blueprint after she received a wrong diagnosis in a civilian facility that nearly left her paralyzed.
"I had to fight to find out what happened," she said. "But the other thing that stuck out was the physician who misdiagnosed me felt worse than I did. I remember reaching out to comfort him."
With Healthcare Resolutions, patients and doctors can contact their military hospital's Healthcare Resolution specialist, who facilitates the release of information pertinent to their case and coordinates mediation sessions between physicians and patients or their family members.
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The sessions let patients and doctors get answers from one another and help deal with problems head on, recognizing that "something happened," and something has been learned from it, according to Army Maj. Gen. Jeff Clark, Walter Reed-Bethesda commander.
"We as providers know we want to apologize; this program creates an environment that says it's OK," Clark said. "Patients want honesty and sometimes an apology... and they want commitment, not only to them, but to the next patient, to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Moidel said the program was not created to prevent legal action against a military treatment facility but does provide an alternative resolution process.
Military family members are allowed to file medical malpractice suits against military treatment facilities, but active-duty troops are barred from doing so under the 1950 Supreme Court decision known as the Feres Doctrine.
The Healthcare Resolutions program does not remove a patient or family member's legal right to file a claim or grievance, and patients maintain the right to be represented by counsel.
According to the DoD instruction on the program, resolution specialists work with military treatment facility lawyers on cases that may have legal implications, but attorneys are not involved in mediation sessions and specialists are barred from dispensing any opinions or advice on legal action.
Healthcare Resolutions specialists also will disengage from the mediation process if a lawsuit is filed.
The program also is separate from patient safety, risk and quality control, which investigates medical errors and adverse events. Resolutions advisers do not make any determination regarding negligence or medical error.
The regional program is active at eight military treatment facilities: Walter Reed; Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Virginia; Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia; Naval Medical Center San Diego; Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, California; U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan; Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Florida; and David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, California.
The Air Force has plans to expand the program to three more facilities, while the Army will hire specialists for five additional facilities in the coming year, Moidel said.
Each office is responsible for handling cases at military hospitals and clinics in their regions that do not have their own full-time facilitator.
Referrals to the program come from various sources, including hospital leadership and staff, patients, legal offices and customer service.
Healthcare Resolutions takes cases beyond the scope of customer service complaints, ranging from unanticipated consequences of treatment, delayed diagnosis and medical errors to unexpected deaths, patient dissatisfaction with care or poor patient-doctor interaction.
In 2014, the DoD's eight Healthcare Resolution specialists handled 1,400 cases.
"We are available 24/7, nights, weekends and holiday times. The holidays our case load bumps up tremendously," Moidel said.
The number of civilian hospital systems that have launched similar programs or encouraged doctors to apologize after making a mistake has grown in the past decade, with some, such as those at the University of Illinois and University of Michigan Health System, seeing their medical malpractice suits drop by half, according to The New York Times.
Clark said this new program is among several designed to promote transparency in the military health system and change the way doctors relate to their patients.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says ties with the UN will be reassessed now that the Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for a halt on building illegal settlements.
On Friday, the UNSC Resolution 2334 was passed with 14 votes in favor and one abstention by the US. It condemned the establishment of settlements by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories as a "flagrant violation under international law," which it said was “dangerously imperiling the viability” of peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Anthony Hall, editor-in-chief of American Herald Tribune, believes the historic UNSC vote against Israeli settlements is a clear message that the Tel Aviv regime is losing support around the world.
“This Israeli juggernaut, this imperial expansionist project is demeaning Palestinians and demeaning decent people around the world and this vote finally demonstrates in no uncertain terms that the Jewish people globally and the … [regime] of Israel has to take into account, and all Israeli citizens, that they do not have the support and backing of the international community with this atrocious building of settlements and expanding into other people’s territories,” the analyst told Press TV in an interview on Sunday.
He also said the United States decision to abstain from the UNSC vote on Israeli settlements was a “very major step”.
The analyst further congratulated the governments of New Zealand, Senegal, Malaysia and Venezuela for stepping in after Egypt, under pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump, decided not to move forward with its push for a vote at the UN Security Council.
According to the analyst, by joining the expansionary project of Israel, Trump is demonstrating that he is totally contradicting the principles that he said he would stand for after becoming president.
Israel was created in 1948 after wars on Arab states. The warfare was followed by the establishment of the so-called Green Line, which marked its forcefully-seized contours.
However, in 1967, it staged further military attacks beyond the line, seizing the Palestinian territories now known as the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. Since then, it has been dotting the lands with more than 120 settlements despite the international outcry against the unlawful activities.Looking for the latest latest updates?
Check out the 2013 edition of What's Renewed, What's Canceled, and What's Still In Between?
Ah, spring: that time of year when TV networks begin sharpening their axes and patrolling the studio backlots, casting ambiguous glances at their remaining series quivering in the shadows (and you thought your favorite shows were dramatic!). In the world of the boob tube, the drama that happens backstage is almost as exciting as the drama that happens on-screen. And as the end of 2011-2012 TV season draws near, we'll be keeping a very close eye on where the networks stand as they assemble their 2012-2013 lineups.
Thus, we welcome you now to our annual tally of TV fates: "What's Renewed, What's Canceled, and What's Still Between?" While many verdicts have already been announced, some shows are still trapped in the TV limbo known as "the bubble." We'll continue to update this story as more renewals and cancellations announced, so be sure to bookmark this page and check back often for updates.
(Note: Because we know you're gonna ask about 'em, we've included many summer shows on this year's list. Series with no information should be considered safe or "too early to tell.")
LATEST UPDATES
– Showtime Renews Nurse Jackie for Season 5
– A & E Cancels Breakout Kings
– CBS Renews Rules of Engagement for Season 7
– SyFy Cancels Sanctuary
– CBS Cancels CSI: Miami, Unforgettable, A Gifted Man, Rob, NYC 22; Renews CSI: NY
– CBS Renews Two and a Half Men
– ABC Cancels Pan Am, The River, and Missing
– ABC Renews Private Practice, Don't Trust the B----, Body of Proof, and Last Man Standing
– ABC Renews Scandal, Cancels GCB
– The CW Cancels The Secret Circle and Ringer
– The CW Renews Nikita, Gossip Girl, and Hart of Dixie
– NBC Cancels Awake, Are You There, Chelsea?, Two More
– ABC Renews Happy Endings for Season 3
– NBC Renews Parks and Recreation, The Office, Up All Night, and Whitney
– ABC Renews Revenge, Once Upon a Time, Castle, and 7 More Shows
– NBC Renews Community for a Shortened Season 4
– Fox Renews Family Guy and American Dad for the 2013-2014 Season
– NBC Renews Parenthood, Orders a Final Season of 30 Rock
– Cougar Town Is Renewed for Season 4... on TBS
– Fox Officially Cancels Breaking In and I Hate My Teenage Daughter
– Fox Cancels Alcatraz and The Finder, Renews Touch
– AMC Renews Talking Dead and Comic Book Men
– NBC Renews Law & Order: SVU
– Showtime Renews The Borgias for Season 3
– Southland Renewed for Season 5
– The CW Renews Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, and 90210
– NBC Pulls Best Friends Forever From Its Schedule
– HBO Renews Both Veep and Girls for Season 2
– Woohoo! Fox Renews Fringe for Season 5
– ABC Family Cancels Make It or Break It
– ABC Family Renews The Lying Game for Season 2
KEY:
RENEWED: Officially coming back!
LIKELY RENEWAL: Almost guaranteed to return; we're just waiting for the network to make it official.
ON THE BUBBLE: Potential last-minute decisions that could go either way.
LIKELY CANCELLATION: Things aren't looking good.
CANCELED/ENDING: Goodbye. Kaput. Dunzo.
Find your show by alphabet:
90210 (CW) – ON THE BUBBLE RENEWED for Season 5.
2 Broke Girls (CBS) – RENEWED
30 Rock (NBC) – LIKELY RENEWAL RENEWED for a final, 13-episode seventh season.
48 Hours Mystery (CBS) – RENEWED
60 Minutes (CBS) – RENEWED
A Gifted Man (CBS) – LIKELY CANCELLATION CANCELED: Of CBS's new shows, this was the weakest drama.
Adventure Time (Cartoon Network) – LIKELY RENEWAL: Too big of a hit not to renew, but Season 4 just started.
Alcatraz (Fox) – ON THE BUBBLE CANCELED
Allen Gregory (Fox) – CANCELED
All-American Muslim (TLC) – CANCELED
Alphas (Syfy) – RENEWED: Season 2 will air this summer.
The Amazing Race (CBS) – RENEWED
America's Most Wanted (Lifetime) – RENEWED for 20 more episodes.
America's Next Top Model (CW) – RENEWED for Cycle 19.
American Dad (Fox) – RENEWED through the 2013-2014 TV season.
American Idol (Fox) – LIKELY RENEWAL RENEWED
American Horror Story (FX) -RENEWED: Season 2 is expected to premiere in October.
Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 (Cartoon Network/Adult Swim) – RENEWED: Returns May 20, 2012.
Archer (FX) – RENEWED for Season 4.
Are You There, Chelsea? (NBC) – LIKELY CANCELLATION CANCELED
Army Wives (Lifetime) – ON THE BUBBLE RENEWED for Season 7. Looks like we'll get an answer to that cliffhanger after all!
Awake (NBC) – LIKELY CANCELLATION CANCELED: Unsurprising, but still a major bummer.
Awkward. (MTV) – RENEWED: Coming back this summer!
Bachelor Pad (ABC) – RENEWED for Season 3, airs this summer.
The Bachelor (ABC) – RENEWED
The Bachelorette (ABC) – RENEWED: Emily Maynard steps up to play Bachelorette starting this May.
Bayou Billionaires (CMT) – RENEWED for Season 2.
Beavis and Butt-head (MTV) – ON THE BUBBLE: Did well in its return, but is still up in the air.
Being Human(Syfy) – RENEWED for Season 3.
Being Human UK (BBC) – RENEWED for Season 5.
Bent (NBC) – LIKELY CANCELLATION CANCELED: It was barely given a chance by NBC!
Best Friends Forever (NBC) – LIKELY CANCELLATION CANCELED: The show was pulled from NBC's schedule after just a few episodes, and now its demise is official. (Did you even know it was on?)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) – RENEWED through the 2013-2014 TV season.
Big Brother (CBS) – RENEWED: Returns this summer.
The Big C (Showtime) – ON THE BUBBLE: Currently in Season 3.
The Biggest Loser (NBC) – RENEWED
Billy the Exterminator (A & E) – RENEWED
Blue Bloods (CBS) – RENEWED
Blue Mountain State (Spike) – CANCELED after three seasons.
Boardwalk Empire (HBO) – RENEWED for Season 3.
Bob's Burgers (Fox) – ON THE BUBBLE: We're hoping for a third season.
Body of Proof (ABC) – LIKELY CANCELLATION RENEWED: We did NOT see this one coming.
Bones (Fox) – RENEWED for Season 8.
Bored to Death (HBO) – CANCELED
The Borgias (Showtime) – ON THE BUBBLE RENEWED for Season 3.
Boss (Starz) – RENEWED: This show was granted a second season before Season 1 even aired, and will be back in the fall.
Burn Notice (USA) – RENEWED: Season 6 premieres this summer.
Breaking Bad (AMC) – RENEWED: There are 16 episodes left, and they'll likely be split into two seasons of eight episodes each.
Breaking In (Fox) – LIKELY CANCELLATION CANCELED, officially and twice.
Breakout Kings (A & E) – CANCELED after two seasons.
Ah, spring: that time of year when TV networks begin sharpening their axes and patrolling the studio backlots, casting ambiguous glances at their remaining series quivering in the shadows (and you thought your favorite shows were dramatic!). In the world of the boob tube, the drama that happens backstage is almost as exciting as the drama that happens on-screen. And as the end of 2011-2012 TV season draws near, we'll be keeping a very close eye on where the networks stand as they assemble their 2012-2013 lineups.
Thus, we welcome you now to our annual tally of TV fates: "What's Renewed, What's Canceled, and What's Still Between?" While many verdicts have already been announced, some shows are still trapped in the TV limbo known as "the bubble." We'll continue to update this story as more renewals and cancellations announced, so be sure to bookmark this page and check back often for updates.
(Note: Because we know you're gonna ask about 'em, we've included many summer shows on this year's list. Series with no information should be considered safe or "too early to tell.")
Find your show by alphabet:
Californication (Showtime) – RENEWED for Season 6.
Castle (ABC) – LIKELY RENEWAL RENEWED
The Celebrity Apprentice (NBC) – ON THE BUBBLE: We're thinking NBC will bring this back.
Charlie's Angels (ABC) – CANCELED: Seven of eight episodes aired on ABC, but that last one may never be seen by the likes of TV viewers.
Chuck (NBC) CANCELED/ENDING: Finished its fifth and final season in January.
The Cleveland Show (Fox) – RENEWED through the 2012-2013 season.
The Closer (TNT) – CANCELED/ENDING: The final season airs this summer, but the show's spin-off, Major Crimes, is in development.
Comic Book Men (AMC) – RENEWED for Season 2.
Community (NBC) – ON THE BUBBLE RENEWED for a shortened Season 4. NBC might be more streets ahead than we thought!
Conan (TBS)– RENEWED through 2014.
Cougar Town (ABC) – ON THE BUBBLE RENEWED! Though it would certainly have been canceled at ABC, TBS has saved the show and will air a fourth season in early 2013.
Covert Affairs (USA) – RENEWED: Season 3 starts in July.
Criminal Minds(CBS) – RENEWED
CSI (CBS) – RENEWED
CSI: Miami (CBS) – ON THE BUBBLE CANCELED: Of the two in-danger CSI spin-offs, money is likely what doomed the more-expensive-to-produce Miami.
CSI: New York (CBS) – ON THE BUBBLE RENEWED at the expense of CSI: Miami.
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) – ON THE BUBBLE: As always, it's up to Larry.
Dancing with the Stars (ABC) – RENEWED
Delocated (Cartoon Network/Adult Swim) – RENEWED
Desperate Housewives (ABC) – CANCELED/ENDING: The series finale airs in May.
Dexter (Showtime) – RENEWED through Season 8. Season 7 starts in September.
Dog the Bounty Hunter (A & E) – CANCELED
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 (ABC) – ON THE BUBBLE RENEWED! Yay!
Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime) – RENEWED and expected to return this summer.
Eagleheart (Cartoon Network/Adult Swim) – LIKELY RENEWAL: Just started Season 2.
Eastbound and Down (HBO) – CANCELED/ENDING: Just finished its third and final season.
Enlightened (HBO) – RENEWED for Season 2.
Episodes (Showtime) – RENEWED: Season 2 premieres July 1.
Eureka (Syfy) – CANCELED/ENDING: The final season is currently airing.
The Exes (TV Land) – RENEWED for Season 2.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC) – CANCELED
Face Off (Syfy) – RENEWED for Season 3.
Fairly Legal (USA) – ON THE BUBBLE: Currently in Season 2.
Falling Skies (TNT) – RENEWED: Season 2 premieres June 17, 2012.
Family Guy (Fox) – RENEWED through the 2013-2014 TV season.
The Finder (Fox) – LIKELY CANCELLATION CANCELED
The Firm (NBC) – CANCELED: NBC has been burning off remaining episodes on Saturdays.
The First 48 (A & E) – RENEWED
Franklin and Bash (TNT) – RENEWED: Season 2 premieres June 5.
Free Agents (NBC) – CANCELED: Only four of eight episodes aired on TV, but the remaining episodes are available on Hulu.
Fringe (Fox) – ON THE BUBBLE: Could return for a shortened final season if Fox is nice. RENEWED: Woohoo! Fox has renewed the fan favorite for a 13-episode fifth and final season.
Futurama (Comedy Central) – RENEWEDA Missouri state representative is proposing a bill that will hold an adult responsible if a child gains access to an unsecured firearm.
Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis, is sponsoring House Bill 1343, which specifies that a person commits the offense of endangering the welfare of a child if he or she knowingly fails to secure a firearm. The goal is to eliminate the cases of children accidentally shooting themselves or others after gaining access to a firearm.
“Right now in Missouri the child endangerment statute does not include firearms as a child endangerment,” Newman said. “There isn’t any statute for an attorney to hold an adult liable.”
According to the Children’s Firearm Safety Alliance, 124 children under the age of 18 nationwide have been shot and killed by another child, including cases of self-inflicted shootings. Throughout the entire year of 2016, 121 children were killed.
More than one-third of the total number of incidents logged this year occurred in just six states, including Missouri. There have been 16 incidents involving a child using an unsecured firearm in Missouri so far this year, compared to 10 incidents last year.
“Several years ago Missouri was No. 1 in the country in terms of toddler shootings; those are shootings where a toddler pulls the trigger,” Newman said.
The bill would apply to children under the age of 17 and carry enhanced penalties if a shooting causes serious injury or death of a child.
Newman has filed this bill for the last three years, but acknowledges the bill’s slim chance of passage, given the Republican majority in Jefferson City and what she sees as the influence of the pro-gun lobby.
The recent trend has involved loosening restrictions on firearms in Missouri, including a 2016 measure to allow most gun owners to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.
But she believes the time has come for the legislature to take action to limit the number of child shootings.
“Because of the number of incidents that happen daily in terms of gun violence, we don’t pay attention unless there is a mass shooting,” Newman said.
The 2018 legislative session begins Jan. 3.Disclaimer: I'm digging Rust. I lost my hunger for programming from doing too many sad commercial projects. And now it's back. You rock, Rust!
I spent about two weeks over the Christmas/New Year break hacking on emcache, a memcached clone in Rust. Why a memcached clone? Because it's a simple protocol that I understand and is not too much work to implement. It turns out I was in for a really fun time.
UPSIDES
The build system and the package manager is one of the best parts of Rust. How often do you hear that about a language? In Python I try to avoid even having dependencies if I can, and only use the standard library. I don't want my users to have to deal with virtualenv and pip if they don't have to (especially if they're not pythonistas). In Rust you "cargo build". One step, all your dependencies are fetched, built, and your application with it. No special cases, no build scripts, no surprising behavior *whatsoever*. That's it. You "cargo test". And you "cargo build --release" which makes your program 2x faster (did I mention that llvm is pretty cool?)
Rust *feels* ergonomic. That's the best word I can think of. With every other statically compiled language I've ever used too much of my focus was being constantly diverted from what I was trying to accomplish to annoying little busy work the compiler kept bugging me about. For me Rust is the first statically typed language I enjoy using. Indeed, ergonomics is a feature in Rust - RFCs talk about it a lot. And that's important, since no matter how cool your ideas for language features are you want to make sure people can use them without having to jump through a lot of hoops.
Rust aims to be concise. Function is fn, public is pub, vector is vec, you can figure it out. You can never win a discussion about conciseness because something will always be too long for someone while being too short for someone else. Do you want u64 or do you want WholeNumberWithoutPlusOrMinusSignThatFitsIn64Bits? The point is Rust is concise and typeable, it doesn't require so much code that you need an IDE to help you type some of it.
Furthermore, it feels very composable. As in: the things you make seem to fit together well. That's a rare quality in languages, and almost never happens to me on a first project in a new language. The design of emcache is actually nicely decoupled, and it just got that way on the first try. All of the components are fully unit tested, even the transport that reads/writes bytes to/from a socket. All I had to do for that is implement a TestStream that implements the traits Read and Write (basically one method each) and swap it in for a TcpStream. How come? Because the components provided by the stdlib *do* compose that well.
But there is no object system! Well, structs and impls basically give you something close enough that you can do OO modeling anyway. It turns out you can even do a certain amount of dynamic dispatch with trait objects, but that's something I read up on after the fact. The one thing that is incredibly strict in Rust, though, is ownership, so when you design your objects (let's just call them them that, I don't know what else to call them) you need to decide right away whether an object that stores another object will own or borrow that object. If you borrow you need to use lifetimes and it gets a bit complicated.
Parallelism in emcache is achieved using threads and channels. Think one very fast storage and multiple slow transports. Channels are async, which is exactly what I want in this scenario. Like in Scala, when you send a value over a channel you don't actually "send" anything, it's one big shared memory space and you just transfer ownership of an immutable value in memory while invalidating the pointer on the "sending" side (which probably can be optimized away completely). In practice, channels require a little typedefing overhead so you can keep things clear, especially when you're sending channels over channels. Otherwise I tend to get lost in what goes where. (If you've done Erlang/OTP you know that whole dance of a tuple in a tuple in a tuple, like that Inception movie.) But this case stands out as atypical in a language where boilerplate is rarely needed.
Macros. I bet you expected these to be on the list. To be honest, I don't have strong feelings about Rust's macros. I don't think of them as a unit of design (Rust is not a lisp), that's what traits are for. Macros are more like an escape hatch for unpleasant situations. They are powerful and mostly nice, but they have some weird effects too in terms of module/crate visibility and how they make compiler error messages look (slightly more confusing I find).
The learning resources have become very good. The Rust book is very well written, but I found it a tough read at first. Start with Rust by example, it's great. Then do some hacking and come back to "the book", it makes total sense to me now.
No segfaults, no uninitialized memory, no coercion bugs, no data races, no null pointers, no header files, no makefiles, no autoconf, no cmake, no gdb. What if all the problems of c/c++ were fixed with one swing of a magic wand? The future is here, people.
Finally, Rust *feels* productive. In every statically compiled language I feel I would go way faster in Python. In Rust I'm not so sure. It's concise, it's typeable and it's composable. It doesn't force me to make irrelevant nit picky decisions that I will later have to spend tons of time refactoring to recover from. And productivity is a sure way to happiness.
DOWNSIDES
The standard library is rather small, and you will need to go elsewhere even for certain pretty simple things like random numbers or a buffered stream. The good news is that Rust's crates ecosystem has already grown quite large and there seem to be crates for many of these things, some even being incubated to join the standard library later on.
While trying to be concise, Rust is still a bit wordy and syntax heavy with all the pointer types and explicit casts that you see in typical code. So it's not *that easy* to read, but I feel once you grasp the concepts it does begin to feel very logical. I sure wouldn't mind my tests looking a bit simpler - maybe it's just my lack of Rust foo still.
The borrow checker is tough, everyone's saying this. I keep running into cases where I need to load a value, do a check on it, and then make a decision to modify or not. Problem is the load requires a borrow, and then another borrow is used in the check, which is enough to break the rules. So far I haven't come across a case I absolutely couldn't work around with scopes and shuffling code around, but I wouldn't call it fun - nor is the resulting code very nice.
Closures are difficult. In your run-of-the-mill language I would say "put these lines in a closure, I'll run them later and don't worry your pretty little head about it". Not so in Rust because of move semantics and borrowing. I was trying to solve this problem: how do I wrap (in a minimally intrusive way) an arbitrary set of statements so that I can time their execution (in Python this would be a context manager)? This would be code that might mutate self, refers to local vars (which could be used again after the closure), returns a value and so on. It appears tricky to solve in the general case, still haven't cracked it.
*mut T is tricky. I was trying to build my own LRU map (before I knew there was a crate for it), and given Rust's lifetime rules you can't do circular references in normal safe Rust. One thing *has to* outlive another in Rust's lifetime model. So I started hacking together a linked list using *mut T (as you would) and I realized things weren't pointing to where I thought they were at all. I still don't know what happened.
The builder pattern. This is an ugly corner of Rust. Yeah, I get that things like varargs and keyword arguments have a runtime overhead. But the builder pattern, which is to say writing a completely separate struct just for the sake of constructing another struct, is pure boilerplate, it's so un-Rust. Maybe we can derive these someday?
Code coverage. There will probably be a native solution for this at some point. For now people use a workaround with kcov, which just didn't work at all on my code. Maybe it's because I'm on nightly? Fixed!
---
So there you have it. Rust is a fun language to use, and it feels like an incredibly well designed language. Language design is really hard, and sometimes you succeed.The investigation into the Dec. 2 shooting that killed 14 people has also found no evidence that it was "foreign-directed," the FBI said Tuesday.
abc7.com FBI Asst. Director David Bowdich
The FBI on Tuesday appealed for the public's help in closing an 18-minute gap in the timeline of the San Bernardino mass shooting that killed 14 people on Dec. 2. Investigators have accounted for much of the timeline of how Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, came to arrive at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino and opened fire before they were spotted hours later in Redlands, California, and killed in a shootout with authorities.
FBI
But between 12:59 and 1:17 p.m., FBI Asst. Director David Bowdich said the timeline goes dark. "We want to make sure we know if they stopped at any location, any residence, any businesses; we want to make sure we know if they had contact with anyone that we don't already know about between that time," Bowdich said. For much of the timeline that is known, Bowdich characterized the shooters' movements as erratic and "back and forth." The pair stopped briefly at a parking lot and Seccombe Lake in San Bernardino. While he declined to speculate if whatever happened during the timeline gap could still present a danger to the public, "until we close that gap, we just don’t know for sure." Investigators are asking the public for photographic, video, or other information to call the FBI at (800) 225-5324 to help close that gap. Bowdich added that a search of nearby lake at a park revealed no items pertinent to the investigation.
FBI Area of movement for San Bernardino shooters on Dec. 2.
Bowdich also reaffirmed earlier assessments that there was no evidence that indicated the attack, which also injured 22 people, was "foreign-directed."
“We definitely believe this was an inspired act, but we do not again have any indication of a foreign-directed act," he said. Bowdich also said the Christmas party was potentially a significant factor in the Muslim couple's decision to target the gathering, the New York Times reported. He declined to elaborate. A grand jury last month indicted 24-year-old Enrique Marquez for allegedly conspiring with Farook to carry out two previous terrorist attacks that ended up going unrealized. He was also charged with illegally purchasing two assault rifles to pass on to Farook that were eventually used in the San Bernardino attack.Crucial emails have gone missing from WikiLeaks’ Syria files, according to a report published today by The Daily Dot — and WikiLeaks isn’t happy about the discrepancy coming to light. The missing emails detail a 2011 transaction that moved $2.4 billion from the Central Bank of Syria to Russia’s VTB Bank, indicating both suspicious financial activity by the Assad regime and unusually close ties to the Russian banking sector.
The email is present in a cache of court-recorded emails taken from the Revolusec hacking group, who are believed to have provided the raw materials for WikiLeaks’ Syria Files, but it is absent from the Syria Files themselves. A number of emails sent on the same day are present in the files, leading to suspicion that WikiLeaks may have purposefully removed the message.
"You can be sure we will return the favor one day."
Reached for comment by The Daily Dot, a WikiLeaks spokesperson denied removing the email and made an apparent threat against the Dot reporters, saying that if they pursued the story, "you can be sure we will return the favor one day."
The Verge has reached out to WikiLeaks to clarify the spokesperson’s intent. We will update with any response.
WikiLeaks drew criticism earlier this year after publishing an archive of emails stolen from the DNC, a theft many attributed to the Russian government or a closely affiliated group. At the time, Assange defended WikiLeaks role as entirely neutral saying, "We took the data set, analyzed it, verified it, made it in a presentable, searchable form, presented it for all journalists and the public to mine."Sonos users are a picky bunch. The latest Sonos Controller app is attracting some strongly negative reactions amongst its customers – yet more users like it than dislike it.
Sonos Controller v5.0 runs on smartphones and tablets, streaming music stored on them or from internet music-streaming services like Spotify, Google Play and Shuffler.fm, to Sonos speakers in the home using the Sonos wireless network.
V5.0 was introduced in May and negative opinions quickly appeared in the Sonos user forums, commenting on things like how “it has made commonly used actions into actions requiring multiple page swipes/ taps etc…” and represents, as one person told us, “form over function basically.”
Several sources around the internet are complaining about Sonos' latest offering, including the official Sonos Forum's own general discussion threads, the Ask.Sonos request facility and in iTunes store reviews for the Controller app.
One Sonos Forum General Discussion thread runs to seven pages of comments and includes a poll on the new UI:
62 out of 204 voters prefer it to v4.3: that’s 30.4 per cent
30 don’t care one way or the other: 14.7 per cent
112 want the old v4.3 app back: 54.9 per cent
(all figures recorded at the time of writing)
An official Sonos rep on the thread, John M, posted this comment in late May:
We are listening to your comments and appreciate the feedback. We don’t want anyone to feel ignored, all replies here are read, even if we don’t always respond. There are several places where people are talking about the new app, and we are following all of them to make sure that we know what people want to see in future releases. We will not be re-releasing the old version of the app and are aware that while some people love the new controller, others do not. The Sonos Controller experience will continue to evolve, however the new design and modular interface are here to stay. We are always striving to enhance the Sonos experience, including the controller app. We invite your constructive feedback as we look to future developments.
V5.0 style app on an Android smartphone
A week later another Sonos rep, Ryan S., posted this:
“We know it’s been a little more than a week since the last official post here so we just want to let everyone know that we are listening and take all feedback and criticism seriously. While we’re sure you want to know what’s next, we don’t have any additional details to share at the moment. When we do, you’ll all be among the first to know.”
The separate Ask.Sonos facility has three threads complaining about the new app, one entitled “Don’t Like The New App” started a month ago, which has 150 comments.
User gbastug posted the first note, which included this gem: “The new app is horrible...it is the classic error of form over functions, graphic designers with no human interface skill sets making pretty decisions.”
Many subsequent posts supported this general point of view.
Sonos rep Ryan S posted a response about a month ago, saying: “Thank you for continuing to share your reactions to the new Sonos Controller. We’ve heard a lot of positive comments on the new design over the last week but also some critiques. We’re listening, and it sounds like many people have similar comments and suggestions which we’ll be organising into separate threads.”
“Specifically, we’ve heard the most feedback for the following:
An optional text view for sorting through library
Rooms listing on tablets/landscape view
Show a “Rooms Icon” across all screens to provide easy access to room grouping
Different placement of the queue
Move crossfade to the same area as shuffle & repeat |
injures received in the combats or air strikes. In other words, media reports on “war casualties”– in the context of the given combat or air-strike event which is the subject in the report – invariably refer as fatalities only to those who perished in situ and at that very occasion.
The findings, which I reported at international Injury Research conferences in Vienna, [1] and Prag 2004, referred the following epidemiological problematic leading to an underestimation in the assessing of casualties (the findings were further developed in a Karolinska Institutet’s Master thesis by Ime Akpan John): [2].
A particular epidemiological confounding may occur when the variables of the study are ill-defined or the conceptual extension of the entities under study is used in a too broad meaning.
One example is if we assign to “casualties” both fatalities and injured victims and in the third part analysis the toll is read as only fatalities ipso facto at the time of the referred armed clash or combat.
Now, if the above estimating-problem is huge referred to regular military personnel reported as fatalities, it is just logical to conclude that such bias is higher prevalent when referred to civilian populations victims of drone-strikes. This, partly because of the areas targeted commonly correspond a) to countries with poorer hospital facilities or epidemiological administrative services, b) to areas populated mostly by poor people, that due to SEC-factors would have lesser possibilities to have their peers’ fatalities (long time after the injury-event) reported.
I argue that a similar situation occurs with the multiple reports in the international Human Rights community trying to assess the impact of drone-strikes amidst the civilian population. The reports refer partly to civil casualties derives from drone-attacks, and partly to the physical collateral damage in the humble infrastructures and habitat of the victims.
On the other hand, the wider the number of reports, the more imprecise is growing the epidemiological estimate of drone-related fatalities or drone-related injuries at all. Also, important media outlets and blog reports have focused on this issue.
Counting of confirmed civil casualties caused by US drone strikes
1. The figures I present here correspond to confirmed cases of fatalities. Hence, they do not include a further estimation referred to
a) victims that died long time afterwards, as a sequelae of injuries received at the strike.
b) victims as the result of fatal events reported as “likely caused by drone-strike”
c) fatalities reported as drone-strike related but that correspond to other so-called cover operations
2. I present these figures as a “meta-estimate”, meaning that it corresponds to calculations I made based in the public sources available (See source down below).
Total number of US-drone strikes
N= 459
Total number of casualties among civilians
N= 1138
Total number of casualties among Children
N= 214
Sources
[the link-list of sources will be continuously updated. I the reader knows of a further source, please email link to [email protected]]
Human Rights organizations sources
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/amnesty-international-human-rights-watch-release-dual-reports-on-drone-strikes
Media sources
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/drone-strikes-killing-more-civilians-than-us-admits-human-rights-groups-say/2013/10/21/a99cbe78-3a81-11e3-b7ba-503fb5822c3e_story.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/world/asia/civilian-deaths-in-drone-strikes-cited-in-report.html?_r=0
Research analysis and media-investigative reports
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/
http://www.livingunderdrones.org/numbers/
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115353/civilian-casualties-drone-strikes-why-we-know-so-littleTop 30 ranked big man Udoka Azubuike will announce his college decision Thursday evening on the 6 p.m. Eastern recruiting show on ESPNU according to analyst Reggie Rankin.
Officially Florida State, Kansas and North Carolina are the contenders for Azubuike, but word has been circulating, however, that Florida State has moved on. The Seminoles have begun to aggressively recruit post player Bruno Fernando.
There is a sense of confidence on both the Kansas and North Carolina side. Kansas holds the lead in the Crystal Ball, but there are some notable North Carolina picks from top prognosticators.
Udoka Azubuike The Potter's House Christian Academy Where will Udoka Azubuike commit to? 58%
26%
16%
A massive presence on the court at 6-11, 265-pounds, Azubuike is ranked No. 28 in the 2016 247Sports Composite.
A commitment to Kansas would push the Jayhawks to No. 34 in the 247Sports Composite Recruiting Rankings according to the Class Calculator. North Carolina would move to No. 5 in the national rankings.The U.S. unemployment rate just fell below 5% for the first time since 2008. Normally, this would merit a celebration. But these aren't normal times.
The economy is better than it was in the Great Recession, but not even President Obama is ready to declare it's booming.
In a special speech Friday touting the job gains during his presidency, Obama admitted there's more "to tackle."
"We should be proud of the progress we've made...we've recovered from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s," Obama said. He doesn't believe he gets enough credit for creating over 14 million jobs.
People as diverse as Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump don't put it gently. They claim the "real" unemployment rate is much higher. Sanders calls the economy "rigged," and Trump says the U.S. never wins anymore.
The political jabs reflect the mood of the nation, even if the allegations aren't fully supported by data.
There are three key reasons why everyone from Main Street to Wall Street isn't cheering 4.9% unemployment.
Related: Obama's economy in 10 charts
1. Fewer adults are working
Only 62.7% of adult Americans are working. The so-called Labor Force Participation rate hasn't been this low since the late 1970s. The rate measures how many people over age 16 are working or actively seeking work. Back in the '70s, it was low because fewer women worked outside the home.
That's not the story today. Now, three factors are driving the decrease in workers.
The first is that a huge part of the adult population, Baby Boomers, are retiring. That's expected and healthy. It explains about half of the decline in the workforce.
The second is more young people are going to college and graduate school. They are studying more, which should be a positive for the nation.
But the third one is alarming: some people have just given up on finding work. It's hard to quantify how many people fall into this dropout category, but it's large enough to matter. Politicians like Trump talk about it in stump speeches.
The Wall Street Journal estimates that about 2.6 million of the roughly 92 million American adults who don't work want a job but aren't looking for one.
Related: Did President Obama really create 14 million jobs?
2. Long-term unemployment is still high
Another reason why the jobs picture still looks gloomy is that an unusually high number of people can't find jobs even though they have been looking for a long time.
About 2.1 million Americans have been unable to get a job for over half a year. The government calls these people the "long-term unemployed."
During the worst of the Great Recession, 6.8 million people were long-term unemployed. So there's been improvement, but there are still roughly double the number of long-term unemployed than in normal times.
"I don't think we're at normal yet," says Sharon Stark, an investment strategist at D.A. Davidson. "There's still a lack of job security."
Related: U.S. economy still healthy, says key Fed official
3. Wage growth is anemic
The last big issue is that wages aren't going up for many Americans.
The typical take home pay (often called "median income" by the Census Bureau) is about the same today as it was 20 years ago, once you adjust for inflation.
In other words, middle class families aren't really getting ahead. They're just getting by.
To be fair, this was a problem even before the Great Recession came along, but experts keep predicting wages will go up and it's not happening. On Friday, Obama tried to celebrate the small gains that have been made in recent months.
"This progress is finally starting to translate into bigger paychecks," he said.
But the reality is wage growth is only 2.5% a year. As Sharon Stark of D.A. Davidson notes, normally when unemployment is this low, wage growth should be humming along at about 4% a year.
"It's a very different environment than it used to be for workers," Stark says.
-- Patrick Gillespie contributed to this report.NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell more than 1 percent on Monday after the United States kept alive hopes of reaching a nuclear deal with Tehran that could bring hundreds of millions of additional barrels of crude into an oversupplied market.
An offshore oil platform is seen in Huntington Beach, California September 28, 2014. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
A nearly 4 percent drop in gasoline prices also weighed on crude, as the fuel continued to lend direction to the broader oil market due to the ongoing peak U.S. summer driving season.
Greece’s $86 billion euro bailout by its international creditors had little positive impact on oil, even though the Greek debt crisis had been one of the most serious factors depressing the market in the past two weeks.
Brent futures, the global benchmark for crude, settled down 88 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $57.85 a barrel.
U.S. crude futures finished 54 cents, or 1 percent, lower at $52.20.
Crude fell nearly $2 a barrel earlier on Monday on speculation Iran and world powers were ready to announce a nuclear deal that could lift Western sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, however, said later that the two sides would not be able to finish their talks by Monday, briefly pushing crude prices higher. The market fell back after the White House said negotiations would continue until a final agreement was reached on Iran’s nuclear program.
“There’s every indication that both sides want a deal, and that’s causing oil to sell off,” said David Thompson, executive vice-president at Powerhouse, a commodities broker in Washington that specializes in energy. “But we must remember too that the U.S. Congress has to review whatever’s agreed, so the deal could still unravel later.”
Sanctions have slashed Iran’s crude exports to under 1 million barrels per day (bpd), down from 3 million bpd in 2011. The global petroleum market already has a 2.6 million bpd surplus.
Analysts are not expecting Iranian oil exports to be fully restored before 2016, although an immediate rise of around 200,000 bpd is likely.
“It spells glut, no matter how you look at it,” said John Kilduff, a partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital.
The oversupply and growing global economic risk prompted several banks to anticipate lower oil prices in the near future.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said U.S. crude prices could soon drop “well below” its $50 per barrel target for the third quarter.
Commerzbank said a fall below $55 a barrel in Brent and under $50 a barrel in U.S. crude was “conceivable.”Reliving Agent Orange ProPublica and The Virginian-Pilot are exploring the effects of the chemical mixture Agent Orange on Vietnam veterans and their families, as well as their fight for benefits.
To the best of his knowledge, Jim Smith never saw or handled Agent Orange on the Navy ship he served on during the Vietnam War.
“I never sprayed the stuff, never touched the stuff,” said Smith, 65, who lives in Virginia Beach. “I knew later, vets started getting sick from it, but I didn’t think it had any impact on me.”
It turns out, he might have been drinking it.
‘I Didn’t Think It Was Going to Affect Me.’ U.S. Navy veterans describe their Vietnam tours, their Agent Orange concerns and their fight for VA benefits. Read more. Are you a Vietnam veteran? ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot are interested in hearing from veterans and family members for our ongoing investigation into the effects of Agent Orange on veterans and their children. Share your story.
The realization came in 2011 — almost 40 years after his one-year tour aboard the ammunition ship Butte — when Smith was diagnosed with prostate cancer and started doing some research.
He learned that he and other so-called Blue Water Navy veterans may have been exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides even though most of them never set foot in Vietnam, where the spraying took place.
That’s because the chemicals, used to kill vegetation and deny enemy cover, could have washed into rivers and out to sea, where patrolling Navy vessels sucked in potentially contaminated water and distilled it for use aboard the ships—a process that would have only concentrated the toxin. Every member of the crew would have been exposed: Distilled water was used in showers, to wash laundry and to prepare food. It was used to make coffee, as well as a sugary beverage known as “bug juice,” which flowed from fountains in the enlisted mess.
“Of all the hazards we faced at sea, I don’t think the drinking water registered on anyone’s list,” said Smith, who’s among thousands of former sailors now seeking compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for their ailments, which the Institute of Medicine says could plausibly be related to Agent Orange exposure, though there’s no proving it.
“I was there,” Smith said. “Agent Orange was there. Would I have gotten cancer anyway? Maybe. But maybe not.”
Jim Smith of Virginia Beach says he was exposed to Agent Orange aboard the ammunition ship Butte during the Vietnam War, but the Department of Veterans Affairs doesn't compensate ailing vets who didn't set foot in country. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)
Agent Orange contained the toxic chemical commonly known as dioxin, which has had harmful effects on Vietnam veterans. The VA presumes any vet who served on land in Vietnam or on boats in its inland waters was exposed to the herbicide, and it compensates them for a litany of associated illnesses, including diabetes, various cancers, Parkinson’s Disease, peripheral neuropathy and a type of heart disease. But the agency has repeatedly argued there’s no scientific justification or legal requirement for covering veterans who served off the coast.
The group of Blue Water vets — so named to set the sailors apart from their Brown Water Navy counterparts, who patrolled the murky rivers of South Vietnam — has been fighting the VA for more than 10 years. They were initially deemed eligible for compensation under the Agent Orange Act of 1991, only to have the VA change its interpretation a decade later.
The VA said it is once again considering its policy on Blue Water vets after an appeals court ordered it to do so in April. There is no timetable for a decision, spokesman Randal Noller said.
In the meantime, vets are pursuing legislation in Congress that would force the VA’s hand. “We’ve got the momentum on our side,” Smith said. “And the science, too.”
Since being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Smith pays extra attention to staying fit. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)
Smith is among more than 2,700 Vietnam veterans and family members from across the country who’ve shared Agent Orange-exposure stories with ProPublica and The Virginian-Pilot in recent months. A few dozen have identified themselves as Blue Water veterans.
Smith’s experience during the war was typical among Navy vets: He was the personnel officer aboard the Butte, a ship that steamed up and down the southern coast of Vietnam, resupplying destroyers. They usually stayed within a few miles of land but rarely saw the shore, where tens of thousands of Americans waged a ground war.
Smith, who spent another seven years in the Navy before going to work as a military analyst, had assumed Agent Orange was a problem only for the soldiers who came in direct contact with the chemical on land or those who sprayed it along river banks — “the guys who were in the thick of it,” he said at his kitchen table last month.
“But like the King himself, Elvis Presley, sang,” Smith said before crooning in a baritone: “‘Like a river flows, surely to the sea ….’
“Of course our ships came in contact with Agent Orange out there,” he said. “Where else was it going to go?”
The story of Blue Water veterans’ exclusion from Agent Orange benefits is long and complicated, with the fight still playing out in Congress and in federal courts.
But at the most basic level, it has come down to the inconsistent placement of a comma.
The Power of Punctuation With the Comma This sentence, found in section 3.313 of federal regulations, entitles tens of thousands of Blue Water Navy veterans to presumptive compensation if they are diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Because of the comma after "offshore," the modifier "if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in Vietnam" applies only to Vietnam-era veterans who served in other locations. Service in Vietnam includes service in the waters offshore, or service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in Vietnam.
Without the Comma A very similar sentence (minus one consequential comma), found in section 3.307, excludes tens of thousands of Blue Water Navy veterans from presumptive compensation for all other illnesses associated with Agent Orange exposure. Because there's no comma, federal courts have said the modifier "if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in the Republic of Vietnam" applies to all veterans, including those who served offshore. Service in the Republic of Vietnam includes service in the waters offshore and service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in the Republic of Vietnam.
One section of VA regulation broadly defines service in Vietnam as including “service in the waters offshore, or service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in Vietnam.” That definition entitles Blue Water veterans to compensation for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a relatively rare cancer that the VA associates with service in Vietnam and surrounding waters — although it’s not made clear what specifically about service in those areas heightens a veteran’s risk.
In a separate section of VA regulation — the chapter that describes who’s presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange — service in Vietnam is defined as including “service in the waters offshore and service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in the Republic of Vietnam.”
It’s nearly the same sentence, but because there’s no comma after “offshore" in the second definition, a federal appeals court in 2008 upheld the VA’s 2002 policy decision to exclude Blue Water veterans from Agent Orange compensation unless they can prove they set foot in Vietnam.
In a letter to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs this year, VA Secretary Robert McDonald wrote that the “VA is obligated to assess the factual and scientific basis for granting disability compensation for all claims, including those associated with Agent Orange exposure. For Veterans who served in the offshore territorial seas of the Republic of Vietnam, there is insufficient evidence to establish a presumption that they were exposed to Agent Orange, which was used over the Vietnam land mass to destroy enemy food crops and reveal enemy activity hidden by jungle foliage.”
The inconsistency in VA policy is “maddening,” said John Wells, a Louisiana lawyer who’s spent more than a decade advocating for Blue Water veterans.
“The VA has a way of making simple things complicated,” Wells said. “To me, it’s simple: Agent Orange was mixed with petroleum and sprayed in the rivers. Diesel fuel floats. The rivers lead to the bays, and bays lead to the sea, and seawater was pulled into ships and turned into drinking water.”
A 2011 Institute of Medicine report seems to support that description, at least in theory. The committee report said there was no way to prove Blue Water vets were exposed to the chemicals, but it identified plausible routes that Agent Orange could have traveled out to sea and into a ship’s distillation system. Although military policy at the time recommended against distilling water closer than 10 miles to shore — where the chemical concentration would have been highest — veterans said doing so was often unavoidable, and their commanding officers routinely ordered it.
The Institute of Medicine used a theoretical model to assess the desalination process from the 1960s, which used a high-heat flash to evaporate saltwater and collect the salt-free condensation. The researchers found that the process wouldn’t have removed dioxin from the water, but instead would have enriched it by a factor of 10.
The institute also couldn’t rule out the possibility that some amount of Agent Orange sprayed from airplanes over Vietnam wafted out to sea. Since 1994, the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the congressionally chartered National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, has reviewed evidence on the long-term health effects of Agent Orange and advised the VA.
Both Blue Water veterans and the VA have cited the Institute of Medicine report. On one hand, advocates point out, the report says it’s possible Navy vets were exposed; on the other, VA officials note, the authors say it’s possible they weren’t.
Due to a lack of physical evidence, the researchers conceded that they "could not state with certainty” that any Vietnam veteran was exposed to Agent Orange. “Indeed,” the authors wrote, “the committee believes that given the lack of measurements taken during the war and the almost 40 years since the war, this will never be a matter of science but instead a matter of policy.”
Based on a similar study conducted a decade earlier, which actually replicated the shipboard distillation process, the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs made a different policy decision: It presumes its navy veterans were exposed to Agent Orange off the coast of Vietnam and compensates them for associated ailments.
Advocates estimate as many as 90,000 potentially exposed Blue Water veterans were cut off from compensation as a result of the 2002 policy change. Any veterans who had received benefits before were supposed to be grandfathered in, but at least one Blue Water veteran reported losing compensation that had been given to him prior to the change.
Veterans argue the rules are “arbitrary and capricious.”
In Their Own Words Five U.S. Navy veterans describe their Vietnam tours, their Agent Orange concerns and their fight for VA benefits. Hear their stories.
“I think when we get through with all of this, we’ll find that there’s no difference … between those who served in country and those who served off the coast of Vietnam,” said John Rossie, executive director of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association. “For years, infantry grunts who served on the ground have been watching all their buddies get sick and die from their Agent Orange exposure. I’ve been watching the same thing happen to guys I served with in the Navy. It’s the same story, only the VA says we’re different.”
A pair of bills being pushed by Rossie’s group would change that. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act has more than 260 co-sponsors in the House and 21 co-sponsors in the Senate. It would require the VA to provide presumptive compensation for any veteran who has a condition associated with Agent Orange exposure and whose ship came within 12 miles of Vietnam’s coastline or barrier islands (in some places, about 90 miles from the mainland).
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced the Senate version. “Agent Orange did not discriminate between those who stood on boats on rivers and those who stood on boats off-shores,” Gillibrand said in testimony before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee this spring. “So why should the VA discriminate between the two?”
The VA opposes the legislation, as it has several previous iterations dating back to 2008. It estimates the bill would cost taxpayers $4.4 billion over 10 years, and the first year would cost the most — $1.3 billion — because of pent-up demand. By comparison, the VA spent $21 billion to compensate Vietnam-era vets in fiscal 2013 (the most recent year for which data is available), a figure that includes monthly cash payments but not health care services.
The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association says extending compensation to Blue Water vets will cost closer to $1 billion over a decade.
Rossie said this year’s bill has more co-sponsors than in the past, but even without congressional action, many Blue Water vets may soon be eligible for coverage. In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims struck down VA rules that denied presumptive Agent Orange compensation for sailors whose ships docked at certain harbors in South Vietnam, including Da Nang. Those ports, the court determined, may have been in the Agent Orange spraying area.
Depending on how the VA interprets the court ruling, as many as 90 percent of Blue Water veterans who entered territorial waters may be covered, Wells said, because most Navy ships that came that close to shore also docked in Vietnamese harbors. At that point, the legislation to cover any remaining Blue Water vets would cost only about $100 million over 10 years, Wells said.
But his clients aren’t counting on it.
“We’re going to keep pressing Congress to act,” Wells said. “The problem is, all our people are dying now, so we’re going to push forward. If we wait on the VA to make this change, who knows how long we’ll be waiting."
Mark Spiegel, 68, who served aboard the attack transport Pickaway, came down with a number of different cancers after his service. Initially, no one mentioned Agent Orange as a possible culprit. He didn’t apply for benefits at first because of the hostile reaction troops received upon coming home.
“It just wasn’t a real positive kind of experience,” said Spiegel, who lives in Idaho. “The Navy was OK, but the reaction of the people to the service people wasn’t, so it was something that I kind of stayed away from afterwards.”
He now believes such compensation is essential for him and those with whom he served.
Wilson McDuffie, 70, was a postal clerk and courier aboard the aircraft carrier Bennington when it deployed to the South China Sea in 1966. Although most aircraft carriers stayed farther out to sea and didn’t enter Vietnam’s territorial waters — and therefore sailors who served on them wouldn’t be covered under the bills in Congress — McDuffie believes he was exposed. He frequently rode in a helicopter to deliver and pick up documents and other items to and from Vietnam. Supplies used on the ship were flown in daily from Vietnam, and vets say much of the haul was coated in the chemicals.
The South Carolina resident suffers from diabetes and other ailments he attributes to Agent Orange exposure, but because he doesn’t have documentation to prove he set foot in country, the VA has denied his claims for compensation. Many veterans say they lack documentation of their movements during the era because it was a time of war, and records were lost or destroyed.
At this point, after years of fighting for coverage, McDuffie’s primarily concerned about former sailors suffering with more grave ailments:
“The problem is, we are all facing our mortality,” he said. “My feeling is, they’re waiting it out until the Vietnam veterans die and they don’t have to deal with it. Because it’s certainly no hurry-up to get it done for those who are suffering.”Gloom Balloon are full of surprises, but the subject matter of “She Was the One That Got Away” is not one of them. The track below is an epistolary song dedicated to a former lover, rich in personal detail, brimming with sad humor, and full of tangible regret. But it’s the rest that blindsides the listener in such a totally welcome way. First, the titular line is given a nearly gospel treatment for the chorus. Second, there’s the saxophone and flute dancing all over the backing beat. Third, there are those downcast yet summery rhymes of our host, Patrick Tape Fleming, erstwhile frontman of Iowa’s far more Pavement-informed indie heroes the Poison Control Center.
In teaming up with producer Christopher the Conquered, Fleming’s solo outing grew into something entirely unexpected, and has produced an album due out December 5 dubbed You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Disaster/Fix the Sunshine Pts. 1-7 (An Ode to Bill Doss). It’s a long title, sure, but it speaks volumes about the work. Fleming had been dejected and was on the verge of taking his own life when he learned of the untimely death of Olivia Tremor Control member Bill Doss, his musical hero. The event caused a change in him, and Fleming not only pushed on with Gloom Balloon, but became a certified life coach. Again with the surprises — all of which are pleasant, we might add.
“She Was the One That Got Away” will get a 7-inch (and digital) single release on October 22 backed with — surprise! — a song called “The Science of Love Minus Harry Harlow” that features Pavement utility man Bob Nastanovich screaming the names of imaginary horses. Pre-order that via Maximum Ames. For now, this will have to do:A recent vote to expand morning sales of liquor on the weekends in Oak Park prompted one official to suggest a bigger change: allowing bars.
The Oak Park Village Board this week expanded 9 a.m. weekend and holiday sales to include large hotels, brew pubs, caterers, clubs and other organizations with liquor licenses. The village previously allowed morning sales at smaller hotels and most restaurants.
"Do we have any classification of license in Oak Park that allows a place to actually just serve liquor, beer, wine — without serving food?" Trustee Peter Barber asked at a board meeting.
"No," Village Attorney Paul Stephanides replied.
The village changed its liquor law in 2011 to accomodate drinking at brunch, allowing hotels and restaurants to start serving at 9 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. on weekends and major holidays. At the same time, the village allowed people to order drinks at restaurants without also ordering food.
The next step — allowing businesses that don't even offer food to sell drinks — might be "a chance to further increase some economic development opportunities," Barber said. He said nearby Forest Park draws Oak Park residents to its bars.
"I don't know if (allowing bars) is a good idea or a bad idea, I just think it's an idea that should be discussed," Barber said.
Oak Park was slow to allow drinking in the village after the repeal of prohibition. The village issued its first liquor license to a hotel around 1980, and a series of minor adjustments since then have made the village's liquor law what it is today, Village Clerk Teresa Powell has said.
The village's Local Liquor Control Review Board recommended the change in service hours after noting inconsistencies in which businesses could serve liquor in the mornings, Stephanides said.
[email protected]
Twitter @wesventeicherUK biomimetic engineering startup Animal Dynamics is building a microdrone with wings inspired by the flapping flight of a dragonfly. The project, which started in June 2015 with a feasibility study, is being funded with £1.5 million from the UK Ministry of Defence, via DSTL, the Defence Science and Technology Lab.
Last fall the company switched from researching the feasibility of the concept into phase two: actually trying to build the thing. They now say they’re confident they’ll have a flying prototype of their Skeeter drone to demo by this summer — with the tech potentially deployed in the field by the end of next year.
To be clear this microdrone has not yet got off the ground. At this point all they’re showing publicly is the bug-like model on a stick, pictured above. But Animal Dynamics co-founder and CEO Alex Caccia says he’s confident it will take to the air in “two to three months’ time”. “One of the challenges with something that flies is that everything has to work for it to work at all — but we’re pretty close to it now. The ‘ah-ha’ moment of it flying is almost the last thing that happens,” he adds.
The team is also looking to raise around £4 million in Series A funding in the next few months for continued development of Skeeter but also to fund some potential spin-out technologies they’ve created along the way — such as a high efficiency linear actuator designed for the drone which they reckon could also be used for other use-cases, such as in medical pumps and for road vehicle propulsion.
“We’re fundamentally interested in developing commercial products from studies and understanding of how nature reaches these tricks that allow greater performance and efficiency,” says Caccia.
Drones with flapping wings do exist — including a DARPA-backed drone that resembles a hummingbird, built by US company Aeroenviroment back in 2010 — but it’s fair to say that flapping drones are the exception not the rule. A far more typical animal in this space is the buzzing quadcopter.
Yet rotary blades have drawbacks. They don’t support stable flight in windy conditions. They’re noisy. They can even be dangerous. And they can require a lot of power to stay airborne. Hence the MoD’s hope of driving development of a more robust flight technique that can withstand tough in-the-field environmental conditions.
“It’s a very extreme challenge, set down from them — DSTL came up with the requirements — which is can you make something at this scale operate in high wind and difficult environmental conditions,” says Caccia, discussing the MoD’s requirements for the Skeeter drone.
“They’d been using small drones in Afghanistan and Iraq with quite a lot of success because when the environmental conditions are right they are extremely useful for soldiers on the ground to go out and see what’s round the corner… they need to be small so that they can’t be seen, so that they’re easily carried and so that they’re quiet. However as soon as there’s a slight wind — anything above 5 meters per second — they get blown out of the sky… So they’ve got a frustration.”
As Caccia tells it, the ‘usual suspect’ defence suppliers weren’t at all confident they could build anything to meet the MoD’s microdrone challenge. But Animal Dynamics’ other co-founder, Adrian Thomas, a professor of biomechanics in the Zoology Department of Oxford, suggested the answer could lie in looking to nature for inspiration — given that birds and insects are able to achieve stable flight in turbulent conditions. And, ultimately, Animal Dynamics’ pitch secured the DSTL funds.
“Adrian was doing some work in his garden during Storm Doris and there were 50 mile an hour winds and there were bumblebees happily buzzing around the lawns, completely unfussed by the high winds. Which is something insects have solved for a very long time,” says Caccia. “It’s very, very difficult to do but the interesting things is that flapping wing propulsion lends itself to solving this problem very well. Rotary blade propulsion doesn’t.”
Asked for an opinion on the engineering challenges of flapping, Dr Mirko Kovac, director of the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College London, tells us: “Flapping wing flight has several advantages compared to propeller based solutions, including the ability for high manoeuvrability and potentially low energy consumption during forward flight. The challenge however is significant and includes the need for a thorough understanding of the aerodynamics involved, as well as the development of the mechanics and wing transmission mechanisms as well as the controller for successful flight.”
Commenting on the Skeeter project specifically, Kovac adds: “The mentioned timeline seems possible but it will depend on the size and weight of the vehicle. Bird-sized flapping wing vehicles are partially already available on the toy-market while bee-sized flying robots are still the topic of intense university research. However, I do believe that it is possible to build a flapping micro drone that can provide value in environmental monitoring, smart farming and search and rescue applications.”
Caccia says the biggest remaining challenge to getting Skeeter off the ground at this point is the mechanical design. Flapping, as you’d expect, is a lot more complex in engineering terms than spinning — especially if you also have relatively little power to play with, as it’s a lightweight, battery-operated device.
“The challenge is really around producing a very low friction mechanism. So the wings we’ve built, the flight control system has been solved, it’s actually the mechnical design that’s very difficult. So we’re doing some work with some people in the Swiss watch industry to help us out… It’s really about friction. You need to get the mechanism to be very, very low friction,” he says.
“Even the slightest friction will cause resistance, and create heat and stop the thing from working properly. Most mechanical systems get around it by putting an unreasonable amount of power in. We don’t have that so we have to make things run very, very smoothly.”
Thomas also points to “friction and inertial load” as the hard problems. “The high leverage at the wing hinge means that the motors ‘see’ about 50 times the wing weight, so driving the wing weight down has huge benefits. Similarly, apart from the aerodynamic loads, almost all the work done by the motors is work against friction in the flapping system, driving the friction in the system down pays huge dividends,” he says.
“The stability and control systems may seem challenging, but there has been a lot of work done on control and stability in birds and insects, and our vehicle has a huge advantage over any of the other current drones that can hover — turn the motor off and it glides, with good passive stability, down to a relatively gentle landing.”
On the plus side, the team says it’s benefiting from the easy availability of electronic components — spilling over from the mobile industry.
“The extraordinary thing and one of the factors that has made a project like this possible is availability of components from the mobile phone industry. The access to very low costs MEMS and sensors and tiny antenna and a whole array of electronics is really one of the key factors,” says Caccia. “I’ve noticed that a whole bunch of components have come onto the markets as development boards — literally in the last two to three years — I think partly also driven by the wearables market… Which anyone can have access to. And certainly we’re using that.”
He also suggests this liberal availability of electronic components is providing an added incentive for the MoD to fund projects such as Skeeter. “They need to try and keep one step ahead, but also engage with the tech developer world far more to understand how these technologies are being used,” he adds.
The dragonfly-esque Skeeter is planned to be 120mm at its largest; |
with the best storytellers in the business and am thrilled to have Greg's creative vision behind it."
Added Lionsgate Television Group executive vp Chris Selak: "Discovery is the perfect home for this incredible story, and Greg is the ideal storyteller to bring it to life. Manifesto is a fresh and spell-binding take on the Unabomber story that enthralled the nation, and the drama that unfolded behind the headlines. We are excited to bring this psychological thriller to television."
A premiere date has not yet been announced.
CAA-repped Yaitanes has been a director-producer for nearly 20 years. His work on House won him an Emmy as best director in the drama category. He most recently directed and executive produced the Cinemax series Banshee and also serves as showrunner for the drama series Quarry, debuting on Cinemax later this year.
Manifesto comes amid a renaissance for true-crime programming, as shows such as HBO's The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, FX's The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Netflix's Making a Murderer, Discovery’s first-ever true crime series Killing Fields and the podcast Serial have all connected with audiences.
Discovery also has another scripted drama in the works, Harley and the Davidsons, about the history of Harley-Davidson. It went into production in March and will premiere later this year. The network first entered the scripted space with 2014's Klondike.A city park in Windsor, Ont., is overgrown and there's nothing the city can do about it because the park is now home to an endangered species.
Despite dozens of calls from upset residents who say they can no longer enjoy the green space, Coun. Fred Francis says the city can't cut the grass at Seven Sisters Park because Butler's gartersnakes call the park home.
Being labelled an endangered species in Ontario means the species lives in the wild but is facing imminent extinction or extirpation.
"We have to do what we have to do to follow the law," Francis said. "I think all the residents understand that but the onus is on us now to figure out the solution that makes the residents happy. I work for the residents so I have to find solutions that make them happy and that they agree with."
According to Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources, the only place in the world where Butler's garter snake is found is in the lower Great Lakes region.
The snake is concentrated in two areas:
within 10 kilometres of the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River, and Lake Huron from Amherst Point to Errol, in Essex and Lambton counties
Luther Marsh, Dufferin and Wellington counties.
Francis said there are two possible solutions; either move the park or move the snakes. Both will take time.
No one from the City of Windsor was available to answer the question of why the snakes showed up at Seven Sisters Park in the first place.
Neighbours say grass was being cut on an eight-day cycle at Seven Sisters Park, until endangered snakes were found there. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)
Some residents want a decision made sooner, rather than later.
Lisa Baggio lives directly behind Seven Sisters Park.
"I want one or the other. Either a fully naturalized space with the jungle gym and the swings gone or I want them to manicure it," Baggio said. "Like they had for close to a decade before this all happened."
It's not the first time the city has had to accommodate the species of snake.
In April 2014, consultants hired by the city found a rare plant species and the Butler's gartersnake living in the area.
The snakes delayed the project for years. It's still not finished.A veteran Tennessee sheriff’s deputy was fired Sunday, just hours after a series of photographs were published showing him choking a college student during an arrest.
Frank Phillips, a Knox County sheriff’s deputy since 1992, was photographed as he grabbed a University of Tennessee student by the neck and squeezed until the 21-year-old fell to his knees.
Deputies were called about 11:30 p.m. Saturday to a disturbance after a house party of about 800 people became unruly near the campus and spilled out into the street.
About 60 Knoxville police, university police, and sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene, where officers said some partygoers threw bottles at law enforcement officers.
Officers said student Jarod Dotson ignored repeated orders to go back inside, and Deputy Brandon Gilliam wrote in the police report that Dotson “began to physically resist officers’ instructions to place his hands behind his back, and at one point grabbed onto an officer’s leg.”
But freelance photographer John Messner said the student did not resist arrest.
He shot a series of photos showing two officers placing him in handcuffs when the 47-year-old Phillips walked over and choked Dotson until he fell to his knees.
The photographer said deputies smacked Dotson in the back of the head as they pulled him up, as if to wake him up.
Messner’s photos were published by the Daily Mail in Britain, and the deputy was fired later the same day.
“In my 34 years of law enforcement experience, excessive force has never been tolerated,” said Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones in a statement. “After an investigation by the Office of Professional Standards, I believe excessive force was used in this incident. Therefore, Officer Phillips’ employment with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office is terminated immediately. The investigation will now be turned over to the Knox County Attorney General’s Office to determine any further action.”
The sheriff said the incident shows the need for officer-worn body cameras to record audio and video, which he said the department was in the process of purchasing.
Dotson was charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest. He was released from jail Sunday morning on $500 bond.
Watch this video report posted online by WATE-TV:2 Lawsuits Challenge Trump's Ban On Transgender Military Service
Enlarge this image toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP Evan Vucci/AP
Human rights groups filed two federal lawsuits Monday against President Trump and other top members of his administration, alleging that a ban against transgender people serving in the military is unconstitutional.
Plaintiffs include both transgender people who are currently serving in the military and transgender people who wish to serve but are no longer able to because of the ban.
"It is an unconscionable and unconstitutional breach of trust for the president to single out brave transgender service members and able recruits for discrimination," Human Rights Campaign National Press Secretary Sarah McBride said in a statement.
President Trump announced the change in policy in a series of tweets in July, stating that the "United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military."
This upended the Obama administration's change a year earlier that lifted a ban on transgender service members.
On Friday, Trump signed a memo implementing the change in policy, which halts transgender people from enlisting. It leaves determination of what will happen to currently serving transgender individuals to the Defense Department.
The first lawsuit was filed Monday at a federal court in Seattle. Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed the suit on behalf of two transgender people who wish to enlist but won't be able to under the ban, a transgender woman who has served in the U.S. Army for more than 12 years, the Human Rights Campaign and the Gender Justice League.
The second was filed in Maryland by the ACLU of Maryland on behalf of six transgender service members.
Both lawsuits say the ban is a violation of equal protection and due process; the Lambda lawsuit also says it violates free speech protections.
"Without input from the Department of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and without any deliberative process, President Trump cast aside the rigorous, evidence-based policy of the Open Service Directive, and replaced it with discredited myths and stereotypes, uninformed speculation, and animus against people who are transgender," the ACLU lawsuit states.
In tweets announcing the ban, Trump stated that "our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."
Both lawsuits highlight the records of transgender service members. Petty Officer 1st Class Brock Stone, a plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit, has served for 11 years in the U.S. Navy, including a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. Stone has received numerous commendations for his service.
Like many of the other plaintiffs, Stone disclosed his transgender status following the Obama administration's change in policy.
One of the plaintiffs in the Lambda lawsuit is Ryan Karnoski, a Seattle-based mental health clinician. A number of his family members have served in the military, and his cousin was killed in Afghanistan. But according to the complaint, service is more than a legacy: "It was a personal calling in life for him, and it is something that he has long dreamt of being able to fulfill."
Both lawsuits want federal courts to permanently block the ban from coming into force.Lately I’ve noticed a pattern of people building Single Serving Sites, web sites comprised of a single page with a dedicated domain name and do only one thing. Here are a few examples:
Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle showcases all the lovely things that the presidential candidate has done for you.
Sometimes Red, Sometimes Blue. Sometimes the page is read, sometimes it is blue.
Check out Is Lost a Repeat? if you need to know if the upcoming episode of Lost is a rerun.
D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y helps you spell definitely correctly.
Now you can find out quickly from anywhere in the city or world: What Color Is the Empire State Building?
Khaaan! The classic William Shatner and his rage!
Is It Christmas? (thx, michael & andy)
Misanthropebook, a Facebook parody.
Status page for the overburdened microsocial site: Is Twitter Down? (thx, kevin)
Find out, Are We At War With Iran? (thx, kevin)
The Abe Vigoda status page. Currently alive. (thx, peter)
Gods Damn It, a Battlestar Galactica in-joke.
You can do anything at ZOMBO.com. (thx, edward)
The classic You’re The Man Now Dog! (thx, jordan)
Purple has a FAQ page but it’s a SSS in spirit. (thx, mike)
Oh, it’s Yet Another Useless Web Site. (thx, mike)
You Sneezed! blesses you.
Use Is Paris In Jail Right Now? to see if Ms. Hilton is a free woman or not. (thx, lex)
Are you tired? Tell them why. (thx, kathi)
Am I Awesome? Very. (thx, jared)
Hypnotoad! (thx, chris)
Fuck the Sound, which is, I’m told, “IRC quotes (some NSFW) by an Autechre fanboy from Romania”. (thx, huphtur)
Gentle advice to those who ask dumb questions: Just Fucking Google It. (thx, michael)
Do websites need to look exactly the same in every browser?
It’s not Lupus, it’s never Lupus. Some House-related thing? (thx, sharelle)
Beth Cherry keeps a single page blog with no archives. (thx, malcolm)
We Need More Lemon Pledge. Not sure what this is. (thx, zach)
From the same person: Illegal Tender Terms of Service and These are the rules.
No Time For Love, Dr. Jones. Indy, you scoundrel. (thx, wade)
And several more: Is It Tuesday?, The Internet Fire Log, Let’s Turn This Fucking Website Yellow, iiiiiiii, Instant Rimshot, It Will Never Be the Same, Thank You Andy Warhol, Free Bill Stickers, raquo, The Last Page of the Internet, Thanks Ants, Is The Apple Store Down?, What Is My IP?, Hillary Clinton Is Your New Bicycle, John McCain Is Your New Bicycle, Michelle Obama Is Your New Bicycle, The Daily Nice, Defiant Dog, Hillary Clinton Is Your New HD DVD Player, and Spinning Beach Ball of Death.
Update: Ha! Alright, this got outta hand in a hurry. There are like 400 emails in my inbox, each with several Single Serving Site suggestions. I quickly went through them all, pulled out the notable ones, and called it good. Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions.Our co-Founders Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson often refer to this time in history as being “exponential”. This phrase is ringing true with our team this year, as we forge a path towards asteroid prospecting with two launches in 2015 of our technology demonstration spacecraft!
The first of these spacecraft launched successfully into space today. The Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R) technology demonstration spacecraft is on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 that is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) as a part of the CRS-6 crew resupply mission.
Once it reaches the ISS, A3R will be brought on board by the astronauts, and be put in a queue for launch from the Kibo air-lock into low-Earth Orbit tentatively in July 2015. A3R will also complete the mission of the first Arkyd 3 that we lost last year in the Antares explosion, by testing the subsystems we’ll need to venture out into the Solar System and prospect for valuable resources on asteroids.
During its 90 day Earth-orbiting mission, it will send back data on the health of its subsystems to our team at our headquarters in Redmond, WA, and complete its mission with a fiery re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere as a result of its natural atmospheric orbital-decay.
We’ve learned so much with A3 and A3R on the way to the launch pad and are extremely excited to continue to learn from its performance in Earth orbit!
Keeping with exponential theme of 2015, we are launching a 2nd spacecraft later this year, that will be twice the size and even more capable! In parallel with A3R we have been working on a line of robust Arkyd 6U ScienceCraft that we’ll use not only to test the scientific instruments and deep space technologies at the heart of our asteroid prospecting missions, but to also provide a platform that will allow others to fly their mission with our technology!
Arkyd 6 (A6), will be the first of these missions to launch, and we are contracted with Spaceflight Services, Inc. to launch in a rideshare configuration with Formosat-5, currently scheduled in December 2015. Built in compliance with the 6U CubeSat standard and designed to accommodate one of our UV, hyperspectral or MWIR instruments, it is a modular and cost-efficient spacecraft that we are making available for technologists and science investigators to further their own research, whether it be in Earth orbit or deep space. The precision pointing capability, high bandwidth communications, and flexible architecture of our ScienceCraft provides a robust platform for anyone conducting space research and development, without having to build their own space system.
We are a team of scientists and engineers who believe that lowering the barriers to the scientific exploration of space is an important step along the path to expanding humanity’s reach into the Solar System. With our ScienceCraft program, Planetary Resources is working with our science partners at every step of the discovery process, from proposal to publication, to maximize scientific return.
We look forward to many flights of the Arkyd series spacecraft, in Earth orbit, to asteroids, and wherever they can be of service.
Photos from the successful launch of the Arkyd 3 Reflight on a SpaceX Falcon 9 as a part of the CRS-6 mission from Cape Canaveral, FL:
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(April 14th, 2015 – If you want to use photos, please attribute them to Planetary Resources.)Blade Strangers arcade location test set for September 22 to 24 at Sega Akihabara
Studio Saizensen's cross-over fighter coming to arcades in Japan.
Blade Strangers, the cross-over fighting game from Studio Saizensen featuring characters from Code of Princess, Cave Story, Umihara Kawase, and more, will have an arcade location test in Japan at Sega Akihabara Building No. 1 from September 22 to 24 from 10:00 to 23:30 each day, the developer announced.
Five characters will be playable for the location test:
Solange (Code of Princess)
Master T Drakkhen (Code of Princess)
Curly (Cave Story)
Umihara Kawase (Umihara Kawase)
Emiko (Umihara Kawase)
The location test’s official website will open here on September 14.
Outside of Japan, Blade Strangers is planned for release across Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC in the fourth quarter of 2017 via publisher Nicalis.
View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama has a 48% to 39% advantage over Mitt Romney among independent voters in 12 key swing states. He first moved ahead of Romney among this group in February after being tied in January and trailing last year.
The results are based on the most recent USA Today/Gallup Swing States poll, conducted March 20-26, among voters in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The poll preceded Romney's Tuesday victory in the key Wisconsin primary that made his nomination look increasingly inevitable. Romney's closest pursuer in the Republican nomination race, Rick Santorum, fared much worse versus Obama among independents in the Swing State poll, trailing 53% to 32%.
Overall, Obama leads Romney by 51% to 42% in the swing states, his first lead in five waves of interviewing in those states.
The movement toward Obama is essentially due to independents' changing preferences, because Democrats' and Republicans' preferences have been highly stable. Since October, Obama has averaged an 87% to 10% lead over Romney among swing-state Democrats, while Romney has averaged a 90% to 6% lead over Obama among swing-state Republicans.
Independent Women Lead Charge to Obama
Obama's standing against Romney has improved substantially in the swing states among women. Among independents, he has gained among both men and women, but more so among women. In combined data from October and December 2011, Obama trailed Romney by 11 percentage points among independent men and five points among independent women. In combined data from February and March, Obama has a one-point advantage among independent men and a 14-point advantage among independent women.
A closer look at the data in the previous table reveals that Obama's share of the vote has increased by eight percentage points among both independent men and women in swing states since last year. As would be expected, Romney's share of the vote has correspondingly decreased, but it has dropped significantly more among women (11 points) than among men (four points).
It is unclear how much of an impact the recent controversy over government policies toward contraception has had in the loss of support for Romney among independent women. Eight in 10 independent women in the swing states said they were not familiar with Romney's position on contraception, but those who were familiar disagreed with it by a 2-to-1 ratio. Independent women were more likely to have an opinion about Obama's views on contraception (58% were unfamiliar), and were divided about evenly between saying they agree or disagree with them.
Implications
Independent voters in the most competitive states may be the quintessential swing group, perhaps holding the key to victory for either Obama or his Republican opponent. Since last fall, their support has shifted toward Obama over his likely Republican opponent Romney, after previously favoring Romney. And it is those independent voters -- particularly women -- who are driving Obama's overall lead in swing states.
So while both campaigns will make considerable efforts to make sure their core supporters vote, the other big piece of their strategy would be finding the issues or themes that help win over independents in the states where either candidate has a reasonable chance of winning.
Sign up to get Election 2012 news stories from Gallup as soon as they are published.ESPN's World Cup Coverage Off To Fast Start With 3.2 Overnight For Brazil-Croatia
ESPN earned a 3.2 overnight rating for the opening match of the FIFA World Cup on Thursday afternoon, which saw host nation Brazil come back and defeat Croatia 3-1. The 3.2 overnight is the best for a World Cup opening match on record (dating back to '98). The rating also is up from a 2.1 overnight for the '10 World Cup opener, which saw host nation South Africa draw with Mexico 1-1 early on a Friday morning. DC led all U.S. markets with a 5.1 local rating, followed by Boston with a 5.0 rating (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: ADWEEK's Michelle Castillo noted both ESPN and Univision will live stream World Cup matches on their apps WatchESPN and Univision Deportes, "making mobile screens a viable option to stay connected." Digital audiences "will get additional video content that won't be seen on TV." The networks "have zoned in on making sure that important moments like goals and penalties will be clipped into bite-sized materials in as close to real time as possible so fans can rewatch and share them with friends through social media." Online viewers "will also get best-of recaps, analysis and other content based on highlights from the matches" (ADWEEK.com, 6/12).
GOING ALL-OUT: In Albany, Pete Dougherty writes let us "give credit" to ESPN for not "cheating viewers" during its lame-duck broadcast of the World Cup. All 64 games of the tournament "will air on the ESPN family of networks, which has done more to raise soccer's profile in this country than MLS, NWSL or any other league could." ESPN President John Skipper: "For a month it's going to be everywhere you look. We have 290 studio hours around these games. We've got soccer documentaries. We've got 40 short little features from Wright Thompson about the culture of Brazil." When Fox takes over World Cup broadcasts starting in '18, it "will need to become the Carl Yastrzemski to ESPN's Ted Williams" (Albany TIMES UNION, 6/13).
MEAGER BEGINNING: In London, Edward Malnick reports the World Cup "got off to a faltering start on Thursday night when poor sound quality left many television viewers unable to enjoy the opening ceremony." The sound quality left the voices of Jennifer Lopez and fellow singers Pitbull and Claudia Leitte "sounding faint and 'tinny.'" A source at ITV, which broadcast the ceremony in Britain, said that it "had 'no control' over audio levels because a single feed was distributed around the world" (London TELEGRAPH, 6/13).At an Indiana campaign rally on Wednesday, Donald Trump’s senior policy adviser Stephen Miller blasted the Cruz-Fiorina ticket as the “outsourcing ticket.”
Following Trump’s sweep of Tuesday night’s primaries, Sen. Ted Cruz was mathematically eliminated from reaching 1,237 delegates. Yet Cruz announced his appointment of former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his potential running mate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WvC7OAgnnA
“Carly Fiorina pioneered– pioneered– the practice of outsourcing jobs,” Miller said. “Her great legacy in business has been in finding a way to shift jobs to lower wage countries and replacing American workers with foreign workers. So I think we can all say that Ted Cruz, who supports offshoring jobs, and Carly Fiorina, who supports offshoring jobs, they’re now officially the outsourcing ticket.”
“A critical issue for the state of Indiana is steel production and manufacturing,” Miller said, noting that, “on the crucial trade vote in 2015, Ted Cruz voted for Barack Obama’s trade bill that would destroy… the middle class in this state.”
Miller asked the crowd: “Can Indiana vote for a man who sides with Barack Obama on trade? Or will Indiana vote for a man like Donald Trump who will put America first?”
Miller continued:
Now Ted Cruz, of course, has been mathematically eliminated, so none of us really even knows why he’s running anymore. Now I’m sure that you’ve seen, I’m sure you’ve all seen that the failing candidacy of Ted Cruz— after first planning to have a secret alliance with John Kasich— has now announced that he’s going to have a vice presidential pick… So in Indianapolis, you had Carrier plant shut down, other plants have been shut down, sent overseas, and Ted Cruz’s response to that is: ‘Let me find the Outsourcer in Chief to be my vice presidential candidate.’ So again, it’s the outsourcing ticket.
Miller also hit Cruz for opposing measures to crack down on Chinese currency manipulation. Miller told the crowd that in 2015, “Ted Cruz voted to continue Chinese currency cheating that’s sending all your jobs overseas. So I have a question for everyone here today: can you support a candidate like Ted Cruz who sides with China over America? Ted Cruz supports Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, he supports Chinese currency cheating, and now he has the official outsourcing ticket of America to send every last Indiana job overseas.”
Miller concluded:Former Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura has apologized for a series of sexist comments that were published in The Guardian earlier this month in which he claimed that women were ‘too realistic’ to direct fantasy animated features.
Nishimura, who produced Ghibli’s last two features, When Marnie Was There and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, issued the statement through his Studio Ponoc Twitter account. He apologized to both Ghibli for misrepresenting the studio’s viewpoints, and to women for holding “sexist beliefs.” He wrote:
I apologize for comments made in an article published on June 6 in the British newspaper The Guardian. The article was based on an interview conducted in Britain on September 28, 2015. I actually made those statements at the time. First, I left Ghibli at the end of 2014, and I am no longer a Ghibli employee. I deeply apologize for causing the mistaken impression that my opinions represent Ghibli’s and displeasing all who love Ghibli. Next, I definitely had the sexist belief that men had a strong tendency to be idealistic and that women were better at living reality. I am reflecting and learning. Gender has nothing to do with making movies. My deepest apologies.
All twenty of Studio Ghibli’s feature films have been directed by men.In her first interview since a tape was released of Donald Trump talking lewdly about women, Melania Trump described her husband’s words as “boy talk” and said he was “egged on” by then “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush.
“I believe my husband, I believe my husband,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, responding to a question about the ten women who have come forward in the past week to say Trump had acted inappropriately with them, accusations the candidate has repeatedly denied.
It was the first of several interviews Melania Trump gave on Monday – the CNN interview aired Monday night and a second was set to air Tuesday morning on Fox News – and marked a rare slate of appearances for a very private wife.
She said she was surprised when she first heard the now infamous 2005 tape in which her husband, then 59, brags about being able to grope women freely because of his celebrity status, because she had never heard her husband speak that way before. The tape was released by the Washington Post and NBC a week ago Friday and has been replayed incessantly on TV news networks.
“I don’t know that person that would talk that way,” she said. At the same time she said, “Sometimes I say I have two boys at home — I have my young son and I have my husband.”
Her husband apologized to her the day the tape was released, she said, and she told him his language, “is inappropriate, it’s not acceptable.” But she, added, “I accept his apology. I hope the American people will accept it as well. And it was many, many years ago.”
She said the man heard on the tape is, “not the man that I know.”
As for the way he has spoken about his accusers on the campaign trail in recent days, insulting their looks and saying they were not attractive enough to grope, she dismissed that saying, “That’s him, he’s raw, he will say it if he feels it. I know he respects women. But he’s defending himself because they are lies.”
She disagreed that the behavior described by Trump on the tape – kissing and groping women without asking – was sexual assault. An assault, she said, “should be taken care of in a court of law. And to accuse without evidence, it’s damaging and it’s unfair.”
Melania Trump also spoke extensively about a major theme of the Trump campaign this week – that the media is conspiring to “rig” the election in favor of Hillary Clinton. The timing of the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape the Friday before the second debate, like the release of three pages of his tax returns the weekend before the first debate, were evidence of that, she said.
“Everything was organized, every Friday something comes out, they play they play they play. It was hour after hour after hour. They want to influence the American people how to vote,” she said.
It is her choice to be home with her son, Barron, she said, rather than travel extensively with the campaign. That does not indicate she is meek, she warned.
“I’m very strong. And people — they don’t really know me. People think and talk about me like, ‘Oh, Melania, oh poor Melania,‘” she said. “Don’t feel sorry for me. Don’t feel sorry for me. I can handle everything.”There are two voices in a constant battle for control in my mind. One wants the best for me. And the other? The other wants to kill me.
My heart tells me to get out of bed, enjoy the day...do something productive. Depression tells me to close the blinds, draw the curtains, and crawl back into bed.
My heart tells me to make plans with a friend for lunch...something fun. Depression tells me not to bother; that I probably won't feel like going anyway.
My heart tells me to open, read, and answer that private message or e-mail I received. Depression tells me to ignore it, that I don't have the energy to reply.
My heart tells me to answer the phone. Depression tells me that I don't feel like talking.
My heart tells me to reach out to my friends...the ones I KNOW that I can count on. Depression tells me to bury my head in the sand and pretend that everything is fine...and to crawl back into bed.
My heart tells me to keep that appointment, that I need to go. Depression tells me to call and cancel.
My heart tells me to open up and talk to someone when I have a problem. Depression tells me that I am a nuisance to others, to keep it to myself.
My heart tells me to get up, shower, put make-up on, and get dressed. Depression tells me to stay in last night's pajamas and watch Netflix.
My heart tells me to go do something fun with my kids. Depression tells me to stay locked in my room.
My heart tells me to go to that ballgame, recital, or school play. Depression tells me to stay at home in my cave.
My heart tells me to wake up when my alarm goes off. Depression tells me I can't possibly handle the day.
My heart tells me to get involved at church. Depression tells me that I will never follow through.
My heart tells me to give back. Depression tells me not to fool myself, that I will only take.
My heart tells me to go wash my nine year old daughter's hair. Depression tells me she is old enough to do it herself.
My heart tells me that WE DO RECOVER. Depression tells me that sobriety is a short-lived facade.
My heart tells me to go on a walk, to enjoy the beauty of nature. Depression tells me to stare at the walls inside my dark bedroom.
My heart tells me to go to a meeting. Depression tells me "not today".
My heart (and my bank account) tells me to file a claim for the E-bay purchase I got scammed in (true story). Depression tells me to do it tomorrow....or maybe the next day.
My heart tells me to make my bed so that I don't crawl back in it. Depression tells me to dive right in.
My heart tells me to do something that I love. Depression tells me to lie in misery.
My heart tells me to pick up my laptop and write. Depression tells me that I will look like a dismal failure.
My heart tells me to be proud of how far I've come. Depression tells me to doubt it.
My heart tells me to be compassionate. Depression tells me to be apathetic.
My heart tells me to have joy. Depression tells me it doesn't exist.
My heart tells me to be grateful. Depression tells me there is nothing to be grateful for.
My heart tells me to connect. Depression tells me to isolate.
My heart tells me to laugh. Depression tells me to cry.
My heart tells me to love. Depression tells me to hate.
My heart tells me to live. Depression tells me to die.
Which voice do I listen to? I wish it were an easy and sure answer. I wish that I could say that I ALWAYS listen to my heart. However, many days the voice of depression is the loudest one...the one that I obey.
Every single day I must make a choice to listen to my heart.
Every single day I must strive for progress, not perfection.
For example, today, while wearing last night's pajamas, I said yes to an invitation to a Ladies' Night Out with one of my very best friends. I hesitated at first because I don't know anyone at her church, and I don't know if I will feel like going once the day comes. But, then I reminded myself that I NEVER laugh more than when I am in her presence. Why would I let depression rob me of that??
One thing is for sure, when I listen to my heart, there are rarely any regrets. When I listen to depression, there are a lifetime of them.
So, today I choose to listen to my heart, to do what will bring me a feeling of contentment and gratitude when my head hits the pillow tonight...even if I am still wearing yesterday's pajamas.
P.S. Depression told me to let my husband take the kids to the movies this evening while I stay at home and sit in quiet solitude. My heart said to get in the car and go with them. Today I am choosing to listen to my heart. Hopefully my body will follow.
If you also struggle with depression, please comment below and tell me how you make the decision to not listen to its powerful voice. We can help one another!
********The global financial crisis, it is now clear, was caused not just by the bankers' colossal mismanagement. No, it was due also to the new financial complexity offering up the opportunity for widespread, systemic fraud. Friday's announcement that the world's most famous investment bank, Goldman Sachs, is to face civil charges for fraud brought by the American regulator is but the latest of a series of investigations that have been launched, arrests made and charges made against financial institutions around the world. Big Finance in the 21st century turns out to have been Big Fraud. Yet Britain, centre of the world financial system, has not yet levelled charges against any bank; all that we've seen is the allegation of a high-level insider dealing ring which, embarrassingly, involves a banker advising the government. We have to live with the fiction that our banks and bankers are whiter than white, and any attempt to investigate them and their institutions will lead to a mass exodus to the mountains of Switzerland. The politicians of the Labour and Tory party alike are Bambis amid the wolves.
Just consider the roll call beyond Goldman Sachs. In Ireland Sean FitzPatrick, the ex-chair of the Anglo Irish bank was arrested last month and questioned over alleged fraud. In Iceland last week a dossier assembled by its parliament on the Icelandic banks – huge lenders in Britain – was handed to its public prosecution service. A court-appointed examiner found that collapsed investment bank Lehman knowingly manipulated its balance sheet to make it look stronger than it was – accounts originally audited by the British firm Ernst and Young and given the legal green light by the British firm Linklaters. In Switzerland UBS has been defending itself from the US's Internal Revenue Service for allegedly running 17,000 offshore accounts to evade tax. Be sure there are more revelations to come – except in saintly Britain.
Beneath the complexity, the charges are all rooted in the same phenomenon – deception. Somebody, somewhere, was knowingly fooled by banks and bankers – sometimes governments over tax, sometimes regulators and investors over the probity of balance sheets and profits and sometimes, as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says in Goldman's case, by creating a scheme to enrich one favoured investor at the expense of others – including, via RBS, the British taxpayer. Along the way there is a long list of so-called "entrepreneurs" and "innovators" who were offered loans that should never have been made. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's CEO, remarked only semi-ironically that his bank was doing God's work. He must wake up every day bitterly regretting the words ever emerged from his mouth.
For the Goldmans case is in some ways the most damaging. The Icelandic banks, Anglo Irish bank and Lehman were all involved in opaque deals and rank bad lending decisions – but Goldman allegedly went one step further, according to the SEC actively creating a financial instrument that transferred wealth to one favoured client from others less favoured. If the Securities and Exchange Commission's case is proved – and it is aggressively rebutted by Goldman – the charge is that Goldman's vice-president Fabrice Tourre created a dud financial instrument packed with valueless sub- prime mortgages at the instruction of hedge fund client Paulson, sold it to investors knowing it was valueless, and then allowed Paulson to profit from the dud financial instrument. Goldman says the buyers were "among the most sophisticated mortgage investors" in the world. But this is a used car salesman flogging a broken car he's got from some wide-boy pal to some driver who can't get access to the log-book. Except it was lionised as financial innovation.
The investors who bought the collateralised debt obligation (CDO) were not complete innocents. They |
5.25-inch midbass, and the U6, a 6.5-inch midbass.
Hybrid is also readying a 3-way Unity U2x midrange/tweeter crossover and the Unity U2x-W midbass/midrange crossover, that, when bi-wired in daisy-chain provide a three-way passive crossover option in addition to the existing two-way passive crossover option. The U2x is shipping now with the U2x-W midbass/midrange crossover set to ship in approximately 45 days.
Hybrid is celebrating its 10th year under the ownership of Scott Buwalda. It claims the brand has been used in more IASCA sound quality championship winning cars over the past ten years than Hybrid’s four closest competitors combined.
For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.hybrid-audio.comQ How long is Hassan Whiteside's current contract? I'm guessing the Heat will not let him get away. -- Chet.
A: The Heat have Whiteside locked into a veteran-minimum, non-guaranteed contract for next season. That's the good part. The concern -- and this is taking a long view -- is that Whiteside could then command the type of salary during the 2016 free-agency free-for-all that would box the Heat out of other possibilities. However, if the Heat are sold on Whiteside's long-term prospects by season's end, it also could have Pat Riley considering more of a move into the 2015 free-agency pool, perhaps content to move forward with the right to re-sign Whiteside, Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng, while continuing with Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts (or dealing one of the latter two). The Heat's 2016 free-agency plans did not include having to commit another big contract to a current player outside of the mainstays. Whiteside could change that thinking. He also could get Riley to fast-track his approach. In that respect, Whiteside could be more than a game-changer. He could be an offseason-changer.
Q: Isn't it a shame that Hassan Whiteside wasn't on the Heat's roster last year, because with him in the fold, I'm convinced LeBron James would have stayed in Miami. Don't you agree? -- Rich
Q: If Dwyane Wade played last year like he did Sunday in Chicago, is it possible LeBron thinks twice? I mean maybe Wade got a little lazy last year because he had James do the heavy lifting. -- Martin.
A: Look, it's time to move on. Could-have-beens can drive you crazy in any sport, with any team. What Sunday was about was another step forward by the most promising Heat big man in years, and a reminder of what Wade still can be. The irony is that if the Heat catch up and pass the Bucks, who they play Tuesday, it is possible the Heat could meet the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. And just like there is no use in wondering what would have happened had LeBron stayed, there also should be no great anticipation of such an opening-round matchup. At this stage, LeBron is better out of mind, out of bracket for the Heat.
Q: I have been watching the Heat since the first year. I have not seen any unknown player make this much of an impact. Ike Austin was the closest thing. Have you seen anything like this in your tenure? -- Jeffrey.
A: Ike Austin is a good comparison, but someone Whiteside still needs to work toward emulating. Austin did it over an entire season, not just three weeks. The shame is the one season when Whiteside played one game for the Kings, otherwise he could have been selected for the rookie-sophomore game during All-Star Weekend.When Tyrus Thomas walked to the podium after being selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, he had no idea he would flame out of the NBA in less than seven years. No one could tell the fourth overall pick that in 2015, he would be relegated to the NBA Development League, playing for the Iowa Energy either. Life has a weird way of working sometimes, because as Thomas finds himself as a member of the Iowa Energy, he was nothing but smiles. Why? He was playing basketball for the first time in nearly two years.
Consider that Thomas is banking $9.3 million in amnesty money from Charlotte. There's no reason for him to be here other than the love of the game, which he clearly has. His re-debut to basketball was a reminder that Thomas is a lot closer to being back in the NBA than most of us could have realized. Thomas could have never imagined he would be playing in a game for the Iowa Energy against the Delaware 87ers on Friday, but life can throw curve balls to test us and see how we react. In Thomas' case, the 6'9" forward hit the ball out of the park.
The final box score showed 15 points, five rebounds and two blocks for the former lottery pick in 24 minutes played. After coming off the bench in the first quarter, his first bucket came off a fast break, shaking all of the nervous bones from his body. The Louisiana native was solid all around, showcasing a game many thought had left him. He still has the ability to knockdown a mid-range jumper, something that should pique his interest to NBA clubs.
Remember that the man was a former lottery pick for a reason and NBA teams won't let him hang around in the D-League for too long if his play accelerates fast enough. No team wants to be the one that missed out on Tyrus Thomas' comeback because they were waiting for another game. A 10-day contract is a low risk, high reward move, especially for someone of Thomas' stature.
The numbers he posted in his debut aren't anything new, but they signify a major step forward for a man trying to get where all of his teammates and opponents are also trying to be: the NBA. As of now, Tyrus Thomas is just a crab at the bottom of the barrel, crawling, scraping, and trying to get out.Highly sensitive explosives could become safer and greener by exploiting newly characterised ionic polymer structures, say chemists in the US. Such materials could replace explosives based on toxic heavy metals like lead and mercury salts.
Sensitive materials are routinely used as primary explosives in detonators to set off larger amounts of less sensitive high explosives in mining or military applications. The challenge is to make them stable enough to be handled safely in the field, but also sensitive enough to detonate reliably, packing as much energetic punch as possible. ’It’s a very fine balance,’ says Louisa Hope-Weeks of Texas Tech University (TTU) in Lubbock, who led the research.
’We wanted to make an optically activated material,’ explains Hope-Weeks, ’so that if, for example, a bomb squad want to blow up a car they suspect has a terrorist device inside, they would have something they could remotely place under the car and then activate it with a laser, rather than someone having to go in there and wire it up.’
While none of the materials the group has so far made has reached this goal, by making and solving the x-ray crystal structures of three materials based on metal hydrazine polymers, the team can relate the materials’ properties to their structures.
However, this kind of research obviously comes with significant hazards. These compounds are the same ones that caused a serious explosion in Hope-Weeks’s lab in 2010, seriously injuring Preston Brown, one of the contributors on this paper. ’There was a lot learned from that accident, both from the students’ point of view and my own,’ comments Hope-Weeks. ’I’ve changed the way I manage my whole lab, and TTU has responded across the board.’
All this made for some nerve-racking moments in the crystallography lab. ’In the case of nickel hydrazine perchlorate, which we knew was very sensitive, we did need to cut a crystal to get one the right size,’ Hope-Weeks says. ’I did that myself.’ However, she points out that no particularly special crystallographic equipment was needed, since the size of crystals used - had they exploded - would not have caused significant damage to the diffractometer.
Thomas Klap?tke, an energetic materials expert from the University of Munich in Germany, is impressed by the team’s efforts at crystallising and characterising the materials. ’This is not easy, as these kinds of polymers often tend to crash out of solution as powders,’ he says.
The knowledge Hope-Weeks has gained should help her understand, tune and refine the stability and energetic properties of related compounds. For example, in nickel hydrazine nitrate - which is already used as a primary explosive, but whose crystal structure was unknown - each metal atom is linked to the next by three bridging hydrazine ligands. However, in nickel hydrazine perchlorate, only one hydrazine bridges between metal centres, with four more hydrazines coordinated to each nickel. This means the whole polymer is less strongly held together, making it significantly more sensitive. And when it does explode it can release more energy, because of the potential to produce more nitrogen gas per metal atom and form more thermodynamically stable products like nickel chloride rather than nickel metal. Changing the metal to cobalt produced a material with the same structure, but that was significantly less sensitive
One of the advantages of this class of materials is their tunability, explains Hope-Weeks. ’We can try different metals, different anions and other ligands,’ she says, ’which might allow us to tweak the properties just enough.’
Klap?tke agrees that there are many options to explore. ’These ionic polymers are very interesting, especially because they are not hygroscopic and non-toxic,’ he points out. ’This gives them a long shelf-life because they don’t react with water, which might alter their sensitivity and make them unreliable.’
Phillip BroadwithISRO has established the Antarctica Ground Station for Earth Observation Satellites (AGEOS), at Bharati Station, Larsemann Hills, Antarctica, for receiving Indian Remote sensing Satellite (IRS) data. This state-of-the-art advanced Ground station was commissioned during August 2013 and is receiving data from IRS satellites (like RESOURCESAT-2, RISAT-1, CARTOSAT-1) and transferring the same to NRSC, Shadnagar near Hyderabad. This extended data receive antenna system of Antarctica supplements Earth Observation (EO) data collection for ISRO. An Earth Station at Polar region has the advantage of visibility of 10 passes per day for each mission. This would provide global remote sensing data acquisition capability.
The remote sensing data recorded on the Solid State Recorder (SSR) onboard IRS Satellites are dumped at the AGEOS when the satellite passes over it and the SSR will be ready for recording data during the next pass. The data dumped at AGEOS is being transferred to NRSC, Shadnagar through a link established using a Communication Satellite.
In this regard, earlier a 3 m C-Band Earth station was also installed and commissioned at Maitri (71deg S, 11 deg E), Antarctica to provide a two-way Communication Link between Maitri, Antarctica and mainland India. At the time of installation and commissioning, this Earth station was characterised and tested using a 13 m antenna system at Master Control Facility (MCF), Hassan. Later on, a 7.2 m C- Band station was also installed and commissioned at the National Centre for Antarctica & Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa to establish a dedicated communication link for round the clock operation. This was designed to operate at a very low elevation angle for the video conferencing, video streaming and internet browsing applications. The link operates at a data rate of around 1 Mbps between Maitri and NCAOR. This Satcom station is providing the vital communication support to the Indian scientific community for pursuing their research work at Maitri throughout the year. With the commissioning of the Earth station at NCAOR, Goa, the Indian station, Maitri has been brought in the ambit of World Wide Web.
The AGEOS station at Bharati, (69deg S and 76deg E) receives payload data from IRS Satellite Missions in S/X-Band daily. A communication satellite link between Bharati and two stations in India (NRSC, Shadnagar and NCAOR, Goa) has been established with a bandwidth of 40 Mbps, which transfers about 100 GB/day Payload data dumped at Antarctica Station to NRSC, Shadnagar. Further Ancillary processing of all acquired data at AGEOS is carried out at NRSC, Shadnagar, from wherein the pre-processed products are made available in a common Storage Area Network (SAN) for further processing. Apart from this, AGEOS plays a crucial role in carrying out Uplink of Tele commands to current Indian Remote sensing Missions namely, RISAT-1, RESOURCESAT-2, CARTOSAT-1, CARTOSAT-2, CARTOSAT-2A, CARTOSAT-2B, SARAL-1 and OCEANSAT-2, including the recently launched CARTOSAT-2 series satellite.
The AGEOS is continuously operated and maintained by the Engineers of ISRO who are under deputation to Bharati Station, Antarctica on a regular basis.
Bharati Station at Larsemann Hills
(Foreground) Pile foundation for Antenna Terminal
(Background) Control Station building at Bharati
Maitri Earth Station, AntarcticaIf done right, Target is a convenient place you can pick up some smart style picks at affordable prices. Use our guide and you'll find items that balance modern style, quality, and price, as well as a few that you should look elsewhere for.
I still remember how excited I was when Target moved into town when I was kid. I grew up in Central Pennsylvania in the 90's. You had two store options for buying clothes: buy cheap stuff at Wal-Mart that looked like you bought it at Wal-Mart or buy expensive stuff at overpriced department stores. There was little middle ground until Target came to town.
Don't confuse this for a Target lovefest, however. Anyone else growing up in the same boat as me will remember the store's brand has had its share of growing pains. With house labels like “Utility” and “Cherokee” that offered sweaters made out of synthetic materials with no/low durability or the trademark buyout of the once coveted “Mossimo,” it hasn't been well-dressed for less from the beginning.
A few years ago the direction appeared to change. There was a visible shift: focus on the basics and do them right. With this came frequent sales of v-neck and crew neck t's, merino sweaters, and soft polos. The introduction of the Merona brand brought about slimmer ties, a house line of suits, and vintage t-shirts.
We've put together our picks of things you can pick up on the cheap, and those you should steer clear from. If you're a frugal sartorialist or on a budget these items balance style, quality and price, while those that are lacking can be found elsewhere for comparable prices with better quality or styling.
1. V-neck Sweaters
These thin, lightweight sweaters look great casually over a button up but also slide in underneath a suit for winter layering. Pick them up when they're on sale, usually under $20.
Sweater: Target, $20
Shirt: Lands End Canvas, $29
Sunglasses: AO Square Framed Aviator, $49
2. Dress socks
Merona has a great steal on patterned socks for $2.50 a pair. I've got 8 pairs. They look and feel great with my Frye boots, white canvas sneakers, or Allen Edmonds Strands.
3. Dress Shirts
Believe it or not, Target's dress shirt line under the Merona brand is surprisingly good. They offer a trim silhouette, are wrinkle free and come in a small, but modern selection of colors and patterns. I've got a purple one (featured in our Can't Fail First Date Get Up) that I can wear with a suit, or wear casually untucked with my Red Wings. Very versatile.
4. Henleys
Henley shirts, long sleeved collarless shirts with 2-4 buttons, are really under-utilized by many guys. They create a casual and comfortable look that's still more put together than a t-shirt. They also offer a more rugged image usually. My favorite is a Mossimo from Target that I've had for 2 or 3 years. Pick them up when they're on sale, $12 or less.
5. Suits
This one comes with a big but. A few years ago Target introduced an affordable line of suit separates, some of which are surprisingly nice looking. Stay away from the black options, all the ones I've seen still look like cheap black suits. However, there have been some nice gray models to come and go. If you pick up one of these, you have to promise me you'll get it tailored. (Our guide for how a suit should fit.) The one thing that makes a cheap suit really stand out is when it doesn't fit. If you need a suit quick or are on a tight budget, these will do the trick in the short term.
6. Some Watches
Target carries a few of Timex's minimalist watches like the Easy Reader. A great looking watch for $30. We did a full review on them here. Stay away from any of Target's other watches that are trying to be something they're not; the big gawdy options, the ones with fake gold or diamonds, etc.
7. Polos
The store has a few lines of polos, most of which are a great deal when on sale. Look for the trimmer options. These won't be the best quality money can buy, but at the price you're paying, they'll last you two or three years maybe. Be mindful when washing them, if you don't care for them properly they'll get pilly. Check out Dappered's review on the Mossimo Signature polo.
8. Plain T-Shirts
Whether you pick up one of the store brands or a set of Hanes Perfect T's, Target offers some nice crew and v-neck t shirt options. They've got an ‘athletic' cut for a modern man, not the boxy Beefy Tees you're used to seeing at the $8 range. Pick some of their soft ‘heathered' or ‘marled' options that'll look great layered or on their own.
9. Graphic Tees
You've heard us say on Primer that if you want to start dressing better your default go-to should be a button up shirt. But t-shirts still have their place, either on their own or layered over a thermal. Target has consistently had a few options that aren't “clearly from Target,” like they used to look. Choose consciously, and wear when appropriate.
10. Belts
You can find a full leather belt for under $16, and sometimes even less. I snagged a leather belt with a removable buckle for $4.99 on clearance once. It's still one of my favorites. Stay away from the faux leather offerings.
11. Hats
There are few times a normal guy can wear a hat these days. But in the summer, and especially at the beach, almost every guy can pull it off. Since you'll only get to wear it a couple times a year at best, don't splurge on a nice one. Pick up a straw fedora at Target.
5 Things You Should Avoid
1. Casual Button Up Shirts
Target offers two types of casual button up shirts: ones that you'd wear, and ones that are baggy and billowy. Unfortunately the ones you'd consider wearing are pushing it as far as price is concerned. At $25-$30, you should just pick something up from Gap or Lands End Canvas that'll have better fit and styling, or for double your money pick up a tailored option from a place like Blank Label.
2. Jeans
To give them credit, they've tried. But when you're able to pick up a pair of jeans from Gap's 1969 line for $30 on sale, it's hard to ever see a benefit in buying a pair of jeans from Target. Gap's jeans aren't on sale? Check out American Eagle, where their jeans are one of the only garments they sell without a giant eagle stitched on it. You can regularly find a pair of dark blue, straight fit jeans for $29 on sale.
3. Neckwear
I've actually always loved the designs of Target's tie line. They were one of the first to introduce skinnier ties at a reasonable price. However, the selection is usually limited and with places like Nordstrom Rack, where you can pick up a Calvin Klein tie for $20, or The Tie Bar where you can get any tie you want for $21 shipped, Target doesn't hold up. Certainly if you're in a pinch a Merona tie will look great at a good price, otherwise for more selection at a similar price look elsewhere.
4. Khakis
Target's khaki and chino offerings haven't advanced with the rest of their men's clothing line. These are still your father's khakis. For more modern fits and fabrics check out places like Express, Gap, and Lands End Canvas. Gap and LEC are always doing sales on their pants that put them at $35 or below.
5. Shoes
Target continues the trend of most stores in the shoe department: giving women 4 rows of options, and giving men 5 styles tucked away in the corner. I was surprised to find desert boot inspired boots recently, but they're still fake leather, like their other shoes. The men's shoes at Target are essentially “Super-Payless” quality.
Did I miss anything? Anything you disagree with? Keep me posted in the comments.Taylor Gourmet will open today at 11 a.m. Photo by David Lay.
Taylor Gourmet is opening today in the location of the former Pacers at 8535 Fenton St. in downtown Silver Spring.
The company features hoagies on “a menu built around adventurous flavors, homemade sauces, and ingredients so good you’ll wonder why you ever ate a hoagie anywhere else,” according to the website.
“The owner is from Philadelphia and they call them hoagies up there,” said Jacob Hunter, the company’s director of culinary. “We kind of saw a niche for that that wasn’t here in D.C. at the time that we opened up [in 2008].”
“We make everything in house that we can,” he continued.
The bread is one exception. It’s made offsite daily from their recipe and delivered to stores fresh each morning.
“We roast all our meats in house,” Hunter said, along with all the sauces, dressings and other items.
“We’re always changing the menu seasonally as well and coming up with fun, creative spins on things that people have seen before and people haven’t seen before and put our unique take on it,” he said.
The spring menu lists offerings with meats including herb-roasted turkey, citrus-braised pork, herbed chicken salad, and roasted leg of lamb (which they haven’t offered before), accompanied by various cheeses and vegetables such as watermelon radishes and asparagus. There are two vegetarian options as well.
“We make [hoagies] fresh to order,” Hunter pointed out, “[so customers] can customize them how they want. If you were to want to kind of adjust something to your taste, we’re more than happy to make that happen for you.”
Salads with or without chicken also are on the menu, with side dishes such as risotto balls, roasted carrots and marinated asparagus.
In addition, the Silver Spring store, which Hunter said would employ more than 20 people, will offer a menu of classic-style hoagies such as Italian, roast beef and turkey, as well as cheesesteaks.
Taylor Gourmet opened its first location in on H Street N.E. in Washington D.C. Silver Spring is the company’s second Maryland location (the other is in Bethesda). There are four in Virginia and 10 stores either opened or planned in the District.
The Silver Spring location will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Interior shots courtesy Taylor Gourmet.
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See something around town? Tag your photos on Twitter & Instagram with #SourceShots.Erdogan’s ability to re-structure Turkish Islamic politics and avoid the failures that doomed his predecessors demonstrated not only his political acumen but also his grasp of history. More recently, the experiences of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt bolstered his belief and those of many others that Islamist politicians throughout the region will continue to face stiff resistance from entrenched secular actors, and a circumspect western audience. For these reasons, the failure of Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to effectively manage their image abroad demonstrates a serious lack of foresight that may be costly. While Erdogan was remarkably successful in the domestic media market, he finds himself with few international allies and as a result, he is internationally perceived as a ‘thug’ and a ‘dictator’. And while these labels are largely grounded in reality, what is remarkable is the absence of any meaningful defense aimed at western media markets.
The prime minister’s attitude towards diplomacy is well known. Not only has he repeatedly stated his dislike for diplomats in general, his embarrassing behavior at Davos in 2009 illustrated his inability to parse between domestic and international politics. While cheap political strategies like anti-Semitism may win votes in central Anatolia, such outbursts wear on Turkey’s image abroad. His continued use of similar rhetoric in the months following the Gezi Park protests has only increased the misgivings of his global audience.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government deploys Mr. Davutoglu, its foreign minister, to do damage control in the wake of the Prime Minister’s forays abroad. When Erdogan visited the Balkans and delivered a speech that fanned the flames of sectarianism in a region still recovering from a horrific sectarian civil war, it was Davutoglu who was rushed in to put out the fires and clarify that the Prime Minister didn’t actually mean what he said. Months later Erdogan was at it again, this time accusing Israel if internal meddling. Later he directed his ire at the United States, threatening the expulsion of the ambassador, Francis Ricciardone and once again the Turkish Ministry of Foreign affairs went into overdrive.
As one debacle after another drew negative attention to Turkey and its leading politician, the absence of a strategic public relations effort grew more apparent. Erdogan’s foreign image crisis is neither unique nor unanticipated. Other semi-authoritarian states find their image suffering for a multiplicity of reasons, and many like Turkey, are tied to their style of governance. It is for this reason that governments like Russia and Qatar invest hundreds of millions of dollars in media companies that are beholden to their leadership that can be relied on to counter negative publicity abroad and promote a positive image. These media organizations are usually the premier foreign language source of information in the country as is the case with RT in Russia and Al-Jazeera in Qatar. How successful these efforts are is a matter of debate, but their presence shows a certain savvy that seems to be lacking in the Turkish case. Even countries that skew more democratic and liberal make use of media projects that target foreign audiences as a soft-power technique. Voice of America and the BBC are to examples of this.
The one accessible pro-AKP English language paper in Turkey, Sabah was taken over by businessmen close to Erdogan but its English language arm (targeting non-Turks) is anemic. Online, Sabah is drowned out by other news sources that experience significantly higher traffic. While the Turkish government does make an effort to network with Turkish émigrés and at times uses them to promote Turkish causes, these efforts are minimal and nowhere on the scale necessary to affect international opinion. The Foreign Ministry meanwhile, serves a diplomatic mission that also has little to do with broad international public perceptions. Therefore, western audiences are forced to look elsewhere for stories on Turkey and here is where the picture gets even grimmer for Erdogan and his allies.
The most widely read English language newspaper in Turkey is the Daily Zamaan followed by the Hurriyet Daily News, which comes in a distant second. Neither of these papers is sympathetic towards the Erdogan regime. In fact, the Zamaan is downright hostile and the Hurriyet is only slightly more tactful in its promotion of a western looking secularism that is opposed to Erdogan’s brand of political Islam. In other words, both extremes of the political spectrum present the same negative picture, in English.
In the current schism that is turning into a political civil war between what was once a united Islamic front, the Zamaan is the rebel faction that the prime minister has accused of treason. Under these circumstances the Zamaan represents a propaganda boon for the Gulen Movement which is pitted against the AKP in the ongoing corruption scandals. For Erdogan, having the country’s largest English language news source dedicated to removing him from power represents a serious threat. The Hurriyet Daily News, which is delivered to foreign embassies across the country and widely read amongst expatriates, carries a similar tone making the English language media landscape overwhelmingly hostile towards Erdogan. Anyone who conducts the classic, ‘Erdogan is…’ Google test will realize just how much his international reputation has suffered recently. It is no wonder that he has taken to repeatedly lambasting these same organizations in his speeches.
In the area of informal medias, the picture is the same. While the AKP assembled a social media branch to counter negative publicity on the internet, its focus was primarily domestic. During the Gezi Park protests, the volume of twitter traffic relating to the event was overwhelmingly in favor of the protestors. Given transnational nature of such media, it is far more likely that foreign inquiry would have come into contact with anti-government content than pro-government. Later, when the prime minister castigated Twitter and Facebook, it further eroded his image abroad.
Erdogan’s political adversaries are also better at managing their reputations as the recent opening of the CHP offices (the main opposition party) in Washington DC demonstrate. In addition, the CHP were able to capitalize on the international coverage of Gezi Park by presenting themselves as the liberal democratic alternative.
Ultimately, all this may not matter to Erdogan, especially if his party maintains its electoral gains in the elections this March and he is able to continue consolidating power. It may be his eschewal of diplomacy and image management in favor of conservative rhetoric and power politics that endears him to his constituency. But that is a tenuous assumption, especially as foreign direct investment moves elsewhere along with investors’ confidence. In the end, Turks, like everyone else, vote with their pocket books as do investors and the international economy.
AdvertisementsGCHQ, the British counterpart of the NSA, announced Friday a free Android (iOS planned) educational app called Cryptoy, which “enables users to understand basic encryption techniques, learn about their history, and then have a go at creating their own encoded messages.
“These can then be shared with friends via social media or more traditional means and the recipients can use the app to see “how fun it can be to try to break the cryptographic design that someone else thought was secure,” GCHQ said.
CCHG says the app is primarily for use by secondary school students and their teachers, to encourage children to study STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math — and build “a knowledge base of cyber security skills.
“It doesn’t require any permissions to access personal data or enhancements to be made to your device when installing.”
Hmmm, maybe Sony execs should download it and have a go at encrypting their future emails?
Video here.Initiatives from behemoths like Apple and startups like Maker’s Row have been part of a wider effort to bring more manufacturing back to the U.S. after many years of it gradually, largely moving abroad. One of the latest developments on that front is a new venture in Las Vegas called Factorli.
Factorli is more than just a business that wants to encourage more domestic production. It hopes to be the go-to place for hardware startups in the U.S. to prototype and eventually make small runs of new products.
A startup in its own right, located in and around brownfield land in one of the older parts of town, near Downtown, Factorli today is announcing a Series A round of $10 million from the Vegas Tech Fund and Zappos entrepreneur/ Vegas business chamption Tony Hsieh to build out its concepts and the factory to make them into a manufacturing reality.
Jen McCabe, the founder and CEO of Factorli, tells me that she came to the idea of the startup as a by product of her “day job” as a part of the Vegas Tech Fund, leading investments into hardware startups. “For the past year, that’s what I’ve been doing, and in the process we’ve made 21 hardware investments,” she says.
In the process of doing so, though, she stumbled upon the same problem over and over:
“If you’re not GoPro or iRobot, how do you get these things built?” she asked. “There is base that just hasn’t been served by traditional manufacturing.”
McCabe said she figured out that there were five things that a hardware startup needed to do: they had to come up with a beautiful product; you had to be able to manufacture that product in a timely and cost-effective way, even if you have no manufacturing experience; you have to know about sales and distribution beyond Kickstarter and Indiegogo; you had to know about logistics; and you needed to know customer service.
At the heart of the challenge, though, is that she didn’t see that there were any business out there that were able to address different aspects of those five requirements in a way that was cost effective for startups and let them simply focus on creating.
That’s where Factorli is going to try to fit in. It will try to address all of those gaps that exist today and make it easier for hardware startups to get off the ground. Effectively, it wants to be a one-stop shop for the creation, production and distribution of new consumer-electronics goods.
“You want to build a product but you don’t want more than 25,000 of them? We couldn’t find a good solution for that,” she says. “You can have a great relationship but you don’t lose them when you have a shipping delay? That was another issue.” Additionally there were even challenges in the earlier stages of product conception such as helping to make prototypes.
There are a lot of companies that are championing the idea of manufacturing for hardware startups, with initiatives from the likes of PCH and Flextronics. HardTech Labs in San Diego, meanwhile, is looking to link up startups with factories South of the border.
McCabe says that Factorli will be taking influences from these, as well as a number of other concepts like burst manufacturing and cellular manufacturing; and thinking of the best way of blending the expertise of engineers, machinists, and machines.
“It’s not actually that easy to do,” she says of trying to offer end-to-end service around hardware. “Everyeryone we visitied said, ‘We’d love to start to talk to startups but it’s about accelerators for us,’ or they would just be polite but nothing would happen.”
But as cool and exciting as Factorli sounds, and as much as it will advance the conversation around the viability of hardware startups, there is a small catch. Factorli has yet to be fully built. Some of the ideas and how they will be implemented, in fact, are still in progress. “We’re working on the systems now,” she says.
McCabe says that the hope is to have everything ready, with customers in the building, in time for the big CES trade show next year, which will be in January 2015, but “we’re not showing people the details of the machinery just yet.”
As for who those customers might be, Vegas Tech Fund’s portfolio might be a good starting point. McCabe says that they have already ordered in a few Stir kinetic desks for the office. “We’d love to make the Stir here,” she said.So you think you can dance be a project manager?
Project Management is something I have always been passionate about. After working in project management for several years, I got my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, thinking it would make me a better PM. Part of what attracted me to the discipline was that it was more of an art than a science (meaning no one could tell me I was doing it wrong!). Project management is something everyone applies everyday in all aspects of daily life. Whether it is a full-time stay-at-home soccer dad of three, juggling laundry, cooking, soccer practice, ballet recitals and a sliver of a social life, or the president’s chief-of-staff, project management is diverse yet universal.
Sidenote - I do find it interesting when I am on campus interviewing college students and an undergrad with a couple of internships under his or her belt tells me they want to be a project manager right out of school and how they are great at motivating teams and people. Hopefully this does not offend anyone, but that is not going to happen. You may come out of school and work as a task master or a project coordinator but you will not be a project manager (at least not on any project I have anything to do with!).
After working with many Project Managers throughout my career, I have noticed this: there are very few good ones. Most project managers are what I call task masters. Traditional PMs are very good at consolidating a list of things that need to be completed, sticking dates on that list (normally asking their team for what the dates should be), and then tracking percent completion. It’s no wonder PMs get a bad rap - most of them are telling developers what time it is with the watch on a developer’s hand!
Traditional project managers absolve themselves from the responsibility of ascertaining the tasks that need to be done, when the tasks need to be done, and removing road blocks along the way. This is because many project managers have no domain knowledge. What I mean is that they did not come up through the ranks of delivering the same solution that they are now responsible for PMing. For example, if you are a PM for a systems development project, you should have some experience being a developer in a past life and still know enough about current development methodologies to adapt your approach to new frameworks. There are a few exceptions to this rule but these exceptions are people that are extremely bright and extremely passionate about the solution they are delivering. These people that may not have development backgrounds, have spent the time to understand development frameworks and can build relationships |
final stop on his first official trip to Asia, which also included visits to Japan and South Korea.
The trip followed a string of North Korean missile launches, which escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula and came amid fears Pyongyang is preparing for another nuclear test.
Despite earlier warning that all options -- including military action -- remained on the table in dealing with Pyongyang, Tillerson refrained from the harsh language that he had used in Tokyo and Seoul upon arriving in Beijing.
Xi and Tillerson leaders met for 30 minutes at the Great Hall of the People, a statement from State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
The men "agreed there are opportunities for greater cooperation between China and the United States, but acknowledged there are, and will be in the future, differences between the two countries," the statement said.
It added that Tillerson said Trump is "anticipating the two will soon be able to meet face to face for discussions that will chart the course for future US-China relations."
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) at the Great Hall of the People on March 19, 2017 in Beijing, China.
North Korea's only ally
China is Pyongyang's only major global ally, with bilateral trade accounting for 70% of North Korea's total trade, providing a political and economic lifeline to Kim's increasingly isolated regime.
Trump has repeatedly called on Beijing to use its leverage over its unpredictable neighbor.
He singled out China again Friday, tweeting, "North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been 'playing' the United States for years. China has done little to help!"
After meeting his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minster Wang Yi, on Saturday, Tillerson stressed "renewed determination" by Beijing and Washington to "work together to convince the North Korean government to choose a better path and a different future for its people," without giving details.
Although neither side brought up the subject publicly, Tillerson had been expected to raise the prospect of financial penalties on Chinese companies and banks that do business with North Korea.
"The Trump administration is banking that threats of US military action in South Korea and tougher sanctions on Chinese entities will intimidate Beijing into changing its policies," said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney.
On the trip, Tillerson has signaled a new approach toward North Korea, saying that Washington's policy of "strategic patience" over the past 20 years aimed at halting North Korea's nuclear development was a failure.
Between the US and North Korea
Beijing, however, has been irked by calls that it isn't doing enough to lessen tensions in the region.
Wang said China had made "important contributions" to supporting US engagement with Pyongyang but stressed it was, at its core, an issue between the United States and North Korea.
An un-bylined opinion piece Friday in the Global Times, a Chinese state-run tabloid, made a similar point.
"Washington and Seoul are trying to shift all the burden of solving the North Korean nuclear issue onto China and include China into their strategy toward Pyongyang," it said.
"But that way, China and North Korea will become enemies, further complicating the conflict. The North Korean nuclear issue is caused by Washington-Pyongyang confrontation, to which China has no obligation to shoulder all the responsibilities."
JUST WATCHED US seeks China's help to rein in N. Korea Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH US seeks China's help to rein in N. Korea 01:51
Wang reiterated the Chinese position that the United States should "come back to the right track of a negotiated settlement."
He also said he hoped Washington would examine Beijing's plans to defuse tensions, although Tillerson has already dismissed the proposal the United States should drop joint military exercises with South Korea as a show of good faith to Pyongyang.
Tillerson said Friday that Washington did "not believe that conditions are right to engage in any talks at this time."
However, he left the door open Saturday, saying he would work with China to "bring North Korea to a different place where we are hopeful we can begin a dialogue."
Trump and Xi to meet?
Tillerson was also in Beijing to iron out the details of a tentative summit between Presidents Trump and Xi in Florida in April.
It would be the first meeting between the two men, whose interactions would affect what many consider the world's most important diplomatic relationship.
The Chinese foreign ministry statement quoted Tillerson as saying that Trump expected the two leaders to meet "as soon as possible" but did not confirm the April summit. Xi also invited Trump to visit China, it added.
Despite fiery rhetoric on the campaign trail and prior to his inauguration, Trump and his administration have taken a relatively hands-off approach to China so far.
Trump has not followed through on campaign threats to label China a currency manipulator or impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports.
He also endorsed the "One China" policy, which has governed delicate relations between the United States, China and Taiwan for decades -- after questioning its legitimacy shortly after his election.A battle is brewing in the trucking industry over controversial rules originally set to come into effect today.
On Friday, the Federal Court pushed back the implementation of the new rules governing contractor driver payments, following an urgent application by the National Road Transport Association.
The new rules, if implemented, will introduce national minimum payments for certain contractor drivers in the road transport industry.
However, small business groups say the rules will make competing with big business even more difficult.
This is because owner-operator truck drivers will not be able to set their own minimum price for services.
Read more: Is the transport industry being manipulated by unions and oligopolies?
There are fears big transport companies will be able to undercut small business operators because the new rules do not affect them.
Among the groups to have spoken out against the changes are the Council of Small Business of Australia, the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell told SmartCompany the regulations threaten the livelihoods of up to 70,000 small business owners.
Many truck drivers, she says, have mortgaged their homes and rely on being able to compete with the big end of town in order to put food on the table.
“There now needs to be a proper consultation and a serious look at the impact of this decision,” Carnell says.
“This affects a lot of small business people in Australia. A lot of those owner-drivers just believed this wouldn’t happen – they were too busy getting on with the job. We all can’t sit back and say phew … we believe it’s quite catastrophic.”
Uncertainty a major issue for owner-operator drivers
It is not yet known when the Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 will come into effect, or whether the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal will amend the order, as the Federal Court is yet to settle on a date to review the case.
However, the federal government has announced a consultation process with owner-operator drivers and unions will soon take place.
On Friday, Employment Minister Michaela Cash said consultations will be conducted in regional areas to ensure small business owners outside of the major cities get the chance to have their say.
Carnell says this consultation process needs to happen as quickly as possible so the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal and the Federal Court can see the impact these new rules will have on small business owners.
“The thing that’s missing from the debate at the moment is these family businesses,” she says.
“It’s their houses they’re going to lose. This needs to be ramped up pretty quickly because, fairly obviously, it will be a real disaster if this ruling [by the tribunal] goes ahead in its current form.”its time to party..........................in a sad wayno info on him yet we can see him as a depressing guy who seems to not be the guy suited to be a star but he is a star and he will try to make some joy even if it is few and disguising his true self by making himself seem more confident and brave then what he actually is a idea TEAM KH had which was from one of our leadersis that the body SF!NTT was actually meant for SF!alphys yet didn't work so SF!NTT sees some subtle messages on his screen that he should be in love with SF!undyne but he denies them since he does not want to get involved with it and plus the reason that its still there is because she forgotalso join our discord maybe you can help us since we got ZERO PROGRAMMERS or chill idk your choice discord.gg/db4exzZ (also this was made by Kkhoppang aka the original swapfell creator that vanished with little to trace)The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Sunday released a beheading image of President Barack Obama and vowed to avenge the raid by US special forces that killed its dozens of militants, including a top commander Abu Sayyaf.
Following reports of Sayyaf's death, several Isis supporters took to Twitter and vowed to seek revenge. An Isis Twitter handle @ebn_alkim stated: "If your goal is killing Abu Sayyaf then our goal is killing Obama and the worshipers of the cross. We have attacks coming against you."
Another Isis supporter, discussing about the US raid that took place in the Syrian city of al-Amr, said: "If they took Abu Sayyaf, we will take Obama." Many Isis supporters also shared a brutal beheading image of Obama.
A Vocativ report that analysed the social media across Syria following the raid by US Special forces found that some of the Isis supporters refused to believe that the United States carried out an attack inside Syria.
Some of them claimed that the entire news was a propaganda material meant to distract Isis, which is fast gaining grounds in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, the report noted.
US Defence Secretary Ashton B. Carter had in a press statement on Saturday said that the killing of Abu Sayyaf has dealt a "significant blow" to Isis. The militant leader was a key player in the Isis' military operations and played an important role in the group's "illicit oil, gas and financial operations."
A New York Times report had stated that the American Special Operations force carried out a "rare" raid in eastern Syria. It reported that two dozen Delta Force commandos entered Syria and killed the Isis commander, captured his wife and freed a Yazidi woman kept as sex slave by Sayyaf. It is reported that the US President Obama had approved the raid.
Sayyaf is dubbed as the Islamic State's "emir of oil and gas".A NASA scientist heading home to the U.S. said he was detained in January at a Houston airport, where Customs and Border Protection officers pressured him for access to his work phone and its potentially sensitive contents.
Last month, CBP agents checked the identification of passengers leaving a domestic flight at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport during a search for an immigrant with a deportation order.
And in October, border agents seized phones and other work-related material from a Canadian photojournalist. They blocked him from entering the U.S. after he refused to unlock the phones, citing his obligation to protect his sources.
These and other recent incidents have revived confusion and alarm over what powers border officials actually have and, perhaps more importantly, how to know when they are overstepping their authority.
The unsettling fact is that border officials have long had broad powers — many people just don’t know about them. Border officials, for instance, have search powers that extend 100 air miles inland from any external boundary of the U.S. That means border agents can stop and question people at fixed checkpoints dozens of miles from U.S. borders. They can also pull over motorists whom they suspect of a crime as part of “roving” border patrol operations.
Sowing even more uneasiness, ambiguity around the agency’s search powers — especially over electronic devices — has persisted for years as courts nationwide address legal challenges raised by travelers, privacy advocates and civil-rights groups.
We’ve dug out answers about the current state-of-play when it comes to border searches, along with links to more detailed resources.
Doesn’t the Fourth Amendment protect us from “unreasonable searches and seizures”?
Yes. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution articulates the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” However, those protections are lessened when entering the country at international terminals at airports, other ports of entry and subsequently any location that falls within 100 air miles of an external U.S. boundary.
How broad is Customs and Border Protection’s search authority?
According to federal statutes, regulations and court decisions, CBP officers have the authority to inspect, without a warrant, any person trying to gain entry into the country and their belongings. CBP can also question individuals about their citizenship or immigration status and ask for documents that prove admissibility into the country.
This blanket authority for warrantless, routine searches at a port of entry ends when CBP decides to undertake a more invasive procedure, such as a body cavity search. For these kinds of actions, the CBP official needs to have some level of suspicion that a particular person is engaged in illicit activity, not simply that the individual is trying to enter the U.S.
Does CBP’s search authority cover electronic devices like smartphones and laptops?
Yes. CBP refers to several statutes and regulations in justifying its authority to examine “computers, disks, drives, tapes, mobile phones and other communication devices, cameras, music and other media players, and any other electronic or digital devices.”
According to current CBP policy, officials should search electronic devices with a supervisor in the room, when feasible, and also in front of the person being questioned “unless there are national security, law enforcement, or other operational considerations” that take priority. For instance, if allowing a traveler to witness the search would reveal sensitive law enforcement techniques or compromise an investigation, “it may not be appropriate to allow the individual to be aware of or participate in a border search,” according to a 2009 privacy impact assessment by the Department of Homeland Security.
CBP says it can conduct these searches “with or without” specific suspicion that the person who possesses the items is involved in a crime.
With a supervisor’s sign-off, CBP officers can also seize an electronic device — or a copy of the information on the device — “for a brief, reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search.” Such seizures typically shouldn’t exceed five days, although officers can apply for extensions in up to one-week increments, according to CBP policy. If a review of the device and its contents does not turn up probable cause for seizing it, CBP says it will destroy the copied information and return the device to its owner.
Can CBP really search my electronic devices without any specific suspicion that I might have committed a crime?
The Supreme Court has not directly ruled on this issue. However, a 2013 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — one level below the Supreme Court — provides some guidance on potential limits to CBP’s search authority.
In a majority decision, the court affirmed that cursory searches of laptops — such as having travelers turn their devices on and then examining their contents — does not require any specific suspicions about the travelers to justify them.
The court, however, raised the bar for a “forensic examination” of the devices, such as using “computer software to analyze a hard drive.” For these more powerful, intrusive and comprehensive searches, which could provide access to deleted files and search histories, password-protected information and other private details, border officials must have a “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity — not just a hunch.
As it stands, the 2013 appeals court decision legally applies only to the nine Western states in the Ninth Circuit, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. It’s not clear whether CBP has taken the 2013 decision into account more broadly: The last time the agency publicly updated its policy for searching electronic devices was in 2009. CBP is currently reviewing that policy and there is “no specific timeline” for when an updated version might be announced, according to the agency.
“Laptop computers, iPads and the like are simultaneously offices and personal diaries. They contain the most intimate details of our lives,” the court’s decision said. “It is little comfort to assume that the government — for now — does not have the time or resources to seize and search the millions of devices that accompany the millions of travelers who cross our borders. It is the potential unfettered dragnet effect that is troublesome.”
During the 2016 fiscal year, CBP officials conducted 23,877 electronic media searches, a five-fold increase from the previous year. In both the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, the agency processed more than 380 million arriving travelers.
Am I legally required to disclose the password for my electronic device or social media, if CBP asks for it?
That’s still an unsettled question, according to Liza Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “Until it becomes clear that it’s illegal to do that, they’re going to continue to ask,” she said.
The Fifth Amendment says that no one shall be made to serve as “a witness against himself” in a criminal case. Lower courts, however, have produced differing decisions on how exactly the Fifth Amendment applies to the disclosure of passwords to electronic devices.
Customs officers have the statutory authority “to demand the assistance of any person in making any arrest, search, or seizure authorized by any law enforced or administered by customs officers, if such assistance may be necessary.” That statute has traditionally been invoked by immigration agents to enlist the help of local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies, according to Nathan Wessler, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. Whether the statute also compels individuals being interrogated by border officials to divulge their passwords has not been directly addressed by a court, Wessler said.
Even with this legal uncertainty, CBP officials have broad leverage to induce travelers to share password information, especially when someone just wants to catch their flight, get home to family or be allowed to enter the country. “Failure to provide information to assist CBP may result in the detention and/or seizure of the electronic device,” according to a statement provided by CBP.
Travelers who refuse to give up passwords could also be detained for longer periods and have their bags searched more intrusively. Foreign visitors could be turned away at the border, and green card holders could be questioned and challenged about their continued legal status.
“People need to think about their own risks when they are deciding what to do. US citizens may be comfortable doing things that non-citizens aren’t, because of how CBP may react,” Wessler said.
What is some practical advice for protecting my digital information?
Consider which devices you absolutely need to travel with, and which ones you can leave at home. Setting a strong password and encrypting your devices are helpful in protecting your data, but you may still lose access to your devices for undefined periods should border officials decide to seize and examine their contents.
Another option is to leave all of your devices behind and carry a travel-only phone free of most personal information. However, even this approach carries risks. “We also flag the reality that if you go to extreme measures to protect your data at the border, that itself may raise suspicion with border agents,” according to Sophia Cope, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It’s so hard to tell what a single border agent is going to do.”
The EFF has released an updated guide to data protection options here.
Does CBP recognize any exceptions to what it can examine on electronic devices?
If CBP officials want to search legal documents, attorney work product or information protected by attorney-client privilege, they may have to follow “special handling procedures,” according to agency policy. If there’s suspicion that the information includes evidence of a crime or otherwise relates to “the jurisdiction of CBP,” the border official must consult the CBP associate/assistant chief counsel before undertaking the search.
As for medical records and journalists’ notes, CBP says its officers will follow relevant federal laws and agency policies in handling them. When asked for more information on these procedures, an agency spokesperson said that CBP has “specific provisions” for dealing with this kind of information, but did not elaborate further. Questions that arise regarding these potentially sensitive materials can be handled by the CBP associate/assistant chief counsel, according to CBP policy. The agency also says that it will protect business or commercial information from “unauthorized disclosure.”
Am I entitled to a lawyer if I’m detained for further questioning by CBP?
No. According to a statement provided by CBP, “All international travelers arriving to the U.S. are subject to CBP processing, and travelers bear the burden of proof to establish that they are clearly eligible to enter the United States. Travelers are not entitled to representation during CBP administrative processing, such as primary and secondary inspection.”
Even so, some immigration lawyers recommend that travelers carry with them the number for a legal aid hotline or a specific lawyer who will be able to help them, should they get detained for further questioning at a port of entry.
“It is good practice to ask to speak to a lawyer,” said Paromita Shah, associate director at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. “We always encourage people to have a number where their attorney can be reached, so they can explain what is happening and their attorney can try to intervene. It’s definitely true that they may not be able to get into the actual space, but they can certainly intervene.”
Lawyers who fill out this form on behalf of a traveler headed into the United States might be allowed to advocate for that individual, although local practices can vary, according to Shah.
Can I record my interaction with CBP officials?
Individuals on public land are allowed to record and photograph CBP operations so long as their actions do not hinder traffic, according to CBP. However, the agency prohibits recording and photography in locations with special security and privacy concerns, including some parts of international airports and other secure port areas.
Does CBP’s power to stop and question people extend beyond the border and ports of entry?
Yes. Federal statutes and regulations empower CBP to conduct warrantless searches for people travelling illegally from another country in any “railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle” within 100 air miles from “any external boundary” of the country. About two-thirds of the U.S. population live in this zone, including the residents of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Houston, according to the ACLU.
As a result, CBP currently operates 35 checkpoints, where they can stop and question motorists traveling in the U.S. about their immigration status and make “quick observations of what is in plain view” in the vehicle without a warrant, according to the agency. Even at a checkpoint, however, border officials cannot search a vehicle’s contents or its occupants unless they have probable cause of wrongdoing, the agency says. Failing that, CBP officials can ask motorists to allow them to conduct a search, but travelers are not obligated to give consent.
When asked how many people were stopped at CBP checkpoints in recent years, as well as the proportion of those individuals detained for further scrutiny, CBP said they didn’t have the data “on hand” but that the number of people referred for secondary questioning was “minimum.” At the same time, the agency says that checkpoints “have proven to be highly effective tools in halting the flow of illegal traffic into the United States.”
Within 25 miles of any external boundary, CBP has the additional patrol power to enter onto private land, not including dwellings, without a warrant.
Where can CBP set up checkpoints?
CBP chooses checkpoint locations within the 100-mile zone that help “maximize border enforcement while minimizing effects on legitimate traffic,” the agency says.
At airports that fall within the 100-mile zone, CBP can also set up checkpoints next to airport security to screen domestic passengers who are trying to board their flights, according to Chris Rickerd, a policy counsel at the ACLU’s National Political Advocacy Department.
“When you fly out of an airport in the southwestern border, say McAllen, Brownsville or El Paso, you have Border Patrol standing beside TSA when they’re doing the checks for security. They ask you the same questions as when you’re at a checkpoint. ‘Are you a US citizen?’ They’re essentially doing a brief immigration inquiry in the airport because it’s part of the 100-mile zone,” Rickerd said. “I haven’t seen this at the northern border.”
Can CBP do anything outside of the 100-mile zone?
Yes. Many of CBP’s law enforcement and patrol activities, such as questioning individuals, collecting evidence and making arrests, are not subject to the 100-mile rule, the agency says. For instance, the geographical limit does not apply to stops in which border agents pull a vehicle over as part of a “roving patrol” and not a fixed checkpoint, according to Rickerd of the ACLU. In these scenarios, border agents need reasonable suspicion that an immigration violation or crime has occurred to justify the stop, Rickerd said. For stops outside the 100-mile zone, CBP agents must have probable cause of wrongdoing, the agency said.
The ACLU has sued the government multiple times for data on roving patrol and checkpoint stops. Based on an analysis of records released in response to one of those lawsuits, the ACLU found that CBP officials in Arizona failed “to record any stops that do not lead to an arrest, even when the stop results in a lengthy detention, search, and/or property damage.”
The lack of detailed and easily accessible data poses a challenge to those seeking to hold CBP accountable to its duties.
“On the one hand, we fight so hard for reasonable suspicion to actually exist rather than just the whim of an officer to stop someone, but on the other hand, it’s not a standard with a lot of teeth,” Rickerd said. “The courts would scrutinize it to see if there’s anything impermissible about what’s going on. But if we don’t have data, how do you figure that out?”The State Migration Service reported on Friday, May 5, that Andriy Artemenko was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by a corresponding decree of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
"The President of Ukraine issued a decree on the loss of citizenship of Ukraine by persons who did not fulfill an obligation to terminate foreign citizenship, as well as those who voluntarily obtained citizenship of foreign states," the report says.
Read alsoUkrainian MP plans to travel to Washington to push peace plan – mediaInformation regarding Artemenko, provided by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine through the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, was worked through by the State Migration Service of Ukraine and forwarded for consideration by the Commission on Citizenship under the President of Ukraine, according to the report.
According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine decides on the loss of Ukrainian citizenship based on the findings of the Commission on Citizenship.
Read also"No time for freelancing" in Ukraine-Russia settlement behind Kyiv back - NYTAs UNIAN reported earlier, Andriy Artemenko came into a global spotlight as he reportedly tried to present to Donald Trump's team a so-called "peace plan" providing for a Ukrainian referendum on leasing Crimea to Russia for 50 or 100 years and amnesty for most of the militants in Donbas, along with the withdrawal of Russian forces from eastern Ukraine.
This was all done behind the backs of Kyiv, the State Department and most everyone else, NYT wrote.
The Kremlin denied it was aware of the plan, while the Ukrainian government was livid, and prosecutors in Kyiv are probing Artemenko whether he has committed treason.A Washington Post/ABC News poll shows two-thirds of Americans believe what the majority of us were saying four and more years ago: the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting. Sadly however, the majority believes that a residual force should remain there to train and back up Afghan soldiers.
Belief that the war wasn't worth fighting has been the view of a majority since a Post-ABC poll on the subject in 2010. But this latest iteration shows a record 50 percent saying they "strongly" believe the war wasn't worth fighting. Support was in the 90th percentile range when the war started 13 years ago in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001.
Moreover, the opposition cuts across party lines, although Democrats at 67 percent and independents at 71 percent are stronger in their objections than are Republicans at 54 percent
"Despite the skepticism, a 55 percent majority favors keeping some U.S. forces in Afghanistan going forward for anti-insurgency operations and training, while just over four in 10 prefer removing all troops from the country. The future U.S. military role remains in limbo because Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a bilateral security agreement that would keep an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 U.S. troops in the country after 2014. [...] A separate Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday found 57 percent of Americans saying the United States did “the wrong thing” in going to war with Afghanistan in the first place, with mixed feelings toward keeping troops in the country past 2014. Obama received negative marks for his handling of the situation, with 53 percent disapproving and 45 percent approving."
As of Dec. 19, 2,300 Americans and 1,105 NATO troops had been killed during the war. So far in 2013, 126 American and 30 NATO troops have been killed, the lowest number since 2008. No reliable overall count of Afghan war deaths have been tallied, but the numbers are in the tens of thousands.
The war's costs are variously estimated. The National Priorities Project has posted a running tally now clicking around $682 billion, rising $10.45 million an hour. According to Harvard researcher Linda J. Bilmes, the total eventual U.S. costs of the Afghanistan/Pakistan war and the Iraq war that should never have been fought -- including interest costs and short- and long-term medical care for injured veterans -- will range from $4 trillion to $6 trillion.Deal with NetSet Communications underlines Xplornet's continued growth; NetSet's extensive LTE network supports Xplornet's launch of mobile service in Manitoba
WOODSTOCK, NB, Oct. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Xplornet Communications Inc. ("Xplornet"), one of Canada's leading broadband service providers, is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement for the purchase of the Internet access business of NetSet Communications ("NetSet"). Based in Brandon, Manitoba, NetSet is a privately held telecommunications company founded in 2001 providing next generation broadband services throughout the Province of Manitoba.
The acquisition is the largest in Xplornet's history and accelerates the company's continued expansion across Western Canada.
"Confidence in our economy is growing and this announcement is a great example that Manitoba is the right place for businesses to invest, build and grow," said Blaine Pedersen, Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade. "The Manitoba government welcomes Xplornet's investment in the province and its commitment to providing wireless broadband service for Manitobans."
"We are delighted to welcome NetSet customers to Xplornet," said Mr. Allison Lenehan, President and CEO of Xplornet. "We believe our customers share much in common. Like Xplornet, NetSet's customers live in rural and remote communities and just outside of major centres. We are committed to continuing the proud legacy that NetSet has established in the Province of Manitoba and look forward to connecting Manitobans to more of what matters online."
Xplornet will maintain the NetSet Communications tradename and retain virtually all NetSet's employees and business operations in both Brandon and Winnipeg. NetSet's founder and former CEO, Charlie Clark, has agreed to serve in an advisory role supporting Xplornet's business operations in the Province.
Xplornet will complement NetSet's existing services by further expanding its wireless Internet footprint, as well as adding new products, including satellite Internet, home phone, and mobile wireless service next year.
"This is great news for NetSet's customers, employees, and for the Province of Manitoba," said Tami-Rae Rourke (Clements), former Chief Operating Officer and a co-founder of NetSet. "Xplornet and NetSet share similar roots, and a similar passion for delivering fast, affordable Internet services in rural Canada, and it is our customers, and consumers across the Province who will benefit."
Xplornet is one of Canada's leading broadband service providers, with customers in every province and territory. Xplornet has been nationally recognized in four of the last five years as a Top Employer in Atlantic Canada, has been named a Canadian Telecom Employer of Choice for three years in a row. This year, Xplornet was named the best company to work for in Canada's telecommunications sector by Forbes Magazine.
In 2016, NetSet's success and rapid growth was recognized by the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce, while Charlie Clark was named Business Person of the Year by the Brandon Chamber of Commerce in March of the same year. Recently, NetSet has made considerable investments in its network including upgrading to the latest Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology. This expansion will support Xplornet in offering more mobile choice to all Manitobans in 2018.
The agreements have been signed and the closing is set for October 31, 2017.
About Xplornet Communications Inc.
Headquartered in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Xplornet Communications Inc. is one of Canada's leading broadband service providers. For over a decade, Xplornet has been providing innovative broadband solutions to rural customers at work, home and play across Canada. Today, Xplornet offers voice and data communication services through its unique wireless and satellite network that connects Canadians to what matters.
SOURCE Xplornet Communications Inc.
For further information: James Maunder, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications, (613) 266-2250, [email protected] copyright Getty Images Image caption 'One country, two systems' - and now two distinct football identities too
Around the world, there are legendary, dynastic rivalries in football.
Think Turkey versus Greece, England versus Germany and Brazil versus Argentina.
And now, as the two sides face each other in a crucial World Cup qualifier, Hong Kong and China look set to join the list of lasting football rivalries.
The two sides have been playing against each other since the 1970s, without either side much troubling the giants of the game, or each other.
But in recent months, tension between the two sides has been building.
For Tuesday's match at Hong Kong's Mongkok Stadium, local media reports that more than 1,000 police officers will be deployed.
If true, it would be an unprecedented number for a sports match in the territory.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption With fans around the world known for boisterous support, could it be that football is simply maturing in Hong Kong?
And for the first time, Hong Kong and mainland fans will have to use separate entrances, Hong Kong Football Association Chief Executive Mark Sutcliffe told BBC News.
They will also be segregated - standard practice for football matches in most parts of the world, but a novelty in Hong Kong.
"Fans from both sides will be clearly separated, even using different washrooms. There are very few opportunities for them to clash inside the stadium," the association's chairman Brian Leung told journalists.
Mongkok Stadium can hold around 6,000 spectators but mainland Chinese fans have been allocated only 500 tickets.
Tickets reserved for local fans sold out quickly, with the website of an online ticket seller reportedly crashing under the weight of high demand.
But fans are not the only ones making sure to book themselves a seat in the stadium.
Local and international media, and a team from Fifa, will be out in force too: watching both sides - and their fans.
Last month, football's governing body fined the Hong Kong Football Association 40,000 Hong Kong dollars ($5,160; £3,400), after local fans booed the national anthem "March of the Volunteers" during a qualifier against Qatar in September.
Hong Kong, as a semi-autonomous Chinese city, shares the national anthem with mainland China - but increasingly little else.
Political tension between Hong Kong and China has surged in the past five years, culminating in last year's pro-democracy "Umbrella Movement".
But the booing began only during the current World Cup campaign.
Image copyright CFA Image caption Racist or just rivalry? The CFA poster accused of contributing to the tension
Mr Sutcliffe traces the surge in tension to June, when the Chinese Football Association (CFA) issued a promotional poster ahead of the qualifier against Hong Kong.
The poster shows images of three players and warns: "This team has players with black skin, yellow skin and white skin. Best to be on guard against such a multi-layered team!"
Unsurprisingly, some Hong Kong fans derided the poster as racist.
Following the controversy, the booing began during a qualifier against Bhutan, and continued until last weekend's friendly with Myanmar.
Mr Sutcliffe believes it is the first time Fifa has fined a team for booing its own anthem, and he believes the booing will happen again.
"We've been requesting that fans respect the anthem. That they behave, generally," he says. "But at the end of the day, it's very difficult when you have a crowd of 6,000 people, and there is an element in that crowd that wants to voice their opinion. It's very difficult to stop them."
Political tension has commanded the narrative of the qualifier so far.
But die-hard football fans in Hong Kong are also hoping to watch a genuinely thrilling game.
They desperately hope the home side can beat their much higher-ranked rival, the way it memorably beat China during a World Cup qualifier in 1985.Image copyright Alamy Image caption Koreans will learn about parenting long before they actually become parents
South Korea is planning to provide people with lifelong parenting education in the hope that it will prevent child abuse, it's reported.
Rather than only giving parents-to-be tips on coping with their new arrivals, the government has set out plans to start teaching the necessary skills from school age, the Korea Times reports. The government also wants to see parenting lessons given to university students, men undertaking military service, and couples who are planning to tie the knot.
"We have concluded that a one-time parenting course taken upon marriage or pregnancy would not be effective in instilling proper values in parents, and therefore have drawn up a plan to teach parenting throughout a person's life," an official from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family tells the website. While child-rearing knowledge was once passed down from one generation to the next, that's not happening as much nowadays, the official says.
South Korea has seen a number of high profile child abuse cases in recent years, prompting the government to tighten child protection laws. In 2012, a Ministry of Health and Welfare report found that 86% of child abuse in South Korea takes place at home, and in 83% of cases the abuse is inflicted |
big chunk of this group (40%) wants the law expanded to cover more people (despite the fact that this is what ObamaCare itself was supposed to achieve), but 28% of these Democrats now say ObamaCare should either be repealed or scaled back.
The public’s view of the law is not likely to improve much when insurers start to announce their proposed rate hikes for 2017. Next year marks the end of ObamaCare’s $25 billion temporary “reinsurance” program, which was basically a subsidy scheme designed to hold down premiums in ObamaCare’s first three years.
By all accounts, now that insurers will have to price their policies to reflect the true cost of ObamaCare coverage, enrollees are in for the rate shocks of their lives. That could, in turn, cause further problems with enrollment as well as the stability and viability of the ObamaCare exchanges.
No matter who ends up in the White House next year, there is no question that ObamaCare’s compounding failures will require the next president to “take up this cause” again.
Follow IBD Editorials on Twitter: @IBDeditorials.We just released the DSC Resource Kit!
Since our last release on August 10, we have added 2 brand new modules from the community:
OfficeOnlineServerDsc by Brian Farnhill (@BrianFarnhill)
SystemLocaleDsc by Daniel Scott-Raynsford (@PlagueHO)
Thanks Brian and Daniel for all your hard work!
This release includes updates to 14 DSC resource modules, including 15 new DSC resources. In these past 6 weeks, 94 pull requests have been merged and 81 issues have been closed, all thanks to our amazing community!
The modules updated in this release are:
OfficeOnlineServerDsc
SharePointDsc
SystemLocaleDsc
xDscDiagnostics
xExchange
xNetworking
xPSDesiredStateConfiguration
xSCSMA
xSmbShare
xSQLServer
xStorage
xSystemSecurity
xTimeZone
xWebAdministration
For a detailed list of the resource modules and fixes in this release, see the Included in this Release section below.
Our last community call for the DSC Resource Kit was last week on September 15. Thank you to everyone who joined the call! If you missed it, a recording, an IM transcript, and summarizing notes are available. Join us next time to ask questions and give feedback about your experience with the DSC Resource Kit. Keep an eye on the community agenda for the next call date.
We strongly encourage you to update to the newest version of all modules using the PowerShell Gallery, and don’t forget to give us your feedback in the comments below, on GitHub, or on Twitter (@PowerShell_Team)!
As with past Resource Kits, all resources with the ‘x’ prefix in their names are still experimental – this means that those resources are provided AS IS and are not supported through any Microsoft support program or service. If you find a problem with a resource, please file an issue on GitHub.
Included in this Release
You can see a detailed summary of all changes included in this release in the table below. For past release notes, go to the README.md or Changelog.md file on the GitHub repository page for a specific module (see the How to Find DSC Resource Modules on GitHub section below for details on finding the GitHub page for a specific module).
Module Name Version Release Notes OfficeOnlineServerDsc 0.1.0.0, 0.2.0.0 0.1.0.0 Initial release 0.2.0.0 Fixed a bug that caused OfficeOnlineServerWebAppsMachine to fail a test when the machine to join was specified using a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) SharePointDSC 1.3.0.0 Fixed typo on return value in SPServiceAppProxyGroup
Fixed SPJoinFarm to not write output during successful farm join
Fixed issue with SPSearchTopology to keep array of strings in the hashtable returned by Get-Target
Fixed issue with SPSearchTopology that prevented topology from updating where ServerName was not returned on each component
Added ProxyName parameter to all service application resources
Changed SPServiceInstance to look for object type names instead of the display name to ensure consistency with language packs
Fixed typos in documentation for InstallAccount parameter on most resources
Fixed a bug where SPQuotaTemplate would not allow warning and limit values to be equal
New resources: SPConfigWizard, SPProductUpdate and SPPublishServiceApplication
Updated style of all script in module to align with PowerShell team standards
Changed parameter ClaimsMappings in SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer to consume an array of custom object MSFT_SPClaimTypeMapping
Changed SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer to throw an exception if certificate specified has a private key, since SharePoint doesn’t accept it
Fixed issue with SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer to stop if cmdlet New-SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer returns null
Fixed issue with SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer to correctly get parameters ClaimProviderName and ProviderSignOutUri
Fixed issue with SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer to effectively remove the SPTrustedAuthenticationProvider from all zones before deleting the SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer SystemLocaleDsc 1.0.0.0 Initial release xSmbShare 2.0.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.
Added default value of “Present” for the Ensure parameter. (Note: due to how the module”s logic is written, this is a breaking change; DSC configs that did not specify a value for Ensure would have behaved as though it were set to Present in the Test-TargetResource function, but to absent in Set-TargetResource, removing the share instead of creating it.) xTimeZone 1.6.0.0 Add support for Nano Server and WMF5.1 via Get-Timezone/Set-Timezone cmdlets.
Minor changes to bring make resource ready for HQRM.
Renamed and reworked functions in TimezoneHelper.psm1 to prevent conflicts with new built-in WMF5.1 Timezone Cmdlets.
Fixed localization so that failback to en-US if culture specific language files not available.
Moved code to init C xExchange 1.10.0.0 xExchAutoMountPoint: Fix malformed dash/hyphen characters
Fix PSPossibleIncorrectComparisonWithNull issues from PowerShell Script Analyzer
Suppress PSDSCUseVerboseMessageInDSCResource Warnings from PowerShell Script Analyzer xSQLServer 2.0.0.0 Added resources xSQLServerReplication xSQLServerScript xSQLAlias xSQLServerRole
Added tests for resources xSQLServerPermission xSQLServerEndpointState xSQLServerEndpointPermission xSQLServerAvailabilityGroupListener xSQLServerLogin xSQLAOGroupEnsure xSQLAlias xSQLServerRole
Fixes in xSQLServerAvailabilityGroupListener In one case the Get-method did not report that DHCP was configured. Now the resource will throw “Not supported” when IP is changed between Static and DHCP. Fixed an issue where sometimes the listener wasn”t removed. Fixed the issue when trying to add a static IP to a listener was ignored.
Fix in xSQLServerDatabase Fixed so dropping a database no longer throws an error BREAKING CHANGE: Fixed an issue where it was not possible to add the same database to two instances on the same server. BREAKING CHANGE: The name of the parameter Database has changed. It is now called Name.
Fixes in xSQLAOGroupEnsure Added parameters to New-ListenerADObject to allow usage of a named instance. pass setup credential correctly
Changes to xSQLServerLogin Fixed an issue when dropping logins. BREAKING CHANGE: Fixed an issue where it was not possible to add the same login to two instances on the same server.
Changes to xSQLServerMaxDop BREAKING CHANGE: Made SQLInstance parameter a key so that multiple instances on the same server can be configured
xSCSMA 1.4.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.
Added new example to show how to use xRunbookDirectory to remove all SMA sample Runbooks
Added new resource xSmaCredential. xPSDesiredStateConfiguration 4.0.0.0 xDSCWebService: Added setting of enhanced security Cleaned up Examples Cleaned up pull server verification test
xProcess: Fixed PSSA issues Corrected most style guideline issues
xPSSessionConfiguration: Fixed PSSA and style issues Renamed internal functions to follow verb-noun formats Decorated all functions with comment-based help
xRegistry: Fixed PSSA and style issues Renamed internal functions to follow verb-noun format Decorated all functions with comment-based help Merged with in-box Registry Fixed registry key and value removal Added unit tests
xService: Added descriptions to MOF file. Added additional details to parameters in Readme.md in a format that can be generated from the MOF. Added DesktopInteract parameter. Added standard help headers to *-TargetResource functions. Changed indent/format of all function help headers to be consistent. Fixed line length violations. Changed localization code so only a single copy of localization strings are required. Removed localization strings from inside module file. Updated unit tests to use standard test enviroment configuration and header. Recreated unit tests to be non-destructive. Created integration tests. Allowed service to be restarted immediately rather than wait for next LCM run. Changed helper function names to valid verb-noun format. Removed New-TestService function from MSFT_xServiceResource.TestHelper.psm1 because it should not be used. Fixed error calling Get-TargetResource when service does not exist. Fixed bug with Get-TargetResource returning StartupType “Auto” instead of “Automatic”. Converted to HQRM standards. Removed obfuscation of exception in Get-Win32ServiceObject function. Fixed bug where service start mode would be set to auto when it already was set to auto. Fixed error message content when start mode can not be changed. Removed shouldprocess from functions as not required. Optimized Test-TargetResource and Set-TargetResource by removing repeated calls to Get-Service and Get-CimInstance. Added integration test for testing changes to additional service properties as well as changing service binary path. Modified Set-TargetResource so that newly created service created with minimal properties and then all additional properties updated (simplification of code). Added support for changing Service Description and DisplayName parameters. Fixed bug when changing binary path of existing service.
Removed test log output from repo.
xDSCWebService: Added setting of enhanced security Cleaned up Examples Cleaned up pull server verification test
xWindowsOptionalFeature: Cleaned up resource (PSSA issues, formatting, etc.) Added example script Added integration test BREAKING CHANGE: Removed the unused Source parameter Updated to a high quality resource
Removed test log output from repo.
Removed the prefix MSFT_ from all files and folders of the composite resources in this module xFileUpload xGroupSet xProcessSet xServiceSet xWindowsFeatureSet xWindowsOptionalFeatureSet
xSystemSecurity 1.2.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.
Added xFileSystemAccessRule resource xDscDiagnostics 2.5.0.0 Added ability for New-xDscDiagnosticsZip to only collect the xDscDiagnosticsZipDataPoint collection you specify by data point or by group (called target).
collection you specify by data point or by group (called target). Added Get-xDscDiagnosticsZipDataPoint
Added ability for New-xDscDiagnosticsZip to collect IIS and HTTPErr logs xNetworking 2.12.0.0 Fixed bug in MSFT_xIPAddress resource when xIPAddress follows xVMSwitch.
Added the following resources: MSFT_xNetworkTeamInterface resource to add/remove network team interfaces
Added conditional loading of LocalizedData to MSFT_xHostsFile and MSFT_xNetworkTeam to prevent failures while loading those resources on systems with $PSUICulture other than en-US xStorage 2.7.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.
added test for existing file system and no drive letter assignment to allow simple drive letter assignment in MSFT_xDisk.psm1
added unit test for volume with existing partition and no drive letter assigned for MSFT_xDisk.psm1
xMountImage: Fixed mounting disk images on Windows 10 Anniversary Edition xWebAdministration 1.14.0.0 xWebApplication: Fixed bug when setting PhysicalPath and WebAppPool Changes to the application pool property are now applied correctly
How to Find Released DSC Resource Modules
To see a list of all released DSC Resource Kit modules, go to the PowerShell Gallery and display all modules tagged as DSCResourceKit. You can also enter a module’s name in the search box in the upper right corner of the PowerShell Gallery to find a specific module.
Of course, you can also always use PowerShellGet (available in WMF 5.0) to find modules with DSC Resources:
<span class="pl-c"># To list all modules that are part of the DSC Resource Kit</span> <span class="pl-c1">Find-Module</span> <span class="pl-k">-</span>Tag DSCResourceKit <span class="pl-c"># To list all DSC resources from all sources </span> <span class="pl-c1">Find-DscResource</span> 1 2 3 4 < span class = "pl-c" > # To list all modules that are part of the DSC Resource Kit</span> < span class = "pl-c1" > Find - Module < / span > < span class = "pl-k" > - < / span > Tag DSCResourceKit < span class = "pl-c" > # To list all DSC resources from all sources </span> < span class = "pl-c1" > Find - DscResource < / span >
To find a specific module, go directly to its URL on the PowerShell Gallery:
http://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/< module name >
For example:
http://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/xWebAdministration
How to Install DSC Resource Modules From the PowerShell Gallery
We recommend that you use PowerShellGet to install DSC resource modules:
<span class="pl-c1">Install-Module</span> <span class="pl-k">-</span>Name <span class="pl-k"><</span> module name <span class="pl-k">></span> 1 < span class = "pl-c1" > Install - Module < / span > < span class = "pl-k" > - < / span > Name < span class = "pl-k" > & lt ; < / span > module name < span class = "pl-k" > & gt ; < / span >
For example:
<span class="pl-c1">Install-Module</span> <span class="pl-k">-</span>Name xWebAdministration 1 < span class = "pl-c1" > Install - Module < / span > < span class = "pl-k" > - < / span > Name xWebAdministration
To update all previously installed modules at once, open an elevated PowerShell prompt and use this command:
<span class="pl-c1">Update-Module</span> 1 < span class = "pl-c1" > Update - Module < / span >
After installing modules, you can discover all DSC resources available to your local system with this command:
<span class="pl-c1">Get-DscResource</span> 1 < span class = "pl-c1" > Get - DscResource < / span >
How to Find DSC Resource Modules on GitHub
All resource modules in the DSC Resource Kit are available open-source on GitHub.
You can see the most recent state of a resource module by visiting its GitHub page at:
https://github.com/PowerShell/< module name >
For example, for the xCertificate module, go to:
https://github.com/PowerShell/xCertificate.
All DSC modules are also listed as submodules of the DscResources repository in the xDscResources folder.
How to Contribute
You are more than welcome to contribute to the development of the DSC Resource Kit! There are several different ways you can help. You can create new DSC resources or modules, add test automation, improve documentation, fix existing issues, or open new ones.
See our contributing guide for more info on how to become a DSC Resource Kit contributor.
If you would like to help, please take a look at the list of open issues for the DscResources repository.
You can also check issues for specific resource modules by going to:
https://github.com/PowerShell/< module name >/issues
For example:
https://github.com/PowerShell/xPSDesiredStateConfiguration/issues
Your help in developing the DSC Resource Kit is invaluable to us!
Questions, comments?
If you’re looking into using PowerShell DSC, have questions or issues with a current resource, or would like a new resource, let us know in the comments below, on Twitter (@PowerShell_Team), or by creating an issue on GitHub.
Katie Keim
Software Engineer
PowerShell Team
@katiedsc (Twitter)
@kwirkykat (GitHub)(Note: This story comes from the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting through a Creative Commons license. AZCIR is a nonprofit investigative newsroom.)
State laws allowed Arizona law enforcement agencies to seize nearly $200 million in personal property during the past five years – almost all of it cash – from people who may never be charged or convicted of a crime, but systemic gaps in oversight make it difficult to see how they spent much of that money.
Regulation of the program is inconsistent, and the reports designed to inform government officials about how and when the money is used are often missing data.
After analyzing more than 1,300 quarterly financial reports filed by agencies detailing seizures and expenditures from fiscal years 2011 through 2015, AZCIR found that the state commission tasked with compiling statewide civil asset forfeiture figures omitted roughly $20 million, or 16 percent of overall spending, from its reports.
Vague expenditure descriptions also keep the public in the dark about the program. Of what is reported, roughly half of the money spent went to pay police salaries and cover “other operating” expenses. While advocates argue this helps police departments deal with budget cuts, critics of the system say this creates a perverse set of incentives for both law enforcement agencies and the elected officials who set their budgets.
And when it comes to tracking what law enforcement agencies are seizing and from whom, virtually no data is available other than aggregate totals of the amounts seized.
AZCIR spent more than a year gathering and analyzing those quarterly reports.
Civil rights advocates say Arizona’s forfeiture laws are among the most lenient in the country, giving agencies broad authority to seize property with few rules on how to spend the proceeds. And those who challenge forfeitures must dispute their claims against the county attorneys who stand to benefit from the seizures.
In all, agencies spent more than $129 million on items from guns to surveillance equipment to the salaries of those seizing property between 2011 and 2015. In Pima County, the sheriff’s office used the funds to buy a plane and helicopter; in Cottonwood, the police department paid for food on the Fourth of July for on-call police and fire staff.
The seized funds augment the budgets of nearly 80 law enforcement agencies through a state program called civil asset forfeiture, which is designed to undercut the profits of drug kingpins and inhibit their ability to move products across the U.S. Commonly referred to as RICO in reference to the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, Arizona’s program is managed by the state’s 15 county attorneys and the Attorney General’s Office.
Seizures often begin during traffic stops, when law enforcement officers find large amounts of cash or drugs. Other times, law enforcement will seize money or property as part of a long-term criminal investigation.
Anything suspected of being used as part of the crime, including cash, is then fair game for seizure. Because property is forfeited through a civil case instead of a criminal case, prosecutors are only required to prove that it’s more likely than not that the property was related to the suspected crime. That is a much lower standard than it takes to convict the person of a crime.
The court costs alone can sometimes exceed the value of the property, and to get the property back, owners must prove their innocence. If they don’t win every aspect of their case, people can then be billed for the costs associated with the state investigating and prosecuting the case – a provision unique to Arizona.
“We have no problem with forfeiture against convicted criminals,” said Jenna Moll, deputy director of the U.S. Justice Action Network, a group of conservative and liberal criminal justice advocates that has pushed for nationwide forfeiture reform. “Our issue is when you’re applying that same standard to a completely innocent citizen who has never been brought into court, charges have never been filed and certainly the government hasn’t ever proven — beyond a reasonable doubt — criminal activity.”
Nearly 90 percent of Arizona’s seizure income from fiscal 2011 to 2015 was cash, sometimes in small amounts.
The one exception is Santa Cruz County, where agencies seized more than $5 million during the past five years. All but $90 came from auctioning forfeited property, such as cars and houses. Considering the total, along with the small population, the county also had the highest seizure rate – more than three times the state average.
Agencies in La Paz County, with a population of 20,500, seized $1.6 million over the past five years, the second highest rate in the state – $955,000 of that in 2015 alone.
The La Paz County Attorney’s Office declined to be interviewed for this story, and the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office didn’t respond to interview requests.
Generally, counties’ seizure value goes up and down from year to year. While statewide seizure income dropped by 14 percent between fiscal 2011 and 2015, some agencies saw significant increases.
Apache County, for instance, saw a dramatic increase in its forfeiture revenue. In fiscal 2011 and 2012, the county attorney reported $3,000 and $6,000, respectively. In 2013, seizures rose to $26,000. In 2015, seizures spiked to $250,000.
Similarly, the Mohave County Attorney’s office reported going from $109,000 seized in 2011 to $852,000 in 2015.
Lee Phillips, a Flagstaff-based forfeiture lawyer, said rural counties are more likely to rely on seized money because they have fewer resources than larger urban counties.
“They’ve all sort of caught on to the idea that, when you stop people and you seize their property … there’s a good chance they’re not going to make an effort to get it back,” he said.
Even Arizona’s attorney general, Mark Brnovich, has concerns about the lack of oversight and accountability in the state’s civil asset forfeiture system and the opportunities that creates for it to be abused.
“I know it is an effective tool for law enforcement. However, the potential for abuse or misuse is there,” he told the Casa Grande Dispatch in September 2015.
Brnovich declined to comment for this story.
The proceeds from forfeitures, law enforcement officials say, improve crime-prevention efforts at a time when budgets have been cut across the state. Funds sometimes pay for multi-agency task forces specifically designed for drug enforcement, and other times they pay for items that fall beyond the scope of what an agency budgets for in a given year. State law dictates that any program funded by seized assets must serve a law enforcement or drug-awareness purpose.
“(County officials) are not going to fund a narcotics unit for me. They can’t,” said Navajo County Sheriff K.C. Clark, whose office runs a drug task force that makes most of the county’s seizures and is funded in part by forfeiture funds. Without those funds, “It would be very hard to keep our drug task force, which means there would be no drug enforcement within Navajo County,” he said.
Incomplete and inconsistent
State law requires law enforcement agencies that take part in civil asset forfeiture to report their spending to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, a state-level regulatory body that manages and administers criminal justice programs. One of its duties is to compile quarterly and annual reports for government officials that detail, by agency, seizures and the resulting expenditures.
AZCIR’s analysis found that reports from nearly every agency were missing from ACJC’s statewide summaries during the past five years. Many of those omitted reports were, in fact, filed with ACJC, but after the filing deadline. As a result, they were not included in the statewide summaries.
To account for the remainder of the reports not included in ACJC’s summaries, AZCIR made public records requests to each department that was missing reports. Not all responded by the time of publication and some records had been purged.
The reports filed late with ACJC and the reports supplied by law enforcement agencies in response to those requests detailed the additional $20 million in spending during fiscal years 2011 to 2015 beyond what the commission reported in its summaries.
It is unclear why ACJC failed to include these reports. In some cases, ACJC’s records showed that it received the reports past the filing deadline. In other cases, the commission didn’t have record of ever receiving the reports. Officials from some of the agencies who responded to AZCIR’s public records requests said they submitted reports to their county attorneys and didn’t know why ACJC didn’t receive them.
If agencies don’t submit reports, their forfeiture accounts can be frozen by their respective county attorneys. None of the agencies that submitted their reports late — or failed to file them at all — faced repercussions, ACJC Executive Director Andrew LeFevre said.
“We really don’t have any oversight over RICO or any of those things,” LeFevre said. “We basically take the reports as they’re provided to us and compile them into the now-yearly reports as required by statute.”
ACJC doesn’t analyze the data to find errors in reporting or accounting unless the mistake is obvious, LeFevre said.
AZCIR’s analysis also found examples of money that seemingly disappeared: Funds transferred from one agency to another sometimes didn’t appear on the receiving agencies’ forms as a “transfer in,” making it unclear where that money ended up. There were also numerous cases of law enforcement agencies reporting thousands of dollars in unlabeled spending.
In other instances, money seemingly appeared out of thin air. For example, Navajo County officials reported six beginning quarterly balances with more money than the previous quarter’s ending balance, adding up to a $270,000 discrepancy.
Lynda Young, office manager for the Navajo County Attorney’s Office, said she couldn’t explain why the balances didn’t match, but blamed “the fact that it’s a manual form that gets updated” as the most likely reason for the discrepancies. She also noted that ACJC didn’t contact her office about it. Other numbers, including the revenue and spending for each quarter, were correct, Young said.
“It’s not as if we’re reporting completely off numbers,” she said. “It’s like, I’m within $20,000 on some things… We’d have to look at (it) transaction by transaction to see the differences there.”
Forfeiture reform advocate Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, said he wants to create a statewide database of all seizure cases, including the accompanying criminal case and more specific reporting on how the funds were used. He sponsored two bills in the 2016 legislative session to increase legislative oversight and add restrictions on RICO spending. Both bills failed.
Thorpe said he doesn’t believe there is “something sinister going on” with how police use civil asset forfeiture, but that use of the program “has evolved into something that wasn’t, I don’t believe, intended back in the 1980s when the laws were originally passed.”
LeFevre said that creating such a database would be difficult without additional funding for ACJC.
“We’re basically doing this without any resources provided to our agency to do the reporting, so it could potentially impact the ability of our agency to fulfill our other obligations,” LeFevre said. ACJC is tasked by law with monitoring and reporting on criminal justice programs, including the National Instant Criminal Background Check system and a crime database.
Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon said that efforts to reform the program may take away an invaluable tool that has helped stem the tide of drugs in his part of the state.
“People trade in drugs and human misery to make money,” said Carlyon, whose office oversees the county’s seizures and expenditures. “The way to really hit them hard with what they care about is to take away their profit.”
Salaries
Arizona is one of two states (along with Texas) that explicitly allow seizure income to fund officer salaries, according to an Institute for Justice report. Other states tacitly allow it, but data on how much is spent on paychecks is unavailable in those states, said Paul Avelar, an Institute for Justice lawyer.
“The profit incentive, we think, is probably most acutely felt when forfeitures are used immediately to pay for salaries,” Avelar said. “Because if your job depends on forfeiture, you’re going to be aggressive with forfeiture.”
Employee pay is listed by ACJC in a category labeled “admin expenses.” The AZCIR analysis found that Arizona agencies spent $25.2 million, or one-fifth of all spending, on salaries, benefits and overtime during the past five years. Less than half the participating agencies spent seized funds directly on employees.
The Phoenix Police Department, for example, spent $5.7 million on salaries and overtime. The Pima County Attorney’s Office reported spending $1.7 million on employee pay.
The Attorney General’s Office spent more on personnel than any other agency at $6.4 million, which funded 50 positions, according to an August 2016 budget proposal document provided to AZCIR. The request asks for the Legislature to replace the funding for these positions with state general funds starting in 2018, citing a decline in seizure revenue.
Amelia Cramer, Pima County’s deputy county attorney, said seized funds only pay for salaries of community program workers. These programs, including one designed to reduce juvenile offender recidivism, save taxpayer dollars on criminal justice costs, she said.
“We have a special unit that deals with forfeitures — that’s all they do, and they’re physically located on a separate floor away from the people whose salaries are paid by those funds,” Cramer said. “We don’t want there to be an inappropriate incentive for law enforcement, or for our attorneys who assist law enforcement with seizures.”
‘Other operating’ and equipment
Similar to “admin expenses,” the other nine spending categories on the ACJC reports are imprecise, offering agencies broad leeway to classify their expenses.
The largest category of spending is also the most obscure: “other operating,” a catch-all that includes everything from “evidence acquisition” to training to utility bills. It covers $43.7 million, or one-third of all spending.
The Gila River Police Department spent all of its $58,640 during the past five years in this category. The money was used for software, confidential informants and a law enforcement conference, according to the more detailed agency reports.
Almost all of South Tucson Police Department’s reported expenditures were for “other operating” costs. The reports show that the department spent $227,000 on services including vehicle maintenance and x-rays, but because ACJC’s reports are missing information from South Tucson in seven of the 20 quarters analyzed, it’s impossible to know exactly how much seized money the department spent and on what.
It’s unclear whether the department didn’t file reports in those quarters or if ACJC failed to include them in its reporting. The department didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
Arizona agencies also used seized money to buy $38.8 million in equipment.
The Glendale Police Department spent the most of any agency on equipment, $6.9 million, much of it on “data processing” and surveillance technology. Some of that money was also spent on sniper rifle scopes and Tasers.
“My vision for the future use of RICO funds is to help enhance and support community education on the negative impacts of drug use on individuals, families, and the community as a whole,” Glendale Police Department Chief Rick St. John said in an emailed statement.
The vast majority of the Sierra Vista Police Department’s purchases were for equipment, including $21,500 for a canine and its training, as well as $75,000 that was combined with federal forfeiture funds to buy a $277,000 LENCO Bearcat Tactical Vehicle. Police Chief Adam Thrasher said these were purchases the department wanted to make for years, but couldn’t because the city council hadn’t provided the funds.
“Our philosophy and the direction that we give our department is that RICO is an extra,” Thrasher said. “It is not the primary reason for conducting any investigation.”
Steve Gesell, chief of the Cottonwood Police Department, said communities often receive the benefit of these funds through enhanced police capabilities as funding from the city, county and state was reduced. Because every seizure must be approved by a judge and every expenditure has to go through a county attorney, Gesell said the checks and balances are sufficient to keep the vast majority of agencies from abusing the program.
“(Media reports) make it sound like it’s a free-for-all, where we have unilateral authority to seize and then expend the proceeds from seized assets, which is clearly not the case,” he said.
But Avelar said these measures aren’t enough to prevent abuse. State law isn’t clear about the role that county attorney’s offices have in overseeing the program, and, as a result, their involvement varies from county to county, he said.
“What you ought to have is one branch of government serve as a check on a different branch of government,” Avelar said. “That is certainly not the case in Arizona.”
Donations
Seized funds were also donated to a variety of outside groups, from schools to drug awareness organizations to a fallen officer memorial in Washington, D.C. Pinal County and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office account for more than half of the $5.7 million in donations from Arizona forfeiture funds from fiscal 2011 to 2015.
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Amanda Jacinto said in an email that the funds are used to support afterschool programs and assist crime victims.
“As the third largest county attorney’s office in the nation, it makes sense that we have awarded more grant money toward these community programs than other offices in the state, and we are proud of the work we have helped to accomplish in our communities,” Jacinto said in the email.
But reform advocates questioned whether some of the donations made by Arizona agencies were legitimate, particularly Pinal County’s donations to the Arizona Public Safety Foundation, which has drawn scrutiny from the American Civil Liberties Union and the FBI.
The county is facing an ACLU lawsuit over its forfeiture practices, and the group has accused the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office of using the foundation to funnel seized money back to the sheriff’s office without any oversight, according to its July 2015 complaint. The foundation is run by current and former PCSO employees and, until recently, listed the same address as the sheriff’s office.
In the reports analyzed by AZCIR, Pinal County donated more than $650,000 to the foundation. The group’s mission is to support first responders by connecting them with donors and purchasing equipment that isn’t budgeted, according to its website.
The Pinal County Attorney’s Office, which manages the county’s forfeiture account, declined to comment on its donations to the foundation because of the ongoing lawsuit. In September, the county received a subpoena from the FBI regarding the foundation donations, according to Pinal County spokesman Joe Pyritz.
Uphill battle
The ACLU’s suit alleges that Arizona’s forfeiture system creates too many conflicts of interest because prosecutors have significant power in determining whether to return property, even though they would benefit from seizing it.
The lawsuit centers on the county’s seizure of a woman’s truck, which was allegedly used to transport drugs by her son. When the woman, Rhonda Cox, tried to fight for the return of her seized vehicle, she contended that Pinal County officials threatened her with their legal fees if she lost the case, according to court documents.
Under Arizona law, a property owner can be required to pay “the state’s costs and expenses of the investigation and prosecution … including reasonable attorney fees” if the owner “fails to establish that his entire interest is exempt from forfeiture.”
The only other state with a similar provision is Illinois.
Property owners in Arizona can only charge the state for attorney fees if they succeed in their case, and they can prove that law enforcement should never have tried to seize the property in the first place.
Navajo County is fighting its own legal battle over its use of forfeiture laws after the Institute for Justice, a libertarian advocacy group, filed suit in October.
Avelar, the Institute for Justice lawyer, is representing Terry and Ria Platt, an elderly couple from rural Washington who said the process for reclaiming their seized Volkswagen sedan was stacked against them. County officials discounted the couple’s claim document after they didn’t write “under penalty of perjury” next to their signatures, court records show. The car has since been returned to the couple.
“They pretend to be stopping criminals, but actually it’s criminals stopping innocent people,” said Terry Platt. His son was arrested but hasn’t been charged.In 1996, a life changing event happened. Less than a mile from her house, Ashley stopped a red light. Nothing out of the ordinary. A heavy truck, traveling between 45-50mph, driven by a distracted driver, slammed into her from behind. The impact severed her spine, and thus, a quadriplegic.
Her life would never be the same.
It is shocking, to say the least, when someone goes through a horrific accident, the people that come out of the woodwork to get a piece of the impending settlement. This is not a reference to personal injury attorneys and insurance companies. I’m taking about family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers. They call personal injury attorneys sharks. They are guppies compared to how family and friends behave.
Fortunately, Ashley’s husband was able to shield her from much of the drama, he interviewed and hired a solid personal injury attorney to take his wife’s case. The only fortunate aspect to the accident was that it happened in California. In the state of California, there is no cap on the liability the defendant is responsible for as long as the defendant is a public entity. The truck that struck Ashley was part of the truck fleet of the local public school district. Because of this, and the extent of Ashley’s injuries, the judgment in a trial case would be huge if it went to trial. This gave them significant leverage to get a great settlement without going to trial.
Using the attorney they hired, and keeping friends and family at arm’s length through the difficult process, a settlement was reached. They wanted a fair settlement with a compensation level which was absolutely fair. In the research that he did, Ashley’s husband was able not only get a settlement which |
basically creating single payer for sick people," the GOP aide told me, saying that Republicans' support is growing because people with pre-existing conditions can still get exchange plans.
The problem: "If there were hearings, everyone would have a lot more information about Cruz. Right now, Cruz is the only seller of the amendment and he's the only one with information about the amendment," said one well-connected GOP lobbyist, who said Cruz's sales pitch seems to be convincing members to support his idea.
What insurers and experts are saying:
America's Health Insurance Plans: "Patients with pre-existing conditions … would potentially lose access to comprehensive coverage and/or have plans that were far more expensive."
"Patients with pre-existing conditions … would potentially lose access to comprehensive coverage and/or have plans that were far more expensive." Scott Serota, president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: "The 'Consumer Freedom Option' is unworkable as it would undermine pre-existing condition protections, increase premiums and destabilize the market."
"The 'Consumer Freedom Option' is unworkable as it would undermine pre-existing condition protections, increase premiums and destabilize the market." Kaiser Family Foundation: 1.5 million people with pre-existing conditions could have higher premiums under the Cruz amendment.
Yes, but: The conservative groups love it, as it addresses the ACA regulations that weren't fully addressed in the previous version of the bill. They believe those regulations are driving up the cost of insurance. Stripping the provision could lose these groups' support.
And Michael Cannon of the libertarian Cato Institute says the provision "would make access to healthcare more secure for patients who develop expensive conditions" — because it would free insurers to introduce a wider variety of health plans and make them less likely to leave the markets.Image caption The bill will repeal the 1972 European Communities Act
The UK government's plans for a Brexit "Great Repeal Bill" are likely to end in a "constitutional bust-up", a legal expert has predicted.
Prof Jo Shaw, the Salvesen Chair of European Institutions at Edinburgh University Law School, said some form of confrontation between the UK and Scottish governments over the proposal was inevitable.
The bill, announced by Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday, will repeal the European Communities Act and enshrine all existing EU law into British law.
It would ensure that there would not be any gaps in legislation once the UK left the EU.
But Scotland's Brexit minister Mike Russell has warned the Scottish Parliament might seek to block it if Scotland's interests were not represented in negotiations.
Under the "Sewel convention" the UK Parliament will not normally legislate for devolved matters without the consent of the devolved legislature affected.
Speaking on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, Prof Shaw said there were two strands to the issue: legality and legitimacy.
"The legal reality, as I'm quite sure Mike Russell knows, is that the UK Parliament remains sovereign within the British system as it exists.
"So consequently a piece of subsequent legislation from Westminster which overrode or repealed or changed part of the Scottish devolution legislation would of course take priority," she said.
"Legally I have to say I think the UK government holds most of the cards. In legitimacy terms, one could point to the Scottish government having a pretty good hand to play."
Image caption The bill will ensure that there are no gaps in legislation once the UK leaves the EU
Prof Shaw said she was sure politicians on both sides of the border were "perfectly aware" the bill would be "very, very confrontational".
"It isn't a particularly consent-based approach, it isn't a particularly collaborative approach," she told the BBC.
"We've seen statements about collaboration that Mrs May made right at the beginning of her premiership have largely gone away now. She's said things like, 'well, Scotland can have its say but ultimately we drive the process here in London.'"
But she said the fact that the UK Parliament could "railroad" legislation through demonstrated the "limits of devolution".
A principle of Westminster parliamentary sovereignty is that no parliament can bind its successors.
"There may have been one parliament that enshrined the legislative consent motion into the Scotland Act 2016.
"The next parliament can then enact this measure that we're talking about today and the effect of that could be to impliedly repeal parts of the devolution settlement."Miley Cyrus‘ Saturday Night Live appearance as host and music act last weekend attracted a crowd of 6.7 million and a 2.7 rating in the demo. Those are good numbers — just not the stats you might have expected based on the media, and social media, hyperventilation about her double-threat SNL appearance. It’s the NBC late-night show’s biggest crowd since March 9 — about seven months ago. On that date, Justin Timberlake had also played host and music act, and clocked a noticeably bigger 8.4 million viewers and a 3.4 rating — and did it without having just swung around nude on a wrecking ball, licked hammers, and twerked the stripes off of Robin Thicke at the VMAs, as had Miley.
Related: Miley Cyrus’ Twerktastic VMA Performance Tops Weekly Ratings
Cyrus was handicapped by a 27-minute SNL start-time delay, caused by a college football overrun. Twenty-seven minutes is an eternity in late-night, when a show’s biggest competition is Going To Sleep. Despite this super-late start, Miley’s SNL episode scored the show’s top 18-49 rating for a fourth-quarter telecast since December 11, 2010, when Paul Rudd hosted and Paul McCartney performed. Their SNL broadcast did better than Miley’s in the demo, logging a 2.7 rating — and here, too, like Timberlake, the men did it without stripping, licking, or twerking.
Boilerplate “SNL was the night’s No. 1 telecast in 18-49, topping all primetime programming on all networks” sentence goes here.
Related: ‘SNL’ Twerks Miley And Federal ShutdownVfB Stuttgart’s decision to extend the contract of coach Bruno Labbadia until 2015 after a run of three straight defeats (now four) seemed to be met with, at best, resigned acceptance by fans of the Schwaben. And that despite the man from Darmstadt achieving a Hinrunde points total that VfB haven’t bettered since the title-winning 2006/07 season, a place in the last 32 of the Europa League and a promising DFB Pokal quarter-final against second-division VfL Bochum. So I decided to dig a little deeper and try to square the views of one of the more vocal anti-Labbadistas with my own neutral viewpoint.
46-year-old Labbadia joined the likes of Thomas Doll and Giovanni Trapattoni when he famously lost his temper at perceived unfair criticism in an October press conference. So what is this criticism based on, and is it fair or not?
Let’s start with Labbadia the man. And no, I’m not referring to any off-pitch superinjunction-inviting rumours from previous jobs, but simply his media personality. That press conference blow-up was really the nadir of a character trait that has bothered fans for some time – a victim mentality. That’s not to say his feelings are without reason, but there’s little doubt Labbadia (consciously or not) also shifts the blame as a defence mechanism. He likes to claim that he is constricted by a lack of financial clout, a small squad, unrealistic expectations and a lack of appreciation for his work from the fans in the stadium. How fair is this? Well it might be true that the surprise title win six years ago raised some people’s expectations for the future to unsustainable levels, the first-team squad does lack the depth to maintain a strong challenge on three fronts, and in money terms the club of course cannot compete with the very best.
Nevertheless, after two years in charge, even in the continental system whereby he does not have full control over transfers, a coach has to take responsibility for the quality of the squad he has built. Given that the club has a top-six wage bill and has given out €14 million in transfer fees since Labbadia’s arrival, it also seems unjustifiable to complain about a lack of financial support. On the other hand, selling players like Christian Träsch and Bernd Leno boosted the club’s coffers to the point that Labbadia has actually brought in €15.9 million more than he has spent. What’s more, he took over a club in the relegation zone mid-season and led them to safety, followed by a Europa League place the following year and, as previously stated, an acceptable first half of the current campaign. In the aforementioned press conference, Labbadia apparently threatened to walk away if he wasn’t treated better. Now that he’s decided to stay, he has to start proving his worth and winning over his critics.
What does that involve? Well, even in modern football, the media circus is a sideshow, so it really comes down to Labbadia the coach. As a starting point, let’s take a quote from that now-legendary rant – “As a normal Bundesliga coach, you have to ask yourself these days: do I go down a difficult road, as VfB Stuttgart has to do – do I go along with that, or do I say ‘Screw you!’?” One of the criticisms levelled at Labbadia by fans is that he has in fact taken the easy road in terms of both tactics and selection. With regard to the second point, the words he used in German, “einen schweren Weg”, are also significant.
The Stuttgarter Weg is an abstract phenomenon, but one that is part of the club’s tradition and promotes the use of the club’s young talent (Stuttgart is known for the quality of its youth system: alumni include internationals Timo Hildebrand, Sami Khedira, Mario Gómez and Serdar Tasci), but Labbadia (as he did at HSV and Leverkusen) seems to have gone a different “Weg” – to the annoyance of supporters. Indeed, that reaction from the boss was instigated by fans calling for his head after he subbed off 19-year-old Raphael Holzhauser against Bayer Leverkusen. Holzhauser and Antonio Rüdiger (also 19) are two who have seen some playing time, and Gōtoku Sakai (21) is a regular, but the feeling in the stands is that they have made the breakthrough either due to overwhelming fan and media pressure or because they were the last available option – “The boys aren’t ready yet” has become Labbadia’s catchphrase, and the likes of Kevin Stöger and Sami’s brother Rani Khedira are yet to see Bundesliga action.
The argument in favour of Labbadia’s selection policy is the rather unusual make-up of the squad generally: Tamás Hajnal and Cacau are the only first-team players over 30, and perhaps the coach feels bringing in genuine youth alongside this group of twenty-somethings would mean too little experience on the pitch and might even be damaging to the long-term prospects of the potential future stars, as well as the team’s current form. On the other hand, a group aged 24–29 should be at its peak, and if they aren’t impressing on the pitch, why not give youth a chance? The fact that the club’s reserve side have held their own in division three for the last four seasons and the under-19s and under-17s sit second and fourth in their respective leagues suggests the quality is there.
But Labbadia has also faced negative reactions to the way he uses the players he does select – again, the criticism is probably over the top, but not without reason.
While Bayern dominate the Bundesliga with penetrative possession play and the league’s surprise success stories base their strategy on disciplined pressing and quick transitions, Stuttgart have often looked slow in their build-up when they play through midfield. At a basic level, Stuttgart look to play a passing game, but lack the quality to implement it when they are put under pressure. This often leads to the ball ending up at the feet of their less talented passers, such as Georg Niedermeier, who simply look to get rid of it – admittedly the difference from team to team is small, but only relegation-favourites Greuther Fürth have played a higher percentage of long balls than VfB this season.
And although Labbadia has been open to tactical alterations, this often hasn’t been enough to outwit his opponents. Mirko Slomka turned a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 victory for his Hannover side by moving to a 4-1-3-2 and decreasing the time Stuttgart’s midfield three got on the ball, and VfB also threw away leads against Mainz, Leverkusen and Bayern in the Hinrunde. It would certainly appear that this difficulty in holding onto leads is down to tactics rather than stamina, as fitness is one area where Labbadia’s side cannot be criticised: despite regularly playing Europa League matches on Thursdays, Stuttgart covered more distance in “intensive” runs than their league opponents in 18 of their 20 matches so far this season, and ran further overall in 14 of those. Unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are expending their energy effectively: Christian Streich’s Freiburg are renowned for energetic pressing to stifle their opponents – VfB nevertheless outran them in every area, but were easily beaten 3-0. On the other hand, they were bested by Dortmund in terms of ground covered, but managed a surprise goalless draw against the champions.
Thankfully there does seem to be a middle ground that could both placate fans of exciting football and bring positive results. On the occasions when VfB have used the width of the pitch and got direct but targeted passes to the flanks, followed by quick service to their danger man Vedad Ibišević, they have caused teams problems. Victories against Schalke and Gladbach can be put in this category, which is by no means tiki-taka, but is at least dynamic and effective. There’s no doubt that VfB haven’t managed results like that often enough this season, and four defeats on the bounce is always cause for concern. But before we move on, let’s reiterate the bare facts: Stuttgart remain (despite underwhelming performances) involved in European competition, in the German Cup with an excellent opportunity to reach the semi-finals, and, despite their poor start to the Rückrunde, still only four points off reaching a Europa League place again.
Criticism of Labbadia is therefore only partially justified, but there is a more general and arguably more important aspect to consider. The club’s management have made many mistakes since the famous Meisterschaft of 2007, and to this day there are complaints from fans about a lack of direction among those at the top of the club’s hierarchy. A combination of panic buys and ill-advised contract extensions have led to the current imbalanced squad, which is arguably performing at around the right level for its quality, but is a long way from title-winning aspirations – or even the achievements of the mid-1990s “magic triangle” that included today’s sporting director Fredi Bobic.
In that respect, January was mixed: on the one hand a new contract for the ageing and underperforming Hajnal is hard to comprehend, and the arrivals of Tunay Torun and Felipe Lopes are unlikely to power the team up the table. On the other, while he has struggled for form this season, the summer capture of Fürth’s Sercan Sararer looks deft, and bringing in Federico Macheda on loan is relatively risk-free and may provide the edge up front that is sorely missing whenever top scorer Ibišević is unavailable. Then there is the signing of forward Alexandru Maxim from Romanian side Pandurii Targu Jiu. If he can contribute this season, he could prove a bargain. But at 22 years old, with a transfer fee of €1.5 million and a reported €1.2 million salary, if Labbadia suggests “the boy isn’t ready yet”, Stuttgart fans will be tearing their hair out.
So does the Stuttgart board’s decision to give Labbadia more time fall into the “ill-advised” category, or is it the beginning of a long-term strategy that could signal a return to the glory days? Two years ago Labbadia restored stability to a side that was at genuine risk of relegation, but signs of development have stalled in the meantime and there is a risk of complacency setting in. And yet, with so many clubs clearly suffering from a lack of continuity, his performance has hardly represented grounds for removal, and anything other than a vote of confidence now would have seemed an odd decision. And that is where the two sides meet – the fan who has seen his team drift up and down over many years, can analyse every error and master stroke, and feels the accompanying frustration; and the neutral who sees a team performing adequately and laying the foundations to continue that work, and perhaps make a gradual further improvement. And in football, both viewpoints can simultaneously be entirely correct.
Thanks to @Jens1893 for the forthright opinions!
Sources: wallstreetjournal.de, transfermarkt.de, whoscored.com, Bundesliga.de.When Blizzard Entertainment announced in 2011 that it was working on a multiplayer online battle arena game featuring some of its classic characters as well as favorites from the “StarCraft,” “Warcraft” and “Diablo” universes, fans were thrilled. These characters are beloved by Blizzard fans, they have lore attached to them, and so far no other multiplayer online battle game had used characters from other games, as they are all owned by the same developers.
After being renamed twice, “Heroes of the Storm” went into alpha testing on March 13, 2014, and was officially released to the public on June 2, 2015, quickly gaining a worldwide competitive eSports scene as well as more casual players -- but not everyone was happy.
As Blizzard’s first official foray into the “MOBA” genre, which includes extremely popular titles like “DotA 2” and “League of Legends,” many gamers doubted that the company, a subsidiary of California-based Activision Blizzard, could create a balanced and well-rounded game.
Photo: Blizzard Entertainment
The biggest issue for many players (mainly those complaining about it on Reddit) is the way competitive mode, known as Hero League, is set out, and the fact that players’ matchmaking rating (MMR) is not shown in-game. Players often head to the website HOTS Logs to see how they stack up against others, but the rating is not always accurate.
One of the most annoying things for many players is that their criticism and suggestions seem to go unanswered by Blizzard, with the issues persisting and no end in sight.
To try to get answers to some of these questions, International Business Times called Blizzard Entertainment CEO and co-founder Michael Morhaime to talk about “Heroes of the Storm” and eSports.
Photo: Blizzard Entertainment
IBTimes: You mentioned that your favorite character to play at the moment is Valla because you like the range; can you expand on that?
Morhaime: As a ranged assassin, Valla can bring a lot of power to a team fight. In addition to delivering meaningful damage from a distance, she’s also able to adapt to a wide range of situations and team compositions. I also enjoy abilities like Strafe and Vault, which make her very mobile and help her to get out of difficult situations.
IBT: Does Blizzard have any plans to create its own “Heroes of the Storm” league for teams to play in -- like WCS for "StarCraft" or the LCS for "League of Legends?"
Morhaime: We are currently in the middle of the Road to BlizzCon global tournament series. Our first-ever regional championships on the Road to BlizzCon are just about to get under way, with the Americas Championship occurring in Las Vegas Sept. 19-20. Earlier in the year we held Heroes of the Dorm, our first collegiate tournament, which was broadcast live on ESPN2. We look forward to announcing our future tournament plans in the coming months.
IBT: A lot of people have been talking about a trademark Blizzard filed called Compete. What is this, and how will it benefit the “Heroes of the Storm” community?
Morhaime: Compete is an online competition platform run by TeSPA [a network of eSports organizations] and it provides student competitors with a powerful but simple-to-use platform to organize their own online competitions. The system supports one-off tournaments in addition to complex league structures that last entire seasons.
TeSPA is a leader is the college gaming space, and we’re looking forward to helping them continue to build out the Compete platform. It’s great tool with a lot of potential to help cultivate local chapters and competitions for college eSports across the country.
IBT: You mentioned that Blizzard sees 2015 as the “foundational year" in terms of eSports, with announcements on structure and things to come later this year. Can you expand on that?
Morhaime: We have a dedicated eSports team who are hard at work on what 2016 looks like for Heroes eSports, as well as our other franchises, but we aren’t ready to announce anything yet. We think "Heroes of the Storm" has a very bright future for eSports.
Heroes just launched this year, and our Road to BlizzCon tournament series is a great fit for the game right now, but our plans will continue to evolve as the scene develops and the competition unfolds.
Photo: Blizzard Entertainment
IBT: A number of fans have asked whether Blizzard plans to introduce male/female skins for some characters, like the monk Kharazim. Is this on your radar at all?
Morhaime: This idea is definitely on our radar. As one of our developers recently mentioned in a Reddit Q&A, there are still some production-related challenges we need resolve first before we’d be able to implement a feature like that, but we think it’s a cool idea.
IBT: Can you explain Grandmaster rank and the thoughts behind that for us?
Morhaime: We want to provide a better way to recognize the very best players in every region. While it takes a lot of skill to reach Rank 1, we got a lot of feedback that players would like more information on exactly where they stand compared to other high-end competitors.
Photo: Blizzard Entertainment
With this upcoming addition, our top players will be assigned a Grandmaster rank and will appear on a leaderboard that shows the exact position of where they place among others at their skill level.
IBT: Are there any plans for a separate rank for players that prefer to solo queue?
Morhaime: A big area that we need to work on is matchmaking in general, making sure the matches that you get are more balanced. We’ve heard this feedback and the developers are actively discussing it, but we don’t have any plans to share right now.
[UPDATE: Blizzard announced on Wednesday that it is reducing Hero League parties to only solo queue and duo queue players after hearing feedback from the "Heroes of the Storm" community. This will be implemented with the next game update.]
IBT: Any plans to bring the MMR stats public? Or is Blizzard hoping the recent changes to matchmaking will satisfy players?
Morhaime: Our new ranking system calculates a rank based on the player’s MMR, and our goal is to make it so players can look at that rank to determine their standing relative to other players.
That said, we’re still refining the system. We recently revamped Hero and Team leagues, and we’re gathering the community’s feedback on these changes and will continue to make improvements as necessary.
We do know that some players would be interested in seeing their MMR number, and it’s something we’re discussing internally, but we don’t have any plans to make that visible right now.
Photo: Blizzard Entertainment
In a follow-up with Game Director Dustin Browder about the "Eternal Conflict" campaign, he mentioned that Blizzard is looking to bring "Warcraft" and "StarCraft" campaigns into "Heroes of the Storm," which would see new maps, characters and mounts from those franchises. How long will each campaign last?
"We don't know how long future events will run and are open to player feedback on how long they should be," said Browder.
How long do you think campaigns should last, and what characters or maps would you like to see? Did any of Morhaime's answers surprise you? Is there anything else you would like to know? Let us know in the comments below.I'm a big fan of JerryRigEverything's YouTube channel, where he puts gadgets, including smartphones, through plenty of torture tests to see just how tough they are. For phones, that includes scratching and burning and bending them. The BlackBerry KEYone did well on the scratch tests, and recovered from the burn test in satisfactory time, but when it came to the bend test it didn't fare as well, with the screen popping out of the chassis quite easily. A further tear down revealed a lack of adhesive holding the display firmly in place. I'm pretty sure the folks at BlackBerry Mobile must be aware of this, so I expect we should hear something from them addressing this in the near future.
We've seen a handful of reports in CrackBerry's KEYone forums where KEYone owners have relayed their devices suffering a similar fate - where drops have popped up the display up. On the other hand, I've also seen the KEYone take a helluva beating and keep on ticking without issue. It's really been a solid device in everyday use. After months of using and abusing my KEYone, I've dropped it and sat on it and beat it up now a LOT without any issues (it even saved my face one night when I tripped in a hotel room and I smashed it into the bedside table with the momentum of 200lbs of drunk CBK behind it). Beyond my main KEYone, I've also had many more come through my hands as we've held the CrackBerry Meetup Tours which have held up well and are still pristine.
BlackBerry KEYone's have been precious to come by, so I haven't been in a rush to do the classic BlackBerry drop test yet, but given the attention and questions users are having around the KEYone's durability, tomorrow I'm going to put the KEYone through some real world durability testing (since that's where use the phones). I have a brand new KEYone to use for it (Rogers retail unit) and for good measure I'll put the real world testing side by side to a Galaxy S8+ and iPhone 7 Plus to see how they measure up.
If you have any ideas for real world abuse you'd like to see the KEYone take in the video, let me know and I'll see if I can make it happen.A recently published article by The Register claims that an increase in encrypted BitTorrent traffic is due to the fact that people want to hide or scramble the files they are sharing. Apparently some tech journalists, and in particular the anti-piracy organizations, have no clue what BitTorrent encryption actually does.
Encrypted BitTorrent traffic now accounts for 40% of all BitTorrent traffic in the UK according to the article. The Register claims that filesharers use encryption to scramble their data so they can protect themselves from being caught, and the comments from a music industry representative make it seem like people can indeed hide what they are sharing. Unfortunately, none of it is true
This is what Matt Phillips, of the record industry trade association the British Phonographic Institute told the Register: “Our internet investigations team, internet service providers and the police are well aware of encryption technology: it’s been around for a long time and is commonplace in other areas of internet crime. It should come as no surprise that if people think they can hide illegal activity they will attempt to.”
So if it’s not hiding anything, why do people use BitTorrent encryption then?
I’ll try to explain it once more to the BPI, IFPI and RIAA and some tech journalists, just so they don’t embarrass themselves again in the future. BitTorrent encryption has nothing to do with hiding the data you’re sharing, it only hides the fact that you’re using BitTorrent to do so.
Encryption was designed to prevent ISPs from throttling BitTorrent traffic, which they started doing approximately 2 years ago. ISPs use so called traffic shaping devices to identify and slow down BitTorrent traffic because it takes up a lot of bandwidth (read: costs a lot of money). BitTorrent encryption, which is now supported by all the popular BitTorrent clients, hides the protocol header. As a result, these devices can’t detect that someone is using BitTorrent and you can download at full speed.
So, encryption does not hide the actual data people are sharing, everyone can still connect to a BitTorrent swarm, record your IP-address, and send you an infringement notice.
Now back to the claim that 40% of the BitTorrent traffic is encrypted in the UK. My first question would be, how do they know that it’s BitTorrent traffic if it’s encrypted? Apart from that I think 40% is a little too high, unless the ISP that reported the data is throttling BitTorrent traffic of course. We’ve been tracking the number of people who actually use encryption and it is currently slightly below 10%. It could be of course that these people are responsible for 40% of the traffic, but I seriously doubt that.
Bottom line is, anti-piracy organizations should take some time to read up on what filesharing actually is before they are going to accuse people of something, but I guess that’s wishful thinking.The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. understands that having a beloved product discontinued can be frustrating, and searching for a replacement can be daunting and time consuming.
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Our team will search high and low for a discontinued product, and if we find it, you may purchase up to six pieces depending upon availability. Please keep in mind that a search can only be done for products in a participating brand’s regular product line, not seasonal, promotional or limited-edition items. The following brands participate: Aramis, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and bumble, Clinique, Darphin, DKNY Fragrances, Donna Karan Cosmetics, Estée Lauder, GLAMGLOW, Jo Malone London, Lab Series, La Mer, M·A·C, Michael Kors Beauty, Origins, Tommy Hilfiger Toiletries and Tom Ford Beauty. The Gone But Not Forgotten program is available to consumers within the United States.
To initiate a search for a product no longer available, please email [email protected] -- Do Central New York residents and business executives support the idea of a high-speed rail line across Upstate New York?
That's one of the questions U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei wants to answer as part of a broad survey his office will begin circulating today about the roads, bridges, rails, ports, pipelines and other infrastructure that supports Central New York.
The online survey is part of an initiative Maffei launched this year with a series of meetings to find about the challenges facing infrastructure in Central New York and to solicit ideas about how to improve those assets.
Two questions in the survey ask for suggestions about the best option to replace the elevated portion of Interstate 81 in downtown Syracuse.
A section on passenger rail asks, "How important do you think access to high-speed rail is for the Central New York economy?"
The survey begins as state and federal officials prepare to hold a public hearing in Syracuse on Wednesday, asking for feedback on a proposed high-speed rail line that would pass through Syracuse and stretch 463 miles from Niagara Falls to New York City. Officials are considering five options for the high-speed rail line that would cost $1.7 billion to $6.2 billion.
The public hearing on the proposal will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at NBT Bank Stadium, 1 Tex Simone Drive, Syracuse. Under the plan, passenger rail service on Amtrak would be improved to allow trains to reach top speeds from 79 mph to 125 mph, depending on the option selected.
Maffei has been a longtime supporter of the high-speed rail project, saying it carries the potential to transform the Upstate economy in a way not seen since the building of the Erie Canal.
"In order for our local businesses to grow, hire new workers, and create more jobs, they need 21st Century infrastructure and transportation options," Maffei said in a statement today. "We need to make smart investments in infrastructure so our businesses can compete, talented professionals can market their skills to the world, and Central New York can become an even more attractive place for companies to invest and grow their workforce."
Upstate New York is one of 11 federally-designated corridors for high-speed rail, making the project eligible for billions of dollars in federal aid. The aid includes $18.5 million to upgrade the Syracuse Amtrak station for high-speed trains, a project likely to start next year.
Contact Mark Weiner at [email protected] or 571-970-3751. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWeinerDCShow full PR text
AT&T Announces the World's Most Powerful Smartphone, the Motorola ATRIX 4G, Will Be Available for Preorder on Feb. 13
Unique line of Accessories, Including the Motorola Laptop Dock, Available with Bundled Pricing
DALLAS, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
Key Facts
* AT&T* begins pre-sales for Motorola ATRIX™ 4G on Feb. 13
* Motorola ATRIX 4G, powered by the Android 2.2 platform, available exclusively for AT&T customers for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement.
* Motorola ATRIX 4G is expected to be available from AT&T and select retail channels for customers by March 6 or earlier.
* AT&T will offer bundled pricing for the Motorola ATRIX 4G and the Motorola Laptop Dock.
4G Portfolio
AT&T is the leader in smartphones, and expects to widen that lead in 2011. In January, AT&T committed to an industry-leading Android portfolio in the U.S. in 2011 and said it plans to offer two 4G smartphones in the first quarter. An industry first, the Motorola ATRIX 4G is the leading edge of more than 20 advanced, 4G devices AT&T plans to deliver in 2011. AT&T has completed the deployment of HSPA+ to virtually 100 percent of its mobile broadband network, which enables 4G speeds when combined with enhanced backhaul.
Motorola ATRIX™ 4G
The Motorola ATRIX™ 4G Android 2.2 smartphone will be offered exclusively by AT&T and is the world's most powerful smartphone. Featuring a 2x1 GHz dual-core processor for a total of 2 GHz of processing power, a unique webtop application, the world's first qHD display, and Adobe flash player, the, ATRIX 4G delivers a remarkable combination of application processing power with 4G speed capability and a high-resolution qHD display, a first for the industry.
It will be complemented by breakthrough accessories that include a revolutionary, super-thin Motorola Laptop Dock -- for which ATRIX 4G is the "engine" -- and the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock that uses ATRIX 4G's HDMI video output capabilities and processing power to enable a revolutionary browsing, application and media experience.
AT&T will offer two special packages for customers who choose to purchase ATRIX 4G in addition to these unique accessories. The first combines ATRIX 4G and the Motorola Laptop Dock for a promotional price of $499.99 after a two-year service contract and $100 mail-in-rebate after subscription to Data Pro smartphone data plan and tethering add on. Customers who choose to purchase the Motorola Laptop Dock separately pay $499.99. AT&T is also offering an Entertainment Access Kit for ATRIX customers which includes the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock, a Bluetooth® keyboard and mouse, and a remote control for $189.99.
Motorola ATRIX 4G will also include AT&T Mobile Hotspot service built into the smartphone, allowing users to connect additional Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
AT&T U-verse® TV customers will be able to manage their DVR recordings - and U-verse customers with a qualifying TV plan can download and watch hit TV shows – right from their ATRIX 4G handset using the U-verse Mobile application. In addition, any ATRIX 4G user, whether or not they have U-verse TV at home, can still enjoy a variety of video options - including live TV - with the new U-verse Live TV application, preloaded and available for $9.99 a month.
For more information, visit www.att.com/atrix4G. For photos and more information about presales for ATRIX 4G, visit www.att.com/mobilephones-news.Women Wedding Apparel Bridesmaid Dresses Latest Bridesmaid Dresses
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The price is just for the dress and the wrap/jacket (if included in the picture). Any otheraccessories in the picture, just like veil, jacket, etc. are not included, andif you need one, please feel free to contact us.A safety device that projects a bright green laser image of a bike on to the road ahead – alerting motorists to its presence – could be a life saver.
Developed by Emily Brooke, a student at the University of Brighton in England, the invention has won her a place at Babson College in Massachusetts in the US, on an entrepreneurship programme, the university said.
BLAZE in action.
Her innovation, BLAZE, is a small, battery-powered device that is attached to the handlebars of bicycles, motorcycles or scooters, and projects a laser image on to the road ahead.
The bright green bicycle symbol travels ahead of the cyclist, alerting others to its presence. The image can be flashing to make it more visible and can be seen "even in |
on which city or county you live in. Other states don’t even have them. This is another fee that companies tend to pass on the consumer as a vague, official-sounding tax, but really it allows them to recoup their costs of doing business Quick Tip Promotional Pricing: Customers usually receive a promotional deal when they first sign up for phone, internet, and/or cable package or service. These typically last for the first 12 months before being increased to a standard price. This temporary discount allows the provider to lure in potential customers with an initial deal while eventually making their money back the next year when they raise the monthly cost. If this sounds like a “bait and switch” strategy, it’s not a stretch. In fact, companies do rely on a law of averages between the two years in order to break even. Customers can call before the promotional offer ends and more often than not get an extended promotional offer. Of course, the process of haggling and negotiating through a mechanized customer service system can be a headache (and some providers count on people avoiding this hassle). Administrative Charge This fee is pretty vague and only a few services charge them, but they’re meant to cover the cost of things like paper, paying employees to take your call, collecting and processing payments, etc. In other words, the company charges the consumer an administrative fee to offset their costs of doing business. Communications Sales Tax This is an official State tax on landline phones and is similar to the tax on Cable and Satellite television. This tax varies from state to state, so to get a better idea of how much this is, how it’s administered, and what it goes towards, search “Communication Sales Tax” and your state. Be Aware: Some companies, like Verizon, lump all their state and local taxes/fees into one billing category. This makes it difficult to see how these fees are broken down and how much goes to the State vs how much goes towards the City or County. You can, however, usually go to your local and state websites and (with a little work) figure out exactly how much they charge. Granted, this might be more of a puzzle than it’s worth, but it also might be worthwhile to keep an eye on in case there’s a mistake along the way.
Cable TV Fees Receiver Fee (Also seen on bills as HD/DVR rental) This fee charges the consumer for their use of the company’s set-top box (or cable box, HD-enabled box, or DVR-enabled box). Until recently, the FCC has looked into alternatives to these boxes as a means to open up more competitve options (more recently in the form of an app that provides cable) that would open up viewing options and pass savings on to the consumer. However, the new FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, has more or less killed the program in an effort to deregulate the cable industry allowing companies to charge the customer for what many see as an outdated “cable box” system. Cable companies do offer promotional deals that will take off the fee, especially if you get a bundled service. Quick Tip Early Termination Fees: ETFs (Also know as Cancellation Fees, Contract Termination Fees, or Something Similar) are fees that are often built into the fine print sections of contracts and can be quickly overlooked by the customer when they sign on for different services. Basically, if you cancel your service (internet, phone, or cable) before the end of your contract, you could be faced with an ETF. The specific details of the fee does depend on what service provider you go with and their particular policy, so pay attention and ask about them before you sign on to a long contract. Broadcast TV Fee (Or sometimes Broadcast TV Surcharge, Broadcast Network Fee, or Broadcast Fee) The Broadcast TV Fee, which does sound official, is a common add-on fee that’s usually tacked on to bundled deals with promotional pricing. This allows the provider to recoup whatever deal they just offered, while still looking like they gave the consumer a deal. These fees are also meant to off-set the costs that companies have to pay to transmit their signals through an existing network. In other words, the companies are charged a fee to transmit their signal and pass this cost on to the customer as a way to maintain their profits. Regulatory Video Cost Recovery Charge (Or Regulatory Recovery Fee, or FCC Regulatory Fee) This is the same fee as the Regulatory Recovery Fee for telephone services, but this one’s specifically for cable operators. Again, while this does sound like a federally-mandated fee, it’s actually a way the company can make back the money they have to pay into the FCC for things like enforcement, policy-making, and other related services to the telecom or ISP. Do companies have to charge this? No. Does the FCC allow them to? Yes. Video Franchise Fee (Or Rights of Way Use Fee, or Local Video Service Franchise Fee) Franchise fees are charges the providers pay local and/or state governments or municipalities to use the state’s property as a right of way for cable service. In order to operate in particular states, cable providers pay the government a usage fee. This is not a tax, in other words, but a fee local governments charge the provider. These fees do vary based on where the customer lives, and is usually 5% of the provider’s revenue. Cable providers aren’t required to charge this to the consumer but do so as a way to make up their costs of doing business locally. County Sales Tax/ State Sales Tax (or TV Communications Sales Tax) What can I say about State, County, or Federal taxes that hasn’t already been said? As we all should know by now, these taxes are as unavoidable with cable, internet, and telephone services as they are with everything else taxable in our lives. It’s important to know that taxes do vary from state to state, county to county, and that some providers do lump all of these into one line on your bill (which might make it difficult to break down and understand). As I said before, you can (and maybe should) go to your local government’s website to see how much they charge and what that money goes towards. Regional Sports Network Fee (or Regional Sports Fee) Whether or not you watch sports channels, if these channels are in your cable package then you will most likely see this fee. Also keep in mind that it’s hard these days to get a cable package that doesn’t include the sports networks. This fee originally came about to cover the costs of what providers pay programmers to carry specific sports channels. In other words, like the Broadcast Fee, this fee helps the provider to recoup the money they have to spend elsewhere and is just as arbitrary.
Internet-Related Fees High Speed Internet Equipment Fee (Or Wireless Gateway, or Modem Fee) You’ll likely only see this fee if you rent a modem directly from your provider. Sometimes, though, this fee is charged by mistake even if you don’t rent one; so it’s still a good idea to keep an eye on it in case a phone call to your provider is necessary. A good way to get rid of this fee is to go ahead and invest in your own modem and router. This will save you money in the long run and give you more control over things like download speed. County/State Sales Tax (Or just Sales Tax) This is currently a “gray area” tax, meaning it’s both legal and sort of illegal. Technically, internet service is not subject to any miscellaneous taxes or fees thanks to the Internet Tax Freedom Act that became a permanent law in 2016. The Act specifically prohibits federal, state, and local taxation on Internet access. It’s still legal, however, due to a grandfather clause built into the Act allowing any state that charged this tax before 1998 to continue with the same fee. The good news is that the grandfather clause has an expiration date, and all taxes on the internet will be banned by June 30, 2020. Note that physical things like modems are subject to sales taxes, all of which depend on how much your state usually taxes sale goods. Personally, I suspect these things will be taxed more once June of 2020 rolls around. Federal Universal Service Fee (Or Universal Connectivity Charge) This fee is exactly the same as the telephone version above, and it’s charged as a result of efforts to extend internet service into more rural, low income areas that tend to be less equipped with proper infrastructure. Every provider is required to contribute a specific percentage of their revenue to this fund, and they tend to tack it onto consumers’ bills as a way to make back this money.
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More Hidden Fees are Likely in the Near Future
New regulatory standards entering the FCC as of 2017 will exempt many providers from listing individual fees at all. While such a practice would simplify billing on the customer’s end, critics of the proposal point out that removing disclosure also cuts off consumers from understanding how their money is getting spent on the provider side.
The move towards hidden billing is widely seen as favorable for providers, as many of the big names in Internet service have been working to stamp out the “promo rate” system that allows customers to perpetually call and negotiate discount rates from ISP retention departments.
That said, simplifying disclosure regulation theoretically would make life easier for small ISPs, who have fewer resources to keep up with regulatory burdens.
The net effect is the same for consumers either way — confusion, marketing games, and high prices for the approximately one third of Americans with only one choice for true home broadband service.The Hôtel Verviers in the city of the same name in Southern Belgium is reportedly the first in the country to accept bitcoins. However, to make a booking with the cryptocurrency you must come there in person.
A programme by the local TV channel Télévesdre covered the “first Belgian hotel that decided to test the technology of this virtual coin.” Marco Wohrmann, the hotel director, explained to journalists that all prices are still listed in euros but customers can choose to pay in bitcoins. The receptionist manually checks current bitcoin/euro exchange rate and reports the amount to be paid. To make the transaction the customer only needs to scan a QR code using his “smartphone, tablet, mobile or any other Internet-connected device.” According to Wohrmann, bitcoins are much more secure than credit cards because with the latter a payment can be annulled and it is the merchant who takes all the risk.
Curiously, when booking a room online, it is impossible to pay it with bitcoins – only credit cards are allowed. When approached by CoinFox, the Chief Receptionist of the Hotel answered: “For the moment it's only possible to pay [with bitcoins] inside the hotel. I hope that in the future it will also be possible through the website.”
The cheapest room for two persons in the Hôtel Verviers costs €69 per night. A business suite with spa or a honeymoon suite would cost €149 per night. It is much cheaper than staying in one of the Dorchester Collection hotels, which also accept bitcoins.
Verviers is a city with a population of 50,000, located in the French-speaking part of Belgium. It was formerly known as “The Wool Capital of the World”. The Hôtel Verviers, according to TripAdvisor, is the best in the city.
Alexey TereshchenkoNickelodeon is doubling down on iCarly and Victorious crossover spinoff Sam & Cat.
The kids cable network has greenlighted 20 more episodes of the top-rated comedy led by Jennette McCurdy (iCarly's Sam Puckett) and Ariana Grande (Victorious' Cat Valentine), bringing the first season's total count to 40, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.
Sam & Cat, created by veteran comedy producer Dan Schneider, follows Sam and Cat as they become best friends and unlikely roommates who start a babysitting service. The June 8 series debut was Nickelodeon's biggest live-action launch in three years with 4.2 million viewers. The expanded order comes after only four episode airings.
"It's a very tall order but it also feels great. The show has been so well-received, and competition is greater than ever these days. Making a hit show is even more challenging today than, say, 10 years ago," Schneider tells THR. "It's a little daunting to do 40 episodes in your first season, but what makes it fun is the success, because we're all sharing in that."
For Nickelodeon, staying in business with Schneider is key, as he has produced seven successful shows (from Keenan & Kel and Drake & Josh to iCarly and Victorious) for the network. "We're trying to keep our record of excellence going," Schneider says of his Schneider's Bakery production company's track record. "We wanted Sam & Cat to be popular and good and something we were proud of. We feel we pulled that off, and this is a big endorsement of that." Schneider deadpans: "It's nice not to bomb!"
Production on the initial 20-episode order wraps up in the next few weeks (Sam & Cat finishes episode 18 on July 12). After filming concludes on the first half, the writers' room will open up in early September for the second half of the season.
Upcoming guest stars on Sam & Cat include Laverne & Shirley's Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams in their first scripted TV appearance in more than three decades, and the return of Sophia Grace and Rosie of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Sam & Cat returns July 13 on Nickelodeon.
E-mail: [email protected]
Twitter: @insidethetubeA new study out of Duke University suggests that for all the Hollywood rhetoric lamenting gender inequality, the film industry is actually among the worst offenders.
In 2015, for instance, Meryl Streep sent letters to every Member of Congress calling on them to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, declaring that “a whole new generation of women and girls are talking about equality—equal pay, equal protection from sexual assault, equal rights.”
"There is no one big influential producer who is moving the needle. We have no champion."
More recently, Chelsea Handler wrote an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter in January outlining her reasons for participating in the Women’s March on Washington, such as showing support for Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.
“We have an opportunity right now to stand together and use our voices to fight for the very rights women fought for and won years ago,” she wrote, adding, “Let’s teach our Predator-In-Chief a lesson that he can’t do anything he wants, and that he can’t trample all over the rights of America’s 162 million women and girls.”
[RELATED: Gender-swap experiment shows Hillary even less likable as a man]
Both Beyoncé and Alicia Keys made similar remarks in separate interviews with ELLE Magazine, as well.
“We need men and women to understand the double standards that still exist in this world, and we need to have a real conversation so we can begin to make changes,” Beyoncé told ELLE in April 2016.
A few months later, Alicia Keys sat for an interview with the same magazine, during which she declared her commitment to feminism.
“Let’s look the definition up because I have in my mind what I feel it means…The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of political, social and economic equality’—so yes. Yes, I am a feminist, and whoever isn't is crazy,” Keys said. “It's about owning your power, embracing your womanhood.”
[RELATED: Female prof calls for inflated course evaluations for female profs]
Yet a study conducted over the summer by three Duke University students suggests that Hollywood itself is rife with gender bias, even based on some of the most minimal criteria conceivable, according to the Duke Research Blog.
Sammy Garland, Selen Berkman and Aaron VanSteinberg spent 10 weeks this summer studying the roles of women in American films as part of Duke’s Data+ summer research program, concluding that more than 40 percent of the 7,000+ films they evaluated fail to pass the Bechdel test, which requires only that the movie have at least two named female characters who speak to each other about any topic other than a man.
According to the team’s findings, “American Hustle” barely manages to pass the test on the strength of a single scene in which two women discuss nail polish, while films such as “Spider-Man,” “The Jungle Book,” “Star Trek Beyond,” and “The Hobbit” all fail to meet at least one criterion.
[RELATED: KU film series attacks ‘sexist and misogynistic’ U.S. culture]
“To close the gap of speaking time, we just need more female characters,” Berkman asserted, though Garland added that “to better represent women on screen you need more women behind the scenes,” as well.
The students also analyzed the contributions of roughly 10,000 writers, directors, and producers, concluding that the 13 most-influential people in the film industry are all men whose films generally fail the Bechdel test.
“What this tells us is there is no one big influential producer who is moving the needle,” Garland explained. “We have no champion.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @katierzehnder383rd District Judge Mike Herrera (Photo: Courtesy KFOX-TV)
AUSTIN — An El Paso judge has received the state’s second-severest sanction for, among other violations, keeping a case involving himself in his own court for months.
The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct in February issued a reprimand against 383rd District Judge Mike Herrera. It said that in 2012, Herrera filed for divorce and kept the case in his own court for four months, even going so far as to file motions in the matter.
It concludes that Herrera “failed to comply with the law, demonstrated a lack of professional competence in the law, and engaged in willful and persistent conduct that was clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of his judicial duties.…”
The reprimand was first reported by the Lion Star Blog.
For his part, Herrera said he did little wrong.
“This was my personal divorce,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “The fact that it was in this court made no difference. It stayed there. I wasn’t actively doing anything. Me and my former spouse were working on everything. She and I were working on everything carefully.”
Herrera did not respond directly when asked if keeping his own divorce in his court for months gave an improper appearance that might undermine the public’s faith that the courts are fair.
“I did tell the commission that it might have been poor judgment not to have this case out right away,” he said “But at that time there was no issue, there was no rush. There was nothing.”
In addition to reprimanding the judge, the commission ordered Herrera to seek six hours of “additional education.”
Seana Willing, executive director of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, said the only more serious punishment the commission could have given would be to begin a process that could end with a judge’s removal. She said it’s been more than 10 years since that’s happened in Texas.
“Because we elect our judges, it’s not going to be easy to reverse the will of the voters,” she said.
Conflicting accounts
The reasons Herrera gave the commission for not transferring his divorce out of his court and the reason he gave Tuesday appear to differ.
He filed a divorce petition on June 6, 2012, and he told the commission that he was aware that the case had been randomly assigned to his court the same day it was filed.
“According to Judge Herrera, he let the case remain in his court because he was ‘trying to save the marriage and [he] did not want to do anything on the case,’ adding that he saw his role in the divorce proceeding as that of a husband, not as an attorney or judge,” the reprimand says.
However, on Tuesday Herrera said the case was paused in his court while he and his former wife, Melissa Carrasco, worked out an agreed settlement.
“We were not thinking about seeking litigation,” he said. “If you look at the emails, I was basically … we were working things out. What bothers me is if you look at this situation, this is a private matter that can be handled by adults. If you want to litigate it, you can go to court and fight about it. We didn’t want to fight about it. We didn’t want to waste our estate.”
Herrera was referring to emails that were sent between him and Carrasco about the divorce in June and July 2012 — while the case was still pending in Herrera’s court, according to the reprimand.
On July 16, 2012, a lawyer representing Carrasco, Angelica Carreon-Beltran, filed a counterpetition for divorce that ended up in Herrera’s court because that’s where the original petition was filed.
Herrera said that Carreon-Beltran is a political enemy of his who improperly solicited his ex-wife’s business as a way of getting revenge against him.
Carreon-Beltran denied that Tuesday.
She said that she was an acquaintance of Carrasco’s from El Paso Bar Association functions. They had something in common because they had had babies within a week of each other and they became Facebook friends, Carreon said.
After seeing some morose posts by Carrasco, Carreon-Beltran said she sent a private message asking if she was OK. Carrasco said she was, Carreon-Beltran said.
Then, about a month later, Carrasco sent a message asking Carreon-Beltran to call, Carreon-Beltran said. On the call, Carrasco said she wanted to divorce Herrera, Carreon-Beltran said.
“She was telling me, ‘No one in town will represent me,’ ” Carreon-Beltran said, explaining that other divorce lawyers apparently did not want to get on the wrong side of one of the county’s few family-law judges. “She said, ‘He’s railroading me.’ ”
Carreon-Beltran denied Herrera’s claim that she was his political enemy. She said she contributed to the judge’s opponent — a high-school classmate — in the 2012 election after contributing to Herrera in the 2008 contest.
Herrera, however, said that Carreon-Beltran was causing all the friction between him and his former wife.
“This lawyer kept trying to interfere with the amicable resolution of the issues,” he said.
He also denied that Carrasco ever had any issues with his conduct during the divorce.
“My former spouse has never complained about any of this,” Herrera said in an email Tuesday evening.
Carrasco couldn’t be reached via Facebook.
Filing motions
On Sept. 7, 2012, Herrera dropped his petition for divorce against Carrasco, but Carrasco’s counterpetition against him remained pending in his court.
In order to figure out how much property the couple held in common, Carreon-Beltran said she filed a motion for discovery. It was filed Sept. 11, 2012, according to Herrera’s reprimand.
Felix Saldivar, the El Paso attorney who filed Herrera’s initial petition, said he turned the motion over to Herrera.
“I never got retained,” Saldivar said, explaining that he only filed the case as a courtesy. “I wasn’t paid a cent.”
After the deadline to respond to Carreon-Beltran’s motion passed, she said she was struck by the absurdity of the situation. She wanted to file a motion to compel him to respond.
“How can I go into his court and argue that?” she asked.
Herrera contends that the case was no longer in his court by the time the deadline passed.
He told the Commission on Judicial Conduct that when he realized he couldn’t reconcile with Carrasco, he agreed to transfer the case out of his court. The commission said that on Sept. 27, 2012, Regional Presiding Judge Stephen Ables requested that the case be transferred, but an order doing so wasn’t signed until Oct. 17, 2012.
Herrera argued that means his case was out of his court on Sept. 27 — before he filed a motion on Oct. 16, 2012, seeking an extension to respond to Carreon’s motion for discovery.
“I was not petitioning myself,” Herrera said.
The commission saw it differently.
“During his testimony before the commission, Judge Herrera acknowledged that, technically, he had petitioned himself for relief when he filed the motions; however, he believed he had done nothing inappropriate since he never ruled on the motions,” the commission’s order says.
Carreon-Beltran said that unbeknownst to her, Carrasco signed off on a final divorce decree that also was signed by 384th District Judge Patrick Garcia.
“I was dumbfounded,” she said of the May 13, 2013, decree.
Herrera said that in the settlement, Carrasco got about $200,000 in assets, while he took on $35,000 in debt.
He emailed what he said was a June 14, 2013, affidavit by his former wife.
“I reject (Carreon-Beltran’s) statements that I was intimidated, that I was coerced, that I was threatened,” it said. “That is why I am making the declaration that Angelica Carreon is no longer my attorney.”
Other divorce troubles
Herrera’s reprimand wasn’t the only ethical fix he got into related to his divorce. In 2013, he faced almost $16,000 in fines from the Texas Ethics Commission for failing to timely file campaign finance reports the previous year.
"I was having a lot of personal issues because I was going through a divorce that just started," he told the El Paso Times then. "They're very unforgiving over there" at the Ethics Commission.
Herrera, who faces no opponent in the Nov. 8 election, appears to have settled up with the Ethics Commission.
But Carreon-Beltran doesn’t think his penalty from the Commission on Judicial Conduct goes far enough. She thinks Herrera should no longer be on the bench.
“If he thinks he doesn’t have to follow the rules, it shows he’s not worthy to be a judge,” she said.
Marty Schladen can be reached at 512-479-6606; [email protected]; @martyschladen on Twitter.
Read or Share this story: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/el-paso/2016/03/22/el-paso-judge-disciplined-misconduct/82145070/GLENDALE (CBSLA.com) — Glendale Police are looking for an armed robber.
Police say the suspect parked his white Lexus sedan along the 300 block of Salem Street. Security video then shows him in the nearby parking lot, walking around as his victim parks her car. As soon as she opens the door, he confronts her at gunpoint and demands her purse.
Police say when the woman screamed, he started to pull the purse from her. After a short tug-of-war, he gets away with it and runs back to his car.
“It’s crazy. I can’t believe it. I’m surprised I haven’t heard about it,” says business owner Sean Khoda.
Khoda’s staff and clients at his private fitness center park in the lot where the robbery happened on June 26th. He’s uneasy knowing that the suspect hasn’t been caught.
The thin, light-bearded suspect is described as 19 to 25 years old, 5 feet 10 inches to six feet tall. His car: a white Lexus GS300 or GS350 with possible damage to the rear right passenger door. It also has aftermarket wheel rims.
Lucy Haikat owns a mattress store and parks in the lot every day. She explains how she’s taking precautions with her cell phone until the man is off the streets.
“Put it on so if I need to dial anything or even act like I’m talking to someone,” Haikat says.
“Keep a look out for this guy,” says Khoda. “Let’s catch him.”Can states secede? There are three levels on which this question can be answered:
All three say yes.
The Inalienable Right of Secession
The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America invokes the self-evident truths that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that governments are formed to protect these rights and gain their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that when a government becomes abusive of these rights, it is the right no, it is the duty of the people to alter or abolish that government.
To say governments were formed to protect the rights of men would be historically incorrect. Almost all governments were formed by ruthless men exerting their will over others through the use of force. Some governments, over time, evolved toward the rule of law, perhaps only because their rulers saw that this would sanction their own continued enjoyment of the wealth that they possessed. In some instances, this evolution involved one or more "revolutions" in which those who were governed were able to better establish the rule of law.
The language of the Declaration should not be construed as an argument about the historical origins of government but, rather, as what would be true and just to an enlightened person, namely, that as persons and as communities of persons, we have the right and the duty to alter or abolish governments that become abusive of our rights. As Benjamin Franklin once put it, "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
The concept of an inalienable right of secession was not original to the American Revolution. It can be traced to the scholastics, to Reformation politics, and to the most ancient Greek and Hebrew writings. Without going into a dissertation on the subject, let me simply point to the flag of the state of Virginia, which was designed by Thomas Jefferson. It depicts a female warrior (Athena) standing atop a slain tyrant (Zeus).
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April 29, 2009A Chinese visitor was fined $1,000 for leaving a boardwalk to approach Liberty Cap in Yellowstone National Park/NPS, Jim Peaco
A week after a young man died after he wandered far off a boardwalk in Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser Basin and fell into a hot spring, a Chinese visitor has been fined $1,000 for walking off a boardwalk in the park's Mammoth Hot Springs thermal area.
Park officials said the unnamed visitor was spotted walking on the terrace formantions near the Liberty Cap formation and collecting water from the thermal runoff. He also was seen breaking througth the fragile travertine crust, according to a park release.
A park ranger took the witness’ statement, photos, and location of the violation.
The subsequent law enforcement investigation identified the individual, who stated that he did not read the safety information given to him at the park entrance. He also admitted to collecting hot springs water. A federal violation notice requiring a mandatory appearance in the Yellowstone Justice Center Court was issued for off-boardwalk travel in a thermal area.
A week ago Colin Nathaniel Scott, 23, of Portland, Oregon, died when he and his sister wandered nearly 700 feet off a Norris Geyser Basin boardwalk and either slipped or fell into a hot spring near Porkchop Geyser. Rangers were unable to recover any of the man's remains from the hot spring, which was slightly acidic and had a temperature of around 199 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the most recent case, park rangers expressed their appreciation for the willingness of the witness to document and report the violation.
Park employees call on all visitors to protect their park and protect themselves. Regulations to stay on designated trails and boardwalks in thermal areas are for visitor safety and the safety of the exceptional park natural resources. Without visitor cooperation, park natural wonders will continue to be damaged and more individuals may be injured or killed. It is a violation of federal regulations to collect any park resources.So here’s a 28 minute movie about the current patent system in the USA. It’s a good study about how absurd a patent system for pure mathematical formulas is and might become in other countries.
Don’t shoot me for having an opinion, but I got some problems with it:
It doesn’t really explain the problem for non-technical people. I can’t use this to show a friend what might become a problem in Europe, because I would have to explain a lot myself: what is a «troll», what is software exactly, … On top of that I think more examples like the Beethoven part could’ve been given to make this movie a lot less abstract.
The main reason why I think this movie is not of any value is the license. It’s licensed with a creative commons attribution non-derivatives license (CC BY-ND). This means I cannot make any alterations to the movie, nor make subtitles which go more into detail, neither can I fix the sound in some parts of the movie, neither can I fix problems from the previous paragraph, … before I would screen it at my university.
When I asked someone involved in the movie if that’s really okay for him, a non-derivatives license, he responded: yes. I think ND, as FSF believes too, is good for “opinion stuff”.
I don’t think ND is good for “opinion stuff” at all though. When you make something around your opinion, you have three reasons for doing so:
You want to be informative towards a certain public You want to persuade people for a certain cause You want to start a discussion
Since we live in a democracy, the latter is very important. People won’t change opinion because of a movie, they will change their opinion in debate. Not letting people make derivatives of a work equals taking away a manner of speech.
So in the end, with a ND licensed work around someone’s opinion, I cannot make the movie better for the same cause, neither can the other party take the movie and highlight their problems from the same perspective. I do not support this at all and in my opinion it makes this movie worth almost nothing.
-Pieter — follow me on identi.ca
AdvertisementsI will be the first to admit that I completely underestimated the underground network and grassroots efforts of the Mouse Community. “Tom and Jerry” cartoons projected the notion that Jerry worked alone and it was every mouse for himself in this cat-eat-mouse world. Not until the recent salmonella-infested peanut butter products were recalled did I realize that “Tom and Jerry” was propaganda homespun by the Underground Mouse Network.
Why those dirty rats; I thought I had smelled something.
Before the King Nut Companies recalled its peanut butter products a few weeks ago, I had been baiting my mouse traps with peanut butter, which proved successful. That was before the “Peanut Butter Scare” media blitz hit and now mice won’t touch my peanut-butter-baited traps with a 34-and-a-half foot pole.
The mice knew. Peanut butter could kill you — one way or another.
But how they knew remains a mystery. The night the recall announcement was made felt like a déjà vu of Christmas Eve: Nothing stirred, not even a mouse.
I had no other choice but to either use new bait or buy a better mouse trap. And believe me you, given the plethora of ways you can kill or catch a mouse these days, the latter is no easy task. The French, in an attempt to help Americans – namely PETA members and Mickey Mouse Club alumni – whitewash their consciences, have developed a line of feel-good Catch & Release traps.
If you’ve never seen one of these, they work something like this. You set the trap, which is usually baited with some type of perfumed scent that begins with L’eau (the water). Once the mouse, who thought he was about to get lucky and score at the local meat-market, is trapped and the abduction process begins. Captors are instructed to throw a washcloth over the caged mouse, so they become disoriented and throw them in the trunk of your car, which will transport the rodent to an undisclosed location. While driving, captors should crank up a classic rock station, further disorienting the mouse as a means of deprogramming its homing instincts.
To ensure the abducted rodent’s homing mechanisms are completely sabotaged, captors should cross at least two rivers before dropping the mouse off in a ditch along a rural dirt road in an area that has been designated by the R.C.L.U. (Rodent Civil Liberties Union) as a safe haven for un-naturalized rodents. Because these areas have been designated as no-fly and no-slither zones, mice and their rodent ilk will be protected from their second-tiered predators (hawks, eagles, snakes, etc.).
Critics argue that this type of Catch-and-Release Program is not only inhuman but has concerns about creating a safe-haven for rodents, when there is a need to fill the jobs in the food chain that nobody else wants: Low-end Prey.
On the other hand, Rodent Abolitionists have adopted a much harsher eye-for-an-eye (or piece-of-cheese-for-your-life) stance when it comes to illegal rodents invading our homes. They prefer catching the mice, putting them on trial, then killing them, so they are no longer pose a threat to our society.
The problem with the plan is that it is a costly undertaking, not to mention the process will take too long because of all the bureaucratic trappings. Personally, I’m not about to wait for a series of appeals, stays of execution, and for the mouse’s DNA results to make sure it matches the droppings inhaled from the tip of my sinus sprayer, which I believe the accused was using as a makeshift bidet. By the time the mouse if formally executed, I could have bought 100 new mouse traps and bred several colonies of mice.
Some rodent hardliners have suggested building walls around our homes to keep the mice out, but if Jerry has taught us anything it’s: “If there is a will there is a way.” Just ask Tom
No thanks, I prefer an old-fashioned mouse trap that quickens the entire process. For now, I will bait the traps with the traditional lure of L’eau de Cheese, at least until the Salmonella Peanut Butter Scare dies down — thus placating the grassroots efforts of the Mice Network.
(Note: All thoughts of violence toward mice not included in this post were bottled up, transported across two bodies of water and released into the wild, where they are sure to procreate and exponentially breed little thoughts of violence toward mice.)
AdvertisementsALLAHABAD: When it comes to adopting safe and stable family planning measures, fairer sex in Sangam city are a step ahead as compared to their male counterparts.
In fact, figures of female sterilization revealed that a total of 27,919 women including 13,046 in rural and 14,873 in urban sectors have gone through women sterilization (tubectomy) while a total of 1,100 cases of male sterilization were reported in year 2011-12.
Pointedly, comparative facts revealed that 57 % women in urban and 68 % women in rural have come forward for family planning measures against the set target and adopted various modes of family planning |
well as the intellectual seed for the later Progressive movement and what is considered modern-day liberalism.
The ideas Calhoun and others in his school introduced in the defense of slavery contrast sharply with those of the Founding Fathers and certainly modern free-market economics. Specifically, three of the core ideas Calhoun’s pro-slavery school embraced continue to resonate on the left.
First, the slavery defenders challenged the Founder’s emphasis on the Lockean social contract, arguing that government – and natural rights – grow organically out of community.
Second, the antebellum pro-slavery school repudiated the Founders’ view of slavery as a necessary but fading evil, and instead defended the system as a “positive good,” both for slave holders and for the slaves themselves. The benevolence of the slavery system was juxtaposed against an uncaring capitalism.
Lastly, slavery’s defenders rejected the principle of equality in the Declaration of Independence and argued instead for a society based on a principle of human inequality, resting their controversial beliefs on new “scientific” ideas about both human nature and the organization of government.
Each of these principles is echoed in the policy and philosophy of the modern left.
Rights From Government, Not God
The antebellum slavery defense mounted the first real challenge in America to the idea of the Lockean social contract, which was embraced at the Founding (only the Bible and Blackstone were referenced more than the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke in early American political writings). Calhoun and his fellow slavery advocates openly disagreed with Enlightenment social contract theory and instead saw rights as developing organically within society and government. Consequently, liberty for the Calhounites did not exist in a pre-government state of nature, to be protected from government incursion, but rather grew organically out of a communitarian society, including government. Calhoun wrote:
As, then, there never was such a state as the, so called, state of nature, and never can be, it follows that men, instead of being born in it, are born in the social and political state; and of course, instead of being born free and equal, are born subject, not only to parental authority, but to the laws and institutions of the country where born and under whose protection they draw their first breath.
The Calhounite conception of liberty and rights is necessary to the unhypocritical defense of slavery and “liberty” together, which sounds so discordant to the modern ear. Rights arise out of the organic government and body of custom of the political unit, and can therefore be defined and limited by society.
Even the Progressives themselves understood their intellectual debt to antebellum Southern philosophy at the turn of the twentieth century. Charles Merriam, who was among the leading lights of the early Progressive movement in the twentieth century, wrote about Calhoun’s conception of liberty in his A History of American Political Theories:
Calhoun and his school… maintained that liberty is not the natural right of all men, but only the reward of the races or individuals properly qualified for its possession. On this basis, slavery was defended against the charge that it was inconsistent with human freedom, and in this sense and so applied, the theory was not accepted outside the South. The mistaken application of the idea [through the policy of slavery] had the effect of delaying recognition of the truth in what had been said until the controversy over slavery was at an end.
Further, on the conclusions of the political science of his own day, Merriam wrote that “Liberty, moreover, is not a right equally enjoyed by all… the inseparable condition between political liberty and political capacity is strongly emphasized.”
Merriam, like Calhoun, rejected the Lockean ideas of the Founders and substituted a “positive rights” view of government in which rights are secured essentially as privileges, at least for those deserving of them, through positive law. Rights derive not from God and nature, but from the government, and are inseparable from and subject to it.
The antebellum slavery defenders also diverged from the founders in the conception they held of the institution itself. Although the founders compromised on the issue of slavery, especially in order to ratify the Constitution, a militant defense of the practice as a positive social and economic system was rarely made during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Most agreed that the institution was evil, but made practical arguments about the speed and nature of the abolition process. Even the founders who were the most philosophically divided on the issues of the day were steadfast in their belief that slavery should and would end up in the dustbin of history.
Alexander Hamilton was a member of an abolitionist society in New York and considered a number of plausible methods to end the system of slavery. George Washington released his slaves upon his death and tried to set an example for future emancipation. Thomas Jefferson proposed several measures to abolish slavery in Virginia and understood the institution’s corrosive effect on free society. The founding generation, often divided on issues of the day, agreed that slavery was a curse to be dealt with, not an institution to be lauded.
But by the late 1830’s, as slave populations exploded rather than dwindled and soaring profits accompanied the once-dying institution, a new political theory was crafted to defend it. By 1837, John C. Calhoun’s “positive good” speech had focused the intellectual class of Southern slavery defenders on the ostensible benefits of slavery to the slave himself.
Paternalism and “A Chicken for Every Slave”
It is clear through their support of entitlement programs, near-endless welfare benefits, and niggling regulations of every type, that the modern leftist elite sees themselves as a benevolent guiding force, correcting the behavior of the poor or uneducated for their own good. Thomas Friedman of The New York Times even bemoaned the fact that the U.S. government could not be granted Chinese-style dictatorship powers for a single day, implying that such a government could “authorize the right solutions.”
Compare modern liberal benevolent paternalism and support of the welfare state to the ideas of Henry Hughes, a passionate advocate of a slightly modified version of antebellum slavery that he dubbed “Warranteeism.” The ideas behind a “warrantee” system of slavery will sound familiar to students of the New Deal and especially the Great Society. Hughes said in A Treatise on Sociology, the Theoretical and Practical in 1854
Laborers never want work. If they do; provision for its supply is warranted… Laborers are never out of employment… In the distribution of the warrantee economy, the distributor is the state or function of justice. Wages are warranted… Wages are variable, but these variations are never below the standard of comfortable sufficiency of necessaries. Want is eliminated. There are no poor: all have competence… Capital and labor are syntagonistic… The subsistence of all is warranted to all.
Notice the similarity to FDR’s Second Bill of Rights, recently championed by liberal intellectual Cass Sunstein:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education.
Hughes believed that slavery was a perfect system of social justice and that it would fix the inequalities of economic distribution that were present in free, capitalist societies. Hughes said that the economic and labor system must be highly regulated through the institution of slavery so that, “injustice in the distribution shall be eliminated.”
William H. Freehling, one of the greatest antebellum America historians, called Hughes a precursor to Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Kenneth Galbraith in that they allied Big Labor and Big Government against Big Capital.
Freehling wrote in The Road to Disunion, Volume II: Secessionists Triumphant, “Just as Hughes wished Southern government to warrant a chicken for every slave, so he wanted northern government to warrant a meal for every free laborer.”
George Fitzhugh, a Virginia planter and pro-slavery intellectual, went even farther than Hughes in his attack on free society and capitalism. Although Fitzhugh denounced the radicalism of communists and socialists, he agreed that capitalist society was “diseased.” Fitzhugh defended Southern slavery as the economic model of the future and declared that “slavery is a form, and the very best form, of socialism.” In fact, he believed nineteen out of twenty people, both white and black, should be slaves.
“A Southern farm is the beau ideal of communism,” Fitzhugh said. “There is no rivalry, no competition to get employment among slaves, as among free laborers… Wealth is more equally distributed than at the North, where a few millionaires own most of the property of the country.”
Fitzhugh said in Sociology for the South: Or the Failure of a Free Society:
The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and in some sense, the freest people in the world. The children and the aged and infirm work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of life provided for them.
Fitzhugh then made the philosophical case for the principle of “you didn’t build that,” explaining how society, which he likened to a “hive,” actually had a right to an individual’s labor and property.
Wealthy men, who are patterns of virtue in the discharge of their domestic duties, value themselves on never intermeddling in public matters. They forget that property is a mere creature of law and society, and are willing to make no return for that property to the public, which by its laws gave it to them, and which guard and protect them in its possession.
According to Fitzhugh, individuals have, “no rights whatever, as opposed to the interests of society; and that society may make any use of him that will redound to the public good.”
The idea that society owns your labor, the underpinning of Fitzhugh’s slave system and Hughes’ Warranteeism, echoes in the comments of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who said in her 2012 senate run:
There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.... You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea — God bless, keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.
Under the vision of the antebellum slavery defenders, a paternalistic system – masters caring for and managing the lives of their slaves – would take the place of true free-market competition. Capitalism would survive only under the highly regulatory and watchful eye of government.
William Sumner Jenkins wrote in Proslavery Thought in the Old South, “The system made the indolent do their share of the work along with the industrious. And it provided a diversion from the unproductive to the productive consumption. Instead of the wealthy spending their profits upon superfluities, they were taxed with the comfortable support of the laboring class.”
In other words, everyone must do their “fair share” as President Obama would say, and instead of freely spending their own money, the rich should “spread the wealth” to the laboring classes and “benignly” manage their lives.
This pattern of thought continues in the mind of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who paternalistically bans items, such as large soft drinks, unhealthy food products, and guns, from those “unworthy” of liberty. It was this fundamental lack of faith in a whole class of people to govern themselves that led the pro-slavery defenders, like Hughes, to make a rigorous defense of big government intervention and the slavery system, which they believed could protect that class from their own bad decisions and the “heartlessness” of market competition.
Hughes wrote, “The economic system in the United States South, is not slavery. IT IS WARRANTEEISM WITH THE ETHNICAL QUALIFICATION. It is just. It is expedient. It is progressive. The consummation of its progress is the perfection of society.”
Inequality and the “Soft-Bigotry of Low Expectations”
Hughes’ argument for big-government statism rested on the assertion, not only that blacks were inferior, but that many individuals, including poor whites, were permanently incapable of self-government and were better off enslaved. Government infringement on freedoms and control from above, as NYC Mayor Bloomberg recently agreed, is sometimes necessary on behalf of those who were naturally inferior.
Although the Progressives repudiated the policy of slavery, they remained convinced of this final truth that undergirded the pro-slavery school of thought – the principle of human inequality and the incapability of certain types of people to self-govern. Like the later Progressives, the antebellum slavery defenders supported their position by pointing to the “new sciences” of the day – sociology, political science, and a bastardized form of biology.
With this view of human inequality, the Calhoun school once again understood themselves to be challenging the Founders, who famously included the phrase “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson further wrote, “The mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.” Jefferson did not mean to say that all men are equal in talent or intelligence or success, but rather to highlight man’s basic equality in the sense that no man is born to rule and none born into natural subservience.
The pro-slavery school – necessarily, given the institution they sought to defend – repudiated the notion of created equality, and flatly denied that some were not born to serve others. George Fitzhugh directly challenged Jefferson, saying that some were indeed “born with saddles on their backs and others booted and spurred to ride them, and the riding does them good.” John C. Calhoun agreed, writing against the Founders’ conception of human equality, “These great and dangerous opinions have their origin in the prevalent opinion that all men are born free and equal; – than which nothing can be more unfounded and false.”
It is important to understand that the defenders of slavery did not see human inequality as a license to abuse their slaves, but rather argued that it was good for the slave to have a master burdened with his basic care. Because they believed some people were born incapable of anything higher than slavery, slavery gave that sort of person security from the vicissitudes of free-market labor competition. In their view, slavery gave a person incapable of liberty material warrantees and placed a burden on the slaveholder to “warrantee” a basic standard of living for those under his dominion.
This same conception of human inequality cuts through the modern left’s hollow rhetoric on “equality.” The same “soft bigotry of low expectations” leads the left to support affirmative action, which assumes that minority students are incapable of reaching the same standards on the merits, but not school choice, a policy which grants disadvantaged students access to educational opportunities that allow them to circumvent our failing public school system. The similarity between Hughes’ view of incapable slaves and the modern left’s “soft bigotry” can easily be seen in the recent “resetting” of achievement standards for public school students based on race.
The principles Calhoun and his school put to the defense of slavery rested, not on “Nature and Nature’s God,” but on the new sciences of the day, which they considered “proof” of the inequality and incapacity of certain types of people for self-government.
Henry Hughes, for example, was a student of Auguste Comte, who is known for founding the discipline of sociology, and most famous for his introduction of the doctrine of positivism. Hughes was one of the first Americans, along with George Fitzhugh, to use the term “sociology” in his work. Comte believed that future society would be ruled by managerial technocrats, foreshadowing the modern administrative state. Historian Steven Lyman once dubbed the school of Hughes and Fitzhugh the “Southern Comteans” and said that they were a “foreshadowing of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, an American design for Leninist totalitarianism, or another variant of Marxism for the master class.”
The antebellum slavery defenders used different disciplines in their discussion of government and rights than their predecessors; political philosophy and “self-evident” truths were replaced by references to sociology and political science, much as they were in Progressive writings at the turn of the 20th century and continue to be on the left today. Rare is the modern liberal university that has departments of “politics” or “government” rather than of political science and sociology. “Science,” rather than transcendent truths and inviolable rights, is accepted on the left today as the correct tool to measure the performance of government.
Obviously, modern liberals are not slave owners, and some of the most odious aspects of the antebellum slavery defenders’ philosophy have been rejected across the political spectrum today. However, intellectual heritage remains important.
These were the underlying principles of President Obama’s campaign during the 2012 election from which conservatives recoiled in horror, particularly the “Life of Julia” message that depicted an American woman entirely dependent on government and Democratic programs. Through each stage of life the “benign” hand of government swoops in and protects the citizen from the dangers of the free market and liberty itself, taking upon itself the burden of everything from his self-defense to his choice of environmentally-friendly light bulbs.
The cradle-to-grave entitlement society of government interference, regulation and control is a departure from the principles of a free society. The left’s vision of “freedom” is based on different doctrines than those that animated the Founding Fathers, doctrines more beholden to John C. Calhoun’s pro-slavery political science than Thomas Jefferson’s philosophy of liberty.
Inez Feltscher contributed to this article. Ms. Feltscher is a second-year student at the University of Virginia School of Law, and previously worked in the K-12 education reform movement, advocating for school choice. You can contact her on Twitter at @inezfeltscher.Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) is a system of creating, controlling, and expanding useable range of motion, defined as mobility. Unlike flexibility which is typically achieved passively, FRC uses tension and isometrics to minimize neurological safeguards that inhibit mobility in the first place. It is designed to progressively convince the brain to release its protective stronghold on tissues at the cellular level. Instead of letting you drop into the splits and rip/injure everything on the way down, for example, the brain creates a painful stiffness telling you to stop. The brain halts movement when it perceives it as a threat.
Manipulating the brain, though, is tricky. It’s much smarter than those who study it. The honest ones in the throws of brain research will tell you they have no idea what’s going on up there. It’s all guesses and assumptions. Andreo Spina, creator of Functional Range Conditioning, wisely warned that,
“We need to be wary of believing our analogies”.
The brain is not a computer and nerves are not wires. The computer is our best attempt at re-creating our brain. Nerves are living, adaptable, sensory translations. Our attempts at explaining dynamic, complex elements for the purposes of understanding minimizes our efforts two-fold: 1. We belittle the capabilities of that in which we are studying, and 2. We grandiosely overestimate our comprehension of the matter. The result is a loss on both sides masquerading as gain.
What we do know a lot about, by comparison, is tissues. Every movement has a joint as a central factor. Joint function, then, has a direct effect on movement quality. If we pinpoint our training to focus on the joints, everything else should fall into place. By maximizing articular capacity, we can absorb any hiccups created by the brain and best prepare to ward off injury.
The ability of the muscles to create force peaks at the mid-point between two joints. The basic premise of Functional Range Conditioning is to capture passive ranges of motion in the end range and make them more active. By training muscular control in the long and short positions, we make these end ranges useable and improve the efficiency of everything in between.
In essence, we’re using the joints to communicate with the brain. We’re speaking to the cells directly in and around the joint capsule, and they relay our message to the central nervous system, telling it, “This is OK. Let them do this. Give them a few more degrees to work with.” Famously put another way, “Force is the language of cells, and movement is what we say.“
There is PLENTY of science behind these concepts. Each notion is backed by considerable research. Spina himself resigns to the fact that, “nothing he’s presenting is new.” It’s simply his interpretation of the literature. Almost exhaustive in depth, the research he shared during the introduction of his FRC seminar was fascinating — very different than most of us had been taught. Still, sound science makes sound sense. Here’s a very brief synopsis of some key points that made me rethink things:
1. All cells are connected by matrixes of mechanoreceptors. They are not distinct fluid sacs as most of us were taught. Force is felt and reacted to much faster than any chemical messengers.
2. Since there is no separation of cell layers, when we move, we are influencing DNA expression. Cells determine their environment by creating their own matrix, both within and outside of the ‘cell unit.’
3. There is no adhesive in the body. Tendons, ligaments, fascia, and muscle are all modified versions of the same ‘stuff’. They cannot be dissected away from each other. There are no “hamstrings”, for example — just stuff located in a particular area being asked to perform a particular task.
Fascial lines do not exist. A fully connected web makes everything affective; particular lines of emphasis negate this.
A fully connected web makes everything affective; particular lines of emphasis negate this. Dead anatomy is very different from living anatomy. Most of what has been studied has been dead anatomy. We can’t gather how things function by studying them in a non-functioning state. Living things function differently than dead things. We know very little about the system of living anatomy known as bioFlow.
4. The recurring rule of 10-15 degrees. Four different times in his lecture, Spina excitedly referred to the magical convergence in the literature of 15-degrees. We have 10-15 degrees more of passive range of motion than the CNS will allow us to access. The brain begins to brake movement it determines as risky 10-15 degrees short of ‘harm’. “Lift-offs” building capacity should happen at 10-15 degrees of maximum active range. Isometrics affect joint control 10-15 degrees on either side of the hold. The take home here might be to back-off 10-15 degrees of where a joint gives you issue and rebuild control from there.
5. Increasing joint degrees of freedom increases the body’s ability to interpret input and find pathways toward the optimal movement rep. If you think of your joints as a compass, the more ground they can cover, the more area your body can explore. There is no such thing as ‘muscle memory’. Great movers are adaptable. The better you get at movement, the more variability your body has to tap into to get the job done.
Understanding the science of a system gives you the context in which to practice it.
The next post in this series hopes to do just that:
Breaking down step one of the FRC – controlled articular rotations (CARs).Poll released by Save the Children shows 75% of Liberal voters think Malcolm Turnbull should accept New Zealand’s resettlement offer
Two-thirds of Australians want Nauru and Manus refugees to be resettled, poll shows
Pressure is mounting on Malcolm Turnbull to end detention of refugees on Nauru and Manus Island, ahead of two summits at which world leaders will discuss the global crisis.
Save the Children released the results of a poll on Wednesday that show that two-thirds (66%) of Australians believe the prime minister should act urgently to resettle refugees held in offshore detention by the end of the year.
Three-quarters (75%) said Turnbull and Bill Shorten, the leader of the opposition, should work together to find a solution.
Immigration detention cost blowout blamed on procurement failures Read more
In the poll 77% of respondents, including 75% of Liberal party voters, said Turnbull should accept New Zealand’s offer to resettle refugees, which he rejected in late April.
The poll of 1,010 voters nationwide was conducted by Galaxy Research on 6 and 7 September. Data from the survey was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest population estimates.
Turnbull is under increasing pressure to end the stalemate over offshore detention amid criticism over the policy from within Australia and overseas.
Analysis by Save The Children with Unicef, released separately on Tuesday, found that offshore processing cost taxpayers at least $3.6bn between 2013 and 2016. The total cost of Australia’s policies was put in excess of $9.6bn.
Tim Norton, head of campaigns at Save the Children, said Australia had to play its part in addressing the world’s refugee crisis.
“The most urgent matter facing the government in this space is the fate of refugees and asylum seekers stuck in limbo on Nauru and Manus Island,” he said. “The government continues to justify its treatment of these refugees by declaring they have the support of the Australian people. But these results show that just isn’t true and Australians are demanding a better way.”
Norton said two summits on the global refugee crisis that Turnbull will attend in New York later this month presented an opportunity for him to announce a way forward on the world stage.
UN to question Nauru over abuse of children in Australian-run detention Read more
The prime minister will attend the United Nations general assembly’s summit on the movements of refugees and migrants on 19 September, billed by the UN as “an historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response”.
Turnbull will also be present at the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees hosted by Barack Obama the following day, at which the US president will urge nations to increase refugee intake and humanitarian funding.
The prime minister has come under sustained criticism for Australia’s detention facilities following the Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files, more than 2,000 leaked incident reports that laid bare the devastating abuse and trauma inflicted on children held there.
Protests were held across Australia after their publication last month, with ongoing action planned. Love Makes a Way, a Christian advocacy group, is holding public readings of the Nauru files this week.
On Monday it was confirmed that Australia’s parliament would launch an investigation into allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru.It's okay, big guy--you may not have been too clever, but you sure were strong.
We like to think that we're smarter than than the neanderthals that went extinct some 30,000 years ago. As homo sapiens, we have good evidence--the wheel, skyscrapers, rollercoasters--but the fact remains that neanderthal skulls were significantly larger than our modern human skulls, and that meant they had the capacity for brains just as big or bigger than our own. So why didn't they put that roomy brain cavity to better work?
According to Smithsonian Mag, a recent scientific study from Oxford proposes a new explanation for why neanderthals never wrapped their big brains around farming or a written language. The study proposes that neanderthals dedicated far more of their brains to controlling their bodies than we do. Though they were shorter than humans, they were also stockier and stronger, particularly in the upper body. The study also suggests neanderthals had to commit more brain power to vision than we do.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/DrMikeBaxter
Oxford's researchers took a new approach to studying the skulls of neanderthals and the ancient humans that lived thousands of years ago. Instead of simply comparing volume, they tried to figure out how the size of the neanderthal brain related to its differently proportioned body. Their larger, stronger bodies required more brain control, and the researchers deduced that their larger eye sockets also indicated a larger visual cortex than humans. From the study:
"Neanderthal brains contained significantly larger visual cortices. This is corroborated by recent endocast work, which found that Neanderthal occipital lobes are relatively larger than those of AMHs [anatomically modern humans]. In addition, previous suggestions that large Neanderthal brains were associated with their high lean body mass imply that Neanderthal also invested more neural tissue in somatic areas involved in body maintenance and control compared with those of contemporary AMHs.
Neanderthals simply didn't grow socially the way humans did, which indicates that different parts of their brains developed--those more focused on individual survival.
...our findings tie in with the suggestion that the Neanderthal and AMH lineages underwent separate evolutionary trajectories. Starting from the brain size of their common ancestor Homo heidelbergensis, we suggest that Neanderthals enlarged their visual and somatic regions, whereas AMHs achieved similarly large brains by increasing other brain areas (including, for example, their parietal lobes)."
The most significant difference the study found between humans and neanderthals was how they developed social groups. Neanderthals simply didn't grow socially the way humans did, which indicates that different parts of their brains developed--those more focused on individual survival. And then the big finish--tying this theory for smaller brains into why our human ancestors survived while neanderthals went extinct:
"Whereas AMHs appear to have concentrated neural investment in social adaptations to solve ecological problems, Neanderthals seem to have adopted an alternative strategy that involved enhanced vision coupled with retention of the physical robusticity of H. heidelbergensis, but not superior social cognition. For instance, only in Neanderthals, not AMHs, does body mass, and hence brain volume, increase over time. While the physical response to high latitude conditions adopted by Neanderthals may have been very effective at first, the social response developed by AMHs seems to have eventually won out in the face of the climatic instability that characterized high-latitude Eurasia at this time."
It's interesting to picture neanderthals actually becoming physically stronger and mentally more capable of controlling their bodies and vision as they evolved, but eventually going extinct without humans' evolved social abilities. That may not have actually caused their extinction--there are multiple theories concerning that, including the possibility that neanderthals and ancient humans interbred--but it's perhaps slightly comforting to know that we we're putting our smaller brains to more efficient use.Many law students never get to study the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. But the meaning of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on inflicting “cruel and unusual punishment” occupies a considerable amount of the Supreme Court’s time and often divides the Justices over the basic question of how to interpret the language of the Constitution.
The Court’s latest challenge is to determine whether it is “cruel and unusual punishment” to sentence a fourteen-year-old who has been convicted of murder to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This issue provides us with an opportunity to think about numerous different facets of what the Justices do.
For example, the issue illustrates how the Court often engages in incremental decision-making, limited to the circumstances of each case, one step at a time. Six years ago, in Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Court held that defendants who commit crimes when they are under the age of eighteen may not be subjected to the death penalty. And the Court ruled just last year in Graham v. Florida (2010) that a life sentence without possibility of parole for a juvenile is unconstitutional when it is imposed for a crime which did not involve murder.
On Monday, the Court agreed to consider yet another related question: whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits sentences of life without parole for juveniles convicted of murder.
Evan Miller, the petitioner in one of the cases granted on Monday, Miller v. Alabama (10-9646), was convicted for the 2003 death of his neighbor in a rural Alabama trailer park. Miller was fourteen when he beat the neighbor and then left him to die of smoke inhalation after setting the trailer on fire. In the other case, Jackson v. Arkansas (10-9647), Kuntrell Jackson went with two older boys to rob a video store in 1999, when he was fourteen. Jackson’s lawyers say that he acted as a lookout and was not the person who shot and killed the store clerk, but he was convicted of murder. Both boys were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and their respective state appellate courts upheld the sentences.
Perhaps there is no more important – and divisive – role for the Justices than figuring out how to interpret for today’s world the meaning of phrases written for a very different world more than two hundred years ago. Does the phrase “cruel and unusual punishment,” written in 1789 and ratified as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, have a fixed, readily understood, and universally shared meaning for today’s world? Or must those words be understood and interpreted as they were in 1791? Those questions continue to fracture the Justices.
In 1958, then-Chief Justice Earl Warren established what many consider a benchmark for understanding that phrase, writing in Trop v. Dulles that the measure of what is cruel and unusual punishment should be whether a practice violates “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.” Warren’s formulation clearly contemplated that the meaning of the Eighth Amendment would change over time as society’s views on different criminal sanctions change.
Given the close divide of the current Court on ideologically freighted issues like this one, it is not surprising that Justice Anthony Kennedy is the Justice who most recently has helped to fill in the details of how to determine whether standards of decency have evolved. Writing for a bare majority last year in Graham, striking down life without parole for juvenile non-homicide cases, Kennedy explained that the Court should begin by looking to see whether there is a “national consensus against the sentencing practice at issue,” as reflected in state laws and practices. And then, Kennedy said, the Court must evaluate its own precedents to determine the “text, history, meaning and purpose” of the Eighth Amendment. This two-step process led Kennedy and the rest of the majority (composed of the Court’s four most-liberal members) to conclude that the Eighth Amendment required a clear rule prohibiting life without parole for juveniles who commit non-homicide crimes.
Using themes that will undoubtedly play a role in the two new cases, Justice Kennedy concluded that the weight of state practice militated against the sentence: while thirty-seven states allowed the life without parole sentence for juveniles in non-homicide cases, twenty-six of those states did not have anyone serving such a sentence, and there were only 123 juveniles facing the sentence nationwide when Graham was decided. He also relied on conclusions he reached five years earlier in Roper – that juveniles lack the maturity of adults and must be considered both less culpable and more capable of developing changed attitudes if given the opportunity to mature.
But, reflecting much the same struggle that takes place when the Court battles over abortion, affirmative action. and other rights issues, the “national consensus” approach to “evolving standards of decency” is simply too squishy and malleable for some more conservative Justices. In a dissent in Graham that was joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas noted that the Constitution says nothing about specific sentencing practices; moreover, he emphasized, life-without-parole sentences for juveniles “would not have offended the standards that prevailed at the founding.” Thomas also disputed Kennedy’s analysis of where consensus may lie, suggesting that “[t]he news of this evolution will, I think, come as a surprise to the American people” whose legislators have chosen to make this form of punishment an option.
Justice Scalia was even more skeptical – and derisive — in his dissent in Roper, in which Justice Kennedy interpreted a changing national consensus to overrule the Court’s 1989 decision in Stanford v. Kentucky, in which the Court had held that there was no Eighth Amendment problem with sentencing minors between the ages of fifteen and eighteen to death. Scalia characterized the Court’s decision in Roper as making “a mockery” of the limited role that Alexander Hamilton envisioned for the judiciary, and he was dumbfounded by the Court’s apparent suggestion that the meaning of the Constitution has changed in the sixteen years between Stanford and Roper.
These sharp differences in approach will once again be on display in February or March of next year, when the Court hears oral arguments in these new cases.
Representing both convicted juveniles, Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama told the Supreme Court in his petitions for certiorari that there are only seventy-three juveniles aged fourteen or younger who face life without parole, and such sentences have been employed in only eighteen states. These numbers represent only a “tiny fraction” of the homicide cases involving those fourteen or younger, Stevenson said, using Justice Kennedy’s own framework to suggest that there is a national consensus against this form of punishment.
Stevenson offered the possibility of even more incremental decision-making with his argument that juveniles aged fourteen and younger are a special and distinct group because of their youth: The Court could conceivably rule that life without parole is cruel and unusual punishment for the youngest juvenile offenders but leave for yet another day whether such punishment is permissible for minors age fifteen to eighteen.
As these new cases unfold, Justice Kennedy is once again likely to play the pivotal role, with the four most liberal members holding steady against such sentences. What will sway him: will the numbers suggest a consensus, or will he instead be moved either by the distinctive feature that these crimes – unlike those in Graham – are homicides or instead by the youth of the offenders? Will he distinguish between Miller’s direct role in the Alabama case and Jackson’s claim that he served only as the lookout in the Arkansas case? Will he follow his own argument in Graham that the interests of justice were best served by adopting a categorical rule against life-without=parole sentences?
On the other side, there are likely to be four votes – Chief Justice Roberts and |
% in 2014 to 6.7% in 2015 but remained the same among current smokers at 17.6%.
Vaping remains extremely rare amongst people who have never smoked, with just 0.2% of users falling into this category over the last three years.
(Image: PA)
The most popular reason people gave for using e-cigarettes was to help them stop smoking completely (48%) and to prevent them from relapsing to smoking (38%).
The group said there has also been a change in popularity of the type of device used. While cigalikes, which resemble tobacco cigarettes and are either disposable or use replaceable cartridges were used by more than half (55%) of vapers last year, the tank model, which looks quite different from cigarettes and has containers that can be refilled with “e-liquid”, are now puffed on by two-thirds (66%) of e-cigarette users.
This can be seen as a positive thing as tank e-cigarettes were found to be more effective at helping tobacco smokers to quit than cigalikes in a study carried out at King’s College London, which was published last month.
Recent research conducted in the United States also found that flavourings used in e-cigarettes contain potentially harmful high levels of chemicals, while a study of mice indicated that vaping may harm the lungs and immune system.
(Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “The number of ex-smokers who are staying off tobacco by using electronic cigarettes is growing, showing just what value they can have.
“But the number of people who wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking is worrying.
“The growth of this false perception risks discouraging many smokers from using electronic cigarettes to quit and keep them smoking instead which would be bad for their health and the health of those around them.”
Dr Leonie Brose, of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, said: “We must clearly communicate the relative safety of electronic cigarettes to smokers.
“The proven harm of tobacco is currently getting less coverage than the much smaller and far less certain harm from electronic cigarettes. We owe it to smokers to provide them with accurate information.”( 5 out of 5) Buy this gun
by Doudg from Pullman, Washington on February 3, 2015
I initially bought the LC9 with LaserMax, and absolutely hated it. The trigger pull on the LC9 is about the distance from London to New York. Horrifically long. Hated the dopey, cheesy Gun is Loaded indicator that pops up on the top of the LC9 when there's a round in the chamber HEY EVERYONE! MY GUN IS LOADED!. Also hated the hammer-fired aspect of the gun the hammer is internal, so you can't cock it and shorten the trigger pull -- yet another safety feature. Plus, the gun WILL NOT FIRE unless the magazine is in it. So, if you are struggling with a bad guy and the magazine gets ejected which is fairly likely, the best option you have is to throw the LC9 at him and hope it knocks him out. HEY RUGER: you can build a safe gun that doesn't have 15 annoying safety features on it. About the only things I liked about the LC9 were the feel of it in my hand, and the LaserMax.
So, I was a tad reluctant to buy the LC9s, based on my very brief experience with the LC9. Man, am I glad I did. It is striker fired. No dopey indicator tab. The trigger pull on the LC9s is roughly the same as my other semi-automatics, which is perfect. It is the perfect concealed-carry weapon. It is larger than the LCP thank God, but you can still easily fit this into your pocket in a holster. I took this gun straight to the range and shot it straight out of the box. I shot bullseyes or close to it the first two mags. This gun is so comfortable in fairness, so is the LC9 that it feels like an extension of your hand.
If you're looking for a thin, light, easily concealed pistol, this is easily one of your best options.Sol Price (January 23, 1916 – December 14, 2009) was the founder of FedMart, Price Club (which ultimately merged into Costco) and PriceSmart.[1] He is considered a pioneer of the "warehouse store" retail model.
Early life and education [ edit ]
Price was born in New York City, the son of Samuel and Bella Price, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Minsk (Belarus), in the early years of the 20th century.[2] The family relocated to San Diego in the early 1920s.
Price graduated from San Diego High School in 1931, attended San Diego State University in 1932, and earned his undergraduate degree (in philosophy) and a law degree from the University of Southern California in 1936 and 1938, respectively. By 1938, he had married his girlfriend Helen Moskowitz; they eloped to Las Vegas. Price was admitted to the California Bar in November 1938.[3]
Career [ edit ]
Price launched the first FedMart in 1954 and, together with his son, Robert, Giles Bateman, a nephew, Rick Libenson and others, founded Price Club in 1976. The company went public in 1980.[3][4] In 1993 Costco merged with Price Club to form PriceCostco.[3][4] Leadership in the new organization was shared between Sol Price's son, Robert, and James Sinegal. After eight months, PriceCostco spun a separate company called Price Enterprises,[5] led by the younger Price. PriceSmart continues to operate warehouse clubs in Latin America and the Caribbean, while the domestic operations became Costco.[6]
Sam Walton of Walmart wrote in his book Made in America that he "borrowed" "as many ideas from Sol Price as from anybody else in the business".[4] He added that he especially liked the idea of calling his discount chain "Wal-Mart" because he "really liked Sol's FedMart name". In 1983, Walton dined with Price and later that year the first Sam's Club opened in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Later when asked how it felt to be the father of an industry (the warehouse retail industry—Costco, Sam's Club, etc.) Sol replied, "I wish I'd worn a condom." Costco's longest-serving CEO, Sinegal, learned the retail business largely through working his way up FedMart's corporate ladder. In CNBC's 2012 documentary on Costco, Sinegal indicated that Price had been his mentor, as well as the person who taught him to be "tough" in business, and to display a sense of "social responsibility" toward employees.
Philanthropy [ edit ]
In the late 1980s, Price donated $2 million to the construction of a new student center on the campus of University of California, San Diego.[7] Named for Price, the Price Center, which houses the main student bookstore, food court, movie theater, ballrooms, and meeting rooms, opened on April 21, 1989.
In 2011, the Price Family Charitable Fund donated $50 million to the University of Southern California's School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The school was renamed the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy as a result of the donation.[8]
Price is responsible for injecting money and aiding the renaissance of the San Diego mid-city neighborhood of City Heights, near his childhood home. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.,[3] the Board of Directors for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,[3] the Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the San Diego Financial Review Panel.President Obama just announced big changes to America's massive government surveillance programs, promising to add new safeguards to protect Americans' privacy and place new restrictions on how the NSA can use the information it collects on ordinary citizens. We've graded the big changes below, comparing them to the reforms that were recommended by an independent review panel last year. All in all, the proposed changes mainly concern the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' phone records, not its spying on internet communications. Even accounting for that limitation, they seem good on paper — and far better than many privacy advocates feared — but we're still waiting to see how they will be enacted.
Our scoring takes into account the fact that Obama can’t single-handedly execute the reforms that the panel recommends; in several cases, Congress will need to pass legal reforms, and in others, departments themselves will need to develop and make changes under his direction. For purposes of grading, we’re also assuming some level of good faith: if a resolution is so broad as to be meaningless, it will affect the score, but guidelines that don’t come with a specific policy directive can still be graded well. Keep in mind that this categorically isn’t an evaluation of what’s going to happen, just what we’re being promised today -- for whatever that’s worth. This isn’t a wish list of how the program will ideally be reformed, but it’s holding Obama to the recommendations his panel made.The speculation is over. Microsoft’s search engine officially has a new name, Bing. The name, along with some new features, opens the latest chapter in Microsoft’s quest to best Google in the search engine wars.
If you’re expecting Bing to be a Google-killer, reset your expectations. The most dramatic change, in my view, remains the name itself. I can’t say that Bing is the best of names, but neither is it the worst. It’s certainly better than the “Live Search” moniker that’s resonated with few, including even those at Microsoft itself.
The new name, along with $80 million in marketing that Microsoft is unleashing, will undoubtedly attract brand new visitors to Microsoft’s search engine plus get some who had previously given up on Live Search to take another look. What they’ll find is a search engine with solid relevancy plus some new features that might hook a few of them into staying.
Below, a drill-down on those new features. However, I highly recommend that you also read Greg Sterling’s companion article, Microsoft’s Bing Vs Google: Head To Head Search Results. For those interested in a market analysis of how Bing may fare, see my companion article: State Of Search: Google Will Stay Strong Despite Bing & Yahoo
Note that in the screenshots below, you’ll still see the old “Live Search” branding or sometimes the “Kumo” brand that was used internally at Microsoft. While the logos might be different, the functionality is the same as that which will be shown to those using Bing — which is set to launch early next week, first as a “preview’ and then formally.
I’m also focusing on changes to the main search results page. Bing, like Live Search before it, has a variety of specialized search engines. It’s simply too much to cover all of these in a single review — as separate search engines on their own, they deserve more room (and would also need to be compared to corresponding specialized search engines from Google and others). Also, some of these services haven’t changed dramatically other than in branding, so a deeper look now isn’t as necessary.
Categorized Search & Web Groups
Probably the most significant change is that Bing now organizes search results into categories. For example, in a search on obama, you can see in the screenshot above how the arrow points to the new categories that are listed at the top left of the page (in a column that Microsoft calls the Explore Pane, and the tab-like links are called — yes — “Quick Tabs”):
Images
Biography
Facts
Quotes
Speeches
Issues
Videos
This is Bing telling the searcher that for the general topic of “obama,” it has results that relate to his biography, speeches he’s made, issues he’s taken and so on.
Not every search brings up these links. At launch, Microsoft they’re more likely to appear for queries relating to:
Automobiles (car models, car manufacturers)
Travel & Local (countries, cities, states, points of interest like stadiums and parks)
People (celebrities, athletes, musicians, bands, politicians)
Sports (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB teams)
Health (cancer, diet, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, symptoms, genetic and conditional disease, injury trauma)
Entertainment (popular television shows, movies)
Retail (certain electronics such as cameras, cell phones and optics products)
Events (Oscars, Fourth of July, NASCAR, etc.)
Over time, more queries will also get categorization.
By clicking on the category links, you can drill into more specific results. More on that, in a moment. However, anticipating that some searchers might ignore the category options, Bing also automatically lists results from each category into the main results page, into what it calls “Web Groups.”
For example, the screenshot above shows how images of Obama are automatically shown, then below that, some general search results about him. But if you scroll further:
Notice how there’s a subheading called “Obama Biography” followed by some results on that topic, then there’s another subheading called “Obama Facts,” followed by results on that subject. Scroll further still:
Now you have another subheading called “Obama Quotes” with matching results, followed by “Obama Speeches” with results on that topic.
In all, you get 20 results rather than the 10 results that have long been the norm for search engines. I’d say that’s a good thing, in that the more results you present, the more chances you’ll have at surfacing something that will match a searcher’s interest (assuming you have good overall relevancy). Most searches don’t go past the first page of results — so a match should help reinforce a sense of satisfaction.
Then again, Microsoft is taking a chance that people will be interested in the Web Groups it has selected. To increase the odds of this, the company says these groups are drawn on the topics most queried in relation to a core term. In other words, many people looking for “obama” also then do additional queries to find his biography, or information on his speeches and so on.
Will it work? That remains to be seen, of course. Personally, I find the page fairly busy. I suspect people either won’t notice the various subheadings (and so miss out on the grouping Microsoft is trying to do) or find they’re distracting from the actual listings.
The concept of grouping results also isn’t new. Long known as clustering, you can see it in operation at Hakia (see obama there) or Clusty (again, see obama there). Microsoft says that it is putting its own unique blend to it, but will that be compelling enough?
Also keep in mind that even Google has a form of clustering. Called related search suggestions, it’s nowhere near as dramatic as what Bing does. In some cases, if Google thinks someone might be searching for results related to what they initially entered — but not exactly the same — it will insert these into the middle of the page. For example, consider a search on mini:
Microsoft lists far more categories related to the car, from “parts” to “specs,” but note also that in the Related Searches section, “miniclip” comes up:
They may seem like different things — Google’s simply showing you matches for a related search while Microsoft is taking a set of search results and organizing them. But that’s not the case.
Actually, each of the “Web Groups” themselves on Bing is a related search. Remember earlier I said that if you clicked on a category link, you could drill-down? If you do that for the Biography category of the obama search, you get 10 biography-specific results. And the first three of those? They’re the ones that get mixed into the “biography” section of the main page. The same is true if you select the Facts category.
In short, if what Microsoft is doing really catches on, I have little doubt that Google could replicate it. But I’m not really expecting it will be a major feature that grabs attention. Certainly it will make Microsoft distinctive from Google — which can be good — but I also think the feature is going to morph in short order. And that brings me to Related Searches.
Related Searches
In the screenshot above, you can see a list of “Related Search” for my original search of memorial day.
Related searches aren’t new to to Microsoft. Live Search had them — heck, MSN Search before Live Search had them. All the major search engines have related searches.
I point them out primarily because they’re confusing to me with the categories, which are also related searches, just under a different name. Both are ways to refine a search, and I worry that by splitting things up, Microsoft is actually dividing attention away from an important feature — even if it’s one that relatively few will use. I followed up with Microsoft about this point, and this is what they sent me:
With categorized search what we’ve done is take the related searches for individual queries and pop them up a level of abstraction to about classes of entries. That allows us to offer a consistent set of refinement tools between different queries about the same class of entries. For example, almost any city query will show “attractions” as a refinement in the web groups. Web Groups are common refinements for a class (i.e. autos) and entity within that class (i.e. Cooper Mini) that we see people across the web making post their initial query for that class entity (Auto, Mini Cooper). We use the web groups both to help with one-click refinement BUT also to break up the results on the search engine results page (SERP) into these common follow-on refinements. In other words, if we know many people traditionally search for Problem after Mini, why not display a few of the organic results for “Mini Problems” right on the first page of the SERP (which is what we do with web groups). Clicking on Problems in the TOC [category listings tab] does issue an entirely new query where the entire SERP is dedicated to “Mini Problems” organic results. Related Searches, on the other hand, are really more about collaborative filtering and dictionary/synonym technology to understand the most common queries related to that initial term. Web Groups offer a level of abstraction that help you see the most common results within the most common refinements for a query easily.
How used will related searches be, much less the category tabs? Historically, features like these aren’t used much. Microsoft says its studies find nearly half the queries initially performed get refined at some point in a search session. But most of that refinement is done by people manually adding new words, rather than using helper features, they confirmed for me. Still, perhaps the unique tabs will catch on more.
Search History
Further below on the left side of the search page is a new Search History area. Way, way back in Microsoft’s early days, they had a feature somewhat like this. It’s nice to see it come back.
Search History activates even if you’re not logged in, keeping track of your queries for up to 48 hours, as long as you’re using the same browser. If you manually clear your history, which is easy to do — or clear your browser’s cookies — then the history is gone. Want to store things longer? If you have a Windows Live account, you can make use of Windows SkyDrive folders and access your history from any computer. Want to save to your computer? If you’ve got Silverlight, then you can save to your “My Search Folders.” No Silverlight, no luck.
While search history is nice to have, it’s incredibly rudimentary compared to the more mature search history system that Google operates — and importantly, also uses to help refine results based on a user’s interests. But Microsoft says improvements will continue here. The also sent me as a follow-up on this aspect:
While the feature doesn’t have every aspect that Google’s History feature does, it does make the history feature more usable by most people by virtue of not requiring a sign-in and placing it on the main search results page by default.
Best Match
For some queries, a single “Best Match” results may appear, such as for UPS, as the screenshot shows above. These are designed to show the very best site in cases where Microsoft is super confident you only need a single link. It also provides things like the ability to search a particular company’s web site below its link, along with links to key areas of its site and customer service numbers. I like the simplicity of this and look forward to continuing to test how well it works.
In other cases, a Best Match result will appear above other search results, rather than these being hidden. This is in cases where Microsoft is pretty confident is knows what most people want but also wants to cover the few looking for something different. A search for “target” or “apple” brings up examples of this.
Quick Previews
Keep your thumbnail images, Bing’s trying something different. Hover next to the right of any listing, and you’ll see a short excerpt from the page, text that Microsoft thinks is additionally relevant beyond the standard description that showing. It’s a nice feature that hopefully will get used, though it’s easy to miss. It can allow you to better decide if you want to click through and save some time.
Instant Answers
While some of these aren’t new, “instant answers” or “direct answers” is an area I think Microsoft is particularly strong. Getting the actual results to the Oscars or the Kentucky Derby at the top of the page? That’s great relevancy, even if there are human editors involved.
Beyond that are some standard things like entering a flight number to get airline tracking information or movies followed by a ZIP code for local listings. Google and Yahoo also offer similar features, so where Microsoft shines is places where it goes beyond — such as the ability to get a ski report.
Other Things
There’s much more in the new release. I’ll highlight a few things that particularly resonate with me, and we might focus on these features more in the future:
Infinite scroll of images. Do an image search, and just keep scrolling and scrolling through the results. More keep coming up without you having to hit Next. I’ve long loved this feature at Microsoft.
Do an image search, and just keep scrolling and scrolling through the results. More keep coming up without you having to hit Next. I’ve long loved this feature at Microsoft. Shopping search offers a variety of reviews and other refinements and was recently combined with cashback offers. Check out the opinion ranking feature that looks for reviews across the web and categorizes them into positive and negative.
offers a variety of reviews and other refinements and was recently combined with cashback offers. Check out the opinion ranking feature that looks for reviews across the web and categorizes them into positive and negative. Local search has a rich amount of data and maps, as well as opinion ranking
has a rich amount of data and maps, as well as opinion ranking Travel search integrates the Farecast service that predicts future flight costs
integrates the Farecast service that predicts future flight costs Health search has dedicated medical information available licensed from placed like the Mayo Clinic.
Finally, a reminder of the companion pieces to this story:
Similar to Greg Sterling in his head-to-head piece, I’ve been fighting my Google Habit for the past week and deliberately running searches on Bing to compare to Google. The relevancy has been solid. Sometimes Bing gets beat, but sometimes Google does, too.For more information about this build, check out maddognils' full guide This week's episode of Build of the Week features maddognils' Assassin that uses two Cospri's Malices to carve his way through enemies with a tempest of cold skills.For more information about this build, check out maddognils' full guide here. If you'd like to submit your own build for an upcoming episode, just post a build guide in the class forums!
Posted by Bex_GGG
on Grinding Gear Games on
LUL stay mad Wormblaster fans. No build of the week for you :D
Nice build overall! Like this more than the discharge version. Posted by Sheeptea
on on Quote this Post
Best build of all time!
Nerf incoming!!! Posted by LeoTristao
on on Quote this Post
nice
also any info on 2.4.2? 2.5? 3.0?
cmon :( IGN : FireHC Last edited by Achilion on Oct 26, 2016, 11:15:29 PM Posted by Achilion
on on Quote this PostAbout
We know what you're all thinking:
"There is no way that this many girls run a tech start-up".
Except we do, and we are about to save the virtual world with it, so listen up! We promise to keep this short and fun:
Somewhere between cells phones and technology (and the extinction of the VHS tape maybe) we've managed to create a culture of online-bullying, which was totally cool never, so it's time we put an end to it once and for all.
How not cool is this?
There have been so many amazing organizations before us who have made (and continue to make) significant strides and efforts to not only create awareness, but to push through to legislation to affect change.
But we thought, "instead of trying to stop it, why don't we try to capture it?".
Because what's the number one defense people use when they are making awful, nasty comments online?
"I'm exercising my first amendment rights"
Can't argue that one, so let's instead help them magnify those freedoms. Let's launch a database where we capture them exercising those rights and create digital records for them that anyone can access.
Yup. We consider ourselves to be patriots.
(This is the part where we address your immediate concerns.)
Important to note: We do not allow any commenting on our site because we do not want to host a platform for any bullying ourselves. Our database also cannot be searched by keyword (i.e, homophobia, racism, etc) which means a self-proclaimed vigilante would be unable to round up a specified group of online offenders.
(Okay this is the part where we tell you where your money is going.)
Thus far we have worked to collect data and create about 22,000 profiles from individuals that are surprising all over the employment spectrum (doctors, teachers, lawyers, you name it).
With your backing, we can take a break and go shopping, because we are women and that would be fun for us.
Just kidding.
With your backing, we can expand our team of web analysts in order to create profiles at a faster rate, as our goal is to launch the database at 150,000 profiles. We will immediately apply your funding to hiring a team of paid interns for the summer, and our continuing web development. We will devote all remaining funds toward our legal team, which we are going to need intact when we bring this site live.
(Now this is the part where we tell you how deep we roll)
Taylor's Swift Squad-Deep
Okay. That was a bit of dishonest marketing on our part. We do not know Taylor Swift, nor do we know Cara Delevigne, or for what reason exactly she is waving an English flag in this photo. In fact they will likely fire off a cease and desist letter to us for sourcing that image irresponsibly-- which we hope reinforces our earlier point about legal necessity.
All that squared away, the truer version of our squad is even more amazing:
We have worked to build and bridge with an impactful network. Most notably, we are proud partners and friends of the Tyler Clementi Foundation and their Day1 campaign.We encourage you all to check out their work and website. As well as a list of their organization's initiatives, which align fully with our own.
(Now this is the part where we tell you what's up next for us).
Our Founder, Candace Owens has been selected to give a TEDx talk on June 4th, 2016 about the perils of this era of technology, and all that we are doing to combat it.. The talk will be webcast live on the Ted.Com website, and it is slated to be the most important talk of our century, according to her mother. You will not want to miss it.
Now this is the part where we finish with a sweet one-liner and a bonus video, because you've earned that if you've gotten this far:
Our team has a simple message to share: Love is easier.
Check out all of crazy thoughts and experiences at our blog, Degree180.com.January 11, 2010 1:42 pm ET — MJ Rosenberg
What happened to the idea that it was inappropriate for American Members of Congress to go abroad and publicly endorse a foreign government's policy over that of their own government? Apparently, it died.
Last week, the Israeli media reported that the Obama administration was considering using very mild economic sanctions to push Israel toward accepting a full settlement freeze, which the President has repeatedly asked for, only to be rebuffed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
In fact, Netanyahu dissed Obama so completely, and with such exuberance, that it would be astonishing if the administration had not considered using its powerful economic leverage on Israel to achieve a settlement freeze and get negotiations going. (Israel is, by far, the largest recipient of US aid)
Nonetheless, the administration's Special Envoy, George Mitchell, denied that Obama was considering economic pressure, which was probably wise given the brouhaha the lobby would launch among its Capitol Hill acolytes. (If the administration does decide to use any form of economic pressure, it should simply tell the Israelis and let them decide what they want to do, not give advance warning through the media)
In any case, it didn't seem to matter to Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, who were visiting Israel, that the administration said it would not be putting the heat on. They felt the need to rush to the cameras anyway to tell Israelis, and the lobby back home, that, if the President pushes the Prime Minister, they will stand with the Prime Minister.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Lieberman said that "any attempt to pressure Israel, to force Israel to the negotiating table by denying Israel support, will not pass the Congress of the United States. In fact, the Congress will stop any attempt to do that."
McCain said he agreed with Lieberman. Congressman Anthony Weiner, on a separate visit to Israel, said that rather than reduce aid to Israel, he would cut off aid to the Palestinians. Why? Well why not? He was speaking in Israel, after all.
Of course, neither Lieberman nor Weiner nor even the more influential McCain could stop a President of the United States if he decided to put some settlement freeze strings on our foreign aid to Israel. That is, after all, standard practice with foreign aid recipients and if the goal is getting the two sides to peace talks, the American people (and Congress) would support their President.
Besides, no one suggested an aid slash, simply the withholding of loan guarantees. That is precisely the tactic the first President Bush used to protest settlement expansion 18 years ago. His action infuriated the lobby and some members of Congress, but Bush achieved what he wanted.
The Israeli government fell and the inflexible Yitzhak Shamir was replaced by Yitzhak Rabin, who simultaneously repaired relations with the United States and initiated the peace process.
That is not the point though. No matter what these legislators think of their own government's policy toward Israel, they should not openly take the Israeli side while in Israel. Back in the 1980's, pro-Israel Americans were infuriated when accused of choosing "Begin over Reagan." But here we have Members of Congress proudly touting their support for Netanyahu over Obama - in Israel, no less.
Now comes the really ironic part.
On Sunday, in an interview with John King on CNN, McCain asserted that advancing the peace process could only benefit US policies vis a vis Iran.
McCain predicted that the Iranian "regime's days are numbered." But he expressed the fear that it would use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to save itself.
That is because the Iranian opposition - like regime supporters - is pained by Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and might rally behind the government if the regime successfully turns attention toward that front. McCain concluded, "that argues for progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks."
King then asked McCain, "Do you think [Israel and Palestine are] at a point that, if you can get them in a room, they can get this done in a year or two?"
McCain said, "I do. I do. And I think that there is a heightened understanding that, with other tensions in the region, and I just mentioned Iran....that there's a certain urgency to the peace process. And I believe that not only is it possible but I think it's very likely you could see some progress in this area."
Lieberman, no surprise, said nothing on that point.
But McCain had it exactly right. Continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict hurts all of America's interests in the Middle East including, right at the top, our chances of successfully containing any threat emanating from Iran.
Accordingly, going to Israel to express solidarity with the Israeli government in its resistance to U.S. mediation is not only offensive, it harms U.S. interests. And Israel's too. After all, Israel, much more than us, would feel threatened by an Iranian nuclear arsenal.
It's time for legislators to stop pandering to a lobby and do what they know is right. McCain made clear that he indeed does know what America should do. The problem is that he, like Lieberman, would rather pander than support a President who is trying to do it.Netflix is one of the largest providers of on-demand streaming content, and they’ve got plenty of Halloween entertainment to keep us occupied all month long. There’s a seemingly endless variety of options available every month, so we’ve compiled a few selections from our watchlist to help solve the unending dilemma of “What should we watch tonight?”
Aside from the list below, there are many more horror, Halloween-appropriate choices. These are the ones we’re most excited about this October.
New to Netflix – October 2016
October 1st:
Queen of the Damned
The Uninvited
October 4th:
American Horror Story: Hotel
October 6th:
iZombie (Season 2)
October 7th:
Supernatural (Season 11)
October 8th:
The Vampire Diaries (Season 7)
October 28th:
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
Selections from our Netflix List
In no particular order. Some of these are personal favorites, and a few of the selections are titles we’ve been meaning to watch. This is not an all inclusive list of all the titles available to enjoy this month, but it’s a great place to get started if you’re wondering what’s available.
TV
The Walking Dead
Penny Dreadful
The Vampire Diaries
Goosebumps (The Series)
Bates Motel
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
The X Files
Twin Peaks
Scream (The Series)
Stranger Things
Dexter
Ghost Adventures
Slasher
The Munsters
Charmed
Salem
The Twilight Zone
Ghost Whisperer
The Following
Roswell
Most Haunted
Witches of East End
Supernatural
iZombie
R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour
Hellevator
MOVIES
Corpse Bride
Hush
Scream 2
Jaws
Jaws 2
Jaws 3
Jaws: The Revenge
The Addams Family
Sweeney Todd
The Amityville Horror
Would You Rather
Curse of Chucky
The Babadook
Goosebumps
The Invitation
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Dead Silence
Last Shift
Bewitched
Stephen King’s Children of the Corn
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
V/H/S
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy
Devil
Dark Skies
Fatal Attraction
The Houses October Built
All Cheerleaders Die
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death
Queen of the Damned
The Wicker Man
Kristy
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue
From Dusk Till Dawn
The Lazarus Effect
Witches: A Century of Murder
Housebound
The Den
The Human Centipede
Relic
Deathgasm
The Taking of Deborah Logan
The Awakening
We Are Still Here
The Fog
Extraordinary Tales
Cape Fear
The Ward
#Horror
The Nightmare
Curve
We Are What We Are
Sweet Home
The Hallow
Wolf Creek 2
Come Back to Me
Sleepy Hollow
Heathers
John Dies at the End
They Look Like People
The Sacrament
Final Girl
The Girl in the Photographs
Final Destination 3
12 Days of Terror
The ABCs of Death
Lizzie Borden Took An Ax
Cropsey
The Hollow
Most Likely To Die
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Killer Legends
The Forgotten
They’re Watching
Mr. Jones
Ava’s Possession
The Stranger
Dark Tide
Mexico Barbaro
Inner Demons
The Real Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Darling
Stage Fright
The Fly
Re-Animator
The Snowtown Murders
When Animals Dream
Here Comes the Devil
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
The Unborn
Creep
Starry Eyes
The Pack
Honeymoon
Holidays
Practical Magic
Hellboy
Spooky Stories
Spooky Stories 2
The Legend of Hell House
Underworld
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
R.L. Stine’s Mostly Ghostly
What movies and TV shows will you be streaming on Netflix this October? Share your favorites with us below!
Visit Mr. and Mrs. Halloween for horror news and Halloween treats throughout the year!
Celebrate all year long with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, & Instagram.By Laura Zuckerman
(Reuters) - The southwestern U.S. population of endangered Mexican gray wolves declined by 12 percent last year after five years of steady growth, leading wildlife advocates to suggest that illegal killings of the beleaguered predators may be to blame.
Wildlife managers said Thursday the drop - from 110 wolves in 2014 to 97 last year - was unexpected and disturbing but that federal and state governments should stick with their decades-long recovery efforts for the animal.
The tally did not include an estimated 20 more Mexican wolves roaming south of the U.S. border.
“The lower number of Mexican wolves that were counted is a concern, but not a signal that the program is unsuccessful,” Jim de Vos, assistant director of wildlife management for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
The U.S. population of the Mexican wolf, the rare |
your creation.
SAVE YOUR MONEY
The Potato Doctor turns the classic potato into a cheap side dish, snack or lunch. For the price of a $5 lunch, a person can create about 10 different meals for themselves.
SAVE YOUR HEALTH
The potato is one of the healthiest food on the planet.
A baked potato is an exceptionally healthful food that is low in calories, has high fiber content and offers significant protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer.
A food ranking system qualifies potatoes as a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good source of potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber, and pantothenic acid. Potatoes also contain at of antioxidants.
ADD-ONS
TRI-SPECIALIZED MIXING CONTAINER
In order for the Potato Doctor to do its job, which is to create amazing, loaded baked potatoes, the tool has to have a modified needle. This modification may make it more difficult to use regular containers for mixing the seasonings. The mixing container is a specialized container that the user can use to mix the seasonings, liquids and any other additives they want in their baked potato. The container is specially designed with a slanted angle base to accommodate the needle’s shape and is microwavable. It enables the user to suck the mixture into the Potato Doctor more easily.
FLAVA MONSTER
These flavor packets are filled with carefully blended seasonings to create a specific taste. They can be added to the liquids (butter, milk, water) that the user puts into the Potato Doctor for injection into the potato. These flavor packets are available in four flavors: regular, spicy, garlic and lemon pepper
CARE & CLEANING
This brochure details the directions for proper cleaning and usage of the Potato Doctor.
HEAT WRAP
This is a silicone rubber wrap, which can be wrapped around the hot potato when the user wants to use the vertical injection technique. It is thick enough to resist the heat coming from the cooked potato. It also has a wide hole where the use will insert the needle to get to the potato.
PRODUCT BREAK DOWN
DESIGN
FIRST DESIGN
SECOND DESIGN
Changes
no motor
smaller
less moving pieces
different needle
Key factors to consider when designing a product are functionality and aesthetics. Thus, design of this tool needed to be simple to use, but also effective and visually appealing.
The functionality of this invention included three main factors:
Easy rotation
Easy rotation to allow everyone to use the tool. Magnitude of torque
The magnitude of torque has to be high enough to scramble a potato. Suction
From the point of the needle to the opening of the bottle/handle it has to be air tight in order to create the suction. There were also three main factors that were considered for the cosmetic design:
Modern look
Good looking shape without sacrificing function
Size and weight constraints
The Potato Doctor is the brain child of Burrell Williams. It was conceived at a time when eating healthy was a big concern but also food tasting good was important also. Just like the company’s motto, “products that make life easier,” this invention will also simplify your life. This is the first of several helpful inventions that will be released by the start-up, JSW PRODUCTS.
THANK YOU
FROM: Burrell Williams
Purchasing a Potato Doctor enables JSW PRODUCTS to complete the manufacturing and production of this invention. With each purchase, not only are you helping the start-up complete this project financially, but you are also helping to fulfill the dreams of an individual, who always wanted to be an INVENTOR.Johny Hendricks' attempts to tackle weight cutting without the help of a nutritionist led to a roller-coaster year he never expected.
The former UFC welterweight champion cut ties with Mike Dolce prior to UFC 185, but still used many of Dolce's methods in the lead-up to the March fight. The result was a weight cut that Hendricks' called one of the easiest of his career, plus a dominant showing against Matt Brown that vaulted Hendricks back into the title conversation.
Hendricks attempted to replicate that success earlier this month at UFC 192, only he tweaked a winning formula, switching his diet from fish and chicken, which Dolce preferred, to one heavy on venison. The results were disastrous. Hendricks dropped out of his fight with Tyron Woodley the day before weigh-ins and was hospitalized with an intestinal blockage and kidney stone.
The fallout from the embarrassing incident caused Hendricks to reflect on the decisions that led him to this point, and the 32-year-old admitted Monday on The MMA Hour that he would be willing to seek help if it meant putting his nightmarish weights cuts behind him once and for all.
"I'm always open for it, because I don't know everything, obviously," Hendricks said. "I thought I improved on that, but I failed. And it's because of my missed calculations. But I want to get back to being the best, where I don't have to... worry about the weight cut."
Hendricks was scheduled to visit the doctor this week to treat his kidney stone, which at the time of the interview was still lodged in his right side. After that, his future is murky.
Hendricks publicly floated the idea of moving up to middleweight following his hospitalization. He backed off of that idea in the days after, but UFC President Dana White agreed that the divisional shift may be necessary, saying of Hendricks, "he needs to figure this thing out. I consider him a (1)85-pounder right now. I do not want to see him at 170 again."
For his part, Hendricks is hesitant to commit to the move without first giving welterweight one more good try. He plans to do a "mini weight cut" down to 180 pounds at the end of the month, and if successful, he hopes the UFC will allow him to stay at the weight class he once reigned over as champion.
"If I hit 180 and everything is doing great, then that's whenever I talk to Dana and Lorenzo (Fertitta)," Hendricks said. "That's when I call them and say, ‘hey, let's book a fight,' because I want to get back in there. I want to train, I want to fight, and I just want to make sure that it's going to be healthy for my body.
"And let's say that I hit 180 and I go through the same thing? Well, then I understand, ‘okay, is my body sort of tired of making 170?' [The answer to] that, I don't know just yet, until I do this mini weight cut and see how my body reacts. Hopefully it reacts good, because then I can continue my welterweight run."
Hendricks said that he has spoken to the UFC about his plan, and although he isn't sure if officials are "100-percent keen on it," the chance to stay at welterweight is something he feels strongly about.
Standing just 5'9" with a 69-inch reach, Hendricks would be massively outsized in the middleweight division.
By comparison, 185-pound champion Chris Weidman is a goliath 6'2" with a 78-inch reach, while upcoming title challenger Luke Rockhold is a similarly large 6'3" with a 77-inch reach.
"I want to make sure that I make the smartest decisions in this moment, if that makes sense," Hendricks said. "I believe that, yeah, I could do good at 185 pounds. But what am I going to do better at? What am I going to be better at? Guys I'm giving up like two or three inches against, and in some cases might be giving up six? Or giving up six inches of reach every fight?
"That's the thing. That's what I want to make sure that at this point, yeah, I've struggled (with the weight), but I've also made it easy. And that's the [hard part], is that I made it so easy for the Matt Brown fight. Going off that, that's exactly how I'm going to start running my camps, exactly how I did that fight. I way I did the chicken and the salmon and alternated with them, and all of this other stuff, there's a lot of other things I tried to improve on this weight cut and it failed."
Hendricks went on to acknowledge that while a move up in weight wouldn't be his personal preference, it could carry a certain allure if it meant an end to his struggles.
"Hey, there's part of me that likes that," Hendricks said, "because I wouldn't have to make 170 again. But for me as a competitor, that's a lot harder road. One day I'd like to venture out on that road, but at this time, I still want to consider myself a welterweight because there's so much more I can do. There's so much better I can be. And that's what I really want to focus on right now."Carrick captained United at the Etihad Stadium and delivered an impressive midfield performance in a victory which keeps their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League alive and which, he said, would have been a “disaster” if the game had ended in defeat.
The midfielder will not be part of the England squad for the forthcoming friendlies against Germany and Holland with manager Roy Hodgson having called him to explain his omission as he wanted to look at other players such as Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater.
“I spoke to him (Hodgson) and it’s fair enough,” Carrick said. “He gave me his reasons and stuff and what he wanted to do, so that is fine. I have a few days off now so I will go and have a rest, have a break, take the family away which will be nice and come back for the run-in.”
• Wheels come off for Pellegrini after City’s Guardiola obsession
Nevertheless the omission calls into question whether Carrick will make the 23-man squad for Euro 2016. “A lot can change between now and the summer,” he said. “There are some big games and you have got to be consistent so that is how it goes.”
Carrick said he hoped the win over City can “turn things around” for United after a hugely disappointing season: “It has been frustrating because we know we have got performances in us, and you can see that against the so-called bigger teams, our form has been very good. So you can take positives from that but at the same time it’s not enough.”Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Police say a meth lab exploded in a man's pants this morning in Oklahoma.
The man was the passenger in a car that was pulled over. A trooper started asking him about a chemical smell and the man bolted. The trooper chased him down and “After a brief struggle it was determined there was an active meth lab in his pants that burst during the struggle and got all over his body," says Trooper Shiloh Hall of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The portable meth process is incredibly dangerous because it involves putting the chemical ingredients in a single container then flipping it upside down to mix it.
The built-up pressure makes the mixture highly explosive.
Click here to see Faces of Meth Gallery.Since taking office in 2009, Barack Obama has had to respond to mass shootings in Fort Hood, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Aurora, Colorado; Oak Creek, Wisconsin; Sandy Hook, Connecticut; Washington, DC;and Fort Hood, Texas (again). Several mass shootings, such as the 2012 massacre at Oikos University – a Christian school in Oakland, California – have gone almost unnoticed. Others, such as last week's shooting at a #BlackLivesMatter protest in Minneapolis, have gone unremarked on by the White House. But such is our new American normal. (It bears mentioning that Obama might have done more to curb gun violence, and unfettered access to guns, during his first year in office, when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.) As it is, here are the president's responses to mass shootings that took place in 2015:
'Nobody should have to worry about their security when gathering with their fellow believers. No one should ever have to fear for their safety when they go to pray.' – in April, after the mass shooting at a Jewish community center in Kansas
'Let’s be clear: At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it.' – in June, after the mass shooting at a black church in South Carolina
'Earlier this year, I answered a question in an interview by saying, “The United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not have sufficient common-sense gun-safety laws – even in the face of repeated mass killings.” And later that day, there was a mass shooting at a movie theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana. That day! Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this.' – last month, after the mass shooting at a community college in Oregon
'This is not normal. We can’t let it become normal. If we truly care about this – if we’re going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience – then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them. Period. Enough is enough.' – last week, after the mass shooting and standoff at a Planned Parenthood clinic in ColoradoImage copyright Science Photo Library Image caption Artwork: The famous paradox imagines a cat that is simultaneously alive and dead
The detection of ripples in space-time and a famous cat-based paradox are featured in a list of the physics advances of 2016.
The discovery of gravitational waves, announced in February, was declared breakthrough of the year.
But the top 10 list, compiled by Physics World magazine, also features a new twist on the much-loved Schrödinger's Cat idea.
It also included the detection of a planet around our nearest star.
The winning discovery was the result of work by the Ligo collaboration, which involved more than 80 institutions worldwide.
Ligo operates several labs around the world that fire lasers through long tunnels, trying to sense warping in the fabric of space-time.
The first signal was generated by the collision of two black holes more than a billion light-years from Earth.
Image copyright LIGO/T. Pyle/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Image caption Artist's impression: The existence of gravitational waves was first proposed by Albert Einstein
"What's been achieved by Ligo, particularly in a relatively short space of time, is truly incredible," said Hamish Johnston, the editor of Physics World.
"The observations it has made are the first direct evidence of the existence of black holes, so Ligo has already changed our view of the Universe."
In no particular order, the nine other achievements are as follows:
Schrödinger's Cat: The well-known paradox presents the idea of a cat in a box that may be simultaneously alive and dead. The scenario was designed to illustrate some principles of the weird world of quantum physics. It is an example of quantum superposition, where particles can be in two different states at once. A US-French team created two microwave cavities (the boxes), while the cats were represented by large ensembles of photons. In a twist to the tale, the team showed that the "cat" can be in two separate locations at the same time.
Compact "gravimeter": University of Glasgow scientists built a gravimeter - which can make very precise measurements of Earth's gravity - that is both inexpensive and small. The device could be used in mineral exploration, civil engineering and for monitoring volcanoes.
Nearest neighbour: Astronomers discovered evidence for a rocky exoplanet within the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our Solar System. The alien world, called Proxima b, is about 1.3 times the size of Earth and could - in theory - sustain liquid water on its surface.
Image copyright ESO/M.Kornmesser Image caption Artwork: Proxima b's mass suggests it is a rocky world like Earth
Entanglement: An international team created and measured a phenomenon called quantum entanglement between two different types of ion - a charged atom or molecule. The discovery could help show the way towards super-fast quantum computers.
Wonder material: Scientists measured a property called negative refraction in the promising material graphene. Negative refraction could be used to create new types of optical devices such as very powerful lenses.
Nuclear clock: German physicists detected an elusive transition in the element thorium-229 which could allow the development of a "nuclear clock". Such a clock would be much more stable than the conventional atomic clocks in use today.
Amazing lens: A team at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland created a new microscope lens, called the Mesolens, that offers the unique combination of a large field of view with high resolution.
Image copyright Mesolens Image caption These structures in the brain of a rat embryo were imaged using the Mesolens, developed at the University of Strathclyde
Fast computing: Quantum computers could herald a technological revolution, but scientists have to overcome many hurdles before they can produce "real world" devices. In 2016, Austrian scientists used a quantum computer to simulate the physics that describes fundamental interactions between sub-atomic particles - a significant development in this field.
Tiny engine: A team at the University of Mainz in Germany created a heat engine based on just one atom. It converts a difference in temperature to mechanical work by confining a single calcium ion in a funnel-shaped trap.
Follow Paul on Twitter.Farewell to Haruo Nakajima, The Heart of Japanese Monsters
Haruo Nakajima as a young actor and Hollywood’s Godzilla star on the Walk of Fame. On August 7, 2017, the news came out that Haruo Nakajima, beloved Godzilla and Kaiju suit actor and a pioneer of the art, had passed away. Word spread through fandom quickly via social media and the outpouring a affection, grief and shock was amazing and heartfelt. At SciFi Japan, we felt a fitting tribute needed to be done and it was something that should not be rushed or thrown together. Over the last month we have been talking to people who worked closely with Mr. Nakajima to bring him to the US and around the world, to meet his fans and share his stories of the golden years of suit acting in Japanese films. We start off with an overview of his life and career, written by author Ed Godziszewski, followed by remembrances from a variety of colleagues that traveled with him over the last few years. Author Ed Godziszewski, publisher Japanese Giants and co-author of Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film From Godzilla to Kurosawa. Haruo Nakajima was born in Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture, on January 1, 1929. As the son of a butcher, in his youth he often had to carry heavy slabs of meat while working in his father’s shop and he labored hard to take care of the business’ animals. With all these tasks and a steady diet of meat, he felt that he was able to develop a strength and stamina in his formative years that would serve him well in his future endeavors. His father was quite strict, so he also developed a keen sense of discipline at an early age. Growing up in the time of Japan’s escalating imperial ambitions, elementary school was looked upon as a time of training for a future military career. While in elementary school, he trained in kendo and judo, and he joined the Kaiyo Shonen-den (Marine Boys Troop), a Boy Scout-type group that taught kids to swim, how to handle boats, and even how to give flag signals—all with an eye on eventually joining the Navy. Military indoctrination made it so that every young boy’s ambition was to become a soldier. By the time he was old enough to get formal military training, Japan was not only embroiled in expansionist aggression in mainland China, the Pacific War was also in full gear. His destiny as a cog in the Japanese war machine was predetermined, a destiny that most kids eagerly embraced in those days. When he was 13 years old, his father died of a stroke. With his older brother taking over the family business, he decided to move away from Yamagata and decided to join the Navy, a decision made easier because he had not passed his high school entrance exam.
The many faces of Haruo Nakajima in some of his non-Kaiju roles. With a deep love of airplanes, at the age of 14, he entered the Imperial Japanese Navy and enrolled in an academy (called yokaren) that trained reserve pilots. During gunnery training, he had a brush with death as his plane was hit by enemy fire, ripping a hole in the fuselage next to his seat. When Admiral Yamamoto, architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, was killed, as a member of the Imperial Navy, Nakajima participated in the lavish funeral ceremony held in Tokyo Bay. He vividly recalled that over 400 ships assembled that day, including the mighty battleship Yamato. “The Yamato was an incredible sight…it extended up 50-60 meters from the waterline, the same height as Godzilla!” Nakajima was stationed on the Shinano, a Yamato-class battleship that had been converted to an aircraft carrier. During his brief assignment on the Shinano, he would see small suicide boats called shinyo (i.e. shaking ocean) making practice runs—boats manned by his fellow classmates from the yokaren, a memory that haunted him for years to come. Although Shinano was sunk on its maiden voyage, Nakajima escaped death by being transferred to a communications ship just prior to Shinano setting sail. The war ended when he was 16 years old, just before he was to be sent into combat. Life in post-war Japan was difficult for everyone as unemployment was rampant and both food and necessities were scarce. However, Nakajima was fortunate enough to get a reference from one of his yokaren comrades and obtained a relatively high-paying job as a truck driver on a US military base in Yokohama. After a year he lost his job over a speeding violation, and with nothing else to do, on a whim he answered a want ad for the International Motion Picture Acting School. Acting school was a one-year program run by two actors on loan from Toho Studios, and students often got acting jobs from the major studios as part of their training. Nakajima’s first acting job was for Akira Kurosawa on STRAY DOG, playing the part of a drunken bar patron that gets into a brawl. Unfortunately, his scene was cut from the film, so his screen debut had to wait until he officially entered Toho in 1950 as a contract actor. Among his classmates were Shoichi Hirose, who would later play Godzilla opponents King Kong and King Ghidorah, and Tetsuro Tanba, who joined Shin Toho after graduation and later went on to become a big star at Toho.
Nakajima out of suit on the set of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN.
© and TM 2017 Toho Co., ltd. As a member of Toho, Nakajima appeared almost exclusively in period dramas, performing small roles in action sequences such as swordfighting and riding horses, usually in full armor (which in those days was the real thing, not plastic as would later become the norm). Much of his early work was done for Hiroshi Inagaki, including an appearance in the SAMURAI TRILOGY. Whatever the job, strenuous or dangerous, Nakajima matter-of-factly accepted and did his best. Working as a stunt and action actor also had its practical considerations—such kind of special work also merited extra pay. It was his intention to be versatile, able to do anything, which would increase the kind of jobs that he could obtain. As a result, during the making of Ishiro Honda’s war epic EAGLE OF THE PACIFIC (1953), Nakajima was given the job of playing a fighter pilot whose plane caught fire, and he in turn catches fire while escaping from his cockpit. This unique action caught the eye of the director. The year 1954 was an auspicious one. Nakajima appeared in two of the most famous and successful Japanese films in cinema history. First, he had a small role as one of the bandits in Kurosawa’s epic SEVEN SAMURAI. “It was the scene where the master swordsman Kyuzo, played by Seiji Miyaguchi, Mifune, and the young boy set an ambush on the three bandits in a field of flowers. Mr Miyaguchi flashed his sword and one of the bandits was killed… that was me!” But the film which would determine his life’s path would come next…Ishiro Honda’s GODZILLA. He was selected to play the title character. Nakajima was never told why he was chosen to play the monster in Honda’s film. Perhaps the director had taken note of him while making EAGLE OF THE PACIFIC, maybe it was his reputation as being willing to take on any difficult role without complaint. Whatever the reason, Nakajima gladly accepted, thinking he would merely be putting on some sort of animal costume, much like in a stage play, along the lines of a pantomime horse. Nothing could have prepared him for the reality of the task. Consulting with special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, Nakajima was told that this would be a gigantic dinosaur-like creature, so there was no clear reference for him to study. He was instead advised to study the movements of large animals such as bears and elephants. When the fateful date came in early June of 1954, he got his first glimpse of Godzilla. Far from a simple cloth suit, this was a 100kg+ concoction of fabric and cushions shaped onto a framework of wire and bamboo and covered with a primitive kind of latex. It was so stiff that the suit could practically stand on its own without anyone inside. Nakajima was to share the duties of portraying Godzilla with Katsumi Tezuka, a Toho veteran who was 17 years his senior. Nakajima was able to manage to walk 10 meters in this prototype, whereas Tezuka could barely manage a couple steps. While the image of Godzilla proved satisfactory to the staff, this dry run pointed up the main problem facing the crew. This kind of special effects technique was without precedent—to make it work, everything was going to be trial-and-error. While the staff labored to figure out how to build a more flexible suit and how to film it, the performance was left largely up to Nakajima to improvise.
Nakajima waits in the Godzilla suit from KING KONG VS.
GODZILLA. © and TM 2017 Toho Co., ltd. A second Godzilla suit was made with emphasis on reducing the weight and increasing flexibility, but nevertheless it still posed a formidable challenge in which to move and act. As Nakajima would tell it, Tezuka only performed one scene as Godzilla approached the Diet Building, but he fell and badly injured himself, and as a result all of the Godzilla scenes that made it to the final film featured his performance. The physical toll of wearing the suit was considerable. Typically, he could last around 10 minutes inside the suit at a time—his ability to see and breathe courtesy of a few small holes located in the monster’s neck (the suit’s head sat atop his own head). Easily a cup of sweat would be drained after a stint inside the suit, and he would lose as much a 5kg during a shoot, requiring that liquids and salt water be kept in ready supply to replenish his fluids. Nakajima estimated that he could perform as little as 10% of his intended actions through the stiff outer suit. But he persevered, never complaining, and when the job was done, Nakajima was an integral part of creating what would become a worldwide phenomenon, and in the process he personally came to pioneer the field of suitmation. Although he returned to acting in period dramas after Godzilla, as Nakajima anticipated, Eiji Tsuburaya called upon him to do more suit acting. Since Godzilla was such a huge financial success, Toho looked to science fiction as a money-making genre. Year by year, the jobs continued to roll in for him as he would assume the roles of various monsters in GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN, RODAN, VARAN, etc. Tsuburaya came to rely on Nakajima almost entirely to create and choreograph monster action, and he eventually became alternately a coach and mentor for other suit actors as well. When Eiji Tsuburaya started creating monster and science fiction shows for television under the newly formed Tsuburaya Productions, he turned to Nakajima to come to his company to help out, both as an actor and as a teacher for the novice actors in this fledgling company. Tsuburaya’s reliance on Nakajima was illustrated by the somewhat apocryphal story that Nakajima had received an offer to come and work in Hollywood. Tsuburaya was shocked, saying “without you, we can never make Godzilla movies!” With monster films taking up only 3-6 months of his time, Nakajima continued to work as an action actor outside the genre, appearing in bit roles in many productions, including Kurosawa’s HIDDEN FORTRESS and YOJIMBO, war epics like I BOMBED PEARL HARBOR, and period pieces such as DAREDEVIL IN THE CASTLE. While making SF films, when he had some spare time, it was not unusual for director Honda to come to the SFX stage and borrow Nakajima for bit parts, allowing him the chance to have his face seen on screen. Despite being the ‘star’ of his films, the public hardly knew what he looked like outside of cameos and bit roles.
Taking a break during filming of EBIRA HORROR OF THE DEEP.
© and TM 2017 Toho Co., ltd. Just as monsters on TV started to proliferate, the Japanese film industry started to fall on hard times. Especially with monsters available for free on on TV every week, the box office suffered a sharp decline. But the major blow to the production of monster films came in January of 1970 when Eiji Tsuburaya suddenly passed away. With his long-time director gone and the studio constantly cutting budgets and staff, slowly Nakajima started to lose the resolve to keep acting. By the time he wrapped filming on GODZILLA VS. GIGAN, his 12th outing as the King of the Monsters, he knew the end had arrived. Nakajima had come to realize that at his age, now 43 years old, he was reaching the physical limits of his ability to keep going as a suit actor. He and many other contracted employees were let go from Toho–Nakajima suddenly found himself unemployed. Eventually Nakajima found work at a bowling alley affiliated with the Hankyu company of which Toho was a part. Although he had left the movie industry, on occasion there would be the odd call for an interview. When Godzilla made a comeback in 1984, he even appeared on the TV special “THE GODZILLA SHOW” in a special segment along the lines of “WHAT’S MY LINE?” where a panel asked questions to determine which of three people was actually the man who played Godzilla (one of the ‘imposters’ appearing with him was suit maker Noboyuki Yasamaru). But by and large, Nakajima had settled into a mostly anonymous retirement. In the early 90s, Nakajima suddenly inched back into the spotlight. In the midst of Godzilla’s resurgence with the “vs Series” led by SFX director Koichi Kawakita, an occasional request for interviews would come his way. In particular, fans from overseas began to seek out Nakajima—the first of them being David Milner who published an interview with him in Cult Movies. This would eventually lead to what would be the first of many invitations to appear at conventions in the West—in this particular case, it was G-Fest 96 in Chicago. Nakajima was genuinely gratified by the outpouring of support and appreciation for his film work, and for the last 20 years of his life, he relished the chance to travel and meet his fans, regaling them with stories of his career. His notoriety in Japan also increased, and he eventually participated in several documentary works on Japanese SF and in particular about Godzilla, both in Japan and overseas. The fame which had eluded him for most of his life finally came his way. He passed away on August 7, 2017 from pneumonia at 88 years of age, survived by his daughter Sonoe. *******
Haruo Nakajima–Why He Was Special?
Suit actors, both in the West and in Japan, have come and gone, but Haruo Nakajima clearly stands out above them. What was it that made him stand apart from the rest? It was no small accomplishment that Nakajima was a true pioneer in his field. When he took the job in 1954 at the request of Eiji Tsuburaya, even the special effects master was uncertain how to accomplish the task. Nakajima took it upon himself to study the movements of large creatures and adapt them to his performance. But in addition, he also gave consideration to how the camera would capture his performance, adjusting his movements and posture accordingly. When the camera was to be run at high speed (to slow a creature’s movements for creating the illusion of great height and mass), he recognized that he would also have to move much quicker than normal to create a realistic impression. If not, the resulting footage would look unnatural and lack the image of a living creature. Nakajima also took into consideration the unique characteristics of each suit. In the case of Godzilla and other upright monsters, suits were constructed so that the monster’s head sat atop his own head—his head was inside the monster’s neck. This created an imbalanced body image, with shoulders and arms appearing too low compared to the head. Among suit actors in giant monster films, Nakajima was alone in recognizing that the actor needed to raise his arms up high, next to his own head, to balance the image of the monster. His technique is on vivid display in the suit actor segment of the 2008 documentary BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE. Demonstrating his Godzilla performance, he alone walks with his arms raised. It looks strange outside of the suit, but it creates the most natural image on screen. Compare the look of monsters from the 50s and 60s to those in subsequent years, and the difference becomes obvious.
Nakajima shows how Godzilla would take out Gabara rehearsing for ALL
MONSTERS ATTACK. © and TM 2017 Toho Co., ltd. While it was already remarkable that Nakajima was able to create an acting technique for suitmation, this also made him Tsuburaya’s invaluable asset on the set. Anyone who would come in to play opposite Nakajima was new to this job, so Nakajima would have to train them. But Tsuburaya developed such deep trust in Nakajima’s abilities that it was usually up to him to choreograph the action among the monsters. Sometimes the script would just simply describe the scene as ‘monster battle’—the details were often left up to Nakajima to create. Relying on his extensive judo training, Nakajima was able to plan sophisticated and exciting battle action that the director and writers would have difficulty imagining. The relationship between Nakajima and Tsuburaya became one of mutual trust, one of those unique situations where very few words were required between them. To Nakajima, the content of the scene was his job to create so that Tsuburaya could concentrate on how best to capture that action on film. Nearly everyone would ask Nakajima about how difficult and dangerous his suit acting job was, and indeed it was. He was asked to perform in suits weighing as much as 70-80kg, some of them incredibly inflexible, each with little to no ventilation and with but a few small holes through which to see and breathe. Sweating profusely inside these mobile sweat boxes, his stamina was challenged and the fabric lining would also wear away at his skin. Inside the studio, he performed under the glare of powerful studio lights, and outside on open sets he would endure the blistering heat of summer as well as winter’s freezing temperatures. Having had scuba training, he was also uniquely equipped to perform scenes where monsters would have to emerge from underwater. This was no small matter since the suits would absorb water like a sponge, nearly doubling in weight, making them enormously heavy. One false move and an actor risked drowning. There were even times where he was literally buried alive in the suit in order to perform a scene where he would emerge from underground. And in every film, he would have to deal with an assault of pyrotechnics and projectiles. But losing 5kg from the physical burden of playing a scene, having the suit catch fire, miniature missiles piercing the suit, being buried without any air, having an explosive burn through the suit—for him, these were no big deal, just a part of the job. He honestly never thought of the danger and hardship involved. He considered himself a professional, it was what he was hired to do and he was being paid to do it, so it was his policy to do it without complaint. Even if he was injured, his idea was that he should not speak up. “I want the director to think I am immortal!”, he said. He showed great pride in this attitude, that he should do whatever the director would ask—after all, they will not ask you to do the impossible. By being versatile and showing you can do anything, you gain the trust of the director, and you become invaluable to them.
Taking to the skies in RODAN. © and TM 2017 Toho Co., ltd. Despite all the hardships and all the special value he contributed to the monster films, Nakajima labored in relative obscurity. For many years, Toho and Tsuburaya did their best to keep from the public that there was someone inside the suits, bringing them to life. But for Nakajima, this was no big deal at all. Once again he took the practical approach—that he was a professional actor, this is what he was being paid for, so why should this be an issue? In fact, from his viewpoint, this was a good thing. His performance was featured in all of his films—everyone could notice his work. And the fact that he was |
...consult a suitably qualified holistic physician who can carry out the relevant checks.' Bear in mind, in the UK at least, medical doctors will rarely act until periods have been absent for six consecutive months.
I believe however that the vast majority of women on raw vegan diets who are experiencing scant, or no (observed!) blood flow are doing so for the very best and healthiest reasons rather than there being anything wrong.
CONCLUSION
Was pristine woman walking in paradise dripping blood for a few days each month? I don't think so.
Are periods normal? Yes - in most 'developed' societies, and particularly amongst women on standard cooked omnivorous diets. Are they healthy? Periods-as-generally-understood? I don't think so.
Do I still have them? Well - er... yes. At 50, I do still have periods, but obviously have mixed feelings here! Pre-raw, I was rather pleased that my body was still bleeding each month, but now I'm obviously not so sure. It's all slightly confused by the fact that I'm an old hag and therefore may not be ovulating regularly, but I can say (way-hay!) that, since raw (I'm 100% raw, but my diet's not perfect), my periods are much lighter and more infrequent. Phew.
The main aim of this article has been to challenge the prevailing view of periods as 'healthy', to challenge the things we've been brought up to believe about them, and to reassure those women whose menstrual flow has changed since going raw that this is probably not something to be concerned about, that it is just as likely (if not more likely) to be a sign that health is improving, rather than the opposite.
When we go raw, we are going out of step with what 99% of the world says on diet. In this article, I've taken the same path on menstruation. I hope I have, at least, provided food for thought.
Irtcles by Debbie TookA glut of crude may keep oil prices low for the next 15 years, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
There’s less than a 50 per cent chance that prices will drop to US$20 a barrel, most likely when refineries shut in October or March for maintenance, Jeffrey Currie, head of commodities research at the bank, said in an interview in Lake Louise, Alberta. Goldman’s long-term forecast for crude is at US$50 a barrel, he said.
Goldman cut its crude forecasts earlier this month, saying the global surplus of oil is bigger than it previously thought and that failure to reduce production fast enough may require prices to fall near US$20 a barrel to clear the glut. Prices may touch that level when stockpiles are filled to capacity, forcing producers in some areas to cut output, Currie said Wednesday.
“When we think of the longer term oil price, yes we put it at US$50 a barrel,” he said. “However the risks are to the downside given what’s happening in the other commodity markets and the macro markets more broadly.”
Even at $50 a barrel, such a low price for such an extended period of time could have a major impact on development of Canada’s oilsands, which make up 90% of the country’s oil reserves.
Oilsands producers need US$100 a barrel oil to build a new mining project, US$60 oil to build a new Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage project and US$40 to expand an existing SAGD project.
Here’s a Canadian Energy Research Institute look at costs for new projects in a 2014 study.
Lower iron ore, copper and steel prices as well as weaker currencies in commodity-producing countries have reduced costs for oil companies, according to Currie. The world is shifting from an “investment phase” of a 30-year commodity cycle to an “exploitation phase,” with shale fields as an important source of output, he said.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude futures were 1.3 per cent lower at US$46.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 11:24 a.m. London time. Prices are down about 13 per cent this year and have plunged more than 50 per cent over the past 12 months.
Fed Rates
The U.S. Federal Reserve may “leave a lot of negative uncertainty in emerging markets,” potentially affecting oil demand, if it doesn’t raise rates at its meeting this week, Currie said.
The Federal Open Market Committee will release its policy statement along with quarterly economic projections Thursday in Washington. It will weigh the impact on the U.S. outlook from slowing growth overseas and falling stock prices, as committee members determine whether to end almost seven years of near-zero interest rates. Economists are close to evenly divided on the outcome, with 59 of 113 surveyed by Bloomberg expecting the Fed to stand pat.
While a “dovish hike” in interest rates would reduce uncertainty in emerging markets, any adjustment would be a “relatively small story” for crude, Currie said.
With files from Reuters
Bloomberg.comAfter watching Brian Boyle score the overtime winner for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 shortly after he crushed defenseman Thomas Hickey, New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said the hit should have been penalized.
Hickey nails Drouin...then Boyle nails Hickey and scores OT winner on same play. Questionable hit. pic.twitter.com/xFC8ud2sIG — Pavel Barber (@HeyBarber) May 4, 2016
"It's a direct shot to the head," Capuano said postgame, according to Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. "Probably gonna be suspended for a game... whole game shouldn't come down to that."
Boyle's hit came after Hickey took Tampa forward Jonathan Drouin out for an extended period of time with a punishing hit of his own earlier in the game.
Meanwhile, Lightning coach Jon Cooper wasn't too worried about his overtime hero facing any additional discipline:One night in New York City after a concert I was having a drink with my fellow composer Larry Polansky. He was talking about the musicological and restorative work he was doing on music by Johanna Beyer and Harry Partch, I spoke of my analytical writings on the music of Conlon Nancarrow and Mikel Rouse. Finally, Larry said, ‘Composers are now doing the work that musicologists used to do, while the musicologists are all off doing gender studies.’ —Kyle Gann, Rey M. Longyear Lecture, University of Kentucky, 2008
If I’m going to be a musicological guest blogger for NewMusicBox, I thought, I’d better come up with something fresh and relevant to its readership. I’ve written on the cultural significance of minimalism, music that was still new (and terra incognita for musicology) when I started researching it; I’ve also stood back at least once and lobbed spitballs into the fray over the “death of classical music,” arguing that the ubiquity of the trope means, among other things, that we inhabit a post-canonic musical world in which challenging new music might not be where you expect to find it. (Like, here, for instance.)
But this seems like the perfect venue to take up a challenge laid down by composer-journalist-scholar Kyle Gann, who in 2008 tasked a generation of music historians with having “dropped the ongoing narrative of composed music.” Failing to follow the example of the great Leonard Meyer, who composed his 1967 study Music, the Arts, and Ideas as a preliminary sketch for an art music “history of the present,” we became caught up in gender, sexuality, performance practice, popular music, post-colonial theory—anything to allow us to study the same old music in a (fashionably) new way, and delay setting out across the treacherous, shifting sands of postmodern musical historiography. The trained professionals weren’t doing what composers like Gann needed done; so this self-declared amateur had to do it himself. (And brilliantly, too, as anyone who has read his work can attest.)
This is an old complaint, and it has some merit. Musicology, at least in the U.S., has its deepest disciplinary roots in music history, and a particularly documentary, evidence-hungry form of “scientific” history at that. Almost exactly 50 years ago, the American musicologist Joseph Kerman drily noted that his colleagues were still following “the true objective path which the German scholars stamped out generations ago,” and gently suggested that perhaps the time had come to loosen up and stray a bit toward a critical engagement with the present. He tweaked a conservative field in which even the canonical composers of the 19th century were a little too fresh for serious academic work: in the year 1964, the American Musicological Society, he noted, had “more Wagnerians than any organization west of Seventh Avenue—but no professed Wagner specialist.”
Kerman himself was no partisan of avant-garde music, but, as a critic, at least he was interested in what was going on around him; most professional musicologists were not. They were serious historians, and believed it impossible to study the present with the scientific rigor their own teachers had taught them to bring to the past. Musicologists of middling age can still remember when living composers were completely off-limits; and it is true that, even after musicology underwent its critical turn, the innate bias toward the past remained. But as the 20th century fades in the rear view mirror, a new generation of musicologists is beginning to change the conversation. Contrary to what today’s composers might think, these new musicologists are not afraid of new music, nor do they think contemporary composition is of little consequence. The AMS is presently being asked by some of its younger members to charter a study group devoted to “classical music as a contemporary practice,” alongside those already devoted to gender studies, politics, philosophy, popular music, the environment, etc.
Not Dead Yet
But don’t get your hopes too far up; I’m afraid the musicology of the present might not look very much like the musicology developed in and for the past. However useful it might be for contemporary composers to be professionally historicized, musicologists who turn their attention to the present moment will not necessarily bring along with them their trusty narrative-machines, ready to process yesterday’s news into tomorrow’s historical truth. Meyer’s musical “history of the present” was, I would argue, not a way to keep on writing music history, but a way to deal, once and for all, with its End, in much the same way philosopher Arthur Danto would later deal with the “End of Art,” by which he meant not the end of art production, but of a certain kind of historical narrative about the cultural significance of art production.
For the professional historian, schooled deeply in this collapse of the master narratives of modern art, perhaps even conscious of having played some small part in their deconstruction, it is a little late in the day for composers and their advocates to demand another chapter of the old familiar story: pre-classical, classical, mannerist; minimalist, postminimalist, maximalist; lather, rinse, repeat. The bafflement with which contemporary composers have read the final volume of the recent Oxford History of Western Music stems in part from this frustrated desire for more stories (about them); Richard Taruskin, like the equally prolix J.K. Rowling, has been adamant that the long narrative arc of his series is over, and there will be no sequels.
So what would a post-narrative musicology focused on the present actually look like? Probably not very much like traditional music history. One can’t do better here than recommend a very practical 2012 collection of essays on method, Doing Recent History. In the tartly titled lead, “Not Dead Yet,” editor Renee C. Romano notes that her own historical research on U.S. black-white intermarriage, a story which lies largely within living memory, is often not even recognized by many of her readers as “history”; she’s more usually filed under political science or sociology. She still feels like a historian, but admits that the experience of writing in the present tense has repeatedly sent her back to rebuild the intellectual foundations of the very histories she sought to extend. If a music historian chooses to work on music that is not yet part of settled history – not dead yet – she might face the same risk, but I submit that if one is eager to find a new path, this could be an historic (sorry) opportunity.
New Paths
In the posts that follow, I’m going to borrow a tactic from Robert Schumann. Rather than blow my own horn, I’ll point out a couple of the new paths—new sociological and cultural frameworks within which to understand some issues in the production and consumption of new art music—implicit in the most recent work from emerging musicologists. This will be really fresh stuff that you can’t find (yet) on the scholarly equivalent of Pandora or Spotify. But first, in next week’s installment, I’ll offer a cautionary look at some of the methodological pitfalls that await when one tries to extend traditional narrative strategies of music history into the present. Can the old paths even lead us through the art-musical present, that undiscovered country where the composers, performers, and historians are, first and foremost, not dead yet?
***
Robert Fink is a professor of musicology at UCLA and president of the U.S. Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM-US). He is the author of Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice, and writes on popular music, contemporary art music, opera, and politics, and “classical” music in a post-canonic era. The noted scholarly reference source Buzzfeed recently proclaimed his lecture course on the History of Electronic Dance Music the #1 “coolest” class at UCLA. (James Franco’s screenwriting class came in at #7, so that’s pretty unusual.)BOURBONNAIS — Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub flashed a grin when he was asked about plans for kickoff returns this season.
With his embarrassment of riches, it has to be difficult not to smile.
Danieal Manning handled the bulk of the kickoff returns a season ago — 33 of 59 — but he departed for the Texans in free agency. While Devin Hester had some big returns late last season — including a 79-yarder — the plan is to restore Johnny Knox to the role.
Knox was selected to the Pro Bowl as a returner after the 2009 season, and now that he’s bulked up his frame by 10 pounds or so even though the team still lists him at 6-foot, 185 pounds, he can be more effective.
“Danieal was more of a north-south returner, so the returns we call might be a little different,” Toub said. “But I think Johnny put on some more size. He’ll be able to handle those north-south returns too.”
It doesn’t mean Hester is out of the mix, but Toub wants to feature Knox, who had only eight kickoff returns last season after averaging 29 yards as a rookie in ’09. Kahlil Bell also could get some opportunities, but he could be a long shot to make the roster. Hester will continue as the primary punt returner.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, Brad BiggsNEW DELHI: In a bid to appease Sikh supporters, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter on Monday to Iqbal Singh, a Sikh leader who is presently camping at Jantar Mantar to demand justice for 1984 sikh riots.After representatives of Iqbal Singh met Kejriwal recently, he accepted at least two of their demands including release of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar who is allegedly guilty of killing nine persons in a car bombing intended to kill Congress leader Maninderjeet Singh Bitta.In the letter addressed to Iqbal Singh accessed by TOI, Kejriwal has assured Iqbal that the AAP government "is sympathetic to the issue and would take all necessary steps to ensure full justice. However the issues involved are very complex and require consultation at various stages. We will try to find solutions soonest," the letter says. It goes on to reveal that Kejriwal has already recommended the release of Bhullar.Another demand of the group is to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the 84 Sikh riots. To this Kejriwal has said that he does not have the powers set it up on his own but that he will write to the Lieutenant Governor suggesting that an SIT be formed.Former chief of staff for the CIA and Department of Defense and current NBC News analyst Jeremy Bash said Tuesday morning that Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsFormer Trump refugee director did not notify superiors about family separation warnings Court rejects challenge to Mueller's appointment Trump says he hasn't spoken to Barr about Mueller report MORE should make Donald Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE "man up and fire him" after the president's recent and repeated criticism of his attorney general.
“Don’t quit," recommended Bash on NBC's "Today Show" on Tuesday morning. “I think he should make the president man up and fire him.”
Bash served as chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Defense from 2011 to 2013 and the CIA from 2009 to 2011, advising former CIA chief Leon Panetta in both capacities.
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Bash also added that Trump is "bullying" the attorney general online.
"It's astounding," Bash said to co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. "The president of the United States is online bullying the attorney general," said Bash. "He's trying to Twitter-shame him into quitting his post."
The commentary comes after a New York Times report last week in which the president said that he would never have chosen Sessions to be his attorney general if he had known he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation due to a conflict of interest.
“Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else,” Trump said.
Trump appeared to imply Sessions was disloyal during a speech to the Boy Scouts of America at its 2017 Jamboree in West Virginia on Monday.
“As the Scout law says, a scout is trustworthy, loyal — we could use some more loyalty, I will tell that you that,” the president said.
Former federal prosecutor and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzCornyn less popular than Cruz in Texas: poll Trump unleashing digital juggernaut ahead of 2020 Inviting Kim Jong Un to Washington MORE (R-Texas) are rumored to be Trump's top choices to replace Sessions should he resign or be fired.Les Bowen asked a tough, but fair question to Chip Kelly the other day. Bowen asked why the offense seems to have become less effective since Kelly’s first season, 2013.
Kelly was talking about how things change from week to week, in terms of how the Eagles run their offense and how opposing teams defend them. Kelly said there was no one type of defense best suited to stopping the Eagles and that teams used a variety of methods. Kelly was pointing out that no one had figured out his offense and knew how to stop the Eagles.
Les’s question makes sense. If the offense was at its best in 2013, that sure makes it look like teams have adjusted and started to figure out Kelly’s attack.
I do think familiarity has affected the Eagles offense. The more you see something, the more you get to know it and how to deal with it. The Eagles had the element of surprise to help them in that first season. Defenses had not seen some of the things the Eagles were doing.
That said, I think that is actually a far overblown point.
There are two other keys that really stick out to me. The first is OL play. The Eagles had the same 5 linemen start all 16 games in 2013. Jason Peters was terrific. Evan Mathis had a Pro Bowl year. Jason Kelce was terrific. Todd Herremans was up and down initially, but once he adjusted to RG, Herremans played well. Lane Johnson started slowly as a rookie, but got much better as the year progressed. That kind of talent and continuity up front is invaluable.
Strong OL play is critical in Kelly’s offense. He likes to spread the field to stretch out the defense. That means fewer people in the box. If you want to do that, you need blockers who can win one-on-one battles. Kelly’s passing game is largely built on play-action passes. That means a successful running game is a must. In order to run the ball, you need OL who can block well. Kelly isn’t interested in putting together a “good enough” offense. He is looking for explosive plays and points. He wants a dynamic offense. A good OL is imperative for him.
The other huge reason for the standout offensive play in 2013 was lack of turnovers. Nick Foles did a great job of protecting the ball. He took sacks rather than taking chances. We also have to be honest and admit there was just some pure old fashioned luck. There were quite a few drops by defensive players.
The last two seasons have been very different than 2013.
2014 OL starters: original 5 + Barbre, Molk, Kelly, Tobin, Gardner
2015 OL starters: original 5 + Tobin, Kelly
The OL was really a mess in 2014 due to injuries. This year change hurt the situation, with Barbre taking over for Mathis and Gardner for Herremans. The starting 5 was different, which obviously changed up the backups.
As for turnovers, they have been a huge issue for two years now. The Eagles led the NFL in turnovers in 2014. This season they are 26th. To put things in perspective, Nick Foles only threw 2 INTs back in 2013. Sam Bradford threw 3 Red Zone INTs in the first 5 weeks of this season.
You could point out that the INTs are due to good defense (and familiarity with the offense), but I don’t think that is the case. Those were plays where Bradford forced the ball or just made terrible throws.
Bill Walsh designed the West Coast Offense back in Cincinnati in the early 1970s. He kept working on it and made it the foundation of his great Niners teams. That offense led SF to its first Super Bowl title in 1981. Bill Walsh ran the same offense in 1984 and won again. He ran the same offense in 1988 and won yet again.
Walsh made adjustments over the years, but the basic plays and principles of the offense remained the same. That offense succeed because Walsh found talent for his system and was able to coach his players to perform at an elite level. He got them to execute.
Give Kelly a stable OL and better QB play and his offense can look pretty darn brilliant again. Jimmy and Joes are more important than X’s and O’s. Especially the QB.
Scheme and playcalling are part of the equation. No one disputes that.
But the notion that teams have simply solved Kelly’s offense just doesn’t fly. There was a point in the late 1990s when it seemed like more than half of the NFL was running some version of the WCO. In 1998 Denver used a version of the WCO to help them win the Super Bowl. They beat Green Bay, who also ran the WCO. The Eagles went 3-13 and were nightmarishly bad on offense, also running the WCO.
If so many teams were running the offense, how did anyone have offensive success? Just because you know something is coming doesn’t mean you can stop it.
Sometimes it is a matter of great talent. Jerry Rice is the greatest WR of all time. He was open most of the time. And even when he wasn’t open, he could still make catches and utterly frustrate you. Rob Gronkowski is a dominant TE. You can know the ball is coming to him and he can still make the play. His combination of size, strength, skill and athleticism is remarkable. No one matches up well with him.
Other times there is just great execution. If a WR runs a precise route, there is usually going to be a moment where he is open, before the CB can react to the WR’s move. If the QB anticipates well and gets the ball out at the right time, you have a good play. Ty Detmer and Irving Fryar got the best of Deion Sanders in the game at Dallas in 1996. Clearly neither of those guys is a great talent. They executed the plays well and Fryar had 9 catches for 120 yards and a TD. Oh, and the Eagles were running the WCO. And Deion had faced Jerry Rice running many of those plays for years in the SFO-ATL series (they used to be in the same division and played twice a year).
The 2013 Eagles did have the advantage of running a new offense, but the real keys to that season were outstanding OL play and protecting the ball. The Eagles have been very inconsistent in those areas in the last 2 years and the results reflect that.
_NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Year’s rivalry among U.S. mobile operators has Wall Street worried that the industry’s profits could seriously decline.
Signage for a T-Mobile store is pictured in downtown Los Angeles, California August 31, 2011. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
After months of aggressive moves by T-Mobile US to lure customers from other carriers, No. 2 operator AT&T Inc counter-attacked on January 3 by offering to pay consumers to switch from T-Mobile.
Days later, No. 3 ranked Sprint Corp promised big discounts for family and friend groups. On Wednesday, T-Mobile upped the ante, saying it would pay hefty exit costs for converts.
The moves by Sprint and AT&T come after No. 4 U.S. operator T-Mobile, a long-time industry straggler, was able to report three full quarters of customer growth after four years of losses.
While discounts are always welcomed by consumers, the intensifying competition is a new challenge to a U.S. industry long used to imposing its will on consumers, and analysts fear it could result in the loss of billions of dollars of revenue.
Investors had hoped AT&T and market leader Verizon Wireless would be able to shrug off T-Mobile’s moves, since they already control about two-thirds of the market.
AT&T had previously said that T-Mobile’s efforts only concerned the most cost-conscious customers, who are not its or Verizon’s primary targets.
AT&T stayed on the sidelines for months in the face of public criticism of its services from T-Mobile’s outspoken chief executive officer, John Legere. Now that the company is fighting back, even industry leaders could face tighter margins, say analysts.
“The most disappointing thing is that AT&T is reacting to T-Mobile,” said Jefferies analyst Michael McCormack. “How long is it before Verizon reacts?”
While AT&T did not change its service rates, it is offering customers a $200 credit to switch to its network.
The company is the easiest target for T-Mobile, which it tried to buy in 2011, since they use the same technology, so it is simple for customers to switch between services. T-Mobile U.S. is 67 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom.
Their battle got more personal at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas when AT&T kicked Legere out of its party, a concert featuring rapper Macklemore.
At T-Mobile’s own event, Legere, sporting his customary pink company tee-shirt under a leather jacket, took to the stage to make fun of AT&T and its executives in a profanity-sprinkled speech.
Roe Equity Research analyst Kevin Roe sees the “unhealthy market dynamic” getting worse, since he is not convinced AT&T’s incentives to T-Mobile switchers will end there.
“There’s more to come, and it will continue until AT&T has market-share stability,” said Roe, who believes the carrier will keep going until it can ease customer losses to T-Mobile.
Competition could escalate further later on this year when Sprint, which is 80 percent-owned by Japan’s SoftBank Corp, is expected to try hard to woo back customers who have left because of technical problems from a network overhaul.
Some investors are still hoping for a ceasefire if SoftBank’s hopes of merging Sprint with T-Mobile come to fruition.
It may make a bid for T-Mobile as soon as this year. But many Washington industry experts see regulators blocking such a deal: The government rejected AT&T’s earlier attempt to buy T-Mobile on the grounds that the market needed four national operators. Since T-Mobile has become stronger, that decision seems to have been justified.
SPECTER OF MARKETING SPENDING
The day before T-Mobile made its latest offer, executives at Sprint and Verizon brushed off questions about the AT&T move.
“You don’t really buy loyalty that well in my view, and those customers will switch back,” Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam said during a webcast of an investor conference on the sidelines of CES.
At the same event, where he announced his own company’s new promotions, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse also suggested that his rivals’ moves to buy customers would be fleeting.
Analysts, however, say the fight could take its toll, once consumers vote with their wallets and operators show just how hard they will fight.
New Street Research analyst Felix Wai worries customer defections will rise at all the U.S. carriers, leading to higher marketing spending that eats into profit margins.
Jefferies’ McCormack said his biggest concern is that decreasing average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) from discounts could wipe out profits from customer additions.
For example, McCormack said in a research note that adding 1 million subscribers at AT&T would boost earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization by just $852 million, while a 1 percent increase of ARPU would increase EBITDA by $1.14 billion.
Legere brushed off concerns about the risk to profits when asked about dueling discounts at T-Mobile’s CES event. He said he would prefer to give consumers a good deal even if his company never matches the profits of its biggest rivals. AT&T reported an EBITDA margin of 42 percent in the third quarter; Verizon Wireless margins were at 51.1 percent.
“We can be very profitable,” Legere said, “but I don’t think you need to make 55 points of EBITDA margins.” T-Mobile has previously set a long-term margin target of 34-36 percent.
Legere also estimated that consumers could save a total of $20 billion per year if they all switched to T-Mobile, a calculation based on the other carriers’ monthly user revenues.
Such a sum would represent roughly 13 percent of total service revenue generated by T-Mobile’s three bigger rivals in 2012.
While this scenario may be wishful thinking on Legere’s part, McCormack worried about the implication that industry revenue could be cut by $20 billion. “That’s clearly not a healthy sign.”A Liberian Red Cross burial team carries the body of a suspected victim of Ebola in Banjor, on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, in October 2014. (European Pressphoto Agency/Ahmed Jallanzo)
The Ebola virus mutated to more effectively infiltrate human cells during the West African outbreak that killed more than 11,300 people between 2013 and 2016.
That's the finding of two teams of virologists in studies published Thursday in the journal Cell. The scientists identified a mutation that changed the part of the virus that fits into receptors on the exterior of the host cell.
Mutant versions of this molecular key were “better at fitting into the lock and got into the cell better,” said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the lead author of one of the studies. Once inside the cell, the virus could hijack its reproductive machinery and begin making copies of itself. Within months of the first appearance of this mutated strain, it was able to dominate the epidemic. At least 90 percent of those who were infected contracted the mutant version of the virus.
According to Luban, “It's very difficult to prove that a mutation like this is responsible for the severity of the epidemic.... But it would have to be a pretty amazing coincidence.”
The Ebola epidemic that began in Guinea in late 2013 was the biggest in history — 100 times more people were infected than in any previous outbreak. That meant the virus itself had an unprecedented number of opportunities to evolve. Over the course of 28,000 infections, it seemed likely that the virus would pick up a mutation that helped it infect people, which is how it reproduces, and that natural selection would help that mutation spread.
[How Ebola sped out of control]
But early analyses of new mutations in the Ebola genome didn't identify any that appeared to be adaptive. And there were plenty of nonbiological factors to explain the intensity of the outbreak, particularly the poor public health infrastructure in the hardest-hit areas and the delayed international response.
Still, “as virologists we weren't really convinced” that the virus hadn't adapted, said Jonathan Ball, the lead author of the other paper and a professor at the University of Nottingham in Britain. “We thought... some of these changes might be affecting the biology of how the virus behaves.”
He and his colleagues reconstructed the evolutionary tree of Ebola virus, pinpointing places where the pathogen took on a genetic change. They noticed that one mutation — a single nucleotide change on a gene responsible for building the glycoprotein “key” — seemed particularly persistent.
Ball's team attached that mutant glycoprotein to a different virus (Ebola virus is so dangerous that it's rarely experimented on in labs) and tested its ability to infiltrate host cells. They found that the mutant was much more efficient at entering the cells of humans and other primates than the standard version. The mutant was less able to infect the cells of bats, however — the presumed reservoir animal that harbors Ebola between human outbreaks.
“Once it's in humans, that’s the new host,” Ball said, “It's really got to acquire adaptations and get the most fit for human-to-human transmission.” And that's what it appears the Ebola virus did.
Top: Maps depict the spread of the ancestral Ebola virus (blue) and the more infectious mutant version (orange). Bottom: An illustration of the ancestral and mutant Ebola viruses infecting a human cell. (Luban et al./Cell 2016)
During the same time, Luban — who normally studies HIV — was conducting an unrelated experiment on an array of viruses, including Ebola. He noticed that one Ebola variant was particularly good at infecting cells. Working with epidemiologists, he identified this variant as a mutant that arose early on during the outbreak, then spread throughout the region.
“We think that the mutation is actually an adaptation to humans,” Luban said. “It’s kind of a signal to us that this mutation was selected for by replication of the virus in people, which I would argue is further evidence that this mutation is significant and is not just a coincidence.”
[Ebola stayed in the semen of one man for 565 days, raising new public health concerns]
It was only after both research teams began writing up their findings for publication that they realized they'd identified the same mutation, which they call glycoprotein mutant A82V (A and V stand for the amino acids that were switched; 82 indicates the site of the switch on the protein).
“We feel that the two papers together make a really powerful case,” Ball said.
The A82V mutant probably died out at the end of the outbreak. Because it is less effective at entering nonhuman cells, it was unlikely to jump back into the reservoir population of bats. It's difficult to say whether knowing about the mutant sooner could have helped public officials respond to the virus.
But both researchers think it's essential to understand how viruses adapt as they spread from person to person.
“I think really what it does say is you need to be carefully monitoring what’s happening to viruses as they spill over,” Ball said. “We know that these viruses are causing human infection, we know that they’re evolving, but do we really know what that evolution means?"
Read more:
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Can your genes affect your response to Ebola? That's the case in these mice
Zika's structure has been revealed, bringing scientists closer to a vaccine
'Leaky' vaccines could make viruses even more dangerous
Correction: This article originally stated that the A and V in A82V referred to nucleotides and the 82 referred to their site in the genome. The letters instead refer to the amino acids and the number to their site in the protein.Topics:
PSV will visit AZ for this week’s top match in the Eredivisie on Saturday. The struggling league leaders are fighting to stay on top with Twente getting closer and closer.
PSV come from a 1-0 injury time loss at home against ADO Den Haag and the league leaders will have to show better against AZ to stay on top of the league this season. Their opponents AZ also had a disappointing match last weekend, when they were defeated 2-1 at Excelsior.Second ranked FC Twente will take on Vitesse in Enschede on Saturday. The title holders won three league matches and drew last weekend against FC Utrecht. Vitesse lost to bottom ranked Willem II, but recovered with a 5-2 win over Roda JC and a 1-1 draw against Feyenoord last weekend.On Sunday Ajax travel to Roda JC. A crucial match for the third ranked Amsterdam squad, said coach Frank de Boer: “I think this match may determine our course for the remainder of this season.”ADO Den Haag have started 2011 with a three match winning streak. John van den Brom’s fifth ranked squad is the only one in the Eredivisie to have won all its matches this year, including a 1-0 injury time win over league leaders PSV last week. VVV for their part lost the first three league matches in January, but got a confidence boost when they defeated NAC Breda 3-0 last week.Ahmed Ammi has mixed feelings about the match. The Moroccan born defender was raised in Venlo and played for VVV six seasons. “I lived within walking distance of the stadium, I debuted as a professional player with VVV and I promoted with the club to the Eredivisie”, Ammi said on ADO’s website. “But ADO will win, simply because we’re stronger. But I hope VVV will not relegate and grabs points against the other clubs.”VVV only won one of its ten away matches this season |
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SOURCE Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.Mexican National Jose Cardenas was sentenced for felony crime of Battery with Intent to Commit Murder.
Judge Southworth sentenced the twenty four year old to 8 years fixed, followed by 12 years indeterminate, for a total unified sentence of 20 years in prison. Judge Southworth also ordered Cardenas to submit a DNA sample to the Idaho database and have no contact with the victim or victim’s family for a period of 20 years. Cardenas was also ordered pay a $5,000 civil penalty as well as $500 in fines and court costs.
Cardenas was arrested in August 2016 following an investigation by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office revealed he had stabbed his girlfriend multiple times during an argument while they were inside a car. According to detectives, Cardenas lured the victim away from her workplace and once he was inside her car, Cardenas took the victim’s keys and cell phone and stabbed her multiple times in the upper chest and neck area. Cardenas then left the victim bleeding on the side of the road and fled the scene without calling for help. The victim was 14 weeks pregnant at the time of the attack. Cardenas later admitted to detectives that he stabbed her multiple times out of frustration and that he disposed of the knife in a nearby canal. He also admitted to taking the knife earlier in the day from his uncle’s house after an argument between he and the victim.
“Mr. Cardenas showed no regard for the law or human life when he attacked the victim and left her for dead on the side of the road,” said Prosecutor Bryan Taylor. “Thankfully, she was able to call for help or this very well could have been a homicide.”Inspired by the saga of "Wrestling Superstar Virgil," we continue with readers' encounters with the titans of the squared circle. If you've had your own run-in with pro wrestlers past or present, e-mail us, subject line "Virgilbag."
Scott:
Prior to my senior prom in 1993, at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, there were rumors that the administration had hired a WWF wrestler to make an appearance. Being that the dance was in the same city as WWF headquarters, in Stamford, the story had enough legs to make it around most of the student body, even if most of us thought it was fake. Supposedly the wrestler was supposed to be Sgt. Slaughter, who would pull up in his camouflage limousine and then come in an greet the students. Slaughter never arrived and as the night went on the appearance of any wrestlers seemed unlikely. My friend and I stepped outside for a cigarette and as we were smoking we heard a distinct voice growl from behind us. "Cigarette break boys?" We turned around and to our amazement, there was Randy Savage in full Macho Man regalia. "Ya shouldn't smoke, it's bad for ya," he said as he entered the hotel. We quickly threw our butts on the ground and followed him inside. He was taken into a room with our Assistant Principal while we ran to tell everyone who we just saw. As we were doing that the music stopped and "Pomp and Circumstance" began to play. Most kids had no clue why but as a wrestling fan I knew exactly what was happening and on cue Macho Man came whirling into the ballroom, took the mic, said a few raspy words and told everyone he would be in the hallway for photographs. My buddy and I got on line and had this Polaroid taken of us making our best wrestler promo faces that I still keep in my desk at home. Savage was awesome and stayed until everybody got a picture. Three years later my brother had Mr. Perfect come to his prom as the tradition continued.
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Chris:
In October 1995, the new big thing among all of the hardcore wrestling fans of the day is ECW and their monthly shows at the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia. I happen to be at the hotel where the ECW crew is staying (the Travelodge, or as it came to be known, the Cylinder of Sin) waiting as we're about to go to the show when a small Hispanic man, who looks all of 16 years old, comes up to me and compliments my New Jersey Devils hockey jersey. I thank him and he walks off, not thinking anything of this interaction, other than thinking it was weird to get complimented for wearing Devils gear in South Philly. My friend, who had done some photography work at a Mexican wrestling show the year before, comes up to me and informs me that the guy was none other than Mexican high-flyer and future WWE champion Rey Mysterio. Fast forward to intermission at the ECW show. I'm standing around talking to some friends when the man who is promoting Mexican wrestling shows in the US at the time, former radio show host John Arezzi, comes over to me and informs me that both Rey Mysterio and Psicosis like my jersey and are willing to trade me the masks they wore tonight in exchange for the jersey, and it's my choice who to trade with. It took me about three seconds to say yes and me being 16, I tell him I want the cooler looking mask...Psicosis.
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I go behind the curtain with Arezzi, and Psicosis comes out with a towel on his face to protect his identity. He points out that the mask is autographed, and was clearly match-worn as it has the smell of used sports equipment. I hand him my jersey, thank him very much, and go back out to watch the rest of the show with my new trophy. The cool thing is, I've seen matches from Mexico years later with Psicosis wearing my hockey jersey, so he clearly liked it. A few weeks later, I went to a Mexican wrestling show in Chicago, and damn if Rey Mysterio wasn't wearing a Devils jersey of his own. Who knew the Devils were so popular south of the border when they can't even sell out their own rink? Of course, Rey turned out to be the far bigger star of the two, so I kick myself every now and then for not going for his mask. But I still have a pretty cool mask, which now sits in a display case in my basement, and I have a good story to tell, so I can't complain about that.
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Mike:
In 1999, my roomate and I decided that we would go to the Georgia High School Football Championships being played at the Georgia Dome. So we sit down, watching the game, when the one and only Lex Luger is sitting directly in front of us! My friend and I immediately mark out since we were HUGE wrestling fans. Since we didn't want to be total jerks, we decided we just would say hello and maybe shake his hand. No biggie right? I tap him on the shoulder and say hello, and he totally ignores us. (Please keep in mind, there is NO one around us.) A minute or so later, his wife turns around and says, "Lex doesn't do autographs for adults." I politely respond, "That's good, because we just want to say hello and shake hands." (Please remember, HE IS RIGHT BESIDE HER!). She relays the message and then Lex turns around and gives us a quick handshake. A year or so ago, I went to an independent wrestling show that was put on by a church, and Lex was speaking. Apparently, going through a few tragedies in life and finding Christ has changed Mr Luger's attitude. This trip, I brought my 5-year-old and I can't tell you how nice he was to us both.
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Marty:
Back in the late '90s, my friends and I have tickets to a house show at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Charlie, one of my friends and an especially enthusiastic wrestling fan, managed to get us second-row tickets. We were so thrilled that we got to AC several hours early. We were planning to just walk the boardwalk and people watch, but it was oppressively hot and we decided to kill some time in Caesar's, which is very close to the arena. We sat around a little table in the lobby savoring our time in the air conditioning, when who walks by but HHH and Chyna?! That was a thrill, but they weren't in the mood for fans, so they just kept walking. No biggie, because as I recall, they weren't super-duper stars yet. Still, we were all pretty geeked that we saw some semi-famous people walk by us. I was sitting across from my friend Harley when suddenly, his mouth opened as wide as it could. He was trying to make words come out but simply could not control the English language he ordinarily uses with great ease. I manage to infer from his breathless gestures that someone (or something) is behind me that requires my urgent attention. I turn to see none other than the Texas Rattlesnake, STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN!! He's got a duffel bag and fanny pack and is walking toward the hotel check-in like any other guest would do. He's more or less in character the whole time. Because our seats were going to be so good, we all brought cameras to get up-close action shots. We're all so excited we can hardly contain ourselves. Mind you, we are all in college at the time and you could say we were the collective "future of America" – I became a pharmacist, a couple others in our group are doctors, Charlie is a nationally-renowned physical therapist and trainer, and Harley is an advertising genius. But we're seriously marking out over this – Austin is standing mere feet away from us! We weren't sure if we should approach him for pictures, but finally Charlie mustered up the nerve to go over and ask him for a picture. We all followed his lead and got pictures (except Harley – he chickened out at the last minute) and it made our day.
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After getting our pictures, we scurried away back to our table in the lobby. Austin finished checking in and had to walk to the elevators to get to his room, but to do so, he had to walk past us. Charlie, being the intrepid soul that he is, announced to Austin, "Hey Steve, we're sitting in the second row tonight. Be sure to check us out!" Without missing a step, Austin replied, "When I go like this" – he waved his hand over his shoulder, "y'all hit the ring." What a night. He beat Mankind later on that night – without our help.
Joel:
In the summer of 2006, WWE brings Raw to the campus of Penn State University at the Bryce Jordan Center. A few friends of mine were professionally trained in the art of wrasslin, and one of which was selected for the great art of pre-televised dark match jobbing. So, of course we went all out cheering for the dark match that by definition would never see the light of day to anyone outside of the BJC that night. There was a second dark match though, one with a PSU graduate that acted as another jobber to a newer heel that was gaining some steam. He had a great showing and the PSU crowd was 100% behind him. After the show, my buddies and I decide to hit Taco Bell before the 45-minute driveback to our mountain town that has no Taco Bell. In here, I notice the other jobber from earlier that night. We chat a bit, and I ask him if he'd gotten a second opportunity. He just laughs and smiles and says. "I'm sure you'll see me around" The following day ECW made its return on the Sci-Fi Channel. It was an exciting time, as we had no idea what to expect. Was the WWE going to make it true to its name and push the envelope? Or would it sit back and do what the network wanted it to do? What I saw next was this. But I noticed something. The night before I had shared a Taco Bell conversation with this very Zombie. Of course, as it turns out Sci-Fi did not like that WWE's way of making fun of the situation of having a wrestling show on a science-fiction channel would be to have the Singapore cane swinging, beer drinking Sandman beat the hell out of science-fiction characters on a weekly basis, so the idea was nixed very quickly. Long live the Zombie as the shortest gimmick of all time!
Adam:
I am from Toronto, and when I was about 13 or 14 years we took a family trip over the border to Buffalo with another family. When we got to the hotel and saw the other family we were meeting, their son came running over to me with a look of excitement on his face. He proceeded to tell me that Andre the Giant was sitting at the hotel bar. My friend and I proceeded to calmly walk over to say hi to Mr. Giant. When we finally were standing next to him, I can not accurately describe how large this man was. He was taking up two stools and could not believe his overall size. This man truly was a giant. His teeth were dark and brown and were bigger than me. He could have probably mistaken me for a toothpick. Finally after about 30 seconds of standing there (which probably felt like 10 minutes) I built up the courage to speak to him. To the best of my memory this is the conversation that happened between me and Andre the Giant: Me: Hello.... Andre: (says nothing) Me: Hello... Andre: (says nothing, and I assume since he is so big he must not hear little me trying to speak to him.) Me: (In a much louder voice) Excuse me…Hello? Andre: (proceeds to turn and look down to me and in his big deep French voice, possibly the scariest voice I have ever heard, says…) "DON'T YOU HAVE ANY FUCKEN RESPECT.……FUCK OFF!" Honest to god I don't think I had ever been so scared. Between the deep voice and accent and his large teeth and his sheer size I almost fainted. I literally became pale white, turned around and ran away (leaving my friend behind as an appetizer for the Giant) to my mother and father sitting at a table in the hotel bar and restaurant. She took one look at my face and thought I had seen a ghost. She asked what was wrong. I could barely speak but managed to get the words out….."Andre told me to F off". Any other time I am sure if I told my father that a grown up had told me to F off he would have gone over and said something. But not this time. Andre would have crushed him. Needless to say I was not the only unfortunate fan who felt Andre's wrath. The waitress explained that prior to me going over there, two twin girls had asked him for his autograph. Apparently he replied with a loud and long NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (in his deep French accent). I have read his book and seen his biography on the Biography Channel and they always reference him being the nicest Giant you could have ever met. Based on my one encounter I would have to disagree, however please note that at the time I met him his health was probably deteriorating. As I recall, it was during the period where he would walk around with those crutches. Anyways when I think back, the fact he told me to F off definitely made for a much better story in my later years rather than him giving me that status quo autograph and handshake.
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Mike:
As a kid I played hockey at a high level so I did a fair bit of traveling for tournaments. One time, while at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, I had a random encounter with Andre The Giant. This would have been 1988 and I was 13 at the time, so you can visualize the extreme size difference. Anyhow, a teammate and I are walking through the terminal, chatting away and not paying any attention and...BAM...I walked right into a massive pillar holding up the ceiling. Fuck me, talk about embarrassing. "Are you all right, little man?" a voice boomed down at me. Wait, what? I must have hit the concrete pretty hard to hear voices. I remember looking at my buddy, expecting him to be pointing at me and laughing, but he had this look of awe on his face and he was looking. Way up. I followed his gaze and, sure enough, there's the absolutely massive face of Andre The Giant looking down at me. "Are you all right, little man?" he asked again in his garbled, accented English. I stuttered out something like "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry." and he laughed and patted me on the head. Then he shook my hand and said "I'm glad you're all right." My buddy and I walked away going "Was that really Andre The Giant?! Holy shit, that was Andre The Giant!!!" I remember looking back as we walked away and seeing him pick up this comically undersized suitcase which, of course, was a regular sized suitcase that just looked like a midget prop in his hands.
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Chris:
At a strip club (Lumberyard) in Des Moines, Iowa around '04-'05. It was the beautiful Miss Iowa contest and the star emcee was none other than the Honky Tonk Man. Honky had a table set up trying to hock his merch. Interestingly enough Honky also had a white baby tiger with him. No clue how this tiger got there, but I think they were doing some fundraiser for wildlife or something. The Lumberyard is very charitable. The contest is ready to get started and Honky picks up the tiger and makes his way to the main stage with his entrance music blaring. Along the way he has to cut through the crowd. People are getting loud and crazy as this is a BYOB club and people are tanked. Honky is getting pissed and tries rushing through the crowd. As he passes me I try petting his tiger. The tiger proceeds to bite my finger on his way by. A bit more beer put out that fire and Honky gets to work with his little shimmy dance he did and introduces the lovely ladies of the night. What a showman!
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Larry:
My wife and I were in the Oklahoma City airport after packing up our lives and moving from Okinawa. It was the weekend of Unforgiven, which was being held in OKC. I hadn't watched wrestling in a while, but I bought tickets anyhow. So we're standing in baggage claim after about 22 hours of combined airport and plane time, and I was obviously really tired. I look up and immediately see Matt Hardy, who I never much cared for. I look at my wife and say "Hey, look...that's Matt Hardy. God damn did he get fat!" in what I thought was a whisper. Uh, not so much. He whipped his head around with this super pissed off look on his face, just as our last bag came through. Fast forward to the following day, we decide to go to Toby Keith's shitty restaurant in Bricktown. There is a WRAPAROUND line and we couldn't figure out why...until we got closer to the front. Wrestler after wrestler walks in, and by the time we get to the front, I was truthfully kind of over it...I was starving! Until a limo pulls up...and out steps Ric Flair. I have never been star struck in my life until he walked right in front of me, summoning my youth by giving him the "four fingers" to which he replied with the same gesture, a rousing "WHOOOOOOO" followed by a hearty back slap and a small strut before entering. I was in awe. Before the show the next day, they had a meet and greet at the bar inside the then-Ford Center. We bought some wristbands and went in, grabbed a beer. Eugene, a very talented wrestler playing the character of Eric Bischoff's retarded nephew is walking through in character playing with a toy train. He is right next to our table, driving the train on it when I blurt out softly "Man, you're so much better than this." To which he replies after a HUGE eye roll "Fucking tell me about it." Not in a dickheaded way, but in a "you're right" way.
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Josh:
I was working for a TV station as a camerman in Upstate NY about 12 years ago when ECW came through and we went down to the arena to do some interviews. We talked to a couple wrestlers who you could tell had taken their fair share of head shots. Well I turned around and there is New Jack, who is quite the intimidating figure, especially when you're 20 years old. He was a nice guy though. He was just standing there holding a fork and my reporter asked him if that was for his supper and he goes "No, I plan on stabbing somebody with it tonight." (Sure enough he did later at the show. He jabbed it right into the top of a dude's head). As we were leaving he called me over and goes "Why don't black guys play hockey?" I had no idea what to say or how to act since New Jack is African-American and I wasn't sure if it was a joke or a serious question, and I really didn't feel like pissing off the guy who still was holding the fork he planned on using as a weapon later. So I said "Uhhhhhh, I....don't know" and he goes "Cuz we can't fight on skates!" and starts laughing his ass off. I didn't really know what to do do I just stammered out a "Ha...ha that's...funny" and took off to find my reporter.
Matthew:
When I was younger my mom took me to a house show in Calgary. This was right around the time when Steve Austin was starting his rise We decided to go to Ed's which is a chicken wing place downtown Calgary and is near the Saddledome. We arrived pretty early and there was only one other car in the lot, and we parked beside it. As we got out of the car I noticed three large men coming towards us. I realized it was Steve Austin, Bart Gunn, and Billy Gunn. As they got closer Billy Gunn could be heard letting out a flurry of swears. As soon as Austin realized my mom could hear the swears, he told Billy to not curse with a lady present, and apologized to us. My mom asked if they were wrestlers and they said yes. We went into the restaurant and they carried on listening to whatever it was that had pissed off Billy Gunn. When we sat down at the table my mom remarked how she had noticed that they had left their two little cowboy hats in their car's backseat.
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Adam:
When I was living in Los Angeles in the late '90s, I used to go to Las Vegas occasionally with my wife for some gambling and a show or two. Due to some work connections, I was hooked up with some passes to the Tyson/Norris fight in 1999 and the Showtime VIP party at the MGM. The party took place before the fight, and as a schmuck in his late 20s, all I thought of was "hey, free food and booze before the fight, nice!"
We were having a great time, and as we're walking around, I spy Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall across the room. I was a pretty big WWF fan in the '80s/early '90s, but I had pretty much stopped watching around the late 90s. Still, Hulk was a guy I grew up watching and had to say something/ask for a picture. This was before cell phone cameras, but my wife had the foresight to bring our camera with her. So after being too nervous to approach them, my wife strides up to Hogan and Hall and asks if they would pose for a quick picture. I am sure the surroundings influenced how they acted, but Hogan and Hall couldn't have been nicer. I just wish my wife was a better photographer.
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Kyle:
Both of these stories happened during a trip my girlfriend won to the 2009 Royal Rumble. Since she won the contest through WWE, we were put up in a hotel with the wrestlers. 1) The thing about these events is that the hotel lobby is FILLED with sleazy people hounding wrestlers for autographs, clearly to sell on eBay. They have shopping carts full of merch, just waiting for any wrestler to come by so they can mob them. We were just sitting in the lobby, watching the wrestlers arrive and get bothered by these people. Obviously we weren't going to approach the wrestlers after seeing them get bugged by these eBay sellers, but it was cool to just see the stars in person. After a little while, we decide to go to our room. So we head down the hallway towards the elevators, and behind us we hear a voice. "Do you know which way to the elevators?" I turn around, and it's CM Punk in his trademark beaten-to-shit Cubs hat, asking a greasy-looking woman where to head to the elevators. Unfortunately for him she ended up being one of those autograph hounds, and she led him in the OPPOSITE direction, back to the jackals with the merch. We end up getting in the elevator, and we hear "HOLD IT!" So I hold the elevator, and an EXTREMELY pissed off CM Punk gets in. At this point we're both freaking out a little, since we're huge Punk fans, but we're way too afraid to say a word after seeing the look on his face. 2) On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is this meeting: we were waiting for the elevator to head down to the lobby, going to head to the Rumble event itself. The doors open, but the elevator is packed to the ceiling with suitcases, and a few people inside... including, right at the doorway, John Cena himself. He gives us a sheepish smile and a shrug, saying "sorry guys, looks like we're all full". The doors close, we stare at each other in shock for a second, and we think that's that. Fast forward to later in the night. Part of the prize my girlfriend won is that we get to go to a meet and greet event with some wrestlers. So we hang out with some midcard talent like Crime Time, the Divas, it's all pretty fun. Then who should walk in but John Cena! When it was my girlfriend's turn to talk to him he gave us a big smile, and said "Hey, I knew it would all work out in the end!"
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Jeremy:
I used to be a television anchor and reporter in Alpena, Mich. In the summer of 2009, a small independent promotion was running a show at the county fairgrounds. I had developed a good working relationship with one of the wrestlers (he lived in the town but traveled all over Michigan to wrestle) and had done a profile on him a few months before. He was going to be wrestling on this show, so he invited me to come to this one as well. I got there about halfway through the show, just in time to see the night's headliner, Chris "The Masterpiece" Masters (fresh off his first WWE release) finish his match and do an autograph session during the intermission (on these small shows the headliner sometimes goes on before the main event just for this purpose). After "The Masterpiece" was done signing, he came to the "backstage" area, which was just a stage with a trailer and a curtain to separate it from area where the fans sat. Masters said he'd be willing to go on camera to talk about the show, so I began lobbing him softball questions about how much hard work goes into wrestling, performing in front of the fans, etc. I was looking for something I could use on that night's 11 p.m. show. Nothing elaborate, just a ten second or so soundbite that I could pair with some of the footage from the show. Sounds easy, right? Not so. I was only able to get a couple of words out of him after any question. Nothing that I could really use. I kept trying, because I needed something to fill time (at the time, Alpena was the 4th smallest TV market in the country, but I somehow had six minutes to fill every night) and at least this was somewhat local. The "Masterpiece" was having none of it, so he finally stops me and says, "I didn't know this was going to take this long, I've got s—- to do." I told him I was just trying to get something I could use, but if he needed to go, I wasn't stopping him. As he walked away, I started to pack up my camera and equipment. As I was doing this, I noticed Masters walking around asking all of the other wrestlers if they had a cigarette. After he got one, he went to the farthest corner of the stage and took a trip to flavor country. And that's what he did for the rest of the show.
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John:
This isn't exactly a wrestler run-in but I don't know who else to tell. There is, somewhat inexplicably, a strip club in a rural Tennessee town 25 minutes from my hometown. A couple years ago my friends and I were drinking there on occasion, and we kept seeing a guy with bleached blond hair wearing a robe. One night I was drunk enough to talk to him. Upon closer inspection the robe was emblazoned "Nature Boy." I asked him why and he matter of factly said Ric Flair had gotten him through some tough times and this was his way of honoring him. I nodded, got the attached pic and backed away slowly.
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We close, as always, with a Virgil story. Ryan:
About four or five years ago, I was walking around the mall with my girlfriend. There happened to be a card show and random tables filled with sports memorabilia, which I was aimlessly browsing through. Out of the blue, she says, "Look! It's Bobby Lashley!" She knew who most of the popular wrestlers were mainly because of me and my love of professional wrestling. I turned around IMMEDIATELY, not to see Bobby Lashley, but instead... VIRGIL! I walked over to his table, which had a huge sign that read MEET WRESTLING SUPERSTAR VIRGIL. Again, it was probably 2007. Not exactly Virgil's heyday—if he ever really had one. I've always been a huge wrestling fan, so I was pretty pumped to go talk to one of four men to ever hold the Million Dollar Championship, and judging by the empty table he was sitting at, thought he could use some company. I ended up shooting the shit with him for almost 45 minutes, all while he tried telling me some serious bullshit, like the time he won the Intercontinental Title (never happened); how he trained Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (ya kidding me?); and how he made over $15 million during his time in the WWF (VERY doubtful). Bullshit aside, Virgil seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and hooked me up with a free autographed picture (of himself, Ted DiBiase, and Andre the Giant), probably for giving him something to do for 45 minutes. He signed it: "To Ryan, BE COOL! Virgil."
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Keep sending in those stories and photos.What separates two teams when the goal of winning a title is at stake? When the two strongest and most talented players come face to face after a long and grueling season? The victory will go to the team and the players who perform small but relevant actions just a little bit better, and consistently—slight improvements, focused on being better than they were the day before. It is the improvement by 1% – doing something 1% better each and every day. If you tally all those 1%’s together, the cumulative average will add up to something extraordinary. This will be the deciding factor in achieving victory. This truth is one that can equally be applied to the spiritual contest that every Catholic must face and in which he must triumph. The strategy of the 1% can help Catholics win the ultimate title, the goal of winning the eternal and glorious crown of heaven.
What is the one percent in the sporting contests? It is working just that little bit more during a weight room session. It is putting on an extra 2.5 pound plate to a 250 pound bar, and doing just one more repetition after having done ten. It is focusing on the basic technique of “passing the ball”, having the arms, hands and fingers reach out, as opposed to waiting for it to come. These improvements are so small, appearing trivial. It is only 2.5 pounds, it is only one more repetition, it is only catching the ball a fraction of a second sooner. This strategy is key to overall improvement and perfection. The athlete that spends such precious time and energy on these seemingly irrelevant accomplishments and minor details is the difference needed to be victorious. It is the separating factor from those that say, “It is not worth it. Lifting 250 pounds is good enough,” or “Catching and passing accurately is all that is needed.”
This attitude may suffice when facing an inferior opponent, but when the time comes to meet the toughest opponent—where all their work and dedication will be ultimately tested—the one percent will show its true value. Those players will be able to power through the defense (even if it is just by an inch), upsetting their opposition for that brief moment which maintains their offensive attack. The team that passes that one percent faster (just a fraction of a second quicker than before) will provide the time to create a new opportunity, a new and greater chance of winning the match.
Catholics practicing the Faith need to implement the one percent rule in their spiritual lives. If going through the motions of everyday life and merely avoiding sin is the game plan, defeat and failure is close at hand, and, what is more, the “playoffs” will certainly be jeopardized. What is required for victory, for glory, is the strengthening of faith—just doing that one percent more today than yesterday. This will ensure the pleasure and the privilege of playing under the lights and come away with the trophy.
The good news is that a one percent improvement in everyday life is not hard to achieve. It is simple: an act of kindness, refraining from crude language when the world has accepted and promoted its usage; saying an extra prayer at any point in the day, making the Sign of the Cross while passing a church, saying an encouraging word to the person who is hard to love, appreciating the tree that we pass everyday on the way to work, and the list continues. Just one percent at a time adds up in the long run.
Just as the one percent makes the decided difference in the final match, so it is with a Catholic’s life. Success is not contingent on the one day of high intensity that looks for a 50–75 percent improvement. Being overly ambitious wears players down; it wears human beings down and can cause a halt in progress, possibly causing even a setback. Putting on 100 extra pounds to an already 250 pound bar can discourage and demoralize the athlete when he fails to clear it off the rack, or cause him an injury which will prevent him from making those modest improvements over the coming weeks. Working for hours, the night before the match, on technique leaves people exhausted and will cause a lack of clarity on the field that can lose them the match.
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Catholics have a famous desire to do the incredible, to have lofty goals, but they must remember that the flesh makes it difficult. The willingness our Lord refers to is very real, but Catholics must work hard to keep their willingness realistic. And it is not hard to do so, weak as we are. All it takes is one percent at a time. All it takes is the willingness to say a rosary, or to be a daily communicant, or to devote an hour in prayerful meditation, or to recite individual novenas for the innumerable intentions on the mind, or to abstain from pleasurable activities, or fast. All of these are worthy endeavors that can be improved upon one percent at a time. They are disciplines not likely to be accomplished in their entirety all at once. The individual who attempts such a thing will become invariably exhausted and frustrated with his failure, thereby divorcing himself from them all. Consequently, instead of making any improvement, that soul will accomplish little, perhaps even risking reversion due to feelings of inadequacy.
A Catholic needs to incorporate the seemingly insignificant advancements into his life – today and then again tomorrow – just one percent better, because it is worth doing and because it is the best strategy to gain a mastery of the task at hand. One percent, added up again and again, over time will prepare anyone when they are called up for the championship match when all is finally on the line.
This article was submitted by Guest Contributor, Mr. Garret van Beek.My previous post suggested that two big, ambitious brain-mapping initiatives in Europe and the U.S. might be premature, given that scientists know so little about how physiological processes in the brain generate perceptions, memories, emotions, decisions and other components of the mind. The Human Genome Project began only after researchers had deciphered the genetic code, but neuroscientists aren't close to cracking the "neural code," the brain's operating program. One smart commenter pointed out that Scientific American recently published an article about neural coding, "A Single Brain Cell Stores a Single Concept," by Rodrigo Quiroga, Itzhak Fried and Christof Koch. I'm familiar with, and fascinated by, the research of Quiroga et al. In fact, I wrote about their work in a 2005 article for Discover Magazine, which I'm re-printing below. The research raises more questions than it answers about how brains make minds. But I wonder, re-reading my article, whether I engaged in the same hype of which I accuse some neuroscientists.
In the neurosurgery ward of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Danny, a stocky 21-year-old college student wearing blue pajamas and sporting a wispy goatee, sits on a bed watching one photo |
to influence future EU legislation on tobacco products, the European Commission said.
Mr Dalli categorically rejected the investigation's findings, it added.
Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic will take over Mr Dalli's duties on an interim basis until a new commissioner of Maltese nationality is appointed, the commission said.
'Snus offer'
According to the commission, the tobacco producer Swedish Match complained in May that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with Mr Dalli to try to gain financial advantages from the company.
Snus A moist tobacco which is placed under the lip
Produced in various flavours, including liquorice, lemon, coffee, aniseed, elderflower, cranberry and mint
Banned in all EU states except Sweden
This entrepreneur had allegedly offered in return to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus, a smokeless tobacco taken orally.
No transaction was concluded between the company and the entrepreneur and no payment was made, the commission said.
Olaf "did not find any conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Mr Dalli but did consider that he was aware of these events", it said.
According to the commission, the case has not affected its decision-making process.
It said that the Olaf's final report and its recommendations were being sent to the attorney-general of Malta, and it was up to the Maltese judiciary to decide how to proceed.
Mr Dalli, 64, became the EU's commissioner for health and consumer policy in 2010.
His official biography shows that his career in Maltese politics stretches back more than a quarter of a century.
First elected an MP in 1987 for the centre-right Nationalist Party, he was a cabinet minister in several governments, serving as finance minister three times.Through the eyepiece of Michael Backes’s small Celestron telescope, the 18-point letters on the laptop screen at the end of the hall look nearly as clear as if the notebook computer were on my lap. I do a double take. Not only is the laptop 10 meters (33 feet) down the corridor, it faces away from the telescope. The image that seems so legible is a reflection off a glass teapot on a nearby table. In experiments here at his laboratory at Saarland University in Germany, Backes has discovered that an alarmingly wide range of objects can bounce secrets right off our screens and into an eavesdropper’s camera. Spectacles work just fine, as do coffee cups, plastic bottles, metal jewelry—even, in his most recent work, the eyeballs of the computer user. The mere act of viewing information can give it away.
The reflection of screen images is only one of the many ways in which our computers may leak information through so-called side channels, security holes that bypass the normal encryption and operating-system restrictions we rely on to protect sensitive data. Researchers recently demonstrated five different ways to surreptitiously capture keystrokes, for example, without installing any software on the target computer. Technically sophisticated observers can extract private data by reading the flashing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on network switches or by scrutinizing the faint radio-frequency waves that every monitor emits. Even certain printers make enough noise to allow for acoustic eavesdropping.
Outside of a few classified military programs, side-channel attacks have been largely ignored by computer security researchers, who have instead focused on creating ever more robust encryption schemes and network protocols. Yet that approach can secure only information that is inside the computer or network. Side-channel attacks exploit the unprotected area where the computer meets the real world: near the keyboard, monitor or printer, at a stage before the information is encrypted or after it has been translated into human-readable form. Such attacks also leave no anomalous log entries or corrupted files to signal that a theft has occurred, no traces that would allow security researchers to piece together how frequently they happen. The experts are sure of only one thing: whenever information is vulnerable and has significant monetary or intelligence value, it is only a matter of time until someone tries to steal it.
From Tempest to Teapot
The idea of stealing information through side channels is far older than the personal computer. In World War I the intelligence corps of the warring nations were able to eavesdrop on one another’s battle orders because field telephones of the day had just one wire and used the earth to carry the return current. Spies connected rods in the ground to amplifiers and picked up the conversations. In the 1960s American military scientists began studying the radio waves given off by computer monitors and launched a program, code-named “Tempest,” to develop shielding techniques that are used to this day in sensitive government and banking computer systems. Without Tempest shielding, the image being scanned line by line onto the screen of a standard cathode-ray tube monitor can be reconstructed from a nearby room—or even an adjacent building—by tuning into the monitor’s radio transmissions.
Many people assumed that the growing popularity of flat-panel displays would make Tempest problems obsolete, because flat panels use low voltages and do not scan images one line at a time. But in 2003 Markus G. Kuhn, a computer scientist at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, demonstrated that even flat-panel monitors, including those built into laptops, radiate digital signals from their video cables, emissions that can be picked up and
decoded from many meters away. The monitor refreshes its image 60 times or more each second; averaging out the common parts of the pattern leaves just the changing pixels—and a readable copy of whatever the target display is showing.
“Thirty years ago only military suppliers had the equipment necessary to do the electromagnetic analysis involved in this attack,” Kuhn says. “Today you can find it in any well-equipped electronics lab, although it is still bulky. Sooner or later, however, it will be available as a plug-in card for your laptop.”
Similarly, commonplace radio surveillance equipment can pick up keystrokes as they are typed on a keyboard in a different room, according to Martin Vuagnoux and Sylvain Pasini, both graduate students in computer science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. The attack does not depend on fluctuations in the power supply, so it works even on the battery-powered laptops you see by the dozen in any airport terminal.
Vuagnoux and Pasini showed off the feat in an online video recorded last October. They are now preparing a conference paper that describes four distinct ways that keystrokes can be deduced from radio signals captured through walls at distances up to 20 meters. One of the newer methods is 95 percent accurate. “The way the keyboard determines which key is pressed is by polling a matrix of row and column lines,” explains Kuhn, who proposed (but never demonstrated) one of these methods a decade ago. “The polling process emits faint radio pulses, and the position of those pulses in time can reveal which key was pressed.”
Last May a group led by Giovanni Vigna of the University of California, Santa Barbara, published details of a fifth way to capture typing that does not require a fancy radio receiver; an ordinary webcam and some clever software will do. Vigna’s software, called ClearShot, works on video of a victim’s fingers typing on a keyboard. The program combines motion-tracking algorithms with sophisticated linguistic models to deduce the most probable words being typed. Vigna reports that ClearShot reconstructs the typed text about as quickly as human volunteers do, but not quite as accurately.
It might seem implausible that someone would allow their own webcam to be used against them in this way. It is not. Gathering video from a webcam can be as simple as tricking the user into clicking on an innocuous-looking link in a Web page, a process known as clickjacking. Last October, Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security and Robert Hansen of SecTheory revealed details of bugs they discovered in many Web browsers and in Adobe’s Flash software that together allow a hostile Web site to collect audio and video from a computer’s microphone and webcam. Just a single errant click launches the surveillance.
Eye See You
Still, Backes points out, “almost all these interception methods are accessible only to experts with specialized knowledge and equipment. What distinguishes the attack based on reflections is that almost anyone with a $500 telescope can do it, and it is almost impossible to defend against completely.”
Backes, a fellow of the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems in Saarbrücken, Germany, who made a name for himself at IBM’s research lab in Zurich before entering academia, spends most of his time working on the mathematics that underlies cryptography. But every year he works on a new project with his students just for fun. This year they wrote computer code that translates an audio recording of a dot-matrix printer—the noisy variety that is still often used by airlines, banks and hospitals—into a picture of the page that was being printed at the time. Based on the success of that work, Backes’s group has been performing experiments to determine whether the method could be extended to retrieve text from recordings of ink-jet printers. “Obviously, this is much harder because ink-jets are so quiet,” Backes says.
Last year the idea for the annual fun project dawned on Backes as he was walking past the office where his graduate students were furiously typing away. “ ‘What are they working on so hard?’ I wondered,” Backes says. As he noticed a small blue-white patch in a teapot on one student’s desk and realized it was the reflection of the computer screen, the idea struck. “The next day I went to a hobby shop and bought an ordinary backyard telescope [for $435] and a six-megapixel digital camera.”
The setup worked surprisingly well. Medium-size type was clearly legible when the telescope was aimed at reflections in a spoon, a wine glass, a wall clock. Nearly any shiny surface worked, but curved surfaces worked best, because they revealed wide swathes of the room, thus eliminating the need for a peeping hacker to find a sweet spot where the reflected screen is visible. Unfortunately, all of us who use computer screens have nearly spherical, highly reflective objects stuck to our faces. Could digital secrets be read off the eyes of their beholders?
Backes knew he would need a bigger telescope and a more sensitive camera to find out. Because eyeballs are rarely still for more than a second or so, the shutter speed on the camera would have to be fast to reduce motion blur. “For eyes, it is the brightness of the reflected image, not its resolution, that limits how far away a spy can be,” Backes says.
He bought a $1,500 telescope and borrowed a $6,000 astronomical camera from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. Now he was able to make out 72-point text in the eye of a target 10 meters away.
He figured he could do even better by borrowing something else from astronomy: a process called deconvolution that removes blur in photographs of distant galaxies. The idea is to measure how a point of light in the original image (such as a star or a reflected status LED on a monitor) smears when captured by the camera. A mathematical function can then reverse the blurring to restore the point, sharpening the rest of the image at the same time [Purchase the digital edition to see related sidebar]. The deconvolution software lowered the threshold of legibility to 36-point type at 10 meters for a telescope that could easily be hidden inside a car. A van-size telescope could do even better.
Backes will present his results this month at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, but he already has ideas for further improvement. “A real attacker could train an invisible laser on the target,” he notes. That would enable autofocusing on the eyeball and better deconvolution of the motion blur. Spies could take advantage of software from HeliconSoft that can assemble one clear image of an object by combining many partially blurry images; only those regions that are in focus are retained. They could also exploit software for high dynamic-range imaging that uses similar techniques to create one high-contrast photograph from images shot with a variety of exposures.
A Blind Defense
Protecting ourselves against our overly communicative computers is much harder in some ways than defending against spam, phishing and viruses. There is no convenient software package one can install to dam the side channels. On the other hand, it is not clear that anyone is actively exploiting them. Backes and Kuhn say it is safe to assume that military organizations have used the techniques to gather intelligence, but they can cite no specific examples.
The blinds in Backes’s office were drawn as we discussed these possibilities, and curtains are one obvious way of frustrating a reflection thief. But Backes points out that it is naive to expect that people will always remember, or be able, to cover their windows. Although many laptop users apply “privacy filters” to their screens to protect against over-the-shoulder eavesdropping, these filters increase the brightness of the reflection on the viewer’s eyes, thus making the hacker’s job easier.
Flat-panel displays emit polarized light, so a polarizing film on a window could in principle block reflections from every screen in the room. In practice, however, this fix does not work. Small variations in the polarization angle of displays are common, and the resulting small mismatches let enough light escape that a good telescope can still make out the screen.
Compared with conventional forms of computer espionage, side-channel attacks do have a couple of major limitations, Kuhn notes. “You have to be close to the target, and you must be observing while a user is actively accessing the information. It’s much easier if you can instead convince someone to open an e-mail attachment and install malicious software that opens a back door to their entire system. You can do that to millions of people at once.”
For that reason, side-channel hacks are unlikely to become as common as spam, malware and other assaults through the network. Instead they will likely be used to infiltrate a few highly lucrative targets, such as the computers of financiers and high-level corporate and government officials. In these cases, side-channel leaks probably offer the easiest way to bypass elaborate network security systems and do it without leaving any trail that a security team could trace after the fact. Anecdotal evidence suggests such surveillance is already taking place. “Some people in investment banks cite cases where information has disappeared, and they are certain it wasn’t a traditional attack such as a software hack or the cleaning lady duplicating a hard disk,” Kuhn says. “But to my knowledge, no one has ever been caught in the act.”
This story was originally printed with the title "How to Steal Secrets without a Network"The San Pedro Square Market set off a chain reaction in the Downtown San Jose food scene unlike any other I can remember. Not only is the original SPSM looking to capitalize on its success and substantially expand over the next few years, but it seems like everyone is now jumping on the market concept to try to be the next SPSM. A few months ago, the second Downtown market officially opened its doors with two great vendors. By the end of next year, the SoFA Market should be completely leased out and act as a key anchor in the neighborhood.Now, get this... there are plans for a THIRD market near San Jose State University called Metro Public Eatery and Bar. This will be next to the Grocery Outlet on the corner of Sixth and Santa Clara. The size of the space is 10,000 SQFT and it can support up to 10 eateries! There will also be a full-service speakeasy-style cocktail bar and a special events area for private parties.Like the other Downtown markets, there will be no chains. Some of the planned eateries are a kabob-style restaurant with exotic meats like bison and alligator, a fish taco stand, a Japanese burger bar, tapas, and a pastry shop. You can also expect live music and entertainment on the weekends.The new market will also try to differentiate itself with a modern industrial design targeted to students and office workers Downtown. Currently the Metro Public Eatery is in permitting and scheduled to open by the end of 2015. I can't wait!Source: Spartan Daily3 Surprising Ways Your Credit Score Could be Costing You
The recent recession has given rise to a backlash against credit. And it is true that an irresponsible use of credit, especially credit cards, can lead to financial ruin. For some, it might make sense to do away with the temptation and have done with credit altogether. It’s a nice thought, but if you aren’t maintaining your credit score, you might find yourself paying for it in unexpected ways.
You already know that your credit score is a Big Deal when it comes to how lenders view you. Your credit score has to pass muster in order for you to get a loan to begin with. Then, your credit score is what lenders use to determine the interest rate you pay. The lower your credit score, the higher the interest rate — and the more money you pay over the life of the loan. Many figure that they can save up enough cash to buy most things (except a home), and that once they have a home, there is no need to worry about a good credit score. Unfortunately, this isn’t true. Here are 3 non-lending ways your credit score could be costing you:
1. Insurance Premiums
Many insurance companies now pull your credit score in order to help determine your premium. Credit scores are used to help determine the likelihood that you will put in a claim. For auto insurance companies, there is an increasingly assumed correlation between how responsible you are with your finances and how responsible you are likely to be on the road. While your credit score isn’t everything for setting an insurance premium, it is becoming a prominent factor. I save $15.00 a month on my insurance because I have a good credit score. While it doesn’t seem like much, if you consider the savings over the several years that I will be paying premiums, it really starts to add up.
2. Employment
If you have a poor credit history, especially if you are applying for a sensitive job, employers may worry that you could be susceptible to the temptations of taking bribes and embezzlement. Even though employers aren’t supposed to look at your score, they can get a pretty good idea of what your score might be by looking at your credit report. My brother-in-law was rejected for a job as a security guard because of his poor credit history. Even if you aren’t in a particularly sensitive position, employers may be concerned that showing an irresponsible bent with your finances could translate into poor work habits. An employer can’t just pull your credit report without your authorization, though. However, if you are unwilling to allow a credit check, an employer may decide you aren’t worth the risk.
3. Landlords
If you are looking to rent, you might be rejected on the basis of your credit. Landlords like tenants who pay on time, in full, and don’t make trouble. Your credit history might indicate that you have trouble paying on time, and could signal potential problems. Many landlords who rent to those with lower credit scores require larger up front security deposits, or may insist on first and last month’s rent up front. The cost of moving is expensive enough without having to add a premium due to a low credit score.
Bottom line: Your overall financial reliability is becoming increasingly connected to your credit score. Even with regard to items that are not directly related to loans, your credit history is used for decision making. This means that it is worthy of your attention, and that improving your credit score should remain a priority.Quick Tip - Check out all the in-depth articles written by Plant Delights Nursery as well as our numerous blog entries that touch upon the subject of trademarks.
When is a plant name not a plant name? The sad answer is more often than not in our current world, where marketing comes first and accuracy second. The current plant naming trend often violates the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), US Trademark Law, and occasionally the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules concerning deceptive business practices.
Primula 'Prinic' PP 12,892 Primula 'Prinic' PP 12,892
To understand the problem, let's go back in time to 1952, when the first International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (hence referred to as the Code) was published to standardize the confusing way in which plant cultivars were named. The Code sets forth the way people around the world communicate about plants, and as long as everyone abides by the Code, problems in horticultural communication are minimal. Unfortunately we have moved into a time where more and more people are undermining the Code due in part to both ignorance and greed, creating a taxonomic nightmare.
Echinacea 'Pixie Meadowbrite' PP 18,546 Echinacea 'Pixie Meadowbrite' PP 18,546
The current trend of improper and confusing use of cultivar names and trademarks, both by growers and marketers of plants, has done an irreparable long-term disservice to the industry and the public by hopelessly confusing the naming of plants and the communication about these plants. Even in the latest edition of Dr. Michael Dirr's wonderful Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (5th ed.), it is clearly evident, even someone as knowledgeable as Dr. Dirr doesn't always know which is a cultivar name and which is simply a company's marketing name.
Dryopteris labordei 'Golden Mist' Dryopteris labordei 'Golden Mist'
The Nomenclature Code
To understand where the confusion lies, let's start with a few basics about plant taxonomy. The naming of cultivated plants is governed by a small book, the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants 2004. In the Preamble to the Code, the purpose is stated: "The Code aims at the provision of a stable method of naming distinguishable groups of cultivated plants, avoiding and rejecting the use of names that may cause error or ambiguity or throw the above disciplines into confusion." While the Code is not a legal document, such International Codes are usually recognized as legally valid in most court disputes.
Clematis 'Sapphire Indigo' PP 17,012 Clematis 'Sapphire Indigo' PP 17,012
In Principle 3, the Code states, "Each cultivar or group with a particular circumscription can bear only one accepted name, the earliest that is in accordance with the Rules." Principle 4 of the Code brings up another important point, "Names of plants must be universally and freely available for use by any person to denote a distinguishable group of plants. In some countries, plants are marketed using trademarks. Such marks are the intellectual property of a person or some corporate body and are not therefore freely available for any person to use; consequently, they cannot be considered as names."
Oxalis triangularis 'Jade' PP 17,558 Oxalis triangularis 'Jade' PP 17,558
Article 19 of the Code further deals with cultivar names. The most pertinent section is Article 19.13, which states, "For a cultivar name to be established on or after 1 January 1959, its epithet is to be a word or words in a modern language other than Latin, except as permitted under Article 19.6, 19.7, and Article 19.24." There are many other requirements, but these are not pertinent for discussion of the trademark issue. Now that we understand the basis for naming plants, let's look at how the improper use of trademarks has made a mockery of the spirit of the Code.
Eucomis 'Mini Tuft Bright Pink' Eucomis 'Mini Tuft Bright Pink'
Trademarks
Trademark names are intended to be used only to designate product origin or brands. Trademarking can be as simple as writing ™ after a name, but for a more sound legal footing, the trademark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The trademark then becomes a Registered Trademark® for a cost of about $250 (unless you have it done by a lawyer). Trademarks are owned by an individual or company and cannot be affixed to an individual item. They are valid for 10 years if used correctly in commerce, and can be renewed indefinitely for 10-year periods.
Oenothera 'Lemon Drop' PP 16,393 Oenothera 'Lemon Drop' PP 16,393
A classic example of a properly used trademark is Tylenol®. If you look through a drug store, you will find the company had registered Tylenol® as a trademark. The product that you purchase, however is not TYLENOL®, but instead one of many products, such as TYLENOL® Cold and Sinus Medicine or TYLENOL® Pain Relievers. In most of these products, the generic name is acetaminophen. If a company's trademark name becomes recognized by the public as the product itself (i.e. generic), the trademark becomes invalid. Several commonly known examples of trademarks being invalidated because they have become generic in the minds of the consumer include: aspirin, cellophane, thermos, and escalator. Many other incorrectly used trademarks are still in effect, simply because they have not been challenged.
Salvia greggii 'Variegata' PP 8560 Salvia greggii 'Variegata' PP 8560
The current improper use of trademarks in the horticultural industry had its origin more than a half century ago. The worst culprits, in the early years, were the rose and bedding plant industry. The rose industry seems to have been the first to use nonsensical, non-conforming names for plant cultivars, while the bedding plant industry completely thumbed its nose at the Code by not even bothering to come up with any cultivar names for most of their introductions. One of the most famous roses in horticulture is one that everyone knows as Peace. Surprisingly, there is no such plant as Rosa 'Peace'. The plant we grow under this name is actually Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'. The trade name Peace was coined by Conard Pyle Nursery, and used to market Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland' after World War II to capitalize on the post-war sentiment. The plant became known in the public's mind as the Peace rose.
Some of the larger nurseries soon realized that regardless of the cultivar name of the plant, they could come up with their own proprietary (trademarked) marketing name and use these names to promote plants which already had valid cultivar names. The idea was to convince the public that the company's marketing name was actually the name of the plant. The next step in the downward spiral was when nurserymen began intentionally giving their new plants stupid nonsensical cultivar names. Subsequent plant promotions would often only tout the marketing name, causing the consumer to often not realize the plant had a real cultivar name. The cultivar name, if included at all in ads and tags, would be printed in very small print in comparison to the "marketing name". The entire idea is for the company's marketing (trademark) name to become the generic name of the product in the consumer's mind. The practice of using nonsensical names violates the entire purpose for having an International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants while the use of trademarks as generic names violates the legal use of trademarks.
Some breeders blindly follow such trends in choosing nonsensical cultivar names, not realizing that these names are the only official name of their new introduction. A UK primrose breeder, Geoff Nicolle, wanted to name and patent his new primrose after his granddaughter Katy McSparron. Instead he patented it under the cultivar name Primula 'Prinic' PP 12,892 and marketed it under his granddaughters name. I have corresponded with his granddaughter who is furious and stubbornly insistent that the plant is named after her. Unfortunately, it's becoming quite common where people who are to be honored or commemorated with a plant being named after them are left with nothing but an invalid trademark with no plant attached. A great new plant is then stuck with a nonsensical name.
As I mentioned earlier, Article 19.13 of the Code does not allow for the use of these nonsensical names. In contradicting itself, however, the current version of the Code now allows nonsensical code name exceptions (Article 19.27). This is where political pressures have crept into what should have remained a scientific document. Privately, one of the authors of the Code told me the breeders of certain worldwide crops such as alstroemeria, carnations, and roses would raise too much of a fuss if the nomenclature committee made the wording in the Code any stronger. In other words, the authors of the current edition of the Code caved to those who were already violating the Code, similar to the concept of changing laws so that the number of criminals diminish.
Many breeders and growers of new plants properly choose to try and recoup their investment in producing a new plant by securing a royalty payment from those producing the plant. Plant patents are the only legal means of protecting a proprietary plant. Patents are good for 20 years (formerly 17 years) after the date of patent filing. After this time, anyone can legally propagate and sell a formerly patented cultivar. Patents require quite a bit of paperwork and a fee that many smaller growers may find a bit expensive. Many growers have the false impression that trademarks give them an easier and cheaper alternative to patents, but this is not the case.
To further complicate matters, some plants are both patented and subsequently marketed under a company's trademarked name. Some nurserymen think they can get the 20-year protection the plant patent provides, plus a further measure of protection by trademarking a second (marketing) name for each plant. Once the patent expires, others could propagate a formerly patented plant, but in theory could not sell it under the company's trademark name. A classic example is Monrovia's Limemound® spirea. At the end of its patent protection in 2003, everyone could propagate Spirea 'Monhub' PP5834, but Monrovia assumed no one else could then legally sell the plant as Limemound® spirea. Unfortunately both nurseries and many trademark lawyers who advise nurseries seem not to understand basic trademark law.
Trademark law states that a trademark name can be used with (not for) any product produced by the owner of the trademark. For example, if the owner of the trademark was growing four different gold spireas or 100 different trees, they could all be marketed under the same trademark name, despite being distinct cultivars. Trademark names belong only to a company, and not to a particular plant or product. In other words, a single cultivar named Limemound spirea does not exist.
Article 12.1 of the Code cites Rosa 'Korlanum', which is marketed under three different trademark names, each owned by a different company, Surrey, Sommerwind, and Vente D'ete. This causes the public to assume that there are three different roses, when they are all the same plant. In the case of Loropetalum chinensis 'Hines Purple Leaf', it is marketed under at least two different trademark names, Plum Delight, and Pizzaz. This practice is becoming more common as the lack of understanding about proper trademark use deteriorates. Are you confused yet?
The issue becomes more confusing the more you investigate. Do you remember the Cornus florida x kousa hybrid dogwoods from Elwin Orton's breeding program at Rutgers? They were patented with the cultivar names of C. 'Stellar Pink' PP7207, C. 'Galaxy' PP7204, C. 'Aurora' PP7205, C. 'Constellation' PP7210, C. 'Rutfan' PP7206, and C. 'Rutlan' PP7732. As you can see, all of the dogwoods except two were given sensical (word or words in a modern language) cultivar names. Interestingly enough, once the dogwoods hit the market, the original sensical cultivar names were changed by the breeder to nonsensical names and the original sensical cultivar names were then trademarked. For example, Cornus 'Stellar Pink' became 'Rutgan' (Stellar Pink®), 'Galaxy' became 'Rutban' (Galaxy®), 'Aurora' became 'Rutdan' (Aurora®), 'Constellation' became 'Rutcan' (Constellation®), 'Rutlan' was marketed as (Ruth Ellen®) and 'Rutfan' was marketed as (Stardust®). This violates the International Nomenclature Code; section 19.13 as cited above and #9 of the Preamble, which states "The only proper reason for changing the name of a distinguishable group of plants are either a more profound knowledge of the facts resulting from adequate taxonomic study or the necessity of giving up a name that is contrary to the Rules of a Code." Therefore the correct names for each of these hybrids were the original cultivar names under which they were patented. The reason for the name switching is so that once the patent expires, anyone can sell the dogwoods under the nonsensical names, but in theory they cannot use the breeders trademark name. By trying to make sure everyone knows the plants generically by his trade name, the breeder has, however, intentionally rendered his trademark invalid.
If you visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, www.USPTO.gov, you will see the Patent Office itself has no understanding of either US Trademark Law or the ICNCP. A classic example of this confusion occurs in the patented plant, Itea virginica 'Sprich' PP 10,988. Despite the fact the cultivar name of 'Sprich' is not a "word or words in a modern language" (Article 19.13) and therefore violates the spirit of the Nomenclature Code, it has become the legal cultivar name once it was indicated as such in the patent application. If you read the patent application for I. virginica 'Sprich', it states, "The new Itea virginica cultivar is being marketed under the trade name Little Henry®." Because a trademark cannot be permanently affixed to a particular item, it shows the USPTO doesn't even understand their own regulations.
This use of trademarks as secondary "pseudo-cultivar" names for a particular plants violates both the spirit of the Nomenclature Code, as well as US trademark law. Trademark law clearly states if a trademark name becomes the common use (generic) name of a particular item, then the trademark becomes invalidated. Trademark lawyers have long advised nurseries to write the cultivar name in single quotes and smaller type and then the trademark name without single quotes in larger type. In their minds, this keeps their trademark valid. Nurseries are also told by their trademark lawyers as long as they enforce their trademarks, by making sure the cultivar name is always included with the trademark name, their trademarks would remain valid. This bizarre thinking, however, defeats the entire reason for improperly using trademarks, which is to trick the public into thinking the trademark name is the generic name of the product. It is this intentional deceit that will one day bring the Federal Trade Commission onto the horticultural scene.
A properly used trademark would be one such as Star® Roses, which is used to market a large group of roses under a single umbrella trademark. This trademark would have remained valid if they had not then began using their trademark to also market individual cultivars such as Rosa 'Wezaprt' as Bronze Star™ Rose and Rosa 'Wezlavn' as Silver Star® Rose.
Court Cases
Until 2006, one of the few cases that might have gone to trial was when Iverson Perennials tried to enforce a legal trademark they owned for the name Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'. The unpatented plant had been previously published with 'Butterfly Blue' as the cultivar name, so they were wrong in both trying to trademark a cultivar name and also by using their trademark improperly on a single product. Fortunately, a number of nurseries banded together against Iverson's and the trademark infringement case was abandoned before it reached court.
Finally, in 2006, a case of improperly used trademarks actually reached the courts in Van Well Nursery Inc. et al. v. Mony Life Insurance Company et al. (decided March 16, 2006). In this complicated case, Mony Life Insurance Co. acquired property from A/B Hop Farms due to a defaulted loan. The property contained apple trees known as Smoothee® and Scarlet Spur®. When Mony Life Insurance Co. tried to sell the land by mentioning that it contained Smoothee® and Scarlet Spur® apple trees, Van Well Nursery and Hilltop Nurseries sued for trademark infringement. Their contention was that the apples trees were actually the cultivars 'Snipes' and 'Gibson', although they had marketed them under the trademark names Smoothee® and Scarlet Spur®. The Lanham Trademark Act, section 15, says is not the actual misuse of the trademark for a single product that makes it invalid, but instead the perception of the public that the trademark name is the product itself that renders the mark invalid.
The judge in the Van Well case correctly ruled that in the public domain, the apples were known as Smoothee® and Scarlet Spur®, and therefore the legally registered trademarks were now invalid, because they had become know as the product instead of the source of the product. (The Smoothee® trademark was actually not immediately cancelled, only because the owner was not a party in this particular lawsuit.) The Scarlet Spur® trademark was cancelled despite the fact the trademark owners had followed their legal advice and always included the registered trademark symbol along with the correct cultivar names when advertising the apples. The case hinged on the age-old adage in determining the validity of a trademark. A trademark must tell "who you are" and not "what you are."
This case has huge implications for those in the nursery industry who have improperly used trademarks to market individual plants for the last several decades. The case illustrates that despite best faith efforts on the part of the trademark owners to keep their trademark names valid, it is impossible once the public views the trademark name as generic. Not only will the industry be left with shameful nonsensical cultivar names that will exist as long as the plants are grown, but nurseryman who have spent large sums of money on trademarks and trademark attorney fees and then used the trademarks in violation of US Trademark Law, will be left feeling the financial sting with no way to recoup their losses. Once the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wakes up and is urged to act as they were recently with the discrepancy of advertised and delivered pot sizes, those who market individual plants under trade names will have another fight on their hands.
It would be nice if nurseries, who indeed are ethical, but Misinformed would take the lead in reversing this terrible trend. It would also be a nice change if groups such as |
wounded)[83]
Four American helicopters were shot down and 55 damaged.[7]
Casualty notification [ edit ]
The U.S. Army hadn't set up casualty-notification teams this early in the war. The notification telegrams at this time were handed over to taxi cab drivers for delivery to the next of kin. Hal Moore's wife, Julia Compton Moore, followed in the wake of the deliveries to widows in the Ft. Benning housing complex, grieving with the wives and comforting the children, and attended the funerals of all the men killed under her husband's command who were buried at Ft. Benning.[58] Her complaints about the notifications prompted the Army to quickly set up two-man teams to deliver them, consisting of an officer and a chaplain.[84] Mrs. Frank Henry, the wife of the battalion executive officer, and Mrs. James Scott, wife of the battalion command sergeant major, performed the same duty for the dead of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry.[34]:416
Notable award recipients [ edit ]
Although many notable decorations have been awarded to veterans of the Battle of Ia Drang, in his book We Were Soldiers Once...And Young, Lt. Gen. Harold Moore writes:
"We had problems on the awards... Too many men had died bravely and heroically, while the men who had witnessed their deeds had also been killed... Acts of valor that, on other fields, on other days, would have been rewarded with the Medal of Honor or Distinguished Service Cross or a Silver Star were recognized only with a telegram saying, 'The Secretary of the Army regrets...' The same was true of our sister battalion, the 2nd of the 7th." [75]
Medal of Honor
2nd Lt. Walter Marm, Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, received the Medal of Honor on Nov. 15, 1967, for his actions while serving as a platoon leader on 14 November during the 3-day battle at LZ X-Ray. His MOH citation recounts several examples of conspicuous gallantry, some despite being severely wounded. [85]
Capt. Ed Freeman and Maj. Bruce Crandall who were helicopter pilots during the battle were each awarded the Medal of Honor on July 16, 2001 and Feb. 26, 2007, respectively, for their numerous volunteer flights (14 and 22, respectively) in their unarmed Hueys[86] into LZ X-Ray while enemy fire was so heavy that medical evacuation helicopters refused to approach. With each flight, Crandall and Freeman delivered much needed water and ammunition and extracted wounded soldiers, saving countless lives.[87]
Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and Bronze Star Medal
Lt. Col. Harold "Hal" Moore, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at LZ X-Ray. His DSC citation particularly commends his "leadership by example" as well as his skill in battle against overwhelming odds and his unwavering courage. [88]
Sgt. Ernie Savage's precise placement of artillery throughout the siege of the "Lost Platoon" enabled the platoon to survive the long ordeal. For his "gallantry under relentless enemy fire on an otherwise insignificant knoll in the valley of the Ia Drang", Ernie Savage received the Distinguished Service Cross. [89]
2nd Lt. John Geoghegan was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and the Air Medal. He was killed during the battle when he rushed to the aid of fellow soldier, Willie Godbolt, who was wounded by incoming hostile fire. Their names are next to each other on the Vietnam Wall. [90]
Specialist 4 Bill Beck and Specialist 4 Russell E. Adams (Platoon 3, Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry) were awarded the Bronze Star with Valor in 1996.
Journalist Joseph Galloway was the only civilian awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroism during the Vietnam War. On Nov. 15, 1965, he disregarded his own safety to help rescue two wounded soldiers while under fire.[91] He was awarded on January 8, 1998.[92]
ARVN Unit Citation
• The 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was awarded the ARVN Gallantry Cross with Palm by Major General Vĩnh Lộc, II Corps Commander.[93]
Presidential Unit Citation
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) And Attached Units: Presidential Unit Citation, DAGO 40, 1967: 23 Oct. to 26 Nov. 1965: Distinguished themselves by outstanding performance of duty and extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy in the Republic of Vietnam, becoming the first unit so honored for actions during the Vietnam War.[94]
In media [ edit ]
Films [ edit ]
Literature [ edit ]
Television [ edit ]
Vietnam in HD (Nov. 8 to Nov. 11, 2011), a six-part American documentary television miniseries on The History Channel that covered the Battle of Ia Drang in its first episode.
(Nov. 8 to Nov. 11, 2011), a six-part American documentary television miniseries on The History Channel that covered the Battle of Ia Drang in its first episode. The Vietnam War (TV series) (September 17–28, 2017), a ten-part American documentary by Ken Burns that covered the Battle of Ia Drang in its third episode.
Notes [ edit ]
CitationsIn the communal imagination, dopamine is about rewards, and feeling good, and wanting to feel good again, and if you don’t watch out, you’ll be hooked, a slave to the pleasure lines cruising through your brain. Hey, why do you think they call it dopamine?
Yet as new research on dopamine-deficient mice and other studies reveal, the image of dopamine as our little Bacchus in the brain is misleading, just as was the previous caricature of serotonin as a neural happy face.
In the emerging view, discussed in part at the Society for Neuroscience meeting last week in Chicago, dopamine is less about pleasure and reward than about drive and motivation, about figuring out what you have to do to survive and then doing it. “When you can’t breathe, and you’re gasping for air, would you call that pleasurable?” said Nora D. Volkow, a dopamine researcher and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Or when you’re so hungry that you eat something disgusting, is that pleasurable?”
In both responses, Dr. Volkow said, the gasping for oxygen and the wolfing down of something you would ordinarily spurn, the dopamine pathways of the brain are at full throttle. “The whole brain is of one mindset,” she said. “The intense drive to get you out of a state of deprivation and keep you alive.”
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Dopamine is also part of the brain’s salience filter, its get-a-load-of-this device. “You can’t pay attention to everything, but you want to be adept as an organism at recognizing things that are novel,” Dr. Volkow said. “You might not notice a fly in the room, but if that fly was fluorescent, your dopamine cells would fire.”
In addition, our dopamine-driven salience detector will focus on familiar objects that we have imbued with high value, both positive and negative: objects we want and objects we fear. If we love chocolate, our dopamine neurons will most likely start to fire at the sight of a pert little chocolate bean lying on the counter. But if we fear cockroaches, those same neurons may fire even harder when we notice that the “bean” has six legs. The pleasurable taste of chocolate per se, however, or the anxiety of cockroach phobia, may well be the handiwork of other signaling molecules, like opiates or stress hormones. Dopamine simply makes a relevant object almost impossible to ignore.
Should the brain want to ignore what it might otherwise notice, dopamine must be muzzled. Reporting recently in Nature Neuroscience, Regina M. Sullivan of New York University Medical Center, Gordon A. Barr of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and their colleagues found that, whereas rats older than 12 days would quickly develop an aversion to any odors that were paired with a mild electric shock, young rats would perversely show a preference for such odors if their mothers were nearby when the tutorial jolt was delivered. The researchers traced that infantile Candide spirit to a suppression of dopamine activity in the amygdala, where fear memories are born. Infant rats know their mother by smell, Dr. Sullivan explained, and they must not learn to avoid her, for even an abusive caretaker is better than none.
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Large as its impact may be, dopamine is a compact molecule, built of 22 atoms, with the characteristic nitrogenous amine knob at one end. (Dopamine, by the way, takes its name from its chemical composition, and has nothing to do with the word dope — as in heroin or other recreational drugs — which is thought to derive from the Dutch term for stew.)
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The dopamine production corps is tiny as well. Fewer than 1 percent of all neurons generate the neurotransmitter, most of them in midbrain structures like the substantia nigra, which helps control movement; it is the degradation of this population of dopamine cells that results in the tremors and other symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
There is also dopamine activity higher up, in the prefrontal cortex parked right behind the forehead, that great executive brain where storylines are written, impulses controlled and excuses contrived. An impoverishment of prefrontal dopamine is thought to contribute to schizophrenia.
Wherever their station, brain cells respond to the release of dopamine through one or more of five distinct dopamine receptors poking up from their surface, proteins designed to lock onto dopamine and respond accordingly. Another key player is the dopamine transporter, a kind of janitor that picks up used dopamine molecules and sweeps them back into the cells where they were born. Recreational drugs like cocaine tend to block that transporter, allowing dopamine to linger in the neuronal vestibule and keep punching its signal along.
People differ from one another at every juncture of the dopamine matrix, in the tonal background pace at which their dopamine neurons rhythmically fire, the avidity with which the cells spike in response to need or news, and the ease with which hyperstimulated cells revert to baseline.
Some researchers have looked at genetic variations in receptor types for clues to personality differences. According to Dan T. A. Eisenberg of Northwestern University, scientists have detected a modest connection between a relatively elongated version of dopamine receptor No. 4 and a tendency toward impulsivity and risk-taking behavior, particularly financial risk-taking.In the spring of 2006, singer/songwriter Derek Webb was just wrapping up the promotion cycle for his third record, Mockingbird, but he wasn't ready to move on. The album sold similarly to his first two releases, but this time around, the former Caedmon's Call lead singer had hoped the record would be heard by more than his usual fan base. However, his record label, Sony Columbia, had spent the marketing budget for the record and didn't plan to spend any more.
"They said, 'If you guys could come up with something to push the record further without any additional spending, then we are all ears.' I think they thought that was the end of the conversation, but my manager and I took that pretty seriously," said Webb. "We somehow convinced Sony Columbia to let us take the current record sitting on the shelves and give it away for free for three months."
The experiment was to give away digital copies of Mockingbird in exchange for e-mail addresses and zip codes—and for people to share it through email with five friends. The sharing requirement caused the e-mail to be viral from the very first download, though it's something that Webb admits wouldn't work today since music is now easy to stream or download illegally in an instant without having a sharing requirement. This free music experiment was done over a year before Radiohead, Prince, and Nine Inch Nails did pay-what-you-want or free music releases, which all saw much more media attention than Webb's.
In three months, Webb gave away 85,000 digital copies of Mockingbird, more than three times what Webb had sold of any previous record. But those weren't the numbers that ended up mattering. When Webb looked...
1THE Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth has been crowned the best tourist attraction in the UK in a prestigious poll.
It triumphed at the Group Leisure Awards after being voted Best UK Attraction by readers of the travel title.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, with HMS Warrior in the foreground and HMS Victory and the Mary Rose Museum to the back ''Picture: Shaun Roster Photography
And it saw off competition from four other finalists, including Bletchley Park, The Shard, Harry Potter studios and Warwick Castle
John Rawlinson, director of visitor experience at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, said: ‘Group Leisure Magazine is one of the leading magazines in the industry.
‘Its readers have voted for us which is a brilliant stamp of approval.
‘We welcome almost 100,000 visitors in groups of more than 15 every year.’
This is great news and a fantastic endorsement of the attractions we have in Portsmouth Councillor Donna Jones, leader of Portsmouth City Council
The site features some of the greatest naval ships in Britain’s history, including Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory.
Andrew Baines, of HMS Victory, said: ‘Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has many jewels in the crown.
‘Groups value the opportunity to board HMS Victory, possibly the most famous warship and experience what life would have been like when Nelson led the fleet to victory at Trafalgar.’
It is also home to the Mary Rose Museum, which has inside Henry VIII’s flagship that was raised from the Solent.
Helen Bonser-Wilton, chief executive at The Mary Rose Trust, said: ‘We are delighted the dockyard has been awarded the large visitor attraction of the year and are pleased to share in this success.
‘The personal interaction with staff and volunteers is seen as a highlight with our visitors as is the fact that the Mary Rose Museum is accessible for all.’
Tourists can also go on board HMS Warrior, and like Victory, the ship can be hired as a venue for weddings and parties.
Commander Tim Ash, chief executive and captain of HMS Warrior, said: ‘Trustees, staff and volunteers are delighted by this latest recognition.
‘At HMS Warrior, we constantly strive to maintain the highest standards, and the “wow” factor for our visitors and venue hire clients.
‘We pride ourself on delivering an unforgettable experience that encapsulates the history of this great ship, offering hands-on activities, learning workshops and access to guides with specialist knowledge to help bring her story alive and spark visitors imagination.’
Donna Jones, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said she was ‘overjoyed’ at the news.
She said: ‘This is great news and a fantastic endorsement of the attractions we have in Portsmouth.
‘It’s a beautiful part of the county, and with an advertising campaign across the capital such as those being run by South West Trains promoting the city, I am not surprised the dockyard has been voted the top attraction in the UK.
‘I’m very proud of the achievement and it helps to support the 13,000 people that work in a tourist-related business in the city and contributed more than £6m in to the local economy. It’s great news and I’m overjoyed.’Image caption Ofsted has been finding and closing unregistered schools
Councils are calling for powers to enter houses and other premises, such as illegal schools, where home-educated children are being taught.
The Local Government Association says its ability to check if children withdrawn from schools in England and Wales are suitably educated is limited.
Currently, council officers can enter a premises only if they have specific concerns about a child's safety.
The government said it was "cracking down" on unregistered schools.
Councillor Richard Watts, chairman of the LGA's Children and Young People Board, said the vast majority of parents who home-educated their children did a fantastic job.
They worked well with their local council to make sure that a good education was being provided, he said.
'Dangerous buildings'
Concerns have been mounting about children being taught in illegal schools - those offering 20 hours of lessons a week which are not registered with the Department for Education (DfE), education watchdog Ofsted or local authorities.
There are fears some schools may have links to extremists and that lessons may be taught in dangerous buildings.
The chief inspector of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, raised the issue in November 2015, and in February this year the DfE said it was investigating 21 such institutions in England.
In Wales, calls have been made for a mandatory home education register after an eight-year-old boy who had no contact with the authorities died from scurvy.
Any parent has the right to withdraw a child from mainstream education without giving a reason.
However, it is the duty of local education authorities to ensure young people in their areas are receiving a suitable education.
'Limited powers'
Councillor Watts said: "In some cases, a child listed as home-schooled can, in fact, be attending an illegal school.
"With limited powers to check on the work a child is doing, however, councils are unable to find out whether this is the case.
"They work closely with their communities to help identify where illegal schools are, but the ability to enter homes and other premises and speak to children would go a long way towards tackling the problem."
In May, Sir Michael said Ofsted was looking into 100 suspected illegal schools.
A DfE spokesman said it had "taken steps to ensure the system is as robust as it can be".
"We have announced an escalation of Ofsted investigations into unregistered schools, with additional inspectors dedicated to rooting them out, a new tougher approach to prosecuting them and a call to local authorities to help identify any settings of concern."Image caption Scientists used Hubble data to create an image of the planet being swallowed
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured evidence of a Sun-like star "eating" a nearby planet.
Astronomers knew that stars were capable of swallowing planets in orbit around them, but this is the first time the event has been "seen" so clearly.
Although the planet was too far away for Hubble to photograph, scientists have created an image of it, based on analysis of the telescope's data.
The discovery was published in the The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
We have identified chemical elements never before seen on planets outside our own Solar System Carole Haswell, Open University
The researchers say the planet, which is called Wasp-12b, may only have another 10 million years left before it is completely devoured.
It is so close to its star that it completes an orbit in 1.1 Earth days and is superheated to more than 1,500C.
Because of this proximity, the planet's atmosphere has ballooned to nearly three times the radius of Jupiter and is spilling material on to the star.
Carole Haswell from the UK's Open University led the research team. She explained: "We see a huge cloud of material around the planet which is escaping and will be captured by the star."
Hubble's detection of the cloud enabled scientists to draw conclusions about how it was generated.
Dr Haswell said: "We have identified chemical elements never before seen on planets outside our own Solar System."
Wasp-12 is a dwarf star located approximately 600 light-years away in the constellation Auriga.
The exoplanet was first discovered by the UK's Wide Area Search for Planets (Wasp) in 2008.The law school at Montreal's McGill University is known for being a place where students learn both civil and common law traditions.
But a new course for first-year students is further expanding that legal horizon.
In the one-week intensive course at the beginning of the winter session, students are taught about Indigenous legal traditions, and then apply them to case studies based on real issues affecting Indigenous communities.
We're really looking at teaching them to learn how to learn, to learn how to listen, so they can identify Indigenous laws when they're out there in practice. - Hadley Friedland, University of Alberta
The course is part of McGill's response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which recommended Canadian law students learn more about Indigenous law and how Indigenous people have interacted with the justice system.
"I think now is an important moment to make sure we take our obligations to instructing students and giving students an exposure to Indigenous law very seriously. I think we're at an historic moment," said Prof. Hoi Kong, who teaches the course.
Canadian law schools turn to Indigenous traditions
In its final report, the TRC said Canadian law schools have a special responsibility to ensure students know the history and legacy of residential schools, Indigenous law and Aboriginal–Crown relations.
But understanding Indigenous legal traditions is only one aspect of the recommendation.
The other is looking at how the Canadian justice system often works against Indigenous people, a task that requires training in "conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism," the TRC said.
In his autumn 2016 report, Canada's auditor general, Michael Ferguson, highlighted that Indigenous people make up just three per cent of the adult population, but account for 26 per cent of the inmates in federal institutions.
Law students at McGill University attend a course on Indigenous legal traditions. (CBC)
In a symbolic gesture last fall, the university moved Hochelaga Rock, a granite slab commemorating the Iroquois village that once stood on the grounds of what is now downtown Montreal, to a more prominent spot in front of its Sherbrooke Street entrance.
The university also launched a task force to recruit and retain more Indigenous students, staff and faculty.
Other institutions have take similar steps.
Law schools at the University of British Columbia and at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., have also established mandatory courses in Aboriginal law and intercultural training.
The University of Victoria has gone even further, proposing a joint degree in Canadian common law and Indigenous law.
'Beyond courts or police'
Hadley Friedland, who teaches Indigenous law at the University of Alberta and co-instructed McGill's course, acknowledged the new course is limited in scope, given the time frame.
"In a week, we're really looking at teaching them to learn how to learn, to learn how to listen, so they can identify Indigenous laws when they're out there in practice," she said.
Friedland explained there is no single set of Indigenous laws, but that legal traditions differ from First Nation to First Nation and among other Aboriginal groups across Canada.
In general, though, she said the course "goes beyond courts or police or buildings that we imagine. We're talking about the way people solve problems, the way Indigenous people keep each other safe and have kept each other safe, the way Indigenous people organize themselves and come up with solutions as a collective."
McGill University and other academic institutions across Canada are trying to meet the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (McGill University)
Val Napoleon, director of the Indigenous law research unit at University of Victoria and a member of Saulteau First Nation, said the course looks at how Indigenous oral history and traditions should be taken seriously as legal precedent and can be applied to real issues Indigenous communities are now struggling with.
"They were able to take the big learning, the big questions and say how would it apply on the ground, with real people in a real community," she said.
Val Napoleon is a member of Saulteau First Nation and director of theIndigenous law research unit at the University of Victoria, which has proposed a joint degree in Canadian common law and Indigenous law. (CBC)
"It's so exciting. You can feel the energy, and the excitement and the young, supple minds taking up information," she said.
Jan Nato said being a student in the course is inspiring.
"For me as a human being, more than just a law student, I think it's integral that we are participating in this revival of an identity. It's not just the laws," Nato said.Scissors at the ready! Wren Mclean and Amelia Hicks (pictured) recently divested from the CBA over the bank’s fossil fuel investments. Photo Jeff Dawson
Blair Palese, 350.org
A recent article in the Australian Financial Review suggested that the fossil fuel divestment message is falling on deaf ears in Australia, the backyard of the coal industry, despite significant wins internationally.
A survey, commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia, the peak advocacy body representing mining companies such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Whitehaven Coal, showed that after only one year of campaigning by 350.org and other organisations in Australia, 33 per cent of Australians were aware of the fossil fuel divestment movement and 21 per cent are considering divestment.
The report authors conclude from these statistics that “coal’s investment profile is being shaped exclusively by its prevailing market conditions – an unprecedented drop in price internationally – rather than the challenge to its standing by environmentalists”.
In other words, investors are choosing to dump coal investments because of concerns regarding its viability as an investment, rather than because activists ask them to.
First, these statistics show fairly impressive gains for a divestment campaign that has only been in operation for 12 months in a country where significant resistance is to be expected.
Second, aside from being an attempt at an industry own-goal, this analysis shows a complete lack of understanding of how divestment campaigns work.
According to a study on the fossil fuel divestment movement produced by Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, the key mechanism by which divestment campaigns work is by attaching a social stigma to a particular industry or body. The resulting stigma will result in restrictive legislation and increased reputational risk for investors. The impact of the stigmatisation process on the industry will far outweigh any direct impact on equity or debt that the movement may trigger.
Although a small number of investors may base their decisions around ethical or moral values (usually institutional investors such as churches, universities and funds with an ethical investment tilt), the vast majority will make a rational decision based on the risk versus potential returns offered. Reputational risks play an increasingly important role in this risk assessment. The divestment movement drives up the reputational risks through industry stigmatisation, forcing investors to re-evaluate the risk to return ratio.
In the case of Australian coal, the drive to increase risk has been complemented by low coal prices and the industry’s own structural decline, the result being a high risk: low return ratio that investors are becoming increasingly keen to avoid.
One key example in Australia is the Galilee Basin mega-mine complex, which incorporates nine proposed new coal mines, a 500-kilometre rail link and the controversial Abbot Point port expansion, which threatens our Great Barrier Reef.
When Pru Bennett, Asia Pacific director of corporate governance and responsible investment at BlackRock Inc. – the world’s largest fund manager – visited Australia, she warned against investing in projects that threaten the reef, saying the reputational risks associated with the environmental destruction were simply not worth the potential return on investment.
This thinking was recently echoed by HSBC and Deutsche Bank, which, last week, issued statements ruling out investment in the Abbot Point coal port, following in the steps of Lend Lease and Anglo American, which also withdrew from the controversial project earlier this year. With each of these announcements, the stigma surrounding Abbot Point grows and any new potential investor faces an increased reputational risk.
The Galilee projects, which would double Australia’s current exports of coal, relies on demand from the Indian and Chinese markets. However, significant doubts have surfaced regarding the continuation of China’s demand and India’s ability to afford the coal at the prices needed to make these, and other new Australian coal projects, economically viable.
The terms associated with take or pay freight contracts (locking in payment for freight shipping infrastructure regardless of whether its in use or not) mean that producers may be forced to accept lower prices in order to shift their stock, meaning that potential investors are seeing the prospect of high risks for below profit returns.
The divestment movement in Australia has added an additional dimension to its campaign by empowering consumers to move their money to fossil free products, pressuring their banks and superannuation funds to move away from coal and gas projects for fear of losing customers. The Australian banks divestment campaign, initiated by Market Forces and 350.org, has, since October 2013, seen over $200 million moved out of the big four banks to banks that do not invest in fossil fuels.
A recent survey conducted by Lonergan shows that 64 per cent of consumers would choose a bank or superannuation fund that does not invest in fossil fuels over one that does.
In the last three months, fund managers, such as Hunter Hall, UniSuper and most recently AMP, have seen the consumer appetite for fossil fuel free investments and have launched products that screen out fossil fuel exposed assets.
Similarly, the market for “green bonds”, which prioritises lending to addressing environmental issues such as renewable energy and energy efficiency alternatives, is booming with Standard and Poor’s estimating the market is set to reach $20 billion in 2014, doubling in size since last year.
This reflects the missive from the latest IPCC reports that investment in low-carbon electricity has to grow by $147 billion a year over the coming decades if we are to have a chance of staying below the internationally agreed two degree temperature rise of climate change.
The final and most obvious proof that the divestment campaign is winning is the reaction of the coal industry itself. If the movement is having as little effect as the Minerals Council of Australia’s study suggests, then why are they bringing in the public relations big guns and spending over $100 million on a campaign to defend its own viability?
If the divestment message is really falling on deaf ears, why is the MCA commissioning market research to reassure itself it has nothing to worry about?
A wise man once said: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you and then they fight you, and then you win.”
If those words ring true, it looks like the Australian divestment campaign is making some progress.
Blair Palese is the chief executive of 350.org Australia.
This article was first published in The Fifth Estate.Research suggests two parks proposed for the southwestern corner of Alberta are already so heavily used they're becoming useless to the grizzly bears they are supposed to protect.
Analysis of the latest satellite imagery suggests less than half of the proposed Castle Wildland Park has enough undisturbed habitat to support the bears. Almost none of a provincial park planned for the same area has any secure habitat left, despite the region being considered a key link for grizzlies between British Columbia and Montana.
"It's great that the government of Alberta is turning this into a special place with two parks," said Wynet Smith of Global Forest Watch, which conducted the study. "But it's evident from the data that there's a lot of restoration required."
The Castle-Crown wilderness is home to mountains, foothills, forests, rivers and creeks. More than 200 threatened species — from grizzlies and wolverines to bull and cutthroat trout to rare trees — live there.
It has also been logged, mined, drilled and laced with an extensive network of trails for off-road vehicles.
The area's future has long been controversial.
Last year, the NDP government proposed a wildland park and a provincial park in the area. Resource extraction would end, but the government suggested that off-road vehicles would still be allowed — something permitted in no other provincial park.
Smith began her study to update a 2010 assessment of the region's habitat quality. This time, she was able to use much better satellite imagery that allowed her to see objects as small as 2 1/2 metres. Aerial photography spotted features no bigger than 50 centimetres.
The improved data revealed much more disturbance than previously thought. The photography alone revealed an extra 703 kilometres of roads, seismic lines and pipeline right-of-ways. Although there are only 130 kilometres of road in the Castle wilderness, Smith found 301 kilometres of linear features that could be ridden on.
The Castle Wilderness Area is an important habitat for grizzly bears. (Alberta Environment and Parks)
That means the wildland park area has a road density of just over one kilometre per square kilometre. The land that would be provincial park has a density of 3.5 kilometres per square kilometre.
Alberta's threshold for bear recovery is no more than 0.75 kilometres per square kilometre.
Officials with the government and the Alberta Off-Highway Vehicle Association were not immediately available for comment.
The research also looked into the usable, secure bear habitat in both proposed parks.
Almost 50 per cent of the wildland park is considered to be remote enough for bears. Only 1.5 square kilometres —.005 per cent — in the proposed provincial park is productive bear habitat.
The Castle is connected to habitat in Montana and British Columbia that is home to about 1,000 grizzlies.
"You can't manage these administrative boundaries in isolation from the ecological boundaries," said Smith. "The Castle is an important part of that broader ecosystem."
Both areas require extensive restoration work, she said.
"There's trails everywhere in the front country. It needs to be managed and restored so it can play its important role in that broader ecosystem."A new poll from CNN/ORC shows that President Obama remains Teflon despite the fact that he designed the upcoming fiscal cliff to speculation. Even though Obama insisted on massive defense cuts and huge tax increases as the two alternative parts of the fiscal cliff, the American public will apparently blame Republicans if the fiscal cliff isn’t stopped. A full 45% of respondents said they would blame Congressional Republicans – even though the Democrats control the Senate – while just 34% would blame President Obama.
The public, by and large, sees Republicans as obstructionist. That’s due to a combination of messaging failure on the part of the GOP — nothing new, in that they seem incapable of explaining the simple fact that low tax rates, particularly on job creators, spur economic growth and thereby raise tax revenues — and a media concerned only with saving its flailing president. The Republicans’ mixed messaging on the fiscal cliff has been astounding to watch. They signed off on the sequester, which put a fiscal gun to their heads, forcing them to choose between raising taxes partially or watching tax rates skyrocket and defense get slashed. Then they turned around and complained about the gun being put to their heads. Now, they’re standing for the principle that we need more tax revenue, but it can’t be raised by raising rates. No wonder the public is confused.
Poll numbers like this could be the reason that Republicans are looking to cave on tax increases, or ending tax deductions. 25% of the country says that the nation would undergo a crisis if we hit the fiscal cliff; 44% expect major problems. 25% say that it would cause minor problems. A full 77% of the public believes the fiscal cliff would hurt them personally.
As for the solutions, 70% of Americans want a compromise solution, but two-thirds also believe that such a compromise won’t happen. 67% of the public says leaders will likely act like “spoiled children.”
Of course, it’s the American public that keeps electing these spoiled children. And Congressional Republicans should be blamed for the fiscal cliff, given that they approved the sequester deal in 2011 in order to kick the can past the next election cycle, knowing full well that Obama’s mandatory defense cuts would force them into the position of raising taxes.
Republicans have done such a poor job of informing the public about why taxes shouldn’t be increased that even Republicans, by a margin of 52%-44%, say they want both spending cuts and tax increases. An unbelievable 56% of Americans say they want high taxes on higher income earners, despite the fact that higher income earners pay a vastly disproportionate share of all tax revenue.You know things are pretty grim in the Coalition bunker when even their corporate sponsors start coming down from their ivory towers to soil their silky smooth hands spruiking unpopular policies.
But so it came to pass last night, when the grey, owlish features of softly spoken banker Michael Chaney appeared on ABC Lateline to, ostensibly, discuss Treasurer Joe Hockey's latest whine that big business should be doing more to sell his unfair and unloved Budget.
Chaney, of course, doesn't need to speak loud to be heard. The chair of the National Australia Bank and Woodside Petroleum has the quiet, condescending air of a man accustomed to being instantly deferred to and obeyed. And he was not to be disappointed in this regard by interviewer Emma Alberici, who handled Chaney with the kid gloves she seems to reserve for VIPs and plutocrats.
Chaney duly sold Hockey's budget using the typical conservative tactics of distortion, deflection, oversight and, of course, egregious factual error.
As she did in her interview with Roger Corbett days before the September election, Alberici neglected to ask Chaney to declare any relevant affiliations. At that time, Fairfax chair and RBA board member Corbett attacked the previous Labor Government mercilessly during a soft interview by Alberici, only to be photographed the following night at a $500 a head Liberal Party fundraiser hosted by Tony Abbott — his close personal friend and, as it turned out, fellow Liberal Party member.
Is Chaney a Liberal Party member? Apparently not, according to his NAB personal assistant. However, it's quite clear that blue flows through Chaney's veins. Chaney's father was Menzies minister Sir Fred Chaney, and his brother is former Liberal Party deputy leader, minister, MP and senator, Fred Chaney Jr.
In any case, why be a member when you hold a mortgage over the party?
Woodside is one of the Liberal Party's biggest donors, with NAB not far behind. Both companies often appear to be almost corporate arms of the tories — such as when former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was slipped into a cushy job with Woodside just months after he had allegedly arranged for ASIS to bug East Timor on behalf of Woodside during sensitive gas field negotiations.
Chaney's inside connections don't end there. He is also a director of BHP Billiton and a member of U.S. mega-bank JP Morgan's 'International Council'.
But wait, there's more! According to the Power Index, Chaney is also directly involved in setting government policy:
Chaney chaired the Business Council of Australia between 2005 and 2007 and continues to serve on the board of |
if these estimates are off by a few orders of magnitude, that doesn’t matter much for my general argument. For one thing, it doesn’t seem likely that conscious experience requires achieving the degree of informational connectedness of the entire neuronal structure of the human brain. If mice have conscious experience, as most people seem to think – if there’s something it’s like to be a mouse – they manage to achieve it with under 108 neurons. If necessary, too, we could shift example and reconsider the case with a not-too-remote hypothetical. We could push forward a decade or two, imagining rather more sensory and digital information transfer among the populace as communication technology improves. If quantity of information transfer were all that mattered, it seems that we should accept that the United States either is presently conscious or could easily become conscious with a few changes.
A more likely source of concern, it seems to me, is that the information exchange among members of the U.S. population isn’t of the right type to engender a genuine stream of phenomenally conscious experience. A simple computer download, even if it somehow managed to involve 1017 bits per second or more, presumably wouldn’t by itself alone do the job. For consciousness, there presumably needs to be some organization of the information in the service of coordinated, goal-directed responsiveness; and maybe, too, there needs to be some sort of ability of the system to monitor itself.
But the United States has these properties too. Our information exchange is not in the form of a simply-structured massive internet download. The United States is a goal-directed, flexibly self-protecting and self-presenting entity. The United States responds, intelligently or semi-intelligently, to opportunities and threats – not less intelligently, I think, than a small mammal. The United States expanded west as its population grew, developing mines and farmland in traditionally Native American territory. When Al Qaeda struck New York, the United States responded in a variety of ways, formally and informally, in many branches and levels of government and in the populace as a whole. Saddam Hussein shook his sword and the United States invaded Iraq. The U.S. acts in part through its army, and the army’s movements involve perceptual or quasi-perceptual responses to inputs: The army moves around the mountain, doesn’t crash into it. Similarly, the spy networks of the CIA detected the location of Osama bin Laden, whom the U.S. then killed. Is there less information, less coordination, less intelligence than in a hamster? The Pentagon monitors the actions of the Army, and its own actions. The Census Bureau counts us. The State Department announces the U.S. position on foreign affairs. The Congress passes a resolution declaring that we hate tyranny and love apple pie. This is self-representation. Isn’t it?
I am inviting you to conceptualize the United States as our planet-sized alien Martha might – to evaluate the capacities and behaviors of the United States, conceived of as a concrete, spatially distributed entity with people as some or all of its parts – that is, as an entity within which citizens and residents play roles somewhat analogous to the roles that individual cells play in your own body. If you are willing to jettison contiguism and other morphological prejudices, this is not, I think, an intolerably radical perspective.
This body does a lot of sophisticated stuff. It interacts with the environment and with itself in all kinds of complex, self-regulating informational loops, including loops that take advantage of all the sophisticated sub-loops that can occur within individual human brains, and within small and medium-sized and large groups of individual human beings, and through all of our technological artifacts. As a house for consciousness, a rabbit brain is not clearly more sophisticated.
Members of the United States differ in their opinions and preferred actions, of course. But the opinions and preferences of individuals are not the opinions and preferences of the United States. The neurons in your visual cortex don’t have entirely consistent representational contents either, and the neurons in your motor cortex don’t always vote for the same movement. In both the human brain and the United States there is a dynamics of compromise that somehow issues in approximately coherent behavior by the system as a whole. There might even be cases in which the attitudes and emotions of the United States differ from the attitudes and emotions of all or most of its members. The United States might be angry about something, as reflected in group-level punitive behavior and the pronouncements of individuals acting as spokespeople, even if no individual person in the United States feels angry about that thing. The United States might endorse a set of attitudes as its official policy, and consistently act in accord with those attitudes, even if no member of the United States individually endorses that same set of attitudes. The United States might execute racist policies even if most of its members aren’t racist, or it might execute egalitarian policies even if most of its members are racist.
Maybe the actions, attitudes, and representations of the United States are ultimately reducible to the actions, attitudes, and representations of U.S. citizens and residents, in some complex combination. On that issue I take no stand. (What does “reducible” mean?) All that is necessary for this part of my argument is that the United States actually engages in actions, adopts attitudes, and formulates representations, whether reducibly or not, of at least a mammalian level of sophistication. Perhaps, too, all your actions, attitudes, and representations are in some sense reducible to other things; few philosophers conclude that this makes them unreal.
The United States has long been embedded in a natural and social environment, richly causally connected to the world beyond, connected in a way that would seem to give meaning to its representations and functional duties to its parts. It’s no randomly congealed “Swampman” that lacks a content-giving history (Davidson 1987; Dretske 1995; Millikan 2010). The United States interacts cooperatively and competitively with other beings of its kind. It wars against Germany, then reconciles, then wars again. It threatens Iran. It cooperates with other countries in threatening Iran. The United States monitors space for asteroids that threaten Earth and would respond if one were detected, perhaps cooperatively with other nations. The United States tracks climate change and ozone levels and takes muted action.
The United States has internal states that play sophisticated functional roles in guiding its behavior. When the spy camera generates an image of bin Laden’s compound, that triggers internal states in people who are parts of the United States. Those internal states then connect with other internal states which connect in turn with other internal states, some within people and some between people, generating further reactions, including possibly calling in the strike team. This functional organization can be incredibly fancy. The spy camera image will also generate functional states in computers and photographic plates. We may or may not wish to consider such artifacts as part of the body of the United States. If they are part of the body, they contribute substantially to the complexity of its internal functional dynamics; if not, they contribute substantially to the complexity of the functional dynamics between the United States and the external world. The United States imports oil from countries A and B rather than countries C and D, in response to changes in represented price, and is ready to flip when the represented price changes. Of course, it is always individual people, organized in groups, who together import the oil. It is also individual cells in your brain, organized in groups, and embedded in a larger environment, that together issue the efferent nerve signals, that together respond to the tilting angle of the stimulus, that together match the incoming signal with the stored representation of grandma’s face. Great things emerge from contextually embedded groups.
One might object that “the United States” is an abstraction, like “the average Californian” or “the teenage mind”. The average Californian may be conscious, and the teenage mind may seethe with angst, but it would be an absurd category mistake to suppose that therefore there exists some additional stream of consciousness of the average Californian beyond the streams of consciousness of each Californian considered individually, or some further bit of angst in addition to all the individual angst of particular teenagers. This objection, however, forgets the concreteness on which I have repeatedly insisted. I am willing to be somewhat flexible about the best way, exactly, to conceptualize the boundaries of the body of the United States (are the roads included? ex-pat citizens?), but I insist that we consider the matter concretely, as does Martha our planet-sized alien observer. It is not like seeing all the buildings around campus and then seeking some additional ghostly building which is “the university” (Ryle 1949). Rather, it’s like seeing all the buildings around campus and then wondering what features, like open space between the buildings, might be possessed by the campus as a whole but neglected by someone with too narrow a focus on the individual parts.
What is it about brains, as hunks of matter, and brain states, as states of hunks of matter, that makes them special enough to give rise to consciousness? Looking in broad strokes at the types of things materialists tend to say in answer – things like sophisticated information processing and flexible, goal-directed environmental responsiveness, things like representation, self-representation, multiply-ordered layers of self-monitoring and informational-seeking self-regulation, rich functional roles, and a content-giving historical embeddedness – it seems like the United States has all those same features. In fact, it seems to have them in a greater degree than do some beings, like rabbits, that we ordinarily regard as conscious.
What could be missing?
6. What Could Be Missing.
Here I would have liked to apply particular, detailed materialist metaphysical theories to the question at hand. I face, however, obstacles that seem to me practically insurmountable. First: Almost no materialist theoretician explicitly considers the possibility of literal group consciousness. Thus, it’s a matter of speculation how properly to apply their theory to a case they may have neglected in their theory’s design. Second: Many theories, especially those constructed by neuroscientists and psychologists, implicitly or explicitly limit themselves to human or at least vertebrate consciousness, and thus are silent about how consciousness would work in other sorts of entities (e.g., Baars 1988; Crick 1994). Third: Further limiting the pool of relevant theories is the fact that few thinkers really engage the metaphysics from top to bottom. For example, most theoreticians endorsing “higher order” models of consciousness don’t provide enough detail on the nature of the “lower order” mental states for me to evaluate whether the United States would qualify as having such lower-order states (though if it does, it would probably have the higher-order states too). Fourth and finally: When I arrived at what I thought would be a representative sample of four prominent metaphysically ambitious top-to-bottom theories of consciousness, the task of presenting each view in enough detail to explore how it would plausibly apply to this new range of cases proved too complex to embed in an already long essay. Thus, I think further progress on this issue will require having some concrete counterproposals to evaluate. In this section, I will address three objections, one inferred from remarks by Chris Eliasmith and Andy Clark on the extended mind hypothesis and two derived from email correspondence with prominent materialist theoreticians. In the next section, I will explore three other ways of escaping my conclusion – ways that involve rejecting either rabbit consciousness, alien consciousness, or both.
Chris Eliasmith (2009) and Andy Clark (2009) have recently argued that consciousness requires high bandwidth neural synchrony – a type of informational synchrony that is not possible between the external environment and structures interior to the human brain. Thus, they say, consciousness stays in the head. Now in the human case, and generally in the case of Earthly animals, perhaps Eliasmith and Clark are right – and maybe Earthly animals are all they really have in view. But as a universal principle, insistence on high bandwidth synchrony seems unmotivated. From a cosmological perspective, it’s hard to see why speed per se should matter. Couldn’t conscious intelligence be slow-paced, especially in large entities? And it’s hard to see why synchrony should matter either, as long as the functional tasks necessary for intelligent responsiveness are successfully executed. Is there good reason to think, for example, that consciousness would necessarily be absent in a large slow-paced alien whose cognition involved transfer delays between its subprocesses?
Fred Dretske, in correspondence, has suggested that the U.S. could not be conscious because its representational states depend on the conscious states of others. Such dependence, he says, renders its representations conventional rather than natural – and a conscious entity must have natural representations.
In earlier work, Dretske (1995) highlights the implausibility of supposing that an object that has no intrinsic representational functions can become conscious simply because outside users impose representational functions upon it. We don’t make a mercury column conscious by calling it a thermometer, nor do we make a machine conscious by calling it a robot and interpreting its outputs as speech acts. The machine either is or is not conscious, it seems, independently of our intentions and labels. A wide range of materialists, I suspect, will and should accept that an entity cannot be conscious if all its representations depend in this way on external agents. Focusing on such cases, Dretske’s independency criterion seems appealing.
But the citizens and residents of the United States are parts of the U.S. rather than external agents, and it’s not clear that the dependency of consciousness on the intentions and purposes of internal agents is problematic in the same way, if the internal agents’ behavior is properly integrated with the whole. The internal and external cases are sufficiently dissimilar that before accepting Dretske’s principle in general form it seems we should at least consider some potential internal-agent cases. Maybe Ringworld and Antares can give us such cases. Although Dretske’s criterion is not exactly an anti-nesting principle in the sense of Section 2, it is subject to the same concerns. In its broad form it seems unmotivated, except by a desire to exclude the types of case in dispute; it seems improperly to exclude the Antareans, at least on the assumption that the individual Antarean ants are “others” in the relevant sense; and it brings new counterintuitive consequences in its train, such as loss of consciousness upon inhaling Planck-scale people whose actions are smoothly incorporated into one’s brain functions. On Dretske’s proposed principle, as on the anti-nesting principles discussed in Section 2, entities that behave identically on a large scale and have superficially similar developmental histories might either have or lack consciousness depending on micro-level differences that are seemingly unreportable (to them), unintrospectible (to them), unrelated to their opinions about Proust, and thus, it seems natural to suppose, irrelevant.
Dretske conceptualizes his criterion as dividing “natural” representations from “conventional” or artificial ones. Maybe it is reasonable to insist that a conscious being have natural representations. But from Martha’s perspective national groups and their representational activities are eminently natural – as natural as the structures and activities of groups of cells clustered into spatially contiguous individual organisms. What should matter from a broadly Dretskean perspective, I’m inclined to suggest, is that the representational functions emerge naturally from within rather than being imposed artificially from outside, and that they are properly ascribed to the entity as a whole rather than only to a subpart. Antarean opinions about Shakespeare meet these criteria.
Daniel Dennett, in correspondence, offers a pragmatic objection: To the extent the United States is radically unlike individual human beings, it’s unhelpful to ascribe consciousness to it. Its behavior is impoverished compared to ours and its functional architecture is radically unlike our own. Ascribing consciousness to the United States is not so much straightforwardly false, Dennett suggests, as it is pragmatically misleading, inviting the reader to too closely assimilate human architecture and group architecture.
To this objection I respond, first, that the United States is not behaviorally impoverished. It does lots of things, as described in Sections 4 and 5 above – probably more than any individual human does. (In this way it differs from the aggregate of the U.S., Germany, and South Africa, and probably also from the aggregate of all of humanity.) Second, to hang the metaphysics of consciousness on specific details of architecture runs counter to the spirit that admits the Sirians and Antareans to the realm of beings who would (hypothetically) be conscious. Thus it risks collapsing into neurochauvinism (Section 7 below). And third, we can presumably dodge such practical worries about leaping to assimilative inferences by being restrained in our inferences. We can refrain from assuming, for example, that when the U.S. is angry its anger is felt, phenomenologically, as anything like the anger of individual human beings; we can even insist that “anger” is not a great word and simply the best we can do with existing language. The U.S. can’t feel blood rush to its head; it can’t feel tension in its arms; it can’t “see red”. It can muster its armies, denounce the offender via spokespeople in Security Council meetings, and enforce an embargo. What it feels like, if anything, to enforce an embargo, defenders of U.S. consciousness can wisely refrain from claiming to know.
Riffling through existing theories of consciousness, we could try to find, or we could invent, some metaphysically necessary condition for consciousness that human beings meet that the United States fails to meet. I don’t doubt that a clever criterion could be found that would include human beings, exclude the United States, and include at least some of the more plausible non-human entities. Perhaps, then, the most conservative reading of my argument is as a challenge: Let’s try to find a criterion that delivers this appealing conclusion! But I worry, first, that this is suspiciously post-hoc, and second, that it lacks the kind of elegant simplicity of a materialism that treats Earthly rabbits, Sirian squidbits, Antarean antheads, and the United States all as on a par due to their broad behavioral and functional similarities.
Alternatively, some readers – perhaps especially empirically-oriented readers – might suggest that my argument does little other than to display the bankruptcy of metaphysical speculation about bizarre cases. How could we really know whether Antarean antheads, assuming them possible, would really be conscious? How could we hope to build any serious theory on science fictional intuitions? I sympathize with this reaction. Perhaps we should abandon any aspiration for a truly universal metaphysics that would cover the whole range of bizarre possibilities. But that reaction wouldn’t give us much guidance about the question of U.S. consciousness, if we are suspicious enough of common sense to think that our commonsensical reaction does not decisively settle the question. Despite my sympathies with skepticism about the metaphysics of bizarre cases, I want, and I think it’s reasonable to want, at least a conditional assessment or best guess about whether we are parts of a larger conscious organism, and I see no better way to try to reach such a tentative assessment.
7. Three Ways Out.
Let’s briefly consider more conservative views about the distribution of consciousness in the universe, to see if they can provide a suitable exit from the bizarre conclusion that the United States is literally conscious.
Eliminativism. Maybe the United States isn’t conscious because nobody is conscious – not you, not me, not rabbits, not aliens. Maybe “consciousness” is such a corrupt, broken concept, embedded in such a radically false worldview, that we should discard it entirely, as we discarded the concepts of demonic possession, the luminiferous ether, and the fates.
In this essay, I have tried to use the concept of consciousness in a plain way, unadorned with dubious commitments like irreducibility, immateriality, and infallible self-knowledge. Maybe I have not succeeded, but then I hope you will permit me to rephrase my claim: Whatever it is about us in virtue of which we are tempted to say human beings and rabbits have conscious experience or phenomenology, the United States has that same thing.
The most visible philosophical eliminativists about terms from folk psychology still seem to have room in their theories for consciousness, suitably stripped of dubious commitments. So if you tread this path, you’re going farther than they. In fact, Paul Churchland (1984/1988) says several things that seem, jointly, to commit him to accepting the idea that cities or countries would be conscious (though he doesn’t to my knowledge explicitly draw the conclusion).
Galen Strawson says that denying the existence of conscious experience is “the strangest thing that has ever happened in the whole history of human thought” (2006, p. 5). Maybe it’s not quite that strange; but it seems at least as strange as believing that the United States is conscious.
Extreme sparseness. Here’s another way out for the materialist: Argue that consciousness is extremely rare, so that really only very specific types of systems possess it, and then argue that the United States does not meet the very restrictive criteria. If the criteria are specifically neural criteria, this position is a form of neurochauvinism, which I will discuss shortly. Setting aside neurochauvinism, the most commonly endorsed version of the extreme sparseness view is one in which language is required for consciousness. Thus, dogs, wild apes, and human infants aren’t conscious; maybe neither are certain deaf-mute or extremely aphasic adults. On this view, there is nothing it’s like to be such beings, any more than there is something it’s like (most people think) to be a diode or a fleck of dust. To a dog, all is dark inside, or rather, not even dark. This view is both radically counterintuitive and, I’d suggest, a gross overestimation of the gulf between us and our nearest relatives.
However, it’s not clear that we get to exclude the consciousness of the United States by restricting consciousness to beings with language, since the United States does seemingly speak as a collective entity, as I’ve mentioned. Its linguistic behavior, interpreted as such by other nations, influences the behavior, both linguistic and non-linguistic, of those other nations. If the materialist is to deny U.S. consciousness on the grounds of general commitment to the extreme sparseness of consciousness in the world, then even more severe restrictions are required. Perhaps phenomenal consciousness requires the ability to self-report the existence of phenomenal consciousness? Then four-year-olds might not even have it. This seems a tough road.
Neurochauvinism. A third way out is to assume that consciousness requires neurons – neurons clumped together in the right way, communicating by ion channels and all that, rather than by voice and gesture. All the entities that we have actually met and that we normally think of as conscious do have their neurons bundled in that way, and the 3 x 1019 neurons of the United States are not as a whole bundled in that way. So maybe by identifying consciousness with certain types of neural states, we can legitimately rule out U.S. consciousness.
This view gains intuitive support through examples from Ned Block (1978/1991) and John Searle (1980, 1984). Suppose we arranged the people of China into a giant communicative network resembling the functional network instantiated by the human brain. It would be absurd, Block says, to regard such an entity as conscious (though see Lycan 1981). Similarly, Searle asserts that no arrangement of beer cans, wires, and windmills, no matter how cleverly set up, could ever house a genuine stream of conscious experience (though see Cuda 1985). According to Block and Searle, what these entities are lacking isn’t a matter of large-scale functional structure of the sort that reveals itself in patterns of input-output relations. Consciousness requires not that, or not only that; consciousness requires human biology.
Or rather, consciousness, on this view, requires something like human biology. In what way like? Here Block and Searle aren’t very helpful. According to Searle, for example, “any system capable of causing consciousness must be capable of duplicating the causal powers of the brain” (1992, p. 92). In principle, Searle suggests, this could be done by completely different physical mechanisms. But what mechanisms could do this and what mechanisms could not, Searle makes no attempt to adjudicate, other than by excluding certain systems, like beer-can systems, as plainly the wrong sort of thing. Instead, Searle gestures hopefully at future science.
The reason for not strictly insisting on neurons, I suspect, is this: If we’re playing the intuition game, that is, if counterintuitiveness is our reason for excluding beer-can systems and organized groups of people, then we’re going to have to allow the possibility, at least in principle, of conscious beings from other planets who operate other than by neural systems like our own. That’s because our armchair intuitions tell us that some such beings could be conscious despite lacking neurons.
From a cosmological perspective it would be strange to suppose that of all the possible beings in the universe that are capable of sophisticated, self-preserving, goal-directed environmental responsiveness, beings that could presumably be (and in a vast enough universe presumably actually are) constructed in myriad strange and diverse ways, somehow only we with our neurons have genuine conscious experience, and all others are mere automata there is nothing it is like anything to be. Contrary to the “Copernican Principle” of cosmological method, this view would suggest that we, as the sole possessors of consciousness, are in a uniquely favored position in the universe. How lucky we are! (The other beings, I suppose, only say they’re lucky, or only emit noises that we would mistakenly regard as having that semantic content.) For this reason, it seems not only unintuitive but also scientifically unjustified to suppose that conscious experience requires Earthly biology. It would be like supposing that life requires Earthly nucleotides.
If they’re to avoid un-Copernican neuro-fetishism, the question must become, for Block and Searle, what feature of neurons, possibly possessed also by non-neural systems, gives rise to consciousness? In other words, we are back with the question of Section 5 – that is, with the question of what is so special about brains – and the only well-developed answers on the near horizon seem to involve appeals to the sorts of features that the United States has, features like massively complex informational integration, self-monitoring, and a long-standing history of sophisticated environmental responsiveness.
This view, then, faces a dilemma. Either appeal to the types of features that seem the most plausible material features of conscious neural systems, thereby letting in the Sirians and the Antareans and probably also the United States, or fall into an extreme neurochauvinism that, by excluding aliens, jettisons both the Copernican Principle and the types of intuition preservation that seem to be at the foundation of the neurochauvinist’s own argument. If there is a path between these two horns, it remains almost entirely uncharted.
8. Conclusion.
In sum, the argument is this: There seems to be no principled reason to deny entityhood, or entityhood-enough, to spatially distributed but informationally integrated beings. So the United States is at least a candidate for the literal possession of real psychological states, including consciousness. Once we view the United States in this way, the question then becomes whether it meets plausible materialistic criteria for consciousness. My suggestion is that if those criteria are liberal enough to include both small mammals and alien species that exhibit sophisticated linguistic behavior, then the United States probably does meet those criteria. The United States is massively informationally interconnected and responds in sophisticated, goal-directed ways to its surroundings. Its internal representational states are functionally responsive to its environment and not randomly formed or assigned artificially from outside by the acts of an external user. And the United States exhibits complex linguistic behavior, including issuing self-reports and self-critiques that reveal a highly-developed ability to monitor its evolving internal and external conditions. In light of such considerations, I find myself drawn to think that the materialist probably ought to accept, at least tentatively, that the United States is conscious.
But that conclusion seems so absurdly bizarre! If we think that our sense of bizarreness if a good index of reality in fundamental matters about the physical and metaphysical structure of the universe, that would be good reason to reject the conclusion. But even a passing glance at contemporary physics and metaphysics suggests that common sense is no sure guide (a point I develop farther in Schwitzgebel in draft). Large things are hard to see properly when you’re in their midst. The homunculi in your head, the tourist in Leibniz’s mill, they don’t see consciousness either. Too vivid an appreciation of the local mechanisms overwhelms their view.
If the United States is conscious, is Exxon-Mobil? Is an aircraft carrier? Is the seven dwarfs of Snow White? Where does it end? And if such entities are conscious, do they have rights? Is dissolution murder? The United States doesn’t seem to think of itself as a conscious being, but might that change if enough people adopt the perspective of this essay? I’m not sure whether I have provided grounds for believing the U.S. is conscious, or instead a challenge to materialist theories of consciousness, or instead reasons to be wary in general of ambitions toward a universal metaphysics of mind. Whoops, I hear someone knocking on my office door....
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Maynard Smith, John, and Eors Szathmá |
The Rugrats” receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame cementing their place in entertainment and animation history. “As Told By Ginger” debuts its first 90 minute prime time Nick Flick: “Summer of Camp Caprice” 7/7/01 on Nickelodeon. “The Wild Thornberrys” debuts its first 90 minute prime time Nick Flick: “Origin of Donnie” 8/18/01 on Nickelodeon.
1999 “Rocket Power” premieres on Nickelodeon as the anchor of its new fall line up in September.
1998 On August 12th, “Stressed Eric” is “Americanized” and airs for 6 consecutive weeks on Wednesday nights at 9:30 on NBC, marking Klasky Csupo, INC.’s 3rd prime-time show on a non-cable broadcast network. On September 1st “The Wild Thornberrys” premieres as first 22-minute animated show for Nickelodeon Primetime. Prior to this debut all Nickelodeon animated TV series were 11 minute in length. Klasky Csupo, INC. launches The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald on Home Video October 9th, available exclusively through McDonalds worldwide. “The Rugrats Movie” premieres on November 25, 1998 and is the first non-Disney animated movie to break the $100 million dollar box office gross benchmark in the US.
1995 In September, Klasky Csupo, INC.’s “Santo Bugito,” premieres on CBS. Klasky Csupo, INC. Commercials division opens. In first year solicits and wins campaigns for Coca-Cola, Taco Bell, Oscar Mayer Lunchables, Kraft, 1-800-Collect and interstitial animated sketches of Antonio Prohias’ “Spy Vs. Spy” for “Mad TV.”
1994 “Duckman” premieres on the USA Network. “AAHHH!!! Real Monsters” debuts on Halloween as the second Klasky Csupo, INC. series to debut on Nickelodeon.
1990 Interstitial shorts produced for “Sesame Street.“ 1991 Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo & Paul Germain create “Rugrats” which helps to launch “Nicktoons” a line-up for creator driven cartoons to brand the Nickelodeon network.
1988 Klasky Csupo, INC. animates Matt Groening’s “The Simpsons” as bumpers for the “Tracy Ullman Show.” Music Videos produced for Beastie Boys & Luther Vandross. TV Titles produced for: “21 Jump Street,” “Anything But Love” and “In Living Color.”
1983 Klasky Csupo, INC. expands and moves to a new location on Seward Street in Hollywood.
1982 Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo form KLASKY CSUPO, INC. in their two bedroom apartment in Hollywood.
Defined by twin commitments to artistic integrity and creative responsibility, Klasky Csupo has emerged in the last two decades as the leading independent animation company in the industry. A boldly eccentric and privately owned entity, it was staffed by a who’s who of creative and production professionals. Klasky Csupo is much more than a 21st century cartoon factory, it turned out to be a multi-media enterprise devoted to film, TV, video, publishing and advertising.
During more than 20 years of operation, Klasky Csupo has created, developed, animated or produced era-defining television programming like “The Simpsons” and “Rugrats”, in addition, “Rocket Power”, “All Grown Up”, “Wild Thornberrys”, “Aaah! Real Monsters”, “As Told By Ginger”, “Stressed Eric”, “Duckman”, “Santa Bugito” and “Edith Ann” TV specials, voiced by Lily Tomlin.
Founded by graphic designer Arlene Klasky and Hungarian-born animator Gabor Csupo, in a spare room of their apartment in 1981, Klasky Csupo grew to 550 artists, creative workers and staff in a state-of-the–art animation facility located in the heart of Hollywood.
Artistic innovation and sound business results are the rule at Klasky Csupo, which is distinguished by having produced the first non-Disney animated feature to gross in excess of $100,000,000, the global box-office smash, “The Rugrats Movie.”
For its many contributions to the animation industry Klasky Csupo has received five Emmy Awards and two Cable Ace trophies, along with numerous honors in commercials, production and humanitarian awards.
“We have a particular taste. We have a commitment to do something different, fresh, new and not to imitate others,” co-founder Gabor Csupo summarized.
Fast forward to 2012. After Klasky Csupo left the folds of Nickelodeon, the two founders Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo embarked on new creative careers. Gabor Csupo pursued his life-long dream of directing live-action films with “Bridge to Terabithia” and a European produced film “Moon Acre”.
Arlene Klasky re-adapted the animation studio to digital media age continuing to develop a number of new fictional properties. Along with Craig Singer, a director of Horror Films she created “Ollie Mongo Adventures in the Apocalypse”, the story of a Teenage Skateboarding Zombie who lives 200 years in the future. Visit www.facebook.com/olliemongo to learn more. Expect to see the Ollie Mongo first edition digital comic book by the summer of 2012.Related:
A new study reveals what many middle-aged Californians have long suspected — when hard times hit, baby boomers are the first to lose their jobs and health benefits.
The analysis by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research looked at California data on the uninsured between 2007 and 2009. Of the roughly 700,000 Californians to lose health insurance during this time, the greatest increase was among residents ages 45 to 64, the report said.
“Whether because mid-career workers are viewed as too expensive or because there is a deeper bias against older workers, the data suggests the ax is first to fall on the baby-boom generation,” said Shana Alex Lavarreda, lead author of the study and the center”s director of health insurance studies. “This might open the door for policymakers to question the fairness of hiring and firing in the next economic cycle.”
The study also notes discrepancies among California counties.
During the 2007-2009 period, counties with high unemployment and lower household income saw the biggest rise in the uninsured population due to a large drop in job-based coverage and only a small increase in public coverage.
The report”s County-Level Recession Index placed Los Angeles and Riverside counties in the “moderate-impact” category, alongside 14 other California counties. San Bernardino County landed in the more serious “medium-impact” section, which included 16 counties.
Eleven counties — including Kern, Fresno and San Joaquin counties — ended up in the “high-impact” category. The “low-impact” section has 15 counties, including Orange, San Diego and Santa Barbara counties.
The report also includes rates of the uninsured for all or part of the past year for the various categories. In 2007, for example, the rate of uninsured in the low-recession impact category was 19.1 percent. But it rose to 20.8 percent in 2009.
The biggest change occurred in the medium-impact category. The rate of uninsured there jumped to 26.2 percent in 2009 from 20.8 percent two years earlier.
The report also offers a breakdown of the uninsured by age.
In the moderate-impact category, only 14.4 percent of residents ages 18 and younger were among the uninsured in 2009. For residents ages 19 to 25 the rate was 19.7 percent, and for those ages 26 to 44 the rate was 41.6 percent. In the final age category — those ages 45 to 64 — the rate was 24.4 percent.
The latter category saw the biggest increase from 2007 — a 2 percent rise.
“Tell me something I don”t know,” said Robin McCarthy, executive director of Women at Work, a Pasadena-based career and job resource center. “Many of these people are facing the struggle, ”Do I pay my rent or buy health insurance?” People need to have better access to health insurance. There has to be some solution for individuals who cannot afford it. What do they do … where do they turn?”
McCarthy said Obamacare is also a big question mark.
“It”s great for younger people because so many young people can stay on their parents” health plan,” she said. “But for older Americans who are unemployed, they don”t have any alternative. Will they be able to afford it through the exchanges? We don”t know.”
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@SGVNBiz on TwitterSingapore-based Dredge says the current volatility in financial markets is in the early stage as markets react to a correction of global imbalances that will last from18 months to three years. The global economy is made up of nations with a deficit of capital – the West – and those with a surplus of capital – the East and emerging markets, he explains. Policy determined by deficit "The flaw is that those with the surplus have all tied their currency to the main protagonist on the deficit side – the US. "So monetary policy is determined by the deficit of capital side and flows through the currency linkage, and you end up having some form or another of the same monetary policy on both sides, with economies that are 180 degrees diametric to each other."
The financial links to easy-money policies in the US have unleashed a burst of credit expansion in emerging markets that has proved unsustainable and is now in the process of unwinding. That is forcing a painful "market-induced tightening" that will affect the growth of emerging markets as credit expansion is halted and reverses. The "simplest measure of these imbalances" is foreign exchange reserves, which have swelled in the past few years but are now being liquidated, tightening financial conditions in emerging markets. "When the hose is on and credit is pouring from the deficit to the surplus side, the FX [foreign exchange] reserves increase and are indicative of the growing size and the location as to where the imbalances exist – because that's where the most money is going." August 2015 will go down in the record books, much like July 2007 or July 1997, as the beginning of the coming contractionary cycle. David Dredge, Fortress
China's foreign currency reserves peaked at $US4 trillion ($5.7 trillion) in mid-2014 but have since run down to about $US3.6 trillion. 'In the inverse of imbalance' "Each crisis occurred at the peak of FX reserves. The emerging-market FX-reserves graph looks exactly like the US debt to GDP because they are just in the inverse of the imbalance." Dredge says that differentiating among emerging economies misses the point of what is occurring. Capital is draining from the emerging markets as conditions have tightened, and has been since the "taper tantrum" of May 2013. "In December 1999 the point wasn't whether you should invest in Apple or Microsoft. The point was they were both going down [as the tech bubble deflated]. And that's where we are now.
"The [credit] contraction might be triggered in China with retail margin lending in the equity market, or in Malaysia with recognition of corruption. "But the trigger is not what we are trying to compare. It's the potential risk, which is the excess credit creation in the last cycle. In that sense Brazil, China and Malaysia are all the same." Dredge co-manages the Convex Asia fund, a "volatility fund", which manages about $US200 million and seeks to deliver outsized gains in times of market stress. Stay ahead of spreading fire He says he's attempting to stay ahead of the spreading fire and that means looking for cheap exposures to volatility. Interest rate volatility is low and, while foreign currency volatility may have risen, it is below many of the peaks reached over the past five years. Corporate credit spreads, too, are around post-financial crisis lows despite a fair-sized correction in corresponding equities.
"This is indicative that we're just at the very beginning of this," Dredge says. Where does Australia fit in as the cycle turns dark for emerging markets? We're special in the sense that we have not pegged our currency to the US. "It is just about the only non-manipulated currency in the entire world, along with New Zealand. By allowing the currency to move and avoid being a hard linkage to the monetary policy whims of the global reserve currency, it takes a lot of the pressure off." But there has still been a build-up of risks as credit has grown virtually interrupted and our economic linkages to China make us vulnerable to, not immune from, any shocks. "Australia came through many of the last several cycles better than most because most of the volatility was allowed to take place in the currency.
"This has allowed the asset volatility to be far less than it otherwise would have been. But that means credit has built up and imbalances, while far less than they would have been, have been allowed to persist."E-commerce software
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX must be kept live on the Foundation Intranet. SCP-XXXX and the intranet site it is kept on must have copies on no less than four servers at no less than five Foundation controlled Sites. All Level 01 and higher personnel must be able to access SCP-XXXX at all times. Placing orders for items through SCP-XXXX is strictly forbidden to all level 04 personnel and below. Anyone using SCP-XXXX without the direct approval of an 05 will be re-classified D-class.
SCP-XXXX must never be deleted. Initial attempts at deletion resulted in the software appearing on XXXXXX.com, XXXXXX.com, and XXXX.com only 3 business days after deletion.
Attempts to keep a single copy of the software isolated from the internet have had similar results to deletion. The software simply appeared on popular ecommerce websites days later.
Foundation researchers determined that SCP-XXXX must not only be on a live computer network, but be available to be viewed by no less than 500 individuals.
Protocol XXXX must be run continually in order to detect containment breaches. If a breach is detected, it is immediately reported to no less than two 05s, and Special Task Force Omega-17 "Script Kiddies".
In the event of a containment breach, Special Task Force Omega-17 will carry out Protocol XXXX, resulting in the removal of the software from all affected websites. Special Task Force Omega-17 co-ordinates with any and all other Foundation Task Forces to recover any SCPs which breached containment during the breach of SCP-XXXX. Individuals who saw an SCP listed on a website containing SCP-XXXX are to be found, interrogated, and administered Class A Amnesics.
A list of SCPs currently listed by the copy of SCP-XXXX on the Foundation Intranet is to be monitored and maintained by Special Task Force Omega-17.
Description: SCP-XXXX is a software program for E-Commerce websites. Subjects who have used the software describe it as being extremely user-friendly and intuitive. It allows for easy setup and management of E-commerce stores.
SCP-XXXX has properties not yet understood by Foundation researchers. Items purchased on websites using the software usually arrive at the address specified by the buyer within 3 to 5 business days. This includes items that the seller did not have in stock, or even items that the seller never had access to.
SCP-XXXX has been shown to create item listings on its own, without the intervention of a human. Product listings created in this manner have proven impossible to remove, delete, or censor.
These product listings have included multiple SCPs. When other SCPs are listed by SCP-XXXX, the product description given for those SCPs match exactly the descriptions given in Foundation documentation.
SCP-XXXX was discovered when SCP-XXXX breached containment. The breach initially seemed to be caused by a careless researcher, Dr. XXXX who had dropped SCP-XXXX, allowing it to fall into a shipping container. Dr. XXXX reported the accident right away, but the shipping container was immediately loaded onto a truck at Site-XX. The truck left immediately. Attempts to contact the driver failed. Attempts by security personnel at Site-XX to stop the vehicle met with strange circumstances; cars not starting, guns jamming. Mobile Task Force XXXXX-XX was called in to help, but a string of communication errors led them to destroy the wrong vehicle. SCP-XXXX was only recovered weeks later, by agents in the field. The agents captured and interrogated the individual who ordered, and used SCP-XXXX, which led to the discovery of SCP-XXXX. Later incidences of breaches have shown it to be nearly impossible to intercept an item shipped by SCP-XXXX before it reaches the address specified by the buyer.
SCP-XXXX has been used by 05s to securely ship SCPs between Foundation Sites. SCP-XXXX has also been abused by Foundation Personnel for personal shopping.
SCPs currently listed as products on Foundation Intranet copy of SCP-XXXX:
SCP-1151
SCP-1236
SCP-1090
SCP-1042
SCP-140
SCP-871
SCP-093
SCP-184
SCP-1025
Notes:
Based on experiments, SCP-XXXX will only list objects as products if it is feasible for the object to be shipped. It will not list objects that are too large, immobile, or ephemeral to ship.
Dangerous objects that are not SCPs have been noted as products in SCP-XXXX. Incident XXXX occured when a nuclear device was listed on SCP-XXXX hosted on XXXX.com,
Fake addresses or addresses that do not exist will not be shipped to by SCP-XXXX.
Living things will not be shipped by SCP-XXXX.
Attempts to track the activities of objects shipped by SCP-XXXX in real time have proven fruitless. All successful tracking has been through after-the-fact interrogations.
Prices given for SCPs listed independently by SCP-XXXX seem to depend on the estimated retail value of a non-SCP version of the same object. SCP-140, for example, is currently listed at $14.95 - an average price for a hardcover book.
Containment Breach Logs:
Experiment Logs:
Experiment 01
Object: a ballpoint pen from the desk of Dr. Bright.
Shipping Address: REDACTED, The home of Dr. Bright.
Methodology: The pen was added to the E-commerce intranet site that SCP-XXXX is contained on. The pen was ordered by Dr. *, and shipping was requested to REDACTED.
Observations: The pen disappeared from Dr. Brights desk, apparently overnight. Interrogations of staff members lead us to believe that the janitor may have accidentally knocked it into the wastebasket, which he then collected and placed with the rest of the waste collected that night. The pen and the waste made their journey to Site-**-B for routine disposal. Somewhere along the way, the pen fell from the garbage truck and was picked up by a transient. The transient carried the pen nearly 3 miles, accidentally leaving it at bank. A bank teller used it for about a day, until she signed for a UPS package, at which point she accidentally gave it to the UPS employee. The UPS employee brought a package to the home of the neighbor of Dr. Bright. The neighbor used the pen to sign for his package, and the UPS employee forgot to take it back from him. The neighbor visited Dr. Bright the next day and accidentally left the pen there.
Experiment 02
Object: a box of unmarked envelopes.
Shipping Address: 1 Terabithia Lane, Magic Kingdom, Mars. A made up, non-existent address.
Observations: SCP-XXXX notifies the buyer that the address does not exist and requests a real address.
Experiment 03
Object: A normal house cat.
Shipping Address: REDACTED, The home of Agent XXXXXXX.
Methodology: a photo of the cat, along with a short bio of the cat, was added to the E-Commerce Software by Dr. XXXXX. Agent XXXXXXX then ordered the cat, and entered his home address for shipping.
Observations: On check-out, SCP-XXXX states that living things cannot be shipped. The listing for the cat and the order are both automatically deleted without human intervention.
Experiment 04
Object: A stuffed animal
Shipping Address: REDACTED, Site-XX
Methodology: A stuffed bear was added to the E-Commerce Software by Dr. XXXXX. Dr. XXXX ordered the stuffed bear via the intranet site containing SCP-XXXX. Efforts were made to prevent the stuffed bear from reaching Site-XX.
Observations: We can't repeat this test again. We lost over XX good people. The stuffed bear reached Site-XX in 4 business days. Suppositions have been made that efforts to prevent the stuffed animal from reaching its destination may have slowed its progress.
Experiment 05
Object: A hardcover copy of War & Peace.
Shipping Address: REDACTED, a far flung SCP containment site in the mountains of XXXXX. Site has no roads. Site had wind conditions preventing most flight nearby.
Methodology: To test how long it will take SCP-XXXX to ship somewhere, we have chosen Site-XX, which by our calculation is not possible to reach from the origin of the object in less than 12 days while ensuring safe delivery. Object added to SCP-XXXX by Dr. XXXXX. Object purchased by Agent XXXX at Site-XX.
Observations: Object picked up by D-Class personnel and left in Agent XXX's car. Agent XXX's car was broken into that night, and the book was stolen. Four days later the book fell from the sky, and landed in one piece at Site-XX. Investigations have revealed that the book somehow made its way onto a military cargo plane, which it then fell out of onto Site-XX, without being harmed. Total time for delivery: 5 days.
Experiment 06
Object: A GPS tracking device
Shipping Address: 1 Main Street, REDACTED, A ghost town in the Arizona desert, with no roads to it.
Methodology: GPS unit added to E-Commerce Software by Dr. XXXXX. Unit purchased by Dr. XXXXX, requesting shipping to the above address. GPS unit left running so that the Foundation can track its movements.
Observations: GPS unit left Site-XX when an Agent picked up the wrong GPS unit, believing it to be their own. GPS unit shut down by Agent shortly after leaving Site-XX. GPS unit lost by Agent shortly after returning home, under unknown circumstances. GPS unit appears 3 days later at address specified, brought by a crew filming a documentary on ghost towns.
Experiment 07
Object: A plain brick.
Shipping Address: REDACTED
Methodology: Brick sealed in a safe to which no Foundation Personnel knew the code. Safe sealed in Vault-XXX at Site-XX, and bolted down to the floor. Orders given to Security Personnel to let no one in or out, on threat of death. Brick added to SCP-XXXX by Dr. XXXXX. Brick ordered by Agent XXX, with the above shipping address.
Observations: This experiment or versions of it are never to be attempted again. XX SCPs were breached at Site-XX, causing XXX deaths and the complete loss of Site-XX. The brick arrived at its destination in 3 days.
Experiment 08
Object: None - See Methodology
Shipping Address: REDACTED
Methodology: This was to test if non-existant objects or technologies not yet understood by The Foundation could be shipped. A Lightsaber from the film franchise Star Wars was entered into SCP-XXXX. The product description included images, videos of it being used in the films, and a description taken from a Star Wars guide book. The Lightsaber was purchased from SCP-XXXX by Dr. XXXXX, and shipped to the address above.
Observations: A fake plastic Lightsaber, which can be bought in any toy store, was delivered to the address 3 days after being ordered. The Lightsaber displays no anomalous properties, and appears to simply be the same model sold in stores.
Experiment 09
Object: A stack gold bullion totaling over $100,000,000 in value.
Shipping Address: Site-XX
Methodology: A photo of the gold bullion was placed on the E-Commerce Software, along with a description of it. The price entered on the E-Commerce Software was $1. The purchase was made by Agent XXX.
Observations: The Check-Out form threw an error, stating that the object price was invalid. The object never appeared at the shipping address.BALTIMORE -- Shortly after last Sunday's victory in Cleveland, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh stood in the locker room and gave the game ball to someone he called the best punter in the NFL.
For Sam Koch, it was the first time in his 12-year career he had ever been honored this way.
"I’ll take that one home and put it up in the man cave," Koch said after dropping three punts inside the 5-yard line.
Few punters receive game balls. Fewer NFL players get to put a game ball in a basement they constructed.
Koch is a talented handyman who takes tremendous pride in his ability to tackle home projects, a passion likely passed down from a grandfather who was a carpenter. A few years ago, Koch and someone who knew the local building codes spent 52 days finishing his basement. He started each day at 7 a.m. and worked until about 9 p.m.
The biggest challenge was sanding, re-sanding and putting up the mud for the drywall. A self-proclaimed perfectionist -- which his teammates will quickly attest to -- Koch painted the basement seven times, and each time, he filled in all the holes.
"In anything working with your hands, you have to pay attention to the fine details and making it perfect," Koch said. "It’s along the same lines of punting. I have to pay attention to everything, from footwork to the snap to your hands to how you contact the ball."
Most Versatile Players Here are the five non-quarterbacks since 2001 who've recorded at least four completions, one touchdown, one two-point conversion and 14 tackles: Player Position Seasons Sam Koch P 2006-present Mohamed Sanu WR 2012-present Ronnie Brown RB 2005-14 Antwaan Randle El WR 2002-10 Josh Cribbs WR 2005-14
Koch truly is the NFL's do-it-all specialist, and a national television audience might get another glimpse at that Saturday, when the Ravens (8-6) host the Indianapolis Colts. He pins teams deep in their own territory more than any other punter. Converting a fake punt, field goal or extra point, Koch has proved he can throw the ball as well as run it in for a score.
In fact, Koch is one of five non-quarterbacks since 2001 to complete at least four passes, score a touchdown, record a 2-point conversion and total at least 14 tackles, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Koch is the MVP: the most versatile punter.
"Anybody in this locker room will tell you, Sam is one of the best athletes on this team," kicker Justin Tucker said.
Tiger Woods of punting
Koch let everyone in on his secret about how he can get 50-yard punts to bounce within feet of the goal line and not carom into the end zone.
"Tucker has a Nintendo Switch paddle on the sideline that he always hits the backspin button as I punt," Koch said with a grin. "I tell him to dial in on Tiger Woods, 40 yards or so."
In many ways, Koch is the Tiger Woods of punting. He selects one of his dozen kinds of kicks from his "golf bag," and he repeatedly backs teams right up against their own end zone. His peers have reverently talked about how Koch has changed the punting game over the years.
The 35-year-old leads the NFL this season with the most punts inside the 20-yard line (37, six more than anyone else) and inside the 10 (16). He would be tied for the most inside the 5-yard line if officials hadn't ruled a punt that stopped inches from the goal line in Green Bay -- which Harbaugh called "the greatest punt in the history of football" -- a touchback.
"Sam is probably more precise than certainly any punter I have seen -- not just been around, but seen," Harbaugh said. "They say the ball takes funny bounces for a reason. It is oblong, and it does. You can’t predict it, but I will tell you, Sam Koch seems like he has perfected that oblong somehow, some way, because it rarely takes off into the end zone. That is the measuring stick."
The Raven's Sam Koch leads the NFL in punts inside the 20-yard-line and inside the 10. Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports
'He's so OCD'
Only three of Koch's punts have resulted in touchbacks, which is crazy considering half of his punts have landed inside the 20.
It all goes back to practice -- a lot of practice. If a punt rolls into the end zone during a workout, Koch has to try it again to find the right spin.
"We're working on the perfect punt," long-snapper Morgan Cox said.
Koch is working on perfection with everything he tackles. In 2010, the Ravens started playing cornhole, and Koch had to figure out the best way to toss beanbags.
He ended up beating quarterback Joe Flacco in the championship of a 12-player tournament.
"The best way to describe it is he's so OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder] about things," Cox said. "That carries over into every aspect of his life. Disciplined."
Koch is a perfect passer. On fake punts, he's 4-for-4 for 48 yards for a career passer rating of 116.7, which ranks No. 1 in franchise history.
Baltimore special-teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg referred to Koch as "the greatest holder that has ever played the game." Koch has placed the ball down for Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, in addition to two other Pro Bowl kickers (Matt Stover and Billy Cundiff).
Over his career, Koch has scored a touchdown on a 7-yard scramble off a fake field goal against Oakland in 2012, recorded a 2-point conversion off a fake extra point against Pittsburgh in 2011 and rushed twice for first downs (at Cincinnati in 2012 and against Kansas City in 2015). Koch has also made 14 special-teams tackles.
"There’s nothing really that Sam does that surprises a whole lot," Rosburg said last month. "He’s an extraordinary athlete. I mean, he’s the cornhole champion. That pretty much says everything!"
Humble beginnings
Koch comes from Ulysses, Nebraska, a small town with a population of 171. His first job, at age 13, was detasseling corn stalks, which is the dreaded summer job of removing the top of the plants.
He walked on as a punter/kickoff specialist at the University of Nebraska, where he later earned a scholarship, and was drafted in the sixth round by Baltimore in 2006.
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"It's crazy that, as a kid from Nebraska growing up, people are like, 'Well, at least you're going to give it a shot,'" Koch said. "There wasn't much optimism back there other than the immediate family."
The turning point for Koch came in 2008, with the arrival of Rosburg. Koch remembers meeting in his new special-teams coordinator's office, where Rosburg essentially told Koch that he wasn't impressed by the game film or the stats.
Koch wasn't upset. He knew he wasn't a good punter at that point in his career. His strong leg got him through the first two seasons.
Rosburg worked with Koch for hours and hours in the team's field house. The best piece of advice was adjusting how Koch dropped the ball out of his hands.
"Honestly, from that day forward, it's totally changed the consistency part of my punting," Koch said.
The surprising part is how Koch has gone relatively under the radar for 12 seasons. This season, he became the first punter since Brian Moorman in 2005 to be named AFC special-teams player of the week twice in a season.
But he was snubbed once again for the Pro Bowl. Koch has received only one Pro Bowl invitation, and that came in 2015.
Those close to Koch know how valuable he is to Baltimore's success.
"Sam is the best punter in the league," linebacker Terrell Suggs said, "but we’ve always known that."Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.
A bill lifting some of the state's restrictions on handguns cleared the Texas Senate along a party line vote of 20 to 11 Monday.
Senate Bill 17, from state Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, would allow concealed weapons permit holders to carry holstered handguns openly. It is the first measure to come to the Senate floor not related to Gov. Greg Abbott's emergency items
“In other states that have taken this step … it’s been deemed pretty much a non-event,” Estes told his colleagues as he introduced the legislation. “We have searched really hard far and wide for problems, and we haven’t found any.”
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After the upper chamber takes a final vote on the measure, it will head to the House.
State law currently allows the open carrying of long guns like rifles and shotguns. Handguns may only be carried in a concealed fashion by those who obtain a license.
During a four-hour debate, lawmakers in the upper chamber considered almost two-dozen amendments to the bill. Most were offered by Democrats — who made various attempts to soften the bill including calling for increasing training, background checks, and other licensing requirements to obtain a handgun — and almost all failed along straight party lines.
State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, came close to shouting as he argued in favor of an amendment exempting the Capitol complex from open carry if it passes.
Relating his experiences dealing with angry or mentally ill individuals before his committee, Whitmire said it would now be easy for such a person to grab handgun out of a holster to use it to attack bystanders.
“It’s dead wrong…to say there’s not disturbed people in this building,” said Whitmire, who chairs the Criminal Justice committee. “It’s not if it’s going to happen it’s when it’s going to happen, and you know it and I know it.”
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Estes called such a circumstance “far-fetched.”
Democrats also argued that the change would increase risk to police officers responding to the scene of the crime, who might now be faced with several people with firearms and have no way to determine the bad actors.
“Have you thought about what dangers you’re fixing to expose on law enforcement?” asked Whitmire during the debate, noting the widespread opposition to such a law from the state’s police associations.
SB 17 is among a slate of high-profile gun bills up for consideration this session. So far it is one of two that have made it out of committee. The other is Senate Bill 11, which would allow handgun license holders to carry their firearms on college campuses. Both bills passed along party lines 7 to 2, only opposed by the panel's Democrats.
Though all 20 Senate Republicans supported Estes’ proposal, at least one did so with reservations.
State Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, rose before the chamber took a vote to say Estes' bill did not go far enough in restoring Second Amendment rights.
“I will vote for SB 17 but I do so with a very heavy heart,” said Huffines, who described the merits of so-called “constitutional carry” legislation.
Favored by vocal factions within the gun rights movement, constitutional carry bills would repeal handgun permitting rules altogether. It has yet to receive committee hearings in either chamber.
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A House panel is set to consider two gun bills — one permitting open carry with a license and another allowing concealed carry on college campuses — Tuesday morning.How stealthy is the F-35 Lightning II? So stealthy that the Air Force can’t even track it!
While a squadron of F-35s was running training exercises to evade surface-to-air (SAM) missiles at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho recently, they ran into a serious problem- no one on the ground could see them.
That of course is an awesome problem to have. To remedy it for training exercises the F-35s had to turn on their transponders so that the simulated SAM missiles could even have a chance at identifying where the planes were to hit them. “We basically told them where we were at and said, ‘Hey, try to shoot at us,’ said Lt. Col. George Watkins, the commander of the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. to the Air Force Times.
Without that handicap he believes the squadron wouldn’t have suffered a single loss.
“That’s a pretty awesome feeling when you’re going out to train for combat,” Watkins concluded, “to know that your pilots are in an unfair fight.”
That’s good news for most one-sided modern American combat, but previous reports about the F-35’s capabilities were far less glowing. Last year it was revealed that the fighter couldn’t compete in dogfights against previous generations of fighter jets, even the 40-year-old F-16. Another big issue was that the pilot can’t move their head inside the cramped cockpit easily, as the massive new helmet was too large inside the space to see behind the aircraft. The reports have made it a controversial plane to say the least, although military officials have had nothing but nice things to say about it.
Each plane costs $337 million and has a range of 1,200 nautical miles with a payload of 18,000lbs. There are 21 pilots currently ready to fly it, with three more going through final certification. The Air Force variant of it, the F35-A, was declared combat-ready on August 2. It will make an appearance at the Red Flag training exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in January 2017.
The Marine Corps version, the F-35B, can hover |
having a choice.
We started marching to the theater. At that point two Muslim soldiers fell out of formation on their own. Student leadership tried to convince them to fall back in and that a choice will be presented to us once we reach the theater.
At the theater we were instructed to split in two groups; those that want to attend versus those that don't. At that point what crossed my mind is the fact that being given an option so late in the game implies that the leadership is attempting to make a point about its intention. The "body language" was suggesting that "we marched you here as a group to give you a clue that we really want you to attend (we tilt the table and expect you to roll in our direction), now we give you the choice to either satisfy us or disappoint us." A number of soldiers seemed to notice these clues and sullenly volunteered for the concert in fear of possible consequences.
Those of us that chose not to attend (about 80, or a little less that half) were marched back to the company area. At that point the NCO issued us a punishment. We were to be on lock-down in the company (not released from duty), could not go anywhere on post (no PX, no library, etc). We were to go to strictly to the barracks and contact maintenance. If we were caught sitting in our rooms, in our beds, or having/handling electronics (cell phones, laptops, games) and doing anything other than maintenance, we would further have our weekend passes revoked and continue barracks maintenance for the entirety of the weekend. At that point the implied message was clear in my mind "we gave you a choice to either satisfy us or disappoint us. Since you chose to disappoint us you will now have your freedoms suspended and contact chores while the rest of your buddies are enjoying a concert."
At that evening, nine of us chose to pursue an EO complaint. I was surprised to find out that a couple of the most offended soldiers were actually Christian themselves (Catholic). One of them was grown as a child in Cuba and this incident enraged him particularly as it brought memories of oppression.United States women’s national team star forward Alex Morgan sustained a mild medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain in her left knee that led to her being stretchered off during Portland Thorns FC’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Breakers on Wednesday, the Thorns announced today.
She is expected to miss between two and four weeks of action, but there should be no lasting damage from the awkward landing. Immediately after leaving the game in the eighth minute, Morgan was taken to an on-site trainer’s area for examination before going to the locker room and emerging with a stabilizing knee brace on her left leg.
“It’s a relief that there is no significant damage to my knee,” Morgan said in a club release. “I will do everything in my power between now and Aug. 24 in order to be available for the playoffs and to win the championship.”
With her team’s spot in the final four assured, Morgan can afford to miss Portland’s final National Women’s Soccer League regular season game on Aug. 17, when it travels to play Seattle Reign FC.
The U.S.’s next scheduled match is a friendly against Mexico on Sept. 3 at RFK Stadium in Washington, just three days after the NWSL final will be played and nearly four weeks from last night, the date of Morgan’s injury.
Follow @liviubirdEcuador'very concerned' about Assange's health
Updated
Ecuador says it is concerned about the health of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and has asked Britain to guarantee him safe passage to a hospital if he requires treatment.
Mr Assange has been holed up inside Ecuador's embassy in London since June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sexual assault allegations.
British authorities say Mr Assange will be arrested if he sets foot outside the embassy, which is under constant police surveillance.
"Assange has grown noticeably thinner, and we are very concerned about his health," Voice of Russia radio quoted Ecuador's deputy foreign minister Marco Albuja Martinez as saying.
"If he falls ill, we will have to choose between two alternatives: to treat Assange in the embassy or hospitalise him," Mr Albuja Martinez added.
"This is a very serious situation and it can affect Assange's human rights."
The comments were confirmed by the Ecuadorean embassy in Moscow.
Ecuador has asked the British Foreign Office for a document that would enable Mr Assange to enter hospital safely if necessary and return to the embassy with refugee status, the Voice of Russia quoted Mr Albuja Martinez as saying.
Britain's Foreign Office said it was unaware of Mr Assange's health problems.
"Ecuador have not told us that Mr Assange is ill. However, were they to do so, we would consider the matter," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
Ecuador granted Mr Assange asylum in August, saying it shared his fears that he could face charges in the United States over the publication by WikiLeaks in 2010 of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.
When he appeared on a balcony of the building to address supporters in August, Mr Assange appeared tanned and in good health, but a BBC reporter who saw him recently described him as "a very pale man" in a story broadcast on Sunday.
Mr Assange broke the conditions of his bail when he entered the embassy after running out of legal options to avoid being sent to Sweden.
Speaking about the safe passage request he said Ecuador had lodged with the Foreign Office, Mr Albuja Martinez said his country was pleased that Britain "did not reject it outright".
"We will not put pressure on them and will patiently await an answer, so that Assange can receive medical treatment if necessary," he was quoted as saying in Moscow.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, world-politics, government-and-politics, england, united-kingdom, ecuador
First postedNow that's a REALLY smashing pumpkin: Artist carves zombie masterpiece out of giant veg
Forget traditional Jack O’Lanterns this Halloween - artist Ray Villafane has created something dead special out of one of this year's biggest pumpkins.
Perfectionist Ray spent hours painstakingly carving the huge orange fruit to create a pumpkin masterpiece featuring hideous zombies spewing orange guts in New York's botanical gardens.
Incredibly, Ray has had no formal training and learnt his amazing craft purely by picking up a scalpel and having a go.
Horror veg: Pumpkin-carver extraordinaire Ray Villafane sculpted this incredible zombie pumpkin at New York's Botanical Gardens
Ray, an established artist known also for his incredible toy and sand sculptor, had something special in mind for this year’s event in the shape of grizzly zombies.
He used two of the largest pumpkins from this year’s harvest, one of them a record-holder, to create a creepy scene featuring zombies covered in pumpkin guts crawling out of a giant squash.
Dead clever: A close up shows the incredible detail of Ray's work
Hard at work: Pumpkin master Ray used two of the largest pumpkins from this years harvest to create his creepy scene
Ray spent hours painstakingly carving his undead work of art, but his efforts were generously rewarded with cheering and clapping.
Ray Villafane used Brant and Eleanor Bordsen’s 1,693 pound pumpkin to create the zombies.What Caused the Two-Decade Dip in Crime Rates? Not ‘Good Guys with Guns.’ Gun rights advocates claim concealed carry is the answer to stopping criminals. The data says that's simply not possible.
In the aftermath of the Oregon college shooting that left 10 people dead and nine more injured, conservative politicians and pundits offered their familiar prescription for halting mass shootings: even more guns: “If you had a couple of the teachers or somebody with guns in that room, you would’ve been a hell of a lot better off,” said GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Ted Nugent, an NRA board member, went event further, saying that just about every member of our populace should carry a concealed weapon. “Disarmed and helpless is an irresponsible, suicidal choice that will get you killed. Defend yourself.”
These proclamations stem from the increasingly popular belief that people carrying concealed firearms deter criminals and mass killers. Indeed, the foundational tenet of the National Rifle Association’s agenda — Right-to-Carry (RTC) reciprocity, permitless carry, and forcing schools to allow concealed carry — is that more “good guys” carrying guns in public will reduce crime and make society safer. In states with RTC laws, it is exceedingly easy to become a “good guy with a gun”— one only needs to pass a background check and a basic gun safety course. In some states like Arizona, you don’t even need a permit; so long as you’re at least 21 years old and not a criminal, you’re free to carry. This push for no-hassle concealed carry is almost unanimously shared by Republican presidential candidates. Trump, for instance, recently touted his support of national RTC reciprocity.
Gun rights advocates frequently highlight the fact that from the early 1990s to today, violent crime nationwide has fallen precipitously, with gun homicides declining 49 perecent. This dip in all types of violent crime happens to correspond with a dramatic surge in the number of states issuing concealed carry permits. Those same advocates, usually citing studies conducted by pro-gun researcher John Lott, contend it is the rising number of good guys with guns on the streets that is responsible for the lower crime rate. But this line of argument runs counter to the facts.
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In 1997, Lott published the book More Guns, Less Crime, which argues that states with RTC laws experienced significantly lower crime rates than those without such policies. The volume — based on highly complex statistical models — set off an academic firestorm, with some studies supporting his findings and others identifying significant statistical problems. Despite the controversy, Lott’s work provided an impetus for more states to adopt RTC laws. In 1997, 30 states had shall-issue RTC laws (the least stringent form of permits), while seven states prohibited concealed carry altogether. Today, 35 states have shall-issue RTC laws, seven states don’t require a permit to carry, and no states prohibit concealed carry. When Missouri was debating establishing its own RTC law, a pro-gun group sent a copy of Lott’s research to every state senator, an effort that helped secure enough votes to override the governor’s veto.
Since the publication of More Guns, Less Crime, at least three major reviews of Lott’s work have debunked his findings. One particularly decisive critique, a 2003 study published in the Stanford Law Review, used a superior statistical models and extended the time frame under analysis. With those adjustments, the paper found that the alleged reductions in crime rates evaporated. Another critical analysis, this time issued from 15 of the 16 panel members of National Research Council (NRC), concluded that “with the current evidence it is not possible to determine that there is a causal link between the passage of right-to-carry laws and crime rates.” Then, in 2011, a team of researchers analyzed the NRC panel’s findings and conclude that RTC laws, in fact, increase crime. And these three studies represent only the tip of the iceberg — there are many more cataloging the numerous ways in which Lott has erred.
With the academic evidence mounting against him, Lott recently published a paper seeking to move the goalposts of the More Guns, Less Crime argument. In the paper, he argues that dissenting studies examining RTC laws overlooked that those laws often differ in how easy it is to obtain a permit, a difference that greatly influences the numbers of concealed carry permits issued by each state. Rather than focus on the passage of RTC laws, Lott contends that researchers should instead examine the change in the number of permits.
Increased concealed carry permit rates have no impact on crime rates.
Lott’s move was transparently tactical. But his focus on the number of permits instead of the passage of RTC laws does make sense. While it is possible for criminal behavior to be influenced by the news of a law passing, logically it is far more likely that the number of “good guys with guns” on the streets is the relevant factor. However, far from salvaging More Guns, Less Crime, Lott’s pivot actually opens up his theory to even more devastating criticism, an opening that was seized by Dr. Charles Phillips of Texas A&M and his colleagues in a new study.
The Texas A&M paper directly challenges the hypothesis that increased numbers of concealed carry permits reduce crime. The study analyzes a decade of data from every county in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Texas, the only states with at least a decade of reported data on permit holders and arrest rates after the implementation of their RTC laws (an explanation of their methodology that, unlike what Lott misleadingly suggests in a rebuttal, is very clearly delineated). Using several statistical models, Phillips found no significant relationship between changes in concealed carry rates and changes in any crime rate. In other words, the study found no evidence that increasing the number of permit holders decreases (or increases) crime.
It doesn’t take complicated economic analysis to disprove “more guns equals less crime.” The argument fails a basic logic test.
While the above studies provide clear evidence that, at the very least, permit holders and concealed carry laws do not reduce crime, they are mired in complex statistical models, which leads to arcane arguments over “model selection” and statistical analysis. One way to sidestep those thickets is to examine the two ways permit holders — and by extension RTC laws — could be reducing crime: through direct or indirect deterrence. Recent empirical evidence and studies show that neither of these pathways can be responsible for the reduction in crime.
Defensive gun use is too rare for “good guys with guns” to significantly lower crime rates.
The first mechanism through which permit holders and concealed carry laws could be reducing crime is through direct deterrence, which occurs when an armed civilian uses a gun in self-defense, thereby stopping a crime. The NRA and gun advocates frequently tout surveys conducted by criminologist Gary Kleck indicating that there are around 2.5 million defensive gun uses every year, which would mean millions of criminals being directly deterred from crime.
However, widespread defensive gun use is a myth. The survey results used to extrapolate millions of DGUs suffer from a severe false positive problem and present crime prevention numbers that are mathematically impossible. In fact, as we have detailed in previous articles, not only is defensive gun use no more effective at preventing injury than taking no action at all during a crime, but the best empirical evidence to date from the Gun Violence Archive could also only find 1,600 verified DGUs in 2014. This means that 99.936 percent of Kleck’s claimed DGUs are nowhere to be found, despite those very surveys stating that more than 50 percent of DGUs are reported to the police (meaning there should be a record of them). With so few DGUs, it is not possible for permit holders and concealed carry laws to be reducing crime through direct deterrence.
People’s estimates of concealed carry rates are wildly off — so concealed carry can’t be indirectly deterring criminals, either.
The second way permit holders and concealed carry laws could be reducing crime is through indirect deterrence — when criminals are deterred by the mere threat of confronting an armed civilian. As Lott states, “By the very nature of these guns being concealed, criminals are unable to tell whether the victim is armed before they strike, thus raising criminals’ expected costs for committing many types of crimes.” If criminals perceive that the risk of encountering an armed civilian has increased, they will likely avoid that jurisdiction and choose a different venue for their illegal activities, or not commit the act at all. This requires that criminals are actually sensitive to the prevalence of guns in their environment, and are particularly aware of changes made to state legislation that could potentially influence the quantity of concealed carriers. Until recently, no studies had challenged these assumptions.
Research published last year by Dr. Fortunato of the University of California examined the feasibility of indirect deterrence by conducting a survey asking 1,000 citizens to estimate how many people (out of 1,000) carry a gun in their state. These responses were then cross-referenced with their state’s concealed carry policy (“may issue”, “shall issue”, or “no policy”) and the number of active permits in the state. The paper also controlled for other factors that may influence a population’s belief about the concentration of perceived concealed carriers, such as the depth of legal and illegal firearm market, measurements of state ideology, and rates of firearm violence.
The paper found no statistically significant relationship between a states’ concealed carry policy and people’s perception of the number of firearm carriers in their state. As Fortunato states: “Because beliefs over the distribution of firearm carriers are impervious to permitting policies and do not respond positively to the true distribution of carriers,” increasing the number of concealed carry permits in a state “cannot deter crime.” In other words, people cannot be deterred by the number of permit holders if, on average, people have no clue how prevalent those permits actually are. The paper goes on to concluded that by passing concealed carry laws — which likely increased gun ownership nationwide — “at best, we increase the probability of accidental discharge. At worst, these policies open the door for more violent, potentially deadly, escalations of altercations — altercations that may have ended peacefully if not for the presence of a firearm.”
Some gun rights advocates may argue that while this lack of awareness of the actual number of permit holders is true among the general population, criminals may have superior knowledge of the number of law-abiding citizens carrying firearms, and therefore the notion of indirect deterrence still holds. But there is no substantive evidence to support this claim. Indeed, if criminals do have an internal gun radar of any sort, it is of gun ownership in an area, not the prevalence of concealed carrying. And instead of a being a deterrent, a 2002 study by Dr. Phillip Cook indicates that more guns in an area mean more burglaries, as criminals capitalize on the lucrative opportunity that stolen guns present.
Even if criminals were responsive to indirect deterrence from concealed carry permit holders (which the evidence shows they aren’t), the areas with the most per capita permits are already low crime areas. This is clearly seen in the Illinois concealed carry data we previously analyzed, which showed permits are concentrated in white, rural areas with low levels of crime. If there are few criminals in an area to deter, indirect deterrence cannot be significantly reducing overall crime rates.
We don’t know what caused the big two decade drop in crime rates. We do know it wasn’t concealed carry.
So if concealed carry cannot be responsible for the significant, two decade drop in crime rates, what is? A report from the Brennan Center for Justice published earlier this year sought to tackle that question. Analyzing 40 years of data from all 50 states, the report examined a number of potential causal factors, including RTC laws, and found that the most likely causes were various demographic and socioeconomic factors, the end of the crack cocaine epidemic, and superior policing techniques. However, even these factors were insufficient to explain the entire crime decrease, and the authors concluded that we still don’t fully know why crime dropped precipitously.
But what we do know is that rigorous studies on RTC laws and permit holders, combined with empirical data on defensive gun use and studies of people’s perception of gun prevalence, provide powerful evidence that concealed carry does not reduce crime.
Correction: This story originally stated that Lott had recently published a paper in Econ Journal Watch. In fact, the journal had considered the paper but ultimately decided not to publish it.
[Photo: AP/The Virginian-Pilot, Amanda Lucier]During a meeting with senior security officials in the Reichstag, Germany's parliament building, a week ago, Angela Merkel didn't mince words. While praising the Schengen zone for the border-free travel it has granted Europeans, the German chancellor also said that it could only work if the European Union's external borders were adequately protected. Schengen, she said, means that Germany's neighbors are no longer Austria or Poland, but Russia, Turkey and Libya.
The 2015 refugee crisis, Merkel said, taught us "fundamental lessons," such as the fact that EU external border protection wasn't good enough. The situation has since improved dramatically, Merkel said, "but we haven't yet achieved everything that we need."
The chancellor, unfortunately, is correct. Merkel has promised that the refugee crisis seen two years ago will not be repeated: Never again will Europe see an uncontrolled inflow of millions of people. The refugee deal with Turkey is working, we are repeatedly told, and the crisis is over. That, though, could turn out to be wrong.
With German voters set to go to the polls on Sept. 24, Merkel's re-election campaign hinges on there not being a repeat of the refugee crisis, even if it's not as substantial as the 2015 influx. But west of the closed Balkan route, a new migrant stream has been growing since the beginning of the year. From Jan. 1 to April 23, 36,851 migrants have followed the central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy. That represents a 45 percent increase over the same period last year, when a record 181,000 people crossed the Mediterranean on the route. "The situation is worrisome," says Izabella Cooper, spokeswoman for the European border control agency Frontex.
DER SPIEGEL
Even more concerning is the fact that summer hasn't even begun. Experience has shown that most migrants only climb into the boats once the Mediterranean grows calmer. Italian authorities estimate that a quarter million people will arrive on its shores this year. "There are challenges ahead," says a senior German security official.
Berlin is particularly concerned because it's not just Africans who are taking the Mediterranean route to Italy. An increasing number of South Asians are as well, which could mean that the route across the sea to Italy is now seen as a viable alternative to the defunct Balkan route. People from Bangladesh now represent the second largest group of migrants that have crossed over from Libya this year. From January to March 2016, by contrast, exactly one Bangladeshi was picked up on the route. Pakistanis have also chosen the Mediterranean route more often in recent months.
Officials in Berlin and Brussels have thus far sought to play down the numbers. "We can't yet say if it is a temporary upward tick or if it is a trend," says one EU diplomat.
Thus far, the majority of newcomers have remained in Italy. But German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), nevertheless applied with the European Commission for permission to extend German border controls on its border with Austria beyond the May expiration date. On Tuesday, that permission was granted, with the Commission saying that the controls must be lifted by the end of the year. German conservatives are likewise demanding that controls be established on the country's border with Switzerland.
Restrictive Interpretation
The EU is currently working on an emergency plan in case a "serious crisis situation" develops. The discussions are focusing on a scenario under which more than 200,000 refugees would have to be redistributed each year.
An unpublished report by Malta, which currently holds the rotating European Council presidency, calls for a more restrictive interpretation of asylum rights in such a case. In other words, should too many migrants begin arriving, the EU will increase efforts at deterrence. Controversial proposals for reception camps to be established in North Africa also remain under discussion.
Most of those currently fleeing from countries like Nigeria, Guinea and the Ivory Coast are doing so to escape grinding poverty and in the hopes of finding better opportunities in Europe. Very few of them have much chance of being granted asylum. That reality has made redistribution within the EU even more difficult. According to current law, those with no chance at asylum are supposed to be sent back home as quickly as possible and not sent to other European countries.
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The key to Merkel's solution for the 2015/2016 refugee crisis was the EU-Turkey deal. The agreement called for Turkey to improve monitoring of its Aegean Sea coastline, which was the jumping-off point for the Balkan route via the Greek islands. At the same time, a more rigorous deportation policy, which meant that refugees who reached Greece would be sent back to Turkey, discouraged many from making the journey in the first place. That deal, in combination with border closures, has meant that the route has largely been abandoned.
That strategy, however, won't work for the Mediterranean route to Italy -- neither the increased coastal monitoring nor the rapid deportations. There is no country, after all, to which the migrants could be deported. Almost all of them depart from what was once Libya, today a failed state where the government, clans and other power-hungry groups are engaged in constant combat.
The country is widely viewed as a basket case with little prospect for a stable government in the foreseeable future. One German government official says that "no positive trends" can be observed. The problem, though, is that there can be no solution to the current refugee influx without Libya. Fully 90 percent of the migrants who have set off across the Mediterranean for Italy started their journeys from the Libyan coast.
Low Risk, High Earnings
Without a functioning state in Libya, however, there can be no effective border controls. The situation is completely chaotic, notes a late-January internal report from the EU Border Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM), which is currently working out of Tunis. Migrant smuggling, the report notes, is an income source for organized crime organizations "with extremely low risks and high earnings."
Nevertheless, the Libyan government has presented the EU with a list of needs for the upgrading of its coast guard, including 130 vessels, some of them armed, along with additional equipment. The EU border control agency Frontex is skeptical, saying that before any equipment is delivered, measures must be in place to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni reached an agreement in February with Fayez Serraj, the prime minister of Libya's unity government, for millions in aid to strengthen the country's coast guard. But Serraj doesn't even have control of the entire capital, Tripolis. And the coast guard that Italy is supporting sometimes works together with migrant smugglers.
Because protecting the coast is unfeasible, the focus has shifted to returning migrants to North Africa. Months ago, the German government discussed the establishment of reception camps not in Libya, but in its neighboring countries of Tunisia and Egypt. But Tunis and Cairo demurred.
Might such camps, then, be built in Libya after all?
On a recent Monday afternoon, the Home Affairs Committee in European Parliament met to review the situation in Libya, a country that has become so dangerous that many government officials, NGO workers and politicians no longer feel safe traveling there. The committee had invited Annemarie Loof, operations manager for the aid organization Doctors without Borders, and the pictures she brought along to show to the parliamentarians were difficult to look at.
Left in the Lurch
They showed overcrowded internment camps, children sleeping on bare concrete and undernourished migrants with skin diseases and signs of having been tortured. "Refugees are big business in Libya," Loof says. "If you pump more money in, things will only get worse."
That, however, is exactly what the Italians are planning to do. The country feels as though it has been left in the lurch by Brussels and on the eve of the EU summit in Malta in early February, Rome reached an agreement with Libya on the establishment of "temporary reception camps" to which refugees can be deported. Initially, they are to be financed by Italy, but Libyan officials will be solely responsible for operating them. Loof's report focused on the conditions that might develop in such camps.
"It would be crucial for the Europeans to inspect the camps to guarantee humane conditions," says Martin Kobler, head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. But nobody is willing to do so. It is simply too dangerous.
An alternative to improving Libya's coast guard would be that of monitoring the country's southern border to prevent migrants from entering Libya in the first place. Recent media reports have indicated that some in Brussels have begun mooting the establishment of a mission to do so. But the idea has not found widespread favor in the EU capital and Berlin, too, is opposed. "I don't think a European police mission is realistic at the present time," says one German official.
One reason, to be sure, are the challenges associated with doing so. Libya's southern border runs for 1,500 kilometers through an extremely hot desert controlled largely by local clans. But Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn believes that, despite the difficulties, exactly that strategy should be pursued. "Europe has to help Libya control its southern border," he says. "That is the gate for migration to Europe. It isn't just when the refugees head out to sea."
"The refugees must be stopped before they reach the Sahara," agrees Monika Hohlmeier, a member of European Parliament from the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's CDU. "It's all a vicious circle: The more people we save in the Mediterranean, the more refugees end up in the migrant smuggling apparatus or die on the way." A strategy paper produced by the European Political Strategy Centre, a think tank under the authority of Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, reaches the same conclusion. By limiting itself to merely saving migrants in maritime distress, Europe has "unintentionally encouraged smugglers to adopt new strategies enabling them to reap more benefits, while placing migrants even more at risk," the paper, published in early February, reads.
Brutal Treatment
Frontex has noted that migrant smugglers have recently become even more unscrupulous. They have, for example, begun packing up to 170 people onto inflatable rafts that can only safely transport 15 passengers at most. It isn't possible for such an overloaded vessel to make the entire trip across to Italy, nor is that the intention. The engines generally only have enough fuel to make it out of Libyan waters, with smugglers relying on the migrants being picked up by a passing ship. If not, well that's just bad luck. More than 1,000 migrants have already lost their lives trying to reach Italy this year.
Migrants who have been saved have told Frontex officials about the brutal treatment meted out by the smugglers. Those who refuse to board the overflowing boats in Libya are often forced to do so at gunpoint. Some are even shot or murdered. Frontex spokeswoman Cooper says that the border agency has repeatedly discovered migrants with gunshot wounds among those who have been saved from the Mediterranean.
It is a dilemma: The Europeans cannot simply stand by as increasing numbers of people drown in the Mediterranean. But the more active NGOs are in pulling people out of the water, the more cynically the smugglers take advantage of the help they provide. It has become something of a "taxi service to Europe" that has increased the incentive to risk the journey, complain high ranking German officials.
The Italian judiciary has gone a step further and accused some aid organizations of abetting human smuggling. "We have proof that individual NGOs maintain direct contact with migrant smugglers in Libya," claims Public Prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro, based in Catania in Sicily. "Telephone calls from Libya are made directly to these NGOs. The direction of travel to their ships are illuminated with spotlights."
For years, Italy has been among the European countries most affected by the refugee influx. The government in Rome, led by Paolo Gentiloni, is under extreme pressure. The hostels are overcrowded and there have been violent protests against newcomers in some Italian communities -- and populist politicians have been highlighting the issue ahead of upcoming mayoral elections. The head of the right-wing populist party Lega Nord says that "the invaders must be stopped and the illegals should be sent away." His party currently stands at around 13 percent in nationwide polls. Meanwhile, Senate Vice President Luigi di Maio, of the Five Star Movement, the strongest political party in the country, has been blasting away at the NGOs who save drowning refugees at sea.
Solidarity in Name Only
The Italian government has launched a variety of measures in an effort to regain control over the situation, but the number of new arrivals continues to climb. Shortly before Easter, Rome quickly issued a decree allowing for the more rapid deportation of asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. In addition, Prime Minister Gentiloni and Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano are seeking to sign agreements with the most important countries of origin and transit countries in Africa. The president of Niger, for example, was recently promised 50 million euros during a visit to the Italian capital in exchange for tighter controls on the country's border with Libya.
The Italians do not believe that there will be a rapid breakthrough on the distribution of refugees throughout Europe. Recent years have shown repeatedly that solidarity exists in name only. In 2015, other EU members promised to take 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece. Thus far, however, only 16,000 have been resettled.
During a breakfast meeting a week ago Wednesday, EU ambassadors from the 28 member states studied a six-page compromise paper presented by the Maltese council presidency: "The Solidarity Component of the Dublin System Reform." The paper envisions a system whereby Europe will classify immigration levels into three categories: normal refugee flows, strong increases and massive inflows in a crisis. Talks have focused primarily on the second category, with the third being classified as a "serious crisis situation."
Germany is insisting that as many European countries as possible accept refugees. To encourage countries like Hungary and Poland to accept such a plan, a compensation mechanism is under discussion which would include financial incentives for accepting refugees. Countries that accept more than their quota would receive 60,000 euros per refugee within five years, whereas those who don't meet their quota would have to pay the same amount.
As a further concession, the proposal envisions the suspension of the distribution mechanism when more than a certain number of refugees per year need to be distributed -- the number 200,000 is currently under discussion. The measure, though, remains bracketed in the paper, which is EU diplomats' way of indicating that the debate has not yet been settled.
No Solution in Sight
In the case of a "serious crisis situation," the paper calls for "simplified legal procedures," which likely means that only the minimum standards laid out in the Geneva Refugee Convention would apply.
The proposals in the paper will not provide relief in the immediate future, which is why the Commission is urging EU member states to speed up deportations. Officials estimate that around 1 million people who sought asylum in 2015 and 2016 saw their applications rejected, meaning they were required to be sent home. But since 2015, not even half that number have been deported. Repatriations to African countries are often unfeasible, says one EU diplomat. "Either the countries refuse to take their citizens back or the refugees who are to be deported have long since disappeared."
Meanwhile, demands are growing in Berlin for more intense monitoring of the German-Swiss border. Germany's federal police force recorded 1,880 illegal entries through the border during the first three months of this year. It's not a huge number, but it has more than tripled relative to the same period in 2016 despite the lack of stationary border controls of the kind seen on the German-Austrian border. In other words, the true number of illegal entries is likely much higher.
"If the number of migrants coming across the Mediterranean continues to rise, we won't be able to avoid controls on the German-Swiss border," says Armin Schuster, a German parliamentarian with the CDU. Fellow conservative Stephan Mayer is demanding that the border be "tightly controlled, unilaterally if necessary, without EU permission."
Rigorous repatriations to source countries, border controls, measures to fight the causes of flight: Berlin and Brussels are deploying a broad variety of steps to prevent a new refugee crisis. The deepest crisis of Merkel's tenure taught the chancellor an important lesson: When a large influx of migrants begins pressuring Europe's external borders, Germany cannot look away. "We Germans," Merkel said in late August 2016, "ignored the problem for too long."
Today, government officials speak of the crisis as a "time when we weren't sufficiently aware of the problem." They say, however, that "we have learned our lesson." That seems to be the case. There is no lack of awareness for the problem this time around. But there is nevertheless no solution in sight.After years of rumors that Whole Foods Market might come to midtown Sacramento, the Texas-based grocery chain said Wednesday it had signed a lease for a new location at 20th and L streets.
“We are excited to expand our reach into Sacramento’s eclectic and dynamic midtown neighborhood,” Rob Twyman, Whole Foods president for Northern California, said in a news release.
Pappas Investments said Whole Foods will occupy the entire 40,000-square-foot ground floor of a mixed-use structure that the Sacramento-based developer plans to build across from its offices on L Street. The project will include 140 apartments and two stories of parking above the market, and one story of parking below it, Pappas said.
Pappas will tear down the existing low-rise parking garage it owns on the block to make way for the mixed-use building and plans to develop additional parking at 21st Street and Capitol Avenue.
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The project is still in its early planning stages and must win city approval, the firm said.
Whole Foods has four stores in the Sacramento region: in the cities of Davis, Roseville and Folsom, and in the Arden Arcade area of Sacramento County. The midtown location would be the first Whole Foods store in the city of Sacramento.
Some officials expressed excitement that the project would add to midtown’s growing residential and retail options.
“A grocery store in that area with housing is a huge win,” said Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen, who represents midtown. “The biggest thing the city can do is to make sure we don’t dawdle.”
Some weren’t so enthused.
Among them were supporters of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, the member-owned grocery store in midtown that sells many of the same natural and organic products as Whole Foods. The co-op, now located on Alhambra Boulevard, is planning to build a new, larger store at 28th and R streets, about a mile away from the proposed Whole Foods site.
“They’re |
against his 51-year-old wife, Irena.
The contrast to how these cases are handled is striking. Citizens are charged with false claims while officers appear effectively immune from such charges. This includes New York cases, such as the recent case against a WABC meteorologist. The rare cases that do see charges generally involve civil rights allegations, as here.
The New York criminal code contains the following:
Falsely reporting an incident in the first degree (N.Y. PENAL LAW § 240.60) –No less than 3, nor more than 7 years’ imprisonment; No more than $5,000 fine. Falsely reporting an incident in the second degree (N.Y. PENAL LAW § 240.55) — No less than 3, nor more than 4 years’ imprisonment; No more than $5,000 fine. Falsely reporting an incident in the third degree (N.Y. PENAL LAW § 240.50)– No more than 1 year imprisonment; No more than $1,000 fine
“Reporting” is likely to be viewed as an act of a citizen and police officers can claim a generous level of discretion. Yet, this is a case where the officer clearly knew he was lying and bringing a baseless charge.
We have seen a number of cases where citizens are charged with assault for the slightest contact with officers even an air kiss. Previously, we saw how a hug was charged as a felony. We have also seen an officer claim battery when a bubble touched him. Then there is the officer who charged battery when a suspect released gas in his presence. These all pale in comparison to being hit by a flying pillow, of course.
In the absence of a video, such charges generally are difficult for citizens to rebut — another example of why citizens should be able to videotape officers in public.
Source: NY Daily News as first seen on ABA Journal
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FacebookProbably the last outing for Barack O-Bomber, and I am really happy with it.
In addition to the carbon thrusters, I have made several changes - for one, I went back to all-wings (8 in total) instead of 4 wings + 4 rudders, due to 1. the numerous bugs that rudders have and 2. the better gliding ability of wings, and higher agility when overclocked. I also removed the vertical rudder, which changes the gliding behaviour significantly (no more dipping or unwanted rolling).
There is only a single cube in the whole design, and it's a "6" for the look only. Everything else is built entirely out of prism-weaving sheets, and it has 2 separate spines (also prism/tetra weaving) which are visible on one of the pictures. This allows for wings not to transfer damage to the other functional parts. The spines are encased in a full layer of armour around the plane, on which the 7 plasma launchers and 16 thrusters are mounted.
It is a truly glorious bomber. As a bonus, a gameplay video of O-Bomber in a spectacular platoon (see for yourself).
Bringing democracy to the Red team (I hear they have oil..)
Cube Count: 771
Robot Value: 17.6 million RP
Please check out my other designs as well!Microsoft and Facebook have announced they are to lay a latest-generation submarine cable under the Atlantic to improve internet connections between the United States and Europe. The two giant tech companies say the cable will provide significantly faster online speeds, as well as better cloud computing services. Dubbed “Marea,” the cable will have a capacity of around 160 terabytes per second, 16 million times faster than a domestic connection, making the transatlantic cable the fastest broadband on the planet. Its eight pairs of fibers will connect the 6,600 kilometers between a North Virginia data center, and the Spanish province of Bizkaia, in the Basque Country, from where it will be distributed to other centers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The project will be operated by Telxius, a new infrastructure company set up by Spain’s leading telecoms operator, Telefónica, and that could invest in the company that owns the cable, say sources there.
Microsoft will use the new cable to improve its cloud-based services such as Azure, as well as Xbox, Skype and Office
The route taken by the cable begins further south than other transatlantic connections, which normally depart from New York. The new location will provide a more flexible and secure connection for customers in the United States and Europe and will give priority to Facebook and Microsoft services. Microsoft will use the new cable to improve its cloud-based services such as Azure, as well as Xbox, Skype and Office. Speaking on behalf of Facebook, Najam Ahmad, vice president of network technology, said his company “was always evaluating new technologies and systems to provide the best connectivity possible.”
The goal of both companies is to meet its customers’ growing and increasingly complex connection and data-consumption requirements, and to speed up the development of the latest generation of internet infrastructure. Marea will have open infrastructure, meaning it will be a cable that can operate using technology from a range of manufacturers. The design will mean cheaper costs for customers and better equipment, which could translate into the growth of broadband ratios by using fiber optics in the future. Construction of the cable will begin in August this year and is due to finish in October 2017.
Facebook and Microsoft are working with Telxius to benefit from Telefónica’s experience and know-how with underwater cables. The company will operate and manage the system and will be able to sell capacity as part of its wholesale infrastructure business. “Working with Facebook and Microsoft on this project will reinforce Telxius’ leadership and allow us to capture new market opportunities,” said Rafael Arranz, the company’s head of operations.
English version by Nick Lyne.Nearly 50 families in East Cambridge have been displaced by a fire that tore through the neighborhood over the weekend. That's according to city officials who estimate the fire affected a total of more than 100 people.
The stench of burnt vinyl filled the air on Berkshire Street where a 10-alarm fire drew a response from more than 20 neighboring fire departments. Neighbors consoled one another as tow trucks hauled away the charred remains of cars destroyed in the fire.
"It was an inferno," East Cambridge resident Joe Buswell said. "The house next to us where the construction was burned to the ground. And our house, they're gonna tear that down now, and then all the houses over here."
Buswell has lived for 30 years in a triple-decker on Berkshire Street.
"I feel empty," he said. "But the good thing is that nobody lost their lives. That's the main thing. We can always rebuild."
The fire began around 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Fire officials fought the flames through the night as they spread to neighboring buildings and damaged 15 structures.
Crews moving a burnt out vehicle from Berkshire Street on Sunday. (Simón Rios/WBUR)
The Red Cross set up an evacuation center Saturday at War Memorial Recreation Center with beds for dozens of families, though just a few spent the night. Shelter manager Robert Picard said the first step was to make sure people were warm and cared for.
"Then a second phase kicks in and that's case work," Picard said, "getting people moved to temporary or permanent new housing, helping them replace furniture, clothing, food that they need to set up the house."
Picard said going into the Christmas season is a bad time of year to experience a fire. But he says multiple agencies and nonprofits are already working on getting people back on their feet.
"They're trying to have to now look for housing. The [Cambridge] Housing Authority is working already to try to identify what housing is available that they could move people into," Picard said. "Many of the landlords are looking to see if they can find additional housing."
The Red Cross was working to register all of the displaced families. The families are staying with family and friends, as well as strangers who offered up their homes.
Sahida Akter and her husband and three kids are staying in a hotel — and they have a long road ahead.
"Everything is gone. I lost everything. My passport, my jewelry, gold, everything, gone," Akter said.
City officials are calling on the public to donate to the relief effort by visiting cambridgema.gov.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The expected return to the familiar excited Ohio State and the Buckeyes' offensive line as they anticipated facing a Northern Illinois 4-3 defense featuring four down linemen.
That's not what they got.
For the third straight game, the Buckeyes saw a defense that didn't go 4-3, and it was the second game with three down linemen, with a linebacker entering the picture as another potential pass rusher. For the third straight game, Ohio State talked about problems dealing with it.
"Played all odd," Urban Meyer said to the first question of his news conference after Ohio State's 20-13 win over the Huskies. "They changed their defense.
"Last week was all odd and then this week they went to all odd, and we're having trouble with that right now."
What the Buckeyes prefer is a chance for their interior linemen to double team linemen, move them aside and let running back Ezekiel Elliott get to work. Against three down linemen, center Jacoby Boren winds up with a bigger noseguard on top of him and the guards are left trying to figure out where another defender may be attacking from.
"You prepare for one defense and they come on another one," left tackle Taylor Decker said. "Obviously everybody is going to play odd against us now, we've showed that we struggle against it. And that kind of takes away our double teams, which is what we like to do and run the ball up the middle. It creates problems for us and we just have to iron out those wrinkles."
Decker talked about the variety of disguised blitzes the line must face from that defense. And trying to run straight ahead with Elliott is more challenging if they're searching for the right block.
"When we double team we can move people and we can displace them," Decker said. "That odd defense, we just have to prepare for it better and have some better answers and just execute.
"It is very frustrating because I know we're capable of a lot better execution. I know our offense is kind of getting held back a little bit by us not executing. But this time last year we weren't playing at that level. And year to year our offensive line gets better and better and I have all the confidence in the world in each and every one of my teammates, especially the linemen, and we'll get it figured out."Google+ has made Google unfriendly.
In its new privacy policy, which all Google users must accept on Mar. 1, Google says in plain language:
When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones.
So this is not at all a "privacy" policy. It is a "publicity" policy. It is the exact opposite of a privacy policy. What is really says is quite simple:
"Our policy is that there isn't any privacy; everything is public."
That would have taken far fewer words than the ones Google's lawyers chose to mask the real meaning.
This license is simply too broad for me. While I applaud Google's effort to rid the world of legal mumbo-jumbo, in the process of rewriting its privacy policy, Google has taken advantage of its users by granting itself far more power than most users want Google to have. And, no doubt, Google is heavily relying on users not to read the privacy policy, since most never bother to do so.
This is what created so many problems for Facebook in years past. And in a stupid effort to topple Facebook, Google has changed its focus from being an excellent provider of user services to a social networking tool that many never wanted or needed. Indeed, virtually none of my friends, family and acquaintances joined Google+ and probably never will. What they wanted was the ease of use that Google's services provided.
Google, you want to be all things to all people. It won't work. Stop it and go back to doing what you once did well: totally unbiased search, excellent email, great photo storage, wonderful voice mail, and so many other useful services. Wrapping this all together in a way that users haven't requested is doing the very kind of evil that your founders eschewed.
It would be different if the new policy invited users to go to the Google Dashboard and link those services that the user wanted to be shared. But as with most companies, Google has chosen the approach that is most irritating: the default for everything is on, and it can't be changed by the user.
For me, this policy change means I will have to withdraw from participating in Google+ before Mar. 1, and it likely means I will have to start finding alternatives to the many Google services I currently use, since being logged in subjects me to Google's whims and future policy changes. This saddens me, because I had been a great supporter -- indeed, a cheerleader -- for Google products. But I relied too much upon Google's promise to "do no evil." I thought Larry and Sergey really meant what they said. And I guess they did -- at the time. Now, it's all about the money.
It's a mystery to me how companies can become so blind so quickly. I left Facebook a couple of years ago when it implemented a similar "everything is ours" policy. Netflix, which had been churning along nicely until its CEO repeatedly shot himself in the foot, lost my business last year. In its own way, Google is now aiming at its foot.A pair of advocates—they do legitimate research too, but their ardor is so intense, it’s hard to call them scientists—believe that they will, within their lifetimes, make ours the first generation of humans to live forever.
Their quest is elegantly laid out in The Immortalists, a new documentary making its way around the film festival circuit. The Immortalists follows the triumphs and tragedies of three years in the lives of William H. Andrews and Aubrey de Grey, two men who prove just as interesting as the work they’re doing. The Immortalists is really a film about death, not life, which is what makes it so fascinating.
Here’s the trailer:
The goal of Andrews and de Grey is not merely to extend life, but to actually reverse the aging process. “Once we are really truly repairing things as fast as they go wrong, game over,” de Grey says in the film. “We will have the ability to live indefinitely.”
The mechanisms by which each man proposes to end death are radically different. Andrews suggests that in order to lengthen our lives, we may have only to extend the length of our telomeres, which are caps on the end of our DNA that shorten as we age, leading to the breakdown and demise of cells. This mechanism for extending life has the advantage of a potentially straightforward solution: If we can find a pill that lengthens telomeres, we’ve won. Andrews spends the duration of the film searching for one.
De Grey, a theorist who comes across as the better scientist despite his lack of experience “at the bench”—scientist parlance for doing research in a lab—disagrees with Andrews. While his solution to mortality isn’t as clearly articulated in the film, it seems to line up with the strategy articulated by the dean of transhumanism (a movement that aims to remove the limitations on human existence), Ray Kurzweil: Stay alive until microscopic robots that swim through our bloodstream and physically repair our cells are invented, in 20 or so years.
All this may sound crazy, but de Grey has convinced Silicon Valley luminaries such as PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel to give him millions of dollars to fund a full-fledged research foundation devoted to testing his ideas.
What will we do when some portion of humanity refuses to die?
The science behind this sort of thing is extremely controversial—and so are its philosophical implications. It might seem premature to start talking about what we’ll do when the day of the undead finally arrives, but after spending two hours with Andrews and de Gray, I came out convinced that this is a conversation at least worth starting.
David Alvarado, who made The Immortalists with Jason Sussberg, described a similar pivot to me after the film’s premier at South by Southwest. He said he went into this project feeling skeptical of the science behind life extension. Three years and countless hours of filming later, however, it struck him that, eventually, we will radically extend human lifespans—it’s just a question of when.
If humans could live forever, it would transform our civilization in ways more profound than just about any other technological breakthrough. Lifelong marriage—already on the ropes in the age of ever-lengthening lifespans—would cease to make sense. Overpopulation could become an even more significant issue than it is now. The cost of war might have to be re-evaluated. We could live long enough for humans to reach other stars. Young people might find themselves unable to compete in an ossified job market, full of people with centuries of experience.
The Immortalists poses a straightforward question: Why shouldn’t we cure death? But the answer to that question depends on who is asking it—any individual one of us, or all of us.Just a month after sending his Soviet sportswear inspired SS16 collection down the runway at Paris Fashion Week, Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy has unveiled a capsule collection that pays tribute to cult artist Timur Novikov. In these t-shirts, sweatshirts and caps, the Dazed 100 designer has fused elements of Novikov’s graphic art (specifically his 80s series Horizons) and his own signature post-Soviet style.
Not only was Novikov a leading figure in nonconformist art, he was also a key player on Russia’s underground art scene during the 80s, known for creating St. Petersburg’s New Artists Group (basically the USSR’s answer to Andy Warhol’s Factory). Though he sadly passed away in 2002, Novikov has retained cult status among Russian youth.
And this isn't the first time Rubchinskiy has referenced a Russian artist – for SS16 he looked to Alexander Rodcheko, a leading figure of constructvist art, responsible for some of Soviet Russia’s most iconic images.
This collection is available from July 25 at Dover Street Market London, New York and Ginza, as well as Paris Trading Museum.
Watch Gosha Rubchinskiy’s SS16 show below:Those of you who make a point of keeping up with the fan site community, or who follow me on twitter and have seen all the retweets, have no doubt noticed that a great many sites have been granted some exclusive card previews which have been appearing over the last couple of days. We’ve seen some great cards in these previews, and I’m very happy to say that Casual Hex have been granted our own exclusive! So, without further ado, here he is – Hop’hiro, Samurai!
Hop’hiro, Samurai appears humble enough at first glance – a 1ATT/1DEF Troop for 1 resource, but as you might have guessed from the fact that he’s a rare, there’s more here than meets the eye. First of all, he has the ability to sacrifice another troop in order to give another troop -1ATT – a nice little trick to have up your sleeve if you have some extra Battle Hoppers sitting around and need to take the teeth out of an enemy attack. The first block of text on the card is definitely more interesting though – after a couple of sacrifices, he transforms into Hop’hiro, Elite Samurai!
Now we’re talking! This guy is clearly much more powerful now, fuelled as he is by the blood of his sacrificed comrades. Upgraded to 2ATT/2DEF, his ability has also received a nice boost – it now causes -1ATT/-1DEF. This not only allows you to soften up your opponents bigger troops, but you can finish off their pesky 1DEF troops altogether. This is a pretty useful ability to have, as there are quite a few 1 defence troops that you might otherwise have trouble dealing with – Flock of Seagulls for example, or the Warlock Inquisitor. Both rendered completely inert for the low low cost of a Battle Hopper. Also, is it just me or are the spikes on his armour getting bigger…?
The fun doesn’t stop there though – Hop’hiro still hasn’t reached his peak! A couple more sacrifices and he transforms once again, into Hop’hiro, Samurai Warlord!
Yeah, those spikes are definitely getting bigger. Hop’hiro’s final form, a mighty Samurai Warlord, positively crackles with power. He’s been boosted to 3ATT/3DEF, which makes him one of the strongest Shin’hare we’ve seen so far, and his new ability reinforces that idea – sacrifice a troop, spend a resource, and he can just flat out destroy another troop. This is obviously going to cause your opponent a lot of problems, especially if you have a lot of sacrifice fodder sitting around, and the 3DEF puts him out of range of most common damage-based removal.
As you can see, Hop’hiro has some great potential, and the best part is he fits almost perfectly with other Shin’hare cards that become more powerful with sacrifices – sacrifice a card to the Blood Cauldron Ritualist and both him and the Shin’hare Eulogist will be buffed up, and Hop’hiro gets one of his Bushido counters. Hideous Conversion and Necessary Sacrifice also have great synergy with this guy if you find that his own sacrifice ability isn’t needed at that moment.
Obviously the biggest weakness of this guy is that in his earlier forms there is a wide range of removal that will take him straight out, and given his ability to utterly decimate your opponent’s troops in his final stage he’s going to make a pretty tempting target. Luckily, due to his fantastically low cost, it’s quite easy to keep him in your hand and wait for a chance to upgrade him in a single go. All you’d need is a handful of old reliable Battle Hoppers and something with a free sacrifice ability – the aforementioned Hideous Conversion would work just fine – and you could play him and upgrade him in a single turn, for just 1 resource.
Hop’hiro is going to be great in Constructed formats – I could easily see a deck that revolves around upgrading this guy on turn 4 or 5, blitzing the entire enemy line and then just smacking your foe to death while his defences lay in ruins before they even have a chance to react (note to self: make a deck that does that.) Things are a little more murky in Draft, though. If you’re already into a Shin’hare deck that has a lot of expendable troops then Hop’hiro will definitely be a nice addition, but if he is in your first pack, picking him with the hopes of forcing your way into a Shin’hare deck might be a bit of a gamble. Still, a good deal of the cards that work well with Hop’hiro are common or uncommon, so it might be a gamble that pays off.
Hop’hiro also has some pretty nice PvE equipment. As you’ve no doubt noticed, Hop’hiro is a Unique troop, which means you can only have one of them in play at once. The Whispering Blade equipment means that having another copy of him in your hand isn’t a dead card – you can discard him for a mighty +4ATT/+4DEF buff. This can become especially handy if your opponent is trying to pick him off with some trivial damage trick like a Bombsmith, or if you’ve already obliterated all their defenders and want to make one final push for the win.
The Scroll Case Of The Red Sign is the Legendary piece of equipment, and is something else altogether – if Hop’hiro connects with an enemy Champion, all other Shin’hare you control get +1ATT/+1DEF. This is obviously going to make your army of little rabbits become a lot more formidable after just a couple of attacks, especially if you have a lot of them on the board. The obvious issue here is that you’ll probably have sacrificed most of your fodder so the number of troops you’ll have left over to gain this benefit will be small, but that just makes the effect all the more important – helping you get the most out of those troops you haven’t dropped onto the butcher’s block.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I love this card. I’m a huge fan of cards that transform and Hop’hiro is the perfect example of the mechanic, with an incredible, game-changing payoff at the end. On top of that, both his method of transformation and the flavour text on the Samurai Warlord offer another horrifying glimpse into Shin’hare culture – a society in which peasants are bred and then killed in droves just to make their warriors more powerful. Chilling!
Community Spotlight
As I said, a whole load of other exclusive previews have been published by other Hex websites, so here’s a quick run down of the ones so far – there are a lot of great cards here, so make sure to check them out!
– The fine folks over at Hex TCG Pro have revealed the Gearsmith and the Eye of Oblivion.
– The unending generosity of Hex Vault‘s Colin has been rewarded with Crimson Clarity and the Cloudwatcher.
– Over at the Hex Wiki they revealed Survival of the Fittest and the Wind Whisperer in a Gamepedia article.
– Utopian Chaos have revealed the perfect counter to the deck I featured recently, in the form of Persecute.
– Last but not least, Hex Realms have previewed the incredibly versatile Chimera.
There are still a few more exclusive previews to be revealed, so be sure to keep an eye on those sites and the general Hex community to stay up to date! Alpha is due less than a week from now, and you wouldn’t want to fall behind! (Update: I’ve added the new previews, along with a competition in which you can win some free booster packs, here!)
That’s all for today. Many thanks to Cryptozoic for giving me this exclusive – as you can see, there are many great Hex websites out there, so the support shown to my humble little corner of the community is greatly appreciated! Check back next time, when I reveal how to stop the NSA from accessing your email via the fillings in your teeth!base coat
2 coats of white
2 coats of gradient stamping
top coat
So many awesome ways to create pretty results!
See my disclosure statement for more information.
Ever have a day when you see something that totally changes how you look at something? Yea, that was me last night. I was browsing nail stuff online (as I so often do) and came across people doing a sponged gradient in a totally different way. (See here and here for examples.) It looked much easier than the tutorial I just wrote, and it looked just as good (if not better)! I had to try it out!This isthan the method I've been using. The tutorial can be summed up like this:And that's it! You cut a piece of sponge the size of your nail (or just paint an area the size of your nail), paint stripes of the colors you're using onto your sponge, then pat-pat-pat the sponge over your nail all at once. The gradient basically forms itself, and you're left with amessy gradient that goes all over your fingers!I sent a link to my friend, needing to share my excitement over this find. She didn't believe that it could look so smooth and pretty. Then she did it- she challenged me to prove to her it could look that smooth and soft. What could I do?I pulled out my China Glaze Electropop collection and started painting. I only did one nail, as a proof of concept, and WOW was it messy. There's really no way to avoid getting the polish everywhere unless you tape off your fingers like you would do for a water marble. I'll have to try that next time...Still, the one nail I did turned out beautiful. This wasn't enough for her... she didn't think it looked smooth enough, so I added a layer of topcoat over everything to meld it together.Even though I know how much topcoat can pull a manicure together, I was still blown away at just how smooth this gradient was! It was so easy, and so pretty. That's one stamped coat of rainbow goodness on my index finger there, and it's absolutely gorgeous.She was pretty gobsmacked too. She couldn't believe how fast and easy it was to get a gradient look like this. She's definitely looking at her ombre nails kit differently now.So of course, I needed to do a full manicure like this, but I was too lazy to deal with 5 colors like I had in my test run. I ended up sticking with three pastel shades- I'm fairly sure I used Dance Baby, Sweet Hook, and Kinetic Candy.As you can see, it worked beautifully. The stripes on the sponge really didn't look all that soft and gradienty, but on the nail? Gorgeous pastel softness. I'm just blown away at how smooth the transition is!Cleanup was an utter nightmare, much like trying to clean up a water marble is. I used cotton swabs, brushes and acetone, and still had a horrible mess to clean up. Still... it's SO worth it!I can just see doing all my nails in rainbows. You could also do angled gradients or vertical gradients, based on how you apply the colors on the sponge. I really am in love with this look!Although now I'm thinking it would be fun with a pattern over it- I'm thinking zebra stripes, or maybe leopard print. My husband laughed when he saw it and said my nails look like easter eggs.So, what do you think of this look? Would you wear it? Would you change it? Would you put a print over the top of it? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of it...A memorial planned to honor one of the great American leaders of the 20th century has instead become a monument to government waste.
In 1999 Congress authorized building a Washington memorial to honor Dwight D. Eisenhower for his service as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and his guidance of the country as its 34th president.
Fifteen years later the project has already cost American taxpayers more than $65 million. And quarrels between the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission on the one hand and Congress and the Eisenhower family on the other hand mean that there’s a real possibility that no memorial will ever be built and the money will have gone for naught.
The commission, the body in charge of the memorial’s “nature, design, construction and location,” previously devoured $41 million of the funds and is on pace to spend the rest of the $65 million allotment from Congress without ever building a monument.
Some members of the commission — which is composed of four citizens appointed by the president, four members of the House of Representatives and four senators — are now lobbying for an additional $50 million in taxpayer funding.
Bruce Cole, a member of the commission who has been critical of the spending, calls the process behind the Eisenhower memorial “the classic definition of a Washington boondoggle.”
The final cost of the monument is now estimated to reach $150 million. In contrast, the Lincoln Memorial cost $47 million to build, adjusted for inflation, according to research by the National Civic Art Society. The expansive Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, with five water features, four open-air “rooms” and numerous statues and sculptures spread across nearly 8 acres, cost a comparatively modest $65 million.
For taking $65 million from the pockets of taxpayers with absolutely nothing to show for it, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission has been awarded the Golden Hammer, a weekly mark of shame for egregious examples of wasteful spending of tax dollars.
Celebrity architect
Rampant spending and interminable delays associated with the monument are rooted in the commission’s decision to award the memorial’s design contract to celebrated avant-garde architect Frank Gehry. The selection of Mr. Gehry’s design was fraught with issues, including special treatment for the celebrity architect, a House Committee on Natural Resources majority staff report about the project found.
The report’s authors determined that Mr. Gehry may have been improperly chosen to design the memorial because his submission failed to meet Congress and the commission’s original aesthetic goals. Today, eight years after the original design criteria were established, Mr. Gehry’s plan still fails to meet them. A design jury that evaluated the design proposals even recommended against accepting Mr. Gehry’s proposal.
His design was chosen, nonetheless, partially because “the factors used to select the designer were weighted in a way that benefited a well-known designer such as Gehry,” according to the report.
The chairman of the commission, Rocco C. Siciliano, who served as a special assistant to President Eisenhower, declined to speak on the record, citing ill health.
Carl Reddel, a retired Air Force general who serves as the commission’s executive director, said Mr. Gehry was the ideal choice for a designer of the Eisenhower memorial given the president’s “international constituency.”
“Frank Gehry is the most celebrated architect in the world,” Mr. Reddel said, adding that the name will appeal to “many different stakeholders nationally and internationally” such as “people from WWII ally countries and early NATO members.”
John S.D. Eisenhower, the president’s son, who died late last year, requested that his father be remembered “with an Eisenhower Square that is a green open space with a simple statue in the middle, and quotations from his most important sayings.”
Design criticism
Mr. Gehry’s design, however, ignores these wishes.
The architect’s colossal proposal features a series of 80-foot-tall stone and steel columns that a member of the National Capital Planning Commission said looked like something out of the “latter scenes of ‘Planet of the Apes.’” The columns would hold massive metal tapestries “composed of multiple 3-foot-by-15-foot panels featuring twisted, bent and welded stainless steel wiring” that “when hung together, depict barren trees that are intended to depict the plains of Kansas,” according to the Committee on Natural Resources report.
Opponents of the design fear the columns could obstruct views of the nearby Capitol, and the metal tapestries would require costly maintenance and have to be replaced occasionally.
Members of the Eisenhower family oppose the metal tapestries because they “would be a literal ‘iron curtain’ and are evocative [of] Cold War era Communist iconography,” the report claims.
John S.D. Eisenhower believed “the scope and scale of [Mr. Gehry’s design] is too extravagant and it attempts to do too much. On the one hand it presumes a great deal of prior knowledge of history on the part of the average viewer. On the other, it tries to tell multiple stories. In my opinion, that is best left to museums.”
Susan Eisenhower, the president’s granddaughter, testified to Congress that her family “thinks the design is flawed in concept and overreaching in scale.”
Against the Eisenhower family’s wishes, the commission paid Mr. Gehry’s firm $16.4 million for the design and went to work shoehorning the massive memorial in a small plaza just south of the National Mall, across the street from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
A public outcry about the memorial’s size and design, as well as concern over the commission’s apparent disregard for the Eisenhower family’s wishes, however, have ground the project to a halt.
“Even the memorials we now regard as great today didn’t have unanimous support in their day,” said Victoria Tigwell, the deputy executive director at the Eisenhower Memorial Commission.
Federal regulations prevent a construction project from beginning until all funding is in place. The rule is a safeguard against projects sitting half-finished for years. In order for that funding threshold to be met, the commission needs to raise another $85 million.
Congressional indifference
The commission is currently seeking $50 million in additional public funding from Congress, but federal lawmakers want nothing to do with spending more tax dollars on Mr. Gehry’s controversial monument design.
The current design for the Eisenhower Memorial is a “rare exception where there is true bipartisan agreement,” said Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society. “Democrats don’t want it; Republicans don’t want it. It doesn’t have a single champion in Congress.”
The House of Representatives voted earlier this year to withhold any additional funding for the monument during the 2015 fiscal year.
It appears that any additional federal money for the project is unlikely unless the design is changed to something more reflective of the Eisenhower family’s vision for the memorial.
“Would [critics] rather see no Eisenhower memorial at all than have this one?” asked Ms. Tigwell.
“The fear is that the commission will spend down all its remaining appropriated money on the Gehry design, and the worst will happen: No fitting memorial to a great American and no will to start over,” said Mr. Cole, a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Fundraising difficulties
In addition to hoping for another $50 million in tax dollars from Congress, the commission planned to raise $35 million from private donors to underwrite a portion of the memorial’s construction costs. The commission spent $1.2 million on a consulting firm to help raise private funds. To date, those efforts have resulted in just $448,000 in donations.
Still, Mr. Reddel remains optimistic about raising money for the project. “As [potential donors] find out how Gehry is bringing the heathland to the capital, we believe we will be able to raise the additional private funding,” Mr. Reddel said.
“According to federal regulation, many more dollars — in the neighborhood of $80 million — will have to be in place before a single shovel of earth can be turned,” Mr. Cole points out. “All this money has to come from the taxpayers’ pockets because, in over a decade, the commission has raised less than $500,000 in private donations.”
Critics claim that the controversy surrounding the monument has made the project toxic for foundations, corporations and wealthy individuals who would typically help to bankroll such an endeavor.
In October, a small group of commissioners met and agreed to slightly alter Mr. Gehry’s design, including removing two of the metal tapestries and eliminating several of the columns in order to make the monument less obtrusive. Thus |
so often associate this song with 1977 that I forget about its earlier performances, which include a couple in 1973, a handful in 1974 and 1976, and even one in 1975. But the meat of Peggy-Os run was from about 1977 through 1981. It didn’t seem to get as much play annually after that, but it was still a constant in the repertoire.
1977 gets a lot of plaudits from a lot of people. For the most part I agree that 1977 was a very good year for the Grateful Dead. There are some instances where I would have preferred a bit more setlist variety, something closer to the previous year. Who wouldn’t have wanted to hear Crazy Fingers in 1977? Or get a few more Help/Slip/Franks squeezed in there? But some songs greatly benefited from the well-oiled Grateful Dead machine in that year and for my money Peggy-O is one of those songs. As with any song, you can find great versions of pretty much anything in every year/era, but I think as far as consistently great versions Peggy-O and 1977 go together like peas and carrots.
Phil really stands out to my ears as this Peggy-O gets going. He’s playing a very bouncy bass line, which juxtaposes the more legato feel of the song here. Listen right around the 2 minute mark when he takes it into the upper register. The first instrumental break has Keith playing some lovely piano. Jerry is up in the mix and his signal is a bit hot, but what starts as a slow burn starts to throw some sparks before dipping back into the next verse. Keith seems just as busy as Jerry is once the next instrumental section rolls around. It’s amazing how well Keith both fills out the sound with his chording and adds melodic intricacies with his spirited runs. You can hear the accented playing from Keith signal their return to the verse. I always like it when you can pick up on the musical cues for things like that since a lot of cues are often visual and don’t translate to tape. More than anything this Peggy-O just reminds me how much I adore the 1977 versions of it. Weir has a bit of fun with the crowd talking about Mickey’s headphones before heading into New Minglewood Blues.
Complete Setlist 9/3/77
Previous Peggy-O DFAY Selections
[AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”155022932X” features=”0″ locale=”com” listprice=”0″]Russia's Nuclear Fuel Cycle
(Updated January 2019)
A significant increase in uranium mine production is planned.
There is increasing international involvement in parts of Russia's fuel cycle.
A major Russian political and economic objective is to increase exports, particularly for front-end fuel cycle services through Tenex, as well as nuclear power plants.
Russia uses about 3800 tonnes of natural uranium per year. After enrichment, this becomes 190 tU enriched to 4.3% for 9 VVER-1000 reactors (at 2004, now 13), 60 tU enriched to 3.6% for 6 VVER-440s, 350 tU enriched to 2.0% for 11 RBMK units, and 6 tU enriched to 20% (with 9 tU depleted) for the BN-600. Some 90 tU recycled supplements the RBMK supply at about 2% enrichment. This RepU arises from reprocessing the used fuel from BN, VVER-440 and marine and research reactors.
There is high-level concern about the development of new uranium deposits, and a Federal Council meeting in April 2015 agreed to continue the federal financing of exploration and estimation works in Vitimsky Uranium Region in Buryatia. It also agreed to financing construction of the engineering infrastructure of Mine No. 6 of Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union (PIMCU). The following month the Council approved key support measures including the introduction of a zero rate for mining tax and property tax; simplification of the system of granting subsoil use rights; inclusion of the Economic Development of the Far East and Trans-Baikal up to 2018 policy in the Federal Target Program; and the development of infrastructure in Krasnokamensk.
In June 2015 Rosgeologia signed a number of agreements to expedite mineral exploration in Russia, including one with Rosatom. It was established in July 2011 by presidential decree and consists of 38 enterprises located in 30 regions across Russia, but uranium is a minor part of its interests.
Uranium resources and mining
Russia has substantial economic resources of uranium, with about 9% of world reasonably assured resources plus inferred resources up to $130/kg – 505,900 tonnes U (2014 Red Book). Rosatom reported ARMZ resources as 517,000 tU in September 2015, mostly requiring underground mining. Historic uranium exploration expenditure is reported to have been about $4 billion. The Federal Natural Resources Management Agency (Rosnedra) reported that Russian uranium reserves grew by 15% in 2009, particularly through exploration in the Urals and Kalmykia Republic, north of the Caspian Sea.
Uranium production has varied from 2870 to 3560 tU/yr since 2004, and in recent years has been supplemented by that from Uranium One Kazakh operations, giving 7629 tU in 2012. In 2006 there were three mining projects in Russia, since then others have been under construction and more projected, as described below. Cost of production in remote areas such as Elkon is said to be US$ 60-90/kg. Spending on new ARMZ domestic projects in 2013 was RUR 253.5 million, though in November 2013 all Rosatom investment in mining expansion was put on hold due to low uranium prices.
Plans announced in 2006 for 28,600 t/yr U 3 O 8 output by 2020, 18,000t of this from Russia* and the balance from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Mongolia have since taken shape, though difficulties in starting new Siberian mines makes the 18,000 t target unlikely. Three uranium mining joint ventures were established in Kazakhstan with the intention of providing 6000 tU/yr for Russia from 2007: JV Karatau, JV Zarechnoye and JV Akbastau (see below and Kazakhstan paper).
AtomRedMetZoloto (ARMZ) is the state-owned company which took over Tenex and TVEL uranium exploration and mining assets in 2007-08, as a subsidiary of Atomenergoprom (79.5% owned). It inherited 19 projects with a total uranium resource of about 400,000 tonnes, of which 340,000 tonnes are in Elkonskiy uranium region and 60,000 tonnes in Streltsovskiy and Vitimskiy regions. The rights to all these resources had been transferred from Rosnedra, the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
JSC ARMZ Uranium Holding Company (as it is now known) became the mining division of Rosatom in 2008, responsible for all Russian uranium mine assets and also Russian shares in foreign joint ventures. In 2008, 78.6% of JSC Priargunsky, all of JSC Khiagda and 97.85% of JSC Dalur was transferred to ARMZ. In March 2009 the Federal Financial Markets Service of Russia registered RUR 16.4 billion of additional shares in ARMZ placed through a closed subscription to pay for uranium mining assets, on top of a RUR 4 billion issued in mid 2008 to pay for the acquisition of Priargunsky, Khiagda and Dalur. In November 2009 SC Rosatom paid a further RUR 33 billion for ARMZ shares, increasing its equity to 76.1%.
In 2009 and 2010 ARMZ took a 51% share in Canadian-based Uranium One Inc, paying for this with $610 million in cash and by exchange of assets in Kazakhstan: 50% of JVs Akbastau, Karatau and Zarechnoye, mining the Budenovskoye and Zarechnoye deposits. (An independent financial advisor put the value of ARMZ's stakes in the Akbastau and Zarechnoye JVs at $907.5 million.) Uranium One has substantial production capacity in Kazakhstan, including now those two mines with Karatau, Akdala, South Inkai and Kharasan, as well as small prospects in USA and Australia (sold in 2015). In 2013 ARMZ completed the purchase of outstanding shares in Uranium One Inc, and it became a full subsidiary of ARMZ. JSC Uranium One Group (U1 Group) is from December 2016 a 78.4% owned subsidiary of Atomenergoprom and apparently separate from ARMZ.
Following this, late in 2013 Rosatom established Uranium One Holding NV (U1H) as its global growth platform for all international uranium mining assets belonging to Russia, with headquarters in Amsterdam. It lists assets in Kazakhstan, USA and Tanzania, as well as owning and managing Rosatom’s stake in Uranium One Inc. In 2013 it accounted for 5086 tU production at average cash cost of $16/lb U 3 O 8, and reported 229,453 tU measured, indicated and inferred resources (attributable share). In 2014 it produced 4857 tU and listed resources of 177,000 tU. The company plans to extend its interests into rare earths. Its ‘strategic partner’ is JSC NAC Kazatomprom.
ARMZ remains responsible for uranium mining in Russia. At the end of 2013 it was 82.75% owned by Rosatom and 17.25% TVEL. Exploration expenditure has nearly doubled in two years to about US$ 52 million in 2008. In 2013 the government approved an exploration budget of RUR 14 billion ($450 million) through to 2020, principally in the Far East and Northern Siberia. Deposits suitable for ISL mining will be sought in the Transurals, Transbaikal and Kalmykyia. Other work will be in the Urals, Siberian, Far East Federal Districts (Zauralsky, Streltsovsky, Vitimsky and Vostochno-Zabaikalsky, and Elkonsky ore regions).
Rosgeologia, the Russian state-run geological exploration services company set up in 2011, has identified "promising" uranium deposits in the North-West Federal District of Russia following completion of a survey of the Kuol-Panayarvinskaya area on the border of the Murmansk region and the Republic of Karelia. It signed an agreement with Rosatom in 2015 to focus on uranium.
CJSC Rusburmash (RBM) is the exploration subsidiary of ARMZ. VNIPIPT is the subsidiary responsible for R&D and engineering of mining and processing plants.
In December 2010 ARMZ made a $1.16 billion takeover bid for Australia's Mantra Resources Ltd with a prospective Mkuju River project in southern Tanzania, which was expected in production about 2013 at 1400 tU/yr, but is now deferred. This is now under U1H.
Domestic mining
In 2009 the government accepted Rosatom’s proposal for ARMZ and Elkonsky Mining and Metallurgical Combine to set up the “open-type joint stock company” EGMK-Project. The state’s contribution through Rosatom to the EGMK-Project authorized capital will be RUR 2.657 billion, including RUR 2.391 billion in 2009 and RUR 0.266 billion in 2010. EGMK-Project is being set up to draw up the project and design documentation for Elkonsky Mining and Metallurgical Combine (see below).
The Russian Federation’s main uranium deposits are in four districts:
The Trans-Ural district in the Kurgan region between Chelyabinsk and Omsk, with the Dalur ISL mine.
Streltsovskiy district in the Transbaikal or Chita region of SE Siberia near the Chinese and Mongolian borders, served by Krasnokamensk and with major underground mines.
The Vitimsky district in Buryatia about 570 km northwest of Krasnokamensk, with the Khiagda ISL mine.
The more recently discovered remote Elkon district in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) some 1200 km north-northeast of the Chita region.
Present production by ARMZ is principally from the Streltsovskiy district, where major uranium deposits were discovered in 1967, leading to large-scale mining, originally with few environmental controls. These are volcanogenic caldera-related deposits. Krasnokamensk is the main town serving the mines.
In 2008 ARMZ said that it intended to triple production to 10,300 tU per year by 2015, with some help from Cameco, Mitsui and local investors. ARMZ planned to invest RUR 203 billion (US$ 6.1billion) in the development of uranium mining in Russia in 2008-2015. It aimed for 20,000 tU per year by 2024. Total cost was projected at RUR 67 billion ($2 billion), mostly at Priargunsky, with RUR 4.8 billion ($144 million) there by end of 2009 including a new $30 million, 500 tonne per day sulfuric acid plant commissioned in 2009, replacing a 1976 acid plant.
Russian uranium mining
Production centre Region First production Orebody Known resources: tU Capacity: tU/yr Priargunsky Transbaikal/Chita 1968 volcanic 95,700 @ 0.16% 3000 Dalur Trans-Ural/Kurgan 2004 sandstone 7,400 @ 0.04% 700 Khiagda Buryatia, Vitimsky 2010 sandstone 29,900 @ 0.05% 1000 Gornoye Transbaikal/Chita deferred granite, vein 3,200 @ 0.20% 300 Olovskaya Transbaikal/Chita deferred volcanic 8,210 @ 0.072% 600 Elkon Yakutia/Sakha (2020) metasomatite 303,600 @ 0.15% 5000 Lunnoye Yakutia/Sakha (2016?) polymetallic 800 100 with gold
Source: 2016 ‘Red Book’ except Olovskaya and Lunnoye.
Russian uranium production, tonnes U
Production centre 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Priargunsky 2011 2133 1970 1977 1873 1631 Dalur 529 562 578 590 591 592 Khiagda 332 440 442 488 540 693 plan 1000 Gornoye - - 0 Olovskaya - - 0 Elkon - - 0 Lunnoye - - 0 Total 2872 3135 2990 3055 3004 2916
Trans-Ural, Kurgan region
A modest level of production is from Dalur in the Trans-Ural Kurgan region. This is a low-cost ($40/kg) acid in situ leach (ISL) operation in sandstones. Uksyanskoye is the town supporting the Dalur mine. ARMZ’s 2008 plan had production at Dalur by acid ISL increasing from 350 to 800 tU/yr by 2019 (expanding from the Dalmatovskoye field in the Zauralsk uranium district to Khokhlovskoye in the Shumikhinsky district, then Dobrovolnoye in the Zverinogolovsky district). In 2014 JSC Dalur completed further exploration of the Khokhlovskoye deposit and increased its resources from 4700 to 5500 tonnes. Production from it is planned to increase from 50 tU in 2015 to 200 t/yr by 2019. A mill upgrade was started in 2016. More than half of 2016 production was from the Ust-Uksyansky part of Dalmatovskoye field.
Dalur'reserves' in 2013 were quoted by ARMZ at 9,900 tonnes. Rare earths and scandium are potential by-products. In 2016 geological exploration and pilot operations at the Dobrovolnoye deposit were completed, and a permit for development was received in June 2017, allowing construction of the plant. Its reserves are quoted as 7067 tU. After pilot operation to 2020, commercial operation is expected to maintain Dalur production at 700 tU per year to about 2025 after Dalmatovskoye and Khokhlovskoye are exhausted.
Transbaikal Chita region, Streltsovskiy district
Here, several underground mines operated by JSC Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union (PIMCU – 85% ARMZ) supply low-grade ore to a central mill near Krasnokamensk. PIMCU was established in 1968, and produces some other metals than uranium. Since 2008 it has been an ARMZ subsidiary. Historical production from Priargunsky is reported to be 140,000 tU (some from open cut mines) and 2011 known resources (RAR + IR) are quoted as 115,000 tU at 0.159%U. In 2013 ‘reserves’ were quoted by ARMZ at 108,700 tonnes. Production is up to about 3000 tU/yr, about one-tenth of it from heap leaching. In 2015 production was 1977 tU and costs were reduced by 11%, so that it hoped to break even in mid-2016.
The company has six underground mines, most of them operating: Mine #1, Mine #2, Glubokiy Mine, Shakhta 6R, Mine #8 with extraction from Maly Tulukui deposit, and Mine #6 (see below). ARMZ’s 2008 plan called for Priargunsky's production to be expanded from 3000 to 5000 tU/yr by 2020.
Mine #1 production rate was increased in 2016. It is on the opposite side of the Oktyabriski settlement from mine #2 and about 2 km from it.
Mine #2 was making a loss in 2013 due to market conditions, so it was closed in order to concentrate on bringing mine #8 to full production. Stoping operations resumed in February 2015, with production target 130 tU for the year, from average grade 0.15%. It is now known as section 2 of mine #8. Some production has been exported to France, Sweden and Spain.
Mine #8 began producing in 2011, towards phase 1 target capacity of 400 t/yr by the end of 2014. The total cost of development is expected to be RUR 4.8 billion (RUR 3.5 billion for phase 1). Production was increased 22% in 2016.
Mine #6 will access the Argunskoye and Zherlovoye deposits which comprise 35% of the Streltsovskoye reserves of 40,900 tU, with much higher grade (0.3%U) than the rest. Production cost from mine #6 is projected at $90/kgU. Future plans for Priargunsky are focused on development of mine #6.
Development began in 2009 for stage 1 production from 2015 to reach full capacity in 2019, but this was put on hold in 2013. In March 2015 ARMZ said it hoped to find co-investors in the project, and federal funds might be forthcoming. Then in June 2015 Rosatom’s Investment Committee decided to finance the development. In August 2016 ARMZ said that RUR 27 billion was required to enable 2022 commissioning. In March 2018 a new financing arrangement was announced to the extent of RUR 18.5 billion, with Priargunsky to own 51% of the project and ARMZ 49% directly. Most of the project financing – RUR 16.1 billion – would be from China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), with the balance of RUR 2.5 billion from a new Russia-China Investment Fund for Regional Development (RCIF) “as a first step in widening cooperation” with China. According to the Russian Gazette (quoted by Platts Nuclear Fuel), CNNC’s investment would give it a 49% stake in the joint venture, entitling it to that proportion of annual production. Construction recommenced in March 2018, aiming for first production in 2023, ramping up to full capacity of 1800 tU/yr by 2026. Rosatom reported that the Mine #6 development project is supervised by the government of Zabaikalsky Krai.
Mine #4. Mining the Tulukuy pit of Mine #4 ceased in 1991 due to low grades, but now low-cost block-type underground leaching is ready to be employed in the pit bottom to recover the remaining 6000 tU. Following this the pit will be filled with low-grade ore for heap leaching.
A re-evaluation of reserves in 2012 suggested that mineable resources apart from Mine #6 amounted to only 32,000 tU. Mine #8 resources were quoted at 12,800 tU in December 2012. In 2014 PIMCU, as part of the Kaldera project, identified four promising areas over 100 sq km in the Streltsovskoye ore field, with resources estimated at 80,000 tU, and they will be explored over 2015-17.
In 2014 PIMCU completed an upgrade of its sulfuric acid plant to take daily production from 400 to 500 tonnes, for use in both the conventional mill and in underground and heap leaching. Also the mill (hydrometallurgical plant) process was improved.
There is a legacy environmental problem at Priargunsky arising from 30 waste rock and low-grade ore dumps as well as tailings. Rehabilitation of waste rock dumps and open pits is proceeding and low-grade ores are being heap leached. Dams and intercepting wells below the tailings dams with hydrogeological monitoring and wastewater treatment is addressing water pollution. Final rehabilitation of the impacted areas will occur after final closure takes place. In 2016 ARMZ announced a new heap leaching initiative for very low-grade ores stockpiled on the surface, to produce 50 to 63 tU/yr.
In 2006 Priargunsky won a tender to develop Argunskoye and Zherlovoye deposits in the Chita region with about 40,000 tU reserves. Dolmatovsk and Khokhlovsk have also been identified as new mines to be developed (location uncertain).
Development of Olovskoye and Gornoye deposits* in the Transbaikal region near Priargunsky towards Khiagda would add 900 tU/yr production for RUR 135 billion ($5.7 billion). Measured resources together are 12,200 tU and inferred resources 1600 tU, all at 0.072% average (JORC-compliant). In 2007 newly-formed ARMZ set up two companies to undertake this, and possibly attract some foreign investment:
Gornoye Uranium Mining Company (UDK Gornoye) to develop the Gornoye and Berezovoye mines in the Krasnochikoysky and Uletovsky districts in Chita, with underground mining and some heap leach (ore grade 0.226%U) originally to produce 300 tU/yr from 2014, but now anticipating up to 1000 tU/yr from 2025.
Uranium Mining Company (UDK Gornoye) to develop the Gornoye and Berezovoye mines in the Krasnochikoysky and Uletovsky districts in Chita, with underground mining and some heap leach (ore grade 0.226%U) originally to produce 300 tU/yr from 2014, but now anticipating up to 1000 tU/yr from 2025. Olovskaya Mining & Chemical Company to develop the Olovskoye deposits in the Chernyshevsk district of Chita region with underground, open cut and heap leach to produce 600 tU/yr from 2016.
The 2016 Red Book noted that UDK Gornoye was undertaking pilot mining project design for the Berezovoye deposit.
Buryatia, Vitimsky district
JSC Khiagda's operations are at Vitimsky in Buryatia about 570 km northwest of Krasnokamensk, serving Priargunsky's operations in Chita region, and 140 km north of Chita city. They are starting from a low base – in 2010 production from the Khiagdinskoye ore field was 135 tU, rising to 440 tU in 2013 (fully utilising the pilot plant) and targeting 1000 tU/yr from 2018 with a new plant. These are a low-cost (US$ 70/kgU) acid in situ leach (ISL) operations in sandstones, and comprise the only ISL mine in the world in permafrost. Groundwater temperature is 1-4°C, giving viscosity problems, especially when winter air temperature is -40°C. The main uranium mineralisation is a phosphate, requiring oxidant addition to the acid solution. In the Khiagdinskoye field itself there are eight palaeochannel deposits over 15 x 8 km, at depths of 90 to 280 metres (average 170 m). Single orebodies are up to 4 km long and 15 to 400 m wide, 1 to 20 m thick.
JSC Khiagda has resources of 55,000 tU amenable to ISL mining, with resource potential estimated by Rosatom of 350,000 tU, giving a mine life of over 50 years. In 2015 ‘reserves’ were quoted by ARMZ at 39,300 tonnes U. The 2008 ARMZ plan envisaged production from JSC Khiagda's project increasing to 1800 tU/yr by 2019, but in 2013 the higher target was postponed. The 2018 plan is now 1000 tonnes. In 2014 JSC Khiagda continued construction of the main production facility and on the sulfuric acid plant, the first stage of which was commissioned in September 2015. Its final design capacity is 110,000 t/yr.
JSC Khiagda is currently mining uranium from the Khiagdin and Istochnoy deposits of the Khiagda ore field. Preparatory work for mining operations at the Vershinny deposit is under way. In May 2018, JSC Khiagda announced that engineering and geological surveys ahead of the construction of mining facilities was under way at Kolichikan and Dybryn deposits. The other two fields in the immediate vicinity are Namaru and Tetrakhskoye. All these deposits occur over an area about 50 x 20 km. There are also plans to install plant for extracting rare earth oxides (REO) as by-product. The nearest towns are Romanovka, 133 km north of Chita, and Bagdarin.
Sakha/Yakutia, Elkon district
ARMZ’s long-term hope is development of the massive Elkon project with several mines in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) some 1200 km north-northeast of the Chita region. The Elkon project is in a mountainous region with difficult climate conditions and little infrastructure, making it a challenging undertaking. Production from metasomatite deposits is planned to ramp up to 5000 tU/yr over ten years, for RUR 90.5 billion ($3 billion), and 2020 start up was envisaged, but this is now "after 2030". Elkon is set to become Russia's largest uranium mining complex, based on resources of over 270,000 tU (or 357,000 tU quoted by Rosatom in 2015). It will involve underground mining, radiometric sorting, milling, processing and uranium concentrate production of up to 5000 tU/yr.
Elkon Mining and Metallurgical Combine (EMMC) was set up by ARMZ to develop the substantial Elkonsky deposits. The Elkon MMC project involves the JSC Development Corporation of South Yakutia and aims to attract outside funding to develop infrastructure and mining in a public-private partnership, with ARMZ holding 51%. Foreign equity including from Japan, South Korea and India is envisaged, and in March a joint venture arrangement with India was announced. The Elkon MMC developments are to become “the locomotive of the economic development of the entire region”, building the infrastructure, electricity transmission lines, roads and railways, as well as industrial facilities, from 2010. Of 15 proposed construction sites, three have been tentatively selected: at the mouth of Anbar River, Diksi Village and Ust-Uga Village. The building of four small floating co-generation plants to supply heat and electricity to northern regions of Yakutia is linked with the Elkon project in southern Yakutia.
There are eight deposits in the Elkon project with resources of 320,000 tU* (RAR + IR) at average 0.146%U, with gold by-product: Elkon, Elkon Plateau, Kurung, Neprokhodimoye, Druzhnoye (southern deposits), as well as Yuzhnaya, Severnaya, Zona Interesnaya and Lunnoye (see below). In mid-2010 ARMZ released JORC-compliant resource figures for the five southern deposits: 71,300 tU as measured and indicated resources, and 158,500 tU as inferred resources, averaging 0.143%U. ARMZ pointed out that the resource assessment against international standards will increase the investment attractiveness of EMMC. However, in September 2011 ARMZ said that production costs would be US$ 120-130/kgU, which would be insufficient in the current market, and costs would need to be cut by 15-20%.
First production from EMMC was expected in 2015 ramping up to 1000 tU/yr in 2018, 2000 tU/yr in 2020 and 5000 tU/yr by 2024 based on the southern deposits as well as Severnoye and Zona Interesnoye. This schedule has slipped by at least ten years. Also, it is remote, and mining will be underground, incurring significant development costs. ARMZ and EMMC are seeking local government (Sakha) support for construction of main roads and railways to access the Elkon area, and make investment there more attractive.
JSC Lunnoye was set up by ARMZ at the same time as EMMC to develop a small deposit jointly by ARMZ (50.1%) and a gold mining company Zoloto Seligdara as a pilot project to gain practical experience in the region in a polymetallic orebody. Lunnoye is expected in full production in 2016, reaching 100 tU/yr. It has reserves of 800 tU and 13 t gold, and is managed by Zoloto Seligdara. ARMZ in mid 2011 expressed impatience with the rate of development.
Further mine prospects
The Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency (Rosnedra) was transferring about 100,000 tonnes of uranium resources to miners, notably ARMZ, in 2009-10, and 14 projects, mainly small to medium deposits, were prepared for licensing then. They are located mainly in the Chita (Streltsovskiy district), Trans-Ural (Zauralskiy district) and Buryatia (Vitimskiy district) uranium regions.
The projects prepared for licensing include:
Chita Oblast – Zherlovskoye, Pyatiletnee, Dalnee and Durulguevskoye.
Republic of Buratiya – Talakanskoye, Vitlausskoye, Imskoye, Tetrakhskoye, and Dzhilindinskoye.
Kurgan Oblast – Dobrovolnoye (now licensed).
Khabarovsk Krai – Lastochka.
Republic of Tyva – Ust-Uyuk and Onkazhinskoye.
Republic of Khakassia – Primorskoye.
All together these projects have 76,600 tonnes of reasonably assured and inferred resources, plus 106,000 tonnes of less-certain 'undiscovered' resources.
Rosnedra published a list of deposits in the Republic of Karelia, Irkutsk Region and the Leningrad Region to be offered for tender in 2009. In particular, Tyumenskiy in Mamsko-Chuiskiy District of Irkutsk Region was to be offered for development, followed by Shotkusskaya ploshchad in Lodeinopolsky District of Leningrad Region. In Karelia Salminskaya ploshchad in Pitkyaranskiy District and the Karku deposit were offered. None of these 2009 offerings had reasonably assured or inferred resources quoted, only 'undiscovered' resources in Russia's P1 to P3 categories and it appears that none were taken up. In 2016 the Karelia Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology acknowledged only one uranium deposit “of no commercial interest” at Srednyaya Padma (Medvezhegorsk District) and announced that no mining was planned.
Foreign and private equity in uranium mining
In October 2006 Japan's Mitsui & Co with Tenex agreed to undertake a feasibility study for a uranium mine in eastern Russia to supply Japan. First production from the Yuzhnaya mine in Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is envisaged for 2009. Mitsui had an option to take 25% of the project, and was funding $6 million of the feasibility study. Construction of the Yuzhnaya mine was estimated to cost US$ 245 million, with production reaching 1000 tU/yr by 2015. This would represent the first foreign ownership of a Russian uranium mine. However, according to the 2016 Red Book, Yuzhnaya now appears to be part of the Elkon project (see above).
Following from previous deals with Tenex, in November 2007 Cameco signed an agreement with ARMZ. The two companies are to create joint ventures to explore for and mine uranium in both Russia and Canada, starting with identified deposits in northwestern Russia and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Nunavut.
In addition to ARMZ, private companies may also participate in tenders for mining the smaller and remote uranium deposits being prepared for licensing in Russia. ARMZ is open to relevant investment projects with strategic partners, and Lunnoye deposit is an example where a private company Zoloto Seligdara is partnering with ARMZ.
Mine rehabilitation
Some RUR 340 million (US$10m) is being allocated in the federal budget to rehabilitate the former Almaz mine in Lermontov, Stavropol Territory, in particular Mine 1 on Beshtau Mountain and Mine 2 on Byk Mountain, as well as reclamation of the tailings dump and industrial site of the hydrometallurgical plant. The work will be undertaken by Rosatom organizations under Rostechnadzor. In 2008, rehabilitation of Lermontovsky tailings was included in a federal target program, and over RUR 360 million was allocated for the purpose.
Secondary supplies
Some uranium also comes from reprocessing used fuel from VVER-440, fast neutron and submarine reactors - some 2500 tonnes of uranium has so far been recycled into RBMK reactors.
Also arising from reprocessing used fuels, some 32 tonnes of reactor-grade plutonium has been accumulated for use in MOX. Added to this there is now 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium from military stockpiles to be used in MOX fuel for BN-600 and BN-800 fast neutron reactors at Beloyarsk, supported by a $400 million payment from the USA. Some of this weapons plutonium may also be used in the MHR high-temperature gas-cooled reactor under development at Seversk, if this proceeds.
About 28% of the natural uranium feed sent to USEC in USA for enrichment, and contra to the LEU supplied from blended-down Russian military uranium, is being sent to Russia for domestic use. The value of this to mid 2009 was US$ 2.7 billion, according to Rosatom. See also Military Warheads as Source of Fuel paper.
Russia's uranium supply is expected to suffice for at least 80 years, or more if recycling is increased. However, from 2020 it is intended to make more use of fast neutron reactors.
Fuel Cycle Facilities: conversion & enrichment
Many of Russia's fuel cycle facilities were originally developed for military use and hence are located in former closed cities (names bracketed) in the country. In October 2015 the ministry of economic development moved to open four of these which host facilities managed by Rosatom: Novouralsk, Zelenogorsk, Seversk and Zarechny.
In 2009 the conversion and enrichment plants were taken over by the newly-established JSC Enrichment & Conversion Complex, and in 2010 this became part of TVEL, a subsidiary of Atomenergoprom.
Seversk in Western Siberia is a particular focus of new investment, with Rosatom planning to spend a total of RUR100 billion on JSC Siberian |
whether they will go about their sinister business unopposed.
The next few weeks are crucial: if we are to go to war with Iran, we’ll know it soon enough. Antiwar.com can make a difference in such a close contest – but only if we are allowed to continue our work. And that decision, my gentle readers, is completely up to you. That’s why I’m urging you to help me make this fundraising short and sweet, rather than long and scary: please make your tax-deductible contribution today.
Read more by Justin RaimondoHassan Jabareen| Monday, 05 September 2011 11:40 | MEMO
In his speech before the U.S. Congress last May, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posed a serious challenge to the Palestinian Authority: If the PA would just say, “We recognize Israel as a Jewish state,” this would be sufficient to end the conflict. Israel, said Netanyahu, would be the first to vote for Palestinian statehood in the United Nations. The response of PA Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, in a recent interview with Haaretz, was that, “Israel’s character is its own business. It is not up to the Palestinians to define it.”
That is an unconvincing response. If recognition is just a technical point, why not say the seven requested words in order to win the vote in the United Nations? The Palestine Liberation Organization certainly understands the significance of Netanyahu’s offer, as it adopted a concept similar to that of the Jewish state in the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, which proclaims: “The State of Palestine is the state of Palestinians wherever they may be.” Moreover, how can it be explained that the PLO recognizes the right of Israel to exist and the PA’s security apparatus works in full coordination with Israel – but they are not prepared to say these seven words?
Israel’s Declaration of Independence of 1948 expressed the meaning of the “Jewish state.” It opens by noting: “Eretz Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people,” and it continues by recounting the history and national memory of the Jewish people and their exclusive ownership of the state: “This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate … in their own sovereign state.”
The cornerstone of the Jewish state is the Law of Return, as the Supreme Court has noted. This is why Palestinian refugees have no right to return to Israel, whereas any Jew in the world, together with any non-Jewish members of his or her immediate family, has the right to immigrate to Israel. In stark contrast, Israeli law prohibits Israeli-Arab citizens from living within the Green Line with their Palestinian spouses, if the latter are residents of the West Bank or Gaza.
For the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is to declare their surrender, meaning, to waive their group dignity by negating their historical narrative and national identity. This recognition would affirm that since the rebirth of Israel is a “natural” and exclusive right, the first revolt in “our” history as Palestinians – against the British Mandate in the 1930s for encouraging Jewish immigration, as well as our resistance to Israel’s establishment in 1948 – were mistakes. Thus, the Nakba is “our” fault only.
By this recognition, we would accept the rationale of the Law of Return, and as a result, we would waive our right to return, even in principle. Further, since the historical masters of the land possess rights a priori, the confiscation of Palestinian land and its designation as “absentee property” makes sense, even when members of this group are “present absentees” in Israel. Also, because the revival of Hebrew expresses the rebirth of the nation, it should be the sole official language of this land and we would also accept the names of our villages and sites being changed from Arabic to Hebrew.
With this recognition, the Palestinian citizens of the state in Nazareth and Haifa, who remained in their homes in 1948, cannot demand a “state for all of its citizens” and full equality because they do not enjoy the same original rights as Jews.
Not recognizing Israel as a Jewish state is not the same as denying the right of self-determination of Israeli Jews. The exercise of self-determination of any people is embodied mainly by their right to govern as a national group. Self-determination can be exercised without exclusion or discrimination, including in cases of multinational or multi-linguistic groups such as in Canada, Belgium, Switzerland or South Africa.
This explains why Palestinian citizens of Israel who recognize the right of Israel to exist and the right of self-determination of Israeli Jews, as it is expressed in the Arab “Future Vision” documents of 2006 and 2007, can still strongly resist the exclusiveness embodied in the definition of Israel as a Jewish state.
The timing of Netanyahu’s offer is very relevant: It comes at one of the moments of greatest defeat in Palestinian history. Israel has succeeded, as political scientist Meron Benvenisti says, in fragmenting the Palestinians to pieces – the refugees, the Green Line, Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem. Walls and checkpoints divide them. Each piece lives under different laws and different leaders. In addition to this weakness, the PA’s security forces continue to obey Israel’s orders. For Netanyahu’s government, this is the best time to ask the Palestinians to officially recognize the Zionist narrative.
This notion of surrender allows us to understand how Netanyahu can suggest that the Palestinians are “guilty” for all of their tragedies. He is right about one thing: Just as surrender ends a war, such recognition by the PLO would end the conflict. But he will have a hard time finding an Arab partner who will accept such an offer during this time of the Arab Spring, which is all about the right to dignity.
Hassan Jabareen is a lawyer and the founder and general director of Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.
SourcePaul George reportedly has informed the Indiana Pacers that he plans to leave the franchise after next season, and there’s a chance he’ll be joining up with his rival — at least for one season.
The Pacers reportedly have reached out to the Cleveland Cavaliers to gauge their interest in the 27-year-old George, and even though George reportedly would prefer to head to Los Angeles after the 2017-18 NBA season, that doesn’t scare the Cavs.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports, citing sources, that the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions are willing to talk trade with the Pacers even without a long-term commitment from George.
According to McMenamin, the Cavaliers believe their culture and championship-level play can convince George to re-sign with the team after the 2017-18 campaign.
But if the Cavaliers want to acquire the star forward, they likely would have to part with either Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love.
While George would add offensive firepower and defensive intensity to a Cavs team that is trying to contend with the Golden State Warriors, giving up either star for what could only be one year of George is a risky proposition.
Of course, there is no guarantee LeBron James will be a Cavalier after next season, so Cleveland might want to go all-in for another title.
Thumbnail photo via Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports ImagesSupposedly taking inspiration from the massive Indian tri-color fluttering above New Delhi, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed CDA to install a Pakistani flag of similar dimensions in Islamabad.
It’s a fairly uncontroversial proposal that not many are expected to object to. Who would be unpatriotic enough to denounce the installation of a national flag, other than an undercover Mossad agent, a terrorist, or maybe a liberal?
The opposition, in keeping up with its proud tradition of lambasting government projects, may have to get creative. While the Metro bus project continually attracts mixed reviews, those buses do have, on the very least, more purpose than to look pretty.
Also read: 'Pakistanis make world's largest human flag to set world record'
This whopping 541-foot flag is expected to wave atop a flagpole about 200-feet tall. I believe it’d be uncharacteristically uncompetitive of us to not attempt a flagpole at least 208 feet tall. I use that figure intently, knowing that its existing counterpart in Central Park, Delhi is 207 feet high. If the mast is made purposefully smaller than the one in Delhi, who is to say it won’t anger some local elements?
This flagpole, by no means, would be an inexpensive one. Consider the one in India which has ignited a row between the Flag Foundation of India (FFI) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) over who would incur the maintenance costs of the structure. The tussle is hilariously ironic to be had over a monument intended to symbolize national unity.
As it turns out, the halogen lights illuminating the flag, the guards’ salaries, frequent repairs, or even replacement, of the gargantuan banner (each banner costs INR 64,000) simply refuse to pay for themselves! Please bear in mind that a structure of such proportions is not a ‘flag’, it’s a ‘monument’.
Also read: 'Punjab breaks world record of waving national flag'
Nevermind the costs, which are still mere pocket change compared to the other projects the government’s undertaking, there’s also a matter of originality. I’m reluctant to see this as revenge for Bollywood plagiarizing our music, or all the good movie ideas out of Lollywood (all three of them). It could be a statement that whatever India does, we can do better. Or maybe it’s really just a big flag, and I’m truly overthinking this, just as my friends incessantly argue that I do.
That still doesn’t change my belief in the project being somewhat puerile.
“Delhi’s parents got her a big flag on her birthday! Why can’t I have one?” “Honey, you have plenty of great national monuments! What about the pretty flower at Zero Point daddy and I got you not too long ago?” “It’s not the same thing, mom! Nobody understands me!”
Furthermore, will we also be violating some of the vexillological ethics as India does? It is generally considered in bad taste to let the sun set on your national flag, which must be taken down and re-hoisted the next morning. India keeps its giant banner up, come dawn or dusk. It’s not only inconvenient to change it daily, but one also risks causing unnecessary damage. Could Pakistan afford the same chutzpah?
Also read: 'Hoisting of national flag upsets militant group'
Let’s be clear about this: this is not a complaint. I don’t see much of a need for a behemoth flagpole in Islamabad, but I also don’t yet see a reason to protest it. What vexes me, as always, is unbridled nationalism that consumes us, as it consumes our Eastern neighbor; a fervor, of which this flagpole duel could well be a sign of.
So Godspeed, and let a colossal banner wave over our proud city. Perhaps if we try hard enough, we’ll weave up a banner so massive, it’ll effectively shroud all our political misdemeanors and national embarrassments.BY: Follow @LizWFB
The Environmental Protection Agency is asking all its employees whether they are straight, gay, or "something else" in an effort to create a more "inclusive" workplace.
The Washington Free Beacon obtained a copy of the agency's Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI) survey, which is part of a pilot program to voluntarily collect information on its employees.
The survey first asks the employee's pay grade, supervisory status, education, age, marital status, and race, before inquiring, "What sex were you assigned at birth?"
The EPA wants to know how many of its employees are "Straight, that is, not Lesbian or Gay," lesbian or gay, bisexual, or "Something else."
The EPA only gave its employees three gender options, instead of 37.
After asking employees if they describe themselves as male, female, transgender, or none of the above, the EPA asks what they "think of when answering the last question." Choices are "My biological anatomy," "Characteristics of my personality," "How others view me/societal expectations of me," "How I see myself," and "Other."
The agency has defined gender as "male, female, a blend of both, or neither."
An agency spokesperson previously told the Free Beacon that the program allows the EPA to "assess whether individuals have equal opportunity for employment," enabling "a robust and scientific way to identify any potential barriers to equal employment opportunity, and then to design solutions to address those potential barriers."
The EPA gives its employees the option of saying certain questions, such as questions about their sexual orientation, make them feel uncomfortable.
The survey asks respondents "How comfortable are you with discussing your gender identity" or "sexual orientation at your place of work?" It also asks respondents "How comfortable are you with being asked about your gender identity by your agency?" Answer options are "Very comfortable," "Somewhat comfortable," "Neither comfortable or uncomfortable," and "Somewhat uncomfortable."
Employees also can answer that gender identity is "irrelevant to my agency's mission."
The survey asks if employees have concerns about being asked about their sexual orientation because it is a "sensitive topic," or because "people who are not authorized may access this information."
One question asks respondents to select potential benefits of the EPA asking about gender identity. Answers include "a more inclusive workplace," "greater acceptance of differences," or "I don't think there are any benefits."By DANA SMITH
Tribune Staff Reporter
[email protected]
ONLOOKERS watched in horror as a surrey horse, with tourists, collapsed and died on the corner of Dowdeswell and Christie Streets yesterday afternoon.
One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, called the scene “disturbing” and called for an investigation into the working conditions for horses.
“It was just so disturbing looking at that horse,” she said. “It’s a poor reflection on our society because that horse looked hungry, it looked starved and we need to do better.
“Those guys downtown need to be investigated. We need to shed the light on that.”
According to eyewitnesses, the animal was a 22-year-old female named Bloody Mary who was drawing a yellow and blue surrey – one of downtown Nassau’s première attractions.
After the horse’s collapse, it was tied to the back of a truck and dragged out of the street reportedly at the insistance of the police.
Kwesi Smith, a veterinarian who was called to the scene, told The Tribune it was too early to determine what caused the death of the animal.
“I would say exhaustion, but it’s not that hot outside,” he said.
Mr Smith took blood samples of the dead animal for further testing.
President of the Bahamas Humane Society, Kim Aranha also weighed in on the horse’s death and hinted that the death could be related to alleged poor working conditions for carriage horses.
“We have been trying to improve the conditions that these poor animals work in, for years,” she said. “The conditions are appalling.”
Mrs Aranha explained that some carriage drivers often pay no attention to the hours that carriage rides are allowed on the road, with the restricted hours being between 1pm and 3pm.
She also claimed “many” horses are forced to work long hours, are underfed and are not properly licensed.
She said the stable conditions for the horses are “deplorable” and revealed the Humane Society gets frequent letters from tourists who are “upset” about the working conditions for the animals.DIY: The No BS Bolt on Big brakes for RS/GS/LS/GSR
Quote: Abstract:
Doing some highway pulls in my 500whp car and having the brakes fade with race compound pads was unnerving. I decided it was time to upgrade the front brakes. After looking into the idea for months, I stumbled across a combination of ideas. Type R caliper remans can be had for dirt cheap <$30. This is nothing new.The problem was always finding rotors that would work or needed to be drilled and machining the caliper bracket to clear. I felt, along with my colleagues there had to be a rotor that would fit the bill somewhere.
I found a thread on Honda tech where someone had used a Mini Cooper rotor and it bolted up no problem. The hub bore was exactly the same as our Hondas and the 11” diameter fits the bill for the caliper. I bit the bullet I guess you could say and ordered Calipers, Rotors, Pads, and Stainless lines. I was super happy when the ONLY modification needed was trimming of the dust shield to clear the bigger caliper. No machining of the bracket is neccesary to center the pad either. These combined with EBC reds just destroy my tires at threshold braking which I don’t remember being able to do even auto crossing.
Quote: Testimonial from HondaTech User:
Results? I am running Rock Auto Centric rebuilt prelude calipers, semi loaded on full race prep 98 EK coupe.,2400lbs loaded, me in it. Mini Cooper Autozone blanks. Raybestos race pads. Have run three events. No issues. I will say that the Mini rotors are smaller diameter and the brake pad edge extends a 16th or 32cd of an inch past the rotor and a line will form on the pad edge.
There was NO noticed performance issues that I detected. (in comparison to the Prelude rotor with same caliper that was machining to properly space it, note: no machining needed for Mini rotor clearance) The set-up was run very hard at Infineon for a break-in session in Time Trials followed by a weekend of race with NCRC at brake eating (for me) Thunderhill. The Centric caliper and Mini- rotor set up is legit and works very well. I am pushing this system as hard as most of you guys will. The calipers and rotors got wicked hot at Thunderhill on a 90 degree day an no melting internals, no warping or other stuff. You can rest assured that it is a quality system, no issues and met expectations so far.
Revision 4/9/2015:
[quote]A fellow user on Honda tech has discovered that 04-08 TSX brake pads will actually fit with NO PAD OVERHANG! So that makes this setup even more hassle free and truly bolt on! See link below:
ITR Mini front brake upgrade. Look here for an update! - Honda-Tech
Quote: JRutski View Post Originally Posted by
Indeed!! This has got to be the easiest, most straight-forward big-brake upgrade, ever. And with OEM parts to boot! Here's everything mounted - it just looks plain good:
I was honestly a bit worried about the bolt holes - I think they're 1 or 2 mm larger on the Coop rotors than the Integra's - but then I remembered that the center diameter is exactly the same, so no worries.
Here's the hardest modification you'll need to make - you can see here that the Type-R calipers are clearly larger and interfere with the dust shield:
Just break out the old angle grinder and cut here:
And here you can see fitment is good after the two cuts:
Still need to order the pads and the SS lines...but it's certainly coming along. I have to agree- not pretty...and looking back, I'm pretty rusty (hahahaha) being that this is the most welding I've done in some 6-7 years. But hey - function > formIndeed!! This has got to be the easiest, most straight-forward big-brake upgrade, ever. And with OEM parts to boot! Here's everything mounted - it just looks plain good:I was honestly a bit worried about the bolt holes - I think they're 1 or 2 mm larger on the Coop rotors than the Integra's - but then I remembered that the center diameter is exactly the same, so no worries.Here's the hardest modification you'll need to make - you can see here that the Type-R calipers are clearly larger and interfere with the dust shield:Just break out the old angle grinder and cut here:And here you can see fitment is good after the two cuts:Still need to order the pads and the SS lines...but it's certainly coming along.Posted by Ron Chusid on May 12, 2014 in 2016 Presidential Election, Featured, Politics |
Rand Paul Could Shake Up An Election Against Hillary Clinton
While Ron Paul had a small devoted group of supporters, everyone knew he had no real chance of seriously competing for the Republican nomination. There’s something about being a new face, and being from the Senate instead of the House. People are looking far more seriously at the possibility of Rand Paul becoming the Republican nominee.
Not that long ago, most Republican leaders saw Rand Paul as the head of an important faction who, like his father, ultimately had no shot at becoming the party’s presidential nominee. Now the question is no longer whether Paul can win the nomination, but whether he can win a general election. The shift follows a year in which the Kentucky senator has barnstormed the country, trying to expand the party’s base beyond older, white voters and attract a following beyond than the libertarian devotees of his father, Ron Paul. Although the job is far from complete, Paul has made undeniable progress, judging from interviews with more than 30 Republican National Committee members meeting here this week. That he has struck a chord with this crowd is all the more telling because it is heavy with GOP establishment-types who tend to prefer mainstream candidates. “I don’t see how anyone could say it’s not possible he’d win the nomination,” Texas GOP chairman Steve Munisteri said. “His mission is to convince people of what his coalition would be in November” 2016…
At the moment it doesn’t really look likely that Rand Paul could win, but they said the same about Ronald Reagan.
Many of Paul’s views remain at odds with the Republican mainstream, but he now seems less of a pariah among Republicans than Mitt Romney was in many circles. It is possible Paul could win a primary battle with the vote divided between more conventional Republican candidates. He would also benefit from the first contests being a caucus in Iowa and a primary in New Hampshire. He could conceivable wind up in first place in both and quickly turn into the front runner.
If Paul does win the nomination, Democrats might need to rethink handing the nomination to Hillary Clinton. What happens when the Republican candidate starts attacking Hillary Clinton over her support for the Iraq war, drone strikes, NSA surveillance, the Patriot Act, and the drug war? Paul might also turn Clinton’s close ties to Wall Street into a serious liability. Many potential Democratic voters might find that they agree with Paul and disagree with Clinton on several issues.
Of course Rand Paul is also on the wrong side of many issues, but can we count on Clinton to take advantage of this? Republicans already have managed to put Democrats on the defensive on issues such as Medicare and health care–two issues where they have facts and principle firmly on their side.
Paul would face many obstacles. His opposition to abortion rights could limit his ability to win over female voters from the Democrats, perpetuating the gender gap between the parties. His anti-war views would be a negative in many red states, possibly even leading to upsets in some red states by a hawkish Democrat such as Clinton.
Looking at the electoral college, I don’t think Paul could win, a race between Clinton and Paul would shake up many of the current party-line divisions. I could see Paul taking some states such as New Hampshire from the Democrats, but not many with large amounts of electoral votes, with the possible exception of California. Still, with their current disadvantages in the electoral college this might be the best chance for Republicans, and a potential threat for Democrats, especially if looking at shaking up the current Democratic advantage among younger voters. I could see many young males being far more interested in Paul on the issues where he is more libertarian, while not being as concerned about issues such as preserving Medicare. This could destroy what now appears to be a long-term Democratic advantage, considering that people tend to stick with the party they chose when young. Democrats might still win the 2016 battle by running Clinton against Paul, but could suffer long term from such a match up.
Originally posted at Liberal ValuesFULLERTON, Calif. – The four-time national champion Cal State Fullerton baseball program wrapped up its fall ball season on Saturday, Nov. 16, following an intrasquad scrimmage at Goodwin Field.
FullertonTitans.com caught up with third-year head coach Rick Vanderhook to get his analysis of the 2014 squad.
The Titans, returning to the field following a Super Regional run during 2013, open the season on Friday, Feb. 14, hosting Washington State in a three-game series. Prior to the season, Cal State Fullerton will hold its annual Dinner with the Titans event on Saturday, Jan. 11, and will host its annual alumni game on Saturday, Jan. 25.
Season tickets, which offer a 36 percent savings for Titan fans, are currently on sale and can be purchased online, in person at the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office or by calling (657) 278-2783 from the hours of 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
FullertonTitans.com: Can you tell Titan fans about your expectations for the fall, and what the team was able to accomplish?
Vanderhook: We started the fall very slow, and we had some guys that were banged up. We were minus Matt Chapman (finger) and Greg Velazquez (sore hamstring). Koby Gauna, Tyler Peitzmeier and Justin Graza weren't ready to pitch, so there was a lot of patchwork, and we had to change things daily. We just didn't start off very well, and it was below average on how we did things - a little bit of going through the motions.
We went to UNLV and played two games at what I consider to be below average performances. We had a few decent individual performances, but we didn't handle the ball defensively very well. We didn't hit particularly well with he exception of Clay Williamson. We were undermanned without Chapman and Velazquez, and we were playing a few new players that were a little bit on awe of their first games as Titans. We lost 5-3 and 5-4, and I thought they whipped us.
When we got home I think the team woke up a little bit - it didn't hurt that Chapman was inserted on the field to play some defense. Chapman's return gave us a spark and leadership, and we moved Keegan Dale to third. I thought from that point on we were very efficient. Everything we did, we did with efficiency and we executed very well to the point that it was better every day, and I think we finished the fall in that fashion. I'd rather start not as good and finish strong than vice versa.
FullertonTitans.com: Cal State Fullerton lost several position players from the 2013 squad due to the Major League Baseball Draft and graduation. Can you tell Titan fans which players you are expecting to fill the voids.
Catcher
Vanderhook: Senior Jared Deacon and sophomore A.J. Kennedy both had respectable falls. Deacon played well offensively and defensively, and A.J. has really started to slow the game down. He finally has the game under control speed wise, and is really good at catching and throwing. They both swung the bat well. I feel very good with both of them.
First Base
Vanderhook: Sophomore Tanner Pinkston really hit well during the fall, and he is getting better defensively. Greg Velazquez has played at first as well as right field, but was hampered with a sore hamstring.
Shortstop
Vanderhook: Matt Chapman will most likely fill this role. Freshman Timmy Richards is a very talented fielder.
Third Base
Vanderhook: We have three options at third base with senior Keegan Dale, junior J.D. Davis and freshman Taylor Bryant. Keegan really played well defensively during the fall.
Outfield
Vanderhook: Juniors Clay Williamson and Austin Diemer have played very well. J.D. Davis and Greg Velazquez have also played in the outfield. Right now we are just trying to find the right mix.
FullertonTitans.com: The Titans return a very accomplished pitching staff from last year, but can you give Titan fans an evaluation of their performance through the fall?
Vanderhook: Thomas Eshelman has really worked hard on throwing a split. I think that will be his No. 1 out pitch. He is a little firmer on the mound. Grahamm Wiest has added a little zip on his fastball and has been firmer on the mound.
Justin Garza is a full go now and he's been throwing well. Koby Gauna has been injured, but he is very close and is expected to be ready in January. Phil Bickford threw the ball well during the fall. He throws strikes and his fastball has been good, and his change is pretty good as well.
Chad Hockin has come along the most, his fastball command has improved and he is working on a change. His slider is also a good pitch. Ryan Kayoda threw well when he pitched. He holds runners well and commands all three pitches out of the stretch. He only issued one walk during the fall.
Willie Kuhl had a solid fall, improving his fastball command and his change is getting better. Bryan Conant was the most improved pitcher of the fall. He came back from summer a new young man after being told the right thing to do a few times last year. He had a great fall, and if he continues to improve, he will make us better in the spring.
No one is set for our closer yet. We will try Gauna, Chapman and Davis through January.
FullertonTitans.com: What was a surprise or unexpected during the fall?
Vanderhook: As I said before, Tanner Pinkston was just outstanding as well as Clay Williamson. It was expected for them to be good, but I don't know if it was expected for them to be that good. Clay and Tanner played beyond expectations – offensively and defensively. Austin Dimer also has a solid fall playing well defensively and offensively. Keegan also had a good fall defensively at third.They join Franz Ferdinand, The Vaccines and Tinie Tempah at the island events
Beady Eye, Biffy Clyro and Professor Green are among the latest names added to the line-up for this year’s Ibiza Rocks and Mallorca Rocks.
They’ll all headline shows on both islands – with Beady Eye supported by Temples on both their dates.
“Very, very excited to be back at Ibiza and Mallorca Rocks, can’t wait to perform some of the new album! Let’s f@ckin’ ‘ave it!,” Professor Green said.
Meanwhile, Alunageorge and Chic featuring Nile Rodgers have signed up for shows on Ibiza, with further acts still to be announced on Mallorca.
Other acts confirmed for dates on both islands include Franz Ferdinand, The Vaccines, Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal and Chase & Status. Jake Bugg and Findlay have the honour of kicking off the three-month concert series with shows on both islands at the beginning of June.
Mallorca Rocks is set to run from June 4 to September 18, while Ibiza Rocks will start on June 5 until September 19. Tickets and hotel packages are available now at www.ibizarocks.com and www.mallorcarocks.com.
Sharethrough (Mobile)
Mallorca Rocks dates:
Jake Bugg/Findlay (June 4)
Rizzle Kicks/Amplify Dot (11)
The Vaccines/Palma Violets (18)
Bastille/The Other Tribe (25)
Professor Green (July 2)
Tinie Tempah (9)
Beady Eye/Temples (16)
Biffy Clyro (23)
Chase & Status (30)
Example/Redlight (August 13)
Ellie Goulding (20)
Dizzee Rascal (27)
Franz Ferdinand (September 10)
Closing Party w/ The Courteeners (17)
Ibiza Rocks dates:
Jake Bugg/Findlay (June 5)
Rizzle Kicks/Amplify Dot (12)
The Vaccines/Palma Violets (19)
Bastille/The Other Tribe (26)
Professor Green (July 3)
Tinie Tempah (10)
Beady Eye/Temples (17)
Biffy Clyro (24)
Chase & Status (31)
AlunaGeorge/London Grammar (August 7)
Example/Redlight (14)
Ellie Goulding (21)
Dizzee Rascal (28)
Chic ft. Nile Rodgers (September 4)
Franz Ferdinand (September 11)
Closing Party w/ Foals and Jagwar Ma (September 18)Possible final evolution of Tsutaja (Snivy), the Grass-type starter from the forthcoming Pokemon Black/White games.
Based on leaked information recently posted on serebii.net.
There's still a degree of uncertainty regarding the authenticity of the starter's final evolutions - what with serebii.net initially withdrawing the leaked evo images because of claims they were fake - and now re-posting them with claims of authenticity.
My gut instinct is that these evolutions are the real deal.
Anyway, I hope you like the artwork. I think I got all the details right even though I only had a tiny, pixelated reference image to work from.
Do not claim this artwork as your own.
Do not copy, alter or reproduce this artwork in any way.
Pokemon © The Pokemon Company.
Artwork © David Nathan Dawkins.Logan Kinamore has found people dead of heroin overdoses. He's made that initial 911 call. He's lost close friends that way. "I've been through the trauma … and dealing with the guilt," the Baton Rouge native said.
Now that he’s clean, he’s trying to provide a life-saving drug to heroin users in his hometown because he believes no one should have to die because they use drugs.
A post on his personal Facebook page offering free "heroin overdose prevention kits" hit the Internet on Tuesday before a friend posted a version of the post to reddit, a popular website that shares submitted content. By Tuesday night, Kinamore, a 29-year-old full-time student in Baton Rouge and recovering addict who also works, had created a Facebook page called "No Overdose Baton Rouge."
The way his offer works: heroin or other opiate users or loved ones of users can contact Kinamore through a phone number (225-308-1029) or by emailing [email protected]. They arrange to meet at a mutually safe place and part ways after he gives the person the kit and a five-minute training session on how everything works. The kit contains 10 milliliters of naloxone, enough for 10 doses, to reverse the effects of an opiate overdose. It also contains sterile syringes, a guidebook on overdose prevention and proper naloxone use, as well as contact information for resources like syringe-access programs.
In a city with a 500 percent increase in heroin overdose deaths, better access to an overdose prevention drug makes a lot of sense. B
ut is it legit?
Back from the dead drug
According to East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. Williams “Beau” Clark, naloxone is administered in hospitals and ambulances for the “exact purpose” of reversing the deadly effects of opiate overdoses. “I’ve (administered naloxone) as an emergency room doctor many, many times in my career,” he said.
If the medicine is genuinely distributed and administered properly, Clark said, it should work. And the minutes that separate taking the drug at home from an ambulance's arrival could determine if the user lives or dies. The drug, also known by its brand name, Narcan, is injected into muscle or, if an atomizer is available, through the nose. Step-by-step procedures for administering the drug, Clark said, are all over the Internet in videos on YouTube. And just last week, White House drug czar R. Gill Kerlikowski called for better access to naloxone for first responders to reverse heroin overdoses.
But Clark said without knowing much about the kits besides what he was told they claim to contain, he’s cautiously skeptical. Even if the drug is legitimate and not mixed with anything else, distributing it without a prescription invites legal questions he’s not equipped to answer.
Shaky legal ground
Kinamore is aware his potentially life-saving initiative is on shaky legal ground, and he's prepared to face the consequences. “If push came to shove I could be prosecuted,” he said. But it’s worth the risk, he said, to curate a culture of harm reduction by providing resources to people who are going to use anyway. He's not looking to start a legal battle, but if he finds himself in one -- he would welcome the public conversation it could generate about the legalization of harm reduction policies.
Asked how his office would handle local underground distribution of naloxone, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said he would rather prosecute heroin distributors.
While Moore said he "applauds" the effort of anyone trying to prevent overdose deaths, he questions the strategy. In most of the cases he’s seen, victims die alone, often with the needle still in their arm. He wonders how many people could practically be saved with the drug. Too, could possession of naloxone provide users with a false sense of security, thereby encouraging them to use? “That’s my biggest fear."
Kinamore said data show drug use does not increase in places with strong harm reduction policies or programs. "If someone is a user or an addict and they use and they die, they don't have a chance to get clean," he said. "If you can save a person's life, then they live again another day -- this empowers people."
Moore said interventions, education and attacking heroin distribution are his preferred methods of heroin overdose prevention, though he recognized those are longer-term solutions. “It’s a really unique situation,” he said of the legal ground surrounding Kinamore’s naloxone initiative. “Obviously we have a heroin problem and a heroin overdose problem, and we would surely like to save people’s lives”
Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely, after talking with other officers, said the department is not aware of kits of this nature being distributed and didn’t comment on the legality of them.
Similar kits are apparently being distributed in New Orleans, Kinamore said, and the activity has mostly been left alone. "Even the NOPD (New Orleans Police Department) realizes the value of this service."
The inspiration and the networking to find the source for the kits came out of a harm reduction conference Kinamore attended in November in New Orleans. Then he followed the local news in Baton Rouge.
He learned about |
with nurses, said Dr. Heidi Oetter, registrar of the province's College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Oetter said the man was awake during his eye surgery and was concerned that the surgeon's "idle chatter" could lead him to make a mistake, although that wasn't the case.
Oetter said the "gentle reminder" was included in a quarterly report posted on the licensing body's website last December.
She said the complaint was an opportunity to provide guidance to surgeons operating on patients who have not been sedated.
The same advice about being discreet would apply in other areas where doctors are chatting with colleagues about non-medical issues that are irrelevant to the important task at hand, Oetter said.On This Day
Sunday 19th August 1934
84 years ago
The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio. The national winner was Robert Turner of Muncie, Illinois, who made his car from the wood of a saloon bar. In 1935 the race was moved from Dayton to Akron because of its central location and hilly terrain. An accident in 1935 captured the public's interest, and boosted the event's profile. A car went off the track and struck NBC's top commentator and sportscaster Graham McNamee while he was broadcasting live on the air. Despite a concussion and other injuries (which resulted in a two-week hospital stay), McNamee described the collision to his listeners and finished his broadcast. In 1936, Akron civic leaders recognized the need for a permanent track site for the youth racing classic and, through the efforts of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Derby Downs became a reality. In 1946, the town of Mission, British Columbia acquired the rights to the Western Canada Soapbox Derby Championships and the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce, previously named the Mission City & District Board of Trade, organized the event annually until 1973. During the All American Soapbox Derby's heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, when Chevrolet was a sponsor and famous TV and movie stars made guest appearances, as many as 70,000 people gathered in August to eat snow cones and cheer hundreds of youthful racer/builders (boys only in early years) ages 11–15 who were the champions of local races around the nation and from several foreign countries. In 1947, actor James Stewart was appearing in the Broadway play Harvey; in order to attend the event, he cancelled a weekend's worth of performances and refunds were issued to ticketholders. At its peak, the Derby was one of the top five sporting events in terms of attendance. Starting in 1993, the All-American Soap Box derby began the Rally World Championship. The Rally derby is a grand prix style of race in which each district, ten in all, sends back a number of champions based on number of racers and races in each district. Today there are broader categories that extend the age range to younger racers and permit adults to assist in construction. This is especially helpful for younger children who cannot use power tools, as well as to provide an outlet for adults.Kajsa Wahlberg remembers well the reaction when she helped lead efforts to introduce Sweden's now-famous laws criminalising the purchase of sex. "It had enormous interest. People were laughing in 1999 at Sweden and saying it can't be done. A German police officer told me, 'You're crazy sweetie, you can't do that, you cannot prohibit men from buying sex, it's totally impossible.' But he said if you can reduce the amount of trafficking cases with your legislation I wish you good luck, because in Germany it's grown out of proportion."
Nearly 15 years on, Sweden believes it has. Police say the number of prostitutes has dropped by two-thirds. A report by a Swedish academic says that by tackling demand, Sweden provides some of the best protection to trafficking victims.
"There is more that could be done, for example when it comes to implementation there are big gaps so far, but it seems that in Sweden we have much lower levels of trafficking for prostitution than other countries and this is probably one of the main reasons," says Marta C Johansson, author of a five-nation study called Still Neglecting the Demand That Fuels Human Trafficking.
Simon Haggstrom, an officer in the prostitution unit of Stockholm police, is on the frontline of this push to stop men from paying for sex. "My job is to arrest as many men buying sex as possible and I think I have arrested about 700 men since 2007. [They] should know that they are taking a huge risk: they are considering going out into the central parts of Stockholm actually buying another human being. We will go after them."
He says the number of prostitutes has dramatically decreased since the law was introduced, from 2,500 across Sweden in 1998 to about 1,000 today.
Sweden is held up as a model for European reform on prostitution law. Last week, France moved in the same direction, bringing in fines for people who pay for sex. Politicians and police officers from several countries have visited Stockholm, wanting to know what impact the law has had. But the debate is highly polarised. Many experts argue that only by regulating the sex trade and bringing it into the open, as has been done in Germany and the Netherlands, will women get the protection they need.
Linda's story illustrates the complexity of the challenge facing those tackling sexual exploitation. Linda was just 10 when she began a conversation with a 37-year-old Swedish man online. Bullied at school and with her parents divorcing at home, she was an easy victim to his promises of love. Within a few months she considered him her boyfriend and agreed to meet a friend of his in a hotel for dinner. The man took her to her room where he violently raped her. Her boyfriend had sold her, and so strong was his control over her that he was able to do so again and again.
"He guilted me [saying] that if you don't do this next time better or longer, I am going to leave you. This was only three months after our first contact and he had already broken me down so far and so much that I would die for him.''
Over the next five years she was abused and raped by, she believes, about 600 men who were making payments to her boyfriend. "It's almost like a takeaway meal, they are in the hotel room, I come to them, they use me and I leave. The rapes became more and more violent, more and more sadistic. There is a lot of weird porn out there, a lot of very sadistic things. When you watch lots of this kind of porn I can in some way understand that normal sex is not so much fun. This is epidemic and the thing is, we don't really talk about it – not in schools, not at home. I think you need to educate people."
Eventually, Linda's mother discovered what was going on and contacted the police, finally ending the abuse.
Johansson argues that there is not enough protection for young people exploited domestically in Sweden, compared with the UK or the Netherlands, where all minors forced into the sex trade are seen as victims of trafficking. But she believes that criminalising all buyers is the most effective way to stop men knowingly or unknowingly buying sex from a trafficked woman.
"It's important Europe focuses on the issue of demand as it is what fuels human trafficking by making it profitable. It is insufficient to focus only on the traffickers while ignoring those paying for the services of victims – the market must be tackled."
One of the main arguments of those who oppose any attempt to criminalise prostitution is that it simply drives the industry underground, putting the sex workers in a more vulnerable position.
Pye Jakobsson a spokeswoman for the Rose Alliance, representing Swedish sex workers, says: "You can't talk about protecting sex workers as well as saying the law is good, because it's driving prostitution and trafficking underground, which reduces social services' access to victims."
She doesn't believe police figures suggesting prostitution has decreased, saying the numbers represent those women selling sex on the street, not the 50% who work indoors. And she is dismissive of Sweden's pioneering role in European prostitution reform. This law, she says, "is about Sweden selling its ego, showing how brilliant and smart they are, a perfect democracy and country in Europe that others should aspire to".
But in her office, where she surveys the constant flow of evidence of sexual exploitation, Wahlberg believes that the Swedish way is the best chance of helping the most vulnerable women.
"We have a small group of pro-prostitution lobbyists that are very powerful. The sex purchase act was not passed for them; it was passed for the majority of women who suffer from prostitution. If women want to be in prostitution and don't want any help, we don't interfere. But it bothers me that they make themselves spokespersons for these women we are trying to protect because they don't have a voice, where is their voice?"Connie Walkershaw loves to sew, and she's equally passionate about teaching others how to do it. In fact, Walkershaw has been designing clothing in San Francisco for 27 years, and has been helping people learn to sew since she opened her first Sew location in the Lower Haight 16 years ago.
"As soon as I set up shop, people started asking me how to sew," said Walkershaw.
Walkershaw, a fourth generation SF native, proceeded to run her businesses out of several different locations throughout the city before she landed in West Portal in April of 2014. Before landing there, she was in Noe Valley for 11 years, the majority of which time she spent building out her teaching practice. She continued to make custom items under her label, Walkershaw Clothing, but since that location lacked a proper storefront, it proved a better place to develop her client base from about four people a week to the 80 people she now teaches each week.
She landed in her current location because she needed an area with lots of children (the largest chunk of her client base) and she needed a place suited to both a teaching space and a boutique. "I didn't choose West Portal, West Portal chose me," said Walkershaw. "Also, West Portal feels like what the city used to be. It feels like old San Francisco."
Walkershaw offers a variety of different classes, but most of them are geared toward children. Class structures include weeklong, half-day summer camp workshops. She also offers one-hour classes in the afternoon, and classes on Saturdays. During the year, kids (and adults) can come in on set appointment times. Everything is project-based, so folks are working on a variety of different things at the same time.
Photo: courtesy Connie Walkershaw
Walkershaw told us that the biggest challenge she faces is the fact that she's running the business 100 percent on her own. She has no employees, so she's in charge of everything from class instruction to marketing, as well as creating one-of-a-kind clothing in the same space. "It's really hard, because it's all on me," said Walkershaw.
Challenges aside, Walkershaw loves what she does, and cites working with children and seeing them improve over the years as her favorite part of her profession. "I try to engage people's creativity. It's been very cool to watch these kids grow up and do fantastic things," she told us, sharing that some of her students have recently gone on to programs at the London College of Fashion and Parsons School of Design in New York City.
Photo courtesy Connie Walkershaw
"It's very rewarding to see kids advance," said Walkershaw. "But one of my favorite things is how much we laugh in here. There's a lot of laughing and telling stories."It's a one-man ride service for indigenous people in Winnipeg, and while Pernell Flett isn't asking for money, he is collecting passengers' stories.
"Some of them tell how cab drivers try to touch them, feel them up and take them places they don't want to be," Flett said of the indigenous people he drives around the city.
"A lot of them won't speak out about it; they're too scared to say anything about it."
Flett started Neechi Rides on Dec. 15. It's a ride service that he offers for free, and it is run out of his own pocket.
"When I watch the news at nighttime and see all the problems … I told my girlfriend, 'You know what? I'm going to do something about this.'"
When Flett first started the service he intended to charge riders, he said, but cab companies informed him of laws regulating the industry. Flett said he will continue to provide free rides while he goes through the process of acquiring a taxi licence.
Pernell Flett with his van, which he uses to transport indigenous people around Winnipeg. In December, he started Neechi Rides, a ride service that is free of charge and run out of his own pocket. (Pat Kaniuga/CBC) Since starting in December, Flett has kept a log of almost 1,000 people who have used his ride service. He said many have a story of abuse or discrimination at the hands of cab drivers in Winnipeg, including his own niece.
"My niece, she was 14 at the time. We called a cab for her and on the way down there, she come running in just spastic. I was like 'What's happening?' She goes, 'Uncle, that cab driver just freaked me out all the way down here and asked me personal questions,'" he said.
"I was like, 'What kind of questions?' She's like, 'He asked me, "Do you have a boyfriend? Do you have sex with your boyfriend? Like, you're pretty and, you know, we'll go in the back alley here and we'll have sex. You won't have to pay me nothing for the cab fare."'"
Flett said he reported the incident to police.
Southern Chiefs Organization urges reports
Flett isn't the only one collecting these types of stories.
"The Southern Chiefs Organization has heard, over the years, several different encounters of discrimination, racism and violence perpetrated by owners, drivers and dispatch clerks," said Shauna Fontaine, the organization's family violence prevention co-ordinator.
"In November, when we were really hearing this continuing and really happening with indigenous women, we put a call out to the public to hear their stories."
Shauna Fontaine is the violence prevention and safety planning co-ordinator with the Southern Chiefs' Organization. (CBC) The Southern Chiefs Organization has received hundreds of calls and online submissions to its website, she said.
"If somebody appears to be indigenous, we're hearing that they're being asked to pay up front," said Fontaine. "We hear a lot of people talking about racial slurs being called at people, especially women.
"I think that there's this idea that indigenous women are seen as less than non-indigenous women, or seen as not as worthy. So they're treated as sexual objects; they're called down; sexual advances are made on our women by drivers. We've heard about actual assaults, both sexual and physical."
Fontaine said another common story involves taxicab drivers taking people on long routes to increase the fare. Some situations were violent, involving customers being thrown from a moving vehicle or kicked out of the cab in an unknown area in the middle of the night, she said.
"I've even heard stories from elders being called down when they're just trying to get to hospital for health services," she said.
Fontaine said the Southern Chiefs Organization is in contact with the Manitoba Taxicab Board, but it needs more people to report incidents of abuse and discrimination directly to the board, rather than to the cab companies or dispatchers.
"We're trying to get the message out there that the Taxicab Board regulates the taxicab drivers and operators and the taxicabs," said Fontaine.
"They keep their camera video surveillance for seven days, so we've been trying to inform the public about that so that they know. The video cameras cannot be turned off in the taxis, the drivers do not have access to turn them off, but the Taxicab Board has access to those videos for seven days. So if an incident has occurred, we encourage people to call them so that they can get the record and document those situations and deal with it internally."
Companies aware of concerns, says Taxicab Board chair
Taxicab Board chair David Sanders said the stories are concerning, but they need to be filed properly.
"The board takes these things very seriously," said Sanders. "But if it doesn't come to us, there's not much we can do about it."
Sanders said Winnipeg cab companies are aware of the concerns brought forward by the Southern Chiefs Organization.
"By all means, they can call the dispatch company, because they have some influence over their drivers and owners. They have their own rules, where they'll suspend and fine drivers," he said.
Drivers are updating training on handling accessibility issues in the next year, and that's an opportunity for the Taxicab Board to sensitize drivers to the issues indigenous riders are facing, he said.
Since Sanders joined the board last May, he has encountered a number of sexual harassment complaints and the board suspended the drivers' licences, he said.
The Taxicab Board has also launched a comprehensive review of the industry. Consultants are gathering data from dispatch companies and reviewing complaints from the board. Public consultation will start once the provincial election is over.
"We'll be having a significant consultation process inviting everyone, certainly the general public but also drivers, owners and the hotel industry and everyone who cares to provide their experience, their comments and their suggestions," he said.
Fontaine tells indigenous men and women to take control of their own safety.
"My advice is to be aware of the taxicab that you're hopping into, what company it is — the taxicabs have numbers on their cabs, so you know exactly which taxi you are in," she said.
"I think that's unfortunate that we have to advise the public to do that, but I think it's important in today's society that you have to protect yourself and keep yourself safe — if you have a cellphone, contacting somebody, letting them know which cab number you're in, where you're going."
As a father of four daughters, Flett is particularly concerned, especially for indigenous men and women.
"I would never trust my daughters to get in a cab. Ever," he said.
"It seems like everyone I pick up, it's the same story: 'I'll never take a cab again.'"Syed Akbaruddin was reacting to the remarks made by Pakistan's envoy Maleeha Lodhi on Kashmir.
Indian envoy to UN, Syed Akbaruddin was reacting to the remarks made by Pakistan's envoy Maleeha Lodhi on Kashmir and Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's killing last week.Here is the full text of his statement at UN:We thank you for organizing this High Level Thematic Debate. It comes at a time when we mark 70 years of the UN; five decades since the adoption of international human rights covenants; three decades since the Declaration on the Right to Development and also the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Human Rights Council.Today's discussion provides us an opportunity to assess the status of our quest to work towards both promotion and protection of human rights across the world.Mr. President,The idea of human rights is rooted in several ancient traditions and religions. As the more contemporary notions of the State evolved, notions of individual rights also started to crystallize. Colonization and the subsequent major wars between colonial powers provided another context to the evolution of the rights of peoples and individuals. The United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights became transformative in their impact by bringing the concept of human rights firmly into the international domain.Mr. President,While much of the success of the human rights agenda has been achieved because of its underlying consensus, unanimity is often difficult to achieve because of complexities and inherent contradictions on many other issues. For instance between individual rights and common good; the role of state sovereignty; the relative merits of pursuing civil vs political vs more expansive rights; the highly divergent contexts and immediate concerns of the UN member states, whose number itself has multiplied four times in the last seven decades; emphasis on thematic vs country-specific efforts; and the politicization and select targeting of countries.Mr. President,Despite the establishment of the Human Rights Council as a deliberate replacement of the earlier Commission, for a variety of reasons, the human rights agenda appears to be again turning increasingly contentious.A more constructive and non-confrontational approach that is sensitive to the genuine concerns and capacity constraints of countries is needed to assist them improve their implementation of human rights agenda among their citizens. An aggressive 'naming and shaming' exercise has its limits, is often counter-productive and tends to divide member states into opposing camps. The primacy of national efforts in the realisation of human rights alongwith due consideration for the values and other specific contexts of individual countries must guide our efforts.Sustained efforts are needed to overcome inherent ambiguities in governance and administrative arrangements of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights including in funding, geographical representation and strategic planning that are hindering its optimal performance.The Special Procedures mandate holders are an important mechanism. However, their proliferation and duplication of mandates is not helpful. The independent, unbiased and impartial nature of the Special Procedures must be maintained to avoid any perception of bias. Transparency about their funding would lay to rest these apprehensions. It may be advisable that the conclusions and recommendations of Special Procedures be first shared with the country concerned before being made available publicly.Mr. President,The challenges of poverty eradication, armed-conflict, terrorism, democracy deficit and impunity continue to deprive millions of people from full enjoyment of their human rights. Democracy, good governance, rule of law and access to justice and civil society engagement are essential for safeguarding fundamental freedoms and promoting and protecting human rights for all.It is imperative to recognize the Right to Development as a distinct, universal, inalienable and fundamental human right that is applicable to all people in all countries to build collective and sustainable peace and prosperity across the world.Mr. President,Regrettably, earlier today we have seen an attempt at misuse of this UN platform. The attempt came from Pakistan; a country that covets the territory of others; a country that uses terrorism as state policy towards that misguided end; a country that extols the virtues of terrorists and that provides sanctuary to UN-designated terrorists; and a country that masquerades its efforts as support for human rights and self determination.Pakistan, is the same country whose track record has failed to convince the international community to gain membership of the Human Rights Council in this very Session of the UNGA. The international community has long seen through such designs. Cynical attempts, like the one this morning therefore, find no resonance in this forum or elsewhere in the United Nations.As a diverse, pluralistic and tolerant society, India's commitment to the rule of law, democracy and human rights is enshrined in its founding principles and we remain strongly committed to the promotion and protection of all human rights for all through pursuit of dialogue and cooperation. Thank youAlex Manninger has confirmed he will retire from professional football upon the expiry of his Liverpool contract this summer.
The goalkeeper will hang up his gloves after a lengthy and distinguished 22-year career within the game, which included spells in the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga and 34 caps with his native Austria.
Manninger – a double winner with Arsenal in 1998 and a league champion with Juventus in 2012 – joined the Reds last summer on a short-term deal from FC Augsburg.
The 39-year-old hasn’t figured in competitive action for Jürgen Klopp’s side, but has been a positive presence at Melwood, offering unwavering support and advice to the club’s goalkeeping ranks and drawing on his experience to help his teammates throughout a busy campaign.
But now Manninger has made the decision to call time on his career – and he caught up with Liverpoolfc.com at the training complex recently to discuss his decision, his year working with the Reds, his thoughts on the current goalkeepers at the club and his plans for the future…
Alex, you’ve made the decision to retire from professional football after more than 20 years in the game…
Yes, it’s true that I’ve made the decision to retire. I wasn’t going to announce it initially, but then I thought if John [Achterberg], yourselves or the club wanted me to, I thought it’d be a nice gesture to announce it via the club I was last with. I thought about it a couple of months ago and I was keen to decide myself, not wait again for the summer and whether I receive a phone call or not. I tried to listen to myself, to my body, and then I said ‘no, that’s enough’. I didn’t want to go too far and let my body decide, or the phone decide if it doesn’t ring, so that’s why I came to the decision of that being it for me. I feel good, I finished at a high level I never dreamed of. If I played for big clubs at my peak, that’s one thing, but to have had this experience now with the staff, coaches and players of Liverpool is fantastic. I’ve had one of the greatest experiences in my career here, but it is time.
Was it a hard decision to hang up your gloves? What kind of emotions were you feeling?
I started to wonder at Christmas time how I’d react to retiring, then I kind of was prepared. I had a couple of little niggles during the season with the calf and a wrist injury. Also [in training], with the quality, I had a couple of signs that left me thinking that maybe five years ago I would have saved the shot and so on. There is always a time and I thought to myself that if I wanted to carry on, maybe it wouldn’t be here [at Liverpool] – I don’t know. I might have needed to drop leagues, change country or go into a smaller competition, so I thought: ‘I will finish at one of the best clubs in the world.’ Then I felt a release, but it was a well thought out decision.
You’ve spent a year at Liverpool – what’s that been like?
Overall, I feel it was a reward. I viewed it as a reward. When Klopp phoned me up, I knew he wasn’t phoning to say, ‘Look, Alex, I need a goalkeeper who will play…’ He needed a goalie to show the right way, how to be disciplined and hope to cope with pressure. I obviously had a few more years under my belt than the guys who are playing. I had a few good discussions with the ‘keepers here, telling them the wheel is always spinning in football – you can be out of the team now, but you’ll be back in at some point. It was easier for me to do that because I was not competition for them and so was in quite a relaxed situation. But even so, I worked every day and kept up my discipline every day, and I really enjoyed it. I took my position on, I never felt left out or felt I needed to be playing. I was fine, although of course it’s natural that I would have liked to have played a game. But, as I said before, the standard of quality here is so high that I will never look back and think I should have played a game here. It’s been a great year, a great experience. I’ve met great quality on and off the pitch. And I’ve had 20-plus great years of professional football, so I am happy with that.
You’ve trained alongside Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius, among others, for the last 10 months. How highly do you rate them?
Simon and Loris are high-quality goalkeepers. They’ve shown that this year. Sometimes in football, it can be unfortunate how things happen – you can be in and out, but that’s our job. Simon, overall, had a fantastic season and did well, match-winning saves and keeping us in tight games. And so did Loris; if you look at some of the cup competitions, he kept us in them a few times. He is a promising, promising goalkeeper. He has so much within himself that he hasn’t delivered yet and he will be back for sure. Overall, Simon made very few mistakes and that shows a good goalkeeper – I can’t remember more than two or three, maybe. He had a very steady season, was very good and is a good professional. It’s nice that someone is rewarded when they work as hard as Simon does.
And how about the young goalkeeping talent here at Liverpool?
There is a lot of talent here. I would say to them, ‘You’re only 18, keep watching John, keep watching the other ‘keepers.’ The mixture is great and I am sure in the next five years there will be another goalie progress through the Liverpool teams.
John Achterberg is the first-team goalkeeping coach here at Liverpool – what’s he like to work with?
I think I’ve said often before, I’ve been lucky with goalkeeper coaches in my career. If I see the younger guys playing and doing well, after 22 years in the game I know why – it is a reward from John. A reward of daily work, a reward of seeing things that you need to add to your game these days – playing with your feet, playing high up, coming for crosses and generally playing the modern way. John is developing that here day in, day out. It’s great to see. The goalkeepers here are doing a great job. I told John I felt it was a shame we didn’t meet 10 years ago, but never mind, I’ve made my way in the game. John is a great help because he knows it is his job, he develops himself in his job and he is great for the goalies he is working with because you can see they are getting better. And that is the simplest result of good work – getting better. I enjoyed working with him so much, even though I wasn’t playing, because every day was a pleasure and you could see the sense of the work, which is why I really enjoyed it so much.
So, 22 years in professional football… how do you assess your career overall?
Coming from Austria, 22 years ago when it all started, no-one was waiting for me. No-one. In the modern era, you’d have been watched more by people. Now you have 10 or more examples of young goalies, you’ve got 10 examples of young goalies abroad, you’ve got 10 examples of 10 goalies abroad at big clubs. I was the first Austrian to come to the Premier League, the first young goalie to play for Arsenal – it was all new and great experience. But always looking back, you think things could have worked out differently on one or two occasions. I always say to friends, ‘Yes, it could have worked out differently… but it could have worked out for the worse as well.’ I see it both ways, but overall, coming from a small nation, making experiences in great leagues with good clubs, I would have to say thank you for my football experience. I’ve met great players, played with world champions, players of the year, golden boot winners… I couldn’t have asked for much more 20 years ago, I am very happy. It’s been a great 22 years. Now? Who knows what will come next. You should never say never, especially not in football.
Have you had any thoughts on what may be next, though?
I am kind of sure. It’ll be away from football, but in the future who knows? In one year’s time, I might not be able to sleep, might not fancy a beer in the evening and not be feeling hungry, so what am I missing? Is it football? If it is, I might need to get back into it. If not, I have a list like this [stretches out hands] of things to do, a lot of things to work on, so I am quite looking forward to my time out of football. I will have a rest, but I was a professional joiner before I got into football, so I might go back to my roots – construction work, property work, furnishing and so on. I am very interested in a lot of things away from football, so I am looking forward to some time off.
More than two decades of being a professional has meant you’ve had to keep yourself fit every day…
I am going to keep myself fit. I have been disciplined for 22 years, so why throw that away now? I won’t maybe go to the gym every day at 8am doing the same things I’ve done every day for the last 20-odd years, but I will have a go, stay fit and look after myself. It’s a big goal of mine.
Are you able to pick a highlight of your career?
Achieving 22 years and deciding myself that it was it. I will be 40 in June, that’s when my contract ends, so overall it’s an achievement to say I have been a professional until the age of 40. I can look back and say I was there until the end; I didn’t stop because no-one rang me, I didn’t stop because I was injured, I didn’t stop because I was no longer good enough at the age of 33. I have been there until the end and that’s what makes my decision easier.
When you are back in Austria after your retirement, will you still watch Liverpool’s games?
Yes, for sure now. I have to. I have made friends and met great players, who I am sure will give Liverpool trophies and soon. I am convinced of that. I want to see happen what I already know – I want the confirmation because I know something good will happen soon. Liverpool are building something up and I am looking forward to watching that.Are the crowds who cheer on our Canadian squad as they step onto soccer pitches from coast to coast more than just fans of a team that has captured the hearts and hopes of Canadians?
Coaches, players and fans often refer to a boisterous home crowd as the “extra player.” And for good reason: games played at home are won more often than games played away. But how far will home field advantage take our team as they vie for a spot in the FIFA 2015 Women’s World Cup final match?
Home field has a proven effect in all team sports, but its clout is strongest in soccer. There’s no consensus, however, as to whether home field is an advantage for the local team or a disadvantage for the visitors. Either way, most experts agree no single reason explains why playing in your own venue has a positive effect. Rather, it’s the confluence of several factors, including the three F’s — fatigue, familiarity and fans.
The fatigue factor is based on the belief that travel saps a team’s energy leaving them a step behind the home squad. This is especially true when changing time zones and/or after long hours spent in trains, planes or automobiles, all of which can have a cumulative effect on play.
Familiarity relates to how well the athletes know the playing venue, including quirks like where the shadows fall, the turf, proximity of the fans and any other geographical landmarks. It also relates to the familiarity of the city or country. Dining on local food, speaking the language and using familiar modes of transportation remove a level of stress and allow players to concentrate on training and competing, something John Herdman, head coach of Canada’s national women’s soccer team understands only too well.
“Just being at home has been nice for them,” said Herdman of his team in an interview before the start of the World Cup tournament. “ I think they’re less nervous now because they’re in familiar surroundings.”
Then there are the fans. Over 53,000 strong for Canada’s first match against China in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, Christine Sinclair described the power of a pro-Canada crowd when the going got tough.
“The whole game the crowd was incredible, but playing you tend not to hear the crowd you’re so focused on the task at hand,” Sinclair said after scoring a penalty shot in extra time to beat China. “When the penalty shot was called, their goalkeeper tried to get in my head a little bit and was walking around. That’s when I heard the crowd. It was pretty special.”
Herdman agrees that a home crowd can make a difference and says that drawing on the energy of Canadian fans is a winning strategy.
“There will be a moment when we’ll be on the ropes and we’ll need the crowd to pull us out of it,” Herdman said.
Beyond the crowd effect, referees are also part of the winning formula. Several evaluations of referee decisions have revealed that home teams are more likely to get favourable calls. Aan example is “injury bias,” when soccer referees give extra time to the home team in situations where the team is behind by one goal at the end of regulation time.
It’s not known whether the crowd influences referees’ decisions or if there’s another factor, but the evidence suggesting that the home team benefits from favourable refereeing is convincing.
Also becoming evident is the coach’s role in loading the dice in favour of the local team. A 2015 article published in the Journal of Sports Sciences noted that home team coaches adopted a more offensive playing style. Home teams are on record as maintaining majority possession of the ball, spending more time in the offensive zone and covering more distance than the visiting squad. They also use their full backs in a more offensive manner and are more likely to make an offensive substitution in the 70th minute of the game.
Finally, the players themselves play a role in their own success. Sports psychologists note that just believing in a home-field advantage might be enough to take a player’s game to the next level. Athletes playing at home have more confidence in their ability to win, which tends to show on the field and in the final score.
Will all this home team karma translate into a winning tournament for our Canadian squad? There’s no guarantee, of course, but every little advantage helps when the team faces what are sure to be significant challenges in making it into the final round. But until then, be that extra player and cheer loud and proud in whatever stadium or living room you’re sitting.
[email protected]
twitter.com/jillebarker“He [Judge Gonzalo Curiel] is giving us very unfair rulings, rulings that people can’t even believe. This case should have ended years ago on summary judgment. The best lawyers — I have spoken to so many lawyers — they said, this is not a case. This is a case that should have ended.”
— Donald Trump, interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” June 5, 2016
“I have had terrible rulings forever. I had a judge previous to him [Curiel], and it would have been a very quick case. This is a case I should have won on summary judgment.”
— Trump, interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” June 5, 2016
Trump has been blasting U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel for having an “inherent conflict of interest,” because of his Mexican heritage and Trump’s plan to build a wall along the |
solution” in Syria. Again, these phrases have no real practical meaning.
Then she said that safe zones should be provided for internally displaced Syrians. But as many military analysts have pointed out, these “safe zones” would attract rebels who would use them as bases from which to attack the regime, inviting regime attacks. They would only remain safe zones if some military force guarded their perimeters. But which military force would undertake that task? She admitted that no one is talking about putting US troops in Syria.
So there can’t actually be any safe zones.
She wants to take “more of a leadership position” but aside from posturing made no indication of what that would be. I don’t think Vladimir Putin responds to rebukes.
In the past, she wanted to arm the Syrian rebels, which the CIA is now doing via the Saudis, though some of those arms are clearly going to Salafi allies of al-Qaeda in Syria. It is not clear if she still stands behind this policy or is aware of the importance of al-Qaeda in western Syria or has any idea of what to do about it.
She came back later to say:
“You know, I — I agree completely. We don’t want American troops on the ground in Syria. I never said that. What I said was we had to put together a coalition — in fact, something that I worked on before I left the State Department — to do, and yes, that it should include Arabs, people in the region. Because what I worry about is what will happen with ISIS gaining more territory, having more reach, and, frankly, posing a threat to our friends and neighbors in the region and far beyond.”
The 2011-2012 coalition on the ground, the Free Syrian Army, to which Sec. Clinton refers here, has long since collapsed, and a Pentagon attempt to revive it just crashed and burned. So I’m not sure why Sen. Clinton thinks this is still a policy option. Many FSA units joined Daesh/ ISIL. Others have been defeated by the Army of Conquest, a hard line Salafi group spearheaded by al-Qaeda in Syria.
If Sec. Clinton wants to ally with allies of al-Qaeda, we should know that.
Then the Syria question went to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said this:
SANDERS: Well, let’s understand that when we talk about Syria, you’re talking about a quagmire in a quagmire. You’re talking about groups of people trying to overthrow Assad, other groups of people fighting ISIS. You’re talking about people who are fighting ISIS using their guns to overthrow Assad, and vice versa. I’m the former chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, and in that capacity I learned a very powerful lesson about the cost of war, and I will do everything that I can to make sure that the United States does not get involved in another quagmire like we did in Iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country. We should be putting together a coalition of Arab countries who should be leading the effort. We should be supportive, but I do not support American ground troops in Syria. COOPER: On this issue of foreign policy, I want to go to… CLINTON: …Well, nobody does. Nobody does, Senator Sanders. ”
Actually Lindsey Graham and John McCain do seem to want to.
Sen. Sanders is correct that Syria is extremely complex. As far as I can understand from his response, his policy toward Syria would be completely hands off.
But if he is saying that he is just against US troops in Syria, then Sec. Clinton is correct that this position is shared among all the Democratic candidates. In any case, Sanders did not actually lay out a policy toward Syria, just denounced the straw man of US troops going in there, which is not a serious proposal. Even Putin doesn’t want to send in infantry battalions (he is putting in a few marines to guard a military airport).
Later Sanders came back to slam the idea of a US-backed ‘no fly zone’ in Syria.
SANDERS: Let me just respond to something the secretary said. First of all, she is talking about, as I understand it, a no-fly zone in Syria, which I think is a very dangerous situation. Could lead to real problems.
He seemed to dismiss Bashar al-Assad as a real threat to the US of any sort, implying that there was no reason to attempt regime change. Then he spoke of President Obama’s dilemma:
“SANDERS: I think the president is trying very hard to thread a tough needle here, and that is to support those people who are against Assad, against ISIS, without getting us on the ground there, and that’s the direction I believe we should have (inaudible).”
So Sanders, like Clinton, seems to support Obama’s support for the so-called “moderate” rebels in Syria.
But as far as I can see, what I would call moderates– people who believe in a rule of law, rights for religious minorities and women, and democratic elections, no longer hold any significant territory in Syria. The two big rebel blocs are Daesh/ ISIL and the Army of Conquest, which is spearheaded by al-Qaeda and comprises hard line Salafis. I am disappointed with Obama’s pretense that there is a big group of ‘moderates’ with which the US can effectively ally, and would be sorry to see Clinton and Sanders adopt this frankly dishonest discourse.
One problem with Sanders’ apparent isolationism on this issue is that polling shows that the US public is deeply alarmed by Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). So it isn’t clear that a policy of not doing anything about the latter is politically viable. President Obama’s response to this quagmire waiting to happen is some fairly pro forma bombing raids that have a containment effect but little more. Sanders had supported those bombing raids as far as Iraq goes; not sure what he thinks of bombing Raqqa.
So the long and the short of it is that neither of the two leading candidates in the polls made any concrete or practical proposals for policy toward Syria. I think that is fine. I myself don’t see a lot of policy options in Syria. It is just that I think they owe it to voters to be more clear if that is what they are saying.
I was also disappointed that no reporter brought up the central conundrum for the US in Syria today, which is whether to support a coalition of which al-Qaeda forms a central part against the al-Assad regime. As far as I can tell, that is what President Obama is doing behind the scenes, via Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Sec. Clinton seems to have said she approves of Obama’s policies, so maybe she is all right with this approach. I’m not sure Sanders understands that this is what is going on; he also seemed sympathetic to the current Obama approach.
But because the CNN reporters framed Syria mainly with regard to Russia, or in some vague way, and did not go into such details as al-Qaeda being an major part of the rebel opposition, we didn’t get to hear where the candidates stand on it.
——
Related video added by Juan Cole:
VOA News: “Clinton, Sanders Clash Over Syria, Gun Control in First Debate”At the Drive-In have shared a video teasing... something. The 15-second clip includes a snippet of music, along with a graphic teasing a bit of news for January 21, which is this Thursday. Watch it below, via Fuse.
Last year, there was some confusion when the band was included in the lineup for the Rock on the Range festival, which takes place in Columbus, Ohio in May. This would be the first ATDI show since a string of reunion dates in 2012.
However, when the El Paso Times contacted band member Jim Ward, he "seemed rather surprised," according to the paper. They report, "Ward said he knew that the band had been listed among performers at the festival, but added that he could neither confirm nor deny whether ATDI would actually be performing at this time."
Update, 9:25 p.m.: The band are also confirmed to perform at this year's Shaky Knees Festival, which takes place from May 13-15 in Atlanta.
A representative for the festival confirmed that At the Drive-In have been booked to perform, but couldn't verify who, exactly, would be in the band.
Embedded content is unavailable.
Watch the video for "One Armed Scissor":Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to announce the fourth Field of Glory 2 public tournament!
Due to the phenomenal demand, this will be the largest FoG II tournament to date: the Holiday 2017 Tournament will consists of 5 rounds for 128 players – a tournament like you’ve never seen before!
This will be played using the normal Field of Glory 2 Multiplayer system and our automated tournament system.
To enter, go to the tournament page HERE!
HERE! The general tournament rules can be found
The first round will commence on Monday, the 11th of December 2017. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun.
Specific tournament rules:
This tournament will involve five rounds. The battles will be medium-sized custom battles.
Round 1: Seleucid (205BC – 167BC) vs Roman (199BC – 106BC) (Mediterranean Agricultural)
Round 2: Pergamon (190BC – 129BC) vs Pontic (281BC – 111BC) (Mediterranean Hilly)
Round 3: Bosporan (84BC – 11BC) vs Dacian (50BC – 106AD) (Norh European Agricultural)
Round 4: Jewish (64BC – 6AD) vs Prolemaic (55BC – 30BC) (Middle East Hilly)
Round 5: Ancient Brits (60BC – 80AD) vs Roman (105BC – 25BC) (North European Agricultural)
Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. Each player will be able to choose his forces using the normal force selection system. Random maps are in use, so the two battles in each pair will be on different maps.
First round pairings will be selected randomly, subsequent rounds using the Swiss Chess system. Nobody will play the same opponent in more than one round.
The scoring system is as follows:
· If a game runs to the turn limit, each side scores points equal to the enemy % routed at the turn limit. If the game times out, adjustments may be made, depending on how far the game has progressed and who took longer over their turns – see below.
· If one army breaks, the victorious player scores 60 points plus the difference between the enemy % routed and his own % routed. The loser scores points equal to the winner's % routed.
Examples:
1) If Ben defeats Tamas's army, and has inflicted 45% routed on Tamas, and Tamas has inflicted 15% on Ben, Ben will score 60 + (45 – 15) = 90, Tamas will score 15.
2) However, if Ben defeated Tamas’s army by inflicting 62% routed on Tamas, and Tamas had inflicted 56% routed on Ben, Ben would get 60 + (62 – 56) = 66 points, and Tamas would get 56.
3) If the game is unfinished (or it reached the turn limit) with Ben inflicting 20% routed on Tamas, and Tamas inflicting 10% routed on Ben, Ben would score 20, and Tamas would score 10. (Provided that between them they have played at least 24 turns in all – see below).
Note that this system rewards aggressive play over desultory skirmishing. If you rout an enemy unit then hide for the rest of the game, both players will get extremely low scores - lower than if they played hard and lost.
Byes:
If an odd number of players sign up for the tournament, one player will get a bye in each round. In the first round this is random. In subsequent rounds it will be the player with the lowest score. The score for a BYE is 75 points for each game.
Round times and timing out:
Each round will last 10 days.
Any battles that are not completed by the end of the round will be timed out. The player who has had the game in his “My Turns” box the longest overall will be the one who is deemed to be timed out. This will not normally incur any penalties, unless insufficient turns have been played: If the timed-out player has played less than 12 turns, his score will be reduced proportionately, and his opponent will be granted the BYE score if it exceeds his current score. If the timed-out player has played less than 6 turns, he will not be included in the draw for the next round. This is to prevent someone else’s enjoyment being spoiled by being drawn against someone who has apparently dropped out of the tournament.US military authorities tried to persuade Binyam Mohamed, the UK resident held in Guantánamo Bay, to sign a statement saying he had never been tortured in return for his release, it emerged yesterday.
He would also have had to plead guilty to terrorist offences that he did not commit, drop his demand to see documentary evidence showing he was telling the truth, and promise not to speak to the media or sue the US or UK for any wrongdoing.
The terms of the attempted plea bargain were kept secret. They have been disclosed by Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones in the wake of Mohamed's recent release. He returned to Britain last month.
The high court papers show that the US government made it clear it would seek a minimum 30-year jail sentence if Mohamed was found guilty by a military court. If he was acquitted, he was still to be detained as an "enemy combatant".
The papers reveal that a draft plea agreement was sent "with the invitation that BM [Mohamed] sign it", in October 2008, the very time the US authority responsible for drawing up indictments for military trials dismissed the charges against him. Abandoned charges included claims that Mohamed planned to build a "dirty bomb".
As part of the plea bargain, Mohamed would have had to agree "not to participate in or support in any manner any litigation or challenge, in any forum, against the United States or any other nation or any official of any nation".
If he applied for the release of the documents that his defence lawyers are still demanding, then the plea offer would be cancelled, according to the proposed deal. The US officially denies that Mohamed was tortured and refuses to disclose where he was for two "missing years" - now known to be 2002 to 2004, when he was being held in Morocco.
David Miliband, the foreign secretary, is still insisting that documents the high court says contain "powerful evidence" about Mohamed's treatment should remain secret. The two high court judges expressed surprise last month that "a democracy governed by the rule of law", such as the US, would expect a court in another democracy to "suppress" evidence relating to torture allegations, "politically embarrassing though it might be".
Clare Algar, executive director of Reprieve, the legal charity that represents Mohamed and more than 30 other Guantánamo detainees, said: "Offering a man who is protesting his innocence freedom on the condition that he pleads guilty to something and serves a 10-day sentence is face-saving on a horrific scale."Chicago cop gets 5 years in prison for wounding 2 teens in shooting
Chicago Police Officer Marco Proano, left, after being sentenced at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, Monday, November 20th, 2017. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times
Marco Proano wore the uniform of a Chicago Police officer four years ago, when he fired 16 times in nine seconds at a stolen Toyota Avalon full of teenagers.
But in that moment at 95th and LaSalle in December 2013, Proano was no cop, U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman said Monday. He did not represent the “thin blue line.”
Rather, Feinerman said Proano became “the source of chaos and violence,” wounding two teens in an “unjustified” criminal act.
That judge handed Proano a stiff five-year prison sentence Monday, and he said it’s “troubling” that Proano still doesn’t seem to agree he committed a crime.
“What happened here was not a close call,” Feinerman said.
Proano, 42, is the only Chicago Police officer in recent history to face federal prison for an on-duty shooting, according to authorities. A jury took less than four hours last August to find him guilty of two civil rights violations stemming from a shooting caught on a police dashcam video.
Federal prosecutors say he “could have killed each and every” passenger in the car.
But Proano seemed to take credit Monday for protecting them, telling the judge “there’s a reason why all these teenagers went home that night.” He insists he pulled the trigger to protect a teen hanging out of the window of the car when it suddenly reversed.
His attorney, Daniel Herbert, has described Proano as a “scapegoat” who has been “sacrificed to the furor” amid a wave of anti-police sentiment.
Monday’s sentencing followed a week that saw prosecutors drop several criminal charges in state court in connection with alleged police misconduct — including what is believed to be the first mass exoneration in Cook County history.
Proano’s indictment also followed the public release of video depicting the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
Herbert also represents Van Dyke, who faces murder charges in state court.
“These are difficult times,” Herbert said after Proano’s sentencing hearing Monday.
“We recognize the fact that police officers’ split-second actions are going to be judged by individuals that have the luxury to look at it through a different lens.”
Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham added that Proano “has paid a heavy price.”
While handing down the sentence, Feinerman said police are given the benefit of the doubt — it’s “baked into the law.” But he also said “there are times when an officer’s conduct goes so far beyond the pale that he or she must be held to account.”
The judge rejected the idea that Proano is a scapegoat. Acting U.S Attorney Joel Levin later called it “nonsense.”
“Today he was sentenced for his crimes,” Levin said. “No one else’s crimes. He’s not a scapegoat in any way, shape or form.”
A CPD spokesman confirmed Proano’s employment has been terminated. He is a married father of three born in Ecuador who spent about a decade as a Chicago cop, working primarily in the Roseland neighborhood.
When Proano arrived at 95th and LaSalle on Dec. 22, 2013, the driver of the car full of teens had fled. A BB gun later fell out of the car, and Proano watched as the car suddenly began to reverse, with one teen hanging out of a window. Another teen had lunged forward from the back seat, thrown the car into reverse and pushed the gas pedal with his hands.
No one was in the vehicle’s path.
Proano can be seen in a dashcam video stepping forward, holding his gun sideways. Seconds later, he steps backward as the car reverses into view. Proano then lifts his gun again with both hands, upright, and a flash can be seen as he appears to open fire.KEY WEST, Fla. — The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office is combing through more than 150 criminal cases of black suspects arrested by Miami Beach police officers who wrote or received racist emails, the latest in a series of high-profile episodes around the nation that have raised troubling questions about the relations between the police and the communities they serve.
Two ranking officers at the Miami Beach Police Department sent about 230 emails that contained racist and sexist jokes and pornography from 2010-12, Chief Dan Oates announced Thursday. A former police captain, who had been demoted to lieutenant, was fired, and a major retired before the investigation was made public.
Fourteen other officers received the emails, the police department said.
The episode, which follows the release of racist or homophobic emails in Ferguson, Mo.; San Francisco; and Fort Lauderdale, adds another level of discord to the often-strained relations between the police and minority groups. Officers in Edison, N.J.; Seattle; Baton Rouge, La.; and Casselberry, Fla., have also been fired or disciplined over racist text and email messages, a wave that some experts believe indicates a culture in which officers are comfortable expressing racist views.
The episodes also raise questions about whether an officer’s flippant attitude about race manifests itself on the streets.Happy New Year everybody! It's been a long hiatus as I work on the mobile version, but one bug fix was important enough to back-port to the old desktop version.
I've just finished uploading new test build 1.15, which includes a fix for the autosave feature.
The Best Worst New Feature Ever
The build is available to anyone who owns the game at bluebottlegames.com and Steam.
To access the test build on the official site, simply visit the game page, and click any of the download links below the usual Windows, Mac, and Linux buttons (look for a red "Test" button).
Steam users can access the test build by opting into the beta for it.
Updates Included in the Test Build
Test build 1.15 includes only one thing:
Fixed a bug that caused misplaced/missing items and camps when autosave is enabled.
As many of you know, autosave had a tendency to cause weirdness when enabled, especially in longer games. One such problem was campsites and items getting misplaced or disappearing. This was due to a bug in the save game code when more than one creature was in the player's hex (and therefore caused havoc during battles).
Fortunately, while porting NEO Scavenger to mobile, I was able to find and fix this issue. And while someday, I'd like to use the new mobile (Haxe-based )engine to replace the current (Flash-based) engine, this should hopefully bridge the gap until then.
Is it now safe to use autosave? Hard to say. This bug might've been causing the other issues, too. It should definitely be safer. I wasn't able to cause any autosave corruption, but I only tested a few hours of play.
The likelihood that this version of NEO Scavenger will work with previous saves is: likely.
As usual, the older the save game version, the less likely it is to work.
As always, let me know what you think of the changes, and if you notice any issues with the new build!WIRED 2015 is our annual two-day celebration of the innovators, inventors, artists and entrepreneurs who are reinventing our world. For more from the event, head over to our WIRED 2015 hub. "Right now, would the world be better prepared for the next health outbreak? That's the question that we all need to ask ourselves," Freeman Osonuga, a doctor who spent six months fighting ebola in Sierra Leone, told WIRED 2015 at London's Tobacco Dock.
We knew we had to develop a more robust, a more daring a more effective treatment protocol so as to increase survival rates Freeman Osonuga, frontline ebola doctor
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Osonuga experienced doubts about going to combat the disease, he said, not just because of the infectious nature of ebola but also because those who spend time around it risk being stigmatised and feared. "Along the line I found peace from within. I decided I was not going to be captured by fear. I decided to go."
As part of a team working for the Nigerian government and seconded to the African Union Support For Ebola Outbreak in West Africa, Osanuga and his colleagues worked to develop a better way of treating the disease.
Read next Peter Piot on the fight against HIV/AIDS & Ebola Peter Piot on the fight against HIV/AIDS & Ebola
Frontline ebola doctor Vincent Whiteman WIRED
"We knew we had to develop a more robust, a more daring, a more effective treatment protocol so as to increase survival rates," he explained.
By ensuring the administration of intravenous fluids, patients were kept hydrated. The team also had access to anaesthetic and antimalarials to treat and lessen the effects of related, but equally dangerous, health conditions.
From 157 patients admitted to Osonuga's group's care, 101 survived, a survival rate of almost 65 percent -- well above the 50 percent overall survival rate seen elsewhere across Africa. A number of healthcare workers at the treatment centre were ebola survivors themselves. Combined with strict infection prevention measures, that also ensured that none of the 200 staff were infected.
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Gallery: Prepare for the next outbreak now, ebola doctor urges Gallery: Prepare for the next outbreak now, ebola doctor urges + 4
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"All through the mission I was guided by the principle: don't try to be a hero, just be professional," Osonuga said. "Do the best that you can do within the circumstances without getting unduly emotionally attached. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made."
But Osonuga's final message was one of caution: how prepared are we for the next outbreak? "The world never expected that a small outbreak from a village in one part of the world would affect the rest of the world. The world never prepared for a health outbreak of this magnitude. That is important for us because we need to start to prepare for the next health outbreak."COLUMBUS, Ohio (Dec. 9, 2016) – Yesterday, the Ohio legislature gave final approval to a bill that would reform asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without criminal charges in many cases. The legislation also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by passing cases off to the feds in most situations.
Rep. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr. (R-Cincinnati), along with 17 cosponsors, introduced HB347 last fall. Under current Ohio law, police can seize and keep cash and personal property on the mere suspicion that a crime was committed. But according to a report from Reason, passage into law “switches the burden of proof from the defendant to the government to show why property is connected to a crime and bars civil forfeiture for amounts under $15,000.”
The bill also almost completely closes a federal loophole that allows prosecutors to bypass more stringent state asset forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the federal government under its Equitable Sharing forfeiture program.
The House passed HB347 72-25 back in May. The Senate unanimously passed an amended version of the bill later Thursday night, and the House gave final approval 81-10. The bill now heads to Gov. John Kasich’s desk. He will have 10 days from the date of transmittal to sign or veto the bill. If he takes no action, it will go into effect without his signature.
“Ensuring that the government cannot take a citizen’s property without due process of law makes for smart policy and smart politics,” Holly Harris, the executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network said in a press release Thursday. “Our polling found that 81 percent of Ohioans on both sides of the aisle agree that the government should not be able to take property without due process.”
ADDRESSES FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Police and prosecutors regularly circumvent state restrictions on asset forfeiture by simply transferring cases to the federal government. Then, under a program known as “Equitable Sharing,” the state and local police still keep up to 80% of the value of what was forfeited under federal law. Ohio state and local law enforcement agencies raked in more than $80 million this way between 2000 and 2008. This is a major reason why the Institute for Justice gave Ohio a D- rating on forfeiture.
HB347 closes this loophole in most situations. It specifically bans the use of this federal loophole for seizures under $100,000 in value. This represents a vast majority of cases.
A law enforcement agency or prosecuting authority shall not directly or indirectly transfer or refer any property seized by the agency or authority to any federal law enforcement authority or other federal agency for purposes of forfeiture under federal law unless the value of the seized property exceeds one hundred thousand dollars, excluding the potential value of the sale of contraband, or the property is being transferred or referred for federal criminal forfeiture proceedings.
FEDERAL LOOPHOLE
The inclusion of provisions barring state and local law enforcement agencies from passing off cases to the feds is particularly important. In several states with strict asset forfeiture laws, prosecutors have done just that. By placing the case under federal jurisdiction, law enforcement can bypass the need for a conviction under state law and collect up to 80 percent of the proceeds from forfeited assets via the federal Equitable Sharing Program.
In December 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice suspended the Equitable Sharing Program due to budget cuts, but it was resumed just four months later.
California prosecutors and law enforcement agencies regularly utilized this loophole. The state closed it when Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB443 into law. As the Tenth Amendment Center previously reported the federal government actually inserted itself into the California’s asset forfeiture debate. The feds clearly want the policy to continue.
Why?
We can only guess. But perhaps the feds recognize paying state and local police agencies directly in cash for handling their enforcement would reveal their weakness. After all, the federal government would find it nearly impossible to prosecute its unconstitutional “War on Drugs” without state and local assistance. Asset forfeiture “equitable sharing” provides a pipeline the feds use to incentivize state and local police to serve as de facto arms of the federal government by funneling billions of dollars into their budgets.
Asset forfeiture laws incentivize “policing for profit” on one hand, and dubious state-federal partnerships on the other.Don Featherstone, creator of the original plastic pink flamingo, sits surrounded by many of the plastic creatures at Union Products Inc. in Leominster in 1998. Featherstone died Monday at an elder care facility in Fitchburg. He was 79. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
The premiere of Judith Lindstedt's documentary "Featherstone's Flamingo: Pink and Proud" at the Fitchburg Historical Society in Oct. 9:
FITCHBURG - One Christmas, Nancy Featherstone, 63, decided to surprise her husband, Don.
She had the family over for dinner, and she'd hired a Santa Claus to come to the house. She left the front door open.
And then Santa showed up, yelling, "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!"
Don said, "Who's that?" And she said, "I don't know. It looks like Santa Claus to me."
Unsurprisingly, he came bearing gifts, and the one he gave to Don contained a lump of coal.
Nancy said: "Oh, my gosh, Donald.
Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our Don Featherstone, creator of the pink flamingo lawn ornament, chats about his creation in his home in Fitchburg in October. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVESentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.
What did you do? That's a lump of coal!"
Santa saw how dejected Don was and went back outside to retrieve another present. It was one she'd purchased for him - a 6-foot-tall bronze flamingo, with a bow around its neck.
"Donald was thrilled with his bronze flamingo," she said.
You see, the flamingo wasn't a random gift. Her husband, who died Monday at the age of 79, was the creator of the pink lawn flamingo. And it was something for which he'd become famous throughout the world.
SLIDESHOW: Remembering Don Featherstone
But it was never something he'd brag about or bring up on his own.
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Nancy said she'd tell people - often in Don's presence - that her husband was the one who created the popular lawn ornament.
And they'd say, "I never knew someone actually did that."
Or, "How old are you, anyway?"
"He got a kick out of it; he enjoyed it," she said, referring to the recognition he received for his creation.
Featherstone, born in Worcester and raised in Berlin, studied art at the Worcester Art Museum.
"Donald had nine years of formal art training," Nancy Featherstone said, adding that he was "an extremely talented artist.
Don Featherstone the creator of the pink flamingo lawn ornament chats about his creation in his home in Fitchburg on Tuesday afternoon. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
"He particularly enjoyed sculpting and painting," she said.
He worked for Union Products for 43 years and made over 600 items for them, she said. There, he did a lot of sculpting. Painting took a back seat.
But when he retired, he got back into painting, sharing his work only with her.
"(The paintings) were for us," she said.
He did do a few public pieces, though. One was a version of the painting called "The Bookworm," which he submitted to a contest at the Fitchburg Public Library.
He put a flamingo in it. And he won.
It ended up on a gift card that is still sold today, she said.
His flamingo also got him into a movie, 2011's "Gnomeo & Juliet," distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Don Featherstone at age 10. (COURTESY PHOTO)
In it, there is a character, a pink lawn flamingo, named in his honor: Featherstone, played by Jim Cummings.
A film distributed by Disney was perhaps the most appropriate, for his life was one of magic, right down to how he and Nancy met.
In August 1975, they were both in Chicago for a trade show, and Don saw Nancy walking toward him, she said. Right then, he knew she was the one.
At the beginning of their first date in January 1976, he gave her an engagement ring. They were married in July. Next month - July 23 - would have been their 39th anniversary.
"Donald and I had a very strong relationship," she said. "Very good marriage, very strong.
"I was very lucky to get him."
And so many others said they were lucky to know him.
Artist Don Featherstone, 1996 Ig Nobel Prize winner and creator of the plastic pink flamingo lawn ornament, poses with his wife, Nancy, while being honored as a past recipient during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University, in Cambridge IN 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
"He was a very nice guy," said Marc Abrahams, editor and co-founder of Annals of Improbable Research, the organization that awarded Featherstone the Ig Nobel prize, whose title is a parody of the Nobel and which is given for unusual or trivial scientific achievements, in 1996. "He always realized how completely goofy it was that people would fall in love with the flamingo, but they did."
Judith Lindstedt, director of the documentary "Featherstone's Flamingo: Pink and Proud," which was about Don, called him a "marvelous person."
"He was so generous and kind and so artistic," she said. "It's just overwhelming how talented he was. He had brought a distinction to the Montachusett area because of his famous pink flamingo.
Don Featherstone at the age of 16 in 1952 with his first car, a Rolls Royce Phantom 2. (COURTESY PHOTO)
Everybody knows it, all over the world."
She said she was "saddened, really, to the core, to hear of his passing."
Nancy said her husband had a lengthy battle with Lewy body disease, which is a form of dementia. He got sick years ago, but it was somewhat manageable - that is, until 2 1/2 years ago.
"It's a terrible disease," she said. "You can't do anything about it. But he fought it. He fought it to the best of his ability. He died with dignity."
"Donald was a class act," Nancy Featherstone said of her husband. "He was just a super-nice man. Just a super-nice man."
She said he died peacefully at 9 a.m. Monday, surrounded by his family. He was at the Caldwell Home in Fitchburg.
Don Featherstone had two children, Judith Nelson and Harold Featherstone.
She said there will be a wake Friday - calling hours have not been set - at the Brandon Funeral Home, at 305 Wanoosnoc Road, Fitchburg. The funeral will be Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph's Church.
Follow Jon on Twitter and Tout: @JonBishopSE.
The premiere of Judith Lindstedt's documentary "Featherstone's Flamingo: Pink and Proud" at the Fitchburg Historical Society in Oct. 9:Now playing: Watch this: This is the USB you've been waiting for
LAS VEGAS -- At CES 2015, folks at USB Implementers Forum and Intel showcased a quick, yet impressive, demo of what USB 3.1 Type-C is capable of.
If you haven't heard of USB Type-C, I laid out its details here. To quickly recap, apart from the fact that with Type-C there's no need to worry about which side of the cable to plug in (it works either side up), it also packs the USB 3.1 standard, which comes with a top speed of 10Gbps, twice the current speed of USB 3.0.
And the best part is, after having had hands-on experience with it, I found the new connection standard totally exciting.
For the demo, the group used two Samsung SSD 840 Pro drives together in a RAID 0 setup. Connected to a computer using a Type-C connection, the benchmark test showed a sustained speed of more than 800MBps for both read and write. Prior to USB 3.1, this type of speed was only available with a Thunderbolt connection.
Dong Ngo/CNET
USB Type-C can also carry much higher power than USB 3.0 and going forward there will be many mobile devices, even laptops, that can be powered via the USB cable instead of using a separate power adapter.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Right now, the Nokia N1 is the first tablet on the market that uses Type-C USB ports and at CES 2015, MSI announced its first gaming notebooks, the GT72, and its first motherboard, the X99A Gaming 9 ACK, that will come with built-in USB 3.1 Type-C ports. Both of these products will ship by March this year.
You can expect even more devices to use this new and exciting USB standard in a very near future. |
see a variety of options. You can read it, deliver it to a different Kindle device or app, purchase it, download it if you need to transfer it via USB, wipe the internal bookmark, or return the book to the library when you’re done.
Even if you return a book, Amazon saves any notes you’ve taken or highlighting you’ve done and restores them if you check the book out again or purchase it. You can return the book early to allow other patrons to enjoy it, but even if don’t, the book will automatically expire and return itself at the end of the lending window. So, no more overdue charges!
Note that, just like physical books at your library, each library has a limit to the amount of of books that can be checked out by its patrons at once. If the book you want is in the catalog but already checked out by the maximum number of people, you’ll have to wait until it’s “returned.” Why do digital books have to play by physical rules when they can be copied millions of times with no real cost? It’s all about copyright law and the way that libraries have to abide by the terms of digital licensing for the books they offer.
Using the OverDrive App on Your Smartphone
First, download the OverDrive application from iTunes or the Google Play Store. The first time you open the app, you’ll need to create an account or sign in. You can use your Facebook account for this, but since you’ll need your library card’s number to access any content anyway, there’s not much point to it. Tap the “Sign in using my library card” button.
Search for your library by its specific name or your city name. On the next page, select your library from the drop-down list (if there’s more than one in your local system) and agree to the Terms of Service.
From here, you can tap the “Add a title” button to, well, add a title. The app takes you to a mobile version of your local library system’s search page. From here it’s pretty self-explanatory: you can use the navigation bar at the top of the page to browse by author or do direct searches, or just browse the various topical and genre pages for general recommendations.
Tap a book or audiobook, tap the “borrow” option, and then tap the option you want, depending on whether you want to read the book on your Kindle, add an ePub version to an app, or read it in your browser. To return to your bookshelf, just tap the menu button, then “Bookshelf.”
You’ll see the title and be able to click on it to read or play it back.
If you’re wondering what the difference is between using the OverDrive app and the Kindle app with OverDrive books, there isn’t much. Use the OverDrive app doesn’t require you to log in to Amazon, and it also supports audiobook playback, so it’s the less complicated solution if you’re only reading on a phone or tablet instead of an actual Kindle device. But use whatever whatever makes you happy.
You have to do a bit of initial setup, but the reward is easy access to free eBooks from your library, without the hassle of worrying about returning books on time.
In addition to getting books from your local library, there is also a variety of ways to get books and content on your Kindle. For further reading we suggest checking out some of our previous articles including:
RELATED: Amazon Prime Is More than Free Shipping: Here Are All of Its Extra Features
And if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, you also have access to free content in the Prime Reading section, as well as as the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. If you know of other resources or have a Kindle tip to share, sound off in the comments!HAMILTON, BER – OTUSA was back out on the water today, and the changes they have so far made are minor and more by way of fine-tuning and trying different already-available options, not majors. As one OTUSA insider told SI, “If we knew what to change we would.” Rumors of a an imminent change of skipper or other personnel, a la the AC34 swap out of John Kostecki for Ben Ainslie, are just that, unfounded rumors. To make such changes at this late stage would almost certainly be suicide. Moreover, the rumor that they are installing pedaling stations in place of their coffee grinders is simply choc full o’ nuts. Even if they could switch to pedaling, who in the team has the leg power to make it worthwhile? Are you going to put the grinders, who have been training for three years to have huge upper body strength – but not leg power – on pedals? I don’t think so. Fine-tuning of the foils and wing and their control systems? Sure. Set someone else up in the crew at this late stage to trim the foils instead of skipper Jimmy Spithill (as cyclor Blair Tuke does for the Kiwis)? Not bloody likely.
ETNZ will be back out on the water tomorrow, or so we hear. They are also tweaking, not making major changes. There have been rumors of a late-breaking measurement protest from OTUSA against ETNZ, but your Ed. has not been able to confirm that. If any of that is afoot you wouldn’t know it except via leaks from insiders due to this Cup’s secrecy rules and the ACEA CEO's paranoia about adverse proceedings or publicity.
BOTH TEAMS have learned a fair bit about themselves and each other from racing last weekend, and it is fair to say both have more in the tank – that’s not just PR talk from Pete Burling and Jimmy Spithill. Expect some refinements in their respective kit, and improved handling and performance by each team. Both are still on a steep part of the foiling-cat learning curve, but with little time left to make huge leaps, especially in a boat that is largely one-design.
WEATHER FORECAST for the coming weekend is remarkably similar to last weekend – light but raceable. This can only benefit ETNZ. On the weekend there will be two big high-pressure systems parked either side of Bermuda. One of your Ed.'s best friends is not only a racing sailor of repute, but also a noted offshore fisherman who has extensive experience with Bermuda's waters and weather. He opined today that this weekend looks perfect for Marlin fishing.
SPITHILL’S FAMOUS AGGRESSION will return this weekend. That will be the biggest apparent change from last weekend. We are reliably informed that Jimmy will come out with guns a’ blazin’ in the pre-start, and will be much more aggressive throughout the race if he can stay ahead of or with the Kiwis. Expect to see more protests, close calls, collisions even. God forbid anyone is hurt, or either of the boats is seriously compromised. But mark my words, there will be fireworks. You can bet, too, that the teams and jury are boning up on the redress rules, as they could play a significant role in the outcome of this regatta.
ETNZ HOSPITALITY is essentially zero. Unlike SF when they had a full sponsor fulfillment program, there is next to none in BDA. The team doesn’t even hang out at the Base after racing. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke convinced team leadership to take a page out of their Olympic playbook – put the boat away and go back to team housing for a quiet, private debrief in a relaxed setting without any external influences, glad-handers or other distractions.
PETE BURLING's onshore comportment has impressed the hell out of everyone connected with ETNZ, especially the veterans, and not just how calmly he handles the press conferences. Some rank his interpersonal skills and engineering inquisitiveness and understanding as being ahead of Russell Coutts at his peak. Pete is said to know the names of everyone connected with the team, as well as their spouses and even kids. At meals he sits with the engineers, not just the other sailors (or gets the sailors to join him), and has a constant back-and-forth with the engineers on how things really work, and what ifs.
SPEAKING OF RUSSELL, he is telling friends privately that this is probably his last Cup. Nobody believes him. One interesting development was his extending an olive branch to his old boss, and nemesis, Ernesto Bertarelli. Ernie had a quiet reunion of ex-Team Alinghi personnel in BDA aboard his luxurious yacht VAVA II, which has been conspicuous among the rather few (fewer than in SF) super yachts present. VAVA has such a strong wifi signal that the media can see it on their laptops at the Media Center, and more than one has remarked about what fun it would be to hack into it.
ERNESTO BERTARELLI would like to be the Kiwi’s Challenger of Record if they win, but he has been beaten to that punch by Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of Prada who famously quit this Cup cycle in disgust when Coutts convinced a majority of the teams (except ETNZ and Prada) to downsize from the originally-agreed (and partially designed, at least in the case of ETNZ and Prada) AC62 cats to the smaller, less expensive AC50s. Bertelli has contributed money, equipment and personnel (notably Max Sirena) to the Kiwi’s campaign. Should ETNZ prevail, Bertelli and Prada will be their COR-partner.
ACEA'S DOCK-OUT SHOWS, which were popular and well-attended by fans of both teams in San Francisco, have been scrubbed by ACEA for the rest of AC35 due to the obvious imbalance of fan support for the two teams. ETNZ were getting a strong turn-out of rabid, flag-waving fans (including many locals) for the race-day dock-out shows, while the number of OTUSA supporters was embarrassingly small. That also saves money for ACEA and ACBDA (the local host committee).
CUTTING EVENT COSTS to the bone is the mantra as ACEA’s budget is once again under considerable pressure, especially given the rumored multi-million dollar payout to the Kiwis following the decision of the Arbitration Panel that went against ACEA, and the likely TV make-goods (or at least no up side for ACEA) due to the low ratings. Moreover, the turnout of visitors to Bermuda has lagged even the most pessimistic projections. Note there is no cruise ship as had been the plan to host an overflow of hotel guests, and the local unions are complaining that their hotel workers are being laid off due to lower than 100% occupancy, even at the ACEA headquarters Hamilton Princess. AC merchandise has been on sale, marked down 30% or more before the Match started – rare for a “major" sporting event. Even Louis Vuitton has cut back. Last Friday's traditional pre-regatta gala, if you could call it that, was much smaller and tamer than LV affairs for past Cups. Few media were invited, and even the invitations to teams were severely limited. ETNZ was barely represented, and there have been conflicting reports as to whether the Kiwis boycotted the event due to it being on the eve of Race Day 1.
CUP VISITORS praise the beauty of Bermuda and the kind and accommodating locals, but many complain that the event lacks a central, natural gathering area like San Francisco’s Marina District, the Viaduct in Auckland, the Esplanade in Freo, and Bannister's Wharf in Newport. To be fair this was also a complaint about San Diego and Valencia, and justifiably so. But the biggest complaint is the cost to eat, drink and be merry in BDA (to say nothing of the high cost of accommodation and getting around) – widely reported to be more expensive than San Francisco.
If GGYC/OTUSA win, AC36 will be in 2019 in Chicago, not Bermuda. AC50 cats again. The COR will be the Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskape / Artemis Racing if Torbjorn Tornqvist continues; if not, the Royal Yacht Squadron / Land Rover BAR. You can expect more pre-regattas around the world leading to another short (by historical measures) event in the "Windy City," which, of course, is not windy at all (except in the winter – indeed, Chicago’s “windy city” nickname comes from the reputation of its politicians, not Lake Michigan’s normally gentle summer breezes). All that could change if Russell really does retire, or gets retired by Larry Ellison in favor of someone else to run the next event.
IF RNZYS/ETNZ win, AC36 will be in Auckland in 2021 or as late as 2022 – same as the five-year gap after the Kiwis won in 1995. The venue will not be in the UAE as some have speculated. Indeed, it is not even clear that, given the world’s present political situation and with all the complications presented by the Middle East, that Emirates Airline will be back as the Kiwis' title partner. One big change from 2000/03 – racing in AKL will be “inside” just off the City Front to accommodate shoreside viewing, not out in the Hauraki Gulf. There will be a big think and much hand-wringing over multi v. mono. The old guard and money, including Patrizio Bertelli (dba their COR through one of his Italian yacht clubs), want to revert to monos. The new guard, especially the sailors, want to stay in multis. RNZYS/ETNZ will do a marketing/TV study, consult prospective teams, then make a decision with their COR. The Kiwis will re-instate a strong nationality rule – 80% of the crew will need to be citizens of the team’s country – but still leave room in their roster for Aussie Glenn Ashby.
IF THE KIWIS WIN, John Bertrand (AUS, of AUSTRALIA II fame) will be back in the Cup with an Aussie team, thanks in part to the Kiwis’ strong nationality rule. It will cause Torbjorn Tornqvist to re-think his Artemis Racing program, as such a rule will make it difficult to challenge from Sweden (unless the event moves back to monohulls). Land Rover BAR will be happy with such a rule; it will strengthen Sir Ben Ainslie's hand with British sponsors and fans. Expect Ernesto Bertarelli to jump back into the AC fray as well, but with a Swiss Challenge? Nothing stops him from launching a challenge from another country, e.g., France or Spain. Did you know that Ernesto has recently been elected to membership in the New York Yacht Club? Hmmm.... If the Kiwis come up with a formula that truly makes campaigns more affordable than they are now, there could be another AC Renaissance like we saw after AUSTRALIA II won the Cup from NYYC in 1983. Recall that for 1987 in Freo there were fully 17 teams – four defenders and thirteen challengers, six of which were from the USA. The size of the event made Dennis Conner's epic 1987 comeback that much more popular with fans all over the world, not just in the USA. The large number of teams, and the international flavor they imparted to Perth – often called the most-remote capital city in the world – is a prime reason why many call 1987 the best Cup in the modern era.
WHAT WILL LARRY DO IF THE KIWIS WIN? Who knows, and likely he doesn’t either. Sure, after five campaigns he might retire from the Cup, but do you think he wants to go out as a loser? Two wins (2010 and 2013) and three losses (2003, 2007, 2017)? Don’t count him out. He lives to compete. Larry could mount another challenge from the USA, or a challenge from some other country – perhaps a real ORACLE TEAM JAPAN for AC36? Or even offer to sponsor a defense candidate for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Don’t laugh. In the past your Ed. has been privy to discussions with him that were more far-fetched than that!
With all the other teams shuttered except ETNZ, the Kiwis spending another day resting and ramping up on shore, and precious few spectator boats (except for a Kiwi spy boat) around, OTUSA cut a lonely path across Bermuda's Great Sound today. ETNZ is expected to sail tomorrow, as is OTUSA.- Authorities say a woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of her daughter.
"Natalise spread your wings. We love you Natalise."
A grieving community gathered to say goodbye to a 4-year-old Camden girl who died yesterday.
"I'd say I love you. I love you too and I'm going to miss that. I'm not going to hear that no more," said Jessica Lightfoot.
Family of the little girl who they say is named Natalise Makayla held a vigil outside her home on the 1400 block of South 9th Street this evening. The news of her death is devastating. Her mother has been charged.
"A child so young. It just was like crazy. It's a big shock. I didn't know what to think. I kept crying and stop crying and kept crying again because I'm like she really didn't get to live her whole life," said James Gunter. He’s the victim’s uncle.
According to the Camden County Prosecutors Office the girl's mother, 20-year old Lucy Gunter is charged in her death for failing to seek medical attention for signs of injuries to her daughter.
Paramedics and police went to the home after a 911 call around 8 yesterday morning. They found Natalise unresponsive with injuries to her face. She died soon after at the hospital.
Jessica Lightfoot says she helped raise Gunter and her child.
"She's not a clean bill of health. Everybody goes through something in their life. She was just in a place where she felt like she was grown and didn’t need any help but she needed her family," she said.
The crowd lit candles and shared words about the little girl as they struggled to make sense of what they believe happened.
"I just really thank everyone for all the support that we're getting right now and all the love she shared upon us in many ways," said James Gunter. He also has a message for his sister who is now in jail.
"I do love you through anything and any mistakes you make," he said. “Something is going to come out of this and you need to speak up. Speak up," he said.
Family members say Gunter also has 2-year-old and one year old sons. She'll be in court for a hearing Friday which will determine if bail is set or not. It's also unclear who made the 911 call.We sat down with Joseph Kosinski, director of Tron Legacy and the new movie Oblivion, along with a handful of other reporters. And he told us that it's getting easier to pitch an original film, in the wake of huge successes like Avatar and Inception. Minor spoilers ahead...
Oblivion, which comes out April 19, features Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, who thinks he's pretty much the last human on Earth after an alien attack. He's taking care of some drones on the planet's surface, and avoiding the scary Scavenger creatures, when he runs into a mysterious woman (Olga Kurylenko) and some subterranean survivors, led by Morgan Freeman. And Cruise flies a bubble ship, which we were able to photograph on the floor of Wondercon!
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Kosinski told us:
The success of Inception and Avatar, two massive science fiction movies that were original, make a movie like Oblivion possible. I love both those movies, and trust me, I was citing those when I was selling this to the studios — [proof] that original science fiction can work. You need a big movie star at the center of it. You need a really compelling story. You need to show people they haven't seen before. But yeah, I'm really excited — it seems like there's a lot of science fiction coming out this year that I'm excited to see.
At the same time, Kosinski cautioned, with an original story, you have to work harder to hook people. "Even though people say they want [something] new and original, the truth is, they also want to know what they're getting. So the tricky thing with the marketing [of Oblivion] has been to tease enough of the mystery, but not give away those twists and turns." People want something new, but they also want it to seem familiar in some way.
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Kosinski came up with the story for Oblivion eight years ago. Back then, he couldn't get work, even making commercials, and he just wrote treatment after treatment with no success. So to keep himself sane, he wrote a small "character piece" with just three characters, that was very much in a Twilight Zone vein of big ideas but a low budget.
And then, during the 2007 writers' strike, Kosinski worked with Radical Comics to create an "illustrated novel" version that never saw the light of day — but that artwork was essential in pitching the film to studios and getting Tom Cruise on board. Kosinski wants you to experience this story as a movie first, but the comics version might come out at some point.
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But even though the final movie has turned into something much bigger than the small indie movie Kosinski originally envisioned, or the comic book he worked on in 2007, he still tried to keep it very character-focused and idea-driven.
When Cruise came on board Oblivion, the movie's script wasn't written yet — Kosinski just had 40 illustrations, plus an 18-page treatment, to show him. And then Kosinski went off and wrote a couple of script drafts with Karl Gadjusek and Michael Arndt. But Cruise had "incredible input" into the film throughout the process, thanks to his experience making dozens of films.
Cruise "watches movies like a guy who buys his own ticket on a Friday night," raved Kosinski. "He doesn't watch like a movie star." He's always thinking about what the audience needs to understand, and how to make things clear enough so they enjoy story beats when they come along.
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Tron Legacy and Oblivion have been like film school for Kosinski, who didn't have a background in film originally. With Oblivion, he was determined to have a solid, tight script locked down before he started filming — because with Tron, he was on a "fast track" because the film already had so much momentum. He likens trying to fix the script for Tron Legacy during filming to "trying to change the tire on a Formula One car while you're already racing."
Oblivion only has 800 VFX shots, compared to 1,500 in Tron Legacy. Kosinski was able to avoid a few hundred VFX shots by using front projection instead of CG for the Sky Tower where Cruise reports to his superiors. And in general, the landscape of Iceland does a lot of the work in this film, instead of the computer-generated Game Grid.
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Kosinski's longtime Director of Photography, Claudio Miranda, won an Oscar for Life of Pi, and the two men have "almost an unspoken communication" after working together for so long. "He's an incredible technician and a great artist," and Life of Pi was a great combination of skills and artistry. Being able to light something so it looks right against a digital background is an underappreciated skill.
And Kosinski says he wanted "beautiful desolation" for the abandoned Earth, which is littered with relics of human civilization, and Iceland fit perfectly. "There's no trees, [just] some black sand, and some moss clings to the surface." The sun doesn't ever set in June, and the "magic hour" for filming lasts six or seven hours.
Another difference from Tron Legacy: only 40 minutes of that film were in full-width IMAX, whereas all of Oblivion is full-frame, meaning you'll see a lot more of the movie in IMAX theaters.
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Kosinski dropped a few hints about the mysteries in the film — like the Scavs are "desperate creatures" who have been "beaten down by the war on humanity." And he said that Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays a "tough warrior who has been hardened after years of conflict." Olga Kurylenko's character is someone Jack recognizes immediately when he finds her in a crashed spacecraft, the Odyssey, even though he doesn't know how he knows her. Kurylenko is "incredible in the film," says Kosinski. "I'm really excited for people to see her performance."
We asked how this film would have been different if Kosinski had made it for Disney, as was originally the plan, and he said there's a "lot of stuff that I couldn't have done at Disney" in this film. "Disney knew it, and I knew it, and I'm really glad we were able to move it to Universal, and Disney made it easy." This is a PG-13 movie, and although Disney makes those sometimes, this has some maturity and a very adult relationship between the characters. There's some sexuality, some adult language and some language that would have been "too much for the Disney brand."
Meanwhile, Kosinski says he's about "two weeks away" from getting a new script for Tron 3, which is a story he's been working on since 2009.
I'm really excited about the idea that we have for it. I think it delivers on the promise that both Tron movies have made. It opens the movie up in a way that I think is going to make it a much broader appeal, whereas Tron [Legacy] in the end, I think catered most to Tron fans. This idea broadens it up some more, in really exciting ways. But it's all about the script, making sure that story is compelling enough to get all of us back together. Those movies are hard to make. It's a two and a half, three-year journey. So to go back in there, to go back to the Grid, it's got to be a pretty spectacular script.
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And he says there's a working title, but he jokes they're going to call it Tr3n. Also, he says he's also got a couple of other scripts being written that he's going to look at. "I have some interesting options I've been setting the table for. I don't know which one [I'm going to do] yet."Nikon has upgraded its entry-level D.S.L.R. camera lineup with the $700 D3100, which can shoot full 1080p high-def video with continuous autofocus, impressive features its predecessor, the D3000, lacked.
The D3100 will ship with a DX-format Nikkor 18mm to 55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens in mid-September.
Under the hood, many of the specs are the same as the D3000, and the new D3100 is essentially the same size and weight. Besides video capabilities, improvements to the D3100 include a new CMOS sensor (measuring 23.1mm by 15.4mm with a higher resolution of 14.2 megapixels), a higher expanded ISO range, support for high-capacity SDXC memory cards and a quiet shutter release mode for stealthy shooting.
The D3100 captures 1080p video at 24 frames per second or 720p high-def video at 24 or 30 frames per second. The camera can recognize and track up to 35 faces when shooting video, and the contrast-based AF mode can be used when shooting in Live View mode. It records video in the H.264 AVCHD codec.
The D3100 targets point-and-shoot camera users who are taking a step up to their first D.S.L.R., and Nikon has expanded its in-camera user guide, which suggests settings and hand-holds users through snapping photos and video.
The guide provides a simple graphical interface on the camera’s 3-inch LCD that suggests and/or adjusts camera settings to achieve the desired images. It uses terms that casual photographers can understand.
For instance, Soften Background shows an example photo with a background blur and tells how the effect is achieved (a shallow depth of field). Show Water Flowing shows a waterfall at various shutter speeds, with water flowing in a silky stream to illustrate the settings (this is achieved through adjusting the shutter speed). When you’re ready to start shooting, the guide presents you with a choice of viewfinder, Live View or movie modes. Select your mode and start snapping.
Nikon has added dedicated buttons to the top of the camera for movie mode, guide mode and other advanced modes to enable fast switching.
Nikon also introduced some new lenses, and I can’t wait to get my paws on the consumer-grade AF-S DX Nikkor 55 mm to 300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR lens. The DX format lens is pretty compact for a 300mm zoom, enormously versatile and reasonably priced at $400. Nikon says it’s the first consumer lens to offer a High Refractive Index lens element that will deliver high contrast at maximum aperture. It would be a great add-on for the D3100. Look for it starting in September.Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
December 23rd, 1913 is a date which will live in infamy. That was the day when the Federal Reserve Act was pushed through Congress. Many members of Congress were absent that day, and the general public was distracted with holiday preparations. Now we have reached the 100th anniversary of the Federal Reserve, and most Americans still don't know what it actually is or how it functions. But understanding the Federal Reserve is absolutely critical, because the Fed is at the very heart of our economic problems.
Since the Federal Reserve was created, there have been 18 recessions or depressions, the value of the U.S. dollar has declined by 98 percent, and the U.S. national debt has gotten more than 5000 times larger. This insidious debt-based financial system has literally made debt slaves out of all of us, and it is systematically destroying the bright future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have. If nothing is done, we are inevitably heading for a massive amount of economic pain as a nation. The following are 100 reasons why the Federal Reserve should be shut down forever...
#1 We like to think that we have a government "of the people, by the people, for the people", but the truth is that an unelected, unaccountable group of central planners has far more power over our economy than anyone else in our society does.
#2 The Federal Reserve is actually "independent" of the government. In fact, the Federal Reserve has argued vehemently in federal court that it is "not an agency" of the federal government and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
#3 The Federal Reserve openly admits that the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks are organized "much like private corporations".
#4 The regional Federal Reserve banks issue shares of stock to the "member banks" that own them.
#5 100% of the shareholders of the Federal Reserve are private banks. The U.S. government owns zero shares.
#6 The Federal Reserve is not an agency of the federal government, but it has been given power to regulate our banks and financial institutions. This should not be happening.
#7 According to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Congress is the one that is supposed to have the authority to "coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures". So why is the Federal Reserve doing it?
#8 If you look at a "U.S. dollar", it actually says "Federal Reserve note" at the top. In the financial world, a "note" is an instrument of debt.
#9 In 1963, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11110 which authorized the U.S. Treasury to issue "United States notes" which were created by the U.S. government directly and not by the Federal Reserve. He was assassinated shortly thereafter.
#10 Many of the debt-free United States notes issued under President Kennedy are still in circulation today.
#11 The Federal Reserve determines what levels some of the most important interest rates in our system are going to be set at. In a free market system, the free market would determine those interest rates.
#12 The Federal Reserve has become so powerful that it is now known as "the fourth branch of government".
#13 The greatest period of economic growth in U.S. history was when there was no central bank.
#14 The Federal Reserve was designed to be a perpetual debt machine. The bankers that designed it intended to trap the U.S. government in a perpetual debt spiral from which it could never possibly escape. Since the Federal Reserve was established 100 years ago, the U.S. national debt has gotten more than 5000 times larger.
#15 A permanent federal income tax was established the exact same year that the Federal Reserve was created. This was not a coincidence. In order to pay for all of the government debt that the Federal Reserve would create, a federal income tax was necessary. The whole idea was to transfer wealth from our pockets to the federal government and from the federal government to the bankers.
#16 The period prior to 1913 (when there was no income tax) was the greatest period of economic growth in U.S. history.
#17 Today, the U.S. tax code is about 13 miles long.
#18 From the time that the Federal Reserve was created until now, the U.S. dollar has lost 98 percent of its value.
#19 From the time that President Nixon took us off the gold standard until now, the U.S. dollar has lost 83 percent of its value.
#20 During the 100 years before the Federal Reserve was created, the U.S. economy rarely had any problems with inflation. But since the Federal Reserve was established, the U.S. economy has experienced constant and never ending inflation.
#21 In the century before the Federal Reserve was created, the average annual rate of inflation was about half a percent. In the century since the Federal Reserve was created, the average annual rate of inflation has been about 3.5 percent.
#22 The Federal Reserve has stripped the middle class of trillions of dollars of wealth through the hidden tax of inflation.
#23 The size of M1 has nearly doubled since 2008 thanks to the reckless money printing that the Federal Reserve has been doing.
#24 The Federal Reserve has been starting to behave like the Weimar Republic, and we all remember how that ended.
#25 The Federal Reserve has been consistently lying to us about the level of inflation in our economy. If the inflation rate was still calculated the same way that it was back when Jimmy Carter was president, the official rate of inflation would be somewhere between 8 and 10 percent today.
#26 Since the Federal Reserve was created, there have been 18 distinct recessions or depressions: 1918, 1920, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1937, 1945, 1949, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1969, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1990, 2001, 2008.
#27 Within 20 years of the creation of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. economy was plunged into the Great Depression.
#28 The Federal Reserve created the conditions that caused the stock market crash of 1929, and even Ben Bernanke admits that the response by the Fed to that crisis made the Great Depression even worse than it should have been.
#29 The "easy money" policies of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan set the stage for the great financial crisis of 2008.
#30 Without the Federal Reserve, the "subprime mortgage meltdown" would probably never have happened.
#31 If you can believe it, there have been 10 different economic recessions since 1950. The Federal Reserve created the "dotcom bubble", the Federal Reserve created the "housing bubble" and now it has created the largest bond bubble in the history of the planet.
#32 According to an official government report, the Federal Reserve made 16.1 trillion dollars in secret loans to the big banks during the last financial crisis. The following is a list of loan recipients that was taken directly from page 131 of the report...
Citigroup - $2.513 trillion
Morgan Stanley - $2.041 trillion
Merrill Lynch - $1.949 trillion
Bank of America - $1.344 trillion
Barclays PLC - $868 billion
Bear Sterns - $853 billion
Goldman Sachs - $814 billion
Royal Bank of Scotland - $541 billion
JP Morgan Chase - $391 billion
Deutsche Bank - $354 billion
UBS - $287 billion
Credit Suisse - $262 billion
Lehman Brothers - $183 billion
Bank of Scotland - $181 billion
BNP Paribas - $175 billion
Wells Fargo - $159 billion
Dexia - $159 billion
Wachovia - $142 billion
Dresdner Bank - $135 billion
Societe Generale - $124 billion
"All Other Borrowers" - $2.639 trillion
#33 The Federal Reserve also paid those big banks $659.4 million in "fees" to help "administer" those secret loans.
#34 During the last financial crisis, big European banks were allowed to borrow an "unlimited" amount of money from the Federal Reserve at ultra-low interest rates.
#35 The "easy money" policies of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have created the largest financial bubble this nation has ever seen, and this has set the stage for the great financial crisis that we are rapidly approaching.
#36 Since late 2008, the size of the Federal Reserve balance sheet has grown from less than a trillion dollars to more than 4 trillion dollars. This is complete and utter insanity.
#37 During the quantitative easing era, the value of the financial securities that the Fed has accumulated is greater than the total amount of publicly held debt that the U.S. government accumulated from the presidency of George Washington through the end of the presidency of Bill Clinton.
#38 Overall, the Federal Reserve now holds more than 32 percent of all 10 year equivalents, and that percentage is rising by about 0.3 percent each week.
#39 Quantitative easing creates financial bubbles, and when quantitative easing ends those bubbles tend to deflate rapidly.
#40 Most of the new money created by quantitative easing has ended up in the hands of the very wealthy.
#41 According to a prominent Federal Reserve insider, quantitative easing has been one giant "subsidy" for Wall Street banks.
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check it out if you like his stuff and want some original art.
Of course we have more to look at.
== TEASER ==
I try not to do multiple images by the same artist but Chris Samnee also did this really cool piece on J'onn J'onzz, Martian Manhunter this week.
I think it's obvious we really need to see more from Chris.
What about Princess Leia? How many drawings have we seen of her over the years? She is usually depicted in her original white outfit or in her Slave Leia outfit. Here's a different take by Phil Noto, seen on his Tumblr page.
Leia was tough in the movies but imagine what might have happened if Vader and the Emperor got their hands on her. Sure she would have been able to easily resist them but the fact is she has the potentially to be a really kickass character, something I've always thought since reading the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye.
Being that it is the Fourth of July weekend in the United States, we couldn't have not have a picture of Captain America. Also, based on the past editions of Awesome Art Picks, we can't not have a picture by Mitch Breitweiser.
Posted on his site, this was done apparently on the road. Pretty dang sweet.
How about Superman? How about a cute rendition of Superman? He is (or was) all about Truth, Justice and the American way.
This piece was done by Agnes Garbowska on her Tumblr. Check out her webcomic on her website.
Finally, prepare yourself for...Spider-Nam.
Done by James Stokoe (HeGotGronch via Twitter)...the images are mind-blowing. He has a site with other images you should check out.
And finally, a last minute edition from Philip Tan of Starfox.
I love Philip's caption for this: "Quick update then running again. Today's sketch; Starfox! What happened to him, btw? :p"
"Today's sketch"? Dang, I wish I could just do a random daily sketch like that.
That wraps up this week's edition. What did you think of these? We will have another edition next week.Doug Mataconis · · 40 comments
Sometimes, rhetoric does matter:
On his daily radio and television shows, Glenn Beck has elevated once-obscure conservative thinkers onto best-seller lists. Recently, he has elevated a 78-year-old liberal academic to celebrity of a different sort, in a way that some say is endangering her life.
Frances Fox Piven, a City University of New York professor, has been a primary character in Mr. Beck’s warnings about a progressive take-down of America. Ms. Piven, Mr. Beck says, is responsible for a plan to “intentionally collapse our economic system.”
Her name has become a kind of shorthand for “enemy” on Mr. Beck’s Fox News Channel program, which is watched by more than 2 million people, and on one of his Web sites, The Blaze. This week, Mr. Beck suggested on television that she was an enemy of the Constitution.
Never mind that Ms. Piven’s radical plan to help poor people was published 45 years ago, when Mr. Beck was a toddler. Anonymous visitors to his Web site have called for her death, and some, she said, have contacted her directly via e-mail.
(…)
The interest in Ms. Piven is rooted in an article she wrote with her husband, Richard Cloward, in 1966. The article, “The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty,” proposed that if people overwhelmed the welfare rolls, fiscal and political stress on the system could force reform and give rise to changes like a guaranteed income. By drawing attention to the topic, the proposal “had a big impact” even though it was not enacted, Ms. Piven said. “A lot of people got the money that they desperately needed to survive,” she said.
In Mr. Beck’s telling on a Fox broadcast on Jan. 5, 2010, Ms. Piven and Mr. Cloward (who died in 2001) planned “to overwhelm the system and bring about the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with impossible demands and bring on economic collapse.” Mr. Beck observed that the number of welfare recipients soared in the years after the article, and said the article was like “economic sabotage.”
He linked what he termed the Cloward-Piven Strategy to President Obama’s statement late in the 2008 presidential campaign that “we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”
Mr. Beck has invoked Ms. Piven dozens of times since. Conservative Web sites, like the ones operated by Andrew Breitbart, have also spent time dissecting her articles and speeches.Share this...
Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung reports the latest development on the Umweltbundesamt (UBA) scandal.
Recently Germany’s version of the Environmental Protection Agency (UBA) published a 120-page brochure that publicly named and branded renowned skeptic US and German journalists and scientists because they “did not conform to the level of climate science knowledge“.
Minister of Bullying? Environment Minister Peter Altmaier defends blacklist. Photo credit: Rudolf Simon, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Two of the science journalists named in the UBA brochure are Michael Miersch, editor at FOCUS, and Dirk Maxeiner. The Süddeutsche Zeitung asks in its commentary whether it’s okay “for the state to publicly brand them” and if it is “the function of a state agency to grade the work of journalists and to do so publicly?
Journalists suing Environment Ministry
The Süddeutsche Zeitung writes that the story has now entered the legal phase, with journalists Michael Miersch and Dirk Maxeiner suing the German Environment Ministry for refusing to cease and desist distributing the controversial brochure. The Süddeutsche writes:
They are taking the matter to court because the agency has refused to sign a cease and desist declaration, and is continuing to distribute the brochure in the Internet. He doesn’t want to be ‘officially stamped as not serious‘, said Miersch. Moreover, the science journalist is annoyed that the agency wants to end the debate on climate change: ‘Declaring a debate ended goes against the spirit of science. Anyone who says that the end of the debate has been reached is peddling theology.'”
Environment Minister Peter Altmaier, whose Ministry oversees the UBA, defended the brochure. The Süddeutsche Zeitung quotes Altmaier insisting that the Ministry “is not imposing any thought, speech, writing or other ban.” Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier told Welt am Sonntag that he saw “no reason for criticism” and: “We are simply saying that from time to time there are positions that do not agree with the overwhelming majority of scientists.”
Bad enough that Altmaier doesn’t see anything false with wrongly ruining reputations, but he also appears totally misinformed here. Perhaps someone forgot to tell him about all the scientific papers out there showing that the science is more disputed than ever, and that Cook’s 97% consensus-claiming paper is fatally flawed. One has to wonder about Altmaier‘s information supply.
Pattern of bullying throughout the science supply chain
Marginalizing dissenting views and intimidating uncooperative journalists and scientists is not only a practice that was recently used by the German Environment Ministry in the form of its UBA brochure, but it is also one that had been widely used by its main supplier for scientific information: Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research.
Two years ago a court in Cologne ordered Rahmstorf to cease and desist spreading “false assertions” about science journalist Irene Meichsner who earlier had written a highly critical article on IPCC science.
In a February 20, 2011 blog commentary, Rahmstorf wrote that the journalist’s story represented:
…a media scandal where a few journalists mislead the public with completely exaggerated or freely made up pseudo-scandals. Too many among them are naive and go along without seeing through the farce.”
Background of that story here. Meichsner took Rahmstorf to court and won.
Thus bullying and intimidation of critics seems to have become a pattern throughout the entire science information supply chain of the German Environment Ministry.
Ministry may have committed a number of violations
What are the chances of success for the journalists against the Ministry of Environment in a court of law?
First off, the Ministry of Environment may have violated its rules for neutrality. Legal professor Thorsten Koch of the University of Osnabrück recently wrote that he believes the “Federal Environment Agency violated the rules of neutrality”. Koch explains that the government is allowed to participate and take a position on the climate issue, but adds:
Strange however that a government office is attempting to bindingly specify the state of knowledge in a scientific question. That is the job of a scientist. Even more it is neither scientifically or legally appropriate if scientific truths – and thus ultimately only the current state of the error – are announced with official authority. Deciding scientific controversies is no duty of the state. The attempt we have here by the Environment Agency to decide a scientific controversy is in this form unique.”
And there’s “official state defamation”. Koch wrote:
The pamphlet is a product of official state action in which in one sense the claims that contradict the ‘scientific consensus’ made by ‘climate change skeptics’ (p. 110) are polemicized. Even the ZDF public television website ‘heute.de’ diagnosed it as ‘official state defamation’. This makes the matter legally questionable.”
It’s very difficult to predict the outcome of any legal battle.
German Association Of Journalists demands apology
Finally the German Association of Journalists demands an apology from Minister Altmaier, writing:
A state agency in Germany does not have the authority to brand critics of government policy as heretics and that Peter Altmaier “stop the distribution of the brochure in its current form and to apologise to the journalists named in the pamphlet.”
The pressure is mounting.Image via IFIXIT
Just recently we heard about an update to Microsoft's SDK for Xbox One that would enable better usage of the eSRAM module within the console. Now, the same group that leaked the updated SDK have also said that the Xbox One had received a bump in CPU performance in late 2014.
The hacker group known as "H4LT" claims that Microsoft had unlocked a seventh CPU core to be used for games back in October of 2014, leaving just one remaining core dedicated to process background information and power the Xbox OS.
The unlocking of a seventh core played a role in games that required additional hardware resources, such as Assassin's Creed Unity, to perform better, helping to minimize what little difference exists between Xbox One and Playstation 4 visually.
That being said, the unlocking of a seventh core shouldn't be seen as a performance boost to the Xbox One, but instead a choice of balance for developers that may want extra horsepower to drive resource-hungry titles. Should a game take more power from the seventh core, power to the Kinect will be limited, keeping voice commands relating to the system OS available, such as the "Xbox, go home" command, and limiting voice input/control to games themselves.
It's evident that Microsoft is leaving no stone unturned when figuring out how to squeeze every ounce of power from its flagship console to better support game performance. This doesn't play against Microsoft's media ambitions for the Xbox One console, it just shows that there's greater emphasis on delivering on a better game experience. As of this time, Sony's Playstation 4 console is still locked to six CPU cores when powering games.
Source: EurogamerBy Paul Sandle and Sarah Young
CAERNARFON/YORK (Reuters) - Scotland's chance to vote for independence has lit hopes in other regions of Britain that a reworking of political ties might boost their chances of self-rule too.
London-based parliamentarians have been wrong-footed by a late surge of support among Scottish voters planning to say 'Yes' on Sept. 18, and their consequent hurried promise to award Edinburgh more economic decision-making if it stays part of the union is being eyed by Manchester, Yorkshire and Wales.
A big gap has widened in Britain in recent decades between cities and regions at each end of the country. The 'North-South Divide' came about because manufacturing and mining industries in the north and midlands failed while London and the south east saw a boom in financial and media industries.
It's a source of bitterness for many British voters, who see London as a city state increasingly detached from the rest of the United Kingdom not just economically but culturally. And analysts agree the government in Westminster has left whole areas of the rest of the country to stagnate because they don't have the power to tailor their own growth policies.
"While global competitors are free to invest in their major cities, UK metros are at the mercy of central government, hoping for a cut of a fixed pot of national income," said the RSA City Growth Commission in a report chaired by economist Jim O'Neill.
The United Kingdom has one of the most centralized systems of public finance of any major OECD country. The proportion of taxation set by local government accounts for just 1.7 percent of Britain's gross domestic product, compared to 5 percent in France and 16 percent in Sweden, according to the RSA report.
Now however the Scottish referendum, coming after the United Kingdom endured several years of recession, has prompted local politicians, leaders and businessmen to shout louder for the regional autonomy they need to boost growth in their areas too.
Nearly half of Britons - 48 percent - support more decision-making powers being devolved to English and Welsh cities and regions, according to a poll published on Tuesday that was conducted by ComRes for ITV News.
YORKSHIRE FIRST?
In England's biggest county, Richard Carter launched the "Yorkshire First" campaign in August, calling for devolution to a regional government.
With a population the same size as Scotland and an economy twice the size of Wales, Yorkshire is suffering because it has the powers of neither, Carter says.
"It is a sad indictment that we live in the nation with 9 of the 10 poorest areas in Northern Europe. If the existing UK structures are working so well, why is it that London appears to be hoovering up the wealth, vitality and energy of the regions of the UK?" he said in an article on the campaign's website.
Speaking to Reuters, the 48-year-old business adviser explained: "We need a state that works for all parts of the kingdom. We don't want to be having the discussion we're having with Scotland again in 100 years time about Yorkshire or the North deciding enough is enough."
Elsewhere in the north, many inhabitants of Greater Manchester agree.
The county in north-west England has a bigger population than Northern Ireland and a larger economy than Wales. That makes it a prime candidate for devolved powers, says Phillip Blond, director of think tank ResPublica.
Blond published a report on Monday suggesting that Manchester be given income-tax raising powers and control over more public spending, in what could be "a blueprint for independence for cities in England."
Meanwhile in Wales, which has a population of just over 3 million, Dafydd Wigley, the former leader of the nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, thinks that his party will only be boosted by a "yes" vote in Scotland.
Wales already has its own assembly but a lack of confidence in the country's economic prospects since large parts of it were scarred by the closure of heavy industry and mining has so far muted support for further devolution.
Independence is supported by about 10 percent of voters, Wigley says, and remains a long-term goal. Plaid Cymru believes Wales should get more power to raise taxes and determine its spending, on the same terms granted to Scotland.Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week.
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Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die. Ad Policy
W.H. Auden wrote that, sitting in a dive on 52nd Street nearly three-quarters of a century ago, as the world plunged into darkness on September 1, 1939. I’ve been thinking of those words a lot lately. Because it feels to me, and many others I know, like we’re poised at the edge of another darkness.
It’s a darkness already visible, right now, in the Philippines, where thousands are dead and many hundreds of thousands made refugees by the force of a storm like none had ever seen.
And it’s a darkness visible in the bright corporate halls of a conference center in Warsaw, where delegates to the nineteenth annual U.N. negotiations on climate change are divided and dithering, even as the window to prevent civilizational catastrophe rapidly closes.
In those same bright halls last Monday, during the opening session, the Philippines’ lead negotiator, Naderev Yeb Saño, announced in a powerful and emotional speech that he would eat no food for the duration of the twelve-day conference, or until meaningful action was taken to address the global crisis, and sparked an international outpouring of solidarity.
It so happens that two young friends of mine, Adam Greenberg and Collin Rees, recent Boston-area college grads, are in Warsaw as youth delegates to the U.N. conference with SustainUS, and they and other young people there immediately joined Saño in his hunger strike—and have now been fasting for more than a week. (Adam and Collin are allowing themselves some liquid nutrients so they can keep up the grueling conference schedule.)
By coincidence, it also happens that I spent this past weekend with a core group of about fifty committed student climate organizers from Students For a Just and Stable Future (SJSF) at their fall convergence in Worcester, Massachusetts, as they spent two full days in trainings and strategy meetings to strengthen their network and support the fast-growing grassroots climate movement in New England and beyond. And yesterday, the SJSF groups at Tufts and Brandeis launched a weeklong fast in solidarity with Saño and the people of the Philippines (as well as their friends Adam and Collin), and held a candlelight vigil in Cambridge. (Update: See their "Open Letter: Why We Are Fasting This Week," signed by students at 74 campuses.) They’re joined by people throughout Boston and the region, and coordinated fasts and vigils are being planned around the U.S. and the world for Thursday and Friday, the final days of the Warsaw conference.
These students (many of whom I’ve come to know personally as we’ve worked side by side in the 350 Massachusetts network) understand full well what’s happening to the climate, and are acutely conscious of the fact that time is running out for their generation—and, especially, those that will follow. They know that we simply cannot wait until 2020, or even 2015, to turn things around decisively. It has to be now. And they’re prepared to engage in the kind of hard work and struggle that building their movement will require.
In an email last week, Adam Greenberg told me:
I’m fasting because we need to, as Yeb said, stop this madness. I refuse to accept that we can’t. I refuse to accept that we won’t. I refuse to let the fossil fuel companies win. This is about justice, this is about taking action, and this is about preventing harm both now and in the future. We know what needs to happen. The science and the deadly simple math could not be more clear. Walking away from these talks each year without making progress is morally unacceptable.
I followed up with some questions for the two of them, and Collin Rees was able to respond last night. Noting that expectations for what the UN process can achieve are exceedingly low, I asked if he could describe what the atmosphere at the Warsaw conference was like coming in, and how the devastation in the Philippines and the action by Yeb Saño has changed it.
Collin Rees: Expectations from the UNFCCC are traditionally very low; this has been even more true in Warsaw. There was not a lot of hope for real action coming into the talks; there was some fairly vague talk about a loss and damage mechanism and some small hopes for moving on finance. Ever since Copenhagen expectations have been kept exceedingly low to avoid disappointment—I think they’ve actually been kept artificially low through this method, and this week has shown us there’s still a lot of hope. People are now talking about real advances in the loss and damage arena, and tangible movement on finance. Discussions on REDD+ has been surprisingly hopeful, and sessions have run late into the night as countries continue debate. It hasn’t changed everything and expectations are still low, but I think we’re seeing real movement and that’s something we can continue to push for as we move into the second week.
I also asked what the goals of SustainUS were for Warsaw, and whether they had changed, and what the US delegation’s reaction has been, if any.
CR: SustainUS’s goals for Warsaw were largely related to two campaigns—inserting intergenerational equity into the negotiating text for 2015’s agreement and sparking a climate conversation in the U.S. about this June’s upcoming Clean Air Act Section 111(d) EPA standards for existing-source power plants. Both campaigns have been going well, but the domestic efforts especially have been augmented by Haiyan’s devastation and Sano’s courageous stand. The media is connecting climate change to real impacts, and the need for climate action is clear. The upcoming EPA regulations are a simple, easy way the U.S. can instantly become a leader on climate action, by implementing aggressive standards that force the worst energy sources out of the equation. These regs will be issued; the only question is how much of an impact they will have. They’re a chance to avoid a completely dysfunctional Congress and take real action with immediate impacts. The large majority of the U.S. delegation didn’t show up until this week, so they’ve been largely absent from the dialogue thus far. We’re planning to bring it to their attention, but we’re also cognizant of the fact that they’ve essentially been given their marching orders from Washington and have very little flexibility in their actions here in Warsaw. What we need in the U.S. is aggressive domestic action, so that in the next two years we can come to these negotiations and be a real leader in the international sphere. This fast is about solidarity with climate change victims worldwide, but it’s also about getting action back at home (in every country, not just the U.S.).
I asked Collin, as someone in his early twenties, what he wanted people to understand about what’s happening there in Warsaw right now—not just in terms of the negotiations, but in terms of what’s truly at stake.
CR: We want people to understand that negotiators are coming to the table with full knowledge of the science of climate change and its devastating impacts. They’re coming with knowledge of what needs to be done, and the steps that need to occur to get to that point. They’re coming with all of this knowledge, they’re waving their arms and giving windy, empty speeches for two weeks, and they’re walking away WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING. This is not a process that’s subtly flawed, it’s a process that’s being hijacked by a small group of countries who refuse to commit to action. That’s morally unacceptable. If we don’t take action on climate change, we’re condemning the entire world to an unlivable future. We’re condemning those currently living in vulnerable regions disproportionately affected by the ravages of climate change, and we’re condemning all future generations to a world incompatible with life. That’s what’s at stake here, and that’s why inaction is so unacceptable.
[Update, 11/20/13: The Guardian reports that a bloc of 132 poor and developing countries (the G77 and China) have walked out of the Warsaw negotiations in an "orchestrated move," protesting wealthy nations' refusal to discuss "loss and damage" compensation until after 2015.]
* * *
A personal note: As I post this, I’m nearing twenty-four hours without food myself, as I fast in solidarity with Yeb Saño, the people of the Philippines, people suffering the effects of climate change everywhere—and with these young friends of mine in Warsaw and at home. It’s a small thing, not eating for a day or two, by choice. A very small thing. And yet, fasting last week and again now, it has been a profound reminder of my physical connection to, well, everyone and everything.
“No one exists alone,” Auden wrote in that same poem, “September 1, 1939,” just before the lines about hunger and love I quoted at the outset. It’s also worth noting how Auden ended that poem. After telling us that “we must love one another or die,” he leaves us in the final stanza with an image that, the more I repeat it to myself, retains an uncanny staying power:
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
“Poetry makes nothing happen,” Auden wrote in another famous poem (his elegy for Yeats) earlier that same year, 1939. And yes, I know, my temporary self-imposed hunger doesn’t either.
But as all those fasting this week must feel in their guts and bones, it’s not really about the fast itself. It’s about the flame that started it—and keeps us going.
Aura Bogado explores the terrible truth behind climate debt.In an effort to teach people a lesson about something super profound I'm sure, Berlin University of the Arts students Iman Rezai and Rouven Materne have constructed a colorful guillotine, and are planning on using it to execute a live lamb if the Internet wills it.
"There were people who wanted to forbid us to do this. There were people who celebrated the idea from day one. And there were some people who were afraid of us," says Materne in a video of the "performance piece" uploaded online last week.
The two are inviting users to vote on the young sheep's fate at Die-Guillotine.com. So far so good: the majority of voters have so far opposed the sacrificial stunt.
But with three weeks remaining, and the prospect of the Internet's seedier elements learning about this experiment growing exponentially with each passing day, the poor animal might be done for.
[screengrab via YouTube]Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi based supermarket chain Lulu Group has bought a 10 per cent stake in the UK-based trading firm, The East India Company, and a 40 per cent stake in its fine foods subsidiary for around $85 million in total.
The new investment will enable the fine foods unit to expand its store network in Europe, the Far East and prepare for a launch in the United States, Yousuf Ali MA, managing director of Lulu Group, said in a statement.
“We will support East India Company to develop into a truly global luxury brand and will deliver great results in the coming days. I am sure our alliance will help the Company to expand its business in new regions and markets,” said Yousuf Ali.
“We have great plans for the future and will try our best to bring back the past glory of East India Company in this new era,” he added.
Lulu Group will invest $60 million in the first phase and $25 million in the second phase, the company said.
The East India Company, which was founded in 1600 by the Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I and revived in 2010 by its chairman Sanjiv Mehta, sells luxury foods including tea and chocolate. It has four stores in the UK and three in the Middle East. It also distributes through retailers in 16 countries.
The company opened a store in the Avenue at Etihad Towers last month. This is the first store in the UAE and third in the Middle East after Doha and Kuwait. The company has plans to open stores in Dubai and Riyadh in future.
It carries an expertly curated selection of fine teas and coffees, artisan sweet and savoury biscuits, an exquisite chocolate range besides jams and marmalades.
Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman of the East India Company told Gulf News that he is optimistic about the new deal. “Lulu Group is strong in the Middle East. It will help us build business.”
He said that they are planning to open 20 stores in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) in the next four years including seven to eight stores in the UAE. “People in the region understand fine tea and fine chocolates. It is natural for us to open more franchise stores in the region.”
According to Mehta, the company is growing at a fast pace in the UK and they plan to open more stores in the commonwealth group of countries in the coming years.
A spokesperson of the Lulu Group said it’s a strategic decision. “We are investing in a great brand which is well known all over the world. We are planning to expand and open more stores in the Indian subcontinent and the Far East.”
Lulu Group, best known for its chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets, has operations in 31 countries and reported turnover in excess of $5 billion last year.
Starting as a monopolistic trading body in 1600, The East India Company became involved in politics and acted as an agent of British imperialism in India from the early 18th century to the mid-19th century.
The company was revived in August 2010 by Mumbai-born entrepreneur Sanjiv Mehta who opened its flagship fine foods store in the heart of London’s Mayfair. With three years, the company opened two more stores in the UK with a store in Bluewater Mal, Kent and a pop-up store in Covent Gardens, London. It also has presence in France, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
The East India Company has historical links with the Middle East. It played a major role in the development of what were the Trucial States, due to its concern with keeping open vital trade routes from India and beyond to Basra and Kuwait.The 17-year-old girl, who used one of her father’s gun to stop an alleged home intrusion Monday morning, told Breitbart News she was able to handle herself confidently because the gun gave her “the upper hand.”
Breitbart News reported that Kimber Wood was home alone when her boyfriend called and alerted her that a burglary suspect might be headed right for her. Kimber called her dad, asked if she could use a gun, then grabbed one and put it under her pillow after he said yes.
Soon, the suspect was in the house, and Kimber pointed the gun in his face and told him to get out. KHQ reported that Kimber ran outside and “fired one shot into the ground” as the suspect fled.
On July 19, Breitbart News talked to Kimber about this event and asked her if she felt confident once she had the gun in her hand. She said, “I knew how to use the gun, and it gave me a peace of mind that I had the upper hand and I was going to be safe.”
Kimber explained that she grew up shooting with her family and learning how to use firearms:
From about the age of six of seven, I was always out in our backyard with my grandpa, my dad, my brother — our family — target practicing. I’d sit there and watch and learn how they prepared themselves and how they used the guns. When I got to the age where my father thought I could use one myself, I tried it and I knew it was something that I needed to keep learning about. I knew guns could be dangerous things, but if I knew how to use one, I would be okay. So weekends we’d go out and shoot, come back and have lunch, then go back out and shoot some more.
Kimber’s dad, Lenny, added, “She was raised around guns, and from the time that she could understand, I drilled into them muzzle control, gun safety, every gun’s loaded, just like every parent across this country ought to do for their child.”
Breitbart News asked Lenny what he would say to Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, and other gun control groups who argue that homes with guns are more dangerous than homes without guns. He said simply, “At the end of the day, I get to hug my daughter — who’s alive and healthy and well — because of the firearm and the training she has had. And the other outcome is unthinkable.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected] Invasion of Poland, known in Poland as the September Campaign (Kampania wrześniowa) or the 1939 Defensive War (Wojna obronna 1939 roku), and in Germany as the Poland Campaign (Polenfeldzug), was an invasion of Poland by Germany that marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. The Soviets invaded Poland on 17 September following the Molotov–Tōgō agreement that terminated the Soviet and Japanese Battles of Khalkhin Gol in the east on 16 September.[14] The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty.
German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west the morning after the Gleiwitz incident. Slovak forces advanced alongside the Germans in northern Slovakia. As the Wehrmacht advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish–German border to more established lines of defence to the east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited expected support and relief from France and the United Kingdom.[15] While those two countries had pacts with Poland and had declared war on Germany on 3 September, in the end their aid to Poland was very limited.
On 17 September, the Soviet Red Army invaded Eastern Poland, the territory that fell into the Soviet "sphere of influence" according to the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact; this rendered the Polish plan of defence obsolete.[16] Facing a second front, the Polish government concluded the defence of the Romanian Bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered an emergency evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania. On 6 October, following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock, German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered.
On 8 October, after an initial period of military administration, Germany directly annexed western Poland and the former Free City of Danzig and placed the remaining block of territory under the administration of the newly established General Government. The Soviet Union incorporated its newly acquired areas into its constituent Belarusian and Ukrainian republics, and immediately started a campaign of Sovietization. In the aftermath of the invasion, a collective of underground resistance organizations formed the Polish Underground State within the territory of the former Polish state. Many of the military exiles that managed to escape Poland subsequently joined the Polish Armed Forces in the West, an armed force loyal to the Polish government-in-exile.
Prelude [ edit ]
On 30 January 1933, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, under its leader Adolf Hitler, came to power in Germany.[18] While the Weimar Republic had long sought to annex territories belonging to Poland, it was Hitler's own idea and not a realization of Weimar plans to invade and partition Poland,[19] annex Bohemia and Austria, and create satellite or puppet states economically subordinate to Germany.[20] As part of this long-term policy, Hitler at first pursued a policy of rapprochement with Poland, trying to improve opinion in Germany, culminating in the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934.[21] Earlier, Hitler's foreign policy worked to weaken ties between Poland and France, and attempted to manoeuvre Poland into the Anti-Comintern Pact, forming a cooperative front against the Soviet Union.[21][22] Poland would be granted territory to its northeast in Ukraine and Belarus if it agreed to wage war against the Soviet Union, but the concessions the Poles were expected to make meant that their homeland would become largely dependent on Germany, functioning as little more than a client state. The Poles feared that their independence would eventually be threatened altogether;[22] historically Hitler had already denounced the right of Poland to independence in 1930, writing that Poles and Czechs are a "rabble not worth a penny more than the inhabitants of Sudan or India. How can they demand the rights of independent states?"[23]
The population of the Free City of Danzig was strongly in favour of annexation by Germany, as were many of the ethnic German inhabitants of the Polish territory that separated the German exclave of East Prussia from the rest of the Reich.[24] The so-called Polish Corridor constituted land long disputed by Poland and Germany, and inhabited by a Polish majority. The Corridor had become a part of Poland after the Treaty of Versailles. Many Germans also wanted the urban port city of Danzig and its environs (comprising the Free City of Danzig) to be reincorporated into Germany. Danzig city had a German majority,[25] and had been separated from |
as he himself. In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action: it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts. According to this interpretation the well-known conflicts between religion and science in the past must all be ascribed to a misapprehension of the situation which has been described. For example, a conflict arises when a religious community insists on the absolute truthfulness of all statements recorded in the Bible. This means an intervention on the part of religion into the sphere of science; this is where the struggle of the Church against the doctrines of Galileo and Darwin belongs. On the other hand, representatives of science have often made an attempt to arrive at fundamental judgments with respect to values and ends on the basis of scientific method, and in this way have set themselves in opposition to religion. These conflicts have all sprung from fatal errors.”
Although nearly identical to Gould’s views in his 1999 book Rocks of Ages, Gould mentions neither Einstein nor this passage. But both men were misguided in suggesting that this tactic can harmonize science and religion.
Why? For one thing, because they ensconced human goals and values firmly within the magisterium of religion, completely neglecting two millennia of secular morality beginning with the ancient Greeks. Religion is surely not the only source, or even a good source, of how to behave or find meaning in our lives. Einstein also errs by arguing that religion deals “only with evaluations of human thought and action,” ignoring the palpable fact that many religions are also concerned with truth statements—statements about the existence of God, what kind of God he is and what he wants us to do, as well as about how we got here and where we go after we die. Indeed, in the third paragraph Einstein notes that religion does in fact involve truth statements, so his definition is clearly off.By William K. Black
(Cross-posted from Benzinga.com )
At the invitation of the Steamboat Institute’s “Freedom Conference” I debated Dan Mitchell, an economist at Cato on Friday August 25, 2012. Dan suggested me as his debate opponent, a role we have played several times in Europe. Our primary topic was Paul Ryan’s budget policies. In the course of our debate Dan stressed an August 24 column he wrote entitled “For Once, I Hope Paul Krugman is Right.”
Dan’s column quoted what he viewed as the key passage in Krugman’s column.
“In pushing for draconian cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that aid the needy, Mr. Ryan isn’t just looking for ways to save money. He’s also, quite explicitly, trying to make life harder for the poor — for their own good. In March, explaining his cuts in aid for the unfortunate, he declared, “‘We don’t want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and their incentive to make the most of their lives.’”
Dan explained why he hoped Krugman was right about Ryan’s views about the poor.
“To be more specific, I hope Krugman is right in that Ryan wants “to make life harder for the poor” if the alternative is to have their lives stripped of meaning by government dependency. And I agree that it will be “for their own good” if they’re motivated to join the workforce. To be sure, Krugman wants readers to reach the opposite conclusion. Even though the War on Poverty seems to have put an end to the progress we were making … Krugman equates spending money with compassion. And I suppose I should point out that he is completely wrong (using dishonest Washington budget math) when writing about “draconian cuts” since Cong. Ryan is merely proposing to slow down how fast government spending is growing.
***
P.P.P.S. To get your blood boiling, read this this horrifying post about how a left-wing international bureaucracy [is?] conspiring with the Obama White House to redefine poverty in ways that make America look bad.”
At that point in our debate either Dan or the Steamboat moderator remarked that Ryan’s comments about the danger of lulling “people into lives of dependency” sounded a lot like Ronal Reagan. I responded that as an Irish-American I was struck that Ryan’s argument repeated the arguments that Britain’s leaders made when they decided to allow a million Irish to starve to death and another million to emigrate on the coffin ships. The British argued that providing free food (or even food in exchange for brutal work) was unacceptable because it would spur “dependency.” I expressed my disgust for with Ryan’s adherence to the failed theoclassical economic dogma that killed a million Irish and the dogma’s depraved indifference to human life and suffering. A former member of Congress responded in the Q&A by making a statement condemning me for (purportedly) condemning everyone in the room. I didn’t do that because I didn’t know how many of the people present supported Ryan’s claims about the need to make the poor suffer more than they presently suffer due to the fraying safety net. The former Representative, however, felt comfortable asserting that everyone attending the meeting other than me shared Dan’s hope that Ryan intended to make the poor suffer more (for their own good, of course).
The former Representative and Dan did not disagree with my statement that Ryan’s statements sounded eerily like the English officials who insulted the “indolent” Irish while they died of hunger by the hundreds of thousands. The former Representative simply hated the fact that I pointed out the historical parallel in the statements.
An Gorta Mor (the Great Hunger)
Charles Edward Trevelyan led the English government’s response to the Irish crisis. The Irish were governed by the United Kingdom and were Britain’s first colony. Ireland was predominately Catholic and Britain was determined to convert the Irish via the extortion of “the Penal Laws.” Edmund Burke’s denunciation of those laws was that they served as: “a machine as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment, and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man.”
Prior to the emancipation of Irish Catholics, Lord Chancellor Bowes in Dublin ruled that “the law does not suppose any such person to exist as an Irish Roman Catholic.” The English viewed the Irish as a “race” – a deeply inferior race. The Penal Laws, population increases, and the steady rise of the estates of the often absentee landlords led to ever smaller land holdings by Irish Catholic households. The only crop that could sustain a poor Irish family on such limited acreage was the potato, and potatoes are susceptible to blights. In 1845 a terrible potato blight began to spread through Europe and began to devastate the Irish crop. The blight recurred for several years.
The English elites’ claim that God wanted to teach the Irish “a lesson”
Trevelyan’s view of the prospect of mass starvation in Ireland was extreme, but common among British elites.
“The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson, that calamity must not be too much mitigated. …The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”
The Irish, particularly Irish Catholics, viewed the claim that God was a mass murderer to be heresy. Bishop Hughes said “Let us be careful not to blaspheme Providence by calling this God’s famine.” An American visitor to Ireland called the “providential” argument a “slander” against God.
A historian described the (delayed) reaction of the bishops to the spreading famine.
Now, finally, in their Address in the synod of Thurles, the bishops examined Trevelyan’s ideology and found it wanting. The sharpest differences emerged on the attitude to the poor. They had already, in their memorial to the viceroy in 1847, rejected any attempt to blame the Famine on “the indolence of the peasants,” laying it instead on the ‘penal laws’ which had deprived the people of both property rights and the fruits of their labour. Now again, in the Address, they insisted that those “flung upon the highway to perish” were not indolent, but “virtuous and industrious families.” Behind that failure to halt evictions and protect life they discerned an attitude which they considered alien to the Gospel–a contempt for the poor whom many of the governing class saw as a drag on the process of the United Kingdom and “the great nuisance of the moral world…” The bishops, instead, reminded Christians that the poor “were made to the image of the living God and are purchased by the blood of Calvary,” and “the special favourites and representatives of Jesus Christ
Emigration of Catholics began to spread rapidly as the Irish sought to escape starvation. British Protestant elites exulted.
“Clarendon exulted: ‘Priests and patriots howl over the ‘Exodus,’ but the departure of thousands of papist Celts must be a blessing to the country they quit…English and Scots settlers have arrived.’”
The “lesson” that “God” was supposed to be teaching the Irish was to abandon indolence. The worst response possible was for the government to prevent the Irish from starving or emigrating, for that would encourage indolence and dependency. It is remarkable that Paul Ryan, a self-professed Catholic of Irish descent whose great-great-grandfather emigrated to America late in the Great Hunger, rejects the philosophy of the Catholic Church. Ryan sides with the philosophy of the elites who violated Jesus’ command that we aid the poor and who slandered both the Irish and God. Ryan shares the philosophy of the English elites who left a million Irish to starve to death and a million to emigrate to try to escape starvation and cholera. Instead of following the commands of the Bible, Ryan is an apostle of an atheist (Ayn Rand) who exhibited and celebrated the callousness and hostility to the Irish poor of the British elites during the Great Hunger. The Society of Friends (Quakers) who provided such enthusiastic support for the Irish poor during the Great Hunger were motivated by their commands to Christian charity, altruism, and the duty “to speak truth to power.” Rand gloried in her contempt for altruism.
The British government’s response to the Irish bishops forecast the response of the audience at the Steamboat Institute who were literally incredulous that I would suggest that absent governmental aid the poor, particularly the children, would suffer terrible privation and hunger. The audience sees the poor as Ayn Rand taught: disgusting “moochers.” Indeed, the British government denounced the Catholic bishops’ criticism of their hatred towards the Irish poor in strikingly modern terms by calling them “socialists” engaged in class warfare.
One of the worst fruits of the False Teaching of the age, has been to generate a spirit of contempt, hard heartedness, and hostility to the Poor. The Mammon of Iniquity, not the Spirit of Christianity; and…Avarice…, not the Charity of Jesus Christ, have furnished the principles and maxims by which they have been estimated and ranked in the social scale. While the Gospel everywhere breathes respect and love for the poor…the spirit of error…denounces them as the great nuisance of the moral world… The government was furious. Clarendon complained that the bishops were setting the poor against the rich and that the Address “is worthy of Louis Blanc for its socialist doctrines.” “It was high time,” he said, to inquire whether “we shall permit a set of men under the mask of religion…to stir up different classes against each other.” “No language was omitted,” declared Russell, a few months later when bringing in the last penal law passed by parliament against Catholics, “which could excite the feelings of the peasant class against those who were owners of the land.”
It is disturbing that Paul Ryan, a Catholic of Irish descent, would embrace the policies and prejudices that led to the mass deaths and emigration of the Irish and drove his ancestor out of Ireland. An economic dogma should be conclusively discredited when it kills a million people, demonizes the victims, and honors the authors of the mass murder.
Laissez Faire: starvation is preferable to dependency
Trevelyan and his governmental colleagues were the UK’s high priests of laissez faire dogma. Historians have documented from Trevelyan’s actions and statements that he systematically valued “free markets” over even the preservation of human life.
“Treasury Head Sir Charles Trevelyan became effective dictator of the “relief” of Ireland, and already in June 1846 he was writing to Colonel Routh: “‘The only way to prevent people from becoming habitually dependent on government, is to bring [relief] operations to a close. The uncertainty about the new crop [there were already signs of a second year of potato blight] only makes it more necessary…. These things should be stopped now, or you run the risk of paralyzing all private enterprise and having this country on you for an indefinite number of years.’”
Even when other government officials went off message, Trevelyan could be counted on to restore discipline.
“He defended the export of grain from famine-stricken Ireland on the grounds that the Government should not interfere with free trade. When his own administrators described this export of food as ‘a most serious evil’ Trevelyan refused even to consider banning it. When rioting broke out in protest against at the export of corn, he sent 2,000 troops, provisioned with beef, pork and biscuits, ‘to be directed on particular ports at short notice’.”
The proponents of laissez faire were lethal opponents of the Irish “tea party” protestors. The American tea party protestors of 1773 wished to avoid paying a tax imposed without representation. The Irish tea party protestors of the Great Hunger sought to save their families from starvation. Exporting food during mass starvation is obviously insane and inhumane – unless you are in thrall to theoclassical economics. The irony is that while the Steamboat Institute claims to draw its inspiration from the values of the American tea party its values are those that inspired the Irish tea party movement because they proved murderous in practice.
Laissez fairy tales of the need to preserve market efficiency during famine
Trevelyan was opposed to virtually any governmental aid to prevent starvation.
“He was against railway construction as a form of relief and successfully opposed Russell’s scheme for the distribution of some £50,000 worth of seed to tenants. The failure of government relief schemes finally became clear to Trevelyan and early in 1847 soup kitchens were organised under a high-level government commission. It worked badly. In the autumn of 1847, Trevelyan ended government-sponsored aid to the distressed Poor Law districts although there was an outbreak of cholera. He declared that the Famine was over, and that from now on Irish landlords were to be responsible for financing relief works.”
The famine was not over. While the soup kitchens worked badly they extended many lives – until Trevelyan ordered them closed. His work houses became extermination camps, with disease brought on by starvation the great killer. Trevelyan’s great fear was that some “unworthy” Irish man, woman, or child might receive aid. The work houses were vicious. Ireland’s Catholic bisphops reported on the lethal effects of Trevelyan’s inspection demands designed to exclude the merely desperate Irish from receiving food aid.
The outdoor relief is…an empty name–to our able bodied poor it is denied until brought to the last degree of exhaustion; Our distance from the workhouse is another of our grievances, this parish being in part about 26 miles from it, and yet notwithstanding the distance, some unfortunate fathers and mothers each carrying a child or two, had in the depth of winter to attend three reviews, lest they should be too heavy in flesh for outdoor relief and it not unfrequently happened, that some, after being rejected as not qualified for relief, have been found dead along the ditches in trying to reach their homes.
At Steamboat, I repeatedly urged Dan and the audience to end the waste of unemployment. If their fear really was that the poor would embrace indolence rather than work why not test that fear by offering a job guarantee program allowing the unemployed who wished to work to do so? I received no favorable responses.
Dogmas, particularly dogmas that have proved murderous, should be subjected to the most rigorous demands of proof. If Dan (and the Steamboat audience gave him thunderous applause) hopes that Ryan really does wish to make life far harder for the poor should they not be forced to test their dogma before causing such great harm to the poor? The poor are largely children. Ryan wishes to slash food stamps and remove the Earned Income Tax Credit (an exceptionally effective conservative policy initiative designed to encourage the poor to work). My colleagues at UMKC who specialize in the study and implementation of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and jobs guarantee programs believe that if they were adopted now in America the programs would demonstrate that tens of millions of unemployed Americans were eager to work.
It is conservatives who are preventing this test of their dogmas and their willingness to toss tens of millions of Americans in the scrap heap as useless “moochers.” Conservatives’ fear is that a jobs guarantee program would succeed and falsify (again) their theoclassical dogmas. As with their British predecessors, they are hostile to providing the unemployed with the opportunity for respected employment. Their model of government employment is the gulag – a model in which the unemployed are shamed, denounced, and demeaned. The British designed their work program to be punitive and to fail. They designed it in a manner that made it a mass killer. They designed it to produce roads to nowhere rather than vitally needed infrastructure.
The British structured their minimal relief efforts to protect private businesses rather than to protect the poor from starvation. Their workhouses deliberately paid a grossly inadequate wage.
“Free trade decreed that no government surplus food–“no welfare”– be given to the starving, in order to leave the market for food undisturbed. “We do not propose,” Prime Minister Lord John Russell told the House of Commons, “to interfere with the regular mode by which Indian corn and other kinds of grain may be brought into Ireland.” Free trade insisted that the destitute work on the Public Works or in the workhouses, and that these hundreds of thousands should receive wages below the miserable levels prevailing, in order not to distort the labor market.”
Similarly,
“Irish members of the British Parliament in London proposed the government buy stocks of grain otherwise to be exported, and sell it in the worst famine areas, especially in Connaught where starvation deaths were growing. The answer from Lord Russell directly was no: `Purchase by government of any food in ordinary use is forbidden in order to avoid competition with private traders.’ Trevelyan and Colonel Routh agreed that ‘there must be a distinction clearly kept between the ordinary distress of the people, and that resulting from the losses of the potato crop, which alone it may be our object to relieve.’”
One would not want to “relieve” the “ordinary distress” of one’s citizens.
The religious devotion of British elites to laissez faire during the mass starvation of the Irish was extraordinary.
By the winter of 1846-47, the Irish people had begun to die of starvation in large numbers. Lord Russell’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Charles Wood, announced that there would be no more government importation of Indian corn or any other food–private enterprise would provide it. He announced, that the problem in 1845-6 had been that “private trade had been paralyzed by government purchases,” and that “merchants had declared they would not import food at all if the government were to do so.” Public Works were to be limited to one year, and ended by Aug. 15, 1847, and their expense was “to fall entirely on persons possessed of property in the distressed district.” Thus, Sir Charles Wood. In autumn 1846 crops failed in many European countries. French and German governments and bidders bought large amounts of grain from America and elsewhere, while the British government “sat it out.” Food dealers in Ireland were now charging enormous prices, which Trevelyan welcomed in a letter to Colonel Routh: “The high prices will have a regulating influence, as nothing is more calculated to attract supplies, and especially from America…. Do not encourage the idea of prohibiting exports (from Ireland): perfect Free Trade is the right course. Nothing ought to be done for the West of Ireland which might send prices, already high, still higher for people who, unlike the inhabitants of the West Coast of Ireland, have to depend on their own exertions.” Evictions were now going on massively and it was clear that wholesale starvation would take place in 1847. Colonel Routh sent out a memo to his relief officers: “represent to applicants for government supplies of food, the necessity for private enterprise and importations.” In December 1846 Whitehall ordered all Commissariat officers in Ireland to cease all food sales. Colonel Routh added in a memo: “Even if it were practicable at the moment to open our depots [he knew they were actually empty] it would be prejudicial to owners of grain, inasmuch as at present extraordinary prices can be realized.” If this seems an egregious government endorsement of price gouging, Trevelyan repeated it himself: “If dealers were to confine themselves to what in ordinary circumstances might be considered fair profits, the scarcity would be aggravated fearfully….”
The British elites, as a matter of policy, insisted that the workhouse labor not be constructive, hence the “famine roads” to nowhere, the breaking of rocks, and the digging of holes followed by filling them back in. Once must not create useful public works lest they compete with the private sector and show that public works can be useful. Keynes never proposed that people be paid to dig holes and fill them in. He always favored constructive public works. It was the Trevelyan’s of the world, prisoners of a murderous dogma, who demanded unconstructive, brutal public works.
What Ireland desperately needed in the way of infrastructure was port facilities (particularly in the West) and transportation (cartage, not additional roads) to move food to the people to prevent starvation. The British government blocked those public works. Indeed, it virtually privatized its public works program and sought to profit from it.
Lord Russell’s government added a Public Works program which was widespread but unfunded; local committees had to propose the works and sign a contract holding their members personally responsible to repay the British government 100 percent of the cost within two years, plus interest of 3 percent per annum! At first the government sometimes added partial matching grants for local money raised, but these were very difficult to qualify for, and were completely discontinued in 1847. During all of 1846, with 3 million Irish unemployed and selling everything down to their family beds for food, a total of 5,000 pounds-Sterling was expended for piers, harbors, drainage, navigation and water power projects combined: In other words, none were carried out.
The Irish also desperately needed seeds. They had been often been forced to eat the seed crop to stave off the prospect of immediate starvation. Absent ample seeds the crop would be disastrous even if the blight ended.
“Trevelyan added that the government would also do nothing about the new problem–the disastrous fact that all seed potatoes had been eaten and there was nothing to plant in 1847: “The moment it came to be understood that the government would supply seed, the painful exertions of private initiative to preserve a stock of seed would be relaxed.” No seed would be provided, and, as it turned out, the 1847 potato harvest was to be blight-free, but only 20 percent of normal anyway for lack of seed and the death, exhaustion, or illness of farm families. The chance was not to be repeated: The 1848 crop again was destroyed by blight.”
Sympathy for the landlord
The British elites’ sympathy, while the Irish Catholics starved to death by the thousands every day, was overwhelmingly with the largely Protestant absentee landlords. Even before the Great Hunger the situation of Irish Catholic tenants was appalling.
“The great Irish writer and leader Jonathan Swift had written already in 1730: ‘One-half of all Irish rents is spent in England … with other incidents, (it) will amount to full half of the income of the whole kingdom, all clear profit to England…. The rise of our rents is squeezed out of the very blood, and vitals, and clothes, and dwellings of the tenants, who live worse than English beggars.’”
Historians (and contemporary humans not devoid of humanity) were appalled by the mass evictions of Irish tenants during the Great Hunger that were virtual death sentences.
“Evictions. Worst of all, perhaps, were the evictions of those who could no longer pay their rent, the mindless, useless, evil evictions by landlords often living in England that thought less of their Irish tenants than they did of their dogs. Lord Brougham, Free Market supporter, in the British House of Lords in March 1846 commented that ‘undoubtedly it was the landlord’s right to do as he pleased…the tenants must be taught by the strong arm of the law that they had no power to oppose or resist…property would be valueless and capital would no longer be invested…if it were not acknowledged that it was the landlord’s undoubted, indefeasible, and most sacred right to deal with his property as he list.’” [WKB note: the (archaic) definition of “list” in this context was “chooses” or “desires.”]
Property rights were “sacred,” and the 99% of the era must be broken “by the strong arm of law” so that they would realize “they had no power to oppose or resist” and would give up even asserting the right of survival of humans. Poor, Catholic humans had no rights and the elites had no responsibilities.
John Kelly wrote an article on August 12, 2012 that I discovered in researching this piece that adds another historical parallel. His title is: “Paul Ryan’s Irish Problem” and Kelly’s introductory sentence is “Mitt Romney’s running mate is making the same economic mistakes that hurt his forefathers in the Great Famine….”
“Sir Randoph Routh, the head of the Irish Relief Commission, was such a fervent crusader for the free market that not even mass starvation and mass death failed to shake his belief. When a starving delegation from famine-struck County Mayo visited Routh’s office, he presented his guests not with food— but instead with a copy of Edmund Burke’s pamphlet Details on Scarcity, in which Burke explains how market forces deliver food more efficiently than the government. In Routh’s enthusiastic gifting of Burke’s book are shades of Ryan’s fervent profferings, for years, of the works of Ayn Rand. (To be fair, Ryan didn’t give copies of Atlas Shrugged to any starving peasants.)”
To be even more fair; the reason why there are very few “starving peasants” in America today is that we rejected Ryan, Routh, and Ayn Rand’s demands that we ignore the poor’s plight. Historians cite Trevelyan’s embrace of the claim that mass death was preferable to aid.
“If the Irish once find out that there are any circumstances in which they can get free government grants, we shall have a system of mendicancy [begging] such as the world never knew”. After a million had starved to death he stated “The great evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”
Budgetary concerns lead the government to throw the landlords and the economy under the bus
The expense of providing aid to the Irish to avoid mass starvation led to the UK privatizing the cost of providing grotesquely inadequate aid to those on the verge of death. The UK transferred the cost to Ireland’s landlords. The certain results were exactly those that were expected. The landlords rushed to evict their tenants so they landlords could minimize their tax assessments.
Landlords in Ireland now tried to evict all the tenants they could in order to reduce the number of local destitute, and therefore their rates (poor relief taxes). They began to get, not just evictions, but criminal judgments for non-payment of rent, throwing the fathers of families into jail. This–as the landlords intended–finally set off the migration across the Atlantic which became a flood of starving, dying typhus-carriers into Canada and then New England in 1848-9. But an inspector of the Public Works in Cork in the same month wrote about the public “workfare” rolls: “The lists are useless. No one answers their name. They have gone, or are dead.”
Overall, landlords were pushed into economic crisis. The Irish economy and food production collapsed in many areas. Deaths among the expelled tenants’ families surged. Some landlords, however, lost heavily trying to avoid evicting their tenants and pockets of Irish non-potato food production remained strong. That production was not used to prevent the mass starvation of the Irish. Instead, it was often exported.
Incredibly, large exports of foodstuffs from Ireland continued right through 1848 and 1849, which were the years in which the Irish population fell rapidly from 8 million to 6 million through death and emigration (and 40 percent of the emigrants died in crossing the Atlantic alone). In November 1848, exports of food from Cork in a single day, were 147 bales of bacon, 255 barrels of pork, 5 casks of hams, 3,000 sacks and barrels of oats, 300 bags of flour, 300 head of cattle, 239 sheep, 542 boxes of eggs, 9,300 firkins [about one-fourth of a barrel] of butter, and 150 casks of miscellaneous foodstuffs.
The government opponents of preventing mass starvation used the budgetary burden on the UK as their excuse for their policies. Again, their policies were ideologically selective. The government found the way to bear a far greater budgetary burden to preserve the wealth of the elite British citizens who became rich through the enslavement of millions of Africans. The government spent far more to preserve the wealth of the most despicable of the 1 percent than it spent to reduce or delay the mass starvation of Irish Catholics.
When the Irish Poor Law Commissioner, Edward Twisleton resigned in protest over lack of relief aid from Britain, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Clarendon, wrote the following to British Prime Minister Lord John Russell: “He (Twisleton) thinks that the destitution here [in Ireland] is so horrible, and the indifference of the House of Commons is so manifest, that he is an unfit agent for a policy that must be one of extermination.” In 1849 Twisleton testified that “comparatively trifling sums were required for Britain to spare itself the deep disgrace of permitting its miserable fellow subjects to die of starvation.” According to Gray, the British spent 7 million Pounds for relief in Ireland between 1845 and 1850, “representing less than half of one percent of the British gross national product over five years. Contemporaries noted the sharp contrast with the 20 million Pounds compensation given to West Indian slave-owners in the 1830s.”
The government did not take well to Irish dissidents who pointed out the hypocrisy of the government’s claim that the British bore moral responsibility for the mass deaths. John Mitchel (aka Mitchell) shares the same last name as Dan, the Cato economist I was debating at Steamboat. John Mitchel protested the British policies that were producing mass starvation. The British “transported” him to silence his eloquent protests, particularly this famous one in 1861.
No sack of Magdeburg, or ravage of the Palatinate ever approached the horror and dislocation to the slaughters done in Ireland by mere official red tape and stationery, and the principles of political economy…. The Almighty sent the potato blight, but the English created the famine.
Bad ethics make bad economics: the UK’s abuse of the Irish causes a financial crisis
Allowing a million Irish to die and forcing another million to emigrate to try to escape starvation is so self-destructive an economic policy that only quack ideologies would fail to see that it must harm trade and the economy. It was certain to cause a collapse of key parts of the infrastructure, spread disease, and harm employment.
“In February-March 1847 came the final implosion and breakdown of “free trade”: private food imports from America arrived in the amount of 100,000 tons; some never made it to markets for lack of infrastructure (carters had lost their workers and sold their equipment), and the rest couldn’t be sold for lack of buyers with any money. The prices of grains now collapsed. Typhus began to spread in March, so that from that point onward, the better-off classes in Ireland also died in large numbers. As a kind of final “free trade” commentary, Trevelyan had his secretary send this statement to all Poor Law Unions in July, 1847:”There is much reason to believe that the object of the Relief Act is greatly perverted and that it is frequently applied solely as a means of adding to the comforts of the lower classes … instead of being, as intended, a provision for the utterly destitute, and for the purpose of warding off absolute starvation…. The Commissioners cannot but complain of finding the demands for rations from many districts continuously increasing, and sometimes largely, without even a word of explanation to account for it.” Since now the entire cost of relief of the destitute and starving lay on the local “rates” paid by landlords, another side of the “rent bubble” of British “free trade” in Ireland now became exposed. Lord Mountcashel presented the following figures to the House of Lords: of the annual rent collection in Ireland of £13 million (a huge amount), the landlord class paid annually 10.5 million pounds-Sterling on “mortages and borrowed money” to the City of London bankers and speculators in real estate. Montcashel was making clear that an increase in rates, now planned by the British government, would siphon money off from mortgage payments, And, sure enough, in late summer 1847, the financial markets of London crashed, as the previous two years’ speculation in rents, wheat, corn, and foreign railway shares collapsed.”
Let them die
Do you recall when Republican audiences during the primary contest cheered at the prospect of the sick losing their health care access? The Great Hunger saw a far worse display of blood lust when the policy of letting the Irish die and emigrate by the millions led to a financial crisis in Ireland and the UK.
“With that collapse, the British government “wound up” its public works loans and tiny relief expenditures in Ireland in August 1847. Only Lord Clarendon, the Viceroy for Ireland, remained the protesting voice: “What is to be done with these hordes? Improve them off the face of the earth, you will say, let them die. But there is a certain responsibility attaching to it.’”
Racism v. the Irish
The Irish had multiple strikes against them from the perspective of English elites. They were Irish, Catholics, and poor. The degree of glee many UK elites took in the mass deaths and emigration of Irish Catholics is incomprehensible to most modern readers.
“[existing policies] will not kill more than one million Irish in 1848 and that will scarcely be enough to do much good.”
– Queen Victoria’s economist, Nassau Senior “A Celt will soon be as rare on the banks of the Shannon as the red man on the banks of Manhattan.”
– The Times, editorial, 1848 Let them eat steak and bonbons: Irish Vegans’ Self-inflicted poverty
The fervency with which the English elites blamed Irish poverty on Irish culture is also exceptional.
“Finally, we come to ‘moralism’-the notion that the fundamental defects from which the Irish suffered were moral rather than financial. Educated Britons of this era saw serious defects in the Irish ‘national character’-disorder or violence, filth, laziness, and worst of all, a lack of self-reliance. This amounted to a kind of racial or cultural stereotyping. The Irish had to be taught to stand on their own feet and to unlearn their dependence on government. ‘Moralism’ was strikingly evident in the various tests of destitution that were associated with the administration of the poor law. Thus labourers on the public works were widely required to perform task labour, with their wages measured by the amount of their work, rather than being paid a fixed daily wage. Similarly, there was the requirement that in order to be eligible for public assistance, those in distress must be willing to enter a workhouse and to submit to its harsh disciplines-such as endless eight-hour days of breaking stones or performing some other equally disagreeable labour. Such work was motivated by the notion that the perceived Irish national characteristic of sloth could be eradicated or at least reduced.”
Thomas Cahill, in How the Irish Saved Civilization, shows how bias can become so all-encompassing that it blinds the “superior” elites to their own bigotry.
“To an educated Englishman of the last century, for instance, the Irish were by their very nature incapable of civilization.” “The Irish,” proclaimed Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria’s beloved prime minister, “hate our order, our civilization, our enterprising industry, our pure religion [Disraeli’s father had abandoned Judaism for the Church of England]. This wild, reckless, indolent, uncertain and superstitious race have no sympathy with the English character. Their ideal of human felicity is an alternation of clannish broils and coarse idolatry [i.e., Catholicism]. Their history describes an unbroken circle of bigotry [!] and blood.” The venomous racism and knuckle-headed prejudice of this characterization may be evident to us, but in the days of “dear old Dizzy,” as the queen called the man who had presented her with India, it simply passed for indisputable truth.”
My favorite examples of a contemporary publication purporting to set forth the obvious inferiority of the Irish, demonstrates the intersection of the curves of hate, ignorance, and callousness to the suffering of others at their respective maxima.
“In September, when the Irish had begun to die of starvation and there was plenty of evidence of the 100 percent failure of the second, 1846 potato crop, the Times of London added: “Such are the thanks that a government gets for attempting to palliate great afflictions and satisfy corresponding demands by an inevitable but ruinous beneficence…. It is the |
these elements by estimating their weight and mass and their relative distance.
I will assume average-sized staff (75-85 kg), leaning towards the thinner side, to keep my estimate conservative. I will also assume that the baby is level with their midsections (i.e., their centers of mass) which will allow me to ignore their height in my calculation.
Show the Math
The Doctor The doctor stands directly in front and above the baby before it is born. If anything affects the baby, he is it. Mass = 82 kg
Distance from baby = 0.3 m (30 cm) \(F_{doctor}=G\frac{82 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(0.3 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kgcdot s^2}) \frac{295.2 kg^2}{0.09 m^2}=2.19\cdot 10^{-7} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F_{doctor}=G\frac{82 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(0.3 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kgcdot s^2}) \frac{295.2 kg^2}{0.09 m^2}=2.19\cdot 10^{-7} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by the doctor’s gravity = \(2.19\cdot 10^{-7} N\) The Nurse Mass = 75 kg
Distance from baby = 1 m \(F_{nurse}=G\frac{75 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(1 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg\cdot s^2}) \frac{270 kg^2}{1 m^2}=1.8\cdot 10^{-8} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F_{nurse}=G\frac{75 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(1 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg\cdot s^2}) \frac{270 kg^2}{1 m^2}=1.8\cdot 10^{-8} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by the nurse’s gravity = \(1.8\cdot 10^{-8} N\) The OB Tech This person will be standing next to the instruments, monitoring the delivery. He will likely be a bit further away than the doctor and nurse. Mass = 80 kg
Distance from baby = 3 m \(F_{OB Tech}=G\frac{80 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(3 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg\cdot s^2}) \frac{288 kg^2}{9 m^2}= 2.13\cdot 10^{-9}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F_{OB Tech}=G\frac{80 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(3 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg\cdot s^2}) \frac{288 kg^2}{9 m^2}= 2.13\cdot 10^{-9}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by the OB Tech’s gravity = \(2.13\cdot 10^{-9} N\) The Partner Mass = 80 kg
Distance from baby = 0.5 m \(F_{Partner}=G\frac{80 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(0.5 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg\cdot s^2}) \frac{288 kg^2}{0.25 m^2}= 7.68\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F_{Partner}=G\frac{80 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(0.5 m)^2}=(6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg\cdot s^2}) \frac{288 kg^2}{0.25 m^2}= 7.68\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by the partner’s gravity = \(7.68\cdot 10^{-8} N\) Bed or Birthing Chair Estimated mass: 276 lbs = 125.19 kg
Estimated distance: 0.05 m (5 cm) (Source: http://www.spinlife.com/Drive-Medical-600-lbs.-Bariatric-Full-Electric-Frame/spec.cfm?productID=82578 this isn’t a birthing bed, but it’s close enough for an estimate) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 125.19 kg}{(0.05 m)^2}= 1.2\cdot 10^{-5}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 125.19 kg}{(0.05 m)^2}= 1.2\cdot 10^{-5}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by the bed’s gravity = \(1.2\cdot 10^{-5} N\) Heart Monitor Estimated mass: 25 kg
Estimated distance: 1 m \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 25 kg}{(1 m)^2}= 6\cdot 10^{-9} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 25 kg}{(1 m)^2}= 6\cdot 10^{-9} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by heart monitor’s gravity = \(6\cdot 10^{-9} N\) Scale (to weigh the baby) Estimated mass: 3.6 kg
Estimated distance: 3 m (source: http://www.egeneralmedical.com/detecto-digital-baby-scale-scale-71170.html this is a small version, good enough for our calculation, but it’s worth noting most hospitals will carry a much larger one, on wheels, obviously weighing much more). \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(3 m)^2}= 9.6\cdot 10^{-11} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 3.6 kg}{(3 m)^2}= 9.6\cdot 10^{-11} \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by the scale’s gravity = \(9.6\cdot 10^{-11} N\) Blood pressure monitor, Stethoscopes and other random small items There are a LOT of items in a delivery room, and I am very likely to forget a whole bunch of them. We will estimate, though, a total of 5 kg of extra random items like more chairs, the blankets and sheet, stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors, picture frames, and anything else that might exist in a room and didn’t add into the calculation. This is a very very conservative calculation. I will take the average distance of all of those random items as 4 meters. Mass = 5 kg
Average distance from the baby = 4 m \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 5 kg}{(4 m)^2}=7.5\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 5 kg}{(4 m)^2}=7.5\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) The force exerted by the random items’ gravity = \(7.5\cdot 10^{-11} N\)
Total Maximum Force
So, to summarize (and, for those of you who cared not for the mathematics, to state in the first place):
The Doctor = \(2.19\cdot 10^{-7} N\)
The Nurse = \(1.8\cdot 10^{-8} N\)
The OB Tech = \(2.13\cdot 10^{-9} N\)
The Partner = \(7.68\cdot 10^{-8} N\)
The Bed = \(1.2\cdot 10^{-5} N\)
Heart Monitor = \(6\cdot 10^{-9} N\)
Scale = \(9.6\cdot 10^{-11} N\)
Other Small Objects = \(7.5\cdot 10^{-11} N\)
Show the Math
From people: \(2.19\cdot 10^{-7}N + 1.8\cdot 10^{-8} + 2.13cdot 10^{-9}+7.68\cdot 10^{-8} N = 3.1593\cdot 10^{-7}\)
From objects: \(1.2\cdot 10^{-5}N + 6\cdot 10^{-9}N + 9.6\cdot 10^{-11}N + 7.5\cdot 10^{-11}N=1.2006171\cdot 10^{-5}\)
Total Force: \(1.232cdot 10^{-5} N\)
The Planets
EDIT: I have recalculated the forces from the planets. It seems that during the initial calculations I made a rather small (but recurring) conversion error, and due to vigilant commentors, it was properly corrected. You should note, though, that the total force after this re-examination didn’t change. My calculation was fine, I just had a problem with how I wrote it out in the process (in the math part). Apologies.
Now, astrology claims that the planets exert a force on the baby, and their different locations change that force ever-so-slightly to somehow affect the baby’s personality traits.
The idea that the planets exert a force, even on the baby, is true. Whether or not it is canceled out or overwhelmed by other forces is a different issue.
Our next step, then, is to calculate the maximum force that can be exerted from the various planets, and combine them to get the maximum possible force exerted by the planets.
Show the Math
Mercury Mass: \(0.3302\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 77,300,000 km (\(7.73 \cdot 10^{10} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 \mbox{kg} \cdot 0.33\cdot 10^{24} \mbox{kg}}{(7.73\cdot 10^{10} m)^2}=1.33\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 \mbox{kg} \cdot 0.33\cdot 10^{24} \mbox{kg}}{(7.73\cdot 10^{10} m)^2}=1.33\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Mercury = \(1.33\cdot 10^{-8} N\) Venus Mass: \(4.85\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 38,000,000 km (\(3.8 \cdot 10^{10} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 4.85\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(3.8\cdot 10^{10} m)^2}=8.06\cdot 10^{-7}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 4.85\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(3.8\cdot 10^{10} m)^2}=8.06\cdot 10^{-7}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Venus= \(8.06\cdot 10^{-7} N\) Mars Mass: \(0.642\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 54,600,000 km (\(5.46 \cdot 10^{10} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 0.642\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(5.46\cdot 10^{10} m)^2}=5.17\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 0.642\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(5.46\cdot 10^{10} m)^2}=5.17\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Mars= \(5.17\cdot 10^{-8} N\) Jupiter Mass: \(1899\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 893,000,000 km (\(8.93 \cdot 10^{11} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 1899\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(8.93\cdot 10^{11} m)^2}=5.72\cdot 10^{-7}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 1899\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(8.93\cdot 10^{11} m)^2}=5.72\cdot 10^{-7}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Jupiter = \(5.72\cdot 10^{-7} N\) Saturn Mass: \(568\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 1,195,000,000 km (\(1.195 \cdot 10^{12} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 568\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(1.195\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=9.55\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 568\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(1.195\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=9.55\cdot 10^{-8}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Saturn = \(9.55\cdot 10^{-8} N\) Uranus Mass: \(86.8\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 2,580,000,000 km (\(2.58 \cdot 10^{12} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 86.8\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(2.58\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=3.13\cdot 10^{-9}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 86.8\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(2.58\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=3.13\cdot 10^{-9}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Uranus = \(3.13\cdot 10^{-9} N\) Neptune Mass: \(102\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 4,400,000,000 km (\(4.4 \cdot 10^{12} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 102\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(4.4\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=1.27\cdot 10^{-9}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 102\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(4.4\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=1.27\cdot 10^{-9}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Neptune = \(1.27\cdot 10^{-9} N\) Pluto I am including it in because astrologers do, too. Mass: \(0.0125\cdot 10^{24}kg\)
Minimum Distance from Earth: 4,200,000,000 km (\(4.2 \cdot 10^{12} m\)) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 0.0125\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(4.2\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=1.7\cdot 10^{-13}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) \(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 0.0125\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(4.2\cdot 10^{12} m)^2}=1.7\cdot 10^{-13}\frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\) Maximum Force by Pluto = \(1.27\cdot 10^{-13} N\)
The force from all the planets combined
All of the forces above were calculated as if the planet is in its closest position to the Earth. The chances that all planets together will be in such positions are incredibly small. This doesn’t usually happen, and the resultant combined force is much smaller. However, we can still calculate the maximum theoretical force that can be produced by all planets combined on the newborn baby.
Here they are:
Mercury = \(1.21\cdot 10^{-8} N\)
Venus = \(8.06\cdot 10^{-7} N\)
Mars = \(5.17\cdot 10^{-8} N\)
Jupiter = \(5.72\cdot 10^{-7} N\)
Saturn = \(9.55\cdot 10^{-8} N\)
Uranus = \(3.13\cdot 10^{-9} N\)
Neptune = \(1.27\cdot 10^{-9} N\)
Pluto = \(1.27\cdot 10^{-13} N\)
(Before you protest about Pluto, read this: there are many problems with including Pluto in the calculation of gravity – the least of which is his “partner” Charon, who’s of similar mass. However, Astrologers calculate Pluto into their maps, and so I thought it would be appropriate to include the force it exerts, too.)
Show the Math
\(1.33\cdot 10^{-8}N + 8.06\cdot 10^{-7}N + 5.17\cdot 10^{-8}N + 5.72\cdot 10^{-7}N + 9.55\cdot 10^{-8}N + 3.13\cdot 10^{-9}N + 1.27\cdot 10^{-9}N + 1.27\cdot 10^{-13}N=1.5442\cdot 10^{-6}N\)
Total Force = \(1.54297\cdot 10^{-6}N\)
Comparison
So, what do we have?
The combined forces of the delivery room = \(1.232\cdot 10^{-5} N\)
\(1.232\cdot 10^{-5} N\) The combined forces of the planets = \(1.544\cdot 10^{-6} N\)
Difference =\(\frac{1.232\cdot 10^{-5} N}{1.544\cdot 10^{-6}} = 8.01\)
The forces from the delivery room are 8 times bigger than the combined force from the planets, and we have calculated a very conservative estimate.
Proponents of the claim might jump out of their seats and claim the forces are extremely close. They seem close (if a factor of 8 is considered close) but we have to remember a few important issues that show conclusively that the forces from the planets are minuscule compared to the forces exerted on the baby from his immediate surroundings:
The planets do not, ever, line up where they are all as close to Earth as our calculation asserted. The realistic force from the planets is lower.
Our estimates for both the distances, the amount of people and their weight was very conservative. In reality, hospitals have a lot more people and staff, much more equipment in the room and directly outside of it.
Hospitals are huge places. If planets as far as a few billion kilometers exert force on our newborn baby, the MRI machine (that weighs 50-60 times the weight of the doctor, nurse and OB Technician combined) at some floor below, and the CT machines somewhere in the hospital should be taken into account as well. Those would dramatically increase the difference between the two forces.
And, one of the most notable point of all: We ignored the Earth’s gravity!
We ignored the Earth’s gravity!
To be fair, I ignored the Earth’s gravity in both cases, for a very good reason: it absolutely trumps both. Since it is also coming from the ground, and the other forces are spatially distributed, my goal was to show that even without gravity, the difference exists, and is indeed noticeable.
But the Earth’s gravity is important here.
The Earth isn’t a perfect sphere; its radius varies from 6357 km to around 6378 km.
Assume the baby is 6360 km from the center of the Earth.
Show the Math
\(F=6.67\cdot 10^{-11}\frac{m^3}{kg s^2}\frac{3.6 kg \cdot 5.974\cdot 10^{24} kg}{(6.36\cdot 10^{6} m)^2}=35.46 \frac{m\cdot kg}{s^2}\)
In this case, the force exerted on him by gravity would be \(35.46 \mbox{N}\)
As you can see, this is \(10^6\) times more than the forces exerted by the occupants of the delivery room, and \(10^7\) times more than the force exerted by the planets together. It’s a powerful force, gravity.
And there’s more. The Earth’s gravity isn’t constant. It varies across the surface of the planet (as the radius varies). We usually use the average rounded number for the gravitational acceleration (\(9.806 \mbox{m}/\mbox{s}^2\)) but in different locations on the Earth, the number varies.
If the claim astrologers make is that the force from other planets affect a baby’s personality – and we’ve seen how small that force is! – then the change in the Earth’s gravitation should have an effect too. In this case, Astrologers should consider the location and elevation of your birth as well as the date and time, to calculate the variations in the Earth’s gravity.
The next time an Astrologer offers to calculate your chart, you should reminder them about that.
One more thing: The Labor Itself
We didn’t include this part in the initial calculation, but this is definitely something that we should take into account, since this is likely to be quite a powerful force.
A baby doesn’t just “walk out” of the womb, it is pushed out by the mother’s muscles. If you see any TV shows at all, you know that at the moment where the baby – and doctor – are ready, the doctor will ask the woman to “Push!!” resulting in the baby’s head being pushed out (if all is well) and the doctor assisting the baby the rest of the way.
This “push” and the movement out of the woman’s womb also exert force on the baby. On top of that, there is usually a large amount of time during which the woman’s body exerts force on the baby before it actually comes out. This would apply pressure on his body; obviously, it’s not enough to harm the baby, but it definitely exists. And labors can be long… long and tedious processes. Ask your mother how long she was in labor.
So for a large number of hours (36 is the average!) the baby is subjected to pressure from the mother’s contractions, and then to the force that pushes him or her out of the womb.
So.. why don’t Astrologers ask how long your labor lasted?
Conclusion
There are many things that are plain false in the claims that Astrologers make, and many blogs and sites covered the reasons why. Now, though, you could see for yourselves how the basic premise – that planets’ positions, affect the personality trait of a newborn baby – is just silly.
If the planets’ positions affect the baby’s personality traits, so should the Doctor’s position, the OB Technician, the position of the heart monitor, the CT machine down the hall and the size of the hospital and the amount of people in it.
So, unless Astrologers are willing to take these components into account when they produce your “Chart”, it seems their claims are plain silly.
And you should tell them that.
Do you have more objects to test?
Now you can. Due to popular demand, I’ve prepared a small tool to help you calculate the force from object at any distance. Play with it, and share your findings in the comments!
(opens in a new window).
Resources
Thanks
Once again, thanks goes to:
Capn_Refsmmat, for some language issues, for his mastery of the LaTeX plugin and for his math peer-review.
Daniel Grrrrrr for his English support and patience. Lots of it.
UnintentionalChaos (from ScienceForums.net) for some math peer-review and clarity correction issues.While the White House scrambles to contain the damage caused by one of President Obama's closest aides -- who boasted of manipulating social media, journalists and friendly interest groups to sell the Iran nuclear deal -- it now is facing new questions about a portion of missing tape in which a State Department official acknowledges misleading the press on the Iran negotiations.
Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes' comments to The New York Times Magazine have sparked outrage in Washington's political and policy circles, especially re-igniting the debate over whether the White House oversold the deal to curb Iran's nuclear program.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., issued a scathing statement Monday saying the article “exposed how the White House manipulated and, in some cases, manufactured facts to sell the reckless Iran nuclear deal to the American people as a prelude to large-scale disengagement from the Middle East.”
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse took to the Senate floor Monday to lambaste the “spin.”
Now, the administration is facing further questions over a block of missing tape from a 2013 State Department briefing where top spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked by Fox News about an earlier claim that no direct, secret talks were underway between the U.S. and Iran – when, in fact, they were.
In that exchange, Psaki seemed to acknowledge misleading the press, saying: “There are times where diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress. This is a good example of that.”
The Psaki comments, and prior department remarks, would appear to conflict with a fresh claim by Rhodes that they “confirmed publicly” there were “discreet channels of communication established with Iran in 2012.”
That Psaki exchange, however, was missing from the department’s official website and its YouTube channel. The department now says it cannot explain the deletion and is working to restore the material.
Rhodes, though, maintains they did not mislead the public over the Iran deal.
In the magazine profile, published last Sunday, Rhodes and his aides are quoted describing how they disseminated White House-generated talking points about the Iran deal to generate and manipulate the public dialogue.
"We created an echo chamber," Rhodes said. "They were saying things that validated what we had given them to say."
Rhodes sought to soften the remarks on the website Medium. In a post late Sunday, he wrote that he didn't try to dupe the press or spin Washington.
"It wasn't'spin,' It's what we believed and continue to believe, and the hallmark of the entire campaign was to push out facts," Rhodes wrote. "These were complicated issues."
The Times piece, however, quotes Rhodes lamenting the ignorance of Washington reporters. ("They literally know nothing"), and describes Rhodes -- a former aspiring novelist -- as focused on crafting a storyline and dismissing facts that don't fit.
Rhodes also appears to try to keep secret news that Iran had seized 10 U.S. Navy sailors until after the president's State of the Union speech.
In his statement Monday, McCain, a long-time critic of the Iran pact, said the Times piece "provided a troubling glimpse of the White House spin machine that has put sustaining 'the narrative' above advancing the national interest."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest has said Rhodes' concern about the timing of the disclosure of seizure of the sailors in January was primarily about the sailors' safety — not about concerns that the news would interfere with the president's speech. He said he was certain Rhodes would recast his description of the Washington press corps.
"I assure you that's not how it was intended, and based on that reaction I'm confident he would say it differently if given the chance," he said.
Fox News’ James Rosen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Lou Moshakos, president and owner of LM Restaurants, Inc., has released plans to expand the Carolina Ale House brand by at least seven additional locations over the next 12 to 18 months, creating more than 800 new jobs. Carolina Ale House currently has 20 units in operation throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and South Florida.
The schedule announced is as follows:
Concord, N.C., 8695 Concord Mills Blvd – July 2013
Winston-Salem, N.C., Haynes Mall – Aug 2013
Killeen, Texas – August 2013, the company’s first venture into the Texas market
Downtown Charleston, S.C., corner of King St. & Calhoun St. – October 2013
October 2013 Downtown Raleigh, N.C., 500 Glenwood South – early 2014
Knoxville, Tenn. – early 2014, the company’s first venture into the Tennessee market
Summerville, S.C. – early 2014
Restaurants in the South Carolina and Texas markets will be operated by Carolina Ale House licensee, Sullivan Management, based out of Columbia, S.C.
The Carolina Ale House concept is the better alternative to a typical sports bar with scratch-made food, high-quality bar choices, and a locally-focused, hospitable environment. Its high-energy atmosphere, especially during big game days, and the multitude of TVs makes it the ultimate meeting place for food and sports.
Carolina Ale House, established in 1999, is owned and operated by LM Restaurants (LMR). LMR was ranked the 24th Fastest Growing Private Company in the Triangle at the 2012 Triangle Business Journal’s Fast 50 Awards and 27th in the NC Mid-Market Fast 40 by Business North Carolina. It is the parent company of several award-winning restaurants on the East Coast.MUMBAI: The state government is considering a separate Buddhist marriage act. The proposal is pending with the social justice department.Minister of state for social justice Dilip Kamble said the bill would certainly be tabled in the legislature but was not sure if it would be ready before the start of the next session in July.To have a separate law for marriages in the Buddhist community is an old demand, dating back to 1957, after Babasaheb Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism in Nagpur.But for Muslims, Catholics, Jews and Parsis, marriages among Hindu, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists are covered under the Hindu Marriage Act An official from the social justice department said the issue of a separate law had been discussed in a meeting held in Mantralaya last month and such a law was on the agenda.“Our marriage rituals are totally different from Hindu rituals,” MLC Jogendra Kawade, president of the People’s Republican Party, said. “We are demanding since 1957 a separate marriage law for the Buddhist community. In an old case, a marriage with Buddhist rituals of a Dalit couple was challenged in the high court and proved to be invalid. So we need legal sanctity for the community and also for married women.”He said he had demanded such a law in the Lok Sabha when he was an MP. “I will now follow it with the legislative council in the monsoon season,” Kawade said.Kamble said a meeting with monks and prominent Buddhists would be held after May 15.Legal experts said it would be difficult to have a separate Buddhist marriage act.“The Buddhist community already gets cover under Hindu Marriage Act, so there is legal status,” Dilip Teli, senior advocate and president of the Family Court Bar Association, said.Arjun Dangle of the Republican Party of India said the issue should not be politicized.“Although it’s an old demand, the government should come up with a draft for suggestions,” he said. “Whom will the law be applicable to? What is the concept of the law? What would be the status of property, divorce, family and such? These issues should be discussed.”It started as innocuously as possible.
Kyle Beckerman was getting ready for a match early in his time with Real Salt Lake when equipment manager Kevin Harter – K-Dog to most – handed him the captain’s armband. There was no meeting of the minds. No pomp and circumstance. No ceremony. From that day forward, though, the elastic captain’s armband has become as much a part of Beckerman’s matchday uniform as any part of his kit or cleats. It has become as synonymous with Beckerman as his signature dreadlocked haircut and Real Salt Lake had a new leader to take the club into a new era.
Many have come and gone since that day – players, coaches, front office staff. The club went from a struggling expansion side to sneaking into the playoffs to perennial contenders and MLS Cup champions. One constant has been the man bearing the armband. The captain. Kyle Beckerman.
His path to the Claret-and-Cobalt gave him everything he needed to lead the journey to the top of the mountain and into an echelon few reach in any sport. He’s an RSL mainstay. A midfield destroyer. A cornerstone to a franchise. The captain.
DRIVEN
From a young age, Beckerman has been destined for greatness in whatever he sought.
Along with his older brother Todd, Kyle was raised by supportive and demanding parents in Crofton, Maryland. Anything worth doing was worth doing as well as possible. So the two boys put their noses to the grindstone in every endeavor.
“My parents were my biggest fans and my biggest critics. They did unbelievable stuff,” Beckerman said. “Without them, none of this is possible. It’s crazy where it can come from. They just had a drive in them and it was contagious for me and my brother.”
Early on, the pursuit was wrestling and he could not have done much better than his older brother as a role model. As a high-schooler, Todd Beckerman went 208-1 and won four national championships. He went on to be a two-time All-American at Nebraska and now is the Head Coach at Brown University.
For all of his own accomplishments on the soccer field, nothing brings a smile to Beckerman’s face like talking about the achievements of his older brother.
“My brother was one that I got to really look up to and see what happens when you get success. Just watching what he was doing and his work ethic and staying humble,” he said. “I had that front-and-center look at how to act and how |
said.
Technology companies in Silicon Valley have increased family leave benefits to help recruit and retain employees. Netflix Inc provides up to a year paid, while Facebook Inc provides four months and Microsoft Corp offers eight weeks.
Federal law provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child for employees at companies with 50 or more workers.Are you one of the millions of people who signed up for health insurance through HealthCare.gov? If your health insurance company is pulling out of Obamacare, you might want to head over to the site before the start of the new year. If you don’t switch your health insurance provider by January, the government will switch it for you. And you might not like their choice.
While Donald Trump’s comments about women are grabbing headlines this weekend (and rightly so), there’s an interesting article that’s getting very little attention on page 22 of today’s New York Times. People who signed up for Obamacare through the government’s website will be switched to a different health insurance company if their insurer has pulled out and consumers don’t make a choice for themselves by January.
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When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, many people were concerned that it could be a disaster if it didn’t include a public option. And it looks increasingly like those people were right. Some of the country’s largest health insurers are rolling back the kinds of plans they offer, while others are pulling out of the state exchanges completely.
What does this mean for consumers? If you signed up for health insurance through HealthCare.gov and your insurer is pulling out of your state—as companies like Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealth are doing all around the country—you need to sign up for a different plan during the next open enrollment session, which is November 1st through January 20th.
If you don’t make the switch by January, HealthCare.gov will just sign you up for a plan of their choosing, and you’ll still get stuck with the bill. Warnings drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services that were obtained by the New York Times tell consumers that, “Without health coverage or an exemption, you may have to pay a penalty of $695 or more when you file your taxes.”
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One problem that consumers face is that absent a public option they don’t really have many choices. As the New York Times notes, there used to be eight health insurance options for Obamacare consumers who live in Phoenix this year. But that number is expect to drop to just one insurer by the end of 2016.
If you don’t make the switch yourself by January, apparently the government will attempt to choose a plan that was similar to one you already had. But if you want to make the choice for yourself, you have just a couple of months to do so.
With lefties focused on defeating Donald Trump’s particular brand of fascism in the next month, it’s unlikely that Obamacare reforms like providing a public option will make headlines. But with health care costs rising, and private insurance companies not playing ball, something’s sure to break in 2017. Let’s just hope the thing that breaks isn’t your back. Your new health care plan probably has a much higher deductible.
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[New York Times]LeEco has launched its Le 2 and Le Max 2 smartphones in India. The Le 2 is successor to Le 1s, while Le Max 2 will succeed Le Max launched last year. Both smartphones will be available on Flipkart and LeMall.com, which is the company’s own e-commerce portal.
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While registrations for both Le 2 and Le Max 2 start from June 20, the Le Max 2 will go on sale first on June 28, while the Le 2 will be made available in early July.
LeEco says Le 1s is the most successful smartphone in the Rs 10,000 – Rs 15,000 price category. It features a 5.5-inch Full HD display like Le 1s, and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 chipset. Le 2 comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage.
Le 2 gets a new image sensor with a resolution of 16 megapixels. The front camera is an 8MP one. Le 2 will support 4G LTE bands in India, and won’t support expandable storage. The smartphones also drop 3.5 mm headphone jack in favour of USB Type-C audio port.
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LeEco is not launching Le 2 Pro in India. Le 2 is backed by a 3000mAh battery with USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer.
Watch: LeEco Le 1s Eco launched with Le Supertainment package
LeEco has also launched its flagship Le Max 2 in India today. Le Max 2 features a 5.7-inch Quad HD display and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.
LeEco Le Max 2 will be available in both 4GB and 6GB RAM variants. Le Max 2 comes standard with 32GB storage but can also be configured with 64GB internal storage.
Le Max has a 21MP rear camera with PDAF and dual-LED flash. The rear camera sensor comes with f/2.0 aperture, and supports optical image stabilisation. The front camera is an 8MP one capable of recording 1080p videos.
Under the hood, Le Max 2 has a 3100mAh battery. All the three devices will run eUI 5.6 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Both the smartphones will be available with 1 year free Supertainment package which LeEco had announced at the launch of Le 1s Eco smartphone.
Also See: LeEco Le 2 and Le Max 2 launched in India: Price, specs and more
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LeEco has also announced that its ecommerce site, LeMall will be live in India. We had earlier reported that the site is already live with listings of company made accessories.Dalton Pompey used his birthday to give Toronto's less fortunate a present. (AP)
If you’re a pro baseball player, turning 24 could very well mean every single birthday cliché: a dark nightclub, bottle service, designer this and that.
If you’re Dalton Pompey, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder, turning 24 was more about gift cards than nightclubs and helping the needy instead of making sure all his boys popped bottles.
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For his birthday on Sunday, Pompey bought a handful of gift cards to Tim Hortons and walked around downtown Toronto, handing them out to the needy — a paying-it-forward idea that was even more heart-warming considering it’s the holiday season and snow is on the ground in Toronto.
Here’s the caption Pompey posted along with the above photo on Instagram:
Story continues
So today’s my 24th birthday and unlike any other birthday I decided to do something a little different. Instead of spending a ton of money having a huge birthday party at a restaurant or bar. I decided to take some of that money, buy some Tim cards and walk around Toronto handing them out to the less fortunate. I have a lot to be thankful for in my life and there’s no better way for me to thank God for blessing me than trying to make someone else’s day. There’s no better gift than the gift of kindness! Thanks to everyone who has wished me a happy birthday and helped me in some capacity throughout my life and shoutout to @itsmatthewromeo for the inspiration to do this! #giveyourday
It’s fair to note that while he makes more money than the average person, Pompey isn’t exactly rich by baseball standards. He made $507,500 last season, the major-league minimum, while playing mostly in Triple-A for the Blue Jays. In 2015, he played 34 games at the big-league level. Last year, eight. So he’s not pulling in one of those $80 million deals we’ve seen handed out in the past week.
Still, Pompey is from Mississauga, which neighbors Toronto, so he knows the community he’s trying to help — even if it’s through something as simple as a gift card for a hot cup of coffee and something to eat on a cold day.
It would be fantastic if Pompey inspired other baseball players, whether they make the big-league minimum or 50 times more, to adopt this idea on their birthdays.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!We’re pleased to announce that alpha 2 of Perspex is now available.
Perspex is a cross platform.NET UI framework inspired by WPF, with XAML, data binding, lookless controls and much more. Take a look at the video to see our current progress:
Here are some of the highlights of this release - we’ve come a long way in the 3 weeks since alpha 1!
Visual Studio Designer
Nikita Tsukanov and Darnell Williams have done the impossible and got a basic designer for Visual Studio working. It’s still early days and not everything is supported yet, but it’s a massive step towards a user-friendly designer experience with Perspex. Take a look at the video above to see it in action or download the VS Plugin
Styles in XAML
We’ve added support for expressing styles in XAML.
<StackPanel> <StackPanel.Styles> <Style Selector= "Button:pointerover" > <Setter Property= "Button.Foreground" Value= "Red" /> </Style> </StackPanel.Styles> <Button> I will have red text when hovered. </Button> </StackPanel>
To see more examples of what you can do with Perspex styles, check out the documentation
Of course, our XAML support is only available thanks to OmniXAML!
*Nix support
Perspex now runs on *nix platforms using mono - this includes Linux and Mac OSX. For information on building Perspex on *nix take a look at the build instructions.
HTML View
As well as doing the impossible once with the designer, Nikita Tsukanov has also ported the HTML Renderer component to Perspex, giving us a 100% managed HTML 4.01 and CSS 2 renderer directly in Perspex.
New Controls Showcase
Nelson Carrillo (as well as hammering our Cairo backend into shape) has contributed a new controls showcase to Perspex. This is a lot better looking than our previous cobbled-togther test application and should give a good idea of what Perspex is capable of at the moment.
New Features
The following new features have been implemented:
ImageBrush
VisualBrush
Clipboard
Canvas (thanks to Amer Koleci)
Cursor support
Nightly NuGet packages
We are now hosting nightly NuGet packages on MyGet.
Join us
If you’re wanting to join in, take a look at the up-for-grabs issues on GitHub - these issues are an ideal place to start for a newcomer - then come join us in our Gitter Room and let us know what you’re thinking of doing.Documentary questions whether Prophet Mohammad was a “child molester”
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
December 10, 2012
The Spanish government has threatened to deport an ex-Muslim Pakistani film maker if he goes ahead with the release of a video entitled “The Innocent Prophet,” which purports to “raise awareness of the dangers of Islam to Western Civilization.”
Imran Firasat, a Pakistani ex-Muslim, has teamed up with controversial Pastor Terry Jones to publicize the film, which is set to be released this Friday. The trailer for the documentary features numerous passages out of the Quran which threaten violence against non-believers. In the clip, Firasat promises the video will question whether the Prophet Mohammad was sent by God or whether he was, “a child molester, assassin, and a self-proclaimed prophet.”
“Our representative for Stand Up America Now, Imran Firasat, has received word from the Spanish government informing him that if he or Stand Up America Now continue on and release the film on December 14 in Madrid Spain, then his residency status will be revoked. He will be detained, locked in prison under the excuse of being a danger to national security, then deported back to Pakistan where he would be killed because he is facing a death sentence due to his criticism of Islam,” states the group’s press release issued today.
In preparation for the upcoming release of the film, Belgian police raised the country’s terror alert status from level 2 to level 3. Firasat offered to postpone the release of the documentary so that authorities could check that, “there is nothing in this movie which doesn’t fall under the right of freedom of expression and that my movie will not cause any kind of loss to humanity.” However, the original release date seems to still be in place.
Pastor Terry Jones is a divisive figure who contends that Islam plans to impose Sharia law across the world as a replacement for western civilization and Christianity. Earlier this year, he attracted headlines for burning copies of the Quran. An Egyptian court later labeled Jones “an insult to Islam and a threat to national unity,” before sentencing him to death.
Jones also courted controversy by hanging an effigy of President Barack Obama in front of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida back in June. The Pastor recently announced “Burn Obama Day,” an event set to take place on January 19, during which effigies of the President will be set on fire as a form of protest.
Jones was also involved in promoting the infamous “Innocence of Muslims” video which led to anti-American protests across the Muslim world back in September. Although the Obama administration initially blamed the Benghazi consulate attack on the video, claiming it was a spontaneous act, it was later admitted that the assault, during which Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed, was a coordinated attack planned in advance by terrorists.
Muslim scholars argue that under the terms of the Quran, insulting the Prophet Muhammad is a sin punishable by execution.
Innumerable people around the world have been murdered for the “blasphemy” of criticizing Islam, including a Dutch film maker who was slain in Amsterdam after he released a documentary criticizing the treatment of women under Islam. Last year, two Pakistani ministers were killed by the Taliban for opposing a law that prescribed the death penalty for those criticizing Islam.
In 2005, a Danish newspaper printed cartoons which depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist as a protest against Islam’s incompatibility with free speech. The cartoons led to violent demonstrations around the world and the deaths of over 200 people as well as attacks on European diplomatic missions and churches.
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.Full details of the historic new broadcasting agreement between rivals BT Sport and Sky Sports for the new European club competitions to replace the Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cups next season can be revealed.
The Telegraph has learnt that the ‘pick deal’ agreed as part of the compromise between the two broadcasters will hand BT Sport first choice on three matches involving clubs in the Aviva Premiership for each of the six rounds of pool matches in the new elite tournament.
Sky Sports, the long-standing broadcaster of the Heineken Cup, will then have first pick for three matches of games not involving English sides, most likely the games involving high-profile games between the French Top 14 and Irish provinces or Welsh regions.
The remainder of the games will be divided between the two broadcasters using a complex formula that takes into account how many games each weekend involve English sides.
That division, significantly, should see Sky Sports also broadcast games involving clubs from the Premiership, ensuring that both broadcasters are able to feature a strong mix of matches, with all 10 games for each pool round shared between the two companies.
Sky will also have first choice on three matches involving English clubs in the second-tier competition to replace the Amlin Challenge Cup, with BT then able to select three games that do not involve English sides.
The new deal, which Ian Ritchie, the Rugby Football Union chief executive, has played a key role in brokering, reflects the fact that BT Sport had signed an exclusive deal with the Premiership clubs for their games in Europe next season while Sky Sports also had a new contract in place to broadcast the Heineken Cup.
The make-up of the pools, with only the winners of the three leagues guaranteed a seeding in the new European Rugby Champions Cup to replace the Heineken Cup, will also have a major influence on which of the ‘big games’ are shown by either broadcaster.
It is understood that coverage of the knockout stages will be shared equally between the two broadcasters, with each expected to show two quarter-finals each and one of the semi-finals.
The final, which is poised to be brought forward from its traditional late May date to the first weekend of that month next year, will be broadcast by both BT Sport and Sky Sports.
The disclosure comes as hopes that a new six-year accord would be signed on Wednesday were dashed by 11th-hour demands from the Italian Rugby Federation for more time to consider the detail of the agreement.
The Italian federation’s concern is that it may be worse off financially under the new deal after threatening to pull out of the Pro12 after four years because it was no longer prepared to pay €3 million (£2.5 million) a year to be part of the league.
While the unexpected hitch in the negotiations is understood to pose no threat to the deal, which will establish a 20-team European Rugby Champions Cup to replace the 24-team Heineken Cup next season, the prevailing spirit of goodwill could now see the announcement delayed until next week.
The new broadcasting deal, to be announced shortly after the six-year accord is signed by the nine stakeholders, has been one of the cornerstones of the recent breakthrough after almost two years of torturous negotiations over the future of European club competitions.
After the English and French clubs gave notice to leave the present European accord, BT Sport signed a £152 million contract with the Premiership clubs in September 2012 that included a three-year deal for games involving English clubs in Europe from the 2014-15 season.
The BT deal was announced on the same day that Sky disclosed a new deal with European Rugby Cup to extend its rights to broadcast exclusively the Heineken Cup in the UK.
Their decision to compromise over the broadcasting of the new tournaments next season effectively removed any legal threat to the ERC directors, who feared they may have been sued by Sky if they agreed to the changes demanded by the English and French clubs to create a new tournament that would be broadcast by BT in the UK.Enjoying a resurgence with The Woman In Black, venerable British horror studio Hammer has chosen the Cinema And Television History (CATH) Research Centre at the UK’s Leicester De Montfort University to house its script archive. The CATH center will catalogue and curate a collection that includes screenplays from most of the studio’s film and TV productions from 1947-1990 along with extensive corporate paperwork, correspondence and other ephemera. This is the first time the archive will be opened to public research and study. Last month, Hammer announced a global restoration project for its library of films in partnership with Studiocanal, Pinewood and other international players and with the participation of 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros and Paramount. The studio was founded in 1934 and has produced such films as Frankenstein Created Woman, The Plague Of The Zombies, The Witches and The Mummy. Hammer stopped production in the 80s and returned to features in 2010 with Matt Reeves’ adaptation of Swedish hit Let Me In. Its most recent film, Daniel Radcliffe-starrer The Woman In Black, has taken in over $60 million worldwide. Since 2008, Hammer has been a division of the Exclusive Media Group.The AAC released their postseason awards on Wednesday, and the recipients of the players and coach of the year weren’t a surprise.
2017 AAC Football Awards
Coach of the Year: Scott Frost, UCF
Offensive Player of the Year: McKenzie Milton, QB, UCF
Defensive Player of the Year: Ed Oliver, DT, Houston
Special Teams Player of the Year: Tony Pollard, WR, Memphis
Rookie of the Year: TJ Carter, CB, Memphis
Grid View AAC Coach of the Year Scott Frost Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
AAC Offensive Player of the Year McKenzie Milton Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
AAC Defensive Player of the Year Ed Oliver Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
AAC Special Teams Player of the Year Tony Pollard David D. Stacy-USA TODAY Sports
AAC Rookie of the Year TJ Carter Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Milton and Frost ran away with their awards. Frost led the Knights to an 11-0 record in just his second season as head coach. Milton has vastly improved, and is well-deserving of his award. The sophomore quarterback completed 69.1% of his passes for 30 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also rushed for 429 yards and six more scores.
Oliver might be the most impressive name on this list. After dealing with extra attention paid to him this year, the star defensive tackle finished third on his team in tackles.......as a defensive tackle. Let that sink in. Oliver added 14.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks which led the Cougars in both categories.
How Tony Pollard wasn’t a unanimous selection is beyond me, because he’s the best kick returner in college football. Still, his award is well earned. His 751 yards and four touchdowns lead the nation.
TJ Carter was forced into a starting role after injuries ravaged through the Tigers defense, and he responded well. Carter finished fifth on the team in tackles and was tied for the team lead with three interceptions.
As for All-Conference Selections, UCF led the way with 16, followed by USF with 10, and Memphis with nine. Below is a list of the AAC teams with their total selections followed by a breakdown for each team (1st team, 2nd team, and Honorable Mention).
Cincinnati (4)
1st Team: 1
2nd Team: 2
Honorable Mention: 1
ECU (3)
1T: 0
2T: 1
HM: 2
Houston (5)
1T: 2
2T: 1
HM: 2
Memphis (9)
1T: 6
2T: 3
HM: 0
Navy (3)
1T: 0
2T: 1
HM: 2
SMU (5)
1T: 3
2T: 0
HM: 2
Temple (5)
1T: 1
2T: 3
HM: 1
Tulane (4)
1T: 1
2T: 2
HM: 1
Tulsa (7)
1T: 1
2T: 4
HM: 2
UConn (1)
1T: 0
2T: 0
HM: 1
UCF (16)
1T: 9
2T: 7
HM: 0
USF (10)
1T: 4
2T: 5
HM: 1
Do you agree with the AAC selections? Let us know what you think in the comments section.Kratom users are celebrating after the Florida Legislature failed to begin a crackdown on the controversial Southeast Asian plant. But the fight isn’t over.
A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration fact sheet lists Kratom as an addictive substance that’s mildly stimulating or, in large doses, “profoundly euphoric.”
Susan Ash, executive director of the American Kratom Association -- and a Lyme disease sufferer -- calls it a lifesaver.
“I rarely left the house, I didn’t have a job, I wasn’t doing anything. I felt like I was just lost and sick, and like I was going to be like that forever.”
Representative Kristi Jacobs of Coconut Creek calls kratom a potential killer. Jacobs says she talked to grieving parents who blame kratom for their children’s death.
Kratom is not banned or blessed by the federal government, so hard evidence is hard to come by. The National Institutes of Health warns of rare cases of acute liver damage by recreational use.
Jacobs’ bill called for a study by state law enforcement and health officials, but it died after intense lobbying by Ash. Jacobs is vowing to file the bill again in January. Ash says she’ll be back too, to defend something she believes is a panacea.
“We’re talking about people with chronic pain, people that suffer from addiction, people with severe depression and anxiety. It just makes it all worth the effort, watching people turn their lives around.”
Kratom is sold on the internet or in smoke shops as gel caps or tea. It’s illegal in four states.After making headlines with its unexpectedly voluminous contributions to the Linux kernel in 2012, Microsoft has all but disappeared from the Linux development scene, according the latest report from the Linux Foundation.
The last edition of the Foundation's annual Linux kernel development report saw Microsoft break into the top 20 companies to have made kernel contributions, at number 17. That meant Redmond contributed around 1 per cent of all changes during the period studied. In this year's report, however, Microsoft is nowhere to be found.
That's not entirely surprising, given that Redmond's contributions logged in the 2012 report were almost entirely devoted to adding support for Microsoft technologies to the Linux kernel. Specifically, Microsoft maintains the kernel drivers for its Hyper-V virtualization hypervisor, which consist of tens of thousands of lines of code.
Outside of that work, Microsoft was never a particularly significant contributor to the kernel. In the Linux Foundation's 2012 report, Red Hat, Intel, Novell, and IBM each submitted far more changes than Redmond did, with those four companies combined accounting for 25.9 per cent of all kernel development.
That pattern repeated itself in this year's report, with Red Hat, Intel, Suse (now part of Attachmate, rather than Novell), and IBM together contributing 25.6 per cent of all kernel changes.
What was new this time around, however, was the expanded role that mobile chipmakers and developers played in kernel development, compared to last year. Freescale, Linaro, Samsung, and Texas Instruments all increased their activity during the period, while Nvidia, Qualcomm, and ARM – all absentees from last year's list – made the top 30 this time. Together, these companies contributed 15 per cent of all kernel code changes.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Nokia – which had contributed 1.9 per cent of all contributions in the Linux Foundation's 2012 report – also dropped off this year's list, much like Microsoft.
Corporate code contributions do make up the majority of Linux kernel development these days, and have done so for some time. But the largest single slice of the pie still comes from unaffiliated developers, who contributed 13.6 per cent of all code changes this time around. That's down from previous years, though; in the 2012 report, indie developers contributed 16.2 per cent of the code.
Another 3.3 per cent of contributions came from developers with "unknown" affiliations in the 2013 report, down from 4.3 per cent last year.
Amid all of these contributions, the Linux kernel is growing larger and the pace of its development is moving faster than ever before. In the 2012 report, Linux kernel 3.2 – the most recent version, at the time – comprised 37,626 files and 15 million lines of code. Today, kernel 3.10 is made up of 43,029 files and 17 million lines of code.
Similarly, a whopping 13,367 patches went into the 3.10 kernel – around nine changes per hour, averaged over the 63-day development cycle – beating the previous record of 12,394 patches in kernel 3.8. Only 11,780 patches went into kernel 3.2 (though that's obviously still nothing to sneeze at).
"This rate of change continues to increase, as does the number of developers and companies involved in the process," the Linux Foundation writes in its report. "Thus far, the development process has proved that it is able to scale up to higher speeds without trouble." ®Single people could soon have the same rights to adopt children as married couples, under the most dramatic shake-up to Victoria's adoption laws in more than 30 years.
Decades after the state's Adoption Act was introduced, the Andrews Government is preparing to revamp the legislation after conceding it no longer reflects "the modern family".
Changes to Victoria's adoption laws could give single people the same rights as married couples.
The proposed re-write is based on a Law Reform Commission report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, which recommends widening eligibility requirements, giving children more access to information and support, and improving the way a person's identity is reflected in their birth certificate.
"At the time of its introduction, the Adoption Act represented a significant change in Victorian adoption policy, as it brought in open adoption," says the report, which was commissioned by the government in 2015.Amazon is the biggest threat to bitcoin right now
Coin and Crypto Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 12, 2017
Over the past year, a growing number of people have leapt to take part in bitcoin’s meteoric rise. Teenagers have invested their college funds. Some families have mortgaged their homes and placed everything on the table. Even billionaires have suggested putting 10% of all assets into the digital currency.
There is a lot of money in play and people’s livelihoods and savings are on the line. As a vehicle of investment, bitcoin itself has an array of problems. It’s extremely volatile — suffering drops as high as 30% in a single day, funds are difficult to recover when hacked, and bitcoin’s technology may be behind other newer cryptocurrencies which offer greater anonymity, programmability, and scaling.
Most people tend to look at popular altcoins when they think about what could dethrone the current cryptocurrency king. But could the real threat come from a more material realm?
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Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world
Boasting over 94 billion USD in sales last year, it handles almost half of all American online purchases and has operations across the globe. But despite offering a large variety of payment options, Amazon has yet to allow people to pay with bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.
As the leader in online retail, it’s in a prime position to do so. Any cryptocurrency Amazon adopted would surely see a huge surge of support. Given the current popularity of cryptocurrency, what exactly is Amazon waiting for?
Barriers
One of the reasons Amazon may be avoiding cryptocurrency is their limited transaction speeds. Take a look at the top two major cryptocurrencies.
bitcoin: 7 transactions per second
ethereum: 15 transactions per second
Amazon peaked at 600 transactions per second during last year’s Amazon prime sale. If even a fraction of their traffic decided to pay with cryptocurrency, consumers would be stuck waiting hours for transactions to go through. Not a great customer experience.
Do slow transaction fees mean Amazon will avoid cryptocurrency? The tech giant is no stranger to innovative scaling solutions. Bitcoin and ethereum are currently too slow to support Amazon’s demands but other cryptocurrencies are not. An alternative cryptocurrency called ripple has tested speeds as high as 1500 transactions per second.
Why Amazon Might be Considering Cryptocurrencies
Although it hasn’t announced an official position on cryptocurrencies, there are several indicators that suggest Amazon is considering this space and not necessarily in a bitcoin friendly way.
On October 31st Amazon reportedly bought amazonethereum.com, amazoncryptocurrency.com, and amazoncryptocurrencies.com. This move might be simply covering their bases. Or it might be insight into future endeavours.
There are already services that sell amazon gift cards for bitcoin so in some respect Amazon offering bitcoin on their site would simply cut out the middleman
Finally one of Amazon’s core principles is ‘Customer Obsession’. If customers demand a cryptocurrency payment method Amazon is sure to eventually give them what they want.
Given that many of its shoppers buy goods internationally, cryptocurrency could be an excellent way for shoppers to enjoy a standardized currency without worrying about exchange rates.
What Could Happen
There are a few ways this could play out that could endanger bitcoin’s current reign:
1. Amazon could stay out of the cryptocurrency sector
In order to cross the chasm from investment to currency, bitcoin needs to gain widespread adoption from merchants. It’s unlikely that Amazon will stay out of this sector indefinitely but if it did bitcoin would certainly suffer from being excluded by the world’s largest online retailer. This wouldn’t kill bitcoin, but it would hurt its potential as a currency.
2. Amazon could adopt a competitor to bitcoin
This seems likely if bitcoin cannot keep up with Amazon’s required transaction speeds. Ripple is a potential contender with 1000+ TPS. This scenario could definitely endanger bitcoin’s reign as the top cryptocurrency. A fictional deal with Visa raised the value of the Monaco cryptocurrency by almost 700%. Any deal with Amazon will rocket the partner cryptocurrency upwards. If Amazon chooses to go this route it probably wouldn’t kill bitcoin, but whatever coin they went with could knock bitcoin out of its top spot.
3. Amazon could create its own cryptocurrency
If Amazon Prime video is any indication — Amazon loves to play in high potential spaces where it can leverage its huge army of developers to make big plays. Its holdings range from cloud storage, to video streaming, to hardware offerings. If it sees potential in the cryptocurrency space it has the technical resources to break into it.
It would not be the first time a large established company has launched their own token. In September 2017, the chat giant Kik launched an ICO raising $75 million dollars. Overstock, a publically traded e-commerce company, has seen its stock raise by 30% since announcing it plans to ICO this December.
If Amazon created its own cryptocurrency they could spread its use across their many services: from Amazon Prime, to Twitch, to Audible, allowing consumers to easily transfer funds within the Amazon ecosystem. They could outcompete any other cryptocurrency and entice mainstream adoption by offering a 5% or 10% discount on purchases made with AmazonCoin. With tens of thousands of developers and high paying salaries it could find the technical talent to design a coin that outpaces bitcoin when it comes to scaling and privacy concerns.
This is the most dangerous scenario for bitcoin but it relies on Amazon taking a major leap into a field it has so far avoided.
Keep an eye on Amazon as demand for cryptocurrencies rises
For now Amazon seems to be keeping quiet about its plans in this space. But whatever cryptocurrency Amazon chooses could become a household name overnight.
Whether Amazon chooses bitcoin, ethereum, or something else altogether, their choice will have dramatic consequences on the existing cryptocurrency landscape. Cryptocurrency and the technology behind it are here to stay, but bitcoin and its reign as the number one cryptocurrency might not be.
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👉 https://t.me/coinandcryptoHaving followed in the footsteps, or rather driving shoes, of Hollywood legends like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, the ex-Grey’s Anatomy actor also doubled as a racing driver.
Since 2004, Patrick Dempsey has competed in 68 races, including taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times. The report from Motorsport that he just called it quits, then, came as a surprise, especially since in 2015 he scored his best-ever result at Le Mans, finishing second (along with Peter Long and Marco Seefried) in the GTE Am class in a Porsche 911 RSR and winning the FIA World Endurance Championship race at Fuji.
Last year wasn’t all good news, though, as he departed from the hit TV show that earned him the nickname “Dr. McDreamy” and his 16-year marriage to Jillian Fink ended. The pair has since reconciled, and now he’s decided racing has taken a back seat to other priorities.
“At this point in my life, after an amazing season thanks to my friends at Porsche and TAG Heuer, I need to take a step back and focus on both my family and my acting career”, said the 50-year old actor.
“My motorsports journey has been a rewarding one and allowed me to meet so many interesting people. I have loved being part of part of different teams and sharing the experience with so many great friends. I want to thank everyone who made this possible and helped me along the way. I also wanted to especially thank the fans for their support and friendship.”
He also thanked Porsche and stated that he will remain attached to motorsport as a team owner of Dempsey-Proton Racing, there’s no indication though that he intends to return.
“Life has taught me that it is impossible to predict the future. I am excited to see what kind of journey I can make and enjoy”, he quipped. Going out when you’re on a high is not a bad choice; never say never, though…
Photo Gallery
VideoHistory holds many oddities that we may never fully understand, either through incomplete documentation, disinterest at the time, or simply a big question mark that hangs over all. Among these are mysterious tribes of people that have been encountered and confronted in all corners of the globe, often vanishing before we really understand them and leaving us perplexed at just who they were or where their origins lie. One such tribe was a mysterious group of Native Americans who appeared to explorers as something quite European in nature, although their ways and beginnings have always been cloaked in shadows. Known mostly from historical accounts, their origins remain murky, their lineage uncertain, and they are a historical curiosity we may never fully understand.
During the era of early European contact, the native peoples of North America held many curiosities for explorers and settlers coming to this new, wild land. These tribes were numerous, and displayed rich variety between different cultures, as well as myriad languages, customs, and traditions that inspired awe, wonder, curiosity, bafflement, and even fear in the European adventurers who bravely delved into this uncharted new world and tried to tame it. Yet as fascinating as these new peoples were, perhaps the most interesting was an alleged tribe of natives who were said to look decidedly Caucasian in nature.
The first reports of what would come to be known as the Mandan tribe began to trickle out from French explorers in the region of the Missouri River in present-day North and South Dakota in the early 1700s. These natives were said to have rather fair skin and to have red or blonde hair and blue or grey eyes, |
and safety legislation – so Mrs Mubenga and the couple’s five children end up with no justice, and no peace.
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ZURICH — Switzerland’s central bank on Thursday said it would introduce negative interest rates next year, a measure designed to cool the strength of the Swiss franc and ward off deflation.
Beginning Jan. 22, the Swiss National Bank will charge banks 0.25% to deposit overnight funds with it, the central bank said in a statement. The move will push the three-month Swiss franc Libor rate, currently in a range between 0.0% and 0.25%, into negative territory.
The SNB’s decision comes after months of pressure on the franc CHFEUR, +0.2024% which has strengthened to near 1.20 a euro, a level the central bank has pledged for the past three years to defend. A strong franc, which has benefited from safe-haven buying and weakness in the eurozone economies, raises the risk of imported deflation and creates headwinds for the country’s exporters, many of whom depend on the European Union as a key market.
The franc’s appreciation against the euro in recent days had forced the central bank to intervene in the currency markets, SNB President Thomas Jordan said at a news conference, although he declined to say how much currency the bank bought. The SNB “can push the negative rate even lower” if needed he said and reiterated the bank’s commitment to defend the 1.20-franc-to-euro level with what whatever measures needed.
The Swiss franc immediately dropped on the news, falling to 1.2098 a euro, its lowest level since October. The decision, made before the stock market opened, also buoyed Swiss shares with the benchmark SMI trading 1.8% higher.
In June, the European Central Bank introduced negative interest rates on deposits with it, a move designed to encourage banks to lend rather than park money. The central bank of Denmark, which isn’t part of the eurozone, has also used negative interest rates.
“The SNB has bowed to the inevitable,” said Kit Juckes, macro strategist at Société Générale. “If 2015 brings more ECB easing and the start of Fed tightening, it is going to be difficult to hold it and this may not be the last step they take.”
The SNB’s move will widen the range for three-month Swiss franc Libor, a key interest rate, to minus 0.75% to 0.25%.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com
Want news about Europe delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Europe Daily newsletter. Sign up here.Yahoo has confirmed that it is preventing some people from accessing their email if they are using ad-blocking software in their browser.
Some users in the US reported that Yahoo Mail was displaying a message asking them to disable their ad-blocker before they could access their inbox.
Yahoo said it was testing a "new product experience" in the US.
Members of one ad-blocking forum said they had already managed to circumvent the restriction.
Malware
Ad-blocking has proved to be controversial and technology companies have responded in different ways.
In September, Apple updated its mobile operating system iOS to allow third-party ad-blockers to be installed - although they do not remove Apple's own ads which it serves up in apps.
Google meanwhile has introduced a paid subscription version of YouTube, that lets viewers remove ads on the video streaming site for a monthly fee.
Ad-blocking advocates say disabling advertisements can improve smartphone battery life and reduce mobile data usage.
It can also prevent people being tracked by advertisers online and protect devices from malware that could be served up if an advertising network is compromised.
In 2014, Yahoo admitted adverts on its homepage had been infected with malware for four days.
But the company currently relies on advertising to earn money from its Yahoo Mail service which is available to use for free.Alaska-Anchorage senior forward Matt Bailey, an undrafted free agent, has signed a contract with the Anaheim Ducks.
Bailey was a talented, but often under-appreciated player in his four years at Alaska-Anchorage. Bailey was consistently among Alaska-Anchorage's leading scorers through his first three seasons, but on an offensively-challenged team with a poor record, he rarely garnered much attention(His sophomore season, Bailey led the Seawolves in scoring, with 17 points in 34 games). Things changed a bit this past season with new head coach Matt Thomas at the helm, and the Seawolves in a restructured WCHA league. Alaska-Anchorage put together their first winning season in 20 years, and Bailey finished fifth in league scoring with 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points. His efforts earned him first team All-WCHA honors from the league.
Bailey is a 6-1 196 lbs. forward that played center for the Seawolves. Bailey's skating is by far his best asset. He's got pro-level speed, combined with the size and strength to make himself an effective two-way player at the pro level.
Bailey will finish the season with the Ducks' AHL affiliate in Norfolk.Short-Term Crisis, Long-Term Need
Ebola, Beyond the Headlines
I’ve spent the past week meeting with politicians, policymakers, and reporters in New York, Washington D.C., and Boston. One topic has pretty much dominated the conversation: Ebola virus.
It’s not surprising. Most of the headlines lately have focused on the undeniably awful news—the number of people who have died, the escalating rate of infection, the first case on U.S. soil. It is a tragedy for the families of those who have died. It is frightening for communities where people are sick. And it is yet another blow for countries that were already hit hard by poverty and other diseases.
Although you can never move too fast at a time like this, it’s easy to forget just how much has been done. Médecins Sans Frontières initiated a global call to action and has mobilized all its available resources to help combat the spread of the disease. Weeks ago, after the head of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Thomas Frieden, came back from Liberia with dire reports of the situation on the ground, President Obama sent the military to set up hospitals there. Congress agreed to pay for emergency supplies. The National Institutes of Health and other leading research institutions started working on drugs to treat the sick and vaccines to prevent the spread of the virus. France and the United Kingdom committed large sums of money and resources. Philanthropists, doctors, nurses, and other health workers from around the world have signed up to help the communities suffering the most. The global response has been remarkable.
“America has an incredibly responsive public health system that will ensure the virus is quickly contained, and that anyone suffering from it receives high-quality care in medical isolation.” - our foundation’s CEO, Sue Desmond-Hellmann
Even as we do everything we can to stop this crisis, we should also be studying its long-term implications. It’s a reminder of the urgent need to strengthen health systems in the world’s poorest countries. (As our foundation’s CEO, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, wrote last week: “America has an incredibly responsive public health system that will ensure the virus is quickly contained, and that anyone suffering from it receives high-quality care in medical isolation.”) Health systems—which encompass everything from rural clinics to community health workers to hospitals —are the best protection against epidemics.
For example, as soon as the first case was identified in Nigeria, doctors and other people who were there to fight polio immediately helped set up a center to fight Ebola. This was critical in preventing the spread of the disease. Senegal, which has a more developed primary health care system than the most devastated countries, was also able to handle the first cases effectively and prevent a significant outbreak.
Improving health systems has other benefits beyond dealing with outbreaks. Providing basic health care raises the quality of life for everyone. It unlocks economic potential—healthy people are more productive. And countries with strong health systems can do a better job fighting both epidemics and ongoing diseases like malaria (which kills 600,000 people every year and leaves many more too sick to work for long periods).
What does this mean in practice? Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea need support to strengthen their primary care systems now. Governments, donors, and other partners—from the private sector to NGOs and faith-based organizations—can join forces to build short-term capacity, while also building the foundation for health systems of the future. It will take an aggressive plan, with accountability measures in place, to start delivering core services such as routine immunization, maternal health, and family planning again.
So I hope we fight Ebola on two fronts: a short-term response to stop this crisis, and a long-term effort to build the health systems that will help prevent the next one.
You can support organizations that are helping fight Ebola:FILE PHOTO: Employees of Amazon India are seen behind a glass bearing the company's logo inside its office in Bengaluru, India, August 14, 2015. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc has secured approval to stock and sell food and groceries in India, potentially expanding its business in the fast-growing economy where it is in a pitched battle with home-grown rival Flipkart.
Amazon confirmed winning government approval for its plan to sell food products, but it declined to provide further details.
Separately, a source familiar with the matter said Amazon planned to invest $500 million in the food segment, over and above the $5 billion it had already committed to investing in India.
Cheaper smartphones, increasing internet penetration and steep discounts have led to a surge in domestic online shopping for everything from gadgets to clothes and food items in India.
Still, mom-and-pop stores account for the biggest share of grocery sales, offering organized players huge growth potential.
Currently Amazon offers food products in India via Amazon Pantry, where retailers including joint venture Cloudtail sell various products. It also offers same-day grocery delivery on its Amazon Now app through a tie-up with Indian retailers Big Bazaar, Star Bazaar and Hypercity.
Amazon did not comment on whether its new investments would affect any of its existing tie-ups, or its Cloudtail joint venture.
Venture-funded Flipkart, whose backers include Tiger Global, Tencent Holdings and Microsoft, also plans to move into the groceries space, company executives have said.
Amazon last month announced plans to buy upscale U.S. grocer Whole Foods Market Inc for $13.7 billion.reports that Clinton SuperPac “Correct the Record” is openly admitting to spending $1 million to hire fake online Hillary supporters to swarm social media sites like Reddit and counteract Sanders' [actually existent unpaid] enthusiastic supporters' points about Hillary in the interest of “unity”. Barf. The Daily Beast reports that Clinton SuperPac “Correct the Record” is openly admitting to spending $1 million to hire fake online Hillary supporters to swarm social media sites like Reddit and counteract Sanders' [actually existent unpaid] enthusiastic supporters' points about Hillary in the interest of “unity”. Barf.
Couple quick things: first, there have been a number of diaries claiming to “have switched from Bernie to Hillary” lately, and some of them have been from recently created accounts with no record of pro-Sanders remarks or diaries. More such people have populated the comment sections of such diaries, and someone is reccing them despite what I judge to be their incredible lack of helpful information. That is just a fact, and my opinion about said fact. Second, if one wanted to make the case that there were a vast Clintonian conspiracy behind that rash of new accounts and diaries, this is certainly what one might consider corroborating evidence. Note the SuperPac has already spent $4.5 million on God knows what. So let's be honest this could have been already happenening, and now they believe they have more or less locked up the nomination and so are getting more belligerent/open about it. Third, note that Sanders-supporting diaries tend to still dominate the rec list day in, day out, and that Sanders has no Super Pac. We are on to your presumptive corporate shilling, in other words. Not that we can prove it. What I'm saying is that this is why I have donated so much money to Bernie, because he is a candidate whose message, strategy and tactics are all above board. I.e. What they appear to be. He has gotten this far without steroids. Paid or not, Clinton supporters are welcome aboard.
Citing “lessons learned from online engagement with ‘Bernie Bros,’” a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC is pledging to spend $1 million to “push back against” users on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Instagram. Correct the Record’s “Barrier Breakers” project boasts in a press release that it has already “addressed more than 5,000 people that have personally attacked Hillary Clinton on Twitter.” The PAC released this on Thursday. The PAC was created in May of last year when it was spun off from the American Bridge SuperPAC, which is run by longtime Hillary and Bill Clinton supporter David Brock. Brock also founded the left-wing media watchdog website Media Matters for America. Some Bernie Sanders-supporting users on Reddit already started to notice the changes on Thursday afternoon. “This explains why my inbox turned to cancer on Tuesday,” “This explains why my inbox turned to cancer on Tuesday,” wrote user OKarizee. “Been a member of reddit for almost 4 years and never experienced anything like it. In fact, in all my years on the internet I’ve never experienced anything like it.” Correct the Record, which has received $5 million this campaign season and has spent almost $4.5 million of it, according to OpenSecrets.org, outlined its strategy against “swarms of anonymous attackers” in a press release.
Update: if you want a case in point, look at the diary smearing Dr. Jane Sanders that's on the Rec list, and then look at the date the diarist joined.Climate-Smart Agriculture is Corporate Green-Washing, Warn NGOs
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 24 2014 (IPS) - On the sidelines of the U.N.’s heavily hyped Climate Summit, the newly-launched Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture announced plans to protect some 500 million farmers worldwide from climate change and “help achieve sustainable and equitable increases in agricultural productivity and incomes.”
But the announcement by the Global Alliance, which includes more than 20 governments, 30 organisations and corporations, including Fortune 500 companies McDonald’s and Kelloggs, was greeted with apprehension by a coalition of over 100 civil society organisations (CSOs).
"These companies will do all they can to maintain their market dominance and prevent genuine agroecology agriculture from gaining ground in countries." -- Meenakshi Raman of Third World Network
It is a backhanded gesture, warned the coalition, which “rejected” the announcement as “a deceptive and deeply contradictory initiative.”
“The Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture will not deliver the solutions that we so urgently need. Instead, climate-smart agriculture provides a dangerous platform for corporations to implement the very activities we oppose,” the coalition said.
“By endorsing the activities of the planet’s worst climate offenders in agribusiness and industrial agriculture, the Alliance will undermine the very objectives that it claims to aim for.”
The 107 CSOs include ActionAid International, Friends of the Earth International, the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements, the South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication, the Third World Network, the Bolivian Platform on Climate Change, Biofuel Watch and the National Network on Right to Food.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who gave his blessing to the Global Alliance, said: “I am glad to see action that will increase agricultural productivity, build resilience for farmers and reduce carbon emissions.”
These efforts, he said, will improve food and nutrition security for billions of people.
With demand for food set to increase 60 per cent by 2050, agricultural practices are transforming to meet the challenge of food security for the world’s 9.0 billion people while reducing emissions, he asserted.
But the coalition said: “Although some organisations have constructively engaged in good faith for several months with the Global Alliance to express serious concerns, these concerns have been ignored.”
Instead, the Alliance “is clearly being structured to serve big business interests, not to address the climate crisis,” the coalition said.
The coalition also pointed out that companies with activities resulting in dire social impacts on farmers and communities, such as those driving land grabbing or promoting genetically modified (GM) seeds, already claim they are climate-smart.
Yara (the world’s largest fertiliser manufacturer), Syngenta (GM seeds), McDonald’s, and Walmart are all at the climate-smart table,
it added. “Climate-smart agriculture will serve as a new promotional space for the planet’s worst social and environmental offenders in agriculture.
“The proposed Global Alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture seems to be yet another strategy by powerful players to prop up industrial agriculture, which undermines the basic human right to food. It is nothing new, nothing innovative, and not what we need,” the coalition declared.
Meenakshi Raman, coordinator of the Climate Change Programme at the Malaysia-based Third World Network, told IPS the world seed, agrochemical and biotechnology markets are dominated by a few mega companies.
She said these companies have a vested interest in maintaining monoculture farming systems which are carbon intensive and depend on external inputs.
“These companies will do all they can to maintain their market dominance and prevent genuine agroecology agriculture from gaining ground in countries,” she said.
It is vital that such oligopoly practices are disallowed and regulated, said Raman. “Hence the need for radical overhaul of the current unfair systems in place with real reform at the international level.”
Meanwhile, the Washington-based Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), said the world’s foremost agriculture experts have determined that preventing climate change from damaging food production and destabilising some of the world’s most volatile regions will require reaching out to at least half a billion farmers, fishers, pastoralists, livestock keepers and foresters.
The goal is to help them learn farming techniques and obtain farming technologies that will allow them to adapt to more stressful production conditions and also reduce their own contributions to climate change, said CGIAR.
These researchers are already working with farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to refine new climate-oriented technologies and techniques via what are essentially outdoor laboratories for innovations called climate-smart villages.
The villages’ approach to crafting climate change solutions is proving extremely popular with all involved, and now the Indian state of Maharashtra (population 112.3 million) plans to set up 1,000 climate smart villages, CGIAR said.
Asked for specifics, Bruce Campbell, director of the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), told IPS countries in the tropics will be particularly impacted, especially those that are already under-developed because such countries don’t have the resources to adapt and respond to extreme weather conditions.
These include many countries in the Sahel region, Bangladesh, India and Indonesia, plus countries in Latin America.
Asked if these countries are succeeding in coping with the impending crisis, he said there are good cases of isolated successes, but in general they are not coping.
For example, one success is in Niger where five million trees have been planted, that help both adaptation and mitigation, but an enormous number of other activities are needed, he added.
Raman told IPS there are many rules in the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) agriculture agreement that threaten small-scale agriculture and agroecology farming systems in the developing world.
She said developed countries are allowed to provide billions of dollars in subsidies to their agricultural producers whose products are then exported and dumped on developing countries, whose farming systems are then displaced or threatened with artificially cheap products.
Many developing countries, she pointed out, were also forced to remove the protection they had or have for their domestic agriculture, either through the WTO, the World Bank policies under structural adjustment and free trade agreements.
“These policies do not allow developing country governments to protect small farmers and their domestic agriculture,” she said.
Such rules and policies are unfair and unethical and should not be allowed as they undermine small farmers and agroecology systems,
Raman declared.
Edited by Kitty Stapp
The writer can be contacted at [email protected] shown above, you can see your total capacity and space used, broken down into downloads and offline files, with the remainder being your available space. That gives you a pretty good idea as to what's taken up by the system and apps, and what you've downloaded personally. If you then need further info, you can check the files app (or abstruse chrome://quota-internals command).
Google Play has only arrived on a few Chrome OS models, including the ASUS Chromebook Flip (above), but when it's released in force, folks will get Android tablet apps numbering in the tens of thousands. Since those will take up space and generate their own files, storage info will become critical. If you want to test it yourself, you can download the latest dev update, then enable a flag.The Oregon men�s basketball team will leave home during the regular season more often than it ever has under coach Dana Altman.
The Ducks have four nonconference games scheduled away from Matthew Knight Arena, one more than it had during each of the past four seasons. The trips include three road games and one at a neutral site.
Oregon will play at Boise State and Alabama and face UNLV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Ducks will face Navy in Hawaii on Dec. 7 to honor the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Oregon returns six scholarship players from last season, including five � forwards Jordan Bell, Dwayne Benjamin, Elgin Cook, Dillon Brooks and guard Casey Benson � who started at least nine games last season. The Ducks added three freshmen and two transfers, including senior Dylan Ennis, who started last year for Villanova.
�With six guys back, we should challenge ourselves a bit,� Altman said. �It will be a tough schedule, no doubt about it. Playing at Boise, Vegas, and Alabama will be tough.�
Oregon�s home schedule includes nonconference games against four teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last year � Baylor, Valparaiso, Boise State and UC Irvine. Fresno State and Long Beach State also will visit Matthew Knight Arena.
�Those will be really tough games, just because they are used to winning and they have a lot of people back,� Altman said of the four NCAA Tournanent teams. �Vegas is really talented and Fresno is supposed to be better.�
Oregon has 13 nonconference games, beginning with the season opener at home against Jackson State on Nov. 13. Oregon opens conference play at Oregon State on Jan. 3.
California, Arizona, and Utah are all likely to be ranked in the preseason Top 25, and Oregon, UCLA, and Oregon State could get votes as well.
�I think it�s going to be a really fun year for our league,� Altman said. �Everyone says that Arizona lost all those guys, but they�re still talented. Cal had a really good recruiting year, getting two top 10 guys to add to the three really good players they had. Their starting five is as good as anybody, maybe in the country but definitely in the league. Utah has a lot of guys back, UCLA has been good, Oregon State has some new guys and Washington has a new look, but very talented. So it will be an interesting year.�
Media day
Altman and forward Elgin Cook will be at Pac-12 Media Day in San Francisco on Thursday. The Pac-12 Network will telecast the festivities, which feature every coach and one player from each school from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Altman is scheduled to appear at 10:18 a.m., and Cook and Oregon State�s Gary Payton II will be on at 11:37 a.m.
The preseason media poll will be released at the start of the event with Arizona or California the likely favorite. Oregon was picked to finish eighth last year and Oregon State was 12th, but both will probably be higher this year.
Roster addition
Oregon added walk-on guard Phil Richmond to the roster. The 6-foot-4 redshirt junior from Calabasas, Calif., was a student manager for the Ducks last season.
Richmond�s father, Mitch, played for Altman at Kansas State, then spent 14 years in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers. He was recently hired as a special assistant for new coach Chris Mullin at St. John�s.
Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMims_RG. Email [email protected] Ambassador Dixie Dixon got the chance to shoot with a pre-production D850 for a few days. She used a few fashion shoots to break in the D850 and shared some of those images with us here, explaining her experience "shooting in beast mode," as she called it in a recent live stream with B&H.
Unsurprisingly, Dixon was particularly impressed by the camera's ability to shoot at a high frame rate (7 fps without the grip, but up to 9 fps with), but still with a full 46-megapixel raw file, meaning she didn't have to compromise on the shoot. Even the autofocus, which she says has been good, but still occasionally off in the past, was spot-on for every shot. It was noticably faster and more accurate than ever before. The camera easily kept up with her throughout her shooting experience.
Dixon also appreciated some of the smaller features of the D850, like the ability to shoot with various crops, from a traditional 3:2 to a 1:1 square crop. This made it easy for her to shoot with social media applications in mind while on set. Even though she only had two days with the camera, Dixon said it was "a dream camera for me with everything I'd put on my wishlist."
Below, check out some exclusive additional shots from Dixon's experience with the D850. Also, for the first time, you can check out full-resolution TIFF files as well. The vertical portrait is a full-resolution, edited TIFF (1/250s, f/4, ISO 160, strobed), while the second is a TIFF converted from raw with no changes (1/250s, f/5, ISO 100, strobed). Pixel-peep all you want!In an exclusive interview with PC Gamer, Hollywood actor-turned-PC gaming enthusiast Terry Crews discussed the origins of his hobby, his love for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and where he sees virtual reality in years to come.
Crews' likeness will feature in Microsoft and Sumo Digital's incoming open world action adventure 'em up Crackdown 3, but, despite faux auditions and a sizeable amount of hype, the ex-pro NFL star did not take on the voice of Doomfist in Blizzard's Overwatch.
Fans of both Crews' work and Overwatch itself have expressed their dismay via social media and the game's forums, however Crews himself remains typically upbeat.
"It’s funny because when I went down to Blizzard and we were talking about possibilities I realised that I don’t wanna be the guy that hijacks a game, you know?" explains Crews. "The creators have a vision and I didn’t want to mess that up. I was not interested in trying to hijack the game, I let them know that whatever fitted in their programme I would love to do.
"When I saw that Doomfist was created, that they’d went with another guy, the whole thing, it’s actually quite perfect, it’s absolutely amazing. I can honestly say that they made a move that’s better for the game, which is what they’re about. I know people were upset but I’m not."
Crews continues, suggesting collaborating with Blizzard down the line remains a possibility.
He says: "If I ever do do anything with Blizzard, you watch: it’ll be perfect. With those guys, we’re all friends, we’re all good. I think there will be something coming down the line—but the good thing for me, through all of this, is that I ended up doing Microsoft’s Crackdown which is huge. I’m a playable character in Crackdown 3 which is more than I could ever have dreamed of. I couldn’t have been a playable character in Overwatch, they’d have simply put my voice in, but I went to the studio and I put on the sensors, and I’m in the game.
"Believe me, it tempers any kind of disappointment with Overwatch because I know now Crackdown 3 is my game. We announced it at E3 and I’m actually going back to appear at the panel at Comic Con. It’s a dream come true for me."
Check out our interview with Terry Crews in full over here.Recently Updated | World Top Airports | US Top Airports | UK Top Airports
World’s Busiest Airports
Over the past 10 years our website’s database has grown from around 10,000 airports around the world to now featuring over 40,000 airports, strips, fields or heliports.
This is partly because of the popularity of air travel and the lower budget flights availability which has caused an expansion in the number of airports.
These are the Top 30 busiest airports in the World for 2018:
Airport Information Index:
1. The busiest airport are ranked depending on the number of passengers flying to or from each airport.
2. Passenger may only be catching connecting flights from an airport to another destination.
3. Passenger Number data is related to the Airport Council International estimated full year figures for 2015.
Or view the Top Busiest Airports in the UK?
Top UK AirportsA few weeks back, Zotac sent us a ZBox Pico PI320 Mini PCS and, for the life of me, I could find a place to start. At 115.5mm x 66mm x 19.2 mm, this mini-PC is just about the size of two iPhones on top of one another and has to be the smallest full feature PC available. No matter how much I looked at it though, an effective use for such a device seemed to escape me. I mean…. it is as true of a definition as one can get to a ‘pocket PC’ and it is a very attractive looking device, but to be completely frank, it wasn’t until I first plugged this in that I truly fell in love with the ZBox PI320. You are not going to believe the absolute genius of this concept and its final use. Stay tuned!
In this report, we are going to literally rip apart the ZBox PI320 and show you the beauty of how this is put together, but before getting to that, let’s consider components and value. First off, the PI320 is available right now at Amazon for $189, which is an absolute great deal for any PC, but wait, this one also includes Windows 8.1. Considering that Win 8.1 lists for $119, that would translate to a grand total of $70 in hardware for the remainder of the system. One might not think that this can amount to a premium quality…but wait for it.
Inside the Zotac ZBox Pico PI320, it is powered by an Intel Atom Z3735F ‘Bay Trail’ Quad Core CPU that runs at 1.33Ghz, but cab burst up to 1.83Ghz. It has 2GB DDR3-1333 memory on board, HD graphics, 10/100Mbps LAN, 802.11n WiFi, BlueTooth 4.0, but what is truly amazing is seeing this systems storage run by a Samsung 32GB eMMC 5.0 embedded flash controller.
Add to this stereo audio, HDMI, a micro SDHC/XC card reader capable of up to 64GB, ethernet port, headphone jack along with 3x USB 2.0 ports, and the Zotac ZBox PI320 has more features than are found in many full size PCs today. WE can tell you something it doesn’t have and that is a fan; the PI320 is completely silent and only gets a bit warm to the touch in use.
ZOTAC ZBOX PI320 WALKAROUND
Taking a look at the right end (depending on how you place it of course), we have the power switch, followed by LAN port. 2 x USB 2.0 inputs and a headphone jack. Remembering that the PI320 has Bluetooth 4.0, plugging in a keyboard and mouse may be as simple as the BT connection which leaves these ports free.
Looking at the other side, we have a microSDHC/SDXC card slot (capable of cards up to 64GB), along with another USB port, HDMI and the power adapter input. The microSD card slot is integral to this unit as their is only 32GB of total storage onboard. This storage was reduced 25GB formatted, and then the pre-configured OS reduced it a further 4GB, allowing us only 21GB onboard memory to play with. The good part of this is that 21GB is plenty of room to throw a popular software package such as Microsoft Office on to the SSD.
Taking a look at accessories, we can see that Zotac includes a universal power plug, AC adapter, mounting bracket along with screws, Windows 8.1 Recovery DVD, Warranty Card, Users and Quick Start Manuals with the PI320. Warranty coverage is 1 year from the date of purchase and there is also a very detailed guide for Windows 8.1 recovery, should it ever be necessary. This is rather clever as many systems DO NOT include recovery DVDs and the buyer must follow instructions on their new PC to create such.
Keeping in mind that the Zotac ZBox Pico PI320 does not come with a keyboard, mouse or monitor, these are all add-ons that one must consider. Considering that one can pick up a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse for $19, and the HDMI can be plugged into any television, one could have this system up and running for less than $220. For our test purposes, we simply placed it on top of our X99 Test Bench, unhooked the HDMI, keyboard and mouse from that and plugged in the PI320.
Initial system installation was next and that was very simple. With a simply push of the power button on the PI320, Windows 8.1 began its setup and asked for our WiFi password accordingly. From there we were up and running within minutes. It was really that easy.
Takeaways from this first part of the report might be value, but the two things that really impressed us were the simplicity in set up and complete silence of the system. Let’s rip it apart!Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
According to Rachel Maddow in the clip above — and according to the chart from Jed Lewison at DailyKos below — the stock market certainly is doing well under the socialist jackboot of Pres. Obama’s anti-capitalist policies.
Corporate profits grew 36.8 percent in 2010, the biggest gain since 1950.
As Maddow said, referring to the chart on her MSNBC show last week, if you focus on the line going up after the inauguration of Pres. Obama, “Regardless of how you personally are doing, this part of our nation is living large. Despite what you hear about the economy at home, the stock market is in tall cotton.”
Maddow pointed to this article from McClatchy to explain why middle-class families and small businesses find themselves relegated to the short cotton while mega-corporations and the stock marketeers are availing themselves of the tall rows:
Corporate profits grew 36.8 percent in 2010, the biggest gain since 1950, according to Friday’s latest report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. No sign could be more clear that U.S. companies see the so-called Great Recession in the rearview mirror. The strong profits, however, mask the continued difficult terrain for businesses. Yes, profits are high, but that doesn’t mean business is strong… [Analysts] think several factors are behind the strong profits, which seem to contradict other indicators of an underperforming economy, especially the 8.9 percent unemployment rate. These factors include record low interest rates since late 2008, muted demand for borrowing by companies and a surge in productivity that has allowed companies to do more with the same number of workers or fewer. Profits aren’t rising solely because companies are making and selling more widgets to keep up with customer demand, which would be the case in a healthy, booming economy. Instead, they’re more profitable because it now costs less to make the same widget, often because there are far fewer workers needed to make it… That’s not to say things aren’t improving. Over the past six months, the economy has gathered steam, and demand is picking up — from factory orders for parts needed in assembly, to a rebound in automotive manufacturing, to consumer purchases rising. That’s a healthy growth trend, but the bigger part of the story remains workforce reductions, technological advances, low lending costs and minimal borrowing. All have combined to give companies unusual control over their balance sheets, and thus their profits.
It could be said that this chart proves that if Barack Obama really were pushing a socialist agenda, he’d be doing a terrible job at it.
But what it really shows — as if we needed more proof — is that trickle-down economics do not work. George Bush Sr. called it “Voodoo economics,” but, in practice, the supply-side theory is not even as effective as Voodoo. What we have seen since the Reagan era, over and over, is that when the rich get richer, they hold onto their money or invest it overseas, not in America.
The chart should also serve as more evidence that it is dastardly for Republicans to insist on balancing the federal budget by cutting programs for children, the sick and the elderly while giving American plutocrats a free ride by extending the Bush tax cuts for the uber-wealthy.
Update: Here’s the link to original chart and here’s the data source. Maddow described the chart as “smoothed out a lot.” There was a spike to 13,930 in October 2007 that is not reflected here. Over the next year or so, the market declined by about 5,000 points to 8,829.04 on Nov. |
few Serverless functions. That was such a great achievement that I decided to migrate another small project a few days later. The cost of hosting is now a few cents a month whereas it was about $15 a month on Heroku. It’s really a nice feeling to learn a new technology by yourself and at the same time save a bit of money… I’m just encouraging you to do the same now if you can!
I will soon write detailed articles on how I converted the site. Stay tuned!Lucy White
Shares were on the rise at Imperial Brands this morning, as the cigarette manufacturer painted a positive outlook and reported "significant progress" in its next-generation products.
Alison Cooper, the business's chief executive, also revealed that Imperial would be looking to sell off certain divisions to raise £2bn within the next year to two years.
She said the business, which has been struggling to convince investors of its worth in recent months, would sharpen its focus on key products and use the cash to pay down debt, deliver returns to shareholders and invest growth.
Read more: BNP Paribas' funds arm has ditched tobacco investments across all its active strategies
“The market had put Imperial Brands in the dog house until recently, largely due to its perceived lack of heat-not-burn alternative tobacco products," said Hargreaves Lansdown fund manager Steve Clayton.
"With the Blu e-vapour range performing strongly, heat-not-burn products now in late-stage development and signs of improvement in the core tobacco performance, Imperial is finding support once more."
Though Imperial's tobacco net revenue fell by 2.1 per cent in the first half of the year to £3.5bn, with earnings per share down one per cent to 114.3p thanks to a "foreign exchange headwind", it raised its dividend by 10 per cent.
Read more: Imperial Brands is expected to reassure the market with new next generation products
Imperial said its total volumes continued to outperform the industry, though it added that its adjusted results reflected a "difficult prior year trading environment" which was improving in the second quarter.
In terms of its "next generation" products, Imperial said it was getting positive feedback about the Blu range and would soon launch nicotine salt pods, which can be used in vapes.
Meanwhile it said there were second stage consumer trials planned "in the next few months" for its heat-not-burn tobacco products.
Imperial's tobacco "growth brands", which include cigarette names such as Winston and Lambert & Butler, saw sales volumes rise by 6.3 per cent.
Read more: Imperial Brands announces push on next generation products after volumes of cigarettes decline2006 feels like a lifetime ago. I was still a relative newlywed and still finding time to go to concerts every couple of months. This was before having two kids and two jobs and our nightlife was much more active. Around this time, I discovered a remarkable album by the Danish band Mew curiously titles …And the Glass-Handed Kites. Their music was very unique, relying on aggressive drumming with constantly changing rhythms undergirding crunchy, off-kilter guitar riffs and the lead singer’s soaring falsetto vocals. After listening to Kites, I had to dig deeper into their discography. I got my hands on their previous album, Frengers, and liked it even more. This band was quickly becoming one of my favorites.
While surfing info on the band, I discovered that they were actually touring the US opening for Kasabian and they would stop at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis on 10/5/06. I snapped up a pair of tickets and my wife and I both went to the show. I was mesmerized by their elaborate arrangements performed live along with a visual projection show created by the lead singer – Jonas Bjerre. They blew me away. We didn’t even stay for Kasabian.
The band left Minneapolis and headed west with their headliner. Once that tour completed on the West Coast, Mew decided to backtrack east and put together their own headlining tour. Three weeks after playing the Fine Line as the opener, they booked there again – this time as the headliner. I decided to go back and see their expanded set. I remember planning to buy my ticket at the door (my wife decided not to double dip on Mew). While I was in line, a car pulled up and asked if I had a ticket. I said no, thinking they wanted to buy from me. But the guy in the car said he had one he couldn’t use and just gave it to me. Sweet deal. Again, Mew was fantastic and they added a half dozen songs to their set this time around.
So all that was in the fall of 2006 and the band hasn’t been back through the Twin Cities since then. Now, with the release of a new album this year entitled +- (plus/minus), they were finally returning for the first time in 9 years. Serendipitously, they booked at the Triple Rock Social Club for 10/5/15, 9 years to the day since their first show here.
Mew’s opener for this tour is The Dodos, a two-piece rock outfit (Meric Long on vocals and guitar and Logan Kroeber on drums) whose sound fits quite well with the Danish band’s. The diminutive guys took the stage and launched into a phrenetic jam to open and then… the guitarist promptly broke a string. He tried playing without it for a few bars, but decided it wasn’t worth it. They stopped and switched guitars and picked back up where they left off. It was a tough start and it obviously frustrated the guys. They commented that the rest of their set felt different since they had to switch up which guitars they used and even had to retune one between songs. Still, with all the technical hiccups, they put on a good show. Long’s guitar work was fairly spectacular throughout as he fingerpicked some blazing patterns over the extremely tight drumming from Kroeber. I’m going to have to delve into their discography a bit after seeing their show.
Meric Long commented towards the end of their set that we’re lucky because this is the smallest venue Mew has played on this tour. While that is exciting, isn’t it also a bit sad that they couldn’t book a more consistently sized venue in our fair city?
Before we get to the main event, a bit of recent history on Mew. Originally a 4 piece, Mew’s founding bassist, Johan Wohlert, left the band after Glass Handed Kites because he was expecting his first child and didn’t want to be absent. The band became a trio with Jonas on vocals, Bo Madsen on guitars and Silas Jorgensen on drums. This is the lineup that recorded the band’s fifth LP No More Stories…. Late last year, the band and their producer approached Johan about rejoining them for their 6th album and he agreed to rejoin the band full time! Unfortunately, after finishing that album, Bo Madsen decided to leave (on good terms, is the scuttlebutt). The band has installed Mads Wegner as the touring guitarist and has long toured with keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Nick Watts. It’s this lineup that took the stage on Monday night.
As a backing track faded up, Silas crashed in with his signature attacking drum beats as the rest of the band emerged. Lastly, Jonas strode out and serenely took the mic. He looks like a teen idol with his long hair and earnest blue eyes (think Jonathan Brandis of SeaQuest “fame”) and many of the females in the audience were quite vocal in their affections. As they launched into their opener, Witness from +-, Jonas showed that his stage presence is a calm, steady one – in stark contrast to the rock posturing the rest of the band prefers. He gazes cooly out to the middle distance as his voice jumps all over the scale. Meanwhile, Johan throws himself into his bass and plays to the crowd on every song. The same goes for Mads, who handled all of Bo’s wild guitar riffs perfectly. In the back of the stage, Silas hammers away on his kit and the snare and kick drums are mixed incredibly well creating a near-perfect drum sound.
The band is touring their new album, sure, but they didn’t shy away from playing crowd favorites from their back catalog. After playing two new songs off the top, they quickly jumped to the amazing 1-2 punch of Special and The Zookeeper’s Boy from Glass Handed Kites. So, so good.
From there, the setlist kept up the intensity until a short “intermission” where Johan, Silas and Mads left the stage, leaving Johan and Nick alone for a short, quiet medley of sections from 3 of the band’s softer tunes. Johan went back to the chorus of Zookeeper’s boy once again and held the mic out to the audience, who did their best to belt out the high notes of “Are you my lady, are you?”. And one confident gal in the back called out “I’ll be your lady!”.
Then the rest of the band returned for the home stretch and Johan thanked the audience, saying “I know this city belongs to Prince. But tonight, I think it belongs to you.” Groan.
They finished the main set with two more crowd-pleasers – Am I Wry? No and 156. Then it was encore time, which featured the new tune My Complications and then finished off with my personal favorite Mew tune: Comforting Sounds. It’s a perfect album and concert closer as it slowly builds to a crescendo and then builds some more and Jonas screams out his crystal clear notes.
The band high fived the closer audience members and then assembled to take a bow before exiting the stage smiling and letting one of their stage techs run out and snap an audience picture on his phone, presumably for Instagram. Oh 2015, don’t ever change.
It was a solid, solid show from these guys. Mew clearly have a sound all their own and love playing together. They are 20 years into this project and clearly haven’t started slowing down yet. I’m hopeful that it won’t take them 9 more years to get back to the Twin Cities. But however long it takes them, I’ll line up for tickets. I’d love to see my frengers again.
Setlist:
Witness
Satellites
Special
The Zookeeper’s Boy
Introducing Palace Players
Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy
Waterslides
Snow Brigade
She Spider
Medley (Clinging to a Bad Dream / The Zookeeper’s Boy Reprise / Louise Louisa)
Making Friends
Rows
Am I Wry? No
156 Encore:
My Complications
Comforting Sounds
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It is known as the cinnamon challenge, and in recent years, the phenomenon has become wildly popular.
On YouTube, tens of thousands of videos show people shoveling a spoonful of ground cinnamon into their mouths. The videos show them coughing, choking and lunging for water, usually as friends watch and laugh.
One video has been viewed more than 29 million times. Another shows the governor of Illinois taking the challenge.
But now doctors and poison control experts are warning people that this seemingly harmless dare is more dangerous than it appears. A report published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday found that the stunt has led to a growing number of calls to poison control centers and visits to emergency rooms. Some teenagers have suffered collapsed lungs and ended up on ventilators.
“People are being poisoned and sickened because of this,” said Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, an author of the new report and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “We have seen a rise in calls to poison control centers around the United States that mirrored the rise in YouTube videos and their viewing. And that’s just for the acute issues.”
The report found that in 2011, the American Association of Poison Control Centers received 51 calls related to the cinnamon challenge. Then, in the first six months of 2012, the number of calls rose to 178. Thirty of those incidents were serious enough to require medical attention.
Dr. Lipshultz found that calls to the Florida Poison Information Center in Miami about cinnamon toxicity showed a similar pattern in 2011 and 2012. Most involved adolescents who were suffering from burning in the airways and in some cases nosebleeds, vomiting and difficulty breathing.
The cinnamon dare has been around for over a decade, but its popularity took off about four years ago. Google recorded 2.4 million hits for the topic in 2012, up from 200,000 in 2009. A Web site devoted to the challenge claims that more than 40,000 videos have been posted on YouTube, and it describes the goal of the challenge as trying to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon in 60 seconds without drinking water. The task is not easy, because the spice in large quantities triggers a gag reflex.
“The first symptom is inhalation of the cinnamon,” the site states, “which is almost immediately followed by ‘dragon breath’ where the user exhales a big puff of cinnamon.”
Although the spice is harmless and potentially even healthful in small amounts, it can be caustic to the airways when inhaled, causing inflammation and scarring of the lungs. Cases of breathing problems and skin rashes have been reported in workers who manufacture cinnamon from tree bark, Dr. Lipshultz said. And animal studies show that just one instance of inhaling a large dose of the powder can produce progressive lung damage.
The problem is that cinnamon powder contains an inert substance called cellulose, which can lodge in the lungs.
“The cellulose doesn’t break down,” Dr. Lipshultz said. “So when it gets into the lungs it sits there long term, and if it’s coated with this caustic cinnamon oil, that leads to chronic inflammation and eventually scarring of the lungs, something we call pulmonary fibrosis. Getting scarring in the lungs is equivalent to getting emphysema.”
Dr. Lipshultz first heard of the challenge in March last year, after several children who were hospitalized because of cinnamon inhalation were put on ventilators. Dr. Lipshultz and his colleagues soon created a task force. At the time, neither Dr. Lipshultz nor his wife, a pediatrician, had been familiar with the stunt. So Dr. Lipshultz brought it up over dinner with his children, then ages 14, 18, 22 and 25.
“I asked if they were aware of the cinnamon challenge, and every one of them said, ‘Of course we know about it,’ and started laughing,” he said.
One of his children, a freshman at Harvard, remarked that the game was popular in her dormitory, and she quickly pulled up videos to show him.
“I was saying, ‘This doesn’t look very entertaining,’” he recalled. “The people in these YouTube videos are actually choking.”Beware environmental announcements that the oil industry likes, and the Alberta oil industry certainly liked Alberta Premier Rachel Notley's response to her province's delinquent status on the climate file.
There they were, lined up alongside Ms. Notley in Edmonton last Sunday, as the climate plan was rolled out. The bosses of Suncor Energy, Shell Canada, Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources – among the biggest emitters of planet-warming carbon dioxide not just in Canada, but in North America – were all smiling. The message: We have a deal we can live with. Uh-oh.
To be sure, the plan is a remarkable achievement, exemplary even, for the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in Canada – in 2013, Alberta was responsible for 37 per cent of national emissions, thanks to the oil sands.
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And it is a huge improvement over the previous plan, which could be charitably described as a joke.
But for all its progress, the new plan largely represents business as usual for the oil sands and will actually allow oil province-wide emissions to rise slightly between now and 2030. Never mind that the whole goal of the Paris climate change conference, which officially starts on Monday with the arrival of more than 100 national leaders, among them newbie Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is to bring emissions down significantly in the next 10 to 15 years.
Mr. Trudeau and the Canadian negotiating team face a big credibility problem in Paris. If Alberta's emissions are not brought down, Canada's stated intention to drop greenhouse-gas emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 look doomed.
The Alberta plan is bold by Canadian and international standards. The carbon tax – the tax on emissions – will double to $30 a tonne by 2018, making it one of the highest in the world. It is capping emissions from the oil sands (known, more accurately, in Europe as the tar sands) at 100 million tonnes a year, becoming the world's first oil-producing region to limit oil-industry emissions. The coal-fired generation plants that provide about 55 per cent of Alberta's electricity are to be phased out by 2030. The plan calls for natural gas plants and renewable energy to replace the lost output from the coal plants.
So far so good, but take a look at the fine print. At the moment, the Alberta oil sands industry pumps out about 70 million tonnes of emissions a year. The 100-million-tonne cap means emissions can be raised by more than 40 per cent – an increase allowed, and in effect paid for, by the demise of the coal-fired generating plants. Now you know why the oilmen aren't slashing their wrists. The Alberta plan would see province-wide emissions "stabilize" in 2030 at 270 million tonnes a year. That's an increase of three million tonnes over the 2013 level.
Bizarrely, some media reports concluded that the Alberta plan constituted "cutting" emissions when the opposite is true, at least between now and 2030.
Mr. Trudeau might take note as he scrambles to restore Canada's ugly reputation at the Paris conference, and it sure needs restoring.
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Canada signed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, with a pledge to cut emissions by 6 per cent over 1990 levels. Instead, emissions soared, in good part because the oil sands were given a licence to turn northern Alberta into one gigantic ditch. With its emissions-cutting agenda in tatters, Canada became the punching bag of the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, where environmental groups awarded it the "Fossil of the Year" award. The Conservative government of Stephen Harper, infamous for its blocking tactics at climate conferences, yanked Canada out of Kyoto in 2011.
Mr. Trudeau will try to strengthen Canada's climate agenda in Paris, but the numbers are not going in his favour because Canada's top emitter – Alberta – is not actually cutting. Meanwhile, British Columbia's cutting plan, while ambitious on paper, looks almost impossible to achieve. It calls for a 33-per-cent emissions reduction below 2007's level by 2020. At the same time, B.C. intends to build a couple of liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants and a whole industry to feed them. To make room for the energy-intensive LNG industry, and meet the target, households and businesses would have to cut their electricity consumption to the point where they would be living in a new dark age.
Aldyen Donnelly of WDA Consulting, a Vancouver energy consultancy, calculated that, assuming the Alberta plan passes muster with the other provinces, and that the other provinces adopt similar targets to Ontario and Quebec (a 37-per-cent reduction), Canada will overshoot its 30-per-cent emissions-reductions target by 80 million tonnes a year. Writing in Maclean's, Paul Boothe, a former federal deputy environment minister who is professor at Western's Ivey Business School, was even more pessimistic. He calculated that Canada would miss its target by 100 million tonnes.
Here's the kicker: If Canada cannot keep its emissions reduction commitments, it will have to buy international carbon credits. That could cost billions of dollars a year, all of it shipped out of the country to enrich those investors with surplus credits.
You won't hear Mr. Trudeau or his negotiating team talking in Paris about these probable overshoot numbers, though smart negotiators from other countries might call his bluff. They would need to ask but one question to the grinning, post-Harper Canadians: How can you allow oil sands emissions to soar by more than 40 per cent and still meet your national reduction targets?Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 2 has a new version of the default Mt Fuji wallpaper. The new picture shows some clouds in the foreground and the mountain itself has a bit less snow on it, creating less of a contrast. As usual for Apple’s default desktops, it’s absolutely beautiful, and it makes a great desktop background.
Click the image above or here to download the full version, it’s a rather large 3200×2000 pixels.
Here they are alongside each other, the new Fuji Mountain default is on the left, and the old Lion Fuji wallpaper from the first Developer Preview is on the right:
Apparently the Lion Space wallpaper from Versions is also different in the new Developer Preview as well, we’ll see if we can track it down.
Thanks for sending this in S.E.!Welcome to India in 2030!
We have seen many overwhelming changes in India in last two decades. In fact last two decades are known as golden era for ending oppression of Indian women and achieving gender equality. As the national commission chairperson Mrs. Ganjana Tumhari says “Ever since the brutal Delhi gang rape case in 2012 Dec we have become more active in working towards women empowerment in the country. Thanks to participation of media and general people now we have made sure that we hang the culprits even on suspicion of future rape. In this way we have prevented a lot of potential rape cases and could contain the number of rape cases only to 30 lakhs a year with 95% conviction. Since different groups were protesting about low conviction rate in rape cases we have made rape equal to empowerment today. Women are given huge compensation on complaint of rape. So now we see more women are coming out with their stories of oppression. We have also achieved equality in terms of education and today 35% of women are having secondary education compared to 25% men. We still need more funds to achieve equality in terms of job market and seats in parliaments but we hope to achieve that soon.”
Reiterating Ganjana, famous men’s rights activist in exile veteran Birup Sarkar has commented from Dubai – “India has seen her worst time in last two decades. Indian men, 50% of whom were having secondary education in 2013 are denied education today simply due to 75% reservation for girls in educational institutions. As a result 25% of them are educated today. He lambasted the feminists of portraying false picture of decades of oppression of Hindu women by ancestors and denying education to Indian boys. He has also projected huge male feticide data based on a survey done by some men’s rights groups and claimed govt. need to collect the data and take preventive measures to curb male feticide.”
Our special correspondent tried to meet other prominent men’s rights activists in exile. One of them Mrs. Khyati Tiwari said from Hong Kong that, “Feminist agenda of castrating young boys in school to prevent future rape is a matter of shame for all of us. She has shunned ‘Prevention of imaginary sex and sexual acts, bill 2022’ (one of the hundreds bills introduced to empower Indian women) saying how can one determine if a boy is thinking of any sexual act and term him as a future rapist. This is ridiculous.”
However, women rights groups have a different tale to tell. Famous advocate and lifelong women’s rights activist Mrs. Aarti Singh commented, thanks to new technology today we can identify rapists early in life. We can control their thinking through remote controlling their minds. This is why we could contain the number of rape cases only to 30 lakhs but we are sorry to note that India is truly the rape capital of the world”.
Explaining the technology to track future rapists, famous knowledge expert Mr. Spandan Nilekani has said, thank to India’s IT revolution we have thought of it way back in 2009 and we have introduced the UID project. Initially we made aadhaar card mandatory for all citizens and given them good incentive in terms of subsidized gas connection to lure them into it. Later on through another act “Right to true identity ACT, 2019” we have made sure that we tag every individual with magnetic chiplets implanted in their bodies”. This ensures that we track all Indians remotely and control their activities. This helps us control all his thoughts and prevent any future criminal activity. This is a revolutionary concept in itself. Not only the future rapists are identified but also we can identify other type of criminals.”
Men’s rights activists however have lambasted the govt. for making Indians fool this way. One of them Mr. Byathit Rajapara has commented that this has made Indians permanent slaves to a powerful few. Now our country in completely controlled by foreign nations and UN. He commented from an undisclosed location near Pune, that this measure could not curb crime by foreign nationals and we still have bomb blasts and rapes done by foreigners in India. Indian govt. give them royal treatment and spend crores on their security citing bilateral ties, world treaties etc., but Indians who speak up against these atrocities are awarded death sentence immediately or sent to jail.
The IT minister Mr. Bipul Tibrewal who was the brain behind bringing the “Right to Identity Act” has said this was a progressive legislation and now we can see how we are able to identify and track criminals in their childhood. We are also planning out global treaties for other countries to implement the same so that a powerful few can track and control the masses. We found that in most third world countries women are oppressed and thanks to many UN studies that no one can question, we are able to prove the dire need of women empowerment in these countries.”
Men’s Rights Activists however are not at all happy about the development of events in India. Mr. P. Shahrukh Khan who has been doing a lot of study and writing about these biased surveys and exposing various survey groups for last two decades has said all these UN studies are bogus. We have seen how Domestic violence, bride burning, dowry death and dowry torture cases have made to look BIG two decades back. Due to our constant struggle and study on these topics we have been exposing all these agencies but we were not heard by anyone. Being a non funded organization, it was very difficult you know. He commented that when I was working in a BPO way back in 2005 this idea of one identity for Indians came to my mind. I have given this idea to the govt. and wanted to revolutionize the way we do monetary transactions. However, see how that is used today.
Mr. Chirag Ghulia who has been a pioneer in men’s rights India and Dr. Bindu Subhash who has done phenomenal work in men’s rights in UP has also shunned these bills. Dr. Bindu who is an expert in women studies, commented we have never seen a more draconian law like “Prevention of online and distant rape ACT 2025”. She said even though today in 2030 we can have real 3D print outs from internet to get the real products but getting online intercourse is still a distant dream.
Mr. Chirag also termed that ACT more draconian than the erstwhile 498a and MarriageLaw amendments 2010. He said castration for online rape and awarding maintenance to the child born out of so called online rapes is ridiculous. He also objected to the method of castration as suggested by the feminists. He said that in the recent public drama at India Gate, feminists groups have demanded burning a man’s testicles with electromagnetic guns is cruel and inhuman. He termed the men who has gathered and supported the demand were devoid the original testicles and hence they have opined that this treatment was fair.
Women rights groups like Females Exposing in Rural Areas (FERA) and Females Exposing on Metropolitan Avenues (FEMA) however has demanded immediate passing of ‘Electromagnetic Prevention of Future Rape cases Bill 2026’ that is pending with the parliamentary committee for a long time. They said this process is not at all burning of male testicles by electromagnetic guns, but this will be done remotely through already installed electromagnetic chips in human bodies through the national identity project carried out a few years back.
FEMA leader Mrs. Bindya Sarkar (famous ‘Tikli Bai’) commented this is another scientific innovation that we need to look into to prevent rapes in future. We have yearly 30 lakh rape cases now and even though most men in India are castrated or sent to jail today we still see increase in these cases. This concern us as different surveys reveal that these castrated men are raping online using online sex toys.
She cited the landmark Juthika rape case judgment that awarded castration for the whole family of the future online rapist Mr. Tharki Bahadur. This judgment says, anyone being a male, who is active on internet for more than four hours every day needs to be looked as a future rapist and he being in the family can propagate the disease to others in the family. This is the reason in online rape cases it is essential to castrate the whole family. Since it is done remotely now, govt. can also execute the actions very easily. This judgment also instructs the govt. to look into suitable changes in the current rape law.
Men’s rights groups however are not very happy the way events unfolded in last two decades. One of the activists Mrs. Gopika Bharadwaj has said, the reason our economy is in shambles today and Indian Rupee has been replaced with International Monetary Unit (IMU) is due to introduction of ‘(Prevention of) Sexual harassment of women at workplace bill’. She has showed the recent activism by women groups like Women Exposing Everywhere (WEE) and Women Having Original Rights and Equality (W.H.O.R.E.) who has staged a big dharna outside one of Amethi’s Technology Park (one of the million welfare projects in India, in the name of a former leader), for not allowing bare chested women enter the office premises. They claimed “my dress is my choice. If men have any problem they should close their eyes or get castrated.”
She said, the reason our companies moved out of the big cities was to contain rising operating costs and being competitive in global market. When men saw that anyone could be implicated in false sexual harassment cases and when most of the high performing men got such cases and thrown out of their job, these offices became all women offices. Since anything and everything was cited as women’s rights, all these women were busy showing their rights at the drop of a hat and even non performing women started demanding higher positions due to reservation. As a result these organizations have become non competitive and in a bid to survive the global competition these corporations chose to go to villages but still they are not being competitive. According to her the only reason these are not competitive are the women working here are more interested in showing their erstwhile private parts rather than showing any work.
She also said, there are 70% women in the workforce today compared to approximately 30% in 2013. But the overall employment has come down as most of the companies have left India for better business. However, since our educated women percentage is only 35% so most of the women today are over-employed. They do work that they are not fit to do. Thanks to reservation and grace marks in all ‘centers of excellence’ even substandard quality of women got into these institutions easily, when they graduate they can’t take India’s Inc. ahead in terms of global competition.
Refuting her claim of gender biased provisions being responsible for India’s economic debacle famous women rights activist Mrs. Darinda Barat has commented that most of violence cases against women are not even reported. We see 90 – 95% conviction today in rape cases as NCRB data says and we need to remember that still today zillions of cases go unreported. However, she did not comment on how many times an average woman in India is raped to get that zillion figure. She said – ‘Castration of men at early ages ACT 2021’ and ‘Prevention of future rape cases bill’s only helped preventing the crime to some extent but still we need to go a long way as rapists are using online technologies to rape.
She cited famous ‘Pidita’ (the name is given by popular Indian media) rape case where an international gang of educated criminals raped through an online chat session on a very famous networking and dating site ‘FcukBook’. These rapists were from different countries and they have raped her sitting at their respective countries. She is from a village in India. We are still awaiting extradition of these criminals but their laws are preventing these criminals to be deported to India. We are suspecting this gang of global intellectuals may also be involved in other rape cases in India too. We need bills like ‘Prevention of imaginary rapes’ and ‘prevention of raping intent’ bills to be passed immediately and we also need global treaties to the effect.
Men’s rights activists most of whom have left India years back due to the gender biased laws and danger of being behind bars on false complaints, are protesting these atrocities against Indian men for years. They say, already most of the men in India are either castrated or in jail. The men who are not castrated are raped daily by women who need to fulfill their desire. The huge sex toys industry is not able to cater to the demand. But unfortunately these raped men are also considered as rapists as they all have penis. The men who are not able to satisfy the demand are implicated and they are ending up in jail. Boys in India today grow up more in correction homes rather than their own homes. Many of them have been booked under ‘Future Rapist’ laws and castrated.
It is a matter of time for us to see how this empowerment industry grows in future. Already many claim that this is a 5000 billion IMU (international monetary unit) industry and the main aim is only extortion of every human being by a few powerful people. They call it the ‘New World Order’ the concept of which itself has become very old now.
Different Men’s Rights Groups claim that this industry is continuously growing under the direct and indirect funding from Organization of Un-notified Nations (U.N.O.). If we can’t stop these imaginary surveys that tell us more stories than the reality we can’t expect any progress in India.
We can only hope that in future India will see prosperity and women empowerment and gender equality. We will soon achieve 80% more education for women in India that most of the African nations have achieved in early 2000. We hope to see at least 90% women taking part in workforce in near future.
Reporting live from Jhumritalaiya…[Part2]Source: World Bank's Indonesia Economic Quarterly, April 2012
To put it in terms of a household’s budget, fuel subsidies are estimated to transfer a car owner who consumes 50 liters of gasoline a week (200 liters a month) IDR 1,115,000 per month (based on the difference between the economic price of fuel and the price of subsidized fuel as of March 2012). This is in contrast with the average motorcycle user who consumes 5 liters a week (20 liters a month, according to SUSENAS, 2009) and only receives a transfer of IDR 111,000 per month from the fuel subsidy scheme. Over a year, this equates to these wealthier households which use a car receiving a transfer of IDR 13,382,000 – 10 times more than the average motorcycle user which receives IDR 1,338,240 and many times the indirect benefits from subsidized fuel that may be received from those households without a car or motorbike.
could move up to 3.1 percent of GDP
On Inflation
This shock is starkly different to the 33 percent increase in fuel prices in 2008 and the potential 2012 increase.
In contrast to this, in 2012 inflation was at a two year low of 3.6% in February (less than half the level of 2008) and food inflation was at an eight-year low of 2.9%.
occurred not in response to the fuel price increases in mid-2008, but to the global financial crisis in late 2008. In 2012, economic activity has been robust at 6.5%
Source: World Bank's Indonesia Economic Quarterly, April 2012
If we continue subsidizing fuel, assuming oil prices of USD 120 per barrel, the World Bank estimates that Indonesia’s budget deficit in 2012. If oil prices stay high and the fuel price adjustment is implemented in the third quarter of 2012 the World Bank projects a deficit of 2.5 percent of GDP, compared with a revised Budget deficit level of 2.2 percent (with an oil price assumption of USD 105 per barrel.) Note that the revised budget includes the option of a IDR 1,500 fuel price increase provided the ICP price is, on average, over a six month period, 15% above the revised budget assumption of USD 105 per barrel.Let's compare the potential inflation in 2012 with the previous fuel price increases of 2005 and 2008. However, this exercise still has its limitations due the considerably different inflation contexts and macroeconomic backdrop. For instace, in 2005 the rising cost of market price for fuel was close to 3 times the subsidized pump price of IDR 1,800 per liter that Indonesian’s were paying, thus government increased the price by 150% within 5 months.In 2008, unrelated to fuel price increases, food price inflation had reached 16 percent in April (the month before fuel prices increased) due to rice and cooking oil shortages. This meant headline inflation was already 7.4% before the fuel price increase and food inflation continuing to build.Not to mention, with the 2008 global economic downturn, most of the downward movement in economic indicators in 2008in each of the previous four quarters and, while there remain risks to the outlook from the ongoing fragility of international markets and weakening of external demand, it is expected that growth will remain above 6% for the year.Taking the previous considerations in projecting 2012's inflation, here's the figure:A doctor of aesthetic medicine in New York is taking a gamble that poker players are going to be the next big growth market for botox.
Dr. Jack Berdy has just introduced "Pokertox," a program of Botox and facial fillers designed to enhance a player's "poker face," their ability to hide any sign of facial emotion that might tip off other card players on whether they have a good or bad hand.
The process requires Ber |
1 and Wall Street monies, found that holding Russian lands was much much harder than taking them and taking was no easy walk in the park but a blood bath all its own. In holding, one faced an extremely well armed and aggressive population Hell bent on exterminating or driving out the aggressor.
This well armed population was what allowed the various White factions to rise up, no matter how disorganized politically and militarily they were in 1918 and wage a savage civil war against the Reds.
It should be noted that many of these armies were armed peasants, villagers, farmers and merchants, protecting their own. If it had not been for Washington’s clandestine support of and for the Reds, history would have gone quite differently.
Moscow fell, for example, not from a lack of weapons to defend it, but from the lieing guile of the Reds. Ten thousand Reds took Moscow and were opposed only by some few hundreds of officer cadets and their instructors.
Even then the battle was fierce and losses high. However, in the city alone, at that time, lived over 30,000 military officers (both active and retired), all with their own issued weapons and ammunition, plus tens of thousands of other citizens who were armed.
The Soviets promised to leave them all alone if they did not intervene. They did not and for that were asked afterwards to come register themselves and their weapons: where they were promptly shot. Peter Fonda: Obama is a ‘F – king Traitor’.
Of course being savages, murderers and liars does not mean being stupid and the Reds learned from their Civil War experience. One of the first things they did was to disarm the population.
From that point, mass repression, mass arrests, mass deportations, mass murder, mass starvation were all a safe game for the powers that were. The worst they had to fear was a pitchfork in the guts or a knife in the back or the occasional hunting rifle. Not much for soldiers.
To this day, with the Soviet Union now dead 21 years, with a whole generation born and raised to adulthood without the SU, we are still denied our basic and traditional rights to self defense.
Why? We are told that everyone would just start shooting each other and crime would be everywhere….but criminals are still armed and still murdering and to often, especially in the far regions, those criminals wear the uniforms of the police.
The fact that everyone would start shooting is also laughable when statistics are examined.
While President Putin pushes through reforms, the local authorities, especially in our vast hinterland, do not feel they need to act like they work for the people. They do as they please, a tyrannical class who knows they have absolutely nothing to fear from a relatively unarmed population. This in turn breeds not respect but absolute contempt and often enough, criminal abuse.
Bill Of Rights Are Unalienable Rights they are NOT Inalienable Rights. Inalienable Rights are a legal ease trapping in the court system. Know Your Rights
For those of us fighting to protect traditional rights from the World Gang Association, the US 2nd Amendment is a rare light in an ever darkening room.
Governments will use the excuse of trying to protect the people from maniacs and crime, but are in reality, it is the bureaucrats protecting their power and position. In all cases where guns are banned, gun crime continues and often increases.
As for maniacs, be it nuts with cars (NYC, Chapel Hill NC), swords (Japan), knives (China) or home made bombs (everywhere), insane people strike. They throw acid (Pakistan, UK), they throw fire bombs (France), they attack.
What is worse, is, that the best way to stop a maniac is not psychology or jail or “talking to them”, it is a bullet in the head, that is why they are a maniac, because they are incapable of living in reality or stopping themselves.
The excuse that people will start shooting each other is also plain and silly. So it is our politicians saying that our society is full of incapable adolescents who can never be trusted? Then, please explain how we can trust them or the police, who themselves grew up and came from the same culture?
There is a lot of desire to bad mouth the Tsar, particularly by the Communists, who claim he was a tyrant, and yet under him we were armed and under the progressives disarmed.
Oh, no, they do not.
What they hate is guns in the hands of those who are not marching in lock step of their ideology.
They hate guns in the hands of those who think for themselves and do not obey without question.
They hate guns in those whom they have slated for a barrel to the back of the ear.
So, do not fall for the false promises and do not extinguish the light that is left to allow humanity a measure of self respect.
Read More how Putin Finished ISIS
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Share this article: LinkedInAN ISIS knifeman who killed two cousins during a bloody attack in Marseille had been arrested by cops one day earlier - but was released.
The terror group said its "soldier" launched a frenzied knife rampage at Gare Saint Charles — while screaming "Allahu Akbar", according to witnesses.
31 Panic unfolded at Marseille's main station after a knifeman slit a woman's throat and stabbed another in the stomach
Getty - Contributor 31 Forensics officers inspect the knifeman's body outside Gare Saint Charles
Getty - Contributor 31 The attacker stabbed to death two women before he was shot by soldiers
AP:Associated Press 31 A forensic official works around a body covered by a white sheet outside Saint Charles station
Getty - Contributor 31 Investigators inspect the body of the dead attacker that ISIS claims is one of its'soldiers'
Getty - Contributor 31 Police work through the cordoned crime scene near the body of one of the stabbing victims
The man shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he murdered the 17-year-old student and 21-year-old nurse outside St-Charles station in the southern city of Marseille on Sunday afternoon.
Neither the man, who was aged between 30 and 35, nor his female victims have been formally identified but all have links with the city of Lyon, which is 250 miles north of Marseille.
Passengers were evacuated by armed police on Sunday afternoon after soldiers fatally shot the killer knifeman — a known criminal believed to be in his 30s.
Now it had emerged the attacker – who was a North African of either Algerian or Tunisian origin – was arrested in Lyon for shoplifting on Friday.
He had no papers on him and was in ‘an irregular situation in Europe’, so giving the authorities a chance to place him under judicial control.
AFP or licensors 31 French policemen turn over and hold the knife attacker, a known criminal who is believed to be in his 30s
AFP or licensors 31 Police investigators work outside the Saint Charles train station after French soldiers shot and killed a knifeman
"Instead they let him go, and the next they heard about him was in connection with a double murder,’ said an investigating source in Marseille."
A statement from the ISIS's propaganda agency said: "The executor of the stabbing operation in the city of Marseille... is from the soldiers of the Islamic State."
But French investigators have so far held back from declaring the attack in France's second city as terrorism — and ISIS have in the past claimed responsibility for killings that it had no hand in planning.
Witnesses have told of the traumatic moments the attacker pounced on the two women before charging at soldiers who opened fire, fatally wounding him.
"We heard two shots and saw people rushing down the stairs from the station", said Ninon Bornet, a chef a cafe beside the station told Le Parisien.
"We brought in all our customers, we barricaded ourselves in the restaurant".
AP:Associated Press 31 Two women were stabbed to death outside the fcity's biggest station on Sunday
Reuters 31 The area surrounding St Charles station has been cordoned off as forensics assess the scene
AFP or licensors 31 The station was evacuated about 2pm on Sunday after an attacker allegedly screamed 'Allahu Akbar'
AFP or licensors 31 Emergency services and military swarmed the scene in the southern French city today
Another told of "the smell of gunfire" in the air moments after the attacker was felled by two soldiers as he charged at them.
"Outside the soldiers and plainclothes policemen held the crowd", said 29-year-old Arthur.
"Two policemen in bulletproof vests and armed with assault rifles screamed instructions before leaving very quickly".
"I heard someone shout 'Allahu Akbar' and I saw a man who seemed to be dressed all in black," Melanie Petit, an 18-year-old student, told AFP news agency.
Other travellers around the station described "controlled panic" as security forces evacuated passengers and looked for possible accomplices, while another witness said white sheets were placed over the bodies of the victims.
"There were police everywhere," said Francois Jacquel, a retired traveller who was in a waiting room.
Cops scrambled to the scene in southern France at around 2pm local time on Sunday, sparking an immediate mass evacuation.
Confirming the injuries and fatalities, Oliver de Mazieres, a local official, said: "Two victims have been stabbed to death".
Neither have yet been identified, but a police source said they were "in their 20s".
AFP or licensors 31 Armed police and soldiers lock down the area around the station
Reuters 31 Travellers were prevented from entering the station as a cordon was set up in the wake of the attack
AP:Associated Press 31 French soldiers shot the knifeman to death after two women were savagely killed
AP:Associated Press 31 Local police confirmed two women were murdered during the afternoon onslaught
Zack Ismaili 31 Cops rushed to evacuate commuters out of the busy station in southern France
"The attack was frenzied," said an investigating source. "The man first shouted threats, and then launched into the two women.
"The two were killed by a knife, and then soldiers on anti-terrorism duties intervened. They shot the man dead. At least one large butcher’s knife was used by the attacker."
The servicemen were deployed as part of Operation Sentinel, a wide-ranging security initiative that has flooded French streets with around 7,000 soldiers.
Police sources claimed the incident is likely to be a terror attack, although this is yet to be confirmed.
Locals were urged to stay away from the area, with the scene described as as a "major police incident".
"There was screaming and shouting, and people were running everywhere," said one witness.
"People were picking up children, and trying to help those who weren’t very good on their feet. They just wanted to get away."
Another female witness called Hajar told FranceInfo: "I heard two shots, that was what triggered the panic.
"People came out of a waiting room shouting 'Run! Don't stay in the station. Everybody outside.'
"I had just got to the station when everyone started running. People sitting on the terrace of a fast food restaurant came inside and shouted 'Run, get out! Then I saw a woman on the floor, they were giving her CPR."
Reuters 31 Saint Charles station was evacuated and locked down within minutes of the attack
Reuters 31 Train passengers were blocked from entering the crime scene in Marseille
AFP or licensors 31 Officers guard a stairway towards the promenade around the station where the knifeman was shot
AFP or licensors 31 A heavily armed security official parades the scene around Saint Charles station
Twitter 31 Initial reports of gunshots and a roaming knifeman sparked a swift evacuation at Marseille train station
AP:Associated Press 31 Passengers who were rushed out of the station look on as the scene unfolds
Reuters 31 French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb greeted emergency responders and spoke to the media outside the Saint-Charles train station
Anti-terror officials have launched an investigation into the "killings linked to a terrorist organisation".
President Emmanuel Macron said he was "deeply outraged" by the "barbarous" knife attack, while his prime minister Edouard Philippe praised the soldiers who shot the suspect and stopped the "killing frenzy".
French interior minister Gerard Collomb rushed to Marseille to liaise with authorities.
Speaking to reporters at the police cordon, he said video footage obtained by investigators showed the attacker knifing the two women before he charged at soldiers and was shot.
"This act could be terrorist in nature but at this time we cannot confirm that," he added.
The knife rampage comes as France is still on high alert following a string of deadly terror attacks which began in January 2015.
Before this incident, 239 people were killed by Islamist extremists over the last two years in France.
After the November 2015 terror attack, which unfolded at the Bataclan concert hall, then President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency.
Security forces received increased power to use force and launch prompt anti-terror raids.
AP:Associated Press 31 Crowds of shocked passengers gather near the scene on Sunday
AP:Associated Press 31 Police instruct bystanders to stay back from the scene of the brutal knife attack
AP:Associated Press 31 Commuters are left waiting outside the station after their travel plans have been wrecked
Zack Ismaili 31 Cops described the attack as a major police incident
AP:Associated Press 31 Officials examine the scene of the ambush which started around 2pm local time
There have also been a series of smaller onslaughts in France.
A knifeman attacked a soldier at a Paris Metro station last month, but he was swiftly arrested.
In August, a man driving a van killed a person and left another injured after he mowed a bus stop down in Marseille.
Sunday's incident comes days after Islamic State released a recording of a man they claimed was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - the terror network's leader - urging his followers to strike their Western enemies.
AP:Associated Press 31 A French soldier continues to guard the station as emergency service workers help passengers
Reuters 31 The area surrounding St Charles station has been cordoned off as forensics assess the scene
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours....there are no correct alternate histories; there are only plausible alternate histories.
— Will Shetterly
Benford.
Rewrite: Loops in the Timescape Benford.
Tsouras.
Napoleon Victorious! Tsouras.
Tidhar.
Unholy Land Tidhar.
Harris.
An Easy Death Harris.
Kowal.
The Fated Sky Kowal.
Uchronia: The Alternate History List is a bibliography of over 3400 novels, stories, essays and other printed material involving the "what ifs" of history. The genre has a variety of names, but it is best known as alternate history.
In an alternate history, one or more past events are changed and the subsequent effects on history somehow described. This description may comprise the entire plotline of a novel, or it may just provide a brief background to a short story. Perhaps the most common themes in alternate history are "What if the Nazis won World War II?" and "What if the Confederacy won the American Civil War?"
For more information about alternate history and this bibliography, please read the extended introduction.Short Bytes: Elon Musk is a technology entrepreneur who is the founder of one of the world’s most recognised companies like SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and PayPal. However, it’s possible to list his entire achievements on a single-page resume. Well, if you’re finding it hard to believe, go ahead and take a look.
I
f you are like Elon Musk, one of the most influential entrepreneurs in tech history, your accomplishments would range from creating something as big as PayPal to making high-performance electric cars.
So, you would need more than a couple of pages long resume to explain your achievements — right?
Well, the online resume-writing firm Novoresume refuses to accept this with the help of its less-is-more concept resumes.
People have long argued over the length of resumes. While some people prefer concise and to-the-point resumes, others vote for detailed ones that tell as much as possible.
Also read: 11 Questions That Were Asked at SpaceX Internship Interviews
The firm has created a sample resume for Elon Musk to prove that nobody needs a resume that’s more than one page long — not even someone as successful as SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
The resume shown below was dreamed by the firm and it lists Musk’s qualifications and varied achievements on a single page. Honestly speaking, I’m skeptical about the skills and competency bars and I don’t think people will like to score themselves.
Overall, this resume for Elon Musk proves that with right design and elements, you never need more than one page.
Also Read: How Elon Musk Takes an Interview? Sometimes He Asks Only Two QuestionsWhat's black, white and Peoria all over?
There’s a charm to some rumors. Or so it goes with the large stuffed bear that hovers near the entrance to thirty-thirty Coffee Co. on Main Street in Peoria. Rumor has it the bear has survived a kitchen fire, years of isolation in storage and… wasn’t always black. As young coffee drinkers pose today with the beast—which towers nine feet tall, holding court over coffeehouse conversations—an older generation recalls its own memories of the bear from decades past.
For many years, the bear greeted visitors to the beloved Jumer’s Castle Lodge on Western Avenue. “People just loved him,” recalls Jim Schaidle with a smile. A woodworker and maintenance man for the Jumers for more than two decades, Schaidle conjures fond memories of the iconic bear, which became something of a symbol of Peoria.
“People from my era—when you went to homecoming, prom or a wedding, going to the Jumer’s hotel was the big thing to do… you’d take your photo with the bear.” There sure are a lot of stories, Schaidle laughs.
Numerous online accounts claim that the bear, once white, was dyed black after being burned in a fire. It certainly makes for a great story, Schaidle agrees. “That fire would have been in the early ‘70s. I heard the taxidermist who did the bear actually came to the fire and pulled him out—he got his hair all singed saving that bear.”
But the acclaimed hero, Harley Grove, who owns a taxidermy shop—open 50 years this year—in Creve Coeur, modestly sets the story straight.
“It’s a polar bear,” he affirms, assuring the curious that Mr. Jumer shot him legally off the Russian coast near Alaska. “The Knopp Brothers’ taxidermy shop up in Spokane, Washington, dyed and mounted him initially… for the Black Bear Lounge [the restaurant inside the Castle Lodge] in Peoria. I suppose it was just to advertise that the Black Bear Lounge was what it was.” The fire, Grove explains, came years later, and no real damage was done to the already-black bear.
And so it goes: The rumors may hold more charm, but the white polar bear was dyed black simply to match a room. After Jumer’s Castle Lodge closed its doors in 2010, the bear wound up in storage until thirty-thirty owner Ty Paluska and pals set up shop downtown. Upon request, the Jumer family, which still owns the triangular Kickapoo Building that houses the coffeehouse, was more than happy to let them display the bear.
Paluska laughs as he recalls hauling the bear around town in a minivan to get it patched up before the coffee shop’s grand opening. When he and the other co-owners brought it back from the taxidermist, they decided to name something after the fellow: thus, the Bear Claw Espresso. There are also plans for an etching of the bear on a new packaging design.
“The Jumers passed on this iconic symbol of Peoria business to the younger generation,” says Paluska. They may not be familiar with the collective tangle of Peoria memories wrapped up in this giant stuffed animal, adds Paluska, but “now it’s the thirty-thirty bear. It’s become for the young generation what it was for the older—a Peoria icon.” a&sPayday 2 VR had been riding high on many virtual reality (VR) gamers’ most wanted lists since its announcement back in May. The eventual launch of a beta testing phase for the videogame was warmly received, so too was the development team’s willingness to listen to community feedback; a passion for the audience that has now resulted in smooth locomotion being added to the videogame.
The first major update to Payday 2 VR’s beta resulted in the addition of Oculus Rift compatibility, complete with in-game representations of the Oculus Touch motion-controllers. Now, the development team are continuing to listen to community feedback as is evident with the launch of the beta 1.4 update.
“We are really happy to see how well our latest addition to CrimeNet, the Reservoir Dogs Heist, has been received. We saw a few issues reported on the forums and we quickly got to work on ironing out the wrinkles,” reads the latest update from Overkill, developers of Payday 2 VR. “We also bring an update to the VR Beta today. Jump in and have a blast with some grenade launchers and a few new levels. We are adding the new level here as well so that you can do some classical heisting with modern tech. Finally we are also including some updated animations for grenade launchers, shotguns and revolvers.”
In addition to this new content, Overkill has brought smooth locomotion, dubbed ‘direct movement’ by the development team, to Payday 2 VR. Players can now choose to play with either ‘Dash + Direct’ movement or ‘Dash’ only.
The full changelog for the update follows below, verbatim from publisher Starbreeze Studios, and VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Payday 2 VR.
Update VR Beta 1.4 Changelog
Update sizes:
Beta 1.31 – Beta 1.4 – 1,2Gb
Main Branch to Beta 1.4 – 94,9Mb
General
Added Dash + Direct movement system for HTC vive and oculus
Fixed and issue where the hands and weapons would lag behind when dashing
Levels
Added The Basics – Stealth
Added The Basics – Loud
Added the Reservoir Dogs Heist
Added the Watchdogs job
Added the Prison Nightmare job
Added the Nightclub
Weapons
Added the China Puff 40mm
Added the GL40
Added the Piglet
AnimationsGet the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
The owner of a vegan restaurant has been forced to lift her ban on animal fat banknotes.
Following the introduction of the new £10 note last week Rachael Phoenix, who owns Voltaire in Bangor, has changed its policy on accepting the money.
It was last year, after it was announced the new £5 notes contained tallow, a type of animal fat, Rachel banned the note from her eatery.
This was well received by customers but this month saw the new tenner launched, which also includes animal fat.
Rachael said that they have now decided to lift the ban on both notes, The Daily Post Wales reports.
She said they had made their point and did not want to cause “confusion or embarrassment” to their customers.
She explained their position on Facebook: “So, some of you will remember our protest on accepting the new £5 note. We felt that this was necessary and appropriate for us to object, considering we run a vegan business.
“We had overwhelming support from customers which we would like to give a huge thank you for.
“Most people understood that our decision was based on our love for animals and also an objection to our banks, government, etc, making these poor choices without considering not only vegans and vegetarians but also many religious groups too.”
The animal fat revelation caused anger with many vegans and vegetarians, with a petition started to get the Bank of England(BoE) to make changes to the note.
But the BoE said while they recognise the concerns raised they will not change the new fiver and would issue the £10 polymer note as planned.
They will though consult with the public on the issue before future production runs.
“We all have to stand up for what we believe otherwise things either stay the same or get worse,” said Rachael.
“Unfortunately animal products are in so many of our everyday items, some of which seem very ridiculous and unnecessary. It would be nice to think that one day products will have a vegan stamp on so that everyone can make an easy decision to better the environment, and hopefully end a lot of unnecessary suffering.
“The new £10 is now in circulation so we have come to the decision to accept the notes.
“We have had our say and don’t want to cause any confusion or embarrassment to our customers.
“We are glad we made a stand and hope that our voice contributed in someway to the choices our authorities make in the future.”Following up on the Commission's Action Plan to support Italy from 4 July, the EU Trust Fund for Africa adopted today a programme worth €46 million to reinforce the integrated migration and border management capacities of the Libyan authorities.
The new actions respond to the measures proposed under the Action plan to address the migratory flows along the Central Mediterranean Route. The programme aims at stepping up activities in support of the Libyan Border- and Coast Guards, to enhance their capacity to effectively manage the country's borders. The programme will be implemented by the Italian Ministry of Interior and co-financed by Italy.
High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini said: "Security and stability in Libya are key for the Libyans, the region and Europe, and they come also by better managing the borders and strengthening the resilience of the population. While we keep working to a political solution to the political crisis in the country, that brings peace and reconciliation, we also continue to support the communities and the Libyan authorities, also in their capacity to address the migration flows, rescue migrants, making sure that human rights are respected, and fight against the smuggling networks. This new programme is part of our comprehensive approach: increased border management will go hand in hand with the work we are doing on the sustainable socioeconomic development of local communities, as well as protection, assisted voluntary returns and reintegration of migrants."
Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said: "The European Commission, through the EU Trust Fund for Africa is undertaking rapid and concrete measures to reduce migratory pressure along the Central Mediterranean Route. With this new package we have mobilised already €136 million to better manage migration in Libya and our work continues. The European Union, working hand-in-hand with its Member States will keep on supporting the Libyan authorities for the sake of the people in Libya, for the stabilisation of the country and of the region, which is part of our Neighbourhood."
Strengthening the operational capacities of the Libyan coastguards
Support to training, equipment (rubber boats, communication equipment, lifesaving equipment), repair and maintenance of the existing fleet. The activities will strengthen the authorities' capacities in maritime surveillance and rescuing at sea;
Set up of basic facilities in order to provide the Libyan coast guards with initial capacity to better organise their control operations
Equipped with the necessary tools to coordinate maritime operations, the operational rooms of the coast guards will be located in the same premises in order to facilitate the necessary synergies and monitoring and coordination between the different Libyan services involved in border surveillance and control;
Conduct feasibility studies for two fully-fledged control facilities in Tripoli
This will involve the full design of an Interagency National Coordination Centre under the control of the Ministry of Interior and a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre under the control of the Ministry of Defence, and assistance to the authorities in defining and declaring a Libyan Search and Rescue Region with adequate Standard Operation Procedures;
Strengthening the operational capacity of the Libyan border guards along the southern borders most affected by illegal crossings
This activity will focus on the border area around the capital of the Ghat District in the Fezzan region of south-western Libya through enhanced capacity-building. Based on the outcome of a comprehensive assessment, this pilot activity will aim to set up or restore the border area surveillance facilities. The financing of the facilities will be linked to the access of humanitarian actors for protection of migrants in the region and the opening of'safe spaces'
Outmost attention will be given to monitoring and coordination.
This programme complements the €90 million package adopted in April 2017 to reinforce the protection and resilience of migrants, refugees and host communities in Libya. Under this programme, a particular focus goes to improving the conditions for migrants and fostering the respect of human rights, improving the conditions in reception centres and working towards alternatives to detention. Overall, €136 million have been committed to Libya under the Trust Fund since January 2017.
Background
To address the situation along the Central Mediterranean Route, the European Union has put in place a comprehensive set of measures in line with the Joint Communication on the Central Mediterranean Route, 'Managing flows, Saving Lives' (25 January 2017) and the Malta Declaration (3 February 2017). €200 million for 2017 were pledged to the North of Africa window of the EU Trust Fund for Africa with a priority to be given to Libya.
The European Council of 22-23 June called for further action highlighting, among others, that "training and equipping the Libyan Coast Guard is a key component of the EU approach and should be speeded up" and underlining the need to reinforce cooperation in order to stem the migratory pressure on Libya's land borders.
With the Action Plan from 4 July, the Commission followed up to this call, by identifying specific actions each actor can and should take to implement these commitments. Today's adoption of the programme is a concrete step from both Italy and the Commission to take work with Libya forward. President Juncker referred to this programme in his letter to the Prime Minister of Italy, Gentiloni, on 25 July 2017.
For More Information
Communication of 25 January 2017: Migration on the Central Mediterranean route. Managing flows, saving lives
Annex to the Communication
Malta Declaration of 3 February 2017
‘North of Africa Window' of the EU Emergency Trust Fund
Conclusions of the European Council - 22/23 June 2017
Action plan on measures to support Italy, reduce pressure along the Central Mediterranean route and increase solidarity
Press release - Managing mixed migration flows in Libya through expanding protection space and supporting local socio-economic developmentFLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- If the Jets already know who their starting running back for this upcoming season is going to be, it's news to Joe McKnight.
"We got to get to camp and then you find out who the No. 1 running back is," McKnight said on Thursday. "We don't have no pads on, you can't really tell."
McKnight is one of four candidates to be the starter this season, although he appears to be the longshot. The team used a fourth-round pick to acquire Chris Ivory (the favorite to become the starter), and, legal problems aside, gave Mike Goodson a three-year, $6.9 million deal. Bilal Powell also returns after tallying more than three times the amount of carries McKnight had last year.
"Still got to put the pads on," McKnight said. "You don't play football games in no pads."
McKnight is entering what could be a make-or-break year for him in his fourth season. After being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft, McKnight hasn't lived up to expectations. He has just 112 career carries for 502 yards and no touchdowns, although he has excelled as a return man. McKnight had 30 carries for 179 yards last season, but averaged 27.5 yards per kickoff return and even returned one for a score.
At the moment, McKnight appears to be fourth on the team's depth chart, behind the three aforementioned backs.
While Goodson's legal situation could change the dynamics of the backfield, as he has pleaded not guilty to five drug and weapon charges stemming from a May arrest, McKnight has some work to do if he wants to receive carries in the fall.
Earlier this offseason, McKnight said he's not going down without a fight.
"I don't care who they bring in. They're gonna have to kill me to take my spot," McKnight said in mid-May.
He added: "I'm not angry at all. I'm just tired of people just running their mouth, just talking about [how] I'm not gonna be here."
McKnight, 25, tweaked his ankle Wednesday, but participated fully in the final day of minicamp on Thursday and said he felt alright.
While most observers aren't that high on the Jets offense, McKnight likes what he's seen out of the unit thus far. McKnight didn't offer any insight into what type of role the team could be using him in this upcoming season.
"We could be real dynamic. We got four good running backs, we got a lot of good receivers that came in, we just got to stay together as a team," McKnight said. "When we get to camp, we got to work hard and be together as an offensive group."This article is from the archive of our partner.
If you were wondering how the NSA and FBI felt about the very friendly hearing the House Intelligence Committee invited them to today, a hot mic has your answer. "Tell your boss," NSA Director Keith Alexander told the FBI deputy director, "I owe him another friggin' beer."
Ben Doernberg caught the exchange, which we've clipped below. Alexander, being photographed at bottom center, is speaking with FBI deputy director Sean Joyce, to his left.
Throughout the hearing the two worked together, with Alexander frequently setting up topics upon which Joyce expounded. When Alexander said that the government's surveillance tools had stopped over 50 terror attacks, Joyce described four of them. And so on. Over the course of three hours, the two faced little in the way of critique.
Nonetheless, they were ready for a brew. Their more informal exchange came after Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan banged the gavel.
Alexander: Thank you, Sean.
Joyce: Good to see you.
Alexander: Tell your boss … tell your boss I owe him another friggin' beer.
Joyce: Him?
Alexander: Yeah.
Joyce: Tell him to give it to me.
Alexander: (laughs) You want him to give it to you?
Joyce: Alright?
After today's performance, we're pretty sure that either Rogers — or Obama — would be happy to buy a round for all three.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.If you aren’t using up vacation time, there are a few more days left of sitting in your chair and just staring at the computer screen, begging for something, anything, to save you from the August doldrums, Miley Cyrus think pieces, and pug videos (strike that last one: pug videos are always a good thing). Since this is pretty much the slowest time of the year when nothing really good gets done, maybe it’s a perfect time for you to bone up on your random bits of history, and fill up your Pinterest board with old-timey images from these great websites.
The Bowery Boys
Whether you want to check how historically accurate an episode of Mad Men is, or you care about subjects like “A skewed history of New York City as depicted by the opening themes of 1970s TV shows,” The Bowery Boys is probably already a site you visit regularly. If by chance it isn’t, we suggest you change that right now.
Fuck Yeah, Victorians
We need to tell you why a Tumblr called “Fuck Yeah, Victorians” is wonderful?
The Smitsonian’s history blog
It probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that The Smithsonian has an amazing blog. What you maybe didn’t know is that they have other great sites to visit like Around the Mall and their wonderful and informative fashion history blog. And how about the great Smithsonian Libraries Tumblr? You know about that one too?
The History Chicks
Perfect example of why The History Chicks rule: They celebrate the 50th anniversary of The March on Washington by posting Josephine Baker’s speech from the momentous event. They’ve also got a really great podcast that you should consider getting caught up on.
My Daguerreotype Boyfriend
The Tumblr “where early photography meets extreme hotness” would get Ryan Gosling to admit that dudes were way cooler looking when they were photographed using this 19th-century process.
Messy Nessy Chic
A Rothschild’s 1970s Surrealist party, forgotten 1950s girl gangs, abandoned gardens once inhabited by a Greek poet: these are the random and amazing things you will find on what is constantly one of the most interesting and coolest websites on all of the net.
Edwardian Promenade
Dear Downton Abbey and Evelyn Waugh fans,
Covering the social history of England and America between 1880 and 1920, Edwardian Promenade should be your favorite website. It’s definitely one of ours.
Calumet 412
Aside from New York and Paris, no other city has been photographed as well over that last 100+ years as Chicago has. This Tumblr started by a former North Carolina resident who fell in love with their new city showcases some of the best images ever taken of the Windy City.
Food History Jottings
Does reading Mark Bittman or watching Anthony Bourdain just not do it for you any longer? Consider making the switch to this in-depth site full of old European foodie treats you probably had no idea about.
Russian History Blog
A bunch of academics from places like the University of Toronto, University of Sheffield, and California State University-Long Beach know that everything you might know about Russia doesn’t even begin to tell the story of the long and strange history of the biggest country on the planet, and how it impacts what’s going on there today.
That’s what this great blog is for.So here's something you probably didn't know: If you're ever in a pinch for a microphone, to record something quickly when the quality doesn't really matter, you can always use a pair of headphones. Say WHAT? Yep, it's true! A microphone is the same as a speaker. The diaphragm of the driver of the headphones is moved by the molecules of air that make up a soundwave. This driver is attached to a coil of wire (voice coil) which rests between a magnet. As the coil moves through the magnetic field, a current is produced.
So how do you do it?
Simple! Just get a pair of headphones and plug them into your laptop's input. Or plug them into whatever recording device you're using. Then hit record and start talking into the earpiece.
It seems to work best with cheaper iPod type headphones. |
lightly increasing appearance of Turf 3 Plots
Slightly reducing appearance of Zanzibar Team Slayer BR
Slightly reducing appearance of Turf KotH
Slightly reducing appearance of Turf Team Slayer BR
Slightly reducing appearance of Elongation Team Slayer BR
Team Snipers
For Snipers, the most common request we saw was the addition of more maps, so that’s what we’re doing:
Adding Stonetown (H2A)
Adding Remnant (H2A)
Adding Bloodline (H2A)
Adding Isolation (H3)
Adding Blackout (H3)
Adding Rat’s Nest (H3)
Adding Exile (H4)
Adding Solace (H4)
We can’t thank you enough for your comprehensive feedback, and encourage you to continue to provide us with thoughts as we continue to tune the matchmaking experience with each update. Keep it comin’, folks.
Play of the Week
Next up, we’ll take a look at some of the finest gameplay from the past week, which just so happens to come in the form of a Halo 3 double feature. Our first comes from a household name in the world of competitive Halo. Just a few days ago, HCS Pro Eric “Snip3down” Wrona pulled off what he himself called “the most insane Killimanjaro.” He also went on to say “lmao” and “omg.”
[tweet]<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just hit the most insane killamanjaro on Pit TS lmao omg</p>— Eric Wrona (@EDWSnip3down) <a href="https://twitter.com/EDWSnip3down/status/643640335999082496">September 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>[/tweet]
That’s not all, though. Something about Standoff CTF + Mongoose creates amazing moments, because this is the second time we’ve seen this game type in this series. This time though, it’s a defensive maneuver that made the charts, as we couldn’t end this week’s segment without giving a shout to P1TBULLLL’s incredibly clutch and brave flag stop. There’s 25 seconds left in the match when the video starts, and… we’ll let you watch the rest for yourselves:
If you’re like us, you’ll likely watch these clips over and over. Snip3down and P1TBULLLL, thank you for entertaining us with your incredible Halo 3 greatness. Please do more of this.
Community Spotlight
For this week’s Community Spotlight, I teamed up with Forger, Streamer, YouTuber, and all around great guy, Ducain23, who you likely know best as Ducain23. I posed one question to him: If you could recommend any single MCC custom game type & map to Halo players, what would it be? Below is his recommendation, complete with a video link. I knew he wouldn’t disappoint.
Ducain23:
The map I’ve chosen is "Duplex" by NukedLceCream and GoldDiggerAlpha. This is a beautiful twin-tailed collision course track where you can decide which way you want to go in order to hopefully avoid (or hit) people. The tracks banked waves, jumps, and aesthetics fit perfectly together without feeling confusing or irritating to race on. Also, you have the choice to drive on two separate tracks before and after the turnaround, but you need to be careful because there might be another driver heading straight towards you. This is a map that any Halo race fan should download and try with a full lobby!
That’ll do for this week’s update. I do hope you enjoyed. We’ll be back with more very soon.
BravoPhoto by Jason Koenig
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis will release their new album This Unruly Mess I've Made on February 26. Today, they've announced the tracklist. It includes previously-shared songs "Downtown" featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz, "Growing Up (Sloane's Song)" featuring Ed Sheeran, "Kevin" featuring Leon Bridges, and "White Privilege II" featuring Jamila Woods. It also contains appearances from Chance the Rapper, Anderson.Paak, YG, KRS-One, DJ Premier, Irdis Elba, Carla Morrison, and more. Check out the full tracklist below, via a handwritten note from Macklemore.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are in the midst of a tour in support of This Unruly Mess I've Made. Check out the dates here.
This Unruly Mess I've Made:
01 Light Tunnels [ft. Mike Slap]
02 Downtown [ft. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz]
03 Brad Pitt's Cousin [ft. XP]
04 Buckshot [ft. KRS-One and DJ Premier]
05 Growing Up [ft. Ed Sheeran]
06 Kevin [ft. Leon Bridges]
07 St. Ides
08 Need to Know [ft. Chance the Rapper]
09 Dance Off [ft. Idris Elba and Anderson.Paak]
10 Let's Eat [ft. XP]
11 Bolo Tie [ft. YG]
12 The Train [ft. Carla Morrison]
13 White Privilege II [ft. Jamila Woods]
Read "Macklemore's 'White Privilege II' Is a Mess, But We Should Talk About It."
Watch the album trailer:
Watch the video for "Downtown":It’s no secret that our public lands are in trouble. The Forest Service has had its budget cut, for everything but firefighting, by 36 percent since 1995, and the Park Service is teetering atop a $12 billion maintenance backlog. Oregon is selling a popular state forest full of old growth to make ends meet, and a Colorado nonprofit estimates that it’ll take $24 million to repair trails on the state’s fourteeners alone. In light of diminishing resources, it’s time for hikers, bikers, and paddlers to become more like gun owners and take care of our outdoor spaces.
Every time someone buys a rifle or ammunition in the U.S., they pay an 11 percent tax (10 percent for handguns) that helps fund the states’ conservation efforts. In 2014 alone, those taxes pumped $760 million into wildlife management, property purchases, and other essential endeavors. Without that revenue, and additional funding from a similar tax on fishing gear, our nation’s wildlife would be in trouble, says Whit Fosburgh, president of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a Washington, D.C., hunting and angling group. The taxes, along with licenses, make up 80 percent of the funding for state fish and wildlife services. Fosburgh believes that other groups should be contributing as well. “It’s time for the general recreation community to ramp up their commitment to public lands,” says Fosburgh.
He’s right. Just like hunters and fishermen are required to, we should have to ante up for the sake of our forests, deserts, and mountains whenever we buy new gear. The easiest way to do that is probably to create excise taxes on items like skis, tents, and snowboards. Some have proposed that mountain bikers be required to buy a sticker that funds trail maintenance, just as dirt bikers and ATV enthusiasts are in many states. However we do it, our public lands need financial support from the people buying everything from RVs and teardrop trailers to boots and trekking poles. It’s time to pay to play.
No one wants more taxes. And the Outdoor Industry Association believes the companies it represents are overpaying already. The trade group was formed in 1989, in part to fight the “backpack tax” championed by then secretary of the interior Bruce Babbitt and others. The OIA argues that gear companies are already paying more than their share in import taxes, since their overseas-made goods are subject to a rate between 14 and 35 percent, while other industries—cars and electronics, for example—pay anywhere from 8 percent to nothing at all. (The outdoor industry got a late start lobbying against 1930s-era tariffs.) Those taxes add as much as $45 to the price of a light waterproof hiker.
“At a time when we are trying to encourage people to get outside, we don’t want additional cost barriers,” says OIA executive director Amy Roberts. Furthermore, how do you differentiate between a pack used for hiking and one for carrying textbooks? Or a rain shell worn on the Appalachian Trail versus one used to stay dry in Seattle?
That sort of distinction isn’t made for gun sales. The firearms tax is nearly the same whether you’re buying a.44 Magnum or a deer rifle; Dirty Harry supports wildlife studies to almost the same degree as Ted Nugent.
If the OIA doesn’t want additional taxes, it should throw its political weight behind an effort to earmark its existing import tariffs for public lands rather than the federal General Fund, which can be used to pay for everything from military drones to border walls.
Of course, the biggest hurdle is the Republican-controlled Congress, which is looking to slash taxes across the board. This means that the best solution for states is to follow the lead of Minnesota, where, in 2008, voters approved a 0.375 percent general sales tax for conservation, recreation, and the arts. It has already contributed $1.8 billion to help fund projects like the 85-mile interconnected mountain-bike trail system in Duluth. “The Duluth system is a tourist draw,” says Luther Propst, an International Mountain Bicycling Association board member. “States that fund their natural resources are gaining a competitive advantage.”
If Minnesota can successfully enact a general tax to support enjoyment of public lands, surely other states can pass laws that specifically target recreation groups. The hard truth is, we need all the means we can muster to preserve our outdoor playgrounds. Sportsmen can’t be the only ones carrying the load.What if—stay with me—what if, instead of coffee and toast for breakfast, you could have coffee on toast? Did I just blow your mind? Because as of March 1, we live in a world where such things are possible.
The Japanese company Snow Brand Milk Products has released a creamy spread flavored like its super-sweet coffee drinks. Caffeine addicts, take note: there’s probably not enough coffee in the spread to replace your morning joe. A look at the product’s nutritional information (loosely translated into English here) reveals a mix of sugar, emulsifiers, oil, and milk powder that will look very familiar to Nutella fans. Is this more of a coffee-scented spreadable sugar product than spreadable coffee per se? Yes. No matter. The age of spreadable coffee is here.Remember when Evangelicals were the staple of the Republican coalition? Turn them out and you could win any national election. Well, they are fast becoming the fringe of the GOP, based on recently released research from focus groups conducted by Stan Greenberg, James Carville and Erica Seifert for Democracy Corps.
The GOP is now roughly split into three factions: one-third Evangelical, one-quarter Tea Party and one-quarter moderates. These focus groups, which were purposely assembled homogeneously to encourage participation, were chosen because they comprise the base of the Republican Party.
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True, the Tea Party has its own goals and it’s wreaking havoc on the Republican Party and the nation. But what’s striking about the insights gleaned from the groups is that both moderate and Tea Party Republicans view the Evangelical agenda as a total distraction.
Evangelicals are apparently beside themselves over losing the culture wars. According to the memo, they “believe their towns, communities and schools are suffering from a deep ‘culture rot’ that has invaded from the outside.” Their main focus is homosexuality, but they’re also concerned about the decline of small homogenous towns.
But the Tea Party folks couldn’t care less about social issues.
Gay marriage. Abortion. “Who cares?” said one Tea Partier from Roanoke.
Another Roanoke Tea Partier agreed: “I think it’s not important.”
A Tea Party man from Raleigh who said he didn’t support same-sex marriage also said it wasn’t the job of the government to intervene.
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“I personally don’t agree with gay marriage, but I don’t think the government should say who can get married and who can’t. It’s not their business,” he said.
Similar to the Tea Party faction, Republican moderates also showed apprehension about the Evangelical agenda.
“I can’t sell my kids on this party. I agree with … some of their positions. But the stupid things … for instance, the rape crap they were saying … I can’t sell them on my party,” said a Colorado man.
“I just tend to be a little bit more moderate on social issues. However I’m a pretty staunch fiscal conservative,” said a Raleigh woman, “so it’s kind of like, at least among my peers, there’s a change in kind of the conservative group. But it doesn’t necessarily seem like the Republican Party is changing with it.”
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More importantly, Tea Partiers see the social issues as a distraction — meaning Republicans who are spewing anti-gay, anti-abortion rhetoric aren’t likely to endear themselves to the most vocal faction of the GOP.
“The government, the media, the news media, you know. Of course – it’s gay rights, it’s abortion,” said a Tea Partier from Roanoke. “What we need to be focused on is the financial situation.”
Another Roanoke woman observed, “I think the Republicans have lost so many people to the Democratic Party because of social issues … if we could eliminate that from the conversation I think we’d have an entirely different electorate.”
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Also revelatory was that many of the moderates were “surprised” that other people in their group weren’t staunchly conservative on social issues. In other words, it’s almost as if they had been biting their tongues on the Evangelical agenda because they didn’t realize that others shared their more moderate views.
“I was surprised that the group was more moderate on social issues, like I am,” wrote one moderate on a post card distributed following the discussion. “It seems that this group focused on the fiscal aspect of Republicanism as the main component.”
One place on which all these groups found common ground was in their disdain for President Barack Obama and his “socialist,” “big government” policies. But outside of that confluence, the group dynamics are fascinating. Evangelicals like the Tea Party because they “stand up” to Democrats, but the Tea Party isn’t even remotely interested in social issues, while moderates despise the Tea Party and are “largely open to progressive social policies, including on gay marriage and immigration.”
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So where does that leave the GOP? At war, which isn’t news. But the memo notes that in Republican-held districts, Evangelicals currently make up about 30 percent of the electorate while non-Evangelical Tea Partiers account for 23 percent of it. And while moderates “are not required” to keep these Republican-held districts in GOP hands, Carville, Greenberg, and Seifert conclude that “these fractures do matter” in the most vulnerable GOP districts.Cristiano Ronaldo continues to resist renewing his contract at Real Madrid but Manchester United face a difficult struggle if they are serious about re-signing him now. Ronaldo admitted earlier this season that he was "sad" at the Santiago Bernabéu and his relationship with the president Florentino Pérez is distant. Yet, while a departure is possible in the mid- to long-term, this summer may prove premature.
Ronaldo has said he intends to honour his contract, which expires at the start of July 2015 when he will be 30, but has repeatedly avoided calls to publicly commit his future to Madrid. He has admitted he misses Manchester United and held up his hands to apologise when he scored for Real Madrid at Old Trafford. After the game he described the occasion as "too strange". It is not yet clear how Alex Ferguson's departure will affect his view, however.
Ronaldo's preference is to run down his contract to strengthen his hand, allowing him to speak freely with a new club from 1 January 2015 or negotiate a departure from a powerful position in the summer of 2014. Any transfer fee would either be substantially reduced or unnecessary, enhancing any signing-on fee to the player and making him easier to sign.
It is a tactic that carries very little risk: Ronaldo is too good a player for Madrid to force him out or to find himself without any suitors, particularly at a reduced fee or no fee at all. Even if he does renew this summer, with Madrid entering into a different era under a new manager the threat of him winding down his deal will have done his negotiating position no harm.
Madrid have briefed that they are confident the Portuguese will finally begin talks over a new deal once this season is over, but so far their advances have met with silence. Ronaldo has refused even to meet with the club.
Madrid insist Ronaldo is not for sale and his largely symbolic buyout clause stands at €1bn. Given their concerns over the Portuguese player allowing his contract to run into its last 18 months, Madrid would listen to offers this summer but they would expect to recover very close to the £80m spent on him. And even if Madrid were to welcome bids at this stage, Ronaldo cannot be moved on without his agreement. He still wants to win the European Cup in Spain.
Summer elections will ensures Pérez handles Madrid's franchise player very cautiously, all the more so after the imminent departure of José Mourinho. Pérez is likely to stand for president unopposed, but he has already begun the search for vote-winning signings, starting with an attempt to torpedo Barcelona's move for Brazil striker Neymar. However, Pérez knows that Neymar would prefer to go to the Camp Nou and that there are very few signings that can carry the weight that Ronaldo does.
On Wednesday night, Ronaldo celebrated his second goal against Málaga by running to the fans and gesturing to the pitch. Lip readers could not confirm whether he shouted: "I do my talking here [on the pitch]" or "I am staying here". Different interpretations draw very different conclusions.
Ronaldo also appeared to shout something to the Madrid bench. In recent weeks there have been glimpses that his relationship with Mourinho is not as idyllic as is often assumed. He had already told one potential suitor that he would not move to that club if Mourinho did. Now, he has the opportunity to continue his astonishing level of performance in the absence of the coach.
As Mourinho continues to point the finger of blame and prepare the ground for his departure, he insisted that Madrid had lost the league in part because they had started the league "sad".
That appeared to be a reference to Ronaldo's remark at the start of the season. Ronaldo had been to see Pérez, telling the president he felt he lacked affection at Madrid and saying he wanted to leave. The deal to sign Ronaldo was finalised by Pérez's predecessor Ramón Calderón. Far from reassuring him, Pérez responded by telling him that if he brought the €250m it would cost to pay Lionel Messi's buyout clause, he could go.Purchase the Original Artwork The Hominid animation is based on a series of photo composites created from human and veterinary X-ray films in 2005. The series has been exhibited internationally, including at SIGGRAPH, in the Hong Kong Exhibition Center, and at numerous galleries and museums. To help fund the completion of the animated short, the original photo-composite prints are now available for sale in their original limited edition. The artworks are printed photographically on Fuji Chrystal Archive paper and individually signed and numbered. Prints can be purchased framed or unframed. Framed prints are float-mounted in a thin dark bronze profile frame with white spacers for a fantastic modern vitrine look. To purchase an original print, please contact Brian Andrews. Arachnid Hominid 2005
Lightjet Print - 20 x 24 inches
Edition of 10 with 1 Artist Proof
Winged Hominid 2004
Lightjet Print - 12 x 18 inches
Edition of 10 with 1 Artist Proof
Amphibian Hominid 2004
Lightjet Print - 12 x 18 inches
Edition of 10 with 1 Artist Proof
Quadruped Hominid 2004
Lightjet Print - 12 x 18 inches
Edition of 10 with 1 Artist Proof
Two-Headed Hominid 2004
Lightjet Print - 12 x 18 inches
Edition of 10 with 1 Artist Proof
Six-Armed Hominid 2004
Lightjet Print - 12 x 18 inches
Edition of 10 with 1 Artist ProofAs usual, Werner has made a cornucopia of contributions. He improved --quick-addkey and --quick-gen-key, he changed gpg-agent and dirmngr to exit if their sockets disappear, he added an assuan logging monitor, he implemented new export and import filters, he did some work on g13, he added /run/user/UID/gnupg sockets, he introduced an option ( --recipient-file ) to work directly with keys stored in a file, and he made a number of improvements to GPGME including adding TOFU support.
The filtering changes allow controlling what packets are imported or exported. For instance, if you want to only keep a single user id when exporting a key, you could use:
gpg --no-options --import-options import-export \ --import-filter keep-uid='mbox = joe at example.org' \ --import < full-key.pub > key-with-one-uid.pub
More information about this feature is available in his note to the GnuPG mailing list or gpg's documentation.
The --recipient-file option is an oft-requested feature, which allows working with keys without importing them.
Werner also fixed a critical bug in the way the mixer in the random number generator stirred the pool. Specifically, the bug allowed an attacker who obtains 580 bytes from the standard random number generator (RNG) to trivially predict the next 20 bytes of output. Fortuitously, this bug does not affect the default generation of keys (more details).
Justus continued to improve our new test suite for GnuPG. The improvements included not only fixes to the new scheme-based driver, but also a bunch of new tests. A couple of the changes included bug fixes to TinySCHEME. Unfortunately, the upstream developers don't appear to be interested in the fixes.
Most of Justus' time recently has been focused not on the test suite, but on improving the Python bindings for GPGME. This work was started by Ben McGinnes, who contributed an initial port of the PyME bindings to Python 3. Justus finished this port, restored Python 2 compatibility, and added more pythonic interfaces (e.g., making everything work with objects implementing the buffer protocol like byte strings). The low-level interface has, however, been retained and existing applications should continue to work (if not, this is a bug, please file a bug report). He also ported the GPGME test suite to the Python bindings. This uncovered a number of latent bugs in the bindings, which he fixed. From our perspective, these are now the official Python bindings for GPGME: we've added them to the GPGME repository, and we will continue to maintain them in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, to be more compatible with Python developers' work flow, we are also packaging pyme3 for pypi, which means that the bindings can be installed using pip install pyme3. More information is available in Justus' blog post.
Justus also set up a Jenkins host for continuous integration. In addition to running make check for each commit under several configurations, it also runs the checks with various sanitizers enabled. This has already prevented a number of minor bugs from making it into releases.
Andre has made a number of end-user facing contributions. The most notable is for users of Kleopatra, which now has new dialogs for File Encryption and Decryption / Verification. These greatly reduce the number of required interactions to perform these operations. He also worked on the new file type registration on Windows so that decrypting a file only requires a double click. Additionally, he has continued his work on the GnuPG plugin for Outlook, which should be released with gpg3win-3 this fall. The code is already in good form, and testers are encouraged to check it out together with the new Kleopatra (see Test version of Gpg4win-3.) Andre has also been working on improving KMail's gpg support. One of the focuses of this work has been adding TOFU support to the libraries used by KMail. Andre also merged the C++ and Qt bindings for GPGME from KDE into the official GPGME repository. This included a port of the C++ API to pure standard C++ without boost, and the removal of some KDE-Framework use in the Qt bindings so that the bindings now only require Qt 5 base. This should make working with gpg in a Qt application even more convenient. In particular, executing operations asynchronously is very easy. Finally, Andre fixed some CRL-related bugs in dirmngr.
Kai's recent work has focused on porting Mailpile to use GPGME rather than its own wrapper, which only works with GnuPG 1.4. Unfortunately, many projects decide to take a similar approach to Mailpile, and write their own code to interact with gpg. As a reminder, we strongly encourage all developers to not directly interact with gpg, but to use GPGME, which is not only more complete, but also has seen a lot of testing. We realize that GPGME's interface's are not always ideal, however, we are open to suggestions for improvements, and feature requests. Similarly, if you don't understand how to do what you want using GPGME, we encourage you to ask for help on the gnupg-devel mailing list.
Jussi Kivilinna has continued his work optimizing libgcrypt. In the recent past, most of his effort was spent on implementing assembly versions of various cryptographic functions for the ARMv8/AArch32 architecture.
Niibe worked on mitigating the recently published Flip Feng Shui exploit. Flip Feng Shui uses a cross-VM, row hammer-based exploit to change the trusted.gpg file, which is used by Debian's package manager apt to verify downloads, and apt's sources.list file, which determines where packages are downloaded from, in a controlled manner. This allows attackers to replace packages that are installed with their own versions. The fix is to make sure that gpgv always checks that self-signatures are valid.
Niibe also spent time improving GnuPG's smartcard support. This has primarily consisted of many small, but important improvements including smartcard support for ECC keys and various bug fixes. Further, Niibe investigated adding signature verification for ssh keys stored in the authorized keys file. This would allow detecting corrupted keys, which could happen via a Flip Feng Shui-type attack. Although there is some support for signature verification in ssh, Niibe discovered that this particular mode of operation is not yet supported by ssh-agent.
Finally, Niibe has released a new version of GnuK (1.2.1). GnuK is a fully free cryptographic token (hardware and software). Not only is GnuK based on free software, but the entire hardware specification is open, and the parts are relatively easy to buy and assemble. The GnuK token can be ordered from seeed or the FSF.
As usual, dkg contributed various clean ups and bug fixes. He contributed a patch to avoid publishing the GnuPG version by default, and another to improve --quick-revuid. He also provided a patch to reenable exporting secret keys without a passphrase, which was possible in gpg 1.4 and 2.0, but, due to various technicalities, was not possible in 2.1. dkg also started a discussion about having systemd manage gpg's daemons. This would ensure that GnuPG's daemons are stopped when the user logs out. He provided patches, but so far these changes have not yet been accepted.
Ben Kibbey made a number of contributions. Among his bug fixes and clean ups, he fixed the OpenIndiana (Solaris) builds.
I (Neal) returned from a several month sabbatical. My first order of business was to tie up some loose ends with the TOFU support in GnuPG. Among other things, I added several checks to reduce the number of gratuitous conflicts. In particular, if two keys have the same email address and are cross signed, then they are almost certainly controlled by the same person. In fact, this is a usual way of indicating key rotation. I also set the default policy to "good" for keys that the user has directly signed.The stock BBS02 can be installed by almost anyone with a little bike mechanic know how in an hour or three. Before you start you need to consider a few things.
1) Is my battery really capable of driving my unit? If you bought your battery and BBS02 from a reputable vendor then chances are they have set the Amperage draw on the BBS02 controller to match what the BMS on the battery can provide. If the draw is too high then the BMS will be stressed and can shut down. If the draw is too low then you are missing out on power that you could have access to, and power is what it is all about. You should ASK your battery provider what the BMS is rated for in Continuous Amps. Most Chinese battery manufacturers overstate their capabilities and the BBS02 750W when programmed at the maximum can draw a 25 Amps. Your safest bet is to buy a battery pack that can support 30Amps continuous, although it will work with one that can only draw 25 Amps continuous. Em3ev has several custom-made battery packs here which are quite good of which I believe the Samsung 25R packs are the best.
2) Is this unit going to fit properly on my bike? Measure your bottom bracket. If it is >68mm (many are) then you may need some additional washers to make it fit right. Worse case scenario you may have to grind down the Bottom Bracket with an angle grinder to get the BBS02 to fit. If you have a fatbike with 100mm bracket there is a good chance you won’t be able to grind down the BB enough to make it fit and will have to look at the article about BBS02 on Fatbikes for some other options.
3) Do I want to disable the pedalec? The BBS02 Pedal Assist System (PAS) is often criticized by people because it works quite differently than most PASystems. With most PAS without torque sensing the more you pedal the faster you go. The BBS02 works the other way. The MORE you pedal the less the BBS02 applies power. Once you learn to adjust to this, it becomes quite natural. However for many people it can be hard to adjust to. If you are singletrack trailriding you almost certainly will want to disable the PAS system as nothing is worse than winding through the trees and having the bike accelerate you out of control into a tree.
To disable the PAS take the controller off by pulling off the left crankarm and the chainwheel and then removing the plastic cover. Remove the 3 hex blots and wiggle the controller off carefully. Find the black connector and peel some of the silicone off of it. Find the thumb release tab, press it and pull the connector apart. Use a tiny screwdriver or screw to push the tab down on the female contact and carefully pull the wire out of the connector. Cover the end of the pin with electrical tape and reassemble the unit. Be careful screwing on the black plastic cover as it is very easy to crack the case from over tightening.
For the woods, it’s often throttle only and you should make sure that your throttle is tight and doesn’t work its way over and get stuck against the handbrake. I always install the throttle on the left as I want my right hand covering the brake at all times. You can mount the stock throttle on the left even though it is a right hand throttle by mounting it upside down.
4) If I want to keep the pedalec how will I mount ebrakes? There is another post titled ebrakes which will help you figure out how to do this. There are a lot of options.
5) What connectors will I use to connect my battery with? Most commonly used connectors are the anderson and the banana connectors. I prefer the anderson for many reasons, if you are going to be plugging and unplugging the battery then it really is your only option. Do an ebay search for Anderson Powerpole will show you many vendors who sell the 45 Amp connectors for around $.35 each. These connectors slide together like lego and work quite well. Although they are not waterproof I use a small amount of silicone around the end of the connector with the wire in it then slide some heat shrink tubing and shrink it down with the silicone still wet. Make sure to use silicone that has no acetic acid like GE’s Silicone II brand. You can get a set of crimpers for around $30 as well and it is a worthwhile investment for your ebike toolkit. Why powerpole? When you connect the battery it will spark. This continued sparking will destroy most connectors except the anderson. The powerpole has a sacrificial ‘tongue’ that connects first and takes the brunt of the spark. If the connectors stop working as well try to put a small amount of dielectric silicone inside the end of them to make a better connection.
6) Make sure you have a crankarm puller, these can be had very cheaply on ebay for about $3.50 from Honk Kong, but it will take at least a week to get to you. Some crankarms do not need a puller, most do. It might make sense to invest in a small toolkit that includes may of the special tools for working on bikes. An ebay search for “Bicycle toolkit” will reveal many kits in the <$50 range that will probably have every tool you will ever need for bicycle repair.
Installing the BBS02
Once you have everything together that you need from the above steps it’s time to take the bike apart and mount the BBS02. The english manual for the BBS01 (very similar to the BBS02) is located here. Spare parts for the BBS02 can be purchased from Doug at California E-bike here.
1) Remove the crank arm – There are many different kinds of Bottom Brackets and crank arms. Most are removed in more or less the same way. Usually there is a bolt that is removed and then you need to use a crankarm puller to get the arm off. The crankarm puller threads into the crankarm then you turn the smaller bolt head to ‘push’ the crankarm off. Some newer BB/Crank arm combos have a bolt in the crankarm that is trapped by another nut such that if you loosen the inside bolt first it will push against the outside nut pulling the crankarm off without any special tools. Don’t try knocking the crankarm with force, you will damage something. You must use a puller, they are only about $3.50 on Ebay. Great written instructions on removing cotterless crankarms can be found here. If your bike is very old (pre 1980) you may have a cottered crank which case the removal is far more complicated and is outlined here.
2) Next you must replace the BB. If it has the bearings on the outside (outboard bearing assemblies) then you will need to remove the bearings as shown here. If you don’t have the special wrench for removing the bearings you can remove them using long locking pipe plyers, but be extremely careful when doing this not to damage the bearing casing. Often wrapping the cup with a rag before using the plyers is helpful to avoid marking them up. If you have cartridge bearing bracket then you will need to use a special tool to remove them as shown here. The Bottom Bracket bearing cup on the cheaper <$500 bikes can be exceedingly difficult to remove without putting the tool in a vise and using the entire bike as a lever. Remember that the Drive side is reverse threaded (clockwise to loosen).
3) Clean the Bottom Bracket casing out of oil and dirt and carefully insert the BBS02 unit in place. The large wheel should be on the chain side. Figure out what kind of clearance you have once the mounting plate is secured on the other side. If you have a 73mm BB (quite common on Mtn bikes) then you will need to use a few small washers to use as spacers. The plate must rest flush against the Bottom Bracket with the ‘teeth’ facing toward the BB and washers that you use as standoffs for the M6 bolts (unless it fits flush with no washers). Put blue locktite on the bolts and thread them down with decent torque. The lockring must go on next (also with blue locktite) and be tightened down ‘as hard as you can’ with a lockring wrench.
4) If your BB is 73mm then there is a good chance that you will not be able to put on the final lockring. As long as you use locktite on the first lockring and tighten it down good and tight then the motor should stay in place. You must tighten down the lockring very tight though as there is a lot of forces that will try to loosen it.
5) Install the chainring using the instructions in the BBS02 Chainring section if you want to install a custom sized chainring (34 or 36T recommended for singletack trailriding).
6) Install crankarms and pedals. Remember the drive side pedal is reverse threaded so you tighten it backwards.
7) Install the ebrakes as shown in this section or disable the PAS system by removing the grey wire from inside the controller.
8) Crimp Anderson Powerpole connectors onto the power cables and run 12 Gage multistrand speakerwire to your battery. Anderson powerpole connectors can be had for <$.50 each on ebay. I ususuallyuy from Connecter Pros. You can also get a crimper for ~$30 which you will need to make the connections right. I usually keep the power and ground seperate, install them on different color wires (Red and black) and then I put a little silicone on the crimp, cover it with heat shrink tubing and shrink it down when the silicone is still wet. That makes a nice water-resistant connection. You |
frustration, weariness and ‘security fatigue’ many of us feel from the bombardment of messages about the dangers lurking online. We’re tired of being told the sky is falling down. But the risk of cyber-attack remains real and relentless – and the reality is that cyber attackers often find it easier to communicate with, engage and influence the behaviours of our staff than we do. So, a new approach is required to engage all of us in making the right decisions at the right time in response to a range of different and changing cyber risks, whether you sit in the boardroom or on the front desk.
“Cyber attackers often find it easier to engage our staff than we do.”
The NIST research found that many of us often feel out of control or resigned to do nothing in regards to online security.
Now take these attitudes into the workplace and organizations are faced with a real dilemma. While many forward-thinking organizations already recognize the need to provide information security training to all staff, how can this be delivered in a way that overcomes the apathy identified in the NIST study? How can we ensure that Information Security training for non-technical staff really engages them to change behaviours and doesn’t just ‘tick the box’? Especially when we know that 90% of all successful cyber-attacks have succeeded through human error.
“We know that 90% of all successful cyber-attacks succeed through human error.”
For me, there are five key lessons for effective Information Security training:
Storytelling
Stories spark emotions. An emotional response can help drive curiosity and action about subjects we previously thought dull and irrelevant. Stories help to explain the complex and the confusing in new, insightful ways. They can help make people care. The most successful marketing campaigns have a compelling story at the centre of them. Stories have the power to communicate consequences and relevance to audiences. We listen to compelling stories and we empathize – we imagine how this could be happening to us or to people and groups we know and care about. Stories can be shared, can inspire and involve.
Combine great storytelling with the delivery techniques we now have at our disposal – games, animations, video, simulations – and we have the ability to make a real difference to the way we change behaviours for the better.
Stories spark emotions. An emotional response can help drive curiosity and action about subjects we previously thought dull and irrelevant. Stories help to explain the complex and the confusing in new, insightful ways. They can help make people care. The most successful marketing campaigns have a compelling story at the centre of them. Stories have the power to communicate consequences and relevance to audiences. We listen to compelling stories and we empathize – we imagine how this could be happening to us or to people and groups we know and care about. Stories can be shared, can inspire and involve. Combine great storytelling with the delivery techniques we now have at our disposal – games, animations, video, simulations – and we have the ability to make a real difference to the way we change behaviours for the better. Leadership
People need to hear from their leaders. Information security is a business risk and leadership teams have a vital responsibility to show their commitment and dedication to leading the way in protecting what’s most precious and valuable to them. The goal is to be able to say “it’s the way we do things around here”. The active and continued involvement of leaders - being seen and heard - in their organizations’ Information Security training will be time well spent. Critically, leaders must also appreciate that they’re far from immune to attack themselves.
People need to hear from their leaders. Information security is a business risk and leadership teams have a vital responsibility to show their commitment and dedication to leading the way in protecting what’s most precious and valuable to them. The goal is to be able to say “it’s the way we do things around here”. The active and continued involvement of leaders - being seen and heard - in their organizations’ Information Security training will be time well spent. Critically, leaders must also appreciate that they’re far from immune to attack themselves. Language
Keep it simple. I’m an ‘average user’ of technology and the majority of our employees fall into the same group. In asking for my support and interest in Information Security you must talk to me in a language I understand. Research in 2016 highlighted that 36% of UK adults said they could not confidently define what a phishing attack is. We need to understand what our target audience does and doesn’t know before deciding how we communicate with them.
“36% of UK adults could not define a phishing attack.”
We have to design and deliver learning that our people can relate to. Using plain English to explain threats like phishing and providing simple, practical guidance is essential.
Keep it simple. I’m an ‘average user’ of technology and the majority of our employees fall into the same group. In asking for my support and interest in Information Security you must talk to me in a language I understand. Research in 2016 highlighted that 36% of UK adults said they could not confidently define what a phishing attack is. We need to understand what our target audience does and doesn’t know before deciding how we communicate with them. “36% of UK adults could not define a phishing attack.” We have to design and deliver learning that our people can relate to. Using plain English to explain threats like phishing and providing simple, practical guidance is essential. Frequency and Timing
Changing behaviours takes time. We need active, engaging online learning that adapts to changing threats delivered on a regular, consistent basis. We have found that refreshers, assessments and competition all work well in keeping our people engaged and interested. Diagnostics also helps to provide choice and options in developing targeted, relevant learning at the right time to the right people. This targeted, drip-drip approach can help prevent ‘security fatigue’ and encourage better decision-making.
Changing behaviours takes time. We need active, engaging online learning that adapts to changing threats delivered on a regular, consistent basis. We have found that refreshers, assessments and competition all work well in keeping our people engaged and interested. Diagnostics also helps to provide choice and options in developing targeted, relevant learning at the right time to the right people. This targeted, drip-drip approach can help prevent ‘security fatigue’ and encourage better decision-making. Culture and Incentives
Develop the right culture. This is one area where I believe we need a real focus. We need a culture from top to bottom that rewards ideas and learns positively from mistakes. I sometimes see working environments that do not encourage or reward people for ‘putting their hand up’ – indeed I’ve often seen those hands being slapped down if anyone admits to making a mistake or suggests an alternative way of doing things.
“We need a culture that rewards ideas and learns positively from mistakes.”
By adopting these key lessons, I see innovative and engaging Information Security training helping organizations to really embed and sustain better behaviours. Our own RESILIA™ Awareness Learning provides first-hand evidence of the power of online learning to embed a more resilient security culture.
Images from AXELOS' RESILIA Awareness Learning
The importance of Health and Safety at work is now widely understood and accepted to help protect organizations and their people. We now need to effect the same change in our approach to Information Security training. Otherwise too many more organizations will be forced to explain why they’ve been breached to the world’s media.
Visit axelos.com/resilia-infosec-conundrum to find out more and request an RESILIA™ Awareness Learning demo.
Read the second post in this series, You don't know how important your reputation is until it's gone.
Read more AXELOS Blog Posts from Nick Wilding
Did you know you were a whale?
Cyber resilience: How important is your reputation? How effective are your people?
21st century cyber awareness for a 21st century threat
A cyber resilience Q&A with Karoliina Ainge, head of Estonian cyber security policy - Part 2
A cyber resilience Q&A with Karoliina Ainge, head of Estonian cyber security policy - Part 1
Cyber Resilience: it’s all about behaviours - Digital Leaders Conference presentation
Cyber Resilience: it’s all about behaviour, not bits and bytes
Cyber Resilience: We need to TalkTalk
Cyber Resilience: developing a new language for all
Looking for Business Leaders in the Cyber Resilience RaceSeed bombing or aerial reforestation is a farming technique where trees and other crops are planted by being thrown or dropped from an airplane or flying drone. The “seed bombs” are typically compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation, which are ready to grow as soon they hit the ground.
This is something that can be done on both an industrial and DIY scale, depending on the property and the situation.
The earliest known record of seed bombing goes back to 1930, when planes were used to reforest certain areas in the mountains of Honolulu.
The Guardian explains:
Equipment installed in the huge C-130 transport aircraft used by the military for laying carpets of landmines across combat zones has been adapted to deposit the trees in remote areas including parts of Scotland.An idea, originally from a former RAF pilot, Jack Walters, of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, has been developed by the US manufacturer Lockheed Martin Aerospace so that 900,000 young trees can be planted in a day.
According to Wikipedia:
Seed bombing is also widely used in Africa; where they are put in barren or simply grassy areas. With technology expanding, the contents of a seed bomb are now placed in a biodegradable container and “bombed” grenade-style onto the land. As the sprout grows, the container biodegrades into the soil. The process is usually done as a large-scale project with hundreds dropped in a single area at any one time. Provided enough water, adequate sunlight, and low competition from existing flora and fauna, seed-bombed barren land could be host to new plants in as little as a month. In 1987, Lynn Garrison created the Haitian Aerial Reforestation Project (HARP) in which tons of seed would be scattered from specially modified aircraft. The seeds would be encapsulated in an absorbent material. This coating would contain fertilizer, insecticide/animal repellent and, perhaps a few vegetable seeds. Haiti has a bimodal rainy season, with precipitation in spring and fall. The seeds are moistened a few days before the drop, to start germination. Tons of seed can be scattered across areas in the mountains, inaccessible to hand-planting projects. Another project idea was to use C-130 aircraft and altering them to drop biodegradable cones filled with fertilizer and saplings over hard-to-access areas.
You can make seed bombs too, check out the guide below:
Guerilla Gardening Seed Bombs Guide
John Vibes writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war.
This article (Seed Bombers Can Plant An Entire Forest of 900,000 Trees A Day!) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com.Israel accused of blocking investigations as films suggest security forces quick on trigger with Palestinian suspects
It has been called the “smartphone intifada”. After a sharp escalation in violence between Palestinians and Israelis in recent weeks, shocking scenes captured on video have spread across social media.
According to Israeli human rights organisations, several such videos challenge the accuracy of official Israeli accounts of the circumstances in which police have killed or injured Palestinians.
The footage, the nine groups said in a statement this week, provided concrete evidence that police were “quick to shoot to kill” rather than arrest Palestinians in Jerusalem and Israel who were suspected of involvement in attacks on Israelis Jews.
The shootings, they added, had occurred when the Palestinians posed no physical threat to security forces.
Lawyers have also accused the justice ministry of thwarting investigations, especially into the police killing of Fadi Alloun, a Palestinian from Jerusalem. Security camera footage of his shooting has been withheld and his family have been denied access to his body for an autopsy.
Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel has illegally annexed, are subject to Israeli civil law – unlike the West Bank, where Palestinians live under Israeli military rule.
Human rights groups have long complained that Israeli soldiers in the West Bank carry out “extra-judicial executions”.
The Israeli government recently announced it was authorising for the first time the use of live-fire against Palestinians, including children, who throw stones in Israel and Jerusalem.
Israel includes a population of 1.6 million Palestinians who have citizenship, while most of East Jerusalem’s 370,000 Palestinians have Israeli residency permits.
Adalah, a legal centre for Israel’s Palestinian citizens, said details of the government’s new live-fire regulations had yet to be divulged to them.
But it cited Israeli politicians and police commanders as openly calling for extra-judicial killings since the upswing in tensions.
‘Terrorists will not survive’
Jerusalem’s police chief, Moshe Edri, is reported to have said: “Anyone who stabs Jews or hurts innocent people is due to be killed.” Police minister Gilad Erdan similarly declared: “Every terrorist should know that he will not survive the attack he is about to commit.”
Adalah and Addameer, a Palestinian group defending prisoners’ rights, sent a letter to Israel’s attorney general this week highlighting three cases where video footage documented the unjustified shooting or abuse of Palestinian suspects.
Suhad Bishara, an Adalah lawyer, said the Israeli justice ministry had given no indication that its police investigations unit, Mahash, would investigate any of the incidents.
“What they are saying is the precise opposite: that these officers are heroes, that they behaved according to the law,” she said.
Mahash is already deeply mistrusted by Israel’s Palestinian minority, a fifth of the population, after it failed to identify any of the police officers responsible for killing 13 unarmed demonstrators inside Israel at the start of the second intifada in October 2000.
There have been 51 deaths of Palestinian citizens at the hands of the security forces since the October 2000 events, most in unexplained circumstances, compared to two Israeli Jews.
Bishara said: “We seem to have reached an even worse point than after the October 2000 events. Then Mahash conducted some investigations, even if they were deeply flawed. Now the need for investigations is simply being ignored.”
A spokeswoman for Mahash confirmed that a complaint from Adalah had been received but would make no further comment.
The urgent need for investigations was underscored late Thursday when the interior minister, Silvan Shalom, said he intended to strip Palestinian-Israeli “terror suspects” of their citizenship and those in Jerusalem of their residency permits.
According to international law, countries should not leave their citizens stateless.
Body kept from family
Adalah and Addameer are concerned that in the most prominent of the filmed shootings – of Alloun on 4 October – Israeli officials are putting up obstacles to block any investigation.
Videos on social media show a policeman shooting dead 19-year-old Alloun as he seeks protection from a mob of Israeli Jews chasing him and demanding that he be executed.
The crowd accuses him of a stabbing that occurred moments earlier close to the Old City. Even though the film suggests he posed no physical threat at the time, a police officer fired at him seven times. Alloun fell to the ground after the first shot.
Morad Jadalah, a lawyer with Addameer, said the authorities had refused to make available footage from security cameras in the area that might provide a clearer view of what happened.
They had also denied Alloun’s family access to his body, and the police had buried him without an autopsy being carried out.
Adalah and Addameer accused the police of seeking to “disrupt the investigation in advance” and “damage essential factual findings”.
Jadalah said: “If we can’t examine Alloun’s body to see how he was killed, we have no case against the police in court, whatever the videos reveal. The authorities are engaged in attempts to prevent justice from being done.”
In another case taken up by Adalah, from 9 October, Israa Abed, a 30-year-old mother of three from Nazareth, is filmed surrounded by soldiers and police at a bus station in northern Israel. As she stands almost immobile before them, several shots are fired, wounding her.
Although the security services have claimed there was a knife in her hand, she can be seen making no effort to attack them. Another video, taken shortly after she was shot, appears to show a pair of sunglasses, not a knife, next to her.
Doctors have said she was shot six times from the same gun.
Shalom named Abed, who survived the shooting, as one of two Palestinian citizens he wanted to strip of their citizenship.
Boy left to bleed
In the third case, 13-year-old Ahmed Manasra is filmed being kicked by police and denied medical treatment as he lies bleeding and severely injured on a road in a settlement in East Jerusalem on 12 October. Crowds of settlers curse him and shout “Die! Son of a bitch.”
He was rammed by a vehicle after he and an older cousin were suspected of stabbing two Israeli Jews, one a child his own age.
Physicians for Human Rights in Israel decried a video and photos released by the government on Thursday of Manasra recovering in an Israeli hospital. They said the images violated Israel’s juvenile and privacy laws, and the hospital’s involvement was a severe breach of medical ethics.
Suspicions have been raised too about the fatal shooting of Basel Sidr on 14 October. Footage shows police shooting the 20-year-old as he tried to attack them with a knife at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City.
However, B’Tselem, an Israeli organisation monitoring Israeli violations in the occupied territories, expressed “grave concern” that the officers continued to shoot at Sidr after he was wounded on the ground with no one near him.
Jadalah, of Addameer, said: “These videos are helping to fuel Palestinian rage. They reinforce the sense in Jerusalem that we are fighting for our lives and the city.”
Since the start of the month, 32 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded. Attacks have left seven Israeli Jews dead.
On Wednesday thousands of soldiers and paramilitary Border Police were deployed in Jerusalem and major cities in Israel where Palestinians live. It is the first time in more than a decade soldiers have been used inside Israel.
8,000 gun permit requests
Meanwhile, Israeli media reports indicate that, since the unrest erupted, Israeli soldiers and police have had a light finger on the trigger and have rushed to conclusions about the threat posed by Palestinians unsupported by evidence.
On Thursday a soldier opened fire in a train near Haifa, causing minor injuries, after other soldiers wrongly shouted out a warning that someone was holding a knife.
Later the same day, police admitted that two Palestinians from East Jerusalem arrested on suspicion of planning an attack after a major manhunt in Tel Aviv were simply visiting the city.
Israeli politicians such as Jerusalem’s mayor Nir Barkat have called on Israeli civilians who own a firearm to carry it at all times. On Friday some 8,000 Jews were reported to have applied for a gun permit in the first 24 hours after the easing of licensing rules by the government.
“In the current atmosphere, the call by politicians for Israeli civilians to arm themselves constitutes incitement to kill Palestinians for no reason,” said Bishara, of Adalah. “It sends a message to the security forces and to Israeli civilians that Arab life is of no value.”
There has also been a spate of reports in the past week of Palestinian citizens being beaten or stabbed by Israeli Jews after they were identified as Arab. Mobs of Jews chanting “Death to Arabs” are now a familiar sight in Jerusalem.
In the southern town of Dimona last week, an Israeli Jew stabbed four Palestinians over the course of an hour.
Jadalah said: “When Israeli Jews carry out knife attacks, they are arrested, not killed. It seems the police can follow proper procedures when Jews are involved.”
Ahmed Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, echoed Jadalah on Twitter: “Of course the Jewish stabber ended the spree [of stabbings] without a bullet or scratch.”
Rami Nasreddin, the director of Palvision, a youth empowerment programme in Jerusalem, said videos of violence by the security forces and of Jewish mobs had left many Palestinians in Jerusalem frightened to go out.
“Most of the schools are closed because parents are afraid to let their children on to the streets,” he said.You do not lead by hitting people
over the head - that's assault,
not leadership.
Dwight D Eisenhower
Alpha /Beta Street Status
More specifically, being an alpha is about the helping develop and maintaining a group dynamic, hierarchy and the functionality of the group. And this not just for your own benefit.
Being an alpha has to do with one's involvement in a group. So the lone wolf alpha? Forget it. The hyper aggressive mad-dog that turns on his own at the drop of a hat. Not going to be in charge for long.
Still, we're kind of stuck with the term so let's run with it --knowing it's wrong. Being an alpha is a whole lot more than just ordering people around or intimidating people with the threat of violence (that's called being a bully). And it's definitely more than just being able to beat people up.
However, in our cultural consciousness alpha=leader/alpha=bad ass is as dug in as an Alabama tick. It's not likely to let loose no matter how much petroleum jelly we smear on it. About that, not only am I ashamed to admit I'm the one who introduced the term to the self-defense world back in '89, but the whole Pick Up Artist community has run amok with the idea. These days every Tom, Dick and Harry is swaggering around telling anybody who can't get away fast enough, "I'm an alpha."
Then comes the little issue of we humans are social primates not canidae (dogs, wolves, coyotes, etc.) Both our brains and behaviors are a wee bit more complicated than Spot's Or if you're born after 1977, Chewie's. Applying a flawed hypothesis about wolf behavior to justify human behavior is a bit of a stretch.
Basically the more we've learned about wolf behavior the more complex and fascinating it's become For example the Alpha may be the leader, but the Beta is the pack's protector, enforcer and 'goon.' The Beta is also expendable. The rest of the pack has far more complex roles and services to the needs of the family.
What is an Alpha? Let's start with the fact that Dr. David Mech, the man who gave us the idea of alpha/beta wolf behavior, has spent the rest of his career disavowing the idea.
Fifth purpose is to help writers, directors and actors create more believable characters in their works. Writing violence and action scenes that are believable isn't easy. Nor is writing strong characters that aren't one dimensional caricatures. This is a resource for the publishing and entertainment industries.
Following that kind of advice is bad enough in your day to day life, but -- in potentially violent situation -- that advice is a disaster. It WILL get you killed or hospitalized if you try it on the wrong people. It may sound appealing in the safety of a group gathering (or from the safety of looking at it on your computer screen), but following these internet warrior's advice is one of the fastest ways to get your brains blown into a fine pink mist out in the streets.
The other side is to help them recognize when someone is giving them bad advice about what to do to gain respect and self-confidence. It is critical to understand that bad information on this topic is dangerous. You need to be able to spot it when some internet forum fruit-loop or blowhard starts up with what it takes to be respected or how to establish your'alpha status.' Usually their advice encourages you to become a macho asshole. Being an aggressive, obnoxious, selfish prick does NOT put you in control of a situation. Nor does it improve your standing as an alpha in your community.
Fourth is two sides of the same coin. One side is to help young men and women understand how to establish social standing. To improve your standing in a group and function better and more easily in society.
Third is to help individuals who are new to management positions learn what it takes to be a leader. Effectively managing people is a skill closely tied in with understanding alpha status. As there is a difference between leadership and management, there is more to management than just telling people what to do.
Second it is to help people who routinely deal with aggressive and dangerous people develop more effective methodologies. There are ways to co-exist and function other than having to bust someone's head every five minutes. Constantly having to stay on your guard is a drag. These pages will help you understand how to deal with people in ways other than constant conflict.
First it is to help people whose job it is (or are elected by default) to restore order( 1 ). There is a whole lot more to putting an end to unacceptable behavior than just yelling and threatening people. Your career as a professional problem solver will end with you leaking blood if you don't take this idea to heart.
Below are a list of traits that you will see in human ~cough cough~ alpha leadership. These are the traits that those engaged in the macho parody of manhood just... don't... get. And because they don't 'get it,' not only will they not be respected, but they won't be trusted. Instead of being looked upon as 'warriors,' they'll be looked upon as loose cannons on deck.
Alphas Look Out For Group
Before you can understand what an alpha is, you first need to understand something about the nature of power. Namely: Power is granted to you by the group.
Putting that another way: You don't have power unless other people give it to you.
Here's the catch, the group gives you power on the condition that you look out for their needs. That's the deal. You get extra power to serve them. If you violate this trust then you will be stripped of your power by the group (including the entire group abandoning you).
That simple point is the biggest stumbling block for people who want to be leaders but are not cut out for it. Such people are incapable (or unwilling) to look out for anyone's interest except their own. And that brings us to the next point.
Alphas Are Trustworthy
Trust is a fundamental issue of being an alpha. People do not give power to someone they do not trust to look after their needs.
When we say this people always reply with comments like "Well what about Hitler?" Realize first of all there is a difference between power and force. Although the Nazis used force to dominate other nations, the German people had elected the Nazis. They had supported Hitler and given him power. Although he would later abuse this power, at the time they granted it to him, they believed Hitler would serve them better than anyone else. Something else people forget is between his ascension to power in '33/34 and about 1942 life for the German people improved. They'd spent the last five years being pounded by the Great Depression worse than any Western nation as the Treaty of Versailles had stripped Germany of its industrial base. (The Nazi were also corrupt as hell. By the war's end there were a lot of rich and dead Nazi party leaders-- including Hitler.) In hindsight it is easy gloss over this idea, but even Hitler had people who trusted him enough to give him power. Power, he held until the end( 2).
Even among criminal gangs the gang members give the leaders this trust. That just proves that even a villain has to share the wealth. And quite frankly, you will often see that dictators are deposed by their own supporters when they forget to share the wealth. Or they become erratic and a threat to the Generals income streams.
Taking this from the national level to the street corner, you still will see that trust is an issue in alpha behavior. To avoid violence, the person demanding submission must be trustworthy. The deal he is offering is'submit and you won't get hurt.' If he isn't offering that deal, or is untrustworthy, there is no reason for the other person not to fight back. In fact, now he has lots of motive to do everything in his power to kill the aggressor.
An alpha needs to keep his word. If he offers a person a chance to walk away safely, he needs to stick to it. He doesn't increase his alpha status by suddenly changing his mind and attacking the person, he actually undermines it in the eyes of others. Because quite frankly that's a very beta trick.
Alphas Communicate
There are three important skills in leadership
1) Communication
2) Communication
3) Communication
And contrary to what some betas posers would have you believe, there's more to communication than "My way or the highway." That is usually the attitude of a beta aping this critical aspect of leadership.
Most people only think of someone 'as a leader' when he/she is making decisions, but the simple fact is that most of a leader's time is spent listening. And asking questions to gain more information. That's because a huge part of making good decisions is having good intel about what is going on.
Another huge aspect of being an alpha is negotiate. Whether it is resolving conflicts between his followers or establishing workable compromises between people. And to negotiate well, you need to be able to communicate to whom you are dealing with (and on whatever level).
Alphas Have Extra Resources
A layman's definition of stress is: The belief that you don't have the resources necessary to deal with a problem.
Now that's pretty simplified, but it does convey an important point. And that is if you don't think you can handle something -- or you feel it is too great of drain on your resources -- you're going to get stressed. And when you are stressed you drop into an adrenal state. When that happens your brain start functioning differently. When you are stressed you get nervous, agitated, angry, aggressive and fearful. You tend to over-react, engage in threat displays and invade other people's space. In short, you do all the things that are likely to get you attacked.
What's ironic about this is that you are getting attacked because your stress created the same in the other person.
We thought about calling this section "Alphas are calm in the face of adversity" but the simple fact is, the reason they are calm is that they know they can handle it. They have the resources.
To be more specific, they have diversified.
It is not uncommon for betas to believe in simplistic solutions. In other words they commonly believe that if they become the 'best' at something they feel everything else will fall into line (e.g. the idea that becoming the best fighter will make them an alpha). Another common failing among betas is the belief that they are 'good enough' (i.e. because I'm good enough I don't have to try to improve myself). Because of this when a situation occurs that taxes their limited resources they tend to overreact.
Alphas on the other hand have experience looking at problems from several perspectives and seeing alternative solutions. This allow them to be more calm and remain in their logical brain instead of their emotional one.
Alphas Have Boundaries
In the movie "The Shootist" a boy asks an old gunslinger how he'd gotten into so may altercations. The gunslinger replies, "I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I require the same from them."
One thing you'll commonly find among Alphas is they subscribe to an internal "Code." I refer to this as a three-way street.
1-What they won't tolerate being done to them.
2-What they won't do to others.
3-What internal lines they won't cross (and allow themselves to do).
I talk about the difference between assertive/aggressive and personal/shared space elsewhere. But know that alphas have no problem enforcing their boundaries.
Insecure Alphas
Insecure Alphas is a term we picked up from the Dog Whisperer Caesar Millan. (Who, if you want some really good insights into how alpha/beta behavior works in pack animals, we highly recommend that you watch his TV show).
Basically Caesar's summation of an insecure alpha is a beta dog that is thrust into a leadership position. This dog lacks alpha attributes. Most of all it doesn't have the calm assurance of a true alpha. As such it is unstable and overly aggressive. An additional problem with this is other dogs in this situation also become unbalanced and aggressive.
Now it doesn't take much imagination to take this out of the kennel and imagine the same dynamics occurring under a bad manager. A stressed out manager, gets the entire department upset and on edge.
This concept is especially applicable in a street confrontation, where fear of perceived loss of'respect' will often motivate a beta (who is trying to convince everyone he is an alpha) to over react.
Here is where you get into a problem common among what if monkeys, lacking inner calm they project their insecurity onto everyone and assume they will act the way they would.
Let's give an example, often violence can be avoided when you take 'the bad guy's advice.' A great deal of violence would have been avoided if, when the bad guy said "You better get out of here," the other person had just done so.
The person was given the option to leave or alter his/her behavior... but for whatever reason, decided not to. Believe it or not, the 'bad guy' is trying to avoid violence by giving you the chance to leave. Unfortunately all to often the soon-to-be-victim decided something else was a priority and refused.
When we talk about this in seminars, despite the offer to leave safely (remember trust?) inevitably someone pops up with the question "What if he follows you?" Usually by someone who is the sort who would refuse to leave for this very reason. Stop and think about that, he could have avoided violence by leaving, but his fear of violence following made him stay, thereby guaranteeing violence to happen!
We should also point out this is also the kind of person who would feel it necessary to taunt someone for taking up the offer. Feeling the need to 'get in the last word' is a great way to get attacked. This turns the other kinds of potential violence into predatory. Not because he meant to be a predator, but because YOU broke the accords.
Are there such things as individuals who will follow you? Yes, but the simple fact is those are more predatory to begin with and they never meant to let you go in the first place. But, in comparison to the number of people who provoke the attack by trying to salvage their pride with a parting shot, these are much rarer than you might think.
Alphas Allow Others Their Place
It is perhaps here that the absolute worst misconception about alpha behavior is made. It is also one of the fastest ways to spot a beta trying to ape an alpha. One version of this attitude is "I'm the alpha, I get the best, you get the scraps." Another version is "Everything is mine and you have no place."
Realize humans are social animals. We need other humans in order to exist. The nature of the social hierarchy is two-fold. One is so the greatest number of people can 'get by' in order for the group/species to survive (it organizes and protects the group). Two is it allows individuals within that group a place of security to obtain what that individual needs in order to survive.
Reread that last paragraph, it's THAT important to understanding alpha behavior.
The first reason is why the alpha looks out for the group. The second reason is why people are part of the group. And why they put their trust in the alpha, because he also makes sure that THEY can get what they need to get by.
An insecure alpha works against those two standards. It's all about him; about what he wants, about what he feels and his perceived needs. Such an individual doesn't allow others to achieve their goals. This is also why such an individual is viewed by the majority of people as unstable, untrustworthy and overly aggressive, because who knows which way his next whim is going to take him?
One of the biggest mistakes that betas trying to ape alphas make is that they do not allow others to achieve their needs. For example instead of allowing people to stay within the group/establishment -- provided they follow the rules --a bully will pick someone and drive them out of the area just to show how big and bad he is. By driving that person out of the group/establishment the bully reduces that person to a scavenger -- who must get by however he/she can.
The simple fact is that most of the alpha's communication is aimed at allowing people to function so everyone can get what they need -- not what they want, but what they need in order to get along.
Betas Fight More
(Note: This was written a while ago. In light of the new understanding of the Beta being the pack's 'guided-muscle' them fighting more makes sense. However, there are many more roles in a pack than just the beta. Conflict among these members tends to be more common.)
Many years ago Marc, his girlfriend and their cats shared a house with a woman; who also had her own cats. What was interesting was that both groups had an alpha cat. Their first meeting was 'unpleasant.' But after that both of these large male cats proceeded to share the same space by studiously ignoring each other. One would think that they were invisible to each other, except there was a very subtle pattern of never being in the same place at the same time. Or conveniently being 'asleep' (or otherwise occupied) as the other passed through an area occupied by the first. (Incidentally the other passed at a distance, great enough that the first could pretend not to notice).
However, the constant fighting occurred between the two beta males. Those two cats were not only constantly at each other, but actively sought each other out -- to continue the squabble. Both wanted to drive the other out of the territory, but were incapable of doing it, so the war went on and on. In fact, one could say those two cats were obsessed with each other.
It is interesting to note that you can see the same behaviors among humans. Contrary to what you might think, human heavy hitters do everything in their power to find ways to co-exist. Generally by 1) Ignoring each other (while at the same time doing the human version of what the cats did) 2) Becoming friends 3) If not friends, then friendly/polite towards each other in a kind of middle ground between these two points.
It is the betas who get their fur all fluffed and walk stiff legged with their backs up. This basically occurs because betas do not understand the concept of sharing space... yes, we just said they don't know how to play well with others. What they especially don't understand is that it isn't all about them.
And that is why they end fighting more... with other betas. They aren't proving that they are alphas when they do this, |
morning his family members contacted close friends and family to see if anyone knew his whereabouts. Their investigation drew no clues of where Shahzad was. So in the afternoon Shahzad's brother Tariq went to the local police station to register a missing persons case.
It was extremely unusual for his brother to be away from home for so long. Moreover the latest that Shahzad would work in the evening would normally be from 11pm - 12am and he had never stayed out overnight previously - especially without informing someone in his family.
After reporting the missing status of Shahzad to Patoki Police, Tariq recieved a call from a police officer an hour later in which he was informed that a dead body had been found in the weeds near Sugar Mill Colony, just off Patoki Malawala Bypass.
Shahzad's whole family along with many friends rushed to visit the site to check whether the corpse belonged to Shahzad. The family was able to confirm that the body was indeed that of Shahzad.
After identification the body was immediately taken to the Patoki Civil Hospital by the police for a postmortem. The family is still to receive the report but they were asked to bury the body immediately by the police.
The family has told us that they saw what looked like a bullet penetration on Shahzad's forehead. They have been chasing Patoki police for a full postmortem report but have regularly been stalled.
Mr Asif (32 years) a cousin of Shahzad has informed police that on Wednesday morning he saw Shezad with Mr. Kashif and one unknown man, passing before his tailor shop near the residence of Shahzad.
Police have registered an FIR on the name of Kashif who was arrested. He is still in police custody but has said he knows nothing about the murder of Shahzad.
Shahzad was about to get married on the 25th February and local police have confiscated the phone of Shahzad's Fiance Samina. The family state the police are pursuing lines of inquiry focusing on a potential suicide after a lovers tiff and investigating whether anyone had been paid to kill Shahzad due to a desire to marry someone else. Police have stated that the Fiancé made a call to Shahzad at 10am, which was one hour after he left home. They have focused their investigation on this evidence. However Samina states it was an extremely short call in which Shahzad informed her that he was busy with customers and the family believes such investigation illustrates a half-hearted approach to gaining justice for Shahzad.
Police sent the phone of Shahzad for a data scan and discovered only the conversation with his fiancée. Nothing suspicious was found yet now Samina's phone has also been sent for the investigation and a report is awaited.
The family are concerned that Kashif is staying silent and denying any involvement in the murder of Shahzad and that Police seem to be taking his side and not pursuing fervently enough a potential murder inquiry involving him. They believe this is due to a bias towards Muslims.
According to the family the police investigation is very disingenuous. Little effort is being placed in finding a culprit and much resource is being put towards delivering a verdict of suicide. The investigation officers name is Mr. Iqbal and SHO of that police station is Haji Akram, both will be approached by our officer Kanwal Amar tomorrow that we might seek a more thorough investigation of a potential murder.
Tariq Masih, spoke with the BPCA, he said: "I am totally demoralized by the lack of impetus shown by the police. They seem determined to label my brother’s death as a suicide but he was the most successful of us and was to be married in a few weeks.
"I am a simple sewage worker earning very little, Shahzad was earning good money and hoped one day to run his own business. We were all so proud of him we are devastated by news of his death."
Wilson Chowdhry. Chairman of the BPCA, said: "Shahzad's death is shrouded in mystery, but illustrates the vulnerability of Christians. In most murder cases involving a Christian victim, police authorities in Pakistan apply the least amount of effort possible into investigation.
"This exhibited insouciance by the police has resulted in levels of impunity that have made our minority the most targeted in Pakistan.
"Is it therefore any surprise that international NGO 'Open Doors' on their world watch list rank Pakistan the 4th worst country in the world for Christian persecution?
"Sadly time after time the same situation arises confirming little is being done by politicians in Pakistan to address the balance."Think you know what’s on London’s travel playlist? Reckon the capital loves the same music as you? To coincide with the launch of the night tube we asked over 800 Londoners what they listen to when navigating the capital, whether it’s on the train, tube, bus or on foot. The survey results are in and they’re surprising. London’s favourite genres and artists aren’t quite what you’d think.
So if you’re intrigued to know if Adele or Skepta is top of your fellow passengers’ playlists, check out our infographic below. It’s jam-packed with interesting stats and facts about London’s music tastes.
And if you want to get a feel for London’s favourite tracks, grab your headphones and tune into our dedicated Spotify playlist, created from our survey of London’s favourite music. Featuring all the top tracks from the capital’s favourite artists, it’s an inside glimpse into the beat of the city.
https://open.spotify.com/user/jesswebber101/playlist/1TUY1X9Oq5Ntkx78731hsb
Love listening to your favourite tracks on the go? With Bose noise-cancelling headphones you get pitch-perfect sound quality with a sleek minimal design. Ideal for drowning out noisy passengers and fellow commuters, they’re the perfect choice for people on the move. Check out the great range of Bose headphones now available at Currys.Via the Free Beacon, yesterday we played the “what the hell was he thinking?” game with Trump over Machado, now we get to play a special bonus round with Hillary. Most people (like me) didn’t know that Machado was once accused in Venezuela of driving the getaway car in a murder(!) and then threatening to kill a judge(!!), but Hillary’s researchers must have. (The accusations against Machado were reported in old AP stories, easily accessible to professional oppo people.) There’s no way a candidate as risk-averse as Clinton would make a point of bringing up Machado at a debate and rolling out an ad that features her unless she’d vetted her first and decided it was worth doing. So how did not-a-saint-girl pass the vetting? Did she reassure Team Hillary that the charges were bogus and promise to flatly deny them when asked? Because … she doesn’t do that in the clip below. It’s as glaring a non-denial as you’ll ever see.
The only explanation I can come up with is that Clinton is playing a very cynical media game premised on the short attention spans of voters. She greenlit the Machado ad, I think, believing that by the time the media reported the old business about murder in Venezuela, the target audience would have already processed the underlying point — Trump is cruel, especially to women — and moved on. Only a fraction of people who watched the debate and maybe saw the coverage yesterday morning about “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping” will continue to follow news about Machado. Telling half the story is worth doing, even with a very flawed messenger, because low-information voters simply won’t sustain their interest long enough to hear the other half. Trump himself has a savant-type understanding of this phenomenon. Public interest in most news has a short half-life, so tell whatever lie you like and trust that comparatively few people will ever find out afterward that you were lying. Claiming that he opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning is a perfect example. The media’s corrected him on that repeatedly (although not consistently) this year, but a maestro like Trump understands that the audience that tunes into his interviews is much bigger than the audience that tunes into the fact-check hours later.
Clinton may have arrived at the same conclusion before the debate. If she had data showing that focus groups turned against Trump upon hearing Machado’s story, she might have concluded it was worth mentioning her in front of the gigantic debate audience even though the stuff about threats and murder was destined to come out when people were no longer paying much attention. Besides, Clinton can say, the Venezuela business doesn’t prove that Machado is lying about Trump; he’s on the ballot, not her, and he’s still a jerk to women even if she’s no saint. This is a glimpse at the future of political warfare in an age of instant media, where you have every incentive to lie on a big stage because you know that the audience will splinter before the whole truth can be told. In that sense, having two ludicrous liars like Clinton and Trump as nominees is a hint of things to come. God help us.Barney Frank became a spokesman for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality as the country's first congressman to voluntarily come out, and in a conversation with HuffPost Live, Frank had strong words about comments by Ben Carson, who recently stated on CNN that being gay is "absolutely" a choice.
The former Massachusetts Congressman, who has a new memoir out titled Frank, referenced troublesome mentalities like Ben Carson's as he described to host Alyona Minkovski the struggle of being a young teen who knew he wanted to go into politics but also knew "people hated gay people."
"For those like Ben Carson, who just announced that it was a choice, I do want to say at 14 I did not choose to be a member of what I thought was the most hated group in America. That was not a typical teenage reaction at the time," Frank said Tuesday.
Presidential hopeful Carson has since apologized for his comments, which cited prison as an example to back his claims. In an e-mailed statement to reporters, Carson wrote: “I do not pretend to know how every individual came to their sexual orientation. I regret that my words to express that concept were hurtful and divisive. For that I apologize unreservedly to all that were offended,” TIME reported.8/27/2016:
For years the UO administration has harassed me over this blog’s policy of honoring Ben Franklin’s Silence Dogood’s precedent of anonymous criticism. But our new leadership is actually encouraging people to submit comments to the Blustain report on IT reorganization anonymously.
However, while the New-England Courant put Ms Dogood’s letters and responses out there for everyone to see, two-hundred and ninety-four years later that is still a bit too revolutionary for the University of Oregon. The comments you submit will only be seen by authorized persons. So if you do use their google form, you might consider also pasting your ideas into the comments anonymously here too, so that your colleagues can see them and respond. I’ll pass it all on to the House of Lords.
Official release of the Blustain report here:
More, and anonymous reporting form here:
8/12/2016: Blustain’s comments on “The Oregon Way” leak out:
Back in 2011, former VPFA Frances Dyke paid consultants from Huron $1.789M to write a report on the VPR’s office that included this definition of “The Oregon Way”:
Thanks to IT consultant Harvey Blustain’s (draft) report, we’ve now got a more expansive definition:
F. “The Oregon Way”
Reorganization will achieve only so much without a fundamental shift in how the university thinks about and manages IT. The IT enterprise needs to escape from the “Oregon way,” a culture of poverty characterized by short-term planning, incremental and tentative investments, organizational parochialism, and diffused authority. In its place, IT has to become a strategic resource characterized by rigorous analysis and planning, coordination, senior sponsorship, and a view to the success of the institution.
The icon of the Oregon way is “pass the hat.” In the absence of institutional funding, budgets for many projects are assembled by contributions from interested units. The process, in addition to calling attention to differences between have and have-not units, has several pernicious effects.
First, “pass the hat” masks the true scale of the project. A budget number based on analysis of total cost of ownership and replacement costs would seem staggering. A smaller number is easier to sell than a larger number, and so there is a common agreement to avoid looking beyond the first installment. Pass-the-hat funding sometimes requires multiple rounds of discussions that can extend for years. If a group decides to drop out, it raises the ante for the others and can create bad feeling.
People who have been at UO a while cited a string of projects that generated initial enthusiasm, got a little traction, and then petered out. Short-term thinking inhibits analysis. With tentative funding and a fragile consensus, the incentive is to get started before the opportunity dribbles away. As a result, many of the fundamental tools of resource management business analysis, requirements gathering, project planning — are missing. If you haven’t done the analysis, you can’t manage resources over the long term. As a result, there is no sustainable funding, one-time monies must be found each year, there is little thought of refresh policies, and there is no support for equipment at end of life.
Insecure and incremental funding inhibits a sense of enterprise. Units cooperate in endeavors because it suits them and cooperation (i.e., continuing to put money in the hat) ends when it doesn’t. They solve their own problems, often in the cheapest way they can, with secondary regard to institutional financial stewardship. These decisions can have long-term effects, because as one IT Director said, “If you give people 300 choices, you have to support them all.”
Distributed funding diffuses authority and encourages inefficient decision-making. Everyone has a say, units can opt out, and no one is in control. No one says, “You can’t do that.” Among my more interesting conversations were those dealing with CIO authority. Does the CIO have the authority, for instance, to intervene in a unit’s decision to pursue a CRM solution? Or to mandate the use of Exchange for everyone? Or limit choices of hardware for standard use?
Opinion was split, but more people in the distributed units said ‘yes’ than I would have imagined. I also found surprising the number of people who expressed a desire for more central direction, mandates and leadership. Perhaps that is something one says to a consultant, but I did sense that many people across the university want to rationalize the use of IT resources even if it means curtailing their freedom of action.
The danger of cultural configurations like the “Oregon way” is that they start as an adaptation to resource deprivation and then become the accepted way of doing business. IT professionals across UO have done the best they can in an environment that has fostered short-term and parochial thinking and in the process they have lost the skills of project management, total-cost-of-ownershio budgeting, and the institutional stewardship of scarce resources.
7/28/2016: Blustain report on IT now out
A UO Matters operative was able to capture the executive summary. If anyone has the full pdf or a link, please send it along.SALT LAKE CITY — The LDS Church has a new general presidency for its 7.1-million member Relief Society, and it is unique.
Sister Jean B. Bingham was named as the new Relief Society general president after serving for one year in the Primary general presidency, an unprecedented move for a woman leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The director of LDS Charities, Sister Sharon Eubank, was named first counselor. She will continue in her work directing humanitarian services for LDS Charities.
Sister Reyna I. Aburto will be the second counselor.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the church's First Presidency, made the announcement in the Saturday afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference.
The new presidency replaces Sister Linda K. Burton and her two counselors, Sister Carole M. Stephens and Sister Linda S. Reeves, who were released Saturday after five years of service.
One year ago, Sister Bingham was called as first counselor in the Primary general presidency. Previous leaders have moved from positions as counselors in the Young Women general presidency to become Relief Society general president, but none had made taken that position after serving as s counselor in the primary general presidency.
Sister Bingham's moved triggered changes in the Primary general presidency. Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, formerly the second counselor, will become first counselor, and Sister Cristina B. Franco, a native of Nicaragua, will be the new second counselor.
Sister Franco is serving with her husband, Rodolfo Franco, as he presides over the Argentina Resistencia Mission. She will assume her new duties when their mission concludes in July, President Uchtdorf said.
Sister Bingham
Sister Bingham, the 17th general president of the Relief Society, is originally from Provo, Utah, but has lived in Texas, Minnesota and New Jersey, according to her biography.
Sister Bingham and her husband, Bruce, met when they were students at Brigham Young University. They married in 1972 and became the parents of two daughters and some foster children, her biography states.
When the children were older, Sister Bingham returned to her college education and earned multiple degrees in teaching. Her career has included teaching English as a second language, being a nurse's aide, volunteering in her children's schools and serving in various church leadership positions. She also spent six years as an early morning seminary teacher before serving on the general board of the Primary general presidency.
In her bio, Sister Bingham said her testimony was greatly influenced by her parents' "faithful examples," church attendance and service. She also has a passion for family history work.
In February, Sister Bingham traveled with her new first counselor, Sister Eubank, to the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda, according to a Deseret News article.
Sister Eubank
Sister Eubank is the first director of a LDS Charities to be called to the Relief Society general presidency. She will perform both roles, according the MormonNewsroom.org. She served on the Relief Society general board from 2009-2012, among many leadership callings.
The oldest of seven children in the Mark and Jean Eubank family, she served a full-time mission in Finland. After attending BYU, worked in a variety of professions: She taught English as a second language in Japan, was an aide in the U.S. Senate and owned a retail store in Provo, according to her biography.
In the last two decades, Sister Eubank has worked for the Church's Welfare Department and LDS Charities. Serving others is the DNA of church membership and the "heart and soul of the Relief Society," Sister Eubank said in her biography.
Sister Aburto
Sister Aburto and her husband, Carlos Aburto of Mexico, are both converts to the LDS Church. As young woman, her life was changed when she survived an earthquake that demolished her home and killed her younger brother. Her life was also shaped by lessons she learned during a period of civil unrest in Nicaragua during the 1970s.
Those two events helped prepare her for a day in 1989 when LDS missionaries invited Sister Aburto to attend worship services. The 26-year-old hesitated at first but decided to go and was later baptized. She has "never stopped marveling at the beauty of the gospel," Sister Aburto said in her biography.
Sister Aburto, who served on the Primary general board from 2012-2016, married married Carlos Aburto of Mexico in the Jordan River Utah Temple in 1993. They have two grandchildren. She has studied industrial engineering and computer science and found a career in the language industry. She and her husband own a small translation business, according to her biography.
Sister Franco
Sister Franco, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, joined the church at age 3. What she learned as a child in primary has served her all her life.
"I learned that if I had a question, I could ask my father in heaven and I would get an answer," Sister Franco said in her biography.
In the late 1970s, Sister Franco's family moved to Utah and her father started a family-owned watch-making business. Sister Franco has worked in the business for nearly three decades.
Sister Franco and her husband married in 1978 and have three sons. She brings a wealth of experience to her new calling, having served on the Primary general board from 2005-2010, among many other callings.
Shuffling presidencies
No leader has ever gone from the general Primary presidency to the Relief Society, but similar moves have taken place in church history.
In 2007, Sister Julie B. Beck moved from first counselor in the Young Women general presidency to become the 15th general president of the Relief Society.
Sister Bonnie D. Parkin served in the Young Women general presidency from 1994-1997 before she was called as the 14th Relief Society general president in 2002.
After serving as second counselor in the Young Women general presidency for two years, Sister Patrica P. Pinegar was named the ninth Primary general president in 1994.
Service complete
Sister Burton became the Relief Society general president at the April 2012 general conference. Prior to her call, she served as a member of the Relief Society general board. During her presidency, Sister Burton championed the "I Was a Stranger" relief efforts several other developments, according to a Deseret News article.
Sister Stephens was also a member of the board when called as a counselor in 2012. Sister Reeves was serving as the first counselor in her ward’s Relief Society when called to the worldwide presidency.By opening its doors to disillusioned Iranians such as artist Shahrzad Changalvaee, the US has welcomed some of its greatest minds. But what now?
Of all the interventions the United States has attempted in the last decade to contain Iran, one of the most successful is perhaps the least known of them all.
It came in 2012, when Barack Obama’s state department began easing restrictions on student visas for Iranians. By 2015, half of all visas issued to citizens of the seven countries affected by Trump’s travel ban went to Iranian nationals, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in tuition fees for US academic centers. Iran’s top academic and artistic talents flocked to America, in numbers unprecedented since 1979.
It is this quiet victory that Donald Trump’s executive order threatens to undo.
One of the thousands of students who came here is the Iranian artist Shahrzad Changalvaee, who began in the master’s of fine arts program at Yale University in 2013. Three years later, she found herself captivated by the presidential campaign and joined demonstrations in support of Hilary Clinton. On 20 January this year, Changalvaee, returning to the US from a trip abroad, found a different America than the one she knew.
A timeline of Trump’s travel ban: what's happened, and what's next Read more
Had her plane landed a few days later, she, like hundreds of other Iranian students, would have been turned away at the airport thanks to the president’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.
That this US election did not go as she had hoped was a greater blow to her than most others on campus. It brought back memories of another lost campaign.
Shahrzad and her husband, Iman Raad, a formidable figure on Iran’s graphic art scene, had invested much in the reformist presidential candidate, Mohammad Moussavi who challenged the hardliner incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the disputed 2009 election. Moussavi’s defeat prompted massive street protests, but the brutal crackdown that followed snuffed out the opposition green movement and its hopes for peaceful change.
This was the moment the couple decided to leave Iran. And America, now that student visas were being issued more readily, was the ideal destination.
By opening the doors to disillusioned Iranians, America became home to some of Iran’s greatest talents.
Shahrzad was not drawn to Yale for its prestige: she knew that the university would subsidize her education both with grants and institutional loans. Even with a full scholarship, which she did receive, she still needed more in loans – $35,000 by the end of her two years – to cover various costs.
When the matter of their budget in America had been squared away, the two still had to come up with another hefty sum to get them there. By then, the sanctions had gone into effect and the value of the Iranian rial had plummeted to historic lows.
And before getting to America, they first had to get to an American embassy, which Iran did not have since the hostage crisis of 1979. The couple sold everything they could and scraped all their cash together to cover an avalanche of expenses: plane tickets to a third country to visit an embassy, security and visa application processing fees, tickets to America, and attorney fees.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mountains of Regret and Alas (2012), an artwork by Shahrzad Changalvaee. Photograph: Shahrzad Changalvaee
In 2016, Iranian students in US colleges and universities contributed an estimated $386m to the economy. Among international students currently studying in the US, Iran ranks as the 11th leading source of global scholars. This body of more than 12,000 researchers, medical residents, future lawyers, artists or engineers has only been growing. Those Iranians that become permanent residents or ultimately attain US citizenship (over half a million today) are among the most statistically successful immigrant populations. In America, Iranians lead every other immigrant group in having advance academic degrees and more than half of Iranian-Americans aged 25 and older have, at the very minimum, a BA, almost double the national average, according to the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian-Americans.
For Shahrzad and Iman, the initial encounter with America had come with the anticipated shock and awe. A routine trip to Home Depot before the start of the school year had been astonishing. “I saw things in sizes I had never seen before, and it made me think of so many new possibilities.”
In America, Shahrzad felt different. Not because of her Iranian or Muslim identity – the bitter experience of theocracy had removed any religious affinity – but because of the experiences of the first 10 years of her life: “I was a child of the Iran-Iraq war. The memory of sirens, the fear of bombs were part of who I was in a deeper way than I ever thought possible.”
Another two years in America Shahrzad required an additional visa. An Iranian-American immigration attorney, Reza Mazaheri, an avid art collector and admirer of the couple’s work, filed a request for a change of status for her to an O visa – a special category reserved for individuals of exceptional talent. Mazaheri, who offers his legal expertise in exchange for art work, has represented dozens of Iranians. He believes that Obama, by opening up student visas, ushered a new wave of immigration which has already made a major contribution to the American art scene.
The O and EB1 visas are what many consider America’s secret weapon. “It is how the US has been stealing the best of the best from other nations for years,” Mazaheri believes.
Last December, Mazaheri managed to successfully deploy that secret weapon on Shahrzad’s behalf and secure an O visa for her. But with the ban – and the ongoing legal battle it triggered – her freedom to travel to and from America to show her work will be restricted. Her husband’s student visa will expire in June and unless the ban is lifted, he is unlikely to be able to extend his stay to work here as he had hoped.
The loss to America will be twofold. On one hand is the talent. On the other is the loans, a sum of $70,000 for both, which neither will be able to repay if they are ordered out of the country.
Since the ban has gone into effect, France has already announced a commitment to doubling its admissions of Iranian refugees in 2017. Canada, Australia and northern European nations are also potential destinations for all those whom the US will turn away. It will be difficult for America to retain its status as the first in innovation, if it is no longer the destination for the best and the brightest.
Roya Hakakian is the author of two books of poetry in Persian. Her most recent book in English is Assassins of the Turquoise Palace. She came to America as a political asylum seeker. Follow her @Royathewriter
This story was produced with support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, a nonprofit devoted to reporting about economic inequalityTwo people dead, one wounded in Shooting
La PINE, Ore. - Two people were killed and a third seriously wounded in a shooting Wednesday morning at a Sunrver-area home, Deschutes County sheriff's deputies confirmed to NewsChannel 21.
"There is no danger to the public, and investigators believe all parties in this case are accounted for," Lt. Chad Davis said in a news release late Wednesday afternoon.
Deputies, Oregon State Police and Sunriver police, along with tactical response team and armed vehicle, rushed to the scene in the 16000 block of Mountain Sheep Lane, near Elk Drive and north of State Recreation Road, after the incident was reported shortly after 11 a.m., sheriff's Captain Paul Garrison said
They located a wounded man on the side of the road who had been shot. He was flown by AirLink helicopter to St. Charles Bend with life-threatening injuries, said sheriff's Lt. Chad Davis.
Deputies learned another person was inside the home, possibly the suspect, which is when the agency's Special Operations Team was called in.
They entered and found two adults, both deceased, Davis said. Detectives said they believe one of them could be the suspect, according to Garrison.
NewsChannel 21's Pedro Quintana spoke with a woman who said her daughter moved into the home two weeks ago and was inside when the shooting was reported.
Authorities also confirmed that deputies responded to the same home Tuesday night on a domestic disturbance call.
Neighbors said a resident of the home suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sheriff's office detectives were working at the home with the district attorney's and medical examiner's office and the OSP Forensics Laboratory. Davis said the on-scene investigation is expected to take several hours to complete.A pair of prototype stars could serve as subs for two of Vaillante Rebellion’s drivers in next month’s Six Hours of Nürburgring, due to the clash with the FIA Formula E race in New York City on the same weekend.
Sportscar365 has learned that Filipe Albuquerque and Pipo Derani have been tipped to fill in for Nico Prost and Nelson Piquet Jr. in the Anglo-Swiss squad for the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
While it’s unclear on the exact pairings for the German round, Albuquerque and Derani would join full-season drivers Mathias Beche and David Heinemeier Hansson (No. 13) and Bruno Senna and Julien Canal (No. 31) within the two-car Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 squad.
Team manager Bart Hayden declined comment when asked about their lineup for the race.
Both drivers are taking part in this month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Albuquerque in United Autosports’ Ligier JS P217 Gibson as part of a continuation of his full-season European Le Mans Series effort with the team, while Derani is completing his three-race program with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing in the GTE-Pro class No. 67 Ford GT.
It’s understood both Prost and Piquet were due to skip the German WEC round because of their previous Formula E commitments with Renault e.Dams and NextEV, respectively.
Prost currently sits third in the Formula E title race behind championship leader Sebastien Buemi, who will be forced to miss the double-header New York round because of his factory LMP1 ride with Toyota Gazoo Racing taking priority.
Fellow Toyota driver Jose Maria Lopez, as well as his DS Virgin Racing teammate Sam Bird, will also forgo the New York event in favor of the WEC weekend, with the team’s test and reserve driver, Alex Lynn, set to fill one of those two seats.
Ironically, Lynn too has a full-time WEC ride, which he’ll be forced to relinquish that weekend, in the No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, with Jean-Eric Vergne another driver pulling double duty in both championships this year.
FIA President Jean Todt has made a push for future calendar “harmonization” between Formula One, WEC and Formula E races, in the wake of recent clashes, such as the Nurburgring/New York City conflict that has impacted a half-dozen drivers.On a strip long-renowned for its proliferation of bars, nightclubs and cheap takeaway joints, Valley Chamber of Commerce president Robin Maini said it was hoped the Brisbane City Council funded upgrade would signal a shift to a new era of dining and retail traders. While the mall’s night economy has always flourished, the day economy has lagged, he said. “The daytime economy is about attracting the right tenants so they will attract the right sector of people,” Mr Maini said. “Tourists, business people, people who work in the city, they all go to Emporium, James Street or Gasworks.
“I want them here.” A yet-to-be-named international hotel chain has already been secured to transform the vacant, turn-of-the-century TCB building in the centre of the mall into a four-star boutique hotel, which Mr Maini heralded as a coup for the area. “That in itself is a very big uplift to that mall,” he said. “What that will attract will be the new local restaurants and retailers. Nice restaurants and cafes always want to be near nice hotels.” Inevitably, however, Mr Maini said, the upgrade could spell the end of the tenure of some current tenants.
New aesthetic requirements will be placed on operators following the completion of the project and rents are expected to rise. “We are not trying to get rid of anyone, it’s just the type of businesses we want to operate are going to be ones that attract a different type of consumer during the day,” he said. “The way we have laid out the design during the day is much more conducive to upmarket dining and there is a standardisation with three options for outdoor furniture. “If you have a fast food place that thinks it can get away with cheap plastic outdoor chairs and broken tables, they no longer have that choice. “If you set a standard and they can meet that standard, we will be glad to have them.
“If they can’t they will have to know that someone else will be glad to take that space.” Lilgun Ozturk, whose family operates two takeaway stores in the mall, said it was not the completion of the revitalisation but the construction period that worried her and fellow traders. “We do need it, it should be good because it is really dirty looking,” she said. “But six months it will be closed, its going to be very bad. We all still have rent to pay and we don’t have any other incomes.”
The mall is not expected to be closed during construction works but day traffic is expected to diminish significantly. Oshin Japanese Restaurant owner Isaac Lee echoed Mrs Ozturk’s concerns, saying he was dependent on daytime trade. “The upgrade is okay but I’m worried about during the upgrade,” he said. “They say after the upgrade there will be more business but they can’t guarantee it.”
Mr Lee said he was also concerned the project timeframe would blow out, with the nearby Chinatown Mall upgrade taking nine months. Key features of the revitalisation project include replacing the current brick paver surface with patterned concrete, the installation of a large wire roof structure and the installation of small retail pods in the centre of the mall. Some of the existing trees will also be relocated. One of the primary considerations of the upgrade, Mr Maini said, had always been to gentrify without eliminating the Valley’s creative soul.
So even the name is out. When the project is completed mid-year, Brunswick Street Mall will be no more. In its place will be the Valley Creative District. “The growth of the Valley has been around this one area called the Valley mall, everything is going up around this mall but nothing has happened to this mall,” he said. “The mall is going to be revitalised with a clean and modern look but to keep that culture of creativity.”Wide receiver Tyler Lockett is out for the season. The Seahawks wide receiver suffered a devastating leg injury Saturday during Seattle’s 34-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
“Tyler got hurt today,” head coach Pete Carroll said after the game. “I don’t know the extent of the injury, other than he is going to have to have surgery. Our thoughts are with him. ”
Carroll did confirm that Lockett’s season is over.
Lockett was carted off the field in an air cast and quarterback Russell Wilson was there to witness the horrifying scene.
“There were a lot of guys around him, I realized he was on the ground, and at first I thought it was maybe his head because of how he hit the ground,” Wilson explained. “Then I got close to him and there was blood everywhere near his ankle and stuff, so that was an ugly situation.”
Earning himself a more prominent role in the Seahawks offense as of late, Lockett had two catches for 38 yards before leaving the game. Lockett finished his season with 39 receptions for 559 yards and a touchdown.
Starting running back Thomas Rawls also left the game with a shoulder injury and was unable to return. Alex Collins stepped up in Rawls’ place, logging seven carries for 28 yards on the day.
“He bruised a shoulder,” Carroll told reporters during his press conference. “I thought it was a nice job by Alex coming in. He did a really good job of giving us a spark and helping us out there in the third quarter.”
Carroll does not think the injury amounts to a fracture.
“No, it is not,” Carroll said. “It is a bruise. A bruised shoulder. At least that’s what we know right now.”
Strong safety Kam Chancellor left the game temporarily with a jammed ankle, but was able finish without incident.
Related Earl Thomas tweets he will be back next year"There will be coal burning." Negotiators from around the world produced a four-page climate-change accord (pdf) after some sleep-deprived haggling over the weekend in Lima, Peru, but the agreement could be summed up in those five words.
For the first time, all nations agreed that all nations must have a plan to curb greenhouse gases. That includes not just reducing pollution ("mitigation" in the |
Dance
Date: March 8, 2014
Location: Free Flow Dance Centre, 224 25th Street West Equivocation
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Location: TCU Place - Saskatoon’s Arts and Convention Centre RETHINK 911
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Location: Broadway Theatre Greystone Theatre: Our Country’s Good Date: March 19 - 29, 2014
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Location: TCU Place - Saskatoon’s Arts and Convention Centre Naughty Bingo
Date: March 29, 2014
Location: Free Flow Dance Centre, 224 25th Street WestNorodom Sihanouk (Khmer: នរោត្តម សីហនុ; 31 October 1922 – 15 October 2012) was a Cambodian royal politician, composer, and filmmaker who was twice the King of Cambodia. He was the son of King Norodom Suramarit and Queen Sisowath Kossamak. In Cambodia, he is also known as Samdech Euv (Khmer: សម្តេចឪ, father prince).
Born to the Khmer Royal Family in the French Protectorate of Cambodia, Sihanouk became king in 1941 and remained so amid the Japanese occupation during the Second World War. Post-war, Sihanouk secured Cambodian independence from France in 1953. In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated the throne and formed the political organisation Sangkum, which won the 1955 general election. As Prime Minister, he governed Cambodia under one-party rule, suppressed political dissent, and declared himself Head of State in 1960. Officially neutral in foreign relations, in practice he was closer to the communist bloc. A 1970 military coup ousted him and paved the way for the U.S.-backed Khmer Republic. Sihanouk fled to China and North Korea, there forming a government-in-exile and resistance movement. After the Cambodian Civil War resulted in victory for the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Sihanouk returned to Cambodia, renamed Democratic Kampuchea, as its figurehead head of state. Although initially supportive of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, his relations with them declined and in 1976 he resigned. He was placed under house arrest until 1979, when Vietnamese forces overthrew the Khmer Rouge.
Sihanouk went into exile again, and in 1981, he formed FUNCINPEC, a resistance party. The following year, Sihanouk became President of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK), a broad coalition of anti-Vietnamese resistance factions. This coalition retained Cambodia's seat at the United Nations, making Sihanouk Cambodia's internationally recognized head of state. In the late 1980s, informal talks were carried out to end hostilities between the Vietnam-supported People's Republic of Kampuchea and the CGDK. In 1990, the Supreme National Council of Cambodia was formed as a transitional body to oversee Cambodia's sovereign matters, with Sihanouk as its president. In 1991, peace accords were signed and the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was established the following year. The UNTAC organised general elections in 1993, and a coalition government, jointly led by his son Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, was subsequently formed. In 1993, Sihanouk was reinstated as Cambodia's Head of State and King. In 2004, he abdicated again with his son, Norodom Sihamoni, elected as his successor. He died in 2012.
Early life and first reign [ edit ]
Sihanouk in his coronation regalia, November 1941
Norodom Sihanouk was the only child born of the union between Norodom Suramarit and Sisowath Kossamak.[1] His parents, who heeded the Royal Court Astrologer's advice that he risked dying at a young age if he was raised under parental care, placed him under the care of Kossamak's grandmother, Pat. When Pat died, Kossamak brought Sihanouk to live with his paternal grandfather, Norodom Sutharot. Sutharot delegated parenting responsibilities to his daughter, Norodom Ket Kanyamom.[2] Sihanouk received his primary education at the François Baudoin school and Nuon Moniram school in Phnom Penh.[3] During this time, he received financial support from his maternal grandfather, Sisowath Monivong, to head an amateur performance troupe and soccer team.[1] In 1936, Sihanouk was sent to Saigon, where he pursued his secondary education at Lycée Chasseloup Laubat, a boarding school.[4]
When the reigning king Monivong died on 23 April 1941, the Governor-General of French Indochina, Jean Decoux chose Sihanouk to succeed him.[5] Sihanouk's appointment as king was formalised the following day by the Cambodian Crown Council,[6] and his coronation ceremony took place on 3 May 1941.[7] During the Japanese occupation of Cambodia, he dedicated most of his time to sports, filming, and the occasional tour to the countryside.[8] In March 1945, the Japanese military, which had occupied Cambodia since August 1941, dissolved the nominal French colonial administration. Under pressure from the Japanese, Sihanouk proclaimed Cambodia's independence[9] and assumed the position of prime minister while serving as king at the same time.[10]
As prime minister, Sihanouk revoked a decree issued by the last resident superior of Cambodia, Georges Gautier, to romanise the Khmer alphabet.[11] Following the Surrender of Japan in August 1945, nationalist forces loyal to Son Ngoc Thanh launched a coup, which led to Thanh becoming prime minister.[12] When the French returned to Cambodia in October 1945, Thanh was dismissed and replaced by Sihanouk's uncle Sisowath Monireth.[13] Monireth negotiated for greater autonomy in managing Cambodia's internal affairs. A Modus Vivendi was signed in January 1946 whereby Cambodia was granted full autonomy within the French Union.[14] A joint French-Cambodian commission was set up after that to draft Cambodia's constitution,[15] and in April 1946, Sihanouk introduced clauses which provided for an elected parliament on the basis of universal male suffrage as well as press freedom.[16] The first constitution was signed into effect by Sihanouk in May 1947.[17] Around this time, Sihanouk made two trips to Saumur, France where he attended military training at the Armoured Cavalry Branch Training School in 1946, and again in 1948. He was made a reserve captain for the French army.[18]
In early 1949, Sihanouk traveled to Paris with his parents to negotiate with the French government for more autonomy over Cambodia. The Modus Vivendi was replaced by a new Franco-Khmer treaty, which recognised Cambodia as "independent" within the French Union.[19] In practice, the treaty granted only limited self-rule to Cambodia. While Cambodia was given free rein in managing its foreign ministry and to a lesser extent, its defence, most of the other ministries remained under French control.[20] Meanwhile, dissenting legislators from the national assembly started attacking the government led by prime minister Penn Nouth over its failure to resolve deepening financial and corruption problems plaguing the country. The dissenting legislators, led by Yem Sambaur, who had defected from the Democrat party in November 1948,[21] deposed Penn Nouth.[22] Yem Sambaur replaced him, but his appointment did not sit well with the Democrats, who in turn pressured Sihanouk to dissolve the national assembly and hold elections.[23]
Sihanouk in 1946
Sihanouk, who by now had tired of the political squabbling, dissolved the assembly in September 1949,[24] but opted to rule by decree for the next two years before general elections were held, which the Democrats won.[25] In October 1951, Thanh returned to Cambodia and was received by 100,000 supporters, a spectacle which Sihanouk saw as an affront to his regal authority.[26] Thanh disappeared six months later, presumably to join the Khmer Issarak.[27] Sihanouk ordered the Democrat-led government to arrest Thanh but was ignored.[28] Subsequently, civil demonstrations rallying against the monarchy and the French broke out in the countryside,[29] alarming Sihanouk, who began to suspect that the Democrats had played a complicit role in them.[30] In June 1952, Sihanouk dismissed the Democrat nominee Huy Kanthoul and made himself prime minister. A few days later, Sihanouk privately confided in exasperation to the US chargé d'affaires, Thomas Gardiner Corcoran, that parliamentary democracy was unsuitable for Cambodia.[30]
In January 1952, Sihanouk re-appointed Penn Nouth as prime minister before leaving for France. Once there, Sihanouk wrote to French President Vincent Auriol requesting that he grant Cambodia full independence, citing widespread anti-French sentiment among the Cambodian populace.[31] Auriol deferred Sihanouk's request to the French Commissioner for Overseas Territories, Jean Letourneau, who promptly rejected it. Subsequently, Sihanouk traveled to Canada and the United States, where he gave radio interviews to present his case. He took advantage of the prevailing anti-communist sentiment in those countries, arguing that Cambodia faced a Communist threat similar to that of the Viet Minh in Vietnam, and that the solution was to grant full independence to Cambodia.[32] Sihanouk returned to Cambodia in June 1953, taking up residence in Siem Reap.[33] He organised public rallies calling for Cambodians to fight for independence, and formed a citizenry militia which attracted about 130,000 recruits.[34]
In August 1953, France agreed to cede control over judicial and interior affairs to Cambodia, and subsequently the defense ministry as well in October 1953. At the end of the month, Sihanouk went to Phnom Penh,[35] where he declared Cambodia's independence from France on 9 November 1953.[33] In May 1954, Sihanouk sent two of his cabinet ministers, Nhiek Tioulong and Tep Phan, to represent Cambodia at the Geneva Conference.[36] The agreements signed for Cambodia affirmed the country's independence and allowed it to seek military aid from any country without restrictions. At the same time, Sihanouk's relations with the governing Democrat party remained strained, as they were wary of his growing influence in politics.[37] To counter Democrat opposition, Sihanouk held a national referendum to gauge public approval for his efforts to seek national independence.[38] While the results showed 99.8 percent approval, Australian historian Milton Osborne noted that open balloting was carried out and voters were cowed into casting an approval vote under police surveillance.[39]
Sangkum era [ edit ]
Abdication and entry into politics [ edit ]
On 2 March 1955, Sihanouk abdicated the throne[33][40] and was in turn succeeded by his father, Suramarit.[3] In his abdication speech, Sihanouk explained that he was abdicating in order to extricate himself from the "intrigues" of palace life and allow easier access to common folk as an "ordinary citizen". According to Osborne, Sihanouk's abdication earned him the freedom to pursue politics while continuing to enjoy the deference that he had received from his subjects when he was king.[41]
In April 1955, Sihanouk formed his own political party, the Sangkum, and expressed interest in competing in the general elections slated to be held in September 1955. While the Sangkum was, in effect, a political party, Sihanouk argued that the Sangkum should be seen as a political "organisation", and explained that he could accommodate people with differing political orientations on the sole condition that they pledged fealty to the monarchy.[42]
Sangkum was based on four small monarchist, rightist parties, including the 'Victorious North-East' party of Dap Chhuon, the Khmer Renovation party of Lon Nol,[43] the People's Party[44] and the Liberal Party.[45] At the same time, Sihanouk was running out of patience with the increasingly leftist Democratic Party and the left-wing Pracheachon, as both had refused to merge into his party and had campaigned against him. He appointed as director of national security Dap Chhuon,[46] who ordered the national police to jail their leaders and break up their election rallies.[47] When elections were held, the Sangkum received 83 percent of all valid votes. They took up all seats in the National Assembly, replacing the Democrats, which had until then been the majority party.[48] The following month, Sihanouk was appointed as prime minister.[49]
Premiership (1955–60) [ edit ]
Once in office, Sihanouk introduced several constitutional changes, including extending suffrage to women, adopting Khmer as the sole official language of the country[50] and making Cambodia a constitutional monarchy by vesting policy-making powers in the prime minister rather than the king.[51] He viewed socialism as an ideal concept for establishing social equality and fostering national cohesion within newly independent Cambodia. In March 1956, he embarked on a national programme of "Buddhist socialism", promoting socialist principles on the one hand while maintaining the kingdom's Buddhist culture on the other.[52] Between 1955 and 1960, Sihanouk resigned and retook the post of prime minister several times, citing fatigue caused by overwork.[53] The National Assembly nominated experienced politicians such as Sim Var and San Yun to become prime minister whenever Sihanouk took leave, but they similarly relinquished their posts each time, several months into their term,[54] as cabinet ministers repeatedly disagreed over public policy matters.[55]
In May 1955, Sihanouk had accepted military aid from the US.[56] The following January, when he was in the Philippines on a state visit, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives attempted to sway him into placing Cambodia under Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) protection.[57] Subsequently, Sihanouk began to suspect that the US was attempting to undermine his government and that it was lending covert support to the Democratic party, now without parliamentary representation, for that purpose.[58] On the other hand, Sihanouk developed a good impression of China, whose premier Zhou Enlai, gave him a warm reception on his first visit there in February 1956. They signed a friendship treaty, in which China promised US$40 million in economic aid to Cambodia.[59] When Sihanouk returned from China, Sarit Thanarat and Ngo Dinh Diem, leaders of Thailand and South Vietnam, respectively, both with pro-American sympathies, started to accuse him as pro-Communist. South Vietnam briefly imposed a trade embargo on Cambodia, preventing trading ships from travelling up the Mekong river to reach Phnom Penh, via Saigon.[60] While Sihanouk professed that he was pursuing a policy of neutrality, Sarit and Diem remained distrustful of him, more so after he established formal diplomatic relations with China in 1958.[61]
The Democratic party continued to criticize the Sangkum and Sihanouk in their newspaper, much to Sihanouk's consternation.[62] In August 1957 Sihanouk finally lost patience, calling out Democrat leaders for a debate. Five of them attended. At the debate, held at the royal palace, Sihanouk spoke in a belligerent tone, challenging the Democrat leaders to present evidence of malfeasance in his government and inviting them to join the Sangkum. The Democrat leaders gave hesitant responses, and according to American historian David P. Chandler, it gave the audience the impression that they were disloyal to the monarchy.[58] The debate led to the effective demise of the Democratic party, as its leaders were subsequently beaten up by government soldiers, with Sihanouk's tacit approval.[63] With the Democrats vanquished, Sihanouk focused on preparing for general elections, slated to be held in March 1958. He drafted left-wing politicians, including Hou Yuon, Hu Nim, and Chau Seng, to stand as Sangkum candidates, with a view to winning left-wing support from the Pracheachon.[64] The Pracheachon on their part fielded five candidates for the elections. However, four of them withdrew, as they were prevented by the national police from holding any election rallies. When voting took place, the Sangkum won all seats in the national assembly.[65]
In December 1958, Ngo Dinh Nhu – Diem's younger brother and chief adviser – broached the idea of orchestrating a coup to overthrow Sihanouk.[66] Nhu contacted Dap Chhuon, Sihanouk's Interior Minister, who was known for his pro-American sympathies, to prepare for the coup against his boss.[67] Chhuon received covert financial and military assistance from Thailand, South Vietnam, and the CIA.[68] In January 1959, Sihanouk learned of the coup plans through intermediaries who were in contact with Chhuon.[69] The following month, Sihanouk sent the army to capture Chhuon, who was summarily executed as soon as he was captured, effectively ending the coup attempt.[70] Sihanouk then accused South Vietnam and the United States of orchestrating the coup attempt.[71] Six months later, on 31 August 1959, a small packaged lacquer gift, which was fitted with a parcel bomb, was delivered to the royal palace. Norodom Vakrivan, the chief of protocol, was killed instantly when he opened the package. Sihanouk's parents, Suramarit and Kossamak, who were sitting in another room not far from Vakrivan, narrowly escaped unscathed. An investigation traced the origin of the parcel bomb to an American military base in Saigon.[72] While Sihanouk publicly accused Ngo Dinh Nhu of masterminding the bomb attack, he secretly suspected that the US was also involved.[73] The incident deepened his distrust of the US.[74]
Initial years as Head of State (1960–65) [ edit ]
After several months of poor health, Suramarit, Sihanouk's father, died on 3 April 1960[75] which Sihanouk blamed upon the shock that his father had received from the parcel bomb attack.[72] The following day, the royal throne council met to choose Monireth as regent.[76] Over the next two months, Sihanouk introduced constitutional amendments to create the new post of Head of State of Cambodia, which provided ceremonial powers equivalent to that of the king. A referendum held on 5 June 1960 approved Sihanouk's proposals, and Sihanouk was formally appointed Head of State on 14 June 1960.[77] As the head of state, Sihanouk took over various ceremonial responsibilities of the king, such as holding public audiences[78] and leading the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. At the same time, he continued to play an active role in politics as Sangkum's leader.[79]
Sihanouk with US President John F. Kennedy in New York City on 25 September 1961
In 1961, Pracheachon's spokesperson, Non Suon, criticized Sihanouk for failing to tackle inflation, unemployment, and corruption in the country. Non Suon's criticisms gave Sihanouk the impetus to arrest Pracheachon leaders, and according to him, he had discovered plans by their party to monitor local political developments on behalf of foreign powers.[80] In May 1962, Tou Samouth, Pracheachon's secretary-general, disappeared, and its ideological ally, the Communist Party of Kampuchea, suspected that Samouth had been secretly captured and killed by police.[81] However, Sihanouk allowed Sangkum's left-wing politicians to run again in the 1962 general elections, which they all won.[82] He even appointed two left-wing politicians, Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan, as secretaries for planning and commerce, respectively, after the election.[83]
In November 1962, Sihanouk called on the US to stop supporting the Khmer Serei, which he believed they had been secretly doing through the CIA. He threatened to reject all economic aid from the US if they failed to respond to his demands,[84] a threat he later carried out on 19 November 1963.[85] At the same time, Sihanouk also nationalised the country's entrepot trade, banking sector, and distillery industries.[86] To oversee policy and regulatory matters on the country's entrepot trade, he set up the National Export-Import Corporation and Statutory Board, better known as "SONEXIM".[87] When Sarit, Diem, and US president John F. Kennedy died in November and December 1963, Sihanouk rejoiced over their deaths, as he accused them of attempting to destabilise Cambodia. He organised concerts and granted civil servants extra leave time to celebrate the occasion. When the US government protested Sihanouk's celebrations, he responded by recalling the Cambodian ambassador to the US, Nong Kimny.[88]
In early 1964, Sihanouk signed a secret agreement with North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, allowing Chinese military aid meant for them to be delivered through Sihanoukville's port. In turn, the Cambodian army would be paid for delivering food supplies to the Viet Cong, and at the same time skim off 10 percent of all military hardware supplies.[89] In addition, he also allowed the Viet Cong to build a trail through eastern Cambodia, so that their troops could receive war supplies from North Vietnam. The trail later became known as the Sihanouk Trail.[90] When the US learned of Viet Cong presence in eastern Cambodia, they started a bombing campaign over it,[91] spurring Sihanouk to sever diplomatic ties with the US in May 1965.[90] As a result of this secret agreement, Communist countries, including China, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia, provided military aid to Cambodia.[92]
Continued leadership as Head of State (1966–70) [ edit ]
Sihanouk in 1967
In September 1966, general elections were held,[93] and Sangkum legislators with conservative and right-wing sympathies dominated the national assembly. In turn, they nominated Lon Nol, a military general who shared their political sympathies, as prime minister. However, their choice did not sit well with Sihanouk.[94] To counterbalance conservative and right-wing influence, in October 1966 Sihanouk set up a shadow government made up of Sangkum legislators with left-wing sympathies.[95] At the end of the month, Lon Nol offered to resign from his position, but was ironically stopped from doing so by Sihanouk.[96] In April 1967, the Samlaut Uprising occurred, with local peasants fighting against government troops in Samlaut, Battambang.[97] As soon as government troops managed to quell the fighting,[98] Sihanouk began to suspect that three left-wing Sangkum legislators – Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon and Hu Nim – had incited the rebellion.[99] When Sihanouk threatened to charge Khieu Samphan and Hou Yuon before a military tribunal, they fled into the jungle to join the Khmer Rouge, leaving Hu Nim behind.[100]
Lon Nol resigned as prime minister in early May 1967, and Sihanouk appointed Son Sann in his place.[99] At the same time, Sihanouk replaced conservative-leaning ministers appointed by Lon Nol with technocrats and left-leaning politicians.[100] In the later part of the month, after receiving news that the Chinese embassy in Cambodia had published and distributed Communist propaganda to the Cambodian populace praising the Cultural Revolution,[101] Sihanouk accused China of supporting local Chinese Cambodians in engaging in "contraband" and "subversive" activities.[102] In August 1967, Sihanouk sent to China his Foreign Minister, Norodom Phurissara, who unsuccessfully urged Zhou to stop the Chinese embassy from disseminating Communist propaganda.[103] In response, Sihanouk closed the Cambodia–Chinese Friendship Association in September 1967. When the Chinese government protested,[104] Sihanouk threatened to close the Chinese embassy in Cambodia.[105] Zhou stepped in to placate Sihanouk,[106] and compromised by instructing its embassy to send its publications to Cambodia's information ministry for vetting prior to distribution.[105]
As relations with China worsened, Sihanouk pursued rapprochement with the US. He learned that Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, had expressed a desire to see Angkor Wat. Seeing this as an opportunity to restore relations with the US, Sihanouk invited her to visit Cambodia and personally hosted her visit in October 1967.[107] Jacqueline Kennedy's visit paved the way for Sihanouk to meet with Chester Bowles, the US ambassador to India. To Bowles, Sihanouk expressed his willingness to restore bilateral relations with the US, hinted at the presence of Viet Cong troops in Cambodia, and suggested he would turn a blind eye should US forces enter Cambodia to attack Viet Cong troops retreating into Cambodia from South Vietnam—a practice known as "hot pursuit"—provided that Cambodians were unharmed.[108] Kenton Clymer notes that this statement "cannot reasonably be construed to mean that Sihanouk approved of the intensive, ongoing B-52 bombing raids" the US launched in eastern Cambodia beginning in March 1969 as part of Operation Menu, adding: "In any event, no one asked him.... Sihanouk was never asked to approve the B-52 bombings, and he never gave his approval." The bombing forced the Viet Cong to flee from their jungle sanctuaries and seek refuge in populated towns and villages.[110] As a result, Sihanouk became concerned that Cambodia might get drawn into fighting in the Vietnam War. In June 1969, he extended diplomatic recognition to the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRGSV),[111] hoping that he could get the Viet Cong troops under its charge to leave Cambodia should they win the war. At the same time, he also openly admitted the presence of Viet Cong troops in Cambodia for the first time,[112] prompting the US to restore formal diplomatic relations with Cambodia three months later.[113]
As the Cambodian economy was stagnating due to systemic corruption,[114] Sihanouk opened two casinos – in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville – in January 1969.[115] While the casinos satisfied his aim of generating state revenues of up to 700 million riels in that year, it also caused a sharp increase in the number of bankruptcies and suicides.[115] In August 1969 Lon Nol was reappointed as Prime Minister, with Sisowath Sirik Matak as his deputy. Two months later, Lon Nol left Cambodia to seek medical treatment, leaving Sirik Matak to run the government. Between October and December 1969, Sirik Matak instituted several policy changes that ran contrary to Sihanouk's wishes, such as allowing private banks to re-open in the country and devaluing the riel. He also encouraged ambassadors to write to Lon Nol directly, instead of going through Sihanouk, angering the latter.[116] In early January 1970, Sihanouk left Cambodia for medical treatment in France.[117] Shortly after he left, Sirik Matak took the opportunity to close down the casinos.[118]
Deposition, GRUNK and Khmer Rouge years [ edit ]
On 11 March 1970, a large protest took place outside the North Vietnamese and PRGSV embassies, as protesters demanded Viet Cong troops withdraw from Cambodia. The protests turned chaotic, as protesters looted both embassies and set them on fire, alarming Sihanouk.[119] Sihanouk, who was in Paris at the time, contemplated between returning to quell the situation, and visiting Moscow, Beijing, and Hanoi. He opted for the latter, thinking that he could persuade its leaders to recall Viet Cong troops to their jungle sanctuaries, where they had originally established themselves between 1964 and 1969.[120] Five days later, Oum Mannorine, the half-brother of Sihanouk's wife Monique, was summoned to the National Assembly to answer corruption charges.[121] On that night after the hearing, Mannorine ordered troops under his command to arrest Lon Nol and Sirik Matak, but ended up getting arrested by Lon Nol's troops instead. On 18 March 1970 the National Assembly voted to depose Sihanouk,[122] allowing Lon Nol to assume emergency powers.[123]
(left) visiting Romania in 1972, with Romanian President Sihanoukvisiting Romania in 1972, with Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu
On that day, Sihanouk was in Moscow meeting Soviet foreign minister Alexei Kosygin[clarification needed], who broke the news to him.[124] From Moscow, Sihanouk flew to Beijing, where he was received by Zhou. Zhou arranged for the North Vietnamese Prime Minister, Pham Van Dong to fly to Beijing from Hanoi and meet with Sihanouk.[125] Both Zhou and Dong encouraged Sihanouk to rebel against Lon Nol and promised him military and financial support. On 23 March 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of his resistance movement, the National United Front of Kampuchea (FUNK). He encouraged the Cambodian populace to join him and fight against Lon Nol's government. Khmer Rouge soldiers broadcast Sihanouk's message in the Cambodian countryside, which roused demonstrations rooting for his cause that were brutally suppressed by Lon Nol's troops.[126] Sometime later, on 5 May 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of a government-in-exile known as the Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea (GRUNK), leading Communist countries including China, North Vietnam, and North Korea to break relations with the Lon Nol regime.[127] In Phnom Penh, a military trial convened on 2 July 1970, whereby Sihanouk was charged with treason and corruption in his capacity as Head of State. After a three-day trial, the judges ruled Sihanouk guilty of both charges and sentenced to him death in absentia on 5 July 1970.[128]
Between 1970 and 1975, Sihanouk took up residence in state guesthouses at Beijing and Pyongyang, courtesy of the Chinese and North Korean governments, respectively.[129] In February 1973, Sihanouk traveled to Hanoi, where he started on a long journey with Khieu Samphan and other Khmer Rouge leaders. The convoy proceeded along the Ho Chi Minh trail and reached the Cambodian border at Stung Treng Province the following month. From there, they traveled across the provinces of Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, and Siem Reap. Throughout this entire leg of the journey, Sihanouk faced constant bombardment from American planes participating in Operation Freedom Deal.[130] At Siem Reap, Sihanouk visited the temples of Angkor Wat, Banteay Srei, and Bayon.[131] In August 1973, Sirik Matak wrote an open letter calling on Sihanouk to bring the Cambodian Civil War to an end and suggesting the possibility of his return to the country. When the letter reached Sihanouk, he angrily rejected Sirik Matak's advances.[132]
After the Khmer Republic fell to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, a new regime under its charge, Democratic Kampuchea, was formed. Sihanouk was appointed as its Head of State, a ceremonial position.[133] In September 1975,[134] Sihanouk briefly returned to Cambodia to inter the ashes of his mother,[135] before going abroad again to lobby for diplomatic recognition of Democratic Kampuchea.[136] He returned on 31 December 1975 and presided over a meeting to endorse the constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.[137] In February 1976, Khieu Samphan took him on a tour across the Cambodian countryside. Sihanouk was shocked to see the use of forced labour and population displacement carried out by the Khmer Rouge government, known as the Angkar. Following the tour, Sihanouk decided to resign as the Head of State.[138] The Angkar initially rejected his resignation request, though they subsequently accepted it in mid-April 1976, retroactively backdating it to 2 April 1976.[139]
From this point onwards Sihanouk was kept under house arrest at the royal palace. In September 1978, he was removed to another apartment in Phnom Penh's suburbs, where he lived until the end of the year.[140] Throughout his confinement, Sihanouk made several unsuccessful requests to the Angkar to travel overseas.[141] On New Year's Day of 1979, Sihanouk was taken from Phnom Penh to Sisophon, where they stayed for three days until 5 January, when they were taken back to Phnom Penh.[142] Sihanouk was taken to meet Pol Pot, who briefed him on the Angkar's plans to repulse Vietnamese troops, which had since invaded parts of eastern Cambodia in December 1978.[143] On 6 January 1979, Sihanouk flew to Beijing from Phnom Penh, where he was greeted by Zhou Enlai's successor, Deng Xiaoping.[144] Three days later, Sihanouk flew from Beijing to New York to attend the UN Security Council, where he simultaneously condemned the Khmer Rouge for orchestrating the Cambodian genocide as well as the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia.[145] Sihanouk subsequently sought asylum in China after making two unsuccessful asylum applications with the US and France.[146]
FUNCINPEC and CGDK years [ edit ]
(right) with his son, Norodom Ranariddh, on an ANS inspection tour during the 1980s Sihanoukwith his son, Norodom Ranariddh, on an ANS inspection tour during the 1980s
After the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown, a new Cambodian government supported by Vietnam, the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), was established. The Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, was unhappy[147] with Vietnam's influence over the PRK government. Deng proposed to Sihanouk that he co-operate with the Khmer Rouge to overthrow the PRK government, but rejected it,[148] as he opposed the genocidal policies pursued by the Khmer Rouge while they were in power.[147] In March 1981, Sihanouk established a resistance movement, FUNCINPEC which was complemented by a small resistance army known as Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste (ANS).[149] He appointed In Tam, who had briefly served as Prime Minister in the Khmer Republic, as the commander-in-chief of ANS.[150] The ANS needed military aid from China, and Deng seized the opportunity to sway Sihanouk into collaborating with the Khmer Rouge.[151] Sihanouk reluctantly agreed, and started talks in March 1981 with the Khmer Rouge and the Son Sann-led Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) on a unified anti-PRK resistance movement.[152]
After several rounds of negotiations mediated by Deng and Singapore's prime minister Lee Kuan Yew,[153] FUNCINPEC, KPNLF, and the Khmer Rouge agreed to form the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) in June 1982. The CGDK was headed by Sihanouk, and functioned as a government-in-exile.[154] The UN defeated a resolution to expel Democratic Kampuchea and admit the PRK, effectively confirming Sihanouk as Cambodia's internationally recognized head of state.[155]
As CGDK chairperson, Sihanouk unsuccessfully negotiated, over the next five years, with the Chinese government to broker a political settlement to end the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia.[156] During this period, Sihanouk appointed two of his sons, Norodom Chakrapong and Norodom Ranariddh, to lead the ANS. Chakrapong was appointed as the deputy chief-of-staff for the ANS in March 1985,[157] while Ranariddh was minted to the twin positions of commander-in-chief and the chief-of-staff of the ANS in January 1986, replacing Tam.[158] In December 1987, the Prime Minister of the PRK government, Hun Sen, first met with Sihanouk to discuss ending the protracted Cambodian–Vietnamese War.[159] The following July, the then-foreign minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas, brokered the first round of meetings between the four warring Cambodian factions consisting of FUNCINPEC, Khmer Rouge, KPNLF, and the PRK government over the |
Points site is live and waiting for you. If you've got a DCI number, you can log in right now and set up your account to see how many points you have, what level you've reached, and how many more Lifetime points you need to level up. You can also check out the Planeswalker Points FAQ, which has more details about the system and a bunch of helpful links.
*Your participation in the Planeswalker Points Program including, without limitation, your eligibility, managing your account, getting event invitations and byes, are subject to the terms and conditions of the Planeswalker Points Program Official Terms. Wizards reserves the right to remove points that have been gained fraudulently or remove points as a result of cheating or otherwise disreputable behavior. Please go here for more information.Olympic judo: how Brazil made a Japanese sport its own
Frenchman Georges Mehdi speaks perfect Portuguese, so there's no problem communicating with the ranks of Brazilian judo black belts. But when he gives lessons in Japanese discipline, they don't seem to understand.
"When I start to talk, you must sit," the 86-year-old judo master, who has a rare ninth dan belt, reprimands the more than 100 judokas attending a master class in a Rio de Janeiro gym.
"This is judo, not where you come to laugh!"
Frenchman Georges Mehdi, 86, launched his judo career in Brazil in the early 1950s after arriving in the country when he was about 17 ©Yasuyoshi Chiba (AFP)
Startled, the Brazilians, all adults and many of them instructors themselves, fall silent -- and sit.
Judo, a more than century-old Japanese martial art imbued with notions of discipline, respect and hierarchy, might sound culturally a world away from Brazil, a country so relaxed as to verge frequently on chaos.
Yet Brazil has become a judo powerhouse, with 19 Olympic medals and expectations of more next month when Rio will be the first South American city to host the Summer Games.
How did it happen?
- Exotic roots -
Brazil's world-girdling journey from judo zero to podium regular is as twisted as the most complicated judo throw.
The sport's founder, Jigoro Kano, spread judo to Europe and the Americas around the turn of the 20th century, but Brazil was slow to catch on.
For decades, judo remained largely restricted to the Japanese immigrant community based in Sao Paulo. When Brazil won its first judo Olympic medal in 1972, it was thanks to Chiaki Ishii, a Japanese-born and raised immigrant.
By then, though, the sport was finally going mainstream and another immigrant -- this time a Frenchman turned Brazilian with a love of Japan -- was part of the reason.
Mehdi launched his judo career in Brazil in the early 1950s after arriving in the country when he was about 17, having left behind his hometown of Saint-Etienne and the lingering shadow of World War II.
"I didn't want to stay in France anymore. I was fighting in the streets every day," he said during a break at the master class. "My mother was fed up with me."
Rising rapidly through Brazil's judo ranks and becoming a naturalized citizen, Mehdi became a repeat national champion, even fighting well above his 82 kilograms (180 pounds).
"But then after being Brazilian champion in all categories, I understood that I didn't know anything," Mehdi says. "So I decided to go to Japan."
- Deeper values -
During almost five years under Japanese masters like the legendary Isao Okano, Mehdi says he learned what was really missing back in Brazil -- not so much technique but rather judo's deeper qualities.
"Discipline, education, traditions and being serious. The Brazilians didn't have any of that," he said.
Upon his return to Rio, Mehdi remained one of Brazil's top judokas, winning medals in the 1963 and 1967 Pan-American Games, and became national coach.
With a reputation for strictness and dedication, he introduced modern methods like circuit training and pushed the sport out of the margins, topping up his knowledge with regular visits to Japan.
Today, Brazil is ninth in the Olympic judo medal haul, if you count the Soviet Union. That's far behind the sport's kings Japan, France and South Korea, but very much elite.
At the Rio Games, the judo team hopes to make the most of home advantage, which automatically ensured places in every weight class.
Oswaldo Simoes, a veteran of the 1980 Brazilian Olympic team in Moscow, reckons the men's and women's teams could each get three medals.
"Today judo has become a tradition in Brazil. It's on every corner -- and Georges Mehdi was part of that," said the 63-year-old Simoes, a seventh dan black belt who was a Pan-American champion and now teaches.
- Discipline and Brazilians -
If discipline was the root of Mehdi's success, his purist approach may have also led to his decade-long national coaching and playing career ending in acrimony.
He had a major row with the Brazilian Judo Confederation over what he says was improper behavior during the 1967 World Championships at Salt Lake City.
"I was expelled by the confederation because I was very strict," he said, adding that he still finds "Brazilians are badly brought up."
Afterwards, Mehdi dedicated himself to teaching around the world, but even now his intensity can take his adopted compatriots by surprise.
During the master class, Mehdi, who still has deadly throwing skills despite his age, frequently expressed exasperation.
"When I call you to come, you don't shuffle over!" Mehdi boomed at a black belt. "In Japan you'd never do that. You'd come running. So go back and come properly!"
Vania Benzaquen, a 46-year-old judoka who trains regularly with Mehdi at his club in southern Rio, said, "You go to some academies in Brazil and you'll see people lying on the tatami talking and laughing. Not with him, though."
"He demands we pay attention to detail."
During five years under Japanese masters, Georges Mehdi says he learned what was missing back in Brazil: "Discipline, education, traditions and being serious" ©Yasuyoshi Chiba (AFP)
Rising rapidly through Brazil's judo ranks, Georges Mehdi became a repeat national champion ©Yasuyoshi Chiba (AFP)Birthplace Of Solar Power
Olney, Illinois
You'd think that the birthplace of solar power would be someplace really sunny, like southern California or Florida. Or someplace known for its scientific research, like a university or a tech company. Not according to this plaque. "The first experimental solar power plant was built in Olney, Illinois," it reads, "by H.E. Willsie and John Boyle Jr." -- in 1902! The names Willsie and Boyle are not mentioned in textbooks along with Edison, Tesla, and Westinghouse, which tells you all you need to know about the ultimate non-success of their experiments. And that maybe they really should have built their plant in Arizona.
Interestingly, 1902 was the same year in which white squirrels mysteriously appeared in the town of Olney. Coincidence? Or are Olney's bleached-out nutcrackers the unforeseen result of some sun-boosting experiment gone wildly wrong?
The "Birthplace of Solar Power" is a silly claim if it didn't actually work. Various timelines for solar power go back thousands of years to when people used glass or mirrors to concentrate heat from the sun. The goal was the ability to store solar energy and use it when you need it. After a century of bad descriptions and fanciful drawings of photovoltaic storage devices, Bell Labs tested the first actual usable solar battery in 1954. Seems like it worked; we've seen photos of happy science nerds in sunglasses on the Labs lawn at Murray Hill, New Jersey -- although it does not claim to be the Birthplace of Solar Power.July 30, 2014
DEFCON: Fun
If you like board games and are looking for an intense 1v1 Cold War experience where luck plays a small but not insignificant part, look no further than Twilight Struggle. There’s a good reason it’s #1 on BoardGameGeek. Its simple mechanic belies a deeper strategic richness.
The best synopsis I’ve read is from a BGG review:
Twilight Struggle is a card driven game played over a maximum of 10 turns [each comprised of 6 or 7 rounds]. The game may end sooner (and frequently does).
[It] is fundamentally a game about area control. There are six geopolitical regions on the map: Europe (split into Eastern and Western Europe subregions), Asia (including the Southeast Asia subregion), the Middle East, Africa, Central America, and South America. Within each region are countries that have a stability number, representing how stable the government tends to be.
Having control of countries helps determine whether you have presence, domination, or control of a region, which in turn helps you earn victory points. Within each region, there are a number of battleground countries, which are considered key to the region.
I was hooked from my first play and soon started searching out a resource for learning about the 110 unique cards. I came across the inimitable Twilight Strategy but quickly became overwhelmed by each card page referencing at least six other cards, all unlinked. So I made TwiStrug as a way to learn the cards more readily (hyperlinks!). Then I started thinking about how to optimize the board layout for a smaller screen, which then quickly spiralled out of control into building a playable virtual board because hey, I’m that kind of nerd.
The tool of choice for such an undertaking? React, with a router and other libs of sundry to glue everything together.
React
React components at their core are very simple to reason about. They’re encapsulated objects with properties, state, and a render() method that renders the component. A component’s render() method functions as a template that contains markup and/or other React components.
Component properties should be treated as immutable and are passed in by either the top-level React.renderComponent() function or a parent React component. State is mutable, internal to a component, and shouldn’t be modified from outside. Whenever the properties or state of a component change, React renders the component but only modifies the DOM if anything changed. How? By rendering components to a virtual DOM then efficiently diffing it with the actual DOM, changing only what’s necessary.
Beyond the basics, React components also have events, mixins, and a number of lifecycle methods for fine-grained control.
TwiStrug (codename: “Twist Rug”)
TwiStrug is structured around nested React components. There’s a main React component, TwiStrug, with a router mixed in. This is the entry point for the app and handles all routing and top-level controller concerns.
I use Browserify to bundle almost everything, including card and board data. I’m also using the Browserify transforms coffeeify to compile CoffeeScript, and bulkify which lets us write one-line index modules:
# libs/sum.coffee module.exports = (a,b) -> a + b # libs/index.coffee module.exports = require('bulk-require')(__dirname, ['*.coffee']) # main.coffee libs = require('./libs') libs.sum(2,5) # 7
The application file structure is pretty simple:
views/ React components, each in its own file pages/ Views that represent a url (#/cards, #/board, etc) libs/ A melting pot of classes and utility functions TwiStrug.coffee Main entry point router.coffee Routing mixin for above
The app takes incoming routes and sets the state of TwiStrug to the appropriate key to load a view from /pages. When React detects that change in state, it runs TwiStrug.render() and shows the page. To change pages, just change the state of the main component. Easy peasy.
Virtual Board
When you think about it, game boards are just a physical representation of the state of a game at any given time. When a player moves their token from one place to another it’s like updating a state object in memory (or creating a new immutable state object if that’s your thing). On most physical boards, the state and its display are one and the same. On a computer, they are decoupled. React is a perfect fit for doing a board game because you just have to worry about changing the game state and React will automatically figure out what needs to change to display the board.
State can quickly become unwieldy if it’s scattered hither and yon, so I elected to keep all of the game state in the main board component, Board. I implemented an action history which is an array of objects, each comprised of the new board state and metadata about the state change. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, React makes stepping through the history almost trivially easy. When a user undoes/redoes an action, we just have to grab the state from the history, set Board.state.game and voila, the board is back to where it was.
I designed the board for local play, but a user on BGG suggested that a sharable state through the url would enable remote play. So every time the board state is updated, the url reflects the change. Turns out that the entire board can fit handily into 176 alphanumeric characters ( [0-9a-zA-Z] ): 8 for the game stats (DEFCON, score, turn, etc.), and 168 for the influence points in 84 countries. Whenever the board page is (re)loaded, it tries to get the board state first from the url, then from localStorage. Failing those, it loads the initial state representing a new game.
Board.render() renders sub-components whose properties are comprised of Board.props (country info+positions) and Board.state. None of the sub-components have their own state (with the exception of the dice) which makes things nice and easy to reason about. However, this means that we have to have some way of a child component letting its parent know that an action has taken place, such as moving DEFCON from 4 to 3. The recommended way is for the parent to pass a handler method as a property on the child component.
For example let’s look at what happens when someone interacts with a BoardStatusValue component to move DEFCON from 4 to 3. The arrows each have an onClick handler, which is @props.handleValClick(). This handler is passed in as a property by its parent component, BoardStatus, which in turn is a property passed in from Board. So when someone clicks an arrow in BoardStatusValue, it’s really calling Board.handleValClick(). This system works, and it preserves the idea that components should have no knowledge of their parents, but it would quickly become tedious if we had a dozen such click handlers spread across numerous deeply-nested components. Even so, React is a great choice for representing a stateful system like a board game.
Keyboard all the things!!
I’m BFFs with my keyboard, as any developer should be. Consequently, everything on the TwiStrug board is controllable by keyboard shortcuts, right down to rolling the dice. My favorite part of the whole project has to be how the Influence Placement by Keyboard (IPbK) mode turned out. Here’s a short gif/gfy/webm of a standard USSR setup:
I used the following sequence of keys to record that video:
i // Start (I)PbK mode e // Select (E)urope e // Select (E)ast Germany r enter // +1 USSR in East Germany, confirm p // Select (P)oland r r r r enter // +4 USSR in Poland, confirm y // Select (Y)ugoslavia r enter // +1 USSR in Yugoslavia, confirm esc (or enter) // Exit Europe selection esc (or enter) // Exit IPbK mode
It looks even better without comments or newlines: i e e r enter p r r r r enter y r enter esc esc. I went slowly in the video to demonstrate the system - once you learn the shortcuts it’s quick to do everything on the board.
Card Reference
Not too much to write about for this one. The Cards page component has three stateful parts: sort order, filtering by card id, and a toggle to show the full text of the card. Whenever any of those change from a user interacting with the controls, changing the url, or reloading the page, React updates the page accordingly by sorting and filtering the set of cards and rendering them. Unlike other view layers where you might have to distinguish between the state on page load and in response to user action, a React component doesn’t care. It’s concerned with props and state, that’s it.
Each card has a detail page with a simple component that just renders the data for the card. All of the logic for loading a given card and navigating between the cards is in the router.
Refactoring and Hindsight
views/Board is pretty chunky. The code for IPbK mode should be moved into its own component, as should the board state logic (scattered throughout), which should be moved into a separate model. This would clean up views/Board and get it toward a purer view instead of a viewModel. A React view component with 460 SLoC feels like a code smell in the land of small, composable modules. If there were any candidate for large views, it would be Flux’s controller-views, which might reach larger proportions. Even still, 460 SLoC is a lot for one module, especially in CoffeeScript.
I’m a huge fan of CoffeeScript and use it wherever I can. I didn’t want to give it up to use JSX, so I used the bare React.DOM methods as outlined in a blog post by React developer Vjeux. It works for the most part but I had to straddle the syntactical line between brittle and overwrought, with all of the extra brackets. I’d like to move the return value of each render() method into its own JSX module, and treat it much like a traditional template (Jade, Handlebars, etc). JSX compilation would be handled by a Browserify transform: reactify. Update: @kylematthews turned me on to CJSX and coffee-reactify.
The board state is a structured object, and something like Cortex would be useful. Either that or I should switch the representation of board state from a nice object to its 176-char encoded form and use functions or board model methods to decode/encode when necessary. Either solution would make it easier for React to pick up on state changes and eliminate the few shouldComponentUpdate() methods that I defined (likely a premature optimization).
My React-ion (harharhar)
Interacting with the DOM and keeping it in sync with state in a performant and robust way can be one of the hardest parts of designing web apps these days. The push for true two-way binding and excitement around Object.observe should illustrate this. React saves developers time and headache by treating the DOM as a stateless canvas and re-rendering a component based on its state.
And to top it all off the #reactjs IRC is well populated and the React developers are usually there, willing to lend a hand. I’ve asked a couple of stupid/obvious questions and they were answered fully and without a hint of impatience.
I wouldn’t be surprised if React found its way into the Backbones, Embers, and Angulars of the future. Or dispatching the MVC paradigm entirely, there’s Flux for large sites, or homespun Flux-ish/MVC-ish architectures like that used in TwiStrug for smaller sites.
TL;DR I ♥ ReactTechnically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
Last Week Tonight/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
Stephen Hawking suffers neither pain, nor fools.
Why, he put up with John Oliver for quite some minutes before explaining to him just what an "idiot" he is.
As a scientist, though, he understands ultimate limitations. This is something he discusses at some length in an interview set to be broadcast by the BBC on June 15. It's with Dara O'Briain, who doubles as a comedian and as someone who studied theoretical physics.
It appears that in this interview Hawking reveals some personal information about a life that he describes as, at times, "very lonely."
The Telegraph got wind of a few quotes from the interview. It's one in which Hawking not only discusses some of the darker matters of life, but also his continued hopes.
He reportedly said: "I am damned if I'm going to die before I have unraveled more of the universe." Yes, Hawking still hopes he'll live long enough to, perhaps, win a little money back from those sneaky people who discovered the God Particle.
Hawking has become something of a world figure. But his loneliness stems, he said, from the fact that "people are afraid to talk to me or don't wait for me to write a response."
What a life it must be to have an active, brilliant mind, but not to be able to participate in the world in the same way as others do.
Hawking added: "I'm shy and tired at times. I find it difficult to talk to people I don't know."
Which brought him to the subject of death. He said: "I would consider assisted suicide only if I were in great pain or felt I had nothing more to contribute but was just a burden to those around me."
He continued: "To keep someone alive against their wishes is the ultimate indignity."
Many will have an opinion about this. I fancy no one, however, truly can predict one's decision if such a situation arose.
If only science could catch up quickly enough to eradicate problems such as the one from which Hawking suffers: motor neurone disease.
There's something a touch sad that we have the ability to play games on our phones and wear watches that show us texts, yet we're still behind in ending the suffering of human beings.NCsoft announced at the earning call on the 15th of May that there has not been any changes on the service schedule of Blade&Soul. NCsoft is working hard to have OBT during the first half of 2012 and predicting OBT in June and public service in July.
The 3rd CBT will be closed on the 22nd of May. With considering 3 weeks of OBT and public service on July, it is possible that OBT will start the middle of June.
NCsoft thinks of the launch of Diablo3 as a chance to increase a gaming user pool. The company will try to attract as many gamers as possible within the increased pool.
NCsoft has homework to do as well. The vitality system that was applied during the 3rd CBT period has made a huge controversy among users. The vitality system controls the experience points that users could gain along with playing time. The system is made for casual users. Therefore, complains from hardcore users are extreme now.
NCsoft is carefully looking at the vitality system during the 3rd CBT because they need to re-balance the system somehow before the public service. The goal of Blade&Soul is to attract as many casual gamers as possible, so NCsoft has made the game easy to play.Attention! This news was published on the old version of the website. There may be some problems with news display in specific browser versions.
Canadian Air Force [Decal Included]
RCAF Canadair Sabre CL-13 Mk.5/6, aircraft 23445 of the 444 “Cobra” Squadron,
camouflage created by MightyArrow | Download here!
During the First World War, around 22,800 Canadians joined the British flying services, as a national Canadian air force was nonexistent. Some of them, like William Bishop, William Barker and Raymond Collishaw, scored among the famous fighter aces of the First World War, however any attempts to establish a national air force failed due to a lack of support from the Canadian government. It was not until 1920 that an independent Canadian Air Force was created as a part-time organization, and then in 1924, reorganized as a full department of the armed forces, named the ‘Royal Canadian Air Force’ (RCAF).
Aircrew and groundcrew of a
No. 428 Squadron RCAF Lancaster bomber
Initially, it was largely considered a ‘peace’ and ‘defence operations’ force, with war training being scarce and done so in accordance with First World War tactics. Aviators were trained in short range reconnaissance and artillery spotting, but otherwise, only a small part of the RCAF programme was of military nature, as Canada had little to no interest in armed forces following its involvement in the First World War. The main tasks of the RCAF were thus connected to the "Civil Government Air Operations" programme, responsible for anti-smuggling patrols, protection of forests, and experimental development of engines and lubricants able to withstand the harsh Canadian winters. The RCAF also served as a postal service, with Canadian pilots pioneering mail transport by air. In regards to equipment, most aircraft used by the RCAF in the 1920s were Avro 504 trainers, followed by Curtiss HS-2L patrol flying boats.
In the 1930s, the world was struck with the Great Depression, and Canada was not an exception. Large budget cutbacks caused great reduction in RCAF activities. In the years to follow, when funds were at least partially restored, the RCAF placed a larger emphasis on its military capabilities, as a war with the aggressive Axis forces seemed more and more imminent. Even though efforts were made to prepare the RCAF for war, in 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Canadian air force consisted of only 4000 personnel and roughly 195 aircraft, most of them obsolete and unsuited for combat operations. Preparing this small force for modern war was an enormous task, but the Canadians accepted the challenge.
Using the nation’s vast coastlines, bases were constructed, housing over 300 maritime bombers and fighters, such as Lockheed Hudsons, annakad Hawker Hurricanes. The main task of this force was to protect the Canadian coastline and Allied shipping lines against the threat of German submarines. Eventually, after the fall of France in the spring of 1940, No.1 Fighter Squadron, being the only moder Canadian fighter squadron, was sent to assist the British during the Battle of Britain, along with individual Canadian pilots joining RAF ranks. Canadian men also partook in Commonwealth Air Training, along with pilots from other Allied nations. Training was held on a vast network of training airfields and in over a hundred flying schools across Canada. More than 131,000 pilots were trained on Canadian soil, 70,000 of them being Canadian. The majority of these pilots were then deployed overseas, including in Africa, Burma, Ceylon, India, the Mediterranean Sea, and Malta.
RCAF personnel were trained for all types of aircraft – from transport to heavy bombers.The largest Canadian formation overseas was No.6 (RCAF) Group under Royal Air Force Bomber Command – this group consisted of 14 RCAF bomber squadrons, initially consisting of Vickers Wellington and Handley-Page Halifax bombers and eventually transferring to Avro Lancasters. Twelve RCAF squadrons were serving under the RAF Fighter Command, eventually exchanging their Hurricanes for P-40 Kittyhawks/Tomahawks/Warhawks and Spitfires.
RCAF Lancaster of the 419 Squadron VR-R "Ropey", camouflage created by MightyArrow | Download Here!
During the Second World War, many pilots were able to distinguish themselves. Flight Lieutenant George Beurling was one of the top scoring Commonwealth fighter aces with 31 confirmed kills. Flight Lieutenant Richard Audet also managed to destroy five German aircraft in a single sortie with his Spitfire. As for non-fighter pilots, Flying Officer Kenneth Moore, piloting the B-24 Liberator bomber in anti-submarine roles, sunk two German U-boats in the space of 22 minutes – a feat unmatched by any other pilot.
Two Canadian aviators also received the Victoria Cross, the highest Commonwealth decoration, albeit both were awarded posthumously. The first was awarded to Flight Lieutenant David Hornell, who was able to sink a German submarine despite being heavily damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Hornell sacrificed himself, staying in the cockpit, so that the rest of his crew could bail out. The second Victoria Cross was awarded to Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski, whose bomber was hit and set ablaze. Without any hesitation, Mynarski threw himself at the flames in an attempt to rescue a trapped tail gunner, while the rest of the crew bailed out. With his clothes burning, and the bomber rapidly diving towards the ground, Mynarski was unsuccessful in rescuing the tail gunner, and bailed out at the last possible moment. Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe, and he died a few hours later.
After the end of the Second World War, the RCAF demobilized most of its personnel, with many military airfields being converted for civilian use. After transferring to the jet-era (with Gloster Meteors being the first RCAF jet fighters), the RCAF then assisted United Nations forces during the Korean War by providing logistical support, and eventually by sending its own aerial vehicles. Canada also became a valuable member of NATO in 1951, with No.1 Air Division being deployed in Europe and initially equipped with Canadair Sabres and CF-100 fighters. This formation assisted Coalition forces during the Gulf War (flying CF-18 Hornets at that time), and then remained in Europe until 1992. Since then, the RCAF has participated in many operations, such as the bombing of Yugoslavia, the war in Afghanistan, and Operation ‘Unified Protector’ in Libya. Today, the RCAF is one of the most modern air forces in existence, and is rightfully proud for its rich and long heritage.
Author: Jan "RayPall" Kozák
With an upcoming update, we will add
emblem of the 416th Lynx Squadron :
Decal by Jej 'CharlieFoxtrot' Ortiz and Colin 'Fenris' Muir
How many of you already have the Maple Leaf (RCAF roundel) on your aircraft?
If you still don't have it, jump into the game to unlock it,
it needs only 25 wins to receive one!MNT
CHICAGO (March 20, 2017) – U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bruce Arena has called up San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski to join the team’s ongoing World Cup Qualifying camp. Wondolowski will begin training with the MNT on Tuesday at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif.
Wondolowski’s addition brings the MNT’s camp roster to 26 players ahead of USA-Honduras, presented by Volpi Foods, on March 24 at Avaya Stadium at 7:30 p.m. PT on FS1, Univision and UDN. Four days later, the U.S. travels to take on Panama at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, live at 10 p.m. ET on beIN Sports, Telemundo and NBC Universo. Follow both matches on U.S. Soccer’s official Facebook, Twitter (@ussoccer) and Instagram (@ussoccer) accounts.
Part of the U.S. roster at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Wondolowski is a three-time M.L.S. Best XI selection, two-time Golden Boot winner and won the league’s Most Valuable Player award in 2012. The only player in league history to score double-digit goals in seven consecutive seasons, Wondolowski is off to a strong start again in 2017, recording a goal and two assists in three matches.
Updated Roster by Position (Club; WCQ Caps/Goals):
GOALKEEPERS (3): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids; 33/0), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (10): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo; 33/6), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City; 10/1), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin/GER; 2/0) Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/ENG; 19/2), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca/MEX; 12/0), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana/MEX; 6/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 2/0), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna/MEX; 0/0), Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas; 0/0), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City; 15/3)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 1/0), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 6/0, Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/CAN; 31/5), Jermaine Jones (LA Galaxy; 16/0), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls; 18/2), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 0/0), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers; 3/0), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 5/2)
FORWARDS (4):
Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/CAN; 33/16), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC; 36/13), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 3/0), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0)I only heard about the concept of a basic income for the first time in the last year but immediately loved the idea. I especially loved the overwhelming successes which each trial of it seemed to return. Nonetheless I hadn’t taken the time to consider exactly how such a thing would be funded until today.
First of all – what is a Basic income? It is the idea of replacing a welfare system (which only helps people who are in dire need of it) with a guaranteed basic income for all people regardless of whether they need it or not. This overcomes a number of the problems of welfare (the fact that welfare disincentivizes getting low paying jobs for example). But I won’y waste your time explaining the intricacies of the concept or arguing for it here – it has already been well done elsewhere:
And one final point which sticks in my mind whenever I think of Basic income, is the results of a recent study which found the best way to help people in poverty is actually to just give them cash and let them do with it whatever they want: What Happens When You Just Give Money to Poor People?
Australian Budget, Welfare and Basic Income Cost
There is a lot of attention on the Australian budget atm in Australia and it has motivated me to look into our numbers recently. I found this fantastic breakdown of last years budget: Budget 2013. It tells us that last year we spent just under $400 billion dollars. And roughly $138 billion of that went to Welfare.
A fortnightly payment on Newstart (our jobseeker payment system) is worth about $510. If we take the idea that someone is meant to be able to live on Newstart (and that is debatable), then we’re looking at roughly $255 per week.
If we then pay that amount of money to every single person in the country (22.68m) each week, that will cost the government about $5.8 billion per week, or $300 billion per annum. Nearly the entire yearly budget of Australia, and more than twice as much as the current spending on welfare.
It is a bit more complicated than that of course, because usual basic income systems don’t give the full amount to children, so not everyone would get the entire amount. And there would be some level of overhead – but it would be insignificantly small since there would be very little work involved to ensure the payments are made.
Is It Possible for Australia to Have a Basic Income?
Looking at the numbers as they currently stand, clearly we can’t afford it. I mean, there simply isn’t any way we could cut other expenses nearly enough to be able to afford the $300 billion (minimum) of a basic income. BUT, economics is of course more complicated than that. There are of course ways of increasing government revenue. And there are other ways of keeping the overall cost of the basic income down. As I said above, children would receive less for instance.
One idea which came to mind for cutting the cost is to not actually make it universal, but make it universal for lower income earners. As soon as your income (total including the basic income) reaches a certain threshhold ($60,000 pa? $100,000 pa?) your basic income starts to be incrementally decreased. This in effect acts as a steep tax for higher income earners at a specific level, but the real negative of this system would be that it would probably create more overhead and the need to administer the system. A more reasonable approach would be to leave the basic income as a universal system, but simply increase the tax rate of higher income earners overall. So this no longer makes an ‘effective tax’ out of losing the payment, but just increases the amount taxed in our existing taxation system. This method would also be applied more fairly and universally across all higher income earners than just people at a specific threshhold income.
However, it can be said that income tax has a negative affect on the economy (I would argue that the benefits of removing poverty and the lower class and replacing it with a strong guaranteed middle class) would more than compensate for the cost of a higher taxation – but nonetheless, let us accept that higher income tax may have negative affects. So one suggestion is to implement/increase land tax.
And Finally, it is possible for Australia to over spend and go into debt to fund this. Australia currently has the second lowest debt of all of the OECD countries. Our debt is about 60% of our yearly budget, compared to the UK debt which is almost twice their yearly budget, and the US debt which is roughly 4x their annual budget. Of course debt for debts sake isn’t great – but debt to fund an investment can be the most powerful debt possible. Especially when your debt is charged the sort of interest rate that government debt is charged. (To make this point more sound, if you could borrow or at 5% and lend at 10% – would you rather borrow nothing, $100 or $1 billion? If you answered anything other than $1 billion, then you don’t understand maths.)
Why Do it?
If we’re going to have to increase taxes to be able to do this, it better be worth it right? Well, I think the destruction of poverty in a country is a pretty powerful reason alone to do this. This not only affects the lives of those in poverty, but |
male-centered ensemble, with the boys getting most of the action.
Cook has been on the show since the first episode, joining after the pilot in 2005. Paget Brewster came on board nine episodes into Season 2, replacing original cast member Lola Glaudini. But aside from the Glaudini-Brewster switch and the forced replacement of original lead Mandy Patinkin with Mantegna following Patinkin’s abrupt exit after Season 2, the cast on Criminal Minds has been pretty stable, with Gibson, Moore and Vangness all on board since the pilot.Show full PR text
As a Precaution, BMW to Replace Passenger-side Front Airbags in Model Year 2000-06 3 Series Vehicles.
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 16, 2014 – 7:00am EDT/4:00am PDT... BMW announced today that it has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the company's intent to voluntarily recall all model year 2000 – 2006 BMW 3 Series vehicles, produced between May 1999 and August 2006, to replace the passenger-side front airbag as part of a worldwide recall. Potential problems with the airbag inflator which may rupture in vehicles produced by other manufacturers using similar systems from the same supplier have become evident in rare cases. BMW is not aware of a case involving a BMW vehicle. The replacement campaign is a voluntary precautionary measure that aims at minimizing the risk of faulty airbag activation. The number of potentially affected vehicles in the US is approximately 574,000.
This is a voluntary extension of the recall campaign announced in May 2013. At that time, the supplier stated a production period during which potentially faulty airbag inflators were installed in passenger-side front airbags. Following this, BMW recalled 42,000 3 Series vehicles in the US. The supplier has now extended the production period.
In order to ensure maximum safety of our customers, BMW has decided to replace the passenger-side front airbags in the vehicles from the suggested production period, and additionally as a voluntary precautionary measure, the passenger-side front airbags in all model year 2000 – 2006 BMW 3 Series vehicles equipped with this airbag module. The 42,000 units recalled in May 2013 are excluded from the current replacement campaign.
BMW will notify customers with potentially affected vehicles will be informed by mail. Customers with questions should contact BMW Customer Relations at 1-800-525-7417 or email [email protected].
As a precautionary measure, BMW is replacing the passenger airbags in models of the 3 Series pre-predecessor generation.
Munich. BMW is replacing the passenger airbags on 1.6 million 3 Series vehicles (pre-predecessor generation E46) produced between 05/1999 and 8/2006. Potential problems with gas generators that may rupture in vehicles produced by our competitors using similar systems from the same supplier have become evident in rare cases. BMW is not aware of a case involving a BMW vehicle. The replacement campaign is a voluntary precautionary measure that aims at minimising the risk of faulty airbag activation.
Formally speaking, it is a voluntary extension of last year's recall campaign. At that time, the supplier stated a production period during which potentially faulty gas generators were installed in passenger airbags. Following this, BMW recalled 240 000 3 Series vehicles (E46) of the pre-predecessor generation. The supplier has now extended the production period.
In order to ensure maximum safety of our customers, BMW has decided to replace the passenger airbags in the vehicles from the suggested production period, and additionally, as a voluntary precautionary measure, the passenger airbags in all BMW 3 Series models (E46) of the pre-predecessor generation equipped with this airbag module. The 240 000 E46 units already recalled worldwide last year are excluded from the current replacement campaign.
The customers affected will be informed by BMW. It goes without saying that the costs of the quality measure will be borne by BMW. The rectification of the problem will take about 1 hour.Review: 3.5
Films starring Salman Khan usually have a prerequisite: Keep you brains outside the cinema hall. "Sultan," however, has something different to say: Take care of your heart, because it will well up with emotions.
Yes, this Salman Khan movie does leave a mark, but Salman Khan alone does not get to be the sole earner of the praise. It is divided equally between the story, the screenplay and the direction, with Ali Abbas Zafar being the recipient in all three fields.
Credit also goes to Rameshwar S Bhagat for some really snappy editing that puts us in the thick of the action, and does not let the audience realise — even for a second — that Salman is not throwing or receiving the punches and kicks. He can share that with the stunt-coordinator and the cinematographer, where the work is equally snazzy.
Also, for once, Salman is not the superman he is depicted as the superhero-minus-the-cape he plays in other films. His punches do not instantly fell a giant, although his kushti moves do. Instead, he shows a couple of moments of vulnerability and tenderness that we had started to think had long been lost.
Yet, Salman as Sultan Ali Khan is not the best actor on the screen. His moment does come, however, like the scene where he finally acknowledges his paunch, and by extension who he has become. Anushka Sharma as his love interest Arfa and Kumud Mishra as his coach and her father are somehow way ahead. Even Anant Sharma, who plays Sultan's friend Govind, is worth a mention. Amit Sadh, as the owner of a wrestling competition, is mostly wooden, while Randeep Hooda as the mixed martial arts coach is quite believable.
Vishal Shekhar's music is one of the positives of the film. Although it seems a tad overused at a couple of places, it does provide for a gelling leitmotif for the narration, which never seems to lose pace. Another interesting aspect — again something that is quite unusual for a Salman Khan film — is the exaggeration of the drama. Even the cute scenes at the end with little Suzi Khan of the viral video fame are not mawkish.
[Spoiler Alerts]
Thus, when a badly bruised Sultan finally gets up and faces his symbolical self, it does not seem too outlandish or like a deus ex machina. As an aside, the scene does bear some resemblance to something the funnymen at The Viral Fever had depicted in a video.
So why does such a film not receive full marks? For starters, there are indeed some scenes that could have done with better editing and direction. Also, the logical fallacies get in the way of a very smooth film. For example, how come Sultan is initially so bulked up despite never having worked out? Or how come he is one of the fastest at catching kites despite so much upper body mass, which is traditionally a deterrent for fast runners? And finally, how come he is able to learn wrestling and mixed martial arts in a matter of a month or so, while maintaining no strict diet?
Also, with a runtime of 2 hours and 50 minutes, this film feels like an Ashutosh Gowarikar marathon at times, but only just.
[Spoiler Alerts End]
In the end, "Sultan" is more a sports film than a Salman Khan movie, and the actor deserves a little less flak for his on-screen appearances after this.This article first appeared on VICE UK.
If you've ever spent 15 minutes listening to the same U2 song while on hold to your mobile-phone provider because the 27 people you've spoken to so far have no idea who the hell you are, you'll know all about the throb in the ass that is bureaucracy. Our lives fundamentally suck because of it.
David Graeber—the anthropologist who wrote the international best seller Debt: The First 5,000 years (a book Russell Brand says will "make you cleverer")—argues in his new book, The Utopia of Rules, that we're trapped in jobs created by the ruling classes to feed into their debt-extraction schemes. In other words, we're working dead-end bullshit jobs so that we can be mined for profit. We are the sticky side of the red tape.
Bureaucracy is like society's guiding spirit, except it's more of a Ray Winstone–like figure than Jiminy Cricket. It doesn't always have our best interests at heart. In The Utopia of Rules, Graeber makes compelling, complex arguments about how, beneath its single-mindedness, bureaucracy is metastatic, that it's founded on the threat of force. Refuse to play ball with the police officers, tax auditors, or any other official who supports the big government system of spying and threatening, and basically you'll have the shit kicked out of you—either literally, in the case of armed bureaucrats (a.k.a. the police), or with a crippling fine. Every time you try to escape bureaucracy, it finds you.
Living in a Western capitalist state means spending more of our lives filling out paperwork, re-submitting internet forms, and waiting on hold listening to Bono wailing than our grandparents ever had to. Even if—particularly if—you rely on welfare and spend your life dealing with accountability professionals, who demand you fill out forms, every day, all of the time, to ensure the money keeps coming.
I tracked Graeber down to talk about useless jobs, the rules we live by, and why Christopher Nolan's Batman is just a big fat bureaucrat in a cape.
VICE: What's the problem with people's jobs, then?
David Graeber: People on the street will tell you that they don't really "do" anything in their jobs. In the past 50 years, large firms have begun employing thousands of people in "made-to-work jobs," but you go into these environments and all people do is complain about their work.
This sounds weirdly inefficient, though.
It's precisely what a capitalist society should not do. It feels like someone is out there making up these jobs to keep us employed.
What's a "made-to-work job"?
Between 1910 and 2000, clerical administrative work has gone through the roof—it's something insane like 25 percent to 75 percent of total employment. Bureaucrats, middle management, and pen pushers—these people have nothing to do. When John Maynard Keynes predicted the 15-hour working week back in the 1930s, he didn't really perceive that people would spend 15 hours a week working and a subsequent 35 bunking off.
Like people in the office secretly watching Netflix while their boss is outside having a smoke.
We've got a system that nobody likes and everybody thinks sucks. Nobody ever said that they were excited about filling out a form, and yet, somehow, it grows and grows and people spend more and more time doing it. People in power want people working, even if they're not doing anything. The Federal Reserve says, "How do we create more jobs?" and not "How do we create more jobs that actually do something?" They don't care.
That sounds like hell.
Hell is this place where loads of people spend all their time doing something they don't like doing, that doesn't need to be done, while being obsessed with the idea that somebody else is getting away with doing less admin than they are. But that's reality.
Surely there's some value to be gained from work?
Society tells you that labor makes you a better person, that you're not a proper adult unless you're slaving in a job you hate. And that anybody who doesn't do that is a deadbeat and a rotten scrounger.
Uh oh.
What jobs ultimately now come down to is a hyper-fetishism of paperwork. We trick ourselves into thinking the value comes from the money and not the work that got you there. For a Marxist, this is the oldest trick in the book.
Life isn't that simple, though.
Then the next problem is then this weird logic that the more unpleasant the work, the more redemptive it is. Even having useful work becomes a problem.
Useful work?
When a job's unpleasantness is valuable, then anything that makes another job worthwhile is irritating. Why do people resent teachers, for example?
Because they don't have to sit in front of a computer all day on PowerPoint?
But they serve an obviously useful social function. Most people feel like they're doing total bullshit all day. Teachers get to teach kids—that's real work.
Does this explain why people in the city get paid six figure salaries and artists live off boiled cabbage?
It's almost as though the more your work benefits other people, the less you get paid for it. Obviously there are some exceptions, though, like doctors.
Why?
People are being bought off. Large corporations are raking in such huge amounts that they create these meaningless bureaucratic jobs to redistribute some of the loot, who'll then be on their side.
"Society tells you that labor makes you a better person, that you're not a proper adult unless you're slaving in a job you hate."
This sounds a bit conspiratorial.
Take the Elephant Tea Factory in Marseille as an example. I went to visit it. They had recently sped up the teabag production by 25 percent, so profits went way up. So what did they do? Did they expand? No. Did they hire more workers? No. Did they give the existing workers a raise? No. They hired middle management. So, there used to be 100 workers and the boss, but now there's 100 workers, the boss, and 25 guys in suits wandering around with nothing to do. They had no actual purpose, so eventually they came up with this idea to move the whole factory to Poland, where labor is cheaper, and fire all the workers.
It's the rich fucking over the poor, then.
The unemployed then end up keeping all those people who won't employ them employed, by running around applying for jobs, filling out paperwork, registering on websites, and taking phone calls.
Christ. Can we blame the banks?
In the 1970s, the top layer of corporate bureaucracies switched sides. They gave up their allegiance to the workers for profit-making. A bank executive will always defer a shit rule by saying, "It's government regulation." But if you investigate how that regulation gets written, you'll discover that the banks actually write it. They make up rules they know we can't follow and then tell us it's our fault when we break them. In 2009, JP Morgan Chase announced that something like 87 percent of their profits came from fees and penalties.
People breaking bureaucracy and being fined for it?
Precisely. The entire system is designed to fuck you. That's the basis of JP Morgan Chase, the largest company in America. The US is a really bureaucratic society that just doesn't want to admit it.
David Graeber, left, at a rally for immigrant rights in Union Square. Image via Wikimedia Commons
OK, say we're 50 years from now, this moment. What's happening?
Research investment has changed. Flying cars are scrapped. They say to hell with going to Mars. All this space age stuff is done. Money moves elsewhere, such as information technology. And now every intimate aspect of your life is under potential bureaucratic scrutiny, which means fines and violence.
What happens if you step out of line?
Bureaucratic societies rely on the threat of violence. We follow their rules because if we don't there's a chance we'll get killed. A good way to think of this is through libraries.
Libraries?
Say you want to go get a book by Foucault from the library describing why life is all a matter of physical coercion, but you haven't paid an overdue fine and therefore you don't have a currently valid personal ID. You walk through the gate illegally. What's going to happen?
A smacked bottom?
Men with sticks will eventually show up and threaten to hit you.
Wait. This actually happens?
Yeah. Check out the UCLA Taser incident in 2006. They Tasered him, told him to get up, then Tasered him again.
What's the point in that?
The point is bureaucracy. They don't care who he is or why he's there. It doesn't matter who you are. You just apply the same rules to everybody, because that's "fair."
But if you're at the top of the bureaucratic tree, those rules don't apply.
Bureaucracy provides an illusion of fairness. Everyone is equal before the law, but the problem is it never works like that. But to advance in a bureaucratic system the one thing you CANNOT do is point out all the ways the system doesn't work the way it's supposed to. You have to pretend it's a meritocracy.
In your book you talk about the latest Batman movie. Why?
In a cartoon, comic world, anyone who is imaginative is a danger. This is the ultimate message of the superhero genre. The only characters in superhero flicks that are really imaginative are the bad guys, because they've got a vision.
But that's why people like them.
Superheroes are the most unimaginative creatures, ever. Bruce Wayne can do anything, but chooses to round up gangsters. He could create cities out of mountains or solve world hunger.
So he's basically a super-bureaucrat?
Exactly. He upholds something that sucks and lives by consumption. Batman is imaginative with cars, clothes, and houses, but imagination must be relegated to realm of consumption. This is bureaucracy. Express yourself in our terms, and don't let it get into politics or madness will ensue.
Follow David Graeber on Twitter.School buses. (iStock)
A Florida school board will pay $600,000 to settle a stranger-than-fiction case involving a principal who hypnotized dozens of students, including three who died shortly after being put under, according to the Herald-Tribune newspaper.
George Kenney, the well-liked principal of North Port High in Sarasota County, was known for his interest in hypnosis. He hypnotized anxious students to help them relax and anxious athletes to help them perform better.
School district officials warned Kenney not to hypnotize students unless he did so as a demonstration in psychology classes. But he continued to hypnotize young people outside of class with parent permission, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
And some families said the sessions helped. As the Herald-Tribune reported in 2011:
Brett Wilson, the father of North Port senior Casey Wilson, said Kenney’s hypnosis has helped his son relax when shooting free throws on the basketball court and taking tests. Kenney did not charge for the numerous sessions with Casey, Wilson said. “We basically worked with him on a focus-type of thing, on foul shooting and anxiety,” Wilson said. “He would sit with him and relax him, and say things like, ‘See yourself making a free throw.’ It worked wonders. And his test scores have come up on the ACT.”
But on April 8, 2011, 16-year-old Wesley McKinley was found dead in a vacant home near his family’s house. Kenney admitted to hypnotizing the teenager three times, including the day before McKinley committed suicide.
Within a matter of weeks, an investigation had been launched, and Kenney had admitted to hypnotizing not only McKinley but more than 70 other students and staff. Two other students who had been hypnotized by the principal had also died.
Marcus Freeman, 16, died in a fatal car accident in March 2011 after he hypnotized himself using techniques he learned from Kenney, according to the Herald-Tribune. And in May of the same year, Brittany Palumbo, 17, hanged herself; Kenney had hypnotized her to help her deal with test anxiety.
Kenney was placed on administrative leave in 2011 and was eventually charged with two misdemeanors, including practicing hypnosis without a license. He pleaded no contest, served a year of probation and gave up his teaching license, according to the Herald-Tribune. He now runs an inn in North Carolina, according to the inn’s website and online records. Kenney did not respond to a phone call and an e-mail seeking comment.
In 2012, families of the deceased students each filed a wrongful-death civil suit against the school board, alleging that school officials had failed to do enough to stop Kenney from hypnotizing students.
Each family will each receive $200,000 under the settlement approved Tuesday by Sarasota County’s school board, the Herald-Tribune newspaper reported. The school board members are “just happy to put this behind them,” their lawyer Art Hardy told the paper.
A lawyer for the families of the deceased teens told the Herald-Tribune that they hadn’t sued the school district for money, but to ensure that the school district would be more vigilant in the future. “It’s something they will never get over,” said the lawyer, Damian Mallard. “It’s probably the worst loss that can happen to a parent is to lose a child, especially needlessly because you had someone who decided to perform medical services on kids without a license. … He altered the underdeveloped brains of teenagers, and they all ended up dead because of it.”
There is no clear link between hypnosis and suicide. But hypnotizing someone with underlying mental health issues can cause problems, the Tampa Bay Times reported in 2011:His five years as a student at Sandy Hook Elementary school were uneventful. In middle school, his teachers described him as having a “positive attitude,” and being “eager to succeed.” And even when things began to change for Adam Lanza in the eighth grade, when his strange behavior prompted his mother to drive him to the emergency room for an evaluation, the 13-year-old still seemed relatively normal. No one would have guessed that, seven years later, Lanza would return to Sandy Hook to carry out what is now one of the most well-known rampage shootings in history.
Social scientists who have tried to explain what provokes mass shooters like Lanza have failed. Predicting a rare event such as a mass shooting is a difficult task. And preventing one—something mental health professionals have been recently charged with—is even harder. The problem is that while many shooters show signs of mental illness years before they commit their crimes (i.e. Lanza’s episode of strange behavior that prompted his mother to drive him to the emergency room), most mentally ill people do not become shooters. In fact, those with mental illness are more frequently victims of violence than perpetrators of it.
Investing in increased access to mental health treatment is critical not because it would prevent mass shootings but because, conversely, it would help protect people with mental illness from others’ violence and from suicide. While only about four percent of community violence is attributed to the mentally ill, over 90 percent of people who commit suicide have mental illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released its annual report on violent death in America. In 2010, the most recent year for which it tabulated data, a total of 15,781 violent events led to 16,186 deaths. Most of them—63 percent—were suicides.
It is tempting to say that we can rearrange the pieces of a shooter’s past to form a set of clues leading to the atrocity. Indeed, many reporters who covered the atrocity in Newtown suggested that Lanza’s teachers, family and friends should have seen the warning signs; should have acted before it was too late. Journalists who have investigated Adam Lanza’s past wrote of neighborhood rumors that Lanza’s mother had spoken to a local religious official about sending her son for psychological help; some describe a sketch Lanza allegedly drew depicting people being shot. But a thorough criminal investigation of the family’s home found only a series of harried emails Lanza’s mother had written to family members in which she wrote of being afraid her son shared the “genetic” problems from which she suffered.
Advocates, politicians and most recently the Obama Administration have argued that the way to stop rampage shootings is to increase access to mental health services. The only reason no one spotted Lanza, they say, is because he was not being seen by a mental health professional. The story of Aurora shooter James Eagan Holmes, who had contact with three medical professionals, should firmly disabuse any of that notion. For although he showed signs of mental anguish (and was seeking help), none of his family, friends, or mental health professionals identified a single clear sign that he would open fire on a movie theater filled with innocent people, killing 12 and wounding 70. “In retrospect we tend to make the link much clearer than it appears looking forward,” says University of Pittsburgh psychiatry professor Edward Mulvey. “Based on our work so far, we are not going to get a whole lot better at predicting whether or not a particular person is going to do this at a particular time.” Experts say they lack the tools to predict future rampage shootings. In fact, they say, they don’t even know what such tools—if they exist at all—would look like. “It would be great if we just had a checklist we could go down and say, ‘Well, he did this and this and this,’ but we don’t,” says Case Western Reserve University professor of applied social sciences Daniel Flannery.
While the idea that we would be able to pick out potential rampage shooters is troubling, there are other factors, too, that make doing so nearly impossible. First, most rampage shooters commit their crimes between the ages of 18 and 25, the period when most behavioral changes occur and the time when mental illness tends to materialize. “A lot of adolescents and adults are dealing with these issues. Just because they are doing these things doesn’t mean they’re going to engage in a horrible act,” says Mulvey. Second, mass shootings remain relatively rare: the likelihood of dying in a rampage shooting in 2012, the deadliest year for mass shootings in a decade, was one in 3 million.
Implicit in the notion that mental health professionals should be able to identify potential mass shooters is the idea that people with mental illness are more likely to kill than those without mental health issues. Statistics say otherwise. In a 2001 study of 1,200 newly admitted prisoners in which two-thirds had either a major mental or substance abuse disorder, Queens University professor of community health Heather Stuart found that prisoners with a mental disorder not related to substance abuse accounted for three percent of violent offenses. This finding supports a 1994 study by Duke University professor of psychiatry Jeffrey Swanson in which he found the rate of violent events attributable to people with mental illness was about four percent. Stuart and Swanson have identified a host of factors other that mental illness that are far more accurate predictors of violence, including substance abuse, which she says has an association rate of about 34 percent. “If we cured all mental illness tomorrow,” says Swanson, “96 percent of our violence problems would not be solved.”
The real reason we should support mental health services is not to prevent violence against others, but to prevent stigmatization and suicide. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide has increased each year since 2000. Ninety percent of those who commit suicide have mental illness. Media portrayals that focus solely on the mental illness of a mass shooter threaten to do just the opposite. In a study of people’s responses to typical media coverage of mass shootings, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health professor Emma McGinty found that reading coverage in which a shooter was described as mentally ill heightened people’s negative attitudes towards those with mental illness. Although nearly all news media depictions of mass shootings highlight the shooter’s mental illness, they fail to include some very important facts, McGinty says. “News stories very rarely mention that most people with serious mental illness are not violent. They also very rarely mention that over 95 percent of gun violence does not have anything to do with mental illness.”
Without their weapons, shooters Lanza and Holmes would have been powerless to act. Similarly, the nearly 50 percent of the Americans who commit suicide every year would be unable to do so without access to a handgun. While Flannery, Mulvey, Stuart and McGinty differ in their opinions about how to address mental health services, they all agree on one thing: access to guns increases the likelihood of violence. “The more accessible firearms are the more likely a person committed to doing an act will do it,” Flannery says. Perhaps the real solution to decreasing violence in the community—both in cases where people harm others or themselves—is reducing access to guns.Looking for news you can trust?
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As Hosni Mubarak clings to CEDES! power in Cairo and the US figures out what to do with its Middle East ally, critics all over the world are looking askance at America’s estimated $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Egypt. ProPublica blogger and MJ alum Marian Wang recently laid out how US aid gets distributed—and who benefits from it the most—in the region. But besides some fancy tanks and attack jets, what’s it buy, exactly? Well, among other things, it purchased some Freedom. That’s the name of the Egyptian presidential yacht—a storied steamer that Hosni Mubarak reportedly takes out just a few times a year, and that’s so big it dwarfs the gauche ocean cruisers of every US billionaire, from Larry Ellison and Paul Allen to Steve Forbes and the Gettys. And according to US military investigators, money from Congress keeps Mubarak’s Freedom ship chugging along.
Built in 1865 by another Western power as a gift for another Egyptian ruler (in this case, the United Kingdom and the Khedive Ismail), the Freedom (Al-Horria in Arabic) ranks as the fifth-largest personal yacht in the world at 478 feet long. In 1999, the US Navy gave approval for a chunk of the congressional military aid to buy Egypt a bigtime Freedom upgrade. The cash had been part of a larger US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) fund, meant to buy and maintain old American frigates for Egypt’s modest fleet. But the Freedom works rankled at least one official involved with the deal, who tipped off the Department of Defense’s inspector general. The DOD’s investigators published their findings in a 2003 report (PDF):
From March through December 1999, the Contractor used $645,480 to provide services and materials to replace five sets of boiler tubes on the Presidential Yacht. In April 1999 and May 1999, after the Contractor inspected the Presidential Yacht, Contractor personnel removed asbestos and cleaned the fireroom. Also in May 1999, the Contractor shipped insulation and brick to Egypt from the United States. In August 1999, the Contractor also shipped five sets of boiler tubes from the United States to Egypt. Six Contractor boiler technicians worked on the Presidential Yacht and charged over 8,100 hours between May 1999 and December 1999.
The DOD concluded that expenses might have run even higher, because “NAVSEA included the work on the Presidential Yacht with other non-specific expenses. Work descriptions were often ambiguous, and additional work may have been completed outside our review period.” Yet investigators ultimately concluded there was no wrongdoing: “While work on the Presidential Yacht appears to fall outside the overall intent of FMF and the Contract, those actions are not directly prohibited.”
Why not? Because according to Mubarak’s government, Freedom isn’t his private property: It’s a “training vessel” operated by the Egyptian navy, and US workers justified the expense as “an opportunity to provide on-the-job training to three Egyptian workers.” Not everyone was convinced. “Navy officials who saw the ship identified it as a museum piece and a pleasure boat of state used mainly for Presidential parties,” the DOD investigation reported. Nevertheless, given the centrality of America’s strategic relationship with Egypt and Mubarak, the matter was dropped, and aid went on without interruption.GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Ramallah correspondent for Al-Jazeera International resigned Wednesday, Ma'an has learned.
Nour Odeh was the English-language network's first reporter in the occupied Palestinian territories. She joined in 2006.
Odeh declined to comment on her departure. Al-Jazeera International did not return calls.
Al-Jazeera has faced loud criticism from the Palestinian Authority over its publication this week of 1,600 leaked PLO documents from over a decade of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials. On Monday, rioters vandalized the network's Ramallah office before police intervened. No one was hurt.
Odeh received praise for her reporting of Gaza, which was highlighted when the Qatar-based network won the Monte Carlo Television Festival's 2008 Golden Nymph award for Best 24-Hour News Programme.
Before Al-Jazeera, she presented for the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation, a satellite service based in Ramallah, and the now-defunct Ramattan TV in Gaza, where she served as chief editor.About a decade ago, I read an article in The Onion, "U.S. Offers PlatinumPlus Preferred Citizenship". Apparently, Tim Geithner did too, because from 2007-2011, this is the policy framework that he designed and executed, first as President of the New York Federal Reserve, and then as Treasury Secretary. Now, unequal democracy is not a new story, in many ways it's systemic and goes back hundreds of years. But what we're going to see in part this week is how Geithner deserves special recognition as sort of this decade's champion of making this system more explicit and entrenched.
What we're going to see this week, when the Government Accountability Office releases a more detailed version of an audit of the Federal Reserve's actions during that period, is more details on how this system worked. So let me give you some context on what the Fed bailouts meant, the details to match the persuasive message of the protesters in Zuccotti Park and around the world.
This is first and foremost a political story. It's a story of how bought government has changed what it means to be a citizen. So if you haven't sign our petition yet at www.GetMoneyOut.com, I hope this convinces you to do so.
The overall stats of the effects of the crisis are clear - median American pay has dropped by 10% since 2007, but on the high end, the rich have never been more powerful.
I'm not interested in a sob story about inequality, I want to talk about what Geithner *did*, structurally to bring about this situation. We're all aware of the two tiered political system in which protesters can be run over by police scooters but marauders in suits are put on the President's jobs council to chuckle nervously at Occupy Wall Street. But behind the political inequality lies a new order of credit allocation. Tim Geithner created a two-tiered monetary system, a kind of money they have which you can't get. He wasn't alone in doing this. Financial institutions spent hundreds of millions of dollars influencing federal officials to coalesce a bailout while politicians treated them as a special class of super Americans. But he more than anyone else in the crisis period was the central figure in the creation of our current aristocratic monetary order.
Let's start with the two types of money.
In late 2008, there were two types of people who had huge debts and depreciating collateral. Both types accrued their debts through the subprime mortgage crisis. Homeowners with fixed mortgages sat on rapidly depreciating homes in neighborhoods rife with foreclosures. Once the music stopped, they couldn't borrow against their homes at all, but if they wanted to get credit through credit cards, the interest rate could be upwards of 30%. This is sad, but it's not inherently immoral. It's what happens in a typical financial panic. At the time, bankers also had depreciating assets - they owned subprime mortgage debt, and they had fixed obligations as well. But if they wanted to borrow, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury made sure that they could as much credit as they wanted, against whatever collateral they had, for basically nothing. For instance, the Fed accepted almost $500 billion of CCC rated junk as collateral in loans. In other words, if you had a suburban tract home in the Inland Empire with a mortgage and a home equity line of credit, you were out of luck. But if you owned the debt on the home equity line of credit on that same suburban tract home home, you could have easily gone to the discount window or one of the emergency lending facilities and gotten cash with basically no interest charged.
In Group One are millions of Americans. In Group Two are Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and big American banks, European banks like Dexia, and a whole set of others who had access to the Fed, like the the Bank of Libya, and the wives of Wall Street titans (who had set up special purpose vehicles to take advantage of Fed lending). If you lost your job in 2009, too bad. If you had some savings at the bank or you are a retiree that relies on fixed income bonds, good luck getting more than 1% on your money. But if you were a hedge fund titan who realized that Bernanke had put a taxpayer guarantee against the entire banking system, you were swept up in high stock market returns from 2009-2010.
Sometimes this was even explicit; Geithner created one program in 2009, called the Public-Private Investment Program. Under this program, investors would buy toxic assets, but the government would protect them against much of the downside risk with public funds. In a deal with Citigroup, the Federal Reserve and Treasury took a little less than $300 billion of downside risk on "ring-fenced" bad assets. Oddly, there was no list of the assets when the deal was drawn up, that list would be created later. This is the equivalent of telling a friend if he lends you $25,000 now and you don't pay him back, you'll give him some of your random stuff, whatever you have lying around, later.
While these institutions were pleading with federal officials for bailouts, they were filling their coffers with campaign contributions and paying millions to swarm Capitol Hill to convince officials to bail them out.
And it worked.
During this same time period, Citi Group, which received $300 billion in tax dollars from the United States Treasury, spent more than approximately $13 million to influence lawmakers. Goldman Sachs spent $9 million on buying lawmakers in 2008.
And yes, there are individual scandals, like the government paying out a hundred cents on the dollar for credit default swaps that Goldman Sachs bought from AIG. That was simply a cash award to Goldman. There was Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan pawning off $30 billion of crappy Bear Stearns assets on the New York Federal Reserve, even as he sat on the board of the New York Federal Reserve. And there are the absurdly corrupt aspects of the bail |
purpose is to reveal the story of the fishing cat, of which there are fewer than 10,000 left in the world, and the cause of its demise: the rise of shrimp farming. Her goal is to bring awareness to those of us buying and eating shrimp from Thailand of the actual impact of that decision. Let's compare the carbon footprint of Heim's travels to the existing carbon footprint of the entire shrimp farming industry -- it is minuscule in comparison. Let's then consider the change in buying habits made by people learning about the impacts and who then decide not to purchase farmed shrimp from Thailand anymore, to protect the remaining habitat of the fishing cat (as well as the habitat and livelihoods of local people, which the industry is destroying as well). The carbon emitted to bring about awareness to reduce the over all carbon footprint of the entire industry seems well worth it. Spend a little, save a lot.
The same goes for photographers producing images of the impacts of mining, of oil production, of factory farming, of deforestation, of industrial fishing, of overfishing coral reefs, of poaching, of an almost endless list of ways we are harming the planet while remaining ignorant.
Seeing the world as it really is
Conservation photographers travel in order to reveal what most of us would never otherwise see. J. Henry Fair's aerial photographs (pictured above) of the pollution run-off from oil fields, mining and other industrial activities are jaw dropping and show us the scope of the impact. Most of us will never travel to conflict mineral mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, yet the minerals pulled from the mines end up in the electronics we use every day. Mark Craemer shows us the conditions under which the miners -- who are essentially slaves -- labor to bring the minerals to the surface. These photographers, and many others, travel so that we don't have to in order to make better decisions about how we interact with the world.
Ansel Adams once said, "It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." This still rings true today, but we must not only fight our own government to save the environment, but our own ignorance of how our actions in one location affect the lives and well being of humans and other species half a world away. That is why conservation photographers, despite a carbon footprint, are desperately needed.
"Can we have a true democracy in the absence of photojournalism, be it for war, environment or social justice? The answer is no," states Mittermeier. "Democracy hinges on having an educated, well-informed society. The job of the conservation photographer is to bring back stories that otherwise are too easy to ignore. The murder of a tiger, the sleazy dealings of greedy corporations, the poisoning of a river or the theft of timber, wildlife, and our planet’s biological wealth are all too easy to ignore until a brave photographer shines a light on it and turns it into news."
Is not always the case that important conservation stories require a photographer to travel to remote and dangerous locations, but it is almost always the case that they must travel to some extent -- sometimes short distances and sometimes to the other side of the planet -- to cover stories that need telling. Does this work and all the globe-trotting it entails make a conservation photographer selfish?
"On some level that commentator you mentioned is right. I think what I do is selfish. Being a conservation photographer is my life's passion," says Heim. "There is nothing else that I would want to be, and I am going to find a way to do it no matter what. I do this because more than anything, I want the animals and places and people, myself and loved ones to thrive on this planet, and we all need help. Some people choose to do that by working in a non-profit, or leading a local trash pickup at a park. I choose to do it through photography. The fact that our planet harbors life and we get to be a part of it is beyond the most incredible thing you can imagine. So in that sense, yes, I am glad to say that I choose a selfish profession."
Witness: Defining Conservation Photography Feature from iLCP on Vimeo.A Muslim mother verbally abused at a Melbourne playground and ordered to stop her child from playing with others is among dozens of attacks against the Islamic community in recent weeks.
It is one of at least six incidents nationally in which a Muslim mother has been abused, either in front of her children or while heavily pregnant, that appears on a list of abuse being compiled by Muslim community leaders.
Overall there have been 30 recorded attacks, mainly on women wearing the hijab – in the three weeks since anti-terror raids swept Sydney and the feared Islamic State stepped up their threats.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay has heard anecdotal reports about Muslim members of the Melbourne community becoming the object of abuse in a heightened terror environment.COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKRC) - The owner of a northern Kentucky reptile shop is in some trouble night for taking an alligator to a daycare.
Agents with the Department of Agriculture raided "Captive Born Animals" outside Columbus. They took six large pythons and five more snakes from the home of Terry Wilkins. Agents said the snakes were not registered and in poor health.
The investigation started after Wilkins took a python and an alligator to a day care. Investigators said people weren't supposed to be handling exotic animals like those.
If that name rings a bell it's because Wilkins also owns a reptile shop on Monmouth Street in Newport. In 2015, one of his pythons wrapped around him and bit him. Police had to take the snake off Wilkins, who was unconscious.
Wilkins claimed he was knocked unconscious when he slipped and hit his head on the floor after the snake bit him.Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week.
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Civil rights activists, voting rights groups and Democratic leaders across the country—most notably Bill Clinton—have denounced the spate of new voting restrictions passed by Republicans since the 2010 election. Ad Policy
But this important topic didn’t come up in any of the presidential debates, and President Obama has been reluctant to weigh in on the controversy (although Michelle Obama gave a stirring speech at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation gala in September about the right to vote).
So it was refreshing to hear Jay Leno, of all people, ask Obama about “voter suppression” on The Tonight Show last night. Leno spotlighted an ad campaign in Pennsylvania (which he wrongly labeled as Colorado), where the state asks voters to “show it”—photo ID, that is—even though the fine print notes that “voters will be asked, but not required, to show an acceptable photo ID on Election Day.” (The Pennsylvania ACLU has asked the judge who blocked the law to halt the misleading ads).
Obama’s response:
It’s a problem. Now the Justice Department handles all these cases, so I can’t weigh in on any particular state. Here’s one thing I know: that throughout our history, our country’s always been stronger when everybody’s had a voice. It took a long time to make sure the franchise expanded to everybody. But we should be thinking about ways to make it easier for folks to vote, not to make it harder for folks to vote. That’s why this early voting is really terrific. In Iowa, I think 25 percent of the people have already voted. In Ohio, folks are already voting. In a whole bunch of states—Florida, Colorado—people can already vote, and that’s especially important for people who don’t have as much flexibility on the job. If you’re a factory worker and you’ve got to punch a clock and maybe your shift is one where you’ve got to be there right on time, you’ve got to take a bus to get to work, it just makes it tougher. So now people can vote [early] and we want to encourage everybody, regardless of who you’re voting for, make sure to take advantage of it, and find out if you can exercise early voting in your state.
(The exchange begins at 2:10.)
Obama’s Justice Department has rightly opposed new discriminatory voting laws, such as voter ID laws in South Carolina and Texas, early voting cutbacks in Florida, and racially regressive redistricting maps in Texas, under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The federal courts have sided with DOJ, refusing to preclear Texas’s voter ID law and redistricting maps, Florida’s early voting limits in five counties subject to Section 5, and South Carolina’s voter ID law for 2012. Overall, courts have blocked ten major voter suppression laws passed since 2010.
The Obama campaign has also successfully fought new voting restrictions in court, winning a major victory in Ohio to restore early voting three days before the election. The latest data shows the Obama campaign out-performing its early voting numbers from 2008 in Iowa, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.
Yesterday, the Obama campaign released a new ad highlighting the Florida recount—an election decided by 537 votes—as a reason why Obama supporters shouldn’t sit this election out.
Voter suppression has reared its ugly head not only in Florida but in other crucial battleground states. The fight back against such efforts is now of the utmost importance. “This is the movement of our era,” Michelle Obama said last month, “protecting that fundamental right not just for this election, but for the next generation and generations to come.”
For more on the fight to preserve democracy, check out how undocumented immigrants are using grassroots activism to influence this election.In a reissue of The Mismeasure of Man in 1996 Stephen Jay Gould wrote, “May I end up next to Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius in the devil’s mouth at the center of hell if I ever fail to present my most honest assessment and best judgment of the evidence for empirical truth” (p. 39). So we definitely know where to find him.
We have known this for some time, but a recent study nicely nails it down (see “Study Debunks Stephen Jay Gould’s Claim of Racism on Morton Skulls,” NYTimes, June 14, 2011). Samuel George Morton, who died in 1851, had measured skulls from around the world and found race differences in skull size. Gould claimed that he had remeasured Morton’s skulls and found that Morton had “unconsciously” falsified the measurements to fit his “racist” preconceptions that Africans had smaller brains. But now
physical anthropologists at the University of Pennsylvania, which owns Morton’s collection, have remeasured the skulls, and in an article that does little to burnish Dr. Gould’s reputation as a scholar, they conclude that almost every detail of his analysis is wrong.
Gould’s claim that Morton “unconsciously” made his measurements fit his preconceptions was always the stuff of intellectual chutzpah. Gould had no reason to believe that Morton had any preconceptions at all, and indeed the new study states that Morton had no interest in intelligence (IQ wasn’t even invented until the early 20th century) but simply wanted to study human variation in order to determine if God had created the races separately. In fact, only 2% of Morton’s measurements were inaccurate, and the inaccuracies actually went against the hypothesis of brain size differences. On the other hand, Gould never actually measured Morton’s skulls and his reanalysis of Morton’s data ignored some subgroups and made errors of calculation. Most damningly,
Dr.[Jason E.] Lewis, the lead author, said that on checking the references for some of Dr. Gould’s accusations he found that Morton had not made the errors attributed to him. “Those elements of Gould’s work were surprising,” he said. “I can’t say if they were deliberate.”
I will hazard a wild guess that they were deliberate. As one of the authors, Ralph Holloway, notes,
I just didn’t trust Gould. … I had the feeling that his ideological stance was supreme. When the 1996 version of ‘The Mismeasure of Man’ came and he never even bothered to mention [an earlier study by a University of Pennsylvania undergraduate, John S. Michael] I just felt he was a charlatan.
In Chapter 2 of Culture of Critique (p. 34ff) I mentioned Gould’s failure to cite Michael’s work along with several other obvious indications of scholarly fraud. The first duty of a scholar is to at least deal with the available data, but Gould completely ignored 25 years of research showing a moderate (~.40) correlation between brain size and IQ; he also ignored factor analytic research indicating IQ was much more than a statistical artifact, as Gould claimed. (Gould’s reissuing of Mismeasure was timed to combat the influence of The Bell Curve which had been published in 1994.)
Obviously, seeking the truth about IQ and brain size was never a goal for Gould. The chapter also details Gould’s Jewish identification, his concern for Jewish issues, and his roots in the Jewish-Marxist subculture that was such a major part of the mainstream Jewish community when Gould was growing up.
Sadly, for those of us who don’t believe in Hell, Gould will never be properly punished. His reputation as a brilliant intellectual will live on. A defender of Gould, philosopher Philip Kitcher, states “: “Steve doesn’t come out as a rogue but as someone who makes mistakes. If Steve were around he would probably defend himself with great ingenuity.” Kitcher obviously has very high standards for what constitutes a rogue. I have no doubt that Gould would defend himself with a deluge of showmanship (his public lectures were a three-ring circus of half truths and falsehoods uttered with a supreme sense of self-confidence). Nor do I doubt that his defense would be eagerly embraced by the intellectual left and the media for whom truth has always been irrelevant.
Finally, it’s noteworthy that the other major intellectual villain of Chapter 2 of Culture of Critique has also been exposed as producing false data. Franz Boas’s famous study purporting to show that skull shape changed as a result of immigration from Europe to America was a very effective propaganda weapon in the cause of the anti-racialists. Indeed, it was intended as propaganda. Based on their reanalysis of Boas’s data, physical anthropologists Corey Sparks and Richard Jantz do not accuse Boas of scientific fraud, but they do find (pdf) that his data do not show any significant environmental effects on cranial form as a result of immigration. They also claim that Boas may well have been motivated by a desire to end racialist views in anthropology:
While Boas never stated explicitly that he had based any conclusions on anything but the data themselves, it is obvious that he had a personal agenda in the displacement of the eugenics movement in the United States. In order to do this, any differences observed between European- and U.S.-born individuals will be used to its fullest extent to prove his point.
And yet, the intellectual left will continue to sleep comfortably, realizing that the record of scientific malfeasance (also apparent in the work of the Frankfurt School and psychoanalysis) will not threaten their hegemony in the academic world and the media. What we will not see are articles and op-eds in prestigious media highlighting research on race differences in brain size and the links between brain size and IQ.
It should come as no surprise that science has become politics—the theme, after all, of Culture of Critique. The intellectual, media and political elites are completely corrupt, their position maintained by power and propaganda, the high points rigorously policed to prevent non-orthodoxy. We live in a dark age.Clayton Bolger, with his children Lachlan (5 y old) and Alyssa (6 y old) (both with autism), is excited of potential benefits from a major breakthrough in the understanding of autism. Picture: Marie Nirme
RESEARCHERS have for the first time identified two biologically different strains of autism in a major breakthrough being compared with the discovery of different forms of cancer in the 1960s.
The findings, to be announced at an international autism conference in Perth today, are seen as a key step towards understanding the causes of autism and developing effective treatments as well as a cure.
The findings bring hope that the communication, socialisation and other difficulties that autistic children experience can be tackled more easily and earlier.
Read Next
Researchers from the University of California Davis's MIND Institute in Sacramento began the Autism Phenome Project in 2006. They have been studying the brain growth, environmental exposure and genetic make-up of 350 children aged between 2 and 3 1/2 years, and have so far found two biologically distinct subtypes of autistic brain development.
One group of children - all boys - had enlarged brains and most had regressed into autism after 18 months of age; another group appeared to have immune systems that were not functioning properly.
Throughout the 1960s, researchers identified different forms of cancer - for example, specific to the breast, lung and skin - which led to a better understanding of their causes and ultimately improved the manner in which they were treated.
Clayton and Rhona Bolger's two children - Alyssa, 6, and Lachlan, 4 - have been diagnosed with autism. Mr Bolger, of the Perth suburb of Maddington, said any help was welcome.
"To be able to knock some of the barriers down, almost circumnavigate them before they happen - like socialisation and communication - if those barriers are down before they even get to school or a peer group, that would be amazing," Mr Bolger said.
Psychiatry professor David Amaral, who led the MIND Institute's longitudinal study, said the findings could lead to more individualised treatment. "The ultimate goal is when a child comes into the clinic, rather than saying you just have autism, to be able to say you have autism type A, or type B, or type C," Dr Amaral said.
"And then based on that description, we would know whether there is a different treatment profile that we should recommend to the families.
"As an example, if a child has an immune form of autism, it may be that what we want to do is manipulate their immune system rather than trying something else that may be related to synaptic functions in the brain."
Families were currently presented with a vast array of treatments without necessarily knowing which worked.
"But if we can give them more information about what exactly is the causal process for their child's autism, then we can focus in on that and hopefully have a more productive intervention," he said.
Dr Amaral will present his team's research to the Asia Pacific Autism Conference today, in front of some of the world's leading autism researchers. He predicted there would be many more biological subtypes of autism identified just as there were many forms of cancer. "If we were trying to cure all cancer at the same time, it would be hopeless," he said. "Well, the same is true for autism. My guess is that there just isn't going to be a single diagnostic marker for autism - there's going to be a whole panel."
Bruce Tonge, emeritus psychiatry professor at Monash University, agreed that many subtypes of autism were likely to emerge.
"It has been for some time known that at least for some children with autism, their brains grow too rapidly in the first couple of years of life and then plateau out," Professor Tonge said.
"So further refinement of that knowledge will be important. Currently, a number of people are also looking for other possible environmental contributing factors, and the interaction between the environment and a person's immune system might be an interesting possibility there."jeremy kerley
Jeremy Kerley's contract extension with the Jets calls for a $3 million signing bonus. (William Perlman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
FLORHAM PARK
— The
earlier this week locked wideout Jeremy Kerley into a contract extension. What follows are the details, according to a league source. Kerley is in the fourth and final year of the rookie deal he signed after being drafted in the fifth round out of TCU in 2011. His new contract,
, has a max length of four years, from 2015 to 2018. It includes a $3 million signing bonus and $5.4 million in guarantees, though no portion of the deal is guaranteed beyond the 2015 season. The annual breakdown in base salaries is as follows: • 2015: $2 million • 2016: $2.5 million • 2017: $3 million • 2018: $3.5 million The terms are similar to the deal wideout Andre Roberts struck with Washington this offseason, which was for four years with $5.25 million guaranteed and a $4 million signing bonus, per overthecap.com. But Kerley's contract also includes $500,000 in annual incentives based on passes caught. The max value, should Kerley play through till the end of the contract, is approximately $15.4 million, or slightly less than
. But with the incentives the deal could potentially be worth as much as $17.4 million. Oh, here are the annual cap hits for the Jets: • 2015: $2.6 million • 2016: $3.1 million • 2017: $3.6 million • 2018: $4.1 million
Dom Cosentino may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @domcosentino. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.I recently put together a small service to help produce a table seating plan, which was also a good chance to try some genetic programming. Before continuing, I should point out that there are already plenty of excellent software packages designed for this which is much more mature and fully featured, such as Perfect Table plan however, that’s never really the point.
Initially, the Clojure backend was a really simple library containing the table planning evolution code along with a single API endpoint wrapped in the Liberator library. The frontend was a really single page app written in Clojurescript and Om app (Om is a Clojurescript interface to React.js) and didn’t really do anything except that to save writing persistence backend functionality, it allowed the user to configure tables, guests and save them to the browsers local storage.
This was all great as the front-end was a single page app and was really lightweight, except that the backend was providing a single API POST endpoint. Even though my host for personal projects, Digital Ocean, is very reasonable from a cost perspective, it seems ludicrous to be maintaining (startup scripts, deployment automation, continuous delivery pipeline etc) and running a JVM process for a single endpoint that is so close requiring not a huge amount to run.
Luckily, Amazon recently announced their new AWS service, API Gateway, which promised server-less APIs so I thought I’d see if I could provide the API more easily and cheaply.
Although you can run both Clojure and Clojurescript on AWS Lambda (AWS Lambda Clojure guide), I had recently seen this excellent post about using Clojurescript on AWS Lambda, which linked to a cljs-lambda plugin and template for lein.
I had expected the Clojurescript version to start up more quickly (based on the node runtime) than the Clojure JVM equivalent and as AWS Lambda is charged based on the number of requests, time consumed, and memory used this seemed like an optimal choice. Without a JVM to start up, a no-op Clojurescript lambda seemed to run consistently at about 20ms.
As a minor word of warning for anyone using cljs-lambda within a VMWare host shared folder, the Lambda zip creation fails consistently, so better to use the VM storage.
The cljs-lambda plugin comes with some handy tooling to deploy a version of your lambda with a single command:
lein cljs-lambda deploy
The lambda exposed method is disarmingly simple, mine looks like this:
(ns tplambda.core (:require [cljs-lambda.util :refer [async-lambda-fn]] [tplambda.table-planner :as tp]) (:require-macros [cljs.core.async.macros :refer [go]])) (def ^:expose evolve (async-lambda-fn (fn [{:keys [popsize generations tables people]} context] (go (tp/evolve popsize generations tables people)))))
My Clojure table planning namespace is probably a detailed for another day, but crucially worked almost entirely correctly when compiled as Clojurescript once I’d removed the ratio literals. Once deployed, you can see your newly created lambda method from the AWS Console:
You can then test it via the console, logs also will be output to AWS Cloudwatch and will tell you the duration of the invocation and the memory used.
At this point, if you’re happy with the way it is running, you can create an API endpoint, simply by clicking on the API endpoints tab:
And then adding your API Endpoint:
If you created your AWS API Gateway endpoint as anything but open, you will likely need to create an API key:
You can test the endpoint via the AWS Console, or if you prefer to check it yourself, you can make curl requests to test the endpoint and attach your API Key as a header using x-api-key.
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "x-api-key: APIKEY" -X POST -d "{\"json body\": \"goes here\"}" https://my-api-id.execute-api.region-id.amazonaws.com/test/mydemoresource
You might also need to enable CORS for my endpoint so that the Om front-end could make requests with cljs-ajax directly to the endpoint.
Unfortunately, the Clojurescript version of my table planning function seems to run approximately 70 times slower than the JVM hosted variant. I haven’t tried profiling it yet, but with an overhead of approximately 1400ms per invocation, there’s enough overhead to trial a JVM Clojure version instead.
So, was it cheaper?
Assuming 250,000 invocations in a given month and some moderate data transfer, this currently equates to roughly $3.62 per month. Considering that you can get a 1 vCPU, 512Mb Digital Ocean instance for $5 per month, it’s not cheap. It does however save you a lot of the admin overhead, but as with all AWS Services, you will really want to ensure that you properly estimate your usage fees before committing to any publicly accessible use.
Futher links.If you happen to be driving through Independence, Calif., and you stop for lunch or gas or to admire the historic courthouse, you may get to wondering about this curious little town in the shadow of Mount Whitney at the southern end of the arid Owens Valley. Who lives here? Who founded this place? What, exactly, is the story? Your guidebook provides at most a sentence or two. But if you make your way to a compact cinder block building on North Grant Street, you will find answers—and almost certainly more than you bargained for.
You have probably been to a place very much like the Eastern California Museum. Maybe the one-room museum in Whitefish, Mont., home of the "fur fish" created by a whimsical taxidermist. Or the Benton County Historical Museum in Philomath, Ore., where you can step inside a WWII era phone booth. Or the Museum of Moab in Utah, with its 11-foot dinosaur skeleton replica, an Anasazi basket, and an incubator invented by a local doctor, among other items. The tiny, overstuffed museum with a quirky array of artifacts is a fixture in many small towns.
At the Eastern California Museum you might see a long, slender chuckwalla hook, once used by local Indians to pry lizards from rock crevices. A set of dentures fashioned from coyote teeth. A collection of birds' eggs nested in cotton. A portrait of a kimono-clad woman, painted on drywall at the nearby Manzanar internment camp and discovered decades later in a miner's shack. Oral histories typed on onionskin. A flapjack turner. A venerable "ear spoon and probe," the purpose of which you don' t want to spend much time thinking about.
The Eastern California Museum is idiosyncratic, richly evocative, and a bit of a mess. But places like this are among the grassroots glories of U.S. culture. Of our country's 16,000 museums, 75 percent are considered "small," meaning they operate with fewer than five paid staffers. "People think you have to have a big city, a big museum, to have anything worth going to," says Janice Klein, chairperson of the Small Museum Administrators' Committee of the American Association of Museums. "But small museums absolutely have the bulk of wonderful stuff and the stuff that is important locally. The biggest challenge is to help the public understand the incredible value of these places."
Which we don' t. We provide scant public funds, if any, to this patchwork of eccentric museums while relying on them to preserve our heritage; often, their doors are kept open by unpaid octogenarians, and their collections are at the mercy of the elements.
Perhaps the most daunting issue facing the average small museum today is the need to properly preserve its collections. In 2005, Heritage Preservation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, D.C., surveyed 30,000 libraries, archives, and museums holding everything from antique sound recordings to furniture. The findings were depressing: Fifty-nine percent of the collections had been damaged by light, 53 percent by moisture. Twenty-six percent of the institutions had no way to protect their artifacts from the depredations of temperature, humidity, and light.
At the Eastern California Museum, museum specialist Beth Porter stashes items in two empty old houses and in stacks around the museum. "The gal who does the safety evaluation every year comes in and about has a stroke," she says. " ‘At least can you get under your desk [if there's an earthquake]?'she asks. I say, ‘No, because there are artifact boxes down there.' " When the roof began to leak into a storage closet, Porter rigged up a makeshift drainage system. "I' m up on a ladder, wet to my shoulders," she recalls. "I have 19th-century Shoshone baskets, duplicates of our oral histories, you name it, stored back there, and water is pouring in."
Many of the irreplaceable photographs on display—a vintage close-up of an Indian woman lunching on piñons; a long-ago Paiute wash-day—were taped or tacked to poster boards in the 1970s. Are the materials archival quality? "You don' t want to know," says Porter. "We' re dealing with displays that are antiques themselves."
In most countries, museums are founded, funded, and operated by the government. Not so in the United States, where museums, especially small ones, have typically been launched by individuals or civic organizations and sustained by the donations—of cash, artifacts, and time—of ordinary citizens. This model has given rise to a wealth of exuberant aggregations of miscellany that reflect the people who put them together. "All the thoughts come from within," says H. Ray Harrington, a longtime volunteer at the Gold Nugget Museum in Paradise, Calif. "We have no pressure from the state, and that's great. When we have an idea, we can act on it." Every April the museum puts on its Gold Nugget Days, featuring a parade, the crowning of the Gold Nugget Queen, a best-dressed dog contest, and a donkey derby, among other events.
The flip side of this freedom, however, is a never-ending cash crunch that threatens the core mission of many small museums: to preserve and present local history. The Eastern California Museum receives funding from fiscally challenged Inyo County; but in the 1980s, the museum was temporarily shuttered. "We sweat bullets every year at budget time," says Porter.
Other institutions, such as the Kalispell, Mont., Museum at Central School, run by the Northwest Montana Historical Society, get no tax money at all; they rely on donations and gift shop sales. Grants are hard to come by. "They tend to go to the big guys," says Director Gil Jordan, who applied for a state grant to build a natural history exhibition last year but was passed over. "The two biggest museums in Montana got $150,000 apiece in the last grant cycle. They got all of it. There are over 200 museums in Montana, and the rest of us got nothing."
As with many small museums, the engine that keeps Central School running is its volunteer corps: forty men and women, most retired, who would cost the museum $100,000 a year if they were paid employees.
Heroic though this may be, it leaves the museums vulnerable. "Volunteers are wonderful, and we couldn' t work without them," says Janet Petersen, director of the Emery County Pioneer Museum in Castle Dale, Utah. "But if they don' t want to come in, they just don' t show up." Petersen had to close the museum last year because no one came to staff it. The county now funds one part-time employee.
One solution for overextended small museums may simply be to start saying no. Many of these institutions feel obligated to keep every item that comes through their doors and to display it, if possible, however helter-skelter the results. "We' re buckling under the weight of our collections," says Salt Lake City small-museum specialist Brian Crockett. "Putting things together in a way that gets others to see the point of the collections, that's where the meaning is derived. Maybe you' ve seen one china set from a Mormon pioneer on display: How are you served by seeing 30?"
He might be talking about central Utah's Fairview Museum, run almost exclusively by volunteers in their 70s and 80s who can frequently be found in the museum's foyer piecing quilts that they sell to raise money. The museum opened in 1966 after two local men bought the town's abandoned schoolhouse and put on display some of their more intriguing—and less intriguing—possessions. "Then," says docent Maridean Johanson, "they told everyone in the valley they' d be glad to get their things."
Clearly they meant it, for the museum now displays, among thousands of apparently unedited odds and ends, a Maori apron, a half-dozen vintage sewing machines, three spinning wheels, a loom, braided rugs, flour boxes, quilts, butter churns, a massive wooden bed once "owned by Heber and Florence Jensen," a boulder signed by Kit Carson, a Dutch cup and saucer "brought across the plains by Sarah Jones," crocheted bedspreads and bolsters, handmade luncheon cloths, scarves, card-table covers, collars, doilies, jabots, a tattered silk floral dress "said to have belonged to one of Brigham Young's wives," baby bonnets, gray enamelware pots, rolling pins, a pink alabaster model of the Taj Mahal, and a bowl of homemade soaps "perfectly preserved for 40 years by Abbie Clement Taylor."
From the sheer mass of artifacts you get a feel for the material culture and values of Fairview's pioneers and equally for the descendants who have proudly preserved that homemade soap. On the other hand, you could leave this astonishing warehouse of a museum with only the vaguest sense of why and how Fairview was founded—a fascinating story, if you can somehow piece it together.
Compare the jumble at Fairview to the more selective approach the Homesteader Museum in Powell, Wyo., has taken. In 2002, after a local man donated the "genie-style" nightgown his wife had worn on their 1940s honeymoon, Director Rowene Weems gathered undergarments from the museum's collection, put out a call to borrow any antique corsets and nightgowns that might be hiding in nearby attics, and staged the popular Undressing the West exhibit. The museum has since put together shows on shoes, hats, weddings, and the 1950s. Focused exhibits like these tell a story that the average visitor can readily digest. And, by taking artifacts on temporary loan, says Weems, the museum isn' t responsible for storing and preserving them until the end of time. When the show is over, they go back to their owners.
But can even clever displays of objects compete for attention in today's culture of iPods, video games, and high-definition television? On a December morning, a volunteer at Kalispell's Central School sounds the massive bell that used to hang in the local firehouse, for the benefit of a group of middle school students. They are whispering, jabbing at each other, giggling—doing everything but paying attention. "A lot of these buildings are still here," the docent says as they approach a series of spectacular photographs of Kalispell's streets and storefronts back in the era of enormous cars and men in hats. Each crack and fissure in the macadam is starkly visible; the smudgy clouds are palpable, revealing a Kalispell that is both recognizable and utterly irretrievable.
This young audience couldn' t care less. Well, kids will be kids. But don' t we all increasingly expect our museums to entertain us? Just to look at pictures, or at an invitation to Kalispell's last public hanging, can seem flat without prompts—an audio clip, a film, a dramatic bit of writing—telling us how to feel.
Deep-pocketed new museums offer just that. Take the brilliant, year-old Tillamook Forest Center east of Tillamook, Ore., owned by the Oregon Department of Forestry, which features state-of-the-art exhibits on woodland history and a film about wildfires during which the scent of smoke wafts through the theater. You don' t have to work very hard to extract the |
abuse allegations you can imagine.’
Another source said: ‘The sexual abuse that the peer has been accused of is extremely worrying. The allegations are harrowing and must have affected the vulnerable boys significantly in later life.
‘It is becoming clear there is a problem with historic sex abuse in Parliament and the police have to be allowed access to all the information needed to investigate these allegations.
'It is beginning to look like Westminster is above the law. It is important that these allegations are investigated thoroughly.’
The shocking development comes as the Home Office last night said that it would appoint a senior legal figure to carry out a fresh review into how a dossier alleging paedophile activity at Westminster in the 1980s was handled by the department.
The Prime Minister last week ordered further investigation after it was revealed the Home Office lost or destroyed a potentially explosive dossier given to Home Secretary Sir Leon Brittan by the late campaigning Conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens.The day that we all love to dread is finally here; love because who doesn't love a holiday? And dread because every single one of China's 1.3 billion citizens certainly do love a holiday. It also means the hard realization of those Sunday work days, which if there truly was a god, would never exist. Best yet, 2018's calendar has been announced a full three weeks ahead of last year's release – someone in the Bureau of Time Management and Arbitrary Holiday Allowance is getting a promotion this year!
New Year's Day 2018: New Year's comes early this year, with our three-day holiday starting on Dec 30 and riding through to Jan 1, back to work on Tuesday. No make-up days.
Spring Festival/Chinese New Year: The usual seven-day affair of travel hell is this year accented with not just a pre-Sunday (Feb 11) but also a post-Saturday (Feb 24) make-up day for good measure.
Qing Ming Festival: The three-day Tomb Sweeping Fest kicks off on Apr 5 and finishes with a lovely makeup Sunday, Apr 8.
May Labor Day: Start the three-day May holiday with a nice Saturday workday (Apr 28) and then ride it out till the following Tuesday (May 1).
Dragon Boat Festival: 2018's Dragon Boat Festival falls a whole month and a half later than 2017's, and makes for a relaxing three-day holiday Jun 16-18, with no make-up day in sight.
Mid-Autumn Festival: Mid-Autumn Festival is not quite so forgiving, with a weekend and a Monday off (Sep 22-24) masked as a three-day holiday.
October National Day: Then comes the year's second Golden Week but not before you've toiled through a six-day work week, Sep 29 and 30 acting as a make-up buffer before the long run of Oct 1-7, a total of seven days off.
And with that, it's best to get planning your holidays and booking your tickets before they disappear before your very eyes. Roll on 2018!
Image: the BeijingerInterview with Dr. Swee Ang Chai
Why was the Lancet letter which has 24 signatories of doctors and scientists published?
Dr. Swee Ang Chai: All the authors and signatories fear the worse at the beginning of this crisis which erupted in early July based on their previous experience. However the situation has got much worse since the publication of the letter. Gaza has already been declared a disaster area by the UK government. Despite the destruction of infrastructure, doctors and healthcare workers in Gaza continued to work despite severe conditions and their personal circumstances. Their own homes are being destroyed and families killed, and to be landed with more than 12,000 wounded is simply overwhelming for any medical system. That this is why Swee and her surgical colleagues wanted to assist by volunteering to go to Gaza.. As of yesterday (22 August 2014) the death toll reached 2083, with 50% women and children. Eighty five families were annihilated, and 12,656 injured. Forty five clinics and fifteen hospital were destroyed (two of the hospitals completely flattened), 8 fire stations, 1 ambulance station. Health institutions should be protected as sanctuaries under international law for the wounded and sick people, but they were targeted.
You and your consultant surgical colleague have just been deported as you entered Israel to get to Gaza…elaborate.
They first gave me a three month Israeli visa of the B2 type when they thought I was a tourist. Then when they realized I was going to Gaza, my colleague and I were taken aside and interrogated in a very humiliating way for three hours, following that we were detained, and deported after around 16-17 hours. But the personal humiliation, detention and deportation is not the worst part. It is the realisation that this is part of the siege imposed on Gaza. The siege does not only apply to medical equipment and supplies for Gaza but also to people who want to get to Gaza to assist. They can stop me from getting to Gaza but they cannot stop me from caring for and supporting the Palestinians, and they cannot stop the world from knowing about what they do to Palestinians. These crimes committed against Palestinians cannot be covered up. I will raise my voice and say what happened in Gaza. Gaza was shelled with tons of ammunition and depleted uranium which not only kill immediately but leave residues which emit radioactive rays causing malformations in utero and miscarriages. And this will continue despite repeated ceasefires. Gazans want to rebuild their broken homes but building materials are blockaded. People have no choice but to rebuild their broken homes with rubble contaminated with radioactive uranium as the siege continues. What do you want them to do? They have no choice but to rebuild their homes over mounds of destruction and ‘nuclear’ waste. Even if the war stops, these rays will have an impact on people’s lives.
Is Britain and the USA complicit in this?
I will not say that all of Britain and the US are complicit. Some in high positions are. But I can tell you that within a week of having published the Lancet letter, we got 20,000 signatures endorsing the letter. But there are others who are protesting against the letter at the same time. And there are people who have been subjected to threats via email saying that if you continue to support Palestinians you will be killed. But we must say what we have to say, this is the truth. This is what is happening, massacres, and if we are silent in the face of massacres we would not be fit to be doctors and scientists. We have to be witnesses. 32 years ago, I was a doctor supporting Israel, and my family and I used to support Israel. But when Israel invaded and occupied Lebanon in 1982, and bombed Lebanon for ten weeks, I could not tolerate it anymore. I decided not to support Israel and volunteered to help the wounded in Lebanon. Later I went to Gaza. My life changed, when I went to Lebanon, I went to Sabra and Shatilla, and I did not find terrorists. I found a people who are patient, gentle and generous and they welcomed me, amidst their enormous suffering. But they were labeled as terrorists. After the evacuation of the PLO, when they were defenceless, they were massacred. I went back after the attack (1982), and I found that some of the patients I treated were killed. I went back to London, and continued with my work and it is impossible to say nothing. For 32 years, I decided not to be silent, and will speak up for Palestinians as a witness to what happened to them. I am also a friend of the Palestinians. So wherever I go I will talk about what happened to Palestinians and the injustice which they have been enduring, and I will do this until I die.
Interviewer: You have written a book: From Beirut to Jerusalem, but since that time, there has been no change for the Palestinians. You were very angry. Let me read a section of the Gaza letter (published by Lancet):
“We register with dismay that only 5% of our Israeli academic colleagues signed an appeal to their government to stop the military operation against Gaza. We are tempted to conclude that with the exception of this 5%, the rest of the Israeli academics are complicit in the massacre and destruction of Gaza. We also see the complicity of our countries in Europe and North America in this massacre and the impotence once again of the international institutions and organisations to stop this massacre” the letter is directed to Who?
Dr. Swee Ang Chai: This paragraph refers to all people who are guilty of knowing that the massacre is going on and yet say nothing. They are complicit in the crime. There are also the people who deliberately cover it up. It is our duty and that of Mayadeen to inform the world of what is happening. But when we speak up, many attacked us because they were complicit in this crime, and tried to cover up what is happening by intimidating and silencing us. For example deporting doctors so that we do not see and witness what is happening. But they forget that the Palestinian doctors are still there, and they can tell the world what is going on because they are there. For the rest of the world, some do not take a stand because of lack of knowledge and it is our role to inform them. Others are worried about speaking up through fear, but we must support them to take a stand.
What do you think of Israel’s attack on people, children etc., why do you think they are killing them?
I am very sad because only 10% of Israel want the massacre to stop and the rest want it to continue. In other words the other 90% of Israelis want Palestinians chucked out or killed, and this is compatible with ethnic cleansing and mass extermination, a strong word, but what is happening in Gaza is an attempted or incremental genocide..
Why do you decide to publish the letter in the Lancet?
As you know this is a strong letter. many editors have difficulty with it. But we know the Lancet is a prestigious journal, and Richard Horton took the risk in publishing this. He knows Palestine well, since several years. His conscience made him publish this letter. He is paying a high price for publishing the letter. There is a nasty campaign to get him fired.
Thank you Dr. Swee Ang Chai, founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians and for your voice as a medical doctor and humanitarian.
An open letter for the people in Gaza Lancet letter by Paola Manduca, Iain Chalmers, Derek Summerfield, Mads Gilbert, Swee Ange, on behalf of 24 signatories
We are doctors and scientists, who spend our lives developing means to care and protect health and lives. We are also informed people; we teach the ethics of our professions, together with the knowledge and practice of it. We all have worked in and known the situation of Gaza for years.
On the basis of our ethics and practice, we are denouncing what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel.
We ask our colleagues, old and young professionals, to denounce this Israeli aggression. We challenge the perversity of a propaganda that justifies the creation of an emergency to masquerade a massacre, a so-called “defensive aggression”. In reality it is a ruthless assault of unlimited duration, extent, and intensity. We wish to report the facts as we see them and their implications on the lives of the people.
We are appalled by the military onslaught on civilians in Gaza under the guise of punishing terrorists. This is the third large scale military assault on Gaza since 2008. Each time the death toll is borne mainly by innocent people in Gaza, especially women and children under the unacceptable pretext of Israel eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege they impose.
This action also terrifies those who are not directly hit, and wounds the soul, mind, and resilience of the young generation. Our condemnation and disgust are further compounded by the denial and prohibition for Gaza to receive external help and supplies to alleviate the dire circumstances.
The blockade on Gaza has tightened further since last year and this has worsened the toll on Gaza’s population. In Gaza, people suffer from hunger, thirst, pollution, shortage of medicines, electricity, and any means to get an income, not only by being bombed and shelled. Power crisis, gasoline shortage, water and food scarcity, sewage outflow and ever decreasing resources are disasters caused directly and indirectly by the siege.1
People in Gaza are resisting this aggression because they want a better and normal life and, even while crying in sorrow, pain, and terror, they reject a temporary truce that does not provide a real chance for a better future. A voice under the attacks in Gaza is that of Um Al Ramlawi who speaks for all in Gaza: “They are killing us all anyway—either a slow death by the siege, or a fast one by military attacks. We have nothing left to lose—we must fight for our rights, or die trying.”2
Gaza has been blockaded by sea and land since 2006. Any individual of Gaza, including fishermen venturing beyond 3 nautical miles of the coast of Gaza, face being shot by the Israeli Navy. No one from Gaza can leave from the only two checkpoints, Erez or Rafah, without special permission from the Israelis and the Egyptians, which is hard to come by for many, if not impossible. People in Gaza are unable to go abroad to study, work, visit families, or do business. Wounded and sick people cannot leave easily to get specialised treatment outside Gaza. Entries of food and medicines into Gaza have been restricted and many essential items for survival are prohibited.3 Before the present assault, medical stock items in Gaza were already at an all time low because of the blockade.3 They have run out now. Likewise, Gaza is unable to export its produce. Agriculture has been severely impaired by the imposition of a buffer zone, and agricultural products cannot be exported due to the blockade. 80% of Gaza’s population is dependent on food rations from the UN.
Much of Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure had been destroyed during Operation Cast Lead, 2008—09, and building materials have been blockaded so that schools, homes, and institutions cannot be properly rebuilt. Factories destroyed by bombardment have rarely been rebuilt adding unemployment to destitution.
Despite the difficult conditions, the people of Gaza and their political leaders have recently moved to resolve their conflicts “without arms and harm” through the process of reconciliation between factions, their leadership renouncing titles and positions, so that a unity government can be formed abolishing the divisive factional politics operating since 2007. This reconciliation, although accepted by many in the international community, was rejected by Israel. The present Israeli attacks stop this chance of political unity between Gaza and the West Bank and single out a part of the Palestinian society by destroying the lives of people of Gaza. Under the pretext of eliminating terrorism, Israel is trying to destroy the growing Palestinian unity. Among other lies, it is stated that civilians in Gaza are hostages of Hamas whereas the truth is that the Gaza Strip is sealed by the Israelis and Egyptians.
Gaza has been bombed continuously for the past 14 days followed now by invasion on land by tanks and thousands of Israeli troops. More than 60 000 civilians from Northern Gaza were ordered to leave their homes. These internally displaced people have nowhere to go since Central and Southern Gaza are also subjected to heavy artillery bombardment. The whole of Gaza is under attack. The only shelters in Gaza are the schools of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), uncertain shelters already targeted during Cast Lead, killing many.
According to Gaza Ministry of Health and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),1 as of July 21, 149 of the 558 killed in Gaza and 1100 of the 3504 wounded are children. Those buried under the rubble are not counted yet. As we write, the BBC reports of the bombing of another hospital, hitting the intensive care unit and operating theatres, with deaths of patients and staff. There are now fears for the main hospital Al Shifa. Moreover, most people are psychologically traumatised in Gaza. Anyone older than 6 years has already lived through their third military assault by Israel.
The massacre in Gaza spares no one, and includes the disabled and sick in hospitals, children playing on the beach or on the roof top, with a large majority of non-combatants. Hospitals, clinics, ambulances, mosques, schools, and press buildings have all been attacked, with thousands of private homes bombed, clearly directing fire to target whole families killing them within their homes, depriving families of their homes by chasing them out a few minutes before destruction. An entire area was destroyed on July 20, leaving thousands of displaced people homeless, beside wounding hundreds and killing at least 70—this is way beyond the purpose of finding tunnels. None of these are military objectives. These attacks aim to terrorise, wound the soul and the body of the people, and make their life impossible in the future, as well as also demolishing their homes and prohibiting the means to rebuild.
Weaponry known to cause long-term damages on health of the whole population are used; particularly non fragmentation weaponry and hard-head bombs.4, 5 We witnessed targeted weaponry used indiscriminately and on children and we constantly see that so-called intelligent weapons fail to be precise, unless they are deliberately used to destroy innocent lives.
We denounce the myth propagated by Israel that the aggression is done caring about saving civilian lives and children’s wellbeing.
Israel’s behaviour has insulted our humanity, intelligence, and dignity as well as our professional ethics and efforts. Even those of us who want to go and help are unable to reach Gaza due to the blockade.
This “defensive aggression” of unlimited duration, extent, and intensity must be stopped.
Additionally, should the use of gas be further confirmed, this is unequivocally a war crime for which, before anything else, high sanctions will have to be taken immediately on Israel with cessation of any trade and collaborative agreements with Europe.
As we write, other massacres and threats to the medical personnel in emergency services and denial of entry for international humanitarian convoys are reported.6 We as scientists and doctors cannot keep silent while this crime against humanity continues. We urge readers not to be silent too. Gaza trapped under siege, is being killed by one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated modern military machines. The land is poisoned by weapon debris, with consequences for future generations. If those of us capable of speaking up fail to do so and take a stand against this war crime, we are also complicit in the destruction of the lives and homes of 1·8 million people in Gaza.
We register with dismay that only 5% of our Israeli academic colleagues signed an appeal to their government to stop the military operation against Gaza. We are tempted to conclude that with the exception of this 5%, the rest of the Israeli academics are complicit in the massacre and destruction of Gaza. We also see the complicity of our countries in Europe and North America in this massacre and the impotence once again of the international institutions and organisations to stop this massacre.Can men and women work together? (Yes) Should I fast during Ramadan if I have my period? (No) These are just some of the dilemmas answered by women running a Muslim helpline in Abu Dhabi
Sheikha Naeema lifts her glass to take a sip of water, but the large grey telephone on her desk blinks again, red and insistent. It is only 9am and she has already spoken to 11 callers. The woman on the other end of the line is in distress.
“Peace be upon you, blessings be upon you,” Sheikha Naeema says in a soothing tone. The woman tells her she has given birth twice and that both babies were stillborn. Now she is pregnant again. Her doctor has said the foetus is showing signs of severe complications and will probably die. The woman wants to know if Islam will permit her to have an abortion. After clarifying a few other details, Sheikha Naeema issues a fatwa. “If the foetus is severely ill and will not survive, you may have an abortion,” she tells the woman. “You must take advice from your physician, he will guide you. Religion does not conflict with medicine.”
She explains that abortion is allowed under certain circumstances: within 120 days, or 17 weeks after conception if doctors believe the baby has life-threatening defects. The fatwa – a non-binding religious ruling – is justified on the basis of a hadith, a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, which states that at 120 days a baby is given a soul, or spirit. When Sheikha Naeema finishes the call, she swivels in the office chair and makes a note. “Normally it’s quiet on Thursday mornings,” she says.
We are in the small, cramped office of the fatwa hotline on the eighth floor of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments in Abu Dhabi, better known by its Arabic acronym, the Awqaf. Abu Dhabi’s dial-a-fatwa hotline is run from a nondescript government building next to a supermarket along a busy stretch of road that leads to the pale turquoise waters of the Persian Gulf. Beyond the metal detector, polite receptionists direct visitors. A Bangladeshi employee in a pinstriped waistcoat pours coffee from a slender pot for visitors waiting in the lobby. A painting of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late president and founder of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), hangs from a wall on the first-floor landing. He is kneeling in prayer and wearing oversized, aviator-style sunglasses. Awqaf hums with quiet bureaucracy and the whir of air conditioning as religious scholars in long white robes and keffiyehs wander in and out of glass-walled offices carrying papers and heavy books. A trace of rose incense mingles with the cold air.
In the hotline’s office, the air conditioning is cranked to sub-Arctic iciness. The room is small, the desks crammed together; soon, the scholars will move to a larger, purpose-built office a few kilometres away. For eight hours a day, five days a week, Sheikha Naeema and two female colleagues field queries from women, and sometimes men, from all sorts of backgrounds: rich and poor, young and old, devout and doubtful. They help them navigate elaborate moral and ethical rules and restrictions governing all areas of an observant Muslim’s life.
On the internet, not everything is correct... we teach people about the real Islam
The iftaa, as the fatwa centre is called in Arabic, is the only one in the Middle East where a team of highly qualified women has been hired by the state to issue religious rulings. The women work across the hall from their male counterparts, 47 muftis who do the same job. The large white sign in the hall outside their office states the Awqaf’s mission as “promoting social awareness and progress according to the tolerant teachings of Islam that recognise the current realities and understand the future challenges”. The key word is “tolerant”.
On this particular morning the queries range from, “Are men and women allowed to work together in an office?” (yes) to “Can I fast during Ramadan if I have my period?” (no). The sheikha’s tone is matter of fact and professional. The next caller asks, “If I have noises coming from my vagina during prayer, does it nullify the prayer?”
“It is not flatulence, so no, your prayer is fine,” Sheikha Naeema tells the caller delicately. “This problem is common to many women who have given birth.”
When she hangs up the phone, she tightens the black shayla scarf around her head, framing her direct gaze and wry expression. Her colleague, Sheikha Radia, hands her a cup of coffee.
“There are no strange questions any more, we have heard everything,” she says. The women smile and shrug.
A highly respected legal scholar from Morocco, Sheikha Naeema, who is in her early 40s, has been working at the fatwa centre for eight years. On my first visit, her fingernails are dyed orange with henna and she wears the long black abaya gown commonly worn by women in the Gulf states.
The women at the fatwa hotline are attempting to redress a gender imbalance in the religious sphere. Religious life in UAE, as in the rest of the Middle East, is dominated by men. Male imams preach sermons. Religious space is also a male domain: when the call to prayer sounds five times a day (sung by a man), it is men who hurry to the mosque. Women are encouraged to pray at home. And, inevitably, female scholars are rare.
“We know it is unusual to hear a woman referred to as a muftiya, or sheikha, because this job is usually for men, but it is important women have someone they can turn to for help,” Sheikha Radia says. “When we communicate with another woman, we understand how she thinks.”
Sheikha Radia and Sheikha Naeema struggle to keep up with the volume of queries: up to 200 calls, text messages and emails every day, nearly always from women. The hotline has been such a success that six young Emirati women were sent to Morocco’s Mohammed V University at Agdal on state-funded scholarships to become muftiyas. English-speaking muftiyas are also being recruited, but that is proving tricky. “If you know someone who may be qualified, please let us know,” Sheikha Naeema says.
“We are trying to teach people about the real Islam,” says Mariam al Zaidi, 26, one of the graduates, adding that the state takes religious education for women seriously. “We all had full scholarships, we didn’t pay for anything. We had a car to take us to classes if we needed it, and accommodations were built. We were also given spending money.”
She says the government is simply reviving an ancient tradition. “All the women in the Prophet Muhammad’s life were teaching people, not just women but men, too, and explaining the faith.”
The hotline addresses the intimate preoccupations of Muslim women, unmediated by male professionals or clerics, and emboldened by the promise of anonymity. But the female scholars’ work is also part of a long-term government strategy to bring moderate, female scholarship to Islamic discourse at a time when religious fanaticism and sectarianism is on the rise across the Middle East. Jihadist groups such as Islamic State and the Taliban view the removal of women from public life as a critical component of a state ruled by their interpretation of sharia law.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mariam al Zaidi, one of the first Emirati women to train as part of a UAE state-funded programme. Photograph: Parisa Azadi for the Guardian
When the novel The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie was burned across the Muslim world in 1989 and its Japanese translator murdered in Tokyo, the term “fatwa” became associated in some parts of the west with summary death sentences. In fact, a fatwa is a legal opinion that helps an observant Muslim lead an ethical life; there is no obligation to follow it.
Abu Dhabi’s fatwa centre is not part of the country’s legal system, which is based on principles of the moderate Maliki school of Sunni jurisprudence with elements of various European legal codes. There are sharia courts and civil courts that run in parallel and cover different parts of the law. In some cases a mufti or muftiya might be consulted, but only a judge can make a legally binding ruling. Islam grades all human behaviour into five categories: obligatory, prohibited, recommended, discouraged or neutral. The women scholars advise the faithful on where their actions fall on this spectrum. A fatwa is not legally enforceable, and if you don’t like the ruling of one mufti, you can go somewhere else for a different judgment.
A fatwa is not merely an opinion, however. It must be based on the verses of the Qur’an or the hadith, or the opinions of previous generations of Muslim scholars across 1,400 years of history, or, in the rare cases when those sources do not provide an answer, well-argued logic, to come up with a completely new ruling. These complexities tend to be missing from many self-styled Islamic experts, whose opinions are just a quick Google search away. You can find fatwas giving permission to behead captives or, in the case of Isis, take women as sex slaves. This free-for-all is why the Emiratis have taken steps to direct people towards approved scholars.
“On the internet, not everything is correct,” Zaidi says. “You ask a simple question and get many opinions. I believe it is better to go to a specialist if you have a problem.”
“Most questions from Muslims will have to do with their relationship with the divine and their ability to fulfil that for which they will be rewarded not in this world but in the world to come,” says Justin Stearns, an American associate professor and head of the Arab Crossroads Studies programme at New York University Abu Dhabi. I meet Stearns in a cafe in the sprawling pale stone campus surrounded by miles of sand on Saadiyat Island on the north side of Abu Dhabi. He has a short, greying beard and peppers his speech with fluent Arabic as he types on a silver MacBook. “In the marketplace of religious opinion, if you are just an average Muslim out there, you’d look to someone who can separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to religious authority,” he says. “Here you have the state doing that.”
The Awqaf is effectively the final authority on all matters related to Islam; every religious text is scrutinised for radicalism, every imam vetted. Many countries have an official mufti or fatwa centre but none has stated in clear terms that no one else in the country is allowed to issue these rulings. A committee of religious scholars decides the content of the Friday sermons to be preached in every mosque by the imams who are all on the state payroll and forbidden to deviate from the official topic which adheres to moderate values: respect for religious minorities including Christians and for women. One sermon I attend is about a daughter’s right to choose her own husband, although sometimes the topics concern more mundane matters such as obeying traffic laws.
Such a degree of control over matters of faith is highly unusual in the Muslim world. “What we found over the last 30 years was that there were a number of non-local imams with longstanding political grievances against their own countries who were giving sermons,” says Habib Ali al-Jifri, chairman and founder of the Tabah Foundation, a state-funded faith organisation in Abu Dhabi. “We had the same problem with fatwas,” he says, when we meet in the foundation’s library. “They were contradictory, informal and people could get rulings anywhere. To bring control and balance we began streamlining the process. And bringing in the women muftis was a part of that process.”
Jifri knows first-hand how modern communications can spread hate. He has 3.5 million Twitter followers, and he found out on Twitter that Isis (or Daesh, as Arabs call the extremist group) had issued a fatwa sentencing him to death. “This is the reality we live in,” he says with a shrug as a member of staff appears with a tray of pomegranate juice. “Please take one, it’s organic. As I was saying, Daesh and its like try to create a barrier to prevent people from engaging with scholars. If people engaged with scholars with real knowledge, like us, then they would see the illegitimacy of the likes of Daesh.”
In a survey carried out by the Tabah Foundation and Zogby Research Services, a Washington, DC-based polling firm, released earlier this year, 5,374 Arab Muslims aged 15-34 in eight countries were asked to what extent groups such as Isis were a perversion of Islamic teaching. Of UAE respondents, 92% said they were a “complete” perversion. Only 45% of Kuwaitis believed the same.
***
The United Arab Emirates lies on the south-eastern side of the Persian Gulf, wedged between the region’s two powerful rivals: Iran across the narrow stretch of water to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. Half a century ago, UAE was poor. Society was homogenous, tribal and close-knit, necessary if people were to survive a climate in which arable land and drinking water are scarce and temperatures often reach 50C. Society and values were structured around the Islamic faith and patriarchal tribal customs. Women were mostly kept out of the public eye.
The discovery of oil in the late 1950s changed the country radically. UAE sits on the seventh largest proven oil reserves in the world, and the financial surpluses of oil wealth have been channelled to transform a society once reliant on trading and fishing into a state with an economy focused around finance, real estate and tourism. The purpose is to create a society that can function when the oil and gas run out. Modernity does not necessarily mean democracy, yet the hereditary rulers encourage Emirati women to participate in public life – in February, five women were appointed to the cabinet, which has an advisory role. Inevitably, perhaps, there are tensions between modern life and traditional Islamic values. Many Muslim women in Abu Dhabi, both Emirati and expatriate, privately express their anxieties. Are they betraying Islamic values by working with men outside the home, for example? Is it permissible to delay motherhood? Is it OK to eat a meal in a restaurant that serves alcohol? The Abu Dhabi muftiyas, by taking into account how women live now, try to bridge the old values and the new.
Despite efforts to move the economy away from dependency on oil, the majority of the government’s revenues come from the hydrocarbon sector. The Emirates needs foreign investment and foreign workers to build a post-oil economy. It can ill afford Islamist violence of the kind that has wrecked Tunisia and Egypt’s tourism-dependent economies. The expatriate, transient population, mostly Muslims from South Asia and the Middle East, are rootless and far from home towns where the mosque and faith leaders are the bedrock of their communities. The Awqaf has 14 telephone lines and between them the muftis and muftiyas answer 1,000 queries every day, rising to 3,000 during Ramadan, from both men and women. Services are provided in English, Arabic and Urdu, reflecting the most common languages spoken in the country. The scholars issue fatwas in accordance to all four schools of Sunni Islam. The ease of access is to encourage residents to turn to a local mufti instead of a firebrand with a YouTube channel.
“One of the ways in which the Emirati state assures its own authority is it protects Islam,” Stearns says. “It advances religion, it guarantees you have a mosque in every city block and it provides easy access to religious expertise for its citizens. It sees this as a duty of the state and a service for citizens.”
The Emirates has largely escaped the upheavals of the Arab spring; the six royal families that make up the federation have maintained their grip on power. It is a relatively open society, particularly compared with other Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia. Emirati women can drive, go to school, work outside the home. Covering their hair is not required by law, although the vast majority of Emirati women do so.
There have been no terrorist attacks in UAE. The one exception was the strange case of Ala’a al-Hashemi. On 1 December 2014, Hashemi, 30, an Emirati mother of six children, stabbed to death an American teacher in the bathroom cubicle of a luxury shopping centre in Abu Dhabi. The court was told she had been radicalised online by al-Qaida literature. She was convicted and in July 2015 was executed by a firing squad.
When we communicate with another woman, we understand how she thinks
The mutifyas may not have political or legal power but they exert a powerful, subtle influence on society by shaping values, not only in their work at the fatwa centre but also in mosques in the capital, where they lecture and hold all-female study circles.
One evening I attend a lecture at the Shaikh Hamdan mosque on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. The speaker, Edithal al-Shamsi, is a 57-year-old retired Emirati schoolteacher and also a hafiz – an honorific conferred on the few Muslims who have memorised the Qur’an. The mosque’s slender minarets are lit by green spotlights and glow against the inky black desert sky. Outside, young girls board a bus that will take them home after Qur’an lessons. As in all mosques, the women’s section is at the back. I walk up a narrow, green marble spiral staircase and the scent of sandalwood drifts from the prayer hall. I can hear Shamsi before I see her.
“Only in some matters may a man look at a woman,” she is saying, peering at the crowd through owlish glasses. “If they are colleagues at work, for example, or if he is in court, or if he will propose. Otherwise he must avert his eyes and be respectful. Do not leer. For women, I advise don’t go out with so much makeup, short skirts and tight clothes.”
The point is subtle: women have to be modest but men, too, bear responsibility for their behaviour. The 30 women sitting in a semicircle around Shamsi on the lush carpet tut in agreement. A few are in their 20s but most are older. Some wear the burga, the green-gold face mask worn by Bedouin women.
Afterwards the women kiss Shamsi affectionately and offer plates of samosas. She does not issue fatwas but her status of hafiz gives her licence to talk about subjects normally taboo in Arab society. She warns that men should not watch pornography because it “makes them lose brain cells” and anal sex is a sin. We settle in a corner of the elegantly furnished room where verses of the Qur’an are carved in gold-coloured relief along the walls. I ask if she isn’t embarrassed to bring up sensitive subjects.
“The women like it because these topics are important,” she says. “This is a place for women to come and discuss openly and safely.”
Sometimes she chooses the topic; other times Awqaf scholars decide. At the end of the evening, her notes, giving a broad overview of it (omitting intimate details that might identify women), will be submitted to the Awqaf authorities, who are looking out not for issues of private moral choices but possible support for radical Islam. Since the Arab spring, everyone is under close scrutiny. In the lectures I attend with the women scholars, no one discusses politics. But that evening, when I finish talking to Shamsi, a tall, heavy-set Emirati woman approaches, looking agitated.
“Why are women and children being killed in Syria? If I pray and |
not sufficiently stimulated the development of solutions.
Fossil fuel subsidies continue to impede progress. Globally, subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power continue to dramatically exceed those for renewable technologies. By the end of 2016, more than 50 countries had committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, and some reforms have occurred – but not enough. The ratio of fossil fuel subsidies to renewable energy subsidies is 4:1. For every $1 spent on renewables, governments spend $4 perpetuating our dependence on fossil fuels.
Christine Lins, Executive Secretary of REN21, explains: "The world is in a race against time. The single most important thing we could do to reduce CO2 emissions quickly and cost-effectively, is phase-out coal and speed up investments in energy efficiency and renewables. When China announced in January that it was cancelling over 100 coal plants currently in development, they set an example for governments everywhere: change happens quickly when governments act by establishing clear, long-term policy and financial signals and incentives."
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Comments »The defender's future could finally be resolved as the Gunners try to secure him on a new deal before the summer amid interest from marquee French and Italian clubs
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent Bacary Sagna is set to hold fresh talks with Arsenal this week in a new bid to finally end his long-running contract saga,can reveal.The Gunners want to tie the Frenchman to an extended deal and stave off interest from a string of leading clubs on the continent.
Goal understands that Sagna has offers on the table from Paris-Saint Germain, Monaco and Inter.
Arsenal have been in talks with the 30-year-old, who can leave on a free when his contract expires in the summer and is able to sign a pre-contract agreement with a new club from this month, for nearly 18 months.
As reported by Goal, negotiations between Sagna and Arsenal initially collapsed at the end of 2012 after the Gunners refused to meet the player’s demands for a two-year extension and an upgrade on his £60,000-a-week salary. Talks re-opened last August and a dialogue has continued over recent months without a breakthrough being reached.
However, there is growing confidence at Emirates Stadium that an agreement can now be struck with Sagna.
Arsene Wenger wants to hold on to the long-serving right-back, who has been a key figure in Arsenal’s resurgence this season and offers experience and versatility that would not be easy to replace.
The Gunners looked closely at replacement right-backs last year, with Schalke’s Atsuto Uchida and Sochaux’s Sebastien Corchia top of their target list, as Sagna appeared on the verge of leaving Arsenal.
The Londoners had been ready to sell him last summer following a breakdown in his relationship with the club in the final months of the 2012-13 season and question marks about his attitude.
However, PSG, who had been most closely monitoring the Frenchman, failed to follow up their interest with a concerted move and he knuckled down well in pre-season ahead of one of his most impressive seasons since joining Arsenal from Auxerre in 2007.Robert Emmett, Sydney teacher and judges' son, avoids jail over child abuse material
Updated
A former teacher from one of Australia's most distinguished families of judges has avoided jail after being convicted of filming up the skirts of his students and possessing child abuse material.
Robert Emmett, son of NSW Court of Appeal judge Arthur Emmett and Federal Circuit Court judge Sylvia Emmett, pleaded guilty in May to the charges, which included filming the private parts of children.
The former St Andrew's Cathedral School maths teacher, who is also the grandson of former chief justice of the NSW Supreme Court Sir Laurence Street, filmed three 14-year-old female students.
Police also found more than 9,000 child abuse images on a portable hard drive at his home.
Today, Judge Ian McClintock sentenced Emmett to a two-year Intensive Correction Order (ICO) to be served in the community commencing September 17.
As part of the order he must do 32 hours of community service each month, continue to see his psychotherapist and undertake treatment programs.
The judge called the child abuse material the "disturbing and perverted exploitation of children".
"It's natural to feel sadness and empathy for the children and anger to those who exploited them," he said.
However, Judge McClintock noted medical advice that Emmett would receive better psychotherapy treatment out of prison.
The court heard Emmett was on a "positive rehabilitation trajectory," that he has undertaken some book-keeping duties and was trying to get work.
Emmett was arrested in 2013 for possessing the child abuse images, some involving pain, bestiality and humiliation.
Emmett walked around St Andrews filming some students on his camera phone and on one occasion pretended to tie his shoelace while crouching down to film up a girl's dress at Town Hall Station in Sydney's CBD
The NSW District Court has previously heard Emmett was remorseful and had no prior convictions.
St Andrew's Cathedral School assures community
In May, St Andrew's Cathedral School sent a letter to parents of prospective students advising them that since Emmett's "reprehensible behaviour" was discovered he "has never set foot in the school again" and the three girls involved were offered full counselling.
"Prior to discovery of his wrongdoing, Mr Emmett's record was exemplary," the email read.
"There was no reason to suspect he was engaging in the kind of conduct of which he has been found guilty."
It said the school invited the Office of the Children's Guardian (OCG) to conduct an audit of its policies and procedures.
Topics: courts-and-trials, sexual-offences, child-abuse, sydney-2000
First posted10. Robin Williams - Mrs. Doubtfire
Make-up design truly is one of the under-appreciated arts of cinema. Without it, you have a bunch of people running around with shiny faces in Halloween costumes. And the fact of the matter is, there are so many movies that simply could not be made without a dedicated team of artists creating model after model, up to their elbows in facial prosthetics and spirit gum. You might notice on this list that I didn't include people like Lon Chaney or Boris Karloff. Blasphemy, you might say. While their films contain what is undeniably some of the best makeup work ever, they were far more well-known with their makeup on than without. We can all easily picture the Phantom or Frankenstein, but I doubt most people could describe what those two men actually looked like in real life. For this article, I wanted to focus on famous actors whose appearances were so dramatically altered that the end result is virtually unrecognizable. By the way, for future reference:Being able to convincingly pass as a woman so that you can traumatize/sexually confuse your children is just one of the perks of having a make-up artist for a brother. When Robin Williams' wife wants a divorce and gains full custody of their three children, he decides that the only way for him to see his kids is to take pretty drastic measures. He poses as an elderly English nanny, who is quickly hired to watch his own children. Obviously that's the easiest solution to everyone's problems. But to be fair, he goes all out. Facial reconstruction mask, body suit, wig, and heavy makeup make him almost indistinguishable from a middle-aged woman. Robin Williams has even gone on record saying that during filming, he ventured out to a local adult bookstore to test out the costume, and completely went unnoticed. Well...as unnoticed as an elderly woman buying something at an adult bookshop can possibly be.Coming soon to Dundas West: The Happy Hooker, a fish sandwich shop from the man behind Tavolino
By Ray Lontoc
Chef Attilio Pugliese is no stranger to the restaurant business, having previously worked at Queen Margherita Pizza and later opening King West’s erstwhile Tavolino. But while Tavolino received great reviews, by Pugliese’s own admission, “It was a bit overpriced.” For his new venture, The Happy Hooker, Pugliese plans to serve fish sandwiches and fish tacos at affordable prices, which means nothing over $10, taxes in.
The Happy Hooker, located near Dundas and Palmerston, will source its fish sustainably as much as possible (from shops in Kensington Market and from the Osler Fish Terminal), while its produce will hail from the Ontario Food Terminal. The cuisine will be mainly fish sandwiches and tacos, although Pugliese stresses the tacos will not be exclusively Mexican.
“There will be one or two Mexican-inspired tacos, but the rest could be Asian, Mediterranean, etc.,” he says. “I’m just looking for really great flavours.”
Currently, the planned menu includes a double-patty marlin burger, prepared on a flat top, with spices, fresh greens, tomato and a dressing that is currently a work in progress (it may end up as a watercress aïoli). A spicy tuna taco is also planned, consisting of seared or raw tuna with fried seaweed crisps, spicy Sriracha mayonnaise and a house-made corn tortilla shell. Pugliese will also have some vegetarian options, including a tofu taco.
The decor was picked by Pugliese himself, and it strives towards the comfortable and casual. Most of it is vintage or custom made, including the polished concrete countertops, the vintage shop stools and the 150-year-old jail door that leads to the bathrooms (dubbed “the outhouse.”) Three-quarters of the restaurant is decorated in barn wood, while the checkered grey-and-black floors are original.
While an exact opening date is still to be determined, The Happy Hooker is expected to be open by Valentine’s Day.
The Happy Hooker, 887 Dundas St. W., 647-769-4243Platform Cooperativism vs. the Sharing Economy
Trebor Scholz Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 5, 2014
The backlash against unethical labor practices in the “collaborative sharing economy” has been overplayed. Recently, The Washington Post, New York Times and others started to rail against online labor brokerages like Taskrabbit, Handy, and Uber because of an utter lack of concern for their workers. At the recent Digital Labor conference, my colleague McKenzie Wark proposed that the modes of production that we appear to be entering are not quite capitalism as classically described. “This is not capitalism,” he said, “this is something worse.” [1]
But just for one moment imagine that the algorithmic heart of any of these citadels of anti-unionism could be cloned and brought back to life under a different ownership model, with fair working conditions, as a humane alternative to the free market model.
Take, for example, Uber’s app, with all its geolocation and ride ordering capabilities. Why do its owners and investors have to be the main benefactors of such platform-based labor brokerage? Developers, in collaboration with local, worker-owner cooperatives could design such a self-contained program for mobile phones. Despite its meteoric rise, $300 million in VC-backing (and its $18 billion evaluation bubble), as well as massive international reach, there is nothing inevitable about Uber’s long-term success. There’s no magic when it comes to developing such a piece of software; it’s not rocket science. Of course, technology is only one part of the equation and instead of letting techno-determinism run its course, I’d rather point to the long history of worker-owned cooperatives, EP Thompson and Robert Owen.
Just forget about all the trending lifestyles;
the giant automaton could get a new set of operators soon.
There isn’t just one, inevitable future of work. Let us apply the power of our technological imagination to practice forms of cooperation and collaboration. Worker–owned cooperatives could design their own apps-based platforms, fostering truly peer-to-peer ways of providing services and things, and speak truth to the new platform capitalists.
I have been part of cooperatives all my life; I lived in communes, I experienced first hand how they can put people at the center of the equation. But you’d be mistaken if you think that I have an idealized view of everything cooperative. To start with, millennials might stress their individual careers over an allegiance to any given co-op, and then there is the problem of competition with global corporations that are rolling in money. And while Silicon Valley’s turbo capitalists are zipping ahead, social movements as well as regulators are often slow. For hackers, “long tail workers,” and labor activists, now is the time to step up their efforts before the network effect chisels brands like Uber into stone.
I will start with a few comments about work in the sharing economy and then advance an intensely practical argument about what I call platform cooperativism.
Business gurus suggest that there is a logical step from the sharing of content through social media to the rental of goods, space, and the provision of transport through de facto labor companies like Feastly, Carpooling, Handy, Kozaza, EatWith, Kitchensurfing, TaskRabbit, and Uber. Consumers, raised with an appreciation of low prices above all else, welcome many of these market incumbents.
And, of course, all of these developments play out against the background of deliberate shockwaves of austerity that followed the 2008 financial crash. The sharing economy is portrayed as harbinger for the post work society and path to ecologically sustainable capitalism, Google will conquer death itself, and this brave new “disruptive” economy will rid us of Jurassic forms of labor, which might well include what David Graeber refers to as “bullshit jobs.”[2]
But by now, only few people still fall for the solidarity theater of the “disruptive sharing economy,” its deceptive “peer” rhetoric when referring to individual workers and consumers, as well as its constant talk of changing the world (HBO’s Silicon Valley anyone?). They figured it out by now. People understand that it is the modus operandi of the “community managers” of the sharing economy to conflate multimillion-dollar commercial entities like Uber with non-market, peer-to-peer projects like Wikipedia or FoldIt. (I elaborate on this dynamic on Public Seminar.)
Also the mystifying association of the sharing economy with Occupy or the Arab Spring lost its pull for anybody who has been paying attention. Just like in the pharmaceutical industry, these “community managers” of key companies in the sharing economy are frequently young, likable women. Let’s say you come across the fact that TaskRabbit and TopCoder explicitly bar their workers from contacting each other, than you might strongly feel that that this is completely unacceptable. But while such practice may seem disagreeable, critics often hesitate to confront the before-mentioned reps about such abuses.
If you are taking a closer look at templates of 21st century work that are currently put in place, you will notice a trajectory of workers taking on many gigs at once. Sascha Lobo [3] and Martin Kenney[4] recently introduced the term platform capitalism, which I’d define in reference to subcontracting and rental economies with big payouts going to small groups of people. Occupations that cannot be off-shored, the pet walkers or home cleaners, are now subsumed under platform capitalism.
Even if you hesitate to categorize emerging unregulated platforms like Handy as innovative, it is hard to deny that baby boomers are losing sectors of the economy like transportation, food, and various other services, to millennials who fiercely rush to control demand, supply, and profit by adding a thick icing of business onto apps-based user interactions.
Companies like Uber and airbnb are enjoying their Andy Warhol moment, their $15 billion of fame, in the absence of any physical infrastructure of their own. They didn’t build that— they are running on your car, apartment, labor, and importantly, time. They are logistics companies where all participants pay up the middleman: the finanzialization of the everyday 3.0. According to NYU business professor Arun Sundrarajan, personal and professional services are now blended, creating a continuum of commercial activity while at the same time raising serious issues about labor protections against discrimination, for example.
Today, nothing remains outside of labor.
The narrative of the sharing economy is just so huggable: neighbors can sell the fruit from the trees in their gardens, you can rent an apartment in Rome, a tree house or yurt in Redwood Forest. In Berkeley, you can pay your neighbor to cook you a wholesome dinner[5], and now you can even listen to your own Spotify account in an Uber taxi. It is just all so convenient.
The sharing economy is presented as the ultimate anti-Turkle. Where Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together, claims that technology leads to social deskilling, here comes the sharing economy, positioning itself with the claim that it leads people out of that social isolation. Just think of the old lady renting out her room on airbnb. “People come for the consumption and stay for the sociality,” as Sundrarajan put it [6].
If you agree to drive your car for Uber much of the time, the company will co-finance the purchase of a new car so that you can afford that Lexus after all. But much in contrast to that, one of the slogans of the sharing economy is “access, not possession.” Allegedly, millennials don’t have an interest in worldly possessions, they just want to access stuff when they need it. ZipCar plays into that model of thinking. It’s all about the just-in-time delivery of things. You could think of it as a streaming service: you don’t own the file, you merely stream it. You are paying for what you are using now and the next time you want it, you are paying for it again. We are streaming our own lives.
The sharing economy is said to bring an end to “markets for lemons.” No longer will we have to buy used cars that later turn out to be poorly serviced. This is the end of the road for the shady used car salesman, the incompetent plumber, or wanting electrician. Now, “real-life profiles” on LinkedIn and Facebook, connected to these emerging platforms, introduce novel checks and balances. That is, at least, how the argumentation in favor of these reputation systems, and against governmental regulation, runs its course. Sundrarajan is suggesting that these reputation systems are largely capable of self-regulating this market, much in contradiction to arguments by Canadian technologist and blogger Tom Slee who argues that these systems don’t deliver an adequate measurement for reputation. Who needs the government if reputation systems can isolate the bad airbnb host or abusive Uber driver? On the other hand, however, it is important to remind ourselves that governmental regulation still matters when it comes to securing wage floors for workers and preventing monopolies.
There is no question about it; legacy taxi companies have seen better days. Ride ordering apps are making transportation easier and also a bit more accountable as passengers can give dreadful drivers devastating reviews. Some taxi drivers report that they appreciate not having to commit to a company like Uber, full-time. They enjoy the flexible hours that they cannot get with legacy taxi companies. Ecological concerns about single driver occupancy are also real when thinking about these labor companies.
It’s a no-brainer, the medallion system could use an update and at far over $800,000 for a single medallion in New York City, the system is completely impenetrable for taxi associations trying to build a small fleet of their own. The medallion cartel prevents such worker-owned organizations from taking hold. With innovative ride rental software, organizing the taxi business is slightly more conducive for the various types of worker cooperatives. Entities like Uber, Ola, Quick Cabs, TaxiForSure, or Lyft are quite vulnerable because their technology can be duplicated. But of course, when you see how regulation is steered by costly PR campaigns in big cities, when you see how ever-increasing brand awareness tilts the network effect in favor of Uber and airbnb, when you notice the co-financing for new cars offered for Uber drivers, and when you understand that insurance for passengers is costing an arm and a leg, then you remind yourself of the old saying: money talks.
Think Outside the Boss
Instead of counting down to next month’s apocalypse, let’s make the idea of worker-owned cooperatives using ride ordering apps more plausible.
Cooperatives are facing copious amounts of challenges on the level of competition from dominant players like Uber, in terms of public awareness, allocation of work, as well as wage levels.
Investors from the financial sector are looking at Uber with algorithmic calculus, anticipating that the platform that has the most users today will also be the one, in the future, that has the most users. There are, however, many examples that would proof such analysis wrong. If you belong to Generation X, just rattle down the names of social networking services that you used over the years — Myspace, Friendster, etc.— and consider how many of them lost momentum or even closed shop.
Is real social change only thinkable if you have Big Money on your side? If we are faithful to that logic, then there would never be a chance for gubernatorial incumbents like New York’s Zephyr Teachout. The inability to imagine a different life is capital’s ultimate triumph. Teachout recently proposed that one of the pathologies of the current system is that it trains people to be followers. I might add that it trains people to think of themselves as workers instead of collective owners.
An app with the basic functionality of UberX can be duplicated and improved upon by independent developers who are working in tandem with cooperatives. From the very beginning, the development process would have to be steered by workers and developers. Ever more sophisticated crowd funding schemes, using bit coin, could support such efforts. It is true that the millions of venture capital behind Uber put them into a superior position to strike a regulatory sweet spot between the legislative protections that play out in their favor and the calls for corporate responsibilities that do not. Uber can influence regulation on a city level and might even be able to sway national labor laws. And perhaps, but really just perhaps, these templates, created at the frontiers of regulation will then be taken on or over by worker cooperatives who could benefit from established guidelines. An equally likely outcome of these regulatory struggles is that Uber emerges as monopoly ruling the taxi industry worldwide. Welcome to the Internet Explorer of the streets.
The stakes for the drivers are clear, the prerogative of VC-backed companies is short-term shareholder profit but when it comes to offering better working conditions, these startups cannot measure up. The business consortium Peers aims to position itself not only as a labor brokerage but also as a social safety net for workers in the sharing economy. Given that it mostly represents centralized, for profit upstarts, Peers is not a genuine alternative to worker-owned cooperatives.
Why bother handing over the revenue to Uber, the middleman? Lyft and Uber have serious issues with attrition; the pay rates for drivers can (and have been) lowered from one moment to the next, workplace surveillance is constant, and drivers can be “de– activated” (fired) at any time for digressions as small as criticizing the Uber mothership on Twitter.
Taxi drivers and technologists can coalesce to build an app that equals or outperforms their corporate equivalent. This movement has already started with a driver-owned ride rental service and Fairmondo, a co-op-based version of eBay. Worker-owned cooperatives can offer an alternative model of social organization to address financial instability. They will need to be
· collectively owned,
· democratically controlled businesses,
· with a mission to anchor jobs,
· offer health insurance and pension funds and,
- a degree of dignity.
In New York City, there is a coalition of 24 worker-owned cooperatives, almost exclusively operated by women. Over the past few years, low-wage workers who joined these cooperatives saw their hourly wage increase from $10 to $25.
Such models have been propagated for a long time by the likes of Yochai Benkler and Michel Bauwens [7]. For Bauwens, the p2p economic model rests upon the free participation of equal partners, engaged in the production of common resources. For Benkler, networked peer production is a cooperative and coordinated action carried out for radically distributed, non-market mechanisms.[8]
In This Changes Everything,[9] Naomi Klein recounts her experience of living in Argentina for two years while making a documentary about workers who turned their old and abandoned factories into cooperatives after that country’s economic crisis in 2001. Her documentary, titled The Take, follows the story of a group of workers who took over their shuttered auto-parts plant and turned it into a thriving co-op. Workers took big risks and over a decade later, the factory is still going strong. In fact, the majority of worker-run cooperatives in Argentina, and there are hundreds of them, is still in production today.
In the United Kingdom, there are currently 200,000 people working in more than 400 worker cooperatives. And these cooperatives have more than a 160 year-long history in the UK. The largest among them has a turnover of £ 24 million.
Mondragon, an often cited example, is a corporation and Federation of Worker Cooperatives that was founded in 1956 in the Basque region in Spain. Mondragon is worker-owned, not worker-managed; it is part of the larger competitive market.[10] At the end of 2013, it employed 74,061 people in the areas of finance, retail, and education. Mondragon cooperatives are united by a humanist concept of business. The general manager in an average Mondragon cooperative makes no more than five times more than the minimum wage paid in his or her cooperative. (Compare that to Walmart’s CEO who is paid 1,034 times more than the median Walmart worker.) As you can see, cooperative alternatives to platform capitalism would by no means have to be limited to the transportation sector.
Apps-based, worker-owned labor brokerages that allow workers to exchange their labor without the manipulation of the middleman are possible. They are possible for micro work, specifically on Mechanical Turk and CrowdFlower.
Let’s do justice to what we know. Platform cooperativism equals a more humane workplace equals real benefits for workers. They say that big money talks, but I say that platform cooperativism can invigorate genuine sharing, and that it does not have to reject the market. Platform cooperativism can serve as a remedy for the corrosive effects of capitalism; it can be a reminder that work can be dignified rather than diminishing for the human experience. Cooperatives are not a panacea for all the wrongs of platform capitalism but they could help to weave some ethical threads into the fabric of 21st century work.
References
[1] Wark, McKenzie. “Digital Labor and the Anthropocene.” «DIS Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
[2] Graeber, David. “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.” STRIKE! Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.
[3] http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/sascha-lobo-sharing-economy-wie-bei-uber-ist-plattform-kapitalismus-a-989584.html
[4] http://brie.berkeley.edu/publications/WP182.pdf
[5] http://josephine.com
[6] http://www.digitallabor.org/participants/arun-sundararajan
[7] http://p2pfoundation.net
[8] http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Paragraphs
[9] Klein, Naomi. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. Simon & Schuster, 2014. Print. 105.
[10] Cheney, George. Values at Work: Employee Participation Meets Market Pressure at Mondragon. ILR Books/Cornell University Press, 1999. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.A man has been placed on the sex offenders’ register after being caught trying to have sex with a bicycle.
Robert Stewart was discovered in his room by two cleaners at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr, south west Scotland, in October last year.
On Wednesday Mr Stewart admitted to sexual breach of the peace in Ayr Sheriff Court, where depute fiscal Gail Davidson described how he had been found by the hostel workers.
She said: "They knocked on the door several times and there was no reply.
"They used a master key to unlock the door and they then observed the accused wearing only a white T-shirt, naked from the waist down.
"The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex."
Both witnesses, who were extremely shocked, notified the hotel manager, who in turn alerted the police.
Mr Stewart was placed on the sex offenders’ register but his sentence was deferred until next month.
He is not the first man to be convicted of a sexual offence involving an inanimate object, however.
Karl Watkins, an electrician, was jailed for having sex with pavements in Redditch, Worcs, in 1993.MUMBAI: Grofers, a hyperlocal express delivery startup, has raised $120 million, or Rs 780 crore, in a new funding round which is being led by Japan’s SoftBank Corp. Existing investors in the two-yearold Gurgaon-based company, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Apoletto Managers, a personal fund managed by DST Global’s partners, have also participated in this new round, the third one this year for Grofers.Albinder Dhindsa, founder & CEO, Grofers, confirmed the development to TOI exclusively.Sources privy to the fund-raise said the company has gone from being valued at $33 million, when it raised its Series A round in February, to more than $300 million in its latest fund-raise.That’s a 10-fold increase in valuation in less than a year. This $120-million Series C round would be one of the largest at this stage raised by any Indian tech startup, and comes at a time when risk investors are turning cautious while laying new bets. All told, Grofers has now racked up more than $160 million.TOI first reported about SoftBank being in talks with Grofers for a new funding round on October 7.Dhindsa, without commenting on the specifics of the deal, said, “We are happy to welcome SoftBank on board as a partner as we try to build a marketplace for consumable products. Grofers currently supports over 10,000 small merchants in selling locally and we hope that with the additional capital, we will be able to invest in building this ecosystem further.” For SoftBank, this would be its fifth investment in India over the past year after Snapdeal, Ola, Housing and budget hotel aggregation platform Oyo Rooms.The Japanese telecom and internet giant typically picks up 20-30% stake in companies which are in mid-to-late stages.Grofers, one of the fastest growing and most well-funded early-stage startups, competes with the likes of Big Basket, Peppertap and now also the e-commerce majors which have stepped into the express delivery segment.While Amazon piloted Kirana Now in some parts of Bangalore earlier this year, Flipkart launched its ‘Nearby’ app again in Bangalore and Snapdeal picked up stake in Peppertap, indicating the potential these e-commerce players see in this space. Founded by Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar in 2013, Grofers started as a business-to-business delivery service but it pivoted and became a consumer-facing play a year ago, after which all the funding started pouring in for the startup.Astronomers have spied a distant black hole in the act of creating the galaxy that will eventually become its home.
By sending a jet of gas and highly energetic particles into a neighboring galaxy, the black hole has touched off star formation at a rate 100 times the galactic average.
“Our study suggests that supermassive black holes can trigger the formation of stars, thus ‘building’ their own host galaxies," David Elbaz, lead author of a paper on the work in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, said in a press release. "This link could also explain why galaxies hosting larger black holes have more stars.”
The quasar HE0450-2958, located about 5 billion light-years from Earth, is powered by a supermassive black hole. Unlike all other known quasars, this one did not appear to be surrounded by a galaxy, which had puzzled astronomers. They thought perhaps the quasar's surrounding galaxy was obscured by dust.
So, in the latest observations they looked in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum, in which dust shines brightly, using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. But they didn't see dust, confirming the idea that the quasar really is "naked."
Instead of a surrounding galaxy, Elbaz's team found the black hole was blasting its neighbor with energy and matter. That injection has caused the observed flurry of star births: 350 new suns are bursting into existence each year in the region.
Eventually, the black hole will merge with its neighbor. The two objects are located 22,000 light-years apart and are moving towards each other at less than 125 miles per second. In tens of millions of years, HE0450-2958 will finally get a home.
"This would provide a natural explanation for the missing host galaxy," Elbaz and his co-authors wrote.
Images: 1) Artist's rendering of HE450-2958 and its galactic neighbor.
2) Composite image of HE450-2958 composed of imagery from Hubble, Very Large Telescope, and the Advanced Camera for Surveys.
See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.**The Cato Institute released a report this week that argues that people on “welfare” are better off than low-income working families. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth, as we explain in our recent commentary.
Cato’s analysis makes two fundamental errors:
It substantially overstates the help that poor jobless families receive. Cato assumes that when a parent is out of work, the family can readily access cash welfare benefits, housing assistance, nutrition assistance through SNAP (formerly food stamps) and WIC (for pregnant and new mothers, infants and young children), and Medicaid. But, very few families get that much help. Just one-third of families that are eligible for cash assistance in the state they live in actually receive it. Among those who do get help from TANF, Cato’s own figures show that just 15 percent also receive housing assistance.
It substantially understates the help that low-income working families get. Cato ignores the fact that low-income working families are eligible for, and receive, assistance through programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, housing assistance, and WIC. These are important supports that help working families make ends meet. For example, 86 percent of children who get health insurance through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are in working families. And, more than half of able-bodied adults in households with children receiving SNAP work while receiving assistance. When families leave welfare for work, the other forms of assistance they receive — such as SNAP and housing assistance — continue and only begin to fall if the family’s earnings exceed the amount it received from cash welfare benefits.
Moreover, due to changes to the safety net over the last few decades, these programs now do much more to promote work and support low-income working families. They help keep millions of working parents and their children out of poverty. To be sure, many working families still struggle to make ends meet, particularly if they face high child care costs, but Cato offers no policy proposals to improve these families’ financial security.
The changes to the safety net haven’t all been positive: contrary to the picture that Cato’s report paints, these programs now do much less to help poor families in which parents are out of work. This has led to an increase in the number of children living in deep poverty, which Cato’s policy recommendations would worsen.
Ultimately, the fact that so many families work to provide for their children is the real evidence that Cato’s analysis is misguided. Looking at children in families below 150 percent of the poverty line in 2010, 15.7 million of them lived in working families that did not receive any TANF cash assistance that entire year. By contrast, there were only 2 million children in TANF families without significant earnings that year. These hard-working families seem to understand a lot more about the value of work than Cato does.
Click here to read our commentary.Syncios iPad ePub Transfer - Free iPad ePub Transfer (iOS 12 Supported)
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Americans are willing to trade speed for accuracy in such an important matter. In the early days of this nation, prior to the telegraph, it would take weeks for the populace to learn who won the elections!
As I said, this is not a 100% perfect system. It is only as good as the people running it. But it does make stealing elections very difficult and that should always be the design objective of any election system!
VOTE FRAUD FOUND IN ALL FIFTY STATES!
From The Horn News
Largest Voting Machine Vendor in US Admits Its Systems Had Remote-Access Software Installed A bombshell revelation on the security of voting in the United States has just surfaced in the form of a letter from the country's largest voting machine manufacturer. The company, Election Systems and Software (ES&S) admitted that despite denying previous allegations of its voting systems coming installed with remote-access software, their systems did, indeed, allow for remote connections.
In a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), written in April, but only released this week, the company acknowledged that it had installed software that made the systems remotely accessible from anywhere.At least three of President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees won't be getting a "yes" vote from Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey when their nominations come to the Senate floor.
The Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday that he plans to vote against Department of Education nominee Betsy DeVos, Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, and Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt.
The trio were the first three nominations for which Casey outlined how he plans to vote.
On Sessions, Casey said he and the Alabama senator have "a fundamental disagreement" on how to protect voting rights. Sessions supports a Supreme Court decision that removed a requirement on states with a history to discrimation that they must get federal approval before changing their election laws. Casey opposes that decision, and said the men discussed that case at length.
Regarding Pruitt, who serves as Oklahoma's attorney general, Casey said his "record is clear: he fought to dismantle the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, anti-pollution programs that target ozone and mercury in the air, the agreement to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed and denied the science of climate change."
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey convened at a panel and reviewed efforts made by Congress to pass common sense gun safety measures and looks ahead at what the feds can do to combat gun violence. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey convened at a panel and reviewed efforts made by Congress to pass common sense gun safety measures and looks ahead at what the feds can do to combat gun violence. SEE MORE VIDEOS
As for DeVos, who Casey questioned during a hearing Tuesday, the senator said he was concerned by the policies she has pushed for in Michigan in support of charter schools, saying those efforts "have produced abysmal results for children."
Casey's full statement outlining his concerns with the trio is available on his website.
Confirmation hearings for Trump's slate of nominees began last week. In addition to DeVos, Casey got a chance to question Health and Humans Services nominee Tom Price during committee hearings this week.
Both he and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., serve on the Senate Finance Committee, which will hear from Treasury nominee Steve Mnuchin on Thursday morning.
Toomey has largely praised Trump's nominees, calling DeVos a "great pick" and saying that Sessions has his "full support" for the post.Senate Democrats are appealing directly to gun retailers in a renewed push to expand background checks in lieu of congressional action on the divisive issue.
Gun safety advocates in Congress have long called for lawmakers to close background check loopholes that allow criminals to buy guns online and at gun shows, but to little avail.
Now, they’re turning their attention to gun retailers such as Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops in hopes of convincing them to tighten their policies. They’re asking these stores to voluntarily refrain from selling guns to people who have not passed background checks.
“That’s a voluntary decision by the gun dealers,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters Tuesday. “It’s a voluntary decision to enable a killer; it’s a voluntary choice to empower a murder.”
Blumenthal was speaking at a gun safety press conference hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
At issue are existing regulations that allow people to purchase guns at retail stores without completing a background check.
These stores must submit information about prospective gun buyers to the FBI so it can run background checks on them before the sale is made. In many cases, the background checks are instant and the sale is made on the spot. But sometimes it takes longer to complete.
If the FBI does not respond within three days, the store is allowed to move forward and make the sale. According to Everytown, more than 15,000 dangerous people have obtained gun through this loophole over the last five years.
Gun safety advocates are calling on stores to voluntarily refrain from selling firearms to what they say is a small fraction of people who have not completed an FBI background check.
This marks a change in strategy for gun safety advocates. They have long pressed for lawmakers to strengthen background checks, but amid a gridlocked Congress they are now turning their pleas to industry.
Some have already listened. Wal-Mart, Sports Authority, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dunham Sports, Academy Sports & Outdoors and Big 5 Sporting Goods, for instance, only sell guns to people after the FBI has completed their background check and approved the sale, according to Everytown.
“Why not do as Walmart has done?” Blumenthal asked. “Insist that there be a background check before you sell the gun.”
“That’s something every gun retailer could do this week at no consequence to their bottom line,” added Sen. Chris Murphy Christopher (Chris) Scott MurphyPush to end U.S. support for Saudi war hits Senate setback Feehery: Defining what socialism is (and isn’t) Avoiding the tragedy of Brexit MORE (D-Conn.), who also spoke at the press conference.The problem is that everyone — not only sex offenders — has an incentive to lie. Children want to enter Web sites and forums where their older peers are.
The methods the pornography industry uses to confirm online identities of its customers, like credit cards and drivers licenses, cannot be used to identify minors, because the absence of those things does not necessarily mean the person is a child. Federal privacy laws also make it illegal for Web companies to knowingly collect personally identifiable information about children younger than 13.
And on social networks, where people can expect a degree of anonymity, the task of verifying someone’s age is even more difficult. In most cases, all it takes is an e-mail address to set up an account, and children can lie about their ages.
A serious effort to evaluate age verification technologies was made in 2008. At that time, when Facebook was one-ninth its current size, child safety advocates and law enforcement officials expressed concern about sexual predators pursuing children on Myspace, then a Facebook rival. An Internet Safety Technical Task Force was convened, and experts from academia and Web companies set to work examining various ways of verifying ages and sequestering children and adults online.
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The task force met with 40 companies that said they had solved the problem. They included an ultrasound device maker that scanned users’ fingers to determine their age; a vendor that asked users for voice responses to questions so a team of voice analysts could listen for an “intent to deceive”; and a company that traveled from school to school persuading educators and parents to submit children’s personal information — sex, address, school, birth date — to an online database that would be accessible to Internet companies.
The first two ideas do not appear to have made it past the demonstration stage. The third lost momentum after privacy advocates questioned whether it was intended to protect children from predators, or sell them out to advertisers.
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Four years later, members of that task force sound, at best, deflated.
“I began to learn that age verification technologies would not address any of the major safety issues we identified,” said Danah Boyd, a senior researcher at Microsoft and co-director of the task force.
An informal survey of major figures in the artificial intelligence industry revealed that little, if any, research is being done on age verification. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the technology financing arm of the Pentagon that has initiated many Silicon Valley wonders, said it was not pursuing any research on age verification. Microsoft, which has done some of the more ambitious research in identity management, is more focused on hiding users’ identities online than on exposing them.
“There has been very little progress, which is astonishing given recent incidents,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut and a major advocate for age verification dating from his days as his state’s attorney general. “You would think, if we can put a man on the moon, we could verify whether someone on the Internet is 13,” he said.
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“You never want to say never, but age verification has serious conceptual difficulties,” said Oren Etzioni, an artificial intelligence specialist and computer scientist at the University of Washington who has founded several technology companies. The problem, Dr. Etzioni and others say, is that the available options — establishing a national identity database, tracking users’ behavior or knowing the data on a person’s phone that might suggest an age group — are considered violations of privacy.
“Unlike Germany and South Korea, we don’t have a national ID system because we don’t like the idea of a big government database knowing everything about us from birth to death,” said Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute, a nonprofit group. “So we muddle through, using a variety of methods to discern how old people are, but they’re not exactly foolproof.”
A few start-ups are, again, experimenting with new technologies that could help verify ages online. Jumio Inc., in Linz, Austria, developed a technology that turns the Web camera on a personal computer or smartphone into a credit card or identification card reader and lets merchants scan ID’s online.
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But technologists who have put age verification technologies in place say there is always a way to outsmart the system and that such technologies are, at best, a deterrent.
“Companies do age verification because they know they’re supposed to, but everybody knows it doesn’t really work,” said Hemanshu Nigam, the former chief security officer at Myspace who now runs SSP Blue, an online security consultancy. “The truth is, there is no silver bullet.”
The consensus is that the most effective solution for now is not the technologies, but good old-fashioned education and parental vigilance.
“Sequestering age levels will never be the solution online — it’s hard enough to do it in the so-called real world — and there will always be a work-around,” said Anne Collier, who served on the 2008 task force and runs NetFamilyNews. “Really, the single most important thing we can do is to educate parents and young people about what is happening online.”Although the FIA reckons that such freedom is unworkable, Wolff thinks that there are bigger benefits to be had if drivers can run wide across kerbs and push things to the limit across asphalt run-off areas.
“The tarmac run-off is so boring anyway that drivers are able to go off and rejoin,” explained Wolff. “If I am reading on screen that car so and so has rejoined the track, I think 'if you go off the track, you should be either in the wall or the gravel bed'.
"If it is tarmac, let them take the quickest line. What is the difference?
“We are having a million miles of run-off areas. It becomes less and less spectacular and we wonder why audiences are having less interest in what we do.
"My opinion is, leave [Silverstone corners] Copse and Club or whatever and let them drive the quickest line.
“If it is somewhere really unsafe because we are coming too close to the barriers or when you rejoin you are putting others in danger, then okay, look at the specifics of that one corner, but for the rest, just let them go. Let them drive. It is spectacular pictures.”
Wolff believes the recent move to clamp down on track limits, which has included the use of electronic sensors, has sent the wrong messages out.
And he thinks it ludicrous to penalise drivers for being a few centimetres off the track.
“I think consistency in the rules is very important, because we are not changing the size of a football goal every game,” he explained.
“If you start analysing white lines and whether a driver has put two centimetres of his tyre on a white line and his lap time is going away, nobody understands any more.
“This is not long jump where two centimetres make the jump invalid. This is a six-kilometre track and two centimetres should not be changing that. So we said: 'Let's leave the drivers alone and let them drive.'
“It will provide spectacular pictures over the kerbs – we have seen some great TV of cars entering the start-finish straight into the Motodrom [at Hockenheim]. I loved it! And the same in Turn 1 now. We have become reasonable on track limits and I hope it stays.”Graph
Description
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In mathematics and computer science, graph theory studies networks of connected nodes and their properties. A graph can be used to visualize related data, or to find the shortest path from one node to another node for example.
Central concepts in graph theory are:
Node : a block of information in the network.
: a block of information in the network. Edge : a connection between two nodes (can have a direction and a weight).
: a connection between two nodes (can have a direction and a weight). Centrality : determining the relative importance of a node.
: determining the relative importance of a node. Clustering: partitioning nodes into groups.
The NodeBox Graph library includes algorithms from NetworkX for betweenness centrality and eigenvector centrality, Connelly Barnes' implementation of Dijksta shortest paths (here) and the spring layout for JavaScript by Aslak Hellesoy and Dave Hoover (here). The goal of this library is visualization of small graphs (<200 elements), if you need something more robust we recommend using NetworkX.
For those of you looking for the old Graph library built on Boost, it can still be found here.
Download
graph.zip (32KB)
Last updated for NodeBox 1.9.5.6
Licensed under GPL
Author: Tom De Smedt
Documentation
The library has a cool example of a visual browser for WordNet.
How to get the library up and running
Put the graph library folder in the same folder as your script so NodeBox can find the library. You can also put it in ~/Library/Application Support/NodeBox/.
graph = ximport ( "graph" )
Outside of NodeBox you can also just do import graph.
Creating a graph
create ( iterations= 1000, distance= 1.0, layout= "spring", depth= True )
The create() command returns a new graph object encompassing the drawing canvas. The network of connected nodes will originate from the center of the canvas. The distance parameter controls the spacing between nodes and hence the size of the graph.
By default, a spring force layout is used to visualize the graph. Each element in the graph (or node) will try to get away as far as possible from the others. This is the repulsive force in the network. At the same time, there are connections (or edges) that keep nodes together. The greater the weight of an edge the stronger it is in pulling two nodes together. This is the attractive force in the network. You can also set the layout parameter to "circle" to use a simple circle-based layout.
The forces in the network need to be calculated several times in order for the nodes' positions to stabilize. The higher the number of iterations the better (but slower) the layout.
When depth is set to True, the library will attempt to import the NodeBox Colors library for gradient and shadow effects.
The returned graph object has the following properties:
graph.nodes : a list of all the node objects in the graph.
: a list of all the objects in the graph. graph.edges : a list of all the edge objects in the graph.
: a list of all the objects in the graph. graph.leaves : a list of all the nodes with only one connection.
: a list of all the nodes with only one connection. graph.root : the root node in the graph.
: the root node in the graph. graph.done : True when the graph's layout is completely calculated.
: when the graph's layout is completely calculated. graph.distance: the scale of the graph when drawn (usually a number between 0.5 and 2.0).
graph.density : a number between 0.0 and 1.0 indicating the number of connections.
: a number between 0.0 and 1.0 indicating the number of connections. graph.is_sparse : True when there are few connections in the graph (density is 0.35 or less).
: when there are few connections in the graph (density is 0.35 or less). graph.is_dense : True when there are a lot of connections (density is 0.65 or more).
: when there are a lot of connections (density is 0.65 or more). graph.is_complete: True when all nodes are connected to all other nodes (density is 1.0).
graph.layout : the layout object used to calculate the graph.
: the object used to calculate the graph. graph.events : the event object used to monitor mouse dragging and clicking.
: the object used to monitor mouse dragging and clicking. graph.styles: the styles object used to colorize and draw the graph.
Adding nodes and edges
graph. add_node ( id, radius= 8, style= "default", category= "", root= False )
graph. add_edge ( id1, id2, weight= 0.0, length= 1.0, label= "" )
You can add nodes (e.g. blocks of information you want to connect) to the graph with the graph.add_node() method. The id parameter uniquely identifies each node, it will appear as a label on each node once the graph is visualized. When the root parameter is True it will set this node as the graph's root.
The graph.add_node() method returns a node object with the following properties:
node.id : the node's unique id.
: the node's unique id. node.r : the node's radius.
: the node's radius. node.style : the name of the style used to colorize and draw the node.
: the name of the style used to colorize and draw the node. node.category : a category this node belongs to.
: a category this node belongs to. node.label : displayed when the node is drawn (by default, its id).
: displayed when the node is drawn (by default, its id). node.x : the horizontal position of the node on the canvas.
: the horizontal position of the node on the canvas. node.y: the vertical position of the node on the canvas.
node.links : a list of all node objects connected to this one.
: a list of all objects connected to this one. node.edges : a list of all edge objects this node is involved with.
: a list of all objects this node is involved with. node.is_leaf: True when the node has only one connection.
node.weight : a number between 0.0 and 1.0 reflecting the node's relevance in the graph.
: a number between 0.0 and 1.0 reflecting the node's relevance in the graph. node.traffic : a number between 0.0 and 1.0 reflecting the amount of shortest paths.
: a number between 0.0 and 1.0 reflecting the amount of shortest paths. node.eigenvalue : identical to node.weight.
: identical to node.betweenness:identical to node.traffic.
We'll look at the details of a node's weight and traffic in the section on graph proximity.
You can connect two nodes with the graph.add_edge() method. It takes two node id's, an optional weight (ranging between 0.0 and 1.0) and an optional label to display near the edge when it is drawn.
An edge object is returned. It has the following properties:
edge.node1 : the node object from which the connection originates.
: the object from which the connection originates. edge.node2 : the node object in which the connection ends.
: the object in which the connection ends. edge.weight : the weight or strength of the connection.
: the weight or strength of the connection. edge.length : the individual length of the edge (1.0 by default).
: the individual length of the edge (1.0 by default). edge.label: a label to display near the edge when drawn.
graph = ximport ( "graph" ) g = graph. create ( iterations= 500, distance= 0.8 ) g. add_node ( "NodeBox" ) g. add_node ( "Core Image", category= "library" ) g. add_edge ( "Core Image", "NodeBox" ) g. solve ( ) g. draw ( )
Retrieving/removing nodes and edges
The graph object has graph.nodes and graph.edges properties that list all of the nodes and connections it contains. It also has a graph.node() and a graph.edge() method that returns nodes and edges based on id's:
graph. node ( id )
graph. edge ( id1, id2 )
Furthermore, a graph behaves as a dictionary with node id keys linking to node object:
for id in graph: print graph [ id ]. style
To remove nodes and edges you can use the methods below. The graph.clear() method removes all nodes and all edges and resets the graph's layout. This is useful when you want to dynamically reload a graph.
graph. remove_node ( id )
graph. remove_edge ( id1, id2 )
graph. clear ( )
You can get access to all the nodes connected to a given node from the node.links list. This list also has a fast node1.links.edge(node2) method that retrieves the edge between two nodes.
Drawing the graph
Before we can draw the graph to the canvas, we first need to calculate its layout. This may take several seconds or more for graphs with many nodes. More nodes slow down the process, as do more visual elements like edge labels. The following methods are involved:
graph. prune ( depth= 0 )
graph. update ( iterations= 10 )
graph. solve ( )
graph. draw ( weighted= False, directed= False, highlight= [ ], traffic= None )
The graph.prune() method removes orphaned nodes that have no connections. If depth is 1 it removes nodes that have one ore less connections, and so on. Pruning is often a good idea, as the less nodes there are in a graph the faster the layout is calculated.
The graph.update() method calculates a portion the total iterations. This is useful in an animation when you want the graph to slowly unfold. When the entire layout has been calculated, the graph.done property will be True.
The graph.solve() method does all the iterations at once. If you're not running an animation you usually use this method before drawing the graph.
The graph.draw() method draws the graph to the canvas. It will originate from the canvas center (although you can nudge it horizontally or vertically with optional dx and dy parameters).
The optional weighted parameter indicates an edge's weight by adding a subtle shadow to it when set to True. The optional directed parameters indicates an edge's direction with an arrow when set to True. The optional highlight parameter indicates a path between two nodes. Node id's in the path are supplied as a list. Usually this is a value returned from the graph.shortest_path() method. The optional traffic parameter can be a number, representing the amount of top-trafficked nodes to highlight. Nodes with a high traffic have a lot of shortest paths passing through them therefore have a central role in the network.
Layout
If you're using the graph in an animation, you can use the graph.layout.refresh() method to trigger some new iterations. This is useful when you are for example dynamically adding new nodes after the layout has stopped. The graph.layout.reset() restarts the layout from scratch.
graph. layout. refresh ( )
graph. layout. reset ( )
When using the spring-force layout, graph.layout has a tweak() method that allows you to play around with the internals of the layout algorithm:
graph. layout. tweak ( k= 2, m= 0.01, w= 15, d= 0.5, r= 15 )
The k parameter is the force constant by which nodes are pushed away from each other, m is a dampener for the total attractive/repulsive force, w is a weight multiplier (so heavier edges have a bigger attraction), d is the maximum node movement per iterations and r is the radius of repulsive force originating from each node.
You may find the following layout properties easier to use:
graph.layout.force : the attractive/repulsive force in the layout (0.01 by default).
: the attractive/repulsive force in the layout (0.01 by default). graph.layout.repulsion: the repulsive radius originating from each node (15 by default).
If you are using the circle layout, graph.layout has only one property:
graph.layout.orbits: the number of circles used in the layout (2 by default).
Customizing styles and style rules
You can customize the look and feel of the graph down to the bottom. The graph.styles dictionary has different styles for different nodes. Each style has some color and font properties and a range of methods for drawing each element in the graph. The styles dictionary is accompanied by a styleguide containing rules that define how and when to apply the styles. You can easily modify existing styles, create new ones, and devise your own rules for how to apply them.
Predefined styles
Let's have a look at the different styles in a graph:
default: this style is used for nodes that have no style defined.
Edges will always use the default stroke color.
light: a style with subtly highlighted nodes.
By default it is used for nodes directly connected to the root.
back: a style with green colored nodes and curved edges.
By default it is used to indicate a previous root node (e.g. like a back button). marked: a style that marks nodes with a dot.
By default it is used to indicate peers of the root node. dark: a style with blue colored nodes.
By default it is used to indicate nodes with four or more connections. important: a style with big blue colored nodes that get an extra outline.
By default it is used for nodes that have a weight of 0.75 or more.
highlight: a style that marks paths in pink.
By default it is used to indicate the highlight path supplied to graph.draw(). root: a style that marks the root node in the graph.
print graph. styles. keys ( ) >>> [ 'default', 'light', 'back','marked', 'dark', >>> 'important', 'highlight', 'root' ]
You can change the properties of each of the individual style objects:
graph. styles. root. fontsize = 20
Or set a property on all styles:
graph. styles. stroke = color ( 1 )
Here's an example of how to add your own custom style:
s = g. styles. create ( "red" ) s. fill = color ( 1, 0, 0.25, 0.75 )
Style properties
A style object has the following properties:
style.background : graph background color (always picked from the default style).
: graph background color (always picked from the default style). style.fill : fill color for nodes. The default fill is also used as backdrop on weighted edges.
: fill color for nodes. The default fill is also used as backdrop on weighted edges. style.stroke : the stroke color for node outlines. The default stroke is used for all edges.
: the stroke color for node outlines. The default stroke is used for all edges. style.strokewidth : the width of node outlines and edges.
: the width of node outlines and edges. style.text : text color used for node and edge labels.
: text color used for node and edge labels. style.font : font used for node and edge labels.
: font used for node and edge labels. style.fontsize : fontsize for node and edge labels.
: fontsize for node and edge labels. style.textwidth : if the label's width exceeds this number it gets wrapped to the next line.
: if the label's width exceeds this number it gets wrapped to the next line. style.align : aligns the node label either RIGHT or CENTER.
: aligns the node label either RIGHT or CENTER. style.depth: True when this style uses the Colors library to render dropshadows.
Styleguide
You can assign the name of a style to node.style and then when the network is drawn the node will be visualized using the style's properties and drawing methods.
You can assign styles by hand - for example, here's how to make all nodes with a weight of more than 0.6 "important":
for node in graph. nodes : if node. weight > 0.6 : node. style = "important"
Rules like these ("heavy nodes are important") can also be bundled in the styleguide dictionary:
graph. styles. guide. append ( "important", lambda graph, node: node. weight > 0.6 )
The default rules in the guide are:
{ "light" : lambda graph, node: graph. root in node. links "dark" : lambda graph, node: len ( node. links ) > 4 "important" : lambda graph, node: node. weight > 0.75 "root" : lambda graph, node: node == graph. root "back" : lambda graph, node: node == graph. events. clicked }
nodes directly connected to the root get the light-style
nodes with four or more connections get the dark-style
nodes with a weight greater than 0.75 get the important-style
the root node gets the root-style
the node that was last clicked gets the back-style
Below is another interesting rule that keeps clusters of nodes together. The edges of nodes that have only one connection become shorter, all others become longer. The default styleguide uses a simpler version.
def cluster ( graph, node ) : if node == graph. nodes [ 0 ] : for e in graph. edges : e. length = 4.0 if len ( node. links ) == 1 : graph. edge ( node. id, node. links [ 0 ]. id ). length = 0.2 graph. styles. guide. append ( "cluster", cluster )
To apply the styling rules to the network:
graph. styles. apply ( )
There's a graph.styles.guide.order property (which is a list of style names) that defines the sequence in which style rules will be applied. There's also a graph.styles.clear() method to remove all the rules.
Style drawing methods
A style has customizable drawing methods. We will only go into this briefly here. Developers can check the source code in the style.py file in the library. Here's a quick example of how we add our own custom patch for edges:
def curly_edge ( style, path, edge, alpha= 1.0 ) : path. moveto ( edge. node1. x, edge. node1. y ) path. curveto ( edge. node1. x - 40, edge. node1. y, edge. node2. x + 40, edge. node2. y, edge. node2. x, edge. node2. y, ) graph. styles. default. edge = curly_edge graph. draw ( )
Interacting with the animated graph
You can use very small graphs (<100 nodes) in an animation and watch them unfold fluidly. The graph object has functionality for mouse interaction as well, bundled in the graph.events object. It has the following properties:
graph.events.hovered : None or the node over which the mouse hovers.
: or the node over which the mouse hovers. graph.events.pressed : None or the node on which the mouse is pressing down.
: or the node on which the mouse is pressing down. graph.events.dragged : None or the node being dragged.
: or the node being dragged. graph.events.clicked : None or the last node clicked.
: or the last node clicked. graph.events.popup: when True, will display a popup window over the hovered node.
When you hover over a node the graph.events.hover() method fires. It will try to display a description of the node's id from WordNet (if you have the Linguistics or WordNet library installed). To display your own popup text for a given node, register it in the graph.events.popup_text dictionary: graph. events. popup_text [ "organism" ] = "hello" In an animation you can also simply press down on a node and drag it around to where you want it. The graph will stabilize by itself. Last but not least, if you click on a node graph.events.click() will fire. This method takes one node parameter and does nothing by default, so if you want clicking behavior you'll have to assign your own command: def click ( node ) : print node. id + " clicked" graph. events. click = click
Connectivity
Finding out if two nodes are connected (with zero or more other nodes in between them) is easy enough with the node.can_reach() method, which returns either True or False:
node. can_reach ( node, traversable: lambda node, edge: True )
What is intriguing about this method is the optional traversable parameter. You can pass it a custom command. This command takes two parameters, a node and an edge, and returns True if the given node is allowed to travel over the given edge.
This allows for more elaborate searches. For example, in the Perception library all edges have a type, like is-part-of or is-related-to. Traversables are used to check if two nodes are connected using only specific types of edges: an oak is a tree only if the oak node can reach the tree node using only is-a edges (and not, for example, is-property-of).
Proximity
Graphs are not only useful to visualize data, but to analyze it as well. Knowing what the shortest path is, how to get from one node to another, can tell us something of how those nodes relate to each other.
Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm is a way to find the closest route from one node to another in the network. For example, if the nodes in the network represent cities and their strength represent driving distances between pairs of cities connected by a direct road, Dijkstra's algorithm can be used to find the shortest route between two cities.
graph. shortest_path ( id1, id2, heuristic= None, directed= False )
The graph.shortest_path() method returns a list of node id's connecting the two nodes with the given id's. If no connection can be found it will return None.
path = graph. shortest_path ( 119, 381 ) graph. draw ( highlight=path, weighted= True ) print path >>> [ 119, 383, 478, 78, 381 ]
When searching for a shortest route the edge weight becomes important. Edges with a higher weight represent shorter routes. You can think of an edge with a weight of 1.0 as a highway and an edge with a weight of 0.0 as a mountain trail. So even if an edge looks longer onscreen (because it yields a nicer layout for example) it might still be a better candidate to travel by. Likewise, a straight connection may be abandoned in favor of a detour on heavier edges.
Optionally you can also supply your own heuristic function to tweak the pathfinder. It is a command that takes two node id's as its parameters and returns a number (usually between -1 and +1). The lower this number gets the more interesting the connection between the two nodes becomes. For example, in a game environment you could use edge weight to represent the quality of a road through the world, and supply heuristic terrain penalties for mountains, swamps, oceans - to discourage AI-controlled characters from trying to cross the ocean or walk through walls to reach an enemy.
Centrality
How a node is connected to other nodes influences its importance in the network. The Graph library uses two measurements to determine a node's importance: betweenness centrality and eigenvector centrality.
Betweenness centrality: nodes that occur on many shortest paths have a higher betweenness. You can think of such nodes as being hubs, landmarks, city centers and so on. The betweenness centrality of a node is represented in the node.traffic property as a number between 0.0 and 1.0.
Eigenvector centrality: nodes that (indirectly) connect to high-scoring nodes get a better score themselves. In this case the edge direction plays an important role. Ideally, everyone is pointing at you and you are pointing at no-one - meaning you are at the top of hierarchy. The eigenvector centrality is represented in the node.weight property as a number between 0.0 and 1.0.
Consider a node that has eight connections to other nodes. Consider another node that has three connections that each connect to two other nodes. An initial naive estimate would be to say that the node in the first case is more important because it has eight connections. However, the node in the second case has the potential to influence up to nine other nodes, and therefore it has a higher importance in the network. The king of a country has only his advisors as direct connections, but his influence is obviously much higher than a post office secretary in the same country who may have hundreds of direct connections with his clients. Eigenvalue centrality is what Google's PageRank algorithm uses to rank web pages. Read some more interesting details on the 20bits blog.
The graph has two methods that return a list of nodes sorted according to traffic or weight:
graph. nodes_by_traffic ( threshold= 0.0 )
graph. nodes_by_weight ( threshold= 0.0 )
If you dynamically add new nodes to the graph the balance can shift and you may want to recalculate the proximity values:
graph. betweenness_centrality ( directed= False )
graph. eigenvector_centrality ( reversed = True, rating= { }, start= None, iterations= 100, tolerance= 0.000 |
to receive some sort of remains so we can put them where he wanted to be honored, so we can go there and have a memorial," he said.
Jerry Moon is survived by his wife, Janice Moon, four children and two step-children, two brothers and numerous extended family members.by
Thanks to sites like Digg and Hugg, recently I’ve seen several stories regarding the possible return of the electric car, I thought it might be worth it to do a quick sanity check to see if these vehicles would actually be viable for most of us.
It seems to me that the most common knock against the electric car is the fact that most of them can only go 200 to 250 miles – which is more than a round trip from New York to Philadelphia – between charges.
While I don’t think that most of us drive more than 200 miles each day, I figured it was safer to ask than to just assume.
So on that note, I recently put up a poll on Daily Fuel Economy Tip, which asked, “How many miles do you drive on an average day?” and it appears that, on an an average day, an electric car would probably be able to fit our needs.
Here are the results of the poll:
45% of people drive 25 miles or less per day
23% of people drive between 26 and 50 miles per day
20% of people drive between 51 and 75 miles per day
7% of people drive between 76 and 100 miles per day
5% of people drive more than 100 miles per day
By the looks of it, it appears that roughly 95% of us would have no problem traveling under 100 miles per day, let alone 200 miles per day.
This sounds like a pretty compelling argument for electric cars for a couple of reasons, namely:
You probably wouldn’t have to worry about the infrastructure of setting up random “charging stations” because, for most people, they could make it through the day on one charge and simply recharge their car at night. Commuting to work is probably the largest factor in why most people drive so few miles each day. Last time I checked, if it’s just you (and maybe another passenger) you’re probably not going to need to drive a big sedan or SUV to get to work, and a smaller car would probably do just fine.
Hopefully the realization by both consumers and manufacturers that we really do most of our driving on a local level will help get electric cars and plug-in hybrids to the market that much quicker.IT IS easy to make fun of the way Donald Trump uses the English language. His tweets tend to follow the same structure: two brief statements, then a single emotive word or phrase and an exclamation mark. (On June 12th, after the Orlando shootings: “We must be smart!”) He invents playground nicknames for his opponents (Little Marco, Lyin’ Ted, Crooked Hillary). His vocabulary is earthy: “big-league”, to describe how he would do things, or “schlonged”, for someone beaten badly. During the primary campaign, his swearing was so criticised that he promised to stop (and actually did).
How did this man become the presidential nominee of the party of Abraham Lincoln? He must be doing something right: after all, language is virtually all a politician has to wield influence with (handshakes and hugs aside). Something about the way he talks and writes swept more experienced politicians aside.
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First, he keeps it simple. Journalists sometimes attack politicians for simple language, even going so far as to use a misleading scale used to estimate the difficulty of a reading passage in American schools. These critics say Mr Trump “uses the simple language of a ten-year-old”. But the “Flesch-Kincaid” reading-level test measures only the length of sentences and words, and says nothing about content. At worst, it measures exactly the wrong thing in political speech: short sentences containing common words are, all things being equal, a good thing. “Never use a long word when a short one will do,” Orwell wrote in “Politics and the English Language”. Simplicity is not stupidity; making language easy to apprehend is intrinsic to making it appealing. Countless psychological studies have shown that what is easy to process is seen as more truthful. “I’m going to build a big, beautiful wall and Mexico is going to pay for it” may be preposterous, but it is easy to understand, and the human brain, in its weakness, likes easy things.
Another Trump tactic is repetition. This, too, may be incorrectly seen as childish. Mr Trump does often say exactly the same thing several times in a row in a crude, hammer-blow fashion. But in more sophisticated guise, repetition is a venerable rhetorical tool. Mark Antony sarcastically repeats the taunt that Brutus is “an honourable man” after Brutus murders Caesar. Winston Churchill rallied Britain with, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets…” And the most beloved rhetorical repetition of the 20th century is the great refrain, “I have a dream.” Mr Trump is certainly no Martin Luther King, but he knows how to leave an audience remembering what he said.
Yet the most effective way Mr Trump beguiles his audience is perhaps the simplest: he does not give speeches. Instead, he talks. (Only rarely, when even he realises that his mouth can get him into trouble—as in his first speech after the Orlando shootings—does he resort to a teleprompter.) He does not even seem to have a “stump speech”. Bored reporters following ordinary candidates on the trail know that, even though they speak without notes, politicians reheat the same hash in town after town. Mr Trump, as noted above, repeats many tropes. But he also genuinely speaks off the cuff, avoiding the standard sunny string of clichés, which makes him fascinating to journalists. A Trump speech may actually make news. This is what happened when a barely planned digression about a fraud case generated a controversy: Mr Trump rambled that the judge ruling against him was conflicted because he was “a Mexican” (actually an American-born son of Mexican parents).
This unscripted quality is powerful. Even a valid argument is weakened if it sounds canned. Even an invalid one sounds stronger if it appears spontaneous, especially to voters disgusted with the professional politicians. This reveals a dangerous double edge to Orwell’s famous rules for clear and honest English. An honest speaker would do well to keep words and sentences short and concrete, and to avoid clichés, as Orwell advises. But a demagogue can use these tools, too. Orwell believed in the talismanic power of clear language to make lies and appalling talk plain. But some voters cannot recognise a lie, and others want to hear appalling things. If there are enough of these, then a looseness with the facts, a smash-mouth approach to opponents and a mesmerisingly demotic style make a dangerously effective cocktail.NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez was called out for interference
when he swatted at Boston pitcher Bronson Arroyo's glove and
knocked the ball loose during a play near first base in the eighth
inning of Game 6 of the AL Championship Series Tuesday night.
A-Rod brought on controversy -- and riot police -- with this swat of Arroyo's arm in the eighth. AP
With one out and Derek Jeter on first after his RBI single cut
Boston's lead to 4-2, Rodriguez hit a grounder down the first-base
line that Arroyo fielded. While Arroyo ran toward Rodriguez to tag
him out, the Yankees third baseman stuck out his left hand and
slapped the pitcher's glove. The ball was knocked loose and rolled
down the right-field line. Jeter came all the way around to score
and first-base umpire Randy Marsh ruled Rodriguez safe.
"That was unprofessional. That's against the rules," Boston's
Kevin Millar said. "If you want to play football, strap on some
pads and go play for the Green Bay Packers."
First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz and other Red Sox players argued with Marsh,
saying that Rodriguez interfered with Arroyo. Boston manager Terry
Francona also came out to argue the call, and the six-man
umpiring crew -- plate umpire Joe West had a clear view of the play
-- convened to discuss it.
"I didn't know what the ruling was at first," Arroyo said. "I
knew what he had done, but I wasn't sure it was legal. He hit my
arm and jolted the ball loose."
According to Section 6.1 of the MLB Umpire Manual, "While
contact may occur between a fielder and runner during a tag
attempt, a runner is not allowed to use his hands or arms to commit
an obviously malicious or unsportsmanlike act."
The umpires decided to change the call, ruling that Rodriguez
was out on interference and Jeter had to go back to first base.
Replays clearly showed that Rodriguez intentionally stuck out his
hand.
"Years ago, that process wasn't used all the time," Marsh
said. "It's better for the game, it's better for umpiring, it's
better for the league."Heather Dinich says Ohio State isn't a lock for the College Football Playoff because of its loss to Penn State, but a more realistic scenario could include both teams. (0:59)
Sometime on Monday, members of the College Football Playoff selection committee will gather in Grapevine, Texas, to start discussing which four teams should occupy the top four spots in their latest rankings.
They'll weigh several factors when debating the teams, like records, strength of schedule, conference strength and nonconference victories.
But with only one week to go before the committee selects the four teams that will compete in the playoff, let's propose to add this to its selection criteria: Who can beat No. 1 Alabama?
Brutus Buckeye celebrated among a sea of Buckeyes fans after Ohio State's thrilling win over Michigan. Joe Maiorana/USA TODAY Sports
Now, I know what you're thinking Alabama fans (Nobody!), but humor me for a minute.
After 13 weeks of action, the CFP picture remains as muddled as ever. In fact, No. 2 Ohio State's 30-27 win over No. 3 Michigan in two overtimes might have been the worst thing that could have happened to the selection committee.
If No. 7 Penn State beats No. 6 Wisconsin in next week's Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, can the committee really pick Ohio State and not select Penn State, which won the Big Ten and beat the Buckeyes? Sure, it can. In the past, the committee has said that a team without a conference title has to be "unequivocally better" than a conference champion to get the nod.
"I think we've proven ourselves with our strength of schedule and how we played," Buckeyes defensive end Sam Hubbard said. "It doesn't really matter if we go to the Big Ten championship game. What we've done speaks for itself."
But bypassing a conference champion for a team that didn't even win its division might set a dangerous precedent. And if Penn State defeats Wisconsin, and the committee then decides to take both the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions, is it going to leave out potential ACC champion Clemson or potential Pac-12 champion Washington to select a second Big Ten team? That would go over as well as political discussion at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Alabama's defense turned in another dominant performance, this time in a win over Auburn. John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports
Only one thing appears clear as we're headed toward more college football postseason controversy: Alabama is clearly No. 1. The Crimson Tide won their 24th consecutive game Saturday, beating No. 13 Auburn 30-12 in the Iron Bowl. The Tide, the only remaining unbeaten team from a Power 5 conference, will play No. 15 Florida in next week's SEC championship game in the Georgia Dome.
How dominant has the Crimson Tide been this season? The Alabama defense didn't give up a touchdown in four November games, and none of its opponents (LSU, Mississippi State, Chattanooga and Auburn) drove inside the Tide's 10-yard line.
So as the committee begins its latest deliberations, it should seriously consider which of the other playoff contenders are best equipped to stack up against the Crimson Tide.
With that in mind, here are the top contenders:
1. Ohio State: If you've been watching Alabama's Nick Saban and Ohio State's Urban Meyer for the past decade or so, it sure seems as if it's their world and college football only lives in it.
For much of this season, it seemed Saban and Meyer were on another collision course that would have some impact on which team won a national title. No matter the offenses, decade or opposition (hello, Jim Harbaugh), Saban and Meyer seem to be just so much better than everyone else.
The Buckeyes weren't supposed to be back so soon after losing more than a dozen players to the NFL draft. But Meyer and his staff have done a tremendous job and once again have their team in position to make the playoff.
The last time Meyer and Saban squared off, the Crimson Tide were the No. 1 seed in the inaugural playoff in 2014. The No. 4 Buckeyes stunned the Tide 42-35 in the semifinals at the Sugar Bowl, despite having Cardale Jones, a third-string quarterback, making his second career start. Ohio State went on to beat Oregon 42-20 in the CFP National Championship Game to give Meyer his third national title.
2. Clemson: The Tigers nearly knocked off the Crimson Tide in last season's CFP National Championship. Clemson had a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter, but then Alabama scored and Saban called for an onside kick. It was the turning point in the Tide's 45-40 victory.
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson hasn't been as sharp, and Clemson's defense hasn't been as fierce this season, but the Tigers seem to be hitting their stride at the right time. Watson threw for 347 yards with six touchdowns in a 56-7 rout of South Carolina. If Clemson beats Virginia Tech in next week's ACC championship game in Orlando, Florida, the Tigers should make the playoff.
3. Washington: Alabama routed USC 52-6 in its Sept. 3 opener. Washington lost to the Trojans 26-13 on Nov. 12. No contest, right? Maybe not.
The Huskies have the Pac-12's most efficient quarterback (Jake Browning), a dynamic runner (Myles Gaskin) and a receiver (John Ross) who can stretch defenses vertically. Of course, Washington was pushed around by USC's defense, and Alabama's defense is much better. But Washington coach Chris Petersen pulled off a couple of the biggest upsets of the BCS era as Boise State's coach.
4. Michigan: The Wolverines' chances of making the playoff were dramatically reduced by their loss at Ohio State. But if Clemson, Washington and/or Penn State were to fall in their respective conference championship games, the Wolverines might still have a pulse with the committee.
There's no shame in falling by three points in double overtime on the road against the country's No. 2-ranked team. The Wolverines might even remain in the top four, for now. Michigan dominated Ohio State for much of the game and was on the wrong end of a couple of officiating calls late. But if the aforementioned teams win this coming weekend, the Wolverines will probably have to settle for a New Year's Six bowl game.
If the Wolverines somehow sneak into the playoff, though, they might be equipped on defense to slow down the Tide. They pressured Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett throughout Saturday's game, sacking him eight times and knocking him down often, and he never seemed comfortable standing in the pocket. Barrett is a junior and has played on plenty of big stages. How might Alabama freshman Jalen Hurts respond under such pressure?
Playoff teams after Week 13
1. Alabama: The Crimson Tide will undoubtedly remain No. 1 in the selection committee's rankings after winning their 24th consecutive game, 30-12 over rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 27 of 36 passes for 286 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Crimson Tide play No. 15 Florida in next week's SEC championship game in Atlanta.
2. Ohio State: Even if the Buckeyes didn't win the Big Ten East and won't play in the Big Ten championship game, they seem to be a pretty safe pick to be one of the four teams in the playoff. Along with their 30-27 double-overtime victory over No. 3 Michigan, the Buckeyes won at Oklahoma and Wisconsin and blasted then-No. 10 Nebraska by 59 points. The selection committee will have a much easier decision if Penn State doesn't win the Big Ten title.
3. Clemson: The Tigers rudely welcomed South Carolina first-year coach Will Muschamp to the in-state rivalry by blasting the Gamecocks 56-7 at Death Valley. After struggling earlier this season, Clemson's offense seems to be firing on all cylinders now. Quarterback Deshaun Watson fired six touchdowns, including three to Mike Williams. The Tigers will play Virginia Tech in next week's ACC championship game in Orlando, Florida.
4. Washington: The Huskies should be the biggest beneficiary of Michigan's loss -- as long as they take care of business in next week's Pac-12 championship game against Colorado. Washington routed No. 23 Washington State 45-17 in Friday's Apple Cup, putting together its most complete performance in over a month. As long as Washington wins the Pac-12 and finishes 12-1, it should be in good shape for one of the four spots in the playoff.
Next four in contention
Jim Harbaugh was not happy with the officiating during Michigan's loss to Ohio State. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
1. Michigan: The Wolverines aren't completely out of the playoff race after their double-overtime loss at Ohio State, but they're probably going to need a couple of teams ahead of them to fall in conference championship games. The Wolverines have head-to-head victories over three other contenders, beating Colorado by 17 points, Penn State by 39 and Wisconsin by seven, which should help their cause.
2. Wisconsin: The Badgers rallied from a 10-point deficit at the half by outscoring Minnesota 24-0 in the second half of a 31-17 victory. Wisconsin clinched the Big Ten West and will play Penn State in next week's Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis. It was the Badgers' sixth consecutive victory and their 13th straight win over the Gophers.
3. Penn State: The Nittany Lions continued their breakout campaign under coach James Franklin by defeating Michigan State 45-12, their eighth consecutive victory, to end the regular season with a 10-2 mark. It's Penn State's first 10-win season since 2009 and marks the first time it beat Michigan State and Ohio State in the same season since 2008.
4. Oklahoma: The Sooners still need a lot of help to get into the top four. They had the weekend off as they prepare for next week's showdown against No. 10 Oklahoma State in the Bedlam game. They'll finish the season with a nine-game winning streak and second straight Big 12 title if they knock off the Pokes. OU has defeated OSU in 11 of their past 13 meetings, and 13 of the past 17 under coach Bob Stoops.
Heisman candidates
Lamar Jackson turned the ball over four times in Louisville's loss to Kentucky, but it's still hard to imagine him being overtaken in the Heisman Trophy race. Jamie Rhodes/USA TODAY Sports
1. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville: Jackson played poorly for the second week in a row, but at this point it seems he'll win the Heisman by default. He had four turnovers in the Cardinals' 41-38 loss to Kentucky, including a fumble with 1:45 to go, which set up the Wildcats' winning field goal. He threw for 281 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions and ran 25 times for 171 yards with two scores.
2. Dede Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma: Can Westbrook close the gap on Jackson with a monster performance in next week's Bedlam showdown against rival Oklahoma State? He leads the Sooners with 70 catches for 1,354 yards and 15 touchdowns. All but 17 catches and 154 receiving yards have come in the past eight games.
3. Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson: Watson passed for six touchdowns in the Tigers' rout of South Carolina, becoming the third player in ACC history to be responsible for at least 100 touchdowns in his career. He's 29-3 in his Clemson career and can win his second ACC championship next week against Virginia Tech.
4. Jake Browning, QB, Washington: Browning completed 21 of 29 passes for 292 yards with three touchdowns in the Huskies' 45-17 rout at Washington State. It was his eighth game with three touchdowns or more this season. So far, he's completing 65 percent of his passes for 3,162 yards with 40 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Best moments
1. Kansas State's players carried coach Bill Snyder off the field after his 200th victory at the school, a 34-19 win over rival Kansas.
2. Derek Mason earned the right to dance after seeing Vanderbilt to its sixth win with a 45-34 victory over Tennessee.
That feeling when you beat up on big brother Tennessee. https://t.co/V7wQSZtvUT — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 27, 2016
3. We thought Harbaugh was the milk guy.
When your wife calls, you answer.
Even if it's after the biggest win of the year. pic.twitter.com/VcoW8jFm9Z — ESPNU (@ESPNU) November 26, 2016
4. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and their Cleveland Cavaliers teammates celebrated an Ohio State pick-six.
Tweets of the night
1. Tom Herman will be able to afford some new bling.
2. At least his tears will wash the paint off.
Losing: It's a lot worse dressed as a giant Cardinal. pic.twitter.com/PRS3fT9SSd — Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) November 26, 2016
3. Former Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen was excited about the Wildcats' upset win.
4. Amen.
THIS is the only Ohio State football helmet that should be used when playing Michigan. Not what's being used today. pic.twitter.com/vo3w03drsd — Pedro Gomez (@pedrogomezESPN) November 26, 2016
Best plays
1. Ohio State's Curtis Samuel took a toss sweep and ran 15 yards into the end zone -- and into Buckeyes lore.
Curtis Samuel with the game winning TD! https://t.co/45ol1CXxQO — ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) November 26, 2016
2. USC's Adoree' Jackson scored three touchdowns in three different ways, but his 97-yard kickoff return was his best.
Adoree' Jackson, have a day!
He has a 52-yd receiving TD. A 55-yd punt return TD. And this 97-yd KO return TD: https://t.co/SHbvPtJeNq — ESPN (@espn) November 26, 2016
3. Georgia Tech's Qua Searcy scored a 6-yard touchdown on a busted trick play with 30 seconds left in a 28-27 victory at Georgia.
Qua Searcy run for 6 yds for a TD https://t.co/16bmDxnOo7 — MRSADSONGHIMSELF🐸 (@BAM_BAM023) November 26, 2016
4. Try as they might, no South Carolina defender could bring down Clemson's Mike Williams on his way into the end zone on this touchdown catch.
Nothing can bring Mike Williams down. https://t.co/AW8qmS1BZO — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 27, 2016
Worst plays
1. That feeling when your mom says you're allowed to eat only one piece of candy on Halloween night.
Harbaugh rages against the machine https://t.co/9KTzKnARYH — Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) November 26, 2016
2. Ohio State's Urban Meyer called a fake punt from his team's 19-yard line. It didn't work.
Urban might regret that one later pic.twitter.com/vilStI1dt7 — Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) November 26, 2016
3. Heisman front-runner Lamar Jackson had four turnovers in Louisville's loss to Kentucky, and the last one might have been the most costly.
The Lamar Jackson fumble that set up UK's winning FG https://t.co/4hnY5lGgpP — Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) November 26, 2016
4. Notre Dame defensive tackle Jerry Tillery took two cheap shots -- a kick to the head and stomp on the foot -- to injured USC players who were on the ground.
😕😕Brian Kelly very unhappy with Sophomore Jerry Tillery Video - via @ESPN App https://t.co/JtCZLSwXyx — trill degrasse tyson (@ThaMan0fThaYear) November 27, 2016
Quotes of the night
1. "I haven't had any of those conversations.... We didn't schedule a meeting on the way up the ramp." -- Oregon coach Mark Helfrich, when asked if he'd had meetings with athletic director Rob Mullens, after the Ducks lost 34-24 at Oregon State in the Civil War to fall to 4-8.
2. "What an accomplishment by a group of kids that have been through some adversity and come out the other side of it. What this team and this group have is something special." -- USC coach Clay Helton, after the Trojans defeated Notre Dame 45-27 to end the season with an eight-game winning streak after starting 1-3.
3. "I'll be back. Absolutely." -- Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, after the USC loss dropped the Fighting Irish's record to 4-8, their worst finish since going 3-9 in 2007.
4. "It's been special. I think this team, the connection and the bond they have for each other, we've overachieved and we keep overachieving." -- Penn State's James Franklin, after the Nittany Lions beat Michigan State 45-12 to win the Big Ten East.
Stats that matter
137: Pittsburgh and Syracuse set an FBS single-game record for combined scoring in the Panthers' 76-61 victory at Heinz Field. It is Pitt's highest-scoring total since putting up 76 points against Temple in 1977; it is the most points the Orange have ever surrendered. The teams combined for 1,312 yards of offense.
125: Ohio State's J.T. Barrett gained 108 of his 125 rushing yards against Michigan after halftime. It was his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game against the Wolverines. He is the first quarterback to run for 100 yards against Michigan since Illinois' Nathan Scheelhaase in 2010.
75: Navy steamrollered SMU 75-31, its second straight game with 60 points or more (the Midshipmen scored 66 against East Carolina last week). It's the first time Navy has scored 60 points or more in back-to-back games since 1917, when it did it in four consecutive games.
1,243: After running for 258 yards with two touchdowns on 14 carries in Mississippi State's 55-20 win at Ole Miss, Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald finished the regular season with 1,243 yards. It's the third-highest rushing total in a season by an SEC quarterback; Auburn's Cam Newton had 1,473 in 2010, and Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel had 1,410 in 2012.Kentucky Senator and Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul criticized some in the media for skipping “important facts” like the fact that “California has some of the strictest gun control laws in the whole country” and accused the president of wanting “to make this political, when the reality is this is a human tragedy first” on Thursday’s “America’s Newsroom” on the Fox News Channel.
Rand said, “when we have these tragedies, the first thing I think that we ought to think about is the victims, and that they were people, they were someone’s brother, someone’s sister, someone’s mother. And I guess what gets me is that so often we immediately go and jump to — the president at least, jumps and wants to make this political, when the reality is this is a human tragedy first.”
He added, “the sad thing about those people who want to mock religion and want to mock prayer is that we don’t even yet know all about this. It turns out that both of these terrorists, or murderers are Muslim. Do we know that they’re radical Islamists? do we know where they came from, how they got here? Until we have an investigation of this, for someone to mock someone who sincerely believes that prayer is something that we do in times of need. The other thing is is that some of the victims were actually tweeting out pray for us, pray for our safety. And if this were some — a member of my family, that’s what I would be doing, praying for their safety, knowing that I physically couldn’t remove them from harm. But for people to mock religion, to mock prayer and then to act as if there’s some law that’s going to fix this. You know, there may well be, but it may not be a gun control law. It may well be a law that says we shouldn’t admit people to this country from certain parts of the world where they’re intent on killing us. And so until we know exactly what happened here, for people to be snide, snotty, and arrogant about the fact that they believe prayer doesn’t influence our lives. I’m offended by it, and quite frankly shocked by that kind of attitude.”
Rand also stated, “I was watching one of the competing channels. The competing channel was only talking about gun control, and did not mention that the attackers were Islamic, or that they were loaded with bombs and dozens of guns and weapons, as if it were a terrorist attack. And so it wasn’t even being mentioned, all that’s being talked about is gun control, and yet they skip over important facts, that oftentimes, the guns have been registered or purchased legally, and that California has some of the strictest gun control laws in the whole country. So, I think it’s a big mistake for the president, it’s a big mistake for liberals in general to mock people of religion, and to mock people who believe in prayer. But I think it’s also a big mistake to immediately politicize something.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchettImplementing the mass indexing functionality using the standardized batching API allows you to use the existing tools of your runtime environment for starting/stopping and monitoring the status of the indexing process. E.g. in WildFly you can use the CLI to do so.
Also JSR 352 provides a way to restart specific job runs. This is very useful if re-indexing of an entity type failed mid-way, for instance due to connectivity issues with the database. Once the problem is solved, the batch job will continue where it left off, not processing again those items already processed successfully.
As JSR 352 defines common concepts of batch-oriented applications such as item readers, processors and writers, the job architecture and workflow is very easy to follow. In JSR 352, the workflow is written in an XML file (the "job XML"), which is used to specify a job, its steps and directs their execution. So you can understand the process without jumping into the code.
<job id = " massIndex " > <step id = " beforeChunk " next = " produceLuceneDoc " > <batchlet ref = " beforeChunkBatchlet " /> </step> <step id = " produceLuceneDoc " next = " afterChunk " > <chunk checkpoint-policy = " custom " > <reader ref = " entityReader " /> <processor ref = " luceneDocProducer " /> <writer ref = " luceneDocWriter " /> <checkpoint-algorithm ref = " checkpointAlgorithm " /> </chunk>... </step> <step id = " afterChunk " > <batchlet ref = " afterChunkBatchlet " /> </step> </job>"If four Americans get killed, it's not optimal. We are going to fix it. All of it."
-- President Obama on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" talking about the attack by Islamist militants on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
More political hackery has been committed in service of the myth of "likability" than any other trope of recent years.
Wrongly believing that American voters are fools who cast their votes for commander in chief in the same way that they do for contestants on "American Idol," consultants, politicians and pundits have long worshiped at the altar of "likability."
And on Thursday, President Obama made himself a human sacrifice to the "likability" gods.
Obama has a serious problem on his hands. His administration failed to prevent a deadly attack by Islamist militants on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Among those killed was the U.S. ambassador to the woe-begotten nation, the first ambassador killed since the Carter administration.
The attack by Al Qaeda affiliates not only undermined the president's re-election argument that with the killing of Usama bin Laden the jihadist group was "back on its heels" but occurred in a country where Obama had helped in the ouster and killing of the previous leader and helped install a new, Islamist government.
In the aftermath, the president sought to portray the raid as an unavoidable, spontaneous event triggered by a video clip deemed offensive by Muslims. The message was that the attack did not represent a lapse in security or a problem with the policy of nurturing the growth of Islamist political groups in the region, but because of the intolerance of Christian fundamentalists in America.
This, instead, compounded the problem as evidence mounted not only that the administration had ample warning of the deteriorating situation in Libya and security shortfalls but also when it was revealed that the attack was a premeditated raid. The failure to prevent the raid and the decision to blame American intolerance looked all the worse.
Obama's strategy for turning things around was to accuse Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney of exploiting the deadly attack. In their second debate, Obama took great umbrage at Romney's criticism and any suggestion that he was not trying to find out how such a failure had occurred on his watch or that he was covering it up.
The president talked about being "the one who has to greet those coffins" and spoke of the solemnity of receiving the caskets of those killed in the Benghazi raid.
Umbrage would not have been enough to get Obama through Monday's foreign-policy debate, but it was a good start on getting out of the hole.
And then Obama went on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central. The show's sarcastic tone and liberal bent makes it a favorite among the young voters in the president's political base.
But the appearance was also very much about "likability," and an ongoing effort by both candidates to show that they are lovable, regular folks who like to laugh it up or discuss their favorite characters from reality television. Romney tries to do this less, probably because he is less adept at it. Obama, however, has gone whole hog.
The reason is that the conventional political wisdom is that the candidate deemed more "likable" in polls has triumphed in every recent presidential election. And believing that that "likability" is the cause of the victory, candidates and their consultants have pursued this intangible measure of affability like conquistadors searching for Incan gold.
Obama so often hypes his love of beer, as if to say that he's certainly the candidate Americans would rather have a beer with and if they do, he's got the suds. And, by the way, Mitt Romney is as dry as a cafeteria turkey sandwich.
But this is an election in which neither candidate is particularly warm or fuzzy. Obama tries to stay ahead by talking about sports and beer so often and by making so many TV appearances, but Ralph Kramden he ain't.
Americans may think of Obama and Romney as good fathers and conscientious leaders, but neither of them excels at being a "regular guy." Both went to prestigious prep schools, both went to Harvard Law School and both have led lives of privilege. Neither is someone with whom blue-collar voters have much in common.
But voters understand the perilous position of the nation on the economy, the federal debt, the mounting problems around the world and the deepening dysfunction of the government in Washington. The desperation is deepening for solutions and for a worldview big and broad enough to confront these difficult times for the republic.
But since "likability" is still considered a sacred aim of any politician, Obama made his appearance with Stewart. And in doing so, re-botched the Libya question.
Obama meant to correct Stewart and take the high ground when he used the host's word "optimal." Stewart was trying to get the president to admit that his administration has bungled the communications effort in the wake of the attack. Stewart was offering the president a way out -- to admit that he might have done a better job relating information to the public, even if he had handled the real issues right.
Since the president's most common admission of error is to say that he got the policy right but didn't pay enough attention to the politics, Stewart might reasonably have thought that Obama would grab the lifeline.
Instead, Obama tried to invoke the same umbrage that he did with Romney on Tuesday, and veered back to the deaths themselves. He was trying to gently chide Stewart for focusing on political messaging at a time of mourning.
And in that moment, Obama gave away his best defense on Libya. Having used the tactic with a friendly host on Comedy Central, how can Obama summon it again in the final presidential debate? The woeful word choice and the setting were a disaster.
All in the name of being "likable."
There is no good way to merge punch lines about his opponent and policy points about |
Take your time to learn and use them.
But the tools only help to some extent. It is up to a skilled developer to have a good understanding of how the computer mechanisms interact with each other, in order to be able to address complex performance issues
Learn more from Gabriel Krisman Bertazi at this month's Open Source Summit Europe, as he presents "Code Detective: How to Investigate Linux Performance Issues" on Monday, October 23.
Original postPublication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example,?Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives?); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
We used a novel study design to measure dietary organophosphorus pesticide exposure in a group of 23 elementary school-age children through urinary biomonitoring. We substituted most of children’s conventional diets with organic food items for 5 consecutive days and collected two spot daily urine samples, first-morning and before-bedtime voids, throughout the 15-day study period. We found that the median urinary concentrations of the specific metabolites for malathion and chlorpyrifos decreased to the nondetect levels immediately after the introduction of organic diets and remained nondetectable until the conventional diets were reintroduced. The median concentrations for other organophosphorus pesticide metabolites were also lower in the organic diet consumption days; however, the detection of those metabolites was not frequent enough to show any statistical significance. In conclusion, we were able to demonstrate that an organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against exposures to organophosphorus pesticides that are commonly used in agricultural production. We also concluded that these children were most likely exposed to these organophosphorus pesticides exclusively through their diet. To our knowledge, this is the first study to employ a longitudinal design with a dietary intervention to assess children’s exposure to pesticides. It provides new and persuasive evidence of the effectiveness of this intervention.
The primary objective of this study is to use a novel study design to determine the contribution of daily dietary pesticide intake to the overall pesticide exposure in a group of elementary school-age children using a longitudinal approach. Here we report only results of urinary specific metabolites of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides, a group of insecticides known to cause neurologic effects in animals and humans, for the summer 2003 sampling period. Results of pyrethroid pesticides for the same summer sampling period, as well as results from other sampling periods, will be reported as soon as they become available.
where C i is the individual urinary concentration (micrograms per liter) and V i is the volume of the correspondent spot urine sample (milliliters). In cases where only one of these two urine samples was collected, the metabolite concentration of the collected sample was used as the DVWA concentration. Urinary concentrations of OP metabolites were not adjusted by creatinine or specific gravity.
Concentrations of OP specific metabolites were reported as three categories, detectable (> LOD), detectable but not quantifiable (< LOD), and nondetectable (ND). For data analysis purposes, reported concentrations for samples with > LOD and < LOD were used, whereas zero was assigned for ND samples. The daily volume-weighted average (DVWA; micrograms per liter) of OP pesticide metabolites was calculated (Equation 1) by averaging the metabolite concentration in the morning sample with that of the previous day’s bedtime sample and then normalizing for the total volume of these two urine samples:
For 15 consecutive days, parents collected urine samples from their child’s first morning voids and the last voids before bedtime. Urine samples were collected daily, refrigerated or maintained on ice before processing in the lab, and then stored at –20°C until pesticide metabolite analysis was performed ( Olsson et al. 2004 ) at the National Center for Environmental Health in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Metabolites for selected OP pesticides, pyrethroid insecticides, and herbicides in the urine samples were analyzed; the limits of detection (LODs) for the OP metabolites are listed in.
All organic food items were purchased by the research staff from a single grocery store. Parents were asked to request organic foods for their children in phase 2 with the goal of exactly replacing the items the children would have normally eaten as part of their conventional diet. This method ensured that any detectable change in dietary pesticide exposure would be attributable to the organic food rather than a change in the diet. Each child’s daily dietary consumption was recorded by a parent in a food diary throughout the study period. Organic food items, mostly juices and fresh vegetables and fruits, were purchased before and during the study period and analyzed by one of the laboratories contracted by the USDA Pesticide Data Program (PDP) in Yakima, Washington, to confirm that the food items were indeed free of pesticides. No OP or other pesticides were detected in any of the organic food items analyzed.
Each child committed to a 15-consecutive-day sampling period, which consisted of three phases. Children consumed their conventional diets during phase 1 (days 1–3) and phase 3 (days 9–15). During phase 2 (days 4–8), organic food items were substituted for most of children’s conventional diet, including fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, processed fruit or vegetables (e.g., salsa), and wheat- or corn-based items (e.g., pasta, cereal, popcorn, or chips) for 5 days. These food items are routinely reported to contain OP pesticides [ U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2005 ]; we used data from the years 2000–2003. OP pesticides are not regularly detected in meats and dairy products, so these food items were not substituted.
Twenty-three children 3–11 years of age were recruited from local public elementary and Montessori schools in the suburban Seattle, Washington, area. A letter and a fact sheet describing the study were sent home with children. Families that were interested in participating contacted the research group directly by telephone or e-mail. Schools did not provide any assistance in recruiting subjects. A screening questionnaire was conducted over the telephone to confirm eligibility, which includes children exclusively consuming conventional diets and spending most of their time in one residency, with parents or caregivers willing to provide assistance in collecting specimen samples and other study-related information. Once a subject was enrolled, an in-house appointment was made to go over the study protocol and to obtain written consent from parents and older children, or oral assent from younger children. A questionnaire was also administered during this appointment that asked about household pesticide use to account for other sources of possible pesticide exposure. The University of Washington Human Subject Division approved the use of human subjects in this study.
The distributions of DVWA concentrations for MDA and TCPY during the three study phases ( and ) highlight the effect of organic food consumption on OP pesticide exposures in children. All 23 children’s urine samples contained MDA and TCPY when they enrolled in this study. Immediately after the introduction of organic food to children’s diets, median urinary MDA and TCPY concentrations decreased to the ND level, where they remained until conventional diets were reintroduced after 5 days of organic food consumption. The DVWAs for MDA and TCPY in the organic diet phase were significantly lower than the levels in either conventional diet phase [one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), p < 0.01; ]. The substitution of organic diets had no effect on the dietary exposures for diazinon [parent OP pesticide for 2-isopropyl-6-methyl-pyrimidin-4-ol (IMPY)], methyl pirimiphos [parent OP pesticide for 2-diethylamino-6-methylpyrimidin-4-ol (DEAMPY)], and coumaphos (parent OP pesticide for 3-chloro-4-methyl-7-hydroxycoumarin (CMHC)]. These OP pesticides either are less commonly used in agriculture or have restricted use, such as coumaphos, which is registered for use in livestock only.
Frequencies of detection ( ) for five OP metabolites in 724 urine samples collected from 23 children throughout the study period differed during the conventional diet phases (phases 1 and 3) and varied significantly between conventional and organic diet phases for two metabolites [malathion dicarboxylic acid (MDA), metabolite of malathion; 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPY), metabolite of chlorpyrifos]. These differences probably reflect the frequency of the uses of these OP pesticides in agricultural production, in which malathion and chlorpyrifos are all commonly used on fruits, vegetables, and wheat. para-Nitrophenol concentration was quantified but not included in this report because it is no longer considered a specific biomarker for methyl parathion exposure ( Barr et al. 2002 ).
Discussion
Concerns were raised by the NRC (1993) regarding the quantitative and qualitative differences in the toxicity of, and the exposure to, pesticides in children, compared with adults. The NRC report recognized that dietary intake of pesticides represents the major source of exposure for infants and children and concluded that the differences in dietary exposure to pesticide residues account for most of the differences in pesticide-related health risks that were found to exist between children and adults. Dietary pesticide exposure was commonly assessed by collecting duplicate food samples from the study subjects. This method assumes that the pesticide residues measured in the food samples represent the best surrogate measurements for the dietary intake of pesticide residues; however, the correspondence of pesticide residues in the duplicate food samples and the absorbed pesticide dose measured in biologic samples has rarely been determined. The objective of this study was to assess dietary pesticide exposures in individual children by substituting their conventional diets with organic food items. The results from this study should provide the most direct and relevant data for assessing children’s pesticide exposure through dietary intake.
An important aspect of this study was to assure that the study protocol did not alter children’s diets, qualitatively speaking, from their normal consumption patterns. Children may reject organic food items because of taste or appearance and therefore restrict themselves to a rather simple and less diverse diet during the organic diet phase. Consequently, this may confound the results because one cannot determine whether potentially observed differences in dietary pesticide exposures truly result from consuming organic food items and not from changes in children’s diets. We performed a few trial runs with different children in the same age range before the study to evaluate children’s acceptance of organic versions of the food items they regularly ate. Parents commented about their child’s response and found that most items were acceptable to their children, especially children considered not very selective in food choices. We then determined that it would be vital to recruit children who are considered not very selective about food taste and appearance. According to the food diaries, children consumed approximately two more items of fresh produce (including juices) and wheat/rice/soybean-based food items in the organic diet phase, comparing with the conventional diet phase. This finding indicates that the study protocol did not change children’s regular diet consumption pattern and therefore should not bias the study results.
We conclude that organic diets provide a protective mechanism against OP pesticide exposure in young children whose diets regularly consist of fresh fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, and wheat-containing items. Such protection is dramatic and immediate. This is particularly true for certain OP pesticides, such as chlorpyrifos and malathion, as measured in this study, and is probably true for other OP pesticides such as azinphosmethyl, dimethoate, and acephate, which are registered only for agricultural production. These results are consistent with our previous finding (Lu et al. 2001) that none of the dialkylphosphate compounds, a group of nonspecific urinary OP pesticide metabolites, were found in one child from a pool of 110 children. The parents of this child reportedly provided exclusively organic produce and did not use any pesticides at home. Although we did not collect health outcome data in this study, it is intuitive to assume that children whose diets consist of organic food items would have a lower probability of neurologic health risks, a common toxicologic mechanism of the OP pesticide class. The persistent existence of OP pesticide metabolites in urine during the conventional diet periods raises a concern of the possible chronic exposures to OP pesticides in children. However, caution should be exercised when inferring exposures and health risks solely based on OP urinary metabolite levels. Recent studies have suggested that the OP metabolites can occur as degradates either in food commodities (Lu et al. 2005) or in the environment (Morgan et al. 2005), although the amount of metabolites measured represents only a fraction of OP pesticides. The presence of OP pesticide metabolites in foods and in the environment definitely complicates the estimation of absorbed pesticide doses but should not be used to defend a lower likelihood of direct dietary exposure to OP pesticides. If these degradates are absorbed efficiently and excreted unchanged in urine, they could contribute to the total OP metabolite levels. Future researches should be conducted to determine the magnitude of OP pesticide degradation in the environment and in foods, and the pharmacokinetics of those metabolites in humans.
The lack of residential pesticide use as reported by the parents suggests that children in this study were exposed to OP pesticides exclusively from dietary intakes. Recent regulatory changes (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1998) aiming to reduce exposures in children have banned or restricted the use of many OP pesticides in the residential environment. This policy change no doubt greatly minimizes the OP pesticide exposures from residential use (Hore et al. 2005; Whyatt et al. 2004); however, fewer restrictions have been imposed in agriculture. Chlorpyrifos and malathion residues in selected food commodities were regularly detected in selected food commodities ( ) as surveyed by annual USDA PDP from 2000 to 2003 (USDA 2005). These food items were also commonly consumed by the children in this study. Unfortunately, the trend in agricultural use of these OP pesticides was not assessable after 2002 because completely different commodities were monitored in 2003. The trade-off of the heath risks caused by OP pesticide in children by such regulatory change, therefore, is difficult to quantify.
Table 2 Chlorpyrifos detection Malathion detection Food item 2000 2001 2002 2003 2000 2001 2002 2003 Frequency of consumption by childrenb Apples 12 8 1 0 0 0 22 Broccoli 2 3 0 < 1 5 Cantaloupe < 1 1 0 0 12 Carrot 0 2 7 0 < 1 0 14 Celery 1 3 20 26 2 Cherry 3 1 16 11 8 Grape (and juice) 9 6 < 1 0 15 Nectarine 6 2 < 1 0 4 Orange 1 2 0 5 Peach 30 34 35 0 < 1 < 1 6 Rice < 1 < 1 < 1 17 11 4 15 Strawberry (fresh) < 1 18 8 Sweet bell pepper 15 5 18 2 0 1 3 Tomato (canned)c 0 9 4 0 0 0 26 Wheat/barley/soybeand 4 16 2 38 229 Open in a separate window
Last, the magnitude of variability associated with urinary OP pesticide metabolite levels measured in this study is rather large, suggesting that the scenario of dietary exposure is sporadic with significant temporal variations. Such variability reflects the combination of the variation of OP pesticide residues found in food items, the probability of consuming those food items, and the relatively short biologic half-lives of the OP pesticides in humans. The pitfall of such large variability is that it may compromise the true association between exposure and the outcome of interest. Despite this inherent variability, statistically significant trends were evident in this study. A study design that incorporates daily repeatable specimen collection over a period of time in consideration of the pharmacokinetics of the nonpersistent pesticides, such as OP pesticides, is preferable. Spot first morning void urine sample has been suggested as the best representative measurement for the daily OP pesticide exposure (Kissel et al. 2005). However, such an approach is deemed not sufficient for assessing dietary exposure to OP pesticides or other exposure scenarios in which subjects’ activities, such as dietary consumption patterns, are dynamic in nature. Many first morning void urine samples collected in this study had no detectable OP metabolite levels, whereas the before bedtime urine samples collected the previous day contained detectable metabolite levels. Depending upon the timing of pesticide residue intake with certain meals, first morning void urine samples may not represent true exposures. Considering the burden of study subjects and the cost of sample analysis, collecting before bedtime and first morning void samples for assessing dietary exposure to OP pesticides seems to be the best choice.
Children and their families participating in this study do not reflect the general U.S. population, and therefore no attempt should be made to extend this conclusion to other children. It will be of interest, from the regulatory and public health points of view, to conduct additional studies that include children living in homes where residential pesticide use is common. If not applied according to label instructions, pesticide use in or around households may contribute more exposure to residents, particularly children, than does dietary intake (Lu et al. 2001).Last Word on Sports is proud to present their newest hockey podcast, On the Powerplay with Ben, Shawn and Dave. Join Ben Kerr, Shawn Wilken and Dave Gove each week as the take a look around the Hockey World focusing on the big issues of the NHL and elsewhere.
On The Powerplay: McDavid, Strome, Stadium Series, Injuries and More
This week On The Powerplay, Ben sits down with Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome and talks to them about their draft year. How does having another highly ranked prospect help you through the season? Are they thinking about playing for any specific teams and how close of an eye do they keep on the standings? What do the Erie Otters have to do to chase down an OHL Title and Memorial Cup?
Dave went to the Stadium Series game between the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings. What did he think about Levi’s Stadium and it hosting a hockey game? What was unique about watching an outdoor game in California? What was the experience of a Kings fan in enemy territory? How were the tailgates?
We then discuss the injury to David Krejci and what it means for the Boston Bruins and their playoff race with the Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers. Are the Bruins now after Antoine Vermette? Would the Panthers trade Sean Bergenheim to a team they are competing with for the playoffs.
What are Marc Bergevin and the Habs looking for at the deadline? How do they solve their scoring woes? What is available?
We also look at Ryan Miller’s injury and discuss if the Canucks will now be after some goaltending help, possibly Michael Neuvirth for the stretch. Or do they call up Jacob Markstrom who has been fantastic in the AHL?
All this and more On the Powerplay.
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Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow us on twitter @lastwordBkerr, @crimsonskorpion and @LAKingsDave. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?Antonio Cromartie has announced he welcomed his 14th child on Aug. 30.
The baby girl, Jhett Paxton, is Cromartie’s sixth child with his wife, Terricka.
Cromartie had a vasectomy a few years ago but apparently he is unstoppable.
The Cromartie's are coming to @usa_network -------- November 9th thanks to @thediamondduchess for helping me create my vision for my maternity shoot honoring my husbands career A post shared by TERRICKA CROMARTIE -- (@iluvterricka) on Sep 7, 2017 at 12:14pm PDT
"We are 100 percent done! Absolutely, positively done with having kids," Terricka said. "We've been blessed with these guys, but adding to it, I think, would kill us both!"
The couple also announced their family will star in a new reality show, Cromarties, which premieres on USA on Nov. 9. at 10:30. The series will focus on the day-to-day life of the large family.
"We just go every day. We have a routine, we already know how every day is going to go, so we just get up and go," Cromartie said.
The Colts released Cromartie last season and he is currently a free agent.Sony in Japan has accidentally erased the list of all 123 winners of its PlayStation 4 Anniversary Edition contest, meaning it will need to restart the competition.
The corporation has offered its "deepest apologies," after determining that all data of the winning contestants is irretrievable.
"Our deepest apologies for the trouble we have caused to those who entered the previous campaign," Sony wrote on its website, as translated by Kotaku.
Between December and January, customers in Japan who bought either a PlayStation 3, a PlayStation 4, a PS Vita, or PlayStation TV, were eligible to receive a calendar attached with a unique code.
Of those customers, Sony picked 123 codes as the winners, and was prepared to send each a highly sought-after 20th Anniversary PlayStation 4, of which only 12,300 exist worldwide.
Sony asks that those who still have the calendar codes to resubmit them for the competition. Those who have thrown their codes away after can still enter via a more elongated process, whereby they submit their hardware's serial number, which Sony can cross-reference as being purchased during the competition period.
The company also assures that, while it had lost the crucial data, user details have apparently not been compromised. It did not explain how it lost the information.
In December, Sony marked the 20-year anniversary of the PlayStation 1 launch by manufacturing a custom PS4.
Packaged in a special commemorative box, the custom PS4 is resplendent with a familiar silver/grey finish, with a small insignia etched onto the chassis that shows each unit's unique number. The DualShock 4 controller, meanwhile, is coloured in the same manner and brings back the original PlayStation logo. A closer look shows that the controller's touch-pad has also been decorated with 20 marked in the pattern.Weeks before she might have to decide whether to run for mayor of Toronto, federal member of Parliament Olivia Chow has been struck with a viral infection that has left part of her face paralyzed.
But the downtown MP insisted on Friday the condition will not affect her political work. At a news conference to discuss her medical treatment, she even fired a broadside at the federal government, demanding it spend more money on city transit and road repairs.
Ms. Chow said she awoke one morning during the holidays to find discomfort on the left side of her face. She was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome Type 2 and treated with medication that knocked the virus out within a week.
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The left side of her mouth remains slightly limp and she has difficulty putting a contact lens in her left eye. It could take months for her nerves to regenerate and the paralysis to clear up. Otherwise, she said, she is perfectly healthy and in no pain. Throughout her news conference, Ms. Chow seemed upbeat – "a new year, a new look," she joked.
With Mayor Rob Ford embroiled in a court case that could see him booted from office in the coming weeks and a by-election called, Ms. Chow has been touted as a contender. A popular NDP politician who spent 14 years on Toronto City Council, Ms. Chow would not say Friday whether she would make a mayoral bid, but left the door open.
"I am seriously listening to people. And when the time comes, if there's a decision, then I'll consider what role I might play," she said when asked about her intentions, before segueing into a brief speech calling for federal infrastructure funds to repair the city's Gardiner Expressway.
"The federal government should give some of the money back to the city of Toronto after all the taxes they take from the city," she said. "We need the funds to fix the Gardiner. And the city of Toronto should not do this alone."
Through a spokesman, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered Ms. Chow "his best wishes... as she gets treatment for Ramsay Hunt syndrome."
If precedent is anything to go on, it is unlikely Ms. Chow's condition will affect her political life much. Former prime minister Jean Chrétien suffered permanent paralysis on the left side of his face after a case of Bell's palsy, but enjoyed a lengthy political career, including three electoral victories as Liberal leader.
WHAT IS RAMSEY HUNT SYNDROME?
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The virus – Ramsay Hunt syndrome Type 2 is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same infection that leads to chickenpox and shingles. When a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus goes dormant inside the body. The syndrome develops if the virus is reactivated and spreads to nerves in the face.
The symptoms – In addition to paralyzing the face, the virus can cause a rash on the head, ear pain, hearing loss, vertigo and dry eyes.
The treatment – The condition can be treated with antiviral drugs and steroids such as prednisone; generally, the patient's prognosis is best if the infection is caught early. Both hearing loss and facial paralysis can be permanent in some cases.
Ms. Chow said she is not suffering hearing trouble and is optimistic her nerves will repair themselves.
Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokesUrban Outfitters (URBN) has a line of politically-branded merchandise that enables customers to show off their political views.
Unless the customers are pro-Trump.
The line includes slogans like “IDK Not Trump Tho” and “Vote Trump 20NEVER.” It also includes pro-Hillary Clinton and pro-Bernie Sanders merchandise, and a book titled “Quotations From Chairman Trump,” which is touted on the website as being “Unfiltered. Unabridged. Unauthorized. Unbelievable.”
The clothier says they’re not taking sides, they’re just having fun.
“These t-shirts are novelty items, not a political statement on the part of URBN,” a rep for Urban Outfitters said in a statement. “We stock thousands of novelty products such as t-shirts and mugs with popular and/or humorous statements. We don’t commission these products; they are designed by independent artists who submit them to our merchandise buyers. Our product selection rotates frequently and is largely driven by the demand of our customers.”
But not everyone is buying it.
“Business should stay out of politics as a tool of marketing,” said Brad Blakeman, former member of President George W. Bush’s Senior Staff and current Professor of Public Policy, Politics and International Affairs at Georgetown University. “They should not support one party or candidate over another. I will never patronize a store because they are being political, but I am sure to never patronize a store that is.”
Nicholas Sarwark, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee, told FOX411 that while a private business has the right to not support a specific candidate it is wise to represent all options to consumers, even those outside of the two major parties.
“Americans are pretty diverse in their political decisions. If they want to maximize sales, they ought to offer both sides: the Democratic nominee and the Libertarian nominee, Gary Johnson,” Sarwark said. “After all, he's polling better than the Republican nominee among millennials, who are the core demographic for Urban Outfitters. It would be good for their bottom line.”
Democratic strategist David Mercer wondered if URBN did research to learn what their consumers would buy.
“Urban Outfitters has probably done their projections and from what they see would suggest a healthy, vibrant market for the goods that are anti-Trump,” said Mercer. He continued that left out Trump supporters could use the gap as an opportunity to open their “own kiosks selling pro-Trump merchandise.”
Dan Gainor, VP of Business and Culture at The Media Research Center, said leaving out pro-Trump apparel is a bad business model although a seemingly deliberate choice on behalf of the clothing company.
“Offending a huge chunk of your market makes no sense,” he said. “But they made a business decision that they don’t want Trump supporters shopping there.”
Scott Pinsker agreed such a move could have financial effects on URBN.
“Obviously, not everyone who shops at Urban Outfitters is a committed leftist. Simply by offering a few pro-Trump items, even if they’re outnumbered by anti-Trump items ten-to-one, would shield Urban Outfitters from criticism and potential boycotts,” he said. “Political campaigns come and go, but alienating large portions of the public can haunt you for decades.”The European Parliament has opposed the controversial ACTA treaty, after three of its influential committees said the trade agreement should be rejected.
The Legal Affairs Committee (JURI), the Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) all voted against implementing the agreement, which caused mass protests in several European countries this year.
In ITRE, the votes were split 31 members for and 12 votes against a draft opinion which called on the Parliament to reject ACTA. One member abstained.
In JURI, 10 votes were cast for a pro-ACTA draft opinion and 12 against, while two committee members abstained. The small-margin victory still went to opponents of the treaty.
LIBE also sided with critics of the treaty, with 36 members voting for a negative report on ACTA, 1 against and 21 abstaining from the vote.
The cold shower news for the trade agreement does not seal its fate. The next vote on it by Committee on International Trade (INTA) of the European Parliament will take place on June 21. It will be the fourth and final opinion the committees are to submit before ACTA is taken to a plenary session in early July.
Earlier on Tuesday Dutch legislators voted to ax ACTA, saying the government of the Netherlands will never sign it. They said they would oppose it even if the European Parliament approves the treaty.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is aimed at protecting copyright in many industries, from software engineering to agriculture. Critics say the national governments would have to make a draconian attack on online privacy to implement provisions of the treaty on their soil.
The European Union suspended efforts to ratify the treaty in February amid a storm of protest from human rights activists. Thousands demonstrated across the EU against ACTA and the amount of power it would give to big corporations.
‘Three strikes against ACTA’
With three heavyweight committees in the European Parliament recommending ACTA is rejected, the controversial anti-piracy agreement has suffered a crushing blow, believes the founder of the Swedish Pirate Party, Rick Falkvinge.
RT:The final decision on whether to ratify ACTA will be made in July. I suppose you are delighted by the latest development but what do you make of what has happened?
RF: These were only the three first events in a long chain that lead up to the final vote on the floor of the European Parliament in early July. The first three events essentially were three strikes against ACTA. Obviously this conflict between the old and the new has started very well for the internet-activist side.
RT:So, ACTA could likely be scrapped. Do you think there is room to conceive some other sort of treaty?
RF: That’s the thing. I mean ACTA was shutting the door for reforms, which is also a very good reason to oppose it. We do need, we direly need to reform the corporate monopoly and patent monopolies as we transition further into a digitally-framed economy in Europe. So I definitely see a reform of both corporate and patent monopolies but not necessarily in the way that the middlemen are wanting.The puppeteer and director Basil Twist is a silk whisperer.
“It’s sort of odd, because I still am kind of baffled by silk,” he said in an interview near his Greenwich Village studio. “I think it’s mostly that I have a respect for it. The great thing about silk is you don’t want to tame it. You don’t want to flatten it and stretch it and pull it. You want to let it be wild. And you have to just create the conditions where it can do that and then stand back.”
In “The Rite of Spring,” which makes its New York debut on Wednesday as part of the White Light Festival, Mr. Twist continues his astonishing inventiveness with silk and other seemingly ordinary materials — folded paper, curling smoke — in a production that deepens his otherworldly melding of abstract puppetry and music. His revelatory “Symphonie Fantastique” (1998) was performed inside a water tank and reimagined what puppets could be: fabric and feathers kicking up a storm to Berlioz.
But in “Rite,” which he calls “a ballet without dancers,” Mr. Twist’s canvas is an entire theater. (The all-Stravinsky program, to be presented at the Rose Theater, will include new interpretations of “Fireworks” and the “Pulcinella Suite.”)
“Ever since I made ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ it seemed obvious: Why don’t you do more of this choreography from materials?” he asked. “The concept of doing something bigger had danced around my brain for a long time.”by
I am delighted to welcome Barbara Gaskell Denvil to On the Tudor Trail!
Born in England, Barbara grew up amongst artists and authors and started writing at a young age. She published numerous short stories and articles, and worked as an editor, book critic and reader for publishers and television companies.
With a delight in medieval history dating back to her youth, Barbara began to research the wicked King Richard III, but quickly discovered the fascination of looking past Tudor propaganda to discover the real man. She now writes principally on this era, setting her fiction in 15th century England.
Barbara’s novels include Blessop’s Wife, Sumerford’s Autumn and Satin Cinnabar.
Barbara joins us today with a guest post about Tudor London.
TUDOR LONDON
By Barbara Gaskell Denvil
The City of London was founded in Roman times, although an indigenous settlement already existed on the banks of the Thames. It was for fortification against the furious hoards of the vanquished, that the great Roman walls were built to keep the inhabitants safe. Those walls stood long past the Roman occupation, and during Tudor times the city was still nestled snug within those great stone arms. Immediately beyond was the Ditch, which, in spite of various attempts to clean it up, remained a noxious depository for rubbish, sewerage and mud. Standards of cleanliness amongst the people of that era were not as terrible as some now suppose, but certainly the stench from the Ditch must have swept full on the wind. Just a mile square, the city was large for its time, and contained all the luxuries a citizen might need. The great central road of the Goldsmiths was internationally famed, while other roads housed the several busy markets, warehouses for storage and imports, vintners and brewers, ports large and small, grand houses, slums and a multitude of both taverns and churches. The Palace of Westminster was some distance outside the city walls due west, but the city’s East Minster was the Cathedral of St. Pauls. Within the walls there was the beautiful, the ugly, and the dangerous.
So close your eyes, inhale deeply, breathe in and savour that smell, and hear those footsteps.
Clip, clip, clip. Flat soled boots on wet cobbles, and the sounds of falling rain collecting in the central gutter, washing away the accumulated grime. Small noises are muffled. There is only human sound on a human scale. Birds, the wind in the bushes along the riverbanks, the people hurrying back home to warmth and shelter. Someone is singing in an ale house nearby, and someone else is scolding a stray dog begging in the alley. No buses, no roaring traffic, nor thousands of people rushing back to work. Everything is small, friendly, and quiet, like whispers in the night.
And now it is also growing dark. Narrow roads wind and turn sudden corners. High walls shut out the moonlight. Alleys and lanes are unpaved, and in the rainfall the beaten earth turns to mud. Along the main roads, the cobbles are slippery but in the alleys there is just the squelch of boots in sludge. Someone on horseback races past, you are pushed to the wall and your heart pounds. The hooves splash up mud into your face. The rider’s oiled cape slaps against you. So you wait a moment to catch your breath, then trudge on as the galloping echoes disappear into the darkness.
A candle flickers behind the greenish smear of thick glass mullions. Further along there is the brighter flare of a lantern behind another window, but it is quickly extinguished to conserve oil. Candles, even the cheaper tallow-made, are expensive, oil more so. Everything must be conserved when possible. This is no world of commercial abundance, expected obsolescence or casual waste. So when the sun sets and the dark shadows loom, most people prepare for bed.
Once the rain turns to sleet, there are few who will leave their homes, and the shops shut early. Their counters, made from the opening flap of the wooden window shutters, are pulled back indoors and the shutters are raised and bolted. You can hear the echoes all along Goldsmiths’ Row – bolts pushed home and doors shut and locked. Craftsmen usually sit in their open doorways when the businesses are open, displaying their wares and the workmanship, ready to attract and speak with customers. But now all is quiet and closed as the rain pelts down. Inside the shopkeepers light their fires and balance the iron pots on the trivets over the |
ally, was on display in Liverpool recently as part of the About The Young Idea exhibition about The Jam:
Noel Gallagher's Rickenbacker on display at The Jam exhibition Noel Gallagher's Rickenbacker on display at The Jam exhibition
Noel Gallagher Acoustic Guitars
Noel Gallagher and his Gibson J200 acoustic guitar Noel Gallagher and his Gibson J200 acoustic guitar
For many years, his acousticguitar of choice was an Epiphone EJ-200, such as the one used in 'Wonderwall', until he eventually upgraded to a Gibson J-200. Noel also used a few Takamine guitars during the Britpop years.
Today, his main choice is a Martin D-28 - one of the best acoustics there is, as used by Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, Neil Young and John Lennon. Noel said: "I bought it brand-new in a shop, just straight off the peg. It's f***ing incredible. It's got a new Baggs pickup system in it, which is pretty amazing."
Noel Gallagher Guitar Amps
Oasis live, 1994 Oasis live, 1994
Noel's favourite guitar amp seems to be the Fender Blues Junior, which he's used from the final years in Oasis up until very recently with the High Flying Birds, alongside a Hiwatt Custom 100 head. But for a long time - during most of Oasis' career, anyway - he used Marshall amps: this is pretty much the ultimate formula for Noel's 'Definitely Maybe' sound - Epiphone semi-acoustic into a cranked up Marshall.
'DEFINITELY MAYBE' TONE ON A BUDGET: MARSHALL CODE 25
The new The new Marshall Code 25 is an affordable practice & recording amp that perfectly emulates the sound of classic Marshall amps, includind the JCM-series stacks like the ones Noel used during early Oasis. This is a great choice for any Oasis fans playing at home!
Early on, Noel used a small Marshall and a small Vox amp (an AC10, maybe?) which were replaced by what looked like a Marshall Valvestate 8040 or 8080 and a WEM Dominator, as seen on Oasis' TV debut in 1994:
But as soon as Oasis got huge, he started to use a Marshall JCM900 stack. Contrary to what some guitarists think, Noel didn't use a Marshall Bluesbreaker - it was rhythm guitarist Bonehead who did!
Noel Gallagher amps including the Fender Blues Junior, on one of Oasis' last tours Noel Gallagher amps including the Fender Blues Junior, on one of Oasis' last tours
Other amps Noel has used live seem to be a Vox AC50 and Fender Bassman head.
Noel Gallagher FX pedals
Noel Gallagher is like so many of us, it seems - a true guitar fx addict! He's always experimenting with new guitar effects, and his pedalboard seems to change almost on an yearly basis. At the start of his career with Oasis, he had a pretty simple setup (mostly Roland Space Echo and / or Boss delay, Tube Screamer, Wah) but his setup soon expanded, as those three previous pedalboards show:
Old Noel Gallagher pedalboard, Old Noel Gallagher pedalboard,
Noel Gallagher 2011 pedalboard Noel Gallagher 2011 pedalboard
Noel Gallagher 2015 pedalboard Noel Gallagher 2015 pedalboard
Here's a list of all fx pedals that Noel Gallagher is known to have used, prior to his newest 2016 acquisitions.
Noel also used a Mellotron keyboard on tracks from '(What's The Story) Morning Glory'. The subtle orchestral strings you hear on 'Don't Look Back In Anger' and cello sounds you hear in 'Wonderwall' were created by this vintage instrument - which was also used by The Beatles for the flute sounds in 'Strawberry Fields Forever', for instance.
To get those Mellotron sounds, hook up your keyboard or guitar to an Electro-Harmonix Mel9 pedal!
The Mellotron is BACK! MEL9 Tape Replay Machine The Mellotron is BACK! MEL9 Tape Replay Machine
Noel Gallagher Microphones
There’s not a great deal of information out there regarding Noel’s preferred use of microphones, aside from countless pics on stage with a Shure SM58. Until now! Not one to go about endorsing brands too much (or mincing his words), Noel Gallagher chooses his gear carefully and has actually chosen to endorse the Aston Mics brand, utilising them on the recording for his as yet untitled third solo album.
Noel with the Aston Spirit and Rycote Shock Mount Noel with theand Rycote Shock Mount
Noel chose the Aston Spirit mic for his vocals on the new "High Flying Birds" album… and here’s his quote…
"I ******* LOVE these mics!" - Noel Gallagher
Short and sweet, and i'm sure you can guess what the blanked out word is!
No doubt the “open” sound with sparkling harmonics are the reason why Noel chose the extremely versatile multi-pattern microphone. Noel’s vocals are extremely unique and rarely (if ever) manipulated, so the Aston Spirit will make a great choice for the new album thanks to the fact it’s a highly accurate mic that provides natural and transparent vocals. The Spirit is able to capture all that detail and the higher notes Noel can hit without throwing in any of the harshness that can sometimes occur with condenser mics. Check out the Aston Spirit below, which includes a FREE Rycote Shock Mount for a limited time.
More info:
Noel Gallagher interviewMost people assume identity thieves are super-sophisticated hackers sitting in front of banks of blinking computer screens. The more vigilant among us might be shredding every document in sight, jealously guarding sensitive information from unknown callers or online "frenemies" and installing the most sophisticated firewalls and security software on our mobile devices and computers. But sometimes you really never see it coming, and the identity thief who ruined your credit and turned your life upside down is actually your mom or dad.
It's more common (and under-reported) than you think. Local news outlets highlighted the case of an assistant professor of consumer studies at Eastern Illinois University, Axton Betz-Hamilton, who worked for 16 years to resolve her identity theft -- only to learn it was her own mother behind her financial woes. In another story, Credit.com reporter Christine DiGangi wrote about a Redditor who discovered her mom had opened up half a dozen credit cards in her name and racked up charges she couldn't pay off.
Although it's not uncommon for young people to discover that their credit has been ruined before they're even of the age of majority by a parent who already tanked their own, your parents aren't the only risk factor. A close friend of mine got stuck with a $30,000 bill after her brother racked up debts in her name and her mother begged her not to go to the police.
That, of course, is the terrible choice many victims of familial identity theft face: pay off the debts that your supposedly loving family used your good name to grow, or turn those family members over to law enforcement. So many people choose to stay silent. What few statistics exist about the number of victims are widely considered unreliable because people are loath to rat out family members to the authorities even in the face of potentially devastating financial and emotional consequences.
I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that your best option is to turn your family member in to law enforcement, regardless of the relational consequences. If you catch someone exploiting your identity to incur debt that they can't pay off, make no mistake -- they've almost certainly stolen your money.
In the absence of a police report, you will be on the hook for whatever debt they incur at whatever interest rate they incur it. No creditor in 2014 is simply going to charge it off or forget about it, and you might not even be able to discharge it in bankruptcy -- which alone will make your life much more expensive (and likely a nightmare). Plus, the damage to your credit score means that pretty much everything else in your personal universe is going to get more expensive: interest rates on legitimate accounts you have; the deposits that utility companies could require you to make; and a host of things you don't consider, like car insurance. Meanwhile, the family member from Hell will get to keep whatever tangibles they acquired in your name.
If you really can't bring your relative to the police, but the thief is willing to take responsibility for the debt and pay restitution, the Identity Theft Resource Center suggests transferring the debts into his or her name and signing an enforceable contract that she or he will pay it off. However, this option requires that your near and dear will admit to the crime -- and it is a crime -- in writing, that the creditor(s) cooperate and that you do a serious amount of legwork to clean up your credit reports without a criminal filing, which is difficult to do.
But let's be honest: Many of the people who are willing to screw over family members for money aren't exactly the type of folks who are going to want to admit to that in a legal document, much less pay you the money they forced you to owe. That said, if you feel you can't report the crime -- and they won't admit to it -- your remaining option is to simply pay back the debts incurred in your name, as creditors are unlikely to take your word for it and write off the debts.
If you do decide to take on the financial burden of paying off your relative's debts, keep in mind that it will cost you far more than just the money involved: Your credit report will reflect the past delinquencies and liens for seven years. This will definitely impact your own ability to access credit at reasonable rates, open new utility accounts and even, in some circumstances, hinder your ability to get hired for certain positions, and get (or keep) security clearances.
If you think you might have been a victim of identity theft, by a member of your family or anyone else, it's important to monitor your credit for anything out of the ordinary: primarily accounts and delinquencies you don't recognize. You can get a copy of each of your three major credit reports for free once a year at AnnualCreditReport.com, and you can use a free tool like Credit.com's Credit Report Card, which provides users with an overview of their credit standing using letter grades, along with free credit scores that are updated monthly.The vandalism and removal of Confederate Civil War monuments no longer makes news in these jaded times. Now, however, the movement to obliterate history is sliding down the slippery slope that is its inevitable conclusion: The elimination of memorials to our (slave-owning) Founding Fathers.
At Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, established in the late 1700s, one of those Founding Fathers was George Washington. There, the man who knelt and prayed at Valley Forge that awful winter more regularly knelt and prayed at Sunday services.
Leaders at the historic place of worship recently decided that it was time for the monument to President Washington to be removed. They believe the monument has become too divisive and is causing some in the congregation to avoid going to church.
Washington and others who were instrumental in the creation of our nation previously had been begrudgingly given a pass by the Left. That was when there were more likely targets to be wiped from the history books. Now, with the vanquishing of 150-years dead Southern soldiers, people four score and seven years even “deader” are now fair game.
Emboldened by their victory over dead Confederates, the Left now enters the next campaign in the culture war: The one where they destroy the memory of the very people who established their right to protest.
The problem with demanding perfection from our historical figures is that the definition of the word changes with the times. Just a few years ago, little criticism was leveled at the patriots who began the Great American Experiment. This was because we understood that a person is a product of their times, not ours.
The issue, of course, is slavery. Like most prominent members of colonial society in the Southern United States, a number of Founding Fathers were slave-owners. This fact is used as proof that even the creators of a nation can be less than perfect.
What a surprise! Humans aren’t perfect. In the narrow lens of the immediate present, people from the past are even less so. The Left believes that the centuries don’t matter. Indeed, if they lived in Italy, they would be smashing 2000-year-old Roman statues because the emperors had slaves. The erasure of history is the only logical end point of the current disdain for the West.
But the times do matter. Most people aren’t angels. The good deeds of some, however, outweigh the bad; a few imperfect people still deserve to be remembered and, yes, honored.
Given recent news stories, you might consider a womanizer as a person to be vilified; but both JFK and MLK, two figures commonly placed on pedestals, were unfaithful to their spouses. Should their accomplishments be stricken from memory?
No. We should accept the messy nature of society and humanity, where greatness and vileness are not mutually exclusive. These figures should be measured as men (and women), not saints. Perhaps George Washington cannot meet the criteria for sainthood; honestly, who can? Why would a modern American even want to strive for greatness if their legacy can only consist of their flaws?
The liberal elite doesn’t care if we aspire to greatness. They only care that we toe the line of political correctness. They show us how un-heroic our heroes really are, and what a plague Western civilization has wrought upon the planet. They encourage a culture war against racism, sexism, and other -isms in a country that has been doing better at overcoming all these issues than at any time in its history.
If we can only honor the blameless and remember the saint-like, you probably should throw away all those family pictures on the wall. You should forget you have parents, children, or any family other than your social justice nannies. Knock down all the statues of humans and, in the future, only construct those representing notably well-behaved dogs (but definitely not cats).
Evidence of George Washington’s existence may soon no longer be seen at his church, but no culture warrior can wipe out his legacy and those of other Founding Fathers. The Left may convince some to judge yesterday’s (and today’s) patriots unfairly, but perhaps we can convince others just how much we owe them.
Views expressed in op-eds are not the views of The Daily Caller.A new study by a pair of Harvard Business School researchers, focusing on Bay Area restaurants between 2008 and 2016, found that minimum wage hikes do indeed impact restaurants' ability to stay in business, but specifically they are more likely to impact restaurants with average or below average ratings on Yelp. As the Chronicle reports, via the study by Michael and Dara Lee Luca, the "survival of the fittest" when it comes to restaurants can be tracked with some predictability by looking at how highly Yelpers have rated them with restaurants that have 3.5-star ratings or lower having a significantly higher chance of shutting down when costs increase.
Specifically they said that, in the period they studied, looking at 11 Bay Area cities that saw minimum wage hikes over the last decade, a one-dollar increase in the minimum wage led to a 14 percent greater chance of a restaurant with a 3.5-star rating shutting down. That chance went up to 25 percent if the restaurant had a 2.5-star rating. Meanwhile, restaurants with 4.5- and 5-star ratings saw no discernible impact from the wage hike.
This suggests that restaurants with high ratings and very steady business have less to worry about as costs rise, and they can absorb them and better offset them with menu price increases. But in a competitive restaurant scene like San Francisco's, there is no room for mediocrity, and the herd will be culled that much faster, as the Chron's Jonathan Kauffman notes.
In the case of The Corner Store, which closed last month, owners Ezra Berman and Miles Palliser blamed the cost of doing business in SF on the restaurant's failure, even though they supported the minimum wage hike on the ballot. But the restaurant also had received a couple of less than stellar reviews in the Chronicle, held 3.5 stars on Yelp, and one can just as easily attribute the closure to the fickleness of the public as a restaurant ages out of its "hot new spot" phase.
But, Kauffman also notes, the study doesn't take into account the biases of Yelpers. For instance, "Are restaurants in the Tenderloin generally ranked lower than ones in Pacific Heights? Are Yelpers more likely to be critical of restaurants serving Chinese, Mexican or Indian cuisine than those serving high-end Californian? And how does that translate into economic vulnerability?"
And as Foreign Cinema chef-owner Gayle Pirie tells the Chronicle, "Math is black and white, and restaurants operate in the gray."Is the FBI attaching GPS devices to cars, boats and planes and tracking them without a warrant? Even in the wake of the Supreme Court’s January decision in United States v. Jones, holding that attaching a GPS device to a car is covered by the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, we don’t know for certain. That’s why today we filed a Freedom of Information Act request for two memos the FBI has prepared setting out its guidance on the Jones decision.
In Jones, the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment applies when the government attaches a GPS to a car and gathers information on the car’s movements. However, it did not resolve whether GPS tracking is a search that requires going to a judge to get a warrant and demonstrating the existence of probable cause, or whether a lesser standard, such as reasonable suspicion without judicial supervision, might be adequate. (In a brief we and the ACLU of Eastern Missouri filed last week, we explained why the probable cause standard is the required one.)
It’s safe to say that the FBI isn’t exactly a fan of the Supreme Court’s decision in Jones, not only because it brings this surveillance technique within the protections of the Fourth Amendment (which former FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni argued against during an appearance last fall), but also because of what it views as the lack of clarity regarding the scope of the decision. According to FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann, the Supreme Court justices “did not wrestle with the problems their decision creates.” In his view, “the real problem from a law enforcement perspective is that the clarity that people look for... doesn’t come from the decision naturally.”
Mr. Weissman explained that the FBI has prepared two guidance memos on Jones. He said the first one focuses exclusively on the use of GPS, and suggested that it states views on such questions as whether Jones applies to other forms of transportation like airplanes and boats, and whether it applies at the international border. The second memorandum, Mr. Weissman explained, sets forth the FBI’s guidance on how Jones applies to other evidence-gathering techniques, beyond GPS.
These are the memos the ACLU has asked for today. While the FBI’s guidance regarding Jones is significant because of how it will impact the FBI’s own use of GPS tracking devices, it is also likely to be influential beyond the FBI itself. The FBI is the nation’s leading law enforcement agency and it collaborates regularly with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Its guidance is therefore likely to carry great weight within the law enforcement community, and to have a significant impact on the privacy rights of Americans. We think the American public ought to know how its law enforcement agencies are interpreting the law in this area.
Tell Congress: Support the GPS ActAs we took a look at the complex chemistry of bread-making last week, this week it seemed to make perfect sense to look at some of the chemistry that results from putting the end result of that process into the oven! There are a host of compounds that contribute towards baked bread’s aroma; here we take a look at a selection of them, how they are formed, and what they contribute.
Several factors can influence the aroma of your bread, and a couple of them have an effect even before your loaf is put in the oven. The ingredients used are an obvious source of some of the compounds that go on to help form the aroma; however, the volatile compounds found in the flour are really only minor contributors to the end result.
More significant are the compounds generated by the fermentation process. Enzymatic activity in the dough can help produce fermentable sugars that yeast can use to produce a whole range of compounds. Precursors to some of the most important aroma compounds in the bread’s crumb are created as byproducts of the fermentation process. In sour dough breads, the bacteria present can also generate flavour and aroma compounds, such as lactic acid.
It’s the reactions during baking that also make a big contribution to the smell when you remove the bread from the oven. There are essentially two different classes of reaction occurring: Maillard reactions, which occur between sugars and amino acids in the bread, and sugar caramelisation reactions. Both types of reaction help to develop the brown colouration of the bread’s crust; both also help form aroma and flavour compounds, though the Maillard reactions are more significant in this regard. The amino acids present in the dough influence the types of products formed.
Anyway, enough about the reactions that form them; what compounds are we actually talking about here? There’s unsurprisingly a bit of variance in the compounds found in the crust and the crumb. The crust is largely the domain of compounds that give cracker-like, malty aromas. These include the aptly-named compounds maltol and isomaltol, both created as a result of the caramelisation of sugars in the bread. Both compounds are also found in roasted malt, and it is from this that their names are derived. They impart a sweetness to the aroma of bread.
The most significant aroma compound in the crust of wheat bread is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP). This compound is formed during Maillard reactions, and imparts a roasted, cracker-like aroma. A similar-looking compound, 2-acetyltetrahydropyridine, is also found in the crust, and formed in a similar manner. Both of these compounds have low odour thresholds (0.6ng/L for 2-acetyltetrahydropyridine, and 0.2ng/L for 2AP) meaning that it doesn’t take a lot of them for their scent to be detectable. A higher yeast content in the bread has been shown to lead to higher levels of 2AP.
The levels of these compounds are much lower in the bread’s crumb than in the crust. Instead, a range of aldehydes resulting from Maillard reactions during baking can be found. Interestingly, amongst the most significant of these are (E)-2-nonenal and (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, which are also important odour contributors in cucumbers. More oddly, (E)-2-nonenal is also a compound that’s been linked to the changes in human body odour as we age.
Other compounds found in the crumb include 2,3-butanedione (more commonly known as diacetyl) which lends a buttery note, and methional, which adds a potato-like scent. Methional is found in higher levels in rye breads (in both the crust and crumb) than in wheat breads, as is 3-methylbutanal, a compound found mainly in the crust which offers a malty aroma.
Although we’ve highlighted a selection of the most significant contributors here, there are of course a large number of other compounds found in bread, many of which can also contribute to the aroma to some degree. In addition, every bread is different, and will contain differing amounts of the compounds highlighted here, leading to its own unique aroma. That said, scientists have actually managed to ‘simulate’ the crust aroma of baguettes with just 14 different molecules – though the real thing probably still has an advantage over the simulation, in that you can eat it afterwards!
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TumblrAfter the kind of off-season no young footballer should ever have to go through, Manly recruit Apisai Koroisau is hoping a reconstructed shoulder won't stop him from suiting up for his new team in Round 1.
Koroisau not only had to undergo a shoulder reconstruction that ruled him out of a chunk of off-season training at his new club and any chance of playing any trial matches, he tragically lost his partner as well.
Following that he was involved in an incident that was flagged with the NRL's Integrity Unit, with the club noting the "extenuating circumstances" in his personal life.
Despite his recent hardships the popular 23-year-old bravely fronted up to a club open media session at the club's Narrabeen training base, where he told NRL.com that off-field troubles aside he had found Manly a very enjoyable club to be a part of.
"It's been different coming into a team with 16 new boys but we've gelled incredibly tight in a short amount of time. I'm loving it out here and the lifestyle's great," he said.
"They (the club) have been amazing the way they've supported me through all the stuff that's gone down now so hopefully that will be all sorted.
"Definitely [hoping to use footy to get past it]. With injuries I won't be playing any trials so I'm just trying to get back out there on the field and do what I do."
Koroisau also praised new Manly coach Trent Barrett – who he spent some time working with last season at Penrith – for helping him through a rough patch as well as being clear about what he wants in an on-field sense as well.
"He's been excellent. He's told me what he wanted from day one. I've been looking to try and impress him as he is the new coach and he's just been helpful regarding all the other off field issues as well so he's been impressive," Koroisau said.
Despite his injury and a lack of opportunities to impress in trial matches, Koroisau is hoping to be fit for the club's season opener against the Bulldogs at Brookvale Oval on Friday March 4. He also knows he can't afford to let fellow new recruit and No.9 Matt Parcell get too much of a jump on him.
"I had a shoulder reco late in the off season and I'm just sort of managing that now but it should be good to go by Round 1. I'm doing all I can, been working hard in rehab and got a good team behind me so we'll see come Round 1 but I'm pretty confident," Koroisau said of the injury.
"Definitely, the starting spot is up for grabs. Two young players here and a lot of competition. I think you really need that coming into a side, it pushes everyone to be better and that's spot's up for grabs so we're both hanging for it.
"It's just about being real diligent now with my shoulder, doing all my rehab and the extras I need to do and getting it 100 per cent before Round 1."
Koroisau said there was no reason the new-look squad can't return the Sea Eagles to the realm of competition heavyweights after they missed the finals last year for the first time in a decade.
"The vibe around the place is definitely very high. It's been really good, especially with such a new team," he said.
"The recruitment job done in the off season is really impressive and we're really looking forward to it. There might be some expectations there but I think the boys will stand up."Legendary New York City venue, Webster Hall, is closing its doors on August 5, 2017 after more than a century of entertainment.
Over 130 years, four fires, several renovations, thousands of live performers and concerts, countless unforgettable club nights, and millions of attendees, the Webster Hall history is rich. The official New York City Landmark has announced that it will close its doors for good (as we know it) on Saturday, August 5, 2017.
The E 11th st. establishment has an overall capacity of nearly 3,000. When the space isn’t being utilized as one of the most iconic nightclubs in the world, it’s likely hosting concerts or corporate events. As of late, their Girls + Boys and Gotham series have been dominating the grand ballroom with a multitude of electronic genres. Over the course of its history, Webster Hall suffered four fires and a major renovation in 1992 after later being designated a New York City Landmark on March 18, 2008.
A statement initially drawing public attention to the closure was made on social media by Gerad McNamee Jr., which read:
“Ladies and Gentlemen/Friends and Family: Sad but true, the legendary and world-famous Webster Hall has been sold and will close as we know it for its final club night on Saturday August 5th, 2017, which just so happens to be my birthday, which is certainly somehow apropos. It will be closed for an undisclosed period of time for demo, reno and transition to corporate ownership under Barclays/AEG/Bowery Presents. I highly recommend that you all stop by before the end of this era to pay your respects to the Ballingers and the building for providing us with a lifetimes worth of memories. There are only 12 club nights left. Please come celebrate our rich 25 year history of being the biggest, baddest and longest running nightclub in the history of New York City.”
A full list of the final shows at Webster Hall, which will run over the course of the next month, is available here.
In addition to the closure of Webster Hall, nightlife capital New York City has felt the closings of venues such as Roseland Ballroom, Pacha NYC, Space Ibiza New York, and now Webster Hall (as we know it). Earlier this year it was announced that the owners of Space New York had purchased the space at 618 W46th st., formerly Pacha NYC, and would reopen the venue as a five-story nightclub, Freq.Chris Floyd, Published: 06 January 2010 Hits: 11764
I.
It is often forgotten how "legal" the Nazi regime in Germany really was. It did not take power in a violent revolution, but entered government through the entirely "legal" procedures of the time. The "legal" vote of the "legally" elected Reichstag gave Adolf Hitler the powers to rule by decree, thus imparting strict "legality" to the actions of his government.
Indeed, there were several cases when those who felt the government had overstepped the bounds of law in a particular instance actually took the Nazi regime to court, and won. Why? Because the government was bound by "the rule of law." And the fact is, almost the entire pre-Nazi judicial system of the German state remained intact and operational throughout Hitler's reign. The "rule of law" carried on.
Of course, as the Nazi regime plowed forward with its racist, militarist, imperialist agenda, this "rule of law" became increasingly elastic, countenancing a range of actions and policies that would have been considered heinous atrocities only a few years before. This trend was greatly accelerated after the Regime -- claiming "self-defense" following an alleged "invasion" by a small band of raiders -- launched a war which soon engulfed the world.
Naturally, in such unusual and perilous circumstances, jurists were inclined to give the widest possible lee-way to the war powers of the state. After all, as one prominent judge declared, the war had pushed the nation “past the leading edge of a new and frightening paradigm, one that demands new rules be written. War is a challenge to law, and the law must adjust."
-- No, wait. I must apologize for my mistake. That last quote was not, in fact, from a German jurist during the Nazi regime, but from a ruling issued this week by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit -- one of the highest courts in the land. The quoted opinion -- written by the legally appointed Judge Janice Rogers Brown -- was part of a sweeping ruling that greatly magnified the powers of the government to seize foreigners and hold them indefinitely without charges or legal appeal.
The court denied the appeal of Ghaleb Nassar al-Bihani, who has been held in captivity for more than eight years. What was his crime? He served as a non-combatant clerk for a unit on one side of the long-running Afghan civil war. This war was fought largely between factions of violent extremists; Bihani had the misfortune to be serving in the army of the "wrong" faction when the United States intervened on behalf of the opposing extremists in 2001. Jason Ditz summarizes the case well at Antiwar.com:
Bihani was a cook for a pro-Taliban faction fighting against the Northern Alliance before the 2001 US invasion, and his unit surrendered during the initial invasion.
The Yemeni citizen is accused of “hostilities against the United States” even though he arrived in Afghanistan nearly six months before the US invasion. Not only did his unit never fight against American forces, he was a cook who doesn’t appear to have ever participated in any combat at all. Despite this, he was declared an enemy combatant.
Let's underscore the salient fact: Bihani never took up arms against the United States, was involved in no combat against the United States (or anyone else, apparently), played no part in any attack on the United States. Yet the court ruled that the United States can arbitrarily declare Bihani an "enemy combatant" and hold him captive for the rest of his life.
But the eminent judges did not stop there in their entirely "legal" ruling. As the New York Times reports, they went to declare that "the presidential war power to detain those suspected of terrorism is not limited even by international law of war." And later: "the majority’s argument [is] that the president’s war powers are not bound by the international laws of war."
Think of that. Let it sink in. The president's war powers cannot be constrained by the international laws of war. Whatever the Leader (no points for translating this term into German) decides to do in the course of a war is thus rendered entirely "legal." He cannot be accused of international war crimes because such things do not apply to him.
With this ruling -- which is all of a piece with many more that have preceded it -- we are well and truly "past the leading edge of a new and frightening paradigm." What is most frightening, of course, is the obscene philosophy of machtpolitik -- the craven kowtowing to the demands of brute force -- that is embodied in Judge Brown's chilling words: "War is a challenge to law, and the law must adjust."
Again, remember the context of this ruling. It deals with the Leader's power over foreign citizens in lands that the Leader's armies are occupying. The judicial "reasoning" expressed by Judge Brown could apply, without the slightest alteration, to the Nazi regime's various programs of mass killing and "indefinite detention" of "enemy" foreigners in occupied lands.
The "resettlement" of Eastern Europe -- in order to provide for the "national security" of the German people and the preservation of their "way of life" -- did indeed require a pathbreaking advance into a "new paradigm" on the part of the law. The exigencies and challenges of the war demanded, as Judge Brown would put it, that "new rules be written."
And so they were. Under the duly, officially, formally constituted German "law" of the time -- as interpreted and applied by obsequious jurists in the mold of Judge Brown and her fellow war power expander, Judge Brett Kavanaugh -- there was little or nothing that was "illegal" in the vast catalogue of Nazi wartime atrocities, including the Holocaust itself. The perpetrators were "only following orders," which had been issued by "legal" entities, acting through "legal" processes, under the direction of the "legal" executive authority, whose unrestrained war powers had been established and upheld by the "rule of law."
Now this legal philosophy -- the primacy of raw, unaccountable power -- is being openly established by the highest courts of the United States. President Barack Obama, whose legal minions fought so ferociously to deny the appeal of the non-combatant captive, has been an ardent proponent and practitioner of this philosophy since his first days in office. His administration has proclaimed that the torturers of the Bush administration will not be prosecuted, because they were just following orders -- orders which had been issued by legal entities, acting through legal processes, under the direction of the legal executive authority, whose unrestrained war powers had been established and upheld by the "rule of law."
II.
It was not always thus. A few years ago, when writing of the "constitutional and moral issues raised by Bush's liberty-gutting 'unitary executive' dictatorship" (which Obama has enthusiastically continued and expanded), I ran across a Supreme Court ruling from December 1866 -- more than 140 years ago: Ex Parte Milligan. In this ruling, which grew out of the wartime excesses of the Lincoln Administration, the Court -- dominated by five Lincoln appointees -- was unequivocal:
Constitutional protections not only apply "equally in war and peace" but also – in a dramatic extension of this legal shield – to "all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances." No emergency – not even open civil war – warrants their suspension. Even in wartime, the President's powers, though expanded, are still restrained: "he is controlled by law, and has his appropriate sphere of duty, which is to execute, not to make, the laws."
As I noted earlier in the piece:
It was a decisive ruling against a government that had far overreached its powers, stripping away essential liberties in the name of national security. The Justice who authored the majority opinion was a Republican, an old friend and political crony of the president who had appointed him. Even so, his ruling struck hard at the abuses set in train by his patron. He stood upon the law, he stood upon the Constitution, even in the aftermath of a shattering blow that had killed more than 600,000 Americans and almost destroyed the nation itself.
This is what the Court decided:
"The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances. No doctrine, involving more pernicious consequences, was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Such |
another player's limbs in order to prevent them from effectively fighting back or escaping -- a valid tactic for taking control of a situation without having to kill the other person.
The best way to treat limb injuries is through the use of either a splint or morphine. Pain can only be rid by the use of morphine as well, as painkillers are non-functional at the moment.
Note that only leg injuries have a corresponding status indicator in the inventory screen. Arm injuries do not have icons, but are represented by the same text indicators on the bottom left of the screen, including red-colored text to convey when injuries are more severe. Arm injuries also only have two stages, whereas leg injuries are split up into three different levels.
Foot Pain
A foot injury is caused by walking or running in ruined shoes, or no shoes at all. While moving around, you cause damage to your feet based on the terrain you're moving on and how fast you're moving. Wearing shoes negates some damage at the expense of their condition. Eventually shoes become worn out and your feet will begin to take small amounts of damage. When a player is energized and hydrated enough to regenerate health, they will not notice much loss of health but will be unable to achieve and sustain a "Healthy" status while on the move.
General Pain
The character is in pain after taking damage. Pain is characterized by audible moaning when the character logs in, but is otherwise not represented by any icon or text that is visible to the player. It does not much, if any, noticeable effect on the player at this time.
Illness and Disease [ edit | edit source ]
Beyond the more obvious physical injuries discussed above, players can also be the victim of various afflictions that can result in very dire, difficult circumstances or even death. Illness and disease can be contracted any number of different ways, ranging from dirty water to zombie-related wounds.
Brain Prion Disease [ edit | edit source ]
This condition is the result of cannibalism -- despite how the real life counterpart of the disease is transmitted, you can get it by merely eating the flesh of another player. This is the only way to contract the disease. The disease itself is not fatal, however it causes the player's character to hysterically and uncontrollably laugh/cry every few minutes, as well as to shake and flinch randomly. These noises can give away the player's position, and they also serve as a dead giveaway that the player has eaten human flesh. The shaking starts immediately after eating the human meat and will increase in intensity over the course of five minutes until the player ends up with very violent flinching. This flinching makes aiming weapons exceedingly difficult.
There is no cure for the brain disease. The player's character will suffer from it until he/she dies. The Brain Prion Disease has no unique marker in the player statuses menu. Any sick status contracted from eating human meat is usually food poisoning rather than a direct result of the disease. Players also do not suffer from any noticeable loss of blood, health, energy, or water long-term while suffering from this condition.
Icon Duration Effects Text Indicators Mild Cholera Stage 1
60-120 minutes -1.0 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out" Stage 2
120-180 minutes -2.0 Water/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 3
120-180 minutes -3.0 Water/sec.
-1.0 Blood/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 4
60-120 minutes -1.0 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out" Medium Cholera Stage 1
60-120 minutes -2.0 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out" Stage 2
120-180 minutes -3.0 Water/sec.
-1.0 Blood/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 3
120-180 minutes -4.0 Water/sec.
-2.0 Blood/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 4
60-120 minutes -2.0 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out" Severe Cholera Stage 1
60-120 minutes -3.0 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out" Stage 2
120-180 minutes -4.0 Water/sec.
-2.0 Blood/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 3
120-180 minutes -6.0 Water/sec.
-3.0 Blood/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 4
60-120 minutes -2.0 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out"
This disease is contracted when a player drinks from an unclean source of water such as a pond. Though it is not always guaranteed that players will contract this illness when they drink unclean water, there is a relatively high chance for this to happen, so it is preferable to seek out a clean source such as the water pumps found in most towns or to hydrate yourself using food and drink.
Food & Chemical Poisoning [ edit | edit source ]
Icon Duration Effects Text Indicators Mild Food Poisoning Stage 1
(No Icon) 3-7 minutes -- "I have a funny taste in my mouth" • "My mouth tastes funny" • "I notice a weird taste" • "My mouth tastes weird" Stage 2
10-20 minutes -1.02 Water/sec. "I feel nauseous" Stage 3
20-40 minutes -1.05 Water/sec.
-0.1% Blood/sec. "I feel dizzy" • "I feel light-headed" • "I feel faint" • "I feel unsteady" Stage 4
(No Icon) 15-30 minutes -- -- Moderate Food Poisoning Stage 1
(No Icon) 3-7 minutes -- "I have a funny taste in my mouth" • "My mouth tastes funny" • "I notice a weird taste" • "My mouth tastes weird" Stage 2
10-30 minutes -1.05 Water/sec.
-0.2% Blood/sec. "I feel nauseous" Vomiting
10-15 seconds -500 Stomach
-600 Energy
-1000 Water "I am close to vomiting" • "I think I'm going to vomit..." • "I'm going to vomit..." Stage 3
20-40 minutes -1.10 Water/sec.
-0.1% Blood/sec. "I feel dizzy" • "I feel light-headed" • "I feel faint" • "I feel unsteady" Stage 4
(No Icon) 15-30 minutes -- "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out" Severe Food Poisoning Stage 1
(No Icon) 3-7 minutes -- "I have a funny taste in my mouth" • "My mouth tastes funny" • "I notice a weird taste" • "My mouth tastes weird" Stage 2
10-30 minutes -1.50 Water/sec.
-0.3% Blood/sec. "I feel nauseous" Vomiting
10-15 seconds -500 Stomach
-600 Energy
-1000 Water "I am close to vomiting" • "I think I'm going to vomit..." • "I'm going to vomit..." Stage 3
20-40 minutes -2.0 Water/sec.
-0.2% Blood/sec. "I feel cramps in my stomach" Vomiting
10-15 seconds -500 Stomach
-600 Energy
-1000 Water "I am close to vomiting" • "I think I'm going to vomit..." • "I'm going to vomit..." Stage 4
15-30 minutes -1.5 Water/sec. "I feel exhausted" • "I feel extremely tired" Chemical Poisoning Stage 1
(No Icon) 40-120 seconds -- "I have a funny taste in my mouth" • "My mouth tastes funny" • "I notice a weird taste" • "My mouth tastes weird" Stage 2
2-5 minutes -500 Stomach
-600 Energy
-1000 Water "I feel nauseous" Vomiting
10-15 seconds -500 Stomach
-600 Energy
-1000 Water "I am close to vomiting" • "I think I'm going to vomit..." • "I'm going to vomit..." Stage 3
20-40 minutes -3.0 Water/sec.
-0.3% Blood/sec.
-0.3% Health/sec. "I feel cramps in my stomach" Vomiting
10-15 seconds -500 Stomach
-600 Energy
-1000 Water "I am close to vomiting" • "I think I'm going to vomit..." • "I'm going to vomit..." Stage 4
15-30 minutes -2.0 Water/sec.
-0.1% Blood/sec. "I feel exhausted" • "I feel extremely tired"
The player has contracted an illness through consuming things that they are not supposed to. These illnesses are really just different severities of the same condition, but all of the different forms consist of several stages. If managed correctly, they will pass away on their own after getting the player go through the worst of it. Remaining energized and hydrated throughout the duration should allow the player to recover from all but the worst illness.
Mild Food Poisoning
Causes: Consuming burned meat, rotten fruit/vegetables (50%), or an alcohol tincture (75%).
Symptoms: Strange taste in mouth, nausea.
Treatment: Charcoal tablets, taken at any point, will allow a player to recover. (During the recovery stage, the sickness status will remain for few minutes, but all ill effects will cease.) Alternatively, drink water, and to a lesser extent, eat food. If blood loss symptoms are present, administer saline or a blood transfusion. This condition should be easily endured if energy/water levels are high.
Moderate Food Poisoning
Causes: Consuming raw meat, rotten fruit/vegetables (5%), poisonous berries, or an alcohol tincture (20%).
Symptoms: Same as Mild, with additional vomiting.
Treatment: Same as Mild. Requires more water and food, and is more likely to require saline or a blood transfusion to overcome.
Severe Food Poisoning
Causes: Consuming rotten meat.
Symptoms: Same as Moderate, with additional cramps and vomiting.
Treatment: There is no confirmed remedy for Severe Food Poisoning, it has to be endured. Drink lots of water and eat lots of food, and keep saline or blood bags handy for recovery.
Chemical Poisoning
Causes: Consuming disinfectant directly or food that has been sprayed with it.
Symptoms: Same as Severe Food Poisoning.
Treatment: There is no confirmed remedy for Chemical Poisoning, it has to be endured. Drink water and eat food. When blood gets low, administer saline.
Note: This is a serious and difficult status to recover from without constant assistance, with a high chance of mortality. Keep yourself hydrated, and take care not to overfill your stomach. Patients will likely fall unconscious from blood loss and will need saline or a blood transfusion to recover. NOTE: making your player vomit will NOT cure the sickness.
Infected Wounds [ edit | edit source ]
Icon Duration Effects Text Indicators Stage 1
3-7 minutes -1.05 Water/sec. "My wounds are itchy" • "I have itchy wounds" Stage 2
10-20 minutes -1.30 Water/sec.
-0.3% Blood/sec.
-0.1% Health/sec. "My wounds are infected" • "I have infected wounds" Stage 3
20-40 minutes -1.50 Water/sec
-0.1% Blood/sec
-0.3% Health/sec "My wounds are seriously infected" • "I have seriously infected wounds" • "I'm feeling hot" • "It's really warm" Stage 4
15-30 minutes -1.30 Water/sec "My wounds hurt less" • "My wounds look cleaner"
The player has contracted this through using a Sewing Kit to patch a wound. If left untreated, an infected wound will go through four stages each more severe than the other. It is possible to recover naturally over time from an infection, but the danger of dehydration is very high. Note that there are no status indicators for this condition, only the text warnings that will appear in the corner of your screen.
Symptoms: Itchy wounds (onset), infected wounds (advanced), weakness (severe), and dehydration.
Treatment: If caught right away at the onset, use an alcohol tincture to clean the wounds. If the infection has progressed, use antibiotics as a remedy.
Hemolytic Reaction [ edit | edit source ]
Stage Duration Effects Stage 1
5-20 seconds -10% Blood/sec Stage 2
30-120 seconds -20% Blood/sec Stage 3
60-180 seconds -25% Blood/sec Stage 4
3-7 seconds -5000 Blood
A reaction to receiving incompatible blood type during blood transfusion. Hemolytic reactions are extremely dangerous and have a 100% mortality. The player will fall unconscious, shortly followed by death. Make sure to check blood type compatibility before performing a blood transfusion. A saline IV is a safer option as there is no risk of incompatibility or side effects.
Icon Duration Effects Text Indicators Mild Salmonellosis Stage 1
180-480 minutes -1.10 Water/sec. "I feel cramps in my stomach" Stage 2
180-480 minutes -1.15 Water/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 3
120-360 minutes -1.12 Water/sec. "I just soiled myself" Stage 4
120-360 minutes -1.10 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel run-down" • "I feel worn-out" Medium Salmonellosis Stage 1
180-480 minutes -1.15 Water/sec. "I feel cramps in my stomach" Stage 2
240-540 minutes -1.20 Water/sec. "I feel a rumble in my bowels" Stage 3
180-540 minutes -1.20 Water/sec. "I just soiled myself" Stage 4
180-540 minutes -1.15 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel extremely tired" Severe Salmonellosis Stage 1
180-540 minutes -1.30 Water/sec. "I feel cramps in my stomach" Stage 2
240-600 minutes -1.40 Water/sec. "I just soiled myself" Stage 3
240-540 minutes -1.30 Water/sec. "I just soiled myself" Stage 4
180-600 minutes -1.20 Water/sec. "I feel tired" • "I feel extremely tired"
This illness is contracted when a player consumes raw meat or fish. Similar to cholera or food poisoning, this disease does not have to be fatal, but will likely require a long period of recovery wherein you will need to eat food and drink water often in order to pull through it. Antibiotics can be used as a remedy to speed up the process.
Effects of the Environment [ edit | edit source ]
As if maintaining your basic stats and dealing with disease & injuries wasn't enough, players are faced with challenges from the environment itself as well. The temperature, and especially any precipitation, can have profound effects on your character's ability to stay healthy and effective.
Icon Conditions Effects Text Indicators Hyperthermia Temperature > 37.1°C -0.1 Water/sec. "I am hot" Overheating Temperature > 38.0°C -1.0 Water/sec. "I am overheating" Hyperthermia Temperature > 40.0°C -2.0 Water/sec. "I am hyperthermic" Hypothermia Temperature < 35.8°C -0.55 Energy/sec. "I am cold" • "I am shaking" Temperature < 35.0°C -0.80 Energy/sec. "I am freezing" Temperature < 34.5°C -1.05 Energy/sec.
-10.0 Health/sec.
-5.0 Blood/sec. "I am hypothermic"
Clothing is the main factor in determining your body temperature. Every clothing item you wear offers some degree of insulation (or lack thereof) that is relative to the size, material, etc. of that item. Smaller, lighter, and thinner items have a relatively low insulation value and larger, thicker, and heavier clothing items have a higher insulation value.
The weather is a factor in how warm or cold you are. Outside temperatures will vary based on the time of year and time of day and are further affected by your altitude on the map. Rainy weather will result in lower outdoor temperatures, whether you're wet or dry. However if you are wet, the degree of warmth your clothing gives you is drastically reduced.
Your breath will assist you in gauging if it is cold outside: if you can see your breath, get some warmer clothing on! You can also tell if your temperature is increasing/decreasing by checking your character's text-based status messages in the bottom-left of the screen. "It's chilly out there" means your temperature is currently decreasing. "I am sweating" means your temperature is currently increasing. Cold/hot, freezing/overheating, and hypothermia/hyperthermia status icons will be indicated in the inventory screen as your temperature moves towards one of those extremes. For precise measurement of your body temperature, use a thermometer.
Loss of body heat from exposure to cold air or water will result in hypothermia. Overheating will result in hyperthermia, causing you to dehydrate due to excessive sweating. Both conditions can be fatal if they are ignored, though hypothermia is largely considered the more dangerous condition because it directly drains you of life force (health and blood) instead of just water or energy.
Mechanics
Ambient temperature of the environment is an important variable influencing a character's body temperature. Base ambient temperatures differ based upon the real-life time of year, as determined by the real-world place that Chernarus is based upon (essentially local temps in the Czech Republic). This base temperature is then modified by things like altitude and presence of rain.
Sun – Clear and sunny days mean higher temperatures.
– Clear and sunny days mean higher temperatures. Rain – Rain means lower temperature, and will lead to wet clothes, which will drastically affect your clothing's ability to insulate you.
– Rain means lower temperature, and will lead to wet clothes, which will drastically affect your clothing's ability to insulate you. Altitude – Higher altitudes and windy conditions mean lower temperatures.
All these factors combined will determine the ambient temperature in the location where you are at. Once the ambient temperature is calculated, your body temperature will start to slowly increase or decrease based upon that value.
You increase your body temperature by:
Sitting beside a fireplace (very fast)
Wearing heavily insulated clothing items (varies)
Exposing yourself to sunshine or remaining inside buildings (slow)
Descending to lower altitudes (varies)
Moving (varies)
Using a heatpack (slow)
Your decrease your body temperature by:
Removing clothing items (varies)
Exposing yourself to rain or swimming (fast)
Being outdoors at night (slow)
Being outdoors at higher altitudes (slow)
Sitting still (slow)
Hyperthermia
The player suffers from severe overheating. It is usually caused by a combination of intense physical activity (running, sprinting), hot weather, and/or wearing very warm clothing for the conditions. When overheated, the player's water levels will decrease rapidly and it may lead to dehydration.
Treatment for hyperthermia includes decreasing your body temperature and rehydrating yourself. Find a cool spot in the shade, remove warm clothing or swap it out for something lighter, and in extreme cases take a swim in a pond or the ocean to get yourself wet in order to cool down more quickly.
Hypothermia
The player is freezing due to lack of warmth. Loss of body heat is caused due to a prolonged exposure to cold weather, not wearing heavy enough clothing, and/or high levels of humidity. It results in rapid loss of energy and, if left unmanaged, the player could freeze to death.
Treatment for hypothermia includes increasing your body temperature and re-energizing yourself. Get out of the cold and into warm, dry clothing. You can also use a heatpack or start a fireplace and be warmed by its heat. Increased activity like running also helps.
Icon Conditions Effects Text Indicators (No Icon) Humidity <= 0.05 -- -- Humidity > 0.05 Unknown "I feel damp" Humidity > 0.20 Unknown "My body feels wet" Humidity > 0.50 Unknown "I am soaked through" Humidity > 0.80 Unknown "I am completely drenched"
This is a stat that measures a player's overall "wetness," for lack of a better way of describing it. Humidity is gained either by getting exposed to rain or taking swim in any body of water. When your humidity rises, you will see a status indicator to warn you of your character and your items becoming wet. Eventually, your humidity level will decrease until the player becomes completely dry.
Humidity has no direct effect on a player's health, instead it affects player clothing by reducing its heat insulation value. This will then reduce the player's temperature, which can be beneficial if they are suffering from hyperthermia, otherwise it might cause them to eventually suffer from hypothermia.
There are four levels of player humidity other than the non-status of being dry. They are as follows, in order from least to most wet: damp, wet, soaked, and drenched.
Once a player has gained some level of humidity, there are a few options for reducing that level back to dry:
Wring out your clothes. Take off a piece of wet clothing, empty it of its contents, and perform the user action "wring out" on this piece of clothing. This will not directly make you less wet, however it will make it easier for you to dry off.
Take off a piece of wet clothing, empty it of its contents, and perform the user action "wring out" on this piece of clothing. This will not directly make you less wet, however it will make it easier for you to dry off. Run around for a while. If you keep moving, especially at a quick pace, you will naturally "air dry" over time.
If you keep moving, especially at a quick pace, you will naturally "air dry" over time. Sit next to a fireplace. This is by far the most effective method. This will completely dry both you and your items in a matter minutes.
Although a true stamina system has not yet been implemented to DayZ as of version 0.61, it will be coming in the future. Clothing, weapons, and other equipment will have a designated amount of weight, and the total weight bogging the player down will have an effect on how long, how far, and how fast players are able to travel through the world -- at least on foot.
For now, what we have in place of that upcoming system are rudimentary effects of fatigue. While players are not directly affected by the weight of their inventory, there are consequences for foot travel based on how long and how fast you have been moving. If you walk slowly everywhere, you will be virtually unphased when it comes time to perform other actions. Jogging, and especially running (sometimes referred to as "sprinting"), have a much more profound effect on the player.
In reality, very short bursts of quick travel will have a very limited effect on players. Long-distance running between towns, however, will leave a player fatigued and ineffective in combat. When you have been running for an extended period, you will naturally wheeze and gasp for air until your heart rate settles and the fatigue dissipates. This is, of course, undesirable as it leaves you vulnerable to being heard by other players. More importantly, your aim with a weapon will include a huge dose of sway, making it almost impossible to accurately fire shots at a target. Due to this, it is recommended that players allow themselves to "catch their breath" before entering a questionable or dangerous situation after they have traveled a long distance by walking/running.
It's also important to remember that traveling on foot, especially by running quickly, will drain a player's energy and water stores. A drop in these stats will actually cause you to travel slightly slower than a player who is otherwise fully energized, hydrated, and healthy. In the future, it is likely that this effect will be even more profound with a fully-realized stamina system.
Previously in the DayZ Mod, Blood was used as a way to indicate overall health.
Most of the information in this article can be obtained from the configuration data within the following files:
characters_data.pbo gear_medical.pbo server_data.pboTechnologies for mobile payments are popping up, including Square and PayPal Mobile. Google Wallet may be the furthest along, although early security concerns (which have now been addressed by Google Wallet) illustrate the need for these new technologies to pay careful attention to how sensitive information is being stored on mobile devices.
Google Wallet uses Secure Element. This chip is embedded in a smartphone, SD card, or credit-card smartcard and encrypts payment information. Google’s website says MasterCard PayPass secures credentials as the transaction is made. Ramirez says the probability of information being intercepted by a third party in the middle of a transaction is very unlikely because of how wireless networks communicate with each other. “It’s infeasible because of the fact that you can’t have two channels communicating to each other at the same time,” he says. However, a study by security company viaForensics found that Google Wallet stored information, such as the smartphone user’s name, credit-card information, email address and the last four digits of a credit card, which was obtainable by root-accessing a device. Root-accessing allows unrestricted access to information that’s stored on a device. Andrew Hoog, who is a co-founder of viaForensics, says his company notified Google of its findings. Nate Tyler, who is a spokesperson for Google, tells Consumers Digest that the Google Wallet app has been updated to delete transaction information permanently after a purchase. Ramirez reminds mobile payment users to safeguard their data by setting separate pass codes for their smartphone and mobile payment account. Consumers also should cancel their credit card if their smartphone is lost or stolen. When it comes to loyalty-based payment apps, such as Starbucks, Hoog reminds consumers to download the company’s official app for the best security. “Look for names that are reputable,” he says. via News | Analysts: Mobile payment options to grow in 2012 | Consumers Digest.As the congressionally mandated deadline looms for the Obama Administration to make a determination whether the atrocities committed by ISIS – the Islamic State – against Christians in the Middle East constitute “genocide,” the House of Representatives has made abundantly clear that a genocide is ongoing and that dying Christians deserve critical legal protections.
Tonight, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution by a vote of 393 to 0 declaring ISIS beheadings, enslavement, mass rape, and other atrocities against Christians as genocide.
As we’ve previously reported, the resolution provides:
Whereas Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities have been murdered, subjugated, forced to emigrate and suffered grievous bodily and psychological harm, including sexual enslavement and abuse, inflicted in a deliberate and calculated manner in violation of the laws and treaties forbidding crimes against humanity, and the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide... the atrocities committed against Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities targeted specifically for religious reasons, are, and are hereby declared to be, “crimes against humanity”, and “genocide”.
This is a significant victory, incorporating a number of our key policy recommendations, but the fight for our brothers and sisters in Christ continues. This is why we are fighting against the genocide at the United Nations, presenting an oral intervention on behalf of more than 400,000 worldwide. This is why we’ve sent detailed legal letters to Secretary of State John Kerry. This is why we continue to mobilize our offices on Capitol Hill and around the globe to do whatever it takes to protect those persecuted by ISIS.
Calling the evils ISIS commits against Christians “genocide” has serious international legal implications. It requires resources to be mobilized to protect these vulnerable Christians. It’s the vital first step towards ending this historic evil.
It’s why our work continues. Now, the Obama Administration must do what is right.
The Obama Administration’s congressionally mandated deadline to report on whether Christians face genocide in the Middle East is just a little over 48 hours away. It is vitally important that we increase the pressure on the Administration.
Tonight’s vote in Congress adds the U.S. House of Representatives to a growing list of international bodies who have recognized what we have been arguing for years: ISIS is inflicting genocide against Christians.
As Christians are dying daily, we must be their voice.
Sign our petition and join our fight now.SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China is likely to hold a 25-30 percent stake in the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) while India will be the second-biggest shareholder, delegates said on Friday after a three-day meeting of the bank’s founding member-nations.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, May 15, 2015. REUTERS/Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool
AIIB said in a statement that it expected to be operational by the end of the year. It said the meeting in Singapore finalised the articles of agreement, which are expected to be ready for signing by the end of June, but did not give details.
No details of the ownership structure were disclosed, but delegates told Reuters that China would likely take a 25-30 percent stake in the bank, and India was likely to be the second-largest shareholder.
China’s share in the $100 billion lender would be less than 30 percent, an Asian delegate told Reuters. A second delegate said India’s share would be between 10 and 15 percent. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
In all, Asian countries are expected to own between 72 and 75 percent of the bank, while European and other nations will own the rest.
Another delegate said each country representative would take the proposals back to their governments for a final decision.
Some were sceptical of the timeline for the bank to start running, as each member will need to obtain cabinet and legislative approvals at home.
“It is uncertain if we can start from early next year,” said one of the delegates.
“China hopes that members will get such approvals by year-end and the operations start from the next year. But I wonder if it is possible, given domestic political situations in each country.”
A total of 57 countries have joined AIIB as its prospective founding members, throwing together countries as diverse as Iran, Israel, Britain and Laos.
The United States and Japan have stayed out of the institution, seen as a rival to the U.S.-dominated World Bank and Japan-led Asian Development Bank, citing concerns about transparency and governance, although Tokyo for one is keeping its options open.
AIIB’s launch is coming at a time when the space for infrastructure lending is already crowded due to the presence of major multilateral lenders and Japan’s latest move to provide $110 billion for Asian infrastructure projects.
The amount of Japanese funds, to be invested over five years, tops the expected $100 billion capitalisation of the AIIB.
Jahangir Aziz, head of emerging market Asia economics at JPMorgan, said spending on infrastructure was a great idea on paper, but it was unclear how the AIIB or the New Development Bank, a lender promoted by China and other members of the BRICS group of nations, would be structured.
“We will have to wait for the actual structure of governance before we can see how successful these (institutions) will turn out to be,” he said. “The proof of the pudding will be in the eating.”A federal judge in Washington, DC has dismissed two long-running lawsuits that aimed to shed light on the often secretive surveillance state. As the National Security Agency’s metadata program no longer exists, the cases are now moot.
"This Court, in the final analysis, has no choice but to dismiss these cases for plaintiffs’ failure to demonstrate the necessary jurisdiction to proceed," US District Judge Richard Leon wrote on November 21. "I do so today, however, well aware that I will not be the last District Judge who will be required to determine the appropriate balance between our national security and privacy interests during this never-ending war on terror."
The original version of this case, known as Klayman v. Obama, was filed by well-known conservative activist attorney Larry Klayman on June 7, 2013—the day after the Snowden revelations became public. The complaint argued that the National Security Agency’s telephone metadata program ("Section 215"), which gathered records of all incoming and outgoing calls for years on end, was unconstitutional.
Eventually, Judge Leon ruled in favor of plaintiff and attorney Larry Klayman in December 2013, ordering that the NSA’s program be immediately halted.
However, the judge famously stayed his order pending an appeal to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. The DC Circuit reversed his order in August 2015 and sent it back down to Judge Leon. The DC Circuit found (as has often been the case) that Klayman did not have standing as there was not enough evidence that his records had been collected.
Judge Leon next suggested that the case be amended to include a specific plaintiff that had been a customer of Verizon Business Services, not Verizon Wireless. That person, California lawyer J.J. Little, was soon found and added to the case. The judge then ruled on November 9, 2015 that the government be ordered to immediately stop collecting Little’s records.
The government again appealed the decision back to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Weeks later, though, the phone metadata program authorized under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act ended on November 29, 2015. As such, the government said in December 2015 that it would formally appeal Judge Leon’s decision, largely on the basis that it’s now moot.
The DC Circuit ruled in favor of the government, sending the case back down to Judge Leon. Again, the government moved to have the case dismissed, which Judge Leon ultimately agreed with this month.
On Wednesday, Klayman, who did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment, told the Wall Street Journal that he would prepare for a third round of appeals.
"He took an exit stage left on this case, but we’re hopeful about the live case," Klayman said. "I thank the judge for what he did in the past, but he made a mistake on this."The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential for maintaining brain homeostasis and protecting neural tissue from damaging blood-borne agents. The barrier is characterized by endothelial tight junctions that limit passive paracellular diffusion of polar solutes and macromolecules from blood to brain. Decreased brain clearance of the neurotoxic amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide is a central event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whereas transport of Aβ across the BBB can occur via transcellular endothelial receptors, the paracellular movement of Aβ has not been described. We show that soluble human Aβ(1–40) monomers can diffuse across the paracellular pathway of the BBB in tandem with a decrease in the tight junction proteins claudin-5 and occludin in the cerebral vascular endothelium. In a murine model of AD (Tg2576), plasma Aβ(1–40) levels were significantly increased, brain Aβ(1–40) levels were decreased, and cognitive function was enhanced when both claudin-5 and occludin were suppressed. Furthermore, Aβ can cause a transient down-regulation of claudin-5 and occludin, allowing for its own paracellular clearance across the BBB. Our results show, for the first time, the involvement of the paracellular pathway in autoregulated Aβ movement across the BBB and identify both claudin-5 and occludin as potential therapeutic targets for AD. These findings also indicate that controlled modulation of tight junction components at the BBB can enhance the clearance of Aβ from the brain.
Keywords
Here, we show that targeted knockdown of the tight junction proteins, claudin-5 and occludin, using RNA interference (RNAi), facilitates the diffusion of Aβ(1–40) monomers across brain endothelial cells in vitro and size-selectively modulates BBB permeability in vivo. In the Tg2576 mouse model of AD, cosuppression of claudin-5 and occludin enhanced the efflux of Aβ monomers from the brain to the blood and ameliorated Aβ-associated cognitive deficits. Furthermore, small soluble Aβ species were found to transiently down-regulate both claudin-5 and occludin at the posttranslational level, suggesting that Aβ itself could modulate tight junction complexes. Finally, reduced claudin-5 and occludin levels were recorded in both aged Tg2576 mouse brains and human AD brains, specifically in response to Aβ along CAA-affected vessels. These data indicate that soluble Aβ can function in a transient and autoregulated manner to allow for its own paracellular clearance across the BBB, and that therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting claudin-5 and occludin at the BBB may provide a novel means to treat AD. In addition, our findings add considerable weight to the “amyloid sink hypothesis” that has been associated with recent clinical trials using anti-Aβ antibodies.
CNS endothelial cells along with astrocytes and pericytes constitute the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a complex and dynamic system that acts as a biological interface between blood and brain ( 8, 9 ). As well as regulating the exchange of ions and macromolecules between the blood and the neural microenvironment, cerebrovascular endothelial cells (CVECs) protect the brain by restricting the entry of potentially damaging blood-borne agents such as neurotoxic chemicals, antibodies, pathogens, immune cells, and anaphylatoxins. As such, the BBB plays a pivotal role in maintaining CNS homeostasis, and CVECs have evolved properties distinct from peripheral |
the full force of the Jackson Test against it.
President Baggins. President Obama and the various Democrats in Congress who (along with many Republicans) supported this bill have put liberals between a rock and a hard place. So far, President Obama has used these extraordinary powers less flagrantly than President Bush. For the most part, he has been carrying the Ring like a hobbit, not wielding it like a Dark Lord.
But Obama is the wrong Baggins. Rather than take the Ring to Mount Doom like Frodo, he’s been holding it like Bilbo. His very lack of flagrancy keeps the Ring from being destroyed, because no Padilla-like case arises that will force the Supreme Court to rule.
And if he preserves the Ring long enough, maybe President Sauron will possess it after him. The Republican candidates other than Ron Paul seem eager to play the Sauron role, and President Paul would be a disaster for a lot of other reasons. So what’s a liberal to do?
I have no good answer. The Republican candidates scare me to the point that I am unwilling to undermine Obama’s re-election bid. I can’t support a primary challenge (which isn’t happening anyway), and when we get to the fall election, preserving the Ring (bad as it is) is still better than wielding it. (Marcy Wheeler sums this up as: “Vote for me or Newt will have authority to indefinitely detain you.”)
At the same time, I am not willing to pretend that this is not an issue, or let President Obama pose as a civil libertarian. We have to keep this inflated presidency out of Republican hands while simultaneously preserving the civil-liberty issue for 2016, when perhaps we can find a real champion.First rumors started to surface for the Panasonic GH5 mirrorless camera.
During an interview with Mr.Tadokoro Yoshifumi from Panasonic at Mapcamera website, the company representative said that Panasonic could add 4K video at 60fps and 8K video recording capabilities into the GH4 replacement.
The interview at Map Camera website, mostly focused on the latest Panasonic products, such as the Lumix LX100 and Lumix GM5 cameras.
When it comes to the future of the Lumix GH series mirrorless cameras. The representative claimed that the Panasonic GH5 could capture 4K videos at 60fps and might record 8K videos.
Panasonic GH5 to Feature 8K Recording?
Panasonic GH4 was so popular in 2014 and gained “Gold Award” from Dpreview with a very high score of 85%. The Micro Four Thirds camera is capable of capturing 4K videos at a frame rate of up to 30fps.
The specs list for the Panasonic GH4 camera includes 16MP Live MOS sensor and Venus Engine IX processor with an enhanced fast and accurate Auto Focus (AF) system (approximately 0.07 seconds).
Panasonic GH5 is now rumored to be the GH4’s successor, the mirrorless camera with a Micro Four Thirds sensor is said to be capable of shooting 4K videos at 60fps and record 8K videos.
There is no detailed specifications or release date of the GH4 replacement camera. The upcoming GH5 has a long way to go before becoming official. Our expectation is that the Panasonic GH5 should arrive in 2015. Possible event could be the NAB Show in April, 2015. Stay tuned!This article is over 3 years old
Steve Marsh ordered to pay $804,000 in court costs after suing his neighbour over claims he lost organic certification due to contamination from GM canola
An organic farmer from Western Australia who took on his GM canola-cultivating neighbour on contamination claims has failed in his bid to appeal against a large legal costs bill.
GM crop farmer told to reveal if he was backed by Monsanto in legal battle Read more
Kojonup farmer Steve Marsh sued his former childhood friend Michael Baxter over a claim that he lost organic certification for 70% of his farm due to contamination from Baxter’s GM canola.
Marsh sought $85,000 in damages but was instead ordered to pay court costs of about $804,000.
On Thursday, the West Australian court of appeal dismissed the appeal.TRENTON — Once again, the latest revenue numbers are pushing hard against Gov. Chris Christie’s claims of a "Jersey Comeback."
Tax collections failed to meet expectations in May, continuing a months-long trend that is cranking up the pressure on New Jersey’s finances just as Christie and Democratic lawmakers are racing to strike a tax-cut deal by the end of this month.
Revenues were $50 million to $100 million under target last month, according to a memo sent to lawmakers by David Rosen, the budget chief of the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.
Meanwhile, the Christie administration said the shortfall was closer to $28.9 million in May and questioned Rosen’s credibility as a budget analyst.
The OLS and the state Treasury have produced wildly divergent revenue estimates as state officials enter the home stretch of the budget season. OLS officials now project a budget gap of up to $1.4 billion through the end of fiscal year 2013, up from $1.3 billion last month. But Rosen cautioned that the new figures were preliminary and that a fuller report would be released around June 14.
On the other side of the Statehouse, Treasury officials say the total budget gap will be only half as large. Factoring in their new numbers for May, they expect tax collections will fall behind by $704.9 million through the end of fiscal year 2013, up from $676 month forecast last month.
"While Rosen has already assumed the worst for the next two months, the actual May figures still manage to keep us on track to meet expectations for fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2013," said Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts.
Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), chairman of the budget committee, said Christie is defying reality if he keeps pushing for a 10 percent income tax cut for all residents as revenue collections continue to fall short.
"These revenue numbers are getting worse by the second," Prieto said. "This is not the time for national ambitions and tax cuts that benefit the rich."
Democratic lawmakers have offered competing plans that would create new property tax credits, applied against residents’ income taxes. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) has a plan to cut property taxes by 10 percent; Assembly Democrats would cut them by 20 percent and pay for it with a higher tax on the state’s millionaires.
Roberts said today that Assembly Democrats were "rooting for New Jersey’s failure so they can justify their obsession with raising taxes."
"It’s not shocking that Assemblyman Prieto and his Democratic colleagues in the Assembly are still jumping for joy at OLS’ consistently off the mark projections," Roberts said. "Why would they let reality stand in the way of raising taxes when they have a partisan office backing them up along the way?"
Christie last month attacked Rosen, calling him a Democratic pawn and branding him the "Dr. Kevorkian of the numbers." But an OLS analysis found that since 2000, they have done modestly better than the executive branch forecasting revenues.
The governor has stood by his tax-cut plan — a top priority and a key component of his $32.1 billion budget proposal — despite a series of missed revenue targets this year, and despite reports from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s in the last few months that found New Jersey on shaky fiscal ground.
To plug the budget hole, the Christie administration announced last month that it would cut salary increases for non-union workers and borrow an extra $260 million for transportation projects — instead of using cash, as promised.
Sweeney and Christie have been trying to strike a compromise based on the Senate plan before the budget deadline on June 30. Sweeney spokesman Derek Roseman said today that senators "will wait for Dr. Rosen’s formal report in two weeks, so that we can see everything in proper perspective."
Star-Ledger staff writer Jarrett Renshaw contributed to this report.
Related coverage:
• The latest victim of Christie's sharp tongue: a budget chief he nicknamed 'Dr. Kevorkian'
• Christie administration's revised figures will predict $676M less in revenue, source says
• N.J. revenue predicted to fall $1.3 billion short of Gov. Christie's projectionsA memorable and anticipated occasion for avid whitewater paddlers in the area is the annual release of Tallulah Gorge’s whitewater. Tallulah Gorge was dammed in 1913, but it wasn’t until May of 1993 that the first kayakers tested its waters. Among them were famous names like John Bell, Walter Lynch of American Water, the late Ron Stewart and Jim Silavent.
Now, skilled paddlers from all over the country come to Tallulah during the first three weeks of November to test their boating mettle on this 2-mile whitewater trip. An average of 500 cubic feet per second (fps) cascade through the gorge, creating Class IV and V rapids that are perfect for advanced paddlers. This year, release dates are set for November 7-8, 14-15, and 21-22. Whether you're paddling or spectating, here are five notable spots along the journey that you should be aware of.
1. Last Step
The cleverly named put-in, Last Step, refers to the fact that it takes about 600 steps to reach the put-in itself, making that last step a big sigh of relief.
2. Oceana
There isn’t much time to amp up for the largest and only Class V rapid in the gorge. The 45-50 foot falls of Oceana scale over a 150-foot distance, making scouting from shore almost required. Averages of 500 cubic fps are reported on American Whitewater. However, once you reach the bottom, an exalted scream of joy and terror is well warranted.
If you’re looking for photo-worthy shots from shore, this is the spot to be. Follow the North Rim Trail to the scenic overlook and Oceana will be below.
3. Bridal Falls
Paddlers deem this the sliding rock due to the smooth slope that drops about 20 feet over a distance of 100 feet. It is often scouted from the left banks. A river-wide hole is the main concern here, but if paddlers have enough momentum they can punch it over the top hole near the left bank.
Tallulah Gorge State Park is offering guided hikes to the overlook each weekend. The hike will take place on November 7, 15 and 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $15 per person. More info can be found at GA State Parks.
4. Amphitheater
Paddlers encounter a large tree on this rapid. The lead up to the tree was deemed “Lynch’s Wrench” after Walt Lynch, a kayaker in the first descent, dislocated his shoulder when he hit the wave hole wrong.
5. The Road to Aintry (The Big Slide)
It's fitting that this thrilling adventure comes to and end with the longest single rapid on the whole run. On the approach are a few ledges and eddies, and you can see the rest of the slide. A rock obstructs the bottom of the drop, but it can be avoided by paddling either right or left.
Paddlers end the arm-burning, heart-thumping ride at Tugaloo State Park after 1.5 miles of well-earned flatwater paddling.
If paddling isn't your thing, but you'd like to witness this spectacular annual event, the hiking trails around Tallulah Gorge State Park will be open, as will the steps off the North Rim Trail leading to the suspension bridge above Hurricane Falls. No gorge permits are issued during whitewater release.
The address for Tallulah Gorge State Park is 338 Jane Hurt Yarn Rd, Tallulah Falls, GA, 30573. You won't want to miss it!As e-cigarettes rise in popularity, public health concerns have also grown, and some states and municipalities have started issuing restrictions, banning sales to minors or e-cigarette use in public. As the FDA weighs the risks of vaping at a federal level, Massachusetts’ next governor will have a say in how nicotine vaporizers are regulated in the Commonwealth.
For our first question-and-answer session with the gubernatorial candidates, Globe Opinion asked whether, and how, the state government should restrict sales of e-cigarettes. Answers range from applauding FDA regulations (Democrat Steve Grossman) to telling the government to back off (Republican Mark Fisher). Some see e-cigs as a potentially promising innovation (Democrat Juliette Kayyem) while others are wary of any nicotine product (Democrat Donald Berwick). Here are the candidates’ answers, in the order they were received.
Martha Coakley
Attorney General, Democrat
@Martha Coakley
Martha Coakley
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The recent growth of the e-cigarette market poses a serious and growing public health risk to Massachusetts residents, especially our young people. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that nicotine, the primary active ingredient in many e-cigarettes, has harmful biochemical impacts on a user’s brain and body and is extremely addictive. That’s why I have as Attorney General, and will continue to as Governor, urge the FDA to place restrictions on advertising and sales of e-cigarettes to minors and why I testified in support of legislation at the state level to regulate the sale and use of e-cigarettes.
Jeff McCormick
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Venture Capitalist, Independent
@JMacForGov
Jeff McCormick
Related Links Five take-aways from the OpDebate
As someone who has never been a smoker, I believe that e-cigarettes, like any other drug or supplement that is new to the market, should be regulated. It is very important to protect the health of our children and the general public with some common sense approaches. Regulations should include a ban on marketing to children, age restrictions, limitations on placements in retail shops, and other similar safeguards that are applied to traditional tobacco products. There is very little evidence that e-cigarettes reduce tobacco use. We all know that nicotine is addictive and even though e-cigarettes remove some of the harmful additives that come along with smoking, we still should be mindful that shifting from smoking to vaping is not a public health policy to be promoted.
Donald Berwick
Former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Democrat
@BerwickforMA
Donald Berwick
I am concerned about the increased use of e-cigarettes, particularly because they are often marketed to young people as a purportedly safer alternative — creating a new generation of nicotine users.
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We cannot back away as a Commonwealth from our commitment to tobacco cessation. As Governor, I will prioritize those critical and effective public health programs.
Mark Fisher
Small business owner, Republican
@markfisher2014
Mark Fisher
I trust that the good citizens of the Commonwealth can decide for themselves how to run their lives and pursue happiness without any interference from the State regarding the sale of e-cigarettes. If the State were to be involved in this, then what’s next, banning Santa Claus because he smokes a pipe, is overweight and has rosy cheeks after enjoying an adult beverage? The State should stop imposing its version of happiness and allow its citizens to pursue happiness on their own terms. It’s their God-given right to do so.
Joe Avellone
Biotech executive, Democrat
@AvelloneForGov
Joe Avellone
My administration will outlaw sales of e-cigarettes to minors to prevent these devices from leading more young people to smoke tobacco products. Massachusetts has been a leader in tobacco prevention but remains silent on e-cigarettes. The CDC recently reported that e-cigarette use among middle and high school students has doubled since 2011. We must continue to protect our youth from the dangers of smoking and there is pending legislation that aims to do just that. I will actively support and promote legislation such as House Bill 3726 which seeks to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors under the age of 18 and to prevent them from being used on school grounds or wherever smoking is currently prevented.
Juliette Kayyem
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Former homeland security official and Globe columnist, Democrat
@juliettekayyem
Juliette Kayyem
I believe we should encourage innovations like e-cigarettes, which potentially give us a healthier alternative to cigarettes, and I would support measures in Massachusetts that encourage research into this type of product. However, we must be vigilant to make sure that these devices are not getting into the hands of minors. We must also require that e-cigarette manufacturers have scientific evidence to back up any health claims and that they make public the ingredients in their product so that consumers know what is going in their bodies.
Steve Grossman
State Treasurer, Democrat
@SteveGrossmanMA
Steve Grossman
I support reasonable restrictions on the sale of e-cigarettes and applaud the FDA for proposing new rules restricting sales to minors as well as requiring health labels and disclosure of ingredients. I also understand that e-cigarettes can be an effective alternative for those trying to quit smoking. When 480,000 Americans are killed by tobacco-related deaths each year, we must explore the wide-ranging impact of any public policy in reducing those deaths. But making it easier for young children to start smoking is not the answer. We must significantly increase our state’s funding for education and awareness around the health dangers of all types of smoking products, including e-cigarettes. I look forward to seeing Massachusetts implement the FDA’s regulations as quickly as possible.
Evan Falchuk
Health care entrepreneur, Independent
@eFalchuk
Charlie Baker
Former health insurance executive, Republican
@CharlieForGov
Charlie Baker
More information is certainly needed on the health effects associated with the use electronic cigarettes. Additionally, we should enact tough regulations and penalties for the sale and marketing of electronic cigarettes to minors.Former Labour cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt defended a proposal to lower the age of consent in the face of a school teacher's accusation that she was seeking to "shatter prospective individual happiness at an early age".
The then general secretary of the National Council for Civil Liberties was writing in April 1976 in response to a letter from a teacher at St Paul's boys' school in London. He had accused the organisation of having "some very twisted minds" behind it.
Hewitt wrote in her letter: "Our proposal that the age of consent be reduced is based on the belief that neither the police nor the criminal courts should have the power to intervene in a consenting sexual activity between two young people. It is clearly the case that a number of young people are capable of consenting to sexual activity and already do so."
She was responding to Philip McGuinness, a house master at St Paul's, a leading public school, who wrote to the NCCL on 14 March that year expressing his disgust.
A month earlier Hewitt's name had appeared on an NCCL press release that proposed cutting the age of consent to 14 and in some circumstances 10.
In the correspondence discovered by the Guardian in the NCCL's archives in Hull, McGuinness wrote: "I cannot help but think that you do not support civil liberties at all. Your aim is questionable in the extreme. Are you aiming for the destruction of society, for the enslavement of the individual, for the destruction of family life? Is your object to shatter prospective individual happiness at an early age?"
He signed off by saying: "Your title is a shame and a masquerade. There must be some very twisted minds and pernicious malcontents behind your organisation if this is the sort of thing you advocate."
The March 1976 NCCL press release said: "NCCL proposes that the age of consent should be lowered to 14, with special provision for situations where the partners are close in age, or where consent of a child over ten can be proved."
The release relates to an NCCL report on sexual law reforms. In it Hewitt also said: "The report argues that the crime of incest should be abolished. It says, 'In our view, no benefit accrues to anyone by making incest a crime when committed between mutually consenting persons over the age of consent'."
In a statement released to media on Thursday night, Hewitt insisted: "The proposal to reduce the age of consent was not mine – it was the policy of the organisation and its executive committee at that time. I do not support reducing the age of consent or legalising incest." She did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Hewitt, who now sits on boards at BT and Bupa, is one of three Labour figures who were leading lights in the NCCL in the 1970s at a time when the Paedophile Information Exchange was affiliated to the organisation and some of its members attempted to influence NCCL policy. Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman was the organisation's legal officer during a later period between 1978 and 1982, while her husband Jack Dromey was on the executive from 1970 to 1979.According to archives held at Hull University, in December 1975 Keith Hose, chairman of PIE, wrote to Patricia Hewitt, then general secretary of NCCL and later a Labour health secretary, asking her to consider PIE's views in its policy on ages of consent. The letter was on PIE notepaper which features a logo of two bare-legged children sitting on a rock. Hewitt wrote back saying: "We have found your evidence... most helpful".
Earlier on Friday, Dromey, insisted he did not give his approval to the NCCL's call for the age of consent to be reduced to as low as 10, after the Sun reported that he had attended an executive committee in January 1976 where the change was discussed.
Dromey said he did not give his agreement to the proposal at the committee meeting a month earlier, and was "a resolute opponent" of the PIE when he became chairman a few weeks later.
"I did not agree with the proposal in February 1976 to lower the age of consent," he said. "When elected chairman of NCCL weeks later, I made it clear that my first priority would be to take on the child sex abusers of PIE. I then defeated them by a massive majority at the annual conference in April."
Aides to Harman meanwhile said that she stood behind her decision not to apologise for the NCCL's relationship to PIE after Patricia Hewitt's apology. The aide said Harman fully backs Hewitt's apology for being "naive and wrong" about PIE and was in touch with her before the statement was made. Harman is also still furious with the Daily Mail for labelling her an apologist for paedophiles and continues to believe herself to be the subject of a political smear. A Labour source said they believed Hewitt was right to apologise but Harman has no reason to do so.With just weeks left to live due to brain cancer, Cincinnati Bengals fan Alex Fulton saw a wish come true this week when he met Bengals receiver A.J. Green.
Fulton learned of his condition after having a seizure in May of 2014 when fishing with his wife Katie and his three children. Examinations found two cancerous tumors in his brain.
Fulton's wife Katie recently put word out that her husband hoped to get a chance to meet Green before passing away. Fulton, who has around two weeks left to live, got his chance on Tuesday when Green showed up to Fulton's home unexpectedly. Watch the video below, via CBS 12 in Cincinnati:
"It was just so heartfelt," Katie Fulton said. "I don't know if every football player is like that, but he just seemed so genuine and so down to earth, and just a really great guy."
Click here for more on the story at CBS 12.Opportunity Exceeds 35 Kilometers of Driving!
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 31, 2012
Opportunity has exceeded over 35 kilometers (21.75 miles) of odometry!
The rover is moving south along the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater surveying exposed outcrop in search of phyllosilicate clay minerals that have been detected from orbit.
On Sol 3051 (Aug. 23, 2012), Opportunity continued to move about 98 feet (30 meters) south along the inboard edge of Cape York, imaging the outcrop to the west with both Panoramic Camera (Pancam) and Navigation Camera (Navcam). On Sol 3053 (Aug. 25, 2012), the rover drove further south with more of an inboard bias to be closer to the outcrop. Again, more detailed Pancam and Navcam surveys were performed. On Sol 3055 (Aug. 27, 2012), the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) on the end of the robotic arm was imaged to re-confirm the available bit for future grinding and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) collected a measurement of atmospheric argon.
On Sol 3056 (Aug. 28, 2012), Opportunity headed almost due west in a direct approach to some exciting outcrop units. With that drive, the rover passed 35 kilometers of odometry. Not bad for a vehicle designed for only about 1 mile (1 kilometer) of distance and 90 sols (days) of lifetime.
As of Sol 3056 (Aug. 28, 2012), the solar array energy production was 568 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.570 and a solar array dust factor of 0.684.
Total odometry is 21.76 miles (35,017.33 meters).Detroit, MI - U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced today that the Eastern District of Michigan collected $140,568,099.71 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2016. Of this amount, $134,081,710.61 was collected in criminal actions and $6,486,389.10 was collected in civil actions.
Additionally, the Eastern District of Michigan worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $137,338,109.30 in cases pursued jointly with these offices. Of this amount, $136,489,477.62 was collected in criminal actions and $848,631.68 was collected in civil actions.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced on December 14, 2016 that the Justice Department collected nearly $15.4 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016. The $15,380,130,434 in collections in FY 2016 represents more than five times the appropriated $2.93 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the main litigating divisions of the Justice Department combined in that same period.
“Every day, the men and women of the Department of Justice work tirelessly to enforce our laws, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used properly and that the American people are protected from exploitation and abuse,” said Attorney General Lynch. “Today’s announcement is a testament to that work, and it makes clear that our actions deliver a significant return on public investment. I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this year's collections possible, and I want to emphasize that the department remains committed to the well-being of our people and our nation.”
“The attorneys and support professionals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan recovered more than five times the amount of money spent in our annual budget of $26 million,” McQuade said. “Those funds will be returned to victims and taxpayers.”
This past year, the Eastern District of Michigan seized approximately $11.9 million in the case of U.S. v. Farid Fata. The government seized Fata's assets to create a restitution fund for the benefit of Fata's victims and their heirs. In addition, the government seized approximately $1.6 million in assets from Norman Shy, a former vendor doing business with Detroit Public Schools (DPS). Those funds will be paid back to DPS through the restoration process.
The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims’ Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.
The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws. In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration and Department of Education.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Michigan, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $26,602,309.00 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2016. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.Secretary of state says US is committed to achieving 'historic milestone' of Aids-free generation and pledges more cash
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton pledged at first international Aids conference in America for two decades that the Obama administration would do whatever it takes to end the HIV epidemic.
"I'm here to make it absolutely clear that the US is committed and will remain committed to achieving an Aids-free generation. We will not back off and we will not back down. We will fight for the resources necessary to achieve this historic milestone," she told a packed plenary session of the 25,000 delegate-strong conference in Washington, DC.
Clinton said she had commissioned Dr Eric Goosby, America's global Aids co-ordinator, to produce a blueprint for the way ahead. Scientists and experts at the conference say that scaling up the rollout of Aids drugs to all the 15 million people who need them can not only keep people alive but reduce the chances they will infect others, slowing the spread of the virus.
Other prevention efforts – and maybe eventually a vaccine – could reduce transmission to the point where the epidemic is effectively at an end.
Clinton announced new money for several initiatives, including $40m for South Africa's plans to provide voluntary male circumcision for almost half a million young men and boys in the coming year. Studies have shown circumcision reduces men's chances of infection.
There will also be an investment of $80 million to support innovative approaches to ensure HIV positive pregnant women get the treatment they need, which will prevent their babies being born with the virus.
Clinton said she was particularly concerned to highlight the plight of women. "In sub-Saharan Africa, women account for 60% of those living with HIV, and they want access to adequate healthcare. We want to answer their call," she said.
These women – and all women – should have access to contraception so they can decide for themselves whether to have any or more children, said Clinton, applauding the recent family planning conference in London, which drew attention to their needs and raised $2.6bn to provide contraception for 120 million women and girls.
"Every woman should be able to decide when and whether to have children. This is true whether she is HIV-positive or not," she told the conference. "There should be no controversy about this. None at all."
But she also spoke of the need to help sex workers and people who use injecting drugs – groups who have not been allowed to have visas to enter the United States, triggering demonstrations and protests at the conference. Sex workers are holding their own conference in Kolkata instead, which has been given "hub" status by the International Aids Society, which organised the Washington event.
Clinton avoided any mention of their exclusion from America, but told the conference it was vital that their needs be addressed. Over the years she had experienced how difficult it can be to talk about a disease that is transmitted through sex and drugs, she said. "We can't afford to avoid sensitive conversations and we can't fail to reach those who are at highest risk," she said.
"When key groups are marginalised, the virus spreads rapidly within these groups and also into the lower-risk general population, We are seeing this happen right now in eastern Europe and south-east Asia. Humans might discriminate, but viruses do not," she said.
Clinton announced more money for three initiatives to help marginalised groups – $15m to identify the most effective interventions, a $20m challenge fund to support country-led initiatives and $2m to bolster the efforts of civil society groups to reach key populations.
While Clinton was enthusiastically received by most of her audience, she had at first to speak over noisy protesters, demonstrating against a US trade agreement with Pacific countries that they say will restrict the production and availability of cheap generic Aids drugs.
Médecins Sans Frontières later said in a statement that it applauded the US commitment to fighting Aids, "but we also need the US to pledge to do no harm with its trade policies".
The organisation of volunteer doctors also said more money is needed. "All donors need to reverse their flat funding for global HIV/Aids so we can speed up scale-up and reach the one in two people in urgent need to treatment that still do not have access."When Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer announced last week that he will be eliminating tipping in favor of paying servers a living wage at 13 of his full-service New York City restaurants later this year, the news sent a ripple through the hospitality industry.
Though the influential restaurateur’s Shake Shack burger chain will not be affected, his other eateries making the change are city hot spots. The move adds weight to the the no-tipping movement, which a number of other restaurants nationwide have already joined.
The owners of one of them, Bar Marco in Pittsburgh, announced in January they were abolishing tipping at their small wine bar and cafe and implemented the change in April.
Bar Marco/Facebook Bar Marco, a small wine bar and cafe in Pittsburgh, implemented a no-tipping policy in April. Six months later, they say it's been a hit with employees and diners alike.
Six months later, Bar Marco manager Joslynn Manges told The Huffington Post the transition has been a success, and said that the restaurant is attracting more customers because of the change in policy.
“We have people coming in consistently who partially come in because of what we’re doing, not just because of the service and food,” Manges said. “They respect the general idea of what we’re doing and they support it.”
Co-owner Kevin Cox added that the restaurant, which has a staff of 16, has not seen a change in staff turnover rate.
To offset the increased cost of giving employees a $35,000 base salary -- plus benefits including health insurance, paid vacation time and shares in the company -- Bar Marco increased prices on the menu.
One challenge they've faced, Manges admitted, has been acclimating customers to the change in policy, particularly those who are from out of town or haven’t been to the restaurant in some time. They attempt to mitigate that by featuring the policy prominently on their website and menu. Servers also inform guests at the start of their meal that they do not accept tips.
Should diners decide to tip anyway, all proceeds are donated to the Food Revolution Pittsburgh Cooking Club, a nonprofit that encourages area high school students to develop their culinary skills and make healthier food choices.
Kirsten Wlaschin, a spokeswoman for Seattle-based Ivar’s Restaurants, said in an e-mail that the results have been "positive" since their chain eliminated tipping seven months ago. They plan to take at least a year to evaluate the change before making it permanent.
But the model does not work for everyone. While San Francisco’s Bar Agricole and Trou Norman both got rid of tipping at the start of the year, the restaurants’ owner Thad Vogler announced this week that they were bringing it back because their staff were unhappy going without tips.
"We haven’t been able to keep servers," Vogler told the San Francisco Chronicle. "We were hoping more restaurants would switch but, for now, it’s been impossible to compete with more traditional places in keeping front of the house staff who prefer the control and upside of the tip system."
For its part, the National Restaurant Association appears skeptical that both employees and customers will be on board the tip-free movement.
"We've found the practice of tipping has traditionally attracted millions of employees to our industry and still has strong support from American diners,” an association spokeswoman said in a statement reported by CBS News last week.
Still, it appears more restaurants will soon be following suit. Saru Jayaraman is the co-founder and director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which has released research tying the tipping system to sexual harassment and slavery in recent years. Jayaraman touched on those connections in an Oct. 16 New York Times op-ed.
She said her organization, which advocates for the elimination of tipping, has already gotten feedback from other restaurateurs indicating they'll likely follow Meyer’s example.
“Several restaurants we’ve been talking about this with for a long time have begun to say they haven’t liked this [tipping] system,"Jayaraman said. "What we’re telling them about the social impact of the issue has given them the justification and the push to do it."
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post included Shake Shack among the group of Meyer's restaurants that had eliminated tipping. Shake Shack locations are not, in fact, taking part in this change. Only the full-service eateries that make up Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group are doing so.China announces “air defence identification zone” in East China Sea
By John Chan
25 November 2013
In a move that has heightened tensions with Japan and the United States, the Chinese Defence Ministry announced over the weekend the creation of an “air defence identification zone” (ADIZ), covering much of the East China Sea, including the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands that have been at the center of a bitter dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.
The air defence zone announced by China overlaps Japan’s own ADIZ. The Obama administration immediately criticised the Chinese move and indicated that the US would ignore the Chinese zone. Washington reiterated that the US-Japan Security Treaty will apply if war breaks out between China and Japan over the disputed East China Sea islands.
Underscoring the potentially explosive implications of the Chinese announcement, the Chinese air force sent early warning aircraft and fighters on a sweep of the defence zone, prompting Japan to scramble its own F-15 fighters.
Any aircraft entering the ADIZ will trigger alerts to the Chinese air force and air defence system. According to the Chinese Defence Ministry statement, aircraft are expected to provide their flight plans, indicate their nationality, and maintain radio communication.
“China’s armed forces will adopt defensive emergency measures |
but always politically astute."
Edwardsen led the Arctic Slope region as the only region in Alaska to oppose the act, said a statement from the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. released on Saturday.
With the late Joseph Ukpiksoun, Edwardsen wrote letters to President Richard Nixon urging a veto of the legislation.
"Etok embodied the resolve and fighting spirit of the Arctic Slope region," said Rex A. Rock Sr., CEO of ASRC. "His contributions to our society sharpened the business acumen of our leadership, always seeking justice and working to ensure the rights of Iñupiat were protected."
Edwardsen never agreed with the settlement, his family said. During a public hearing in 2010, he called ANCSA a "rotten real estate transaction" that Natives should contest in international court.
Widespread influence
A land settlement was just one of Edwardsen's pursuits. Beginning in the 1960s, he campaigned against poverty and in favor of modern sanitation on the North Slope at a time when honey buckets were common in the region.
He played a role in the 1972 formation of the North Slope Borough, a local government that relied on the oil industry for a tax base, Hensley said. The borough brought modern services to villages on the Slope, including flush toilets and running water.
Edwardsen influenced leaders outside Alaska, too, said Hykes Steere, the the APU professor, who is working to create a four-year degree in Alaska Native governance.
Hykes Steere said she was once told by Billy Frank Jr., the Native American environmental leader who died last year, that Edwardsen had inspired him in the 1960s.
Frank saw Edwardsen pounding on the desks of Bureau of Indian Affairs officials in Washington, D.C., demanding to speak with their boss, according to Hykes Steere.
"He said Etok refused to be said 'No' to," Hykes Steere said.
Edwardsen helped inspire the indigenous movement by the Maori people of New Zealand, friends and family said.
Edwardsen, who often said Alaska Natives had endured "statutory warfare," often told Hykes Steere what to read and write about when she was in law school in the early 1990s.
"He inspired a lot of people because he was brilliant," she said.
Una Edwardsen, who called his father a "powerful force," said the family is planning to honor his father with a political rally in Barrow, rather than a funeral, as his father wanted.
Plans are still being made for that gathering, he said.
"Etok" Edwardsen's first-born daughter, Sherri Edwardsen, said her father's legacy will not die.
"His spirit is going to continue to grow and move for the future generations of the Inupiat people," she said.Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light before 1975) is an American television soap opera. It is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running drama in television in American history, broadcast on CBS for 57 years from June 30, 1952, until September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio from 1937 to 1956.[1] With an uninterrupted 72 years of radio and television runs, Guiding Light is the longest running soap opera, ahead of General Hospital, and the fifth-longest running program in all of broadcast history; only the American country music radio program Grand Ole Opry (first broadcast in 1925), the BBC religious program The Daily Service (1928), the CBS religious program Music and the Spoken Word (1929), and the Norwegian children's radio program Lørdagsbarnetimen (1924-2010) have been on the air longer.[4][a]
Guiding Light was created by Irna Phillips, and began as an NBC Radio serial on January 25, 1937. On June 2, 1947, the series was transferred to CBS Radio,[6] before starting on June 30, 1952, on CBS Television.[1] It continued to be broadcast concomitantly on radio until June 29, 1956. The series was expanded from 15 minutes to a half-hour during 1968 (and also switched from broadcasting live to pre-taping around this same time), and then to a full hour on November 7, 1977. The series broadcast its 15,000th CBS episode on September 6, 2006.
On April 1, 2009, CBS announced the cancellation of Guiding Light after a run of 72 years due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes on August 11, 2009, and its final episode on the network aired on September 18, 2009.[7][8] On October 5, 2009, CBS replaced Guiding Light with an hour-long revival of Let's Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady.
Origins, plot development, and cast [ edit ]
Guiding Light has had a number of plot sequences during the series' long history, on both radio and television. These plot sequences include complex storylines, and different writers and casting.
1930s and 1940s [ edit ]
The series was created by Irna Phillips, who based it on personal experiences. After giving birth to a still-born baby at age 19, she found spiritual comfort listening to the radio sermons of Preston Bradley, a famous Chicago preacher and founder of the People's Church, a church which promoted the brotherhood of man. These sermons originated the idea of the creation of The Guiding Light, which began as a radio series. The original radio series was first broadcast as 15-minute episodes on NBC Radio, starting on January 25, 1937. The series was transferred to CBS Radio during 1947.
1950s [ edit ]
The Guiding Light was broadcast first by CBS Television on June 30, 1952, replacing the canceled soap opera The First Hundred Years. These episodes were also 15 minutes long. During the period from 1952 to 1956, The Guiding Light existed as both a radio and television serial, with actors recording their performances twice for each day that the shows were broadcast. The radio broadcast of The Guiding Light ceased production during 1956, ending this overlap.[9]
With the transition to television, the main characters became the Bauers, a lower-middle class German immigrant family who were first introduced in the radio serial in 1948.[9] Many storylines revolved around Bill Bauer (son of patriarch Friedrich "Papa" Bauer) and his new wife Bertha (nicknamed "Bert"). Papa Bauer, who came to the United States during World War I with just a few dollars in his pocket, was a salt of the earth character who succeeded in offering opportunities to his children by working hard, and he instilled that work ethic into his children. Bert had dreams of climbing the social ladder and keeping up appearances, and it was up to Bill (and sometimes Papa Bauer) to bring her down to earth.
The Guiding Light ranked as the number one-rated soap opera during both 1956 and 1957, before being replaced during 1958 by As the World Turns.[10] After Irna Phillips was transferred to As the World Turns during 1958, her protege Agnes Nixon became head writer of The Guiding Light.
The first television producer of The Guiding Light was Luci Ferri Rittenberg, who produced the show over 20 years.
1960s [ edit ]
Agnes Nixon relinquished her role as chief writer during 1965 to work for the series Another World. On March 13, 1967, The Guiding Light was first broadcast in color. On September 9, 1968, the program was expanded from 15 to 30 minutes.
The 1960s featured the introduction of African American characters, and the main emphasis of the series shifted to Bill and Bert's children, Mike and Ed; the character of Bill Bauer was written out in July 1969, presumed dead after a plane crash. The show also became a bit more topical during the 1960s, with such storylines as Bert Bauer's diagnosis of uterine cancer in 1962.
A number of new characters were introduced during the mid- to late 1960s, including Dr. Sara McIntyre, who remained a major character through the early 1980s.
1970s [ edit ]
Much of the story during the first half of the 1970s was dominated by Stanley Norris' November 1971 murder and the ensuing trial, as well as the exploits of villainesses Charlotte Waring and Kit Vested. Charlotte (at the time played by Melinda Fee) was murdered by Kit (Nancy Addison) on August 26, 1973, and then Kit herself was shot by Dr. Joe Werner (Anthony Call) in self-defense on April 24, 1974, after she had attempted to poison Dr. Sara McIntyre.
A pivotal character, off-and-on, until the spring of 1998, Roger Thorpe, was introduced on April 1, 1971. The role of Roger was originally proposed to be blonde, fair-skinned preppy type, a man who was dating his boss's daughter Holly. Ultimately, Michael Zaslow, a dark haired actor with a more ethnic appearance, was hired for the role instead by long-time casting director, Betty Rea. Zaslow portrayed Roger as a complicated and multifaceted villain.
Theo Goetz, the actor who played Papa Bauer since the first episode of The Guiding Light, died in 1972. The decision was made to have Papa Bauer die in the storyline as well. The cast paid tribute to Goetz and Papa Bauer in a special memorial episode which aired on February 27, 1973.
Pressured by newer, more youth-oriented soap operas such as All My Children, Procter & Gamble hired head writers Bridget and Jerome Dobson during 1975, who started writing in November 1975. The Dobsons introduced a more nuanced, psychologically layered writing style, and included timely story lines, including a complex love/hate relationship between estranged spouses/step-siblings Roger and Holly. They also created a number of well-remembered characters, including Rita Stapleton, whose complex relationships with Roger and Ed propelled much of the story for the remainder of the decade, Alan Spaulding, and Ross Marler, both of whom remained major characters into the 2000s.
The decision was made during the fall of 1977 to reintroduce the thought-dead character of Bill Bauer, in a major retcon. The other characters thought that he had died in an airplane crash in July 1969, but he was said to actually be alive. (Many viewers who had also paid attention to the show and story line back in September 1968, remembered that Bill was told he would only have nine more years to live.) One of the problems with this return is that the Dobsons seemed not quite sure what to do with his return. Although it was shocking, at first, to many of the characters, Bill himself ended up being charged for a murder of a man in Vancouver (Mike got his father off for the crime, proving that it was an accident, rather quickly and by April 1978 Bill had left town, again. Although Bill returned briefly in November 1978, April 1980, and then again in July 1983 and in flashbacks in November 1983.) Bill's return introduced the audience and the Bauers to another character that stayed on the show until September 1984, Hillary Kincaid, R. N. (Bauer), Bill's daughter (and thus Ed and Mike's half-sister; Bill had accidentally killed the man that Hillary originally thought was her father, but was actually her step-father) and she becomes a nurse at Cedars and a major character.
Surprising many viewers, Jerome and Bridget Dobson killed the show's young heroine, Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris Bauer, in June 1976. Lynne Adams was reported at the time to want to leave the role, and the Dobsons decided against recasting the part. Leslie was killed by a drunk driver. Her father, Dr. Steve Jackson, remained on the show for the remainder of the '70s, serving as a senior physician at Cedars, and as a friend and companion to Bert Bauer.
In November 1975, the name was changed in the show's opening and closing visuals from The Guiding Light to Guiding Light. On November 7, 1977, the show expanded to a full hour and was broadcast from 2:30 to 3:30 pm daily.
The series during the 1970s emphasized the Bauers and the Spauldings. Several notable characters were introduced.
1980s [ edit ]
Bridget and Jerome Dobson assumed the head writing duties of As the World Turns in late 1979. Former actor Douglas Marland, assumed the head writing reins of Guiding Light in 1979. He introduced many new characters, including the Reardon family. During May 1980, Guiding Light won its first Outstanding Drama Series Daytime Emmy. One of Marland’s stories featured the character of Carrie Todd Marler, played by Jane Elliot. Carrie was diagnosed with multiple personalities. Marland had barely delved into her psychosis when Elliot's contract was abruptly terminated by Executive Producer Allen M. Potter in 1982. As a result, Marland resigned in protest.[citation needed]
During the early 1980s, the show began to emphasize younger characters more, as an attempt to compete with the younger-skewing ABC serials. A number of longtime characters were eliminated during this time, including Ben and Eve McFarren, Diane Ballard, Dr. Sara McIntyre, Adam Thorpe, Barbara Norris Thorpe, Justin Marler and Steve Jackson. Actress Lenore Kasdorf quit the show in 1981, and producers decided not to recast the role of Rita Stapleton Bauer, given how popular Kasdorf had been. The Bauer family matriarch, Bertha 'Bert' Bauer, died in March 1986, following the real-life death of Charita Bauer in 1985. During Guiding Light's 50th anniversary year in 1987, a commitment was pledged to showcase the Bauer family in primary roles as much as possible, after audience reaction to the Oklahoma-bred Lewis and Shayne families turned out to be mixed.[9] As a result, the tradition of the Bauer July 4th family barbecue began that year, and continued until 2009, the serial's final year on CBS Television.[9]
An ever more complicated storyline emphasized the Bauer, Spaulding, Reardon, and Raines families. Pam Long, actress and writer for NBC's Texas from 1981 to 1982, became head writer during 1983 and reemphasized the series on Freddy Bauer Phillip Spaulding, Mindy Lewis, and Beth Raines. She also introduced characters Alexandra Spaulding, performed by actress Beverlee McKinsey, of Another World and Texas fame; and Reva Shayne, played by Kim Zimmer. The ratings in the mid- to late 1980s were solid and healthy.[clarification needed] Pamela K. Long returned for a second head writer stint from 1987 to 1990.
The characters of Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris returned to the series during the late 1980s. Maureen Garrett reprised her role of Holly #2 in 1988, followed by Michael Zaslow as Roger in 1989.
1990s [ edit ]
With the new decade, the series' storytelling transitioned from Long's homespun style to a more realistic style with a new group of chief writers. The Bauer, Spaulding, Lewis, and Cooper families had been established as core families, and most major plot developments concerned them. The show generally held on in the middle of the pack as far as ratings went throughout the decade.
The show suffered major character losses mid-decade, including the car accident death of Maureen Bauer and the exit of Alexandra Spaulding from the story. As the decade progressed, the program developed a series of outlandish plot twists seemingly to compete with the serials Passions and Days of Our Lives.
In an attempt to revive the series, the character Reva Shayne was brought back to Springfield during April 1995. She'd been presumed dead for the previous five years, after having driven her car off of a bridge and into the water off the Florida Keys. Later that July, antiheroine Tangie Hill (played by Marcy Walker, who declined to renew her contract[11]) was eliminated after nearly two years with the show in favor of the full-time return of fan favorite Nola Chamberlain, played by Lisa Brown.
During January 1996, soap opera veteran Mary Stuart joined the cast as Meta Bauer (though referred to many times over the years, the long-running character originally played by Ellen Demming had not been seen onscreen since 1974); the character remained on the show until Stuart's death during 2002.
January 1998, Bethany Joy Lenz came to the show as "Teenage Reva Clone". Producers were so impressed with her acting and attitude during her three-week role as "Teenage Reva Clone" on the show that she was re-hired later that year in the contract role of "Michelle Bauer Santos" on the daytime serial. From 1999-2000.
2000s [ edit ]
The 2000s began with the division of the show into two locales: Springfield and the fictional island nation of San Cristobel. In Springfield, the Santos mob dynasty created much of the drama. Meanwhile, the royal Winslow family had their own series of intrigues with which to deal. During 2002, however, San Cristobel was eliminated from the series and the mob's influence in the story was subsequently diminished and, with the departure of character Danny Santos during 2005, eliminated altogether. Also, Guiding Light celebrated its 50th Anniversary as a television show on June 30, 2002.
During 2004, former director and actress Ellen Wheeler (Emmy Award winner as an actress for the series All My Children and Another World) took over as executive producer of Guiding Light. She and writer David Kreizman made numerous changes to the sets, stories, and the cast. Several veteran actors were eliminated, mainly because of budget decreases. Because of the lack of veteran influence, Wheeler reemphasized the youth of Springfield, especially the controversial pairing of cousins Jonathan and Tammy.
During 2006, an episode featured character Harley Cooper gaining heroic abilities. The episode was semi-continued in an 8-page story in select Marvel Comics productions.[12]
The series had its 70th broadcast anniversary during 2007. The anniversary was commemorated with the initiation of website FindYourLight.net and a program of outreach, representing Irna Phillips's original message. There was also a special episode during January 2007, with current cast members playing Phillips and some of the earlier cast members. The series also introduced special beginning credits commemorating the anniversary.
Despite low ratings, the show won 2007 Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Writing and Best Show (sharing Best Show with The Young and the Restless).
End [ edit ]
On April 1, 2009, CBS announced that it would not renew Guiding Light, and the last broadcast date would be September 18, 2009. Procter & Gamble initially announced that they would attempt to find another outlet to distribute the series, but later admitted that they had been unsuccessful in doing so, and that on September 18, 2009, after 57 years on television (preceded by 15 years on radio for a total broadcast history of 72 years), Guiding Light would end its broadcast history on CBS.
During the final weeks of the series, numerous characters from the series' past passed through Springfield one last time, culminating with Ed and Holly, who impulsively embarked on an unspecified journey together. Alan Spaulding suffered fatal heart failure during the final week, but not before resolving conflicts with many former adversaries, including Jonathan. Alan's death brought the characters together in a way that could not have happened while he was still alive. Alexandra is especially distraught about Alan's death, but was pleased when Fletcher Reade came to the Spaulding Mansion after Alan's service, and convinced her to accompany him to Europe. Beth and Phillip have grown closer and decided to remarry; Mindy Lewis returned to Springfield for good, and she and Rick also became fonder of each other. Reva and Josh had a discussion, and agreed that they each had their respective problems that they need to solve. Josh told Reva that he was leaving Springfield for a job for the next year, but proposes that he return one year from that date and, if by that time, she wants to reunite with him, she should meet him at the lighthouse and, if she is not there, he will assume she is not interested.
The final episode is pleasant, featuring many of the characters gathering in the park for a large picnic. Toward the end of the episode, it jumps forward one year, by which time, Phillip and Beth have reunited, as have Rick and Mindy. Olivia and Natalia, happy with their new baby, pick up Raphael as he returns from the army. The episode concludes with Josh arriving at the lighthouse, as promised, and finding Reva there. They declare their undying love. James, Ashlee, and Daisy leave Springfield and relocate to Santa Barbara, California. Josh asks if Reva is packed, to go on an adventure. The two grab the luggage, and with Reva's young son, they climb into Josh's pick-up truck. Josh says to Reva, "You ready?" She replies "Always." As the truck drives away with the lighthouse in the background, "The End" appears on the screen before a final fadeout. The song heard playing in the background during the final scene is "Together" by Michelle Branch.[13]
The final episode also included the original tag line, with some revision, printed on the screen with the words "There is a destiny that makes us FAMILY" (replacing the word 'brothers'), as well as quick film clips of each of the show's title cards and announcers during the six decades it was on television, leading to the show's former long-time beginning announcement: "And now, The Guiding Light".
Production and locales [ edit ]
Guiding Light was broadcast from three locations: Chicago (where creator Irna Phillips resided), from 1937 until 1946; Hollywood, from 1947 until 1949; and New York City starting during 1949. It was relocated from Chicago to Hollywood (despite objections of both Phillips and Arthur Peterson) to take advantage of the talent pool. Production was subsequently relocated to New York City, where the majority of soap operas were produced during the 1950s, 1960s and much of the 1970s; it remained based in New York City until the show's conclusion. Its final taping location was the CBS studios in midtown Manhattan. From the 1970s to the 1990s it was filmed at the Chelsea Studios.[14] From soon before February 29, 2008, outdoor scenes were filmed on location in Peapack, New Jersey.[15] The location filming coincided with another significant production change, as the series became the first American weekday soap opera to be recorded digitally. The production team chose to film with Canon XH-G1 HDV camcorders. Unlike the old production model with pedestal-style cameras and traditional three-sided sets, handheld cameras allowed producers to choose as many locations as they wished.[16]
Final CBS seasons [ edit ]
During the daytime drama's 57th season on television and 72nd overall season, the series had changed its look to a more realistic experience in an attempt to compete with the growing popularity of reality television. The new look of Guiding Light included free-hand camera work and less action shown on traditional studio sets. Producer Ellen Wheeler introduced a "shaky-cam" style, present in a number of movies, featuring extreme-closeups and frequent cuts, including those that "broke the axis" (which proved disorienting to viewers accustomed to shows with the traditional "soap opera look"). Also new was the filming of outdoor scenes in actual outdoor settings. Even many indoor scenes had more of an "on location" feel, repurposing real locations, such as Guiding Light's production offices, to be motel rooms, nail salons, quick-mart and other businesses or locations. Thereby, the series had numerous sets without the cost of numerous separate locations. CBS and the show's producers had hoped that the new look would increase ratings, but the plan was ultimately unsuccessful.
On April 1, 2009, CBS canceled the series after 72 years, with the series finale airing on September 18, 2009, making it the second-to-last Procter & Gamble soap opera to end.
Production summary [ edit ]
The action has also been set in three different locales – it was based in the fictional towns of Five Points and Selby Flats before its final locale of Springfield.
Cast and characters [ edit ]
Broadcast history [ edit ]
Unlike most popular radio serials transitioning to television, The Guiding Light had no difficulty holding onto its old listening audience and simultaneously earning a new television fanbase. For at the time The Guiding Light made its television debut, neither ABC nor NBC had broadcast programs on their respective networks at 2:30 p.m. Eastern/1:30 Central, where CBS first placed The Guiding Light. However, six months into the run, the network moved the serial to a timeslot that gave it great popularity with its housewife audience: 12:45 p.m./11:45 a.m. It kept the new timeslot for the next 19 years and eight months, sharing the half-hour with its sister Procter & Gamble-packaged soap opera, Search for Tomorrow.
The Guiding Light handled the competition breezily, even against otherwise-legendary shows such as Queen for a Day on ABC (briefly in 1960) and NBC's Truth or Consequences. Usually, The Guiding Light ranked second in the Nielsen ratings behind another serial, As the World Turns. 1968, however, saw changing viewership trends that prompted CBS to expand its last two 15-minute daytime dramas, disrupting long-standing viewing habits. Search for Tomorrow took over the entire 12:30–1/11:30–Noon period, with The Guiding Light returning to its first timeslot, 2:30/1:30, albeit in the now-standard half-hour format, on September 9. This twin bill of expansions also caused the dislocation of The Secret Storm and the beloved Art Linkletter's House Party, as well as the cancellation of the daytime To Tell the Truth. The next 12 years brought several similar shifts around CBS' lineup.
The 1970s saw the popularity of The Guiding Light dip somewhat. The competition imposed upon The Guiding Light during this decade was from other serials such as The Doctors on NBC, but it still garnered decent ratings. After four years, CBS bumped its timeslot up by a half-hour to accommodate Procter & Gamble's demand that The Edge of Night move to 2:30/1:30, a move that led to the end of that show on CBS three years later. In the meantime, The Guiding Light stayed steadily on course against NBC's Days of Our Lives and ABC's The Newlywed Game. In late 1974, ABC replaced The Newlywed Game with The $10,000 Pyramid, which went on to garner strong ratings, but not greatly at The Guiding Light's expense. Meanwhile, by fall 1975 (at which point the show had officially dropped the word "The" from its title, although it was still referred to as The Guiding Light on air for several years after), the impending departure of The Edge of Night for ABC - to say nothing of CBS' planned expansion of some serials - affected Guiding Light by pushing it back to 2:30/1:30 once more in December. At that time, NBC still ran The Doctors in the 2:30 slot, and ABC had a short-lived hit the next year with an updated version of the game show Break the Bank. To complicate the picture further, ABC opted to make its first show expansions, that of One Life to Live and General Hospital, in July 1976; each of those shows occupied one-half of a 90-minute block until November 4, 1977.
With this in mind, ABC and CBS acted to give a contending chance to both General Hospital and Guiding Light by expanding them to an hour in length. CBS did so first by expanding Guiding Light on November 7, 1977. This gained particular importance when ABC finally added 15 minutes to both One Life to Live and General Hospital on January 16, 1978, so that Guiding Light straddled those two programs, as well as the first half of sister P&G show Another World on NBC. Despite that General Hospital surprising all observers by skyrocketing from near-cancellation to the top place in the ratings with the various storylines, Guiding Light held its own while in direct competition with General Hospital, still hit an upswing as the decade ended.
On February 4, 1980, CBS bumped Guiding Light down again, to 3pm/2c, and its sister P&G soap As The World Turns to 2pm/1c, in the midst of a major scheduling shuffle intended to give The Young and the Restless (itself now expanding to an hour length) a shot at beating ABC's All My Children. NBC did the same with its soap operas as well with all three networks now going head-head in every time slot. It remained in this time slot for the rest of its run in some markets, facing General Hospital and NBC entries such as Texas (a spin-off of Another World), The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour and Santa Barbara. None of these shows - not even General Hospital - had any significant impact on the ratings of Guiding Light at 3:00 pm during this period.
Overall, the first half of the 1980s saw a revival in Guiding Light's popularity, with a top-five placing achieved in most years and even a brief dethroning of then-powerhouse General Hospital from the #1 ratings spot for three consecutive weeks. However, as the decade progressed, the ratings slipped a bit, although it was still performing solidly. In 1995, beginning with CBS flagship station WCBS-TV in New York, Guiding Light began airing at 10 a.m. Eastern time in several markets. Its once-solid performance began to crumble by the mid-1990s, when its ratings sunk as low as ninth place out of ten.[17] However, during the controversial clone storyline in 1998, the ratings experienced a brief resurgence, moving up to fifth for many weeks that summer. Nielsen reported Guiding Light had 5 million viewers in 1999.
Up until its finale in 2009, stations in a number of markets aired Guiding Light in the morning either at 9 or 10 a.m. local time: Miami, Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Dallas-Fort Worth, Orlando, Atlanta, Columbia, SC, Fort Wayne, IN, South Bend, IN, Portland, OR, Quad Cities, Buffalo, Reno, Portland, ME, Milwaukee, Albany, NY, and Scranton-Wilkes Barre, PA. Guiding Light aired at 12 noon local time in Honolulu, Hawaii. In Savannah, GA, it aired at 4:00 pm local time.
Before 2004, stations that aired Guiding Light in the morning were always one episode behind those that aired the program at its official timeslot of 3:00 pm (ET). This changed in March 2004, during the first day of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, in which stations airing the show at 10:00 am were able catch up with stations that televised it at 3:00 pm. Starting in 2006, stations that televised Guiding Light at 9:00 am were also offered a same-day feed to catch up with the rest of the network. As a result of this, daily episodes for the remaining years of GL were the same on all stations regardless of timeslot.
Guiding Light maintained strong ratings in Pittsburgh, despite being moved to 10:00 am in 2006. According to a 2006 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dr. Phil hadn't been able to pull in the same numbers that Guiding Light did in that time slot a year prior, while Guiding Light was maintaining its audience share.[18]
One CBS affiliate that did not air the show was KOVR-TV in Sacramento, California, which had become a CBS affiliate in 1995. Before CBS affiliated with KOVR, it had been affiliated in Sacramento with KXTV, which had dropped Guiding Light from its schedule in 1992 and did not air it again. As such, the show was preempted in the Sacramento area from 1992 to the show's cancellation. WNEM-TV in Flint/Saginaw/Bay City, Michigan, which also became a CBS affiliate that year, initially ran the soap before dropping it in 1996 because of disappointing ratings. In the fall of 2006, WNEM began running Guiding Light on its digital channel My 5 at 10 am, airing there for the remainder of its run.
Internationally, Guiding Light currently airs in Iceland, Italy, Hungary and Serbia. It also aired September 3, 2007 to August 26, 2011 in the UK on Zone Romantica /CBS Drama, and was pulled at the point where the outside location filming was due to begin. The last screened scene of the show in the UK was Cassie hiding out with troubled son Will – just as the rest of the family were discovering that he had actually killed his uncle Alonzo.
Since it ended its CBS run on September 18, 2009, the reruns of Guiding Light currently air on Sky 1 since September 21, 2009.
Broadcast history in Canada [ edit ]
In Canada, Guiding Light was available to viewers directly through CBS-TV network affiliates from border cities or cable TV feeds until the show's ending in 2009. In addition, Guiding Light also made it on several Canadian television networks through the 1980s up until its last air date.
Atlantic Satellite Network (ASN) – a supplementary service to its ATV system of CTV affiliates exclusively for Atlantic Canada – aired the soap simultaneously with the CBS feed from 1983 to 1984; then, the broadcast was moved to 12 noon until 1985.
The show also aired in French in Quebec. TVA, a Quebec privately owned French-language television network, rebroadcast episodes in French translation, twelve months behind, for a short period in 1984.
In the early 1990s, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) briefly aired the P&G serial nationally at 3:00 p.m. in each specific local Canadian time zone. The CBC Television broadcast of Guiding Light was also on its scheduled during the latter part of the 1960s during the serial 15-minute format. On both occasions, the daytime drama was only aired for a few seasons.
After a hiatus from Canadian television stations for many years, the series came back on CHCH-TV, exclusively for the Ontario market. In September 2007, Global picked up the show nationwide after CHCH-TV dropped it, claiming Passions’ former time slot. Guiding Light returned to CHCH for the rest of its run when Global decided to air the 2008 TV series The Doctors.
Awards [ edit ]
Daytime Emmy Awards [ edit ]
Show [ edit ]
Individuals [ edit ]
Other awards [ edit ]
Head writers and executive producers [ edit ]
Home media [ edit ]
In January 2012, SoapClassics released a four-disc DVD collection of 20 selected episodes. The oldest episode on the collection dates from April 1, 1980, while the latest episode is from September 14, 2009, during the show's final broadcast week.[19]
The company has since released special collections celebrating Reva Shayne and Phillip Spaulding.
In May 2012, SoapClassics released the final ten Guiding Light episodes on a two-disc DVD set.
Also beginning in June 2012 the series was later released on DVD in Germany beginning with the 1979 episodes.
Note [ edit ]
^ As the World Turns is longer than Guiding Light, at 13,763 hours vs. 3,940 hours 30 minutes of Guiding Light.[5] By number of episodes: In terms of total duration,is longer than, at 13,763 hours vs. 3,940 hours 30 minutes ofChances are, your rare toys, comics and other collectibles aren't just awesome — they're worth serious cash. But how can you get what they're worth in such a lousy economy? Don't panic: We've collected surefire shwag-selling tips from top sellers.
It's not the best time to be selling your stuff online, says Ray Heikes, who sells on eBay as Mr. Halloween Man. "Between the economy and what i believe is eBay's declining market share among online retail sites, this years sales have been dismal."
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But another eBay seller, Lynch, says you can still do well in these tough times:
The economic times have only dented business. Some things have dropped where other items have exceeded their guide value. I was able to get $150 for a 1965 Spider-Man iron-on which now sells for $50-$75. However, a seller I know just sold a set of Marvelmania pinbacks for almost $4,000 which is the highest they have ever gone. A buyer I know just paid nearly $2,500 for two Marvel Comics plastic pillows from 1968.
eBay's traffic was way down back in March, but has bounced back for July and early August, according to analysts.
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Even when unemployment and GDP growth numbers are enough to make Ben Bernanke cry, people still want to buy your rare Boba Fett action figure or your talking Dalek. Some things are just necessities of life, you know?
I've experienced the trauma of selling a prized item online, for way less than I thought it should have been worth. So I was eager to get some tips on selling your shwag online, for what it's actually worth. Here are the tips I found out, grouped by category:
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You're competing with a lot of other sellers out there, so anything you can do to make your item stand out will be a big help.
Know the obscure keywords. Suppose you've got a vintage Spider-Man toy. Anybody would know to put "spider-man" or "marvel" |
. I can’t waste my time with biased, creepy, boob-touching fossils. I’ve got a life to live. I’ve already wasted too much time being sick and apologizing for it. It’s time to find a doctor who can be a partner and resource.
I’m willing to do my part, they’ve gotta be willing to do theirs.Last year, we wrote about Will Phillips, a 10 year old boy in Arkansas who was refusing to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance until gays can get married and achieve full equality.
Phillips has been tapped to serve as Grand Marshall of the Northwest Arkansas Pride Parade in Fayetteville on Saturday and the American Family Association is freaking out, sending out an action alert targeting the mayor and calling it a “form of child abuse”:
I am shocked to learn that the city of Fayetteville is issuing a proclamation in support of the homosexual activist group, Northwest Arkansas Pride. It’s offensive enough to sensibilities that they are going to parade their deviant lifestyle on the streets of the city. It’s even more abhorrent that the city is supporting it, knowing very well that the organizers of this event are exploiting children to push their radical sexualizing event. I implore you to withdraw the proclamation and focus on issues that promote a healthy and safe lifestyle, rather than one that is risky and dangerous. … AFA President Tim Wildmon says, “It’s shameful that adults would abuse a brain-washed child in this way. He’s obviously just parroting the nonsense he’s been told by manipulative adults. For gay activists to trot out this child and make him the poster child for promoting unnatural sexual expression is a form of child abuse.”
So of course Fox News picked up the story and just take one guess who they quoted:
“We believe that it goes beyond the pale for adults to exploit a 10-year-old child for dark political purposes,” said Bryan Fischer, the director of issue analysis at AFA. “He is too young to understand. There is nothing about homosexual conduct to be proud of and much to be ashamed of.” The AFA, according to Fischer, has sent an “action alert” to its members in Arkansas, and he says they have deluged the mayor’s and city council’s office with e-mails “asking him to stop this charade.” Though there are no plans to actively protest at the parade, Fischer said, “as of noon Thursday our records show that the mayor and city council had received 12,300 e-mails asking them to stop the parade.”
I’ve often wondered what media outlet would be the first to quote Fischer in a story like this and if they’d even bother to mention his long history of viciously anti-gay and all around crazy statements.
I guess it should come as no surprise that the answers were: Fox News,and No.
But in good news, Fayetteville’s Mayor is refusing to bow to the AFA’s pressure and Saturday’s parade will go on as scheduled.view photo essay The presidential campaign: Bernie Sanders The self-described democratic socialist is known for pushing change on income inequality, college affordability and criminal justice reform.
Bernie Sanders’ coalition may be quite different – and much bigger – than has been assumed. That is one of the takeaways from his New Hampshire primary rout, in which Sanders scored impressively with voters who had been crucial to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 victory in the state.
Sanders bested Clinton across virtually all regional and demographic boundaries in the Granite State, crushing her overall by 22 points. But he fared best with economically downscale voters and won over a number of blue-collar cities and towns that had been Clinton redoubts in her 2008 campaign. In so doing, Sanders essentially flipped the ’08 script, in which Clinton’s main challenger, Barack Obama, relied disproportionately on higher-income voters and those with college degrees.
RELATED: New Hampshire primary could fundamentally change both political parties
For instance, among voters making less than $50,000, Sanders defeated Clinton by 33 points. By contrast, Clinton won those same voters by 15 points over Obama in ’08. Sanders’ margin was only half as big – 17 points – with voters making more than $50,000, a group that Obama actually won by 5 points. Similarly, Sanders rolled up a 36-point spread among voters without college degrees, while winning college-educated voters by only 13 points. In ’08, though, it was Clinton who won voters without college degrees by 8 points, with Obama taking college graduates by 5 points.
There’s also the geography of Sanders’ win. While he claimed almost every city and town in the New Hampshire, he didn’t fare much better than Obama in many of the state’s more upscale liberal areas. In Hanover, home of Dartmouth College, Sanders ran just 281 votes ahead of Clinton, a margin of 6.5 points. Eight years ago, Obama won that same town by 32 points, a plurality of more than 1,500 votes. In the coastal city of Portsmouth, another liberal enclave, Sanders performed only modestly better (a 12-point win) than Obama (6 points).
Close video Breaking down the New Hampshire numbers MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki takes a deep-dive into exit polling results, explaining why Bernie Sanders succeeded in New Hampshire and where his support came from across the state. share tweet email save Embed
But it was a very different story in the state’s older, post-industrial cities and towns, where Sanders improved by leaps and bounds over Obama’s ’08 performance. Take Berlin, a struggling mill city in the North Country, where Obama actually ran third, behind John Edwards. Clinton was so strong in Berlin in ’08 that her vote total actually exceeded that of Obama’s and Edwards’ combined. But this time, she lost the city by 13 points to Sanders. Rochester, another blue-collar mill town, was another Clinton stronghold in ’08, where she ran up a 976-vote plurality over Obama – a 16-point margin. Sanders, though, won Rochester Tuesday by 21 points.
Sanders’ success with blue collar voters in New Hampshire carries potentially significant implications. Conventional wisdom has held that his campaign is fueled by the same liberal white voters who sided with Obama in ’08 – but doomed by his inability to make inroads with black voters, who were essential to Obama’s triumph.
But the New Hampshire result suggests that Sanders is winning over white voters who shunned Obama in 2008. Eight years ago, it was blue collar whites who sustained Clinton’s campaign through the end of the Democratic primary season, providing her edge in must-win contests in Pennsylvania and Ohio and powering her to landslide victories in “Greater Appalachia” states from Oklahoma to West Virginia. If Sanders can continue to win these voters over, he may be in position to win far more states than most have assumed.
Sanders still faces a stubborn deficit with black voters, who looms large in the upcoming South Carolina primary, and he’ll have to make gains with them to win the nomination. But after New Hampshire, it may be time to stop measuring Sanders’ 2016 campaign against Obama’s ’08 effort and to consider the possibility that Sanders is creating a new coalition right before our eyes.By Omar Sacirbey
Many marijuana businesses sell goods based on strain names, but those days could be coming to an end.
More industry participants seemingly are starting to view strain names as unreliable indicators of a plant’s genetics and what types of cannabinoids are actually present in marijuana products.
According to industry observers, maturing marijuana businesses and more sophisticated consumers are seeking more exacting information than popular strain names.
Julianna Carella – CEO of Auntie Dolores edibles in Oakland, California – said she avoids strain names in deference to cannabinoid profiles.
“We tend to shy away from that (breed) approach because we don’t think it’s real solid,” Carella said. “The strain name game is on its way out.”
She gets no argument from Autumn Karcey, president of Cultivo, a Los Angeles cultivation consultancy.
“Plants – even within the same strain – don’t always come out the same. This is why the term ‘strain’ is a thorn in my side, because it means absolutely nothing,” Karcey said.
“I can take Sour Diesel from four of my friends and I can take Mimosa or Clementine from multiple people, and if I genomically test it, it’s going to be drastically different from person to person unless they all have the same cut.”
Agricultural scientists like Sean Myles of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, are doing their best to show strain names out the door.
Myles and fellow scientists found a remarkably low level of accuracy in strain names last year while comparing hundreds of cannabis plants and their breeds.
The study found that in about one-third of the cases where they had two producers with the same strain name, the cannabis samples weren’t genetically identical – which one would expect if they were bred properly.
“There were lots of varieties of cannabis (in the study sample) that were claimed to be 100% sativa, but the next one in the collection claimed to be 100% indica,” Myles said. “We know that’s impossible and that was really common in the data set.”
Reasons for discrepancies
Why are cannabis genetics so inaccurate?
“Lack of official structures … When you breed a new grape variety, you can’t just make any claims you want. You can’t just release it onto the market,” Myles said, explaining that data on grapes comes from a university or government breeding program, where such assertions must be evaluated.
But marijuana businesses largely aren’t subject to industrywide codes – especially in the United States, where the plant remains illegal at the federal level and therefore is difficult to standardize.
“It’s just been hidden underneath this illegitimacy for so long,” Myles said, “that there are no proper plant breeders or plant physiologists or geneticists and people working on plant breeding working on cannabis.”
But that situation’s changing as testing laboratories become part of the cannabis landscape and as more plant scientists join the industry.
“This way of operating is coming to an end,” Myles said, “because there are more empirically driven people in the industry now.”
Consumer demands
Instead of strain names, a growing number of consumers are asking that cannabis labeling include cannabinoid profiles.
“If people start speaking in terms of cannabinoid profiles instead of strains, it’ll make a lot more sense,” Cultivo’s Karcey said. “The future of medicine is cannabinoid profiles.
“That’s how you should treat a sick person – they shouldn’t be walking into a dispensary and just picking something off the shelf and hoping that it works.”
Some marijuana labeling already contains cannabinoid profiling, like the amount of THC or CBD a product may have. But those labels lack information about other cannabinoids and terpenes that may influence the effect a product is supposed to induce.
“What is out there is very limited – maybe just THC or CBD content and maybe two or three other cannabinoids – and most of the other cannabinoids that would help an educated consumer make a decision are left off,” said Amanda Rigdon, chief technical officer at Emerald Scientific, a testing lab in San Luis Obispo, California.
“The labels that I’ve seen really don’t give patients enough information about (cannabinoid) profiles to make an informed decision about what they want to buy.”
Business demands
The push for cannabinoid profiles is also coming from growers and producers who are clamoring for legitimacy.
Myles pointed to MMJ producer Bedrocan, which no longer uses street strain names and, instead, assigns its own names to plants.
California cultivator Canndescent has moved to what it calls an “effects-based classification system.”
“(Marijuana businesses) will be a lot more careful about maintaining unique genetic identities over time,” Myles said. “But with the capital that’s being invested and the new talent that’s being drawn into the industry, there’s no doubt that we’ll see improvements, having genetic identities that are verified and true to type.”
Despite the unreliability of strain names, some say they still have a place in the cannabis landscape.
“I don’t think strain names are just going to go away,” said Aaron Smith, executive director of the Denver-based National Cannabis Industry Association. “Consumers are definitely becoming more aware of the cannabinoid profile – the information that’s on packaging that’s pretty much anywhere now – and that informs more decisions.”
“We’ll still see strain names, but with a move to consistency.”
There likely will be a branding element where strain names would represent a chemical name – in the way Tylenol represents acetaminophen and Advil represents ibuprofen.
Of the growing number of cannabis industry executives who believe strain names are unreliable, some see a future without strain names and others envision a more defined role for the monikers.
The industry doesn’t necessarily have to do away with strains, Rigdon said. Rather, if you’re going to have a strain name, make sure it’s defined by chemical compounds.
“But for that to happen,” she said, “we need agreement in the industry on what profiles strains should have. And we’re a long way off from even meeting on that.”
Omar Sacirbey can be reached at [email protected]The wine lake refers to a perceived supply surplus of wine produced in the European Union around 2005–2007. A major contributor to that glut was reported to be the Languedoc-Roussillon, which was producing over one-third of the grapes grown in France. In 2007 it was reported that for the previous several vintages, European countries had been producing 1.7 billion more bottles of wine than they sold.[1] Hundreds of millions of bottles of wine had been turned into industrial alcohol every year, a practice that had sometimes been described as "emergency distillation".[2]
One proposed remedy was Plan Bordeaux: an initiative introduced in 2005 by the French vintners association ONIVINS, designed to reduce France's production and raise prices. Part of the plan was to uproot 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of the 124,000 ha (310,000 acres) of vineyards in Bordeaux. The proposed plan was met with some resistance.[3]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]× AG: Gay marriage not allowed in Mississippi just yet
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has released the following statement regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is not effective immediately in Mississippi.
It will become effective in Mississippi, and circuit clerks will be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses, when the 5th Circuit lifts the stay of Judge Reeves’ order.
This could come quickly or may take several days.
The 5th Circuit might also choose not to lift the stay and instead issue and order, which could take considerably longer before it becomes effective.”
Gay and lesbian couples already can marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
The court’s ruling on Friday means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
There were two questions before the court in this case.
Can same-sex couples get married?
Secondly, must the states recognize marriages from other states?
The court gives the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration.MSNBC host Chuck Todd assigned partial blame to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the Democratic Party’s loss in Georgia on Tuesday.
“It is Pelosi who remains a pretty big drag for Democrats at the polls in certain districts, particularly this one,” Todd said of Pelosi’s effect on Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District.
On Tuesday, Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff lost in a special election against Republican Karen Handel. Todd speculated that Pelosi was Republicans’ most “potent” weapon of “attack,” and suggested that she had more of a presence in the race than President Donald Trump.
Todd pointed to several ads that appeared since 2010, tying different candidates to Pelosi.
“For Democrats, they’ve got to start thinking about how hard it’s going to be to sell voters on a ‘change’ environment in a ‘change’ election if the answer to the question of ‘Okay, who’s [sic] Democrats going to put in as Speaker of the House,’ if the answer is still Nancy Pelosi,” Todd said.The FCC is likely to toss out these requests, but they should lead to a call to freeze the net neutrality rules (which kick in June 12th) until legal battles are over. Also, they might give a peek at the strategy the telcos will use when they're in trial. The carriers have launched broader legal attacks on net neutrality in the past, claiming that it violates numerous laws and even the Constitution, but this is more targeted. They're trying to undermine the rules based on the supposed burdens involved with the implementation, not the core principles that earned so much public support.
Whether or not this approach works isn't clear, and may depend on which court hears the telecoms' cases. The FCC wants them to go to a federal appeals court in Washington, DC that maintained the agency's power to regulate internet access even after rejecting earlier rules. The FCC no doubt wants a judiciary that enshrines its authority at the very moment that companies are trying to undermine it -- another court might not be so sympathetic.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew]This article is over 2 years old
The mean temperature between March and May was 23.86C but winter could be cooler than normal as El Niño wanes
After officially sweltering through the warmest autumn on record, Australians can expect a return to normal chilly weather this winter.
The mean temperature between March and the end of May hit a fresh high of 23.86C, with records set in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Thermometers hovered 1.86C above average, the biggest climb above an average seasonal temperature since spring 2014.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A graphic shows Australia’s warmest autumn on record with record temperatures throughout much of eastern and northern Australia. Photograph: Bureau Of Meteorology/PR IMAGE
Some of the hottest temperatures were recorded during the prolonged heatwave in March, with Mardie in Western Australia’s north hitting 47C, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Karl Braganza, the bureau’s manager of climate monitoring, said a strong El Niño combined with global warming to push thermometers to their highest levels for autumn since records began in 1910.
April breaks global temperature record, marking seven months of new highs Read more
“Everywhere except the southwestern corner of the continent was exceptionally warm,” he told AAP on Wednesday.
“What we saw was a prolonged summer period in March and that continued into the start of May.”
March notched up its hottest days on record, with daytime temperatures in April hitting new highs before May ended the season with temperature gauges sitting above average.
Sea surface temperatures were also above average for much of autumn, with water temperatures in the Coral Sea (including the Great Barrier Reef) and the Tasman Sea the highest on record for extended periods since late summer 2016.
This was typical of the El Niño pattern which also brings dry conditions across the continent.
But scientists believe El Nino was now over in the Pacific region and the bureau forecast a normal winter.
“The odds are for average to below average temperatures in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra,” Braganza said, adding that there were moderate odds for good rain in inland NSW, most of Queensland, Victoria and South Australia this winter.
Autumn rainfall averages were closer to normal, but varied significantly across the country.
It was also the wettest May since 1983 in some areas, with four times the average rainfall recorded in the Northern Territory, Cape York, Pilbara, Kimberley and central South Australia.
South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia enjoyed above-average rain while NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory were drier than normal.
Looking towards spring and summer, cooler and wetter conditions are tipped for the tail end of 2016 as a La Nina weather system develops.Shark Attack 3: Megalodon is the second sequel to Shark Attack, released in 2002 straight to video. The film is notable for featuring John Barrowman, who later found fame in popular shows such as Doctor Who and Torchwood. Barrowman has said in an interview on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross that he only did the film for the money, and was rather embarrassed when a clip from the film was shown. Actress Jenny McShane from the first Shark Attack film has a starring role, albeit as a completely different character.
When two researchers discover a colossal shark's tooth off the Mexican coast their worst fears surface - the most menacing beast to ever rule the waters, Megalodon, is still alive and mercilessly feeding on anything that crosses its path. The film is also notable because certain clips from it have become popular internet memes due to the unconvincing special effects, size-changing shark, and bizarre dialogue.
Plot [ edit ]
The movie begins with a group of divers installing a power cable at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, when a shark swims up and kills one of them. Six months later, lifeguard Ben Carpenter (from the first Shark Attack film) and his partner Esai drive out to sea to catch some lobster. While diving, Ben finds a broken power cable with a large shark tooth stuck in it. After he pulls out the tooth, he is caught by two other divers, and soon goes back to land. Later he posts a description of the tooth online, but as he cannot find a matching shark tooth on the internet, he names it "mystery shark". Natural history researcher named Cataline "Cat" Stone gets the message, finds him and looks at the tooth. She believes it to come from a huge prehistoric shark called Megalodon (Greek for "big tooth").
Ben meets with his friend Chuck Rampart, who tells him he intends to take a look at the broken power cable. Ben tells him about the shark. Later, the animal kills two people who use a waterslide in the middle of the night. The next day Cat and her partners go out on a boat to find and tag the Megalodon. The shark shows up and smashes into their boat. Davis films it while Cat hooks a camera onto the sharks dorsal fin. The Megalodon leaves and later kills a man who is playing frisbee on the beach with his dog. Ben finds the man's severed leg and informs Cat about the attack; she in turn tells him about the Megalodon. Angry that she lied to him, he leaves.
The next day Ben, Cat, Davis and another partner go out to kill the shark, which they find out is heading toward a nearby resort. They manage to drive it back out to sea, where it kills several more people. Ben tries to get his boss, Luis Ruiz, to close the beaches. Ruiz says he will, and then tells Ben to kill the Megalodon.
The crew goes back out to sea to kill the shark for good. Ben stabs the animal, which in turn begins ramming the boat, knocking Davis out cold. Cat goes into the cabin to get her shotgun, but the Megalodon bursts into the boat, trying to eat her. Ben comes to her aid, beating the shark with a bat. Cat grabs her gun and shoots the shark, killing it. Afterwards, Esai arrives on his speedboat, when suddenly, the first shark's mother, a much larger Megalodon, enraged, surfaces and swallows him and his boat whole. The shark then capsizes the boat, and swallows Davis and his friend in one bite. Ben and Cat are rescued by a helicopter and leave. Ben shows Ruiz the shark tooth, but his boss still refuses to close the beaches. Later Ben and Cat go over to Chuck's house, loading a torpedo into Chuck's midget submarine.
The next day, Ben and Chuck go down in the submarine. The Megalodon attacks a yacht, slamming into it a couple of times, knocking several people overboard. They escape to two large safety rafts. Ruiz steals a woman's life jacket and jumps off the yacht, only to be swallowed whole by the shark, as is one of the rafts. Tolley attempts to escape on a jet ski, but he ends up driving straight into the Megalodon's wide open jaw. Chuck then goes into the water and tags the shark. Ben eventually launches the torpedo, which succeeds in destroying the creature. Ben swims to the surface with Chuck and climbs into the raft. They all celebrate their success.
Cast [ edit ]
John Barrowman as Ben Carpenter
Jenny McShane as Cataline Stone
Ryan Cutrona as Chuck Rampart
Bashar Rahal as Luis Ruiz
George Stanchev as Esai/"'Sy"
Internet meme [ edit ]
A clip showing the shark attacking the yacht has received over 50 million views on YouTube. [1]
A video in YouTube entitled "That Famous Line" shows a scene from the movie, in which John Barrowman's character proposes to Jenny McShane's character "What do you say I take you home and eat your pussy?" and has received over two million views. In an interview on Jonathan Ross, Barrowman stated the director asked him to improvise a line in order to make McShane laugh and he came up with it, and was surprised that it was kept in the film when he watched with his nephews for the first time. Unfortunately, McShane gave no reaction to Barrowman's line.[2] The director David Worth said he had kept the line in the movie because he found it hilarious and John delivered the line so well.
See also [ edit ]Over the past year the only South African cryptocurrency exchange LocalBitcoins has dramatically increased its weekly trading volume. Overall the numbers show a 50-fold growth comparing to February 2015.
If a year ago, at the end of February 2015, LocalBitcoins accounted for about 251,000 ZAR (South African Rand) weekly exchanged for bitcoins and vice versa, later the amount steadily began to increase. However, quick growth only kicked in about April, when the exchange volume of bitcoin exceeded the mark of 1 million ZAR. Now the total weekly volume amounts to nearly 12 million ZAR.
The growth of LocalBitcoins trade volume went side by side with the gradual (albeit not so dramatic) fall of the rand-to-dollar rate. In April 2015 the dollar cost about 12 and, while now the price is up to 16.
The interest to bitcoin in South Africa may be explained manly by the instability of the country’s economy, which is signified in the president Jacob Zuma replacing three finance ministers over just one week. In 2015, the country’s GDP grew at a rather moderate pace. Amid the global economic slowdown, the South African economy was nearing a recession in the second quarter of 2015, while considering the whole year, the GDP increased by 1.3% compared to the 1.4% expansion in 2014.
Another reason for the quick growth of the bitcoin exchange’s popularity may lay in the fact that people in South Africa became aware of the cryptocurrency later than in other countries.
Comparing to South Africa, over the same period the trading volume of LocalBitcoins in Russia only grew 5 times (from 19 to 99 million roubles) and in the USA – less than twice (from about 4 to 7,4 million dollars).
Andrew LevichThe Monolith Productions team isn't alone in believing that one of gaming's frontiers lies with the unpredictability of AI-controlled enemies and allies. Mitu Khandaker teaches on the topic as assistant arts professor at NYU Game Center -- but as chief creative officer at artificial-intelligence company Spirit AI, she's also working with a team to develop technology for companies to use in their own games.
"What we do is build tools to help developers creatively author story scenarios and author personalities for characters and the kinds of things that characters might say, but then those characters might improvise based on the space that you've authored for them," Khandaker told Engadget. "There's a lot of potential there for players to really have deeper, more meaningful conversations with characters."
"There's a lot of potential there for players to really have deeper, more meaningful conversations with characters."
Spirit AI's efforts could be summarized as "building technology which will let us make the walking simulator a conversation," according to Khandaker. Think of the squad's idle chatter in Mass Effect, or the casual smalltalk during long car rides in Final Fantasy XV: Pre-written, nonessential dialogue tumbling out of an algorithmic generator that organically delivers exposition and character detail. But what if those AI characters talking to the player and making up responses on the fly — even if they're enemy grunts with their guns drawn?
Khandaker can imagine creating games where the enemies aren't just tokens or pawns but more fully formed virtual characters. "Instead of just committing violence upon some kind of enemy, maybe [players will be] trying to understand their motives, she said. "Now, in this cultural context, more than ever, a human understanding of the reasons why people make decisions they do is super-important. Even if, on some level, we think decisions people make might be evil, we still need to have the level of understanding because that's how we learn and grow and how we combat evil."
What Shadow of War won't have are human enemies that players can mind control or kill in gruesome ways: Your foes will be Mordor-born Orcs who span the gray-brown gamut and exhibit the violent, traitorous ways of their race. This is intentional.
"One of the challenging things is striking the balance of having a game that's fundamentally pretty gritty and violent, but also making sure that we have this humor in there and this levity to it," de Plater said. "Ultimately, even though it is dealing with some dark themes, there is a cartoony level of violence as well. Orcs represent these caricatures. Everything's turned up to 11 in terms of their personality and their characters and their faults, and the violence of their society and how power-crazed they all are; how backstabbing and cutthroat they are against anyone."
In short, you'll be dispatching and commanding a class of enemy designed to be dynamically interesting yet disposable in a way that shouldn't trigger a player's ethical qualms. Game critic Austin Walker believed that the first game, Shadow of Mordor, failed to justify Talion's anti-Orc kill-and-enslave crusade: "But we're told again and again that these Orcs want to destroy beautiful things. It just doesn't hold up, and this tension extends to every element of their narrative and systemic characterizations. These Orcs have fears, interests, values, rivalry and friendships. Some Orcs are lovingly protective of their bosses or underlings. But they are'savage creatures' that 'hate beauty,' so go ahead and enslave them," Walker wrote.
At least Shadow of War will strive to explore new and uncomfortable relationships between player and enemy. Even if it never lets players forget Orcs are villains at their core, some will attempt to liberate themselves from any overlord, dark or bright, de Plater said. He didn't specify whether these autonomy-seeking enemies will be a scripted faction in the game. But imagine wandering down the sludgy Mordor foothills only to find a procedurally-generated band of Orcs that avoid conflict and try to run away from you, the bogeyman who's murdered (or recruited) all their friends, as they search for a better life.
Imbuing enemies with relatable traits -- human traits -- is as fascinating as it is discomforting. Since their inception, single-player games have driven a hard wedge between players and enemies by making the latter alien and threatening. Space Invaders and Galaga literally used aliens, while Missile Defense tossed unthinking explosives at the vulnerable people populating the player's cities. The dawn of the first-person-shooter genre featured demonic monsters in Doom and Nazis in Wolfenstein 3D, enemies so unrelatable that players don't think when gunning them down.
Spirit AI's clients are using its AI-conversation tech to augment NPC allies, though Khandaker's team is starting to graft it onto enemies. But it's really up to whoever uses Spirit's tools, and whichever studio decides to challenge players with ordinary foes that do more than shoot in their direction.
"I would love to see that as a moral choice that you make. It should be sometimes deeply troubling, depending on your particular game, that somebody is so human and so full of their own motive, doing the things that they're doing, that it's not so easy to dehumanize them," Khandaker said.
"I think that through good, well-considered design, we'll get to a point where actually these interactions with characters help us to better understand the motivations that real people have."
"This is why I think it comes down to designing photo-realistic, naturalistic AI really well. If [designers] let you push them around, you're going to maybe transfer that to real people. If, however, they don't — if they push back and they try and do the emotional labor of helping you to understand what it is to interact with someone in a nice, well-considered way — then you can maybe transfer that to your interactions with people," Khandaker said. "I think that through good, well-considered design, we'll get to a point where actually these interactions with characters help us to better understand the motivations that real people have."
Whether AI tech will develop substantially in the next few years and, ultimately, whether improving enemy and ally AI will positively affect the player's experience, is another question. As Compulsion Games' Creative Director Guillaume Provost points out, making smarter enemies doesn't matter much if the player doesn't know what's going on.
"Making AIs that are believable often involve stuff that's not that technical and has a lot more to do with the acting parts that are involved in the AI," Provost said. "So it's not so much the sophistication of the technology behind it as it is the sophistication of expressing what's going on in their heads to the player."
"It's not so much the sophistication of the technology behind it as it is the sophistication of expressing what's going on in their heads to the player."
For Provost, that meant tweaking some gameplay in Compulsion Games' latest title, We Happy Few, which was released in Early Access last year. In it, players try to escape an English city whose denizens imbibe drugs en masse to forget their communal crimes -- and punish those who won't do the same. In playtesting, this meant making the hostile NPCs warn the player several times before violently reacting. They couldn't assume players would pick up on cues because in gaming, players' attention is focused on what they're interacting with at the time.
"The truth is, it's not a movie where you sit down and watch people the whole time. You're actively doing stuff. You're running around, you're stealing stuff. The player has a smaller portion of their brain left to understand what the people around them are doing," Provost said.
Which is why developers have to treat player attention as a resource and be smart about what they make intelligent. Provost recalled a story about the grunts in the first Halo who were programmed to yell out "I surrender" and wave their arms around -- but players would gun them down before the little enemies could bark out their lines. Similarly, Provost doesn't see nearly as much use for plugging more AI into enemies to make them smarter in future games.PRAGUE, Czech Republic — After five straight disappointing quarter-final defeats at the world hockey championship, Canada wasted little time ensuring there would not be a sixth early exit.
Defenceman Brent Burns scored just 27 seconds into the game en route to a four-point night, and Canada set the tone early in a dominant 9-0 thrashing of Belarus in a world championship quarter-final Thursday.
“We wanted to start quickly,” said coach Todd McLellan. “We thought that some of the games that the Belarusians won, they were comfortable early.
“Sometimes the plan doesn’t go as laid out, but tonight it did. We scored right on the very first shift then had some good shifts after that so we had a chance to push a team back that maybe wasn’t sure of themselves.”
The impressive offensive showing moved Canada into the semifinals for the first time in six years.
“It’s nice to put ourselves in a position to get to the finals,” team captain Sidney Crosby said. “The important thing is to get better every game and at this point you’ve got to be at your best. It’s win or go home, so we did a good job today.”
Canada rolled through the preliminary round of the tournament with a perfect record but wanted to avoid complacency heading into the playoffs, where one bad game can end a team’s gold-medal hopes. Thursday’s fast start went a long way to prevent a letdown.
“That was one thing that we wanted to make sure that we did,” said defenceman Aaron Ekblad. “If you remember against Sweden (where Canada fell behind 3-0 in the first period), one of the main topics for us is to get a good start.”
Burns led Canada with two goals and two assists. Forward Tyler Seguin added three goals to tie for the tournament lead with eight, while Ryan O’Reilly scored twice. Tyler Ennis and Jason Spezza also scored.
Canada now has a total of 58 goals over the first eight games of the tournament, a new Canadian record since NHL players started participating in 1977. Canada scored 57 goals over 10 games in 1989.
The Canadian defence held the dangerous Belarusian top line of brothers Sergei and Andrei Kostitsyn and Alexei Kalyuzhny off the scoresheet. The trio combined for 26 points in the seven-game preliminary round.
Belarus turned some heads by reaching the elimination round for the second straight year.
“We got beat by an excellent team that has high skill, great coaching and the ability to win in different ways,” said Belarus coach Dave Lewis, originally from Kindersley, Sask.
“I told our players to forget this game. This game does not exist in their mind — I want it washed away. I’m proud of the group and I want the group to be proud of what they’ve done.”
The best chances for Belarus came in the second period, when Mike Smith stopped 13 of the 24 shots he faced in the game.
“It was great,” he said of his first shutout of the tournament. “I think we kind of got away from our gameplan a bit in the second period and they came at us a little bit. That’s a good team. If you give them chances, they can hurt you.
“We got back at it in the third and were able to get through, so we’re happy with the outcome.”
Canada will face the winner of the quarter-final between Finland and the Czech Republic, which was played later Thursday. Todd McLellan said his team will be ready either way.
“We had the opportunity to play a very hard game against the Czech team (in the preliminary round),” McLellan recalled |
. What did you take away from that experience — did the controversy reach you?
Oh yeah, it reached me. It was difficult to avoid. Sometimes, things just take on a life of their own. Most people who saw the scene, it was messed up. We knew it was messed up. This is weird, pushing all of the wrong buttons, if you will, because there’s a dead son and they’re having sex. That’s fu-ked up. That was also what I thought was really interesting and made sense to me. They’d been estranged for a while — there was so much pain, there was so much anger, there was so much need for each other that it became this. Throughout their lives, they’ve had to grasp these moments of very passionate intimacy when they could. That way of expressing the need they had for each other. We didn’t think of this as a rape. The fact that suddenly it became one of these things. Online, it can take on a life of its own. [People say] “Rape,” and then someone says, “No, it’s not rape!” and then the counter becomes, “Oh, so you’re pro-rape!” And then you go, okay, I guess we’ll just step away from this.
It became about the whole idea about whether you should show rape on TV or film or whether you should not, and that’s a discussion to be had, sure, but it took it away from what we thought we did. I do remember saying “This could be interpreted,” but we never thought it would go that extreme. It’s happened a couple of times on the show — certain scenes explode while other scenes do not. In season 1, there’s the scene where Ned Stark has to kill one of the direwolves, and there was an outrage — how can you show the killing of a direwolf? Which is funny in itself because it doesn’t exist, it’s a fantasy animal. No one mentioned the scene after you see the Hound riding to town with a dead boy draped over his horse. No one thought that was disgusting. The same with our scene, which was actually provoking — thought-provoking. Uncomfortable to watch Jaime and Cersei. But two scenes after, you have wildlings attacking this village and you have a crazy man grabbing a boy and saying “I’m going to kill your mama and your papa.” It was truly traumatizing for that kid, but no one thought that was too much. My point is, I find it very difficult to anticipate what scenes people would discuss the most afterward.
Jaime had gone through this story also with Brienne, and we all wanted Jaime in a way to go with Brienne! She’s a good woman, she has all the right morals, and she’s perfect for you! Don’t you see it! You idiot, you fool! And then he goes and has sex with his sister in front of the corpse of Joffrey, that’s just disgusting! That was part of it… people felt let down by this. That’s not how it’s supposed to go down; it’s not supposed to be like that.
So it’s one of the complicated, risky elements that makes Game of Thrones the show that it is.
Well, it wouldn’t be the same show then. From season 1 with the killing of Ned Stark, that’s the nature of the show. And I still believe that that scene — even how messed up it was — was still true to those characters in a very disturbing way. What can I say? But I want people to remember it’s not real. It’s a story.
Contact us at [email protected] to follow-up
This week’s Times Higher Education carried a report of the death, at age 51, of Professor Stefan Grimm: Imperial College London to ‘review procedures’ after death of academic. He was professor of toxicology in the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial.
Now Stefan Grimm is dead. Despite having a good publication record, he failed to do sufficiently expensive research, so he was fired (or at least threatened with being fired).
“Speaking to Times Higher Education on condition of anonymity, two academics who knew Professor Grimm, who was 51, said that he had complained of being placed under undue pressure by the university in the months leading up to his death, and that he had been placed on performance review.”
Having had cause to report before on bullying at Imperial’s Department of Medicine, I was curious to know more.
Martin Wilkins wrote to Grimm on 10 March 2014. The full text is on THE.
"I am of the opinion that you are struggling to fulfil the metrics of a Professorial post at Imperial College which include maintaining established funding in a programme of research with an attributable share of research spend of £200k p.a and must now start to give serious consideration as to whether you are performing at the expected level of a Professor at Imperial College." "Please be aware that this constitutes the start of informal action in relation to your performance, however should you fail to meet the objective outlined, I will need to consider your performance in accordance with the formal College procedure for managing issues of poor performance (Ordinance D8) which can be found at the following link.
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/secretariat/collegegovernance/provisions/ordinances/d8"
[The link to ordinances in this letter doesn’t work now. But you can still read them here (click on the + sign).]
It didn’t take long to get hold of an email from Grimm that has been widely circulated within Imperial. The mail is dated a month after his death. It isn’t known whether it was pre-set by Grimm himself or whether it was sent by someone else. It’s even possible that it wasn’t written by Grimm himself, though if it is an accurate description of what happened, that’s not crucial.
No doubt any Imperial staff member would be in great danger if they were to publish the mail. So, as a public service, I shall do so.
The email from Stefan Grimm, below, was prefaced by an explanation written by the person who forwarded it (I don’t know who that was).
Dear Colleagues, You may have already heard about the tragic death of Professor Stefan Grimm a former member of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College. He died suddenly and unexpectedly in early October. As yet there is no report about the cause of his death. Some two weeks later a delayed email from him was received by many of the senior staff of the medical school, and other researchers worldwide. It has been forwarded to me by one of my research collaborators. From my reading of it I believe that Stefan wanted it circulated as widely as possible and for that reason I am sending it to you. It is appended below. This email represents just one side of an acrimonious dispute, but it may be indicative of more deep seated problems. best wishes Begin forwarded message: From: Stefan Grimm <[email protected]> Date: 21 October 2014 23:41:03 BST To: <big-email-list> Subject: How Professors are treated at Imperial College Dear all, If anyone is interested how Professors are treated at Imperial College: Here is my story. On May 30th ’13 my boss, Prof Martin Wilkins, came into my office together with his PA and ask me what grants I had. After I enumerated them I was told that this was not enough and that I had to leave the College within one year – “max” as he said. He made it clear that he was acting on behalf of Prof Gavin Screaton, the then head of the Department of Medicine, and told me that I would have a meeting with him soon to be sacked. Without any further comment he left my office. It was only then that I realized that he did not even have the courtesy to close the door of my office when he delivered this message. When I turned around the corner I saw a student who seems to have overheard the conversation looking at me in utter horror. Prof Wilkins had nothing better to do than immediately inform my colleagues in the Section that he had just sacked me. Why does a Professor have to be treated like that? All my grant writing stopped afterwards, as I was waiting for the meeting to get sacked by Prof Screaton. This meeting, however, never took place. In March ’14 I then received the ultimatum email below. 200,000 pounds research income every year is required. Very interesting. I was never informed about this before and cannot remember that this is part of my contract with the College. Especially interesting is the fact that the required 200,000.- pounds could potentially also be covered by smaller grants but in my case a programme grant was expected. Our 135,000.- pounds from the University of Dammam? Doesn’t count. I have to say that it was a lovely situation to submit grant applications for your own survival with such a deadline. We all know what a lottery grant applications are. There was talk that the Department had accepted to be in dept for some time and would compensate this through more teaching. So I thought that I would survive. But the email below indicates otherwise. I got this after the student for whom I “have plans” received the official admission to the College as a PhD student. He waited so long to work in our group and I will never be able to tell him that this should now not happen. What these guys don’t know is that they destroy lives. Well, they certainly destroyed mine. The reality is that these career scientists up in the hierarchy of this organization only look at figures to judge their colleagues, be it impact factors or grant income. After all, how can you convince your Department head that you are working on something exciting if he not even attends the regular Departmental seminars? The aim is only to keep up the finances of their Departments for their own career advancement. These formidable leaders are playing an interesting game: They hire scientists from other countries to submit the work that they did abroad under completely different conditions for the Research Assessment that is supposed to gauge the performance of British universities. Afterwards they leave them alone to either perform with grants or being kicked out. Even if your work is submitted to this Research Assessment and brings in money for the university, you are targeted if your grant income is deemed insufficient. Those submitted to the research assessment hence support those colleagues who are unproductive but have grants. Grant income is all that counts here, not scientific output. We had four papers with original data this year so far, in Cell Death and Differentiation, Oncogene, Journal of Cell Science and, as I informed Prof Wilkins this week, one accepted with the EMBO Journal. I was also the editor of a book and wrote two reviews. Doesn’t count. This leads to a interesting spin to the old saying “publish or perish”. Here it is “publish and perish”. Did I regret coming to this place? I enormously enjoyed interacting with my science colleagues here, but like many of them, I fell into the trap of confusing the reputation of science here with the present reality. This is not a university anymore but a business with very few up in the hierarchy, like our formidable duo, profiteering and the rest of us are milked for money, be it professors for their grant income or students who pay 100.- pounds just to extend their write-up status. If anyone believes that I feel what my excellent coworkers and I have accomplished here over the years is inferior to other work, is wrong. With our apoptosis genes and the concept of Anticancer Genes we have developed something that is probably much more exciting than most other projects, including those that are heavily supported by grants. Was I perhaps too lazy? My boss smugly told me that I was actually the one professor on the whole campus who had submitted the highest number of grant applications. Well, they were probably simply not good enough. I am by far not the only one who is targeted by those formidable guys. These colleagues only keep quiet out of shame about their situation. Which is wrong. As we all know hitting the sweet spot in bioscience is simply a matter of luck, both for grant applications and publications. Why does a Professor have to be treated like that? One of my colleagues here at the College whom I told my story looked at me, there was a silence, and then said: “Yes, they treat us like sh*t”. Best regards, Stefan Grimm
There is now a way for staff to register their opinions of their employers.The entries for Imperial College on Glassdoor.com suggest that bullying there is widespread (on contrast, the grumbles about UCL are mostly about lack of space).
Googling ‘imperial college employment tribunal’ shows a history of bullying that is not publicised. In fact victims are often forced to sign gagging clauses. In fairness, AcademicFOI.com shows that the problems are not unique to Imperial. Over 3 years (it isn’t clear which years), 810 university staff went to employment tribunals. And 5528 staff were gagged. Not a proud record
Imperial’s Department of Medicine web site says that one of its aims is to “build a strong and supportive academic community”. Imperial’s spokesman said “Stefan Grimm was a valued member of the Faculty of Medicine”.
The ability of large organisations to tell barefaced lies never ceases to amaze me.
I asked Martin Wilkins to comment on the email from Grimm. His response is the standard stuff that HR issues on such occasions. Not a word of apology, no admission of fault. It says “Imperial College London seeks to give every member of its community the opportunity to excel and to create a supportive environment in which their careers may flourish.”. Unless, that is, your research is insufficiently expensive, in which case we’ll throw you out on the street at 51. For completeness, you can download Wilkins’ mail.
After reading this post, Martin Wilkins wrote again to me (12.21 on 2nd December), He said
“You will appreciate that I am unable to engage in any further discussion – not because of any institutional policy but because there is an ongoing inquest into the circumstances of his death. What I can say is that there was no ongoing correspondence. We met from time to time to discuss science and general matters. These meetings were always cordial. My last meeting with him was to congratulate him on his recent paper, accepted by EMBOL "
The emails now revealed show that the relationship could hardly have been less “cordial”. Martin Wilkins appears to be less than frank about what happened.
If anyone has more correspondence which ought to be known, please send it to me. I don’t reveal sources (if you prefer, use my non-College email david.colquhoun72 (at) gmail.com).
The problem is by no means limited to Imperial. Neither is it universal at Imperial: some departments are quite happy about how they are run. Kings College London, Warwick University and Queen Mary College London have been just as brutal as Imperial. But in these places nobody has died. Not yet.
Follow-up
Here are a few of the tweets that appeared soon after this post appeared.
OMG. If you are an academic at a UK uni read this. Saddest thing I’ve read. Both for the individual and us all. http://t.co/g8xlQbLvDD — GaryFoster (@Prof_GD_Foster) December 1, 2014
Utterly tragic consequences of running a University Department as a business, via @david_colquhoun. #UofABudgetModel http://t.co/Ql2AJcQqWR — Dr. Andy Holt (@DrAndyHolt) December 1, 2014
Accusation of a culture of bullying at Imperial from Stefan Grimm, written just before he died. http://t.co/NeXysWFjZM — Suzi Gage (@soozaphone) December 1, 2014
Bastards “@david_colquhoun: Publish *and* perish at Imperial College: the last email of Stefan Grimm http://t.co/DcQQlfwf78 #bullying” — John Canning (@johngcanning) December 1, 2014
@david_colquhoun thank you for publishing this. Tragic. — Melanie Byng (@ThetisMercurio) December 1, 2014
Good grief. This is what happens when science is run like a business http://t.co/3eArX3pRPz (via @david_colquhoun) — Stephan Neuhaus (@stephanneuhaus1) December 1, 2014
Having worked at Imperial as a PostDoc, I recognise the vile atmosphere portrayed here (via @david_colquhoun). http://t.co/7ogAekAcLR — Michel Valstar (@MichelValstar) December 1, 2014
Haunting stuff. @david_colquhoun writes of a tragic death and potential case of bullying at #Imperial College London http://t.co/uicA2wPE7S — Michael Head (@michaelghead) December 1, 2014
@Cesar_F1000 @david_colquhoun Not the kind of "life of the mind" that anyone would want. Can Academia ever be reformed? — Eric Kansa (@ekansa) December 1, 2014
@david_colquhoun @AMCELL Thank you. This is like something out of Terminator: the rise of the (administrator) machines. — Dawn Bazely (@dawnbazely) December 1, 2014
@david_colquhoun @timeshighered @ChrisParrTHE "review" by Director of HR? Wonder if they'll find any fault with HR processes? — calloutloud (@blowthatwhistl1) December 2, 2014
@david_colquhoun @timeshighered @ChrisParrTHE Stefan Grimm case order up a lorry load of whitewash for delivery to @imperialcollege DofHR — calloutloud (@blowthatwhistl1) December 2, 2014
Shame on my old Uni for this! @david_colquhoun Publish and perish at @imperialcollege: the death of Stefan Grimm http://t.co/l0LZf8u8BX — Scott Edmunds (@SCEdmunds) December 2, 2014
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness. @imperialcollege chews up profs. http://t.co/8ibqkk9fjJ @david_colquhoun — Robert Davidson (@bobbledavidson) December 2, 2014
Saddest blog post I've read for ages: about the pressure on high performing academics by @david_colquhoun http://t.co/gH95I1bMCa — Mark Brandon (@icey_mark) December 2, 2014
This breaks my heart @david_colquhoun Publish *and* perish at Imperial College London: last email of Stefan Grimm http://t.co/mUsEiM6OJU — Sylvia McLain (@girlinterruptin) December 2, 2014
"Not a university but a business": Publish AND perish | http://t.co/6aOU6j9CRS | Via @david_colquhoun | Tragic, shameful, urgent — Tom Farsides (@TomFarsides) December 2, 2014
3 December 2014
The day after this post went public, I wrote to the vice-chancellor of Imperial College, thus.
To: [email protected] cc: [email protected], [email protected]. [email protected] Dear Professor Gast You may be aware that last night, at 18.30, I published Stefan Grimm’s last email, see http://www.dcscience.net/?p=6834 In the 12 hours that it’s been public it’s had at least 10,000 views. At the moment, 230 people. from all round the world, are reading it. It seems to be going viral. I appreciate that you are new to the job of rector, so you may not realise that this sort of behaviour has been going on for years at Imperial (especially in Medicine) -I last wrote about the dimwitted methods being used to assess people in Medicine on 2007 -see http://www.dcscience.net/?p=182 Now it seems likely that the policy has actually killed someone (itwas quite predictable that this would happen, sooner or later). I hope that your your humanity will ensure a change of policy in your approach to “performance management”. Failing that, the bad publicity that you’re getting may be enough to persuade you to do so. Best regards David Colquhoun __________________________________
D. Colquhoun FRS
Professor of Pharmacology
NPP, University College London
Gower Street
Today I updated the numbers: 44,000 hits after 36 hours.
I tried to put it politely, but I have not yet had a reply.
4 December 2014
More than one source at Imperial has sent me a copy of an email sent to staff by the dean of the Faculty of Medicine. It’s dated 03 December 2014 16:44. It was sent almost 24 hours after my post. It is, I suppose, just possible that Kelleher was unaware of my post. But he must surely have seen the internally-circulated version of Grimm’s letter. It isn’t mentioned: that makes the weasel words and crocodile tears in the email even more revolting than they otherwise would be. Both his account and Wilkins’ account contradict directly the account in Grimm’s mail.
Somebody is not telling the truth.
Download Kelleher’s email.
This post has broken all records (for this blog). It has been viewed over 50,000 times in 48 hours. It is still getting 35-40 visitors per minute, as it has for the last 2 days. How much longer will managers at Imperial be able to pretend that the cat hasn’t escaped from the bag?
5 December 2014
Late last night. Imperial made, at last. a public comment on the death of Stefan Grimm: Statement on Professor Stefan Grimm by Caroline Davis (Communications and Public Affairs). This bit of shameless public relations appears under a tasteful picture of lilies.
It says “Members of Imperial’s community may be aware of media reports of the tragic loss of Stefan Grimm, professor of toxicology in the Faculty of Medicine”. They could hardly have missed the reports. As of 07.25 this morning, this post alone has been viewed 97,626 times, from all over the world. The statement is a masterpiece of weasel words, crocodile tears and straw man arguments. “Contrary to claims appearing on the internet, Professor Grimm’s work was not under formal review nor had he been given any notice of dismissal”. I saw no allegations that he had actually been fired. He was undoubtedly threatened with being fired. That’s entirely obvious from the email sent by Martin Wilkins to Stefan Grimm. on 10 March. The full text of that mail was published yesterday in Times Higher Education.
It’s worth reproducing the full text of that mail. To write like that to a successful professor, aged 51, is simply cruel. It is obviously incompatible with the PR guff that was issued yesterday. It seems to me to be very silly of Imperial College to try to deny the obvious.
I don’t know how people like Martin Wilkins and Caroline Davis manage to sleep at night.
Date: 10 March 2014 Dear Stefan I am writing following our recent meetings in which we discussed your current grant support and the prospects for the immediate future. The last was our discussion around your PRDP, which I have attached. As we discussed, any significant external funding you had has now ended. I know that you have been seeking further funding support with Charities such as CRUK and the EU commission but my concern is that despite submitting many grants, you have been unsuccessful in persuading peer-review panels that you have a competitive application. Your dedication to seek funding is not in doubt but as time goes by, this can risk becoming a difficult situation from which to extricate oneself. In other words, grant committees can become fatigued from seeing a series of unsuccessful applications from the same applicant. I am of the opinion that you are struggling to fulfil the metrics of a Professorial post at Imperial College which include maintaining established funding in a programme of research with an attributable share of research spend of £200k p.a and must now start to give serious consideration as to whether you are performing at the expected level of a Professor at Imperial College. Over the course of the next 12 months I expect you to apply and be awarded a programme grant as lead PI. This is the objective that you will need to achieve in order for your performance to be considered at an acceptable standard. I am committed to doing what I can to help you succeed and will meet with you monthly to discuss your progression and success in achieving the objective outlined. You have previously initiated discussions in our meetings regarding opportunities outside of Imperial College and I know you have been exploring opportunities elsewhere. Should this be the direction you wish to pursue, then I will do what I can to help you succeed. Please be aware that this constitutes the start of informal action in relation to your performance, however should you fail to meet the objective outlined, I will need to consider your performance in accordance with the formal College procedure for managing issues of poor performance (Ordinance D8) which can be found at the following link.
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/secretariat/collegegovernance/provisions/ordinances/d8 Should you have any questions on the above, please do get in touch. Best wishes Martin
These fixed performance targets are simply absurd. It’s called "research" because you don’t know how ir will come out. I’m told that if you apply for an Academic Clinical Fellowship at Imperial you are told
“Objectives and targets: The goal would be to impart sufficient training in the chosen subspecialty, as to enable the candidate to enter a MD/PhD programme at the end of the fellowship. During the entire academic training programme, the candidate is expected to publish at least five research articles in peer-reviewed journals of impact factor greater than 4.”
That’s a recipe for short term, unoriginal research. It’s an incentive to cut corners. Knowing that a paper has been written under that sort of pressure makes me less inclined to believe that the work has been done thoroughly. It is a prostitution of science.
Later on 5 December. This post has now had 100,000 views in a bit less that four days. At 13.30, I was at Kings College London, to talk to medical students about quackery etc. They were a smart lot, but all the questions were about Stefan Grimm.
The national press have begun to notice the tragedy. The Daily Mail, of all "newspapers" has a fair account of the death. It quotes Professor James Stirling, Provost of Imperial College London, as intoning the standard mantra:
“Imperial seeks to give every member of its community the opportunity to excel and to create a supportive environment in which their careers may flourish. Where we become aware that the College is falling short of this standard of support to its members, we will act”.
In my opinion the email above shows this is simply untrue. This sort of absurd and counterproductive pressure has been the rule in the Department of Medicine for years. I can’t believe that James Stirling didn’t now about it. If he did know, he should be fired for not anticipating the inevitable tragic consequences of his policies. If he didn’t know what was going on, he should be fired for not knowing..
It is simply absurd for Imperial to allow (In)human resources to investigate itself. Nobody will believe the result.
An independent external inquiry is needed. Soon.
Stefan Grimm’s death is, ultimately, the fault of the use of silly metrics to mismeasure people. If there were no impact factors, no REF, no absurd university rankings, and no ill-educated senior academics and HR people who take them seriously, he’d probably still be alive.
8 December 2014
After one week, I wrote again to the senior management at Imperial (despite the fact that my earlier letters had been ignored). This time I had one simple suggestion. If Imperial want genuinely to set things right they should get an independent external inquiry. Their present proposal that the people who let things go so far should investigate themselves has been greeted with the scepticism that it so richly deserves. I still live in hope that someone will be sufficiently courteous to answer this time.
To: [email protected] cc: [email protected], [email protected]. [email protected], [email protected] Dear Professor Gast My post of Stefan Grimm’s email last Monday evening, has been viewed 130,000 times from at least 175 different countries. Your failure to respond to my letters is public knowledge. When you finally posted a statement about Grimm on Thursday it so obviously contradicted the emails which I, and Times Higher Education had already published, that it must have done your reputation more harm than good. May I suggest that the best chance to salvage your reputation would be to arrange for an independent external inquiry into the policies that contributed to Grimm’s death. You must surely realise that your announcement that HR will investigate its own policies has been greeted with universal scepticism. Rightly or wrongly, its conclusions will simply not be believed. I believe that an external inquiry would show Imperial is genuine in wishing to find out how to improve the way it treats the academics who are responsible for its reputation. Best regards David Colquhoun __________________________________
D. Colquhoun FRS
Professor of Pharmacology
NPP, University College London
Gower Street
Here is a map of the location of 200 hits on 4 December (one of 20 such maps in a 4 hour period).
10 December 2014
Eventually I got a reply, of sorts, from Dermot Kelleher. It’s in the style of the true apparatchik "shut up and go away".BOOM! Studios Unveils First Look At Saban’s Power Rangers: Aftershock Original Graphic Novel Share:
Comic Book Is Set in the Universe of Saban’s Power Rangers Feature Film
Los Angeles, Calif. (March 24, 2017) – BOOM! Studios and Saban Brands reveal a first look at the original graphic novel, SABAN’S POWER RANGERS: AFTERSHOCK. Set in the universe of Lionsgate’s highly anticipated feature film, Saban’s Power Rangers, releasing March 24, 2017, Saban’s Power Rangers: Aftershock goes on sale March 28 in bookstores and March 29 in comic book shops.
From the publisher of the critically acclaimed, best-selling Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic book series comes an explosive, all-new, side story that picks up immediately after the events of the feature film, Saban’s Power Rangers. In the original graphic novel, the Power Rangers encounter a dangerous new enemy, along with another character who might be friend, foe or both. Saban’s Power Rangers: Aftershock is written by Ryan Parrott (Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Batman: Gates of Gotham) and illustrated by artist Lucas Werneck.
Saban’s Power Rangers: Aftershock is an original graphic novel which retails for $14.99 and goes on sale March 28 in bookstores. In addition to the regular mass market movie cover release, comic book shops had the opportunity to order a Diamond Previews exclusive variant cover edition featuring an art cover by Greg Smallwood (Moon Knight), which will be available beginning March 29 in comic book shops.
For more on Saban’s Power Rangers: Aftershock and more from BOOM! Studios, please visit www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.
About BOOM! Studios:
BOOM! Studios was founded by Ross Richie in 2005 with the singular focus of creating world-class comic book and graphic novel storytelling for all audiences. Through the development of four distinct imprints—BOOM! Studios, BOOM! Box, KaBOOM!, and Archaia—BOOM! has produced award-winning original work, including Lumberjanes, The Woods, Giant Days, Klaus, and Mouse Guard, while also breaking new ground with established licenses such as WWE, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Adventure Time and Jim Henson Company properties. BOOM! will also bring their original series to life through unique first-look relationships with 20th Century Fox in film and with Fox Television. Please visit www.boom-studios.com for more information.
About Saban’s Power Rangers
Saban’s Power Rangers franchise is the brainchild of Haim Saban, creator and producer of the original “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” hit series that launched in 1993. Following its introduction, “Power Rangers” quickly became the most-watched children’s television program in the United States and remains one of the top-rated and longest running kids live-action series in television history. The series follows the adventures of a group of ordinary teens who morph into superheroes and save the world from evil. It is seen in more than 150 markets, translated into numerous languages and a favorite on many key international children’s programming blocks around the world. For more information, visit www.powerrangers.com.Fraudulent “likes” damage the trust of advertisers, who want clicks from real people they can sell to and whom Facebook now relies on to make money. Fakery also can ruin the credibility of search results for the social search engine that Facebook says it is building.
Facebook says it has always taken the problem seriously, and recently stepped up efforts to cull fakes from the site. “It’s pretty much one of the top priorities for the company all the time,” said Joe Sullivan, who is in charge of security at Facebook.
The fakery problem on Facebook comes in many shapes. False profiles are fairly easy to create; hundreds can pop up simultaneously, sometimes with the help of robots, and often they persuade real users into friending them in a bid to spread malware. Fake Facebook friends and likes are sold on the Web like trinkets at a bazaar, directed at those who want to enhance their image. Fake coupons for meals and gadgets can appear on Facebook newsfeeds, aimed at tricking the unwitting into revealing their personal information.
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Somewhat more benignly, some college students use fake names in an effort to protect their Facebook content from the eyes of future employers.
Mr. Sullivan declined to say what portion of the company’s now one billion plus users were fake. The company quantified the problem last June, in responding to an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission. At that time, the company said that of its 855 million active users, 8.7 percent, or 83 million, were duplicates, false or “undesirable,” for instance, because they spread spam.
Mr. Sullivan said that since August, the company had put in place a new automated system to purge fake “likes.” The company said it has 150 to 300 staff members to weed out fraud.
Flags are raised if a user sends out hundreds of friend requests at a time, Mr. Sullivan explained, or likes hundreds of pages simultaneously, or most obvious of all, posts a link to a site that is known to contain a virus. Those suspected of being fakes are warned. Depending on what they do on the site, accounts can be suspended.
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In October, Facebook announced new partnerships with antivirus companies. Facebook users can now download free or paid antivirus coverage to guard against malware.
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“It’s something we have been pretty effective at all along,” Mr. Sullivan said.
Facebook’s new aggressiveness toward fake “likes” became noticeable in September, when brand pages started seeing their fan numbers dip noticeably. An average brand page, Facebook said at the time, would lose less than 1 percent of its fans.
But the thriving market for fakery makes it hard to keep up with the problem. Gaston Memorial, for instance, first detected a fake page in its name in August; three days later, it vanished. The fake page popped up again on Oct. 4, and this time filled up quickly with the loud denunciations of the Obama administration. Dallas P. Wilborn, the hospital’s public relations manager, said her office tried to leave a voice-mail message for Facebook but was disconnected; an e-mail response from the social network ruled that the fake page did not violate its terms of service. The hospital submitted more evidence, saying that the impostor was using its company logo.
Eleven days later, the hospital said, Facebook found in its favor. But by then, the local newspaper, The Gaston Gazette, had written about the matter, and the fake page had disappeared.
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Facebook declined to comment on the incident, and pointed only to its general Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
The election season seems to have increased the fakery.
In Washington State, two groups fighting over a gay marriage referendum locked horns over “likes” on Facebook. A group supportive of gay marriage pointed to the Facebook page of its rival, Preserve Marriage Washington, which collected thousands of “likes” in a few short spurts. During those peaks, the pro-gay marriage group said, the preponderance of the “likes” came from far-flung cities like Bangkok and Vilnius, Lithuania, whose residents would seem to have little reason to care about a state referendum in Washington. The “likes” then fell as suddenly as they had risen.
The accusations were leveled on the Web site of the gay marriage support group, Washington United for Marriage. Preserve Marriage Washington in turn denied them on its Facebook page. Facebook declined to comment on the contretemps.
The research firm Gartner estimates that while less than 4 percent of all social media interactions are false today, that figure could rise to over 10 percent by 2014.
Fake users and their fake posts will have to be culled aggressively if Facebook wants to expand its search function, said Shuman Ghosemajumder, a former Google engineer whose start-up, Shape Security, focuses on automated fakery on the Internet. If you are searching for a laptop computer, for instance, Facebook has to ensure that you can trust the search results that come up.
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“If the whole idea behind social search is to look behind what different Facebook |
unlawful.
As this description of our reasoning shows, our holdingis very specific. We do not hold, as the principal dissentalleges, that for-profit corporations and other commercial enterprises can 'opt out of any law (saving only tax laws)they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.'
Texas Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, issued a statement condemning the court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case. "Today's disappointing decision to restrict access to birth control puts employers between women and their doctors. We need to trust women to make their own health care decisions -- not corporations, the Supreme Court, or Greg Abbott," she said.Abbott, the attorney general and her opponent in this fall election, issued a statement praising the ruling, which is below.Former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, the current president of Baylor University, told the News in an interview from Paris that today's Hobby Lobby decision is a "highly significant opinion." He said puts the government and its courts on notice that any claims of intrusion on the religious liberty of a person or business must be taken seriously."It quite rightly struck a powerful blow for religious liberty," said Starr, who also gained notoriety as the independent prosecutor who hounded President Bill Clinton throughout his two terms. "The majority was not impressed that members of families are somehow stripped of their religious liberty interests simply because they do business in corporate form."But Starr also said it's not the Supreme Court that conservatives and others should be lauding today."Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993, after concern that a ruling by the Supreme Court had chipped away at religious freedom. Congress is the hero and the president -- President Clinton -- who signed it into law, they are the heroes of today's huge win," said Starr, a former law dean at Pepperdine University. "They are the ones who said we disagree with the Supreme Court's cutting back on religious liberty and chose to vindicate it for all Americans of good conscience."The case that led to the 1993 act was a 1990 decision by the Supreme Court that upheld Oregon's denial of unemployment claims by two men who were fired by the Native American Church for ingesting peyote. In ruling against the men, the high court tossed out previously used balancing test in First Amendment cases involving the free exercise of religion. The 1993 was overwhelmingly bipartisan.Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott also praised today's decision.“Today’s ruling is a major victory for religious freedom and another blow to the heavy-handed way the Obama Administration has tried to force the misguided Obamacare law on Americans," he said in a statement. "Once again, the Supreme Court has stricken down an overreaching regulation by the Obama Administration—and once again Obamacare has proven to be an illegal intrusion into the lives of so many Americans across the country.”I've asked Sen. Wendy Davis, his Democratic opponent in the 2014 governor's race, for her response to the ruling and will include it here if a statement is made.Gov. Rick Perry also cheered the decision. "Religious freedom is an intrinsic part of being American, and the Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms that the government cannot mandate that anyone operate in a fashion counter to their most deeply-felt principles," his statements reads in part.Texans in Congress hailed the Supreme Court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case, including both senators who issued statements calling the decision a victory against overreach by the Obama Administration. Both point to First Amendment guarantees of free exercise of religion, and call the decision a victory on its behalf. What was at stake most powerfully, however, was the question of whether those freedoms attach to corporations, as well as individuals. (Note, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, tweeted out news of the decision from her official account, but did not comment on it.)In his 5-4 majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito writes that for purposes of the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, closely held corporations are "persons."It's also important to note that the business owners' objections were not to contraception, per se, but to abortion. They argued that four types of contraception required to be covered amounted to abortion, as Alito noted and which Solicitor General, in arguing the Obama Administration case in March, has rejected as contrary to any ordinary understanding of what abortion is. Alito:Alito noted that the Obama Administration has already carved out exceptions to the mandate for churches, and for religious non-profit it has devised a workaround that involves the government -- the religious non-profit -- paying for the coverage. Alito:The four liberal justices on the court filed or joined in dissents to the ruling. They suggest that relying on such limiting language in the opinion to protect employees and others who may be discriminated by companies whose founders disagree with laws such as those that enshrine gay rights is naive. More on dissents to come, but already one Hobby Lobby champion has read into the ruling a sweeping blueprint for future cases.Sen. Ted Crus, R-Texas and a former litigator before Supreme Court, also issued a statement, calling the decision a "landmark victory for religious liberty."“Certainly, the struggle for religious freedom will continue, as cases made by hundreds more plaintiffs will wend their way through the courts. The right to religious liberty, as enshrined in the First Amendment, remains under an incredible assault by this Administration on a variety of fronts," he said. "But, with this decision, I am hopeful that the courts will also work to safeguard the religious liberty for non-profits, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor and others, just as the Supreme Court did today for private businesses.”Sen Cornyn also hailed the decision as "a victory against Obamacare’s unprecedented overreach into our daily lives and the Administration’s disregard for the freedom of religion that Americans cherish. All Texans and Americans have the right to practice their religious beliefs without obstruction from the federal government, and today’s decision by the Supreme Court affirms that Obamacare does not trump those fundamental rights."Meanwhile: The top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, cheered the ruling. “Today’s Supreme Court decision makes clear that the Obama administration cannot trample on the religious freedoms that Americans hold dear. Obamacare is the single worst piece of legislation to pass in the last 50 years, and I was glad to see the Supreme Court agree that this particular Obamacare mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”Update: 10:32 EST: And here's the decision. The Supreme Court has handed a significant victory to opponents of Obamacare in ruling 5-4 that closely held corporations can't be required to provide birth control coverage if doing so violated religious beliefs of their owners. But the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, strikes a significant balance in the way it has decided the case, and, argues Tom Goldstein of www.scotusblog.com, makes explicit that companies cannot use the decision to avoid laws that prohibit discrimination.This is a significant result for gays and lesbians, as many religious conservatives had looked to this case for support as laws recognizing gay marriage, for instance, proliferate.The ruling also makes clear that the government itself may provide, or pay for, coverage to female employees. More soon as we work through the jumble of assorted opinions.
Supreme Court Hobby Lobby decision, dissents
JUSTICE KENNEDY: Under your view, a profit corporation could be forced in principle, there are some statutes on the books now which would prevent it, but could be forced in principle to pay for abortions.
GENERAL VERRILLI: No. I think, as you said, the law now the law now is to the contrary.
JUSTICE KENNEDY: But your reasoning would permit that.
GENERAL VERRILLI: Well, I think that you know, I don't think that that's I think it would depend on the law and it would depend on the entity. It certainly wouldn't be true, I think, for religious nonprofits. It certainly wouldn't be true for a church.
JUSTICE KENNEDY: I'm talking about a profit corporation. You say profit corporations just don't have any standing to vindicate the religious rights of their shareholders and owners.
GENERAL VERRILLI: Well, I think that if it were for a for-profit corporation and if such a law like that were enacted, then you're right, under our theory that the for-profit corporation wouldn't have an ability to sue. But there is no law like that on the books. In fact, the law is the opposite.
In the end, it may not happen, but the demise of public employee unionism was at least on the table for lively discussion in a Supreme Court argument Tuesday morning. The case of Harris v. Quinn would only spell doom for government workers’ collective action, it appeared, if Justice Antonin Scalia could be persuaded to join in doing it in; there just might be enough other votes.
This seemed an unlikely case to even raise that issue, but raise it, it surely did. The case only involves home-care workers who provide medical services for patients one on one, and the prospect that their activities might pose a threat to labor peace appeared remote indeed. Several members of the Court, though, were insistent that this case raises very large issues about labor relations in the public sector — an issue that is stirring up a good deal of agitation around the country, especially in state and local government.
Aside from what was said explicitly from the bench, the atmospherics of Tuesday’s argument suggested strongly that this case has very large potential. The mood of the Court’s more liberal members was one of obvious trepidation, and that of its more conservative members — except for Justice Scalia — was of apparent eagerness to reach anew the core constitutionality of compulsory union support among public workers.
Scotusblog reporting from inside Court that Alito has written majority opinion in Hobby Lobby striking down the birth control mandate in Obamacare for "closely-held" companies, such as Hobby Lobby and the family-owned furniture maker from Pennsylvania who had also sued. Decision expands notion of corporate personhood, but court attempts to place limits, scotusblog.com reports.Harris opinion below, and at Supreme Court site Justice Alito has a big day, as he's apparently author of both majority opinions. On the public employee union case, Harris v Quinn, a 5-4 majority strikes down requirement that they contribute to public employee union. But it's a far narrower decision than liberals might have feared from an opinion by Alito. From Scotusblog.com publisher Tom Goldstein: "It remains possible that in a later case the Court will overturn its prior precedent and forbid requiring public employees to contribute to union bargaining. But today it has refused to go that far. The unions have lost a tool to expand their reach. But they have dodged a major challenge to their very existence."WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court will announce its final opinions of the year at 9 a.m. Dallas time, or just after, and everywhere -- from Congress to corporate boardrooms to campaign strategy rooms -- divisions over Obamacare have sprung back to the surface of American politics. (Follow me on Twitter @lindenberger for links to the decisions as soon as possible after being announced by the court.)Already, hundreds of followers on Twitter have retweeted Sen. Ted Cruz's tweet from a few minutes ago -- a image of the Supreme Court with the text: "RT if you stand with Hobby Lobby and religious freedom too."But the case's challenge to Obamacare -- actually two cases merged into one -- is important for reasons that go far beyond the decision's impact on the Affordable Care Act's birth control mandate. Whether that mandate, already on hold pending the outcome of today's decision, survives or not, the law will continue.Far more critically, the Hobby Lobby case, and its twinned challenge from owners of a Pennsylvania furniture company, offers conservatives on the court a prime opportunity to expand on the Citizens United decision and further the notion that corporations are persons under the law.The two business sued the Obama Administration because Obamacare requires them to provide health insurance that includes coverage for birth control. Both companies were founded by deeply devout Christians who say the requirement runs counter not just to their own religious views but to the principles upon which they founded their companies.They argue, in particular, that the mandate violates the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That law states that the "government may substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that" the law serves a compelling government interest and written in a way that is least restrictive means of furthering that interest.That language creates a high hurdle for laws that force persons to limit the exercise of their religion, but in the past it has applied to "persons" not companies. Now, lawyers for the companies want the high court to rule, in keeping with Citizens United and other cases, that corporations are persons under the law for purposes of the religious exemptions.In other words, if the conservatives hold the day today, as many observers expect, they could give corporations themselves -- not individual people -- the right to exempt themselves from laws that somehow violate the religious values of their owners.As Elizabeth Wydra, chief counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal think tank, put it at a forum last week, if Citizens United answered the question of whether corporations were persons under the Constitution, this case asks whether they have souls -- or consciences, at least.In March, when the court heard arguments in the case, the court's three women justices hammered super-lawyer Paul Clement, the former Solicitor General who argued for Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties, a furniture maker founded half a century ago by the deeply religious Hahn family, who are Mennonites.But those views won't prevail today unless, as so often is the case, they convince Justice Anthony Kennedy to take their side. Kennedy has been in the majority this term on every closely divided case. He seemed both open to a compromise, but also concerned by the Obama Administration's position that profit corporations should have no standing to challenge laws based on religious concerns. Take a look:The true scope of today's decision, should the conservatives prevail, will depend on how narrowly the justices tailor their decision to the specific kinds of corporations that brought the suit.Chief Justice Roberts, for instance, asked during oral arguments whether it wouldn't make sense to limit the ruling to only very closely-held corporations, like those who brought the suit, that were founded by devoutly religious owners.But there's no certainly that that kind of limiting language will prevail, and even if it does the prospects are high that the decision would lead to future challenges by for-profit companies when state or federal laws require them to act in ways contrary to owners' religious beliefs. The most obvious example of late would be laws favoring gay marriage. While most such statutes already exempt churches and religious-affiliated non-profits, a decision today could lead to challenges by ordinary businesses, as well.Religious conservatives have cast the decision as a potentially landmark decision on religious liberty for those reasons.The other decision to be announced this morning is also a potentially big case for business. And, even more so than the Hobby Lobby decision, it depends on how broadly the justices write. At issue in Harris v Quinn, is whether a state may "compel personal care providers to accept and financially support a private organization as their exclusive representative to petition the state for greater reimbursements from its Medicaid programs."The case could easily be decided on narrow grounds, on a question of standing. But labor unions and their allies are worried that the court just as easily use it as a vehicle to greatly limit public employee unions across the country. Only about 20 percent of Texas' public employees -- broadly speaking, workers for local, state or federal government -- are unionized. But across the country, unions like the American Federation of Teachers, hold enormous influence. Laws in many states require that those unions be the only organization entitled to negotiate or speak for the employees as a whole.The Harris case could rule that such arrangements are unconstitutional. That has liberals worried, given the already weakening position many unions have. Here's how Lyle Denniston, the long-time court watcher for Scotusblog.com, saw it after the oral arguments were finished in January For coverage as the opinions are released, watch Twitter (@lindenberger) and this blog.
Harris v QuinnTibetan protesters storm Chinese consulate in Sydney, pull down flag
Updated
Protesters have been arrested and charged after they stormed the Chinese consulate in Sydney, with one scaling a pole to pull down the Chinese flag.
A group of Tibetan students and former political prisoners planned a peaceful protest against the death in prison of a prominent Tibetan monk Tenzin Delek.
But the group said emotions spilled over and about 50 demonstrators stormed the consulate and removed the Chinese flag.
When the gates of the consulate opened to let a truck through, they ran into the forecourt.
Eight protesters were charged with a range of offences, including trespass.
Protester and former political prisoner Lobsang Choezin said China had made it difficult to get sensitive information out of Tibet.
"They don't know exactly what's going on in Tibet because China's cut everything, every information," Ms Choezin said.
"They keep [secrets] and I know how [bad the] Chinese government are."
Tenzin Datsatsang, a demonstrator from the Sydney Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, said the protesters felt grief and frustration.
"Which is why when they went into the consulate they just wanted to express their emotion and show the Chinese government, especially the Chinese consulate, that what they are doing is wrong," she said.
She said Tenzin Delek was serving a life sentence for terrorism charges and inciting separatism.
"He was just a simple Buddhist monk, who worked tirelessly to preserve the Tibetan culture [and] identity," Ms Datsatsang said.
Topics: activism-and-lobbying, government-and-politics, sydney-2000
First postedRepresentational Image.
The central US state of Oklahoma has gone from registering two earthquakes a year to nearly two a day and scientists point to a controversial culprit: wastewater injection wells used in fracking.Located in the middle of the country, far from any major fault lines, Oklahoma experienced 585 earthquakes of a magnitude of 3.0 or greater in 2014. That's more than three times as many as the 180 which hit California last year."It's completely unprecedented," said George Choy, a seismologist at the US Geological Survey.As of last month, Oklahoma has already experienced more than 600 quakes strong enough to rattle windows and rock cars. The biggest was a 4.5-magnitude quake that hit the small town of Crescent.Sandra Voskuhl, 76, grew up in the rural oil boomtown and said she has never felt the earth shake like it did on July 27.First came a thunderous boom. Then the red earth shook hard, Voskuhl said."You heard it coming," she said. "Everything shook."She recalled screaming as framed pictures toppled over in her home. Then, when things got quiet, she drove over to the town's Frontier Historical Museum to help clean up antique dishes that had crashed to the ground and shattered."We need the oil for our workers and our economy," she said. "But these earthquakes are a little scary."Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of shooting water mixed with sand and chemicals deep into the earth to crack rock formations and bring up oil and natural gas trapped inside.The process has unlocked massive amounts of oil and gas in Oklahoma and other states over the past decade.But along with the oil and gas comes plenty of that brackish water, which is disposed of by injecting it into separate wells that are dug as deep as a mile (less than two kilometers) below ground.The unnatural addition of the water can change pressure along fault lines, causing slips that make the earth shake, said Choy of the US Geological Survey.There is debate among scientists over how large of a fault could be reawakened, and how hard that fault might shake.One camp believes Oklahoma won't see bigger than a 4.0 to 5.0-magnitude earthquake, which would be enough to break windows and knock things off shelves.Others believe a 7.0-magnitude earthquake could come about, which would be strong enough to topple buildings."What's at risk is that when you put water into the ground, it's never going to come back out. You're putting it in places it has never been before," Choy told AFP."The bigger the volume, the greater the area will be affected. And we don't know what the long-term effect will be."The pace at which earthquake activity has increased has rattled many in Oklahoma, who are also worried about groundwater contamination brought on by fracking.From 1975 to 2008, the state experienced anywhere from zero to three earthquakes a year which registered at 3.0 or higher.Then the numbers jumped: there were 20 in 2009, 35 in 2010, 64 in 2011, 35 in 2012, 109 in 2013 and 585 in 2014."We are the only state where once this problem came up, we just kept going (with fracking)," said Johnson Bridgwater, the executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Sierra Club, a prominent environmental group."We want public safety to come first, rather than treating this state as a giant lab."The danger is particularly acute given that Oklahoma has such an enormous oil and gas industry, and its pipelines, refineries and storage facilities were not built to withstand constant quakes, Bridgwater said.Oklahoma has about 4,500 disposal wells, with about 3,200 operating on any given day.State Governor Mary Fallin, a pro-business Republican, was slow to accept the link between fracking and earthquakes.She took action earlier this year after the science became clear, spokesman Alex Weintz said.It appears that an area known as the Arbuckle rock formation is most vulnerable because of its "unique geological features," he noted.State regulators are now scrutinizing the operations of disposal wells in that area to ensure they don't go too deep or inject too much water.Some operators have been told to cut the amount of water they inject into their wells and the state has also stepped up its monitoring.Three wells were shut down on Friday after two quakes - a 3.5 and a 4.1 - struck near Cushing, which has one of the largest crude oil storage facilities in the world."We are hopeful that the actions taken by the Corporation Commission will have a significant impact on seismicity, but the process is ongoing and we'll continue to evaluate the results that we're getting now and potential future actions," Weintz told AFP. The Sierra Club insists that much more needs to be done and has called for a moratorium on wastewater injection wells in the 21 Oklahoma counties identified to be most at risk.With an unprecedented fifth consecutive win over Bayern, Dortmund have claimed their first double in their 103 year club history. It was a truly historic win for Klopp’s team and one that capped off one of the great domestic seasons in German football history. Unlike their previous encounters this season, this one was surprisingly open initially but with so much on the line, one individual error too many cost Bayern in the end. Dortmund’s typical high energy pressing and attacking game was too much to handle for a Bayern side that admittedly had one eye on the Champions League final next week but were also unable to take their chances and penetrate Dortmund’s solid defense.
Kagawa kicked off the scoring in the third minute after an error in Bayern’s defense before Robben equalized from the spot 20 minutes later. Dortmund quickly responded with two goals in four minutes from Hummels and Lewandowski before the break. The second half got under way under similar circumstances with Lewandowski taking advantage of more complacent defending and getting Dortmund’s fourth on 58 minutes. Ribery then gave Bayern a lifeline 15 minutes from time with a great individual effort before Lewandowski collected his hattrick ten minutes from time.
Lineups and Formations
Tactics were emphasized by both coaches ahead of the match with a special emphasis on Dortmund’s quick transition play, something that Bayern have struggled with immensly in the past 19 months, not only against Dortmund but several other sides in the league. No surprise then that both fielded their strongest teams. Klopp continued with the effective Kehl and Gündogan in central midfield and left a recently recovered Mario Goetze on the bench while Heynckes trusted in the same side that eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League, sitting Müller in favor of Kroos.
Individual errors cost Bayern
How a team copes with Dortmund in the opening phases of the match often determines what happens for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately for Bayern, miscommunication between Gustavo and his backline allowed Kagawa to score Dortmund’s first and set the tone for the rest of the match. No Bayern defenders reacted to a Gustavo back pass and instead, Kuba pounced on it and laid it off to Kagwa who just had an open netin front of him. Looking to correct their mistakes Bayern got into gear very quickly and Robben slipped a pass to Gomez on the right but his shot was parried safe for a corner by Weidenfeller.
As expected, Bayern had the majority of possession for the remainder of the first half but struggled to get past Dortmund’s solid backline. Kuba and Grosskreutz helped Piszczek and Schmelzer double up on Ribery and Robben and Hummels and Subotic made sure none of Kroos or Schweinsteiger’s through balls reached their targets. Bayern did well to react to that though and started playing their passes from deeper positions after Dortmund pushed forward, capitalizing on the space left behind. Schweinsteiger’s played Gomez on goal with one such pass, Weidenfeller reacted too late and caught the man instead of the ball. With his miss in the league still fresh in his memory, Robben stepped up and converted the penalty this time. The game was back on and the momentum favoring Bayern.
The next chance fell to Lahm of all players. Ribery beat his markers down the left and pulled the ball back to the Bayern captain but Hummels was in the right place at the right time and averted what would have otherwise been a goal. That missed opportunity was a turning point. 8 minutes later Dortmund attacked down the left. The ball fell to Kuba near the 6 yard box and Boateng committed too early and gave away an unnecessary penalty. Up stepped Hummels to make it 3-1 to Dortmund. It was a bitter blow to a Bayern that just had their best spell against this Dortmund team. It would get worse. On the stroke of halftime Piszczek played a long ball to Lewandowski which the Bayern defense failed to clear and instead directed right to Kagawa’s feet. With Alex Ferguson watching in the stands and a rumored move to Manchester United on the cards, the Japanese playmaker appropriately played a defense splitting through ball past both Bayern defenders and to Lewandowski who shot the ball through the feet of Neuer. In just four minutes, Bayern stood on the verge of their biggest defeat in Cup history.
Collective prevails over the individual
Knowing he had to make up a lot of ground Heynckes brought on Muller for Gustavo at half-time. There was no more room for errors. Whatever chances were created had to be converted. That pressure only made Bayern more insecure though and played directly into Dortmund’s hands. Bayern were so caught up in chasing the game they hurried their passes and were sloppy in possession.. Schweinsteiger gave the ball away carelessly in the 58th minute and Dortmund immediately launched a counterattack. Kagawa saw Grosskreutz open on the left who in turn spotted Lewandowski on the far right side. Without hesitating, Lewandowski buried his shot past a helpless Neuer left hung out to dry by his defense.
It was a situation all too familiar for Bayern. They suffered a similar fate against Hannover and Gladbach this season and failed to adjust time and time again. It was another example of caving in under immense pressure and getting caught on the counter too easily. With so much breathing room Dortmund really started to enjoy themselves and it was Bayern who had to strike on the counter. Ribery, one of Bayern’s only effective attackers on the day, crossed from the left after a quick counter of his own but Gomez’s header only hit the crossbar. It was also Ribery’s ingenuity on 75 minutes that gave Bayern a small margin of hope after he switched over to the right, cleverly pulled the ball back, and perfectly placed a shot in the bottom left corner. One player was not enough to overcome eleven though and as much as they tried the game was beyond reach.
Lewandowski capped it all off after Neuer failed to hold on to a through ball from Gundogan on 81 minutes that Piszczek picked up and crossed to his countryman to head in. Bayern had collapsed in a heap of individual errors and collective tactical inadequacy. They started well and matched Dortmund in almost every respect in the first 40 minutes but as has been the case too often against Dortmund, they lacked their precision in front of goal and their discipline in defense. Gomez was a threat initially but was once again neutralized by Hummels and Subotic. Badstuber and Boateng were nervous and accident prone, Neuer unsure of himself and Lahm and Alaba very rarely a threat going forward. In stark contrast, Schmelzer and Piszczek did an impressive job against Ribery and Robben and did not give them much room to operate. In midfield, Schweinsteiger and Kroos were up against five Dortmund players who swarmed them at every turn. Heynckes’ more rigid individualized system had no alternatives to yet another great team performance from Dortmund.
Final Verdict
Whatever else happens from here, Dortmund can take comfort in the fact that they just concluded one of the great individual seasons in German football history. Whether it was their record breaking league season or one of the most dominant cup final performances, what Klopp has achieved with this team is highly commendable. And it is not only the fact that they have beaten Bayern an unprecedented five times in the row, it is the manner in which they have beaten them, making them look utterly pedestrian at times. To do that to a side as great as this Bayern team is a truly remarkable achievement.
Robben admitted in a recent kicker interview that their primary goal is to win the Champions League this season and maybe that sentiment, burrowed deep in the subconscious of this Bayern team, detracted from the task at hand against Dortmund. Whatever the case may be, this Dortmund side have their number like no one else and only a win next saturday against Chelsea will redeem a defeat as bitter as the ones to Dortmund this season.
Reactions
Jupp Heynckes: “Congratulations to BVB. Borussia deserved the win. They ruthlessly exploited our weaknesses. We were very unfocused in defence today and handed out gifts. All in all, our defensive display was a catastrophe. Borussia Dortmund created one chance in the first half but scored three goals. We blew it at the decisive moments and made far too many unnecessary mistakes, and obviously you’ll never win a match if you make such basic errors. In the cold light of day, you have to accept we wouldn’t have deserved to win.”
Philipp Lahm: “We were the better team for 90 minutes, but we made disastrous errors and kept handing it to our opponents on a plate, a situation Dortmund used to the full. We can’t be making errors like that next week.”
Arjen Robben: “Losing 5–2 hurts a lot. I can’t explain that performance. We’re frustrated now, but as of Monday our focus is on the Champions League final.”
Jürgen Klopp: “From a Dortmund point of view, it’s impossible to imagine a better cup final. We struck ruthlessly and we scored great goals. What we’re feeling now definitely can’t be put into words.”
Sebastian Kehl: “Bayern are a very, very good team, and we’ve been made to work extremely hard tonight. But I think we’ve proved we’re worthy champions and cup winners this season. We were always up for it and alert. Taking a 2–1 lead settled us down, and then we scored the important third before half-time. In the second half we waited for our chances on the break, and we’ve ended up deserving to win.”
Joachim Löw (Germany coach): “I never expected this result, but especially based on the second half it’s a deserved victory. Dortmund always show plenty of bite against Bayern, but I think we’ll see a huge reaction from Bayern against Chelsea next weekend.”Arthur Smith is a man of many faces. His list of aliases reads like as a who’s who of electronic dance music. From the Arts Council-funded Magnetic Man to early techno project Grain, Miki Moto to Morgan Reno, he’s seen some shit. In fact, he even ordered pizza to a moving train once, but that’s beside the point.
He’s been nominated for a Grammy three times. He produced Daniel Bedingfield’s ‘Gotta Get Thru This’. His impact on dance music can be felt from dubstep to house to garage to everyone who copied vocalist Katy B (Smith was integral to her development as an artist) and he’s still influencing a younger generation today. His show on Rinse FM has become appointment Friday night listening with its blend of great tunes and top-notch banter. His Art’s House parties are constantly pushing the envelope at interesting venues with interesting DJs. The man is a force of musical force of nature and tastemaker not afraid to push boundaries
Best of all, Smith isn’t afraid to be outspoken on issues. While social media is supposed to bring people closer to their fans, it can often just be an endless stream of promo bullshit. But Artwork is personable, open, honest and often hilarious. Fabric is an issue that’s close to his heart. Throughout his multifaceted career, the Farringdon club has always been a constant in his musical journey. Last month he took part in Boiler Room’s panel on Fabric and the future of London nightlife. Emotions were raw and good debate was had. It was a no-brainer Artwork was should be there to talk about the subject.
Just as it’s a no-brainer to have him wax lyrical on some of his best moments at the club. From Benga bangers to a special moment with David Rodigan, below are Artwork’s Tracks Of The Day.SHENZHEN (Reuters) - More than 1,000 workers at an IBM factory in southern China have gone on strike against the terms of their transfer to Chinese PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd caused by the U.S. company’s $2.3 billion sale of its low-end server business.
Visitors walk past the IBM booth at the 9th China International Software Product & Information Service Expo in Nanjing, Jiangsu province September 6, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily
Several workers gather outside gate of the International Business Machines Corp factory in Shenzhen on Thursday said production remains suspended for a fourth straight day.
“So far, we’ve heard nothing from the management or the government in response to our demands,” said Hou Hongbo, a 10- year worker at the factory. “The company’s attitude so far is to ignore us, but the entire production remains shut down.”
The workers want higher pay if they choose to transfer to Lenovo or higher severance packages if they choose to leave. Hou said they were determined to keep their action going.
“We will definitely keep striking tomorrow,” he said.
The terms offered to workers at the International System Technology Company factory in Shenzhen are “comparable in aggregate to what they currently are receiving,” IBM spokeswoman Florence Ma said in an e-mailed statement. If workers choose to leave, they will receive an “equitable severance package,” Ma said.
“We are hoping employees will decide to remain with ISTC,” Ma said.
Lenovo declined comment.
Workers at Chinese factories are increasingly turning to protests and factory shut-downs when they feel the terms of international takeovers are not good enough or labor conditions have worsened.
Hundreds of employees stopped work at a Nokia factory in Dongguan in November, complaining of changes following Nokia’s sale of its mobile phone business to U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp.
Last August, 5,000 workers in eastern Shandong Province went on strike to protest Apollo Tires Ltd’s proposed $2.5 billion acquisition of U.S.-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.Paul Krugman is in a channeling frenzy in today’s column, entitled “The Dwindling Deficit.” His inner Alfred E. Neuman says, ‘What, me worry?”:
The budget deficit isn’t our biggest problem, by a long shot. Furthermore, it’s a problem that is already, to a large degree, solved. The medium-term budget outlook isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either — and the long-term outlook gets much more attention than it should.
Who knew? He argues that economic recovery will raise federal revenues and decrease such costs as unemployment and food stamps. That’s usually true enough, except we’ve been in “recovery” since June 2009 and it hasn’t helped yet. Budget deficits for the last four fiscal years were $1.41 trillion (2009), $1.29 trillion, $1.3 trillion, and $1.08 trillion.
The administration shows no sign of pushing activities that would have an immediate positive effect on the economy, such as encouraging new oil and gas production, and many signs that it intends to continue its crony capitalist “investments” in green energy, which have been an expensive bust.
A slew of new regulations on business, and tens of thousands of pages more to come with Obamacare and Dodd Frank, will not speed up the recovery. Neither will higher taxes on capital gains and dividends. And the Fed will have to at some point start reining in the money creation (euphemistically termed quantitative easing) that is currently keeping interest rates historically low. That means the cost of servicing the debt will go up. Each one-percent rise in interest rates that the government has to pay raises annual interest costs $160 billion.
Krugman writes that, “... the budget outlook for the next 10 years doesn’t look at all alarming.” Of course, the budget outlook in 2000 foresaw nothing but budget surpluses for the next ten years. Krugman explains that, “George W. Bush squandered the Clinton surplus on tax cuts and wars.” (There were no Clinton surpluses, in fact, just phony accounting that called money borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund income. But let that go.) It was the collapse of the Internet bubble in 2000 and the ensuing recession—which began on Clinton’s watch—that caused the “surpluses” to disappear. As for those tax cuts, they were nothing but a giveaway to the rich until, this year, they suddenly became vital to the middle class.
Most egregiously, he writes with regard to Social Security, “At this point, ‘reform’ proposals are all about things like raising the retirement age or changing the inflation adjustment, moves that would gradually reduce benefits relative to current law. What problem is this supposed to solve?”
Ummmm, perhaps the problem pointed out by the Social Security Administration itself that the system |
presents another opportunity for a false alarm, i.e., rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true. Therefore the NHST literature is replete with recommendations for how to mitigate the “experimentwise” false alarm rate, using corrections such as Bonferroni, Tukey, Scheffe, etc. The bizarre part of this practice is that the p value for the single comparison of groups A and B depends on what other groups you intend to compare them with. The data in groups A and B are fixed, but merely intending to compare them with other groups enlarges the p value of the A vs B comparison. The p value grows because there is a different space of possible experimental outcomes when the intended experiment comprises more groups. Therefore it is trivial to make any comparison have a large p value and be nonsignificant; all you have to do is intend to compare the data with other groups in the future.
The literature is full of articles pointing out the many conceptual misunderstandings held by practitioners of NHST. For example, many people mistake the p value for the probability that the null hypothesis is true. Even if those misunderstandings could be eradicated, such that everyone clearly understood what p values really are, the p values would still be ill defined. Every fixed set of data would still have many different p values.
To recapitulate: Science is moving to Bayesian methods because of their many advantages, both practical and intellectual, over 20th century NHST. It is time that we convert our research and educational practices to Bayesian data analysis. I hope you will encourage the change. It’s the right thing to do.
John K. Kruschke, Revised 14 November 2010, http://www.indiana.edu/~kruschke/In 1485 Leonardo da Vinci, having admired birds’ ability to soar through the skies, drew detailed plans for a human-powered ornithopter in an audacious effort to bring the power of flight to man. Four hundred and eighteen years later, the Wright brothers audaciously completed the first powered flight. Yet sometimes, the most innovative technology mankind can harness for the benefit of society is also the simplest. And with that we are proud to announce Leafly’s newest innovation, Leafly Wings.
Code named “Winged Efficiency Emergent Delivery,” our team of dedicated engineers took the phrase “as the crow flies” literally, and Leafly Wings was born. We trained hundreds of eager aves to bring your favorite cannabis strains and products directly to your doorstep, offering high-altitude deliveries for our high-altitude customers.
How to Order Through Leafly Wings
Ordering through Leafly Wings is simple:
Step 1: Choose your desired product for delivery.
Step 2: Choose your bird delivery option. Leafly Wings is currently in beta and offers three delivery speeds:
Express Eagle: 10 minutes or less
Crane-abis Courier: 30-45 minutes
Budget Budgie: 60-75 minutes (pre-rolls and grams only)
Step 3: Choose your delivery location
Right now Leafly Wings is testing deliveries in Pacific Northwest markets and will expand nationwide to all legal cannabis states as soon as more birds return north from hibernation. If you currently live in Washington state or Oregon, sign up for Leafly Wings by visiting wings.leafly.com.
Want Your Products Delivered Through Leafly Wings?
If you’re a manufacturer or retailer that’s interested in listing your products on Leafly Wings, contact us to get your inventory added!
Standard terms of service apply. Leafly is not responsible for any bird droppings that may end up on your lawn, home, or head during Leafly Wings deliveries. No birds were harmed during the development of this program because Leafly Wings is not actually a real program. Happy April Fool’s Day. Celebrate responsibly.November 05, 2017
Introduction
Many of you have reached out to us and asked if we would ever look into bringing Apple Watch stands and charging docks into our collection to match your shiny new Apple Watch bands. We thought this was a great idea and set off on a hunt to find a range of functional, yet stylish products that hopefully our customers would appreciate!
After many cycles of real world product testing we are pleased to introduce our first wave of Apple Watch stands and charging docks into the OzStraps collection:
The Apple Watch Night stand is perfect for those who want a simple, yet effective solution to display and charge their Apple Watch.
This stand may not win any design of the year awards, however its minimalistic footprint ensures that is suited to almost any environment. Whether the Apple Watch Night Stand sits on your bedside table or at the office in front of your computer, it will definitely put a smile on your face when you take your Apple Watch off your wrist for a quick charge.
Highlights:
Available in black or white colours
Made from a TPU material which ensures that it is tough!
Features a weighted and non-slip base to prevent accidentally knocking your Apple Watch off when scrambling to turn off your alarm (they are expensive devices after all!)
Compatible with all Apple Watches S0, S1, S2, S3 & Nike+
A classy looking metal Apple Watch stand with cool looking bends, I don't think there is much more I need to say about this one!
Jokes aside, the Silver Aluminium Apple Watch stand is definitely suited to those prefer a modern design to suit their gadgetry. For all those Apple fanatics out there this stand also sits perfectly alongside the silver MacBook or iMacs like two peas in a pod! Think of all of the Instagram worthy pictures you could take of your desk setup! ;)
Highlights:
Made from silver aluminium
Extremely lightweight
Matches well with other products in the Apple product line
Compatible with all Apple Watches S0, S1, S2, S3 & Nike+
Bamboo Series Apple Watch Stands
Next up is our range of Bamboo Apple Watch Stands. A popular material for various types of modern furniture or even feature plants in the backyard, we thought it would be also be perfect to showcase your Apple Watch and other electronics in a stylish manner!
The stand which takes up the smallest footprint in our Bamboo Apple Stand collection, the Bamboo Basic has two sections, one for your Apple Watch (complete with a slot for your Apple Watch magnetic charging cable) and another space for your smartphone. The Bamboo Basic has been popular amongst our customers who can't afford to lose too much desk real estate but still want to add a touch of style to their workstations!
Highlights:
Simple yet functional design
Does not take up too much space on your desk
Compatible with all Apple Watches S0, S1, S2, S3 & Nike+
Next up in the Bamboo Series is the Bamboo Advanced Apple Watch Stand. This is a step up from the Basic solution by not only offering a holder for an Apple Watch (also has a slot for your Apple Watch magnetic charging cable), but also offering 4 slots which can hold various devices or items (e.g. a smartphones/tablets or any other item which can fit in between the slots really).
Another feature of the Bamboo Advanced Apple Watch stand is that it includes a stand for a pen as well - for those times when you need to sign an extremely important contract and you can't seem to find a pen, worry no more! :)
Highlights:
A step up from the Bamboo Basic solution, however not that much bigger physically
Has storage slots for additional devices/items
Pen holder ensures that you will always have access to a pen in emergency situations ;)
Compatible with all Apple Watches S0, S1, S2, S3 & Nike+
USB ports integrated into a Bamboo Apple Watch stand?! We know what you're thinking, absolute madness!
Building on the solid foundations of the Bamboo Advanced Apple Watch stand, the Bamboo Expert adds a touch of technology with the inclusion of four powered USB ports (5V / 2A distributed across the ports). With an almost infinite number of USB powered devices available on the market these days we're sure that you can come up with some handy ways to utilise the four ports included on the Bamboo Expert.
USB powered bar fridge connected to your Bamboo Expert Apple Watch Stand anyone? ;)
For those who are old enough to remember Apple Mac Classic and VHS tapes, the Macintosh Style Apple Watch stand is a nostalgic tribute to the 80s/90s where technology was a lot simpler. The retro styling of the Macintosh Style Apple Watch band allows for an elegant blending between old and new and always sparks an interesting conversation whenever this stand is spotted.
Looks aside, the Macintosh Style Apple Watch stand is also functional, allowing your Apple Watch to snap into place for a quick charge. Best used in combination with the retro styled watch face selected on the Apple Watch, the Macintosh Style stand is a fun way to remind us of how far technology has come over the last 20-30 years!
Conclusion
We hope that this overview of our first wave of Apple Watch stands proves to be useful for you, we have tried our best to bring in a variety of different stands to suit different tastes, however as always feel free to contact us if you ever have any questions about any of the products discussed above (or even new product suggestions!). We're always open to feedback and would love to have a chat :)
OzStraps TeamIt’s no secret that most teachers today feel demoralized — poll after survey tells us so, and it’s no wonder, given that they feel school reformers have put targets on their backs with teacher evaluation systems they feel are unfair and support for programs that they believe belittle their profession. In this post an educator explains why she thinks so many teachers feel so awful so much of the time. The author is Ellie Herman, who took a rather unorthodox path to the world of education.
For two decades she was a writer/producer for television shows including “The Riches,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Chicago Hope” and “Newhart.” She wrote fiction that appeared in literary journals, among them The Massachusetts Review, The Missouri Review and the O.Henry Awards Collection. Then, in 2007, she decided “on an impulse” to become an English teacher. She got a job at a South Los Angeles charter school that was 97 percent Latino and where 96 percent of the students lived below the poverty line. She taught drama, creative writing, English 11 and ninth-grade Composition until 2013, when she decided to stop teaching and spend a year visiting classrooms and learning from other teachers.
Herman chronicled the lessons she learned on her blog, Gatsby in L.A., where a version of the following post appeared. Herman, who gave me permission to publish this piece, was awarded first and third place prizes in the 2014 SoCal Journalist Awards given by the Los Angeles Press Club for pieces on her blog. Now she teaches reading and writing at an after-school enrichment program for students from low-income families, visits the classrooms of great teachers, and works with writers, artists and other creative people.
She has written some popular posts on this blog, including “Are you a bad teacher? Here’s how to tell,” to which she refers in the following piece.
By Ellie Herman
Every day people click on a post I wrote a while ago called “Are you a bad teacher?” On some days it seems as if an infection of self-doubt has burst across the profession, evidenced by the search terms they use, which include terms such as “I’m a horrible teacher” and “I’m a rubbish teacher” and “Why am I a terrible teacher?” So why are so many teachers agonizing over the possibility that they might be bad?
Every day people click on Ellie Herman's post called "Are you a bad teacher?" on her blog, Gatsby in L.A. "On some days it seems as if an infection of self-doubt has burst across the profession, evidenced by the search terms they use," she writes. (The Washington Post)
Is this agonized self-doubt found across most professions? Is there a dentist blogging out there whose most popular post is “Are You A Bad Dentist?” Are there neurosurgeons out there agonizing that they might be rubbish neurosurgeons? Do accountants lie sleepless at 2 a.m. worrying that they are horrible accountants?
Maybe. (And in the case of some dentists, like the one I had when I was a child, they probably should start.) But I doubt it. I suspect that teachers’ obsession with whether they might be horrible or terrible or rubbish might have to do with a variety of external factors, and these factors are important because in our national education crisis—and it is a crisis—one of the things we need to do most urgently is attract and retain good teachers.
So if it’s safe to assume from the sampling of my readers that there are a lot of teachers out there agonizing that they are not good teachers, I think we can also assume that those teachers are unlikely to stay in the classroom because nobody is going to stay for too long in a job at which they feel incompetent. If in fact those teachers are right and they are bad, and yet they care enough about their jobs to be searching for answers in the middle of the night, what are we as an educational system doing to support those teachers so that they can become better?
Here are my thoughts on what’s causing this “bad teacher self-doubt” epidemic and what we might do to help:
1. Teacher training is pathetically inadequate. My own training was a hodgepodge of useless state-mandated courses; in two years, I took exactly one useful class. The rest of the classes were, to be blunt, bureaucratic bullshit along with some helpful hints about how to navigate the byzantine, mind-numbing credentialing system. It cost me thousands of dollars—it costs far more now, thanks to funding cuts—and left me totally unprepared to face a classroom of teenagers in a high-poverty community. The first thing teachers need to learn how to do is manage the classrooms in which they find themselves.
New teachers need specific training and support depending on their community, the size of their classrooms and the age and proficiency level of their students. Nothing I ever learned in my training prepared me for dealing with large classes of students who were several years below grade level, many of whom had difficulty controlling their behavior in class. It took me two years to learn it on my own, every day a trial and error. Right now, our system pretty much makes teachers learn it on their own; the current “student teaching” system pairs a student teacher with a random assortment of whatever teacher is willing to host them, regardless of whether that teacher is any good or teaches in a community like the one that new teacher will soon face. Every new teacher should spend a year in the classroom of a master teacher in the community where he or she plans to teach.
2. Teachers get little or no support. Once you’re in the classroom, you’re pretty much on your own. You can beg a colleague to come observe you and comment, but colleagues are often so swamped themselves that they just don’t have time. Administrators are sometimes willing to help, but they’re also usually too busy—except when they’re evaluating you on the rubric of mandated standards, which may or may not be useful to you. It’s possible that some teachers feel “supported” when an administrator is going over a six-page standardized chart of numeric scores evaluating their every move. All I can say is that I have not met these teachers. But I’ve met a boatload of teachers who do not feel supported—who in fact, feel even worse. Teachers throughout their careers need a mentor who can remind them of why they’re teaching in the first place and help them work toward their dream.
3. Teachers do not have the resources to do a good job. And by “resources,” I do not mean state-of-the-art technology. I mean having enough space for the kids in your room—enough desks, enough books, a library so that they can read. If they need to use a computer, the computer needs to have keys. (I am not making this up—it happens a lot, alas.) If they need to use the Internet, the school needs a functional wireless connection. If you are expected to grade your students regularly and those gradebooks are online, your online gradebook needs to work. In a high-poverty community where many kids are facing day-in-day-out trauma from chaotic living conditions, we need counselors and administrators who can help traumatized students who are acting out and not able to stay in class.
You need to have paper to make photocopies of all the books you can’t afford to buy, and time to make those photocopies. Let’s face it, if we cared at all about teachers’ work, we would have teaching assistants to do the mind-numbing hour or more of photocopying per day. “Would a lawyer put up with this shit?” a former teacher recently asked me, referring to the conditions that had caused him to quit after two years. We need to start by creating conditions in which it’s even possible to do a good job as a teacher. Isn’t it insane that this idea should be up for discussion at all?
Now, it’s possible that even after we solved all those issues, that a teacher might still feel inadequate. In fact, there very well may be teachers who, after a year or so, realize the job really is not for them.
But right now our system doesn’t give teachers space to make a good decision about whether the career is for them; it gives them inadequate training, throws them into a classroom for which they are woefully unprepared, with minimal support and without many of the key elements they need to teach a class successfully—and then holds them to new, high standards and demands that they be excellent or deal with our national wrath.
Is it any wonder that so many teachers feel terrible? I recently visited a school where the 12th grade English teacher was the only teacher in all of the 11th and 12th grade who had been at the school for more than a year. She was the school veteran teacher. It was her second year. And she plans to quit at the end of this year because she can’t take it.
So yes, there are some bad teachers out there. I’ve met them. I am upset about them. But we have created, by our underfunding and our denial of the realities of poverty, a system in which being a good teacher is nearly impossible, in which even good teachers—probably especially good teachers—feel terrible a lot of the time. So yes, let’s raise national standards for teachers. But let’s also ask ourselves, as a country: what can we do to create conditions in which teachers are able to do the good work that matters to them so much that even in the middle of the night, they agonize about how they could be better?
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You may also be interested in:
“Are you a bad teacher? Here’s how to tell”
Teacher: The day I knew for sure I was burned outThe crime of "shopping while Black" isn't just a myth—at least not at CVS, according to several former employees of the pharmacy chain. On Tuesday, former CVS security guard Sheldon Thomas filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company in Brooklyn Federal Court. Thomas, whose primary role was to catch shoplifters, alleged that he was given explicit instructions to target Black and Hispanic shoppers.
Thomas, who is Black, reported that a supervisor told him, “When you catch the black people, lock them up,” and, “when you catch the Spanish people, lock them up,” according to the New York Daily News.
This isn't the first time CVS has been sued for racial discrimination—or the second.
During his year-and-five month tenure at the store, Thomas alleged that his supervisor referred to Black customers using the N-word, and habitually let white shoplifters go without arresting them. Sound familiar? Thomas's lawsuit came only a day after two other former CVS employees filed a discrimination suit in the Bronx Supreme Court. The chain also faced a federal discrimination suit from four former employees in 2015 for essentially the exact same reason.
“While there have been many high-profile shop-and-frisk cases filed by customers of large retailers in recent years,” David E. Gottlieb, the plaintiffs' lawyer, told the New York Times at the time the class-action lawsuit was filed, “this is the first time a group of employees has banded together to provide an inside account and expose the blatant racial profiling policy at one of the largest retailers in the world.”
CVS denied this week's allegations, which they said “appear to be little more than rehashed allegations filed by the same law firm.” The above-referenced Gottlieb is also representing Thomas and the two Bronx plaintiffs in their lawsuits against CVS, according to Gothamist.
The Daily News reported that the company issued a statement reading, “we do not tolerate any practices that discriminate against any of our customers or employees, and our market investigator training explicitly prohibits the profiling of customers.”
CVS is not the only retailer guilty of racial discrimination.
As ATTN: has previously reported, a Black man sued Barney's after he was handcuffed and detained after buying a $349 designer belt at the upscale department store.
Craft supply outlet Michaels also recently came under fire when New York Daily News reporter Shaun King tweeted an image of a racial slur in a window display.
Though the store apologized, some customers said they would continue to boycott it until the employee involved was fired.
Since the latest CVS lawsuit broke, at least one Twitter user called for a boycott of the chain, but as of Tuesday evening, there have been no significant social media trends to this effect.
[H/T Jezebel]BBC Sport writers Anna Thompson and Aimee Lewis recently published an article bemoaning the huge gulf in the amount of prize money men and women receive in sport.
In this article, the British Minister for Sport, Helen Grant MP, declared that [sports must engage] “in the battle for gender balance and fairness.” This came after BBC Sport’s study which showed that in 30% of sports men are paid more than women.
Grant said in an interview with BBC Sport:
“There is a gap, it needs to be closed but it’s not going to happen overnight. We do know that women’s sport is very exciting, we know it can draw really big audiences but we need more media coverage and more commercial investment,”
“It’s not just about the bottom line and profits and the return on investment which I believe they will get, it’s also taking part in the battle for gender balance and fairness in the 21st century.”
The amount of money a sport generates is down to profits, investment and how many people watch it. The more a sport is watched, the more money is made through tickets sold and TV and commercial revenue, and the more likely it is for investors to pump money into the sport. This is the same in any form of entertainment: if nobody watched or turned up to Glastonbury Festival or the Proms next summer, how much money would the organisers make? Mrs Grant seems to be stepping dangerously close to the belief that a group of evil men in suits sit around deciding exactly what athletes are paid, not paying any attention at all to how much money their sports are generating.
It is not about “the battle for gender balance,” it is about encouraging more women to play sport, encouraging more people to watch women’s sport and for women’s sport to “draw really big audiences.”
There is no question that most women’s sports are either already, or have the potential to be, every bit as entertaining as their men’s equivalents. In fact, many of the larger sports, such as tennis, athletics and track cycling, see both genders draw in similar viewing figures: this is reflected in the fact that men and women receive equal prize money. In fact, in tennis there is currently a debate amongst the professionals as to whether women should be paid as much as men, considering they play fewer sets, but that is for another time. This proves conclusively that when the women’s version of a sport is watched as much as the men’s, both are paid equally.
Anna Thompson and Aimee Lewis really begin to throw their toys out of their respective prams when it comes to football. The German men were paid £21million more for winning the 2014 World Cup than the Japanese women were for winning the female equivalent in 2011. This is no mystery: the men’s World Cup Final is the most watched event in sport; how many of you reading this even knew that Japan won the women’s World Cup three years ago? Male footballers’ names are plastered across billboards, TV screens and magazines. In Britain, the vast majority of people know who the likes of David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard are; only dedicated football fans are familiar with such greats as Rachel Yankey, Kelly Smith and Alex Scott.
Without a doubt, women’s football is very entertaining. Though it has not been a professional sport for long—another reason why it will take time for women to receive the same prize money as men—the technical brilliance on display whether in England, the USA, Canada, Brazil or anywhere else is easily as good as the men’s. Few female players have quite the physical prowess of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and—excuse my Arsenal bias—Alexis Sanchez, for the same reason that the women’s shot put world record will never equal that of the men’s, and perhaps that is one reason why women’s football doesn’t quite have the appeal of the hard-and-fast Barclays Premier League. However, there is no question that more people should be watching women’s football than currently do: only 15,000 people turned up to the women’s FA Cup Final, compared to the 90,000 at Wembley to see Arsenal win their first trophy in nine years (I apologise again).
Efforts are being made to change this. The FA’s Director of Women’s Football, Kelly Simmons, told BBC Sport:
“The men’s game is a huge multi-million pound industry so when you compare it to the women’s game, which until three or four years ago was played by amateurs, the gulf is enormous.
“We are investing £12m in women’s football this year but we want to direct that investment where we think it will have the biggest impact and at the moment we do not think that is in prize funds.”
Simmons has hit the nail on the head. Instead of throwing money at glamorous prize funds, it would be a much better idea to put the money into getting more women playing football and increasing the audience for women’s football.
There are some women’s sports which still need developing, such as cricket. Due to the fact that the bowlers are slower and the batsmen are less powerful than in the men’s game, the sport needs to be played on a slightly smaller scale: pitches need to be smaller to increase the number of boundaries scored and, as a result, the scoring rate which, inevitably, is what brings viewers in. If you think that this is patronising towards women I’ll point you in the direction of sports such as the hurdles, where women only run 100m, compared to the men’s 110m, and have to jump over smaller hurdles; the javelin, where the men throw a heavier spear; and golf, where women play on shorter courses to compensate for the fact that they cannot hit the ball as far as men. It’s not a case of making life for the dear little girls easier, it’s a simple case of logic.
Women’s sport, in general, is not as popular as men’s. This needs to change, as both are equally entertaining. Over time, more people will begin to watch various women’s sports as more and more interesting reports emerge. Efforts need to be made to give women’s sport more media coverage, as investors will not back events they fear will not get exposure. Times are changing and more women are being given the exposure they deserve. Hopefully, in time, more sports will see both genders being watched and paid equally.
As stated earlier, prize money is not a fixed value decided according to how sexist or non-sexist officials are. It is decided by how much money a sport generates. Instead of angrily stating that men are paid more than women without offering a solution, go for the Kelly Simmons approach and make an effort to change things.
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Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for? GO!SPED-3 a guest Oct 3rd, 2012 19,252 Never a guest19,252Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 3.38 KB.!.!!!!!.. '!!!!!..!!!. '!!!!!..!!!!!!!. '!!!!!..!!!!!!!!!'.!!!!!!!. '!!!!!!!'.!!!!!!!!!' '!!!!!. '!!!!!!!' '!!!!!. '!!!' '!!!!!.''!!!!! '!' M A C K A P A R M E D I A.---------------------. ----! DCPU-16 INFORMATION!----------------------------------------------------- '---------------------' Name: Mackapar Suspended Particle Exciter Display, Rev 3 (SPED-3) ID: 0x42babf3c, version: 0x0003 Manufactorer: 0x1eb37e91 (MACKAPAR).-------------. ----! DESCRIPTION!------------------------------------------------------------- '-------------' The Mackapar Suspended Particle Exciter Display, Rev 3 ("the device") is a 3D vector display unit. Straight lines are drawn between consecutive vertices in a constant loop, with customizable colors per vertex. The effect is similar to a free floating 3D model. The area of the projected model is about 1x1x1 meters, and projection occurs 1.5 meters above the device. The emitters are capable to rotate at 50 degrees per second, allowing for easy animation of projected models. Up to 65535 lines may be projected, but severe flickering occurs if more than 100 lines are projected..--------------------. ----! INTERRUPT BEHAVIOR!------------------------------------------------------ '--------------------' A, B, C, X, Y, Z, I, J below refer to the registers on the DCPU A: Behavior: 0 Poll device. Sets B to the current state (see below) and C to the last error since the last device poll. 1 Map region. Sets the memory map offset to X, and the total number of vertices to render to Y. See below for the encoding information. 2 Rotate device. Sets the target rotation for the device to X%360 degrees..-----------------. ----! VERTEX ENCODING!--------------------------------------------------------- '-----------------' Each vertex occupies one word of information in the main DCPU RAM. Each word is encoded as (in LSB-0 format): CZZZZZYYYYYXXXXX Where XXXXX is the X-coordinate of the vertex, YYYYY is the Y-coordinate, ZZZZZ is the Z-coordinate, and C is color, where 0 is green and 1 is red..-------------. ----! STATE CODES!------------------------------------------------------------- '-------------' 0x0000 STATE_NO_DATA No vertices queued up, device is in stand-by 0x0001 STATE_RUNNING The device is projecting lines 0x0002 STATE_TURNING The device is projecting lines and turning.-------------. ----! ERROR CODES!------------------------------------------------------------- '-------------' 0x0000 ERROR_NONE There's been no error since the last poll. 0xffff ERROR_BROKEN There's been some major software or hardware problem, try turning off and turning on the device again. COPYRIGHT 1988 MACKAPAR MEDIA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DO NOT DISTRIBUTE
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.!.!!!!!.. '!!!!!..!!!. '!!!!!..!!!!!!!. '!!!!!..!!!!!!!!!'.!!!!!!!. '!!!!!!!'.!!!!!!!!!' '!!!!!. '!!!!!!!' '!!!!!. '!!!' '!!!!!.''!!!!! '!' M A C K A P A R M E D I A.---------------------. ----! DCPU-16 INFORMATION!----------------------------------------------------- '---------------------' Name: Mackapar Suspended Particle Exciter Display, Rev 3 (SPED-3) ID: 0x42babf3c, version: 0x0003 Manufactorer: 0x1eb37e91 (MACKAPAR).-------------. ----! DESCRIPTION!------------------------------------------------------------- '-------------' The Mackapar Suspended Particle Exciter Display, Rev 3 ("the device") is a 3D vector display unit. Straight lines are drawn between consecutive vertices in a constant loop, with customizable colors per vertex. The effect is similar to a free floating 3D model. The area of the projected model is about 1x1x1 meters, and projection occurs 1.5 meters above the device. The emitters are capable to rotate at 50 degrees per second, allowing for easy animation of projected models. Up to 65535 lines may be projected, but severe flickering occurs if more than 100 lines are projected..--------------------. ----! INTERRUPT BEHAVIOR!------------------------------------------------------ '--------------------' A, B, C, X, Y, Z, I, J below refer to the registers on the DCPU A: Behavior: 0 Poll device. Sets B to the current state (see below) and C to the last error since the last device poll. 1 Map region. Sets the memory map offset to X, and the total number of vertices to render to Y. See below for the encoding information. 2 Rotate device. Sets the target rotation for the device to X%360 degrees..-----------------. ----! VERTEX ENCODING!--------------------------------------------------------- '-----------------' Each vertex occupies one word of information in the main DCPU RAM. Each word is encoded as (in LSB-0 format): CZZZZZYYYYYXXXXX Where XXXXX is the X-coordinate of the vertex, YYYYY is the Y-coordinate, ZZZZZ is the Z-coordinate, and C is color, where 0 is green and 1 is red..-------------. ----! STATE CODES!------------------------------------------------------------- '-------------' 0x0000 STATE_NO_DATA No vertices queued up, device is in stand-by 0x0001 STATE_RUNNING The device is projecting lines 0x0002 STATE_TURNING The device is projecting lines and turning.-------------. ----! ERROR CODES!------------------------------------------------------------- '-------------' 0x0000 ERROR_NONE There's been no error since the last poll. 0xffff ERROR_BROKEN There's been some major software or hardware problem, try turning off and turning on the device again. COPYRIGHT 1988 MACKAPAR MEDIA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DO NOT DISTRIBUTEWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence and State Department officials testified behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Thursday about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that has turned into a contentious issue between Republicans and the administration of President Barack Obama.
An exterior view of the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen, in Benghazi September 12, 2012. REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori
Former CIA Director David Petraeus, before his resignation last week over an extramarital affair, had initially been scheduled to testify at Thursday’s closed Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committee hearings, but will now be a solo witness before those panels on Friday morning.
Republicans have accused the Obama administration of misinformation in the early days following the September 11, 2012, attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.
Administration officials say their initial comments that it appeared the attack grew spontaneously out of protests over an anti-Muslim film rather than a premeditated strike were based on the best available information at that time.
Two top Republican senators on Wednesday threatened to block any nomination of Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to a Cabinet post, which must be confirmed by the Senate, for making those initial comments. Obama came to her defense and said if she was the right person for a spot in his Cabinet, he would nominate her.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify before Congress about the Benghazi attack after a State Department report is completed, likely in December.
On Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, acting CIA Director Michael Morell, National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen, FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce and Under Secretary of State for Management Pat Kennedy were testifying behind closed doors at separate hearings of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Clapper and Kennedy walked past a throng of reporters without making any comment before entering a basement hearing room that is specially reserved for the House intelligence committee. A red sign on the door says “restricted area.”
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs was holding an open hearing with non-government experts on the Benghazi attack on Thursday.
“The coordinated, preplanned and brazen attack against the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11th was an outrage. Also disgraceful is the sad parade of conflicting accounts of the attack that we have received from Administration officials in the weeks and months since,” Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement.
“Successive revelations in public reports indicate that the Administration failed to adequately protect the American consulate and denied consulate requests for additional security,” she said.Prostitutes worldwide were this weekend congratulating Women’s Minister Harriet Harman on a job well done – as remarks she made to last week’s Labour Conference have dramatically increased business for sex workers using online site PunterNet.
A press release put out by the owners of the site pointed to a doubling in site traffic on the day of the speech, while some sex workers point to a near trebling of business since then.
Critics claim this is not the first time that gung-ho initiatives by the Women’s Minister have had the opposite effect to that intended.
In the course of her speech on 30 September, Ms Harman informed delegates of "a very sinister development which we are determined to stop".
She then explained: "There is now a website... where pimps put women on sale for sex and then men who’ve had sex with them put their comments online. It is 'PunterNet' and fuels the demand for prostitutes. It is truly degrading and puts women at risk."
She went on to observe that the site included the details of many UK-based women and that she had asked the Governor of California, where punternet is based, to "terminate" all this depravity or else, she added – in predictable sound-bite mode – "I’ll be back".
Like many similar pronouncements on sex work, Ms Harman’s views seem to be based more on thinly veiled distaste and a desire to do all she can to stick an oar in – irrespective of the consequences for the women (and men) involved in it – than any informed response to the issues.
The implication that this site is new is factually incorrect, not least because PunterNet itself claims to be now in its tenth year of operation.
Far more serious is the |
games decided by winning shots in the final three seconds, and seven comeback wins in which the Warriors had been behind by 15 or more points.[62] Curry also made his first appearance in the All-Star Game in 2014. Curry and Klay Thompson continued to set league records in three-point shooting. Curry, who finished the season with 261 threes, set an individual record for most three-pointers in a span of two seasons with 533, surpassing the previous mark of 478 set by Seattle Supersonic Ray Allen in 2004–05 and 2005–06. Together, Thompson and Curry combined for 484 threes on the year, besting by one the NBA record they had set the year before.
2014–present: A new NBA dynasty
Persistent reports that Mark Jackson's job as head coach was in jeopardy led Warriors players to make a unanimous declaration of support for Jackson only minutes after the Warriors' first-round playoff loss to the Clippers.[63] Nonetheless, on May 6, 2014, the team announced that Jackson had been let go.[64] In his three-season tenure as head coach, Jackson compiled a 121-109 (.526) record, overseeing a major turnaround. When Jackson took the helm in 2011, the franchise had made the playoffs only one time over the prior 17 seasons, averaging 30.2 wins per season during that period.[65] Jackson, 49, became just the third head coach in franchise history to lead a team to at least 50 wins in a season, joining Don Nelson and Alvin Attles, who both hit the mark twice with the Warriors. With 121 wins overall, Jackson ranks fourth on the franchise's all-time wins list, trailing Attles (557), Nelson (422) and Eddie Gottlieb (263).[66]
On May 14, 2014, the Golden State Warriors signed Steve Kerr to a reported five-year, $25 million deal to become the team's new head coach.[67] It was a first-time head-coaching position for Kerr, 48, a five-time NBA champion guard who set an all-time career record for accuracy in three-point shooting (.454). Kerr had formerly served as president and general manager for the Phoenix Suns basketball team (2007 to 2010), and had most recently been working as an NBA broadcast analyst for Turner Network Television (TNT). The Warriors also signed point guard Shaun Livingston[68] and guard Leandro Barbosa[69] during the offseason.
The Warriors completed the 2014-2015 regular season with a league-best record of 67-15, setting a new record for most wins in franchise history.[70] The Warriors also finished with a home record of 39–2, second-best in NBA history. The team ranked first in defensive efficiency for the season and second in offensive efficiency, barely missing the mark that the Julius Erving-led Sixers achieved by being first in both offensive and defensive efficiency. On May 4, Stephen Curry was named the 2014–15 NBA Most Valuable Player. Curry became the first Warrior to receive the award since Wilt Chamberlain received it in 1960.
The Warriors swept the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs, defeated Memphis Grizzlies in six games in the second round, and dispatched Houston Rockets in five games in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors advanced to their first NBA Finals since 1975. The team's opponent was the Cleveland Cavaliers, who would later go on to face the Warriors in each of the next three consecutive NBA Finals. After Golden State fell behind 2–1 in the series, Kerr gave swingman Andre Iguodala his first start of the season, replacing center Andrew Bogut in Game 4. The Warriors' small lineup (which came to be known as the Death Lineup) helped turn the series around.[71] The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in six games, and Iguodala was named Finals MVP.[72] Kerr became the first rookie coach to win a title since Pat Riley in 1981–82.[73]
Other highlights of the 2014-2015 season included Stephen Curry breaking his own record for three-pointers made in a single season with 286. He and Klay Thompson made a combined 525 three-pointers, the most by a duo in NBA history. In the postseason, Curry shattered Reggie Miller's record of 58 made three-pointers in a single postseason with 98. On January 23, 2015, Klay Thompson broke an NBA record for points in a quarter with 37 in the third. Curry was also the leader in the voting polls for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, won the 2014–15 NBA Most Valuable Player award and the 2015 ESPYs Best Male Athlete award.
On July 27, 2015, David Lee—who had lost his starting power forward job to Draymond Green during the season[74][75]—was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Gerald Wallace and Chris Babb;[76] Golden State was seeking to offload his salary given his limited role on the team.[77]
The Warriors began the 2015-2016 season by winning their first 24 games, eclipsing the previous best start in NBA history.[78][79] The Warriors surpassed the 1969–70 New York Knicks for the best road start in NBA history at 14–0, which is also the joint-third longest road win streak.[80] Their record-setting start ended when they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12, 2015.[81] The Warriors broke a 131-year-old record of 20–0 set by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons baseball team, to claim the best start to a season in all of the major professional sports in America. Golden State also won 28 consecutive regular-season games dating back to the 2014–15 season, eclipsing the 2012–13 Miami Heat for the second longest winning streak in NBA history.[79] The team set an NBA record with 54 consecutive regular-season home wins, which spanned from January 31, 2015 to March 29, 2016; the previous record of 44 was held by the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls team led by Michael Jordan.[82]
On April 13, 2016, Golden State set the NBA record for most wins in a single season. The team finished the season with a record of 73–9.[83] On May 10, 2016, Stephen Curry was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second straight season. Curry is the 11th player to win back-to-back MVP honors and became the first player in NBA history to win the MVP award by unanimous vote, winning all 131 first-place votes.[84] Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were all named to the 2016 All-Star Game. Green broke the Golden State franchise record of nine triple-doubles in a season. Curry broke numerous three-point records during the season, including his own NBA record for made three-pointers in a season of 286; he finished the season with 402 three-pointers. He made a three-pointer in 151 consecutive games, which broke the NBA record of 127 set by Kyle Korver in 2014. On February 27, 2016, Curry also tied the NBA record of twelve three-pointers made in a single game, jointly holding it with Donyell Marshall and Kobe Bryant.[85]
The Warriors reached the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, facing a rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers.[86] The Warriors won three of the first four games of the 2016 NBA Finals, but the Cavaliers made a comeback to tie the series at three wins apiece.[87] Draymond Green was suspended for Game Five of the series, and Curry was ejected from Game Six.[88] In Game Seven, the Warriors lost the series on their home court, earning the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first team to lose the NBA Finals after having led three games to one.[89]
July 2016 featured a series of significant player transactions. On July 4, 2016, Kevin Durant announced he would leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign a two-year contract with the Golden State Warriors.[90] On July 7, Durant signed his contract, which gave the Warriors a fourth All-NBA player on their team.[91] The Durant signing made the Warriors prohibitive favorites to win the 2017 NBA championship, according to oddsmakers.[92] On July 9, 2016, free-agent forward Harrison Barnes signed with the Dallas Mavericks.[93][94] Centers Festus Ezeli[95] and Marreese Speights[96] left the Warriors for other teams, as did guard Leandro Barbosa.[97] Center Andrew Bogut was traded, along with a future second-round pick, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a future conditional second-round pick.[98] Veteran power forward David West signed with the Warriors,[99] as did free-agent center Zaza Pachulia.[100]
The Warriors posted many notable achievements during the 2016–17 regular season. On November 7, 2016, Stephen Curry set the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a game with 13, in a 116–106 win over the Pelicans.[101] On December 5, 2016, Klay Thompson scored 60 points in 29 minutes, in a 142–106 victory over the Pacers. In doing so, Thompson became the first player in NBA history to score 60 or more points in fewer than 30 minutes of playing time.[102] Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson were all named to the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, making the Warriors only the eighth team in NBA history to have four All-Stars.[103] On February 10, 2017, Draymond Green recorded a triple-double with 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 steals, becoming the first player in NBA history to post a triple-double with fewer than 10 points.[104] On March 2, 2017, the Warriors' streak for most games without back-to-back losses ended at 146 with a 94–87 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The streak eclipsed the previous record of 95 held by the Utah Jazz.[105]
The Warriors earned home-court advantage throughout the 2017 playoffs, thanks to a 2016–17 regular season record of 67–15. They were the first team in NBA playoff history to start the playoffs 12–0, defeating the Trail Blazers, the Jazz, and the Spurs in consecutive series. The 2017 Finals once again pitted the Warriors against the Cavaliers, becoming the first time in NBA history that two teams met in the Finals for three consecutive years. The Warriors won the championship after going 4–1 in the Finals, and their 16–1 playoff record garnered the best winning percentage (.941) in NBA playoffs history.[106] After the Warriors announced that they were uncertain if they would make the customary visit to the White House by playoff champions, President Donald Trump rescinded his invitation.[107] The team still planned to travel to Washington, D.C. to "celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion." Planned activities included meeting with local youth and a visit to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.[108]
The Warriors went into the 2018 playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference after earning a 2017–18 regular season record of 58–24. After defeating both the Spurs and the Pelicans 4-1, the Warriors came up against the top-seeded Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals. Despite reaching a 3-2 disadvantage against the Rockets after Game 5, the Warriors staved off elimination and came back to win the series 4-3, winning the Western Conference for the 4th straight year. The 2018 Finals pitted the Warriors against the Cavaliers for the fourth consecutive season; this marked the first time in NBA history that the same two teams had met in the Finals for four consecutive years. The Warriors swept the Cavaliers to win their second straight NBA championship; previously, there had not been an NBA Finals sweep since 2007.[109] Following the 2018 NBA Finals, writers for Sports Illustrated,[110] USA Today,[88] The Wall Street Journal,[111] and the New York Daily News[112] described the Warriors as a dynasty.
On August 30, 2018, David West announced his retirement from the NBA after 15 seasons.[113][114]
Move from Oakland back to San Francisco
In April 2014, the Warriors began the purchase process for a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site in Mission Bay, San Francisco, to hold a new 18,000-seat arena which is expected to be ready beginning with the 2019–20 NBA season,[115][116] with construction to begin in early 2016.[117] The sale was finalized in October 2015.[118] The location was selected after an original proposal to construct the arena on Piers 30 and 32, just south of the Bay Bridge, met with vocal opposition due to concerns about traffic, environmental impacts and obstruction of views.[119] The new location, which still faces some vocal opposition in San Francisco, apparently eliminates the need for any voter approval, which would have been required with the original site.[120] Some type of waterfront park is planned across from the projected arena, which will be located at an already-existing Muni T-Third stop. The Central Subway, originally planned to open in 2018 and later postponed for 2019, may provide a direct connection between the new site and the downtown Powell Street Muni/BART station. Although the Warriors considered a name change, possibly returning to their former name of San Francisco Warriors,[121] it was ultimately decided that they would remain the Golden State Warriors upon their return to San Francisco.[122] On January 27, 2016, it was announced that the Warriors' new arena would be called Chase Center as part of an agreement with JPMorgan Chase.[123] Approximately 32 months after the January 2017 groundbreaking, the Warriors are expected to take over full control of Chase Center from the two joint construction contractor firms responsible for the building of the arena and attached locations on August 1, 2019, with opening events the following month.[124]
Rivalries
Cleveland Cavaliers
While the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers have played each other since the Cavaliers joined the NBA in 1970, the two teams' rivalry began to develop in the 2014–15 season when they met in the first of four consecutive NBA Finals. Previously, no pair of teams had faced each other in more than two consecutive Finals. The Warriors have won three of the four NBA Finals in which they faced the Cavs, winning in 2015, 2017, and 2018.
Media
Television
Bob Fitzgerald has done television play-by-play, and former Warrior guard Jim Barnett has done color commentary for the Warriors for more than 15 years, currently on NBC Sports Bay Area, where they telecast more than 70 Warrior games a year.[125] They also host Roundtable Live, a half-hour pre-game show leading up to the broadcast of select Golden State home games. Fitzgerald is in his 20th season as the Warriors' play-by-play man, while Barnett is in his 32nd season as color man. Greg Papa, Garry St. Jean, and Kelenna Azubuike are also members of the telecast team, specializing in in-game, halftime and post-game analysis, while Kerith Burke serves as the sideline reporter.[126]
Radio
Tim Roye has done the radio play-by-play for Warrior games since 1995. He is joined in the booth by former Warriors forward Tom Tolbert for home games only. On August 25, 2016, the Warriors announced they were leaving long time station KNBR and all of their games will be broadcast on KGMZ.[127] After each game, Roye, Fitzgerald and Barnett get together for post-game radio analysis and a next-game preview.
Season-by-season records
Home arenas
Head coaches
Players
Current roster
Retained draft rights
The Warriors hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player, either an international draftee or a college draftee, who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends.[129] This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams.
Draft Round Pick Player Pos. Nationality Current team Note(s) Ref
Retired numbers
[130]
Golden State Warriors retired numbers No. Player Position Tenure Date 13 C 1959–1965 1 December 29, 1999 14 F 1961–1967 2 October 13, 1967 16 G 1960–1971 3 February 10, 1977 17 G/F 1985–1997
2000–2001 4 March 12, 2012 [131] 24 F 1965–1967
1972–1978 5 March 18, 1988 42 C 1963–1974 March 8, 1978
Notes:
1 Includes Chamberlain's tenure (1959–1962) in Philadelphia.
Includes Chamberlain's tenure (1959–1962) in Philadelphia. 2 Includes Meschery's tenure (1961–1962) in Philadelphia.
Includes Meschery's tenure (1961–1962) in Philadelphia. 3 Includes Attles' tenure (1960–1962) in Philadelphia. He also served as head coach (1969–1983).
Includes Attles' tenure (1960–1962) in Philadelphia. He also served as head coach (1969–1983). 4 Also served as general manager (2004–2009).
Also served as general manager (2004–2009). Meschery, Attles, Barry, Thurmond and Mullin are also members of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members
Arizin, Fulks, Gola, Johnston and Phillip played all or most of their tenure with the Warriors in Philadelphia. Rodgers' tenure was evenly divided between Philadelphia and San Francisco, and Chamberlain's nearly so. King (Knicks), Lucas (Knicks), Parish (Celtics), Richmond (Kings), Sampson (University of Virginia and Rockets), White (Celtics), and Wilkes (Lakers) were elected mostly for their performances with other teams. Marčiulionis played most of his NBA career with Golden State, but his induction is also for his distinguished international career (Statyba, USSR, and Lithuania). Of those elected to the hall primarily as Warriors, only Thurmond, Barry and Mullin spent significant time with the team since the 1971 move to Oakland and the name change to "Golden State".
FIBA Hall of Famers
Golden State Warriors Hall of Famers Players No. Name Position Tenure Inducted 13 Šarūnas Marčiulionis G 1989–1994 2015
Statistical leaders and awards
Franchise leaders
Individual awards
NBA All-Star Weekend
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Tottenham have beaten off interest from Leicester and struck a deal to sign Victor Wanyama from Southampton.
A fee, believed to be around £11million, has been agreed between the clubs and the Kenyan midfielder is expected to have a medical in the coming days.
Wanyama, who turns 25 next week, is the first player Mauricio Pochettino has successfully lured from his former club Southampton, after failing in previous attempts for Morgan Schneiderlin and Adam Lallana.
Saints had offered the player a new contract but after he snubbed the deal, the managerless south-coast club admitted defeat and have opted to cash in.
(Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty)
Spurs chairman had tried to sell either Ryan Mason or Nabil Bentaleb in part-exchange but neither player is likely to join Saints.
Pochettino wants Wanyama to compete for places with England anchor man Eric Dier and Belgian star Mousa Dembele, as Spurs prepare for the increased demands of Champions League football.
Leicester were also interested but Wanyama was keen to link up again with Pochettino, who signed him from Celtic in 2013.
Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play nowOne of the central complaints of the cracker terrorists currently holed up at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is about “government overreach.”
That phrase is commonly used on the right — applied to everything from income tax to background checks for gun sales — and it’s unavoidable if you follow the Republican presidential primary. Ben Carson, for example, wrote that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — a government agency that helps protect people from banks, debt collectors, payday lenders, and other predatory financial institutions — is “the ultimate example of regulatory overreach, a nanny state mechanism asserting its control over everyday Americans that they did not want, did not ask for and do not need.” Ted Cruz also has a problem with government overreach, which, he says, includes dozens of programs like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts. Oddly, neither Carson nor Cruz think that forcing a woman seeking an abortion to listen to her fetus’ heartbeat counts as overreach, but that’s because they like the idea. Basically, “overreach” just means anything the government does that these guys don’t like.
The rogue ranchers in Oregon misuse the term in the same way. The Bundy family, which is spearheading this little terrorist sit-in, is pissed off that the government won’t let them graze their cattle on public lands for free because of this perceived “overreach.” They’re also mad that Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond were sentenced to five years in prison for violating the law by setting fire to federal lands; that’s overreach too. When, however, government action benefits them, the armed cowboys don’t see any overreach at all.
In fact, the Bundys and Hammonds have been generously subsidized by the Big Government they claim to oppose. Here are just a few examples of welfare programs these families and other ranchers receive:
The Hammonds, whose arson conviction inspired the action in Malheur, received almost $300,000 in federal disaster payments and subsidies from the mid-90s to 2012.
The Hammonds benefited from a government program that kills predators so they won’t attack ranchers’ and farmers’ livestock, Reveal reports. Specifically, the U.S. government shot five coyotes from the air for the Hammonds between 2009 and 2011, which, according to one expert’s estimate, would have cost taxpayers about $8,000. In fact, USDA Wildlife Services — an opaque and ironically named agency — spends $100 million annually to kill millions of animals, much of that in support of ranching and agricultural interests.
The Bundys graze cattle on federal land, a privilege for which the government charges a dirt-cheap price. Federal grazing fees were just $1.35 for a cow and calf per month in 2012, while the going rate on private land was about $20 — that’s a 93 percent discount for ranchers using federal land, as FiveThirtyEight points out. (And even that wasn’t good enough for the Bundys; family patriarch Cliven Bundy has grazed his cattle on federal land without a permit since 1993, and refused to pay more than $1 million in fines and fees, which led to his infamous standoff last year.)
Half of the grazing fees that ranchers pay the federal government come right back to benefit the ranchers. As U.S. News reported last year, “50 percent of grazing fees collected by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service (or $10 million, whichever is greater) go to a range betterment fund in the Treasury. According to the bureau, these so-called ‘Range Improvement Funds’ are used ‘solely for labor, materials, and final survey and design of projects,’ presumably benefiting ranchers.”
Ranchers can cash in on a federal drought disaster relief program. In a particularly ironic case last year, some Nevada ranchers illegally grazed their cattle on public land that been closed to protect it during the ongoing Western drought, denying that the drought existed at all. But it turns out that two of the families leading that rebellion had received $2.2 million in federal drought relief funds the previous year.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management routinely removes wild horses from public lands to make way for cattle. In 2015, according to the BLM, this program cost the American public $75 million.
All of these subsidies to ranchers also cost the environment. The Center for Biological Diversity sums up the ecological costs of cattle grazing: “By destroying vegetation, damaging wildlife habitats and disrupting natural processes, livestock grazing wreaks ecological havoc on riparian areas, rivers, deserts, grasslands and forests alike — causing significant harm to species and the ecosystems on which they depend.”
Clearly, the vigilante ranchers — and Republican presidential hopefuls — are only concerned about “government overreach” when they see it as a threat to their own agendas. When it’s lining their pockets? Well, that’s just good government.This article is from the archive of our partner.
The Republican strategy of universal obstructionism, focused on preventing the reelection of Barack Obama, is no longer tied to any such goal. With party leaders scrambling to figure out how to prevent a government shutdown in 100 or so hours (spoiler: without much luck), it's clear that the "beat Obama" strategy is now just beating up themselves.
Polls consistently show that if there's no spending measure approved before October 1 and the government switches off the lights (however incompletely), the Republican Party will get the blame. (A new CBS Poll: 44 percent would blame GOP; 35 percent, Democrats.) Republican leaders in the House and Senate never wanted to embark on this now nearly week-long diversion in which the party pretended that it could halt Obamacare by somehow tricking Obama into signing a bill gutting the program. (Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks up holding a partially-obscured piece of paper, asks for the president's autograph.) But pressure from the base, fomented by activist groups and Sen. Ted Cruz, made it hard not to at least go through the motions.
Which was totally predictable, in retrospect. From shortly after Obama's election, activists and the conservative media argued that the Obama administration should be fought at every turn. There was this sense of a mixed mandate, which Speaker John Boehner revived after the most recent election — yes, America had twice voted for Obama to be president and the 50 states elected a Democratic majority in the Senate, but they'd also elected a Republican majority in the House. That House majority, elected in 2010, provided enough cover for Republicans to deploy McConnell's now-famous "single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president" strategy. Fight Obama's priorities, drag your feet on ones that pass, with the aim of making Obama look weak in 2012. It worked, but not well enough.
But now the base and hard-right members taste blood. Democracy, predicated on the idea that we elect people to Congress with the goal of representing our local interests to work out what's best for the country, has been replaced with the idea in some circles that a member of Congress is there to force a political ideology on the country, no matter the cost. A Pew poll earlier this month asked which was preferable: shutting down government to stand up for principles or compromise. The results are at right. Which makes sense: the Tea Party hates the government! And they're vocal. Rep. Peter King told Politico that the calls he received from backers of the Cruz defund-Obamacare plan were "vile."Scary Zombie-Walk Parades
What would you think of if you saw a horde of zombie marching your way. I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable, bearing in mind the amount of zombie movies I have seen.
Nevertheless, this kind of costuming as zombies and organizing mass zombie walk events is quite popular thought the whole world. You can surely tell that people participating in zombie walks have lots of fun. The only thing they lack is parade balloons, that they had eaten
If you are thinking about organizing a zombie walk yourself or participating in one, to keep you informed here are some important (funny) rules:
Zombie Rules of Conduct
1. Use the “haunted house” rule in that you are not to touch anyone.
2. Do not attempt to scare anyone who is not a willing participant. If anyone is freaking out, turn and shamble in the opposite direction. Avoid confrontations!
3. Stay on the sidewalk unless crossing the street. When crossing, it’s OK to “break character” and cross quickly. Think fast “New Dawn of the Dead” zombies verses the slower “Old Dawn of the Dead” zombies when crossing the street. Blocking traffic is a crime and anyone doing so could be arrested.
4. No drugs. None. Forget it.
5. No alcohol outside the bars. This will get you a nice fine.
6. No littering, destruction of property, or any other illegal activity. Pretend the South Side is your own neighborhood and show the utmost respect. This is something we would like to do many times a year and we don’t want to ruin it. Remember, the media will be watching us (along with the Pittsburgh Police) and this event could get world wide news coverage. Let’s put on a good show.
Keep in mind you might be asked for a picture ID at the bars and your zombie face might not match your picture ID. If you are refused entry, please understand the doorman is only doing his job.
Please do not attempt to push your way into any business if you are not welcome.Follow John
2013 Chevrolet Volt
The current 2015 Chevrolet Volt, now in its fifth year, will be the last of its generation before a revised and updated 2016 Volt is unveiled next January and goes on sale later in the year.
But GM's first range-extended electric car turns out to have logged another minor distinction in its list of firsts:
The Chevy Volt is, thus far, the sole vehicle in the entire current GM lineup that hasn't been recalled for safety reasons during the last seven months.
DON'T MISS: All Green Car Reports news about the Chevrolet Volt
This distinction was uncovered by reporter Nick Bunkley, in a perspective piece for trade journal Automotive News.
It comes amid regular announcements of new safety recalls of GM vehicles that have become so numerous the company resorted to issuing an infographic to explain them all--and then promptly recalled some more not listed on that slide.
2014 Chevrolet Volt - IIHS small front overlap crash test
He looked at why GM is continuing with the Volt and its range-extended electric powertrain despite lower-than-expected sales, political uproar, and generalized dislike for electric cars by portions of the political spectrum.
The answer can fairly be summarize as: Because GM believes it's the future, and it will give the company a technology edge and a leg up to meeting tough corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards between now and 2025.
The Volt has other distinctions: It brings Chevrolet more "conquest" buyers from other brands (about 70 percent, Chevy says) than other vehicles, and it has the highest customer-satisfaction scores ever recorded by any GM vehicle in history.
It was also deemed a Top Safety Pick+ based on new and tougher crash-safety tests by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS).
ALSO SEE: 2016 Chevy Volt Coming: A Look Back At GM's Range-Extended Electric Car (News Video)
So Volt owners can take legitimately take pride in the design and build quality of their range-extended electric cars.
Some may even want to point out to friends that their car hasn't been recalled this year--unlike tens of millions of Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Chryslers, Dodges, Fords, GMCs, Hondas, Lexuses, Pontiacs, Rams, Saturns, Toyotas, and many more makes.
That said, GM may well issue further recalls, as it has done every few weeks this year.
Perhaps the bragging is better saved until, say, December 15. Just in case.
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Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.UNDER Ireland's austerity plans, tax rises and spending cuts worth a cumulative €30 billion ($41 billion), the equivalent of 20% of a single year's GDP, will be imposed over the seven years to 2014. Pay and welfare cuts, as well as higher taxes, have all taken their toll on output. House prices have fallen by 43% from their 2007 peak. A year ago the cost of rescuing the banks forced the government led by Fianna Fail's Brian Cowen to seek a European Union/IMF bail-out worth some €85 billion.
After this it was no surprise that Mr Cowen lost February's election to Fine Gael's Enda Kenny. Mr Kenny now heads a centrist coalition with Labour that has Ireland's biggest-ever parliamentary majority. He hopes that Ireland will be the first to exit its EU/IMF bail-out programme, ahead of Greece and Portugal. By 2015 he aims to have cut the budget deficit to under 3% of GDP.
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The country's painful fiscal adjustment has, so far, been accepted by Irish people with surprising stoicism, despite a rise in unemployment to 14%. The current account swung back into surplus last year; unit labour costs have fallen sharply. Mr Kenny is not short of advice on what to do next. Ireland's central bank, the OECD and a new Irish fiscal council all have a similar idea: to cut the deficit faster than the EU/IMF programme requires so as to regain market credibility. Ireland could then make an earlier return to the sovereign-debt market.
Since July 21st, when EU leaders cut the interest rate on the Irish bail-out, the spread between Irish and German ten-year bonds has shrunk by almost half. The fiscal position has improved: tax rises and spending cuts are on target to produce a budget deficit of 10% this year; still high, but a big drop from last year's 32%. And the economy, unlike Greece's or Portugal's, is visibly on the mend—indeed, the central bank has just raised its 2011 growth forecast.
Yet there are big risks ahead. Ireland remains almost entirely reliant on exports, with domestic demand, notably in construction, at best flat. A global slowdown would slash growth, making it harder to stabilise the public debt, which is expected to peak at 120-125% of GDP in 2013. Amid uncertainty over a possible restructuring of Greek debt, this could be a huge problem. A bigger-than-expected Greek write-down would invite speculation that Ireland and Portugal will follow suit. The government fears that it might then lose the gains it has so painfully made. Ireland sees a glimmer of a chance to escape from being bracketed with southern euro-zone countries known by their initials as the PIGS. But it is not out of the sty yet.ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — The foundation of hockey Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay is donating $1 million to a center in Michigan to help children with autism and their families, officials announced Wednesday.
Beaumont Health System said that the support from the Ted Lindsay Foundation will expand and create a new facility for the Hands-On Parent Education Center, which offers services for families of children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disorders.
"It's not just the child that has autism. It's the whole family that has autism," Lindsay said in a statement. "It's not a one-person thing."
Previously known as the HOPE Center, the facility is part of the Royal Oak-based health system's Beaumont Children's Hospital. In recognition of the gift, the Beaumont Health System is renaming the center as the "Ted Lindsay Foundation HOPE Center."
Lindsay played in the NHL for Detroit and Chicago. His foundation has supported autism research and programs for more than a decade.
In 2012, the foundation donated $64,000 to purchase electronic tablets and netbooks for the HOPE Center. The funding also provided autism treatment scholarships for children, and HOPE Center Director Lori Warner said the foundation's support has been important.
"They felt our passion and they wanted to support us in any way they could," she said. "We felt immediately energized because we knew they understood our mission."
___
Online:
http://www.beaumontchildrenshospital.com/hope
http://www.tedlindsay.com
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.DarkCoin has been getting a lot of publicity lately, with good reason.
If DarkCoin is able to execute on what it promises, it would be a game changer.
DarkCoin’s exciting feature is called DarkSend.
DarkSend is slated to be the first completely anonymous transaction implementation in the cryptocurrency space.
Some people have the belief that an attractive feature of Bitcoin is that it is untraceable.
However, that is not true. Bitcoin is completely traceable on the Blockchain. Every transaction is accounted for.
(In fact, this Blockchain might just be the evidence needed to discover what happened with the lost/stolen/destroyed Bitcoins at Mt. Gox)
DarkSend promises to keep the exchanging of coins much more secretive.
And this isn’t without reason.
There’s an entire world of underground transactions that would like the sound of DarkSend’s features.
The Rise and Fall of Silk Road
Up until the last few months, Silk Road (A marketplace that facilitated trades in Bitcoin) because relatively well known as a place to exchange Bitcoins for illegal weapons, substances, and other black market items.
Authorities caught wind of just how much was going on and ended up busting the entire operation.
Enter DarkCoin.
DarkCoin may allow an operation like Silk Road to run smoother and quietier.
In fact, the development of DarkRoad has just been announced earlier this morning.
NOTE: We certainly do not condone any of the activities of SilkRoad or DarkRoad, but one can clearly see a probable cause for an increase in demand of DarkCoin 😉
Now, this DarkSend feature was still in beta all week. Some people criticized the technology and said it couldn’t be done. That didn’t stop speculators from testing the 0.002 BTC ceiling |
rouded in silence, even though it is about 10 times more common than cot death”, she says. Out of every 1,000 babies born in Britain, approximately 2.9 are stillborn. In 2015, nine babies were stillborn every day, placing Britain at 24th on a list of 49 high-income countries.
When Beck, whose daughter Mary was stillborn, did talk about her experience and heard those of other women, she realised how familiar and similar their emotions were, even when the stillbirths had been a long time ago. “The magnitude of the loss, the feelings of responsibility and guilt expressed by many mothers and the different ways mothers and fathers express their grief struck me,” she says.
This realisation led Beck, a television producer, and Gibson, who worked as a documentary producer and director for the BBC for 12 years, to create Stillbirth Stories, which is funded by Wellcome, as a resource to help parents share the experiences of others who have had a stillborn child. Here, mothers and fathers talk about getting pregnant, learning something was wrong and that they would lose their child. They describe giving birth and coping afterwards; the importance of caring support from clinicians and how significant it was to have a funeral ceremony. Their stories are intimate, profoundly moving and a hugely valuable insight into what stillbirth means. And they remove the taboo around the subject.
One couple who share their story via Stillbirth Stories are Sam and Martin, whose first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. They quickly conceived again, but their son, Guy, was stillborn at 25 weeks and five days. The following year, they had a second miscarriage. Their interviews are heart-rending but may be deeply comforting for someone experiencing a similar situation. Sam tells of her anxiety when she became pregnant the second time: “When I had the 12-week scan, I was waiting for them to say, ‘Oh no... there’s no heartbeat.’ But he was waving his little hands on the screen. Then we felt safe.” However, at the 20-week scan, the couple were told that, although the organs were developing well, Guy was very small. At a scan three weeks later, it was discovered that fluid had been leaking and there was a poor blood flow from the placenta. Guy would almost certainly not survive.
The government has set a target to cut these deaths by 50% by 2030. About half of all stillbirths occur after 34 weeks, says Prof Alex Heazell, clinical director of Tommy’s Stillbirth Research Centre in St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester. He also led the Midlands and North of England Stillbirth Study, which recruited more than 1,000 women and looked at babies’ movement patterns and mothers’ sleep habits, diet and smoking. Few women realise that if they give up smoking before they are 16 weeks pregnant, their risk of stillbirth becomes the same as for a mother who never smoked.
Heazell’s role also includes overseeing the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s Rainbow Clinic, which cares for women bereaved by stillbirth when they become pregnant again (there is evidence that they might be at higher risk of having a subsequent stillbirth). He has seen the importance of being aware from the moment there are signs that something is not right. So far, out of the 500 births since the clinic was set up, none has been stillborn. Heazell says: “About half of stillbirths occur after 34 weeks, meaning that these are babies who, if we knew about them earlier, could be expected to survive. A prevalent belief in society is that these babies were ‘not meant to be’, but that is certainly not true.”
Parents need to realise, he adds, how important it is that they get checked immediately if a baby seems not to be moving, so that a heart trace or ultrasound scan can be done.
At the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists, vice-president Edward Morris describes the Each Baby Counts project, which looks at how different types of care can produce better outcomes for babies who may die towards the end of pregnancy. Meanwhile, an analysis of 512 stillbirths based on hospitals in five US states was published in March by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The study found that testing the placenta established cause in about two-thirds of stillbirths, and fetal autopsy helped in roughly 40% of cases. Genetic testing helped pinpoint a cause in 12% of cases.
The incidence of stillbirth hasn't changed in decades. We need to talk about why | Kristina Keneally Read more
While Stillbirth Stories recounts the experiences of couples, Gibson and Beck also thought it was important to hear how clinicians themselves cope with the emotional strain. As Morris says: “I challenge any obstetrician who diagnoses a baby dead in utero not to feel emotion. If you didn’t find these things affecting, you would need to reflect on whether it was the right work for you. But there is a reward in successfully managing your emotions.”
Jane has been a midwife for 17 years, and, for the last 14, has worked as a specialist bereavement midwife in an inner-London hospital. “I offer care as soon as we are aware that a baby has passed away,” she says. She talks parents through what to expect about delivery, and what happens afterwards. “I am a point of contact and an area of support. Some families need a lot, others don’t need so much. So I offer almost every family a different thing.”
The hardest part, she says, is walking into the room and not knowing what emotions to expect from a family. “I can be the ultimate professional in a room, and that doesn’t mean I don’t cry, but it’s not in an inappropriate sobbing way; it is kind of reflecting their grief rather than it being my own.” Afterwards, she says, she may sit in a chair and sob. “And that’s my personal kind of grief coming for them.”
The support Jane herself needs to do the work comes from professionals and colleagues who are also friends: “We talk a lot about it. I share an office with people who cry as much as I do during our conversations. If I didn’t have that support at work, it would be very difficult.”
Why photos of stillborn babies matter Read more
Eileen, a junior registrar at an inner-London hospital, recalls the distress she felt with a very distraught mother who had just delivered: “The mother just kept asking why this had happened. And I had to give the honest answer, that we didn’t know. It’s so hard because you have to try and not get upset. And if you say the wrong thing in that moment, that can go on to shape how they view that whole event … which is petrifying.”
One of the hardest things can be asking parents who, understandably may feel very upset at the idea, whether they are happy for their child to have a postmortem, the results of which would go towards research. Sam and Martin recall struggling with the idea, but wanting any information possible about what might have been wrong with Guy. “We just kind of signed the form … I don’t remember it other than [thinking] we need to have this done. It was a massive thing for Guy to do … for his future siblings, really.”
Stillbirth Stories shows the different ways that families may grieve and suffer, but many are comforted by seeing the stillborn child as part of their family. Rick and Sarah say, as one: “Although the death of Lily Rose has taken our dream of a child living with us, we have been helped to celebrate that we had her, that she exists somewhere and that, whatever happens, we are parents.”(UPDATED) China confirms one of its warships accidentally ran aground in a territory claimed by the Philippines
Published 8:00 PM, July 13, 2012
(UPDATED) MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines confirmed Friday, July 13, that a Chinese Navy warship ran aground at Half Moon Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands that is claimed by both the Philippines and China.
Quoting the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, the Chinese Embassy said it happened accidentally during a routine patrol mission. No personnel was injured, it added.
“Currently, the rescue work by the Chinese Navy is under way,” the embassy said.
Earlier Friday, an Australian news website said a Chinese warship is “thoroughly stuck” in a reef within Philippine territory.
Citing Western diplomatic sources, the Sydney Morning Herald said the warship on Thursday, July 12, “pinned itself” to a reef in Half Moon Shoal.
The stranded vessel is believed to be People's Liberation Army Navy vessel No. 560, a Jianghu-class frigate. It "has in the past been involved in aggressively discouraging Filipino fishing boats from the area," said the Australian report.
The Philippines is ready to assist the warship, said Western Command Lt Col Neil Estrella. (Read: PH ready to assist Chinese warship.)
"Salvage operations could be diplomatically challenging, given the vessel appears to have run aground within 200 kilometers of the Philippine coast, which is squarely within what Manila claims to be its exclusive economic zone (EEZ)," the Sydney Morning Herald article said.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country's EEZ is the area 200 nautical miles from its baselines within which a state has the sovereign rights to explore and exploit, and conserve and manage natural resources, among others. China's alleged violation of the Philippines' EEZ rights also sparked the ongoing dispute over Scarborough Shoal.
"The accident could not have come at a more embarrassing moment for the Chinese leadership, who have been pressing territorial claims and flexing the country's muscle ahead of a leadership transition later this year," the report added. — Rappler.com
Related stories:On sait qu'Enora Malagré et Jean-Marc Morandini ne s'apprécient pas beaucoup... Voire pas du tout! L'animateur d'Europe 1 n'a pas hésité à tacler la chroniqueuse de Touche pas à mon poste (D8) lors de son émission matinale. Tout est parti du sondage réalisé par nos confrères de Voici qui liste les 25 personnalités les moins appréciées de l'année 2013 où Nabilla, Zahia et Franck Ribéry figurent en tête de classement.
Alors qu'un chroniqueur du Grand direct des médias, l'émission de Jean-Marc Morandini sur Europe 1, évoquait les résultats de cette étude, l'animateur n'a pas hésité à conclure la séquence en s'attaquant à Enora Malagré. "Il y a quand même une bonne nouvelle, c'est l'entrée en 15ème position d'Enora Malagré. Comme quoi, il y a des fois, le vide et la vulgarité ça se remarque du côté des Français", a-t-il lâché. Une petite vengeance de la part de l'ex-animateur de NRJ 12?
Il faut dire qu'Enora Malagré n'hésite pas à balancer sur Jean-Marc Morandini dans Touche pas à mon poste...
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Touche pas à mon poste : la (grosse) chute de Bertrand Chameroy! (VIDEO)
Enora Malagré confirme être célibataire dans Touche pas à mon poste (VIDEO)
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Cyril Hanouna tacle (à nouveau) Jean-Marc Morandini (VIDEO)An IDF soldier was shot and moderately wounded while guarding a group of religious Jews visiting the Joseph’s Tomb holy site, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, early Thursday morning, the army said.
The injured soldier was brought to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva for treatment and is currently in stable condition, an army spokesperson said.
The shots were fired at the entrance to the Balata refugee camp, which is located a few blocks away from the tomb, on the outskirts of Nablus.
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“The circumstances of the incident are being investigated,” the army said in a statement.
Local residents also rolled burning tires and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at troops guarding the area.
The forces responded with riot dispersal tactics, and the visitors were able to complete their prayers “as planned,” the army said.
Some 16 buses full of visitors entered the Palestinian city early Thursday morning, according to the IDF.
The military, along with the Border Police and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, oversees such pilgrimages to Joseph’s Tomb every month.
According to Jewish tradition, the biblical patriarch is buried in the tomb, while Muslims say a local sheikh is buried there.
The tomb is located inside Area A of the West Bank, under complete Palestinian Authority control. The IDF bars Israeli citizens from entering Area A without authorization.
While gunfire is relatively uncommon, local Palestinians regularly attack the soldiers guarding the visitors with rocks, firebombs and burning tires.
Last week, dozens of members of the Bratslav Hasidic sect were detained by police after they visited the holy site without army escort. Residents threw stones at the group, lightly injuring two.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the IDF also arrested six suspected members of the Hamas terror organization in the West Bank.
Four of them were arrested in the Hebron area, while the other two were picked up near Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.The Secret Sauce Behind Lone Echo’s Incredible Success
Kirill Karev Blocked Unblock Follow Following Sep 2, 2017
The game was released about a month ago and instantly became a hit. As a developer, I play as many VR games as I can in search of the best practices to implement in my project.
What I noticed was that Lone Echo actually differs a lot from other VR titles. You see, this game has one important thing other VR experiences still don’t. Keep reading to find out what it is.
A bit about the game
Lone Echo is a single-player narrative-driven VR adventure game developed by Ready at Dawn.
You play as Echo One or Jack, a smart robot designed to assist Olivia “Liv” Rhodes — captain of Kronos II, a mining facility on the rings of Saturn. She is the only human on the ship along with robots, so called Echo Units.
During her last days on Kronos an unknown anomaly appears in front of the ship. Your goal is to help Liv figure out the nature of this thing.
The secret sauce
From the first minutes, this game immerses you at an incomparable level. After playing a bit more, everything becomes clear.
Ready at Dawn succeeded in the following:
Attention to detail.
Turns out that it’s the details that take immersion to the next level. Frankly, I have not felt being in a game more than in Lone Echo.
In this post I’ll explain what those details are, how they affect immersion and how you can implement them in your game.
So, how did Ready at Dawn do it?
They definitely put a lot of work to fill in the details of these three main components of the game.
1. Olivia “Liv” Rhodes
At the moment you start playing, Liv and Jack already have a story. She treats you(as Jack) like a human being even though you are an artificial intelligence.
The game starts when you wake up at some kind of hibernation dock. After a quick tutorial, you can communicate and interact with Olivia.
From the start, you will notice that interacting with her is a more lifelike experience than in other games. With the details that developers added to her animation and communication system, Liv comes to life.
Olivia responds as a real human would
You know the things most people do when they first start a new VR experience? They test the boundaries: throwing things and obscene behavior are just a couple of them. If the game character is not responding properly to player’s actions, it may break the immersion completely.
Ready at Dawn solves this problem like a pro. If you throw an object at Olivia, she will dodge it. If you touch her anywhere below the hips, she will hit your hands away. If you give her a thumbs up, she will respond in kind.
These details create the “Aha” moment when you start believing the character is more than a dumb puppet. And as a result, you start behaving. Quite a good outcome for a dozen response animations.
The communication system makes you believe you can actually talk
How? Well, Lone Echo fulfills the need for communication with Liv anytime you want. They use a dialog system that can be activated near a point of interest. So, you can ask Liv a couple of questions.
The trick is that Ready at Dawn recorded a small conversation about every single thing you might be interested in. So, it seems that you can communicate with Liv anytime you want. This approach actually makes you forget that you are playing a scripted experience.
2. Player’s avatar
Jack is one of several robots maintaining the ship and helping Olivia. Although he is one of that Echo Units, he is different. He has a somehow better A.I system and five fingers instead of three.
Unlike most developers, Ready at Dawn created a so ridiculously detailed model of Jack’s — the player’s avatar — robotic body that it makes your brain perceive it as your own.
The effect is created by filling in details that the player sees the most — the hands. First, thanks to IK (Inverse Kinematics), Jack’s palms grip animation is completely natural(finally!). Second, when you stretch your hands, you see how all the wires and mechanisms stretch too.
Such tremendous work on details leads to unprecedented things. For example, you literally begin to fear virtual death.
Imagine that you play a couple of hours. Your brain has already gotten used to your new steel torso. Suddenly, you fall into the radiation zone.
After a few seconds your hands become rusty, the сolors fade. And if you die, after respawning, you find your dead crooked rusty robotic body at the place you died, floating in the cold space.
Will you worry more about your virtual life after this? Hell yeah! Such a feeling fully justifies the tremendous work on details.
3. The world
Besides the very detailed ship and dig sites there is one thing that drives immersion from the point of environment —game items. The environment is awash with interactive stuff floating in weightlessness and stuck to the walls that you can grab, throw and play with.
The truth is that this “garbage” makes the game’s environments realistic.
Developers made it possible to ask Liv about almost every item you meet in the game and she will tell a short story related to it. But it’s not the only purpose.
I’ve made a brief classification of all of the kinds of items you will meet during the game.Vaccines are considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. They've saved millions of lives. But there are still outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases all over the world — including in the United States.
The Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank, has been tracking news mentions of such outbreaks since the fall of 2008, and they've assembled an amazing, interactive map of them.
In the maps below, each type of illness is identified by a color (Measles / Mumps / Rubella / Polio / Whooping Cough / Other), and larger circles mean more infections (though keep in mind the dots and the maps we've screenshotted here are not all to the same scale).
We've pulled out some interesting things we found as we explored.
Here's a zoomed-out view of all of the vaccine-preventable outbreaks CFR has recorded in North America, with South America, Africa, and parts of Europe and Asia.
Council on Foreign Relations Now here's a zoomed-in view of just the U.S.:
Council on Foreign Relations Outbreaks naturally cluster where there are more people. Cities with large numbers of people who travel internationally may be especially susceptible, as some — not all — outbreaks originate internationally, especially since some of these infections are more prevalent overseas.
Overall, the United States has seen a huge resurgence in whooping cough in the last few years. Look at the scene from 2009:
Council on Foreign Relations Compare the image above to 2012, when all of these whooping cough hotspots popped up. One outbreak in Wisconsin infected almost 6,000 people:
Council on Foreign Relations Not vaccinating children is a disturbing trend and a major health risk— unvaccinated children are at least 8 times more likely to get whooping cough than those who have received the recommended pertussis vaccinations. But the CDC says that's not the main reason for the recent spike in whooping cough cases.
The increase is because of "increased awareness, improved diagnostic tests, better reporting, more circulation of the bacteria, and waning immunity," the CDC says. (The whooping cough vaccine gets less effective as we age, which is why boosters are so important.)
On top of the resurgence of whooping cough, 2011 saw measles outbreaks across the country, especially along the Eastern seaboard. These cases were likely due to dropping vaccination rates — 86 percent of those infected were unvaccinated, the CDC reported:
Council on Foreign Relations Other than whooping cough and measles, the vaccine-preventable outbreaks in the United States since 2008 involved meningitis, chicken pox, typhoid, tetanus, and mumps. All of these happened in a country where vaccines are widely available and widely used.
But the U.S. is not not alone among developed nations facing an upwelling of vaccine preventable infections. Here's what the maps look like for Australia and Japan:
CFR
CFR
The United Kingdom has dealt with a surprising number of measles outbreaks, with the largest affecting more than 2,000 people. France has had fewer measles outbreaks overall, but one 2011 outbreak infected almost 15,000 people. And those numbers are dwarfed by rubella outbreaks in Poland and Romania, which infected more than 39,000 and 24,000 people respectively. Here's the relevant slice of Europe:
CFR
The largest measles outbreak we found on the map was in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where measles spread to 134,000 people in 2011. A measles outbreak in India infected almost 30,000 people, and one in China infected more than 52,000.
CFR Sierra Leone had a shockingly large outbreak of cholera, a disease that's been completely eradicated in many other countries, and Nigeria (you can see its capital city, Lagos, on this map) seemed to have an especially high concentration of outbreaks overall:
CFR While this could be partially because Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in the world, the country's measles outbreaks are especially troubling since they are associated with very high mortality there.
"Children in [Nigeria, Chad, and Niger]," a 2007 study in the journal PLoS Medicine concludes, "still face unacceptably high mortality from a completely preventable disease."
CFR's full map of vaccine-preventable disease is below. Just click on "map" to play around with it for yourself, or visit the larger version on their site.Bees are our unacknowledged partners and ancient allies, vital in the pollination of food crops, keeping farms in business and in helping parks, gardens and the countryside to thrive. Yet bees are in decline in their numbers and their range. The plight of bees is in the press every week.
Royal Mail is issuing these stamps to educate customers and mail senders and receivers about the huge variety of British bees, their vital importance and to promote moves for bee protection.
Royal Mail is not promoting any particular conservation organisation in connection with this issue, but if you are interested in bee species and their identification, and bee conservation visit the Bee Cause website of Friends of the Earth.
Monitor page
for changes
it's private
by ChangeDetectionArthur Masuaku says Hammers want to avenge their home defeat by Watford at Vicarage Road
West Ham United went 2-0 up before imploding at London Stadium
Left-back is fit again after a period on the sidelines with a knee injury
Arthur Masuaku is hoping to gain revenge over Watford and help West Ham United get back on the winning trail when they return to Premier League action on Saturday.
Masuaku is ready to win back his place in the squad after recovering from a knee ligament injury and wants to make amends for the disappointing home defeat by Watford back in September.
West Ham dominated the opening 40 minutes and raced into a two-goal lead after Michail Antonio netted a brace and looked the strong favourites to secure all three points.
But the Hammers suffered a bad end to the first half when they conceded two goals in the final five minutes and ended up losing 4-2.
Masuaku played in that game and says his team-mates will have a major point to prove when they line-up at Vicarage Road this weekend.
He said: “We want to get revenge on Saturday. I remember the game and we played so well in the first 40 minutes and should have killed the game off.
“I don't know how we lost but we want to make amends for that defeat and hopefully we can win on Saturday.
“We were unlucky not to get the three points in the last game against West Brom and we could have got the victory if certain decisions had not gone against us. Hopefully we will have more luck in the next game.”
I don't know how we lost but we want to make amends for that defeat and hopefully we can win on Saturday Arthur Masuaku
While Watford will form the opposition at Vicarage Road, the former Olympiacos star will see a friendly face in a yellow shirt - his former France U19 team-mate Abdoulaye Doucoure.
The duo have remained good friends and the French full-back hopes he can earn the bragging rights over the Watford midfielder at the final whistle.
Masuaku added: “We played together for the France U19s. He is a very good player and a nice guy as well. When he came to Watford he didn't feature at the beginning but he is now starting to play and I am very happy for him. He has adapted well to the Premier League.
“He is my friend, but when we play on Saturday we will not be friends!”
West Ham's Premier League fixture at Watford will be screened live by BT Sport at 5.30pm on Saturday 25 February.Abstract: Much attention has been given to the Islamic State’s military and governance activities in northern and eastern Syria, but there has been less focus on its slow and steady growth in the southern theater. Since July 2013, it has been building a presence in a number of locales around Damascus, with the eventual goal of taking the city. While such aspirations are still far beyond the group’s military capabilities, it has actively rolled out soft-power strategies. Focusing on the Islamic State’s activities in the north and east of Syria could prevent a complete understanding of what it is attempting to accomplish.
The headlines from the Syrian war have focused for the most part on the north and east of the country. The media has tended to concentrate its attention on, for example, efforts by Kurds to push back against the Islamic State or Russia’s air campaign. There are good reasons for this. First, it is difficult for Western reporters to cover the fighting in other areas of the country. In addition, the north and east are where many of factions fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whether revolutionary, Islamist, or jihadi, have been strongest. It is also where territory was first taken from the regime and where jihadi groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra control parts of Idlib governorate and the Islamic State has set up its self-styled Wilayat al-Raqqah and Wilayat al-Khayr (Dayr al-Zur).
Despite this current focus on the north and east, the southern theater could be more important to the outcome of the Syrian civil war. The regime is based in Damascus, the capital of Syria. Damascus is one of several seats of the former caliphate, and occupying it would provide immense legitimacy. While Damascus is unlikely to fall in the near term, the continued buildup of the Islamic State’s assets and presence in the surrounding area could provide a longer-term threat not only to the regime and the rebels fighting it, but also for Jordan and perhaps Israel.
To better understand the history, evolution, capabilities, and future trajectories of the Islamic State in southern Syria, this article will examine the group’s activities in the area starting with its first attempt at building up its network in 2013. We will argue that the ultimate goal is to control Damascus.
Al-Zarqawi’s Facilitation Network
The roots of the Islamic State’s ability to penetrate southern Syria were in the creation of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Damascus network. Much as Pakistan served as a staging ground for the anti-Soviet jihad in the 1980s, Syria played this role last decade in relation to the conflict in Iraq. U.S. officials stated that 90 percent of the foreign fighters traveling to Iraq went through Syria.[1] Many of these individuals were put up in safe houses led by al-Zarqawi’s man in Syria, the Iraqi Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidi (better known as Abu Ghadiya).[2] These networks were also integrated with the Bashar al-Assad regime through bribes and the smuggling networks that lined the pockets of local officials—and the relationship even extended to some training.[3] It was also a way for the regime to get intelligence about these networks while also providing some opportunity to shape them to the regime’s liking. But, as in the case of Pakistan several decades earlier, these attempts backfired, spurring a long list of attacks and bombings.[4]
The network in Damascus also relied on locals, with the town of al-Hajr al-Aswad and its adjacent al-Yarmuk Refugee Camp just a few kilometers south of the city providing a backdrop for the local growth in Salafi ideas in the late 1990s. One of al-Zarqawi’s key operatives there was Shaker al-Absi, who had been based there since 1996. He had been involved with the network that planned and executed the attack on American USAID worker Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan in 2002 and he would eventually become the leader of Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon in 2006 and 2007.[5] To illustrate the importance of this base, it was reported that allegedly up to 1,000 Palestinians in al-Yarmuk Refugee Camp signed up to fight in Iraq in 2003.[6] A lot of the facilitation and logistics for this took place in mosques in the Damascus area, with imams, such as Mohammed Majid (better known as Mullah Fuad), exhorting fighters awaiting approval to continue their journey to Iraq.[7]
When the Islamic State of Iraq (its name at the time) dispatched operatives to create Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria in July 2011, it relied on these same networks and connections to build up a presence in the Damascus area.[8] Even Jabhat al-Nusra’s first two attacks were in that region.[9] Some of these individuals would then defect to the Islamic State after the split with Jabhat al-Nusra in April 2013, allowing the group to start operating in southern Syria. Until the infighting between the Islamic State, more secular revolutionaries, and Islamist rebels in January 2014, the Islamic State was at a minimum accepted by groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyyah (HASI). This allowed Islamic State fighters to operate unimpeded, which it would take advantage of.
First Attempt: Jul. 2013–Jun. 2014
During the first few months after the split with Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State built up its sleeper cell networks before kicking off overt operations. The first signs of activity came when pictures surfaced in July 2013 showing its Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi military training camp in Ghouta.[10] It also set up a training camp for “cubs” (a euphemism for child soldiers) in mid-October 2013.[11] Related, the Islamic State joined military operations with other insurgent factions in eastern Ghouta beginning in late-August 2013 as part of the Burkan al-Tha’ir (The Volcano of Revenge) campaign, in response to the al-Assad regime’s sarin gas attack.[12]
Starting in mid-September 2013, Islamic State representatives also participated in a massive dawa (outreach and missionary activities) campaign to ingratiate itself with the local population. It held forums mainly directed at children and provided them with presents, with one such forum being held in al-Yarmuk Refugee Camp in late June 2014.[13] Another aspect of the Islamic State’s dawa campaign was distribution of religious literature including a prayer guide for the sick in Damascus in September 2013.[a] Moreover, it put up dawa billboards and visited the sick in eastern Ghouta, provided food aid in al-Zabadani, and conducted Qur’an classes for children in southern Damascus.[14]
The plan also emphasized the concept of jihad for the sake of God. Commentary on the importance of jihad in the Damascus region was produced as early as October 14, 2013 when the Islamic State released its video, “Messages from the Land of Epic Battles #10,” about the journey of a family from Kazakhstan to the Islamic State.[15] The film is a propaganda piece highlighting the daily lives of different individuals. Toward the end, a young jihadi sacrifices himself in a military operation against the al-Assad regime in al-Nabek area, northwest of Damascus.
After the Islamic State’s local leaders became comfortable in the local rebel milieu, they began to move against their enemies. Partly this was thanks to new pledges of allegiance, such as the one from Katibat Dhu al-Nurayn of Alwiyat al-Habib al-Mustafa in late January 2014.[16] Tensions between the Islamic State and other factions in the south began to grow at about the same time as such issues began springing up in northern Syria. For instance, on February 20, 2014, the Islamic State reported on fighting west of al-Yarmuk Refugee Camp in Babbila, in which its forces pushed out the Free Syrian Army (FSA).[17]
While it appeared that the Islamic State was beginning to make gains, severe fighting in the north and losses in Idlib and Aleppo governorates forced the group to withdraw most of its fighters from Wilayat Dimashq in order to fortify positions in al-Raqqa and Dayr al-Zur against Jabhat al-Nusra and HASI.[18] Therefore, its activities in southern Syria went silent for a couple of months.
In late June 2014, the Islamic State again attempted to take action in southern Damascus, likely because of new pledges of allegiance. For example, on June 22, four members of Jabhat al-Nusra defected to the Islamic State.[19] Jad Bantha, a local resident of Ghouta, reported that in the latter part of June, the group strengthened its membership from 90 to 350 as a result of starvation and desperate need for hard currency.[20]
The Islamic State’s local leaders took this opportunity to assert the group’s role. On June 23,2014, an Islamic State court executed a man named Nasir Bahlawan Ibn Taha on charges of sodomy, noting in its statement that it was a lesson.[21]
It did not take long for a backlash to ensue, spurring an Islamic State counter-demonstration and protestations that its enemies were trying to distort the group’s reputation, and that it would defend itself against any offenses.[22] This did not sit well with the Salafi group Jaysh al-Islam (JI), which would eventually retake the towns of Mesraba, al-Marj, and others in Eastern Ghouta from Islamic State fighters.[23]
Tensions between the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, along with other insurgents, intensified in late July 2014 when a coalition of forces pushed the Islamic State out of Yalda, east of al-Hajr al-Aswad, after the Islamic State kidnapped some JI and Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union (ASIU) leaders.[24]
The leader of the Islamic State in Wilayat Dimashq, Abu Sayyah, along with 300 of its members, allegedly fled to its stronghold in al-Hajr al-Aswad, while 80 Islamic State members surrendered to the FSA and other Islamist battalions. Jabhat al-Nusra then investigated and prosecuted the fighters.[25] The Islamic State went underground in southern Syria until December 2014.
Rebuilding the Network: Dec. 2014–Apr. 2015
Much as it did during its first attempt, on December 6, 2014 the Islamic State in southern Syria showed off a military training camp for cubs near Damascus, likely at its base in al-Hajr al-Aswad.[26] Additionally, on December 14, 2014 it was also able to allegedly procure new pledges of allegiance from groups in the area that have formed the base of its operations until now.
These groups included Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmuk (LSY), Katibat Bayt al-Maqdis, and Katibat Abu Muhammad al-Talawi as well as individuals in al-Maftarah (northern al-Suwayda governorate).[27] [b] The LSY is of note because there are hints it may be a front for the Islamic State. The Islamic State also set up sleeper cells in these areas, which would culminate in the takeovers of al-Yarmuk Refugee Camp in April 2015, al-Qaryatayn in August 2015, and its current activities.
Prior to its attack on al-Yarmuk Refugee Camp, the Islamic State began conducting activities in the adjacent al-Hajr al-Aswad. For example, in December 2014, Islamic State operatives demolished polytheistic shrines, taught literacy, and its Services Center repainted walls, fixed roads, provided water, cleaned the streets, and did landscaping. The group also imposed penalties on those that smoked hashish.[c] It concluded the month by taking over the al-Zayn neighborhood south of al-Hajr al-Aswad, providing it with a buffer against enemies.[28] This demonstrated the range of activities that the Islamic State was involved in from military |
say that if I had known about these back in 2014, odds are good I never would have backed Giant Spacekat’s Kickstarter. These new bits of information show Giant Spacekat Studios as either incompetent or completely apathetic towards obligations, and show that any concerns we had over their failure to deliver on their Kickstarter promises were justified.
1. Special Edition Stream Information and Planned Excuses
This little tidbit comes from Medium user Ren, with additional information from Medium user GethN7, who I understand had covered Giant Spacekat for quite a while. Ren shared with me a video rip of the Giant Spacekat Livestream of Revolution 60’s Special Edition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_QUFEc5vKQ
The video itself is interesting for many reasons. Not only does it include the first actual footage we’ve seen of the new game update, but it also features coverage of the stream chat. The game itself looks like the original Revolution 60 with some incremental updates, but features a UI update.
The Audio in the stream constantly is suffering crackling and problems however (especially bad around the 8:00 mark), which Brianna Wu chalked up to something that she thought had been fixed. This in spite of the game being “done” for over a year now.
The most interesting things, however, happen in the chat. When fullscreened, the video chat is still legible.
A user named “Goobergator” joins and at around 10:40 claims they are going to rape Brianna Wu’s dead dog — and yet, despite this, is neither kicked from the channel or banned from the chat. Instead, Brianna Wu uses this as an opportunity to say “Gamergate everyone,” and continues with the stream despite this individual being in the channel and openly disruptive.
There is also the user “lp_senpai,” who appears to be an irate backer wanting to know why in the hell the game has taken so long. At around 12:10 he demands to know what the holdup has been and why Giant Spacekat hasn’t delivered. Interestingly, the biggest response comes from the “Goobergator” account, who seems to go out of their way to marginalize this user, repeatedly interacting with this user in an attempt to provoke them.
It’s only after 19:30 (or roughly nine minutes of the pair squabbling) that both users are gagged.
So despite openly trolling the Twitch Chat, these users were allowed to do so with no intervention from Spacekatgal’s Twitch mods for almost nine minutes. Conversely, at 20:20, you can see Medium user and long-time critic of Brianna Wu, GethN7, post a comment in which he says he likes what he’s seen from the game and is looking forward to it.
He is banned instantly.
All it took was one post for Spacekatgal to immediately have him banned from the chat, so why was this not done for the obvious troll who was allowed to disrupt things for nine minutes? I think the answer should be very clear, and all you need to do is look at Spacekatgal’s Twitter:
Goobergator was allowed to remain in the chat despite this message. A critic of Brianna Wu’s made a positive comment and was banned. Two different worlds.
Because Brianna Wu intended to use them to explain why the game is late, exactly like she later did on the Kickstarter page.
2. Giant Spacekat Studios is Falling Apart
Several Medium posters shared several new bits of information with me over the last few weeks, the first of which is that Revolution 60 is once more available for IOS, and has been since March. You can find it on the iTunes app store under the title “Revolution 60 Full,” but it’s the original game, launched back in August of 2014. It’s odd because of how much song and dance Giant Spacekat was making about the special edition, but over this last week, a Medium user who has asked for anonymity shared with me something that suggests that Giant Spacekat Studios is in worse shape than I thought.
Amanda Warner was one of Giant Spacekat’s most veteran employees, having been there since the company’s creation (she’s often listed as a co-founder, Manager, and project lead). As of May, she has apparently left Giant Spacekat Studios, or so she says her Linkedin page! User Jane Doe was nice enough to point out something I had missed: That this is also the last time Brianna Wu had made any indication that the game was ready to ship.
Amanda was critical to this project.
Amanda was more than just a project lead — she was a main animator and a serious component of GSX as a whole, with multiple appearances in the credits of Revolution 60 alone. She also was instrumental to Giant Spacekat’s only other known project, a puzzle game in production called Cupcake Crisis. At this point, almost every single one of Giant Spacekat’s employees, except for Brianna Wu herself and her husband, Frank Wu, have left the company entirely, painting a grim picture for Brianna Wu even being able to get this project done at all given how the last stream went.
3. The Non-Existent Twitter Manager
This was brought to my attention by Medium user Tim Reah, and again by user Ryb10381, and was covered in-depth by user InformUs, who was also nice enough to share their information on the matter. The short version:
Brianna Wu (Spacekatgal) claims her sizable Patreon budget goes towards the hiring and payment of a “Twitter Manager” that screens her Tweets for harassment. This screener is known as Natalie O’Brien and has been mentioned repeatedly by Spacekatgal in articles and during her speaking engagements.
https://medium.com/@InformativeBot/does-natalie-o-brien-exist-7e2942f2433d#.1ty80rkiq
There’s only one problem: it’s doubtful she even exists.
The @GSXOffice Twitter, which, as I mentioned in my last article, has been completely inoperative since last year, is the one she supposedly uses. The thing is, there has not been a single employee of Giant Spacekat Studios who has been able to confirm this employee’s existence, and everyone who currently has had any conversation with O’Brien has done so via Email.
O’Brien lacks a LinkedIn page (which every single other member of GSX has), and has no social media presence beyond the inoperative @GSXOffice account. Emma Clarkson, a contractor who did minor work for GSX at one point (and who thus far is the only thing resembling an employee of the company that has agreed to talk to us) similarly was unable to confirm Natalie’s existence (she was originally listed as a former employee via another Medium user; she was nice enough to correct this — many thanks!). Similarly, Natalie’s entry on Giant Spacekat’s official website lists her as “Administrator” and has no information listed.
As helpfully brought up with a graph by Medium user Jonathan A, Brianna Wu makes literally hundreds of posts on Twitter every week, further indicating that Natalie O’Brien does not exist. During InformUs’ attempt to gain answers about Natalie O’Brien, Brianna Wu responded with intense hostility, accusing InformUs of being a Gamergate supporter, and, alarmingly, demanding InformUs’ personal information!
The information that we’re seeing indicates that Giant Spacekat Studios is insanely mismanaged and shows us that they are extremely unlikely to deliver on their repeated promises made across various platforms.
Brianna Wu voices support for Kiva Bay, who would ultimately scam her backers to the tune of $30,000.
The ongoing problems with Giant Spacekat Studios bring home that a personal friend of Brianna Wu’s, Kiva Bay, similarly ran what is now known to be a Kickstarter scam and took the money and ran. Indeed, Brianna Wu was one of the people who tried to get people to donate to this scam.
We must hold Giant Spacekat Studios to account for its failure to deliver, and I encourage all other backers who are willing and able to report the company to Kickstarter for its failure to deliver on its promises if it does not release by August 31st, which it increasingly looks like it will not.The federal government will release enough extra water into drought-stricken Lake Mead in the coming months to avoid shortages on the lower Colorado River for as long as five years.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said Friday that runoff from snow in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado is expected to increase storage on the river enough to adjust water levels at two key reservoirs and avert drought restrictions.
The decision comes just six months after Lake Mead dropped to within 7 feet of a level that would have triggered drought restrictions. Under those restrictions, Arizona would have lost about 11 percent of its allocation for at least one year.
Arizona officials had prepared contingency plans that included forfeiting a small amount of the state's allocation as a hedge against larger losses. Those plans are no longer necessary.
"We still want to be somewhat cautious," said Tom McCann, assistant general manager of the Central Arizona Project, which delivers Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson. "We've been in drought for 11 years. We've had a good year, and that's very helpful. It pushes us further away from shortages, but it doesn't mean the drought is over."
Still, Friday's action will give the CAP and other water users more time to plan for future shortages.
The extra water should postpone the potential for shortages until about 2016, even if conditions turn dry again, McCann said.
The bureau's decision is based on a 2007 drought plan adopted by the seven states that use the Colorado River.
Those states - Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico - agreed to manage water supplies based on storage levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the river's two largest reservoirs.
When Lake Powell is below a designated level, a minimum amount of water - 8.23 million acre-feet - is released downstream into Lake Mead.
If Lake Powell rises above that designated level, additional water can be released to better equalize the two reservoirs' contents.
An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, enough to serve two households for a year.
The bureau determined this week that Powell would rise above that designated level this year, which meant more water, a projected 11.56 million acre-feet, could be released into Mead.
That determination was based on estimated runoff from mountain snowpack, projected to reach about 120 percent of the 30-year average.
With the extra water, Mead is expected to rise to elevation 1,112.52 feet above sea level by the end of the year. The lake fell to about 1,082 feet above sea level last fall, just 7 feet above the first drought-restriction trigger of 1,075 feet above sea level.
Under the first set of drought restrictions, Arizona would have lost 320,000 acre-feet of its 2.8 million-acre-foot allocation.
That amount would not have affected homes or businesses, McCann said.Lieutenant Lohr, 41, had a scratch on his left eyelid from a scuffle that broke out during an arrest the previous night and a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth. He wore no riot gear — just a standard-issue brown uniform — and held not a baton in his hand but his knit cap.
“We going to have a good night?” he asked Mr. Williams.
“Yeah,” Mr. Williams, 19, said.
Wednesday was indeed a calm night for Ferguson, compared with the looting and arson Monday that came after the announcement that a grand jury had declined to indict the white police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in August.
Before, during and after that first night of violence, few law enforcement officials have done more on the ground to ease the volatility of protesters than Lieutenant Lohr, who is white. And few of his white colleagues have been able to connect with the largely black crowds better than he has.
After embracing the lieutenant, Mr. Williams was back at the barricades, his mask again covering his face. “We were having a conversation one day out here, and he seemed like a pretty decent guy, so I grew to like him,” said Mr. Williams, who is black and lives in Ferguson. “He’s the only one I feel comfortable being around. The rest of them — no, I don’t.”
Lieutenant Lohr, a Nashville-born former Texan and father of three with an Army-style buzz cut, is one of the commanders overseeing security at the Ferguson police station. He never wears riot gear, even when he wades into a group of protesters to answer questions, resolve disputes or listen to a stream of insults. Protesters at the gates ask for him by name, so they can make complaints, for example, about the use of tear gas or of officers being too aggressive in arresting a woman.Murdoch scandal sparks divisions over media regulation within UK’s ruling elite
By Dave Hyland
7 April 2012
The Leveson Inquiry into the Ethics, Culture and Practices of the British press has opened up a Pandora’s Box of criminality surrounding Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, with a trail leading back to Number 10 Downing Street.
At this very point, Lord Hunt, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), has announced measures ostensibly aimed at strengthening regulation of the media in an effort to defuse a mounting crisis.
Hunt’s aim is to rescue the tattered reputation of the media, on which the ruling elite depends so much and whose reputation has suffered significant damage. But the issue has become a battlefield over the degree to which the illegal conduct of News International’s publications can be used in order to implement a general clampdown on media freedoms.
Hunt has promised a replacement “robust PCC”. The new interim body is to function until recommendations from the Leveson inquiry, which will form the basis of a more permanent new regulatory authority. His measures are an attempt to rescue media self regulation by demanding a named individual at each publisher who will be responsible for compliance with media standards, based on a model derived from contract law.
This proposed PCC will have two divisions. One will have the power to investigate any “serious or systemic” breakdown in standards, such as phone hacking, while the second will deal with the “complaints and mediation arm”. Administrative oversight will be vested in a small Management Board or Board of Trustees that will include senior involvement from the media industry.
Hunt’s proposals have been met with a mixed response. Prime Minister David Cameron supports self-regulation, just as he did Murdoch’s plans to expand his controlling position within British media. Speaking to the Press Gazette at the British Press Awards in April 2008 when he was Leader of the Opposition, he stated, “We’ve no plans to change self-regulation. I think the PCC has settled down and the system is now working better than it once did.”
But Cameron is in a difficult position. A joint parliamentary committee he created just over a year ago as a response to the News International scandal has questioned the credibility of Hunt’s proposals and raised the possibility of the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom playing a statutory regulatory role. And there are far more vocal calls for state regulation.
The likelihood is that Leveson’s own recommendations will go further than Hunt. Lord Justice Leveson went through a list of what he described as unanswered questions in Hunt’s plans. He wanted to know, for instance, if the new PCC should have the power to levy fines, and raised concern that a method needs to be found that avoids grinding down complainants through delays.
However, with Leveson’s final report not expected until just prior to the next planned General Election in 2015, some sections of the press have urged Hunt’s interim measures to go through. The Observer’s Peter Preston wrote, “If we are talking about serious and systemic ‘breakdown in standards’, then Hunt and his supporters can’t just leave the old PCC dangling—waiting for the final report, for Westminster debate and government response, for new legislation circa 2016.”
“Effective legislation abhors—and should fear—a vacuum.”
Others are far less happy with what they see as Hunt’s fudge. The actor Hugh Grant is the public spokesman for Hacked Off, which has campaigned for regulatory reform following revelations of phone tapping and bribing of police by Murdoch’s now defunct News of the World and his daily tabloid, the Sun.
Grant has insisted that “self-regulation has failed five times” over 60 years and statutory and legally binding enforcement of a “code of ethics” is necessary.
The moving force behind Hacked Off is the Media Standard Trust, set up in 2006 to lobby for statutory control of the print industry. It represents a significant faction of Britain’s ruling elite. It was set up by Sir David Bell, then chairman of the Financial Times. Charles Manley of Goldman Sachs, Robert Peston, the business editor of the BBC, Amelia Fawcett, chair of the Guardian Media Group, Robert Worcester, founder of the polling organization MORI and the Bishop of Wakefield, are just a few that sit on its board.
Significantly Bell quit his post after he became a member of the Leveson Inquiry.
In order to project a more impartial image, Grant, a victim of Murdoch’s malpractice, is advanced as its public face. He spoke at fringe meetings at all the official party conferences last year, including one alongside Labour Party leader Ed Miliband.
The UK press has been subject to official self-regulation since the creation of a voluntary Press Council in 1953, aimed, it claimed, at maintaining high ethical standards of journalism and promoting a free press. It was just one of the political mechanisms put in place by the ruling class to regulate its own affairs and relations in post-World War Two Britain
However, the development of the global economy and revolutionary discoveries in computer technology and telecommunication techniques during the 1980s placed enormous pressures on all such nationally based agreements—including those in the British print industry.
Feeling a loss of controlling influence over the increasingly global media, and the enhanced power of figures such as Murdoch that specialise in using sex and corruption scandals to manipulate political affairs, a section of the ruling class began to raise the demand for a statutory Press Council that wielded legal sanction.
In 1990, Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government set up a departmental committee under David Calcutt, QC. He was asked “to consider what measures (whether legislative or otherwise) are needed to give further protection to individual privacy from the activities of the press and improve recourse against the press for the individual citizen.”
The Tories had no intention of biting the hand of Murdoch or any of the press barons on whom they relied. Calcutt instead recommended the setting up of a new Press Complaints Commission to replace the Press Council to demonstrate “that non-statutory self-regulation can be made to work effectively.”
The commission was set up at the beginning of 1991 and a committee of national and regional editors produced for the very first time a formal Code of Practice for the new PCC to administer. All publishers and editors committed themselves to abiding by the Code and to ensuring secure and adequate funding of the PCC.
A Press Standards Board of Finance was established and charged with raising a levy on the newspaper periodical industries to finance the commission, making the new body financially dependent on the bosses of the newspaper titles.
Over the next years, self-regulation was repeatedly hailed as a success story—including by the previous Labour government. As late as 2009, a parliament Select Committee report into Press Standards, Privacy and Libel stated that “self-regulation of the press is greatly preferable to statutory regulation, and should continue”.
There can be no doubt, given this history, that any legislation restricting press freedom will not target the main newspapers and TV stations that service the capitalists’ interest. It will primarily be employed against independent news sources critical of the powers-that-be—particularly Internet-based publications that it was made sure fell within Leveson’s remit.
The most likely victims of official media censorship carried out in the name of preserving individual privacy will be groups such as WikiLeaks, numerous bloggers and, of course, the World Socialist Web Site. Such measures will further undermine democratic rights and should be opposed, despite whatever outrage is felt over the Murdoch revelations.Stephen Malkmus was kind enough to talk to us in the middle of a busy family day. We discussed a few subjects, including Daft Punk and baseball. His wife Jessica really digs Wowee Zowee.
NT: You’ve been writing songs for a long time. Has the process become any easier over the years, or has it gotten a little tougher?
SM: I can’t really say that it gets harder. I mean, there are times when it is tough coming up with lyrics, like I might have to grasp for things. I do sometimes look back at stuff that I have written and think, “I could have definitely done better”. On the whole, I think that the songs tend to come naturally.
NT: Your latest album Wig Out At Jagbags has been described as “an album fearlessly skating all over the landscape of American rock”. Would you consider this an accurate statement?
SM: Yeah, I mean I think it’s fearless for sure. There are quite a few sounds of that are influenced by American artists of the past and bits of information that get crammed into the album. There’s also the influence of British bands that were trying to sound American.
NT: Musically speaking, do you feel we are living in an interesting time?
SM: I mean, I really wouldn’t say that we aren’t. Every era has interesting moments. I’m of the mindset that things that really blew me away came from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. There are certain things today though that are quite interesting. There are elements of hip-hop that are quite creative and come from a real place of integrity.
NT: Many people call you one of the saviours of modern rock, but you reference the Grateful Dead in your music and have recorded a version of Ege Bamyasi by Can, and even some soul influences as well. Do you find yourself discovering older pieces of music which challenge you to create more?
SM: I listen to all kinds of stuff. I genuinely have a soft spot for artists that are under the radar, from like the 60’s and 70’s. It doesn’t always bleed into our music. I try to be myself. You know, I’m really not angry, I’m not from the inner city. So what I write, really comes from an honest place, I try to make honest music. The Rolling Stones sold us some working class blues, I’m not so sure about that.
NT: I know you’re a Daft Punk fan. What do you think has spawned this wave of popularity in french music, Other acts including such as Air, M83, Phoenix, and Justice have all done pretty well for themselves in the past few years.
SM: I do like Daft Punk. The French are very good at curating the music of other cultures. The new Daft Punk album is a curated album. As a country, France doesn’t have a ton of artists that have found success, aside from painters obviously. [Random Access Memory] curated Chic and made it interesting for us and showed how great they really were.
NT: You’ve made more albums with The Jicks, than Pavement, yet you’re still primarily known as the singer from Pavement. Do you feel this takes away from your present work?
SM: Well, I can’t really know for sure what it would be like for The Jicks if there was no Pavement. It was definitely a big in-road for the Jicks. It’s not really something that I give much thought.
NT: I know you’re a baseball fan, and a pretty knowledgeable one as well. I wanted to ask you about your feelings towards the sport these days, especially after the scandals involving Bonds, Clemmons and McGuire.
SM: I don’t have a problem with the whole thing. I would probably legalize steroids [laughs]. Load up! It’s part of the game. Guys really wanted to get an edge, and see how much stats they could produce. I’m interested in the game beyond the box score. Teams like the Mariners who try to buy players for insane amounts of money, and the arbitration. Then you have other teams who can succeed on a shoe string budget, like the Devil Rays.
NT: Which five albums are most inspiring to you?
SM:
White Light/White Heat – The Velvet Underground
Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones
Astral Weeks – Van Morrison
Twin Infinitives – Royal Trux
Wowee Zowee – Pavement (as chosen by Jessica Hutchins, Malkmus’ wife)
http://stephenmalkmus.com/TORONTO (August 6, 2015) – Hot off a dazzling, historic gold medal in women’s basketball at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, TSN follows Team Canada to Edmonton for the 2015 FIBA AMERICAS WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP. In total, TSN and TSN GO deliver live coverage of all 25 games – including every Team Canada game live on TSN – from the Olympic qualifying tournament, which will see the champion automatically secure a spot in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. Coverage runs August 9-16 on TSN, beginning with the tournament opener featuring Canada vs. Puerto Rico on Sunday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m. ET on TSN1 and TSN5. Canada’s remaining round-robin games are as follows (see below for complete broadcast schedule): • Canada vs. Chile – Monday, Aug. 10 at 8:30 p.m. ET on TSN • Dominican Republic vs. Canada – Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET on TSN • Cuba vs. Canada – Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET on TSN2 RDS Info delivers French-language coverage of all Team Canada round-robin games, with the Gold Medal Game airing on RDS2. DOWNLOAD: http://bit.ly/1MKncLF Ranked #3 in the Americas, Team Canada is led by 19-year-old guard Kia Nurse from Hamilton, Ont. Nurse netted 33 points in Canada’s thrilling 81-73 win over the United States at recent the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games – marking the country’s first ever basketball gold medal in a major international event. For her remarkable performance, Nurse was chosen as Canada’s flag-bearer for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games Closing Ceremony. Visit basketball.ca for a breakdown of Team Canada’s full roster. Team Canada is part of a group of 10 teams that will compete over eight days at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, the official training ground of the Canadian women's national basketball team. Following the women’s competition, the 2015 FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP airs live on TSN from August 31 to September 12 from Mexico City, Mexico. The biennial men’s basketball championship tournament for the Americas zone (Latin America, Caribbean, North and South America), will see the top two teams automatically qualify for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. Basketball on TSN In June 2015, TSN announced new partnerships with Canada Basketball and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) that will see TSN deliver full court coverage of Team Canada’s men’s and women’s basketball teams in major international events. As part of this deal, RDS acquires French-language broadcast rights to FIBA events. TSN is Canada’s home of basketball, with a slate of basketball coverage that includes comprehensive coverage of the Toronto Raptors, the NBA Playoffs culminating with the NBA FINALS, complete coverage of NCAA MARCH MADNESS, and the BIOSTEEL ALL-CANADIAN BASKETBALL GAME. Broadcast Schedule* Sunday, Aug. 9 • Chile vs. Dominican Republic at 3 p.m. ET on TSN GO • Ecuador vs. Virgin Islands at 5:15 p.m. ET on TSN GO • Canada vs. Puerto Rico at 8 p.m. ET on TSN1 and TSN5 • Brazil vs. Venezuela at 10:30 p.m. ET on TSN1 and TSN5 Monday, Aug. 10 • Ecuador vs. Argentina at 3 p.m. ET on TSN2 • Virgin Islands vs. Venezuela at 5 p.m. ET on TSN2 • Canada vs. Chile at 8:30 p.m. ET on TSN • Cuba vs. Dominican Republic at 10:30 p.m. ET on TSN1 Tuesday, Aug. 11 • Puerto Rico vs. Cuba at 3 p.m. ET on TSN2 • Argentina vs. Virgin Islands at 5 p.m. ET on TSN2 • Dominican Republic vs. Canada at 8:30 p.m. ET on TSN • Brazil vs. Ecuador at 10:30 p.m. ET on TSN1 Wednesday, Aug. 12 • Chile vs. Cuba at 3 p.m. ET on TSN2 • Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico at 5 p.m. ET on TSN2 • Venezuela vs. Argentina at 8:30p.m. ET on TSN2 • Virgin Islands vs. Brazil at 10:30 p.m. ET on TSN2 Thursday, Aug. 13 • Venezuela vs. Ecuador at 3 p.m. ET on TSN GO • Puerto Rico vs. Chile at 5:15 p.m. ET on TSN GO • Cuba vs. Canada at 8:30 p.m. ET on TSN2 • Argentina vs. Brazil at 10:30 p.m. ET on TSN2 Saturday, Aug. 15 • 5th/6th Place Game at 3:15 p.m. ET on TSN GO • Semifinal #1 at 5:30 p.m. ET on TSN GO • Semifinal #2 at 8 p.m. ET on TSN5 Sunday, Aug. 16 • Bronze Medal Game at 5:30 p.m. ET on TSN1 • Gold Medal Game at 8 p.m. ET on TSNRecap
Our token launch page: https://request.network/#/token-sale
The token launch starts on Friday at 09:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC +2)
i.e. 00:00 Pacific Daylight Time (UTC -7) — 15:00 China Standard Time (UTC +8)
at 09:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC +2) i.e. 00:00 Pacific Daylight Time (UTC -7) — 15:00 China Standard Time (UTC +8) On the first day, there is no rush to participate since everyone is subject to an individual cap.
. The token launch ends at 9am CEST on October 17 or as soon as the hard cap is reached. The hard cap is 100,000 ETH.
. The Ethereum address of the token launch contract is requestnetwork.eth (0x97208Bf5dC25e6FD4719cfc2A3C1D1A59a974c3b)
(0x97208Bf5dC25e6FD4719cfc2A3C1D1A59a974c3b) The Gas price is limited to 49 Gwei. Our recommended gas limit is 200,000.
Only approved registrants are able to participate in the token sale.
You can check your ETH address is registered on our website: https://request.network/#/balance
Fundraising terms and individual caps
Only approved whitelist members who have successfully registered and passed our KYC process can participate in the token sale on October 13.
There will be an equal individual purchase cap for registrants during the first 24 hours on October 13, with an individual cap of 6.713 ETH for the 1st day.
Afterwards, individual caps will be doubled every day until the hard cap is reached.
Day 1 individual cap : 6.713 ETH
Day 2 individual cap: 13.426 ETH minus what you contributed on the first day.
If you contributed 6.713 ETH on day 1, you will be able to send another 6.713 ETH on day 2.
If you contributed 6.713 ETH on day 1, you will be able to send another 6.713 ETH on day 2. Day 3 individual cap: 26.852 ETH minus what you contributed on the first days.
If you contributed 6.713 ETH on day 1 & also on day 2, you will be able to send 13.426 ETH on day 3.
If you 6.713 ETH on day 1 & also on day 2, you will be able to send 13.426 ETH on day 3. Day 4 individual cap: 53.704 ETH minus what you contributed on the first days.
Each transaction will have a gas price limit up to 49 GWEI.
Request Network Official Sources
Please always double check every information you find about our token launch and Ethereum address.
Use our following official communication channels to verify the information:
As there is an individual cap for everyone, please do not hurry and always double check the information to be sure you send your ETH to the right address.
Official Request Network Ethereum Wallet address
The official token launch address is requestnetwork.eth (0x97208Bf5dC25e6FD4719cfc2A3C1D1A59a974c3b)
Every other ETH address is fake and must not be used!
Send your ETH from your registered address only
Your wallet should be compatible with ERC20 tokens such as REQ (MEW, Metamask, Parity, Mist, etc.)
Do NOT send your ETH before the token launch starts
If you have not been approved during the registration process, there is no way to participate
Set the gas price at 49 Gwei max (the limit is actually 50 Gwei but some wallets will add an additional 1 wei and your transaction might be rejected). Recommended gas limit is 200,000
VERY IMPORTANT: Do NOT send your ETH from exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, etc. If you do, your ETH will be lost
To participate in the fundraising, send your ETH to this address: 0x97208Bf5dC25e6FD4719cfc2A3C1D1A59a974c3b
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial if you need some help.
How to participate using MyEtherWallet
Head to MyEtherWallet: https://www.myetherwallet.com/ (Always double check the URL and look for MYETHERWALLET LLC [US] Certificate to be Safe & Secure)
Go to Send Ether & Tokens
Access your wallet
You now can send Ether
Fill the address you send to with requestnetwork.eth
Enter the ETH amount you want to send (remember: individual cap is 6.713 on the first day), enter a Gas limit of 200,000 and generate the transaction.
Validate your transaction. Once it is completed, you will receive your REQ tokens to your personal ETH address shortly after.
You can see a proof of the transaction on etherscan.io.
Add REQ token to MyEtherWallet
Visit MEW (www.myetherwallet.com) and go to the “View Wallet Info” page
Click “Add Custom Token”
Enter the contract address: 0x8f8221afbb33998d8584a2b05749ba73c37a938a
Enter number of decimals: 18
Add the token symbol: REQ
Click “Save”
How to participate using MetaMask
Launch MetaMask and connect to your account
Click on Send
Type requestnetwork.eth as you can see in the screenshot above
as you can see in the screenshot above Enter the amount you want to send in ETH
Click on Next
Set the Gas limit to 200,000 and make sure the Gas price is under 49 Gwei
Submit and validate the transaction
How to participate using Mist
Launch Mist
Click on Send
Copy the Request Network address to send your ETH to. Do it from requestnetwork.eth
Enter the amount you want to send in ETH
The fee amount should not exceed 49 Gwei in ETH
Click on Send
You will see a summary of the transaction. You need to validate it by clicking on “Send transaction”
That’s it! You now have contributed. You will receive REQ tokens in a few minutes.
Terms & Conditions: https://request.network/assets/pdf/request_network_token_sale_terms_conditions.pdf
Be cautious
Please verify multiple sources before you send any ETH.
You have time to participate, so there is no rush — always double check the information.According to results from the ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression analyses, the governing factors and their effects for the anthropogenic water use variables were similar regardless of whether water withdrawal or consumption was considered, both on a per country and per capita basis. As such, the following analyses focus on water consumption. The results for 16 anthropogenic water consumption accounts including the blue and total water consumption associated with, andof primary and manufactured goods and services, on aandbasis are presented in Tables 2 and 3 and Table S3
Previously, a nation’s agricultural activity was postulated as a more critical determinant for national blue water use patterns and magnitudes than affluence level; (6) however, international virtual total water flows (e.g., blue and green water) were found to be more strongly correlated to the availability of arable land than to that of renewable freshwater. (48) Results from this study ( Table 2 ) revealed that compared to population the various country-level water consumption metrics were much less sensitive to natural resource availability (e.g., the areas of land, agricultural land, or renewable freshwater resources). While the national consumption of total water associated with, andwere sensitive to arable land availability (in hectares per person), they only increased by 53%, 21%, and 63%, respectively, for each doubling of arable land availability. Further, natural resource availability appeared to have minimal effects when only blue water was considered. On the other hand, factors that were underrepresented in previous studies did have significant effects on the blue water use metrics. The sectoral structure of a country’s territorial blue water withdrawals (i.e., the percentages of agricultural, industrial, and domestic (or municipal) water withdrawal of a country’s total freshwater withdrawal), independent of its size, affected its blue water consumption associated with, andof primary and manufactured goods and services. The effects were further analyzed absent of the population effects in the following section.
For a nation’s virtual water import, bothandplay a significant role ( Table 2 ). The volume of national blue and total virtual water imports increased by ∼80% with each doubling of total population or average income. For the rest of the water use metrics (i.e.,, and), the role ofwas more complex. Further, theeffects appeared to be less or not significant when the total water was accounted (see Table |
council said a survey of more than 700 people found that most people would prefer the entire area be smoke-free.
Councillor Jenny Green said under the 12-month trial, rangers will walk around with ashtrays asking smokers to put their cigarettes out.
"The general open space area will now be smoke-free, so anyone wanting to eat their lunch, read, just sit in the sun - the people next to them obviously won't be able to smoke," she said.
"So that will be a relief for non-smokers and of course will reduce the number of butts that are also produced in the area."
Councillor Green said the ban would work well alongside smoking bans in outdoor dining areas, which come into effect in July.
"So outdoor cafes, pubs and so on, restaurants - if you're sitting outside and you're near food you no longer can smoke," she said.
"I think it will coincide with the education campaign around that particular law.
"I think it's a good thing. We have to remember that less than 20 per cent of the population smoke, so for some time the rest of the population who like to sit outdoors - be it in Martin Place or in a cafe - [have been] unable to eat their lunch without someone next to them lighting up a cigarette."
The council said it would like to see a smoking ban extended to Pitt Street Mall in the CBD.
State laws already restrict smoking in some areas in Martin Place.
Topics: smoking, local-government, sydney-2000
First postedCipisirono Cole, 47, has been charged in the shooting death of 34-year-old Darrin Johnson, 34. Cole, who is also a city DPW employee, allegedly shot Johnson in a locker room area following an argument Thursday.
Advertisement Police investigating fatal shooting at Baltimore public works facility Victim found in 2300 block of North Fulton Avenue Share Shares Copy Link Copy
A Baltimore City Department of Public Works employee was shot and killed inside a facility Thursday morning in west Baltimore, police said.Download the WBAL appThe shooting was reported at about 8:30 a.m. in the 2300 block of North Fulton Avenue, police said. The building is used as a maintenance facility by the city's Department of Public Works.Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith said Darrin Ulysses Johnson Jr., 34, of Baltimore, died at Shock Trauma. Smith said the shooting took place in a locker room area and was a targeted incident. He said the victim knew the suspected gunman, who was identified as Cipisirono Cole, 47. He is also a city DPW employee.Police said Johnson and Cole got into an argument that turned physical. Police said Cole retrieved a gun and shot Johnson before fleeing the scene."There was some sort of argument prior to the incident," said Smith, who stressed that despite rumors, there was not an active shooter situation.Smith said Cole was charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and gun charges. Anyone who has information about Cole's whereabouts is asked to call police at 410-637-8970 or 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7LOCKUP.DPW Director Rudy Chow said about 100 employees work at the facility. Most of the workers stationed there are field workers who respond to calls involving water and sewer lines."This is certainly a shock. This will be a blow to our department as a whole. My focus is on our employees to make sure they are well and leave the investigation up to the police," Chow said. "We emphasize safety to all of our workers. This includes wearing helmets and vests on the job site, as well as identifying and correcting potential office hazards. But we are not immune to violence."Chow said counselors will be on the scene for employees."Union leaders quickly reached out today, working with us to take care of the employees touched by today’s tragedy. Many of the workers at Park Terminal took the day off, with permission of the city's labor commissioner. And we have reached out to the city's employee assistance program to help workers dealing with grief, fear, anger, or other challenges," Chow said.Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued the following statement regarding the incident:"I am saddened and disturbed by the death of one of our own -- a dedicated Department of Public Works employee who was shot and killed inside the Park Terminal building earlier this morning," Rawlings-Blake said. "I would like to praise every worker who called upon their training to react to the situation."Their professionalism helped ensure that no one else was hurt or injured. My deepest condolences are extended to every member of the victim’s family, and to our DPW family. We are making every city resource available to those who need assistance while coming to terms with this senseless violence."Chow said as of Thursday afternoon police were still looking for a person in connection with the incident."This will be a difficult time for DPW friends and co-workers. For now we will let the police continue their investigation, without commenting or speculating on what happened and why. We will be respectful of the families whose lives are forever changed. And we will continue our dedicated service to our customers," Chow said.WBALTV.com editor Saliqa Khan and WBAL-TV 11 News reporters Tim Tooten and Lisa Robinson contributed to this story.Stay with wbaltv.com for the latest on this story.The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard announced an agreement that removes a major roadblock that had threatened to limit the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to dramatically advance agriculture.
Today the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard announced an agreement that removes a major roadblock that had threatened to limit the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to dramatically advance agriculture.
As outlined in our press release, Broad and DuPont Pioneer have agreed to create a joint licensing framework for the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in agriculture. Specifically, we’ve agreed to jointly provide non-exclusive licenses to intellectual property for use in commercial agricultural research and product development. Just as important, all of the intellectual property will be freely available for academic research. The goal is to ensure that scientists in both academia and industry will be able to use CRISPR-Cas9 technology to explore new ways to lift crop yields, improve drought resistance, and reduce reliance on pesticides.
What made this possible?
It worked because the two organizations that controlled the licensing of much of the foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property for use in agriculture decided to work together to make these tools available non-exclusively.
The Broad and its collaborators (including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York Genome Center, New York University, The Rockefeller University, and the University of Iowa) control one large collection of CRISPR-Cas9 IP. The Broad had already made this IP (i) freely available for all academic and non-profit research for all uses and (ii) available for non-exclusive licensing for commercial use in agriculture.
Pioneer has exclusive rights for use in agriculture to another set of CRISPR patents and patent applications. (Details for those who may be interested: The University of California-Berkeley (UCB) exclusively licensed its CRISPR patents and those of University of Vienna to UCB’s spin-off, Caribou Biosciences. In turn, Caribou licensed these rights for agriculture to Pioneer, together with rights in applications filed by Caribou. Pioneer also obtained an exclusive license to the companion rights of Emmanuelle Charpentier (that had been exclusively licensed to her spin-off, ERS Genomics) in the joint applications filed by the UCB. Separately, Pioneer licensed exclusive rights to issued patents and patent applications from Vilnius University in Lithuania, whose intellectual property overlaps that of UCB. Finally, Pioneer has its own patents and patent applications.)
To maximize the scientific impact of CRISPR-Cas9 for improving agriculture, it was important to ensure that agriculture companies had access to all of the genome editing tools covered under these patents and patent claims. Yet, they had no clear path to obtaining licenses to the exclusive portions of the IP.
When Pioneer approached the Broad about gaining access to Broad’s IP, the two organizations came up with a creative solution: (i) Broad would provide Pioneer with a non-exclusive license to Broad’s IP, and (ii) Pioneer would join Broad in providing non-exclusive licenses to the IP it controlled, as well as making the IP freely available to academic and non-profit researchers.
Notably, the joint license adheres to the Broad Institute’s ethical restrictions for agricultural use, which prohibit using CRISPR for gene drive, sterile seeds, or tobacco products for human use.
This resolves a licensing roadblock that had threatened to limit the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 in agriculture.
There remain, of course, roadblocks in other fields of CRISPR use.
For all commercial research, Broad offers licenses non-exclusively. However, not all IP-holders do so.
For use to develop human therapeutics, Broad decided to grant a license with exclusivity limited by an Inclusive Innovation model, because we judged that some exclusivity would be needed to incent the large investments needed to develop CRISPR technology to the point that it could be used to create medicines to benefit patients.
In July, Broad applied to join a worldwide patent pool, run by an independent third party, in an effort to help coordinate licenses with others.
Our hope is that more organizations will come together in meaningful ways to remove roadblocks and benefit the public.ORLANDO, Fla. - Hundreds of students lined up early Monday on the University of Central Florida campus for a chance to secure discounted tickets to the Peach Bowl.
The 12th-ranked UCF Knights will face off against the 7th-ranked Auburn Tigers in Atlanta on January 1.
Following the release of the matchup, it was announced that the first 500 student tickets would be made available for $50 at the Spectrum Stadium Ticket Office. After the first 500 are sold, general tickets from the UCF allotment can be purchased for $150.
"It's obviously a big game. Auburn is a really good team," UCF student Dalton Deal said. "I'm excited to see how we can compete with a big program like Auburn. So, I'm excited to see how the game's going to go."
With final exams also beginning, some students said they're using the time in line to also get some last-minute studying in.
"I got a big micro test tomorrow," Andrew Maurer said. "Figured I'm going to be up all night anyways. Figured I might as well get my ticket and be ready for school."
UCF coach Scott Frost was hired as Nebraska's coach shortly after UCF won a 62-55 double-overtime shootout with Memphis to capture the American Athletic Conference title on Saturday. Frost has said he will coach his team in the bowl game.
According to an ESPN report, UCF is targeting former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin as the university's next head football coach.
Sources also said UCF is expected to consider Troy Walters, the team's offensive coordinator and current interim coach, for the open spot.
The line continues to grow outside @UCF Spectrum Stadium. Hundreds of students are waiting to get tix to @CFAPeachBowl. First 500 student tix are $50. Then price jumps up to $150. #Perfect2Peach 🍑 https://t.co/madtxgJUxe pic.twitter.com/jvEwOWti3Z — Mark Lehman (@MarkLehman6) December 4, 2017
The discounted student tickets for the Peach Bowl go on sale starting at 9 a.m. Monday.
Copyright 2017 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.Canadian Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield announced his retirement from competitive triathlon early Wednesday, becoming a consultant in sports entertainment.
Whitfield, from Kingston, Ont., is the most decorated triathlete in Canadian history, winning gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and silver at the 2008 Beijing Games. The 38-year-old was Canada's flag bearer at the 2012 London Games.
"Today marks the end of my career as a professional athlete; it's been an incredible journey and an amazing chapter in my life," said Whitfield in a release on his personal website. "I grew up dreaming of representing Canada at the Olympic Games, though I never imagined I would have the honour of wearing the Maple Leaf four times, winning two Olympic medals, and bearing the flag."
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Whitfield also won gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, U.K. and bronze at the 1999 Commonwealth Games in Winnipeg. He won 12 Canadian championships and earned 14 world cup victories.
He will now join Fantan Group – an international consultancy firm – and lead its new sports entertainment division in Victoria.
"It is time to shift gears. I have spent years with athletes of all ages – sharing – motivating – challenging," said Whitfield. "As part of the Fantan team, I have the ideal partnership to put much of what I've learned as a competitive athlete toward design and innovation in sports entertainment."
Many Canadian athletes tweeted their thanks and congratulations to Whitfield.
"Congrats to @simonwhitfield on an incredible career," said two-time Olympic gold medallist Catriona Le May Doan in a tweet. "Thanks for inspiring so many Canadians!"
Jayna Hefford, a four-time Olympic medallist with Canada's women's hockey team, echoed Le May Doan's sentiments.
"Sad to hear @simonwhitfield is retiring. What an incredible career! So many great memories watching him compete for #canada," said Hefford.
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"Happy Retirement @simonwhitfield.Youve inspired so many,including me while making us all smile.Thanks4BeingU," said Canadian women's national soccer team member Karina Leblanc, including a picture of her and Whitfield in the tweet.The base Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder got a facelift gaining a more angular new front. Also Lamborghini widened the air outlet for the power unit at the rear to improve the heat expulsion from the V10 unit, which continues to produce 553hp (560PS) and 540 Nm (397 lb-ft) of peak torque. Wrapping up the changes on the convertible model are the newly designed 19-inch ‘Apollo polished’ alloy wheels. It is likely that Lamborghini will offer the same Style Package it does on the revamped coupe. The Gallardo Spyder in red with black accents and stripes you see in the picture gallery above is the new ‘Edizione Tecnica’ version of the ‘Performante’ edition
Both the 2013 Gallardo coupe and Spyder models are scheduled to go on sale in November this year.
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Words by Georgia ReeveAn wonder goal and a quick fire hattrick from world cups top goal scorer Carli Lloyd helped USA to win their third world cup title as they defeated Japan 5-2 in what turned out to be a routine win for the most successful women team in history.
After almost a month of top notch women football matches in FIFA Womens World Cup 2015 we had the repeat of 2011 FIFA Womens world cup final between United States women team up against Japan women team. USA defeated Japan 5-2 to win their 3rd World Cup title and first in last 16 years.
USA started the game on fire with captain Carli Llyod scoring two quick goals inside first 5 minutes and than completed her hattrick with goal of the tournament as she lobs the ball from halfway line and caught Japan keeper off guard. Japan scored two goals and hint of comback sign which was quickly evaporated with USA fifth goal. This is USA first world cup title win after 16 years.
Carli Lloyd has been sensational throughout the competition and she was declared as the best player in the tournament after scoring 3 in the final and 6 overall finishing as top goal scorer alongside German Celia SASIC.
Carli Lloyd was presented with the golden ball trophy after the final which is given to most valueable player “MVP” of the tournament.
Some of the senior members of the US squad will say goodbye to their international careers including Amy Wambach who came on as a sub in the later stages of the match.
This will be a massive tournament for Women Football which has been growing steadily in the last decade, FIFA has promised to elevate women’s game alot more faster moving forward and the first step was taking when an increase in the total prize money pool was announced for Canada Women World Cup.
While in terms of Broadcasting, FIFA has taken a major step forward by ensuring Men’s world cup like coverage all around the world. Women World Cup will been in more than 120 countries on most of the national tv channels which are free-to-air. It will give Women football a much needed boost with extra coverage.In Which Sex Is Superficially Stimulating
Glory wrapped her arm around me and pulled me in close to her, like she would sweep me up onto her lap the way that Amaranth did. I’m not a large person by any human measurement, but I had quite a bit more mass on my body than she did, so in practice it was more like she pulled me over on top of her, which I guess worked fine for the purposes of giddy, sexy closeness.
I mean, she didn’t quite just topple over onto the couch immediately. She pulled me in and I put my arms around her, and our legs got mixed up together like we were shuffling a very small deck of very oddly shaped cards. She tipped over, and I went down with her, and then she rolled over so that she was on top of me, mostly. The whole thing was a jumble of positions, actions, and body parts.
The particular piece of furniture on which she’d reclined and upon which we now grappled had a fuzzy texture to it, somewhere between shag carpeting and a really nice, expensive towel. It was softer than it had looked like, which was good because my back was rubbing up against it. It actually felt pretty good. I should have figured that elves, with their keen senses, would have been suitably choosy when it came to upholstering their… fuck furniture?
I giggle-snorted at the thought.
“A touch ticklish?” Glory asked.
“Not particularly,” I said.
Then Amaranth was behind her, looming over us. Her hands cupped Glory’s slight breasts and she put her mouth to the side of her head, nuzzling her cheek and gently nibbling on her ear. Glory softly moaned, but just as she was getting into it Amaranth shifted her focus. I couldn’t follow what she was doing, given that she was doing it down Glory’s back, but whatever it was, Glory certainly appreciated it. She let out a moan that was actually half modulated squeal and arched her spine in a way that made her slight breasts seem slightly less… slight.
Amaranth’s hands moved down with her, and before long… though not too quickly… she was gripping Glory by her narrow hips and apparently grinding her face into the small of Glory’s back, around the base of her spine. It was one of those things that really didn’t seem like it should be doing much, but in actual practice, it seemed like it was doing just about everything for Glory.
It was mostly thanks to Glory herself that I knew what a deft touch could do, in or about that neighborhood. Because of our mutual issues, most of our intimacy was intimacy rather than full-on sex, and fingers trailing down the back leading to sustained pressure at the base of the spine was one of her signature moves.
I guess it should have come as no surprise that this was exactly the kind of attention she herself responded to, nor that Amaranth would zero on it so quickly. Most of us mere mortals or near mortals were stuck doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Amaranth could read the map of another person’s desire, and then deliver it.
Then Amaranth moved down lower, her hands trailing back to grip somewhere I couldn’t see, and Glory went fucking wild.
The sound that came out of her mouth started out as something like, “Oh, fuuuuck…”, but before that final harsh consonant could form, it became a stream of what I assumed was Elvish. I lost my ability to even attempt to follow, though, because her spasmodic bucking meant that her leg, which had slipped between mine, was… well, it was between mine, and she was bucking and writhing, and then I was, too.. and of course, one of her legs being between mine meant that one of my legs was between hers…
I’m not even sure how and when in all that, Steff managed to get behind and beneath me, but I felt her hard cock in the cleft of my ass, rubbing lengthwise against my sensitive skin while she found the right position and angle, and then she was working her way in.
I was given to understand that part of the magic of elven perfection was that they could slip inside an ass without needing any lube. Steff had enough of that going for her to get her foot inside the door, so to speak, but you kind of had to like it rough to enjoy what happened next.
I guess technically you can perform any sexual act without artificial lubrication if you try hard enough and believe in yourself, but you’d probably have regrets the next morning. I’d once heard Steff refer to a healing potion as “morning after lube”.
I did like things rough, and my demonic heritage made me invulnerable to non-supernatural harm… but not non-supernatural hurt. I could feel everything she did, could feel the ring-of-pinpricks sensation when she stretched me open and the drag on the opening as she pushed her way in deeper. There’d be no damage, no harm done, but I felt it as if there was.
It would be the same thing if someone tried to stab with a non-magical sword… okay, not the exact same thing, not by a long shot, because I felt the pleasure, too. I’ve always been enough of a masochist to be able to enjoy pain when it comes wrapped up in pleasure, at least once I allowed myself to feel pleasure.
But the penetration had its own pleasures. Basically any highly sensitive part of the body had erogenous potential. Amaranth was showing that with what was probably nothing more than her mouth on Glory’s asshole.
Steff’s hard cock sliding inside mine… well, it was a bit less of a sustained, intense stimulation of that one area than what Glory was getting, but it still helped… and then as it slide along inside, it was brushing up against the other side of other sensitive spots. It was kind of like taking the long way around, but it did the trick.
Was it weird that I had fewer hang-ups about anal sex than vaginal sex? Probably. If my grandmother could have imagined I’d ever wind up in a scenario like this one, she probably would have focused her shaming a lot more broadly. If I had to guess… and I’m not sure that I did, or even why I was thinking about her at that particular moment in the first place… I’d say that she’d been imagining sexual activity as a sort of tree or progression. If she could stop me from ever having what she’d seen as normal “entry-level” sex, I’d never move on to more advanced subjects.
It showed how much she knew.
I mean, I could and did handle vaginal sex. At that moment, my pussy was getting plenty of attention, albeit externally, and oh sweet fuck was it something. Amaranth seemed to be working Glory like a puppet with her tongue, grinding her against me as Steff did the same with me from below.
There was so much stimulation on both sides that it would have been hard to separate out individual orgasms from the swelling and crashing waves of pleasure, but as weirdly analytical as I can be during those times, I somehow didn’t care much.
I was a little surprised when it was Glory who first broke down and called for a halt to the proceedings.
“Enough!” she yelled. “Oh, sweet fucking gods and faeries, enough!”
Amaranth stopped what she was doing and disengaged, then lightly caught Glory when she tumbled back away from me. I was still more or less on Steff’s lap, and completely on her cock, which was still hard.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, if that’s okay,” Steff said.
“Slow,” I said, breathing heavily. In the absence of any other stimulation, I couldn’t take quite the same pounding and enjoy it. “Please, slower.”
“You got it,” Steff said, adjusting her pace. “Or, you are in the process of getting it.”
“Sure, fine,” Glory said. She literally fanned her face. “Oh, fuck. I have never… that was… what was that?”
“Oh, please,” Amaranth said. “I know you didn’t rule an elven court without anyone kissing your butt.”
“Well, no one as good as you, but I mean… the… grinding thing. That’s… I mean, you know, things have brushed up against it before, it happens, heat of the moment, and it feels good, but… that was something else.”
“Surprise,” Amaranth said. She settled herself down and pulled Glory up into her lap, half-cradling and half-embracing her. “Sex with sex organs feels good.”
“It’s just… I mean, you know, part of the reason we don’t is it’s squicky, and part of it is making sure no one winds up with kids we don’t want, particularly before we’re adults…”
“And part of it is simple entrenched misogyny,” Amaranth said.
“Which is itself cissexist,” Steff added. “Because, you know, we don’t all have the same junk stowed in our cellars.”
“…but one of the things we hear is that it just doesn’t feel as good,” Glory said. “I mean, when my sister started getting into the pussy-play thing, I thought it was just a taboo thing, you know? To hear the elves with dicks talk about it, nothing feels as good as getting off that way…”
Steff snorted.
“Take it from me, a penis is pretty weaksauce in that department,” she said. “Taking it up the ass or even just having someone flicking the trigger at the base of the ballsack fast and hard enough can give way more intense orgasms… what the penis is, compared to other sex bits, is easy. Everything’s hanging out there in the open. It’s super obvious when it’s in the ready position, and how to get it there, and what to do with it when it is.”
“I think there’s a lot of mythology around sex, in any culture,” Amaranth said. “And elves and humans alike tend to play up certain aspects, and play down others.”
“That’s a serious…” Steff said.
“Don’t say it,” Glory said.
“Error in judgment,” Steff said. “What?”
“I thought you were… never mind,” Glory said.
“No worries,” Steff said. “It’s an easy myth-take to make.”
Glory threw back her head and let out a groan… which turned into a moan as some kind of after-shock seemed to wrack her body.
“Oh, fuck,” she said. “I’m still twitching… twitching and throbbing. You know, I’ve had a clit longer than the rest of you have been alive, put together, but I didn’t know they could do that.”
“That’s the other thing about the penis-worship,” Amaranth said. “Insisting it’s special means exaggerating how unique it is, which means ignoring a lot of the properties of the clitoris, if not ignoring it entirely.”
“Oh, fuck,” Glory said. Her pale face turned a bright purple around the cheeks. “I… I kind of want to touch it? Like, with my hands?”
“No one’s stopping you,” Amaranth said.
She did, in a halting, experimental fashion, though she yelped and drew her hand back like she’d been burned.
“Shit, that’s sensitive!” she said.
Amaranth laughed gently.
“Well, you’ve got a whole lifetime to work with it,” she said. “And I have a feeling that now that we sort of… broke the seal on it… you’ll feel a little more comfortable exploring at your own pace, on your own.”
“Maybe,” Glory said. Her eyes slid over to me. “Though maybe not on my own… I’m having some thoughts that just a few minutes ago would have been unthinkable.”
“Oh, honey… if you can get Mack to put her lips between your legs, you will be my hero,” Amaranth said. “She’s normally a good student, so eager to please, but… well, we tried.”
I might have said something then, but that was the moment when Steff suddenly pulled down hard and pushed up hard at the same time, then grunted and strained while my eyes found the bright white fuzzy space that hides inside my head. I’d asked her to go slow, and she continued to oblige… it felt like she was coming forever, and then she wasn’t.
“Oh, kheez,” Steff said, slipping out of me. “I had no idea how much I needed that.”
“That’s something we can all agree on,” Glory said.Filling up your gas tank in New Jersey could cost you more as soon as this weekend. Some lawmakers approved a 23 cent “gas-tax” hike, bringing this one step closer to happening. Lori Bordonaro reports. (Published Tuesday, June 28, 2016)
What to Know Drivers would have had to start paying 23 cents more per gallon starting Friday
Under the proposal, the sales tax would gradually be reduced to 6 percent and there would be a cut in retirement income taxes
The Democrat-led Assembly approved the measure on Tuesday
New Jersey's fund for road, bridge and transit work inched closer to running dry Thursday after the Democrat-led Senate scrapped any votes on Republican Gov. Chris Christie's plan to hike the gas tax by 23 cents while cutting the sales tax.
Senate President Steve Sweeney said there just isn't enough support among senators for a deal backed by Christie and passed Tuesday in the Democrat-led Assembly. That measure would provide for an eight-year plan at $2 billion per year, financed by a 23 cent tax hike on fuel. It would be offset by cutting the sales tax from 7 percent to 6.5 percent in 2017 and to 6 percent in 2018.
"The Senate just doesn't agree with the Assembly's bill," Sweeney said. "The Senate feels it's too expensive."
Sweeney and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers had backed a separate deal that included an identical gas tax hike, but cut the estate tax and established a charitable tax deduction, among other changes.
NJ Assembly Votes to Hike Gas Tax, Cut Sales Tax
New Jersey leaders struck a deal early Tuesday morning to hike up the cost of gas in the state. Gov. Christie said the plan was needed and necessary. Gas prices could already begin to rise by the end of this week. Tracie Strahan reports. (Published Tuesday, June 28, 2016)
The Assembly plan could cost the $35 billion state budget nearly $2 billion in lost sales tax revenue, while the Senate plan clocked in at under $1 billion in lost revenue because of the tax cuts.
Christie, who proposed the legislation that passed the Assembly, said the plan meets his tax fairness test, because it cuts about the same as it raises in new taxes. Both plans call for raising the retirement income threshold to help pensioners.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said it's urgent for Sweeney and Christie to agree soon and that he's open to meeting with them. But, he said, there are not enough votes to override Christie on the original Senate bill, which the governor said he would not sign.
"I need a bill that the governor will sign," Prieto said.
The Senate's stall comes after Sweeney advocated for more than a year for the transportation trust fund to be replenished, only to see his plan put on the back burner and for him to argue that Friday's deadline isn't so dire after all.
The current five-year, $1.6 billion plan runs out of authority for new borrowing on Friday. The funds coming into the account cover debt payments while new projects are financed through more borrowing.
New Jersey Lawmakers Poised to Raise Gas Tax for First Time in 25 Years
New Jersey legislators appear to be on the verge of passing a 23-cent increase in the gas tax, the first increase in more than 25 years, just as the state is about to run out of money to pay for road, bridge and transit repairs. Brian Thompson reports. (Published Friday, June 24, 2016)
Constructions projects won't stop come Friday and there likely is enough cash to take the current fund through August, Sweeney said. The Christie administration had earlier said the same.
Sweeney said he plans to negotiate behind the scenes with the Assembly on a path forward, but he did not say when exactly a vote could come or how the legislation might change.
"We have to go to the Assembly with what we feel is a bill that can pass. So it's a negotiation," he said.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New YorkQuackery? Whatever. But after all, the nation’s supposed experts on the economy, from pundits on the networks to billionaire investment bankers, have not been exactly reliable. And spiritual readings, as they are known, appear to be one of the few growth sectors in a contracting economy.
“My phone is ringing off the hook,” said Roxanne Usleman, a psychic in Manhattan.
Ms. Usleman, who says she channels angels to advise her clients on interpersonal and financial matters, reported both a spike in traffic on her Web site and a significant surge in private consultations. She used to see comfortably 15 to 20 clients a week, she said. Now she meets with more than twice that number. “I’m having trouble squeezing in appointments,” she said.
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Dawn Carr, a psychic in Boston, said her holiday bookings jumped as much as 70 percent this year over last, fueled in part by corporate bookings for holiday parties. “These people are looking for someone not just to entertain them, but to enlighten them,” she said.
Although most of us would settle for just enough telepathy to read our spouse’s mind, some people crave more.
“When you don’t know what to expect of a job interview or a business partnership,” said Gita V. Johar, a professor of at the Columbia University Business School, “that is when you’re most likely to turn to a psychic.”
Professor Johar, whose specialty is studying the effects of superstition on consumer behavior, suggested that when your portfolio is shrinking or your business is tanking, talking to a soothsayer may be “one way of feeling in control.” She needed no crystal ball herself to predict that “given the uncertainty of the economy, psychics are going to see an increase in business.”
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The steep prices charged by practitioners of divination do not seem to have deterred many of the financially fretful. Ms. Hartman, the Los Angeles psychic, said her Internet traffic has picked up substantially, from about 30 visitors a day to more than 200. She charges from $150 for a 30-minute telephone reading to $500 for 90 minutes of “intuitive counseling.” In what is perhaps a sign of the times, the $70 moss-scented prosperity candle offered on her Web site has become her best seller, she said.
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Many more men have joined the ranks of seekers. “In the old days men would turn to their wives and ask, ‘What did that goofball say, honey?’ ” said Michael Lutins, a New York writer and astrologer. “Now they are raising their heads, interested in matters that were once considered women’s stuff.” Mr. Lutin has lectured about astrology at such male-dominated institutions as the Harvard Business School Club of New York.
Ms. Usleman said that her once predominantly female clientele has also expanded. Men — among them lawyers, doctors, chief executives and insurance brokers — now make up about 50 percent of her business. They approach her, she said, with highly targeted questions, as if they were grilling an investment counselor. “Before agreeing to a reading, they will ask: ‘What is your accuracy rate? Can you guarantee your readings? How do you get your information and can I depend on it?’ ”
Aside from storefront readers, psychics rarely hang out a shingle, making their earnings hard to track. But one person who has attempted to quantify the rising popularity of psychics is Robert LoCasio, the chief executive of LivePerson.com, a site offering telephone consultations with experts in fields from finance to fly fishing.
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When he bought his company a year ago, Mr. LoCasio checked the Consumer Sentiment Index, which is published by the University of Michigan and charts consumer confidence, from 2005 through September of this year. He then compared the data with records from his own company, and drew the conclusion that when the economy is down, consultations with psychics spike noticeably.
Live Person earned revenues of $30 million this year, about 70 percent derived from spiritual readers, Mr. LoCasio said. “In this day and age, a spiritual guide is an everyday therapist — that’s what the business has become,” he said.
In more ordinary economic cycles, psychics tend to offer guidance on romance and relationships. These days, they are besieged with questions about whether a pink slip is in the cards, whether a condo will sell, or whether a company will continue to prosper.
Alicia Bowling, who runs a sports bar in Manhattan, consulted a psychic when friction with a business partner seemed about to imperil her livelihood. “I used to go to my psychic about twice a year, but in the past year, yikes, I may have talked to her a dozen times,” said Ms. Bowling, 49. “I used to ask more about love, or will I ever be married, but with all these hard times, I wonder, ‘What’s going to happen to my bar and will I survive?’ ”
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Sergei Pamukh, a New York stock trader, considers himself a skeptic about supernatural matters, but softened his stance after consulting Ms. Usleman, the Manhattan psychic. When his business was flailing earlier this fall, she suggested that he travel to Moscow to meet with a billionaire mogul. “In two or three weeks I am going,” he said.
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Ms. Usleman said she typically fields questions these days like, “Should I go back and live with my parents?” and “Is |
— the workers saw the factory as a part of the community in which they lived their lives.
With this simple grounding came one of the most radical shifts between the old and the new factory: the idea of active interdependence, rather than an incidental coexistence between the work and the lives of those in the area. People were supporting the factory, and in turn, the factory was supporting the people.
What happens when everyone is involved?
When the choice of what to make is left up to workers and communities, rather than managers and shareholders, the results improve in a range of obvious and important ways. The workers had been made ill by the chemicals used in the old production process. The local area had been polluted by the factory’s fumes. There was no investment capital to buy expensive specialist raw materials. People in the local area had seen their household incomes evaporate during the crisis.
These kinds of issues are deemed “externalities” in most companies, but what are they actually external to? In a typical company, “externalizing” important factors is a one-way street: the company gets to say everything which doesn’t produce direct profit is external to it, shedding responsibility in the process, but no one else can do the same to the company. The company is never “external” to the environment within which it is based, the community that surrounds it, or the lives of those who work there.
By involving all of these “external” perspectives — very few of which would have been particularly relevant to the planning processes carried out by VIO.ME’s former owners — a direction emerged which offered answers to a considerable shopping list of problems found in countless other communities in Greece and beyond. When left with the choice and with the various relevant questions brought to the table, the workers began manufacturing affordable and eco-friendly cleaning products, instead of toxic industrial adhesives.
Today, the factory gates no longer separate the workplace from the community, nor from the environment its emissions escape to. From what the factory makes, to what the community needs and what is best for workers’ health and the wellbeing of the planet, decisions are made together, with those who do the work and live nearby.
Through the initial act of workplace occupation, VIO.ME and countless other recuperated workplaces have begun to overcome the multigenerational failures of business owners, trade unionists, urban planners, sociologists, environmentalists and a range of policymakers, by weaving solutions to a seemingly disparate array of social, economic and ecological issues into the foundations of a single factory space.
When our opposition mirrors that which we are opposing
Corporations have made a science of isolating, externalizing, siloing and compartmentalizing themselves, under the illusion that it makes the business more manageable. In doing so, they lose perspective, zooming in on one aspect of the business or another, without ever being able to put the pieces together and see the cumulative mess they are creating.
Different teams and departments are found to be working against one another’s aims, while “the bottom line” is seen as unrelated to the company’s environmental impacts. What the company does has no perceived bearing on the world it inhabits. There is no “cause and effect,” so long as the effect falls beyond the realms of a quarterly report.
From a distance, we see the dysfunctional impacts of these false divisions, yet we often come to mirror them in the ways we organize our opposition. Unions fight for workers’ rights, green groups demand environmental protection, local community organizations push for neighbors’ concerns to be heard, but rarely do these isolated pushes align themselves, at times becoming explicitly adversarial.
We see this dynamic in clashes between trade unions representing workers in ecologically-destructive industries and environmental organizations. The unions rarely appreciate the realities that a fracking rig will have on any particular community’s environment, because they see the operation through the lens of net job gains or losses.
When that union is organizing at a national level, the issues are further isolated through the consolidation of industry workers’ common interests across the country, further minimizing the significance of any local impacts that extend beyond employment. What emerges is a single battle cry, divorced from any particular place: we need jobs. Battle cries like “we need non-flammable drinking water” are lost in the noise. They are “externalized.”
Similarly, national environmental organizations too often attribute the parts-per-million of various greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to particular industries, without understanding what those working in those industries in a particular area need. Abstract references to “green jobs” do little to calm the fears of those who see their source of livelihood threatened by people who talk about their community from an abstracted distance and lack any personal stake in the impact of their pronouncements.
However, these kinds of differences have a potential to become more aligned when we move away from large-scale centralized thematic organization (like that of governments, unions and NGOs), towards small-scale distributed community-led organization, which has a clear shared value base at its core. In closer proximity, with those most-affected involved, it is easier to find common ground.
In VIO.ME, it became clear that neither the workers nor their neighbors wanted the factory to keep producing the building industry chemicals that they had before. Without the dialogue of the Solidarity Assembly, though, it is hard to know if that common ground would have ever had the chance to surface, or if it would continue to be hidden behind the factory gates, as it had for so many years before the decision to occupy.
‘Solidarity ecosystems’
What seems to be emerging around VIO.ME and many other recuperations, are the early shoots of hundreds of connected “solidarity ecosystems.” These are interdependent social and economic networks bound together by a mix of human need, geographic closeness and a set of core values that allow them to reach beyond their immediate territories and avoid the pitfalls of tribal localism. A shared sense of solidarity connects different aspects of local life in an area with one another (work and health, for example), as well as with the local lives of countless others, further afield.
Recuperations can be hard to describe because they transcend the various institutions most of us are used to. Rather than just a change of management, recuperations represent a new form of bottom-up social organization, in which people decide together what they need, in the place they share, and take the action required to make it happen there, linking up with those further afield with similar values along the way.
A former shell of purely economic production may now address healthcare needs, alternative education provision, civic participation, food production and whatever else the people involved can create. These transformations are still in their early days, but the communities that surround these workplace recuperations are beginning to gently extract themselves from the logic and structures of capitalism and the state.
The recuperations tend to carry a sense of shared responsibility to meet community needs, but it is not addressed via one-size-fits-all welfare provision. There is certainly a level of supply and demand in the trading relations between recuperations, but it is driven by shared values and community needs, rather than lowest price and greatest profit.
The avoidance of hierarchy and promotion of collective decision making tend to transcend the different functions of a particular workplace, but no two recuperations will offer exactly the same combination of social and economic activity.
There is a clear pattern of these spaces moving beyond the remits of their former owners, towards collectively answering many of the basic questions of life for those working and living nearby. However, the specifics emerge organically in each location based on the people involved, the needs they express and the materials available.
Scaling across
The spread of workplace recuperations fits a pattern described by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze in their 2011 book, Walk Out, Walk On, as “scaling across.” According to Wheatley and Frieze, “scaling across” is a process through which “small efforts… grew large not through replication, but by inspiring each other to keep inventing and learning.” This is about when good ideas, rather than being scaled up and rolled out by central government or multinational businesses, are passed directly from community-to-community, changing and adapting to their local circumstances in each place they take root along the way.
Scaling across is the natural extension of the bottom-up, non-hierarchical organizing patterns that are being used in recuperation after recuperation. It is the way that these (relatively) small-scale examples of social change become something more than an inspiring curiosity in one community or another. It is the process through which good ideas can become widespread practices, without an imposed model steamrolling the ever-critical local contexts they are being used in.
Wheatley and Frieze argue that “scaling across” is a way of understanding scale that is still based on individual relationships between people and groups.
A few people focus on their local challenges or issues. They experiment, learn, find solutions that work in their local context. Word travels fast in networks and people hear about their success. They may come to visit or engage in spirited communications… But these exchanges are not about learning how to replicate the process or mimic step-by-step how something was accomplished… Any attempt to replicate someone else’s success will smack up against local conditions, and these are differences that matter.
While Dmitri Koumatsioulis and his colleagues at VIO.ME have watched their own work inspire others around Europe to take over their workplaces, they initially took inspiration from workers in Buenos Aires. Some of those workers, from the Zanon factory (highlighted in Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis’ 2004 film, The Take), flew to Greece at a critical moment at the start of the occupation, to share their learning and experiences. So while VIO.ME represents a major moment in the pan-European movement for workers’ control, their early days were the result of “scaling across” more than a decade of learning from Argentina. And herein lies the real potential emerging from VIO.ME and so many other recuperations.
“Success for us is not whether this factory makes profits,” VIO.ME member Tasos Matzaris argues, “but if this example goes abroad and new factory cooperatives are being made. This is what we think success will look like.” Or as a member of the VIO.ME Solidarity Assembly echoed, “one VIO.ME is not enough… What we are hoping is that more people will follow this example and that we’ll be able to cooperate and start a network. Occupy your own company and come find us.”One Republican congressman differentiated between white terrorists and “radical Islamic terrorists” on Tuesday, saying “there’s a difference” between attacks by the groups.
“There’s a difference,” Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, when she asked him why Trump hadn’t condemned the white supremacist who killed six Muslim congregants during prayer at a Canadian mosque on Jan. 29.
“Again, death and murder on both sides is wrong, but if you want to take the dozens of scenarios where ISIS-inspired attacks have taken innocents, and you give one example of what was in Canada, I’m going to condemn them all,” Duffy said. “But again, you don’t have a group like ISIS or Al Qaeda that’s inspiring people around the world to take up arms and kill innocents. That was a one-off, that was a one-off, Alisyn. And you have a movement on the other side.”
When Camerota brought up other examples of white people committing acts of terrorism—the Oklahoma City bombing and the Charleston shooting of black church-goers—Duffy was dismissive.
“Oklahoma was, what, 20 years ago?” he said. “That’s different than this whole movement that has taken place through ISIS.”
“It does matter,” he said later of the Charleston massacre. “Look at the good things that came from it. Nikki Haley took down the confederate flag, that was great!”
Neither Duffy nor Camerota made mention of a 2012 terrorist attack by a white supremacist in Duffy’s home state of Wisconsin. Wade Page opened fire in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six people before he took his own life after police shot him.
Duffy went on to ask Camerota whether there was any way to prevent white supremacist attacks.
“What do we do on the white supremacy front to make sure we don’t have another attack like Charleston? I am with you on that, Alisyn,” he said.
“Speak out about it, crack down on it, and talk about it as extreme violence as much as talk about all of the other terrorism that you call radical Islamic terrorism,” Camerota replied.
“So let’s crack down on ISIS,” Duffy said. “Let’s crack down to the seven terror countries that are riddled with terrorists and give Donald Trump 90 days to 120 days, give him a pause to make sure he can keep us safe.”
Watch the exchange below, via CNN’s Eugene Scott:
Camerota: Why isn’t the president talking about white terrorism? Duffy: There’s a difference. https://t.co/YEgSitUsdS — Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott) February 7, 2017
This post has been updated.The Bank of Japan’s new antideflation policy made waves throughout the global financial system on Monday, driving down the yen and lifting share prices in Tokyo, but economists said the effect had yet to be fully felt overseas.
The most visible sign of the move by the bank, which is the country’s central bank, was the sharp decline of the yen and a 2.8 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei 225-stock average. The dollar settled at 99.32 yen on Monday in New York, a four-year high. The euro traded at 129 yen, its highest level in more than three years.
“They’re taking a page out of the quantitative easing playbook, multiplied two and a half times what the Fed is doing,” said Michael H. Strauss, chief investment strategist at Commonfund in Wilton, Conn.
That, he said, created a situation where institutions and individuals both faced pressure to buy stocks, at home and overseas.Britain’s warm, wet winter brought floods and misery to many living across southern England, with large parts of Somerset lying underwater for months. When in January rainfall was double the expected average over wide areas, many people made cautious links between such extreme weather and global climate change. There were nay-sayers at the time but it now seems that there is evidence for those links.
Speaking at the European Geosciences Union annual meeting here in Vienna, Myles Allen, a professor of geosystem science at the University of Oxford, presented his take on the issue. At the gathering of more than 12,000 geoscientists, Allen reported an ambitious computer experiment that his team has undertaken over the last two months to test whether the winter floods could be attributed to climate change. And it seems that they can be linked.
The floods of January 2014 certainly were extreme. According to Oxford’s records of daily rainfall, they were unprecedented in 250 years. The records at the UK Met Office from the 20th century also show that this winter was, historically, uniquely bad.
NEODAAS/University of Dundee
The IPCC report does suggest that extreme weather events should be expected as the world warms but the prediction is couched in cautious terms and the risk is assessed as “medium” confidence.
At the Environmental Change Institute in Oxford, researchers Nathalie Schaller and Friederike Otto analysed results from almost 40,000 climate model calculations to test the impact of climate change on Britain’s winter rains. Their calculations modelled the weather across the country on a 50km grid. They compared the results of 12,842 simulations based on the current global sea surface temperatures, with 25,893 results computed on the assumption that global warming had never occurred – that fossil fuel burning had not raised CO 2 to today’s levels and ocean surfaces were cooler.
Such a huge number of calculations was needed to tease out the statistical differences between the two scenarios. It was only possible through the participation of thousands of members of the public in the work’s biggest ever climate modelling exercise: they offered up spare processing capacity on their home computers to run the calculations via the Climate Prediction citizen science climate modelling programme.
The results showed a subtle bias towards more extreme weather in today’s warming world. Events that would have been expected once in 100 years before global warming can now be anticipated to occur once in 80 years. In essence, the probability of extreme winter floods appears to have increased by 25% on pre-industrial levels.
Allen pointed out that this is the first quantitative evaluation of the influence of global warming on Britain’s 2014 floods. Thomas Stocker, a professor of climate and environmental physics at the University of Bern and chairman of the IPCC working group charged with assessing the physical origins of climate change, said that the Oxford group’s results had “shown movement in one direction only – toward greater risk”.
Although the results from the models cannot yet give definite measures of the probability of a flood, they do provide an insight into how those risks have changed and continue to change – information that is of great interest to insurance underwriters, among others.
Otto said: “Past greenhouse gas emission and other forms of pollution have loaded the weather dice”, adding that she and others were still working on investigating the implications of the results, for river flows, flooding and ultimately the threat to property and lives.
Some will, no doubt, question the result on the basis that it is “simply” a statistical test. The results from the two modelling scenarios are, at first sight, very similar. But the fact remains that they are distinct, showing that rising global ocean surface temperatures directly influence UK winter rainfall.
The results affirm the strong and growing scientific consensus developing from the understanding of the physical origins and consequences of climate change, as outlined in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Working Group 1 report last September. Those that choose to ignore them, or contradict them, will (I predict) still be directly affected by them. And we will be hit where it hurts most – in our wallets. How likely is it that the insurance industry will ignore such results?The story of Hamilton woman Suzie, who has Down syndrome, stopping into Muscle and Ink Tattoo Studio for stick on tattoos has taken social media by storm.
She wanders into the tattoo parlour with a pack of stick-ons and leaves with a huge grin - and well-decorated arms.
Hamilton woman Suzie, who has Down syndrome, has been stopping into Muscle and Ink Tattoo and Sport Supplement Studio for about three months now.
Almost every Friday, tattoo artist Jason Ward applies her latest pieces of artwork in the Grey St studio.
Bruce Mercer/ Fairfax NZ Tattoo artist, Jason Ward of Muscle and Ink Tattoo gives Suzie a stick-on tattoo each week.
Ward didn't think he was doing anything special until a photo his friend shared on Facebook went viral online.
It's received uncounted likes and featured on platforms from tumblr to a Belgian news site.
Suzie's first Friday appearance at Muscle and Ink was about three months ago.
"She walked in the door and said 'Put this on me', so I put it on her," Ward said.
He thought it was a once-off but she's hardly missed a Friday since.
When Suzie arrived today she didn't have a lot to say but the grin made it pretty clear how she felt.
Ward led her to a stool in the narrow shop, put on the gloves and Suzie picked her design - she's a fan of Maori-style patterns.
She rubbed him on the shoulder before watching intently as he put on his gloves on, prepared her arm and applied her decoration of the day.
Normally its just two because Suzie's in a hurry but today she had more time and Ward put on almost the full packet.
"We can do more today- that isn't normal," Ward said, and Suzie laughed.
After another pat on the shoulder when he finished she headed for the door.
Suzie is supported by Idea Services and goes to Muscle and Ink every Friday after work.
She has one word to describe Ward: beautiful.
She can't decide on a favourite tattoo - "I like them all" - but leaves feeling happy and is keen to show the new skin art to her dad.
And how did she feel when she knew how many people had seen her picture on Facebook?
Her answer was a grin and a chuckle.
Ward didn't think of sharing anything about Suzie's weekly visits online - but friend Rochelle Douglas was in the studio one Friday afternoon and posted the picture on her page.
It's spread across web platforms such as the Confessions of a Tattoo Artist page - where it has almost 180,000 likes - and been featured on UK online entertainment site The Lad Bible, which touts Ward as a "top lad".
For his part, Ward can't understand all the attention and Facebook friend requests.
He didn't realise other people would be interested in what he was doing, otherwise he might have put it on the shop Facebook page, he said.
"It's overwhelming," he said.
"It's just another day at work."
But the intense interest has made him see another side to the photo - instead of just a work photo, it shows two people who may experience discrimination sharing a moment, he said.
The "family man" said the stigma of tattoos still got him funny looks at times.
For friend Rochelle Douglas, who took the photo, it was a moment that needed to be shared.
"It's quite touching actually," she said.
"I went to school with Jason, right from primary school, and he's just an awesome dude."
She hopes the attention generated by the photo will remind people not to be as judgmental in life - whether about tattoos, disabilities or otherwise.
And Ward will keep giving Suzie stick-on tattoos as long as she keeps coming to the shop.
"I know she likes it."North face has announced that they are going to start to produce and sell synthetic spider silk parkas, with the help of Japanese startup Spiber. Spider silk is said to strong as steel, tougher than Kevlar, and lighter than carbon fiber. But too expensive to produce for most companies. Japanese company Spiber has started to produce spider silk synthetically and recently joined forces with The North Face to create a parka made from its QMONOS fiber. Called the Moon Parka, the garment is reportedly “the world’s first piece of clothing made from artificial protein material.”
The secret to the strength of natural spider silk’s is the protein that it’s made from, known as fibroin. Creating completely man-made fibroin in the lab is known to be a tedious process, so Spiber began to bio engineer the bacteria with recombinant DNA to produce the protein. That synthetic fibroin is subsequently spun into QMONOS, which is the Japanese word for “spider.”Bleeding Cool showed you the new Doctor Who trailer earlier today. But that was just the half of the Doctor Who panel at San Diego. Peter Svensson writes;
Clips from future episodes were shown at the final day of Comic Con, giving glimpses of the second half of season six. Stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, writer Toby Whitehouse and producers Piers and Beth spoke about the show to a standing room only crowd, disappointing many who couldn’t make it to the panel due to gigantic lines.
Spoilers for upcoming episodes follow.
Karen was asked her opinion on the revelation that Alex Kingston as River Song is her daughter. “I love it. My mom is happy about being Alex Kingston’s grandmother!” said Gillan. She then elaborated that while Kingston knew of the secret from day one, the cast didn’t find out for some time. The initial cast reading of the script had a false ending, and only later did producer Steven Moffat give them the real script. Moffat’s tendency to give the cast and crew curveballs was mentioned on more than one occasion, with Beth mentioning that she had been told to prepare shooting in a desert in Utah before ever being told what the story of the episode would be. Toby Whitehouse mentioned that he knew about River’s identity months before anyone else did, as that information was crucial to a line in his next script, “The God Complex” will be airing as the eleventh episode of the season, or the
fourth of the second half.
The idea that Karen’s generation didn’t grow up on Who, but still knew of it was brought up. Gillan’s mother was a big fan, so she grew up with some knowledge of the show. Toby and Matt got to research the show by simply growing up and being devoted to it.
Whitehouse then spoke about what it took to write the monsters in Who. “Humanity. Sympathy.” He mentioned how the villain in “Vampires of Venice” had her own motives and in her way was benign. Whitehouse explained the idea that Doctor Who is an detective story with a new mystery each week, that the cast comes across a situation and resolves it without just killing things.
A selection of short clips from “The God Complex” were shown. Set in a modern day hotel, where a mysterious Minotaur-esque monster lurks. A man chants “Bring me death!” The Doctor says “I’m going to catch a monster.” We see the shadow of the monster. Rory being as much of a badass as possible while holding a mop. The Doctor is extremely frantic, screaming something about “The name is the last!” Amy and other woman barricading a door. The Doctor as a sad clown sitting on a bed. A man tied up to a chair, talking into a microphone. Elsewhere, the Doctor yanking out a cord, having heard enough.
The episode is themed on the classic Greek myth of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur.
Matt Smith joked that in regards to the whole “Astronaut killing the Doctor” plot left unresolved from the season premiere, they’d “Address it, I suppose.”
The new season will premiere on BBC America on the 27th of August. 9:00/8:00 Central. Matt Smith admitted he had no idea what that meant beyond the generic concept of time zones. “We have Greenwich mean time.” he joked.
The next clip, encompassing the entire season was shown. BBC America should have it up soon.
The hotel from God Complex. Amy and Rory on a motorcycle, 1940s vintage. Amy looking onto an alien garden. The Doctor dressed as Charlie Chaplin, in a Nazi building. Eyepatch. Weeping Angels. Silence. Marionettes. Robots with unfolding cybernetic faces. Cybermen holding the Doctor captive.”I’m going to die!” screams the Doctor, desperately. Voice over: “Something is wrong with time.” Hitler congratulates Amy, Rory and the Doctor for quite possibly saving his life. Cybermen with their heads exploding. The eyepatch woman. River with an eyepatch. The crew of a spaceship. Tardis flying threw a window. Viking-esque alien at a bar. A group of three aliens teleport into a warehouse. Rory punches out Hitler. The Doctor looking at an info screen that lists the time and place of his demise. Eyepatch woman telling the tale of how the Astronaut rose from the waters and killed the Timelord. The Doctor’s response “Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
More Daleks in upcoming season? That would be spoilers, said Matt Smith.
A fan asked if the success of the recent Who-themed album, Chameleon Circuit had impacted them. Smith didn’t know what it was, but knew the artist responsible and was very happy to hear of its success.
A Russian fan asked if the Tardis would land there, and what scares the cast? Gillan explained that Smith likes to hide in her trailer and scare her. The playful nature of filming in Cardiff was mentioned, leading the crowd to cheer at the mention of the city. Matt Smith commented “I love that Cardiff got a Woo-Hoo. You’ve never been.”
There are no plans that can be discussed for another Five Doctors-esque special. “I just heard Steven screaming from across the Atlantic.” said Piers. Beth responded that those were screams of ecstasy.
Only Moffat would know if the Doctor’s Daughter is coming back. Smith had to remind Gillan that she survived the episode. “And married the Doctor!”
Smith also wants to see a return of the Dreamlord, being a major fan of the actor who played him and wanting to delve into the concept that the Doctor has so much blood on his hands, so much tragedy and loss, that there’s a great darkness to the Doctor that he and Moffat hope to explore.
When Smith first entered the Tardis set, he was given a manual and consistently pilots the Tardis in the same way. He’s even taught Gillan how to do it. “The Tardis never gets boring.” said Smith.
Gillain’s favorite alien race from the show are the “Sisters of Plentitude. You know, the nurse cats?!” Smith responded with the Weeping Angels as his favorites.
The panelists were all asked who their favorite Doctor, besides Matt Smith was. Piers and Beth chose Tom Baker. Whitehouse couldn’t choose between Baker or Tennant. Gillain proudly chose Eccelston. Smith picked Troughton and Baker. The moderator noted that there was no love for Sylvester McCoy…
A little girl dressed as a weeping angel wondered if the Doctor would ever regenerate into a woman. Beth answered that while the idea is brought up whenever casting occurs, the casting is based on finding the right actor or actress more than anything else. She believes it’s possible. Piers posited the idea that River Song is very much a female Doctor.
Piers confirmed that in reality, Matt Smith is pretty much exactly the same as the Doctor, only less competent. “I’m nowhere near as cool as the Doctor” said Smith in agreement. Beth mentioned that after a few drinks, Moffat will say that “He just IS the Doctor!” in reference to how much Smith nails the role. And that as Moffat begins to tailor the role for the actor, the line between Smith and Doctor begins to blur. Piers pointed out that Smith was the first actor to play the Doctor to ever be nominated for a BAFTA award, which given how previous actors had defined the character so strongly was amazing.
Smith spoke about the audition process, and how he didn’t get a script until the day before. Upon hearing that David Tennant would be leaving the show, his mother asked him to audition. Piers said that it was the easiest casting decision he’s ever been involved with. Moffat sent an e-mail to the staff after the second round of auditions stating: “It’s him. It’s always been him.” Beth agreed, and said that casting Karen Gillan as Amy was almost as easy. The first batch of auditioners failed to impress Piers, but Beth knew that Gillan would be auditioning and told everyone to wait for her. And indeed, Moffat leaped up and down after the auditioners left the room, knowing that she was the one.
Toby Whitehouse doesn’t do scientific research for the show, because if he properly understood science he probably wouldn’t have to be a writer. For “The God Complex” he did study Greek Mythology for reasons that will become very apparent.
The Fez was a prank pulled on Moffat to try and get Smith to shut up about constantly asking for hats, by giving him the worst hat possible for the briefest amount of time. That it took off so well was a shock to all involved. Beth reminded everyone that Smith did design his costume, from tweed to bow-tie, and thus they probably should trust his judgment on these issues. Smith said that he’d hold her to that statement in the future.
In response to a question about why the Tardis makes that distinctive vhoomp-vhoomp noise, Piers acknowledged that so much of the show’s iconography is due to the crew of the first season back in the 1960s, a lot of proper, visionary people.
A fan asked why they keep on killing Rory. Gillan answered “He dies really well!” Smith elaborated that it’s okay as they keep on bringing him back.
Karen has been given yet another secret about future plots by Moffat, one that while Smith knows the topic of, he doesn’t know the specifics. Gillan gloated about the power she had over him. Smith explained that Moffat’s practice of having actors keep secrets helps with their acting, especially since so much of the Doctor is defined by his knowing the most in every situation.
Smith breaks tons of props, and an average of one Sonic Screwdriver a day, as well as a few chunks of the Tardis which need repairing after he’s done with them.
If the show could crossover with any other series, besides Torchwood (and presumably Sarah Jane Adventures or that new K-9 series), Matt Smith would like to see them meet up with True Blood. Gillan rabidly screamed out for Star Trek: the Next Generation. She spoke about recently meeting Brent Spiner who played Data, and how she gushed at meeting him. Smith joked about how last night, she did such gushing to his former castmate Wil Wheaton without realizing the implications of that. He also thought that a short cameo in Big Bang Theory would be
fun.
The question of River’s future sonic screwdriver from her first appearance was brought up. Smith answered that the Doctor is so upset that River even has one that he doesn’t even acknowledge it and writes it off as a poor imitation. The red setting on that version of the screwdriver, he joked, turns you into an orangutan.
If the show could get another guest writer ala Neil Gaiman, Matt Smith would like to see JJ Abrams or Edgar Wright. Karen would like Paul Cornell. Toby Whitehouse would like Roald Dahl, Beth couldn’t think of anything to match that, and Piers would like to have Russell T. Davies return.
Matt then took the time to congratulate the departing producers Beth and Piers for all their hard work, and got the crowd to give them a proper sendoff.
Peter S. Svensson is a Bleeding Cool Foreign Correspondent, currently embedded in Comic-Con.
About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist.
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None foundTwo of the six amendments on Tuesday's ballot deal with land swaps in the Adirondack Park. One of the proposals has split environmental groups.
Proposition 4 would clear up some land disputes for owners of property on Raquette Lake, in Hamilton County. It would allow the state to give clear titles to the around 200 homes along the lake. In exchange, the landowners would contribute to a fund to buy alternative land for the Adirondack forest preserve. There is no organized opposition to that land swap.
But Proposition 5 is more controversial. It would allow a mining company to take over 200 acres of what are now forest preserve lands to expand its open pit mining operations.
“We don’t think the swap is a good deal, “said Peter Bauer with the group Protect the Adirondacks. “It sets a terrible precedent.”
Bauer says in the more than 100 years that the Adirondack Park has existed, it’s rare that a private company has been allowed to take this much forest preserve land and use it for industrial purposes.
Dan Plumley, with Adirondack Wild, has walked the 200 acres in question, and he says it’s an old growth forest, which is rare in a region heavily logged in the 1900’s, as well as a key animal habitat.
“We have trees on this site that are upwards of 150 to 300 years old," Plumley said, including American Beech trees that bears gravitate to.
“This is rich black bear habitat,” he said.
Other Adirondack based environmental groups, including the Adirondack Mountain Club and the Adirondack Council, support the land swap.
Willie Janeway, with the Adirondack Council, says the mining company has agreed to give up 1500 acres of land it currently owns. The new lands will open up public access to areas including the Jay and Hurricane Mountain Wilderness Areas. And, under the agreement, the mining company would eventually give the 200 acres back.
Janeway says there’s another consideration, as well. The mining company has said 100 jobs could be at stake if it can’t expand its mining on the 200 acre parcel. He says his group, while advocating for the preservation of the Adirondack Park, also tries to take into account the economic welfare of the people who live there.
“The focus on this amendments is really the benefit if provides to the people of the state of New York.” Janeway said. “And the benefits to communities, including the jobs.”
The state’s environmental conservation commissioner, Joe Martens, is also in favor of the mining company land swap. He spoke to North Country Public Radio earlier this year, saying the 1500 acres would be a great gain.
“They are far superior to the 200 acres that NYCO would get,” Martens said. “They have about six miles of trout streams and significant water bodies on them.”
Martens’ boss, Governor Andrew Cuomo, has remained officially neutral on the Adirondack ballot amendments.
Former Governor George Pataki, who has a home in the park, has written an Op-Ed piece backing both land swap proposals.
Voters in the rest of New York may be wondering why they are being asked to weigh in on what seems to be local land disputes. Bauer, with Protect the Adirondacks, says the state’s constitution is set up so that all New York residents are the stewards of the park.
“If you live in Binghamton or if you live in Yonkers, you own 3 million acres of forest preserve lands in the Adirondacks and Catskills,” Bauer said. “You pay taxes on those lands.”
Janeway, with the Adirondack Council, says he believes New York voters, as they have in the past, will do their homework and learn about the amendments, and take that responsibility seriously.
In exchange, NYCO Minerals has offered to give the state other lands at comparable value to add to the forest preserve. The issue has divided environmental groups.Historians, social scientists, religious leaders, and others have long pondered the question of why women seem to be more drawn to religion than men are (see Related Items). The issue has major practical implications for churches and other faith communities. Women may be the backbone of a congregation, but the presence of a significant number of men is often a clear indicator of spiritual health in congregations. As the Rev. John Belmont, rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Pennington, N.J., comments: "Both [men and women] are needed to bring vitality and completion of community life to a church."
A mountain of Gallup survey data attests to the idea that women are more religious than men, hold their beliefs more firmly, practice their faith more consistently, and work more vigorously for the congregation. In fact, gender-based differences in responses to religious questions are far more pronounced than those between any other demographic categories, such as age, education level, or geographic region. The tendency toward higher religiosity among women has manifested over seven decades of scientific polling, and church membership figures indicate that it probably existed for many decades prior to the advent of survey research in the mid-1930s.
Reason |
hell arise.
The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
What is a man’s library without some literature on America’s favorite pastime? Dubbed “The finest American book on sports,” The Boys of Summer is an account of the Brooklyn Dodgers leading up to their 1955 World Series title. Kahn’s depiction of some of the game’s greatest legends like Gil Hodges and Duke Snyder is inspiring enough to make a man hope for another shot on the diamond and join up with a local softball crew. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Set at a boys prep school on the eve of World War II, A Separate Peace centers on the friendship of Phineas and Gene. Phineas’ seeming perfection creates a jealously in Gene that results in a tragedy that will forever change both of their lives. A piercing look at both the light and the shadows of friendship and humanity. Every boy wishes he were Finny but knows he’s more like Gene. This book will stick with you no matter your age.
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Perhaps the most popular piece of 20th century “existential” literature. Frenchman Meursault attends his mother’s funeral, and through a series of events, becomes drawn into a senseless murder. The Stranger addresses murder and remorse (or lack thereof), God and atheism, destiny and justice, and the absurdity of life. You’ll come away remembering much more than just the plot points.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Robinson Crusoe is the “autobiography” of a castaway who spent 30 years on a remote tropical island. He encounters difficult terrain, less-than-friendly natives, and a variety of other obstacles. It was described and written so realistically — the name Robinson Crusoe was even listed as the author — that many people thought it was about actual events rather than being a novel from the mind of Daniel Defoe. Almost 300 years later, it still holds up.
The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey
This book has been a bestseller for nearly three decades, and for good reason. It not only explains the importance of living your life with purpose, but also provides tools to help you actually do it. The planning and goal-setting methods laid out in Covey’s most celebrated work have been used by countless world leaders, businessmen, and influential people, as well as millions of ordinary folks whose lives have been changed by implementing the 7 habits. Include the Art of Manliness team among them.
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
No matter his class or situation in life, a man needs a healthy appreciation for the simple folk who help make the world go round. John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row depicts a cross-section of this community, located on a strip of sardine canneries, in the late Depression era. This area has a life of its own, and is as much a character of the book as any of the community members themselves. The novel not only paints a picture of a difficult time that has passed, but gives honest, timeless insight into the human condition.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Pretty much everything we think of when we think of pirates comes not from the pages of history but from this book: treasure maps with “X” marking the spot, deserted islands, peg legs, parrots, and more. Published as a children’s tale (and a rather adult one at that), American novelist Henry James praised it as “perfect as a well-played boy’s game.”
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
This New Orleans-based novel won author John Kennedy Toole the Pulitzer Prize. Its perfect comedy of errors is centered around the character of Ignatius J. Reilly, a lazy and socially ignorant, but very intelligent man, who still lives with his mother at the age of 30. A Confederacy of Dunces serves as a guide for what a man ought not to be, while providing sound entertainment all the while.
Native Son by Richard Wright
This novel tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a young African-American living in utter poverty in Chicago’s South Side in the 1930s. He, inevitably (as argued by the novel), ends up in jail for a crime he did in fact commit. Was it his character which drove him to it, though, or was it society, by placing him in a certain social stratum? Race, identity, social status, society’s pressures — this novel offers an important read on the black experience.
The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
In this travelogue Paul Theroux recounts his 4-month journey through Europe, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia on the continent’s fabled trains: the Orient Express, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express and the Trans-Siberian Express. His well-documented and entertaining adventures have come to be considered a classic in the travel literature genre. This journal satisfies the vicarious traveler and inspires the adventurous man.
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Last of the Mohicans was the second book in Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and is set in 1757 during the French and Indian War. The French were particularly dependent on Native Americans for help in the fight. Primarily set in the New York wilderness, a colonel’s two daughters, Alice and Cora, need to be transported to a safe destination. Among the caravan guarding the women are a group of frontiersman and Indians including Chingachgook (the last chief of the Mohicans) and Uncas. The characterization of these protagonists would become an enduring part of the archetypes of frontiersmen and Indians that remain within the popular consciousness today.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
One of the great American novels, The Grapes of Wrath is set in the Dust Bowl-era Midwest. Forced to move, the Joad family drives westward with thousands of other down-on-their-luck Okies in order to try to find a better life for themselves in California. There’s perhaps no better snapshot of this time period of American history than Steinbeck’s masterpiece. Plus, the final scene is one that will stick with you for a long time to come.
Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour
Western writer Louis L’Amour was one of the most prolific authors of all time, cranking out over 100 published works (all of which were still in print when he died in 1988). Education of a Wandering Man is his autobiography, which could also be called a love letter to learning. He left school at age 15 to roam the world. His various experiences include: hobo on the railroads, Texas cattle skinner, seaman in Singapore and the West Indies, itinerant bare-knuckled boxer, and more. Through it all, he taught himself to read and write, and was never far from a book. Inspiring as all get out, L’Amour’s example will have you asking what on Earth you’re doing with all your free time.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
One of the great musicals of all time, Les Miserables was first a great novel. Ex-convict Jean Valjean tries to remake himself after getting out of prison, and seeks revenge on the forces which put him there in the first place. Through a large cast of memorable characters, and the French Revolution in the background, author Victor Hugo takes us on a rolling epic that will likely leave you exhausted — yet hopeful — by the time you’re through.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Viktor Frankl was a psychotherapist and brain surgeon who specialized in treating depression, but being a Jew in Nazi Germany, was sent to Auschwitz. Upon entering the concentration camp, they took the last of his belongings, including his clothes, his wedding ring, and the manuscript of a book he was writing. By leaning on his rich inner life and helping other prisoners, along with some strokes of good luck, he lived to tell his story, which is a lesson about the control one has to make a bad situation not necessarily good, but survivable. It’s sure to put your own suffering in perspective and inspire you to live with greater purpose.
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Published when author S. E. Hinton was just 18 years old, The Outsiders is the story of two rival gangs — the Greasers and the Socs — who are divided by their socioeconomic status. It’s a classic coming-of-age tale, and set the stage for the young adult genre as we know it today. Though the story’s characters are just teenagers, there’s much to be taken from it about family, honor, sacrifice, and class dynamics.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Often called the masterpiece of Spanish literature, One Hundred Years of Solitude is an epic family story which tells the tale of the fall, birth and death of the town of Macondo. Marquez introduces us to seven generations of Buendia’s, whose patriarch founded the town. The family is unable to escape their regular misfortunes, though. Is history bound to repeat itself, or can the Buendia’s free themselves from their family’s history?
Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield
A fictional account of the Spartan 300 and the Battle of Thermopylae, which pitted a few thousand Greek men against at least 100,000 Persians. In Gates of Fire, we see the battle through the eyes of a warrior named Xeones. We learn about Spartan life, training, discipline, battle strategy, courage…and much, much more. Reading it will fill you with manly thumos.
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Paradise Lost is an epic poem which tells the Biblical story of the Fall of Man in verse: the temptation of Adam and Eve, the role of Satan, and their banishment from the Garden of Eden. Rather than just re-telling what’s in the Bible though, author John Milton explores and imagines the possible backstory. What was going on behind the scenes in the heavenly realm, how did Adam and Eve react to their sin, what did they feel upon being banned from the the garden? From paradise?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Author Ray Bradbury brings readers to a dystopian future in which books are banned, and firemen are charged with destroying any they find. Fireman Guy Montag is our main character, and every day he’s tasked with setting printed literature aflame. At the end of the day, he returns to his home and family, where the TV is central to their bland existence. Even in the 1950s, Bradbury was concerned about the effect that television and other forms of mass media would have on humanity’s relationship to books and literature. Relevant still? You bet your bottom it is.
Oil! by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair’s novel of the 1920s oil industry should be read if for no other reason than that it served as the inspiration for one of the greatest movies of this century, There Will Be Blood. The book is told through the eyes of Bunny, an oil tycoon’s son. His sympathies towards oil field workers and socialist leanings create a lot of discord with dear old dad. What Sinclair’s The Jungle did for the meatpacking industry, this book did for oil.
Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard
Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard creates a case study from the (in)famous Bible story of Abraham being commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. He uses the story as an opportunity to question philosophy’s relationship to religion, along with the nature of God, faith’s relationship with ethics and morality, and the difficulty of being authentically religious. It asks the big questions that every man should wrestle with throughout life.
The Code of Man by Waller Newell
What does it mean to be a man, not just biologically, but philosophically? Waller Newell lays out one of the most compelling answers to the question of how a man should live in this book. He argues that many modern men have lost touch with the values and virtues that defined manliness for thousands of years, and consequently feel lost, confused, and angry. Newell believes that the road to recovery is taken along the five paths to manliness: love, courage, pride, family, and country. Using Western writers and thinkers like Aristotle and Hemingway, among others, Newell offers important guidance on the path to achieving a “manly heart.”
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad’s novella is the story of a man named Marlow traveling up the Congo River in the heart of Africa. In telling the tale, Conrad compares the “savages” of Africa to the so-called “civilized” people of London. Is there really much difference? Themes of race, barbarism, colonialism, and first-world society are central.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Ryan Holiday’s description of the Meditations in his list of 36 books every young and ambitious man should read, can’t much be improved upon: “I would call this the greatest book ever written. It is the definitive text on self-discipline, personal ethics, humility, self-actualization, and strength. Bill Clinton reads it every year, and so have countless other leaders, statesmen, and soldiers. It is a book written by one of the most powerful men who ever lived on the lessons that power, responsibility, and philosophy teach us. This book will make you a better person and better able to manage the success you desire.”
These four books are making the list as one, because they’re really a single, epic story. You’ve no doubt seen the movies, which are great, but the books are even better. Follow Frodo Baggins and his trustworthy friend Samwise Gamgee and learn about friendship, loyalty, dedication to a good cause, and many other manly virtues. You’ll also find one of the wisest characters in literature in Gandalf. J.R.R. Tolkien had one of the greatest imaginations in the history of literature and created an entire universe, complete with new languages, maps of various lands, and even histories of how these lands came to be. No other author has come close to the world-making capabilities of Tolkien, which alone makes the series worth reading.
With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge
You may think you understand the gritty nature of the Pacific War, but until you read With the Old Breed, you can’t fully grasp its full horrors. With rich and haunting prose, Sledge takes you right into the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa and allows you to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the nightmarish scenes on a very visceral level. This is surely one of the best books on war, period, and is a must-read for every American who wants to fully understand the sacrifices their forebearers made for them.
Self-Control: Its Kingship and Majesty by William George Jordan
The turn of the 20th century was the golden age of personal development books. In contrast to the self-help books of today, which are filled with flattering, empty, cliche platitudes, they’re direct, masterfully written, and full of profound and challenging insights that center on the development of good character. Even in this golden age, one author stands supreme: William George Jordan. His Self-Control: Its Kingship and Majesty has been the source of many of our most popular manvotionals, and is full of beautifully written wisdom on self-reliance, calmness, gratitude, and more.
Click here to download a PDF list of the 100 books every man should read.
Tags: book listsOn 31 August 2017, repeat offender TheLastLineOfDefense.com published a “report” on the “Ramashan Mosque” in Houston, which according to them, refused to help people seeking relief from the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey:
The building can easily hold over 500 people, much more than the 27 currently inside. But the imam of the mosque, Aswat Turads, says that they absolutely cannot accept any non-Muslim people because it’s against their religion. “The Quran is very clear,” Turads told local news radio station WXTX, “we are forbidden from helping infidels, no matter how much we want to. If we allow Christians and Jews inside, we are violating a fundamental tenant of Islam and will be punished by Allah.
The original version of the story (and an equally fake follow-up post) also included a picture of Canadian imam Ibrahim Hindy, who publicly refuted the story, saying that not only was he in Saudi Arabia completing the hajj Islamic pilgrimage at the time the massive storm hit Texas, he has never been to that state in his life at all:
That’s me in the picture. I’ve never even been to Texas before. https://t.co/jIPfeALckc — Ibrahim Hindy (@Hindy500) September 2, 2017
The site quickly swapped out its photographs in response. The current version of the story now includes an Associated Press picture of a Lebanese cleric, Ahmad al-Assir, who was arrested by authorities in his country in August 2015.
This story is a complete fabrication, and neither the “Ramashan Mosque” or “Aswat Turads” exist. The radio station named in the article, WXTX-FM, is actually based out of Columbus, Georgia and not Texas. TheLastLineOfDefense.com is a known purveyor of fake news stories. Its disclaimer reads:
America’s Last Line of Defense is a satirical publication that may sometimes appear to be telling the truth. We assure you that’s not the case. We present fiction as fact and our sources don’t actually exist. Names that represent actual people and places are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and do not in any way depict reality. In other words, if you believe this crap you’re a real dumbass.
Despite its complete lack of any factual content, the hoax story was shared thousands of times; it was also picked up and run verbatim as true by other web sites. In reality, several Houston mosques have taken people in and performed volunteer food and donation drives to help victims of the storm.Despite the parallels with the current political environment and that of 1994, Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonInviting Kim Jong Un to Washington Howard Schultz must run as a Democrat for chance in 2020 Trump says he never told McCabe his wife was 'a loser' MORE said the outcome of November’s election “is likely to be far less dramatic.”
“I don't think [the GOP] will win either house,” he said on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday. “If history is any guide, they should make a few gains. But I don't expect them to win in either house, no.”
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The former president expanded on the remarks he made earlier to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and theabout how anti-government rhetoric could incite violence as was the case in the 1990s.Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh seized on the statements and said they were an attempt to discredit the Tea Party movement.“The only point I tried to make was that we ought to have a lot of political dissent, a lot of political argument,” Clinton said. “But we also have to take responsibility for the possible consequences of what we say. And we shouldn't demonize the government or its public employees or its elected officials.”Clinton said he was concerned about the threats being made against President, members of Congress and even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). “I just think we all have to be careful. We ought to remember after Oklahoma City. We learned something about the difference in disagreement and demonization,” he said.Clinton ruled himself or his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, out of accepting an appointment to the Supreme Court but he offered some advice to Obama about a prospective nominee.“My advice to him would be to, first of all, see what the court's missing. Does it matter if he puts a Catholic or a Jewish person or someone of another faith on a court, there might -- there would be no Protestants on the Supreme Court. … Does there need to be another woman on the court?”Clinton encouraged Obama to look beyond the tradition template of experienced judges. “You know, I tried to persuade both Senator Mitchell and Governor Cuomo to accept appointments to the court, and for different reasons, neither one wanted to do it,” he said. “I think they would have been fabulous justices. And -- now, George Mitchell had been a judge, but he was also a senator. I think that -- I hope he'll take a look at somebody who hasn't been a judge.”He added, “I'd like to see him put someone in their late 40s or early 50s on the court and someone, you know, with a lot of energy for the job.”Clinton said he thought it would be “very difficult” for the GOP to block Obama’s eventual nominee. “I don't expect him to intentionally pick a fight with the Senate,” Clinton said before urging Obama not to back down if he finds the “best person” for the job. “The most important thing is he needs to be really proud of the people he puts on the court,” he said.Russell Reichelt, the reef's Marine Park Authority chairman, told Senate estimates on Thursday that the region of the reef north of Lizard Island had been the worst hit, with "severe bleaching", although the event as a whole was "very widespread". Corals start to die after about eight weeks of temperatures above a particular threshold that varies with species. Credit:Eddie Jim There is a "very high mortality in the far northern section" and was likely to be above 50 per cent of corals, Dr Reichelt said. The area was known as being relatively pristine. Dr Reichelt noted that two of the big three bleaching events had occurred during an El Nino, such as this year, but climate change was "by far the biggest signal". The bleaching is "driven by the upward trend in ocean temperatures, which is about 1 degree in the past century," he said. "It is very strongly linked to global warming."
Temperatures have lately been at record levels in the region, as noted by GBRMPA: Bleaching starts to affect corals when ocean temperatures exceed thresholds for about four weeks, Dr Reichelt said. At that point, corals expel algae, known as zooxanthellae, that live in their tissues and serve as their source of nutrients. Some coral species start to die if those excessive temperatures continue for another month, although long-lived large boulder-like corals can survive to 12 weeks or longer after the threshold levels of warm waters are exceeded. The bleaching was less widespread in southern reaches of the reef but became worse from about Port Douglas northwards, he said. Some of the reefs were also dying near Cairns but other reefs were faring better.
The Bureau of Meteorology is projecting that sea temperatures will remain above average for some months to come for much of the region. (See chart below.) Dr Reichelt said water quality was the second-biggest threat to the reef, noting that nutrient levels entering the coastal fringing reefs were four to five times higher than the conditions corals had evolved in. He praised efforts by governments to improve water quality as "a terrific national response". Coral waters are relatively nutrient poor. A pulse of nutrients, such as after floods, boost the growth of green algae that compete with corals.
Old money Answers from officials from the Environment Department and Education Minister Simon Birmingham also confirmed that the $171 million announced in this week's budget for reef funding came from raiding programs such as the National Landcare Program and capping spending on the Green Army. Greens Senator Larissa Waters said the Turnbull government's reef funding was "not only inadequate but it comes at the expense of other environment programs". "In a budget that keeps more than $20 billion in subsidies to fossil fuels and gives $100 million in new money to mining exploration, it's an indictment on the government that there is no new money for the reef that doesn't come at the expense of other environment programs," Senator Waters said in a statement. "We are in an extinction and climate crisis – now is not the time for more environment funding cuts," she said.
On Tuesday, Mr Hunt said in a media statement: "The Turnbull Government is doing more than ever before to protect the Great Barrier Reef and the 2016 Budget strengthens this commitment with a $171.0 million boost". Global attention Professor Hughes' surveys drew global attention, including his social media comments. Many other reefs around the world, including off north-western Australia, are also affected by bleaching as the El Nino leads to a spike in temperatures in many oceans against the background of warming seas from climate change.
Reefs around Christmas Island, such as Flying Fish Cove, were reporting bleaching of 70-75 per cent of corals in waters less than eight metres deep, and as as much as 30 per cent for corals in deeper waters, Jason Mundy, an Environment Department official, told Senate estimates.Hi guys, I’m Jonathan. I work at the Dekker PR company, and I have lost thirty pounds in the last four months. This started when my office started keeping some coupons from Nutrisystem at the reception for interested employees. I will tell you about their promo codes after I tell you about the agency’s weight loss journey with Nutrisystem.
Dekker PR Company is a public relations firm which has been in business for the past fifteen years. There are 105 employees in the office and all of us work to serve our clients, who are usually top athletes and movie stars. The company first started the idea of the Nutrisystem deals to help the employees maintain a healthy lifestyle to be a positive impact on our clients. I, frankly, was very skeptical about this. I had been fat my whole life, and setting as an example to our clients about living a healthy lifestyle was something that seemed to be out of reach. After talking to Mr. Dekker, our boss, about this, he suggested I give it a try, especially because it would save me money as well.
Nutrisystem expanding in our office… All thanks to its affordability!
Out of the 105 employees at Dekker PR, now, about 85 employees follow the Nutrisystem program; some follow the entire program, while many follow only a meal or two a day. Whichever plan you choose to follow, Nutrisystem makes you feel like your body is eating healthy and that you’re getting fitter. Keeping aside the fact that Nutrisystem is so amazing, I think the reason why such a huge percentage of employees at the office decided to follow the diet because of its affordability. The maximum it is going to cost you a day is $12. This is almost nothing compared to the cost of fast food.
A plus point to all the employees is that there are coupons in the office itself. There is no need to spend hours searching for Nutrisystem coupons online even though you can find them here easily. These coupons are really a blessing; a $12 meal plan per day costs only $10 with Nutrisystem. At just $3 or $4, all the employees were having tasty and healthy lunch at the office with the program.
When the codes were first introduced, none of the employees knew very much about the program, yet about 30 people were picking up the discount codes on the very first day. This wasn’t because they had heard of Nutrisystem earlier; this was solely because Nutrisystem meals would cost them so much less than what average fast food would. The already inexpensive program was made so much cheaper with their deals.
In the first month, there were about 50 people who were following the Nutrisystem program. The rest seemed extremely skeptical about the program back then. But all of this changed when in just about three months, everyone started seeing the changes in the ones who were having Nutrisystem meals. Now, in four months, there are 35 more employees interested in the program. And the good news is, there isn’t anyone in the office who can’t afford Nutrisystem; most are even saving money with the Nutrisystem meals.
Great food with balanced nutrition
After paying only a few dollars a day, we expected Nutrisystem meals to be just okay, not tasty or special or anything. But Nutrisystem managed to shock us again! The meals weren’t just okay; they were delicious! I personally, had never felt so good eating healthy, because the meals weren’t full of salads and almonds, it was actually good food. Our menus actually included muffins, cupcakes and granola bars. It’s amazing how these foodstuffs are what you can have six times a day with control portions, and you still get all the balanced nutrients that your body requires. All the meals are said to have low-glycemic carbs, high fiber, high protein, no preservatives, sweeteners, colors or flavors.
Call them up for motivation
All our employees, when they felt like they needed the motivation to continue the meal plan, would call up the Nutrisystem office. There, they have trained weight loss counselors who help remember why we actually started, and how a healthy lifestyle can be so much better if we continue. Also, they would remind about how much money we’re saving. Whatever they would say, at the end of the phone call, quitting the meal plan didn’t even cross our minds!
Here are a few pros and cons our office employees came up with after using Nutrisystem:
Pros:
Affordability
Delicious meals
Provide motivation through your computer/phone
Cons:
Having to microwave every meal
Fast food cravings
Difficult to continue in the first month
Now, all our clients stop our employees to ask how we’re getting fitter, and everyone replies with “Nutrisystem.” Mr. Dekker is extremely proud of our progress, and he confidently tells our clients about how it started, and how we’ve all stayed motivated to eat healthy. Some of the employees, including me, were a little overweight, but now, we’re all losing weight. The skinny ones are getting turbo shakes and working out to stay fit. Even outside of work, everyone recommends Nutrisystem to others, giving them discount codes to begin with. If every office could do something as inspiring as our office, America would actually be living a great healthy lifestyle!
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_loss
https://www.yippeecoupons.comThe defending champion Judd Trump whitewashed Jack Lisowski in the first match of the season at the Australian Snooker Open, reigning world champion Stuart Bingham lost.
Judd Trump started his snooker season with a promising victory, defeating Jack Lisowski 5-0 in the first round match of the Australian Goldfields Open at Bendigo.
The 25-year-old cued well, scoring a break of 114 in the first frame and another 102 in the third to complete a smooth first round mach.
Trump, who beat Neil Robertson 9-4 in last year’s Australian Open final, will face Ian Burns in the last-16 stage. Burns beat Xiao Guodong 5-3 in the first round match.
World champion Stuart Bingham playing his first ranking event match since winning the World Championship in May, got his season off to the worst possible start by falling at the first match in the Australian Open.
Bingham faced world #28 Fergal O’Brien in the first round match, leading 4-2 after six frames, only one frame away from a safe land.
But it was O’Brien who held the pressure, the 43-year-old scored solid breaks of- 128, 50+66 and a superb 88 in the decider, securing a fantastic victory over the world champion.
More from the Australian Goldfields Open –
Four-time world champion John Higgins defeated Michael Georgiou 5-2 in the Australian open first round match.
Higgins, who has lost in the final of the World Cup earlier this month, didn’t play a great game of snooker but managed to cross the line with his essential tactical style.
The Wizard of Wishaw has played twice before in the Australian Open and never passed the second round, he’ll play against Fergal O’Brien hoping to reach the quarter-final.
Stephen Maguire whitewashed Joel Walker in the first round match, Maguire’s second round match opponent Ricky Walden beat Andrew Higginson 5-3 in first round match.
In the wildcard round Matthew Selt defeated Ben Judge 5-0, he’ll play Neil Robertson in the first round match.
Adrian Justin Ridley beat Ben Woollaston, he’ll face Robert Milkins for the first round match.The video has been described as "a bit of harmless fun". Credit:YouTube screengrab Other videos feature teddy bears with towels taped to their heads and fake explosive belts strapped around them being shot or blown up. In one video, a teddy bear wearing a fake explosive belt and a black cloth that leaves only its eyes visible - an apparent reference to Muslim women who wear the niqab - explodes into flames after being shot. Another shows a character with a headscarf with a voiceover that says: "This one here doesn't look very old." When the character is shot, the shooter says "Boy, those young ones go off."
Most of the videos on the channel review different types of firearms. In a letter to NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, first reported by The Guardian website, Greens MP David Shoebridge has urged police to consider withdrawing the gun licences of the people involved with the videos. He has asked Mr Scipione to refer the matter to his Queensland counterpart. "In these videos we see the use of real firearms, sometimes coupled with butane cartridges to shoot characters meant to represent Muslim men, women and children," Mr Shoebridge told Fairfax Media. "These videos are deliberately posted as political propaganda, advancing arguments against gun control, and as such they warrant serious scrutiny." However, Marty Phillips of Shooting Stuff Australia said the videos were meant as a joke and did not attempt to incite violence against any person or group.
"They're basically stuffed teddy bears dressed up as terrorists. We don't mention the word Islam or Muslim or Muhammad or anything like that," he said. "And as everyone has told us, Islam has nothing to do with terror, so we're just shooting terrorists." He said he and his friend Aaron had set up the YouTube channel about a year ago, and had become bored shooting at pieces of paper. He denied having any prejudices against people from the Middle East. "I know a number of Muslims myself and they're all pretty decent guys, other than not wanting to drink beer or eat bacon," he said. "I have a problem with ISIS and the Taliban like everybody else. But Muslims in general? No, not at all."
Mr Shoebridge has called for firearms laws to be amended to allow gun licences to be cancelled immediately and weapons to be surrendered "when a shooter has displayed aggressive racial, religious, gender or political prejudice associated with their use of firearms". Current Queensland licensing laws require gun holders meet a "fit and proper" test which considers whether there is any information that indicates the person is a risk to public safety or that authorising the person to possess a weapon would be contrary to the public interest. "Given the nature of the conduct there are questions as to whether the firearms licence holders involved could be considered to be of good character as per the firearms licensing requirements," Mr Shoebridge wrote in the letter. Mr Shoebridge's office sent Fairfax Media images of a series of tweets posted by a Twitter account named Shooting Stuff Australia, using the handle @ShootingStuffAu, between December 2015 and July this year. One tweet refers to "sand n------", another calls Mr Shoebridge a "gutless faggot" and a third includes the text "F--- every single Muslim on planet Earth! And f--- you if you disagree!"
Mr Phillips said Shooting Stuff Australia had never had a Twitter account and the person had used its name and logo without permission. He said Shooting Stuff Australia had asked the person to delete the account or face legal action. "The views expressed within them [the tweets] are not the views of Shooting Stuff Australia," he said. "We do not condone racism and hatred against fellow Australians, regardless of their creed, ethnicity or political beliefs." Asked if the videos of the Greens logo being shot multiple times could be seen as advocating political violence, Mr Phillips replied that the word "Greens" was never spoken in the videos. "We just publicly shot at their logo," he said.In his 4-decade career, Nick Cave has covered literally dozens of famous songs, either as a solo artist or with the Bad Seeds, the Boys Next Door, or the Birthday Party. A few well-known versions aside (“Stagger Lee,” “Mack the Knife,” “Mother Mother,” etc.), many of Cave’s covers hadn’t reached my ears… until digging through YouTube over the weekend that is. Lo and behold: they’re all quite good.
Hear a collection of 28 renditions found online of songs by the likes of Neil Young, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Roy Orbison, Nina Simone, Pulp, Nancy Sinatra, and more below.
“Helpless” (Neil Young)
“500 Miles” (Hedy West)
“Mack the Knife” (Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht)
“I’m Your Man” (Leonard Cohen)
“Death Is Not The End” (Bob Dylan) w/Kylie Minogue
“Wanted Man” (Bob Dylan)
“What a Wonderful World” (Louis Armstrong)
“Plain Old Ring” (Nina Simone)
“Running Scared” (Roy Orbison)
“Sunday Morning” (The Velvet Underground) w/Chris Coco
“John the Revelator” (Traditional/Blind Willie Johnson)
“Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus” (Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin)
“Disco 2000” (Pulp)
“Loose” (The Stooges) w/The Birthday Party
“Stagger Lee” (Traditional)
“Let It Be” (The Beatles)
“I Put A Spell On You” (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
“Tower of Song” (Leonard Cohen)
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (Hank Williams) w/Johnny Cash
“These Boots Are Made For Walking” (Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood)
“Rainy Night In Soho” (The Pogues)
“Black Betty” (Leadbelly)
“Blitzkrieg Bop” (Ramones) w/The Boys Next Door
“Cat Man” (Gene Vincent)
“The Carnival Is Over” (The Seekers)
“Cindy, Cindy” (Traditional)
“In the Ghetto” (Mac Davis)
“Here Comes The Sun” (The Beatles)The 1960 publicity photo depicts a famous singer, a woman both statuesque and beautiful, smiling radiantly. A man kneels before her, adjusting her glistening gown. In the context of the image, the interaction between the two is metaphoric: a mortal kneeling before a goddess.
The picture is |
friends you might have who suspect that Tea Partiers in general and Rand Paul in particular are reactionary Dick Cheney fans. Americans are not accustomed to a national politician espousing firmly and consistently libertarian ideas, especially those that contradict Republican stereotypes.
In the wake of Paul’s stirring defense of the Fourth Amendment against the encroachments of the PATRIOT Act, The Atlantic’s Chris Good wrote that “Paul has taken up the mantle left behind by a Democrat: Sen. Russ Feingold.” Although this comparison provoked some pushback on the left, Rand Paul has been attracting sporadic praise from the liberal commentariat, even in his darkest political hour: when, after winning his primary election, he got bogged down during an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow (and several follow-up interlocutors) over the issue of whether the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s ban on racial discrimination by private businesses was philosophically justified.Alberta farmers who historically have profited from having oil and gas wells on their land have a new opportunity blowing in the wind, though experts advise landowners seek legal counsel before signing contracts.
The province’s planned move toward 30 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 has made Alberta the most attractive jurisdiction in the country for new renewable energy investment. Last Friday, the Alberta Electric System Operator issued a call for expressions of interest for companies capable of providing 400 MW of new solar or wind power capacity — the first in what is expected to be several competitive auctions as the province works toward its target of adding 5,000 MW of renewables to the grid over the next decade or so.
Alberta’s green power shift represents a huge opportunity for renewable energy companies, but also for the province’s farmers since all those wind turbines and solar panels will have to go somewhere.
Evan Wilson, prairies regional director for the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), said there is “certainly the opportunity to make some money for landowners” as developers seek sites for the development and construction of renewable power projects.
“I have gotten calls to my desk here from landowners asking me who they should talk to if they want wind turbines on their land. So there are definitely people seeing these things going up who are thinking there’s a real upside to this,” Wilson said.
Though renewable energy companies do not make details of their lease negotiations public, CanWEA says that every 150 MW of new wind power capacity in Alberta represents $17 million in lease payments to landowners over a 20-year period, as well as $31 million in property tax payments to municipalities. In the U.S., it’s estimated wind farms pay $222 million a year to farming families and other rural landowners, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
Graham Hager, whose farm northeast of Provost is home to four wind turbines that make up part of BluEarth Renewables’ 29MW Bull Creek Wind Facility, said he also has oil and gas wells on his property but that the lease payments from the wind power company are “much better.” He said the contract is structured so that he receives a flat base rate plus a royalty portion that fluctuates based on how much the wind is blowing and how much electricity the turbines are generating.
Related
“Some quarters are a bit better, but we’ve been really happy with it overall,” Hager said. “Farming is such a gamble — you put all your faith in Mother Nature and some years you don’t make any money. So to have some guaranteed income is pretty nice.”
But while green electricity represents an opportunity for landowners, negotiating a lease with a renewable energy company is not the same as negotiating with the oil and gas industry. Currently there is no right of entry or expropriation process for renewable energy in Alberta, so farmers approached by a wind or solar company have the right to say no. However, if they do accept, the Surface Rights Act — which provides certain protections for landowners involved in a lease arrangement with an oil and gas company — doesn’t apply.
“We’re just hoping people gather all the information before they sign a lease and make an informed decision about what they choose to do with their land,” said Jeana Schuurman, rural engagement and communications specialist with the Farmers’ Advocate Office, which is holding a series of information sessions across the province to assist landowners who have been approached by a renewable energy developer.
Schuurman added that unlike with oil and gas, landowners involved in solar and wind project leases cannot appeal to the Surface Rights Board if the developer were to run into financial difficulties and stop paying its land lease rentals. (Landowners can, however, appeal to the courts, but would be considered an unsecured creditor — making recovery of funds less likely).
There is also currently no industry or government-funded “orphan” program that would remove the wind turbines or solar panels in the event a company becomes insolvent.
“We really do encourage people to get legal advice on any contract that’s proposed to them before signing,” Schuurman said.
While many farmers embrace the idea of renewable energy and the extra revenue it may bring, not all do. Concerns about noise, obstructed views, traffic during the construction phase, and other potential impacts can become sore points between neighbours — especially if not all of the landowners in the area will financially benefit from the project.
“We still have neighbours that are not happy with us about allowing them to go through,” Hager said of the wind turbines on his land, adding he has been told by some area residents that the giant turning blades are an eyesore. “But nobody ever said anything about the oil wells — nobody ever opposes them, and they stink. These do change the view, but I think they look cool.”
While developers must conduct a public consultation program to get Alberta Utilities Commission approval for their projects, the Farmers’ Advocate Office recommends landowners considering signing a wind or solar lease discuss the opportunity with their neighbours early on.
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Twitter.com/AmandaMstephA Sydney, N.S., obstetrician and gynecologist is now required to "have an attendant present for all female patient encounters" after agreeing to the measure with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia.
Dr. Manivasan Moodley began practising at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in March.
CBC News has obtained a copy of a notice sent to pharmacists, health-care professionals and stakeholders. The undertaking with the college stipulates "the attendant will have an unobstructed view of any procedure performed." The attendant must be there "from beginning to end."
The college is not explaining what prompted the undertaking, and said that under the Medical Act it is not required to publicize voluntary agreements.
In an email, it said such undertakings are "negotiated between the college and physicians for a variety of reasons and in a variety of circumstances."
Must post notices
The undertaking took effect on Sept. 5 and Moodley must post notices in his waiting room and exam rooms to let patients know an attendant is required.
The college said the attendant must be a health-care professional that it has approved.
Moodley has not responded to a message from CBC News asking for comment. He has not been the subject of any disciplinary decisions.
Moodley graduated from the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine at University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa in 1987.Two British Muslims were killed in a US Predator airstrike that took place in the Waziristan tribal areas about three months ago, according to their families. One of the men had fled the United Kingdom after being placed under a so-called “control order” that is designed to limit the movement of a terrorist suspect. The other man, the brother of a senior al Qaeda leader who was also killed by the US in Pakistan, had been hit with financial sanctions in the United Kingdom due to suspected ties with terror groups.
The two Brits were identified as Ibrahim Adam and Mohammed Azmir. They were said to have been killed sometime in August, according to AFP.
The US carried out six airstrikes in Pakistan’s tribal agencies in August; four were in North Waziristan, and two were in South Waziristan. One of the strikes, on Aug. 22, took place in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. Mir Ali is known to host groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and al Qaeda. Both groups train Europeans to conduct attacks in their home countries.
At least one Briton is known to have been killed in a Predator airstrike in North Waziristan. On Sept. 8, 2010, Abdul Jabbar was killed in a US airstrike in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Two Germans were also killed in the strike. Jabbar, who was originally from Jhelum in Pakistan, was said to have been appointed as the future leader of the so-called Islamic Army of Great Britain. The group was formed by al Qaeda to participate in Mumbai-styled terror assaults that were to take place in Britain and other European countries.
Although both Adam and Azmir were known to be involved in terrorist activities, the British government had allowed the men to leave the country.
Azmir is the brother of Abdul Jabbar. Azmir “was slapped with a finance ministry order in February 2010 freezing his assets over concerns that he was involved in funding terrorism,” according to AFP. It is unclear when he left the country.
Adam was the subject of a controversial control order, a form of house arrest which restricted his movements and allowed him to be monitored by authorities. He absconded on the control order along with his brother Lalime Adam and four others. Ibrahim and Lalime are brothers of Anthony Garcia, who is in jail for plotting to carry out bombings in the United Kingdom.
Adam is the second known jihadist to have been reported killed in the Afghan-Pakistan region after being subjected to a control order in Britain. Mahmud Abu Rideh, a Palestinian from Khan Younis who was jailed for four years in the United Kingdom after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, is reported to have been killed by the US military in an airstrike in Afghanistan in late 2010.
In 2004, Britain’s highest court ruled that the emergency laws that allowed the government to hold Abu Rideh violated his human rights, and ordered his release. In March 2005, Abu Rideh was released from prison but was subject to a control order. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International took up Abu Rideh’s case and sought to block his deportation to Jordan due to fears he would be tortured by Jordan’s General Intelligence Department.
In July 2009, Abu Rideh, with the help of Amnesty International, succeeded in having the control order lifted. Amnesty International then sought to have his overseas travel restrictions lifted. He did an interview with an Iranian news agency in August 2009 and then disappeared shortly afterward.
Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.President-elect Donald Trump should not select Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his Chief of Staff, says Michael Savage, the national talk radio host and author of the new book Scorched Earth: Restoring the Country After Obama.
Priebus is “the enemy within,” Savage warns.
“He’s the RNC! Everything the voters rejected,” Savage tells Breitbart News. “He will steer Trump away from every policy we sent him to D.C. to change. He is the enemy within. He is [Paul] Ryan, [Mitch] McConnell, and the Old Guard. They do not want change. ‘Out with the old, in with the new.'”
A close Ryan ally, Priebus was responsible for the GOP “autopsy” following the Romney-Ryan loss of 2012. One of its conclusions held that, to win elections, Republicans must embrace an immigration agenda that would import future voters who tend to overwhelmingly support Democrat policies. The Priebus manifesto argued against opposing amnesty and appealing to the Republican electorate’s “core constituency.”
“We must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform. If we do not, our Party’s appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only,” the Priebus report stated.
By contrast, for years Savage has argued that Republican candidates should run campaigns on “borders, language, and culture.”
“I call him ‘Rinse,'” Savage said of Priebus, adding that’s “what Trump should do with his advice.”
Savage’s talk radio show, which is one of the most listened-to talk radio programs in the country, reaches an audience over 20 million listeners and is syndicated by over some 400 stations nationwide. This week, Savage will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in the category of Spoken Word On-Air Personality.Lost in Siriande Druidic Circle of the Sun Druids that fight against those who dare not stand in the light
Ivae'ess clutched his focus, channeling the energy of the sun's rays into these dark wretched halls of the Underdark. The raw diamond in his hand flickered and sputtered as the Duergar were already looking to land more of their brutal strikes on his allies. A cosmic roar echoed through the halls hewn out of the stone, the druid's eyes turned a golden yellow as the sun's light touched the stonework for the first time since creation. His friends felt the familiar soothing energy wash over them and clasped their weapons with renewed vigor. The fighter's sword created a flaming arc as it cleaved throuthrough the stale air. The hunter's arrow left a trail of flame behind it as it made its way to its target. The searing heat and blinding light were painful and alien to the grey skinned dwarves. It quickly became abundantly clear, though, that they couldn't stay in the searing heat for long. The hairs of their black and grey beards curling back as if trying to get away from the sweltering heat. Those still standing after the flare had learned a valuable lesson, even though they were miles underground, the harsh revealing light of the sun decided who was worthy and who would wither.
For the past five-hundred years Siriande has been battling against seemingly endless hordes of Demons. Ever since the Fall the veil between their world and ours has weakened, allowing the stronger, or more cunning, ones entry into the material plane. In the fight against this overwhelming darkness some of the Siriande druids turned to the most powerful source of light they knew. The Sun. Sominor’s Lantern traverses the astral ocean every day and warms the world with its protective glow. The Sun Druids are a small group that sought strength with deity Sominor, the lightbringer, rather than Lifesower, the goddess Amska'ir. Their powers allow them to control their battlefields; empowering their allies and weakening their foes. Basking in the radiance of a sun druid makes no obstacle insurmountable. 1
Druid of the Sun Level Proficiency Bonus Features Cantrips Known 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 1st +2 Druidic, Spellcasting 2 2 — — — — — — — — 2nd +2 Wild Shape, Druidic Circle 2 3 — — — — — — — — 3rd +2 2 4 2 — — — — — — — 4th +2 Ability Score Improvement 3 4 3 — — — — — — — 5th +3 Additional Radiance 3 4 2 2 — — — — — — 6th +3 Walking on Sunshine 3 4 3 3 — — — — — — 7th +3 3 4 3 3 1 — — — — — 8th +3 Ability Score Improvement 3 4 3 3 2 — — — — — 9th +4 Additional Radiance 3 4 3 3 3 1 — — — — 10th +4 High Noon 4 4 3 3 3 2 — — — — 11th +4 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 — — — 12th +4 Ability Score Improvement 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 — — — 13th +5 Additional Radiance 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 — — 14th +5 Fata Morgana 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 — — 15th +5 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 — 16th +5 Ability Score Improvement 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 — 17th +6 Additional Radiance 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 18th +6 4 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 19th +6 Ability Score Improvement 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 20th +6 Archdruid 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1
Radiance When choosing this archetype in second level you can choose to use your wild shape feature to cast Radiance. Radiance is a category of spells that influence creatures within a certain area, this area is always centred on the druid casting radiance. Radiance affects friends differently from foes. If a non-hostile, non-friendly creature is present in the aura, the DM determines which effect to apply. Radiance always has the following characteristics outlined on the right. When choosing this archetype at second level you gain access to three Radiance spells of your choice. You gain one additional radiance when you reach 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th level in druid. You can choose from the following list: Radiance of the Aurora
Radiance of the Comet
Radiance of the Dawn
Radiance of the Eclipse
Radiance of the Equinox
Radiance of the Flare
Radiance of the Orbit
Radiance of the Solstice
Radiance of the Stars
Radiance Druid of the Sun Class Feature Casting Time: 1 action
1 action Target: Self
Self Range: 15 foot radius
15 foot radius Components: M, S, V (Druidic Focus)
M, S, V (Druidic Focus) Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes A radiant aura spreads from the target, creating a sphere with a fifteen foot radius. Any creature, other than yourself, that is within the area of the radiance when it is active applies the effects appropriate to the radiance cast. The effects are only applied once per round. In order to cast radiance you have to have a druidic focus that includes an element that either reflects, refracts or creates light. Examples include mirroring surfaces, gemstones or lit candles. 2
Radiance of the Aurora When magic fills the air sometimes it can be seen with the naked eye. A stunning display of colourful lights fill the night's sky. Allies: The energy of the aurora wraps itself around the weapons of your allies. Any attacks made by your allies while they are within the radiance's area of effect are considered magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances. Foes: Ribbons of green energy dance around the radiance's area. All enemies within the area have to make a dexterity savind throw against your spellcasting DC. On a failed save they are hit by one of the energy ribbons and start to gently glow. Any attack roll against an affected creature or object has advantage if the attacker can see it, and the affected creature or object can't benefit from being invisible. Other: Any objects that are currently not being worn or held and that are of an arcane nature within the radiance's area of effect start to gently glow green. Radiance of the Comet Not all the lights in the night's sky are eternal. Sometimes they streak across it in a short burst of radiant glory. Allies: All friendly creatures within the spell's area of effect double their movement speed. When they leave the radiance's area of effect their movement speed returns to normal at the end of their own turn. Foes: The trail of dust is whipped up by the spell and travels around the area. Any hostile creatures within the radiance's area have to make a dexterity saving throw. On a failed save they are blinded. To end this effect they can use a bonus action to wipe their eyes clean. If they stay within the area of effect they will have to roll another dexterity save at the start of your next turn. Radiance of the Dawn Your skin glows magestically from an inner light. Allies: You have advantage on any Persuasion (Charisma) rolls you make on creatures that are neutral or friendly and within the radiance's area of effect. Foes: Any hostile creature, that is within the radiance’s area during any moment of their turn, must make a wisdom saving throw against your spellcasting DC. Upon a failed save the creature are considered charmed. This effect ends when the radiance ends (though the creature doesn't have to remain in the area) or when the creature is targeted by yourself or any of your allies. Radiance of the Eclipse The light of the sun is blocked by a celestial body. Your allies can take advantage of this new, dark, circumstance while your foes will be bumbling around in the darkness. Allies: All friendly creatures, within the radiance’s area at the start of their turn, get advantage on stealth checks. Foes: Any hostile creature, that is within the radiance’s area during any moment of their turn, must make a wisdom saving throw against your spellcasting DC. Upon a failed save the creature makes attacks at disadvantage as long as they, or the target of their attack, is within the radiance’s area. If a hostile creature relies on something other than sight to perceive its enemies, or if they can see through magical darkness, they are unaffected by the aura’s effects. Other: Any artificial light sources within the aura’s area no longer give off any light, once the light source exits the aura’s area it continues to produce light as normal. Radiance of the Equinox On the day of the equinox the day is as long as the night. A natural balance between darkness and light. It is said to influence the earth's grip on things Allies: Any friendly creatures within the radiance's area of effect has their rate of descent slowed to 60 feet per round. Upon landing the creature will not take any falling damage and automatically land on their feet. Foes: Any enemies within the radiance's area must make a wisdom saving throw against your spellcasting DC. On a failed save their speed is reduced to 0, and can't benefit from any bonus to its speed. Radiance of the Flare The heat of the sun can be scorching hot. You concentrate the flames around the weapons of your friends, lashing out to your enemies with searing hot blades and arrows. Those enemies that dare venture into your aura are immediately struck by the searing heat. Allies: Any friendly creature within the radiance’s area at the end of your turn has their weapon imbued with the sun's flare. This effect is applied to their next attack. The damage from that attack is considered magical and counts as fire damage instead of the regular damage type. This effect lasts until the end of their next turn. Foes: Any hostile creature, that is within the radiance’s area during any moment of their turn, has to make a constitution saving throw against your spellcasting DC. If failed the searing heat of the radiance damages them for 1d4 fire damage. Higher Levels: Add an additional 1d4 fire damage on 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th level in this class Other: Flammable objects that are not held or worn by a creature also take fire damage and start burning. 3“SHOW ME A HERO”, a new series on HBO, starts with a victory speech: an ominous sign. When a first episode ends in triumph, the only way ahead is down. The year is 1987, and 28-year-old Nick Wasicsko, an ex-cop, has just become the youngest mayor of Yonkers, a New York suburb that was then mostly working-class and white. Wasicsko won because he promised to appeal a federal court order requiring Yonkers to build subsidised housing on its richer, whiter east side, to counteract the concentration of poverty in its mostly black west.
As he speaks, a telephone ringing in the background grows gradually louder. The scene cuts to the next day, when the new mayor takes a call from the city’s lawyers. There are no grounds for appeal, they tell him. Wasicsko is disappointed, but resigned. Now it’s time to follow the law and build the houses, he reasons: nobody can blame me for that, right?
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Over the next five episodes, the ramifications of Wasicsko’s decision play out in two worlds. In the world of city politics he is, of course, roundly blamed: it costs him his career (saying this gives away nothing: this is a true story, ably told by Lisa Belkin in her book of the same name, and adapted by David Simon, creator of “The Wire”, and his fellow writer William Zorzi). He appeals to his fellow citizens’ pragmatism: for every day Yonkers fails to come up with a workable plan to build the houses, the court will hold the city in contempt, with fines doubling daily from $100. He also appeals for support from New York’s governor and senior senator—Mario Cuomo and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, titans of 20th-century American politics and liberal icons. But they dodge his calls, unwilling to alienate their white working-class supporters. He goes from being a rising star to getting spat on in front of the television cameras.
To the show’s credit, it does not turn Wasicsko into a white saviour, though at times he seems eager to be one. Oscar Isaac plays him perfectly: needy, ambitious, desperate to be loved and self-obsessed (a politician, in other words), but basically decent and a bit out of his depth. After just one term he loses the mayoralty to Hank Spallone, a charismatic demagogue who promises to “fight” the housing decision, but never says quite how. Alfred Molina plays Spallone with slicked-back hair and an alligator grin, forever chewing on a toothpick.
The series also shows the lives of people who are stuck in Yonkers’s high-rise, crime-ridden housing projects. Initially, these stories seem peripheral: in the first episode viewers are hurled into the deep end of municipal politics. But as aficionados of “The Wire” will know, Messrs Simon and Zorzi do not create peripheral characters. Everyone matters. And as the series progresses their arcs neatly tie in to the main narrative, and it becomes their story.
Still, people outside Yonkers may wonder why they should spend six hours of their lives caring about any of this. There are two reasons. First, because the questions it raises remain painfully topical. How does a politics based on faith that people will do the right thing defend itself against demagoguery? America has done away with legal segregation; how to do away with its legacies? How should people overcome the fear of their fellow citizens who happen to look different than they do?
And second, because as drama “Show Me a Hero” excels. Younger viewers may find this hard to believe, but once upon a time American studios made films for adults, with nary a dinosaur, superhero or hunger game in sight. Directors such as Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet and Spike Lee dealt with serious moral questions, and made urban realism riveting. Messrs Simon and Zorzi are their successors, but their work is richer, more sophisticated—and better.Inversus is a simple black and white strategy shooter that pits players against each other in an ever-changing battle for territory and survival. As minimalist competitive shooters go, it’s pretty much perfect.
Created by Ryan Juckett, AKA one-man game studio Hypersect, Inversus started off as a game jam idea and developed into something that’s a mix of twitch shooter and classic board game. Players, cast as either black or white rounded squares, fire bullets that not only destroy their opponents, but also change the color of the board as they travel, opening up new paths while closing off the route of the enemy.
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The concept is very simple, giving players plenty of room to complicate things on their own. I play a one-on-one match in the video above. I played two-on-two during judging for the Momocon Indie Game Awards earlier this year, and it was just ridiculous. There was trash talking. Bullets were being negated by enemy bullets. Wins were extracted from asses at the very last moment. Such wondrous chaos.
Inversus is available now on Steam and the PlayStation 4 for $13.49 (normally $14.99). It comes with local and online multiplayer for up to four players, as well as a one and two-player arcade mode.Did you have a glimmer of hope that you’d be able to get UTOPIA service in your city once Macquarie comes in? Sen. John Valentine just smashed it with a hammer. His floor amendment to SB190 makes it so that only current UTOPIA cities can use a utility fee to finance construction of the network. Any new cities that join would be unable to do so at all.
Why does this matter? Because Macquarie has structured the entire deal around it. If future cities can’t do it, they can’t get the same terms that Macquarie is offering UTOPIA. This could derail their rumored plans to cover the entire state in gigabit fiber with over a dozen competing providers.
Right now, the bill is in the Senate and will come to a floor vote. It’s urgent that you contact members of the Senate, particularly your senator, to tell them to oppose this amendment. Sen. Valentine is working in bad faith by not involving UTOPIA cities either in this new amendment or the original bill.
Click here to email the entire Senate body and voice your opposition! They need to hear from you.
UPDATED 2-27-2014 2:25PM: We won! Valentine has committed to UTOPIA mayors to pull Amendment 2. Now if it can just go through without any other trickery…CLIFFWOOD, N.J. — On a stormy Saturday, a group of young boys wearing red soccer uniforms and cleats in a dizzying array of colors clip-clopped out of the rain and into an old warehouse, where wealthy residents of this historic community along Raritan Bay once stored their antique cars.
That space is now occupied by an unlikely tenant, and serving a very different clientele. Xolos Academy F.C. New Jersey, a soccer academy affiliated with the Mexican first-division team Club Tijuana, has transformed the warehouse into a synthetic-turf field of dreams, its walls covered with logos and action photos of a favorite son.
They coach soccer here now, but what the academy really offers is opportunity for the sons and daughters of Hispanic immigrants from the area. These are the kind of players who routinely fall through the cracks of American soccer, victims of financial hardships that sometimes prevent their talents from being properly nurtured, and exposed, in the pay-to-play culture that dominates youth soccer in the United States.
“Some of these players have been kept in the shadows simply because they could not afford to play the game they love,” said Joe DiMauro, a longtime coach and trainer who runs the warehouse academy. It is the fifth American affiliate of Club Tijuana, and the first in the Northeastern United States.Afghanistan-bound NATO oil tankers, were set on fire by alleged militants at the Pakistani border post of Torkham in March. (Qazi Rauf/Associated Press)
The U.S. military is rapidly expanding its aerial and Central Asian supply routes to the war in Afghanistan, fearing that Pakistan could cut off the main means of providing American and NATO forces with fuel, food and equipment.
Although Pakistan has not explicitly threatened to sever the supply lines, Pentagon officials said they are concerned the routes could be endangered by the deterioration of U.S.-Pakistan relations, partly fed by ill will from the cross-border raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Memories are fresh of Pakistan’s temporary closure of a major crossing into Afghanistan in September, resulting in a logjam of hundreds of supply trucks and fuel tankers, dozens of which were destroyed in attacks by insurgents.
While reducing the shipment of cargo through Pakistan would address a strategic weakness that U.S. military officials have long considered an Achilles’ heel, shifting supply lines elsewhere would substantially increase the cost of the war and make the United States more dependent on authoritarian countries in Central Asia.
A senior U.S. defense official said the military wants to keep using Pakistan, which offers the most direct and the cheapest routes to Afghanistan. But the Pentagon also wants the ability to bypass the country if necessary.
With landlocked Afghanistan lacking seaports, and hostile Iran blocking access from the west, Pentagon logisticians have limited alternatives.
“It’s either Central Asia or Pakistan — those are the two choices. We’d like to have both,” the defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid alienating Pakistan. “We’d like to have a balance between them, and not be dependent on either one, but always have the possibility of switching.”
U.S. military officials said they have emergency backup plans in case the Pakistan routes became unavailable.
“We will be on time, all the time,” said Vice Adm. Mark D. Harnitchek, deputy commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, which oversees the movement of supplies and equipment.
In such an event, however, the military would have to deliver the bulk of its cargo by air, a method that might not be sustainable; it costs up to 10 times as much as shipping via Pakistan.
“We’d have to be a little bit more mindful of what we put in the pipe,” Harnitchek said.
The Defense Department is already boosting the amount of cargo it sends to Afghanistan by air. To save on costs, the military is shipping as many of those supplies as possible to seaports in the Persian Gulf before loading them on planes bound for the war zone.
As recently as 2009, the U.S. military moved 90 percent of its surface cargo through Pakistan, arriving by ship at the port in Karachi and then snaking through mountain passes, deserts and remote tribal areas before crossing the border into Afghanistan. The Pakistan supply lines are served entirely by contractors instead of U.S. military convoys and are vulnerable to bandits, insurgents and natural disasters.
Today, almost 40 percent of surface cargo arrives in Afghanistan from the north, along a patchwork of Central Asian rail and road routes that the Pentagon calls the Northern Distribution Network. Military planners said they are pushing to raise the northern network’s share to as much as 75 percent by the end of this year.
Obama administration officials said they are negotiating expanded agreements with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries that would allow for the delivery of additional supplies to the Afghan war zone. Washington also wants permission to withdraw vehicles and other equipment from Afghanistan as the U.S. military prepares to pull out one-third of its forces by September 2012.
By shifting the burden to Central Asia, however, the U.S. military has become increasingly reliant on authoritarian countries, prompting criticism from human rights groups that the Obama administration is cozying up to dictators.
For instance, more than one-third of the northern-route cargo passes through tiny Azerbaijan, a country saddled by “pervasive corruption,” according to the State Department’s annual human rights report. U.S. defense officials also say the northern supply lines would not be possible without the cooperation of Russia. One new route runs through Siberia.
The biggest potential choke point, however, lies in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic that borders northern Afghanistan. It previously had kicked the U.S. military out of the country after Washington complained about the killing of hundreds of protesters in 2005.
But as the United States has deepened its involvement in Afghanistan, relations with Uzbekistan have warmed up again. Today, more than 80 percent of supplies shipped along the Northern Distribution Network pass through the country.
Expanded supply lines
The northern routes were developed in the waning days of the George W. Bush administration. Since then, the U.S. government has expanded the network into a spiderweb of supply lines.
Some start at Baltic seaports and run through Russia and Central Asia by rail. Another key line picks up traffic on the Black Sea and funnels it through the Caucasus region. One winding truck route begins at a U.S. Army depot at Germersheim, Germany, and ends, an average of 60 days later, at Bagram air base in Afghanistan. As with the Pakistan routes, the deliveries are all made by contractors.
“If you look at what we’ve done there in the last two years, we look at it more or less as a logistics miracle,” said Alan F. Estevez, the Pentagon’s principal deputy assistant secretary for logistics.
There are two big limitations, however, on what the Pentagon can ship through Central Asia. First, supplies are generally restricted to food, water and construction material; ammunition, weapons and other “lethal” cargo are prohibited.
Also, the routes are strictly one-way. Nothing can be shipped back out of the war zone.
U.S. officials said they are trying to negotiate deals with several countries to remove those restrictions. That will be crucial as the United States withdraws 33,000 troops from Afghanistan over the next 15 months, military leaders said.
Perhaps the most vital section in the northern network is a rail line that crosses south through Uzbekistan and over the Amu Darya river to reach Hairaton, Afghanistan. About five out of every six cargo containers travel this route.
“In reality, Uzbekistan is really at the center of all these routes,” said Alexander Cooley, a Barnard College professor and an expert on U.S. military relations in Central Asia. “They’re certainly in the catbird seat. And they know it.”
The final leg of the Uzbek rail line, from the city of Karshi to the Afghan border, underscores how the U.S. military has been forced to rely on rickety routes to sustain its troops.
In November |
cleaner, and better utilized for the user. I’ve dubbed this section “icons.” The icons section feels slick and modern at first glance. However, there’s a few icons that I have some trouble with. For example, the power icon. Not only is it unnecessary, but it’s also a different stroke weight than the rest of the icons. The “news” icon (first one) looks more like messaging. I love the colors, but I wish they’d continue throughout the rest of the icons. I think we can trim some unnecessary fat here, and build on a system that isn’t far from working. Part of this section doesn’t feel necessary. The Joy-Cons on the left is absolutely necessary, so that you know when your charge is running low (they learned from Xbox on this one), or a Joy-Con becomes disconnected. I think always displaying the button map isn’t hurting the user experience, but most of the users playing the Switch are tech savvy and know “A” is select, and “B” is back. The only place these options are expanded are when you’re selecting a tile in the middle section. I think there’s a more simple, and lean way to educate your users on their button options. Nintendo Switch UI Redesigned As I said before, the UI that Nintendo debuted with the Switch isn’t horrible. I wanted to redesign the UI with respect to the things they did right, and I wanted it to still feel “Nintendo.” I also wanted to ground myself in the reality that this is a console UI, and not a website or an app. I’ve never designed a console UI before, so I had to approach it as a gamer, instead of the typical app or web user. Luckily, I have a lot of experience as a gamer! So without further ado…Iraq's education ministry has quietly dropped a chapter about evolution from its biology textbooks. The ministry has so far given no explanation but the change has brought complaints and ridicule from Iraqis on social media.
Among the complainers, Dr Mohammed Fawzi, who studied genetic engineering, bioinformatics and biotechnology at Bahgdad University, posted this sarcastic comment in Arabic on Facebook:
We congratulate our people on deleting the chapter on evolution from the sixth grade textbook, because we have no need to evolve. Backwardness is beautiful! Congratulations to us on our stance against the greatest scientific truths. Then come those who say: "Why are our people backward?"
Photographs of the revised textbook's index page have been circulating on the internet. They show it contains chapters on cells, tissue, reproduction, embryology and genetics.
The omitted chapter had four sections, according to school student Abdulrahman al-Makhzomy who has a copy of the old textbook:
An introduction to evolution
The idea of organic evolution
Evidence of evolution
Mechanism of evolution
The education ministry ought to be modernising teaching methods in Iraq and giving students a better understanding of science, "but what we are seeing is the contrary of that", Makhzomy wrote in a post on Medium.
Deletion of the chapter seems to be partly to appease religious sensitivities but it may also signal official recognition of everyday realities in Iraq. In practice most teachers already avoid discussing evolution in class on the grounds that it conflicts with Islam, some dismiss it as just a theory and only a few teach it properly, Makhzomy told al-bab. The ministry had previously reduced the number of marks allocated to evolution in exams.
In 2014, ISIS/Daesh ordered drastic changes to the curriculum for parts of Iraq that were under its control. These included removing references to Darwinism and evolution from science books and replacing them with statements that God was the creator of everything.
Historically, Islam's relationship with science has been less problematic than that of Christianity, and Iraq under the Abbasid caliphs was renowned as a centre of scientific knowledge.
Publication of Charles Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species, in 1859 drew a variety of responses from Muslims – some predictable, some less so. One early Muslim critique – from Jamal al-Din Afghani in 1881 – cited the continued existence of male foreskins as evidence that Darwin’s ideas on natural selection must be wrong: “Is this wretch [Darwin] deaf to the fact that the Arabs and Jews for several thousand years have practised circumcision, and despite this until now not a single one of them has been born circumcised?”
On the other hand, Hussein al-Jisr, a nineteenth-century Lebanese Shia scholar who advocated combining religious education with modern science, saw room for an accommodation between evolution and scripture. “There is no evidence in the Qur’an,” he wrote, “to suggest whether all species, each of which exists by the grace of God, were created all at once or gradually.”
Some Muslims even went so far as to claim that Darwin's ideas had Islamic roots.
Widespread rejection of evolution by Muslims seems to be a fairly recent development, probably influenced by the spread of religiosity but also by ideas from American Christian creationists. It’s an area where Arab schools, universities and media nowadays tread warily and often timidly for fear of provoking complaints. (This is discussed in more detail here, in a chapter from my book, Arabs Without God.)
Iraq is not an exceptional case. In other Arab countries teaching about evolution can range from cautious to non-existent. Ahmad Saeed, a Yemeni, recalled that his biology textbook contained a chapter on natural selection which students were told to ignore.
Mohammed Ramadan, who studied at a state school in Egypt, said:
"They have a chapter [in the textbook] – the final chapter – and it’s all done in a kind of comic way. Most of it doesn’t come in the exams, but if it does it’s mostly about the birds that migrated from certain places and how they changed their colours – a very, very superficial concept of evolution. Some of the teachers accept that evolution may happen through adaptation but they say even if it’s likely to happen in animals it won’t happen in humans, because humans are special."
Egyptian universities are “not exactly crawling” with evolutionists either, according to Nour Youssef in a post on the Arabist blog: “Professors almost always introduce the subject as an obsolete, wrong theory, misrepresent it and then conclude with things like: Why are monkeys still around if we came from them?”
In 2010, a study of evolution teaching in the Middle East found striking differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Its author, Elise Burton, cited a two-page section on “The Origin of Humanity” in the highest-level biology textbook used in Saudi schools which presented evolution theory as a form of blasphemy:
"In the West appeared what is called ‘the theory of evolution’, which was derived by the Englishman Charles Darwin, who denied Allah’s creation of humanity, saying that all living things and humans are from a single origin. We do not need to pursue such a theory because we have in the Book of Allah the final say regarding the origin of life, that all living things are Allah’s creation."
The book went on to suggest that Darwin's theory is now largely discredited:
"Due to this theory’s deviant character and its contradictions to intuition and reason, there were many Western scientists who stood against it and exposed its fallacies in scientific research and rational inferences..."
On the other hand, Burton found the treatment of evolution in Iranian textbooks was far more straightforward:
"An especially telling comparison between the Iranian and Saudi advanced biology textbooks emerges in the characterisation of Darwin and his contemporaries, and the development of support for Darwin’s ideas by later scientists. The Iranian textbook humanises Darwin with a relatively detailed account of his life and a discussion of its historical context... "Fascinatingly, where the Saudi textbook dismisses evolution as fraudulent science, the Iranian text announces 'nearly all biologists today have accepted that Darwin’s theory can explain the basis of diversity of life on earth'."
However, Burton noted that while Iranian textbooks accepted that natural selection applies to humans, they avoided "explicit attempts to place humans within the larger picture of the evolution of life". (Among Muslims who accept evolution in general there is a common belief that humans, unlike all other forms of life, did not evolve but were created.)
Burton suggested several factors that could explain these Saudi-Iranian differences – including social differences and differing historical experiences. Clearly, though, theological differences and the ways that religion is organised in these two countries plays an important part. The wahhabi/salafi version of sunni Islam that dominates in Saudi Arabia is especially rigid while shia Islam, which dominates in Iran is a lot more flexible in its approach to interpreting scripture.
Iraq, with a mixed sunni-shia population falls somewhere in between – which may be another reason why the education ministry, rather than taking sides, prefers to keep evolution out of the classroom.Newly confirmed EPA administrator Scott Pruitt on Saturday vowed quick and "aggressive" gutting of Obama-era regulations addressing climate change and the nation's waterways.
"I think there are some regulations that in the near-term need to be rolled back in a very aggressive way. And I think maybe next week you may be hearing about some of those," he said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) taking place near Washington, D.C..
Pruitt—who's been described as "a lackey for the big energy companies" and whose "confirmation shows once again that Republicans will deny climate change and protect the interests of Big Oil at all costs"—sued the agency he now leads more than a dozen times during his tenure as Oklahoma attorney general. And his "close and friendly relationship" with fossil fuel companies was confirmed Tuesday, the day he began his term as EPA head, by the release of thousands of emails.
Reuters reports that during in his comments at CPAC,
Pruitt mentioned three rules ushered in by Obama that could meet the chopping block early on: the Waters of the U.S. rule outlining waterways that have federal protections; the Clean Power Plan requiring states to cut carbon emissions; and the U.S. Methane rule limiting emissions from oil and gas installations on federal land.
Pruitt also accused he agency of overreach during the previous administration and said it was "so focused on climate change and so focused on CO2," adding that Americans would be "justified" in wanting to completely get rid of the EPA. "I think people across this country look at the EPA much like they look at the IRS. I hope to be able to change that," he said. (A 2013 Pew Research survey on public opinions of federal agencies, however, doesn't back up his claim.)
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USA Today adds:
One of [Pruitt's] top priorities, he said, will be providing businesses with "regulatory certainty." "We're going to provide certainty by living within the framework that Congress has passed," he said. Obama-era regulations that don't fit within that framework will be rolled back, Pruitt added.
Bloomberg notes that
[a]s soon as Monday, President Donald Trump is slated to sign documents compelling the EPA to begin undoing recent regulations, including the Clean Power Plan that slashes greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and the Waters of the U.S. rule that defined which waterways are subject to pollution regulation. Documents drafted by the Trump administration would direct Pruitt to begin dismantling those measures, helping fulfill the president's pledge to eviscerate rules he describes as throttling U.S. energy development.
From Trump's short time in office, wrote Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, it's clear "[he] is dead set on destroying the commonsense safeguards we all depend on to protect our environment and health, crippling our government's ability to stand up to industrial polluters, and shutting down the voice of the people in those actions that most impact our lives."
"Let's be just as clear as to who'll pay the price for this reckless assault on our values and rights: our families, workers, communities, and kids. That is not okay," she wrote.We just received some pretty welcoming news from Verizon concerning the free 4G LTE mobile hotspot promotion that has been available to owners of the DROID Charge, HTC Thunderbolt and LG Revolution for the last couple of months. According to our friends at Big Red, the promo has been granted an extension and will take users all the way through July 6. We had already seen one extension that gave us all free hotspot usage through tomorrow, but we’ll gladly accept another month.
Verizon Wireless has extended the Limited Time promotion for Mobile Hotspot and Mobile Broadband Connect on 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) Smartphones, ThunderBolt by HTC, DROID Charge by Samsung, and Revolution by LG. The following are the Unlimited Hotspot promotion details. Limited Time promotion available through 7/6/2011 which allows customers unlimited 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot and Mobile Broadband Connect usage until July 6, 2011 with the purchase of a ThunderBolt by HTC, a DROID Charge by Samsung, or a Revolution by LG, with a voice plan and a data package $29.99 or higher. The $20/GB (Gigabyte) plan will not be available on 4G LTE Smartphones. On July 6, 2011 a software update will remove the Mobile Hotspot offer. A message will be sent to the end user to contact their system administrator to subscribe to Mobile Hotspot.
So be sure to live it up for another month! You never know what sorts of prices we could see once July hits. And props to Verizon for continuing to extend this out for additional months. I can’t put into words how important this feature was to me at Google I/O this year with all of the spotty wifi hotspots floating around. It definitely kept Droid Life afloat for those few days.
Cheers ___!Leadership and delegates gather from across Colombia in remote region to ratify deal and plan for political future – even inviting in press to ‘live like guerrillas’
As a war-hardened veteran of Colombia’s Farc guerrillas, Roberto Méndez isn’t given to showing much emotion. But his eyes watered and his heart pounded in his chest when he heard the man who had led him in war talk about a future of peace.
“It was very emotional hearing [Farc commander-in-chief] Timochenko and imagining what peace will look like,” said Méndez, a member of Latin America’s largest rebel group which has vowed to give up its guns in a peace deal with the government.
The Farc leadership and delegates from its units across the country came together in this remote region of Colombia this week for their 10th “guerrilla conference” to ratify the peace accord reached last month, to plan their future – and to party.
Colombia's half-century of conflict that led to historic peace deal Read more
Timochenko, whose real name is Rodrigo Londoño, opened the conference by telling his troops that there were no winners or losers in the war they have fought against the state for 52 years.
“For the Farc and our people, our greatest satisfaction is that we won the peace,” he said at the opening of the conference held on a muddy hillock surrounded by grasslands that dip into tropical forest.
While the rebels held their weeklong conference, President Juan Manuel Santos presented the peace deal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the General Assembly in New York, where he declared “There is one fewer war in the world and it is Colombia’s.”
Both events came ahead of the official signing of the peace deal on 26 September, 26th in the Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena, which will be attended by Ban, Latin American leaders and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
In contrast to the signing ceremony, which will be held amid the colonial splendour and tourist hotels of Cartagena, the Farc conference was held in the remote and poverty-stricken southern province of Meta, long a rebel stronghold.
Previous Farc conferences have been secret affairs where rebel leadership decided the group’s plans for war. Here they were plotting for peace and presenting a new face to the world.
Colombia: Farc's female fighters, then and now – in pictures Read more
Daylong deliberations ended with nightly concerts on a huge outdoor stage complete with a smoke machine. The guerrillas sang along with fervor to staples of Latin America’s revolutionary repertoire such as El Pueblo Unido (“The People United”) and swayed their hips to the cumbia rhythm of an all-guerrilla band called the Rebels of the South whose songs speak of the end of the war and impending peace.
“It’s a strange mix of an internal consultative process about the peace accord … and a mini Farc Woodstock,” said Alex Fattal, an American anthropologist from Penn State University studying the Farc’s media strategy.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rodrigo Londoño, AKA Timochenko, the top leader of the Farc, is embraced by singers of the Rebels of the South guerrilla band during the concert. Photograph: Ricardo Mazalan/AP
As word of the conference spread throughout the region, dozens of families trekked to the camp looking for sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who had joined the rebels.
As soon as Judith Sánchez, 57, heard that Farc troops were concentrating in El Diamante, she made the 14-hour trip looking for her son Willington, who left home six years ago to become a rebel fighter. “The reunion was very emotional. I was so happy to know he’s alive,” said Sánchez. Four other children of hers who joined the Farc had died in combat, she said.
The Farc invited hundreds of journalists to “live like guerrillas” in camps, sleeping in upgraded versions of the makeshift huts the rebels usually live in. Rebels were relaxed to the point that they left their AK-47 automatic rifles hanging on posts by their beds while they bathed in a river.
They are not quite ready to give up their guns completely. After the official signing of the pact next week and a plebiscite on the deal on 2 October, the Farc guerrillas will be concentrating in specified zones throughout the country to begin their demobilization. The last weapons are due to be handed over to a UN mission within six months.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Guerrilla fighters arrive at the conference in El Diamante. Photograph: Action Press/Rex/Shutterstock
But not all of the estimated 7,000 fighters will be disarming. Some dissident Farc fighters have already declared that they will not lay down their weapons and declined an invitation by the rebel leadership to attend the conference.
For all the festivities, the Farc leaders have taken the meeting seriously, as it marks the end of the group as it has existed for more than half a century.
One of the main issues under discussion is what the Farc’s political movement will look like – and what alliances it will seek with other sections of the left.
Farc's child soldiers start new life after peace deal Read more
Pastor Alape, a member of the Farc’s ruling secretariat, said the transition to politics will not be hard, but claimed the guerrilla group has always been involved in Colombian politics.
“Before we did it clandestinely. Now we are going to do it openly,” Alape said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.
Discussions among the commanders were held behind closed doors, but delegates said many questions have been raised about the system of transitional justice that has been agreed with the government to try war-related crimes.
Tell us what the Colombia peace accord means to you Read more
Under the accord, guerrillas responsible for the Farc’s worst crimes – such as kidnapping, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, child recruitment and forced displacement – who confess will not face jail time. Instead, they will be sentenced by a special tribunal up to eight years of “effective restrictions of liberty” and to offer reparations to their victims.
But by the end of the conference on Friday, the Farc will ratify the peace accords in a vote and call the first congress of their new political party, which has not yet been named.
Whatever it’s called, Méndez, a guerrilla who has spent the past nine years in the ranks of the Farc, plans to be part of it. “I will continue in the movement,” he said.
But first he wants to complete his education, as he only managed to complete the first grade before joining the rebels. “After that, maybe someday I could run for councilman of a town – or even mayor.”I started out the Alex Smith film review series with one goal in mind: to ease the workload at the end of the season when I write the big-big reviews. Doing Smith’s was routinely taking 30-plus hours. I never intended to use it for a platform to make a larger statement about Smith.
Unfortunately, I didn’t anticipate the way this season would begin.
Everyone who reads Arrowhead Pride knows that I like Alex Smith. I think he has some skills that are useful and has done a great deal to help the team win. However, this season has started off about as poorly as possible for Smith (outside of the second half and overtime against the Chargers), and it’s time we talk about it.
I’ll just come right out and say it: I think Andy Reid should at least be CONSIDERING sliding Nick Foles into the starting spot if things don’t turn around.
Now, given that at least half of you stopped reading after that line and went straight to the comments, let’s shift gears and talk about the Pittsburgh debacle.
Look, you have to accept it: Alex was bad against the Steelers.
A lot more went wrong than Alex Smith against the Steelers (nearly the entire team no-showed. It was brutal). But Smith himself was undeniably horrific. If you’ve never read about the "deep stats" I track when reviewing quarterbacks’ all-22 film, feel free to check it out here. Everyone else, let’s jump straight into the numbers then talk about the film.
Missed Shots: 11
Happy Feet: 5
Drops: 6 (approximately 20 yards lost, two touchdowns lost on one drive)
Flushes: 6
Saves: 1
Inaccurate Throws: 6
Potential Picks: 2
Drives Extended by Scrambling: 0
Franchise QB Throws: 3
Passes Behind Line of Scrimmage: 10
Passes 1-5 Yards in Air: 10
Passes 6-10 Yards in Air: 13
Passes 11-19 Yards in Air: 12
Passes 20+ Yards: 2
That is an absolutely brutal game, folks. I mean BRUTAL. You know how I’ve often championed the idea that Smith’s tendency to miss open receivers is wildly exaggerated? Well, that wasn’t the case this game. There were snaps in which Smith missed multiple open receivers down the field as he danced around the pocket. It was tough to watch.
And speaking of dancing, Smith’s pocket presence was virtually nonexistent during the first half of the game. He was running from phantom pressure and failing to move to open spots (something that’s not QUITE worthy of a happy feet stat, but still hinders the offense) far too frequently.
And before you tell me that it’s on the offensive line, allow me to retort.
You cannot bail out of this kind of protection. Also, there were TWO receivers open down the field :(. pic.twitter.com/m3qsfd9wCe — Seth Keysor (@RealMNchiefsfan) October 6, 2016
Look, you have to accept it: Smith was bad against the Steelers. It wasn’t the line’s fault. It wasn’t Andy Reid’s fault. It wasn’t his receivers’ fault. His struggles were on him.
Did Andy Reid compound the issue with some ridiculously bad play calling? Yes, yes he did. On all but maybe 1-2 of the passes behind the line of scrimmage the Steelers had swarmed to the ball well before it arrived. Screens were just not working, and Reid stuck with them to the tune of at LEAST a dozen or so. That was ugly.
But there were open receivers down the field on many snaps in the first half that Smith just flat-out missed. And I don’t mean "guys were open after Smith released the ball" or "guys were open on the other side of the field when Smith threw to the first read." I don’t count those, because that’s silly. I’m talking legitimately open players that SHOULD have been seen had Smith kept his eyes up, or guys that Alex should have read were open due to the coverage but just... well, missed.
For example, you remember the dropped snap play where Smith hit Albert Wilson for a decent gain? All well and good, except...
This was before Alex threw on the picked up fumble play. Look at the bottom of the screen. You just gotta see that. You gotta. pic.twitter.com/jCbftIWswm — Seth Keysor (@RealMNchiefsfan) October 7, 2016
Smith had a little time here to survey the field after being forced out of the pocket. He SHOULD have taken a moment and scanned the coverage. He SHOULD have noticed that the zone defenders were drifting toward the middle of the field and he SHOULD have remembered that Maclin’s route left him on the right side. A quick glance that way and he would’ve seen Maclin moving down the field while the defenders moved the opposite direction.
I’m sure some people will say that’s too picky. After all, the Chiefs got a first down on the play. However, it’s representative of the type of play Smith missed against the Steelers. Maclin was wide, wide, wide open. A lofted duck of a throw means a touchdown. While there was some pressure at that point, it wasn’t a panic moment. Smith just failed to reset after scrambling outside of the pocket.
Could I do better? Of course not. But I’m not a professional quarterback. A lot of THEM could do better on that play. It’s just a fact, unfortunately.
The Alex Smith we have seen this season is not capable of leading a playoff run, let alone a Super Bowl run.
I have written many positive things (and some negative things) about Alex Smith over the last few years. I still believe he’s a tough guy who will do anything to win. However, this season two major parts of being a quarterback have been big struggles for him: accuracy and pocket presence. The former was a strength of Smith’s last year, the latter has always been a weak spot in his game. However, both have gone downhill significantly the majority of this season, and it’s led to Smith being a legitimately bad quarterback in two full games (Houston and Pittsburgh) and the majority of a third (San Diego). And while Smith wasn’t bad against the Jets, he wasn’t more than OK either.
If you’re going to have lower valleys, you have to raise the peaks. Part of what kept Smith around as a starting QB is that his valleys weren’t low. That meant his peaks didn’t need to be as high. But so far this season, the valleys have been more like canyons.
The Alex Smith we have seen this season is not capable of leading a playoff run, let alone a Super Bowl run. And that’s a problem, as (despite not being perfect) the Chiefs have a roster talented enough to do either (I’m not kidding).
I have never been in favor of benching Alex Smith. A big reason for that, prior to this season, is that he was clearly a superior option to the quarterbacks behind him, and it wasn’t close. People loved to believe that Chase Daniel was as good as Smith (or nearly as good), but the film never showed that. The rest of the options were guys like Tyler Bray and Aaron Murray, who were clearly not ready to take over.
Now, the Chiefs have Nick Foles.
Yes, I’m aware that statement isn’t exactly a great rallying cry. However, I have always liked Foles more than most, even in his rookie year prior to all the hype his 27-2 season got him.
What we saw from Foles during the preseason was a lot of what I have liked about him since he joined the league: he’s moves around well in the pocket, has a decent arm, and is willing to throw into tight windows.
What we DON’T know about Foles is his accuracy or ability to read a defense. His accuracy was shaky during the preseason. However, that consistently looked to me like it was due to his rushing things, which is pretty natural when you’re literally a week or two into learning a new offense. Foles has historically had decent accuracy and I don’t believe that will be a lasting problem. Now, his ability to read defenses? A total unknown for everyone but Andy Reid.
But here’s my point: Foles wouldn’t need to come in and be elite to improve the Chiefs offense. He could play at the same level he played at this preseason and the offense would improve. Smith has struggled that much.
Again, I’m not saying it’s time to make a move. This is Alex’s team and he has, in my opinion, done enough to earn a bit more slack. But with the emergence of Chris Conley and Spencer Ware, along with the improved play of the offensive line (yes, it has been improved from last year, it’s just been hard to see with Smith’s struggles)... we should be seeing Smith play at a higher level than we’ve ever seen him play. Instead, he’s regressed to a level well beneath what we saw last season.
If Smith comes out and lays another egg against a Raiders defense that has been burned by EVERYONE, that seat needs to go from room temperature to in the sun on a hot day for a few minutes.
Andy Reid needs to improve his play calling. Make no mistake about that. Hopefully he meant it when he said back to the drawing board and we see as radical a change in the offense as we saw last season after the 1-5 start. But the biggest thing that needs to change right now is Alex Smith.
I really hope this is all a distant memory by the end of the season and we’re all pointing and laughing at my lack of faith in a guy who is known to get back up 11 times after getting knocked down 10. But the tape doesn’t lie, and Smith’s time is running out.The Marvel Experience was billed an immersive multimedia event which allowed fans to interact with their favorite superheroes from the Marvel Universe. The $30 million dollar production was set for a nationwide tour after premiering in Philadelphia in June. However the production was beset by technical difficulties and poor reviews from the press and fans alike.
The remainder of the tour was abruptly canceled by the producers, leaving many ticket holders disappointed, probably less so than those who actually went to the event.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Producers of the show — which includes 360-degree projections, holograms and a 4D motion ride — said Sunday that its big debut in Philadelphia will be its one and only stop. The Chicago, New York and St. Louis legs have been canceled. Refunds will be available. No reason was given for the show’s abrupt cancellation.
The underlying reason why The Marvel Experience was shuttered was due to the fact that it was an overpriced mall attraction fraught with technical difficulties and poor word of mouth.
Reddit user Trill_McNeal relayed this rather ridiculous anecdote from their visit
We got stuck in the holding chamber between the two domes (where you get the safety briefing from spidey) for about 10 min. The hulk arm that was supposed to open the door at the end of the video malfunctioned and the door would only open a few inches then it shut. The workers just looked at each other and shrugged and let the video play again and tried to open the door at the end. It didn’t open so they let the video play again. It wasn’t a big deal, there were only about 20 people there at that point and we just thought it was amusing.
In his review on Philly.com, Nick Vadala expressed that the lack of cohesion was problematic and that technical difficulties were ever present.
At various stages, video screens froze and restarted themselves entirely. At others, Halloween costume-quality props hung a cheap pall over the Marvel Experience’s shot at being immersive. Not exactly what you’d expect for about $50 a person.
Interestingly enough, The Marvel Experience had already been retooled after its initial test run in Arizona last December. It seems as though Hero Ventures was never able to execute their vision. This seems to be a trend as they were also behind the abomination that was Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.Blind Eye In The Sky: Weather Satellites Lose Funding
Government officials are forecasting a turbulent future for the nation's weather satellite program.
Federal budget cuts are threatening to leave the U.S. without some critical satellites, the officials say, and that could mean less accurate warnings about events like tornadoes and blizzards. In particular, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are concerned about satellites that orbit over the earth's poles rather than remaining over a fixed spot along the equator.
If we go blind, if there actually is a gap between the last satellite and this, it certainly will erode the reliability and accuracy of our forecasts.
These satellites are "the backbone" of any forecast beyond a couple of days, says Kathryn Sullivan, assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction, and NOAA's deputy administrator.
It was data from polar satellites that alerted forecasters to the risk of tornadoes in Alabama and Mississippi back in April, Sullivan says. "With the polar satellites currently in place we were able to give those communities five days' heads up," she says.
But that level of precision could diminish in the next few years, Sullivan says.
One important NOAA satellite in a polar orbit will reach the end of its expected life around 2016. And its replacement has been delayed by a continuing resolution passed by Congress that limits the agency's ability to pursue its new Joint Polar Satellite System.
Sullivan says that means there could be more than a year when the nation is lacking a crucial eye in the sky.
"If we go blind, if there actually is a gap between the last satellite and this, it certainly will erode the reliability and accuracy of our forecasts," she says.
To find out how bad the problem might be, the National Weather Service re-examined one of its great forecasting successes: the 2010 blizzard known as "Snowmageddon."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
The agency wanted to know what would happen if a similar blizzard arrived several years from now, when several satellites are likely to be out of commission, says National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes.
"We were quite surprised at the finding that we would underestimate the amount of snowfall the Eastern Seaboard had, specifically in the Washington, D.C., area, by a factor of 2," Hayes says. In other words, areas where forecasts called for 15 inches would actually get 30 inches.
Budget problems aren't the only reason NOAA's next polar satellite is behind schedule. A previous version of the program was scrapped, and NOAA has had trouble getting some of the new satellite's cutting-edge technology finished on time.
But Hayes says this sort of technology is precisely what's made forecasting more accurate with each new generation of satellites.
NASA officials are also concerned about the next generation of weather satellites. The agency will play an important role in building them and also supplements data from NOAA weather satellites with data from its own research satellites.
"It used to be that weather was just something that happened," says Michael Freilich, who directs the earth science division at NASA. Now, he says, people and businesses make specific plans based on what forecasters say.
"When they say that it's going to be hot and sunny, companies make economic decisions," he says. For example, he says, utilities decide how much electricity they need to produce, airlines decide whether to cancel flights, schools decide whether to close, and insurance companies anticipate damage claims from things like hurricanes and hailstorms.
Other nations also fly polar satellites, and that can help fill the gap when U.S. units fail, officials say. But it's not enough, they say.
"The United States, by virtue of our size, the mountains, the oceans on three sides, we have the widest array and greatest frequency of weather phenomena and severe weather phenomena of any country on the planet," Sullivan says.
Some tweaks to NOAA's current budget could minimize delays to the polar satellite program, she says.
Whether the agency is allowed to do that is up to Congress, which will also decide what happens to spending on polar satellites next year.Unique document about the Aztecs studied in Poland
It is inconspicuous. It consists of 80 elongated pages; its format and volume resembles a car atlas. This unique fragment of an Aztec census from the area of today\'s Mexico was made 500 years ago. The document was discovered several years ago in... the Jagiellonian Library of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Its translations and studies are the tasks undertaken by a team led by Dr. Julia Madajczak from the Faculty of "Artes Liberales" of the University of Warsaw.
It is one of the oldest known texts written in the language of the Aztecs - Nahuatl, which survived to our times, and the only such document in Poland.
"The fact that the census ended up in Kraków is an amazing coincidence" - Dr. Julia Madajczak told PAP.
Indeed, the "journey" of the written monument could be the plot of an adventure movie.
It all began in the years 1519-1524, along with the conquest of the giant Aztec empire, which covered a large part of Mesoamerica, by the Spanish conquistador Fernando Cortez.
"Cortez ruled over conquered lands for many years. His power, however, threatened the crown of Spain, and therefore, gradually, the conquistador was pushed away from sovereignty" - said Dr. Madajczak. Spaniards had long-standing, developed procedures for the conquered territories. After the subjugation of the local population by the conquistadors, the standard procedure was to appoint the so-called viceroy and other European officials, who would collectively rule the newly acquired lands.
"Meanwhile, Cortez did not like to share power, he began to argue about the lands and power he believed he was due. That was probably the time when the document I study, the census, was created" - said ethnohistorian.
The census concerns the vast property - Marquesado del Valle, which Cortez received for his services from the Spanish king. "It was not a small piece of land - the area of the property was similar to that of an average European country!" - added the researcher. Today these lands are part of the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Morelos, Veracruz, Michoacán and Mexico.
Madajczak believes that the census was ordered by Cortez himself, who |
to avoid being detained or searched by the officers,” Kagay said in the report. He added that the officers remained “calm and professional.”
White’s stepmother, Molly White, said the situation still shouldn’t have ended with his death.
“Had Topeka police exercised restraint, Dominique would be alive with us today,” she said in a statement.Image copyright AP Image caption Samarin faces deportation during another sentencing next week
A Ukrainian man who posed as a high school student in the US state of Pennsylvania for four years has received a two-month sentence for passport and social security fraud.
Artur Samarin enrolled at Harrisburg High School under the name "Asher Potts" after his visa expired in 2012.
He faces deportation next week on separate charges including having sex with a 15-year-old girl.
Samarin, who pretended to be 18, was an active member of the school community.
Police in February said he was in possession of a driver's license using the Potts name at the time of his arrest, as well as a social security card obtained using a false birth date.
He faces further jail time when he is sentenced next week after pleading guilty to six counts including statutory sexual assault, tampering with public records, identity theft, theft by unlawful taking and conspiracy.
He was seen in May 2014 posing with state lawmaker Patty Kim, who tweeted a photo after presenting "Asher Potts" with a certificate introducing him as "a new member of the National Honor Society".
Samarin, 24, was involved in food banks and cadet programmes, according to one report, and was even on the panel of a forum discussing youth violence in the greater Harrisburg area at the start of the year.NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell drew the ire of Russia's foreign minister, who snapped at her for continuing to shout questions his way.
As Sergey Lavrov and his Russian diplomatic team took their seats at a table opposite Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the American delegation, Mitchell can be heard yelling a question over his back.
Mitchell, 70, the network's chief foreign affairs correspondent, however did not receive the answer she wanted.
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"Mr. Lavrov," Mitchell, began, asking the diplomat about Syria. "The Russians don't believe the [U.S.] intelligence."
"Who was bringing you up [as a child]?" Lavrov boomed, cutting her off.
"Who was giving you your manners, you know?" he asked, sounding annoyed.
Lavrov, 67, then turned his attention back to the table and began conversing with them in Russian.
Another angle of the scene appears to show Tillerson smile as Lavrov rebuked Mitchell:
WATCH: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov cuts off NBC's Andrea Mitchell when she asks a question during meeting with Sec. of State Tillerson pic.twitter.com/nsUpzFN6mb — NBC News (@NBCNews) April 12, 2017
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Author Calls for Women to Prioritize Mothering for 3 Years After Giving BirthMike Zunino doesn’t just appear to be on a fast track to the big leagues. The former Florida Gators catcher is hitting his way through hyperspace.
After being taken as the third overall pick by Seattle in this year’s MLB Draft, Zunino has bulldozed his way through the Mariners’ Low-A affiliate Everett AquaSox with a.375 batting average, 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in only 29 games and has thrown out 44 percent of would-be base stealers.
Zunino’s.474 on-base percentage and.736 slugging percentage for a 1.210 OPS at Everett has granted him a late summer promotion to the Mariners Double-A affiliate Jackson Generals with some predicting a callup to the big club in 2013.
Zunino is 4-for-8 with a double and an RBI in three games for the Generals.
According to the Seattle Times, Zunino’s performance is similar to that of San Francisco slugging catcher Buster Posey.
Both had stellar college careers, including Golden Spikes and Johnny Bench Awards, while being top-5 picks in their respective drafts.
However, in 2008 Posey — drafted out of FSU — didn’t sign his professional contract until mid-August, playing only seven games for the Arizona rookie league Giants and three games with Low-A affiliate Salem-Keizer.
Posey compiled a.351 average with one home run and six RBIs through both leagues.
In 2009, Posey tore up both Single-A and Triple-A, finishing with a.325 average, 18 home runs and 80 RBIs in 115 games earning him a Sept. 2 call-up, eventually helping the Giants win the World Series in 2010.
Zunino is poised to surpass Posey’s impressive numbers if he continues his torrid pace in the Mariners’ system. After 115 games, Zunino could be around the 35-40 home-run range with nearly 120 RBIs.
Considering the Mariners’ catching situation at the big league level, Zunino’s success in the minor leagues could pay large dividends quickly.
Seattle is sporting three catchers on its 25-man roster. Current starting catcher Miguel Olivo is hitting just.218 with a miniscule.231 on-base percentage, nine home runs and 24 RBIs while backups Jesus Montero and John Jaso have seen most of their playing time at designated hitter.
Jaso has been one of the team’s more consistent hitters with a.292 average, eight home runs and 38 RBIs and Montero is hitting.266 and is second on the club with 12 home runs.
But both Jaso and Montero have been tagged defensive liabilities throughout their young careers. Jaso has only thrown out 26 percent of would-be base stealers this year, Montero’s percentage is even lower at 22 with Olivo’s percentage at 32.
If Zunino continues to improve as the competition around him grows stronger, it would be no surprise to see him in a Seattle uniform some time next season.Family upset at Brumby's silence on fugitive case
Updated
The family of Gold Coast man Dean Hofstee is disappointed the Victorian Premier did not discuss with Indian officials the case of a fugitive Indian driver involved in Mr Hofstee's death.
Indian student Puneet Puneet, 19, fled Victoria after pleading guilty to culpable driving, in the crash that killed Mr Hofstee and seriously injured another person last October.
Australia does not have an extradition treaty with India, and Premier John Brumby says the case was not a priority during his current trip to India.
Speaking in India, Mr Brumby told Channel Nine he had not raised the case with any Indian officials.
"It wasn't on my agenda. It wasn't a priority in that sense. On the agenda there were other issues that the Indian ministers were very keen to discuss," he said.
Mr Hofstee's mother, Fran, told the ABC's 774 Morning Program that she finds Mr Brumby's attitude incomprehensible.
"Very upsetting for all of us. Is it not their role? Is it not part of their work? That is why they are in that role, to ensure safety and security of not only Victorians, but visitors too? So how can it not be a priority?
"You'd think that he should be able to come up with a better response than 'it's not a priority, it's not on his agenda'.
"You've got to wonder why, when the heat is on, everybody makes these promises to go all out, and then as soon as everyone's backed off, is there nothing be gained?"
The State Opposition has also attacked Mr Brumby for claiming the issue is not a priority.
Victoria's Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu says Mr Brumby should be doing all he can to bring Puneet back to face the charges.
He says Mr Brumby has failed the people of Victoria.
"He has made the decision that this is not a priority, and Victorians will simply hang their heads in embarrassment that the premier could take this attitude," he said.
"He's had every opportunity to raise this, he's had plenty of time, he knows what an issue it's been here.
"It should have been raised, he should have established exactly what's happening at the Indian end."
Puneet recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.165 at the time of the accident in central Melbourne.
He allegedly fled from Australia in June using another student's passport.
Topics: states-and-territories, courts-and-trials, crime, india, southport-4215, melbourne-3000
First postedPresident-elect Donald Trump believes that the Somali immigrant who plowed a car into a crowd of pedestrians on the campus of Ohio State University on Monday and then used a butcher knife to attack them should never have been allowed to enter the United States.
Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a 20-year-old Muslim who was a lawful permanent resident and student at the school, was shot and killed by police moments after the attack began. Eleven people were wounded, but all of the victims survived. ISIS claimed responsibility for the assault on Tuesday, calling Artan one of its “soldiers.”
“ISIS is taking credit for the terrible stabbing attack at Ohio State University by a Somali refugee who should not have been in our country,” Trump tweeted early Wednesday.
ISIS is taking credit for the terrible stabbing attack at Ohio State University by a Somali refugee who should not have been in our country. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
But U.S. officials say there is no evidence Artan — a refugee who came to the United States with his family in 2014 after fleeing Somalia for Pakistan in 2007 — communicated directly with the terrorist organization. Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Artan appeared to have been influenced by extremist material on the Internet.
“It appears that the attacker was radicalized online by jihadist propaganda,” Schiff said in a statement.
Trump’s statement echoes his controversial immigration plan, which first called for a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the United States. Trump announced that plan after terror attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. He later muddled his position, saying he wanted to suspend immigration from countries or regions that are “harboring and training terrorists.”
Trump told Yahoo News last year that he was open to the possibility of a database for Muslim Americans. The proposal was met with swift backlash, and Trump distanced himself from the idea. But earlier this month, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Trump policy adviser and potential Homeland Security secretary, said the president-elect was mulling a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries.
In an interview published in August, Artan told the Ohio State student newspaper that he was “kind of scared” to be seen reciting his Muslim prayers in public.
“I wanted to pray in the open, but I was scared with everything going on in the media,” Artan told the Lantern in a profile for a series called “Humans of Ohio State.”
“If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don’t know what they’re going to think, what’s going to happen,” he continued. “But, I don’t blame them. It’s the media that put that picture in their heads so they’re just going to have it and it, it’s going to make them feel uncomfortable.”1. In which year were the New York Jets founded? 1974 1955 1962 1959
2. Who holds the record for all time passing yards? Ken O'Brien Richard Todd Joe Namath Chad Pennington
3. Who holds the record for all time touchdowns? Wesley Walker Don Maynard Emerson Boozer Curtis Martin
4. Who is the New York Jets longest serving head coach (in terms of regular season games)? Joe Walton Bruce Coslet Weeb Ewbank Herman Edwards
5. How did the Jets finish the 2014 season? 7-9 8-8 4-12 6-10
6. Which was the only season the Jets contested the Super Bowl? 1980 1968 1972 1982
7. Who were the opponents the only time the Jets played in the Super Bowl? Baltimore Colts Dallas Cowboys Minnesota Vikings Washington Redskins
8. How many AFL Championships have the Jets won? 3 2 1 4
9. Who holds the record for all-time points scored for the Jets? Jim Turner Pat Leahy John Hall Nick Folk
10. Which was the first season at the MetLife Stadium? 2010 2009 2008 2007Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Los Angeles police are investigating a report of a racial slur painted on the gate of the Brentwood home belonging to Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA star LeBron James on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Officers received a call about 6:44 a.m. regarding a spray painted racial slur at the residence, according to the LAPD Officer Aeron Jefferson.
By the time officers arrived, the graffiti had already been sprayed over, Jefferson said.
The property manager was notified, and the incident is under investigation, he said.
Police have not identified any suspect or suspects in the case; no additional information about the vandalism was immediately available.
The 9,440-square-foot Brentwood estate was purchased by James for nearly $21 million in 2015, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Neighbors told KTLA that James doesn't spend much time at the residence, and that it was a mostly used as a summer home by the NBA star and his family.
James and the defending champion Cavaliers will be in Oakland Thursday night to take on the Golden State Warriors in the first game of the NBA Finals.
At a news conference ahead of Game 1, James responded to a reporter's question about the incident.
“My family is safe. At the end of the day they’re safe, and that’s the most important. But it just goes to show that racism will always be a part of the world, a part of America. And, you know, hate in America – especially for African-Americans -- is living every day,” he said. “It’s alive every single day.”
KTLA's Ellina Abovian and Irving Last contributed to this story.Andrew Stephenson
2017-10-12 07:45:48 -0400
“Maybe these fags and dikes and sodomites could learn to dress and act like everybody else in the workplace or in society but when they’re at home and nobody else can see them let them act and dress anyway they like”
And why should they adhere to your definitions of “normal”? Clothing styles, for example, are entirely arbitrary, and your definition of “normal” has no objective justification. If a guy wishes to wear women’s clothes, makeup etc, … who really cares? I understand it’s different and change can be uncomfortable, but enforcing arbitrary standards to avoid discomfort seems fundamentally incompatible with a free society. I don’t care if you’re a “sodomite” – even if various religious texts (Bible or Quran) demand you kill them. Their existence in no way interferes with you beyond hurt feelings.
I find ti amusing that the same people squawking about forced conformity are themselves pretty quick to demand the same in reverse. (to head off the inevitable accusation of hypocrisy, I agree, prosecution for the wrong pronoun is not something we should be encouraging. However, it should not be necessary and we, as a society, should be capable of respecting other people’s life choices without needing to be told to do so. Ideally we do not need to be treating people like petulant 6 year olds).
commented× Expand Design by Justin Vaughan / Photo by Jay Paul
For decades, it felt as though it all began with the Ukrop family. Their grocery stores, colored by rainbow cookies and technicolor cake icing, dominated the Richmond landscape, first opening in 1937 and at times earning more than one quarter of all Richmond’s grocery food sales. Next month marks seven years since the last Ukrop’s closed, and the Richmond region’s grocery market has been in a constant churn ever since, with increasing options elbowing for your dollar. As more stores bring more choice and convenience for customers, the new competition means difficulty for the industry itself.
“It’s going to be a battle royale,” says Jeffrey Metzger, a publisher of Food World, which has been covering the Mid-Atlantic food retail industry for more than 40 years.
As of deadline, new players include Aldi, a stripped-down German-owned chain, which launched in the region in 2015; New York-based Wegmans, which built enormous shops in Chesterfield and Henrico last year; and this summer or fall, Lidl, also based in Germany, will open the first Virginia location — possibly one of the Richmond area’s five — just a fraction of the company’s projected 100 stores launching in America over the course of the next year or so. High-end Southern grocer Publix Supermarkets Inc. has announced it’s taking over 10 Martin’s shops in coming years and building two new stores, and plans to open its first Richmond-area store this summer with a mobile app-based ordering system, a large prepared-foods selection, and even an in-store event-planning team known as Publix Aprons. In late March, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported the Nuckols Place store will include a cooking school.
× Expand Wegmans (Photo by Jay Paul)
“I think you’re going to see grocery changing a lot... They’re ready to do things differently, and they think Richmond is going to be that market to do some of those things differently.” —Laurie Aldrich, Grocery Store Advocate and Executive Director for Virginia Retail Merchants Association
Some market share was left on the table after Martin’s moved into Ukrop’s stores in 2010 because the two were very different retailers, says Laurie Aldrich, executive director for Virginia Retail Merchants Association, which advocates on behalf of most major grocers in the region. “That market share had to be gobbled up somewhere,” she says. And now with Martin’s and Food Lion merging and having to divest of stores in Richmond, “it just creates a whole new dynamic, if you will.”
Those such as Aldrich and Metzger with an eye on the region’s markets believe Richmond is an attractive location for grocers, and it’s at a crossroads. Metzger predicts the area will see store attrition over the next three to five years as old and new grocers struggle for ever-shrinking portions of total food sales in what he calls an “over-stored” market.
“Whether that means companies withdraw totally or just cut back on existing number of stores, I think you’ll see the lineup change,” he says. His publication has been measuring that lineup since 1979 with an annual market-share report for the Richmond area that tracks the top 20 food stores. The rankings on that list have changed dramatically in the past 10 years after relative stability in the decades before.
× Expand New Publix locations, like this one in Weaverville, North Carolina, will offer event-planning services in addition to food. (Photo courtesy Publix)
Martin’s market-share rankings slipped in recent years, and Metzger predicts that share will continue to decline as it sells off and closes its Richmond locations. Last summer, after the parent companies of Food Lion, Giant and Martin’s merged, federal regulators required the newly combined parent company to divest of 19 Martin’s stores in order to resolve antitrust concerns. Florida-based Publix will convert 10 of the stores as a part of a northward expansion. A summer 2017 closing was expected for the unsold Martin’s stores, said Christopher Brand, a company spokesman, in a July 2016 Times-Dispatch story. “We have nothing to announce at this time,” said Samantha Krepps, a Martn’s public relations manager, when asked in March.
And what of the employees? Workers of the 10 stores bought by Publix will lose their jobs if they cannot transfer to another Martin’s location. Publix has encouraged former Martin’s employees to apply to their stores as the company begins hiring closer to its opening dates.
This isn’t new. In 2000, when a merger between Food Lion and Hannaford Bros. Co. made room for Kroger to enter the Richmond market, Kroger took over the old Hannaford stores. A top national grocer, Kroger has since risen to Richmond’s No. 2 spot in the annual market report as of 2016. Perhaps surprisingly, or perhaps not, the No. 1 spot belongs to Walmart, which also owns Neighborhood Market. It went from nine stores in 2006 to 21 stores in 2016.
Robert Kelley, assistant professor of management at VCU’s school of business (Photo by Jay Paul)
Robert Kelley, assistant professor of management at VCU’s school of business, looks at the number of retail supermarkets in Richmond and asks, “My god, how are they all going to survive?”
Normally, stores look to set up shop near new neighborhood developments, relying on residents to offset the cost of establishing and maintaining a location. In the Richmond area, while there are cases of this, Kelley sees more grocery stores opening near existing food markets, trying to steal customer bases from other chains. This is a risky move, as everyone’s margins of profit are tight.
“Anytime new stores open up, whoever is in that area is going to take less profit,” says Kelley, who previously worked for Ukrop’s supermarkets as the vice president of operations for 14 of his 18 years with the once-dominant grocer.
“It’s a kind of ego,” says Metzger. “[They think,] ‘Our model is better than yours. We think we can supplant some of the existing players in the marketplace.’ ”
While Metzger and Kelley remain confident that grocery supply is outpacing demand, census data on Richmond’s population and average income shows a consistent growth. According to a measurement using U.S. Census Bureau information, the Richmond Metro Area’s annual population growth rate exceeded the national average by 0.11 percent per year from 1990 to 2000, and then by 0.23 percent annually from 2000 to 2010. Simply put, more people means more people buying groceries, but they also need money to spend.
Like population, the Richmond Metro Area’s annual per capita income growth rate has exceeded the national average, but not by as much. Other factors, according to Kelley, make Richmond attractive to retailers: It has a diversifying market with large corporations such as Capital One and Altria Group maintaining offices here. It’s also the capital of Virginia, a right-to-work state, which means large chains don’t have to worry about workers unionizing. But none of these incentives add up completely.
“I think there’s a lot of positives about coming here that I think are more cherry-on-the-top rather than ‘Oh, that’s why we’ve got to be here,’ ” says Kelley. So if these aren’t enough reason, what’s bringing these stores to Richmond? “Publix had already decided to go north and Wegmans had already decided to go south,” Kelley posits. “Richmond just happens to be in the crosshairs.”
When Publix opens its first Virginia stores, they will be the northernmost expansion of the Florida-based chain. Conversely, Richmond is currently the southernmost reach of Wegmans retail territory. “We open three to four stores each year, and as such, we are very choosy about our sites,” says Wegmans Media Relations Coordinator Valerie Fox, who calls the expansion a natural next step. They’re not the only ones looking to expand; Whole Foods Market filed official site drawings with the city in March for its second Richmond-area store, which will be part of The Sauer Center, a development on the former site of Pleasants Hardware on Broad Street.
Kroger’s expansion into Virginia was planned long before Richmond’s market got so crowded, according to Aldrich: “I think they saw what was on the horizon.”
× Expand Exterior of the Lidl test store in Fredericksburg. In Richmond, construction continues at both 9101 Hermitage Road and in Green Gate. (Photo courtesy of Lidl US)
Lidl, the German-owned company focused on low prices, plans a large-scale entrance into the East Coast, and the company is currently months ahead of schedule.
An interior of a Lidl store in Switzerland (Photo courtesy Lidl US)
The chain will introduce a nonfood section in its stores with a rotating inventory, from power tools to fashion. “This is a concept we have found to be very successful across Europe, and we’re excited to introduce it here,” says William Howard, a Lidl spokesperson.
Metzger predicts this could threaten both Aldi’s and Food Lion’s business in Richmond, and that the region’s grocery market has already fractured into overlapping “channels” that focus on different customer priorities: high quality and low prices.
“If I were Food Lion, I’d be very concerned, because I think Lidl is going to be very strong in that [low-price] channel,” Metzger says.
“We’ve had competitors come and go,” says Operations Director Frankie Marshburn, a Food Lion employee of 26 years and in the region since 2000. “I believe that if we continue what we’ve been doing, that that in itself will deliver what we’re looking for.” Food Lion wants to be a one-stop shop for all customers in the Richmond area. “Anyone who sells groceries is our competitor,” he adds, including nontraditional food sellers such as pharmacies and club stores such as Costco.
× Expand Nicholas Glancy loads groceries curbside, part of Kroger’s ClickList program. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Aldrich acknowledges that grocery stores will try to distinguish themselves with unique services but also adopt their competitors’ strategies when those prove advantageous. Think of Kroger’s online service, ClickList, which allows customers to select and pay for groceries online and pick up their order at the store’s front door. Fox notes that Wegmans has been piloting a similar online service, which already includes curbside pickup, at several New Jersey and New York locations.
It’s possible that the development of online services was a preemptive strike against AmazonFresh, or, as Metzger calls it, “the 10,000-pound Godzilla.” Amazon’s service provides same-day or next-day delivery of groceries directly to customers’ homes. This is, as the food writer sees it, the industry’s looming, long-term threat — a game-changer.
“I think you’re going to see grocery changing a lot,” says Aldrich. “They’re ready to do things differently, and they think Richmond is going to be that market to do some of those things differently.” One such difference is the number of grocery chains focused on prepared foods, which she says has already encroached upon small-restaurant business.
Metzger draws a parallel to a time when the pharmacist and florist industries were disrupted as grocery chains brought those services into their stores. Now, the pull goes both ways, with a growing number of alternative food sellers not taking part in the traditional supermarket industry. Of the top 20 Richmond food sellers in Food World’s annual market share report for 2016, only seven were traditional grocery stores; the rest were businesses such as convenience stores, club stores and pharmacies. This competition fractures the market further, posing yet another layer of competition for business and another dimension of choice for area residents.
For many Richmonders, despite the greater choice, this new era of grocery shopping still won’t stand up to their memories of Ukrop’s. Loyalty to the chain is so strong even today that it extends to the Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods Co., founded in 2010 under former Ukrop’s supermarket chain owner Robert “Bobby” Ukrop. The company recently announced it would begin selling its baked goods under the Ukrop’s name and under the name Good Meadow Homemades in Kroger stores in Richmond, Charlottesville and Hampton following the end of its exclusive arrangement with Martin’s in the Richmond market — a move many attest is a strong advantage for Kroger.
“I’m of the generation that I clearly remember Ukrop’s and [its employees] bringing the carts to the car, and the service and the family showing up. That’s still substantial to me,” Metzger says, “but realistically, they sold seven years ago. That’s a long time in retail. Just from a marketing point of view — not from a memory point of view — what’s going on today is a lot more significant.”
Stephanie Breijo and Susan Winiecki contributed to this report.BTS has grabbed a spot in the top five on Billboard’s weekly Current Boxscore chart!
The chart ranks the gross ticket sales of the top 100 concerts worldwide based on data reported to Billboard within the previous week (with the Boxscore “week” beginning on Wednesday and ending on Tuesday).
BTS has come in at No. 4 this week for their “The Wings Tour – 2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III” show in Sydney, Australia at the Qudos Bank Arena on May 26, 2017. The concert brought in gross sales of $2,054,650, and filled 11,023 seats out of the venue’s 11,424 capacity. The concert promoter was iMe, and tickets ranged from $74.58 USD to $256.66 USD.
Billboard’s Current Boxscore chart reports box office data submitted by concert promoters, venues, booking agents or artist managers, and not all concert promoters or venues may report their data to Billboard.
The chart also reports only ticket sales, so the over $2 million figure does not include revenue from other streams for this concert.
When viewing Billboard’s Current Boxscore chart, please note that the page may not have updated yet to this week’s results for everyone.
Thanks to alinroso for the tip!
Source (1) (2)The answer to the question regarding legal responsibility seems to revolve around the issue of whether or not a physician-patient relationship exists.
This article began as an argument among colleagues. As hospitalists, our group is occasionally expected to cover a mid-level practitioner group — usually by responding to phone calls from their office, “curbside” questions from the Labor and Delivery floor and by providing formal consultations. One of the members of our group questioned the medical-legal risks of providing the curbside coverage.
One of our members was consulted by phone to advise on a patient in a freestanding ED without the opportunity of being able to examine the patient.
I am sure that this often happens to most doctors and, in general, that we are happy to provide answers to questions and to help our colleagues. But are we setting ourselves up for medical-legal risk? I was tasked to find out.
I started with my employer, who confidently stated that since we have not met the patients and they are physically in a separate building from where we work, there is no medical-legal risk or responsibility.
Not so fast.
Despite what I was told, there is no “black-and-white” or “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question, and I could find very little recent literature that offered helpful clarification. But here is what I did find.
The answer to the question regarding legal responsibility seems to revolve around the issue of whether or not a physician-patient relationship exists. However, deciding whether such a relationship exists is not always simple.
Does the relationship exist if there is an agreement to have a relationship? “A physician-patient relationship is broadly defined as an affiliation in which the patient seeks care, and the physician agrees to provide care.”1 However, establishing that this agreement exists may be less clear for consultants, as they may not “agree to assume care for a patient.” Some courts have ruled that the doctor must show “intent of care” or an “affirmative action” to create a physician-patient relationship. The physician has to clearly indicate, “I will take care of you.”
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Does a relationship exist if there is medical decision making? Some courts have ruled that if no medical decision or treatment decision is offered, a physician-patient relationship is not created, and no responsibility for the physician's fate is transferred.1
Does a relationship exist if there is physical contact? According to the COPIC Insurance Company, it is possible to establish a physician-patient relationship even if you have never physically seen the patient.2 Some legal cases have upheld that a physician-patient relationship exists even when the patient has not been physically examined by the physician — such as is the case with a pathologist or a curbside consult in the ED who reviews the patient's EKG and history but does not examine the patient.1 Finally, it doesn't matter if it's face-to-face, via telephone, or e-mail. Any verbal communication will do.
In general, most courts have asserted that curbside consults do not create a physician-patient relationship.2 Most judges recognize that this type of communication improves patient care and they do not want to discourage the practice by making physicians fear liability.3-5Thae Yong-ho, the senior North Korea diplomat who defected in 2016, says Pyongyang has been filing false insurance claims to make profits, according to Yonhap. File Photo screenshot courtesy of Proletarian TV/YouTube
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The North Korean diplomat who defected from Pyongyang's embassy in London said North Korea has earned "tens of millions of dollars" annually through insurance fraud.
Thae Yong-ho, who arrived in Seoul last August, has been supplying the local press with new revelations about the Kim Jong Un regime. He said Pyongyang's scams have been going on for 30 years, Yonhap reported on Friday.
North Korea began making money on the London international insurance market in the '80s, when North Korea founder Kim Il Sung was still in power and son Kim Jong Il was working as second-in-command.
Thae said there is a North Korean phrase, "Siphon [money] off the insurance market," during his interview with the South Korean news agency.
"In North Korea, there is only one state-owned insurance company, so that even if it fabricates an accident, there is no way to verify its claims," Thae said. "After purchasing international insurance or reinsurance for state infrastructure, documents are forged [on alleged accidents], which earns the state tens of millions of dollars a year."
That source of revenue, however, was cut off in May 2016, owing to the implementation of economic sanctions against Pyongyang in the European Union, and in Britain.
Thae also provided a new disclosure regarding an explosion at a train station in North Korea in 2004.
The incident known as the Ryongchon disaster, caused by flammable cargo, resulted in the deaths of about 3,000 people, according to South Korean press reports at the time.
Thae said the tragedy prompted Kim Jong Il to order the executions of North Korea's railway chief and several other transportation officials.Town in Colorado, United States
Julesburg is the Statutory Town that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Sedgwick County, Colorado, United States.[7] The population was 1,225 at the 2010 United States Census.
History [ edit ]
The original trading post was named for Jules Beni.[8] Julesburg was on the Pony Express (1860–1861) route from Missouri to California.
Jack Slade [ edit ]
In 1858, Joseph A. "Jack" Slade, a superintendent for the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company, was tracking down horse thieves, including Jules Beni. Slade caught up with him at Julesburg, but Beni shot him five times. Everybody thought that Slade was dead and several angry townsfolk chased Beni out of Julesburg. When they returned, they found Slade struggling to his feet, having miraculously recovered.
Beni continued to steal horses from the Pike's Peak Express Company, and Slade vowed to hunt him down. Beni attempted to ambush Slade at Slade's own ranch at Cold Springs. But Slade found out about the planned ambush and, along with some of his cowboys, captured Beni. Slade did not take Beni to authorities but instead shot him dead while he was tied to a fence post.[9] He shot off each of his fingers, and then put the gun in Beni's mouth and pulled the trigger. Afterward, he severed Beni's ears as trophies.[citation needed]
This account is among the Stories of the Century, a syndicated television series starring and narrated by Jim Davis, which aired on March 4, 1955. Gregg Palmer (1927-2015) played the role of Slade, and Paul Newlan (1903–1973) portrayed Beni.
Battle of Julesburg [ edit ]
Julesburg was a large and prominent stagecoach station and the site of Fort Rankin (later Fort Sedgwick). In revenge for the Sand Creek Massacre, one thousand Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota warriors attacked Julesburg on January 7, 1865. In the battle the Indians defeated about 60 soldiers of the U.S. army and 50 armed civilians. In the following weeks the Indians raided up and down the South Platte River valley. On February 2 they returned to Julesburg and burned down all the buildings in the settlement, although not attacking the soldiers and civilians holed up in the fort. At the time, the town was said to have had over 1000 buildings.[10]
Geography [ edit ]
Julesburg is located at (40.988422, −102.266677).[11] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2), all of it land.
The town is located on the north side of the South Platte River, along U.S. 138 and U.S. 385 and just off of I-76. It is the northernmost town in the state, less than 0.9 mi (1.4 km) south of the Colorado−Nebraska state line.
Climate [ edit ]
Julesburg experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with cold, dry winters and hot, wetter summers.
Climate data for Julesburg, Colorado Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °F (°C) 74
(23) 79
(26) 88
(31) 94
(34) 99
(37) 107
(42) 109
(43) 109
(43) 103
(39) 95
(35) 85
(29) 76 |
the boycott as mentioned in the email posted on Quora.Interestingly, the professor’s response to some other outlets and individuals was differently worded, saying that the email was “taken out of context.” On Twitter, a user who goes by the handle @sandygrains shared Beck-Sickinger’s response to her, which read: “Unfortunately this mail was a misunderstanding. Of course I have nothing against male Indians and I have accepted several Indian students in the past. However my lab is full and I currently cannot take any student. This led to an unpleasant discussion with one of the Indian student (sic). I apologise if this caused any misunderstanding, but the e-mail was taken out of the context.”By Monday afternoon, German ambassador shared the letter he had written to the professor from his Twitter handle @Amb_MSteiner. “It has been brought to my attention that you denied an internship to a male Indian student, giving ‘the rape problem in India’ as a reason. Let me make it clear at the outset that I strongly object to this,” says the letter, which then goes on to talk about the public debate on violence against women in India that started after the Dec 2012 gang rape, and a women’s day celebration held at the German embassy with several male and female activists in attendance.“Your oversimplifying and discriminating generalization is an offense to these women and men ardently committed to furthering women empowerment in India; and it is an offense to millions of law-abiding, tolerant, open-minded and hard-working Indians. Let’s be clear: India is not a country of rapists,” the letter says.ASUS ROG Stars Invite - Preview Text by Waxangel Graphics by Meko ASUS ROG
at Liquipedia
at Liquipedia RO8 Predictions When the IPL2 Grand Finals weekend featuring Idra, White-Ra, and Nerchio ended up being a gigantic flop, I experienced a sense of dread as my fears were confirmed. Yes, there were a number of other factors, such as the lack of hype and the rise of the live event as an ESPORTS standard. But I felt that I knew the true reason: It was the Koreans.
Or, the lack thereof. We can't solely attribute the low stream numbers for IPL2 or the more recent NASL2 to the lack of Koreans. But you must admit, it did kill a lot of the excitement. Tournament legitimacy and success relies a great deal on having players who fans perceive as the best players in the world (often unrelated to which ones are actually the best in the world), and we spent the entire summer of 2011 beating ourselves up over how much we suck in comparison to Koreans.
While the trio of victories attained by HuK, IdrA, and Stephano were certainly wonderful for our perplexing and sometimes poorly defined sense of foreigner pride, there was a hidden benefit that outweighed all others: It won back our right to enjoy.
Imagine this ASUS ROG tournament with the very same players, being played in an alternate universe where MC had won MLG Orlando, Puma had won IEM Guangzhou, and Lucky had taken the gold at IPL3. Despite its star studded line up, I don't think it's very much of a stretch to say many of the fans in that universe would not have cared.
Certainly, this tournament could be a success for other reasons. Players were essentially picked for their popularity alone, and a notable enough cast will always get you some amount of viewership. And it's true that they did try to bring in a Korean in MC, but that was due to his popularity more than his recent prowess.
In the end, it's clear. This tournament is NOT relying on Koreans to succeed. That ghastly specter of "there's no Koreans so it doesn't really matter" has been removed. It's not just championship matches where Stephano beat Lucky 4-0 or HuK beat MC 2-0. It's Ret trampling all over aLive, it's Gatored beating DRG and 3-0'ing TOP, it's DIMAGA crushing Rain and JYP, it's Idra beating Boxer, HongUn, and MOTHERF***ING BOMBER.
Our guys matter again. We can sit back and watch ASUS ROG this weekend, thinking "These guys can go anywhere in the world, play anyone, and win a championship." And that makes all of it so. much, better.
So thanks guys, you've earned it. Our appreciation, our gratitude, and our unconditional support.
Things are fun again. RO8 Preview & Predictions by WaxAngel EG.HuK Acer.Elfi HuK: Was HuK actually any worse during his months long slump? Even before his major breakout onto the scene earlier this year, his ex-teammates at the oGs-TL house would have argued that HuK was always good, and just didn't have the tournament luck to follow.
In any case, HuK has returned to form – or at least to prominence, going to MLG Orlando and relegating many a Korean player to a supporting role in his glorious maybe-comeback victory. And of course, with the championship, he regained the unofficial yet prestigious title of "Best Foreign Player."
And for this huge success at MLG, HuK now has much to lose at ASUS ROG. Life is precarious at the summit, and one needs to watch his footing to make sure he keeps his place.
Elfi: Quietly, Elfi has made his presence felt in the ESPORTS world, putting Finland back on the Starcraft II map in the process. Let's take a look at this achievements, starting in August:
Top 8 ASUS ROG Assembly Summer
2nd place MSI Millenium Pro Cup #2
2nd place IEM Global Challenge Guangzhou
Top 8 IEM Global Challenge New York
Top 32 ESWC 2011
Ranked #13 in TLPD international ELO (minus Koreans) at the time of writing
As it is, it seems like Elfi fits a somewhat overgeneralized, but still relevant archetype of Starcraft II pros: The low profile, unspectacular but consistent, totally ignored by Americans, Protoss player from Europe. These are the Sockes, HasuObs's, and NightEnds of the world, and they will beat your Idras, White-Ras, and DongRaeGu's, so let's get used it already.*
*Sorry European fans, for a rant targeted mostly at our American audience.
Head to Head: HuK – 0 : 0 – Elfi
On one hand, HuK just won MLG Orlando on the back of an impressive 9-3 PvP performance. On the other hand, Elfi is 27-9 in PvP since July, with a 72% win rate in the match-up for his career. So it may seem pretty even at first... However, those stats don't show that HuK has a history of being absolutely in clutch important PvP games, whether it's in the finals of MLGs, HomeStoryCup, or facing elimination in GSL. I'm not sure about how highly this tournament ranks for HuK in his hectic schedule, but if he treats it like an important match then he should be a strong favorite to win.
I would love it if there was a Hometown advantage factor that complicated things, but alas I haven't been able to detect much of that in ESPORTS so far. Elfi's at home, but he's got only himself to rely on.
Prediction: Huk 3 – 2 Elfi
mTw.DIMAGA dignitas.SeleCT DIMAGA: Ukraine’s top Zerg player finally won his first championship at another ASUS ROG event held in Finland, back at Assembly Summer 2011 in August. For DIMAGA it's never been a question of whether he had the skill. Even for a top-tier progamer, one has to keep top condition for four days, and have a not-inconsequential amount of luck go ones way (match-ups, opponents, builds, maps) on top of having a prodigious amount of skill to achieve a major tournament win. Perhaps DIMAGA underperformed somewhat relative to his skill until then, but it's tough to blame him given those conditions.
DIMAGA has been going strong as usual after Assembly Summer. He placed high in multiple smaller tournaments, though success at major tournaments like IEM Guangzhou and Blizzcon evaded him. So it's on to the next one, and the next one, until all of the conditions for a championship come together again.
SeleCT: In regard to their tournament careers, SeleCT is the North American scene's own DIMAGA. They had both been two of the most popular, highly-regarded foreign players in the Starcraft II scene, despite their lack of a major championship. Similar to DIMAGA, SeleCT finally resolved this situation in August of 2011, defeating Sheth to become the champion of the North American Battle.net Invitational.
Where they go from here, however, might be greatly different. SeleCT has gone to Korea to train with the FXO team for the time being, and past experience shows us that Korean training can produce some prodigious results. This tournament will tell us if these results have had time to manifest.
Head to Head: DIMAGA – 5 : 5 – SeleCT
On the whole, the two represent each other's respective 'weak' race match-up, at least compared to their ability to wreck face against the other races.
Conveniently, we got to see how the two players matched up against each other at the recent Blizzcon Invitational, in one of the marquee games Blizzard actually chose to show (You catch check the VOD here, under Starcraft II Match 2). While the results say SeleCT 2, DIMAGA 0, the actual games were very close macro-games where DIMAGA played well until the very end. Considering that the games were played on the Terran favored Xel'Naga Caverns and Shakuras Plateau, and SeleCT using his map advantages to the fullest (gold base and center control on Xel'Naga, half-map defensive style on Shakuras), DIMAGA definitely showed that the games could have easily gone the other way with different maps or a slew of other changed circumstances.
On the whole, DIMAGA seems like a slightly safer bet. As early as last July, SeleCT's TvZ was considered the hole in his game, and DIMAGA has been slightly better against top level Terrans than SeleCT has against Zerg. Add in a favorable jet-lag situation for DIMAGA, and it's enough to give him the edge here.
Prediction: DIMAGA 3 – 2 SeleCT
EG.IdrA dignitas.SjoW IdrA: It was easy – if boring – to write about IdrA in the past, by simply repeating the broken-record sentiment of the Starcraft II community at large: He's got all the tools, but he's just got to get his head together. Now that he's won IEM Guangzhou and won six months of immunity from such evaluations, it's going to be hard to find a contrived narrative that's as convenient and compelling to fill the gap in between (assuming he doesn't win henceforth).
What can we say now? Idra himself said on the talk show Live on Three that he didn't feel that it was some increase in skill that allowed him to win IEM Guangzhou. Instead, it was some unspecific mental revelation, gained through some mysterious talks with EG owner Alex Garfield.
So far it looks like it's a long lasting buff for Idra, as he's continued to show more resiliency while putting up strong performances in tournaments ever since.
SjoW: This tournament must feel quite odd for SjoW. Just after winning the easiest $13,000 in Starcraft II history at IeSF (his path: sYz, Pandatank, Escapist, Moutas, DeathAngel and Grubby), he's going onto ASUS ROG where the prize money is halved and the level of competition is several times higher.
Could you really blame SjoW if he just phoned this one in? $13k's a nice haul for a month, and what's really left of $6k after Scandinavian taxes, anyway? That money would probably go further in Korea or Ukraine. At least the tourney would be a nice trip to next door Finland (which is looking beautiful this time of year I hear), and there's a $1,000, 1v1 showmatch in it too boot.
Or dunno, maybe he'll just continue to add to his stack of money.
Head to Head: Idra – 2 : 3 – Sjow
It's funny that'make IdrA tilt' was a semi-viable strategy at one point in time, but it's not something he would have worried about too much against SjoW, a methodical and safe Terran player. Taking into account that he was in Korea for about month, there's a very good chance that he'll go for the King of boring Korean macro builds in every game: Reactor Hellions into triple Orbitals.
This isn't good for SjoW, since methodical and safe is IdrA's game as well, and Idra's been really damn good at that as of late. Additionally, while SjoW hasn't had to play many Zergs as of late, he just hasn't had much momentum going for him in general. So while SjoW might be ahead in stats against not-reaching-his-potential Idra, this pick is pretty clear.
Prediction: Idra 3 – 1 SjoW
Liquid`Ret Tt.White-Ra Ret: I'm not sure if any other player inspires the sentiment of "Yeah, I think he can win, but I'm not going to say he is" than Ret. There are already two Zerg players in this tournament who are capable of incredible highs and abyssal lows in IdrA and DIMAGA, but Ret truly outdoes them both. Arguably, you could say for his much greater volatility, he is capable of the best play of the three.
The probability of him stringing together enough good back-to-back good performances to win a tournament seems low, but here he stands as champion of Assembly Winter and the Battle.net EU Invitational. There's not much to expect here; we can only wait and see.
White-Ra: On more than one occasion have I heard a Korean pro ask "So how does White-Ra win tournaments? He doesn't seem so good." The answer is always, WE DON'T KNOW EITHER.
The phrase "Special Tectics" sums up White-Ra's play style quite nicely: It vaguely makes sense, but not really. No one else could use it without looking like an idiot. It's definitely not American, West European, or Korean.
I could waste some time talking about how his PvT is iffy, or how his Warp Prism tactics are weaker now as they've become more common and Zergs are getting used to them. But in the end, White-Ra is White-Ra, and he'll find ways to win when he wants, doing whatever he wants.
Head to Head: Ret – 0 : 2 – White-Ra
Ret has been shaky in the past about getting sufficient defenses up in time after his trademark drone production, and he even lost a recent series to White-Ra in the MLG Invitational to two well timed attacks. However, in more recent games he looked much better about his drone-unit balance. In particular, his 4-2 win in the Battle for Berlin preliminaries over another skilled, warp-prism happy Protoss in mouz.MaNa suggested that he is prepared to take down White-Ra this time around.
However, trying to make predictions about White-Ra is like trying to make predictions about Brood War Boxer in 2005. You know he's not top, absolute top level anymore, but you're afraid to predict against him in a big game because God knows what kind of magic he's going to pull out of nowhere for the win.
Prediction: Ret 3 – 1 White-Ra Administrator Hey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?(Picture: Liberty Sadler)
Victims of rape may no longer be forced to endure their sexual history being brought up in court.
People who report they’ve been raped often have their sex lives, clothing and alcohol consumption questioned in court.
Many activists believe the treatment of victims – and portrayal of rape on TV dramas such as Apple Tree Yard earlier this week – is why the number of rapes reported to police is so tragically low.
During the tense finale of the BBC thriller Emily Watson’s character Yvonne is forced to recount upsetting details of her sexual assault by a co-worker who was later killed.
The scene shows how doubt is cast over the character’s version of events and the legitimacy of her story given that on one (completely separate) occasion she made a joke about ‘being easy’.
Obviously, the show depicts only the dramatisation of a court case – but it sadly mirrors the UK legal system and laws surrounding rape and sexual assault.
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During the retrial of Ched Evans in October, the teen who accused the footballer of rape had her sex life and previous sexual partners brought up in court, as means of casting doubt on her credibility as an alleged victim.
Ched Evans and partner Natasha Massey outside Cardiff Crown Court, where he was been found not guilty of raping a teen during a retrial (Picture: PA)
Under new laws proposed inn the wake of the retrial, lawyers could face tougher rules limiting the use of an alleged victim’s sexual history in rape trials.
Evans was acquitted of raping a 19-year-old woman at a retrial after a judge controversially allowed evidence from two men who had sex with her around the time of the allegation to be heard.
Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts says the case risks turning the clock back 20 years to the days when women were routinely subjected to a humiliating ‘inquisition’ about their past sexual encounters while on the witness stand.
She said anecdotal evidence from police and campaigners suggests the well-publicised case is putting women off reporting sex attacks and taking them to full criminal trial.
While campaigners believe the Evans case has led to a rise in the number of defendants successfully applying to have the sexual history of their alleged victims used as evidence under section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
Ms Saville Roberts said: ‘What this case highlighted was the degree to which a woman’s sexual behaviour can still be used against her.
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‘In the 21st century, to see this double standard so evidently at work highlights the need for us to have meaningful legislation in relation to sexual behaviour.’
An MP claims social media can be used to find information on victims’ relationship history (Picture: Liberty Sadler)
She said that if the law goes unaddressed then Britain will return to the days ‘when victims were effectively undergoing an inquisition when they went to court’.
‘I don’t think anybody wants to go back to that. But if this recourse is available to lawyers who are seeking to look out for the interests of the defendant, then they are going to use it,’ Ms Saville Roberts added.
Originally intended as a ‘rape shield’ law, section 41 was meant to spare victims from humiliating cross-examination over their sexual history.
The Evans case fuelled calls for the law to be updated amid concerns that in the age of Twitter and Facebook. anyone can turn detective and launch an online ‘witch hunt’ for information about a woman’s sexual past or previous relationships.
The Sexual Offences (amendment) Bill would restrict the use of a complainant’s sexual history unless it is against the interests of justice not to admit it.
Ms Saville Roberts said: ‘There is a concern about whether there will be greater use in the future of private investigators or social media to trawl through a complainant’s previous sexual history as a means to collect evidence to defend a defendant.
Rape Statistics Approximately 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped in England and Wales every year; that’s roughly 11 rapes every hour (figure doesn’t include offenses against children) Nearly half a million adults are sexually assaulted in England and Wales each year Only around 15% of those who experience sexual violence choose to report to the police 1 in 5 women aged 16 – 59 has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 16 Approximately 90% of rape victims know the perpetrator prior to the offence (Figures include assaults by penetration and attempts) Source: Rape Crisis
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‘This case is so well known, and we have the means through social media for people to do this themselves, it could turn into a witch hunt against certain people, women mostly, and the result will be to decrease people’s willingness to come forward in a situation where they have been raped.’
According to figures collected by Dame Vera Baird, the former solicitor general and now Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, a woman’s sexual history was admitted as evidence in 11 out of 30 rape cases in Northumbria between January 2015 to June 2016.
This apparent trend towards allowing a complainant’s sexual history into the court room could leave any woman open to the humiliation, Ms Saville Roberts said.
She said: ‘I’m a mother of twin daughters, my friends, myself, their friends – you wonder if anything happened to them, what’s to stop this being used against them?’
The Bill, which is backed by charities and Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales, was presented in the House of Commons following PMQs today.A couple of Saskatchewan communities broke heat records Friday and the province is heading for another scorching day Saturday.
Leader, Sask., was the hottest place in Canada Friday, reaching a high of 33.2 C, breaking its previous May 5 record of 31 C, set in 1992.
Kindersley, Sask., reached a high of 30.2 C, breaking its record of 30 C, also set in 1992.
Regina reached a high of 28.6 C and Saskatoon hit 28.2 C.
Feeling the heat in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sask?src=hash">#Sask</a> today! Hot weather sticking around for weekend! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/summer?src=hash">#summer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/heat?src=hash">#heat</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/skstorm?src=hash">#skstorm</a> <a href="https://t.co/QxiOW4LmDx">pic.twitter.com/QxiOW4LmDx</a> —@ChristyCBC
Saskatchewan's warm, dry conditions are in sharp contrast to the weather in areas of Ontario and Quebec, which are experiencing record rainfall and flooding.
Omega Block pattern set up over the country. Warm and dry for the prairies but a deluge for sthrn ON/QC <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcmb?src=hash">#cbcmb</a> <a href="https://t.co/lF4g8q6RV8">pic.twitter.com/lF4g8q6RV8</a> —@johnsauderCBC
The warm weather in Saskatchewan is forecast to continue through Saturday.So, you’ve been working with Java since the very beginning? Remember the days when it was called “Oak”, when OO was still a hot topic, when C++ folks thought that Java had no chance, when Applets were still a thing?
I bet that you didn’t know at least half of the following things. Let’s start this week with some great surprises about the inner workings of Java.
1. There is no such thing as a checked exception
That’s right! The JVM doesn’t know any such thing, only the Java language does.
Today, everyone agrees that checked exceptions were a mistake. As Bruce Eckel said on his closing keynote at GeeCON, Prague, no other language after Java has engaged in using checked exceptions, and even Java 8 does no longer embrace them in the new Streams API (which can actually be a bit of a pain, when your lambdas use IO or JDBC).
Do you want proof that the JVM doesn’t know such a thing? Try the following code:
public class Test { // No throws clause here public static void main(String[] args) { doThrow(new SQLException()); } static void doThrow(Exception e) { Test.<RuntimeException> doThrow0(e); } @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") static <E extends Exception> void doThrow0(Exception e) throws E { throw (E) e; } }
Not only does this compile, this also actually throws the SQLException, you don’t even need Lombok’s @SneakyThrows for that.
More details about the above can be found in this article here, or here, on Stack Overflow.
2. You can have method overloads differing only in return types
That doesn’t compile, right?
class Test { Object x() { return "abc"; } String x() { return "123"; } }
Right. The Java language doesn’t allow for two methods to be “override-equivalent” within the same class, regardless of their potentially differing throws clauses or return types.
But wait a second. Check out the Javadoc of Class.getMethod(String, Class...). It reads:
Note that there may be more than one matching method in a class because while the Java language forbids a class to declare multiple methods with the same signature but different return types, the Java virtual machine does not. This increased flexibility in the virtual machine can be used to implement various language features. For example, covariant returns can be implemented with bridge methods; the bridge method and the method being overridden would have the same signature but different return types.
Wow, yes that makes sense. In fact, that’s pretty much what happens when you write the following:
abstract class Parent<T> { abstract T x(); } class Child extends Parent<String> { @Override String x() { return "abc"; } }
Check out the generated byte code in Child :
// Method descriptor #15 ()Ljava/lang/String; // Stack: 1, Locals: 1 java.lang.String x(); 0 ldc <String "abc"> [16] 2 areturn Line numbers: [pc: 0, line: 7] Local variable table: [pc: 0, pc: 3] local: this index: 0 type: Child // Method descriptor #18 ()Ljava/lang/Object; // Stack: 1, Locals: 1 bridge synthetic java.lang.Object x(); 0 aload_0 [this] 1 invokevirtual Child.x() : java.lang.String [19] 4 areturn Line numbers: [pc: 0, line: 1]
So, T is really just Object in byte code. That’s well understood.
The synthetic bridge method is actually generated by the compiler because the return type of the Parent.x() signature may be expected to Object at certain call sites. Adding generics without such bridge methods would not have been possible in a binary compatible way. So, changing the JVM to allow for this feature was the lesser pain (which also allows covariant overriding as a side-effect…) Clever, huh?
Are you into language specifics and internals? Then find some more very interesting details here.
3. All of these are two-dimensional arrays!
class Test { int[][] a() { return new int[0][]; } int[] b() [] { return new int[0][]; } int c() [][] { return new int[0][]; } }
Yes, it’s true. Even if your mental parser might not immediately understand the return type of the above methods, they are all the same! Similar to the following piece of code:
class Test { int[][] a = {{}}; int[] b[] = {{}}; int c[][] = {{}}; }
You think that’s crazy? Imagine using JSR-308 / Java 8 type annotations on the above. The number of syntactic possibilities explodes!
@Target(ElementType.TYPE_USE) @interface Crazy {} class Test { @Crazy int[][] a1 = {{}}; int @Crazy [][] a2 = {{}}; int[] @Crazy [] a3 = {{}}; @Crazy int[] b1[] = {{}}; int @Crazy [] b2[] = {{}}; int[] b3 @Crazy [] = {{}}; @Crazy int c1[][] = {{}}; int c2 @Crazy [][] = {{}}; int c3[] @Crazy [] = {{}}; }
Type annotations. A device whose mystery is only exceeded by its power
Or in other words:
When I do that one last commit just before my 4 week vacation
I let the actual exercise of finding a use-case for any of the above to you.
4. You don’t get the conditional expression
So, you thought you knew it all when it comes to using the conditional expression? Let me tell you, you didn’t. Most of you will think that the below two snippets are equivalent:
Object o1 = true? new Integer(1) : new Double(2.0);
… the same as this?
Object o2; if (true) o2 = new Integer(1); else o2 = new Double(2.0);
Nope. Let’s run a quick test
System.out.println(o1); System.out.println(o2);
This programme will print:
1.0 1
Yep! The conditional operator will implement numeric type promotion, if “needed”, with a very very very strong set of quotation marks on that “needed”. Because, would you expect this programme to throw a NullPointerException?
Integer i = new Integer(1); if (i.equals(1)) i = null; Double d = new Double(2.0); Object o = true? i : d; // NullPointerException! System.out.println(o);
More information about the above can be found here.
5. You also don’t get the compound assignment operator
Quirky enough? Let’s consider the following two pieces of code:
i += j; i = i + j;
Intuitively, they should be equivalent, right? But guess what. They aren’t! The JLS specifies:
A compound assignment expression of the form E1 op= E2 is equivalent to E1 = (T)((E1) op (E2)), where T is the type of E1, except that E1 is evaluated only once.
This is so beautiful, I would like to cite Peter Lawrey‘s answer to this Stack Overflow question:
A good example of this casting is using *= or /= byte b = 10; b *= 5.7; System.out.println(b); // prints 57 or byte b = 100; b /= 2.5; System.out.println(b); // prints 40 or char ch = '0'; ch *= 1.1; System.out.println(ch); // prints '4' or char ch = 'A'; ch *= 1.5; System.out.println(ch); // prints 'a'
Now, how incredibly useful is that? I’m going to cast/multiply chars right there in my application. Because, you know…
6. Random integers
Now, this is more of a puzzler. Don’t read the solution yet. See if you can find this one out yourself. When I run the following programme:
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { System.out.println((Integer) i); }
… then “sometimes”, I get the following output:
92 221 45 48 236 183 39 193 33 84
How is that even possible??
.
.
.
.
.
. spoiler… solution ahead…
.
.
.
.
.
OK, the solution is here (https://blog.jooq.org/2013/10/17/add-some-entropy-to-your-jvm/) and has to do with overriding the JDK’s Integer cache via reflection, and then using auto-boxing and auto-unboxing. Don’t do this at home! Or in other words, let’s think about it this way, once more
When I do that one last commit just before my 4 week vacation
7. GOTO
This is one of my favourite. Java has GOTO! Type it…
int goto = 1;
This will result in:
Test.java:44: error: <identifier> expected int goto = 1; ^
This is because goto is an unused keyword, just in case…
But that’s not the exciting part. The exciting part is that you can actually implement goto with break, continue and labelled blocks:
Jumping forward
label: { // do stuff if (check) break label; // do more stuff }
In bytecode:
2 iload_1 [check] 3 ifeq 6 // Jumping forward 6..
Jumping backward
label: do { // do stuff if (check) continue label; // do more stuff break label; } while(true);
In bytecode:
2 iload_1 [check] 3 ifeq 9 6 goto 2 // Jumping backward 9..
8. Java has type aliases
In other languages (e.g. Ceylon), we can define type aliases very easily:
interface People => Set<Person>;
A People type constructed in such a way can then be used interchangably with Set<Person> :
People? p1 = null; Set<Person>? p2 = p1; People? p3 = p2;
In Java, we can’t define type aliases at a top level. But we can do so for the scope of a class, or a method. Let’s consider that we’re unhappy with the namings of Integer, Long etc, we want shorter names: I and L. Easy:
class Test<I extends Integer> { <L extends Long> void x(I i, L l) { System.out.println( i.intValue() + ", " + l.longValue() ); } }
In the above programme, Integer is “aliased” to I for the scope of the Test class, whereas Long is “aliased” to L for the scope of the x() method. We can then call the above method like this:
new Test().x(1, 2L);
This technique is of course not to be taken seriously. In this case, Integer and Long are both final types, which means that the types I and L are effectively aliases (almost. assignment-compatibility only goes one way). If we had used non-final types (e.g. Object ), then we’d be really using ordinary generics.
Enough of these silly tricks. Now for something truly remarkable!
9. Some type relationships are undecidable!
OK, this will now get really funky, so take a cup of coffee and concentrate. Consider the following two types:
// A helper type. You could also just use List interface Type<T> {} class C implements Type<Type<? super C>> {} class D<P> implements Type<Type<? super D<D<P>>>> {}
Now, what do the types C and D even mean?
They are somewhat recursive, in a similar (yet subtly different) way that java.lang.Enum is recursive. Consider:
public abstract class Enum<E extends Enum<E>> {... }
With the above specification, an actual enum implementation is just mere syntactic sugar:
// This enum MyEnum {} // Is really just sugar for this class MyEnum extends Enum<MyEnum> {... }
With this in mind, let’s get back to our two types. Does the following compile?
class Test { Type<? super C> c = new C(); Type<? super D<Byte>> d = new D<Byte>(); }
Hard question, and Ross Tate has an answer to it. The question is in fact undecidable:
Is C a subtype of Type<? super C>?
Step 0) C <?: Type<? super C> Step 1) Type<Type<? super C>> <?: Type (inheritance) Step 2) C (checking wildcard? super C) Step... (cycle forever)
And then:
Is D a subtype of Type<? super D<Byte>>?
Step 0) D<Byte> <?: Type<? super C<Byte>> Step 1) Type<Type<? super D<D<Byte>>>> <?: Type<? super D<Byte>> Step 2) D<Byte> <?: Type<? super D<D<Byte>>> Step 3) Type<type<? super C<C>>> <?: Type<? super C<C>> Step 4) D<D<Byte>> <?: Type<? super D<D<Byte>>> Step... (expand forever)
Try compiling the above in your Eclipse, it’ll crash! (don’t worry. I’ve filed a bug)
Let this sink in…
Some type relationships in Java are undecidable!
If you’re interested in more details about this peculiar Java quirk, read Ross Tate’s paper “Taming Wildcards in Java’s Type System” (co-authored with Alan Leung and Sorin Lerner), or also our own musings on correlating subtype polymorphism with generic polymorphism
10. Type intersections
Java has a very peculiar feature called type intersections. You can declare a (generic) type that is in fact the intersection of two types. For instance:
class Test<T extends Serializable & Cloneable> { }
The generic type parameter T that you’re binding to instances of the class Test must implement both Serializable and Cloneable. For instance, String is not a possible bound, but Date is:
// Doesn't compile Test<String> s = null; // Compiles Test<Date> d = null;
This feature has seen reuse in Java 8, where you can now cast types to ad-hoc type intersections. How is this useful? Almost not at all, but if you want to coerce a lambda expression into such a type, there’s no other way. Let’s assume you have this crazy type constraint on your method:
<T extends Runnable & Serializable> void execute(T t) {}
You want a Runnable that is also Serializable just in case you’d like to execute it somewhere else and send it over the wire. Lambdas and serialisation are a bit of a quirk.
Lambdas can be serialised:
You can serialize a lambda expression if its target type and its captured arguments are serializable
But even if that’s true, they do not automatically implement the Serializable marker interface. To coerce them to that type, you must cast. But when you cast only to Serializable …
execute((Serializable) (() -> {}));
… then the lambda will no longer be Runnable.
Egh…
So…
Cast it to both types:
execute((Runnable & Serializable) (() -> {}));
Conclusion
I usually say this only about SQL, but it’s about time to conclude an article with the following:
Java is a device whose mystery is only exceeded by its power
Found this article interesting?
How about this one: 10 Subtle Best |
1 beat please.) * VERY IMPORTANT * Please make sure you include your Pad Thai Vol. 3 order # + all your contact info in the email. Only submit your beat via mp3 attached to the email or a soundcloud link pasted into your submission email. Please do not send any download links to WAV files or large attachments with outside download links. The deadline for submissions is Monday March 7th, 2016. We will announce the winner on Friday, March, 11th 2016.
* PRIZES *
The winner receives the following:
1) Any drum & bass sounds from 2 of my released productions not included in “Pad Thai Vol. 3”. Just tell me the name of the songs and the drums & bass sounds are yours.
2) I will personally email/submit the winning beat to any rapper you want and let them know you got a banger (within reason of course…y’all know who I work with so please don’t ask for Jay Z or Nas or Kendrick hahaha.) Past 2 winners have submitted beats directly to Pharoahe Monch and E.D. O.G.
3) 1 free digital download of any album I’ve released.
4) 30 minutes with me in the studio via skype, phone or messenger (not in person, sorry Mischa don’t like guests). You can play me beats and get feedback or ask any production questions you want while I smoke Newports. If you make hot shit I’m happy to help you get your beats to some MC’s. Rappers always need beats.
5) $150 store credit @ www.thedrumbroker.com The Drum Broker is also offering up a NS-10M USB drive in addition to the generous store credit. $150 will get you a shit ton of HEAT from The Drum Broker.
Sound good?
Let the beat making begin and if you have any questions please ask them in the comments.
Good luck and most importantly have fun.
peace,
Marco x The Drum Broker.If there's a new PC build in your future, you're in luck: it's a great time to buy DDR3 RAM. DDR3 has hit its lowest price point in 26 months, according to a recent report from the DRAMeXchange. A chip of DDR3 memory now costs only $2.92. As Overclock3D points out, that works out to $27.50 for a full 4GB DDR3 module. Even if you don't have a pressing need for new RAM, well, it might be time to stock up anyway.
It may seem like hardware component prices should always be trending downwards. New advancements in technology should make older tech cheaper and easier to produce year after year, right? While that may be true in general, the physical realities of manufacturing often throw a wrench in things. Flooding in Thailand in 2011 sent hard drive prices soaring for two years. In the case of RAM, a fire at a Hynix factory in late 2013 sent DDR3 prices spiking upwards.
Today's news is significant, since it means DDR3 is finally cheaper than it was two years ago. If you're not in a hurry to buy new PC components, you don't need to rush out to grab a handful of DDR3 kits—it's always a good idea to wait for a a killer sale. But looking at a few RAM kits on Amazon, prices are clearly better than they've been in a long time. This Corsair Vengeance kit is a good example of the arc over the past four years, although it's still sitting at a higher price than it reached in early 2013.
camelcamelcamel.com
By comparison, this particular Kingston HyperX kit hasn't been on sale as long, but the price has dropped steadily since early 2014, and is now at its lowest point ever.
According to the Digitimes report, DRAM prices are expected to rise in Q3 of this year as new iPhones go into production. That makes this summer the best time to buy some new DDR3 for your existing rig or a new build, with one exception: if you plan on updating to Intel's Skylake or AMD's next-gen Zen CPUs in 2016, you may want to make the move to DDR4 RAM. Both new platforms will support DDR4 as well as DDR3. Right now, DDR4 is still very expensive, and its faster speeds don't make much of a difference in gaming. Unless you want to be on the cutting edge, DDR3 is still a safe (and cheaper) buy for another year or two.
The RAM from our recommended gaming PC build has dropped $25 in the past two months, while the RAM in our high-end gaming PC build has dropped $20. Our recommended budget RAM has dropped a couple bucks as well.AD: Gamble with Bitcoin BigcoinGames.com – Choose from any one of the bitcoin gambling sites listed on this website and claim a bonus of up to 1BTC (deposit required).
Have Fun Playing these Zero Deposit Games!
There are a million and two different ways out there to earn bitcoin, from picking up a few Satoshi for filling out captchas on faucet websites, to working a full time job that pays in btc. But all of those things are boring. What you really want is a way to earn yourself some lovely bitcoin whilst doing something which is actually good fun to do. Like playing video games. It may come as a surprise to you to find out just how many different websites and apps there are which include ways for you to earn bitcoin – or earn an internal currency that can be cashed out in bitcoin – whilst playing a fun game. Everything you will find listed on this page is free to play – no deposit needed. I have also taken care to make sure that all of the games are fun to play and, preferably, require some element of skill rather than just straight up luck. As always I welcome suggestions in the comments if you know of anything I’ve missed off these lists, just as long as you don’t spam and only recommend quality.
Earn Bitcoin Playing Flash Games
Cointiply has a range of ways to earn coins, including offers and tasks, a faucet, watching videos and earning interest on any balance over the minimum payment amount that you hold with them. They also have a wide range of free flash games which pay you a small amount each time you play a game.
Tremor Games – Tremor Games has a wide range of different flash games, just like you would find at most good quality online arcade sites. Unlike those oyher sites, however, you can earn ‘Tremor coins’ for playing games and gaining acheivements, and when you’ve built up a large enough haul you can then exchange them for a range of goodies including bitcoin withdrawals
Earn Bitcoin While Training Your Brain
SatoshiQuiz – With a prize pot of 1000 Satoshis for every question, this is actually quite a fun little quiz game with some interesting questions. There’s a good mixture between easy and tough questions, and you get one minute for each quiz question so if you are fast fingered you may even be able to Google the answer to questions you don’t know before the clock runs down on you. There are also regular challenges with prizes of up to 1 million satoshis!!!
Bitcoin Riddles – Solve a puzzle / riddles presented on the site and win BTC; Once somebody wins the prize you may have to wait a bit for the next one to show up.
Earn Bitcoin with Trading Games
Spark Profit – (Repeated from apps section above because its available for web browsers or mobile devices, and certainly fits into the investment strategy category). If you fancy yourself as being the next financial whizz kid, earning millions as a city trader in London or on Wall Street, but you are actually trying to live off a dollar a day in your mother’s basement, then this is the game for you. Its a financial trading simulation in which you try your hand at making predictions about real financial markets, including digital currency markets as well as fiat forex markets. The better your do the more currencies you will unlock, and the more points you will build up. At any point, you can cash out your points to BTC or fiat! Perhaps one of the best things about it is that they will also provide you with tutorials and resources to help you learn how to become a successful trader. If you are one of the top traders you can earn up to $100 per month, but you do need to verify your email and phone number first.
Apps and Phone Games
[iOS] Takara – PokemonGo style geo-caching game where you collect coins from specific locations in your local area! Also includes Spells of Genesis collectible blockchain-based trading games as well as actual coins. Android version coming soon!
[iOS & Android] Bitjoy – Bitjoy offers two different games with more on the way, both of which are modern takes on classic video games. The first is ‘Froggy’, which sees you jumping across roads and avoiding obstacles while collecting coins and trying to keep ahead of the poison fog that is chasing you – that’s available for both Android and iOS. The second game is the ’80s space shooter’ which is currently only available for Android. You have to register on their site before downloading the apps.
GameFaucet – Three different games allow you to collect coins as you go along and also to get a bonus for completing a level: Pirates Adventure, which is a little bit like a renewed version of pacman; Going Nuts, which is a physics based adventure / puzzle; and also a Bubble Shooter. There are also power ups that you can purchase to make things easier for yourself if you want.
SaruTobi – SaruTobi is a flying monkey, who you literally use to collect coins which appear on the sreen in this simple but addictive game for the iPhone or other Apple device. This was one of the original games primarily designed to be fun to play with the added bonus that you could withdraw free BTC, and it is still amongst the most popular.
Bitcoin Flapper – An alternative to SaruTobi for Android users is this flying game in which you can challenge your friends to play with your in tournaments, and the winner is rewarded with a BTC prize by the game.
Oh Crop! – This Android game pits you against a plant uprising in an apocalyptic future, and if you get into the top ten scores you earn BTC rewards.
Spark Profit – See investment / market trading games section above for full descriptions – the app is available for both Apple iPhone and Google Android devices and you can earn up to $100 per month playing a simulation of the world’s financial markets.
Faucet Games
FaucetGame gives you a very small number of satoshi from their faucet, but you can then use these free coins to play a slot game in a casino with very big difference – the odds are stacked in your favour instead of against you. You can only play small amounts to start off with, but you can use your winnings to level up and unlock multipliers to increase the amounts.
Bitcoin Ball is a basic minesweeper style game in which you are rewarded with a few satoshi for every safe square you uncover.
Earn Bitcoin Playing MMO & Sandbox Games
BitQuest – If you are a fan of Minecraft then you are going to absolutely wet yourself over this. If not then maybe you will be soon, as its a fun andvery popular ‘sandbox game’ in which players build up the game world themselves. You make the game, you defined the story – you get control over everything. BitQuest is a custom MineCraft server which makes Bitcoin the in-game currency, which you can earn by mining, trading with other players, and so on.
Earn Bitcoin Playing Treasure Hunt + Augmented Reality Games
Takara – see phone games section above.
Not Bitcoin but… FindMyEther is a fun looking treasure hunt game where small but significant amounts of Ether (0.5-1 Eth) are hidden both in the real world and on the internet, and subscribers are sent clues to go find them.
BitRunner – Augmented reality gaming taken to the next level. This is a cross between a treasure hunt and an action game you can play with friends: not only can you find coin fragments by visiting the right locations, and piece them together to earn bitcoin, but you can also steal them of other players using cunning strategies. You can play with any mobile device that has GPS.
Honorouble Mention: Spells of Genesis
Spells of Genesis is one of the biggest and most well established games using blockchain technology. It is also the best fun to play, in my humble opinion. Although you can’t earn bitcoin directly within the game, you do build up a collection of more or less rare cards which, when fully upgraded, can be ‘blockchainized’. These blockchainized cards are rare digital assets which are stored on the bitcoin blockchain using the Counterparty protocol, and can be traded with other players on the Counterparty decentralized exchange.
This is a new feature recently added to the game so it is difficult to gauge how much these cards will be worth, but they do give players a chance to earn something of value which can be traded directly for BTC just for playing a game and it seems entirely possible that you could earn more like this than through the games listed above if you are lucky enough to snag a powerful card.
Also, its a great game already with plenty more improvements and additions on the way. Well worth a look if you want something you can get stuck into and not get really bored playing after a few hours. Check them out here: https://spellsofgenesis.com/ to give it a try.Doesn’t this make you want to punch something?
If it were that easy we’d all be internet millionaires by now. Outlandish claims like this are based on either one of two assumptions:
1. You’re a marketing expert.
2. You have a massive pre-existing audience.
When you get 100,000 monthly visitors, you can just install a pop-up and collect an easy 1,000 subscribers without even having to worry about content creation.
But if you’ve never built an email list before and no one in your industry knows your name, you need somebody to take you by the hand and walks you exactly through what to do, step by step.
Lucky for you, that’s exactly what I’m going to do today.
Getting my first 1,000 subscribers took me 6 months of:
Trying every tactic and strategy book
Writing thousands of emails
Spending hundreds of hours on blog posts
Creating countless content upgrades
Promoting my work everywhere
But it does get better. The next 1,000 took just 50% of that time:
And I want you to get those first 1,000 subscribers and I want you to get them fast.
I’m showing you the exact system I used to grow Four Minute Books to almost 30,000 visitors, 837 email subscribers, and a cool $736.00 in affiliate commissions in just 60 days.
Want proof?
Here’s traffic…
...subscribers…
...and commissions.
You can do the same. How?
By setting up a content creation process and streamlining your SEO and promotion, so you can write without thinking, publish every damn day and turbocharge your site’s growth (even if it’s brand new).
If I’ve done it all within less than 60 days of launching the site, so can you.
The best part? It costs $0 and you can do it all by yourself. I really mean that last part. No huge outreach campaigns. No asking for backlinks.
If you’re an introvert like me, with little SEO experience, and don’t like emailing strangers, then this guide is for you. If you’re sick of false promises, like this one…
...then this guide is for you.
This isn’t for you if:
You have a few months time and want to wait for SEO to kick in - We’ve got you covered there. You love promoting your content and are very active in a lot of communities - Sarah can show you how to do that.
But as long as you love writing, this will work for you. All it takes is a ton of time, lots of caffeine and a little sweat equity.
Here’s what I’ll go over:
Okay, let’s get cracking!
Step 1: Reverse Engineer Your Success
Building a successful website is hard. It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The only thing that’s harder is trying to do it without a cause or plan.
Here’s how you can avoid failure and make your own life a lot easier.
Formulate Your “Why”.
Why are you building your email list? Why do you need more traffic?
Seriously.
You’re never building a website to “get traffic” or even to “build a list”. Both of these are means to an end. It’s about what you want to do with them.
For example, you might be building a list to sell your first ebook to, so you can start making some cash on the side and leave the office earlier every day.
In that case, your “why” is relief from financial pressure and stress - and it’s a much more powerful motivation than “get 1,000 subscribers”.
Staying motivated is huge if you’re going to make this work.
So how do you figure out what your “why” is?
Start by asking yourself one question:
What goal, if I achieved it with my website in 6 months, would feel life-changing?
Do you want to see your name on Forbes? Help build schools in Africa? Or earn passive income?
Knowing the end goal and what that end goal enables you to do gives you a point to work backwards from. For example, getting on Forbes might be your stepping stone to a career as a public speaker, and knowing what they require from their contributors will help you write articles in the correct style.
For Four Minute Books, my why is that I want the website to make $1,000/month in passive income because it would allow me to cut back a lot on client work and take the next step towards becoming a full-time writer and coach.
So what’s your “why”?
Pick A Way To Monetize Your Site, NOW
Alright, now that you have a strong cause, let’s talk cash.
If your website is supposed to make money at some point (it is, isn’t it?), you need to decide how exactly that’s going to happen right now.
Deciding this in advance will help you attract the right people and choose a format for your content that hands itself to be monetized.
For example, if you want to publish ebooks, you know you can target people who have a Kindle, and publish your blog posts in series which you can later condense into several ebooks.
Stuck on this? Here are some potential ways to monetize your site:
Ads : For example via Google Adsense - this takes a ton of traffic to even remotely make sense, but some people, like this Dutch high school dropout, figure it out.
: For example via Google Adsense - this takes a ton of traffic to even remotely make sense, but some people, like this Dutch high school dropout, figure it out. Affiliate marketing : One of the most popular ways to make money online, and the easiest way to get started. Affiliate marketing lends itself well to creating content daily, and can be a product you’re passionate about.
: One of the most popular ways to make money online, and the easiest way to get started. Affiliate marketing lends itself well to creating content daily, and can be a product you’re passionate about. Courses : Online courses take a while to create and without an email list you’ll fall flat on your face, but can pay big dividends in the long run.
: Online courses take a while to create and without an email list you’ll fall flat on your face, but can pay big dividends in the long run. Consulting : Use the expertise to offer coaching calls at a premium rate.
: Use the expertise to offer coaching calls at a premium rate. Donations : Some individuals do this, and it can work well if you blog for a good cause, or a solo artist creating things in your garage or basement. Package it into a Patreon campaign.
: Some individuals do this, and it can work well if you blog for a good cause, or a solo artist creating things in your garage or basement. Package it into a Patreon campaign. Ebooks : Offering an ebook can be similar to courses, but they take less time. Many people have built ebook empires by publishing regularly on Amazon.
: Offering an ebook can be similar to courses, but they take less time. Many people have built ebook empires by publishing regularly on Amazon. Lead generation : When you have traffic that’s interested in a specific topic, you can refer them to companies that sell products your audience might be interested in, for example through sponsorships.
: When you have traffic that’s interested in a specific topic, you can refer them to companies that sell products your audience might be interested in, for example through sponsorships. Sell physical products: Ecommerce takes a lot of time to get started and requires some initial investment, and is therefore rather a long-term play.
I chose affiliate marketing because it’s easy to set up, creates passive income and I had a product I loved so much, I felt very comfortable promoting it: Blinkist.
Alright, time to start publishing, right?
Hold on! First you have to...
Validate Your Idea
You didn’t think any true Sumo would let you get away with building something before validating it, did you?
If you don’t make sure people will pay you money for what you’re about to build now, how can you know if they’ll pay you later?
Take Coca-Cola for example. 99 years into their unprecedented soda success story, they decided to strip some expensive ingredients off their magic juice and call it “the New Coke”. Instead of testing whether people would love it first, they made a huge fuss about it and switched the formula for ALL products they sold.
But people didn’t want a change. In fact, they hated it. Coca Cola lost millions of dollars in sales and after thousands of protesters and angry phone calls, switched the formula back just 4 months later.
Validate your idea in a weekend, but spend no more than 7 days validating. Here’s how:
Get 3 people to buy whatever you’re going to sell.
Sticking with affiliate marketing as an example, set up your account and start telling your friends about the product. If they show interest, send them your affiliate link and ask them to buy.
To validate my idea, I did two things:
1. Sent my affiliate link to all my coaching clients after telling them about Blinkist and seeing if they’re interested.
Check!
2. Put up a banner on my website and tracked click-throughs and conversion.
I saw 55 clicks over the first week and 5 conversions (even though people just signed up for the free trial, but the interest was there).
After 7 days the verdict was in: Validated!
If you see people interacting and showing interest in your product (like clicking your banner), and you can make 3 sales to people you know (without forcing your Mum to buy one), you can move on - if not, try a different offer.
Making one sale may be luck, and two can show you that your friends really like you, but repeating the process three times indicates that people actually want you to sell to them, because they get value out of the product.
If you can’t make three sales to your friends in a week, how can you possibly sell even more to strangers?
Protip: If you want to sell a course or other product that you don’t have yet, throw it up on Gumroad and pre-sell it.
And don’t overthink this.
It’s as simple as talking to the person right in front of you at the coffee shop right now - check out how Noah casually does it live, again and again. If you’re really unsure, even after you get three people to buy through you, check out what the competition is doing.
For example, I saw Mike Vardy also promotes Blinkist on Productivityist with a sidebar ad. Since I first noticed it, months went by, but the ad stayed - so it must get results!
Pro tip: Use NerdyData to find who else is promoting your product as an affiliate. Grab a universal part of your referral link (that will be in all affiliate links for the same product), plug it in and presto - a list of sites who use similar affiliate links. Hat tip to Bryan Harris for this strategy.
Use Ghetto Math To Figure Out Your Monthly Target
Reason to do all this hard work? Check.
Offer you want to sell? Check.
Do people want it? Check.
Now all you have to figure out is how much you have to sell. For example, Blinkist has two pricing levels, Plus at $50/year and Premium at $80/year. My one-time affiliate commission is 50% of the annual fee, so $25 for Plus and $40 for Premium.
(prices translate to € 1:1)
Assuming 70% of people take the cheaper one, this works out to an average of $29.50.
So to make $1,000, I’d have to sell 34 subscriptions in a month.
Looks much more doable than $1,000 right?
Note: Neville Medhora recently built an awesome calculator to figure out your exact numbers easy peasy. Boom, now you have a very tangible goal to work towards.
Time for step 2.
Step 2: Streamline Content Creation - And Everything Else
Remember I said this guide will help you to publish every single day? I meant that. Therefore, you’re gonna be spending a TON of time creating content, so you won’t have any to try advanced SEO tricks, send hundreds of emails, or fix your pop-ups, at least in the beginning.
Luckily, you won’t need to, because we’re going to streamline ALL of it.
In fact, we’ll even build a buffer of ideas and research to draw from, so literally all you have to do is sit down, write and press publish every day.
There are 4 parts to streamline.
Content SEO Email collection Promotion
We’ll start with the king: content.
Part #1: Content Creation
To create content like you’re an assembly line, you need a structure and ideas.
Here’s an easy-to-follow process:
The 1-in-1-out System to Minimize Research
You probably have a ton of ideas for articles. I’ve got at least 50 sitting comfortably in Evernote right now.
But we’re not going to use any of them for this.
Why?
Because when you have an idea, you want to do it right. The reason these ideas are all still just drafts or headlines in your mind is because you’d never just crank out that article and ship it.
It was YOUR idea after all, it needs to be perfect right? Sorry, we can’t afford perfectionism here. Instead, use what I call the 1-in-1-out system.
You get one piece of content to learn from, and then you write about what you learned.
That’s it. One piece. No more.
It could be a blog post, a question, a Youtube video, an infographic - any kind of content is fair game, as long as it’s just one piece. For example, since Blinkist has over 1,000 book summaries in their library, I can just read one per day and then write about it.
But you can do the same, no matter what you want to sell (I’ll show you how). That way, you limit the time you spend on reading and writing every morning.
In fact, let’s build a month worth of article ideas right now.
I’m big into coffee, so how about we start an imaginary coffee blog? Let’s say you want to promote Bulletproof Coffee as an affiliate and call it Coffee Connoisseur.
Create a new spreadsheet in Google Docs and insert 4 columns: input title, input URL, output title and output keyword.
Now where do you get your inputs from? Here are 3 great places to start:
Medium Quora Youtube
Click on a few articles that strike you, skim them to get the gist of what they’re about and then plug title and URL into your spreadsheet.
On to Youtube, same game.
5 minutes later, we’re up to 20 inputs pieces of content.
Alright, one last stop: Quora. Search for coffee, but set it to questions.
Pick some interesting questions you already have an opinion about, and add them to your spreadsheet.
Grab another 10 here and you have a 30-day content buffer, awesome!
Pro tip: If you want to make it even easier for yourself, stick to one source for each month. For example, grab 30 articles from Medium, then 30 Youtube videos, etc.
The reason you have to skim the content is so you can come up with a potential headline. This needn’t be final (you’ll see why soon), but will make your life so much easier when you sit down to write.
For example, the very first article is an interview with Alan Adler, inventor of the AeroPress.
You can easily mesh and tweak the headline and sub headline from the original piece for your own purposes - “He Invented The Perfect Cup Of Coffee At Age 76” and make your sub headline “Today I Learned How The AeroPress Was Born”.
Or, just use Sumo’s cool headline generator.
Similar to the validation part, don’t overthink this. Spend no more than an hour on generating ALL your headlines for the month - it took me 20 minutes for this example.
There you go, an entire month of daily content mapped out in an hour.
Some other good places to discover input content are StumbleUpon, Flipboard, Product Hunt, Buzzsumo, and the Google.
Now you have to put a structure in place (don’t worry, we’ll get to the keywords).
How To Create An Evergreen Structure For Your Blog Posts (And Why You Need It)
What’s an evergreen structure? Basically, it’s a way to outline your blog posts that you can use over and over again.
For example, Buzzfeed has several different structures, like lists (“22 Avocado Recipes Worth Trying”) or quizzes (“Which Carly Rae Jepsen Song Are You Based On Your Zodiac Sign?” - yes, that one’s real).
What’s great about it is that you can define the structure once, save it, and pull it out of your digital archive every time you publish a new blog post of the same type to save tons of time.
For Four Minute Books, I knew I wanted to share lessons from non-fiction books, so there had to be some information about the author of each book. Since I planned on promoting Blinkist as an affiliate, a review component also makes sense.
Here’s the structure I came up with:
One sentence summary of the book. Estimated reading time. Favorite quote from the author. Intro with information about the author and 3 lessons from the book ~ 100 words. First lesson ~ 200 words. Second lesson ~ 200 words. Third lesson ~ 200 words. My personal takeaways ~ 100 words. CTA section to get Blinkist. What else can you learn from the summary on Blinkist ~ 100 words. Who would I recommend the summary to ~ 50 words. Related summaries (done with Yet Another Recommended Posts Plugin)
It contains everything someone who’s interested in reading an extensive summary of a book needs to know - the basic information, a few interesting tidbits from the book itself, plus a teaser of what’s to come. In addition it gives readers several options to take action and doesn’t leave them hanging.
By using this same structure again and again I make sure to have all of these valuable elements in every single one of my blog posts, without having to think about them.
All in all, this comes out to roughly 1,000 words per post, which is a good mark to shoot for.
It puts you above the 300 word blurbs and listicles on Buzzfeed, but below the long and actionable guides, which take a lot longer to produce.
This is what it looks like in action:
You might think that’s rigid, but having a structure that’s this clearly defined will allow you to literally copy and paste it, and fill it in for every new blog post, which is exactly what I do.
Pro tip: Save your structure as HTML in Evernote and then drop it into the text editor in Wordpress for each new post, to minimize formatting hassles.
However, you can’t copy and paste the one I’m using, because it depends on what your topic is about and what you’re trying to make people take action on, so here are some guiding principles for the intro, core section, and conclusion.
Intro
Start with something engaging. A thought-provoking question. A shocking fact. But grab your reader’s attention. If your first sentence is boring, no one will read the rest of your post.
Provide some background information. Who wrote the article you’re referencing? What’s that Youtube show about you just watched? How did that study come about? People want to know.
Tell people what they’re about to learn. Nobody wants to wait until they’re 75% through a post to find out what they’re actually getting out of it. You wouldn’t have read this far if you did :)
Include a signature picture, but no more. I don’t mean a header image and I don’t mean screenshots. Make it part of the structure. It could be a quote of the day, a cool coffee wallpaper, or a fun fact. This will help SEO, plus people are 80% more likely to read a post with a colorful image above the fold.
Core Section
Chop it up. Don’t try to fill your middle section with 600 random words. Using 3 parts works well. You could answer 3 questions, provide 3 lessons, give 3 intriguing thoughts or ideas, or even a mix of all of them. It’s so much easier to write 200 words several times than 600 in one go.
Keep it valuable. Don’t rant, gossip, complain or point fingers. Make it helpful. You can include your opinion and personal experience where applicable, but don’t give an award speech - you haven’t won an Oscar (yet).
Conclusion
Re-state what people learned. Do it in a quick list of bullet points. It’s the easiest way to wrap up and helps people remember your post.
Share your opinion. But again, stay objective. Don’t use harsh language, but don’t praise something to the skies either.
Have a call to action. Tell people what to do next, even if it’s just reading another post on your site, or signing up for your email list.
Don’t worry about the nuts and bolts of your structure, at first, there’s plenty of time to fix it. When I started publishing, my structure looked a lot different. When I look back at my first post, I think it’s awful.
The point is I set a structure and stuck with it until I could come up with a better one.
It’s much better to have a bad structure and ask every single reader for feedback to make it better than to have no structure at all and thus, no readers.
But for you that won’t happen. Why? Because next, we’ll make sure that Google is your fan and sends you a whole bunch of them.
On to SEO.
Part #2: SEO
Professional SEO’s will probably definitely want to slap me for this, but it works.
The only thing you’ll try to do with SEO in this guide is to tell Google that a new blog is in town (in your industry).
If you don’t do this now, it’ll be incredibly hard to get Google to notice you later. Get a few basics right, however, and you put your blog into a great position with a good baseline of organic traffic, which you can explode later by landing a few big hits (and watch all your posts rise in Google’s ranks).
Here’s how to do it.
Find The Keywords You Already Have
Think of the most generic word you can that people might search for when looking for your blog. In our example, it’d be “coffee”.
Now go through your list of headlines and check if you can find a word combination of 2, 3, 4 or even 5 words in each one that includes your top level keyword.
For the ones you can’t, leave for now.
In this case, 24 out of 30 headlines already had a usable keyword in them. For example, “How Filtered Coffee Was Invented By A Frustrated Mom” lends itself well to the keyword “filtered coffee”, and so on.
Re-work Headlines That Didn’t Include A Keyword Already
Now you can simply do a second run-through and re-work the headlines a bit in order to integrate a multiple word keyword that fits.
For example, “What Can You Do To Get The Most Out Of Your Coffee?” isn’t great, but “What Can You Do To Enjoy Coffee More?” isn’t so bad, as you can get “enjoy coffee” or “enjoy coffee more” from it.
Most times it’s just a matter of re-ordering the words.
When “Is Coffee The Greatest Addiction Of All Time?” turns into “Is Coffee Addiction The Greatest Of All Time?” you can now target “coffee addiction”, for example.
Check Search Volume
Now, copy the keyword column and plug it into the Google keyword planner. Check if all keywords show a search volume. If they do, you’re good.
If not, move on to the next step.
Adjust The Laggards
Some of your keywords might not show any search volume.
But that doesn’t mean people don’t search for them.
Just open Google and see if their auto complete feature recognizes them.
If it does, you’re good - you can still create this content. If not, adjust it to the last recognized part. In the example above you can adjust “enjoy coffee more” to “enjoy coffee”, the other 2 work out.
Done! Now here’s how to integrate your keywords into your content.
Integrating SEO Into Your Content Structure
There really are only a few places to use your keyword in for maximum effect.
Title/headline of your article. Slug (=the URL) of your article. Once or twice inside the body’s text, maybe in a sub-headline and a paragraph. As the alt tag of your signature picture. Inside your meta description.
Here’s how to do it in Wordpress:
The signature picture is important because it makes sure you have at least one picture with the right tag.
I only use my keywords once in the body (if you can do twice that’s even better).
The meta description is the short excerpt that’s shown in the Google search results.
The easiest way to edit it and simultaneously make sure you check all the other basic on-page SEO boxes with each post is to use the Yoast SEO plugin (the free version is fine).
It’ll show the meta description right at the end.
Once you’re done you can simply go through the checklist at the bottom, if you’re green overall (shown at the top), you’re good to go.
Does This Really Work?
Yes.
You’re building content and loading Google with texts for it to index, centered around a certain topic or main keyword.
You might even see a few top 10 rankings based on this minimalistic SEO approach alone, just because the scope of keywords you’re targeting is so broad.
It works because you’re |
and certainly all aware of the characteristic features of the Japanese housing - minimalism, natural colors and penchant for eco-decor. However, with the creation of the interior in the Japanese style bath is desirable to take into account some of the nuances, not to turn this space into too "theatrical" and uncomfortable for you personally.
It is useful to remember that not all features of the Japanese style appropriate for the bathroom, there may be some redundant.
Who fits the Japanese style bathroom? Eco lovers, fans of natural colors and materials, and kinesthetic audialov (people for whom the sense of touch and the muffled sounds is more important than visual impressions), as well as everyone who is experiencing severe congestion in the constant stress of the metropolis.
This is what awaits you in this detailed guide:
we'll not only of classical Japanese bath, but also about the models that currently use Western decorators, perfectly knowledgeable about the peculiarities of the Japanese style;
we draw your attention to the four characteristic element of decor and furnishings, as well - show you how to use them wisely, including - for a small bathroom in the Japanese style;
you will see what color combinations are considered relevant for the Japanese style bath;
and the mention of the other rules in the Japanese style bath, which break is not recommended if you
want to get the best result.
Japanese ofuro bath and its modern variations:
Classical Japanese bath - it's a deep font of local cypress Hinoki, wood is a bactericidal properties and subtle characteristic flavor. Today, many manufacturers make ofuro of other tree species, the most popular - of cedar. Bathing in ofuro, according to Japanese tradition - is a complex ritual, the result of which is a strong healing effect and is said to have an extraordinary tone.
Sometimes ofuro placed in the garden, which allowed during procedures also enjoy the beautiful nature. Before you - ofuro these few examples, including - produced in Japan today.
If you are going to buy a wooden bathtub in the spirit of the Japanese style, do not forget about a few important points:
it is much more expensive than most of the other materials baths (of course, if it is a strict observance of Technology);
really spectacular view it acquires only in a completely minimalist space free from a variety of plumbing and household little things that inevitably surround us in the bathroom "every day";
optimal design of walls of the room where you plan to place the ofuro, - natural wood not less than 50% of the surface.
Conclusion: authentic ofuro is best suited for installation in a separate room country house, designed especially for her.
Other suitable model for the bathroom interior in Japanese style:
If the Japanese style bath struck the imagination, but to allocate a special room for the installation of wooden tubs you do not plan - look for compromise solutions. For example, an acrylic bath in a wooden frame or a concise form in the spirit of the modern view of the Japanese style.
Japanese bathtub, Japanese bathroom designs ideas
bath-water (at floor level):
If you like Japanese style, but in addition you prefer contemporary solutions and have spacious accommodations for an individual planning - embedded in the floor bath-water reservoirs will add a touch of the exotic. They are consistent with Japanese aesthetics, given the national love of naturalness. A bath can be placed on a podium or flush with the floor, if possible from the point of view of architecture of the house.
specific details of the interior in the Japanese style bath:
All that we are told, the optimum fit for the interior of a private home or a spacious penthouse. And if you live in a standard apartment - it is better not to puzzle expensive plumbing. Suffice it to make original features Japanese-style - without stretching your budget and your own comfort.
how to create a Japanese-style in a small bathroom. We consider the most interesting techniques by which you will get the desired effect. In particular, learn
1. Wood
is hard to imagine a Japanese bathroom without this wonderful material. But you can add it in different ways: from large to very small surface elements.
Wood flooring or a podium, table top or rack, cube-table or a small stool, a screen or mirror frame, shelves and towel holders - all equally well conveys the spirit of the Japanese bath. But choosing specific items, keep in mind that wood - a material with strong energy, so in a small space it should not be too much, so there was no effect of "compression of space."
Modern decorators sometimes use bamboo as an alternative to traditional wood - including - a simulation of green shoots. In general, it is well within the eco-orientation of the Japanese style, but still borders on the exotic.
2. Stones
Given that the water in this ofuro kept the heat thanks to the rocks, this is another element of eco-style is very appropriate. Depending on the design idea and the size of the bathroom, you can create islands "of stone placers" around the tub, or - thin edging floor perimeter walls, or - blotches of such a decoration on the walls between the tiles.
3. analog shoji
shoji panels today have become a real "flag" of the Japanese style. However, choosing this item bathroom decor, do not forget about the features of these partitions.
First, they must really be something (shoji created to separate rooms or isolation of the house from the garden.) Second, if you decide to install these walls instead of the door - to vote their insulation. The best option for the use of such Japanese partitions - personal bathroom or master bathroom in the master bedroom.
If the bathroom has a window - setting them shoji will be ideal.
4. suitable sink
Rectangular and square shapes are best suited for a Japanese-style bath. Rounded - only when they are made from stone. Glass bowls and sinks on legs - the most inappropriate decision. Preferably, the sink or countertop surrounded by shelves of wood, but in any case, not plastic, glass or chrome-plated metal.
Japanese bathroom designs ideas and rules
color combinations for the bathroom in the Japanese style:
As you may have noticed in most of the photos in this guide, the most common professional course - a combination of neutral tones with warm shades of milky white, and (sometimes) green. But the bright red, pink or plum shade of cherry blossom (quite suitable, for example, for the living room or bedroom in Japanese style) is completely irrelevant, since they introduce "anxiety" in an atmosphere of complete relaxation.
Occasionally decorators use other colors, including either to increase the drama (contrast) - added black to brown, or - for the exceptional situation of minimalism - a combination of white with gray and beige. These solutions - "an amateur," however, we show them. Here's what it looks like.
Black + Brown:
gray + beige:
Japanese bathroom designs ideas and rules
What more desirable to take into account when creating a Japanese-style bath:On May 25, it was confirmed that TVXQ’s Yunho will be making a comeback as an actor through a drama titled “Meloholic” (working title).
“Meloholic” is based on a webtoon in which the lead character, who has the power to read people’s minds, meets and falls in love with a woman who has a split personality.
The news is attracting a good deal of attention as this will be his first project since being discharged from the military a month ago. Furthermore, the drama will be headed by PD Song Hyun Wook, who has directed dramas like “Another Oh Hae Young,” “Introvert Boss,” and “Marriage, Not Dating.” The multi-platform drama will be produced by the same team that produced popular KBS2 drama “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds” and will begin filming late May.
Source (1) (2)In a scene of medieval brutality, a jihadi group fighting to control a strategically important Libyan port captured ISIS’s local commander there, paraded him through the streets amid the taunts of onlookers, and then walked him to a gallows, where he was hanged.
The public spectacle—the details of which have not been previously reported in the Western press—was meant to send a message to local residents: Side with ISIS, and this is your fate. But it also vividly conveyed that, despite ISIS’s territorial gains in Syria and Iraq, the self-proclaimed caliphate does not exercise total control of Libya, a fractured country that it’s trying to use as a safe haven, training ground, and potential launching point for attacks in North Africa and potentially Europe.
The execution in the eastern city of Derna was described to The Daily Beast by two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity and are familiar with video footage of the shaming and hanging. U.S. government intelligence analysts have also seen the footage, the sources said.
The ISIS commander was marched through the street “Cersei Lannister-style,” one source said, an allusion to the queen mother in Game of Thrones, who, in the series’ recent season finale, is forced to walk naked through the streets to atone for her sins.
It was an apparently deliberate piece of propaganda, appropriating the terrifying public killing that have become ISIS’s hallmark and using them on the group itself.
The murdered ISIS chief is believed to be an Iraqi named Abu-Ali al-Anbari, who was reportedly hanged in Derna in mid-June. He may have been one of a number of veteran fighters who terrorism analysts said have traveled in recent months from the battlefields of Iraq and Syria to help ISIS. Killing al-Anbari in such a visible way would also send a potent message to ISIS top leaders.
The group “is all about messaging strength and projecting strength and basically showing they’re an unstoppable force,” Thomas Joscelyn, a terrorism expert and editor of the Long War Journal, told The Daily Beast. “Here’s an example where they lost.”
But that may come as little comfort to the Obama administration, which still has to contend not only with ISIS in Libya, but a veritable stew of other jihadist fighters, some of whom are also sworn enemies of the West. Just four years after the U.S.-backed uprising in Libya was supposed to usher a democratic wave, various jihadi groups control large swaths of the country as two rival governments struggle to regain order. Many parts of Libya, particularly in the east, have been converted into jihadi training camps, attracting fighters from Tunisia to Iraq.
Al-Anbari’s executioners were members of the Mujahideen Shura Council, a coalition of al Qaeda-linked militants formed in 2014 that has been fighting ISIS to control Derna. The port city and longtime breeding ground for jihadi produced more fighters during the Iraq War to attack U.S. forces, as a proportion of its population, than any other city in the Middle East.
But while ISIS has been beaten back in Derna, it has taken over two key cities to the west, Benghazi and Sirte, both situated on the Mediterranean coast. At the end of a video in February in which ISIS executed 21 Egyptian Christians, the group warned, “We will conquer Rome.”
ISIS’s statement was arguably symbolic, but one that several terrorism analysts told The Daily Beast signaled ISIS’s ambition to use Libya as a launching pad for attacks in nearby Europe. That has alarmed U.S. intelligence officials, who are eager to beef up monitoring and surveillance of ISIS camps in Libya to help better understand the group’s goals and capabilities.
“We continue to closely monitor the deteriorating security situation in Libya, which is being exploited by ISIL and several other terrorist organizations,” a U.S. intelligence official told The Daily Beast, noting that the group is not the only sworn enemy of the West to plant roots in Libya. (ISIL is the Obama administration's preferred acronym for the terror group.)
“If you look at Osama bin Laden’s files [found in his compound in Pakistan], al Qaeda believed a so-called ‘Islamic Renaissance’ was underway in Libya leading up the the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, and they fully expected jihadists to take advantage of that,” Joscelyn said. “The ISIS phenomenon makes it easier for everyone to see and makes it impossible to deny.”
U.S. intelligence agencies are also eyeing Libyan ISIS fighters’ connections to Syria and Iraq, where American warplanes have been bombing the group’s positions for months and Iraqi soldiers, supported by Iranian-backed Shiite militias, are running a ground campaign.
“ISIL’s expansion in Libya has heightened our concern, as the group has exported its brutal ideology and tactics from Iraq and Syria and used its propaganda to encourage local extremist groups to coalesce under its so-called caliphate,” the intelligence official said. “ISIL and its extremist allies in Libya pose a direct threat to Western and local interests in North Africa and could very well use Libya to try to stage attacks against targets further afield.”
Libya has also become an important transit point for fighters traveling from neighboring Algeria and Tunisia to Iraq and Syria. But ISIS spokesmen have said that if would-be jihadists can’t join the group in those countries, they should make their new home in Libya and help the group's struggle there.
Libya is contested territory, and essential to ISIS’s vision of a broader caliphate. And for that reason, the U.S. is trying to extend drone flights into the increasingly unstable country and elsewhere in North Africa.
But there’s one big problem: The region is too unstable for the U.S. and it allies to easily move in all the people and equipment necessary to conduct drones flights and keep them safe, officials concede.
So far, the State Department has approached only the government of Tunisia with a proposal to station drones within its borders, two defense officials told The Daily Beast. The administration also is considering approaching Algeria, Morocco and Egypt, the officials said.
But each of those locations present its own sets of challenges. Algeria and Morocco are suitable bases, but only if the U.S. limits its drone flights to unarmed aircraft that conduct intelligence-gathering operations, as it is now proposing. Should the U.S. seek to deploy armed drones, which are heavier and cannot stay in the air as long, they’ll need a base closer to the ISIS strongholds in Libya, which lie along the central portion of the coast.
Egypt would, in theory, be the ideal takeoff point. But while the United States provides Egypt with nearly $3 billion annually in military and economic aid, the Obama administration cannot easily ask its supposed ally for a place to station drones. Egypt’s human-rights record is just that bad, with Cairo increasingly cracking down on dissidents, civil libertarians, and independent journalists in the wake of its own 2011 uprising.
The United States has struggled to maintain its long-standing strategic and military relationship with Egypt, all while maintaining calls for democratic reforms.
“If you put a drone base in Egypt, you are de facto saying you are all in with [Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al] Sissi,” said Christopher Harmer, a senior naval analyst with the Middle East Security Project at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War.
Currently, some drone flights come from the Naval Air Station Sigonella, in Sicily. But U.S. officials want bases on the North African continent, in order to avoid making a long trek over water and contending with bad weather.
But even if the U.S. had a reliable drone base, it’s not clear there are enough unmanned aircraft for the mission. The limited number of drones flying over the region today are being borrowed from military commands that are response for U.S. interests in Europe and the Middle East. U.S. Africa Command, which has responsibility for Libya and is headquartered in Germany, borrows nearly all of its drones from other commands.
“We are not even close on where the drones will come from,” one defense official explained to The Daily Beast. Indeed, a second defense official said neither Africa Command nor European Command were briefed on efforts by the State Department to find a possible drone base in North Africa. Officials only learned of the push when they read a report last week in The Wall Street Journal.
In the last year, the United States has rapidly expanded its military presence in Africa, particularly in its use of drones. In a July 11 letter to the Speaker of the House addressing the U.S. use of military resources in Africa as part of the War Powers Resolution, President Obama listed the various areas that the U.S. military is operating in Africa.
The U.S. has conducted counterterrorism operations in Somalia to combat al-Shabaab, a terror group affiliated with al Qaeda. In Djibouti, the site of the only formal U.S. Africa Command base on the continent, military operations are dedicated to protecting the Horn of Africa. In Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, roughly 300 advisers are working with those seeking to “remove Joseph Kony and other senior Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leaders from the battlefield, and to protect local populations,” according to the letter. And roughly 700 troops are stationed at a U.S. base in Egypt’s Sinai.
All of those operations use drones in some capacity. But there still aren’t enough to cover Libya.
The only other possible location for a drone site would be more than 12 miles outside the region’s shores, on a U.S. ship, which would put them in international waters. But such a measure would be temporary and costly. And the bulk of the American drone fleet isn’t equipped for such maritime operations.
That leaves the U.S. in a bind: knowing that ISIS and other terrorist groups are festering in Libya, but with not enough eyes in the sky to place on them. And U.S. officials shouldn’t count on ISIS and its rivals wiping each other out.
“You’d hope that when they go to war with each other they weaken both sides. Unfortunately, that’s not the case,” said Joscelyn, the terrorism analysts. In Syria, jihadist groups have grappled for supremacy and only become more hardened. The fighting “makes them up their game, and makes each side better,” he said.2PM’s Chansung is taking on another acting gig!
On June 21, the production company for the drama, H2 Production, confirmed that 2PM’s Chansung and actress Kyung Soo Jin will be playing the main leads in “Romantic Boys” (working title).
“Romantic Boys” follow the story of a diverse group of young adult professionals, including an event organizer, chef, webtoon writer, fashion designer, interior designer, and classical singer, as they chase their dreams and look for love.
Kyung Soo Jin will play Baek Seol Hee, a character whose overactive adrenal gland leads to bouts of stress-induced hysteria. Chansung will play her ex-lover Wang Ji Sung who still loves her deeply. Oh, and just to make things interesting, they end up living in the same house together due to inevitable circumstances.
Actor Han Joo Wan will play the male supporting role, completing out the love triangle.
“Romantic Boys” is slated for release this September on both Korean and Chinese video sites.
Are you looking forward to this web drama?
Source (1)Colorado Springs, Colo.----- In the Mountain West's second announcement of network television assignments, the CBS Sports Network will televise five San Jose State University football games live nationally.
To accommodate the CBS Sports Network, four of the cablecasts, all Spartan home games will have a 7:30 p.m. kickoff time for prime time viewership in the Pacific Time Zone and late-night college football fans in the remaining three continental time zones.
The September 17 non-conference game vs. Utah, the October 15 contest vs. Nevada, the October 29 encounter with UNLV and the November 19 game with Air Force now are part of the CBS Sports Network college football offerings this season.
In addition, the November 29 game at Fresno State is assigned a 12:30 p.m. (PT) start time for CBS Sports network's coverage.
With today's announcement, seven of the Spartans' 12 regular season games will be carried by a national cable carrier. ESPN2 is televising the October 21 game at San Diego State and the November 4 contest at Boise State.
Since joining the Mountain West for football in the 2013 season, 13 San Jose State games including the AutoNation Cure Bowl win over Georgia State were carried by the CBS Sports Network.
It is possible that any of the Spartans' five remaining regular-season contests also could be televised. These games are the September 3 game at Tulsa, the home opener versus Portland State in Spartan Stadium on September 10, the September 24 contest at Iowa State, the October 8 Homecoming Game vs. Hawaii, and the October 15 game at New Mexico.
2016 San Jose State University Football ScheduleReporters Without Borders firmly condemns the threats that President Mahinda Rajapaksa made in a phone call to the chairman of The Sunday Leader, Lal Wickrematunge, on 19 July because of an article reporting that China had given the president and his son, parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, money to be used “at their discretion.”
“We are extremely shocked that the president personally phones journalists in order to threaten them.” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is unacceptable that The Sunday Leader, Sri Lanka’s only independent English-language newspaper, should be subjected to such pressure. If the president disagrees with an article, he can respond to it and explain himself in the media. That is how issues are discussed in a democracy.
“We condemn the president’s action as irresponsible. A country’s president is supposed to set an example. But Mahinda Rajapaksa is setting a bad one. It says a lot about the degree of respect he feels for media independence and his political readiness to establish the conditions needed for media freedom. We urge him to change course.
“This is not the first time that a news media has been threatened by members of the Rajapaksa family. We urge the president to put an immediate stop to these warnings and threats against journalists. We also urge Sri Lanka’s media to join together in condemning such behaviour, which can have a real intimidatory effect on the entire media profession.”
When Wickrematunge received the call from President Rajapaksa on 19 July, the president shouted: “You are writing lies, outrageous lies! You can attack me politically, but if you attack me personally, I will know how to attack you personally too.” Around 100 posters with the words “Do not lie!” and “The gods will punish you” also appeared on the walls of the newspaper’s headquarters. (see picture)
Rajapaksa’s call was prompted by an article that editor Frederica Jansz published in the newspaper two days earlier reporting that China had made a grant of 9 million dollars to the president and half a million dollars to the president’s son, to be used “at their discretion.” The newspaper’s attempts to contact the president for an explanation had been unsuccessful.
The Sunday Leader has long been targeted by the government. Lal Wickrematunge’s predecessor at the head of the newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was murdered on 8 January 2009. The murder was not investigated properly and the culprit was never caught, in a clear sign of ill-will on the part of the authorities. Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for a proper investigation.
Lal Wickrematunge took charge of the newspaper after his brother’s murder. Now he is the target of intimidation attempts too.Yesterday, Katie Couric did an hour-long exposé on the dangers of violent, addictive video games.
While at times it attempted to be sympathetic and contained actual moments of pathos, it was essentially a maudlin, fear-mongering and clichéd piece of television meant to provide easy answers and scapegoats to very real, complicated problems.
Here’s the whole thing in a nutshell.
Two Stories
Katie brings out two legitimately tragic stories. One of Daniel Petric, the teen who murdered his mother and shot his father in 2007 after they took away his copy of Halo 3, and Quinn Pitcock, the ex-Indianapolis Colts draft pick that gave up his career in the NFL after falling into a bout of depression and compulsive game playing.
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In the case of Daniel, Katie interviews his father and sends a correspondent to prison to interview Daniel himself.
“The more I thought about it, the more I became angry. I just became very, very angry,” Daniel’s father, Mark, reflects. You can feel his anger, his loss, and more importantly you can also feel his confusion. He’s a pastor and a good father. How did he go wrong?
Both stories, divorced of the structure of the show and taken on their own merit, are compelling and tragic. Mark goes on to talk about how he has forgiven his son. Quinn talks about how he took his life back. Both stories raise issues of depression, escapism and how people manage their time. Both stories could have become springboards for serious, adult discussions on parenting, mental health and compulsive behavior.
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Unfortunately, we got this instead:
Steering the Narrative
You’re probably familiar with the formula. “He/she was a good kid/student/athlete/spouse. He/she loved sports/school. Then something changed. But now he/she is repentant and here to spread the word." That’s been the cautionary tale narrative since Go Ask Alice — only the subject material has really changed.
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What’s so fascinating about that framework here is how many times the narrative is purposefully forced. Both Daniel and Quinn suffered from depression, but that fact is barely mentioned compared to the games themselves. There is little discussion as to the root cause of their depression. Practically no time is spent discussing the gun that Daniel’s father had in the home, Daniel's school life or the fact that Quinn also suffered from other addictions (online poker and internet auctions). At all times, the goal is simple — maintain the narrative, and keep it simple.
Spooky, Scary Music and B-Roll of Angry Hands
Katie’s video editors use every trite, played out editing trick in the book — Spooky, pensive music, flash edits, oddly framed shots of gameplay obliquely showing a gun and (my favorite) B-roll of angry, moodily lit hands holding game controllers shot through vaseline.
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They even show a flash of the box of Halo 3: ODST (a game that came out well after Daniel Petric was sentenced) and get one of their younger producers to give a brief, two dimensional explanation of ‘Halo’ and ‘Call of Duty’.
If the goal of this piece was to help people with video game addiction, it fails to do so on a massive level. Not only that, it fails to even understand the games it's purporting to expose on a very basic level.
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I Want You to Get Mad
Then, of course, there are the ‘experts’. There are always experts. In this case, it was Forensic Psychologist Michael Welner and Coleen Moore, a councilor from the Illinois Institute for Addiction. At one particular moment, Katie speculates that maybe video games cause a release of dopamine and suggests that, maybe, more research is needed. Welner smugly smiles and says, "Well, sometimes research isn't needed," going on to say that Quinn's case speaks for itself and that game makers must be held responsible and regulated like the tobacco industry.
They also trot out Jim Steyer from Common Sense Media who scoffs at the Supreme Court's claim that video games are protected speech, claiming that the science in this case is as black and white as climate change.
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This is the actual endgame. Not compassion, not harm reduction, but blame.
Why We Should Care
The natural response to something like this is to ignore it in the hopes that it will go away — I know I've had that response. But the real tragedy here is that so much of this could have been good. I really do feel for Quinn Pitcock and Mark Petric. Depression and addiction are real, crippling issues for so many people, and to diminish the cause by simply looking at the symptom is blatantly irresponsible.
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These kind of scare stories — with their spooky clichéd music, dramatic editing and one sided thinking — will only go away if we demand something better. We need, as gamers, to expect to be treated like adults by the mainstream media, even at its lowest common denominator.
We need to demand basic, competent research and an adult discourse. Because if we don't, we're going to be ignoring this stuff for the rest of our lives.This Day in World History
October 15, 1582
Use of Gregorian Calendar Begins
In Roman times, Julius Caesar instituted a calendar reform based on a solar year of 365 and one-quarter days. To accommodate the quarter day, the Julian calendar added an extra day to every fourth year, creating leap years. Unfortunately, a solar year is really a few minutes shorter than 365 days and 6 hours. The Julian calendar’s overestimate meant that over the course of a century, more or less, the beginning of each of the four seasons moved back a day. By the late 1500s, the spring equinox fell on March 11, rather than around March 21. This shift caused problems for the Roman Catholic Church because it affected the date of Easter.
To fix that problem, Pope Gregory XIII instituted a calendar reform that eliminated the leap day in century years not evenly divisible by four. Thus 1600 and 2000 have leap days but not 1700, 1800, or 1900. This fix meant the calendar would be accurate for thousands of years. There still remained the problem of the season creep, however. The solution to that was straightforward. The pope eliminated 10 days from October 1582. October 4, then, was followed by October 15.
Gregory’s edict instituting the calendar was carried out in Roman Catholic countries throughout Europe, but the reform was not immediately adopted in Protestant countries. Protestant states in Germany did not accept the new calendar until 1699, and Great Britain did not adopt until 1752. The Julian calendar persisted throughout Easter Orthodox lands into the twentieth century and is still used to determine the dates of religious holidays. Russia did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1918. This is why the October Revolution in 1917 that brought the Bolsheviks to power actually took place in November.Sydney is one of the developed world's most hostile cities for cycling, according to a US academic who spent a sabbatical year researching ways to boost bike-riding levels in the city.
''I did not cycle that often because I almost got killed several times - people cutting me off, squeezing me off the road and not stopping,'' John Pucher said of his efforts to ride to Sydney University from his Stanmore home.
Born to ride... traffic in King Street, Newtown. Credit:Kate Geraghty
''Whether I was a pedestrian or cyclist I found the level of the hostility of enough Sydney motorists worse than I had seen anywhere in the world.''
For decades Dr Pucher, from Rutgers University in New Jersey, has been riding bikes - from the cycling wonderlands of Amsterdam and Copenhagen to the car-choked streets of many US cities. But he was still stunned by his experience here.Hi my name is Ross Patrick. I'm an artist, teacher, blogger, lover and cat hugger from the UK. My background is in Graphic Design and Illustration and I have a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. I love all things art related but most of all I love pixel art.
I love pixel art so darn much that I want to do it every day for a whole year, yeah I said it!, every stinking day for a year and I want you to be a part of it. I'm hoping that there are at least 365 beautiful people out there that are willing to back me in making some personalised pixel artwork and in return will receive a variety of awesome rewards. Examples of my work are scattered amongst this post and hopefully give you a good idea about what's possible. I really like the old school feel a truly 8-Bit pixel image gives, none of that modern rounded off stuff for me, no sir! I want straight NES styling kicking out my artwork.
So what's the project about?
This project is about bringing together a minimum of 365 people to help me produce a large number of pixel portraits (for you the backers) that will culminate in a limited edition poster of a beautiful moment of combined human effort. The backers involved in this project will be known as the SHINY, HAPPY PIXEL PEOPLE (y'know a bit like that REM song). So I want to humbly extend an invitation to anyone & everyone from around the world to become a part of the art! I'm hoping to represent, in the final piece, people from all walks of life across the globe! I've been making pixel portraits for a while for my friends and they love them and the love seems quite contagious so I hope you love them too.
In a nutshell
I will produce 365+ portraits as personalised prints and 1 Final poster that will contain all of the portraits made.
You will receive the reward you pledge towards and dependant on pledge tier a personalised print and a Final poster that will contain all of the portraits made to enjoy at home.
All prints will be printed on the best quality art paper/card available to me at the time. All prints will be signed and numbered ready for framing.
Simple.
If the project is successfully funded, backers will receive contact information and instructions on how they can submit 1 photograph of themselves/friend/family member. I will use these photos to create the portrait, and send a proof to the backer as soon as possible. At this time changes can be made. Only one set of changes will be allowed per portrait (limited to 1 email list of requested alterations, cannot change person chosen for portrait) Once every portrait is 100% finished, I will then intricately compile & produce the final epic pixel art poster design! These prints will be exclusive to the qualified backers! Each will be fully inspected, autographed, and numbered before the final shipping!
THE FINAL PRINT DESIGN WILL LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THE IMAGE BELOW, however this may change due to size of portraits/number of backers etc and if anything it will just get a little bigger. Also I realise some people might not like the band across the middle of the poster. But we can put this to a vote nearer the time.
This is my first Kickstarter project as a creator and i'm hoping you can appreciate that i'm trying to share the joy of pixels with the world and be super awesome and back it. Please take the time to donate even a small amount to my project as every little will help. Also even if you don't donate because of the evil money grabbing government please share my project and act like you did, that would be kind too :p
Thank You
Ross Patrick
An Example of The Gifter Reward Personalised Placeholder Certificate to give to your buddy
Printable Mini-Bot Example - £2 Reward
An example of what your dancing GIF might look likeBody of missing police suspect found inside bank's chimney 27 YEARS after he disappeared
Believed he had hidden to avoid police over stolen vehicle court appearance
Finally found: The body of Mr Schexnider, previously a member of the National Guard, was found after 27 years and buried
The body of a man who went missing while apparently trying to escape police has been found inside a chimney - 27 years after he first disappeared.
Joseph Schexnider went missing in 1984 in Abbeville, Louisiana, after running away when police arrived at his house to arrest him.
The then 22-year-old had been due in court charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, but never appeared.
However, his body has since been found lodged in the chimney of Abbeville's bank, 27 years after he first went missing.
Crews renovating the bank building discovered skeletal remains inside the chimney which have since been identified as missing Mr Schexnider.
Police believe Schexnider, who would have now been 49, died of dehydration after becoming trapped in the bank's chimney.
It is thought his mother never reported him missing over the years as she knew he was wanted by police.
His family told police they did not report Schexnider missing because it was not uncommon for him to leave Abbeville without notice.
Authorities have been unable to determine exactly why he was in the chimney, although it has been reported that police think he may have been trying to break into the bank before getting stuck.
Renovation: The man's body was found inside a chimney at the Bank of Abbeville, Louisiana, in May
Mr Schexnider's remains were found in May, but it was only this week that authorities finally managed to identify him.
Mary Manhein, Director of the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Lab, told katc.com: 'We've not ever recovered one from a chimney before, that's a little unusual, so this was the first type of recovery like that that we've ever done before.'
Abbeville Police Detective Lt. David Hardy said: 'Hopefully this will give the family some closure. There's no signs of foul play in this investigation, so as of now it's going to be a closed case.
'His mother is upset that she lost a son of course, but she is at ease that she now knows where her son is.'This is where my disclaimer always goes. Usually it says something like, I got this book from Netgalley, or the publisher sent it to me. However, this book needs a disclaimer that is a little more … involved. I was already a fan of this author’s YouTube channel, I am no stranger to the information in this book, and I am myself an ex-Jehovah’s Witness. That being said I guess I’m not exactly an impartial reviewer. However, I feel that what Mr. Evans has to say is of significant import and so it deserves an honest, forthright review. A loooong review. Here’s mine.
This book is of interest not just to fellow ex-JW’s (what we call ourselves), but also to those outside the faith. Maybe you have JW relatives. Maybe you pass a nice, smiling couple standing next to a literature cart on your way to work every day. Or perhaps, like most people, JW’s have come to your door in order to start a pleasant conversation with you about the bible. The Reluctant Apostate provides a comprehensive overview of the religion, it’s history and the issues surrounding it. There is a great deal of information in this book, and the author did extensive research into the facts presented. I’m impressed with the depth of understanding it displays. Even though I have spent 40 years As a JW, there are many facts about the religion that I have never known about. That is one of the problems.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult. There I’ve said it. I know that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not fit the idea we all have in mind about what a cult is. I wrote a post not long ago about another book Combating Cult |
not anything like how we have been told, it didn't end as it should have and that there are still Nazi descendants on the loose posing an existential threat to us all. My conclusion at the strategic level is that we ended WW2 without finishing it. We should have marched down to Argentina and Antarctica and killed/captured all of the Nazis there, all of the right-wing Rockefeller Illuminati industrialists who treasonously traded with our enemies and put the Hitler experiment into motion in the first place. Scum like Wall Street lawyer Allen Dulles who was under surveillance by President Of The United States (POTUS) Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) should have been arrested and tried for war crimes. This did not happen and demands a detailed explanation and more importantly, correction. We failed to win the 1945 endgame with FDR's untimely death and as a result, America has increasingly become a fascist police state run by a military-industrial complex (MILINDCOMP) ever since. The evil Americans who did not want us to fight Nazi Germany at all took over our country with the expected public opinion flip-flop.
Daily Bell: But why did you decide to focus on him?
Mike Sparks: Commander Ian Fleming was a British secret agent for MI6 under Reuters journalistic cover before WW2, became the #2 man in Naval Intelligence during the war and afterwards worked again for MI6 while running the foreign news service for Kemsley newspapers until his untimely death. He was also a member of the Rothschild Illuminati by virtue of his family's aristocratic identity – but was actually a man-of-the-people who warned us of what the secret elites were doing using the cover of action-adventure fiction. The James Bond Code by Phillip Gardiner covers the religious occult aspects of Fleming's writing but I disagree with his character assassination angle on Fleming as being a lounge lizard who felt like a failure because he wasn't rich. Self-actualizing military men like Fleming don't need money to feel successful – nor do they need the approval of "mommy." James Bond is Real.
Daily Bell: Was he a spy? Commando? Playboy?
Mike Sparks: Fleming was not only a spy; he was a commando who went on actual missions. I researched the report from Lieutenant Commander Christopher Creighton whose book OPJB: The Last Great Secret of World War 2, that Fleming lead the commando mission to bust the actual German Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann from Berlin in 1945 and verified that it's true. We have extensively interviewed Commander Creighton on this. The hard-drinking and living thrown at Fleming as an attack on his integrity was a direct result of him being ordered to bust Bormann out in exchange for recovery of some of the stolen Nazi loot.
This depression may have also been as a consequence for Fleming rescuing Hitler when he was ordered away from the Bormann op at the last minute as historian Greg Hallett argues in Hitler was a British Agent (HWABA). The accounts of Creighton/Hallett contradict the recent work of British military writer Simon Dunstan and Williams in Grey Wolf, that Hitler escaped by his own Nazi KG200 special operations aircraft and U-Boat means to Argentina – but with only low technology so we have nothing to worry about. I'm scrutinizing this in our upcoming sequel, James Bond is Real 2: Bodyguard of Spies.
Fleming certainly loved and adored women – you can read this in his novels. He had Bond help Honey Ryder get surgery for her broken nose and didn't even get the girl in Moonraker. Fleming was certainly no "misogynist" who hated women.
My working hypothesis is that MI6 learned of the Nazi base in Antarctica and sent a team down there to try to destroy it; read the legend of Operation TABERLAN. 30 AU possibly captured coded or in plain text the records of the massive shipments of persons and material by U-Boats (and possibly cargo ships) to South America and Antarctica with confirmation of the reality that they had working AGC technologies. We know for certain that 30 AU captured V-1 cruise and V-2 ballistic missile secrets as well as the latter's inventive force, SS Major Werner von Braun representing some high technologies that are openly depicted in Fleming's later novel Moonraker.
Daily Bell: Was he sending us a warning of sorts?
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Mike Sparks: The evil villain in Thunderball, Emilio Largo's ship is called the Disco Volante. It means "Flying Saucer." Fleming is constantly dropping clues in his books of the Nazi Germans' escape and survival as industrial corporation-covered secret societies hiding in Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMBs).
Daily Bell: What would that warning be, specifically?
Mike Sparks: Fleming forewarns us of false flag attacks like we suffered on September 11, 2001 as pretexts for larger wars; read Moonraker which describes Nazis using a ballistic missile on London to make a "killing" on the stock market, carefully contrasting it to the actual short-selling that took place before 9/11 centered around the Deutsche bank and the CIA. Or the thermite used to burn buildings down in The Spy Who Loved Me. It's almost as if the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks had first read Fleming's books.
Daily Bell: Was he murdered? Why?
Mike Sparks: It seems clear that Fleming, as a friend of President JFK, was revealing far too many secrets that insiders knew right away and the mass global popularity of the James Bond films threatened to blow open their evil deeds if someone decoded them for the general public. Thus, legendary researcher Jim Marrs came to the conclusion that Fleming's "heart attack" just prior to the release of the Warren Commission whitewash on the Kennedy assassination was probably no accident.
If Fleming read the Warren Commission report and told the world it was all lies, the world would have listened – and done something in 1964. So he had to be silenced… However, Fleming gets the last word here because his warnings are already embedded in all his James Bond 007 stories – if we are keen enough to decode them. I think there are plenty of James Bonds out there up to the job.
Daily Bell: He was actually an MI6 operative under journalistic cover?
Mike Sparks: Reuters is owned by MI6, British Military Intelligence. After the war, Fleming worked directly for IRD of MI6. This information comes from Nigel West aka Rupert Allason who had access as a MP to many secret files. He is not alone. The notorious double-agent and traitor, Kim Philby, bolted from Lebanon while working for MI6 as a – you guessed it – "journalist." It's funny how everyone else is well-known to be "working for MI6" as a journalist – except Fleming! We can't have that! He is the famous James Bond, 007 author! Remember the saying about the goose and the gander?
Obviously, James Bond is Fleming's alter ego excepting his personal killing attributes; when Fleming was at Camp-X, the secret training base in Canada, the legend is that he hesitated killing someone at the Fairbairn "killing house." The many attempts to pin James Bond on various WW2 spies and commandos is tolerable as they remind everyone that real men do what you read James Bond is doing. But it's also a de facto insult directed at Fleming suggesting falsely that he was not a doer and had to write about supposedly better men – which is total "bollocks," as the British would say. Ian Fleming was James Bond.
Traveling all over the world under cover of writing stories, sometimes as a journalist. That's Fleming! That's what he did. Eating at fancy restaurants, having love affairs with beautiful women – that's what Fleming did! Spying for MI6 at the same time – that's what Ian Fleming did! However, he was under the death threat of the Official Secrets Act (OFSA) so when he finally decided to write about what he was experiencing, he had to do it cryptically under the disguise of fictional adventures. Remember, he spent nine months of each year as a workaholic in London and traveling around the world – only a few months were spent in Jamaica snorkeling and writing James Bond novels from a manual typewriter (also being a workaholic!). Fleming was no beach bum… and I suspect the "treasures" he was sometimes hunting had Swastikas written on them.
Hugo Drax in Moonraker is clearly a combination of SS commando leader Otto Skorzeney and von Braun – a warning that all these Operation Paperclip scientists supposedly "working for us against the Communist Soviets" might not be.
Daily Bell: Can you elaborate?
Mike Sparks: "007" as Phil Gardiner proves it is really a secret, occult number for the force holding the universe together. How did the Illuminati learn of this number? John Dee, the science advisor for Queen Elizabeth, signed his name as "007" in correspondence to her. She signed her letters to him as "M." Fleming is not using these terms by accident.
"007" was also the number painted on the side of German Tiger heavy tank ace Michael Wittman who was gunning down Allied tanks and stopping our advance after the Normandy landing. Wittman's murderous rampage was finally stopped by Fleming setting up an ambush against him using American M4 Sherman medium tanks up-gunned by the British with their 17-pounder anti-tank guns.
You have to hand it to British intel doing a far better job with less than our American CIA has done. Fleming helped write the organizational plan for our own first intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). If he was just an "office bureaucrat" why was he asked to do this? Maybe it had something to do with the fact of his recent operations evacuating VIPs from France? The British often seem to do it more for their people and less for the Crown than our treasonous CIA, which expands phony democracies that are really dictatorships/oligarchies for the Wall Street Rockefeller Illuminati.
A nation-state needs a MORAL intelligence agency, as British Security Coordination (BSC) director Sir William Stephenson and OSS Director General William Donivan articulated, so it's neither directed to ruin by moles feeding decision-makers false information or surprise attacked like a "nuclear Pearl Harbor." However, in the 1945 endgame, we lost both the effective OSS and their partner, BSC, at the critical time when we needed them to prevent the Communists from stealing our atomic bomb secrets, taking over China – as well as stopping the Nazis from escaping collapsing Germany from our "G.I. Joe" maneuver forces armed with Rosie-the-Riveter mass produced weaponry. It was no accident.
We are researching and writing about this disaster in more detail in the next James Bond is Real book, though we began the investigation in the current book as to why FDR got rid of his pro-democracy Vice President Henry Wallace just days before the election and his subsequent death. We believe he was tricked and his own death instigated since maneuvering the second-in-command into position to take over is Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) before a coup. The coup of 1945 has been a disaster for the United States and the world – it may prove fatal.
Daily Bell: Why would the powers-that-be want Fleming to write these books? Did they?
Mike Sparks: Originally, Casino Royale was a publicity/propaganda book by the Information Research Division (IRD) that Fleming was secretly working for to boost the sagging image of British intelligence in light of the embarrassing defections of British spies who were moles working for the Soviets in the early 1950s. I don't think Casino Royale was Fleming just reacting to becoming a married man with a playboy fantasy; read the damn book, people! It's about good versus evil and whether they each need each other – or not.
Since most of you will not read the book, I'll tell you. It's Fleming working out in his mind's eye the sometime dastardly things he had to do in WW2. His extremely important conclusion comes when Mathis tells him: "When you get back to London, you will find there are other Le Chiffres [bad guys] seeking to destroy you and your friends and your country…. And now that you have seen a really evil man, you will know how evil they can be and you will go after them to destroy them in order to protect yourself and the people you love…. Surround yourself with human beings, my dear James. They are easier to fight for than principles." Fleming is telling us how to establish and keep a moral compass – in an increasingly dangerous and camouflaged world.
As Fleming began to reveal unauthorized secrets like the existence of the Australian secret service, for example, and became globally popular, he became a threat and had to be silenced.
Daily Bell: His first books sold out. Were they purchased by the powers-that-be?
Mike Sparks: My information is his first books did NOT sell out and were only modestly successful. It was when POTUS JFK listed From Russia with Love (FRWL) on his favorite book list that the books became popular. If the intel agencies buy out a book it's usually to kill it by burning them all so no one can read them.
Daily Bell: Is it possible to have a successful fiction career without the backing of the top elites?
Mike Sparks: Possible, yes. Likely, no. The Illuminati screen all works through the major book publishers and will not back books that threaten their rule. Can we out-flank them by word-of-mouth? Yes but don't expect to be on the mainstream media's news cycle to capture the sheeple's limited attention span during the few hours they have between their 9-to-5 jobs and feel-good diversions like "Dancing with the Stars."
As detailed in James Bond is Real, there are three levels ABOVE nation-state governments:
• Secret societies
• Banksters
• Intelligence agencies
If this reality is not understood it's impossible to make any sense of world events.
Many people rightly ask about sources & methods. My source is to reference REALITY at all times as the CONTEXT before having an orgasm over finding let's say a 9/11 "smoking gun." The evil people we are fighting are not dummies just because they wear hoods and have orgies together. We had best RESPECT them and stop being conned by the limited hang-out bones they throw our way. If you are too busy to fully understand what a LIMITED HANG-OUT is then you have no right to research the military-intelligence world where events like 9/11s come from. If you haven't read Anthony Cave Brown's Bodyguard of Lies (BOL) you are too busy. We must understand how the DECEPTION game is played. If you haven't read BOL then you may THINK you understand – but you don't.
My method is GREATEST COMMON DENOMINATOR (GCD). I factor in EVERYTHING I know to be true together and see what comes as a result. Of course, some of it may be disinfo – however, I want to know what the WORST CASE SCENARIO could be since it's often the case.
Here is my assessment:
EVIL IS NOT (thankfully) united.
The Illuminati crime families are split into two major factions; the American, right-wing ROCKEFELLERS who love violence, and the left-wing, European, sex-loving ROTHSCHILDS. Think of the movie "Loose Change" as the Rockefellers and "Eyes Wide Shut" as the Rothschilds. The Rockefellers rule America's Republican Party, the Rothschilds the Democratic Party, though the latter has been increasingly more war-like. If we have a Rockefeller POTUS we start or expand wars; a Rothschild POTUS, while rare, like a JFK, Jimmy Carter or Clinton – social or ecological issues are their bogeyman.
Daily Bell: Who did Fleming work for, ultimately? The British government? Is the government itself controlled by a SMERSH-like entity?
Mike Sparks: Fleming worked for WE THE PEOPLE, not the Crown. As this came to be clear – that his James Bond was really a role model for how anyone could go about finding the truth of evil projects – he began to be a threat. The British are run by the Rothschild Illuminati, not the Rockefellers. It's up to all the good people within any bureaucracy to stick to the word and spirit of whatever moral directives they have – and not be used as pawns of the secret elites. There is still much good on the books and in rules and regulations to justify moral actions and thwart evil ones. James Bond must search out and use these remaining moral levers and turn them for the maximum positive effect for as long as he can.
Daily Bell: If Fleming was in a sense controlled, was George Orwell as well? Are these people in a sense hired to present a certain profile and portrait of the world?
Mike Sparks: The Illuminati thought they had Fleming under their control, but he was smarter than them – maybe too smart since only now have we begun to decode his writings – when they hired him to write the relatively tame spy thriller Casino Royale as a PR ploy. When a spy series followed and Fleming began to drop all sorts of overt and covert secrets control was lost. I think both Orwell and Fleming realized they were being used – tragically, the former not until just before his death. I wonder if Orwell was hired to do a Revelation Of The Method (ROTM), a sort of trial balloon to see if the sheeple would object?
The CIA is still sore after all these years that the British had to help them launch a spy agency by first the OSS. The CIA is a snobby, American Nazi bureaucracy and they want to obliterate all mention of the moral and effective OSS, since it should never have been disbanded and the CIA should have never been born. They don't want the American public to know that they can and should demand on having a moral intelligence agency that works for THEIR INTERESTS IN EXPANDING DEMOCRACY around the world – not Wall Street profits.
However, if you understand Rockefeller vs. Rothschild polarity you'll understand why the rivalry is there. After WW2, American power increased to super power status and Britain lost its empire defeating the Nazis – a heroic deed everyone in the world should thank them for. Sadly, the Rockefellers have been calling the shots ever since.
Daily Bell: Is the Internet helping us decode the world and understand it?
Mike Sparks: The Internet is helping get the raw data out there with lots of deliberate disinformation but it's not being sifted and discerned properly in frameworks of previously understood reality. The Illuminati in general wants a NWO. However, there are rivalries over who and how that NWO will be run. This aspect is not understood by most conspiracy theorists who want their evil to be monolithic so they can waste most of their time cursing the darkness. What I fault most conspiratologists for even more is at the end of their presentations THEY DON'T ASK THE READER/VIEWER TO DO ANYTHING.
The "Occupy" protestors don't ask for anything tangible. Me doth think they protest too much. They might even be "controlled opposition" instigated to relieve public pressure. These protestors should have TANGIBLE DEMANDS printed on their signs, things like "DISBAND THE FEDERAL RESERVE" or "ABOLISH THE CIA" not just we-hate-Wall-Street-because-they-are-rich-and-we-are-not. That's uber BS because it's saying in essence we want to be just as corrupt as them. No we do not. At least not this human being.
Americans don't understand what a nationwide general strike is. In the upcoming election, we should vote for NEITHER Obama or Romney (if he actually becomes the Wall Street candidate)… a No-Confidence signal that we are fed up with the corrupt BS and the social contract is over; they do not have the consent of the governed. However, if you vote in the rigged election where either candidate is an Illuminati puppet they can throw it in your face that "You have had your say, now STFU" (meaning should be obvious). No, we have not had our say – and we are getting taxed without representation. The good name of our country is being dragged through the mud by evil deeds being done without our authorization with "America" attached to them.
Daily Bell: Why is there so much on the Internet about the Illuminati and conspiracy theory?
Mike Sparks: I think many people have come to the same conclusion that I have, that even if you box in an issue and prove that there is absolutely no reason not to do something in a better way – to include even making the PTB look good and get all the credit – yet the reforms still get rejected, something far more sinister is afoot than what's best for the most people. Unfortunately, a lot of what's on the Internet is Illuminati-concocted disinformation to divert attention from themselves. The battleground is the Internet.
Von Braun warned Carol Rosin of the various fear cards that will be played as the first ones lose their psychological shock effect. The last fear cards will be asteroids and so-called alien attacks. The key here is that these are manufactured threats. We must insist that if anything drastic happens again like a 9/11 that we as a nation do not do a damn thing until it's investigated by an agency not connected to the likely suspects, aka the US Government and American corporations – and we find out who the real criminals are before we go off on a kill-the-ragheads expedition to make our MILINDCOMP even richer.
Daily Bell: Who is the next James Bond? Is he similarly controlled?
Mike Sparks: The James Bond Citizen is the next James Bond. YOU will be the next James Bond and you will not be under evil control if you have an established moral compass. Fleming writes about double agent control in Goldfinger. Yet, while Goldfinger the arch-villain keeps Bond alive so as to not alert the authorities, 007 acts as a mole collecting details of his plan, Operation GRAND SLAM – enough so he can thwart it.
We must be the same way as we live in this evil world. The threat of the example of James Bond sneaking around and finding out what the secret elites are doing is possibly fatal to the Illuminati. This is why they have tried to downplay Fleming's actual spy and commando record to try to keep what he wrote in the safe box of don't-try-this-at-home "fiction" – when it's really talking about them and their evil plans and what we should do about them.
Daily Bell: What about someone like Norman Mailer? Are such authors eventually co-opted by the powers-that-be?
Mike Sparks: Mailer seemed parked in the camp of the left-wing Rothschild Illuminati, complaining about injustices done to his liberal figures by the Rockefellers like how Marilyn Monroe may have been murdered by the CIA or FBI because she was at least RFK's lover (if not POTUS JFK's, too). The co-option of left vs. right outrages is further proof that the Illuminati really are divided, as a read of Barb Olson's books directed at her personal rival, Hillary Clinton reveal. It'd be interesting to see if Mailer was let in on the secret club or not. My guess is that he was and he knew all about the secret elites – but only talked about things from the nation-state level on down. In return, he was able to write about anything he wanted with all his expenses paid – a free hand like Kurbrick was given.
Daily Bell: Are most major novelists and movie directors in a sense employed by elites?
Mike Sparks: Steven Spielberg is a major disappointment. He must be under Illuminati control. His "Indiana Jones" character is positioned perfectly from the movie series fighting the Nazis before WW2 to in 1957 to be able to go to Antarctica with the extremely weird but actual event – International Geophysical Year Expedition with Soviet Russia participating – to explode nuclear bombs over the secret Nazi base there.
Instead, Spielberg sends him to Nevada and Area 51 to whine about his beloved extraterrestrial (ET) aliens while fighting Soviet communists. Most of the UFOs seen from 1945 to when we began flying our own flying saucers around 1962 were crude, human, Nazi AGC. In the next book, I describe these taboo subjects as "Taboo Stealth Indicators" (TSIs). That is, the very fact that Hollywood will not tackle Nazi flying saucers or that non-human UFOs are really demonic beings invited by humans dabbling with seances and occult religions is proof in the negative that they are indeed true and too hot to handle. That a "Supernatural Counter-Intelligence Officer" aka a Bible-believing Christian with a King James Bible in his hand could confront an alleged "ET" with some key verses like "every knee shall bow and tongue shall confess Jesus Christ is Lord" and cause "it" to react violently and give his identity away – would never be depicted in a major Hollywood film – should come as no surprise. All other alleged "aliens" should get a burst of 5.56mm.
Daily Bell: What about Stanley Kubrick?
Mike Sparks: The Rothschild Illuminati murdered Kubrick for what he revealed in "Eyes Wide Shut" (EWS). What we see in that movie is not even a fraction of what he meant to show. Speculation is that scenes of disgusting child pedophilia were cut out. Kubrick appears to have had a blanket deal to get any movie he wanted made in payment for faking the Apollo moon landings for the Rockefeller Illuminati. He began to drop hints that the action-reaction rocket American space program was a fraud in films like "The Shining" but went too far in EWS since there's no subtlety when watching rich, high society people in masks have a ritualistic orgy in a British mansion. The question is how much would his wife be willing to reveal – if asked the right questions – instead of the softball stuff thrown her way in the DVD's special features?
Daily Bell: What is ultimately the conclusion from all this? Is Ian Fleming a cautionary tale?
Mike Sparks: Ian Fleming was a great human being and a hero for mankind. The main Ian Fleming caution is to not adopt a lifestyle of excessive drinking/smoking such that if the elites want to kill you they can more easily pin it on a "heart attack." Perhaps health nuts like Jim Fixx, the famous running author, were taken out to expand the public's expectation that "anyone can have a heart attack" – even if they are "health nuts" – so the Illuminati can bump off anyone they dislike? I wouldn't put it past them. The Illuminati are very conscious of popular moods, trends and famous people. Look at Britney Spears' mind control meltdown during a TV interview.
James Bond has become a threat to their rule so they have tried to tame him by attacking Fleming's character and even block movie production. Follow the money trail. The real point is that anyone who dies who has taken a courageous stand against evil should be seen first as a possible victim of foul play unless other real evidence is found. Everyone should be their own James Bond Citizen, their own intelligence officer, and take all precautions possible to protect themselves as they take offensive actions against the Illuminati. Don't have Illuminati symbology in your home would be a good start… take a look at Michael Tsarion's presentations on brands and labels with occult symbology on them. Rip them off!
Daily Bell: Any other books or writings you want to refer to?
Mike Sparks: Everyone should read Brown's Bodyguard of Lies from cover-to-cover to understand how the deception game is really played. You can even read it online for free (hard on your eyes, but doable). Next, Nazi Hydra in America, Conant's The Irregulars, Cook's Hunt for Zero Point and Joseph Farrell's Reich of the Black Sun. Then read Fleming's Moonraker. It will open your eyes.
Daily Bell: Any other points you want to make?
Mike Sparks: I'm not trying to make a fortune off a paper book; however, a paper book allows you to read, think about and make notes-to-self in its margins. The Illuminati are probably behind the e-book craze as it weakens the understanding of people if you cannot easily interact with your book as you read it. I'd like every James Bond Citizen out there to get a paper copy of James Bond is Real after scrutinizing our web pages and videos on jamesbondisforreal.com and reboot Ian Fleming in their mind's eye.
I have also web page posted some 007 spy fan fiction (that cannot be sold) to help bring to life real-life threats in exciting adventures as well as continuation web pages whose links are on the end of each chapter to further the attack:
"The Point of Gravity"
"Masquerade: Everything is Not What it Appears"
Thanks for having me on board for this interview!
James Bond is RealSPRINGFIELD - Police are investigating a break-in to an Armory Street restaurant in which two suspects broke into an Armory Street restaurant in the middle of the night and stole the safe from under the counter, police said.
The robbery occurred early Wednesday morning at the Subway, 495 Armory St. The time stamp on the surveillance footage reads 12:29 a.m.
Police are seeking the public's help in identifying the two suspects.
Sgt. John Delaney, police spokesman said that for their labor, the two suspects did not see that big of a payoff in the end.
"There was a small amount of money in the safe," he said.
He did not elaborate on the amount of cash taken.
The two men, both of whom appear to have their faces partially concealed, are seen entering the empty restaurant and vaulting over the counter.
They go right to the safe and can be seen dragging it out from under the counter. They struggle to lift it up to the counter, push it over onto the other side, and then struggle again as they carry it out the door.
Delaney said it is not clear how the two suspects gained entry into the business.
Police released the video on Monday in the hope that someone will recognize either one of the suspects and then notify police, Delaney said.
If anyone has any information is asked to call Detective Gifford Jenkins at (413) -787-6355.
Those who wish to remain anonymous may text a tip via a cell phone by addressing a text message to "CRIMES," or "274637," and then beginning the body of the message with the word "SOLVE."There are conflicting versions from the U.S. and South Korea about a call between the two countries' leaders and whether they agreed on beginning to talk with North Korea, given its series of provocations over the past few months.
South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing the country's presidential office, reported that President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had spoken by phone Friday and "reaffirmed the need to bring the communist state back to the dialogue table."
But a National Security Council official disagreed with this characterization of the call, CBS News' Katiana Krawchenko reports.
According to the official, President Trump stressed to Moon that now is not the time to talk to the North, and all countries must remain firm in opposing North Korean provocations.
A White House readout of the call, released later on Friday evening, did not specify whether the two reaffirmed a need to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table. The readouts said the president and Moon, "pledged to continue to apply strong diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea and to make all necessary preparations to deter and defend against the growing threat posted by North Korea."
"The two leaders agreed to strengthen our alliance through defense cooperation and to strengthen South Korea's defense capabilities," the White House readout continues.
The U.S. maintains talks at some future point might be possible, but only if North Korean behavior substantially improves.
Yonhap also reported that the two countries agreed to expand South Korea's missile capabilities to help deter the North's increased aggression. Currently, South Korea is allowed to have missiles with a range of 800 kilometers, or around 500 miles. It would like to extend that range to 1,000 kilometers, or a little over 600 miles.
Mr. Trump and Moon spoke three days after Pyongyang fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan.
The U.S. and South Korea are also wrapping up their annual joint exercises, which North Korea views as a threat.
CBS News' Katiana Krawchenko contributed to this report.On Friday, a Baltimore Circuit Court judge granted a request to reopen the case of Adnan Syed, whose 2000 conviction for murdering his girlfriend was at the center of last year’s hit podcast Serial. It was the latest in a series of developments that came after Sarah Koenig’s exploration of the death of Hae Min Lee. It’s also a particularly potent example of how true-crime storytelling in the 21st century can lead to reversed fortunes, especially if they capture the public imagination.
Netflix appears to be the latest player to see the genre’s value: It announced Monday that it will be releasing a documentary series called Making a Murderer in December. The 10 episodes will follow the story of Steven Avery, a man who was convicted of rape and later exonerated by DNA evidence after serving 18 years in prison. The kicker: After his release, he was sentenced to life for murdering another woman in 2005.
Making a Murderer appears to be Netflix’s first foray into true crime (its only other documentary series is the decidedly cheerier Chef’s Table.) In June, I looked at how the genre has changed since its earliest beginnings in the 19th century:
New forces—improved technology, new media, and less trust in institutions—have helped shape true crime into a truly modern form... The result is a genre that’s still indebted to decades-old conventions, but also one that has found renewed relevance and won a new generation of fans by going beyond the usual grisly sensationalism.
And indeed the series looks like it’ll hew to the typical storytelling demands of true crime, which shoots for the most outrageous characters and incredible reveals. “There are an unbelievable number of twists and turns in the story arc of Making a Murderer,” Netflix said in a statement. But at the same time the series looks like it’ll take a longer view of history—using Avery’s story to see what has and hasn’t changed in the justice system over the last 30 years. The series will also explicitly look at “allegations of police and prosecutorial misconduct, evidence tampering and witness coercion.”Here’s something you don’t see everyday. The New York Times had to issue a correction to a correction to to one of its pieces Thursday.
As Mediaite reported earlier, The New York Times reported about how Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson embarrassingly admitted to not knowing what the wartorn Syrian city of Aleppo is. Ironically, the Times seemed equally confused about the issue, as the piece contained a series of errors and misidentified Aleppo as the capital of the Islamic State.
“Correction: September 8, 2016: An earlier version of this article misidentified the de facto capital of the Islamic State,” the initial Times correction read. “It is Raqqa, in northern Syria, not Aleppo, the Syrian capital.”
…except the capital of Syria is actually Damascus. So yes, the Times had to correct their correction:
Correction: September 8, 2016 An earlier version of this article misidentified the de facto capital of the Islamic State. It is Raqqa, in northern Syria, not Aleppo. Correction: September 8, 2016
An earlier version of the above correction misidentified the Syrian capital as Aleppo. It is Damascus.
[Image via screengrab]
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Have a tip we should know? [email protected] package was in the mail without any tracking number and apparently from the United States, as such I was mightily surprised that it arrived within less than a month (admittedly, I was a bit wary when I saw that my santa shipped with USPS because they had lost one package for an exchange already). I was lucky for having been stuck at home with a broken key (the issue has resolved itself by now, so yay) as I could receive it immediately without taking about an hour to walk to the post office. Or spending 11 EUR for a cab ride there (yay, silver linings ;) ).
I think I have to explain to my neighbors now why I squee-ed for joy. I have written that my favorite character is Lakitu and the first thing in the package was a plush Lakitu. A really cute one with a Spiny to throw. I was also sent a book, of which I have heard good things, but which I so far have not been able to read: "The structure of scientific revolutions"! That is iirc the book where the term paradigm shift originated.
Last but not least, there was a card with a socially awkward Santaguin. My SS should not have worried about me having things already, while I do have a Lakitu, they have gotten along well with each other. And one of them will become my mascot at work. You can never have too many Lakitu :)Editor's note: Steven Levy is the author of "In the Plex," a new book about Google's history.
(WIRED) -- So Microsoft is buying Skype for $8.5 billion, its biggest deal ever. It's too soon to make a pronouncement on whether the purchase is an idiot move, a brilliant one or just something in between. All the geniuses who ripped the investors who bought Skype from eBay in 2009 don't look so smart now.
But I will recount a bit of history that readers of "In the Plex" already know: It was almost Google who owned Skype.
Here's more detail on the story:
In 2009 a brilliant product manager named Wesley Chan was in charge of Google Voice, which was still in development. It was Google's revamp of Grand Central, which Chan had snared in an acquisition the year before.
When some Google executives heard that eBay was selling Skype, they jumped on the opportunity and began negotiating.
As Chan helped with due diligence, even going to Europe to see Skype firsthand, he became convinced that the purchase was a bad idea for Google. He concluded that one of Skype's key assets -- its peer-to-peer technology -- was a mismatch for Google, which worked on the newer paradigm of cloud computing.
"The worst thing about peer-to-peer is that it doesn't work well with Google," Chan told me during an amazing interview for "In the Plex" in February 2010. "Peer-to-peer just eats up your bandwidth, right, it's like the old technology."
So if Google bought Skype, Chan concluded, it would have to rewrite the entire Skype platform. Worse, buying Skype would have involved an extensive review process by the government, involving the Department of Justice or the FCC or both.
Chan figured that it would take 18 to 24 months to get through that process, during which Google would be at a standstill in the |
ake, "but he got a sense and certainly there were people saying that when he made his first trip to the US in April 2008 for IMF and World Bank meetings, where he took soundings and came back with a sense that all was not right.
"He didn’t see the financial crisis coming but he made a judgment not to go ahead with cuts in government spending that had been planned for their first budget, for which he was criticised. That decision looks good in hindsight, after the crisis.
"And then, when the world started to go pear-shaped, the advice from (then secretary of the Department of Treasury) Ken Henry was ‘don’t do what we did last time, but learn from the mistakes of the 1991 recession’ – and he did.
"His go-early, go-hard, go-household strategy worked in the broad, notwithstanding that some individual programmes within the stimulus package were very poorly conceived and executed."
Paul Keating, the Labor prime minister from 1991 to 1996, agrees. The measure of any finance minister, he says, "is whether they are capable of divining either a new order for their economy or a decided step change in the functioning of the current one". Swan’s measure, he says, was "his ability to comprehend danger and act decisively to minimise it."
Keating says Swan did two important things after the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008: "First, he underpinned the Australian banking system by guaranteeing all deposits, while providing the guarantee of the Commonwealth of Australia to the country’s major banks to facilitate the rolling of their international term funding. This obviated the need for massive asset disposals.
"Second, he moved fiscal policy rapidly into a high gear, to provide a stimulus by way of government demand in the face of a marked contraction in private spending. The scale, speed and modality of that stimulus made all the difference to activity within the Australian economy, whereas in other economies, finance ministers were either too slow to act or, when they did, acted by half measure. If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Wayne Swan’s treasurership brought Australia through this profound crisis."
Eslake says: "Also in Swan’s favour... he hasn’t done the sort of stuff Costello did, interfering with banks’ pricing of interest rates. And he’s supported the Reserve Bank’s independence – it wouldn’t have been popular for a politician to be supporting the central bank raising rates as quickly as it has done. Whilst Swan didn’t go out and celebrate, nor did he interfere. And he provided political backing for the Reserve Bank.
"He’s become almost anal in his insistence that the budget be in surplus by 2012-13," says Eslake. "I think he’s overdone it but at least he’s imposed discipline, to make sure they’re heading in the right direction."
"You can’t be Keynesian on the way down and not be Keynesian on the way up. I’m insistent on that"
(Swan bristles at this criticism, arguing that "you can’t be Keynesian on the way down and not be Keynesian on the way up. I’m insistent on that.")
Eslake says: "We forget now, but the [$42 billion] stimulus package was crafted to be temporary. There were no permanent tax cuts or permanent spending increases in it. It was well designed from a macro point of view.
"Some of the other decisions that were taken at the time, such as guaranteeing the overseas wholesale borrowings of the banks, were absolutely critical, absolutely the right ones but it wasn’t necessarily obvious at the time. The decision to guarantee domestic deposits was silly but it didn’t do any harm.
"The scheme under which the government propped up finance from major banks to motor vehicle wholesalers [known to Australians as Utegate, a political disaster that sank Malcolm Turnbull as opposition leader when he aired bogus emails implying corruption in government ranks] was broadly right.
"Some of Swan’s schemes were poorly implemented, and the Murdoch press has won the battle of public impressions in portraying them as a colossal waste but the truth is that maybe 2% of them were wasted.
"But in terms of getting money out across the whole country quickly, they worked. Again, you can say with the benefit of hindsight that the government did too much. But at the time you could’ve done too little too late and scramble to catch up, or you could do too much. And the right mistake to make was to do too much too soon."
His finest hour?
So does Wayne Swan see the crisis as his finest hour as treasurer?
"It was a really important moment for the country," he says. "The country rallied behind it, Australians worked together through that period and the results are all there, as far as I’m concerned. It reflected well on the government and really well on the people.
"My belief is that we wouldn’t be in government now if it wasn’t for what we did to respond to the global financial crisis and the global recession."
He says "our record in dealing with the crisis" is what put Labor back in office after last year’s hung election.
"We had a hard campaign where everything that could go wrong did go wrong but the thing that went for us was that we dealt effectively with the crises."
Back in government, Swan says he’s "determined not to shirk the really important decisions that are required" to maximize the opportunities in neighbouring Asia. Such as a scheme to tax carbon emissions, the divisive battleground that could decide the next election and "just a very tough debate," as Swan describes it. Labor adopts the action-now, true-believer position on climate change whereas Tony Abbott’s opposition Liberal Party successfully plays the no-more-taxes, climate-change-sceptic card.
"How can we sit here in Australia," Swan argues, "with the highest emissions per capita in the developed world, and yet stand internationally and lecture China that they’re not doing enough if we are not doing enough ourselves?"
With Australia a big exporter of fossil fuels such as coal, Swan says making the country more carbon-efficient "is the only way we can set the economy up for the 21st century. We don’t think you can be a first-rate economy unless you’ve got a substantial amount of your energy coming from cleaner energy sources so we’ve got to achieve that transition. If we are not seen to be doing the right thing, we’ll quickly face trade barriers internationally for products that are still required to be used. You can’t get a bigger structural reform than carbon."
What keeps Wayne Swan up at night?
"I’m pretty concerned about what’s going on in Europe and the US," he says – he observes this through his iPad. "It’s a situation where political gridlock has led to policy gridlock. We need credible fiscal plans to deal with their deficits and their debt, credible to markets and a clear way forward. The Europeans and Americans need to set a very clear and firm course.
"Look, 2011 isn’t 2008. It’s a mistake to see everything through the prism of what occurred last time. I don’t believe events are yet at the stage of 2008. But if policymakers don’t get ahead of the game, you can see us sleepwalking into something inherently dangerous."
"We didn’t go into recession and we didn’t suffer the capital destruction and the skill destruction that we saw in many other countries, and it’s given us a really great foundation to approach the Asian century"
Ahead of this month’s World Bank and IMF meetings, Swan recently joined the finance ministers of Canada, Singapore, South Africa and the UK on the Financial Times op-ed pages in addressing the world’s "crisis of confidence" where "the biggest barriers are political not economic, so what is needed is political leadership and courage. More short-term fixes without serious medium-term commitments will only weaken confidence further.
"If they’ve got a plan, and they’ve got faith in it, then they’ve got to get out and back it and clearly communicate it, ahead of the game, not behind it. The most important thing is for the leaders in Europe to actually demonstrate they are serious about their plans and get on with implementing them, and that means giving markets some faith that these plans can and will be delivered."
These are fighting words internationally, but also ones that betray what Eslake regards as one of the domestic failures of Swan’s treasurership.
"He’s not been able to make any political capital out of what I regard as a good economic performance," says Eslake. "He’s not been able to make a political virtue out of this whereas Keating and Costello would have, and did.
"Part of the treasurer’s job is to do good economic policy but an equally important part of the job is to sell it. The public doesn’t buy that good economic policy is good politics.
"Swan hasn’t been a spear-carrier for reform, whereas Keating and Costello, and Keating more so, would argue in Cabinet and outside to the public for good economic policy even if it wasn’t popular."
Eslake says Swan played a deft hand during the party coup on fellow Queenslander and prime minister Kevin Rudd last year. The Rudd assassination, as it’s known in Australia, was engineered by backroom apparatchiks of the powerful Australian Workers Union, the country’s biggest trade union, furious that Rudd’s floundering campaign to secure a controversial new tax on Australian miners made him unelectable.
For his part, Swan describes the bitter resources tax debate, pitting the government against the might of huge billionaire-led mining houses, "as bloodier a political battle than any that’s been seen in this country for a long, long, long time." It cost Rudd his prime ministership and yet, notes Eslake, "Swan was the political architect of the tax and he came out of it as deputy prime minister." It doubtless helped that Swan is a former AWU member, and a factional heavy in an AWU-dominated Queensland Labor Party, where Swan cut his political teeth in Brisbane through the 1970-80s.
"Yes, I did survive it," says Swan, "but I reject emphatically the notion I haven’t been a spear-carrier for reform." He says people like to view reform in a 1980s-90s’ context in Australia, when there were big and obvious economic monoliths to break down.
"Well, you can only deregulate the dollar once, you can only bring down the tariff wall once, you can only do enterprise bargaining once... you know it’s a funny thing in politics, but long-term reforms sometimes take a while. In our modern political cycle, everyone judges everything on a 24-hour or six- or 12-monthly timeframe.
"It’s about getting the settings right to maximize the fantastic opportunities that are coming out of Asia, not just in resources but also in demand for all of those growing middle classes right across the region. That’s why we got stuck into the resources tax in the first place, to get some revenue which would help us meet the structural adjustment needs of the rest of the economy that’s not in the fast lane of the mining boom, and give more Australians a stake in that boom."
Swan, says Eslake, has too much of a background as a Labor apparatchik to be seen as a reformer. "Good treasurers argue for what’s right and are hauled back by their prime ministers on the grounds of what’s politically possible or feasible," he says. "Swan puts more emphasis on the latter than the former. Because of his background as a political numbers man, he is far more conscious of the political do’s and don’ts and I think that holds him back from being this spear-carrier for reform."
Eslake cites the upcoming October tax reform summit as an example of his self-checking political limits. "He probably doesn’t want it but it was part of the power deal with the independents so he has no choice. There’s more attention as to what’s off the agenda than on it – you’re not allowed to talk about the GST, you’re not allowed to talk about negative gearing, or the taxing of the over-60s... big things. It’s sort of like don’t talk about the war."
As for the [current] Take Two of the global financial crisis, Eslake says: "Australia is in a good position to weather it for the same reasons it was in a good position to weather the last one.
"It’s not entirely Swan’s doing but we’re still in a good fiscal position, not quite as good as before but still better than any other developed economy. We’re in a position to cut rates, which is the Reserve Bank’s concern but Swan hasn’t argued against it and we still continue to benefit from China. Again, that’s not his doing but he hasn’t done anything to complicate the relationship."
Although Swan is deputy prime minister and is a party faction leader in a key state, he is not nakedly ambitious for Gillard’s job as Keating and Costello were for Hawke’s and Howard’s. Indeed Swan says he has no interest at all in being prime minister. He simply likes being treasurer.
"It’s not often in life you get a chance to make a difference, and to get a job like this so you’ve got to make the absolute most of it," he says. "The thing that I enjoy most is when I’m wandering around the place and people come to me and say ‘well if it wasn’t for what you guys did with the stimulus, my business would’ve hit the fence’.
"One of the challenges in life is to explain to people that something could’ve happened to them but didn’t. It is a lot harder to explain, but we know we made a difference, and that’s the main thing, making a difference."In a career of almost unparalleled versatility, Sam Neill’s latest role in Hunt for the Wilderpeople finds him returning to his roots. No, they’re not in Australia
Sam Neill: New Zealand cinema is 'like nothing else on the planet'
Sam Neill: New Zealand cinema is 'like nothing else on the planet'
Sam Neill remembers the first time he saw his name on screen. It was for a 10-minute short, a little drama he’d cut, which played before a feature at the 1974 New Zealand film festival – its first and last screening.
In the audience were his drinking buddies from The Duke of Edinburgh hotel, a “dubious dive” in Wellington he used to frequent on Friday nights. “It’s not there any more, they demolished it,” he says, then pauses. “Just as well.
“I was keeping a low profile, anyway. The credits came up with our names, then one of them yelled out, ‘For fuck’s sake. It’s a New Zealand movie!’”
Forty-two years later, and Neill’s had a career of almost unparalleled versatility, taking in drama (Dead Calm, 1989), cult classics (Event Horizon, 1997), blockbusters (Jurassic Park, 1993), and television (last year’s BBC miniseries And Then There Were None).
Hunt for the Wilderpeople review: Sam Neill + misfit kid = Kiwi hit Read more
With it has come the kind of international profile that in New Zealand means you’ve made it: the rest of the world thinks you’re Australian.
That may be about to change. Hunt for the Wilderpeople – Neill’s new film, which premiered in competition at this year’s Sundance film festival – couldn’t have come from anywhere else. With its “egg” sledge and “skux” honour, it’s so quintessentially Kiwi as to defy explanation. A comment on a Guardian review of the film asked if it was going to be subtitled.
“We had no idea what was going to happen at Sundance – it was heart-in-throat stuff,” says Neill, nursing a milky coffee at a plush Sydney hotel (the waiter had assumed it was for me: Neill’s got the facial hair for a long black). “To our surprise and delight, people were laughing from the moment it started.”
In 1974, New Zealand film was “the funniest idea”, remembers Neill – “the stupidest, most ridiculous thing you could possibly consider”.
These days, it has a reputation for well-received, weird comedy, thanks to Brett McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of The Flight of the Conchords, the comedian Rhys Darby, and the filmmaker Taika Waititi, with whom Clement and Darby collaborated on the vampire-mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows.
Neill calls them “the school of cool”. And at 68, he wanted in.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is Waititi’s fourth feature film, based on the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump, a New Zealand author of comic novels about his experiences as a “bushman”.
“I grew up with his books – we all did,” says Neill. (The national encyclopaedia says Crump’s novels have sold more than a million copies domestically. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but there are only 4.5 million New Zealanders.)
“So the idea of that kind of blend of cool, strange New Zealand comedy, which is like nothing else on the planet, with the old-school, rough-and-ready stuff that Barry Crump represents – that was fairly irresistible.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sam Neill as Hec in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Photograph: Madman Entertainment
Neill plays Uncle Hec, a bushman of few words whose world is split open by the arrival of Ricky, a street-smart foster child played by Julian Dennison.
The gruff father-figure, who has his edges smoothed against his will by chipper children, is reminiscent of his character in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Jurassic Park – easily Neill’s highest-profile role with the millennial generation, as was clear from the affectionate nods to it in last year’s blockbuster reboot, Jurassic World.
“Well, there were certainly a lot of the same gags [in Jurassic World],” he says without missing a beat. “Like, get a couple of kids in a pod or a car or something, then beat the shit out of them with the worst dinosaurs you can possibly imagine.”
The untimely, brutal end of Bryce Dallas Howard’s character’s assistant – “the poor girl with the mobile phone” – unsettled him. “Poor thing. I had nothing against her at all... She was stuck with these kids – who wants to be stuck with kids that have nothing to do with you? It’s one of the themes of the Wilderpeople. It’s reasonable.
“Other people’s kids! Jesus! Give us a break!”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘We both finds farts funny’: Sam Neill as Hec and Julian Dennison as Ricky, in a promo shot for Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Photograph: Madmen entertainment
Off-screen, Neill says, his relationship with the child actor Dennison was more “a meeting of 12-year-old minds”.
“We’re both pretty juvenile. We both finds farts funny. He knows the words to different songs than I do, it has to be said.”
He recounts, with increasing disbelief, Dennison telling an interviewer that his favourite group was Coldplay. “Coldplay! I mean, what the fuck? He’s full of surprises.” (One of which was Dennison’s disapproval of swearing: “I had to watch myself. I swear all the time.”)
The film follows Hec and Ricky’s madcap adventures on the run (through stunning scenery – aerial shots of glassy lakes and snow-covered mountains must be a condition of government funding for all New Zealand films), with their sometimes fractious bromance at its heart.
“There’s something about this film that really touches people,” says Neill. “I’m not entirely sure what it is, but we can all identify people that are on the periphery. They’re all outsiders, these people – they’re damaged, they’re sidelined.”
That makes the film sound more edgy than it is. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is essentially a buddy comedy that bridges generations, so eminently family-friendly (it’s set in the capital-G great out-of-doors, for goodness’ sake) so as to almost seem quaint.
But that’s part of its otherworldly, anachronistic charm – it’s hard to know whether it’s set in the present day and just dated (the way so many rural New Zealand homes are), or actually of the past.
“Things date and suddenly you can no longer see the performance because you’re just riveted by the shoulder pads,” says Neill. “‘Oh Christ, look at their hair!’”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘There’s something about this film that really touches people’: Julian Dennison and Sam Neill in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Photograph: Madman Entertainment
In contrast to the heckles that met his short in 1974, New Zealand has thrown its weight behind Hunt for the Wilderpeople in unprecedented fashion. After the biggest opening weekend ever for a local film, it has made more at the NZ box office than Fast & Furious 7, The Avengers or any Harry Potter or Hunger Games movie. The publicist tells me that about one in nine New Zealanders have seen it.
Neill has been relishing the positive response on Twitter, where he regularly tweets – with more enthusiasm than attention to punctuation – to 87,500 followers (“140 characters is about as long as I can make a sentence, or even a cogent thought”).
Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) My drawer full of desperately lonely, solitary socks. The tragedy is - THEY USED TO BE TWINS. Identical twins.
In late April, he shared a link to an opinion piece published in Fairfax New Zealand by Russell Harding, who praised the film’s “nostalgic but authentic” depiction of the country – one he recognised from a time before it became obsessed with house prices and its people turned “soft on the outside, and cold and hard in the middle”.
Harding concluded: “Kiwis aren’t clapping at the end of the movie for no reason.”
Neill had already heard about the spontaneous applause, and marvelled at it: “That never happens.”
Just as rare is an unsettling experience he had en route to Australia. “People were smiling at me at the airport. Well, that never happens. They were smiling! At me!”
Aren’t you a national hero?
“No. I think they think, ‘Oh my god, it’s that prick. Move on quickly’.”
It seems there’s something about Hunt for the Wilderpeople that prompts the patriotism, whether the New Zealand it depicts ever existed – or never went away. After its smash-hit success at home, and its warm reception at Sundance, the question will be how well it is received further afield; it has yet to be tested in Australia, the US and the UK.
Ten months, 10,000 designs, no new flag for New Zealand. What was that about? Read more
But the world loves to see New Zealand as a wonderland of warm-hearted weirdness, as was evident from international media coverage of its government-mandated flag debate, which cost millions of dollars, took more than a year – and, inexplicably to outsiders, resulted in the same flag.
Neill voted for retention. The proposed alternative design, he says, was “just cheap and nasty and embarrassing... it looks like a logo for swim shorts or something. It’s just all wrong.
“If we’re going to change the flag, let’s do so when we become a republic.”
That seems inevitable both sides of the Tasman, he says. He remembers being asked what flag to put on the arm of his character’s overalls for the 1997 science fiction horror Event Horizon, in which he played an Australian astronaut.
“I took the Union Jack off it and put the Aboriginal flag in its place. That stays contemporary, that little touch... I said, ‘The Australian flag will not look like that anymore’.”"Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written in mid-1991, and was performed live between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's earlier tours, eventually appearing as the opening track on the band's second studio album Live Through This (1994). The song was released as the group's seventh single and the third from that album in January 1995 after Kristen Pfaff's death in June 1994.
Courtney Love has stated several times that the song was written about her relationship with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan in 1990,[2] and the lyrics speak from the point of view of an angry narrator who has abandoned a romance. The song also explores themes of sexual exploitation and self-abasement.[3]
"Violet" peaked at number 29 on the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks after the album's release in 1994, and is considered one of Hole's most well-known and critically recognized songs.[4] It charted at number 116 on The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born list by Blender magazine in 2005.[5] The cover artwork for the single features a Victorian mourning portrait of a deceased young girl which was taken from the historical archives of Stanley B. Burns.
Background and recording [ edit ]
Love wrote "Violet" in the fall of 1991, during the band's Pretty on the Inside tour. Love stated that she finished the song in the band's tour van at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit, Michigan during the band's sound check. As Love recalled, "[It was] on Halloween... we were opening for the Laughing Hyenas, and there were 40 people there. [I had heard] five songs from Nevermind, and I was so jealous of those songs that I had to try to top them. I could not believe that somebody I knew, somebody from our underground, had written a batch of songs so fiercely great."[7]
The band played the song live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 1, 1991[8] during the band's tour to promote their first album, Pretty on the Inside. Early versions of the song were played several times between 1991 and 1992 at other live performances.
The first known studio version of "Violet" was recorded on November 19, 1991 at Maida Vale Studios as part of Hole's first radio session with BBC DJ John Peel.[9] In October 1993, the band recorded the album version of the song as part of the Live Through This sessions at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. The recording from the 1991 Peel session was included on the band's 1995 EP Ask For It, along with "Doll Parts", which was recorded during the same studio visit.
On both Live Through This and the individual single, the songwriting is credited collectively to Hole, however according to BMI's website, "Violet" was written only by Eric Erlandson and Courtney Love.[10]
Composition [ edit ]
The song is composed of a series of 3-note power chords. The verses of the song feature a singular chord progression composed of the power chords (E5-C5-G5). The choruses of the song feature a three-chord progression (E5-F5-G5), as well as a chord progression similar to that of the chorus (E5-C5-D5-A5). There are two guitars featured in the song, with Love playing clean rhythm guitar and Erlandson playing lead guitar with heavy distortion.
"Violet" was reputedly written about The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, with whom Love had had a relationship with prior to her relationship with Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. On May 5, 1995, Love introduced the song on Later... with Jools Holland as "a song about a jerk, I hexed him and now he's losing his hair",[2] which is seen as a reference to Corgan's hair loss.[11] As a result of the reports that the song was written about Corgan, it was featured at No. 9 on The Daily Beast's "14 Fiercest Breakup Songs" list in 2010.[11]
Variations of lyrics that would end up in the song, most distinctly lines like: "The sky turned violet / I want it again / And violent more violent", are featured in a poem titled "Above The Boy" that Love had written earlier in 1991.
Reception [ edit ]
"Violet" was the band's third most popular single from Live Through This, behind "Doll Parts" and "Miss World", charting at number 29 in the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks in April 1995,[13] and went on to become one of the band's signature songs.
The song was well-reviewed by critics. "Live Through This is barely seconds old before Courtney takes 'Violet' by the horns and bellows, 'Go, take everything! Take everything, I dare you to!' in a manner guaranteed to have anyone who has ever given her so much as a surly glance watching their backs," noted Clark Collis in Select.[14] Rolling Stone said of it: "With its daydream whispers and startling gunshot-guitar chorus, "Violet" shakes, rattles and roars like a godless marriage of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way.""[15] The song was placed in a 2010 NME article titled Hole's 10 Finest Moments, where it was referred to as "the quintessential Hole track" and a "titanic temper tantrum and exhilarating rush of inconsolable rage at full vent... "Go on, take everything, take everything I want you to", she bellows, turning powerlessness into power over riffs that swing from sweet and melancholy to boiling and volcanic on a dime."[4]
The song has been featured in several films, and in 2005 ranked at number 116 on The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born list by Blender magazine.[5]
Music video [ edit ]
[16] Still from the official music video. The video features Courtney Love among other women dancing in a 1920s-era strip club and is contrasted with Love dancing on a theatre stage with ballerinas
The promotional music video for "Violet" was filmed in late 1994 and was directed by Mark Seliger and Fred Woodward. The video is filmed largely in sepia tones and features a 1920s-era strip club with burlesque dancers, juxtaposed with footage of several young ballerinas and young girls dancing on a theatre stage. Courtney Love pole dances in the music video in the period fashion, and is also featured in a tutu on the ballet stage with the girls. These scenes are integrated with footage of the band performing the song. The juxtaposition of the young ballerinas onstage illustrates the dynamic between dancing as an art form and dancing for the sake of others' visual and sexual gratification.[3] The ballerinas featured in the video are also possibly referential to Love herself, who took ballet classes for a great portion of her childhood (she remarks she insisted on it), and later ended up working as a stripper in her teenage and early adult years.[a]
The video follows themes discussed in the song, particularly sexual exploitation of women. According to Love, the content of the video was inspired by "acid flashbacks" and "old film stock".[18] "I love old pornography," Love said, "But I wanted to at the same time, you know... all of the [music] videos for years that have put stripping or half-naked women on a pedestal, I wanted to sort of show the degrading experience that it is."[18]
Many of the scenes in the video aesthetically mimic early-20th century silent films and talkies, with faux-aged cinematography and lapses in audio and visual synchronization. A child seen in the video is also an analogy to the single's cover artwork which features an anonymous memorial photograph, most likely either a daguerreotype, or a tintype post-mortem photograph of a deceased girl in a coffin with her doll.
The music video was the first video to feature newly recruited bassist Melissa Auf der Maur after the death of Kristen Pfaff in June 1994. In a 1995 interview during the KROQ Weenie Roast, Auf der Maur commented on the music video's themes, citing "pornography versus ballet, strippers, and beautiful out-of-synch artwork".[3] According to drummer Patty Schemel, the dancers featured in the music video were actual strippers handpicked by Courtney Love from Jumbo's Clown Room, a Los Angeles dance bar where Love had worked in the 1980s.[3]
Appearances in popular media [ edit ]
This song is used as background music in the part of Mark Appleyard's film in the skateboarding video Really Sorry produced by Flip Skateboards. The song can be heard multiple times throughout 1995 Canadian film Little Criminals. It was also used for the Tank Girl movie trailer and is featured in the end credits of the 2009 horror-comedy film Jennifer's Body, an eponym of another Hole song. Most recently, the song was featured on the soundtrack for the film Bridesmaids (2011) and Detention (2011). The song is also referenced in poet Tanya Grae's "Hole Reunion Sonnet" featured in the Spring 2016 The Los Angeles Review: "Because / we heard "Violet" & our girl parts rumored with rage, / rant. Because we were not holes. Who is whole? / Our violence was inside. Because we played pretty, / played parts." The poem acknowledges the band and Love's third-wave feminist impact on a generation.[19]
Formats and track listings [ edit ]
All songs written by Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson, unless where noted.
US 7" single[20]
German 12" and UK CD single – b-sides [20] No. Title Writer(s) Length 2. "Old Age" Love
Cobain 4:23 3. "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss) [b]" King
Goffin 3:48 4. "Whose Porn You Burn (Black)" (live) Love
Erlandson 3:44
Australian CD single – b-sides [20] No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. Untitled 3:25 2. "Credit in the Straight World" (live) Stuart Moxham 2:32
Credits and personnel [ edit ]
Hole
Production
Charts [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
^ In 1994, Mark Seliger, who directed the video for "Violet", also had a photoshoot of Love dancing in ballerina attire and doing en pointe dancing, displaying her ballet skill. ^ MTV Unplugged in New York on February 14, 1995, Tempodrom in Berlin on April 22, 1995 and "He Hit Me", "Whose Porno You Burn" and "Credit in the Straight World" were recorded live atin New York on February 14, 1995, Tempodrom in Berlin on April 22, 1995 and Hollywood Palladium on November 9, 1994, respectively.
References [ edit ]
Works cited [ edit ]A Romanian hacker's claim that he broke into Hillary Clinton's private email server in 2013 was a lie, according to the FBI.
Marcel Lehel Lazar, also known as Guccifer, has boasted about the breach to various media outlets, saying in May that it had been "easy."
But on Thursday, FBI director James Comey said that Lazar, who is now in U.S. custody, has admitted the claim was false.
"He admitted that was a lie," Comey said during a congressional hearing on Clinton's use of her own private email server.
Lazar, originally from Romania, was extradited to the U.S. and is awaiting sentencing for breaking into the email and social media accounts of various U.S. officials as well as a member of the Bush family.
He has also claimed credit for hacking an email account belonging to an advisor of Clinton named Sidney Blumenthal. Emails from that account were leaked in 2013, providing evidence that Clinton had been using a private email server during her time as U.S. secretary of state.
Only two years later did details of Clinton’s email server became front page news, leading to an FBI investigation.
Lazar was arrested in Romania in 2014 and claimed he had breached Clinton’s email server on two occasions. Clinton has always denied there was a breach.
Earlier this week, when the FBI wrapped up its investigation of Clinton's email use, Comey said her actions had been “extremely careless,” but that he had found no grounds to bring charges against her. Comey said it was impossible to rule out that the system might have been hacked, however.
There were "unsuccessful attempts" to hack Clinton's email server, he said Thursday, but he declined to elaborate, citing national security concerns.At a pretrial hearing Monday, Judge Steven O'Neill said he hopes to pick jurors in late May.
The judge in Bill Cosby's criminal case expects the trial to last about two weeks and hopes to have a jury in place before the proceeding opens June 5 in suburban Philadelphia.
At a pretrial hearing Monday, Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill said he hopes to pick jurors in late May. He insisted the jurors' names will not be made public.
The jurors will come from the Pittsburgh area and be sequestered throughout the trial nearly 300 miles away in Norristown.
Cosby, 79, is accused of drugging and molesting a Temple University employee at his home in 2004. He faces 10 years in prison if convicted on felony sex assault charges.
Later Monday, the judge was expected to weigh potentially crucial questions on whether jurors can hear Cosby's decade-old testimony about quaaludes, his sexual history and his payments to women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
The defense had hoped the Allegheny County jury pool would be prescreened through a written questionnaire on their background, media habits and feelings about Cosby, given widespread media reports.
"You cannot walk into a grocery store, a convenience store, a minimart, without seeing [tabloid reports]... calling him a rapist," defense lawyer Angela Agrusa argued Monday.
But O'Neill predicted that questionnaires mailed to peoples' homes would quickly end up on social media, and he expressed concern that family members or friends could influence the answers.
He said that instead of a prescreening, the standard 16-question state form would be mailed to potential jurors and followed up by individual questioning in court.
Cosby gave the deposition testimony during the course of the accuser's civil suit, which he later settled. He acknowledged in the deposition, made public in 2015, getting quaaludes in the 1970s to give women before sex.
Prosecutors say that testimony, along with comedic riffs about the supposed aphrodisiac Spanish fly, show that Cosby is familiar with date-rape drugs. They have also asked to introduce a boyhood story from Cosby's 1991 book Childhood about Spanish fly, and remarks he made the same |
.A 30.06 sign is a familiar greeting for people going through security at Austin City Hall.
But according to Senate Bill 273 -- signed into law and going into effect on the 1st of September, that sign can't be there.
"The property on which the license holder carries a handgun is owned or leased by a government entity. Therefore posting of 30.06 signs on this property is prohibited," said local CHL instructor Michael Cargill, reading a letter he wrote to Mayor Steve Adler.
Cargill had an idea the signs would still be there come Tuesday morning.
"I knew that the City of Austin, the mecca of liberal...you know, Texas, was not going to remove that 30.06 sign. So I wanted to inform them that their sign is illegally posted and that we, concealed handgun license holders in the State of Texas are fed up. And we want to be able to protect ourselves on property that we are paying taxes for," Cargill said.
Cargill mailed the letter and decided to hand deliver a copy to the mayor. He didn't find the mayor but Council Member Don Zimmerman found Cargill.
Cargill showed Zimmerman the sign. Zimmerman turned the sign around and said he would speak to the mayor about it.
A security guard soon turned the sign back around, saying they hadn't been told to remove it.
We chatted with Mayor Adler to get his take on the signage and Zimmerman's way of dealing with the problem.
"I know that if we don't have the right signage we need to change our signage and I know Council Member Zimmerman to be a very passionate person. But from my perspective if we don't have the right signs we just need to get the right signs," Adler said.
A policy adviser for Senator Donna Campbell's office, the author of the bill, tells Fox 7 "The bill does not change in any way where it is legal or illegal to carry a concealed handgun for self-protection under Chapter 46 of the penal code. It simply gives the CHL holder a means to petition the government for redress of grievances when his or her rights are violated by political subdivisions attempting to illegally disarm citizens by posting unlawful signs."
Cargill said he would give City Hall 3 days to remove the signs. Then he would take the matter to the Attorney General's office.
But as of Tuesday afternoon, the signs were gone for whatever reason. The city says an official statement about the signage is coming soon.OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday brushed off an attack by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada’s system of dairy protections, saying every nation defended its agricultural industries.
FILE PHOTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) is greeted by U.S. President Donald Trump prior to holdiing talks at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
Trudeau told Bloomberg Television that the United States in fact ran a dairy surplus with Canada. Trump took aim at Canada’s dairy industry this week and said on Thursday “what they’ve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace”.
Canada’s dairy sector is protected by high tariffs on imported products and controls on domestic production as a means of supporting prices that farmers receive.
Trudeau said the system “works very well” in Canada.
“Let’s not pretend we’re in a global free market when it comes to agriculture,” he said. “Every country protects, for good reason, its agricultural industries.”
Trump’s comments were the second time this week he has attacked Canada’s dairy industry and on Thursday he included the lumber, timber and energy sectors in a list of what he said were problematic areas of trade.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, asked for a reaction, rejected the suggestion of wrongdoing.
“Canada strongly believes in a rules-based system of trade, and therefore always abides by and upholds the rules that govern trade,” she said in an e-mailed statement.
Trump said the United States will report in the next two weeks what it intends to do with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he has promised to renegotiate.
The threat to get rid of or alter NAFTA is a potential problem for Canada, whose biggest trade partner is the United States.
Trudeau said he would not “overreact” and planned to move the trade conversation forward “in a way that both protects our consumers and our agricultural producers.” He also said he saw an opportunity to engage with the U.S. President.
“He has shown if he says one thing and actually hears good counter arguments or good reasons why he should shift his position, he will take a different position if it’s a better one, if the arguments win him over,” Trudeau said.
The two nations are embroiled in a long-standing dispute over exports of Canadian softwood lumber, which U.S. producers complain are unfairly subsidized.
“Our producers and workers have never been found in the wrong.. the United States needs Canadian lumber. A protracted dispute will only drive up the cost of wood and homes for U.S. consumers,” Freeland said.Late in December, just before the nominations ended for local body elections, Rajasthan government issued an Ordinance, The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2014. It lays down educational qualifications for contestants. Matriculation is now essential for standing in zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections. One has to have passed class eight to stand as a sarpanch (village headman).
The allegation that the ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will gain from this alleged restriction of democracy, may have some truth or maybe not. In India, no ruling party will issue an Ordinance or a law unless it can gain something politically for its passage.
Viewed thus, the step appears to be a terribly bad idea. The Ordinance will ensure that 80% of Rajasthan’s rural population will not be able to stand in the election. Only 18% of the state’s people have studied beyond class five. The level of education among women is abysmal: in rural areas only 5% have education beyond class five. For a state that is predominantly rural this is as good as preventing the majority from standing for elected office at the local level. That is as good as passing a death sentence on democracy.
If matters ended there, then one could have agreed and begun protesting. There would have been no further need for any argument.
There is, however, another matter to consider: the quality of a democracy and the ability of its leaders to deliver what citizens want. The ability to manage the affairs one is entrusted with while holding political office is a crucial attribute for the success of democracy. Here, India has faltered badly.
Since the 73rd amendment to the Constitution, powers—financial and political—are increasingly being devolved to the local level. The devolution is, by all standards, imperfect. The process, however, has not stopped. In the last seven years, the amount of money being injected in India’s rural areas is phenomenal. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), billions of rupees have been poured into villages. This is over and above the money being passed on to panchayats and zila parishads by state governments. In Rajasthan, for example, the fourth state finance commission has recommended devolution of more than ₹ 10,000 crore from 2010-2015. (Report of the Fourth State Finance Commission Rajasthan, 2013, page 181).
These efforts have not paid off. The quality of governance in rural areas (and even among those that fall under urban local bodies) is poor to the point of being non-existent. Lack of any expertise among elected officials, inability to deal with a much better educated bureaucracy and local politics being an endless game of patronage and prize-seeking have eroded the legitimacy of these institutions to a great extent.
The prescribing of educational qualifications should be seen as a part of a more general drive to clean the Augean stables of Indian politics. Through a judicial verdict, criminals were barred from contesting elections for state assemblies and Parliament in 2013. Issuing the bare minimum educational qualifications is part of this change.
These obvious considerations have not gone down well with a large number of activists and “eminent citizens". A protest letter was shot off to the chief minister of Rajasthan on 30 December. The letter mentioned the restrictive effect of the Ordinance on democracy but did not say anything on the quality of democracy and the ability of elected officials. These are essential features if a very important end-result of democracy—better life—is to be attained.
It says a lot about our democracy that a mere prescription of educational qualifications is considered a threat to democracy. It also says a lot about Indians as a people when those with a surfeit of attainments—educational and professional—argue in this way: If X has not taken a step Y, then A too should not undertake Y. Two examples, cited in the letter, were that since there are no such qualifying requirements for assemblies and Parliament, why should there be one for local bodies? Similarly, Rajasthan is the only state to prescribe such qualifications.
One answer is obvious. If Rajasthan pulls this off, then other states may follow suit. This has much to do with the fear that once thinking citizens acquire political power, a whole lot of paraphernalia that runs parasitically in the name of democracy will become redundant. To repeat, the emotion involved here is fear. The reasons why Indian intellectuals of a leftist and liberal persuasion have an abundance of this emotion, is left for another occasion.
Here is an assurance for these friends. It will take a long time before education can have a curative effect on our demos. Elementary education and that too of a questionable quality and quantum, as a qualification for public office would have appalled Socrates. That Attic philosopher who had a rather negative opinion of democracy believed that the transition from aristocracy to timocracy to oligarchy and thence to democracy was all practical purposes irreversible. Rajasthan ceased to be an aristocracy a long time ago. The fear of our intellectuals, while palpable, is rather unfounded.
Siddharth Singh is Editor (Views) at Mint. Reluctant Duelist takes stock of matters economic, political and strategic—in India and elsewhere—every fortnight.
Comments are welcome at [email protected]. To read Siddharth Singh’s previous columns, go to www.livemint.com/reluctantduelist
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May 4, 2016, 2:31 PM GMT / Updated May 4, 2016, 9:01 PM GMT By Jacquellena Carrero and Corky Siemaszko
A fired Texas trucking company worker bent on revenge returned to the office Wednesday and fatally shot a supervisor with a shotgun before he killed himself.
"You ruined my life," the worker yelled as he opened fire, Ryan Sullivan, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Department, told NBC News.
That blast killed the supervisor and wounded two other workers at Knight Transportation in the Houston suburb of Katy, Sheriff Ron Hickman said earlier. Then the disgruntled worker turned the weapon on himself.
Police respond at the scene of shootings at Knight Transportation in Katy, Texas. Phil Archer / KPRC
"Other than he was terminated, we don't know anything about him," Hickman said. "He parked right outside the building and came right in."
Hickman said the man had been fired several weeks earlier and called the shooting a "retaliatory act."
"The weapons involved was a shotgun and a pistol, but only the shotgun was used," the sheriff said.
Hickman did not release the names of the dead men or the wounded workers, who were struck by debris.
Also, a deputy responding to the shooting suffered a knee injury and was taken to the hospital, the sheriff said.
A Knight Transportation official said this was the act "of a lone former employee" and that the Katy facility will be closed "pending completion of the investigation." The official also did not identify any of the workers involved in the deadly confrontation.
Meanwhile, the lockdown that had been put in place after the gunfire erupted around 8:30 a.m. was lifted at the nearby Franz Elementary School and the Morton Ranch High School.EBT. For some Kansas Citians the acronym has no particular meaning, but for long-time residents it's a reminder of the former downtown department store, Emery, Bird, Thayer & Company — or the restaurant that takes its name and some of its decor from this former Kansas City institution. EBT the restaurant announced to staffers Monday that it would close on December 31.
EBT, the department store
The department store's roots date back to the 1860s at Missouri Avenue and Main, where Coates & Bullene provided supplies for travelers heading West. It changed names and locations several times through the decades.
In 1890, Emery, Bird, Thayer (as it became known in 1895) opened in a seven-story building that stretched the block between Walnut and Main on east 11th Street, or Petticoat Lane. A promotional brochure from 1902 described it as "the biggest retail dry goods store in the state of Missouri."
Emery, Bird, Thayer expanded in 1925, adding a branch on the Country Club Plaza, but started to struggle after World War II and closed its famed tea room. Downtown Kansas City was in decline, and customers were moving from the urban core to the suburbs, where there were other shopping options. The store closed in 1968.
The building was torn down in the early 1970s. United Missouri Bank built in its place and kept some of the architectural relics, including stained glass, wrought iron archways, and two brass elevator cages.
EBT, the restaurant
Since 1979, some decor from the old department store has been on display at EBT, the restaurant and lounge in a UMB building at I-435 and State Line.
“I don't dine at EBT often, but I'm always delighted when I do," wrote The Pitch's Charles Ferruzza in a review from 2007. "The entertainment begins at the front door, where there's a handsome pianist doing his thing on the baby grand.... With surprising grace and agility, black-clad servers maneuver their rolling, tile-topped carts through the dining room for showy tableside dishes.”
Ed Holland, president of Myron Green Corporation and EBT's first general manager, says it's been upscale since the beginning.
"We were in tuxedos, white tablecloths, fresh flowers on the table, candlelight," he says.
Many EBT customers were drawn to the restaurant because they felt a connection to the Emery, Bird, Thayer department store.
"Back when I first started, a lot of people would say, 'Hey, I used to work at Emery, Bird's,' 'I used to shop at Emery, Bird's,' 'I was the elevator operator at Emery, Bird's,'" he says. "They kind of renewed that connection by dining with us at the new EBT. But unfortunately, they're no longer around."
With an aging customer base and expectations for more casual, and less expensive, dining, Holland says the restaurant has "not performed financially the way we would like it to for a few years now."
After discussing options such as re-branding the restaurant and making it more contemporary and weighing the cost factors, he says, "we just decided to shut her down instead."
Holland is back in the restaurant, working lunches and dinners and saying farewell to long-time patrons through closing day on December 31.
As for the gilded elevators and other artifacts, UMB owns them. The curator was out of the office Wednesday and not available for a comment about the future for the remnants of EBT.
Laura Spencer is an arts reporter at KCUR 89.3. You can reach her on Twitter, @lauraspencer.A 17-year-old boy who was critically wounded in Wednesday’s car-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem died of his wounds on Friday, raising to two the number of people killed in the attack.
Yeshiva student Shalom Ba’adani had been on his way to the Western Wall when 48-year-old Ibrahim al-Akary plowed into pedestrians at a light rail station along the seam-line between East and West Jerusalem. Ba’adani, a nephew of prominent Shas Rabbi Shimon Ba’adani, sustained serious head injuries and was treated at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem before succumbing to his wounds.
Ba’adani was laid to rest late Friday morning at a funeral attended by senior Shas figures.
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Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack in which a Border Policeman was also killed and more than a dozen other people were injured. The Islamist terror organization, which rules the Gaza Strip, also called for a Third Intifada in Jerusalem.
Thousands attended the funeral Thursday for the slain Border Police officer, Jedan Assad, in the northern Druze village of Beit Jann.
“An entire life was cut short because of terror and its cruelty,” Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said at the ceremony. “This murderous terror, which originated with the Palestinian Authority and the leaders of Hamas and of the Islamic Movement, succeeded in reaching Beit Jann.”
“It is with pride and honor that officers like Jedan serve in the Israel Police,” added police chief Yohanan Danino. “It’s a credit to the state and a credit to society that these are their police officers.”
Assad, 38, was a father to a three-year-old son, and his wife is five months’ pregnant.
Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri tweeted a message of support for the attack. “We join hands with those who avenge the blood of those injured in al-Aqsa,” he wrote, referring to the Temple Mount riots.
The Islamic Jihad terror group described the attack as “heroic” and said it was the response of the Palestinian people to continued attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel Radio reported.
The Palestinian Ma’an news agency identified the terrorist as 48-year-old Ibrahim al-Akary, from Shuafat in East Jerusalem.
Police said the driver hit pedestrians at a light rail station on the corner of Bar Lev and Shimon Hatzadik streets, close to the Border Police headquarters on Route 1, and then continued driving along the tracks, hitting several cars along the way until finally crashing to a halt.
Akary got out of his commercial van and began attacking a group of policemen with a metal bar before Border Police at the scene shot and killed him.
The attacker’s brother, Musa Muhammad al-Akary, served 19 years in an Israeli prison for the 1992 kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier Nissim Toledano. He was released in the 2011 deal that freed IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity, and was expelled to Turkey.
The incident came amid increasing violence in East Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount, where there have been clashes between security forces and Palestinian rioters.
Stuart Winer contributed to this report.Global Challenges for Humanity
The 15 Global Challenges updated annually continue to be the best introduction by far to the key issues of the early 21st century.
-- Michael Marien, editor, Future Survey
15 Global Challenges
facing humanity
The 15 Global Challenges provide a framework to assess the global and local prospects for humanity. Their description, with a range of views and actions to addressed each, enriched with regional views and progress assessments are updated each year, since 1996. A short overview is published in the annual State of the Future,while continuous updates and details are available on the Global Futures Intelligence System website: https://themp.org. The 15 Global Challenges are a result of continuous research, Delphi studies, interviews, and participantion of over 4,000 experts from around the world, since 1996 -- see a short history.
The Global Challenges are transnational in nature and transinstitutional in solution. They cannot be addressed by any government or institution acting alone. They require collaborative action among governments, international organizations, corporations, universities, NGOs, and creative individuals. Although listed in sequence, Challenge 1 on sustainable development and climate change is no more or less important than Challenge 15 on global ethics. There is greater consensus about the global situation as expressed in these Challenges and the actions to address them than is evident in the news media.
The 15 Global Challenges:
1. How can sustainable development be achieved for all while addressing global climate change? 2. How can everyone have sufficient clean water without conflict? 3. How can population growth and resources be brought into balance? 4. How can genuine democracy emerge from authoritarian regimes? 5. How can decisionmaking be enhanced by integrating improved global foresight during unprecedented accelerating change? 6. How can the global convergence of information and communications technologies work for everyone? 7. How can ethical market economies be encouraged to help reduce the gap between rich and poor? 8. How can the threat of new and reemerging diseases and immune micro-organisms be reduced? 9. How can education make humanity more intelligent, knowledgeable, and wise enough to address its global challenges? 10. How can shared values and new security strategies reduce ethnic conflicts, terrorism, and the use of weapons of mass destruction? 11. How can the changing status of women help improve the human condition? 12. How can transnational organized crime networks be stopped from becoming more powerful and sophisticated global enterprises? 13. How can growing energy demands be met safely and efficiently? 14. How can scientific and technological breakthroughs be accelerated to improve the human condition? 15. How can ethical considerations become more routinely incorporated into global decisions?
To read an overview of each of the Challenges, please see the Global Futures Intelligence System at www.themp.org and select “15 Global Challenges”. Each Challenge has the following menu:
1. Situation Chart : Current situation, desired situation, and policies to address the gap
2. Report : Short overview as presented in this chapter, but continuously updated, followed by detailed content, suggested actions, and other relevant information, totalling some 100–300 pages (depending on the Challenge)
3. Digest : Dashboard-like display of latest information related to the Challenge
4. Updates : Latest edits to the reports and situation charts
5. Scanning : Important information that impacts the Challenge
6. News : Latest news relevant to the Challenge
7. Real-Time Delphi : Questionnaire software that lets users ask questions at any time and define sub-questions
8. Discussion : A blog-like area where subscribers and reviewers discuss issues they would like to explore
9. Comments : comments made by users on any part of the system, organized by time
10. Models : Interactive computer models that can show trends of the Challenge
11. Questions : Suggested questions to experts
12. Resources : Collection of websites, books, videos, presentations, and papers/articles relevant to the respective Challenges
Subcribers have access to the entire menu listed above, to discussions, as well as the entire research of The Millennium Project since 1996.
Readers are invited to contribute their insights to improve the overview of these 15 global challenges for future editions.Get ready to Hang Ten! You can bring your surfboard, snowboards, wakeboards, boogie boards, body boards, and kiteboards) as checked baggage on your next trip.
Snowboards, wakeboards, boogie boards, body boards, and kiteboards are charged as a standard checked bag. Remember that items over 40 pounds (18.1 kg) are considered overweight. Save money by traveling light. Snowboards, wakeboards, boogie boards, body boards and kiteboards over 62 linear inches will be classified as surfing equipment and will have a special charge.
Surfboards are accepted for a special charge. If you are bringing a surfboard, make sure to remove or protect your surfboard keels and/or kedges to prevent damage to it and other checked baggage. To save you more, you can put up to 2 surfboards in a case together for the same price. Don’t worry - overweight and oversize fees do not apply to surfboards due to the special charge. Additional items packed inside a surfboard case are not considered part of the surfing equipment and additional charges apply.
A limited liability release will need to be signed.
Note: Certain destinations have bag restrictions and surfboards are not accepted on these flights. Click here for complete information on bag restrictions.Edit: fixed some typos, cleaned up implementation a bit based on feedback around the internet.
A lightly edited version of this post was syndicated in Hacker Bits, Issue 13.
I. Using Rust Instead of Python
A friend asked me today about writing a little script to do a simple conversion of the names of some files in a nested set of directories. Everything with one file extension needed to get another file extension. After asking if it was the kind of thing where he had time to and/or wanted to learn how to do it himself (always important when someone has expressed that interest more generally), I said, “Why don’t I do this in Rust?”
Now, given the description, you might think, Wouldn’t it make more sense to do that in Python or Perl or even just a shell script? And the answer would be: it depends—on what the target operating system is, for example, and what the person’s current setup is. I knew, for example, that my friend is running Windows, which means he doesn’t have Python or Perl installed. I’m not a huge fan of either batch scripts or PowerShell (and I don’t know either of them all that well, either).
I could have asked him to install Python. But, on reflection, I thought: Why would I do that? I can write this in Rust.
Writing it in Rust means I can compile it and hand it to him, and he can run it. And that’s it. As wonderful as they are, the fact that languages like Python, Perl, Ruby, JavaScript, etc. require having the runtime bundled up with them makes just shipping a tool a lot harder—especially on systems which aren’t a Unix derivative and don’t have them installed by default. (Yes, I know that mostly means Windows, but it doesn’t solely mean Windows. And, more importantly: the vast majority of the desktop-type computers in the world still run Windows. So that’s a big reason all by itself.)
So there’s the justification for shipping a compiled binary. Why Rust specifically? Well, because I’m a fanboy. (But I’m a fanboy because Rust often gives you roughly the feel of using a high-level language like Python, but lets you ship standalone binaries. The same is true of a variety of other languages, too, like Haskell; but Rust is the one I know and like right now.)
Edit the second: this is getting a lot of views from Hacker News, and it’s worth note: I’m not actually advocating that everyone stop using shell scripts for this kind of thing. I’m simply noting that it’s possible (and sometimes even nice) to be able to do this kind of thing in Rust, cross-compile it, and just ship it. And hey, types are nice when you’re trying to do more sophisticated things than I’m doing here! Also, for those worried about running untrusted binaries: I handed my friend the code, and would happily teach him how to build it.Image caption The Rain Room has been described as a "cocooning experience" by its creators.
Most of us have been caught in a torrential downpour and wished we could make it stop, but how would it feel to have the power to control the weather?
Rain Room, a new 3D exhibition at London's Barbican Centre marries art, science and technology to do just that.
Despite standing in a space filled with drops of falling water, visitors remain dry, as the water halts above them.
Its creators have described it as "a social experiment" which "extracts behavioural experiences".
"We wanted to give people the cocooning experience of being immersed in a 3D rain room and watch their reaction," Hannes Koch told the BBC.
Koch met Florian Ortkrass and Briton Stuart Wood in 2005 while studying at the Royal College of Art in London and together they formed Random International.
As well as audience participation, science and technology play a big part in bringing their experimental exhibition to life.
Gravity effect
With several 3D sensory cameras fixed to the ceiling of the Rain Room, every person who walks into the 100 square metre space is recognised.
Image caption Florian Ortkrass, Stuart Wood and Hannes Koch met at London's Royal College of Art.
As they move around "slowly", the rain stops overhead.
"If you run around you'll get wet because while the sensor picks up the movement, gravity limits the speed of the drops falling from the ceiling," explained Koch.
The artists said he and collaborators hoped the experience would give people a sense of "playful empowerment".
"By your sheer presence you can control the rain."
The installation has been designed to create an intimate atmosphere of contemplation.
"There's no distractive sound, you are very close [to the rain] and it is beautiful as it becomes hypnotic and the sound of the rain is extremely calming.
"Behavioural experiences"
"It is very different to having an umbrella as you don't have the sound of the rain battering on the umbrella," said Koch."
This is not Random International's first experiment with visitor participation.
Its 2008 exhibition, Audience, used motorised mirrors to respond to the individual facing them with each viewer becoming the subject of the exhibition.
"It has been interesting and a lot of fun for us to watch people, as this kind of installation piece extracts behavioural experiences," said Koch.
"In the Rain Room, shy people may wait to see others' reaction and may act quite cautiously, while more excitable visitors will just rush in."
If the Rain Room is filled with participants, the "collective power of the crowd stops the rain", which Koch admits may limit the experience.
"We have recommended to our hosts that a little crowd control may be required to give people the full experience."
Rain Room at The Curve runs until March next year.One of the main points of emphasis for Washington this offseason is to fix the running game. The team opted against spending money in free agency or investing high draft picks towards improving the rushing attack. Instead, Washington is relying on the return of center Kory Lichtensteiger and guard Shawn Lauvao from injury, and the continued development of young linemen Spencer Long, Morgan Moses and Brandon Scherff to improve the blocking up front. Meanwhile, second-year running back Matt Jones has worked hard to improve on ball-security issues that hindered his rookie season.
[Jones’s injury opens the door for other running backs to get noticed]
In its first preseason game against Atlanta, Washington struggled to get the running game going. Jones, Chris Thompson and rookie seventh-round pick Keith Marshall combined for zero yards on eight carries. The team showed signs of improvement Friday night against a strong Jets defensive line, but clearly still has work to do in order to get where it wants to be.
This is the first running play of the game. It’s a power run play, with Long, at left guard, pulling from his position to the right of the line and tight end Niles Paul following behind him. Long trips as he pulls from his spot, which not only delays him from getting to his block, but slows down Paul as well. Fortunately, Long and Paul manage to do just enough to force their defenders wide enough for Jones to avoid.
Lichtensteiger, at center, does a good job turning away from the play side of the run and stopping a defensive tackle from penetrating the gap vacated by Long. Scherff and Moses display their power, collapsing the defensive line inside and opening a lane for Jones to burst through. Tight end Vernon Davis does a fantastic job working up to the second level and taking on a linebacker, fighting to keep him away from Jones. Jones reads the run well, despite the missed blocks from Long and Paul. He makes a good cut to burst quickly through the hole and pick up six yards on the carry.
It was a positive start, despite Long tripping. On his next run, Jones picked up another first down.
Here, Washington runs a gap-blocking play. The interior offensive line gets clogged up with bodies, but importantly the linemen manage to contain defenders inside without giving up any penetration. Davis, lined up to the right of the offensive line, takes on the defensive end, running him wide and opening up a path to the edge. Jones does well to read the play and bounce his run to the edge and pick up the first down.
However, I think there were potentially more yards available for Jones on this play. He attempts to run around Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis and bounce his run all the way outside. But Revis is listed at 5 feet 11, 198 pounds. Jones is 6-2, 232. Personally, I would like to see Jones drop his pad level and attack Revis, using his size advantage to try and power through him, instead of trying to run around him.
Washington did have a few run plays that went for little-to-no gain. Last season, they were too common and often the result of two or three mistakes. But on Friday night, it appeared to be mostly one or two mistakes that stopped the runs from being successful. While ideally there would be no mistakes, cutting down on the number of mistakes made is a necessary step.
Washington calls for a power run from the shotgun on this play. Like on the first run, Long pulls from his left guard spot and blocks the play-side defensive tackle. By taking that block, Long allows Scherff and Moses to work up to the second level. Scherff works to the linebacker on the back side of the run, while Moses works to the safety in the box. However, they both leave the middle linebacker free to attack the line of scrimmage and make the tackle on Chris Thompson for no gain.
Washington only had six blockers against New York’s seven defenders in the box, so the Jets should have had a free defender. Still, the middle linebacker should have been blocked. My guess is that Moses should have taken the linebacker and left the safety for Thompson to try and beat. But perhaps Scherff should have taken the middle linebacker and left the linebacker on the back side of the run to try and work through traffic to make up ground.
Either way, there were positives to take from the play. Every defender that was accounted for was blocked well. Davis, in particular, made an impressive block on the defensive end. Washington struggled to get much run blocking from its tight ends last year, so if Davis can continue in this manner, he should see plenty of playing time.
Here’s another play that was only one block away from being a positive run.
On this play, Washington call for an outside zone run. Off the snap, Scherff gets beaten inside. But he doesn’t panic, instead quickly adjusting himself to pin the defender inside, knowing Thompson is running to the edge. Paul, lined up as a fullback on this occasion, dives at the hip of the defensive end. He does just enough to pin the defender inside and allow Thompson to work to the edge. Moses and Lichtensteiger work up to the second level to take on linebackers. Lichtensteiger maintains his block in the middle of the field while Moses drives his defender outside towards the sideline. Thompson cuts inside Moses’s block and is met by the back-side defensive end, who makes the tackle.
While the play wasn’t blocked exactly how it was drawn up, it was blocked effectively for the most part. The reason this run failed was because left tackle Ty Nsekhe had to work around a cut block from Long and couldn’t catch up with the defensive end pursuing the run from the back side.
After a few series, the offensive line appeared to iron out some of the remaining mistakes and began to create running lanes for the backs. One problem Washington had with the running game last season was penetration by defensive tackles. Some quicker defensive tackles liked to do what I call ‘back door,’ meaning they would work against the direction of the run and attack a gap behind the blocker they lined up across from. If done quickly enough, it can surprise blockers and create early penetration into the backfield.
Here we have another outside zone play to the right. On this play, Long shifted inside to center while Shawn Lauvao filled in at left guard. The back-side defensive tackle lines up over Lauvao, but uses the back-door move to work into the gap behind him. Nsekhe, at left tackle, doesn’t miss a beat, giving up depth in to the backfield initially to allow him to reach the defensive tackle and make the block.
The downside to a defensive tackle using such a move is that it allows the guard a free run to the second level. Lauvao quickly makes his way to the linebacker on the second level and engages in the block.
On the front side of the run, Long initially works outside to the other defensive tackle, but Scherff does an excellent job securing the defender and then driving him outside towards the sideline. That allows Long to join Lauvao in working to the second level and blocking a linebacker. Jones reads the play well, cutting back into the obvious rushing lane. Long and Lauvao couldn’t maintain their blocks long enough for Jones to work freely into the secondary, but Jones manages to use his momentum to attack the linebackers and fall forward for a five yard gain.
That run in particular is a promising sign for Washington. While it clearly has a lot of work still left to do, the running game is improving as the regular season gets closer. Jay Gruden and his coaching staff would be wise to settle on a starting combination at left guard and center this week ahead of the third preseason game so the they can begin to build cohesion as a unit. A settled starting group can begin to learn the tendencies of one another and help improve the consistency of a unit that struggled in run blocking last season.
Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here.
More from The Post:
Five things to watch in advance of the third preseason game
Snap counts against the Jets: Offense & Defense
Five observations from Friday night’s win | Best and worst moments
More: Redskins | D.C. Sports Bog | Around the NFL | Fantasy football
Follow: @MikeJonesWaPo | @lizclarketweet | @MasterTesGuests: Amy Vansant Amy Vansant
Swimming! Camp! Pool food! Sunburn! Magazines! This week, Biz and Theresa reminisce about our own childhood summers and make excuses for not giving our kids perfect summertime experiences. Plus, Biz fesses up to co-sleeping with her baby and Theresa is grateful for city parks because she is losing her mother-loving M |
ions of people … voted illegally.” The claim, which Trump said cost him the popular vote, was made without evidence.
Twitter guidelines state it is a violation “if you repeatedly create false or misleading content.”
Ferguson was joined by Christina Reynolds, a former deputy communications director for Clinton.
“Winning the electoral college won him the presidency, so Trump’s excuses on why he lost the popular vote by millions are just small and sad,” wrote Christina Reynolds, a former deputy communications director.
But she added, “And of course, none of that matters. We have the system we have–HRC got more votes. Trump got more electoral votes and will be president.”
Meanwhile, Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias defended the campaign’s decision to join Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s recount effort in select states.
“We are getting attacked for participating in a recount that we didn’t ask for by the man who won election but thinks there was massive fraud,” Elias said on Twitter.The new programme aims primarily to halt the decline of lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs and Ethiopian wolves, increasingly threatened by poaching, habitat fragmentation and human encroachment on wild habitats. Made possible by funding from the European Commission’s B4Life initiative, the SOS African Wildlife project will enable coordinated conservation work across the species’ natural habitats. A call for project proposals is now open inviting civil society organisations to apply.
“We are extremely grateful for the support from the European Commission,” says Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Director, IUCN’s Global Species Programme and SOS Director. “This new programme is an important step in the journey of helping people build resilience and wealth by cherishing their unique natural heritage. It will help us protect Africa’s fast-disappearing apex predators as well as their main prey species, large ecosystems and support local livelihoods.”
Despite successful conservation action in southern Africa, the lion (Panthera leo) remains listed as globally Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ due to declines in other regions across Africa. A recent study determined that just 7,100 cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) remain in the wild. Meanwhile, only 500 Endangered Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) survive, confined to isolated mountain ranges in Ethiopia’s highlands. Leopards are also declining in most of their range.
The new programme will enable coordinated conservation action by financing a portfolio of conservation projects undertaken by civil society organisations across the continent. It will address human-wildlife conflict, which is at the root of much of the decline, by generating alternative livelihoods for local communities. It will also contribute to ensuring the long-term survival of smaller carnivores and prey species such as various antelope species by empowering civil society organisations which will work with relevant authorities and involve local communities in finding solutions to prevent their extinction.
Concrete outputs expected include increases in the populations of species targeted by each project and in critical habitat area as well as the reduction of direct threats and conflicts.
Co-Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group Urs Breitenmoser says: “Conserving lions, leopards and cheetahs will help us conserve other species. Meanwhile, we will have to address a broad range of threats and conflicts and involve many parts of society in different ways depending on the species in question.”
The SOS African Wildlife programme will support anti-poaching efforts which comply with the aims of the EU Action Plan against wildlife trafficking. This will be achieved by ensuring smaller projects funded through SOS are complementary to larger projects which will be directly supported by the European Commission to implement its strategic approach to Wildlife Conservation in Africa, "Larger than Elephants".
Claudio Sillero-Zubiri, Chair of the IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group, says: “On the roof of Africa a few hundred Ethiopian wolves - Africa’s rarest and most threatened carnivore species - survive against the odds in tiny mountain enclaves. In contrast, wild dogs require vast areas across Sub-Saharan Africa to eke out a living.
“The destiny of these iconic carnivores inevitably depends on diminishing prey populations, the advance of the agriculture frontier and our ability to protect them from resulting conflicts. SOS African Wildlife offers a great opportunity to empower and support dedicated organisations and individuals across Africa to protect these threatened carnivores and the habitats they represent.”
The new programme builds on the experience and results of the first five-year phase of IUCN’s SOS - Save Our Species in which over 100 grants were awarded to support the conservation of 250 threatened species worldwide since 2010. It also complements IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme funded by the German government, initiated in 2014, as well as the recently announced SOS Lemurs initiative. These first five years of conservation action under SOS achieved important results in the protection of numerous threatened species.
Dr. Roberto Ridolfi, Director, "Sustainable Growth and Development" at the European Commission Directorate for International Cooperation and Development, says: "The role and importance of large carnivores is recognised as being of critical significance for the protection of fragile equilibriums of entire ecosystems. Yet, increasing pressures on land and water resources are leading to conflicts between man and animals and eventually the irreversible degradation of whole landscapes. The involvement of local communities as forefront actors in the conservation of threatened carnivore species is of crucial importance and has proven to be a long underestimated key to success when it comes to sustainability and efficiency."
"The European Commission is proud to support the SOS - Save Our Species initiative because of its coherence with the EU's Biodiversity for Life strategic approach which combines coherence, coordination and cross sector partnerships to tackle the challenges related to the protection of biodiversity and the building of sustainable livelihoods."
For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:
Bianca Vergnaud, IUCN Media Relations, tel.: +32 2 739 1001, [email protected];
Simon Bradley, SOS - Save Our Species Media Relations, tel.: +41 22 999 0372, [email protected], it looks like only a matter of time before DeSean Jackson ends up in Tampa Bay catching passes from Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston.
According to Michael Lombardi of The Ringer, the Bucs are offering Jackson more than $10 million per year to sign with them.
For all the talk that D Jackson is heading back to Philly, I am told the big money bidder is the Bucs at over 10 per year….wow….. — Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) March 8, 2017
This reported big-money bid falls in line with Jackson’s reported desire to make at least $10 million per year on a new deal. Though, that report indicated he was looking for between $10-12 million, meaning it’s possible another team could swoop in with a bigger offer to entice the veteran speedster.
However, given Tampa Bay’s big push to land Jackson, and given the fact the two sides have been linked heavily as matches for weeks, it would appear the Bucs have the inside track.
Jackson was highly productive during his tenure with the Washington Redskins following his trade from Philadelphia. Catching 142 passes for 2,702 yards and 14 touchdowns in 40 games, he averaged a whopping 19 yards per reception and is obviously still one of the fastest players in the league.
Pairing Jackson with Mike Evans, not to mention promising tight end Cameron Brate, would give Tampa Bay quite the potent passing arsenal for its young gunslinger.Finland and Estonia are among the best countries in the EU for education, according to new rankings by the OECD.
Singapore was rated the global leader in the PISA tests, a benchmark for comparing 15-year-old’s skills in key areas like science, mathematics and reading.
Estonia was the EU’s best for science, at number three in the overall rankings, behind Japan and
Singapore which topped the table. Finland came in at fifth place.
The Programme for International Student Assessment is “an international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students”.
The exercise is carried out every three years to determine trends. The newly-released survey brings together data from 2015 when over half a million students in 72 countries and economies were tested.
Estonia and Finland are also among the EU’s top five countries for mathematics, alongside The Netherlands, Denmark and Slovenia.
Here too, though, they lag behind Japan, China and notably Singapore, which again tops the list.
For reading, Finland was the EU’s best, at fourth place in the table, followed by Ireland and Estonia.
No prizes for guessing who came out on top. Yes, Singapore did it again!
Watch replay: global presentation of PISA results
Elsewhere in the PISA rankings:
Montenegro recorded the highest truancy rate of the countries assessed, with 59.6 percent of students admitting they had skipped school in the two weeks prior to the PISA test. Italy had the second highest rate with 55.2 percent
PISA has consistently found that, across all countries and economies, girls outperform boys in reading. However, between 2009 and 2015, the gap narrowed by 12 points on average, a result of boys improving and girls deteriorating.
Boys tend to score higher than girls in mathematics, but in nine countries and economies, girls outperform boys, including Finland, Albania and Georgia.
Explore the data: PISA results 2015
Click on the arrows to the right of the logos to explore the data.
Could do Better
The PISA survey is produced by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). And not all of the findings are to its liking.
“A decade of scientific breakthroughs has failed to translate into breakthroughs in science performance in schools,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, launching the report in London.
The body reports that: “While spending per student in primary and secondary education increased by almost 20% since 2006 in OECD countries alone, only 12 of the 72 countries and economies assessed in PISA have seen their science performance improve over this period.”
Despite a 20% increase in spending per student, only 12 countries improved #science performance in #OECDPISA, see https://t.co/UCiVNcCxANpic.twitter.com/WaH15Ckfvv — OECD (@OECD) 6 décembre 2016
For Gurría, reflecting on a time of “rising inequalities”, the stakes are high.
“High-quality education is the single greatest tool for empowering people and improving their opportunities and outcomes,” he said.
Achieving greater equity in education is not only a social justice imperative, it also fuels economic growth @A_Gurria#OECDPISA#SDG4pic.twitter.com/bEuW4pX3q2 — OECD Education (@OECDEduSkills) 6 décembre 2016
The survey also finds that: “Poorer students are 3 times more likely to be low performers than wealthier students, and immigrant students are more than twice as likely as non-immigrants to be low achievers.”
For EU Education Commissioner Tibor Navracsics that is also cause for concern.Following his meeting with the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on Wednesday 13 January 2016, former Syrian Prime Minister - General Coordinator of the Supreme Commission for Negotiations, Dr. Riad Hijab, affirmed the opposition's readiness to: participate in the political process leading to the establishment of a transitional governing body with full executive authority, the establishment of a pluralistic system which is representative and inclusive of all Syrian people; Bashar al-Assad and his regime will not be part of any future political arrangements.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160113/321782 )
The visit comes as part of efforts by the Supreme Commission for Negotiations to consult with Syria's friends on the most effective ways to contribute to the political process and to finalise necessary arrangements for the start of the negotiations. Dr. Hijab reviewed with the German Foreign Minister the preparations by the Supreme Commission for Negotiations in this context, as well as, the outcome of meetings between the Supreme Commission for Negotiations and UN Special Envoy to Syria, Mr. Staffan de Mistura.
Dr. Hijab added: "I stressed to Dr. Steinmeier the need for securing the right conditions for the start of negotiations, and in particular: pressing foreign forces in Syria to a ceasefire and committing to articles (12) and (13) of UNSCR 2254, including lifting the siege imposed on cities to enable humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to all those in need, the release of all detainees, ceasing aerial shelling and artillery attacks against civilians and civilian targets, followed by other good will and confidence-building measures."
Dr. Hijab confirmed that the Supreme Commission for Negotiations believes in the need to separate the humanitarian track which all parties must unconditionally adhere to in accordance with binding UN resolutions, and the political track, which must be pursued by convincing the regime's allies to cease combat and withdraw foreign militias and mercenaries in urgent adherence to international law which prohibits bombing populated areas. This is no longer in the hands of the regime as it has lost its sovereign decision-making ability, and hence, it is futile to negotiate with its representatives.
Dr. Hijab added: "I expressed my doubts to Dr. Steinmeier of the feasibility of negotiating with a regime that has lost its sovereignty, its presence has diminished to 18 percent of the Syrian territory, it has lost control of most border crossings and supply and transportation routes, and half of the Syrian population lives outside its control; all this, while foreign forces and cross-border militias fight on its behalf." Dr. Hijab reiterated the need for the international community's support in reaching an agreement with the various regional and international parties for a cease-fire, and for the delivery of aid to affected areas, where some five million Syrian refugees take shelter in neighbouring countries, and about 6 million Syrians are displaced living in areas outside the control of the regime.
The regime's targeting of civilians with barrel bombs and systematic shelling has led to the draining of the country's population and forcing many to migrate to a number of countries, but predominately towards Europe. This only serves the agendas of terrorist groups who benefit from continued fighting, targeting global security, and the security of Europe in particular.
Dr. Hijab concluded that his visit comes as part of efforts to persuade the international community and ensure a negotiating atmosphere conducive of genuine peace-building; cessation of combat, a formation of an international monitoring and supervisory mechanism to ensure the commitment of various parties, collaboration on the removal of all foreign forces, securing border crossings and supply routes, provision of safe zones, delivery of aid to affected areas, and other measures that are mostly outside the control of the regime.
SOURCE Office of Dr Riad Hijab, Former Prime Minister of SyriaAnnouncing the UKDota.net - Casual Cup #2
Casual teams, it’s now your turn for a chance of glory and bragging rights with UKDota.net’s next Casual cup! This Casual cup will be ran on Sunday September 8th.
Signups are now available here.
Signups will be unlimited but check in will be done on a first come first serve basis on the Sunday morning and after the cap of 16 teams is reached any team that misses check in will be classed as a reserve team.
Check in will start at 10:30 AM BST is detailed on the next article here.
Games will start at 11:00 AM BST.
This cup is going to be casted by UKDota regulars durka and Mr Blakadder.
With this being a casual cup, higher skilled teams will not be allowed to participate, anyone found smurfing will suffer the harshest punishments.
The Head admin for the tournament is Holy Cupcake.
Full rules can be found here.
We hope to see you in the competition!Respondeat Superior
[Latin, Let the master answer.] A common-law doctrine that makes an employer liable for the actions of an employee when the actions take place within the scope of employment.
The common-law doctrine of respondeat superior was established in seventeenth-century England to define the legal liability of an employer for the actions of an employee. The doctrine was adopted in the United States and has been a fixture of agency law. It provides a better chance for an injured party to actually recover damages, because under respondeat superior the employer is liable for the injuries caused by an employee who is working within the scope of his employment relationship.The legal relationship between an employer and an employee is called agency. The employer is called the principal when engaging someone to act for him. The person who does the work for the employer is called the agent. The theory behind respondeat superior is that the principal controls the agent's behavior and must then assume some responsibility for the agent's actions.
An employee is an agent for her employer to the extent that the employee is authorized to act for the employer and is partially entrusted with the employer's business. The employer controls, or has a right to control, the time, place, and method of doing work. When the facts show that an employer-employee (principal-agent) relationship exists, the employer can be held responsible for the injuries caused by the employee in the course of employment.
In general, employee conduct that bears some relationship to the work will usually be considered within the scope of employment. The question whether an employee was acting within the scope of employment at the time of the event depends on the particular facts of the case. A court may consider the employee's job description or assigned duties, the time, place, and purpose of the employee's act, the extent to which the employee's actions conformed to what she was hired to do, and whether such an occurrence could reasonably have been expected.
When Is an Employee on the Job?
The crucial question in a respondeat superior claim is whether the employee was acting within the scope of employment: Was the employee involved in some activity related to the job? In 1991 the Supreme Court of Virginia decided a case, Sayles v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc.,242 Va. 328, 410 S.E.2d 632, that illustrates how difficult answering this question can sometimes be.
The case began with a Christmas Eve accident in 1987. Charles Sayles was a passenger in an automobile hit by another car, driven by Stephen Belcastro. Both men were leaving the Christmas party held on the premises of their company, Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc, of Richmond, Virginia. Belcastro had become intoxicated at the party and, later, explained that he was "fooling around" when he drove his car into the left-hand lane of the road, lost control, and struck the other car, injuring Sayles.
Because Belcastro was intoxicated as a result of having drinks provided by their employer at a company-sponsored event, Sayles sued Piccadilly under the doctrine of respondeat superior. The jury returned a verdict in Sayles's favor and awarded him damages of $11.5 million. The trial court set aside the judgment, however, ruling that Belcastro had been acting outside the scope of his employment when the accident occurred.
On appeal, Sayles cited a Virginia appellate case, Kim v. Sportswear, 10 Va. App. 460, 393 S.E.2d (1990), from the previous year. Kimwas a Workers' Compensation case whose facts were similar: it involved an employee fatally injured while attending a Korean New Year's party sponsored and hosted by the employer. The appellate court had allowed recovery of damages against the employer.
The Supreme Court of Virginia declined to follow Kim, however. The court noted first that Kim was a workers' compensation case, governed by a statute that is to be "liberally construed in favor of the claimant." The court also made several factual distinctions: employees were expected to attend the party in the Kim case, whereas the party in Sayles did not carry such expectations. Further, the injury in Kimtook place on the employer's premises, in contrast to Sayles, where the collision did not occur until five minutes after the drivers had left the party. Based on these facts, the Saylescourt held that Belcastro was not engaged in the business of serving his employer at the time of the accident and therefore the employer could not be held liable.
An employee is not necessarily acting outside the scope of employment merely because she does something that she should not do. An employer cannot disclaim liability simply by showing that the employee had been directed not to do what she did. A forbidden act is within the scope of employment for purposes of respondeat superior if it is necessary to accomplish an assigned task or if it might reasonably be expected that an employee would perform it.
Relatively minor deviations from the acts necessary to do assigned work usually will not be outside the scope of employment. Personal acts such as visiting the bathroom, smoking, or getting a cup of coffee are ordinarily within the scope of employment, even though they do not directly entail work. When an employee substantially departs from the work routine by engaging in a frolic—an activity solely for the employee's benefit—the employee is not acting within the scope of her employment.
An employer is liable for harm done by the employee within the scope of employment, whether the act was accidental or reckless. The employer is even responsible for intentional wrongs if they are committed, at least in part, on the employer's behalf. For example, a bill collector who commits Assault and Battery to extract an overdue payment subjects the employer to legal liability.
Where the employer is someone who legally owes a duty of special care and protection, such as a common carrier (airplane, bus, passenger train), motel owner, or a hospital, the employer is usually liable to the customer or patient even if the employee acts for purely personal reasons. The theory underlying such liability is that employers should not hire dangerous people and expose the public to a risk while the employee is under the employer's supervision.
The employer may also be liable for her own actions, such as in hiring a diagnosed psychopath to be an armed guard. An employer, therefore, can be liable for her own carelessness and as a principal whose employee is an agent.
These rules do not allow the employee to evade responsibility for harm she has caused. Injured parties generally sue both the employee and employer, but because the employee usually is unable to afford to pay the amount of damages awarded in a lawsuit, the employer is the party who is more likely to pay.
Further readings
Davant, Charles, IV. 2002. "Employer Liability for Employee Fraud: Apparent Authority or Respondeat Superior?" South Dakota Law Review 47 (fall): 554–582.
Kleinberger, Daniel S. 2002. "Respondeat Superior Run Amok." Bench & Bar of Minnesota 59 (November): 16.
Cross-references
Employment Law.For decades, Teresa Lancaster talked about the rape and sexual abuse she endured at the hands of a local Catholic priest, police officers, and other men in her Baltimore community. She even told her husband, Randy, about it the night they met at a party. “I had a habit of doing that,” Lancaster told Vulture in an interview. “I think it was my own way of therapy.”
Nevertheless, Lancaster’s participation in The Keepers — Netflix’s unflinching documentary series about the horror she and others endured at the all-girls Archbishop Keough High School — followed years of silence. The 1972 graduate never told her parents that Father Joseph Maskell, the chaplain at Keough, raped her over a period of two years and arranged for other men to assault her as well, including a gynecologist she was forced to visit. Maskell, who died in 2001 and was never criminally charged, showed her a loaded handgun he kept in his desk and threatened her with expulsion if she shared their secret.
“I just want people to realize that they don’t have to hide in the corner anymore,” Lancaster said. In 1994, she and another victim, Jean Hargadon Wehner, filed a $40 million lawsuit against Maskell and the Archdiocese of Baltimore under the pseudonyms of Jane Roe and Jane Doe respectively. Although the suit was thrown out because the statue of limitations had passed, more victims have come forward and the Archdiocese has paid $472,000 toward 16 settlements as well as $97,000 for counseling assistance.
“I decided to use Jane Roe because my children were a lot younger and I was afraid because at that time there were people that really didn’t believe us,” Lancaster said. “In the ’90s, it was really tough because the lawyers for the church were calling me promiscuous, asking me about relations with my boyfriend and smoking pot and drinking wine. They were making me out to be a real sleaze ball. But it’s not that way so much anymore.”
That’s due, in large part, to the doggedness of Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub, two Keough alums who took it upon themselves to spend their retirement days spearheading a social-media campaign and investigation into what really happened at their high school. Sparking it all was the unsolved murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, a 26-year-old beloved teacher who went missing on November 7, 1969, and whose dead body was found two months later at a remote garbage dump less than ten miles away.
The Keepers begins with the mystery surrounding Sister Cathy’s murder, but evolves into a complicated web of church and government cover-ups that strongly suggest Maskell’s involvement, though there are other suspects. At the heart of the series are the crusaders who refuse to take no for an answer and refuse to keep quiet — all of them women in their 60s.
Ryan White, director of The Keepers, met Lancaster for the first time when Hoskins drove all of them through the Baltimore neighborhood where Keough and the church were located. “It was obviously a very emotional experience for her because she was going back to the high school or the rectory where she was abused,” he said. “I didn’t know her that well at that point, so in hindsight it was an emotional time for her. But Teresa is very, very reserved with her emotions and I learned that over the course of many years. I think that’s one of the reasons she is so tough and probably a good lawyer, because she is reserved with those emotions.”
During an interview with Vulture, Lancaster was calm and collected as she opened up about the horrors of her past, what drives her to keep fighting, and how she feels about the Catholic Church’s apology.
What has it been like since The Keepers was released? You kept quiet for so long and people weren’t always kind to you.
Surprisingly, pretty good. I get hugged. When I went to the Keough farewell, everyone kept coming up and hugging me and shaking my hand. I have not gotten a negative response yet. It’s really been pretty cool.
The documentary covers horrifying things that happened to you and many other women, but it also stands out because it’s so empowering to see Gemma and Abbie take control after the system let you all down. Did you have a sense that this documentary would be so much bigger than yourself?
I’ve been wanting to tell my story since it happened. When I met with the group at Gemma’s house and I met with [former Baltimore Sun reporter] Tom Nugent and some of the other people — at that time, Jean had not decided to come out publicly — I think we were just starting to feel stronger. And social media, that’s what did it. That’s what brought us together and made everybody strong enough. I did think it would be big, but I didn’t think it would be this big.
What was it like to meet Gemma and Abbie?
It was interesting. I didn’t know them when I was in Keough. I didn’t have many friends because of all the abuse, but they were so kind and friendly and they were really, really proud of my coming out in the ’90s. I did say a few times, you know, this group would have been very helpful in the ’90s, but then I laughed it off because I feel like everyone was in the midst of raising little kids and stuff. One thing I should probably say is that when I was a student at Keough, I freely told all of my friends that Maskell was a pervert. My whole lunch table knew what was going on, but nobody knew what to do about it. I ended up being married, actually, while I was a senior. I was married secretly. I just started having children and putting it out of my mind as much as I could.
What about Jean? Did you feel an immediate bond with her?
I didn’t meet her until about a year into the interviewing. Ryan said, “What do you think about going and meeting Jean?” And I said, “Well, it’s a long time coming.” I’d only talked to her once in ’95. I filed a writ with the Supreme Court and I asked her if she wanted to go in with me. She didn’t want anything to do with that, so it was a very short conversation. I never saw her until I met her in the house during the filming of the documentary.
Jean’s memories were repressed for a long time, but yours weren’t. Did talking with Ryan bring back even more details?
It was pretty good because they took me to the school and the area along with Donna Von Den Bosch [another Maskell victim who has a received a settlement from the Archdiocese], whom I had never even known about, and the three of us hugged, trekked down, and started talking like we’d known each other all our lives. Donna would say something horrible that Father Neil Magnus did to her, and I’d chime in about Maskell and the douche bags. My husband was in the background shaking his head, almost crying because he couldn’t believe the stories coming out of our mouths.
In the series, your husband spoke of how one night in the ’90s you woke up screaming from a nightmare.
I always had a memory of the first couple times with Maskell and what he did with the douche bags and enema bottles and the raping. But yes, at the time, in ’94, I woke up in the middle of the night screaming because I remembered the rape at the rector’s office. I started remembering other things then, too.
When this started happening to you, were you aware that it had happened with other girls? Were there stories or rumors?
No, I didn’t — except for when he started abusing my friend, Linda Whitney. That’s when I realized I wasn’t the only one. I went to him maybe three, four times before he started abusing us simultaneously. My parents were told by Maskell that I was a hopeless case, that I was possibly schizophrenic. He told them that I could have Linda over because she was a good kid. Linda and I were pretty much stuck with it. I was in a cage and she was in there too. He made her do an anatomy lesson on me with my clothes off and stuff like that. We didn’t know whom to tell.
But you mentioned that you did talk about it with other girls?
To the extent that I would tell people that Maskell was a pervert and to stay away from Maskell. He smacked me with a gun, and I did tell people he had a gun and [that] he was crazy. I didn’t sit down and tell the story.
There was one girl I became friends with whose first name is Cathy. She told me that he used to give her gynecological exams in the chapel.
Why did you start visiting Father Maskell in his office?
I started hanging around him when I was dating a guy with long hair who was in a band. My mom went through my purse and found some paraphernalia and she freaked out totally. My mother was screaming and crying. My father was crying, lying down, telling me he was having a heart attack. That was so horrible. The very next day, my dad took me to school and I found Linda and I was crying with her. We came up with the idea to see Maskell, to ask him to call my dad. That’s how it all started. I’ve been in Catholic school since I was in the first grade and we were told that if there was any problem, you can go to the priest. The good Father will take care of you and make it right. That was embedded in my head.
You mentioned that you got married senior year and it was a secret. Was it a secret from your family?
I found out I was pregnant in May of ’72 and I ran off with my current boyfriend. We got married at a Methodist church and moved into an apartment with a bunch of hippies.
And you were still going to school?
I was still in school. I called my mother and told her I was married. She screamed and cried and begged me to at least finish school. I kept going to school as though I wasn’t married. Fortunately, nobody told on me.
Is that your husband now?
No, he died when he was 34 years old from cancer. We were married for 16 years. We had four kids. He got cancer when he was 28 years old and he was gone by 34. It was a strange marriage. I really didn’t know him. That’s the way it is. Actually, my hospice worker who was taking care of me toward the end of my first husband’s life, I was invited to her birthday party. I ended up marrying her brother. [Laughs.]
Did any of your siblings know what you had gone through?
No. At the time, my brothers were all nerds and I was a hippie and I didn’t really have much in common with them. They had their books and I had my coffee houses and what have you. So they didn’t know. I never told them. I did confide in my brother, Mark, when we were into adulthood, and of course they all knew when I filed suit.
And your parents never knew?
No, my parents never knew. My mother actually had an untimely death from a botched biopsy. She died in 1993. I don’t think I would have come forward. I wouldn’t have done anything to hurt her, she was such a saint, you know?
Was Father Maskell still abusing you after you were married in your senior year?
Yes, yes.
Did you talk about that with your husband?
Yeah, he wanted to shoot him. Of course, he didn’t.
It’s believed that some of the girls told Sister Cathy what was happening and this possibly led to her murder. Did you ever speak to her about it?
I never talked to her. I did try out for the drama club freshman year and I did see her, but I never really knew her.
Do you think her murder will be solved?
I think Maskell did it. I think we are closer than we ever have been. I am not keeping tabs on the new tips that are coming in with Gemma and Abbie. I’m pretty much focusing on victims that are coming forward. There are a lot of people who can’t remember a lot.
Your brain tries to protect you, I think.
Yes. I always tell them that if they don’t remember, it’s probably a blessing.
It was so infuriating and disheartening to learn that all of these other people participated in the crimes with Maskell.
I know. My friend Linda, who just died this month, was with me on Halloween night 1970 when Maskell took us to a police run in a remote area where I remember being raped by two policemen. She remembered more than that. She said it was a lot more than that, but I don’t remember. She did put a rant on Facebook shortly before she died. We took it down because it was really personal.
You became a lawyer at 49. Why did you want to be a lawyer?Well, I always wanted to be either a doctor or a lawyer. My dad is a lawyer. I have three brothers and two of them are doctors and the other one is a lawyer. In my family, you really aren’t educated unless you are a professional and I always had an interest in the law. I just wanted to do that so I figured when the kids got older, I slowly chiseled at it and got my social-work degree and then ended up in law school.
How do you feel about the apology that the Church gave you and the other victims of Father Maskell? Did you accept it?
I thanked them for their apology, but after being called names — they tried to break me in the depositions of the ’90s — it’s really hard for me to accept anything from the Church. I know they are apologizing so they can save face and their money. I don’t think they would have ever said they were sorry if they didn’t get caught red-handed. I mean, they called me a liar. They said I was a confused, mixed-up person, like a mental case.
I can’t imagine what you felt when you learned what happened to Charles Franz, the dentist who was abused by Maskell at another school. That’s the reason why he was transferred to your school.
I was always under the impression that he had abused a boy at Our Lady of Victory, which is why he was sent to Keough. When the dentist came out, I was surprised, but in a way I wasn’t. I had known he was doing boys and had a history and that’s why they sent him to an all-girls school.
If the Archdiocese had done the right thing, he would have never hurt all of you at Keough. That is infuriating.
When I saw the movie Spotlight and they said they knew — they knew, and they let it happen — I almost broke down and cried because they did know. If they had listened to the dentist Charles, I wouldn’t have been abused.
You work with victims of abuse. What advice do you give them?
I tell them, “You’re not alone, stay strong.” And I thank them for contacting me.
How do you think you’ve been able to stay strong yourself?
I would just say that I’m lucky. I’ve always had drive and determination, and I’m just lucky that it made me more angry than anything else. And determined. You know what’s interesting? This made me tougher. When my husband died and my mother died, there were a lot of horrors in my life. It made me able to tough it out, and I was determined to go back to school and make something of myself. I wasn’t giving into it. It was always there. There isn’t one day that goes by where I don’t hear Maskell’s name, and it’s haunting. I just try to look for life in other places.Hate Google+? You won’t need it to log into other Google services anymore. In a blog post, Google also says the entire experience will be more focused, which will send ripple effects down through YouTube as well.
The most significant change will be that YouTube comments will no longer tie-in to Google+, and vice versa. It’s basically rollling the YouTube comments section back to the way it was before Google+ was forced on |
frankly dishonest discourse about it of both our twenty-first century presidents, who maintain that the US is fighting “al-Qaeda” in Afghanistan. But there is no al-Qaeda to speak of in that country, if by the term one means the mainly Arab Pan-Islamic International that sees Usama Bin Laden as its leader. US forces in Afghanistan are fighting disgruntled Pashtuns, for the most part. Some are from Gulbuddin Hikmatyar’s Islamic Party. Others from the Haqqani family’s Haqqani Network. The Reagan administration and its Saudi allies once showered billions of dollars on Hikmatyar and Haqqani, so they aren’t exactly eternal adversaries of the US. Some insurgents are from the Old Taliban of Mullah Omar. Still others are not so much terrorist cartels as tribes and guerrilla groups who are just unhappy with poppy eradication campaigns, or with the foreign troop presence (they would say ‘occupation’), or with how Karzai has given out patronage unequally, favoring some tribes over others. The insurgency is almost exclusively drawn from the Pashtun ethnic group.
So the war is not about al-Qaeda.
My guess is that the war is mainly an example of mission creep. The US and other Western powers stood up the Karzai government in late 2001, and they would suffer a loss of face and a geostrategic reversal if he were hanged from a lamp post like Najeeb, one of his Soviet-installed predecessors. So then they have to do whatever they can to prop up the Kabul government, including crash training for 400,000 troops and police to maintain security.
Despite having gotten where he is through US and NATO help, President Hamid Karzai has been revealed to be on a $2 million a year retainer by Iran. And, his brothers and circle are allegedly highly corrupt, getting unsecured loans from a bank they run to buy posh villas in Dubai.
Then there is the invisibility of the war itself. The first half of the year saw over 3000 civilian deaths and injuries from conflict-related violence, which would be more than 6000 a year this year if the trends continue. Many of those casualties are produced by the insurgents, when Afghan civilians get in the way of their attacks on US & NATO forces or on Karzai’s army and police. But whereas the US press makes sure we know that thousands are killed or wounded every year in Mexico’s drug cartel wars, we hear little about Afghan casualties of the war.
This information vacuum is why a British diplomat even thought the public might buy as plausible his assertion that children in Kabul are safer than those in New York or London.
Aljazeera English has a report on the ensuing controversy:
Quite apart from the bombings in the Afghan capital, far beyond anything in Western capitals, some 1,795 children were killed or wounded in conflict-related violence from September 2008 to August 2010 (admittedly in the whole country and not just in Kabul). Moreover, there are powerful crime syndicates and kidnapping rings in the capital and drug addiction is spreading among even children and youth. He wasn’t speaking of infant mortality, so it isn’t fair to slam him on the grounds that a fifth of Afghan children die before reaching age five. But knowledge of the truly horrific health statistics of Afghan children might have instilled some caution about making Panglossian statements.
Aljazeera English has video on drug addiction even among the very young in Kabul:
Another scam is the whole trope of democracy. Hamid Karzai bald-facedly stole the presidential election in 2009. The parliamentary elections of 2010 were so riddled with fraud that ten percent of the winners had to be denied their seats even by Karzai’s hand-picked electoral commission, and there are charges that the wrong ten percent were thrown out. The elections are on a “non-party” basis, i.e. not actually democratic. Far from supporting democratic forces, the US and NATO have essentially ensconced warlords in power. Sima Samar, the prominent woman politician so lauded by George W. Bush, is no longer in government.
All this is not to mention the bizarre split personality of the Pakistani military, which fights fierce battles against some Taliban, incurring heavy troop casualties, while behind the scenes supporting other Taliban.
Nothing is as it seems in Afghanistan, a war full of impostors. And now a further cruel pretense has been advertised, that the war will be over in 2014. Mostly.The messages are as curt as telegrams: "Pregnant woman comes to Athens for a Caesarean section. The doctor requests 500 euro [US$640] to perform the operation. The husband has only 300 [$390]. The doctor re-joins with threats."
In this case, the Greek doctor relented and performed the discounted C-section.
The entry is from Greece's first website dedicated to sharing stories of corruption in the public sector. The response has been impressive - after just two weeks online, the site has logged 40,000 visitors and highlighted more than $85,000 in bribes requested and paid.
"What we've noticed is how incredible the bribes can be," says Panos Louridas, one of several volunteers who built the website. "The funniest thing I saw was a hospital patient who had bribed staff to allow his wife to sleep in an empty second bed in his room. It was reported by a patient in an adjacent room."
Anyone can make an anonymous entry on teleiakaipavla.gr, loosely translatable as "Stop it. Period". Names and dates are not mentioned, but institutions are - the top eight by number of entries are hospitals.
Sometimes the kickbacks are significant. "Five thousand euro were requested to reduce penalties following an audit of company books for the years 1998-2003." The money was paid.
It can be a game of chicken, who will blink first. As was the case of one doctor who "was careful not to ask for anything, but she sat there in front of me without saying anything. Well..." The doctor ended up happily accepting 800 euros she hadn't asked for.
"Papandreou essentially tried to do a good thing in empowering a disadvantaged population, but he abolished meritocracy and awarded positions of responsibility to socialist goons." - Kostas Bakouris, Transparency International
The site is a cast list of corrupt characters: the tax collector who blackmails a business, the surgeon who turns public healthcare into private practice, an official who wants a grigorosimo, or speed-up fee to avoid delays.
Corruption is a big part of Greece's unrecorded and untaxed economy, estimated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development at roughly $90bn this year, dwarfing the deficit of $17bn.
Getting worse
Corruption is also a major hidden expense of doing business in Greece, helping to keep out foreign investment.
According to Transparency International's latest "Corruption Perceptions Index", which tracks public and private corruption, Greece tied for 80th place with El Salvador, Colombia, Morocco and Peru. It lags behind every European Union member, save Bulgaria, including many Eastern bloc nations that have had a mere two decades' experience with free-market economics and democracy.
Why does Greece fail so badly?
Kostas Bakouris, the head of Transparency International's Greek office, blames former socialist prime minister Andreas Papandreou, who came to power in 1981 on the back of what many saw as a social revolution.
"Papandreou essentially tried to do a good thing in empowering a disadvantaged population, but he abolished meritocracy and awarded positions of responsibility to socialist goons," says Bakouris.
"Society was flattened, principle disappeared, people became selfish and stopped feeling any social solidarity," he adds. "The prime minister allowed people to take bribes, and the result was that there was inculcated a tendency to sidestep the law."
Greece's ranking on the CPI index has fallen almost every year since 2001, when it was 42nd out of 91 countries surveyed. The problem has became dramatically worse during the economic crisis. Over the past three years, its nominal score fell from 4.7 to 3.4. New Zealand currently comes first with a squeaky clean 9.5.
The survey suggests that public Greek functionaries have aggressively tried to make up for slashed salaries and benefits, the result of austerity measures.
But there are a few non-rotten apples in the barrel. Transparency International found 22.5 per cent of people who were asked for a bribe refused. "It may be partly due to lack of money, but I would like to believe that it is due to a change in attitude as well," says Bakouris.
Healthcare venality
The government's medical bills are among its biggest liabilities. The troika of creditors - the International Monetary Fund, European Commission, and European Central Bank - have demanded about $2.5bn in cuts to pharmaceutical and hospital expenditures this year alone.
Greece did set up an electronic medical prescription platform as a way of checking redundancy. But fraud has persisted, with prescriptions remaining at above five million a month, suggesting one in two Greeks needs medicine at any given time.
Counting the Cost - Greece's debt drama
"An electronic platform means nothing on its own," says an Athens-based surgeon who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The key is to get doctors to prescribe according to scientific guidelines, and get the system to flag excessive prescriptions."
Hospital supplies are another area where the government wants to clamp down on waste. In the last two years, it has reduced payouts for various kinds of surgical materials by as much as 90 per cent.
"Besides customs duties on surgical materials, the importer usually claims a 55-65 per cent profit," the surgeon tells Al Jazeera.
"He sells to a distributor who introduces his own mark-up of 40-60 per cent, before bribing the hospital director and individual surgeons another 20-30 per cent each. Each mark-up compounds the previous one, so materials end up vastly inflated. That's what the government has stopped paying for in its new price lists."
Teachers on the take
Corruption does not always take the form of a bribe. A survey conducted for the European Commission last year found that before the crisis, Greeks privately paid a staggering $1.2bn a year for after-school tutors.
Supplemental tutoring, known as frontisteria, is considered mandatory by most parents, not to give their children an advantage, but to bolster the education provided by a semi-competent public school system. Many public school teachers break the law to moonlight as tutors.
The conservative-led government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has vowed to make the state accountable and transparent. Last month the financial crimes squad sent the case files of 35 politicians under investigation for money-laundering and illegal enrichment to the Supreme Court Prosecutor. That prompted the parliament speaker, who was on the list, to suspend himself for a few days.
Not everyone is convinced that Samaras and his team will clean up Greece.
"It is well known that the vast majority of tax collectors is deeply corrupt," says a former minister who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This shop cannot be easily fixed. You have to break lots of eggs."Capt. Wayne Brown, commanding officer of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, address the ship's crew and guests during a change of command ceremony on the flight deck on July 2, 2014. Brown was relieved of duty on Sept. 29, 2014.
SAN DIEGO — The captain of one of the Navy’s premier warships has been relieved of command after an investigation found that he routinely used foul and abusive language toward crew members and engaged in inappropriate touching and questioning of women.
Capt. Wayne Brown was relieved as commander of the San Diego-based amphibious assault ship Boxer after an investigation concluded that he had “lost the respect, trust and confidence of his subordinates” because of his temper and his behavior toward female crew members, according to the investigative report. His behavior included touching and asking crew members whether they were using birth control with their husbands or boyfriends.
Brown created a “hostile, offensive and intimidating work environment,” according to the investigation that was undertaken after complaints from enlisted personnel and junior officers.
The recommendation to relieve him of command was endorsed by Rear Adm. Frank Ponds in late September.
A heavily redacted copy of the investigative report was provided last week to the Los Angeles Times through a request under the Freedom of Information Act. News of Brown’s ouster, and the conclusions of the investigation, were first reported in the U-T San Diego.
Brown joined the Navy as an enlisted sailor in 1986 and became an officer in 1989. After being relieved, Brown was reassigned to a desk job in San Diego.
The report quotes one sailor — whose name and rank are redacted — saying that, “Capt. Brown’s leadership style is caustic and intimidating and is something he would consider ‘old school’ or from the ‘80s.”
The Boxer is designed to take combat Marines and heavy equipment to war zones. It deployed in support of the U.S. war in Iraq in 2003, 2004 and 2007. It also deployed to a humanitarian mission off Central and South America. Earlier this year it completed an eight-month deployment in the Western Pacific.
Brown was executive officer on the Boxer before becoming the commanding officer in June. He is the 12th commanding officer of a Navy ship to be relieved this year, according to the Navy Times.
The investigative report includes allegations that Brown put his hand on the back and hip of female sailors. Some incidents occurred aboard ship, some while the crew was on liberty in Bahrain and Subic Bay, Philippines.
Brown was concerned about female sailors and junior officers using birth control because the ship had lost several crew members who became pregnant and could not deploy, the report says. But the women were unnerved by the questioning and thought it was inappropriate, according to the report.
Another incident involved Brown’s alleged outburst after finding that a dance class and an academic skills class were scheduled aboard ship at the same time. He did not want to reschedule the dance class because he attended the class, the report says.
“He had a tirade for approximately 30 minutes during which time he yelled and pounded his fist on the desk,” the report says. Another display of anger came when he was angry at a sailor for well-deck operations: “Capt. Brown proceeded to yell and curse at him and tell him how stupid his plan was.”
The report concluded that Brown had violated Navy regulations against sexual harassment and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. Along with ordering Brown relieved, Ponds also ordered an immediate investigation to determine if Brown’s “caustic relationship with the port engineer” had undercut the Boxer’s readiness to deploy.
———
©2014 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLCNot to be confused with Acer platanoides
Acer pseudoplatanus, known as the sycamore in the United Kingdom and the sycamore maple in the United States,[2] is a flowering plant species in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tolerant of wind and coastal exposure. It is native to Central Europe and Western Asia, from France eastwards to Ukraine, northern Turkey and the Caucasus and southwards in the mountains of northern Spain and Italy.
The sycamore establishes itself easily from seed and was introduced to the British Isles by 1500, and is now naturalised there and in other parts of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand where it may become an invasive species.[3]
The sycamore can grow to a height of about 35 m (115 ft) and the branches form a broad, rounded crown. The bark is grey, smooth when young and later flaking in irregular patches. The leaves grow on long leafstalks and are large and palmate, with 5 large radiating lobes. The flowers are greenish-yellow and hang in dangling flowerheads called panicles. They produce copious amounts of pollen and nectar that are attractive to insects. The winged seeds or samaras are borne in pairs and twirl to the ground when ripe. They germinate freely in the following spring.
In its native range, the sycamore is associated with a biodiverse range of invertebrates and fungi, but these are not always present in areas to which it has been introduced. It is sometimes planted in urban areas for its value as an amenity tree and produces a hard-wearing, creamy-white close-grained timber that is used for making musical instruments, furniture, joinery, wood flooring and kitchen utensils. It also makes good firewood. The rising sap in spring has been used to extract sugar and make alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and honey is made by bees collecting the nectar.
Taxonomy and etymology [ edit ]
Acer pseudoplatanus was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum in 1753. It is the type species in the maple genus Acer. Many forms and varieties have been proposed, including natural varieties such as var. macrocarpum Spach, var. microcarpum Spach, and var. tomentosum Tausch, and forms such as f. erythrocarpum (Carrière) Pax, f. purpureum (Loudon) Rehder, and f. variegatum (Weston) Rehder. These are all now considered to be synonyms of Acer pseudoplatanus L.[1]
The specific name pseudoplatanus refers to the superficial similarity of the leaves and bark of the sycamore to those of plane trees in the genus Platanus, the prefix pseudo- (from Ancient Greek) meaning "false". However, the two genera are in different families that are only distantly related.[4] Acer and Platanus differ in the position in which leaves are attached to the stem (alternate in Platanus, paired or opposite in Acer) and in their fruit, which are spherical clusters in Platanus and paired samaras (winged fruit) in Acer.[5]
The common name "sycamore" originally applied to the fig species Ficus sycomorus, the sycamore or sycomore referred to in the Bible, that is native to southwest Asia.[6] Other common names for the tree include false plane-tree,[7] great maple,[7] Scottish maple,[7] mount maple,[8] mock-plane,[9][10] or Celtic maple.[11]
Description [ edit ]
Illustration of twigs, buds, leaves, flowers and fruits
Acer pseudoplatanus can form a broad, domed crown can form a broad, domed crown
Acer pseudoplatanus in early October in in early October in Lower Austria
The sycamore is a large, broadleaved deciduous tree that reaches 20–35 m (66–115 ft) tall at maturity, the branches forming a broad, domed crown. The bark of young trees is smooth and grey but becomes rougher with age and breaks up into scales, exposing the pale-brown-to-pinkish inner bark.[12]:118
Sycamore shoot tip in winter with a green terminal bud and paired green lateral buds
The buds are produced in opposite pairs, ovoid (approximately oval in shape) and pointed, with the bud scales (the modified leaves that enclose and protect the bud) green, edged in dark brown and with dark brown tips, 0.5–1 cm (0.2-0.4 in).[12] When the leaves are shed they leave horseshoe shaped marks called leaf scars on the stem. The leaves are opposite, large, 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 in) long and broad, palmate with 5 pointed lobes that are coarsely toothed or serrated.[12][13]:372 They have a leathery texture with thick veins protruding on the underside. They are dark green in colour with a paler underside. Some cultivars have purple-tinged or yellowish leaves. The leaf stalk or petiole is 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in) long, is often tinged red[12][14][15] with no stipules or leaf-like structures at the base.[12]
The monoecious (or bisexual) yellow-green flowers are produced after the leaves in early summer, in May or June in the British Isles,[16]:396 on pendulous panicles 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 in) long with about 60–100 flowers on each stalk.[12] The fruits are paired winged seeds or samaras, the seeds 5 to 10 mm (0.2 to 0.4 in) in diameter, each with a wing 20 to 40 mm (0.8 to 1.6 in) long developed as an extension of the ovary wall. The wings are held at about right angles to each other,[13] distinguishing them from those of A. platanoides and A. campestre, in which the wings are almost opposite,[13] and from those of A. saccharum, in which they are almost parallel. When shed, the wing of the samara catches the wind and rotates the fruit as it falls, slowing its descent and enabling the wind to disperse it further from the parent tree. The seeds are mature in autumn about four months after pollination.[14][15]
The sycamore is tetraploid (each cell having four sets of chromosomes, 2n=52), whereas A. campestre and A. platanoides are diploid (with 2 sets of chromosomes, 2n=26).[13]
Botany [ edit ]
Sycamore trees produce their flowers in hanging branched clusters known as panicles that contain a variety of different flower types. Most are morphologically bisexual, with both male and female organs, but function as if they were unisexual. Some are both morphologically and functionally male, others morphologically bisexual but function as males, and still others are morphologically bisexual but function as females. All of the flower types can produce pollen, but the pollen from functionally female flowers does not germinate. All flowers produce nectar, the functionally female flowers producing it in greater volume and with a higher sugar content.[17]
Sycamore trees are very variable across their wide range and have strategies to prevent self-pollination, which is undesirable because it limits the genetic variation of the progeny and may depress their vigour.[18] Most inflorescences are formed of a mixture of functionally male and functionally female flowers. On any one tree, one or other of these flower types opens first and the other type opens later. Some trees may be male-starters in one year and female-starters in another. The change from one sex to the other may take place on different dates in different parts of the crown, and different trees in any one population may come into bloom over the course of several weeks, so that cross-pollination is encouraged, although self-pollination may not be completely prevented.[17]
The sycamore may hybridise with other species in Acer section Acer, including with A. heldreichii where their natural ranges overlap and with A.velutinum. Intersectional hybrids with A. griseum (Acer section Trifoliata) are also known, in which the basal lobes of the leaf are reduced in size, making the leaves appear almost three-lobed (trifoliate).[19]
Distribution [ edit ]
The sycamore is native to central and eastern Europe and western Asia. Its natural range includes Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, southern Russia, Switzerland and the former Yugoslavia.[3] Reports of it occurring in eastern Turkey have been found to refer to A. heldreichii subsp. trautvetteri.[3] It was probably introduced into Britain in the Tudor period by 1500[20] and was first recorded in the wild in 1632 in Kent.[21]:28[22] The date of its first introduction into Ireland is unclear, but the oldest specimen in Ireland is in County Cavan and dates from the seventeenth century.[23] It was introduced into Sweden around 1770 with seeds obtained from Holland.[24][25][26]:76
The lack of old native names for it has been used to demonstrate its absence in Britain before introduction in around 1487, but this is challenged by the presence of an old Scottish Gaelic name for the tree, fior chrann which suggests a longer presence in Scotland at least as far back as the Gaelic settlement at Dál Riata in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. This would make it either an archaeophyte (a naturalised tree introduced by humans before 1500) or perhaps native if it can be seen to have reached Scotland without human intervention.[27]:6 At the moment it is usually classified as a neophyte, a plant that is naturalised but arrived with humans on or after the year 1500.[11] Today, the sycamore is present in 3,461 (89.7%) of hectads in Britain, more than any native tree species.[28]:388[29]
The sycamore has been introduced to suitable locations outside Europe as an attractive tree for park, street or garden. These include the United States, Canada, Australia (Victoria and Tasmania), Chile and New Zealand,[3][30] Patagonia[22] and the laurel forests of Madeira and the Azores.[31]:74 At the time of its introduction it was probably not appreciated that its prolific production of seeds might one day cause a problem to the landscape as it spread and out-competed native species.[32]:334 The tree is now considered to be an environmental weed in some parts of Australia (Yarra Ranges, Victoria) and also Mount Macedon, near Daylesford, parts of the Dandenong Ranges, where it is naturalised in the eucalypt forests.[33] The sycamore is also scattered in north-eastern Tasmania and also at Taroona, near the Derwent River, in southern Hobart. It is considered to be an invasive species in New Zealand,[34] Norway,[35] and environmentally sensitive locations in the United Kingdom.[36]
In about 1870, the sycamore was introduced into the United States, and was planted in New York and New Jersey. It was later cultivated as a park or street tree in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. By the early part of the 21st century, it was naturalised in fourteen states (Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.), and in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.[37] The United States Department of Agriculture considers it an invasive species.[2]
Ecology [ edit ]
In its native range, the sycamore is a natural component of birch (Betula sp.), beech (Fagus sp.) and fir (Abies sp.) forests.[38] It readily invades disturbed habitats such as forest plantations, abandoned farmland and brownfield land, railway lines and roadsides verges, hedgerows, native and semi-natural woodland and, in New Zealand, high country tussock grassland. As an introduced, invasive species it may degrade the laurel forest in Madeira and Portugal and is a potential threat to the rare endemic Madeiran orchid, Dactylorhiza foliosa.[20]
It is tolerant of a wide range of soil types and pH, except heavy clay, and is at its best on nutrient-rich slightly calcareous soils. The roots of the sycamore form highly specific beneficial mycorrhizal associations with the fungus Glomus hoi which promotes phosphorus uptake from the soil.[39] Sycamore mycorrhizas are of the internal arbuscular mycorrhizal type, in which the fungus grows within the tissues of the root and forms branched, tree-like structures within the cells of the root cortex.[39]
The larvae of a number of species of moth use the leaves as a food source. These include the sycamore moth (Acronicta aceris), the maple prominent (Ptilodon cucullina) and the plumed prominent (Ptilophora plumigera).[4] The horse-chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella) occasionally lays its eggs on the sycamore, although 70% of the larvae do not survive beyond the second instar.[40]:24 The leaves attract aphids, and also the ladybirds and hoverflies that feed on them. The flowers produce copious amounts of nectar and pollen and are attractive to bees and other insects, and the seeds are eaten by small mammals such as voles and birds.[4] As an introduced plant, in Britain the sycamore has a relatively small associated insect fauna of about 15 species,[41] but it does have a larger range of leafhoppers than does the native field maple.[42]
The tree may also be attacked by the horse chestnut scale insect (Pulvinaria regalis) which sucks sap from the trunk and branches, but does not cause serious damage to the tree.[43] Sometimes squirrels will strip the bark off branches, girdling the stem; as a result whole branches may die, leaving brown, wilted leaves.[44]
The sycamore gall mite Eriophyes macrorhynchus[45] produces small red galls, similar to those of the nail gall mite Eriophyes tiliae, on leaves of sycamore and field maple, Acer campestris from April onwards.[46]:179 Another mite, Aceria pseudoplatani causes a'sycamore felt gall' on the underside of leaves of both sycamore and Norway maple (Acer platanoides).[47] The sycamore aphid Drepanosiphum platanoidis sucks sap from buds and foliage, producing large quantities of sticky honeydew that contaminate foliage, cars and garden furniture beneath.[46]:119
The sycamore is susceptible to sooty bark disease, caused by the fungus Cryptostroma corticale. This causes wilting of the crown and the death of branches. Rectangular patches of bark become detached exposing thick layers of black fungal spores. The fungus may be present in the heartwood without symptoms for many years, working its way towards the bark following long, hot summers.[48] The spores are hyper-allergenic and cause a condition called maple bark stripper’s disease, a hypersensitivity pneumonitis.[49][50] Less serious is the fungus Rhytisma acerinum which often forms the disease known as tar spot, in which black spots with yellow margins form on the foliage. The leaves may fall prematurely but the vigour of the tree is little affected.[51] Sycamore leaf spot, caused by the fungus Cristulariella depraedans, results in pale blotches on leaves which later dry up and fall. This disease can cause moderate leaf loss but trees are little affected in the long run.[44]
Toxicity [ edit ]
Horses eating seeds or emergent seedlings of A. pseudoplatanus can suffer from an often fatal condition of atypical myopathy. [52][53]
Cultivation [ edit ]
Bark on a mature tree
Sycamore self-seeds very vigorously,[28]:388 the seeds germinating en masse in the spring so that there is little, or no, seed bank in the soil.[22] It is readily propagated from seed in cultivation, but varieties cannot be relied on to breed true.[54] Special cultivars such A. pseudoplatanus 'Brilliantissimum' may be propagated by grafting.[54][55]:92 This variety is notable for the bright salmon-pink colour of the young foliage and is the only sycamore cultivar to have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[54]:92 A rare weeping form with dangling branches, A. pseudoplatanus var. pendulum, was first sold by Knight & Perry's exotic nursery in Chelsea, England before 1850 when the name was published by W.H. Baxter in the Supplement to Loudon's Hortus Brittanicus, but no specimens of this cultivar are known to survive.[56]
The sycamore is noted for its tolerance of wind, urban pollution, salt spray, and low summer temperatures, which makes it a popular tree for planting in cities, along roads treated with salt in winter, and in coastal localities. It is cultivated and widely naturalised north of its native range in Northern Europe, notably in the British Isles and Scandinavia north to Tromsø, Norway (seeds can ripen as far north as Vesterålen); Reykjavík, Iceland; and Tórshavn on the Faroe Islands. It now occurs throughout the British Isles, having been introduced in the 16th century.[57]:439
Sycamores make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down and can therefore be coppiced to produce poles and other types of small timber. Its coppice stools grow comparatively rapidly, reaching up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter in 450 years.[58]:452 It is grown as a species for medium to large bonsai in many areas of Europe where some fine specimens can be found.[59]
Uses [ edit ]
Sycamore is planted in parks for ornamental purposes, and sometimes as a street tree, since its tolerance of air pollution makes it suitable for use in urban plantings. Because of its tolerance to wind, it has often been planted in coastal and exposed areas as a windbreak.[58]
It produces a hard-wearing, white or cream close-grained timber that turns golden with age. The wood can be worked and sawn in any direction and is used for making musical instruments, furniture, joinery, wood flooring and parquetry. Because it is non-staining, is used for kitchen utensils, wooden spoons, bowls, rolling pins and chopping boards. In Scotland it has traditionally been used for making fine boxes, sometimes in association with contrasting, dark-coloured laburnum wood.[60] The reference to the "white maple" in the English Christmas carol, "Wassail, Wassail All Over the Town", in "Our bowl, it is made of the white maple tree" presumably refers not to the silver or white maple (A. saccharinum), which does not occur naturally in Europe, but to the white wood of the sycamore or the field maple, Acer campestre.[citation needed]
Occasionally, trees produce wood with a wavy grain, greatly increasing the value for decorative veneers.[61] The wood is a medium weight for a hardwood, weighing 630 kg per cubic metre.[62] It is a traditional wood for use in making the backs, necks and scrolls of violins. The wood is often marketed as rippled sycamore.[63] Whistles can be made from straight twigs when the rising sap allows the bark to be separated,[64] and these, and sycamore branches, are used in customs associated with early May in Cornwall.[38] The wood is used for fuel, being easy to saw and to split with an axe, producing a hot flame and good embers when burnt.[65]
In Scotland, sycamores were once a favoured tree for hangings, because their lower branches rarely broke under the strain.[65] Both male and female flowers produce abundant nectar, which makes a fragrant, delicately flavoured and pale-coloured honey. The nectar and copious dull yellow ochre pollen are collected by honeybees as food sources.[66]:4,46[67] The sap rises vigorously in the spring and like that of sugar maple can be tapped to provide a refreshing drink, as a source of sugar and to make syrup or beer.[21]:57[68]
Notable specimens [ edit ]
The Martyrs' Tree, a sycamore at Tolpuddle in Dorset, England, is regarded by some as the birthplace of the British trades union movement.
Tolpuddle Martyrs' Tree [ edit ]
Under this sycamore tree at Tolpuddle in Dorset, England, six agricultural labourers, known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, formed an early trades union in 1834. They were found to have breached the Unlawful Oaths Act 1797 and were transported to Australia. The subsequent public outcry led to their release and return.[69] The tree now has a girth of 5.9 metres (19 feet, 4 inches)[70] and a 2005 study dated the tree to 1680.[71] The tree is cared for by the National Trust, who have pollarded the tree in 2002 and 2014.[72]
Corstorphine Sycamore Tree [ edit ]
An ancient sycamore (sometimes described as a "plane") with distinctive yellow foliage formerly stood in the village of Corstorphine, now a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. The tree was reputedly planted in the 15th century and is named as the form Acer pseudoplatanus f. corstorphinense Schwer. Not only was it claimed to be the "largest sycamore in Scotland" but also the scene of James Lord Forrester's murder in 1679.[73] The tree was blown down in a storm on Boxing Day 1998, but a replacement, grown from a cutting, now stands in the churchyard of Corstorphine Kirk.[74] The tree is commemorated in the badge of the Corstorphine Bowling Club of Edinburgh, designed in 1950 to feature the Corstorphine sycamore tree and a single horn, and redesigned in 1991 for the club’s centenary.[75]
Newbattle Abbey sycamore [ edit ]
The Newbattle Abbey sycamore near Dalkeith, planted in 1550, was the specimen with the earliest known planting date in Scotland. It had achieved a girth of 5 m (16 ft) and a height of 26 m (85 ft)[76]:6 by the time it was toppled by a gale in May 2006 at the age of 456 years.[77]
Clonenagh Money Tree [ edit ]
Saint Fintan founded a monastery at Clonenagh in County Laois, Ireland, in the sixth century and it had a spring beside it. This was considered holy and was visited by pilgrims. In the nineteenth century, a Protestant land owner, annoyed at people visiting the site, filled the |
some point the boy picked the loaded pistol up off the bed.
Helm said she wasn't sure of the relationship between the boy and the Fannings. The TBI, which investigates incidents involving law enforcement officers, is still conducting its probe, and no charges have been filed.
The gun involved was Fanning's personal weapon, not his service pistol, she said.“Oof.” That was Hillary Clinton Communications director Jennifer Palmieri’s reaction to the news that police had visited a home in New Castle, Delaware to question a 17-year-old girl about online communications with Anthony Weiner.
Weiner’s problems with underage girls was known by campaign staff, even before the Clinton’s 2016 campaign officially launched.
Partisan journalist Lee Fang sent an email to Joshua Dorner, who forwarded it to Palmieri and communications aides as well as John Podesta and Clinton loyalist Neera Tanden. The email was released by WikiLeaks on Monday, as part of their ongoing release of emails from Podesta’s private email account.
In 2011, Clinton staffers already worried about Weiner’s issues with underage girls pic.twitter.com/r5bk91nlqR — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) October 31, 2016
The high school junior had visited Weiner as part of a class trip to Washington D.C. and followed him on Twitter afterward. Weiner direct messaged her on Twitter on April 13, according to the report.
In 2011, Weiner confirmed that he contacted the girl, but denied that he engaged in inappropriate behavior.
The report took place after he admited he sent lewd pictures of himself online, but before he resigned from Congress.Paquette, 22, skated in 56 games with the Lightning last season, recording six goals and 11 points to go along with 51 penalty minutes. His 51 penalty minutes ranked fourth on the Bolts during the regular season. The 6-foot-1, 199-pound forward was one of five Lightning players to notch a shorthanded tally last season. Paquette also appeared in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2016, posting one assist and 24 penalty minutes. He ranked third on the Bolts during the postseason for penalty minutes.
The Gaspe, Quebec, native has played in 122 career NHL games, all with the Lightning, over the past three seasons, registering 18 goals and 31 points to go along with 102 penalty minutes. Paquette recorded his first and lone career hat trick against the Detroit Red Wings on January 29, 2015 at Amalie Arena.
Paquette was originally drafted by the Lightning in the fourth round, 101st overall, at the 2012 NHL Draft.Expanded range of processing functions; Enhanced flexibility for data access and processing; Full conformance tests available; Safety Critical specification in development
May 2nd 2016 – Embedded Vision Summit, Santa Clara, CA – The Khronos™ Group, an open consortium of leading hardware and software companies, announces the immediate availability of the OpenVX™ 1.1 specification for cross platform acceleration of computer vision applications and libraries. OpenVX enables performance and power optimized computer vision algorithms for use cases such as face, body and gesture tracking, smart video surveillance, automatic driver assistance systems, object and scene reconstruction, augmented reality, visual inspection, robotics and more. Conformant OpenVX 1.0 implementations and tools are shipping from AMD, Imagination, Intel, NVIDIA, Synopsys and VeriSilicon. OpenVX 1.1 builds on this momentum by adding new processing functions for use cases such as computational photography, and enhances application control over how data is accessed and processed. An open source OpenVX 1.1 sample implementation and full conformance tests will be available in the first half of 2016. Details on the OpenVX specifications and Adopters Program are available at: www.khronos.org/openvx.
“More and more products are incorporating computer vision, and OpenVX addresses a critical need by making it easier for developers to harness heterogeneous processors for high performance, low power vision processing – without having to become processor experts,” said Jeff Bier, founder of the Embedded Vision Alliance. “This is essential for enabling the widespread deployment of visual intelligence in devices and applications.”
The precisely defined specification and conformance tests for OpenVX make it ideal for deployment in production systems where cross-vendor consistency and reliability are essential. Additionally, OpenVX is easily extensible to enable nodes to be deployed to meet customer needs, ahead of being integrated into the core specification.
The new OpenVX 1.1 specification is a significant expansion in the breadth and flexibility of vision processing functionality and the OpenVX graph framework:
Definition and processing of Laplacian pyramids to support computational photography use cases;
Median, erode and dilate image filters, including custom patterns;
Easier and less error prone methods to read and write data to and from OpenVX objects;
Targets - to control on which accelerator to run nodes in a heterogeneous device;
More convenient and flexible API for extending OpenVX with user kernels;
Many other improvements and clarifications to infrastructure functions and vision nodes.
“This is an important milestone towards widespread adoption of OpenVX in embedded platforms running computer vision algorithms,” said Victor Erukhimov, President, Itseez and chair of the OpenVX working group. “The new vision functions that we added enable exciting use cases, and refined infrastructure API gives developers more flexibility for creating advanced computer vision applications."
About OpenVX
OpenVX abstracts a vision processing execution and memory model at a much higher level than general compute frameworks such as OpenCL, enabling significant implementation innovation and efficient execution on a wide range of architectures while maintaining performance portability and a consistent vision acceleration API for application development. An OpenVX developer expresses a connected graph of vision nodes that an implementer can execute and optimize through a wide variety of techniques such as: acceleration on CPUs, GPUs, DSPs or dedicated hardware, compiler optimizations, node coalescing, and tiled execution to keep sections of processed images in local memories. This architectural agility enables OpenVX applications on a diversity of systems optimized for different levels of power and performance, including very battery-sensitive, vision-enabled, wearable displays.
Future Safety Critical Standards
Vision processing will be a vital component of many emerging safety critical market opportunities including Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and medical and process control applications. The OpenVX working group is developing OpenVX SC, a safety critical version of OpenVX for to address the unique and stringent requirements of these high reliability markets. The Safety Critical working group at Khronos is building on the experience of shipping the OpenGL® SC 2.0 specification for high reliability use of modern graphics programmable shader engines, and is developing cross-API guidelines to aid in the development of open technology standards for safety critical systems. Any interested company is welcome to join Khronos for a voice and a vote in these development processes.
OpenVX and Khronos APIs at Embedded Vision Summit, 2-4 May, Santa Clara, CA
There are multiple presentations and workshops related to OpenVX and other Khronos APIs on May 2nd-4th at the Embedded Vision Summit in Santa Clara, CA, including:
How Computer Vision Is Accelerating the Future of Virtual Reality at 3:30PM, Monday 2nd by AMD
NVIDIA VisionWorks, a Toolkit for Computer Vision using OpenVX at 3:15PM, Tuesday 3rd by NVIDIA
Using the OpenCL C Kernel Language for Embedded Vision Processors at 3:45PM, Tuesday 3rd by Synopsys
The Vision API Maze: Options and Trade-offs at 4:30PM, Tuesday 3rd by Khronos
Programming Embedded Vision Processors Using OpenVX at 5PM, Tuesday 3rd by Synopsys
Whole day hand-on workshop Accelerate Your Vision Applications with OpenVX on Wednesday 4th
Details about the Embedded Visions Summit are here: www.embedded-vision.com/summit and specific details on the Khronos full day OpenVX tutorial including speakers from AMD, Intel, Imagination, NVIDIA, Synopsys and TI are here:
http://www.embedded-vision.com/summit/accelerate-your-vision-applications-openvx.
Industry Support for OpenVX 1.1
“AMD fully supports OpenVX with our open source release,” said Raja Koduri, senior VP and chief architect, Radeon Technologies Group at AMD. “We have enabled computer vision developers with access to OpenVX on the entire range of PC platforms, from embedded APUs to high-end workstation GPUs and the fully open source access also facilitates developers to port OpenVX to other platforms based on AMD GCN architecture easily.”
“OpenVX can be a valuable starting point for accelerating creation and adoption of vision applications, and can enable easier access to vision applications in safety-critical areas such as automotive and factory automation,” said Chris Longstaff, director of business development, Imagination Technologies. “Imagination is supporting OpenVX, development of the OpenVX SC specification and inclusion of important new features such as computational neural networks, across our PowerVR GPUs and vision IP offerings. These processors are at the heart of many of the world’s mobile, automotive and embedded devices, providing developers with ideal platforms to develop vision applications.”
“Vision processing is increasingly important for a range of real world applications. It is a fundamental technology for advanced driver assist systems and gesture recognition as a method of user interaction,” said Mobica's CTO, Jim Carroll. “Mobica is excited to be working on the development of such applications and enabling acceleration technology for OpenVX 1.1 - we anticipate that it will be a fundamental technology for many aspects of next generation computing devices.”
“OpenVX is a vital component of the VisionWorks SDK on the Jetson embedded platform,” said Deepu Talla, vice president and general manager for Tegra at NVIDIA. “VisionWorks enables developers to quickly configure efficient GPU-based vision acceleration for their applications, and NVIDIA has extended the core OpenVX functionality to meet our customer’s needs.”
“As an early adopter of the OpenVX standard, VeriSilicon congratulates the Khronos Group on reaching this major milestone,” said Shanghung Lin, vice president for Vision Image Products at VeriSilicon. “Our customers have enthusiastically embraced OpenVX conformant solutions in our VIP (Vision Image Processor) line that being designed into silicon products for automotive, video surveillance and other IoT applications. OpenVX has been accelerating mass-market adoption of computer vision applications such as natural user interfaces, always-on cameras, and Automotive Driver Assistance Systems, and OpenVX 1.1 makes a significant step toward more flexible support for vision processing and computational photography. We are proud to support the OpenVX standard with our VIP, with a power/performance/area optimized architecture for novel vision processing use cases on mobile, home, automotive, and embedded platforms.”
About The Khronos Group
The Khronos Group is an industry consortium creating open standards to enable the authoring and acceleration of parallel computing, graphics, vision, sensor processing and dynamic media on a wide variety of platforms and devices. Khronos standards include Vulkan™, OpenGL®, OpenGL® ES, WebGL™, OpenCL™, SPIR™, SPIR-V™, SYCL™, WebCL™, OpenVX™, EGL™, COLLADA™, and glTF™. All Khronos members are enabled to contribute to the development of Khronos specifications, are empowered to vote at various stages before public deployment, and are able to accelerate the delivery of their cutting-edge media platforms and applications through early access to specification drafts and conformance tests. More information is available at www.khronos.org.
###TV actress Lisa Edelstein is facing online backlash after tweeting a joke about the recent death of actor Alan Thicke.
“RIP Alan Thicke. Seems like everyone is checking out before the Trumpacolypse,” the former “House” star tweeted to her 93,000 followers.
RIP Alan Thicke. Seems like everyone is checking out before the Trumpacolypse. — Lisa Edelstein (@LisaEdelstein) December 14, 2016
Commenters said the tweet was hateful and insensitive.
“Absolutely insensitive and unnecessary. Someone’s father, husband & grandfather died today. Do not politicise it,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Trump may be many things, bit at least he’s not as vile and repugnant as @LisaEdelstein,” another wrote.
“Why would you do this? A simple RIP would suffice. What a sad soul you are,” wrote another.
Ms. Edelstein, who currently stars as Abby McCarthy in Bravo’s “Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce,” didn’t bother to delete the tweet, and instead retweeted several posts criticizing President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr. Thicke died of a heart attack Tuesday at the age of 69.The Flemish Giant rabbit is a very large breed of domestic rabbit (O. cuniculus domesticus), and is normally considered to be the largest breed of the species. Flemish giants are a utility breed, and are most commonly bred for fur and meat. The breed is also known for its docile nature and patience in being handled, resulting in the animals commonly being kept as pets.
History [ edit ]
A Flemish Giant
The Flemish Giant originated in Flanders. It was bred as early as the 16th century near the city of Ghent, Belgium. It is believed to have descended from a number of meat and fur breeds, possibly including the Steenkonijn (Stone Rabbit—referring to the old Belgian weight size of one stone or about 3.76 kg (8 lb 5 oz)) and the European "Patagonian" breed (now extinct).[1] This "Patagonian" rabbit, a large breed that was once bred in Belgium and France, was not the same as the Patagonian rabbit of Argentina (Sylvilagus brasiliensis), a wild species of a different genus weighing less than two pounds[2] (about 1 kg), nor the Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum), sometimes called the Patagonian hare, a species in the cavy family of rodents that cannot interbreed with rabbits.[3] Thomas Coatoam, in his Origins of the Flemish Giants, tells us, "The earliest authentic record of the Flemish Giant Rabbit occurred about the year 1860."[4]
A sandy Flemish male napping next to a sable and white sheltie
The first standards for the breed were written in 1893. The Flemish Giant is an ancestor of many rabbit breeds all over the world, one of which is the Belgian Hare,[1] imported into England in the mid 19th century. The Flemish Giant was exported from England and Belgium to America in the early 1890s to help improve the size of meat rabbits during the great "rabbit boom".[5]
It received little attention until about 1910 where it started appearing at small livestock shows throughout the country. Today, it is one of the more popular breeds at rabbit shows because of its unusually large size and its varying colors. It is promoted by the National Federation of Flemish Giant Rabbit Breeders, which was formed in 1915. The Flemish Giant has many nicknames, first and foremost the "Gentle Giant" for its uniquely docile personality and also the "universal rabbit" for its varied purposes as pet, show, breeding, meat and fur animal.[6]
Appearance [ edit ]
This sandy doe displays a well-developed dewlap.
As one of the largest breeds of domestic rabbit, the Flemish Giant is a semi-arch type rabbit with its back arch starting behind the shoulders and carrying through to the base of the tail giving a "mandolin" shape. The body of a Flemish Giant Rabbit is long and powerful, with relatively broad hindquarters. The fur of the Flemish Giant is known to be glossy and dense. When stroked from the hindquarters to the head, the fur will roll back to its original position.
Bucks have a broad, massive head in comparison to does, and can take 1.5 years to reach full maturity. Does may have a large, full, evenly carried dewlap (the fold of skin under their chins), and can take 1 year to reach their full maturity.
Flemish Giant Rabbits weigh 15 pounds on average, though the biggest ones can weigh up to 22 lb, and the longest one on record (in fact, holding the record for the longest rabbit in the world of any kind), measured about 4 feet 3 inches long.[7]
The American Rabbit Breed Association (ARBA) standard recognized seven different colors for this breed: black, blue, fawn, sandy, light gray, steel gray, and white.[8] The show standard minimum weight for a senior doe is 14 lb (about 6.4 kg), and the show standard minimum weight of a Senior buck is 13 lb (about 5.9 kg).
Behavior and lifestyle [ edit ]
Flemish Giant rabbit in owned in captivity.
Flemish Giants can be docile and tolerant of handling; frequent interaction with humans is a requirement for this to occur. Flemish Giants, like all rabbits, can become fearful, and sometimes aggressive, if handled incorrectly or irresponsibly. Their larger frame requires special attention paid to the spine alignment when handling a Flemish Giant, or any rabbit for that matter. Consequently, potential owners should consider these factors in addition to their size, level of food consumption, and substantial waste production before buying.
Due to its large size, the Flemish Giant needs substantial living quarters that provide ample opportunity for physical movement. The House Rabbit Society recommends keeping rabbits inside the home in a very large pen or room(s) in the home. Larger dog crates are often more appropriate than traditional rabbit and small-pet cages, which tend to be smaller and shorter. In the United States Department of Agriculture's standards for animal housing, rabbits over 12 pounds must have at least five square feet of floor space.[9] The size of appropriate living quarters increases with size of the rabbit.
Cages with incorrectly sized wire gauge bottoms (as opposed to small gauge wire or solid bottoms) can harm the feet of a Flemish Giant more so than smaller house rabbits due to their increased weight. A resting board may be required to prevent sore hocks for a larger breed rabbit.[6] The Flemish Giant will require larger quantities of food compared to smaller breeds of domestic rabbits. Like some other short hair breeds of rabbits, the Flemish Giant will usually require mild attention to grooming due to its shorter hair. Shedding during the spring and fall transition periods tend to be the most dramatic, with smaller sheds often occurring in between.
Diet [ edit ]
A Flemish Giant along with Chickens
Flemish Giants can be fed like other rabbits, with the amount of food increased to match their larger size.[10] ARBA recommendations include hay and occasional treats.
A high protein diet of 16% or more is needed for them to gain bone mass while growing and later when muscle mass develops. Apples, cabbage or broccoli in small amounts can be given as treats and slowly increased. A quarter apple per rabbit every other day for 3 weeks can be increased to a half apple after that. Do not feed the core or seeds to the rabbit. Since Flemish Giants do not reach full size until they are 1.5 years old, they need to be fed a lot until then. When females have babies and during winter, they need to be fed as much as they can eat, and given plenty of water.
In supplementing a commercial diet, care must be taken to avoid excess protein, calories, and minerals such as salt and calcium, which in excess can cause kidney stones. Overfeeding leading to obesity is a major health concern for both commercial and pet rabbits.[11]
The House Rabbit Society recommends 2 cups of chopped leafy vegetables per 6 pounds (3 kg) of body weight and no more than 2 tablespoons of fruit or carrots per 6 pounds of body weight daily.[12]
Breeding [ edit ]
Two-week-old Flemish Giants
The American Rabbit Breeders' Association (ARBA) recommends delaying breeding of female rabbits until they reach the senior weight range. For Flemish Giants, this is 14 pounds, and a typical rabbit will reach this weight when they are about 9 months to one year.[11] A Flemish Giant can take up to 1.5 years to reach their maximum weight and a breeder should wait until the rabbit is slightly over a year old before breeding. Females and males can become sexually mature at 4 months and 8 days. Once the rabbits are 3 months old they should be kept in separate cages or put females with females and males with males. If fighting occurs then they must be separated. The breeding lifespan of a rabbit is variable. Some breeders prefer not to have any more litters after the age of three years [13] while others continue to produce quality litters for five to eight years. The gestation period is between 28–31 days. On average they give birth at 30–32 days. The Flemish Giant rabbit can produce large litters, usually between 5 and 12 in a litter.
A nesting box filled with hay is given to the female as she prepares for birth. After birth, clean out the hay, replace with some new hay, and check to see if babies are all alive. Check box every day in case babies die and take them out.
Uses [ edit ]
Apart from being kept as a pet, the Flemish Giant is used for meat, fur, show, pet assisted therapy and education.
4-H and show [ edit ]
Flemish Giants, due to their uncomplicated grooming requirements and docile personalities, are used by 4-H programs throughout the United States as a starter rabbit for teaching children responsibility and care of farm animals and pets.[14] Another very popular youth program outside of 4-H that promotes responsible show breeding is the National Federation of Flemish Giant Breeders Youth Program.[15] Flemish Giants are the second oldest domesticated rabbit breed in the United States, following behind the now rare Belgian Hare.[citation needed]
Raising for pets and profit [ edit ]
Flemish Giants make excellent pets as they are calm, but too heavy for most children to handle. They require a lot of space. Outdoor cages should be 5 feet by 3 feet (1.5 meters by 1 meter). Cages must be in the shade so the rabbits do not overheat. Cages should be protected from wind using painter drop cloth. Cages should have solid roofs to protect rabbits from rain and snow.They eat 0.5 kg or more food a day of dried rabbit pellets. They expel a lot of waste. Flemish Giants are not typically regarded as "meat" rabbits because much of the commercial rabbit market focuses on young rabbits, usually around 70 days of age. At this time, Flemish Giants are developing bone mass rather than muscle. However, when raised to roasting (under 6 months) and stewing (over 6 months) age, the size of the Flemish makes them desirable. They are also often bred with other meat rabbit breeds, such as the New Zealand, to increase both meat-to-bone ratio and litter size.
Due to the large amount of high protein food they consume and the cost of this food, the selling of the Flemish Giants for meat is not profitable, as buyers want to only pay little amount of money per rabbit.
See also [ edit ]
Components:
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VIII Gene
Cpu: i7 6700k
Ram: Avexir Blitz Series 16gb DDR4 3200Mhz
Storage: Samsung 840 Evo 120Gb SSD, 1Tb Toshiba 2.5" HDD, 1Tb 3.5" HDD Seagate Barracuda
Gpu: Nvidia EVGA GTX 980Ti Classified
LCS: Thermaltake Liquid Cooling System
Fans: Thermaltake Red Led Riing and Luna (all red led)
Psu: Corsair RM850 with custom sticker and custom sleeved cables from
Filters: Customized Filters from
Back Panel and Motherboard Tray from Case: Apple Power Mac G5 Late 2004 ModelMotherboard: Asus Maximus VIII GeneCpu: i7 6700kRam: Avexir Blitz Series 16gb DDR4 3200MhzStorage: Samsung 840 Evo 120Gb SSD, 1Tb Toshiba 2.5" HDD, 1Tb 3.5" HDD Seagate BarracudaGpu: Nvidia EVGA GTX 980Ti ClassifiedLCS: Thermaltake Liquid Cooling SystemFans: Thermaltake Red Led Riing and Luna (all red led)Psu: Corsair RM850 with custom sticker and custom sleeved cables from CableMods Filters: Customized Filters from DEMCIFILTER Back Panel and Motherboard Tray from Laser Hive
Photos:
and the original side panel gutted the middle part to make it window side panel... measurement for the window is 267mm x 400mm if you will follow the guide for the latch system as shown on my photo. diameter for the corner is 20mm.
Thank you so much for viewing...
Hi there everyone!!!Here is my finished revision for my G5 mod.The latest Scraps update adds a little air control, a save format upgrade, tweaked weapon hit forces, and a terrain graphics upgrade.
Full changelog:
2016-3 – 0.5.4.0
– Terrain graphics upgrade. But no more switching to greyscale terrain when in low grav mode I’m afraid
– Magically, vehicle save files are now also PNG image screenshots of the vehicle itself
– Separated weapon recoil and hit force, so they don’t have to be the same anymore. Reduced hit forces in general – should help with Medium Cannon spam in particular
– Rewrote the weapon movement range calculation AGAIN. More bugs fixed with it. Hopefully very correct and consistent now
– Added a little air control: Pitch = Throttle forward/back. Roll = Throttle + Steering. More engine power gives more control
– Finally the test map side road is actually 100% flat, right up to the ramp
– Updated uLink and Steamworks.NET to their latest versions
– Added grass density graphics option
Bug Fixes:
– Tooltips now update their text to match language changes without requiring a restart
– Fixed mass from held wreckage not being subtracted after wreckage was offloaded on evac
– Stopped evac pad ambient sound from playing when the pad is turned off (Test map)
Air control
I showed this off in the last update, but now it’s live. You can control your pitch with throttle and your roll with turning. You can’t control yaw – it’s a car, not a plane OK? Practising in Low Gravity mode is a nice way to get the hang of it.
Recoil
Weapon recoil and hit forces used to always be the same, which was arguably more realistic, but it meant that if I wanted a big kick on a weapon it also had to have a big hit. Often because of hit angles and multiple shots hitting in one spot, the hits would end up even worse than the recoil.
I’ve changed it so that I can set them separately, and reduced some hit forces. Hopefully there’s less of a problem with Medium Cannons and Plasma in particular throwing vehicles around now. Of course you can still push your enemies around to some extent.
Save Format
Those are actual save files. When you save vehicles now they’ll end up in a new format, which is also a png image – so now it’s easier to see what a vehicle is if you’re sharing it around.
The easiest way to see your vehicle saves is probably to open the Save/Load dialog in the game and click the button at the top right which takes you straight there.
Hosting these on an image host will most likely break them – you can try, but you’re probably better off using a file host of some sort. Anything that won’t try to modify or re-encode the image file.
Dev note: There are several ways to do something like this. Gimbal has awesome image saves, as does the Spore creature creator. One potential method is to use the image’s metadata fields to add your custom data, although sometimes those have size limits. Another method is to use something in the image itself that’s invisible or hard to see, like something in the alpha channel or the least significant bits. Or even just extend the image to have the data encoded in an extra part of it, using all the available colour data.
However, I’ve done this with the dumbest and simplest method possible: Just dumping all the save data at the end of the file! It was one of the options I’ve read about so it’s not totally unheard of. Sure image hosts will probably break it but all those other methods get broken by image hosts anyway. Seems like as long as you still end the png part of the file properly (works for JPEG too!), every PNG reader that I’ve come across reads the files with no problem. Scraps just ignores the image part and looks for my special marker, then starts reading the save from there.
Graphics
Scraps’ terrain graphics have always been pretty meh, and I wanted to get a better system for new stuff, so I’ve also back-ported that to the existing maps.
What’s actually better? Well, there’s nice perlin shadowing on things (how much there is varies with the terrain texture):
Although I had to get rid of the black outline FX on terrain.
Bumpy stuff is… bumpier:
And you can see there that the grass is better too, not just denser. The default Unity grass shader is a simple cutout thing: It takes a texture and says OK, if the alpha value is above whatever, I’ll show that pixel, otherwise I won’t show it. That gives really crisp but jagged looking grass. It also means that when the terrain engine tries to fade out distant grass, instead of getting semi-transparent grass you get grass that sort of gets cut down more and more at the edges.
I did a literally one-minute edit to the grass shader to make it do “proper” transparency, and the difference is huge!
I don’t think Unity has updated their grass shader for a long time. There’s a comment about Mac OS 10.4 in there. I was sure I must’ve killed performance as a tradeoff, but if anything the grass performance seems to be slightly better. Here are my replacement shaders if any Unity dev wants them, it’s like jumping from 2002 to 2012 in one fell swoop: https://github.com/Nition/UnityTerrainGrass
There’s also now texture blending based on heightmaps:
What’s happening above is, when there’s a mixture of two different terrain textures, it used to just blend, but now it’ll show the higher parts of the texture first (based on a greyscale height map I supply it), so the new texture sort if “raises up” out of the other one as it increases in opacity. For Unity devs, most of these new features come from using Tomasz Stobierski’s Relief Terrain Pack (it’s not exactly drop-in-and-your-terrain-looks-amazing, but it is very good once you bend it to your will).
I also wrote some custom terrain editing tools of my own to let me make stuff faster:
The heightmaps and splatmaps (texture layout) used there are pre-created – my tools aren’t that amazing – but it automates a whole bunch of stuff that was previously tedious. It also means I can edit heightmaps and splats and basically just click to update. Without much more work a terrain like the one above starts looking pretty good:
Still working on a new single-player mode.Google's WebM project, the free and open video codec based on VP8, offers tantalizing benefits for fans of Linux and open source: better quality, plus full support in the browser and other applications, thanks to the lack of royalty-demanding patent holders. Often overlooked in the WebM story is the other media format unveiled by Google at the same time: WebP, a lossy still-image format said to provide better-than-JPEG quality at substantially slimmer file sizes. Is WebP poised to displace the stodgy old photo format? Let's take a look at the free tools available for writing, converting, and displaying WebP files to find out.
Image is Everything
For starters, we need to understand what WebP is. The format is lossy, like standard JPEG, meaning that it uses compression to remove bytes in a way that (hopefully) the eye will not notice. JPEG files typically split the image into 8-by-8 blocks, then perform a discrete cosine transform (DCT) on each block, and toss out some of the least-significant-digit data in the resulting high frequencies. That's where most of the size savings come from; our eyes aren't as sensitive to that high-frequency data, so JPEGs sweep them under the carpet.
There are actually quite a few options defined by the JPEG codec standard (including lossless compression), which is what gives rise to the JPEG "quality" setting — as you crank the quality down when you export an image, the algorithm adapts to toss out more and more information. But the gist remains the same.
WebP compression is essentially an adaption of a single frame of WebM video. It, too, breaks the image into blocks (although 4-by-4 in size, rather than 8-by-8), but in place of JPEG's DCT and high-frequency bit-chopping step, it uses the intra-frame coding algorithm from WebM. Intra-frame coding is the coding down within a single frame, as opposed to between two consecutive frames, and WebM's method involved constructing a prediction for each block based on the blocks adjacent to it. The encoder saves the predictions and the differences between the predictions and the real input blocks in the output file — if prediction is going well, as it should for most continuous-tone images like photos, the output is smaller than the raw input — and the result compressed with lossless techniques.
The fun part is that WebM's block prediction algorithm can use several different techniques, which can generate better results than JPEG's one-size-fits-all approach. On the other hand, the codec is substantially more complex mathematically, so encoding takes longer. It is possible to parallelize decoding of WebP images, however, so at least the viewer won't have to invest noticeably more time.
The Google Toolkit
Google provides a "reference implementation" toolkit called libwebp for download on Google Code. The bundle is currently at version number 0.1, and includes two command-line tools, a static library, and C header files for use with other applications. All are licensed under the BSD-style terms used by the WebM project as a whole. Binary packages are provided for 32-bit and 64-bit Linux, as well as Mac OS X and Windows, and a source code archive is available, too.
To get started with the Linux bundle, you'll need to unpack the archive, moving the cwebp and dwebp binaries into the directory of your choice and making sure that you have execute permission. They are linked against libjpeg and libpng, but there is no installer script included in the bundle, so there is no checking enabled to ensure that you have both libraries installed. They're fundamental fare these days, though, so you almost certainly do.
The WebP library is named libwebp.a and can be used to add WebP encoding and decoding support to an application. The accompanying README file describes the encoding and decoding APIs, including several encoding functions for different RGB data types, plus pseudocode. The necessary headers are provided in the "include" directory. For a developer needing to implement WebP, this is a good starting point, but to experiment with the format, the CLI tools are a quicker way to begin.
Encoding WebP
The cwebp tool takes a PNG or JPEG image as input, and converts it to WebP format. The dwebp tool takes a WebP image and converts it to a lossless PNG. This allows you to view the affects of your WebP conversion experiments even without a WebP-supporting client app (of which there are few at the moment).
Cwebp exposes several levels of algorithmic adjustments you can play around with to tweak your compression results or to investigate the various parameters of the format. The simplest option is the -quality NN.nn flag, which takes a floating point number in the range 0 to 100. 100 represents the highest-quality output and thus the largest file size. For reference, the default quality setting is 75. Thus the most basic usage of cwebp would be cwebp filename.png, which would produce a 75-quality WebP output image, and name it filename.webp.
The next step up in complexity is to use cwebp's built-in presets, each of which supplies a full array of encoder settings in one fell swoop. The presets are photo, picture, drawing, icon, and text, and you use them by supplying the preset you want after the -preset command-line option, as in cwebp -preset drawing filename.png. Using -preset overrides any other command-line switches you supply as arguments.
Unfortunately, neither the web-based or downloadable documentation goes into any detail about exactly what parameters each preset sets — and there are a lot of parameters available. For those seeking the most complex adjustments possible, cwebp includes eleven command-line switches to tweak individual encoding parameters. The full list is:
-f strength of deblocking filter, integer 0 to 100, default 20 -m thoroughness of compression method option examination, integer 0 to 6, default 4 -sns spatial noise-shaping, integer 0 to 100, default 80 -segments number of segments used by sns algorithms, integer 1 to 4, default 4 -sharpness filter sharpness, integer 0 to 7 -strong use "strong" filter rather than "simple," default off -pass number of analysis passes, integer 1 to 10 -size target size in bytes -psnr target peak signal-to-noise ratio in decibels. -af auto-adjust filter strength, default off -pre pre-processing filter, integer
Here again, the availability of the parameters is nice, but the documentation is sporadic at present. Google claims that 30-40% size reductions over JPEG with no discernible loss in quality is average, with even greater savings possible under certain circumstances. I have seen users claiming 80% reductions, although they do not have their full test data available. There is a gallery page on the WebP site that includes sample images and — more importantly — describes the cwebp settings used to create them.
Decoding WebP
Size savings are great, but unless you are a determined image archivist, there is no point to switching to a new format unless people can see the resulting files. For WebP viewing, there are several interesting options to consider.
First |
, FB and Twitter, or come connect in person at my workshops at the following transformational events this summer:
Firefly Gathering, June 12-15, Flagstaff AZ
Sonic Bloom, June 18-21, Rye, CO
Absurdia, July 9-12, East of Denver, CO
Burning Man (MY FIRST BURN!!!!) August 30th- Sept 7th, Black Rock City NV
Symbiosis Gathering, Sept 17-20, Oakdale CA
LIGHT AND LOVE!
Photo Credit: Symbiosis Gathering Pyramid Eclipse 2012 (I was there!!)AirDroid 3 launched this afternoon for Android users, allowing for even more multitasking capability between your smartphone and desktop computer. AirDroid has been around for quite some time, always hoping to make communication between your computing devices easier. With this newest release, the AirDroid team is hoping to make mirroring and enhanced productivity even better.
Included in AirDroid 3 is AirMirror, which allows users to wireless display all of the happenings on their phone, directly to a desktop. You can use your PC’s mouse as your index finger on the phone, controlling apps or making calls. In addition, a wireless transfer feature allows for the transferring of files from device to device, all with no wires. Fancy that.
Setting up AirDroid is beyond simple. All you need is the Android app and computer app, both of which are free to download. After syncing your account on both devices over a WiFi connection, you are good to go.
If you love the idea of controlling your phone right from your computer, definitely check it out.
Play Link | PC Download Link
Via: AirDroidThe then immigration minister was made personally aware of allegations of a sexual assault by a cleaner against an asylum seeker in November 2013, Senate inquiry hears
Scott Morrison was made aware in December 2013 of serious allegations of sexual abuse at Australia’s detention centre on Nauru, almost a year before a full review into allegations was commissioned, a Senate inquiry has heard.
A committee in Canberra is currently investigating serious allegations of sexual assault at the Nauru detention centre. The inquiry has heard evidence that the immigration department regularly interfered with medical assessments on Nauru and asked medical staff to change reports.
Immigration interfered with Nauru asylum seeker diagnoses, Senate told Read more
The committee heard from two former Save the Children child protection workers on Tuesday, Viktoria Vibhakar and Kirsty Diallo, who both raised significant concerns about the process for reporting and mitigating risks surrounding sexual assaults at the Nauru centre.
In relation to one serious sexual assault by a cleaner against an asylum seeker in November 2013, Diallo said the then immigration minister Scott Morrison was made personally aware of the allegations as well as in an incident report from the service providers on the island.
“In December 2013 I asked the Save the Children manager if that incident report had been forwarded on to the minister for immigration,” Diallo said. “I was advised the minister had seen the report.”
Her testimony highlights the high level at which serious assaults appear to be have been reported within the immigration department.
A full review into allegations of sexual assault was not commissioned until October 2014, when former integrity commissioner Philip Moss was asked to investigate the allegations.
Diallo said she was forced to conduct an assessment following the assault “under a tree”.
“I had to carry out that assessment in an open space under a tree because there was no private setting to have that conversation with that child. That would be completely inappropriate in Australia,” she said.
Diallo expanded on her comments in her written submission to the inquiry, which details the aftermath of the assault.
“During the conversation with the boy he was visibly upset and stated repeatedly ‘this is a matter of my honour’. I also spoke with his mother who sobbed throughout the conversation stating ‘I brought my children to Australia to keep them safe, now this happens.’”
Diallo wrote that despite the alleged direct knowledge of Morrison, “no further steps were taken to protect this child or his family from being targeted by other local staff who remained in the centre”.
In her submission she also raised broader concerns about conditions, including the lack of appropriate footwear for children. Many child asylum seekers were forced to wear “rubber thongs” that were poorly made, despite the harsh conditions of the Nauru detention centre. Other basic items were often not made available to asylum seekers.
“As a result children were subjected to extended periods of neglect. In Australia, this type of neglect would often warrant a child protection investigation and could result in children being removed from their biological parents. However in Nauru this type of systematic neglect was accepted as normal due to the persistent logistical and policy deficits in place.”
Diallo added: “Neglect is recognised as a significant form of abuse, as it results in emotional and psychological harm to children.”
She said the allegations of sexual abuse and the role the department played in failing to act to stop assaults needed to be investigated by the royal commission into institutional responses to child abuse.
Asylum seeker worker tells of abuse of children as young as two on Nauru Read more
Vibhakar told the inquiry that children in Nauru were “left in situations of ongoing harm”.
Vibhakar’s extraordinary submission to the Senate inquiry details 30 documented case studies of serious abuse of children as young as two, which include emails and incident reports to support her findings.
“Even though on numerous occasions they were aware of assaults that occurred to children, the children remained in situations where they faced harm. All you were allowed to do was provide them as much support as possible within the detention environment in Nauru,” Vibhakar said.
“This would not be a situation that would be considered appropriate or adequate to respond to sexual abuse in Australia.”
The crowding of the centre and lack of privacy meant that it was exceeding difficult to protect asylum seekers, she said.
Vibhakar added that one of the key child protection mechanisms in Australia that is not available to workers on Nauru is the power to remove children from unsafe situations.
The secretary of the immigration department, Michael Pezzullo, fronted the inquiry on Tuesday afternoon and rejected suggestions there was any “explicit or implied strategy of brutalisation” on Nauru. He said this was a “fictional narrative of those who oppose offshore processing.”
When asked by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young why a review wasn’t commissioned earlier than October 2014 into sexual abuse allegations despite reporting of incidents since November 2013, Pezzullo said: “There was a concerted period from September to October [in 2014] whereby written allegations were coming in.”
“The minister, and the acting department secretary thought it prudent … and it was certainly the acting secretary’s call, with my very strong endorsement, to commission someone … to look at these allegations that had come forward.”
When pushed on the question of why the review was commissioned at that point in time, Pezzullo said: “The answer is I don’t know. Perhaps the concentrated nature of the allegations, perhaps the fact they all came at a short period of time, I just don’t know.”
He also responded to Young’s allegations about interventions in medical decisions.
“If the view of the clinical advisor... was the only intervention that is permissible in these circumstances is to remove this person in effect of regional processing, that immediately comes up against the policy to maintain processing,” he said.
“Generally speaking the clinical advice is followed.”
When asked whether allegations of sexual assault had been appropriately responded to since November 2013 Pezzullo said: “We have incident reports that were germane to that topic … that’s why the number of incidents referred to the Nauru police amounts to 50.”
He added: “On the general question of not meeting our obligations … we have regular meetings with the government of Nauru.”5 years ago
(CNN) - There aren't that many people who can easily give a $2.5 million political donation, but count former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg among them.
CNN confirmed Tuesday that Bloomberg, who last week finished his third term running New York City, donated $2.5 million to Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC dedicated to helping Democrats keep control of the chamber. The Democrats currently have a 55-45 majority in the Senate, but are defending 21 of the 35 seats up for grabs in November's midterm elections.
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Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent, has pushed for increased gun control laws through Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group[ he co-founded eight years ago, and last year poured more than $5 million into Independence USA PAC, which he set up in 2012. The group spent heavily last year in a special U.S. House election in the Chicago area where gun control was a major issue.
Separately, Bloomberg last year also donated $1 million each to Democrats Cory Booker in his special Senate election victory in New Jersey and Terry McAuliffe in his gubernatorial win in Virginia.
Bloomberg, whose personal fortune is estimated at over $25 billion, is one of the richest men in the world.
The new donation, first reported by Politico, sparked speculation that the move could be the start of numerous contributions by Bloomberg during the 2014 midterm cycle.
While many of Bloomberg's donations have gone to Democratic candidates and causes, Stu Loeser, an adviser to Bloomberg who served as a former chief spokesman for the mayor told CNN that "Bloomberg may also continue to support Republican candidates who take tough stands he agrees with."
The Senate Majority PAC would not comment on reports of the donation, and by law doesn't have to release its next fundraising report until the end of the month.
So far this cycle the PAC has already gone up with ads in defense of Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, who all face challenging re-elections this November. But the PAC's spending pales in comparison to the big bucks already spent against Democratic senators by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group backed by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers.
"Democrats are playing mostly defense in this year's Senate races and $2.5 million is a significant amount of money, which will help them defend some of the most important states," Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report, told CNN.
But while money is a major factor, Gonzales notes that "when it comes to the top Senate races, I don't think they will be decided by money. Millions of dollars will be spent by both sides. The races will ultimately be decided by the candidates, the messages, and the national environment."The Madhya Pradesh government on Sunday approved a bill to award capital punishment to those convicted of raping girls aged 12 and below.
The bill came up for discussion in the cabinet following a recent announcement by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that laws will be strengthened to protect girls.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, state finance minister Jayant Malaiya said the bill known as Public Safety Bill would be introduced in the assembly’s winter session beginning Monday.
Asked if the law extended to punish those who victimise minor boys, he told HT, “We have done this for girls first. We will discuss expanding the scope later.”
On the capital punishment move, Malaiya said, “To ensure death sentence to a rape and gang rape convicts in cases of minor girls of 12 years of age or below, necessary amendments will be required in the sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC). After the required amendments in IPC, the accused will be booked under section 376 AA and 376 DA of IPC.”
According to the proposal, the public prosecutor will be mandatorily heard before an accused moves bail petition, he added.
On the other cabinet decisions to crack down on crimes against women, Malaiya said, “If a woman accuses a man of raping her on the pretext of marrying her, the crime will be treated as a cognisable crime and an amendment will be proposed in section 493 (a) of IPC.”
He added, “If an accused is caught stalking a girl a second time and his crime is proved, he would face a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The habitual offender will be booked under section 110 IPC for non-bailable offence.”
Madhya Pradesh has topped sexual offences list in the country over the last decade.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 2016, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases — 4,391 — in 2015. Maharashtra followed, with 4,144 cases.
According to the report, in sexual offences against children, Madhya Pradesh registered the second highest number of cases — 1,687 — under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in 2015. Maharashtra registered the highest number of cases, 3,078.
Death penalty in India
In India, death penalty is prescribed for murder, gang robbery with murder, abetting the suicide of a child or insane person, waging war against the government and abetting mutiny by a member of the armed forces.
Capital punishment is also awarded under some anti-terror laws for those convicted of terrorist activities.
Generally, courts award life imprisonment to convicts in a murder case. Only in “rarest of rare” cases, murder convicts are given death penalty.
According to a Supreme Court ruling, “Death penalty should be imposed when a murder is committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of the community.
“If the motive betrays depravity and meanness, or if a backward or minority community member is killed not for personal reasons but to arouse social wrath.”
According to the top court’s guidelines, offences such as bride burnings and dowry deaths, a child victim, the assassination of a public figure for political reasons, or killing a defenceless person because of old age or infirmity also attract the death penalty.
First Published: Nov 26, 2017 21:52 ISTJan 11, 2014; Syracuse, NY, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward James Michael McAdoo (43) looks to pass the ball in front of Syracuse Orange center Baye Moussa Keita (12) during the first half at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse defeated North Carolina 57-45. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
SANTA CRUZ — James Michael McAdoo might be a familiar name to Warriors fans.
After going undrafted in the 2014 draft, McAdoo joined the Warriors’ summer league team and played during the preseason before being assigned to the Warrior’s D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz. While the chances of being called up to play for Golden State are small, McAdoo has been thoroughly impressing during his current tenure with the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 18 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks.
McAdoo scored a season high and team high of 32 points in Saturday night’s 103-84 win over the Erie Bayhawks. In what was supposed to be Seth Curry‘s return to Santa Cruz — which was ruined by injury — McAdoo got to the line at will, making 18 of 20 free throws. He only missed one shot from the field and managed four blocks. McAdoo excelled at running the fast break as he was able to throw it down or draw contact in transition. He looked comfortable in pick-and-roll situations where he was able to catch and finish with an assortment of athletic moves.
“We looked at about 15 clips before the game and he’s got such length — it’s important for him to assert himself,” head coach Casey Hill said.
The team recorded 29 assists and much like their NBA counterpart, ball movement and spacing was emphasized. Four players scored in double figures, but McAdoo had arguably the best performance.
“We needed to set a tone early. I took it upon myself to try to get to the free throw line and stay aggressive,” McAdoo said about his high-scoring night.
McAdoo has shown he has the physical tools necessary to be make an impact on an NBA team someday. Standing at 6’9″ with a 7’1″ wingspan, he has the length to be a decent rim protector. While he plays at the center position, he may be undersized if he were to guard most NBA centers. He has shown a nice touch around the rim, but he will have to continue to further develop his offensive game to become a bigger scoring threat.
When asked about improving his game, McAdoo responded, “The biggest thing for me is trying to be more consistent, especially on the offensive end — being a guy on the low block — and have one or two go-to moves. On the defensive end I try to use my versatility to try to affect the game, block shots, get steals, as well as being a solid defender that can not only guard my man but help my teammates too.
While the road ahead may seem long for McAdoo, he may be able to eventually shine in the league given his hard work and athleticism. He plays with an enormous amount of energy and could be useful for a team that needs a spark-plug player with hustle.
If he can continue to develop his game, he can show that the hype surrounding him at the University of North Carolina was for real.The Iron Chancellor, the man who created modern Germany, acted imprudently where Jews were concerned.
Bismarck, the German Reich, and the Jews
Alfred Rosenberg
(Völkischer Beobachter, 22 May 1921) Translated by Hadding Scott, 2012
The birthday of the Iron Chancellor was reverently observed in all parts of Germany even in 1921. Now that his work lies in heaps of rubble, having been smashed by criminal hands, perhaps a light begins gradually to dawn, even for the most idiotic democrat of German blood, over the greatness of the still so recent German past. Not to mention the righteous individuals who from the very start were unable, thanks to Professor Preuss from Jerusalem[1], to regard the Republic as a German Reich.
But as we look up respectfully to the image of Bismarck, must we guard ourselves against making this image into an idol. We shall always need the advice of the great chancellor. Many of his principles will be standard even in the more distant future of Germany. At the same time however we shall retain in memory his dictum: “Politics is not an exact science. As the situation that one has before oneself changes, so does the way to make use of it.” Above all however we must often admit that the man who built the German house simultaneously allowed the woodworm to enter into the timbers of this house. This sad fact should not be concealed. Bismarck once entrusted German history to a Jewish banker, allowed him influence in Germany’s foreign policy, and brought his daughter to the Imperial Court, therewith taking a stand against old German tradition.
By sentiment Bismarck was an outspoken anti-Semite. He complained once to a delegation that almost the entire opposition press was in the hands of Jews. About Jewish profiteering he spoke powerful words in the Prussian parliament, and everyone knows his statement that it would be hard for him to fulfill his duties if he had a Jewish superior. It must be considered moreover that Bismarck was faced with a Prussian parliament whose members he fittingly described as “individually rational, collectively stupid,” that in the most important affairs of the nation he found himself alone, and that for the most pressing needs of the state[2] no credits were granted to him. Thus he went to the Jew Bleichroeder[3]. He went not in the manner of a Mediaeval king, who would have taken back from the Jews for state purposes the money profiteered from the people; rather, as the minister of a modern “constitutional government” he contracted a loan with the Jew – and even paid high interest for it. That was the beginning of the conversion of the state into a trust, which today, through the 500 Jewish banks in Germany, has grown into an enormous affair. In foreign policy Bismarck likewise not infrequently intervened for the benefit of the Jews. Emblematic of that were the development of the Jewish Question in Romania and the negotiations over Jewish enfranchisement in the Balkans at the Congress of Berlin (1878).
In Romania, around the middle of the 19th century, the Jewish population had grown enormously. Usury, intermediary commerce, liquor-selling: all these essential symptoms of Jewish penetration through consecutive millennia became ever more palpable. All who loved their homeland and their folk demanded a remedy for this plague of spongers numbering 300,000 heads. Thirty-one delegates made an exemplary proposal to the parliament; disturbances occurred in Iaşi and other cities [in Romania]. The “Alliance israélite” naturally cried bloody murder about “massacres of Jews,” although not a single Hebrew had been killed; they wanted foreign intervention and sent outraged protests to all governments. Bismarck did not set himself against the financiers in Paris and London, but wrote to Mr. Crémieux, president of the Alliance and simultaneously Grand Master of Grand Orient Freemasonry in France: “I have the honor to report to you, as an answer to the letter that you sent me on the 4th of the current month, that the Kaiser’s government has advised its representative in Bucharest to exhaust all his influence to secure for your co-religionists in Romania the position that belongs to them in a country that conducts itself according to the principles of humanity and civilization, etc. Berlin, 2 February 1868, v. Bismarck.”
As however the mood in Romania seemed to become such that the protection-laws against the Jews had a prospect of being enacted, the Berlin Jewish community got involved with a written petition to the Prussian minister-president. And to that came the following answer: “Berlin, 18 April 1868. The king has instructed me to respond to the petition of the Jewish community of the 6th of this month, so as to oppose the approval by one of the Romanian chambers of a law, which had been submitted against the will of Prince Carol, that affects the situation of the Israelites. It does not seem that it will be approved, nor that it will be sanctioned by the government of the prince even if that does happen…. Count v. Bismarck.”
In this document Bismarck did not deal with particular cases and express reservations in another passage just in case; instead he fundamentally acknowledged the principle of gray liberalism, “humanity and civilization,” which he had to battle domestically, as the basis for acknowledgment of Jewish “equal rights.”
Even more illustrative are the negotiations about the Jewish Question at the Berlin Congress. Here the symptoms of the rule of Jewish finance, allied with liberal rhetoric, manifested themselves tangibly.
The Alliance sent three of its members to Berlin: Netter, Kann, and Veneziani. All assembled ambassadors were sent a long memorandum, plus works of Jewish writers about the Jewish Question.
In his history of the Alliance the Jew Leven says: “Before the meeting of the Congress they (our delegates) secured the support of a significant man in Berlin: Bleichroeder, who through his social position had a bond with the plenipotentiaries and enjoyed great prestige with Bismarck.” (Narcisse Leven, Cinquante Ans d’Histoire, Paris 1911, p. 203.)
Netter sent reports about the activities of the Jewish representatives to Paris. Here are some of the most interesting. From 11 June: “If all think about our coreligionists as does Monsieur de Saint-Vallier (the French plenipotentiary) we have it made.” 12 June: “Lord Beaconsfield is in a splendid mood.” 13 June: “Bleichroeder yesterday saw Prince Bismarck; he has best wishes for the Israelites.” 18 June: “Today we visited the Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfuerst. He began his career with the defense of the Jews in Bavaria; he would like to crown it with the defense of them at the Congress.” 21 June: “Bleichroeder spoke with Bismarck yesterday and obtained certainty that the question will be laid before the congress…. He can rest assured.” The reports about a series of other visits with diplomats, representatives of the press, etc., read similarly. (Leven, pp. 213-216).
All Balkan states and their internal constitutions came under discussion. The extent to which negotiations were conducted for the benefit of the Jews becomes obvious just from the fact that the term “Bulgarian subject” was unanimously replaced with “residents of the Bulgarian principate.” That was the theoretical surrender of the principle of patriotism in favor of a nomadic worldview! This change was proposed of course by the puppets of the Alliance, the French. Thus Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania were forced by liberal Europe into recognition of the “rights” of the Jews. To the honor of Russia, it must be said that her plenipotentiary, Prince Gorchakov, was the only opponent of this disastrous policy. It goes without saying that D’Israeli-Beaconsfield placed the whole weight of Great Britain on the balance for the Jews. He pushed forward Lord Russel and Lord Salisbury as his spokesmen, but he himself said that he considered the granting of equal rights to Jews as the fulfillment of a self-evident fact, without the sanction of which the Congress certainly should not dissolve. Herr von Bülow[4] said to Netter on 28 July that the demand of the Jews in Bulgaria would also be pleaded in regard to Serbia and Romania, and that it was “a question of principle.” Bismarck declared precisely the same. The Jews could be content.
It would be well to note the words of the historian of the Alliance: “The result of the Berlin Congress was significant: it introduced into international law the principles which the French Revolution set down in its Declaration of the Rights of Man. United Europe approved it…. It is accomplished that these principles have become by the will of Europe the basis of public law and of the new states, and the condition of their independence. It was a benefit for all peoples, and for Jewry, an act unique in its history, the official charter of its liberation.” (Leven, p.290.)
The president of the Congress of Berlin was Prince Bismarck.
Perhaps he felt that he was strong enough to keep Germany internally free. In foreign policy he aided Jewry in a disastrous manner instead of allying himself with Gorchakov, putting aside the fact that he and the Russian otherwise faced each other as enemies. But he must have seen that Bleichroeder and Mendelssohn, through the strengthening of Jewry abroad, significantly shored up their position within Germany, and thenceforth wielded more than twice as much monetary clout. When the great chancellor was gone and little men stepped into his place, the affairs having been commenced followed their necessary course: the political and economic guides of the “German” Reich became Bleichroeder, Mendelssohn, Friedländer, Ballin, Warburg, Rathenau, and so on. Thus went Germany from Versailles to … Versailles![5]
One of the most righteous men, Paul de Lagarde, wrote in 1881, still bitter: “There has never been a German state.” Unfortunately he was right. Even Bismarck’s state was still not a German state.
Is it Bismarck’s fault? No one will dare to affirm it. He accomplished something superhuman. He was full of confidence in the strength of Germandom. Should one reproach this man, for whom all small minds made life unpleasant enough, with the fact that he overestimated German national consciousness? That the Germans – let it be plainly said – proved themselves unworthy? Furthermore that they themselves did not lift a hand to assist in building the German house, instead of bickering with slogans or surrendering to the god Mammon? No, certainly not!
We ourselves have been guilty, who were not able to endure a great personality, and either cowered behind him or took pleasure in petty fault-finding. Thus the Jew was able to sow discord unhindered, preach class-struggle, and engage in profiteering. We do not wish to condemn Bismarck, but perhaps to highlight the place where the blueprint of the German Reich had an error in its floorplan. It is up to us to avoid it in the future.
___________________________
1. Hugo Preuss, who wrote the constitution of the Weimar Republic, was not literally from Jerusalem, but he was a Jew. Rosenberg is saying that right-thinking people cannot regard the Republic as truly German because a Jew wrote its constitution.
2. The Prussian Parliament never approved a budget in the years 1862 to 1866 because of disagreement over military reforms. The Seven Weeks’ War with Austria came in 1866.
3. Gerson Bleichroeder was a Jewish banker of Berlin with connections to the Rothschilds. He was the second Jew elevated to the Prussian nobility, thus becoming “von Bleichroeder.” The first Jew elevated to the Prussian nobility was also a banker.
4. Bernhard von Bülow was attaché to the German embassy in Paris and served as a secretary at the Congress of Berlin. Later, during the reign of Wilhelm II, he served several years as foreign minister, then as chancellor.
5. This is a reference to the fact that the King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor of Germany in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles — on French soil — during the Franco-Prussian War, and to the humiliating Treaty of Versailles (called the Dictate of Versailles by German nationalists). Thus a period of German dominance on the European mainland began and ended at Versailles.
Reposted from: National-Socialist WorldviewA man talks on his mobile telephone as he walks past a BT logo in London, February 5, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
(Reuters) - A BT Group Plc (BT.L) executive has called for the United States to require its telecommunications companies to allow access to their networks at regulated prices, similar to rules in place in the United Kingdom, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Bas Burger, president of the British company’s Americas unit, told the newspaper that a lack of regulation has hampered competition in the United States, where AT&T Inc (T.N) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) control about 80 percent of the telephone and broadband lines used by homes and businesses. Burger said BT Group must charge customers more because it has to pay large fees to the U.S. rivals to carry data over these wires.
Contracts BT and others have with the U.S. telecoms should be regulated to guarantee a minimum quality of service, he said. For example, the U.S. companies have no specific time frame for fixing an outage that takes down one of BT’s networks, the report said.
Verizon, AT&T and BT were not immediately available for comment.
British telecom regulator Ofcom is considering a breakup of BT, the country’s dominant provider, after its rivals accused it of abusing its market position and failing to invest in the broadband networks that the rivals rely on.Kyle Berger's Ohio State football career is over, Urban Meyer announced Wednesday during his National Signing Day presser.
With the influx of 25 signees and the retention of Corey Smith via a sixth year of eligibility, exoduses from already-rostered players were inevitable. Berger is the first shoe to drop.
The former four-star prospect out of Cleveland's St. Ignatius High School came to Ohio State as part of the 2014 recruiting class. He finishes in 2016 with a medical hardship waiver after multiple knee surgeries sidelined him throughout his Buckeye career.
As a medical hardship, Berger will retain his scholarship at Ohio State but won't count against the Buckeyes' roster numbers. Berger says he will use this opportunity to pursue medical school:
Football doesn't last forever, just a bit longer for some than others. Now on to fulfill my dream of medical school #GoBucks — Kyle Berger (@K_Bergs) February 3, 2016
Eleven Warriors will have more on this story (and the scholarship ramifications) as it develops."One of the biggest strikes and demonstrations in the recent period in Greece took place on Wednesday 26 September."
The Greek working class has put up an incredible struggle against the vicious austerity measures raining down on them. Since 2010 Greece has been rocked by 17 general strikes, three of them lasting 48 hours. A prime minister has been removed and a government brought down. After some quiet months a one-day strike was called for 26 September. The following day Andros Payiatsos, leader of Xekinima spoke to the Socialist (Paper of the Socialist Party, CWI England & Wales). Xekinima is the Greek section of the Committee for a Workers’ International.
After a quiet summer is the Greek struggle back on the agenda?
One of the biggest strikes and demonstrations in the recent period in Greece took place on Wednesday 26 September. There have been small sectional strikes all along but nothing on this scale in the recent months. We estimate about 100,000 in the streets of Athens, which is big, and many tens of thousands in other cities in the rest of Greece.
The mood was good on the demo. It was quite determined and rather optimistic – this is in contrast to the mood in the previous period. After the victory of New Democracy in June and the formation of the new government a lull developed because there was a feeling of ‘we can’t get rid of them’ following the elections.
But this lull was partially overcome by the size of the demo. Also the Greek people are watching with intense interest what is taking place in Spain and Portugal. This has given them hope.
The "Guardian" (London) reflected some of the anger: Echoing a view held by many Greeks, Penelope Angelou, an unemployed mother, said passing the measures would be tantamount to a "parliamentary coup". “These parties were given our vote back in June because they promised to re-negotiate the terms of the loan agreement," she said, referring to the onerous conditions of the bailout accord Athens signed with its "troika" of creditors — the EU, ECB and IMF – earlier this year. "We are all tired," she said. "This is the third year of non-stop cuts and tax increases which have made us poor and divided us as a society. And they have not solved our problem. The recession is going from bad to worse.”
Given the situation people must have little confidence in the government?
New Democracy is in deep crisis and its supporters are deserting the ship. Samaras was elected on the basis of forcing the Troika to renegotiate the memorandum but in fact he’s heading in the other direction.
Is the effect of austerity on people’s lives a factor?
It’s a desperate situation for the masses because the situation already is extremely bad. According to the EU statistics of July 68% of the population lives below the poverty line – this is a staggering figure. But it’s realistic – we know because we live here. It’s the first time they are giving the figures that reflect the effect of their policies.
Unemployment is now officially at 23.6%. This official figure, of course, hides all those who have just given up looking for a job. And youth unemployment is an unbelievable 55%. So this is an absolute catastrophe for Greek society.
Then, in these conditions, they try to impose further cuts of €11.5 billion in the course of two years – this is more than 5% of the GDP of the economy.
Unsurprisingly there is a mass exodus into migration and into the countryside; back to the villages where people can survive by living with their families and maybe cultivating a bit of a living from the land.
All the youth are thinking of leaving the country. It’s a mass phenomenon – there are no youth, particularly university students who can see any point in staying in the country – although they want to stay in the country. Even left activists who want to stay and fight – they have no options as this is not just poverty – this is absolute emiseration.
Can you comment on reports that the opposition movement has reached the police and army?
For the whole of September we have seen protest action by state forces. Sections of the police have gone on strike including protesting against the riot police. Yesterday there was a press statement by the firefighters who said we refuse to be used by the state to suppress demonstrations. This is a he crisis in society and in the economy and it is even reflected in the security forces and we have seen demonstrations by army officers.
What way forward does Xekinima suggest?
We call for a clear plan of a programme of repeated sectional and general strikes and mass occupations of workplaces with the concrete aim of bringing down the government.
This is the slogan we have used for the past weeks and especially yesterday. It is going down very well. You can hear it everywhere.
We especially appeal to the public utility unions which are at the centre of the storm.
The initial response of the Greek people to the call for a 24-hour general strike was, ‘this is nothing, this is ridiculous’, ‘we can’t bring the government down with one 24-hour general strike and they won’t come down even with one 48-hour general strike’. ‘We need something much much more than that’. So there is a mass tendency in the direction of an all-out strike. If the union leaders were to call it they would get a huge response – but they won’t. They just want to let off steam.
You can also say now that nearly the whole of the left – excluding the majority in the leadership of Syriza – accepts the programme (which we initially posed from the beginning of 2010 when the debt crisis came to the fore) that the debt cannot be paid, that the banks have to be nationalised, that the commanding heights of the economy have to be nationalised, and it has to be put under democratic control of society. It’s also accepted by millions of people whether they take part in the demonstrations and strikes or not.
The question now is how to build a movement on the ground to bring the government down and to replace it with a left government which will be pushed by the mass movement to implement this programme.
We also explain the need for the whole of the Southern Europe to be united in huge and unbeatable/invincible struggles.
Golden Dawn has been rising in the polls. What does this signify?
Golden Dawn did not take part in yesterday’s demo - they never take part in workers’ demos, only some of them on the side of the riot police. But that does not mean they are not a factor, they are the only force in society which is rising in the polls. Apart from Golden Dawn, all the parties are falling in the polls. While in some |
would-be internationals.
Lindsay Agnew, Deanne Rose, Janine Beckie and Christine Sinclair celebrate Beckie's third goal during the first half of a friendly women's soccer match between Canada and Costa Rica at BMO Field on Sunday. ( Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star )
Those fans can now say they were there for perhaps a moment to remember in Canadian soccer as 16-year-old Jordyn Huitema, in just her fourth senior appearance, opened her national team account with two goals — in the 73rd and 74th minutes — off the bench. Canada was coming off a 3-1 win over Costa Rica on Thursday in Winnipeg. Sunday was a good day for Canada’s youth brigade as 22-year-old Janine Beckie scored three goals and 18-year-old Deanne Rose added a single before an announced crowd of 20,628 on a hot summer day.
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Jessie Fleming, 19, helped perennial talisman Christine Sinclair, who turns 34 Monday, pull the strings, playing provider as the fifth-ranked Canadian women repeatedly ripped open the 30th-ranked Costa Ricans’ defence. Huitema, a five-foot-nine striker who has played all of 76 minutes with the senior side, was rewarded with a Gatorade shower by her teammates. Her first goal came in a goalmouth scramble but the second was a confident strike from a player seen as a star in the making. Huitema (pronounced HIGH’-tah-mah) thought teammate Nichelle Prince has scored the first goal. “I got up to celebrate with her and then everybody was kind of running towards me. I didn’t really know what was going on.” “I’ll take anything I can get,” she added in true forward fashion.
There was no confusion about the second as she buried a Prince pass in the back of the net. “I guess I was trying to make up for the first one,” she said with a laugh.
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Huitema showed her class off the field as well as on it, sharing the glory. “It’s just an hour to be able to share with such an amazing group of women,” said the Grade 10 student. “I couldn’t have chosen a better group of people to surround myself with.” While Costa Rica did not provide the stiffest opposition, the two-game series with the Central Americans bodes well for the future. The Canadian roster had an average age of 23.6 years. “This is an exciting group... When I look at the future now it’s crazy to think these girls can continue to play capable of multiple World Cups, multiple Olympic Games,” said Herdman. All the more exciting is the talent developing in the pipeline. “There’s a 13-year-old somewhere that’s going to be 16 in 2020 (the next Olympics) and pushing these girls for their spot because our system’s producing that... Jordyn was 14 when she first came into our national squad. And now she’ll be pushing Sinc, I’m sure, in 2019, 2020, for that starting spot.” That could be the sweet spot for a team that has already won back-to-back Olympic bronze. Herdman believes his team needs two more years to percolate, saying he knows the talent at his disposal. Now he wants them to have more time, more games together to work on their chemistry. “This team will have to play faster, for sure, when we get up against the Germans, the U.S., in a World Cup semifinal, final, whenever we get there.” It’s clear Canada has Costa Rica’s number. In Thursday’s win, Herdman’s team left a lot of goals on the table. Canada racked up 41 shots and crosses in Winnipeg. Herdman wanted more ruthlessness in front of goal and the Canadians did not disappoint Sunday. Canada went ahead in the second minute, led 2-0 after six minutes, 3-0 after 13 and 4-0 after 21. It marked the fastest ever 3-0 start to a game by the Canadian women. The previous record was 17 minutes in an 8-0 romp over Singapore in 2008. It was 4-0 at the half and could have been at least 7-0. The Canadians were helped early by a leaky Costa Rican defence that left acres of space for the Canadian front five of Sinclair, Beckie, Fleming, Rose and Sophie Schmidt to exploit. The five were constantly on the move, shifting the point of attack and befuddling the Costa Ricans. With the outcome decided so early, there was less of an impetus to press in the second half and Canada seemed to take its foot off the accelerator until Huitema took the field as Herdman emptied his bench. Sinclair, whose international tally numbers 168, could have had scored several times on the afternoon with some special moments of skill. Instead, she shared the wealth — particularly on Beckie’s third goal. Taking a pass from Rose, fullback Lindsay Agnew lofted a cross to Sinclair in the penalty box. Sinclair could have turned and shot herself but instead chested the ball down and flicked it to Beckie who volleyed it high into the net in the 21st minute for a highlight-reel goal. “That’s Sinc,” Herdman said of his skipper’s unselfishness. Beckie, who had a frustrating night in front of goal Thursday, now has 18 goals in 34 appearances for Canada.
Read more about:Canadian actor Tony Rosato, a veteran of sketch-comedy shows “Saturday Night Live” and “SCTV,” has died at the age of 62.
Rosato’s death was confirmed by his former agent, Larry Goldhar.
READ MORE: Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson: First Urban Myths footage released
The Italian-born comic actor joined Martin Short and Robin Duke as the only three performers to have been cast members of both “Saturday Night Live” and “SCTV,” the classic homegrown comedy show that was spun out of Second City shortly after “SNL” launched in the mid-1970s.
One of his most memorable “SCTV” characters was Marcello, a clumsy TV chef whose “Cooking with Marcello” lessons always ended up in a kitchen disaster.
Rosato was a TV regular, with appearances on shows including “Due South,” “Street Legal,” “L.A. Law,” “Lonesome Dove,” and “RoboCop,” and the Canadian cable movie “Kissinger and Nixon.”
He was also the voice of Luigi in a pair of “Super Marios Bros.” TV series.
WATCH: John Goodman helps Alec Baldwin mock Donald Trump on SNL
Rosato ran into legal trouble in later years.
In 2007, he was found guilty of criminally harassing his wife. He was diagnosed with Capgras syndrome, a condition that caused him to believe his wife and young daughter had been replaced by impostors.
Rosato spent nearly four years in custody, with time in jail and confinement in a psychiatric hospital.
No details about a funeral are available as of this writing.Game Design Deep Dive is an ongoing Gamasutra series with the goal of shedding light on specific design features or mechanics within a video game, in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren't really that simple at all.
Check out earlier installments on the heredity system of Hero Generations, traffic systems of Cities: Skylines, and the plant-growing mechanics of Grow Home.
Also, dig into our ever-growing Deep Dive archive for developer-minded features on everything from Amnesia's sanity meter to Alien: Isolation's save system.
Who: James Lantz, Technical Designer at Klei Entertainment
Hi, I’m James Lantz, technical designer at Klei Entertainment and one of the core designers on the Invisible, Inc. team. I have a deep passion for layered systems design and deep, complex experiences. Before Klei, I worked at Loot Drop and as an independent designer on a game called Mercury.
What: The Alarm system in Invisible, Inc.
Our vision of Invisible, Inc has always been a tight game about tough decisions. In Invisible, there is no decision or action without consequence. The alarm system is one of the most important mechanics in the game. The alarm level goes from 0 - 6 and represents the corporation you’re infiltrating slowly discovering your presence. It goes up when you kill a guard and when guards see bodies, but most importantly it also goes up at the end of each turn in the game.
The alarm system is undoubtedly one of the more controversial mechanics in Invisible. There are very few stealth games that push the player in the same way Invisible's alarm system pushes you. It is a huge part of what makes Invisible a tight, tense experience and not a sandbox stealth game.
While the alarm system made the game too stressful for some players, it also allowed us to lower the overall difficulty in each level. No starting situation in Invisible is particularly difficult to solve on its own. Instead they work together to challenge the player’s decision-making in the mid to long term. This is part of what gives Invisible a unique feeling -- it’s about spy movie style casing and planning in addition to clever execution.
Why?
Invisible's design was strongly inspired by some of our favorite games over the last decade, including X-COM, FTL and Spelunky. One thing that those games all share in common is a sense of time pressure, either in certain parts or throughout. In X-COM, bomb missions have direct time pressure. In FTL, you’re constantly being pursued by the rebel fleet. In Spelunky, a deadly ghost will start to chase you if you hang out too long on any given level.
We knew we needed that sense of time pressure for Invisible, not only because it fit the game’s theme but also because we wanted players to be making interesting tradeoffs with every move, and keeping busywork to a minimum. But none of our existing influences gave us a perfect starting point.
Spelunky's ghost works in the context of an action game, but ultimately can be avoided indefinitely and doesn’t tie together existing systems, which make it unsuitable for a game like Invisible. FTL's rebel fleet is closer to what we want, but while fighting the rebel fleet is more interesting than running away from Spelunky’s ghost, FTL is balanced such that engaging the rebel fleet is never a good idea and any reasonable player will avoid them entirely unless they are tremendously unlucky. Every other X-COM mission, with the exception of the bomb mission, has no time pressure and allows players to advance, inch by inch, with no motivation for reckless play beyond impatience or role playing.
We wanted the same sense of time pressure as those systems, but wanted to create a new kind of mechanic that would play with our existing systems and underpin the players’ mid and long-term decisions throughout each game.
How?
For inspiration, we turned to the classic hunger mechanic in true roguelike games like Nethack. Hunger not only creates a sense of tension, it also creates a greater context for each move that gives players a structure in which to understand the rippling consequences of each decision. It also ties neatly into the existing systems through which players interact with the game, injecting new life into mechanics.
What’s hunger for a spy? How much she is detected, how much heat is on her, how much chatter is on the radio -- and so, we designed the alarm system.
Initially, the alarm was a series of 20-30 levels. It would go up one per turn, and at certain intervals it would level up and cause nasty things to happen for the player. This satisfied our core design goals for the mechanic, but it failed on multiple experiential levels. First of all, the UI was unintuitive -- 20 levels of alarm made it unclear when the next alarm level would actually become a problem. Second, the consequences of each alarm level were unpredictable and random, which would be OK in a more action-oriented game but was unwelcome in a stealth game about careful planning.
To solve these problems, we instead made the alarm 6 levels and gave each level 5 sub-levels that had no effect. The only time the alarm had an effect is when all 5 sub-levels filled up and it made the transition from one full level to another full level. This also allowed us to use smaller numbers, making the alarm more readable and the levels more memorable. With our new alarm in place, we could provide tooltips warning players about the next level without flooding the alarm with tooltips about every level.
That still left the biggest question for the alarm system -- what kind of consequences make sense in Invisible? We were stuck on this problem for awhile, but grounded ourselves in our core design goals for the system. Our main goal was not to make the alarm levels balanced, nor to make them the most interesting and deep they could possibly be. Instead, our goal was to create movie-like tension and drama above all else. Because our goal for the alarm was primarily experiential, we focused on ramping tension and creating systemic texture rather than ratcheting up the difficulty.
For example: at alarm level 2, all the firewalls in the building are raised by one. At alarm level 3, another patrol enters the building. While increased guard presence is the natural language of the game, early firewall levels are designed to show you the texture that other systems in the game offer when combined with the threat of guards.
That leaves one huge problem still unaddressed -- the alarm feels unfair to many players. This is a problem of context and expectations from a stealth game based on previous experiences, and one that we were unable to solve fully. However, we were able to ameliorate the issue by providing lots of in-world fiction for the alarm and making it very clear and predictable to players with extra UI and tutorialization, including the small but incredibly effective change of renaming it from “ALARM” to “SECURITY LEVEL.”
The Result: A tense and dramatic spy thriller
Both in terms of gameplay and feeling, we got a great result from our alarm system. We felt that it fits perfectly into the game and is a core part of what makes all the systems work and what forces you to think carefully about each decision.
That said, there are definitely players who we lost along the way with the alarm system. While it’s clear that it was the best choice for Invisible as a game, it would have been ideal if we had managed to perfect the way we contextualized the alarm system both in-world and out so that fewer players had a negative gut response to it.For the song by American metalcore band Myka Relocate, see Lies to Light the Way
Not to be confused with Doublethink or Double-talk
Doublespeak is language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g. "downsizing" for layoffs, "servicing the target" for bombing[1]), in which case it is primarily meant to make the truth sound more palatable. It may also refer to intentional ambiguity in language or to actual inversions of meaning. In such cases, doublespeak disguises the nature of the truth. Doublespeak is most closely associated with political language.[2][3]
Origins and concepts [ edit ]
The term "doublespeak" originates in George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four. Although the term is not used in the book, it is a close relative of two of the book's central concepts, "doublethink" and "Newspeak". Another variant, "doubletalk", also referring to deliberately ambiguous speech, did exist at the time Orwell wrote his book, but the usage of "doublespeak", as well as of "doubletalk", in the sense emphasizing ambiguity clearly postdates the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four.[4][5] Parallels have also been drawn between doublespeak and Orwell's classic essay Politics and the English Language, which discusses the distortion of language for political purposes.[6]
Edward S. Herman, political economist and media analyst, has highlighted some examples of doublespeak and doublethink in modern society.[7] Herman describes in his book Beyond Hypocrisy the principal characteristics of doublespeak:[8]
What is really important in the world of doublespeak is the ability to lie, whether knowingly or unconsciously, and to get away with it; and the ability to use lies and choose and shape facts selectively, blocking out those that don’t fit an agenda or program.
In his essay "Politics and the English Language", George Orwell observes that political language serves to distort and obfuscate reality. Orwell's description of political speech is extremely similar to the contemporary definition of doublespeak:[9]
In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible … Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness … the great enemy of clear language is insincerity. Where there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms,...
Theoretical approaches [ edit ]
Although the theories that premise doublespeak are still indefinite, there are some theories that have parallels with the theory of doublespeak and Orwell's ideology in Nineteen Eighty-Four and might possibly provide a better understanding of where doublespeak's theories could have come from.
Conflict theories [ edit ]
Due to the inherently deceptive nature of doublespeak as well as its prominent use in politics, doublespeak has been linked[by whom?][citation needed] to the sociological perspective known as conflict theories. Conflict theories detract from ideas of society being naturally in harmony, instead placing emphasis on political and material inequality as its structural features. Antonio Gramsci's concepts on cultural hegemony, in particular, suggest that the culture and values of the economic elite – the bourgeoisie – become indoctrinated as "common sense" to the working-class, allowing for the maintenance of the status quo through misplaced belief. Being himself one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Italy, his theories had, in turn, been strongly influenced by the German social thinker Karl Marx, and have their ideological roots grounded in Marxist theory of false consciousness and capitalist exploitation. While Gramsci's views argue that culture (beliefs, perceptions and values) allows the ruling class to maintain domination, Marx's explanation is along more economic lines, with concepts such as commodity fetishism demonstrating how the ideology of the bourgeoisie (in this case, the existence of property as a social creation rather than an "eternal entity") dominate over that of the working classes.[10] In both cases, both philosophers argue that one view – that of the bourgeoisie – dominates over others, hence the term conflict theories.
On the other hand, Terrence P. Moran of the US National Council of Teachers of English has compared the use of doublespeak in the mass media to laboratory experiments conducted on rats, where a batch of rats were deprived of food, before one half was fed sugar and water and the other half a saccharin solution. Both groups exhibited behavior indicating that their hunger was satisfied, but rats in the second group (which were fed saccharin solution) died from malnutrition. Moran highlights the structural nature of doublespeak, and notes that social institutions such as the mass media adopt an active, top-down approach in managing opinion. Therefore, Moran parallels doublespeak to producing an illusionary effect:[11]
This experiment suggests certain analogies between the environments created for rats by the scientists and the environments created for us humans by language and the various mass media of communication. Like the saccharine environment, an environment created or infiltrated by doublespeak provides the appearance of nourishment and the promise of survival, but the appearance is illusionary and the promise false.
Contemporary writings [ edit ]
Doublespeak might also have some connections with contemporary theories. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky note in their book that Orwellian doublespeak is an important component of the manipulation of the English language in American media, through a process called "dichotomization"; a component of media propaganda involving "deeply embedded double standards in the reporting of news". For example, the use of state funds by the poor and financially needy is commonly referred to as "social welfare" or "handouts", which the "coddled" poor "take advantage of". These terms, however, do not apply to other beneficiaries of government spending such as military spending.[12]
Examples of the structural nature of the use of Doublespeak have been made by modern scholars. Noam Chomsky argues in Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media that people in modern society consist of decision-makers and social participants who have to be made to agree.[13] According to Chomsky, the media and public relations industry actively shape public opinion, working to present messages in line with their economic agenda for the purposes of controlling of the "public mind".[13] Contrary to the popular belief that indoctrination is inconsistent with democracy, Chomsky goes so far as to argue that "it's the essence of democracy":[13]
The point is that in a... totalitarian state, it doesn't much matter what people think because... you can control what they do. But when the state loses the bludgeon, when you can't control people by force and when the voice of the people can be heard,... you have to control what people think. And the standard way to do this is to resort to what in more honest days used to be called propaganda. Manufacture of consent. Creation of necessary illusions.
Edward Herman's book Beyond Hypocrisy also includes a doublespeak dictionary of commonly employed media terms and phrases into plain English.
Henceforth, conflict theories demonstrate the dominating ideology of the bourgeoisie and Moran's theory highlights that doublespeak produces an illusionary effect, both theories having parallels to Orwell's ideology in Nineteen Eighty-Four. Similarly, Herman's theory of doublespeak having an inherent nature to be manipulative and Chomsky's theory of "dichotomization" relates directly to the practice of doublespeak and how doublespeak is deliberately deceptive in nature.
Main contributors [ edit ]
William Lutz [ edit ]
William D. Lutz has served as the third chairman of the Doublespeak Committee since 1975. In 1989, both his own book Doublespeak and, under his editorship, the committee's third book, Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four, were published. Lutz was also the former editor of the now defunct Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, which examines ways that jargon has polluted the public vocabulary with phrases, words and usages of words designed to obscure the meaning of plain English. His book, Beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four, consists of 220 pages and eighteen articles contributed by long-time Committee members and others whose body of work has made important contributions to understandings about language, as well as a bibliography of 103 sources on doublespeak.[14]
Lutz is one of the main contributors to the committee as well as promoting the term "doublespeak" to a mass audience so as to inform them of the deceptive qualities that doublespeak contains. He mentions:[15]
There is more to being an effective consumer of language than just expressing dismay at dangling modifiers, faulty subject and verb agreement, or questionable usage. All who use language should be concerned whether statements and facts agree, whether language is, in Orwell's words, "largely the defense of the indefensible" and whether language "is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind".
He also mentions that the NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak and their works with regards to educating the public on doublespeak is responsible for "the rather awesome task of combating the advertisers, the politicians, and the major manipulators of public language in our society".[15]
Lutz states that it is important to highlight doublespeak to the public because "language isn't the invention of human beings to lie, deceive, mislead, and manipulate" and the "purpose of language is to communicate the truth and to facilitate social groups getting together". Thus, according to Lutz, doublespeak is a form of language that defeats the purpose of inventing language because doublespeak does not communicate the truth but seeks to do the opposite and the doublespeak committee is tasked with correcting this problem that doublespeak has created in the world of language.[16]
NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak [ edit ]
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Committee on Public Doublespeak was formed in 1971, in the midst of the Watergate scandal, at a point when there was widespread skepticism about the degree of truth which characterized relationships between the public and the worlds of politics, the military, and business. NCTE passed two resolutions. One called for the Council to find means to study dishonest and inhumane uses of language and literature by advertisers, to bring offenses to public attention, and to propose classroom techniques for preparing children to cope with commercial propaganda. The other called for the Council to find means to study the relations of language to public policy, to keep track of, publicize, and combat semantic distortion by public officials, candidates for office, political commentators, and all those who transmit through the mass media. Bringing the charges of the two resolutions to life was accomplished by forming NCTE's Committee on Public Doublespeak, a body which has made significant contributions in describing the need for reform where clarity in communication has been deliberately distorted. Such structures can be applied to the field of education, where they could conceivably initiate an anti-pollution bandwagon in educational communication and educate people on how to counter doublespeak.[17]
William Lutz stated that "the doublespeak committee was formed to combat the use of public language by increasing people's awareness of what is good, clear, solid use of language and what is not." "The committee does more than help students and the general public recognize what doublespeak is; it dramatizes that clarity of expression reflects clarity of thought."[15]
Hugh Rank [ edit ]
Hugh Rank formed the Doublespeak committee and was the first chairman of this committee. Under his editorship, the committee produced a book called Language and Public Policy (1974), with the aim of informing readers of the extensive scope of doublespeak being used to deliberately mislead and deceive the audience. He highlighted the deliberate public misuses of language and provided strategies for countering doublespeak by focusing on educating people in the English language so as to help them identify when doublespeak is being put into play. He was also the founder of the Intensify/Downplay pattern that has been widely used to identify instances of Doublespeak being used.[17]
Daniel Dieterich [ edit ]
Daniel Dieterich served as the second chairman of the Doublespeak committee after Hugh Rank in 1975. He served as editor of its second publication, Teaching about Doublespeak (1976), which carried forward the Committee's charge to inform teachers of ways of teaching students how to recognize and combat language designed to mislead and misinform.[17]
Criticism of NCTE [ edit ]
A. M. Tibbetts is one of the main critics of the NCTE, claiming that "the Committee's very approach to the misuse of language and what it calls 'doublespeak' may in the long run limit its usefulness".[18] According to him, the "Committee's use of Orwell is both confused and confusing". The NCTE's publications resonate with George Orwell's name, and allusions to him abound in statements on doublespeak; for example, the committee quoted Orwell's remark that "language is often used as an instrument of social control" in Language and Public Policy. Tibbetts argues that such a relation between NCTE and Orwell's work is contradicting because "the Committee's attitude towards language is liberal, even radical" while "Orwell's attitude was conservative, even reactionary".[18] He also criticizes on the Committee's "continual attack" against linguistic "purism".[18]
Modern uses [ edit ]
Whereas in the early days of the practice it was considered wrong to construct words to disguise meaning, this is now an accepted[citation needed] and established practice. There is a thriving industry in constructing words without explicit meaning but with particular connotations for new products or companies.[19] Doublespeak is also employed in the field of politics. Hence, education is necessary to recognize and combat against doublespeak-use effectively.
In advertising [ edit ]
Advertisers can use doublespeak to mask their commercial intent from users, as users' defenses against advertising become more well entrenched.[20] Some are attempting to counter this technique, however, with a number of systems which offer diverse views and information which highlights the manipulative and dishonest methods that advertisers employ.[21]
According to Jacques Ellul, "the aim is not to even modify people’s ideas on a given subject, rather, it is to achieve conformity in the way that people act." He demonstrates this view by offering an example from drug advertising. By using doublespeak in advertisements, aspirin production rose by almost 50 percent from over 23 million pounds in 1960 to over 35 million pounds in 1970.[22]
The rule of parity [ edit ]
William Lutz's book The Rule of Parity illustrates how doublespeak is being employed in the advertising industry.
Lutz uses the example of parity products: products in which most, if not all, brands in a class or category are of similar quality. To highlight the uniqueness of their product, advertisers may choose to market it differently from their competitors. Advertising is used to create the impression of superiority. This is shown in the first rule of parity, which involves the use of the words "better" and "best". In parity claims, "better" means "best", and "best" means "equal to".[23]
Lutz goes on to say that when advertisers state that their product is "good", it is equivalent in meaning to saying that their product is the best. If all the brands are similar, they must all be similarly good. When they claim that their product is the "best", they mean that the product is as good as the other superior products in its category. Using the toothpaste industry as an example, Lutz says that, because there is no dramatic difference among the products of the major toothpaste companies today, they are equal. However, if all of the different toothpastes are good and equal, there is no need to prove their claim. On the contrary, advertisers cannot market their products as "better" as it is a comparative term, and a claim of superiority.[23]
Education against doublespeak [ edit ]
Educating students has been suggested by experts to be one of the ways to counter doublespeak. Educating students in the English language is important to help them identify how doublespeak is being used to mislead and conceal information.
Charles Weingartner, one of the founding members of the NCTE committee on Public Doublespeak mentioned: "people do not know enough about the subject (the reality) to recognize that the language being used conceals, distorts, misleads". There is a crucial need for English language teachers to educate and become experts in teaching about linguistic vulnerability. "Teachers of English should teach our students that words are not things, but verbal tokens or signs of things that should finally be carried back to the things that they stand for to be verified. Students should be taught a healthy skepticism about the potential abuse of language but duly warned about the dangers of an unhealthy cynicism."[24]
According to William Lutz: "Only by teaching respect and love for the language can teachers of English instill in students the sense of outrage they should experience when they encounter doublespeak." "Students must first learn to use the language effectively, to understand its beauty and power." "Only by using language well will we come to appreciate the perversion inherent in doublespeak."[25]
Intensify/downplay pattern [ edit ]
This pattern was formulated by Hugh Rank and is a simple tool designed to teach some basic patterns of persuasion used in political propaganda and commercial advertising. As it was formulated to educate the public on how to counter doublespeak via education, its aim was to reach the widest possible audience of citizens. It was prepared to be incorporated within a wide variety of existing programs and textbooks in English, speech, media, communications, journalism, social studies. The NCTE has endorsed this pattern as a useful way of teaching students to cope with propaganda from any source.
The function of the intensify/downplay pattern is not to dictate what should be discussed but to encourage coherent thought and systematic organization. The pattern works in two ways: intensifying and downplaying. All people intensify and this is done via repetition, association and composition. Downplaying is commonly done via omission, diversion and confusion as they communicate in words, gestures, numbers, et cetera. Individuals can better cope with organized persuasion by recognizing the common ways whereby communication is intensified or downplayed, so as to counter doublespeak.[14]
In politics [ edit ]
Doublespeak is often used to avoid answering questions or to avoid the public's questions without directly stating that the specific politician is ignoring or rephrasing the question.
Doublespeak Award [ edit ]
Doublespeak is often used by politicians for the advancement of their agenda. The Doublespeak Award is an "ironic tribute to public speakers who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered." It has been issued by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) since 1974.[26] The recipients of the Doublespeak Award are usually politicians, national administration or departments. An example of this is the United States Department of Defense, which won the award three times in 1991, 1993, and 2001 respectively. For the 1991 award, the United States Department of Defense "swept the first six places in the Doublespeak top ten"[27] for using euphemisms like "servicing the target" (bombing) and "force packages" (warplanes). Among the other phrases in contention were "difficult exercise in labor relations", meaning a strike, and "meaningful downturn in aggregate output", an attempt to avoid saying the word "recession".[1]
In comedy [ edit ]
Doublespeak, particularly when exaggerated, can be used as a device in satirical comedy and social commentary to ironically parody political or bureaucratic establishments intent on obfuscation or prevarication. The television series Yes Minister is notable for its use of this device. Oscar Wilde was an early proponent of this device and a significant influence on Orwell.
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]SpaceX tentatively cleared for April 30 launch attempt
On Monday, NASA and SpaceX officials met for a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for SpaceX’s upcoming Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS). After the FRR, NASA announced at a press conference that they had given tentative approval for that April 30 launch, pending some final tests and simulations.
“Everything looks good as we head towards the April 30th launch date, but I would caution us all that there’s quite a bit of work that needs to be done,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, at the post-FRR briefing. “There’s a good chance to make the 30th.” That additional work an additional long simulation and som additional software testing, Gerstenmaier said. NASA and SpaceX will assess their progress on April 23, although not in a formal FRR-like meeting, and proceed from there.
This mission, designated “C2+”, will combine the separate C2 and C3 missions in SpaceX’s original Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) awards. Dragon will first work to achieve the C2 mission requirements of approaching and maneuvering around the station. If successful, SpaceX and NASA will proceed with the C3 milestones, capped off by berthing the Dragon spacecraft to the station, which would take place as early as May 3, assuming an on-time launch at 12:22 pm EDT (1622 GMT) on April 30. Dragon will remain berthed to the station for about two and a half weeks before undocking and returning to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific off the California coast.
Both the space agency and the company emphasized that this mission is a test mission, and any problems don’t indicate a lack of capability or other systemic problems with the vehicle or commercial cargo in general. “This is a test flight,” said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “If we don’t succeed in berthing on this mission, we’ve got a couple of more missions later this year and I think we’ll succeed on one of those.”
If this mission does succeed in berthing, it will supply the station with some cargo. ISS program manager Michael Suffredini said the Dragon will carry 521 kilograms of cargo, primarily consumables and other crew provisions. It also will carry a NanoRacks payload with some student experiments. Dragon will also return 660 kilograms from the station back to Earth, although Suffredini said the exact manifest of “downmass” cargo remains to be determined.
If SpaceX misses the April 30 launch (which is an instantaneous window, so no margin for error in the event of weather or technical issues), a second launch window is on May 3. The gap between launch windows is for a variety of reasons, including seeking to minimize the propellant needed to put Dragon into orbit so it has more available for ISS maneuvers. If Dragon doesn’t launch either day, it will slip until at least mid May, deferring to an Atlas launch from the Cape and a Soyuz mission to the ISS planned for early May.
At the post-FRR briefing, both NASA and SpaceX praised each other and the spirit of cooperation between the two for this flight, which departs from the tradition of NASA-managed missions. ISS mission controllers in Houston and Dragon flight controllers at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, California, headquarters are learning to work together to understand each others’ capabilities and requirements to allow for a smooth mission, in much the same way NASA already does for cargo missions by ESA’s ATV and JAXA’s HTV spacecraft. “It’s been a learning experience, I think, for NASA and SpaceX,” said Suffredini. “We’ve really grown together as two organizations.”20160620 Update!
I have a node running in india, which can now be seen on the monerohash.com map. I have also setup a pool on the node, which can be accessed at http://indianodejones.moneroworld.com/. (thanks to moneromooo for the brilliant name idea). The pool is unique in that the payout threshold is relatively high compared to other pools.
The node is extremely lightweight, and its a testament to monero core developers how well everything can run on minimal resources. This is running on a 10$ / month digital ocean droplet, with 1 GB ram, 1 cpu, 30 GB SSD, and 2 TB transfer. Its also running the pool software and an i2p instance. I will eventually create the i2p bridge and try to get mwo12's block explorer running.
I got this node for free by using some promo code, but it will eventually need to be funded. We can keep a |
see their good disposition.
267: “Freedom is something magnificent, yet it can also be dissipated and lost. Moral education has to do with cultivating freedom.”
270: “It is important that discipline [of children] not lead to discouragement, but be instead a stimulus to further progress.”
Paragraph 271 indicates that moral education asks children a proportionate amount of sacrifice so they learn and grow rather than resenting authority.
273: “A person may clearly and willingly desire something evil, but do so as the result of an irresistible passion or a poor upbringing.” This may seem to grant permission to do anything but refers to the person’s conscience where they are unaware that a certain thing is a sin. We need to raise children so this doesn’t happen.
279: “When children are made to feel that only their parents can be trusted, this hinders an adequate process of socialization and growth in affective maturity.”
280: We need “‘a positive and prudent sex education’ to be imparted to children and adolescents ‘as they grow older.’” (quoting: Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum Educationis, 1.)
283: “Frequently, sex education deals primarily with “protection” through the practice of “safe sex”. Such expressions convey a negative attitude towards the natural procreative finality of sexuality, as if an eventual child were an enemy to be protected against. This way of thinking promotes narcissism and aggressivity in place of acceptance.”
285: “Sex education should also include respect and appreciation for differences, as a way of helping the young to overcome their self-absorption and to be open and accepting of others.”
286: “The configuration of our own mode of being, whether as male or female, is not simply the result of biological or genetic factors, but of multiple elements… It is true that we cannot separate the masculine and the feminine from God’s work of creation, which is prior to all our decisions and experiences, and where biological elements exist which are impossible to ignore.” Francis uses this to address “machismo”: “Taking on domestic chores or some aspects of raising children does not make him any less masculine or imply failure, irresponsibility or cause for shame.”
287: “Raising children calls for an orderly process of handing on the faith… the home must continue to be the place where we learn to appreciate the meaning and beauty of the faith, to pray and to serve our neighbour.”
288: “Education in the faith has to adapt to each child.” I think this goes beyond just updating CCD materials to also looking at varied ways children learn including things like Myers-Briggs and special challenges like Autistic children who process things differently.
8: Accompanying, Discerning and Integrating Weakness
This chapter deals with the Church’s outreach to the weak or those who have fallen in a particular way. It is the most controversial chapter with people interpreting it in ways that go beyond and even at times against the text. I will try to stick as close to the text as possible while still summarizing to avoid misunderstanding what Francis wants to say which follows directly from what John Paul II would say.
291: “Although the Church realizes that any breach of the marriage bond ‘is against the will of God,’ she is also ‘conscious of the frailty of many of her children.’” (quoting: Relatio Synodi 2014, 24.)
Paragraph 292 gives a great definition of marriage: “Christian marriage, as a reflection of the union between Christ and his Church, is fully realized in the union between a man and a woman who give themselves to each other in a free, faithful and exclusive love, who belong to each other until death and are open to the transmission of life, and are consecrated by the sacrament, which grants them the grace to become a domestic church and a leaven of new life for society. Some forms of union radically contradict this ideal, while others realize it in at least a partial and analogous way.”
Paragraph 293 says that the Church should minister pastorally to those cohabitating with the view to an eventual marriage.
Paragraph 294 mentions the problems of poverty causing de facto unions because the price of the wedding party is too high and proposes some possible solutions.
295: The law of gradualness proposed by John Paul II: “This is not a ‘gradualness of law’ but rather a gradualness in the prudential exercise of free acts on the part of subjects who are not in a position to understand, appreciate, or fully carry out the objective demands of the law.”
296: “The Church’s way… has always been the way of Jesus, the way of mercy and reinstatement… The way of the Church is not to condemn anyone for ever; it is to pour out the balm of God’s mercy on all those who ask for it with a sincere heart… For true charity is always unmerited, unconditional and gratuitous.” The line about “not to condemn anyone for ever” refers to earthly condemnation & is not negating Hell’s existence. (quoting: Homily at Mass Celebrated with the New Cardinals (15 February 2015): AAS 107 (2015), 257.)
297: “If someone flaunts an objective sin as if it were part of the Christian ideal, or wants to impose something other than what the Church teaches, he or she can in no way presume to teach or preach to others; this is a case of something which separates from the community. Such a person needs to listen once more to the Gospel message and its call to conversion.”
Paragraph 298 follows John Paul II in admitting that “2nd marriages” can morally continue for reasons like bringing up children but should be celibate. Celibacy is not mentioned by Francis but his repeated references back to Familiaris Consortio indicate it where JP2 says this explicitly.
Paragraph 298 also mentions that individuals in “2nd marriages” could think internally their 1st marriages were invalid but gives no pastoral indication based on this.
299: “The baptized who are divorced and civilly remarried need to be more fully integrated into Christian communities in the variety of ways possible, while avoiding any occasion of scandal. The logic of integration is the key to their pastoral care, a care which would allow them not only to realize that they belong to the Church as the body of Christ, but also to know that they can have a joyful and fruitful experience in it.” (quoting: Relatio Finalis 2015, 84.)
Paragraph 300 explicitly states the document is not changing universal rules: “Neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases.”
After divorce, paragraph 300 suggests that spouses should reflect on how they handled the whole marriage & break up, “A sincere reflection can strengthen trust in the mercy of God which is not denied anyone.” (quoting: Relatio Finalis 2015, 85.)
300: “Given that gradualness is not in the law itself, this discernment [regarding irregular 2nd unions] can never prescind from the Gospel demands of truth and charity, as proposed by the Church.”
The first half of paragraph 301 explains cases where moral imputability or responsibility is lessened due to mitigating factors. The second half 301 at first seems confusing but is just a reiteration of the first half once we read it in context.
305: “A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives.” This refers to an overly negative moral theology that looks to condemnation over mercy.
In 305, Francis quotes the International Theological Commission explaining how natural law is not an a priori set of rules but objective inspiration for personal decisions.
305: “It is possible that in an objective situation of sin – which may not be subjectively culpable, or fully such – a person can be living in God’s grace, can love and can also grow in the life of grace and charity, while receiving the Church’s help to this end.” This refers to people who live in a state of sin (like cohabitation or a civil non-sacramental marriage) without realizing that what they do is sinful.
Paragraph 306 says we should always follow the path of charity and invitation when dealing with those living in objective sin.
307: “In no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur.”
307: “Young people who are baptized should be encouraged to understand that the sacrament of marriage can enrich their prospects of love and that they can be sustained by the grace of Christ in the sacrament and by the possibility of participating fully in the life of the Church.” (quoting: Relatio Synodi 2014, 26.)
It is worth noting that Francis using “participating fully” for young people considering marriage in paragraph 307, while he refers to the divorced and civilly remarried only being “fully integrated” or “participating” in the Church, indicating he realizes there are some limitations on their full participation.
Paragraph 308 points out the need to accompany individuals in irregular situations, helping them grow, making room for God’s mercy.
310: “Mercy is not only the working of the Father; it becomes a criterion for knowing who his true children are. In a word, we are called to show mercy because mercy was first shown to us.” (quoting: Bull Misericordiae Vultus (11 April 2015), 9: AAS 107 (2015): 405.)
311: “Mercy does not exclude justice and truth, but first and foremost we have to say that mercy is the fullness of justice and the most radiant manifestation of God’s truth.”
9: The Spirituality of Marriage and the Family
This chapter sums up the whole document in a spirituality of the family. The main goal is realizing the presence of God in family and praying together to him.
315: “The Lord’s presence dwells in real and concrete families, with all their daily troubles and struggles, joys and hopes.”
315: “The spirituality of family love is made up of thousands of small but real gestures.”
317: “If a family is centred on Christ, he will unify and illumine its entire life.”
318: “Family prayer is a special way of expressing and strengthening this paschal faith.”
320: “No one but God can presume to take over the deepest and most personal core of the loved one; he alone can be the ultimate centre of their life.”
322: “All family life is a “shepherding” in mercy. Each of us, by our love and care, leaves a mark on the life of others.”
325: “The teaching of the Master… on marriage is set – and not by chance – in the context of the ultimate and definitive dimension of our human existence.”
That’s it.
UPDATE: If you want to know how to read this without spin, I suggest reading my blog on the hermeneutic of continuity vs the hermeneutic of suspicion.
Note on republishing:
Unmodified: just give me credit, pay me the usual freelancer amount if you pay, and send me a link via my contact page.
Modified: Contact me and let’s work together.Emissions of methane from the oil and gas industry vastly exceed federal government estimates, according to a definitive study published yesterday. The study finds that daily leaks of the potent greenhouse gas from oil and gas wells in Texas' Barnett Shale matched the annual emissions of 8,000 cars.
Meanwhile, in California's Aliso Canyon, a natural gas storage site has leaked at least 800,000 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalents of methane since Oct. 23, equal to the annual emissions from 168,421 cars. The size of this leak has been compared to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil well accident in the Gulf of Mexico. Sempra Energy and Southern California Gas Co., which operate the site, have said that it could take up to four months to drill an intercepting well and plug the leak.
The leaks of methane, the primary component of natural gas, are bad news for the climate. Methane is 86 times as warming as carbon dioxide on a 20-year time scale, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The leak in the Barnett means that a Texan who uses natural gas would have a 50 percent greater climate impact over the next 20 years than a consumer elsewhere, said Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and a co-author of the study.
"That is a big deal," he said.
The leaks from the oil and gas industry, which is the second-largest industrial emitter, have prompted calls for greater regulation. In August, U.S. EPA proposed rules that, together with existing regulations, would curb emissions by 20 to 30 percent below 2012 levels by 2025 (ClimateWire, Aug. 19). The rules would apply only to new sources of emissions, but the agency will consider whether to regulate existing sources, as well.
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This has emerged as the flashpoint in the tussle between industry and green groups, with EPA in the middle. The American Petroleum Institute, the largest industry group, has said that all regulations of methane are duplicative and would cost $1 billion by 2025.
"Onerous and unnecessary new regulations could have a chilling effect on the American energy renaissance, our economy and our incredible progress reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Howard Feldman, senior director of regulatory and scientific affairs at API.
Surprises for everyone, including shareholders
According to the EDF analysis, methane leaks from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands cost companies $360 million in 2013. The stock price of Sempra Energy fell by 2.78 percent yesterday after the company said that it cannot yet compute the costs of the ongoing gas leak in California.
Scientific studies have repeatedly found that the sector is not as clean as industry groups, and even EPA, assume. But these studies have a drawback.
A handful of top-down studies, using airplanes and satellites, have found extremely high leak rates of methane from oil and gas fields. For instance, oil fields in North Dakota were found to leak 10 percent of their production in one study (ClimateWire, Oct. 22, 2014).
Bottom-up studies, done at the ground level, have found lower leak rates (ClimateWire, Feb. 19).
Reconciling the top-down and bottom-up measurements has proven difficult. Into that fray comes the new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and funded mostly by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The study cost about $1 million.
The study, done over a two-week period in 2013, included simultaneous top-down and bottom-up measurements made at the Barnett Shale. It is the first to reconcile the two sets of measurements.
About 1.5 percent of the 103,312 metric tons of gas produced per day in 2013 leaked, the study finds. This equals a loss of $100 million per year in revenue.
It also finds that EPA is underestimating the industry's emissions by a factor of 2.
Accidents caused by human error -- a person leaving a hatch open or a broken valve -- at 10 percent of facilities were responsible for almost 90 percent of the emissions. And only 2 percent of facilities were responsible for almost half the emissions.
Hamburg of EDF said that the study justifies the need for regulations on existing sources.
"The data show that existing sources are a significant part of the problem," he said.
A call for government incentives to plug the leaks
EPA closed its comment period on its draft rule last week, after meeting with companies and industry groups over the past 30 days. It will now decide whether the rule will be altered and a final rule will be issued in June 2016.
The Our Nation's Energy Future Coalition, an industry group comprising Apache Corp., Southwestern Energy Co., BHP Billiton Ltd. and Hess Corp. that collaborates closely with EPA on methane issues, wrote in a comment that low-emitting oil wells should not be subject to regulation. EPA should provide assurances that existing sources would not be regulated if companies implement voluntary emissions curbs, the coalition wrote.
SWEPI LP, Royal Dutch Shell PLC's American subsidiary, also called on EPA to incentivize voluntary emissions reductions.
The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association wrote that EPA had not considered in its calculations the costs of traveling to "remote" facilities located in wetlands or offshore to curb emissions.
Concho Resources Inc., a Texas-based production company, wrote that the wellhead price of natural gas is lower than the $4 per thousand cubic feet assumed by EPA. It suggested the costs associated with the rule should be recalculated.
EPA's proposal currently requires optical gas imaging cameras to be used in a leak detection and repair program. Concho pointed out that cameras manufactured by FLIR Systems Inc. would be favored, since that company allows latitude and longitude to be embedded in the photograph, per EPA requirement. Concho suggested that the operator be allowed to photograph a well identification sign instead of using GPS markers.
The strongest protests came from API, which called EPA's proposed rule "unlawful" and challenged the regulation of methane under the Clean Air Act. API questioned EPA's social cost of methane (SCM) calculation, used to monetize the benefits of the rule.
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, also questioned the social cost of methane calculation used by EPA in a letter to Administrator Gina McCarthy.
"The timing of the SCM's application is seemingly driven by the international climate negotiations so the Obama Administration can cite regulatory actions for methane and tout outlandish benefit estimates for reducing methane conjured by the SCM," he wrote.Amazon sending drones to my house delivering all of the various things Amazon delivers! And then they stick around to watch you……. and to judge you.
I’ve got a friend who is completely convinced that the NSA is watching him 24/7. His concern over drones and the various watch’n said drones are capable of has him greatly concerned. He doesn’t do anything worthy of watching, but that doesn’t stop his anxiety. I’m sorry did I say anxiety I meant insanity.
Of course he could be right. Maybe the government is in league with Amazon to take pictures of their clients.
Well if the government wants to watch me then I’m going to give them a show. Prepare to be blinded by the overwhelming disgustingness of me wearing moon boots, pasties, and that’s about it. Because I’m going to make sure that every agent at the NSA is intimately familiar with all my various gross features.
Honestly I can’t wait.Advertisement
You didn’t see this review coming, did you?
Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome is a radio drama released that originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 back in 1989 to celebrate the Batman character’s 50th anniversary. This multi-cast performance piece is produced by AudioGo and is available for download on their website at £1.49 or you can buy it as a CD for £4.62, either way you’re getting a better bargain than you would on Amazon by a very wide margin. This dramatization isn’t all that dramatic at all, in fact it’s quite corny, but I must say that it’s something nostalgic fans and children would thoroughly enjoy.
Voice Acting
Every time there is a Batman cartoon nowadays the voice performances are always compared to those from Batman: The Animated Series. Since this was released in 1989 the urge to try and get a performance to sound as much like Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamill as possible isn’t there. Ra’s Al Ghul (pronounced “Raas” like in the Nolan films), Gordon, and Bullock all sound far different than you would expect as well and it takes some getting used to because Batman: The Animated Series has had such a huge impact on our idea of what these characters should sound like for over 20 years. For instance Bob Sessions’ Batman is much lighter and friendlier sounding and varies only slightly between the Bruce Wayne and Batman voices. The Joker, played by Kerry Shale actually has hints of that melodic Blue Meanie element that Hamill made famous. The voices of Gordon, Bullock, and Ra’s Al Ghul didn’t sound right to me at all, but I still have to applaud many of these voice actors for taking on multiple roles unnoticed.
Some of the most interesting casting and easily the #1 reason I have for suggesting this audio title to you in the first place is the inclusion of Michael Gough, the Alfred Pennyworth of BATMAN (1989) and the following three Batman films of the 90s. Sadly the Alfred many of us grew up with has passed so it’s very bittersweet to hear him play the role one last time (There’s another audio title out there with Gough in the role of Alfred as well). So when I say that this is a great work for nostalgic fans to enjoy, it’s totally because of Gough who, besides being a great nod to the films, delivers the very best performance! Speaking of the 1989 Tim Burton Bat-film, this audio title also stars Garrick Hagon, who played the part of Tourist Dad in that movie’s opening scene! He plays a far bigger role here though as both Ra’s Al Ghul and Thomas Wayne. Star Wars fans might be interested to know that Garrick also played Red Three AKA Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars— OR DID I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND?
Story
The story here isn’t exactly going to have you on the edge of your seat. Bruce Wayne has been replaced by an impostor and since HUSH won’t be created for another 14 years or so we can count Thomas Elliot out. This new Bruce Wayne is liquidating all the Wayne assets and making a move to destroy everything in the Batcave, even going so far as ordering Alfred to poison the bats. There’s not much mystery there of course as to the whodunnit because the reveal is made obvious by the title “Lazarus Syndrome” nor is there very much drama in Bruce’s escape from Talia’s clingy embrace and return to Gotham which happens very quickly and without much detail. In fact, the audio title is very light in terms of detail for its own story and yet quite heavy when it comes to feeding listeners facts about the comics. This is why I say it’s a great listen for new readers. It’s an adventure that takes place soon after the death of Jason Todd and his demise is touched upon in the dialogue as re the events of the Killing Joke. We learn how Dick Grayson became Robin and then evolved into Nightwing– he’s also operating in New York here as opposed to Gotham or Bludhaven. And if all of that wasn’t enough the story flashes back to Bruce’s fall into the well and his first confrontation with Jim Gordon. So the fake-Bruce Wayne plot is hardly the centerpiece, it’s instead a crash course in pre-New 52 and pre-Tim Drake Batman mythology all squeezed into a tight 45 minute narrative. Quite impressive when you look at it that way.
Of course these lectures are anything but subtle. Characters go into long and rather frequent monologues about who they are and what their relationship is with Batman almost for no reason that lead into flashbacks that can be quite confusing at first listen. This was indeed a radio broadcast but there is no narrator to speak of. No one to set the scene for you to imagine the characters acting in. You must understand that director Dirk Maggs bushed the boundaries of radio drama, turning them into what were considered “audio movies” by adding cinematic soundtrack and a greater emphasis on sound effects to signal to the listener that the setting has changed or an important action has happened. The first 2 minutes were probably the most jarring because it opens cold to a fight scene so you hear a lot of grunts and crashing but once you get into the proper mindset it’s perfectly easy to follow along. Just be careful about listening to it when you’re going to bed. It requires quite a bit of attention since it moves so quickly and so often fades into a new location, flashback, or even a dream sequence.
One of the most interesting things that comic fans will notice isn’t just the odd reference to Son of the Demon or Year Three, it’s that quite a bit of the dialogue in some scenes is lifted word-for-word from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. There was something oddly amusing about hearing a friendlier Batman tell a punk that “There are seven working defenses from this position…”
Overall
Who would like this? Nostalgic Batman fans of Gough’s Alfred, comic readers who loved the pre-New 52 Batman universe, and parents eager to teach their kids about the Batman mythology. It’s also good for a laugh because there are some legitimately funny lines in this by Alfred and Barbara Gordon. The story can be rather corny and outright nonsensical at times but it’s good lighthearted fun.
Is it available at a good price? A steal! But make sure you pick it up at the AudioGo website. I know that Amazon is almost always the cheapest way to go but this time around you will be paying over $10 bucks more for the CD than you would at AudioGo.
Do I think you should go buy it? Sure, why not! It’s not exactly a must-have but it’s incredibly cheap, a unique way to experience a Batman story than what you’re used to, and it’s lovely to hear Michael Gough as Alfred one last time.
You can download your copy of Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome here, at the AudioGo website.By 2066, white Britons 'will be outnumbered' if immigration continues at current rates
White UK-born population to decline from 80% to 59%
Ethnic minority population expands by 2m from 2001-07
White Britons will be a minority by 2066 if immigration continues at the current rate, according to new research.
A leading population expert has warned that failure to deal with the influx of foreign workers would ‘change national identity’.
Professor David Coleman, of Oxford University, spoke out as the Migration Advisory Board recommended immigration levels from outside the EU be slashed by up to 25 per cent.
Changing face of Britain: White people could no longer be in the majority by 2066 if immigration continues at its current rate
If immigration stays at its long-term rate of around 180,000 a year, the white British-born population would decline from 80 per cent of the total now to just 59 per cent in 2051, analysis of figures from the Office of National Statistics shows.
By then white immigrants would have more than doubled from 4 to 10 per cent of the total, while the ethnic minority population would have risen from 16 to 31 per cent.
If the trend continued, the white British population, defined as English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish-born citizens, would become the minority after about 2066.
The Government has vowed to slash the level of net immigration after a decade of open borders under Labour.
The Migration Advisory Board suggested up to 12,600 fewer foreign visas should be handed out following complaints from businesses that the plans are hampering their ability to bring in key staff.
But even if the Coalition gets net immigration down to 80,000 a year, Prof Coleman says white Britons would be outnumbered by 2080.
In an article for Prospect magazine, he writes: ‘The 50 per cent benchmark has no special demographic significance, but it would have a considerable psychological and political impact.
‘The transition to a “majority minority” population, whenever it happens, would represent an enormous change to national identity – cultural, political, economic and religious.
‘In Britain, judging by the opposition to high immigration reported in opinion polls over recent years, it seems likely that such developments would be unwelcome.’
He warned that the relative youthfulness of the immigrant population means that the 50 per cent milestone will be passed much quicker among ‘schoolchildren, students and young workers’.
The ethnic minority population expanded by almost two million between 2001 and 2007, from 13 per cent to nearly 16 per cent of the total.
Immigration accounted for 57 per cent of population growth in this time, and foreign-born mothers now account for a quarter of births in England and Wales.
Both Leicester and Birmingham are expected to become ‘majority minority’ during the 2020s. Two London boroughs were already majority non-white in 2001.
Tory MP Nicholas Soames, who runs the cross-party group Balanced Migration, said: ‘Immigrants over the years have made a great contribution to British life but it’s now really out of control.
‘We must break the link between the right to work here and the right to settle here.’Spaces allow users to teleport to 3D spaces, watch videos together, draw virtual artwork and even takeIndividual instance of a shot; a take = each time the camera is started and stopped. avatar selfies–features SlateA card or device positioned in front of the camera at the beginning of each shot to document all relevant shot informati... More hopes to incorporate into the show in the future.
Slate’s approach to VR mirrors its existing coverageMultiple shots from multiple angles to capture the events in a scene (i.e. master shot, medium shots, close-ups, inserts... More and brand and is more akin to podcasting than most of the VR content in journalism. But, SlateA card or device positioned in front of the camera at the beginning of each shot to document all relevant shot informati... More hopes the new format will offer a more immediate connection for viewers.Enlarge Image Sony
The era of the smartwatch may be upon us, but it seems there's always a place for paper. Sony's e-paper FES Watch is part of the Japanese multinational's New Business Creation Department, and is a device that was successfully crowdfunded utilising the company's newly launched First Flight e-commerce site. It's more of a hit than a miss, merging the clean sharpness of e-reader paper with the function of a watch in a unique and eye-catching way.
Straight Outta Japan
Set at the reasonable price of ¥29,700 ($240, AU$335, £160), the FES watch aims to bring a new level of style and versatility to wristwatches rather than the new levels of function introduced by devices like the Apple Watch or the Samsung Gear 2. Currently released only in Japan, the FES watch will be available for purchase internationally from December 10 via the Japanese Yahoo! shopping website.
As far as watches go, it does exactly what is expected; it tells time. It's how it does it that sets it apart from regular digital timepieces. Functionally, it cannot compete with a smartwatch or even a fully digital counterpart -- at it's core, this is a minimalist wristwatch with just the one time function. This, of course, may put people off, but there's a wow factor that just might draw others in.
The entire front face and straps are made from one continuous strip of e-paper, backed by a hard-yet-forgiving polycarbonate that fits snugly around the wrist, and is held together by a typical fold-over clasp. With a case thickness of a slim 7.5 millimetres and a weight of 43 grams (most of which comes from the metal clasp itself), the FES Watch is a drastic change from the bulky, all-metal affair of normal wristwatches. The battery will last you approximately 2 years of regular use, though the 'watch action' of activating the display by turning your wrist can drain the battery slightly faster. It is waterproof, though only to the extent of daily life usage such as rain. So no swimming.
Design options
With a single press of its side button, the face wakes up to display a minute hand that moves as it should around the watch face, as well as a number denoting the hour. Subsequent presses of the side button will rotate the watch and its straps through 24 different display settings, such as faux metal links, alligator hide and stitched leather for the straps and minimalist, hour-marked or minute-marked display for the face.
Sony
Each look has its own variant of black and white, giving optimised options for daytime and night-time wear. I find myself swapping the display to a minimalist all-black, though to take advantage of the design variations, I might occasionally opt for the faux metal links, which blink to life at the press of a button.
Conclusion
So the big question is, does it satisfy? It works perfectly as a featureless watch (you can't go wrong with time function, after all) and has a simple-yet-durable build. There are some issues with the FES Watch, though. They're not about what it can't do, but rather what it could do but doesn't. One feature that I'd like to see is custom designs for the watch and perhaps firmware updates for new a unique faces or straps. If an e-reader can display text or monochrome comics, then I'd like to see the same from the FES watch. Another is a rotating display mode. While the versatility of the many styles is impressive, they could be a little more active with the watch cycling through its modes.
Barring that, should you decide to take the plunge, you'll have a simple timepiece that can match almost any social situation -- and easily offer a great conversation starter.Montreal — Her daughter was in hospital being treated for stab wounds, to the head, shoulder and arm. She herself had been arrested that morning at the family home with blood on her hands and feet and a gash on her left arm. And Johra Kaleki, facing charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault, decided she was going to disregard her lawyer’s advice and tell the story “from A to Z.”
In a video played in Quebec Court Tuesday, Ms. Kaleki told a Montreal police investigator that she had lost control on the morning of June 13, 2010, when her 19-year-old daughter Bahar Ebrahimi arrived home after a night on the town.
[np-related /]
“I know I committed a crime, yes,” she told Sgt.-Det. Alexandre Bertrand.
But even if the law says it was wrong, she added, “For myself, I know I did the right thing.”
Under Sgt.-Det. Bertrand’s questioning, Ms. Kaleki gradually explained how the family of smiling Afghan immigrants photographed by
The Gazette in 2002 clutching Canadian flags after being sworn in as citizens had come to this.
When she was a young girl, Bahar Ebrahimi was a source of pride to her parents. Others in the Afghan community marveled at what a good kid she was. “How did you do it?” they wanted to know.
Ms. Kaleki, 40, said that raising Bahar and her three younger sisters was a full-time job, and they were all the reward she needed. “People work to earn money. I work to earn them,” she said. “They’re all I have.”
She said she loves Canada and the opportunities it offers her family. But while there were no land mines or stray bullets to worry about like in her native Kabul, there were other dangers. “There are difficulties, there are temptations, there are bad things here,” she said. “It’s not like it’s heaven on Earth.”
A religious woman who married at age 17, she tried to be a role model and instill traditional values in her daughters. “It’s important to be honest, to be a good person, to raise your children the way a Muslim should live,” she said. The girls were forbidden from drinking, smoking and having boyfriends. When Bahar went off to school in the morning, her mother would check her outfits to make sure they were not “too short and skimpy.”
When I go to jail, when I spend the rest of my life in jail for this crime, I want to go as a proud, honest person, not as a coward
But when Bahar graduated from high school and began CEGEP, her behaviour changed. She began using more make-up and wearing her hair differently, her mother told the investigator. One day, a pack of cigarettes fell from her daughter’s school bag. Her mother asked to look inside the bag and was told it was none of her business.
Another time, Bahar came home drunk. “Lots of boys” were calling her cellphone, her mother said. She started staying out late and “giving me a hard time,” Ms. Kaleki said. “She was not honest.”
On the morning of the attack, a Sunday, Ms. Kaleki heard a car door slam and ran downstairs to see her husband asking Bahar where she had been. “She said, ‘I just went clubbing,’” she recounted. “I said to my husband, ‘Leave it to me.’”
Bahar was not interested in talking, but Ms. Kaleki said she had an idea what her daughter had been up to. “I think she was out there just for a stupid reason, just to go without permission and have fun. That’s all,” she said.
Sgt.-Det. Bertrand said later, “Is it that something snapped and you lost control?” She replied, “Yes, I did.”
At times during the interrogation, Ms. Kaleki broke down in sobs, begging to see her husband and children. She declared her love for Bahar, but it was more than an hour into the interrogation when she inquired about her condition: “She speaks? She talks? She’s going to be OK?” Sgt.-Det. Bertrand said Bahar was lucky to have been taken to a hospital where they “do miracles,” and she was going to survive.
“The only thing I regret is I’m going to be away from my three other children, who need me the most
Ms. Kaleki then explained why she decided to tell the detective her story. “What I don’t hide from my God, my Creator, why should I hide from you?” she said. “When I go to jail, when I spend the rest of my life in jail for this crime, I want to go as a proud, honest person, not as a coward.” She added, “The only thing I regret is I’m going to be away from my three other children, who need me the most.”
And she expressed the hope that the incident would be instructive for Bahar. “If she survives, she will become more wise and she will learn from this bad experience of her life, which is the last one and the worst one. She paid a very high price and I’ll pay the high price.”
Ms. Kaleki’s defence lawyers are challenging the admissibility of the video, as well as statements made by Ms. Kaleki to arresting officers and medical staff, on the grounds that she was mentally distraught at the time. One of those statements was, “It’s my daughter; I can do what I want.” The hearing on the admissibility of the evidence before Judge Yves Paradis continues Wednesday.
National Post
[email protected], B.C. - Andrew |
of these gas hydrates during post‐LGM ice sheet thaw may have occurred in shallow waters at the ice sheet's terminus as shelfal inundation got underway. Portnov et al. [2016] also propose that these degassing processes could have preconditioned upper continental slope sediments to be the loci of contemporary ebullitive CH 4 flux [e.g., Westbrook et al., 2009], although their extrapolation to the northern U.S. Atlantic margin seeps described by Skarke et al. [2014] does not appropriately consider well‐established LGM ice distributions on that margin. Figure 11 Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Sloan and Koh [ 2008 −1, with constant thermal properties assumed for both the permafrost and subpermafrost zones, a substantial simplification. Ice density for pressure calculations is 910 kg m−3; using a higher density will result in a thinner GHSZ. Subglacial gas hydrates are likely widespread in Antarctica [Wadham et al., 2012 Nisbet, 1990b Portnov et al., 2016 Maslin et al., 2010 Hunter and Hobson [ 1974 The theoretical distribution of permafrost (ground with temperature less than 0°C whose base is delineated by the thick white line) and the pure methane hydrate GHSZ (calculated with 0% pore water salinity from]) for warm‐base (0.5°C; purple represents GHSZ) and cold‐base (−5°C; blue denotes GHSZ) ice sheets that are 200 m, 500 m, and 1000 m thick. The thick white line marks the base of permafrost. The assumed conductive geothermal gradient is 30°C km, with constant thermal properties assumed for both the permafrost and subpermafrost zones, a substantial simplification. Ice density for pressure calculations is 910 kg m; using a higher density will result in a thinner GHSZ. Subglacial gas hydrates are likely widespread in Antarctica [.,], and thawing ice sheets and rising sea levels could have destabilized significant subglacial deposits at the end of the LGM [.,] or during other time periods [.,]. In practice,] found that ice‐bearing permafrost in the Beaufort Sea corresponds to temperatures less than −1.8°C, so the extent of permafrost is likely overestimated in this calculation. Figure 11 shows nominal conditions for permafrost evolution and gas hydrate stability beneath cold and warm‐base ice sheets. Even where permafrost is lacking beneath warm‐base ice, gas hydrate is stable at shallow depths in the sedimentary section for ice sheets a mere 500 m thick. Such shallow hydrates could form from microbial gas instead of the thermogenic gas thought to be sourcing many contemporary PAGH [Ruppel, 2015]. Anomalously shallow gas hydrates have been postulated for the Yamal Peninsula [Chuvilin et al., 2002] and invoked to explain some observations on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf [Shakhova et al., 2010a], as discussed above. Neither area was glaciated at the LGM, and the shallow gas releases on which the anomalous hydrate interpretation is based [Chuvilin et al., 2002] are common in permafrost areas during drilling and thought to be unrelated to gas hydrate dynamics. Even if proof for anomalous gas hydrates is eventually found, it remains uncertain how the pressure and temperature conditions at shallow depths (e.g., less than 100 m) could have been within the gas hydrate stability field absent recent glacial loading or a highly unusual mixture of hydrocarbons. While the possible existence of relict subglacial gas hydrates at high northern latitudes is not likely to greatly expand the estimate of global gas in place, a recent review of Pleistocene glacial extents [Jakobsson et al., 2014] could provide guidance for locating other margins where these unusual hydrates may have existed at the LGM and may have degassed during the Holocene. This category of gas hydrates should probably also be included in millennial scale models of global warming impacts on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets [Maslin et al., 2010].
6.4 Upper Continental Slopes As described by Kvenvolden [1988b] and considered in numerous observational and modeling studies [e.g., Berndt et al., 2014; Brothers et al., 2014; Davies et al., 2015; Gorman and Senger, 2010; Johnson et al., 2015; Kennett et al., 2003; Marín‐Moreno et al., 2015; Marín‐Moreno et al., 2013; Mienert et al., 2005; Pecher et al., 2005; Phrampus and Hornbach, 2012; Phrampus et al., 2014; Reagan and Moridis, 2009; Reagan et al., 2011; Ruppel, 2011a; Skarke et al., 2014; Stranne et al., 2016a; Stranne et al., 2016b; Weinstein et al., 2016; Westbrook et al., 2009] gas hydrates within upper continental slope sediments constitute the key marine hydrate population that is susceptible to degradation during ocean warming (Figure 9). The GHSZ vanishes on upper slopes (i.e., the “feather edge” of hydrate stability in Ruppel [2011a]). Small perturbations in the temperatures of impinging intermediate ocean waters or even small pressure perturbations associated with tides or other oceanographic phenomena can affect the stability of these deposits. Dissociation driven by these processes may also condition submarine slopes to failure, particularly at the shallower water depths (300–800 m) close to the landward limit of gas hydrate stability [Nixon and Grozic, 2006]. Based on potential distributions of upper slope gas hydrates on marine continental margins and conservative assumptions about gas hydrate saturations, but ignoring any biogeochemical sinks in the sediments, Ruppel [2011a] estimated that ~3.5% of the global gas hydrate inventory (~63 Gt C or ~83,790 Tg CH 4 based on an assumed inventory of 1800 Gt C) might be susceptible to climate change on a time scale of centuries. While upper continental slope gas hydrates are generally viewed as being in a net dissociation regime in light of contemporary climate warming, the details are certainly more complicated, with gas hydrate dissociating and re‐forming at the shallowly buried BGHS in response to oscillating temperatures and pressures on the slopes. Key questions include the degree to which gas hydrates remain out of equilibrium with local P‐T conditions, the rate at which upper slope gas hydrates respond to climate forcing, and whether upper slope hydrate dissociation processes that do not produce seafloor seepage can be detected by geophysical surveys. Despite the expectation that upper continental slopes host the most climate‐susceptible gas hydrate populations, widespread upper slope seepage has so far only been recognized on the West Spitsbergen margin [Westbrook et al., 2009], the U.S. Atlantic margin [Skarke et al., 2014], and the northwestern U.S. Pacific margin [Johnson et al., 2015]. Given the role of salt tectonism (section 6.5) and the lack of a systematic catalog for northern Gulf of Mexico seeps associated with hydrates, these are not considered here, although upper slope dissociation processes are clearly active [e.g., MacDonald et al., 1994; Weber et al., 2014]. Upper continental slope seepage on the other margins has been interpreted in terms of warming of intermediate waters on time scales of years to centuries [Berndt et al., 2014; Biastoch et al., 2011; Brothers et al., 2014; Ruppel, 2011a; Stranne et al., 2016b], but so far only the West Spitsbergen margin seepage has been firmly linked to dissociating gas hydrate [Berndt et al., 2014]. On the northwestern U.S. Pacific margin, many of the seeps are close to the feather edge of hydrate stability on the upper continental slope, providing circumstantial evidence for their origin in methane hydrate destabilization [Johnson et al., 2015]. In the Arctic Ocean, some researchers have used thermal infrared (TIR) data from satellites to infer methane emissions linked to seasonal ocean warming that may drive hydrate dissociation on continental slopes and nearby shelves [Leifer et al., 2014]. However, the TIR technology has low sensitivity in the lower troposphere, rendering the data poor at distinguishing local and regional methane sources [Jacob et al., 2016]. Furthermore, the strength of water column sinks makes it unlikely that upper continental slope methane is reaching the ocean‐atmosphere interface in any case, leading to questions about the origin of the signal being detected in the satellite data. A full discussion of the approaches for estimating methane fluxes from deepwater marine gas hydrate settings is included in section 6.5, and here we focus only on the results related specifically to upper continental slopes and choose the West Spitsbergen margin [e.g., Westbrook et al., 2009] as the focus. Sahling et al. [2014] estimated flux of 9 to 118 × 106 mol yr−1 CH 4 from seeps in a depth range mostly updip of the landward edge of gas hydrate stability and note that several methane sources likely contribute to this flux. Graves et al. [2015] recorded near‐bottom methane concentrations as high as 825 nM over the upper slope seeps but show that most of this methane remains near the bottom and that the methane at shallower depths in the water column does not originate with in situ seafloor emissions. Steinle et al. [2015] documented the strength of the MOx sink in these cold waters, demonstrating that changing ocean currents have a profound effect on the efficiency of the sink. Myhre et al. [2016] and Graves et al. [2015] used direct measurements and indirect arguments to demonstrate that sea‐air flux over the upper continental slopes is not elevated, while Fisher et al. [2011] concluded that the atmospheric methane in this area lacks a signal related to gas hydrate dissociation. Nonetheless, at least for the CH 4 detected near the seafloor, there is strong evidence that it is being sourced in gas hydrate dissociation [Berndt et al., 2014]. Establishing the link between upper slope seepage and gas hydrate dissociation on the U.S. Atlantic margin will be more difficult since the gas appears to have no thermogenic component like that which assisted with fingerprinting on the West Spitsbergen margin. Furthermore, as noted by Skarke et al. [2014], the U.S. Atlantic margin seepage occurs mostly at water depths upslope from the contemporary updip limit of methane hydrate stability, except in Hudson Canyon [Weinstein et al., 2016]. The large percentage of excess heat absorbed by the Atlantic Ocean over the past few decades [Lee et al., 2011; Levitus et al., 2012] may imply greater dynamism for the GHSZ on upper slopes here than in other ocean basins and may also lead to more rapid downdip migration of the gas hydrate stability field [e.g., Brothers et al., 2014]. Still, in situ gas hydrate dissociation has been ruled out as a gas source for one prominent seep cluster [Prouty et al., 2016] that may have been active starting after the LGM, and seepage at other upper slope locations would require updip migration of gas through permeable strata [Brothers et al., 2014; Skarke et al., 2014]. In addition to seepage, certain erosional and other features have been described at the upper feather edge of gas hydrate stability on global margins [Davies et al., 2015; Pecher et al., 2005]. These merit further attention as potential markers for gas hydrate dissociation. The types of exhaustive studies of seafloor CH 4 flux rates that are available for the West Spitsbergen margin have not yet been completed for the U.S. Atlantic or northwestern U.S. Pacific margin seeps. Based on limited bubble observations, Skarke et al. [2014] gave a conservative estimate of 15–90 Mg yr−1 CH 4 for seafloor flux for the ~570 seeps they describe along 950 km of the Atlantic margin, while Weinstein et al. [2016] used indirect methods to infer 70–280 Mg yr−1 CH 4 in Hudson Canyon alone. How much, if any, of these emissions originate in dissociating gas hydrate remains unknown. Preliminary continuous sea‐air flux measurements indicate that the Atlantic margin seeps are unlikely to be contributing CH 4 to the atmosphere [Ruppel et al., 2015].More than 100 full time employees have been laid off at Woodbine and Mohawk racetracks, Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) announced Wednesday.
In a release WEG said “109 salaried positions and a significant number of hourly positions” have been axed in an effort “to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies…”
The layoffs impact “the entire organization, from the executive offices to frontline employees,” the release said.
A number of jobs will also “be converted to seasonal and the amount of hourly work available will be reduced.”
“Today is a very difficult day for Woodbine Entertainment Group,” said Nick Eaves, President and CEO of WEG.
“The people we are saying goodbye to have helped build WEG into a world-class horse racing and entertainment company.”
News of the layoffs comes after an announcement in January that the provincial government would provide transition funding to ensure races continue at Woodbine and Mohawk over the next two years.
Last March, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) announced a series of new initiatives meant to modernize the agency and boost profits — including stopping annual payments of $345 million to the horse racing industry by halting the Slots at Racetracks program on March 31.
WEG says that despite the newly announced funding from the government, it’s not enough to make up for the elimination of the Slots program.
“While the company recently announced new transitional agreements with the Ontario government and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), the revenue from those agreements will be significantly less than WEG earned through the Slots-at-Racetracks partnership.”OTTAWA — The Harper government, under pressure at home over its controversial Internet surveillance bill, including a renewed push from law enforcement to pass the legislation, continues to come under international pressure to pass Bill C-30.
The legislation, dubbed the “lawful access” bill, contains provisions that would allow Canada to ratify an 11-year-old convention on Internet crime, which its allies are antsy to see approved.
Bill C-30 created a storm of outrage when it was tabled because it would allow authorities access to Internet subscriber information — including names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses — without a warrant in cases where companies refused to provide it voluntarily.
A confidential briefing note for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, prepared ahead of a meeting with officials from the United Kingdom, notes that Canada has yet to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention, named after the city in which is was signed in 2001.
“Key allies, including the U.K. and the United States, view this as a key international agreement and are eager for Canada to complete its ratification process,” the undated briefing note says. “The recently tabled Bill C-30 contains measures, including provision for data preservation orders, which would enable Canada to ratify the Budapest Convention.”
Last month, officials from Public Safety Canada and Foreign Affairs were to attend a conference on cyberspace in Budapest, Toews was also supposed to go.
But his attendance, department officials wrote at the time, could cause Canada some problems.
“Notwithstanding the conference’s benefits, your attendance may raise questions as to Canada’s ratification of … the Budapest Convention,” the briefing note reads.
“Legislative amendments which would allow Canada to ratify are included in Bill C-30 … This communications challenge could be mitigated by working with the department’s communications group to develop appropriate responsive speaking points.”
Toews didn’t attend the conference.
A spokeswoman for the minister didn’t say what Canada’s allies were told at the meeting, nor when C-30 would return to the Commons for six hours of required debate before it can be sent to committee for review.
The government has committed to sending C-30 to committee before second reading, giving government and opposition MPs more power to propose changes to the legislation.
“Our government is thoroughly reviewing this legislation,” said Toews spokeswoman Julie Carmichael. “At all times we will strike an appropriate balance between protecting privacy and giving police the tools they need to do their job.”
The communication challenge referenced in the briefing note started in February when the Conservatives first introduced C-30. At the time, Toews told the Commons the bill would protect children from online predators, so critics could either “stand with us or with the child pornographers.”
The quote caused an immediate backlash online, with opponents arguing the bill gave police sweeping powers to search personal history online.
Problems with the bill, according to critics and opposition parties, include provisions that allow police officers to ask for Internet subscribers’ information without a warrant under exceptional circumstances (Section 17); and a section that allows a police officer, with a warrant, to make copies of records made by Internet service providers (Section 34).
If the bill passes in its current form, companies could be required to hand over a user’s name, address, contact number, email address, and Internet protocol (IP) address, which could allow police to build a detailed profile of an individual based on their digital footprint. Federal and provincial privacy commissioners have raised concerns over that potential outcome should the bill pass in its current form.
– With a file from Canadian PressWritten by Boston Biker on Mar 25
Dear Cycling Word Nerds
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Specifically I am looking for people to write about the following:
Daily commuting in Boston
Infrastructure issues
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Science of cycling related issues
Personal experience pieces
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So if you think you have something to say about cycling and can say it in an interesting way, get in touch with me. [email protected]
This offer also goes out to the many fine writers that area already blogging on BostonBiker.org, if you have a piece you think deserves some front page attention let me know I know for a fact a lot of you write amazing stuff, and I would love to highlight your brilliance.
You will retain full rights and usage of your work.
Ps. Unfortunately I don’t have anything to offer, but you would get to see your work appear next to my ramblings on a somewhat visited bike blog 🙂 And maybe if we ever meet in real life I will give you a high five and a free bike tube…
Tags: apply within Posted in bostonbikerI definitely didn’t think I’d be writing this breakdown following a two-score victory over a 2-0 Broncos team that embarrassed America’s team in primetime the week before. But, here I am.
The offense, and more specifically the passing game, really gave this Bills’ defense a boost. They were able to sustain long drives, putting together consecutive first downs that led to points. It gave the already confident Bills defense a chance to rest, and you could see the results on the scoreboard.
The Bills will have to employ a similar tactic this weekend against a more proven and prolific offense and quarterback. Nothing against Trevor Siemian, but he’s certainly no Matt Ryan. If the Bills hope to serve the reigning NFC Champs their first loss of the season, then the offense will have to do its best to replicate the success it had a week ago, but with a more established run game.
But lets talk about the real reason we’re here. Tyrod Taylor played a tremendous game last Sunday in their win over Denver. It was tremendous because of his ability to put maybe the worst performance he’s had in a Bills uniform behind him and be a key factor in a rather convincing win.
C’mon Zay!
Zay's gotta have this. TT put it in a great spot where Talib couldn't get his hands on it. pic.twitter.com/f6g5twBhAL — Cover 1 (@Cover_1_) September 26, 2017
This is one I’ve got to put on the rookie receiver. Listen, we (meaning mostly I) kill Tyrod for his inability to throw the slant on time and on target. This is a perfect throw, considering the circumstances. I absolutely need Zay Jones to make this grab for an easy touchdown. Luckily, Andre Holmes was close by to safely bring it in for a score, but the chemistry between Zay and Tyrod has been noticeably off, and this certainly wasn’t the only example of that in this game.
For Tyrod, though, it was good to see him rewarded for having confidence and letting it rip. He still slightly hesitates, like he almost doesn’t trust what he sees in a very easy read. But I’m not going to dock him points, because the throw was on time and on target. Moving forward, Tyrod needs to continue to build on plays like this in the red zone. Rubs and slants are utilized across the league to get defenses out of position when things tighten up in the red zone, and the Bills never seem capable of using it in their favor. Tyrod’s relationship with these new receivers is definitely something to continue monitoring as the season progresses.
It’s a game of inches
TT unable to get the ball out in front of Zay bc of the proximity of Barrett. TT does a great job of getting in a position to throw. pic.twitter.com/iSiAYbtF9D — Cover 1 (@Cover_1_) September 26, 2017
This one is tough because it’s a potential big play that was left out on the field. First I look to Zay Jones for partial blame on this play, because I think he should have continued gaining depth on this route, which likely would have put him in better position. But I can’t fully blame Zay because I don’t know where their benchmarks are on this play. However, with time, he’ll learn on scramble rules to continue gaining depth to give his quarterback a chance.
As for Taylor, he really does the best he can in this rollout situation. I always preferred to rollout to my left as a right-handed thrower because it forced me to use more of my hips, and gave me a little more distance and velocity on my throws. On this play, though, Taylor just had to get it out too quickly, and it affected his accuracy. Chalk it up as another missed opportunity.
It’s all about the depth
Been saying it for a while, PA is where TT has to be effective. Nice deep drop and touch pass to Matthews. pic.twitter.com/5SUwvUr9sm — Cover 1 (@Cover_1_) September 26, 2017
One thing that was clear last Sunday was how deep Rick Dennison had Tyrod Taylor dropping back. Taylor’s three-step drop game struggled throughout preseason, and in week two against the Panthers, too. I thought that he wasn’t getting enough depth in his drops, and it was leading to batted balls at the line. I think it contributed to him missing some open receivers.
Total #Bills dropback numbers:
Shotgun – 20
Rollout – 7
7-Step Drop – 5
5-Step Drop – 2
3-Step Drop – 0 Play Action – 13 — Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) September 26, 2017
Per Joe B., Taylor had zero three-step drop-backs against the Broncos. It was a clear game plan against the dangerous weapons the Broncos have in their front seven. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on moving forward, because I think it allowed Taylor more time to process the defense, and his receivers were the beneficiaries of some very accurately-thrown balls.
That’s a bad man!
TT trying to get it to Matthews nothing there, slides & resets. Scrambles for the 1st. Don't like eye discipline here. pic.twitter.com/8QY78v9xse — Cover 1 (@Cover_1_) September 26, 2017
What I love about this play is that the scramble truly was a last resort. He kept his eyes downfield and set himself back up to make a throw before making a play that very few players in the league can make. It has always been the x-factor with Taylor, what keeps him a viable option in the NFL. His ability to keep this play alive and get past the sticks in uncanny. These are the sorts of plays you can’t really account for on the stat sheet, but it’s encouraging to see him use it as a last resort instead of bailing out too fast.
Progress.
Atlanta’s defense definitely isn’t as talented as the Broncos’ defense that the Bills took advantage of. If Vic Beasley can’t go, then that’s a huge victory for the Bills and Dion Dawkins. If they’re able to build on their passing performance last week and get LeSean McCoy going again, then they’ll have a real chance to go 3-1.Becky Hammon has already made history multiple times, whether it was becoming the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history, the first female NBA Summer League Head Coach, or the first female assistant coach in NBA All-Star game history.
Now the 40-year-old San Antonio Spurs’ assistant is trying to make history once again by becoming the first female NBA general manager in history.
In classic Woj-Bomb fashion, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news that Hammon is in consideration in the Milwaukee Bucks’ GM search. Woj broke the news when he also wrote that assistant GM Justin Zanik is prepping the organization for the draft while the Bucks’ leadership searches for a permanent GM.
Along with Hammon, Milwaukee is also looking at Portland Trail Blazers assistant GM Bill Branch, Miami Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, and Detroit Pistons assistant GM Pat Garrity, according to The Vertical.
Hammon has no front-office experience and her only NBA experience is as an assistant coach for the Spurs and Head Coach Gregg Popovich. Meanwhile Branch has been in Portland’s front office since 2010, Simon has worked in Miami’s front office through their three runs, and Garrity played in the league for 10 years and has been working in Detroit’s front office since 2014.
The Bucks are speaking to the following people as well: Indiana VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie, Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Memphis Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski, and Atlanta Hawks special adviser to ownership Wes Wilcox.
If Hammon manages to get the job, she would not only be the first GM in NBA history, but also in American pro sports.
[The Vertical]by Matt Slick
I was in a Muslim room asking some questions. This dialogue was initiated by a Muslim, and it deals with evidence for the validity of Islam:
Abdul: Have you read Quran? Brother.
Matt: Not all of it.
Abdul: Ok
Matt: Okay, but just so you know, I do NOT believe in Islam.
Abdul: It's OK. May Allah reward you with good. Allah has made your mind interested to Islam.
Matt: I am a Christian. I have studied Islam much, along with Christianity. How are you saved from your sins? How are you saved from the wrath of God upon you for sinning against Him?
Abdul: Sin is allowed. Doing sin is allowed. A true Christian always ready to accept oneness of Allah.
Matt: That begs the question: You assume that a "true Christian" will believe in Allah. But it presupposes that Allah is true, which I do not accept.
Matt: What does Islam teach you that you must do in order to be forgiven of your sins?
Abdul: If I give you reference?
Matt: Please understand that I am not trying to be rude. You can make claims, and I am not saying you are a liar or dishonest. But, just because the Quran says something does not mean that it is true. I would prefer to see some evidence--some supernatural evidence that it is from God. Do you have any so that we might ascertain that it is valid?
Abdul: What Quran says is true
Matt: How do you know it is true?
Abdul: Whether we understand it or not. Well. Brother. Allah is giving you freedom to accept or, not that's the greatest evidence. In sura al imran : ayah 97 "who ever reject (let them know) Allah is not reliable to anyone."
Matt: Is there any evidence that the Quran is from God?
Abdul: Yes
Matt: What evidence is there?
Abdul: None can make a verse / ayah of Qur'an. That's the evidence.
Matt: Excuse me, but that is no evidence.
Abdul: Well.
Matt: Merely stating it doesn't make it so. Would it not be better to have some extraordinary evidence or miracles to validate the supernatural quality of the book?
Abdul: No. Muslims hear & obey. They hear Allah & Rasool and obey.
Matt: You mean, we are to have no evidence of anything extraordinary when extraordinary claims are made? So, if I made an extraordinary claim that God spoke to me, should you then simply believe it; or would you rather have some proof?
Abdul: Yes. Just you have to accept & obey when its from Allah / Qur'an
Matt: Which? Would you merely accept what I said, or would you want some evidence that what I said was true? Which?
Abdul: Please read the Qur'an fully insha allah you will get every evidence.
Matt: May I say something?
Abdul: Ok
Matt: The Bible has a great deal of evidence to support it: archaeology, fulfilled prophecy, etc.
Abdul: Ok
Matt: It claims to be the self-revelation of God, and it is accompanied by extraordinary events and many miracles. For example, Moses parting the Red Sea, Enoch going to heaven, Jesus walking on water, etc.
Abdul: Look. It was also from Allah. But it was changed. Now only Quran is unchanged.
Matt: Why should I trust the Quran over the Bible?
Abdul: Look.
Matt: If you say it has been changed, how do you know it has been changed?
Abdul: Quran has also this type of evidence.
Matt: Have you examined the textual evidence to see if it has been changed?
Abdul: In bible there was told about Muhammad. Yes. Brother. Please go through Qur'an you will find evidences insha allah. Can I do a simple request to you? Please read sura AL KAHF today. Its in Quran and have evidences.
Matt: Where in the Bible is Muhammad prophesied about?
Abdul: And if you would give me your mailing address I would send you which might help you insha alalh.
Abdul: Please read surah AL KAHF today. Insha alalh I will chat with you tomorrow.
Matt: Okay, that sounds fine. PO Box 995, Meridian, ID, 83680
Abdul: you can read Qur'an in www. muslims-unite.com
Matt: I appreciate your trying to answer my questions.
Abdul: Ur name?
Matt: Matt
Abdul: Jajakalalhul khayer. Ok. Is it in USA?
Matt: Yes
Abdul: Masha alalh. :). Please take care brother. Peace be upon you if you accept Islam
Matt: Good bye and thank you for the conversation.
This dialogue is a typical exchange with Muslims. They have no evidence that the Qur'an is inspired and from God. They simply believe it is. Also, notice how he said the Bible was changed. This is what Muslims are taught. They have to believe this; otherwise, they would have many problems since they claim Jesus is one of their prophets. If the Bible were NOT corrupted, in their minds, then they would be forced to deal with Jesus' deity, His crucifixion, and His resurrection--all of which they deny.
It is sad to see so many taken in by this false religion.Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has declared his government will be moving the nation’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This move follows President Trump’s announcement of the same two weeks ago that caused an international stir and prompted the United Nations to draft a resolution against the move.
Guatemala was one of nine countries that voted against the U.N. resolution.
Morales attributed the decision to a discussion he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Some are already accusing Morales of succumbing to threats by President Trump, who indicated through U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley that the U.S. would be taking names of those who vote in favor of the resolution:
Nikki Haley on U.N. vote against Jerusalem: “The U.S. will be taking names” United States Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley made a bold statement to the world today on Twitter. As the U.N. prepares to vote in the general assembly on a resolution condemning any move of an embassy to Jerusalem as President Trump announced last week, Haley warned that we “will be taking names.” “At the UN we’re always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names.”
Guatemala and neighboring Honduras, who also voted against the resolution, are two of the biggest recipients of American aid in Central America. This move is very likely to encourage the President to embrace the impoverished country even more, perhaps redirecting aid earmarked for other countries who voted in favor of the resolution.
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Aug. 16, 2017, 1:15 PM GMT / Updated Aug. 16, 2017, 8:12 PM GMT By Erik Ortiz
Onlookers cheered early Wednesday as crews carted away Confederate monuments in Baltimore, where city leaders vowed to remove the four that reside on public property following this weekend's deadly violence in Virginia.
But while Baltimore's decision came "quickly and quietly" — as Mayor Catherine Pugh later told reporters — she couldn't immediately say what's in store for the statues themselves.
For some communities, there remains the struggle of what to do next.
"City and town leaders must think hard about what they plan to do with the monuments if they remove them," said Aaron Astor, a history professor at Maryville College in Tennessee who focuses on the Civil War era. "As a historian, I generally favor preserving the old statues as artifacts of collective memory and placing them in a museum."
Workers remove a monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland early Wednesday, after it was taken down in Baltimore. Jerry Jackson / The Baltimore Sun via AP
New Orleans, which removed four prominent Confederate monuments this spring and spurred a national debate, appears to remain in limbo over them.
The city has previously said that only nonprofits and government entities could apply to take the statues, which were shipped to city-owned warehouses or secured facilities.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office said Wednesday that officials are still soliciting queries.
In Gainesville, Florida, the long-debated removal of a statue dubbed "Old Joe," which is dedicated to fallen Confederate soldiers, only made headway after the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy agreed last month to take charge of it. The organization had it constructed in 1904 and it was installed in front of the Alachua County Administration Building.
The group did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday, but the statue was removed Monday and has since been placed in a cemetery southeast of Gainesville, according to The Gainesville Sun.
Baltimore's removal of its Confederate monuments began late Tuesday, coming sooner than expected in the wake of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, where a 32-year-old counter-protester was killed when a man plowed a car into a crowd. The white nationalists were protesting the planned removal of a Gen. Robert E. Lee statue from Charlottesville's Emancipation Park.
Pugh, who watched as the statues in Baltimore were plucked from their pedestals and tethered to large cranes, could not immediately detail where they were being brought. She again suggested Wednesday that they could eventually be taken to Confederate cemeteries in the state or nation willing to house them.
Pugh added that she moved swiftly because she didn't want to invite the same kind of violence that Charlottesville experienced.
"I felt that the best way was to remove them overnight," Pugh said, adding, "I thought that enough speeches have been made about this. I didn't think I needed to do a big speech about why."
The statue of Supreme Court Chief Roger Taney was taken down from its location in the Mount Vernon Place neighborhood before 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, reported NBC affiliate WBAL. Taney had authored the Dred Scott decision — the landmark 1857 Supreme Court ruling that said blacks were not considered American citizens and the federal government couldn't regulate slavery.
About a half-hour later, crews began removing a monument of Confederate generals Lee and Thomas. J. "Stonewall" Jackson, WBAL reported. Given the monument's size, that took about two hours, Pugh said.
Also removed in the city were the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Confederate Women's Monument.
In their place, Pugh suggested, plaques could be erected explaining what used to be there and why they were gone.
Related: National Battle Over Confederate Monuments Renewed After Violence
Last year, a commission in Baltimore started by the previous administration looked at the city's |
their position, inflicted tremendous numbers of casualties on the enemy and managed to provide enough time for the Allies to evacuate all of their wounded men and salvageable equipment. Sheer bravery in the face of intense fire and a seemingly winless situation earned Chesty Puller his fifth Navy Cross – an unprecedented accomplishment that has never been equaled. As it should be for any good badass military commander, Chesty Puller was admired by his men and feared by his enemies. He always led from the front, fighting in the trenches with the men, and never flinched under even the most serious fire. One time a grenade landed next to him, and when the rest of the guys around him dove for cover he glanced at it and nonchalantly said, “Oh, that. It’s a dud.” He inspired loyalty and courage in his Marines, treated his men well, insisted on the best equipment and discipline for his troops, and had a no fear, win-at-all-costs attitude that won him fourteen medals for combat bravery in addition to countless unit citations and campaign ribbons. He is the most highly-decorated Marine in history, and a legendary figure amongst his brethren. To this day, Marines at Parris Island end their day by saying, "Good night Chesty Puller, wherever you are!"
"Where the Hell do you put the bayonet?"
- Chesty Puller, on first seeing a flamethrower
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A South Sudanese soldier fired two bullets at close range into a US embassy vehicle travelling in a convoy carrying the top US official in the country, the American official said.
The US ambassador, Charles Twining, said he was travelling in an armoured diplomatic convoy at 7.30pm on 19 October when a soldier in a military motorcade fired twice at a US vehicle behind his.
“We have bulletproof glass, thankfully, because it put two big holes in them,” Twining told a reporter in South Sudan in an interview.
The South Sudanese motorcade was carrying Vice-President James Wani Igga, said an army spokesman, Colonel Philip Aguer.
Aguer denied that any shots were fired and instead said the soldier hit the US vehicle with the butt of his gun. He said the guard has been arrested.
Twining said his convoy’s “follow car” a vehicle mandated to travel with US ambassadors following the deadly 2012 attack on a US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya was stuck in traffic as the military motorcade approached.
Army motorcades ferrying officials through Juba, South Sudan’s capital, drive at high speeds and are accompanied by trucks packed with troops.
As the US follow car moved aside, a soldier jumped from his vehicle, fired two shots into windows on the left side, usually the driver’s side in South Sudan, before returning to his vehicle, said Twining. No one was injured in the US vehicle.
Twining said his convoy’s cars were marked with diplomatic plates, “but frankly it doesn’t matter if it’s diplomatic or not”.
Relations have cooled between Washington, which was behind the diplomatic push for South Sudan to break away from Sudan after a 2011 vote, and Juba. President Salva Kiir’s government is stuck in an 11-month civil war with fighters loyal to the former vice-president Riek Machar.
Kiir has accused Washington of supporting Machar. American diplomats deny the charge.
The US has given $621m in humanitarian aid this year to South Sudan.Has the ugly Israeli moved from Antalya to Italy?
Israeli travel agents have been receiving a slew of complaints in recent weeks from hotel and villa managers in Italy about the Israeli tourist's behavior.
Opinion Drifting away from civility Motti Ravid Op-ed: Lack of discipline among young Israelis prompts our trademark aggression, rudeness Drifting away from civility
In addition, hotel managers have sent the Israeli agents pictures testifying to the mess left behind by guests from Israel in their rooms, while other hotels have issued explicit rules in Hebrew, warning the Israeli guests that they would be charged for any dishes and cutlery taken to them rooms and for the room's cleaning.
Results of Israeli visit to Italian hotel room
The Tryp Hotel in Verona has issued a list of instructions in Hebrew, stating that the hotel expects the guests to leave their rooms in good condition and that they would be charged for any damage.
In addition, any request for service beyond the regular service included in the room's price will be charged. For example, additional sheets and towels will cost €5 (about $6.4) each, a guest requesting dishes from room service – such as plates, cups and cutlery – will have to pay €10 ($12.8) for each item; and an extra cleaning of the room will cost €20 ($25).
The hotel adds in its letter than if the room is found to be in "inappropriate condition" for regular cleaning, it will not be cleaned. It also forbids guests to put their own food in the mini-bar.
According to one of the complaints sent by the managers of a villa in Tuscany, the place was trashed by an Israeli family which rented the house for two nights. The complaint included pictures illustrating the filth left behind.
Tuscany villa. Israelis not welcme (Photo: Tali Heruti-Sover)
The complaint states that the Israelis threw all the towels on the bathroom and bedroom floors, left dirty diapers under the sink, stained the sofa cover and sheets, and put leftover food on the kitchen table, which immediately attracted ants.
In another villa, guests were charged more than €500 ($640) for damages and the managers refuse to take in Israelis anymore.
"He said the Israelis walk in and start moving tables around in order to be able to sit together and order all kinds of stuff from the menu without understanding what it is, and then when the food comes they say it wasn't what they wanted and refuse to pay for it, so it all has to be thrown out."Millennials Might Be 'Generation Twin.' Is That A Bad Thing?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of Mike Gragnani Courtesy of Mike Gragnani
There are more twins in the "millennial generation" than any other generation, thanks partly to a twin boom in the '90s. The main reason was a new technology called in vitro fertilization, which in its early days frequently produced twins, triplets and other multiple births.
The result? A million "extra" twins born between 1981 and 2012.
And all of them might be hurting the economy.
"Basically we'd prefer people not being twins to being twins," says economist Mark Rosenzweig.
Join The Conversation Use the hashtag #newboom to join the conversation on social media.
Rosenzweig's career is built on studying twins. But if he's being honest, he thinks twins are bad economic news.
First, there are the health care costs. Twins are more likely to be born prematurely, which can lead to all sorts of expensive medical problems.
Birth weight matters, too: Rosenzweig did a study based on hundreds of female twins in Minnesota that looked at the effect of birth weight on lifetime earnings.
"The birth weights of twins are on average about 28 ounces lower," he says. "So the earnings result was 16 percent lower, related to the fact that they had lower birth weight."
That's right: on average female twins make 16 percent less money over their lifetimes than non-twins — just because they're born less chubby. And lest you think it's only the girls who are in trouble, multiple studies have also found low birth weight in boys correlates with less educational success, which also means earning less money.
And then there's the family stress of bringing home two babies.
"The birth of twins, it's usually greeted with a great deal of shock: a two-person stroller, two cribs, two of everything, basically," says twin researcher Nancy Segal, who runs the Twin Studies Center at Cal State Fullerton.
It also means a doubling of other costs, like college tuition. Raising all the extra millennial twins has been hard on many family budgets. And then, if the twins were conceived through in vitro fertilization, there's the cost of having them in the first place; the procedure is expensive.
But despite the cost, Segal doesn't buy the idea that twins are a bad thing for society. She points out twins tend to support each other emotionally, and tend to live closer to each other and to family than regular siblings, which can make them more available to care for aging parents.
And being twins might just help them economically too.
Matt and Mike Gradnani are identical twins and they're really close. They went to college together, they played football and rugby together and they go to bars together. At 25 years old, they live together in an apartment they own together, which they could afford because there are two of them.
"I mean we both kinda felt that it would be smarter in the long run to put money in our own investment, instead of someone else's pocket," says Matt. "And ultimately the two of us could afford a lot more together than we could individually."
And Mike and Matt even co-own a successful business selling real estate. How's that for hurting the economy?
But they're just two of the one million extra millennial twins entering the workforce, and starting families of their own, in the coming years. The ultimate economic impact of all those twins is yet to be known.20 Aug ♥ 2108
Prince Zuko/Asami Sato Parallels
Both characters are known to belong in a high class society. Zuko was the prince of the Fire Nation while Asami is a member of the Sato Family (in the Avatar world, it is known that having a last name means you’re rich.) They are both in broken families and lost their mothers since they were children. Zuko and Asami are both children of their respective series’ antagonists. Zuko and Asami both have defied their fathers after realizing their cruelty; Zuko realized this at the war meeting when Ozai plans to eradicate the Earth Kingdom by burning it to the ground while Asami realized Hiroshi’s cruelty after she found out that he is secretly making weapons for the Equalists (something she is against of) and that he blames ALL benders for the death of his wife. They also defied their fathers in using electric means; Redirecting Ozai’s Lightning and the Equalist Glove. Their fathers also almost tried to kill them.
Zuko: Well, that sweet innocent kid grew up to be a monster. And the worst father in the history of fathers. Asami: You really are a horrible father
By defying their fathers, they both got to join Team Avatar. (Zuko helping the Gaang to end the 100-year war and Asami helping the Krew save Republic City)
Lastly, Zuko had to restore the Fire Nation’s honor while Asami has to restore the Future Industries’ Honor. (in which I will update this gifset once Book 2 comes out to illustrate that. )
Requested by 1d-theboysPHILADELPHIA — Though the biggest debt for older consumers remains home mortgages, student-loan debt is becoming more common.
It’s increasing because of the high cost of college and the growing number of parents and grandparents financing their children’s and grandchildren’s education, according to a January Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.
From 2005 to 2015, the CFPB report said, the number of Americans age 60 or older with one or more student loans quadrupled to 2.8 million from 700,000 — making them the fastest-growing segment of the market.
Average debt roughly doubled from $12,000 to $23,500 over that period, the report said. About three in four older borrowers with student loans used them to finance their children’s or grandchildren’s college costs, as opposed to, say, their own or a spouse’s education. They owed a total of $66.7 billion in 2015, the most recent year for which data are available.
Before signing or cosigning a student loan, think long and hard.
“Often times, it’s better to just have your kid sign the loans themselves and help them pay for it on the back end” after they graduate, said Kevin Norris, president of Univest Wealth Management in Souderton, Pa. That’s what he did with his own son.
What happens if you’re a senior who defaults on a student loan? With federal loans, the government can garnish your Social Security benefits. You can try to ask for a deferment or payment plan — assuming your loan servicer will help you.
A loan cosigner or co-borrower is held responsible for repaying the loan along with the primary borrower. Student borrowers often turn to their parents and grandparents to cosign their private student loans.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office found in 2015 that nearly 870,000 borrowers age 65 and older owed money on federal student loans. More than half of cosigners on private loans are age 55 and older.
Unlike federal student loans, private student-loan lenders routinely require that a student apply for a loan with a cosigner or co-borrower.
The CFPB estimates that 27 percent of individuals who are cosigners on one or more outstanding student loans are 62 and older, and 57 percent of all individuals who are cosigners are 55 and older.
Nearly 40 percent of federal student-loan borrowers age 65 and older are in default, and those who carry such debt later into their lives often struggle to repay.
A growing number of older federal student-loan borrowers have even had their Social Security benefits offset because of unpaid debt from those loans, the CFPB found. In addition to garnishing benefits, a portion of tax refunds can be offset for nonpayment.
By contrast, private student-loan lenders cannot offset Social Security disbursements to collect the debt.
Often, loan servicers are at fault, consumer advocates say: Older borrowers complained to the CFPB that account errors led to offsets of Social Security benefits, even though many of the borrowers would otherwise be eligible for payments based on their income.
When a borrower defaults on a federal student loan, he or she has the right to “cure” the default by “rehabilitating” the loan — a process through which the consumer makes a series of on-time, income-driven payments to a debt collector. Once cured, the loan is out of default status, and the borrower is transferred out of collections and back to a student-loan servicer, thus regaining eligibility to enroll in an income-based repayment plan.
But if a borrower who has defaulted can’t make payment arrangements with the collector, he or she may become subject to wage garnishment or federal benefit offsets.
“When student-loan borrowers make a mistake, companies hold them accountable with immediate penalties and negative credit reporting. But too often, it seems that those same companies have immunity when they break the law,” said Rohit Chopra, senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America and the former assistant director and student-loan ombudsman at the CFPB.
The bureau and state attorneys general recently filed suit against Navient, the country’s largest debt servicer, claiming that it incentivized employees to push student-loan borrowers into forbearance plans instead of helping them sign up for affordable repayment options. Navient has said the allegations are false and has said that “we will vigorously defend against these false allegations and continue to help our customers achieve financial success.”
“If true, this means that the company’s actions may be leading to excessive interest charges and unnecessary defaults,” Chopra said.
“For too long, the nation’s largest student-loan company has been running roughshod over student-loan borrowers,” he said. “While it’s sat at the top of the list when it comes to consumer complaints, it’s been at the bottom of the list when it comes to customer service.”“I don't know if there's any legal constitutional way to do that. I think you can raise questions,” Clinton said. | Christopher Smith/Invision/AP Clinton won't rule out challenging legitimacy of 2016 election
Democrat Hillary Clinton refused to rule out challenging the legitimacy of last year’s presidential election in an interview released Monday afternoon, though she said such a move would be unprecedented and legally questionable.
“I don't know if there's any legal constitutional way to do that. I think you can raise questions,” Clinton told NPR’s Terry Gross during an extended interview on “Fresh Air,” before pivoting to criticism of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric regarding Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 race.
Story Continued Below
Gross quickly returned to her initial question, asking if Clinton would “completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election if we learn that the Russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now?”
“No. I would not,” Clinton said.
Gross followed up again, replying “you’re not going to rule it out.” "No, I wouldn’t rule it out," Clinton said.
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But the former secretary of state said she does not believe that there is any path for such a challenge and that academics who argue one exists are not on “strong ground” legally. “I just don't think we have a mechanism” for a challenge of the 2016 election’s legitimacy, she said.
In a statement emailed to POLITICO, a spokesman for Clinton sought to clarify the former secretary of state's remarks, noting that she has not disputed the results of last year's election.
"Secretary Clinton has said repeatedly the results of the election are over but we have to learn what happened," Glen Caplin, the Clinton spokesman, said the statement. "I would hope anyone in America concerned about the integrity of our democracy would feel the same way if we got there. But we're not. Right now Bob Mueller and several congressional committees are investigating to what extent the Russians impacted our election and who exactly helped them do so."
While Clinton now won't rule out challenging the legitimacy of last year’s election, she criticized Trump for a similar stance during the 2016 campaign’s home stretch.
Since Trump’s surprise victory last November, the president and his allies have claimed Democrats' objection to the president’s agenda and support for ongoing Russia investigations show an unwillingness by the political left to accept the election’s results.Will borrow money until end of FY19, use it for retiring earlier loans
ISLAMABAD: Amid concern over high cost of unconventional borrowings, Pakistan is planning to raise another $3.5 billion from international debt markets by floating Eurobonds over a period of three years to retire earlier loans.
A new medium-term debt management strategy that the Ministry of Finance unveiled this week gives a plan for floating dollar-denominated Eurobonds up to fiscal year 2018-19.
However, the government says it has the flexibility in terms of timing and size of the bonds. It also plans to raise $500 million before June this year.
$500m Eurobond: Parliamentary body calls reps of international banks
Since coming to power, the PML-N government has raised $3.5 billion by issuing bonds in international debt markets including $1 billion through the Sukuk (Islamic bonds). In September last year, it raised $500 million through Eurobonds at a very high interest rate of 8.25%.
A recent report of Moody’s Investor Services, an international credit rating agency, said Pakistan’s debt affordability had weakened after it shifted to unconventional loans by floating $3.5 billion worth of international bonds. This increased the country’s borrowing cost, it said.
Last month, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance decided to summon representatives of three international banks that the government hired for offering $500 million worth of Eurobonds after it suspected that the money invested by foreigners had actually flown from Pakistan.
The government insists that the resources mobilised by the bonds were used to retire the expensive domestic debt in the past. It intends to raise $1 billion in 2015-16 and thereafter $500 million each in 2016-17 and 2017-18, according to the debt strategy.
In 2018-19, it plans to issue Eurobonds valuing $2 billion to refinance the maturing bonds.
The 2019 bonds will be issued to retire the same amount of debt that the government contracted after coming to power. Furthermore, $500 million ten-year Eurobonds issued in 2006 are maturing this month. Next year, Eurobonds valuing $750 million, which the Musharraf government floated in 2007 at an interest rate of 6.75%, are coming due for payments.
Inflows, outflows
The Debt Policy Coordination Office that prepared the strategy has estimated that average yearly external inflows would be around $6.5 billion with expected average outflows of $4 billion in the medium term.
Pakistan seeks rollover of $494 million-loan
The new debt strategy largely focuses on diversification of financing and lengthening the maturity of debt profile. However, it has completely ignored implications of the off-budget fiscal risk for the country’s debt projections.
In coming years, huge sums of external inflows would be off the budget as part of the government’s strategy to show the external public debt at lower levels.
A recent report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given broader pillars for strengthening the debt and public finance management to reduce fiscal risks.
“A debt management strategy based on building funding buffers, assessing off-budget fiscal risks, diversifying financing from both domestic and external sources and lengthening the maturity profile of domestic debt will help mitigate these risks,” said the IMF.
Projections vary
The debt strategy has used ambitious macroeconomic projections for its calculations, unlike the IMF that is taking a conservative approach. The government has projected that the economy will grow at a pace of 6.5% in 2016-17 while the IMF puts the expansion at 4.7%.
Similarly, for 2017-18 the government expects a 7% growth against IMF’s estimate of only 5%. These projections have implications for the country’s debt sustainability.
Likewise, the IMF and government’s estimates of budget deficit over the medium term also vary. The latter has also given an optimistic outlook on the trade balance.
A glaring difference in projections is in the current account deficit. The debt strategy shows the deficit at less than 1% of gross domestic product in the next three years, which is up to two times lower than the IMF’s projection.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2016.
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Read full storyOne climber has likely died from hypothermia and exposure on Mount Rainier after he and his climbing partner were caught in a winter storm over the weekend, a spokeswoman with Mount Rainier National Park said.
Update, 8:14 a.m. Tuesday, March 29:
A helicopter rescue crew Tuesday morning tried again to reach a 58-year-old Norwegian man who was caught in a storm on Mount Rainier over the weekend, but could not land at Camp Muir, a nearby climbing camp, because of high winds.
The crew will make another attempt Wednesday, said Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold.
Original post, last updated 6:43 p.m. Monday, March 28:
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK — One climber has likely died from hypothermia and exposure on Mount Rainier after he and his climbing partner were caught in a winter storm over the weekend, a spokeswoman with Mount Rainier National Park said.
A Chinook helicopter crew and other rescue teams on Monday were unable to reach the 58-year-old man from Norway because of poor weather. He and a 41-year-old Canadian woman apparently took shelter at about 11,000 feet when a fierce winter storm hit the mountain Saturday evening, park spokeswoman Patti Wold said.
The woman descended the mountain alone on Sunday, and climbers who saw her escorted her to Camp Muir, a base camp at 10,188-foot on the peak’s south slope.
“It’s hard to see how he would have survived,” Wold said, noting that temperatures were in the single digits with lots of wind and blowing snow.
Park rescue crews began looking for the climbers on Saturday night after other climbers reported seeing overnight gear at Camp Muir but no one returning to the equipment as the storm raged. The pair had set off Thursday to summit the 14,410-foot glaciated peak with plans to begin their climb to the top on Saturday morning.
Park officials began preparing a search operation Saturday night, but extreme weather conditions prevented rescuers from mobilizing until Sunday. A Chinook helicopter crew tried to approach the mountain on Sunday, but it was unable to land because of the storm.
In a separate incident, a 26-year-old man from Lacey was snowshoeing alone over the weekend and was also caught in the storm. He suffered some frostbite, Wold said. He set off a distress signal from his locater beacon Saturday night, but he managed to reach Camp Muir on his own on Sunday.
Rescuers took the snowshoer and the female climber to a hospital for treatment, Wold said.The CW's four-part crossover "Crisis on Earth-X" is one of the network's most ambitious superhero events yet. Unfortunately, this means that Barry and Iris' wedding is on hold until they manage to save the world from the invading horde of Earth-X Nazis. The Freedom Fighters from DC Comics fight alongside the heroes from The Flash, Supergirl, Legends Of Tomorrow, and Arrow in the crossover. And this comic book alliance is the perfect inspiration for the CW good guys as they begin their final showdown.
In the comics, the Freedom Fighters are a team made up of heroes who want to bring back democracy and freedom in a totally authoritarian alternate universe ruled by the Nazis. They're a collection of individuals who have canonically fought and beaten the Nazis before on Earth-X, so really, the Arrow-Verse folks couldn't be in better hands.
In the very beginning of the crossover, Dark Archer beats down a man holding a star-spangled shield, seemingly defeating him. That may have been Uncle Sam, the leader of the Freedom Fighters in the comics, who has a pretty interesting backstory. He was created in an arcane ritual by the Founding Fathers that led to the concept of American freedom to become a sentient being and superhero with superhuman strength, agility, and perhaps most importantly in this crossover, the power to go between dimensions. This ability could be very handy in helping our heroes get back home after they're trapped on Earth-X in a disturbingly realistic concentration camp.
Katie Yu/The CW
While the power of American Idealism (seriously, a form of divine inspiration is a part of Uncle Sam's comic power set) probably won't be enough to rescue the heroes, perhaps the rest of the Freedom Fighters will chip in and help defeat Dark Archer the way they've overthrown the Nazi regime in the comics before. The other members of the team typically include Black Condor, Doll Man, Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, The Ray, and Firebrand.
Introduced in Justice League of America Issue 107, the team dates back to 1973, in an issue that shares the name of the crossover event, "Crisis On Earth-X." Since the crossover events run relatively parallel to that issue, the borrowed title is apt. In the book, the Justice League and Justice Society are trapped on Earth-X and are rescued by the Freedom Fighters, uniting all of the teams to truly defeat the alt-universe Nazi soldiers. In this version of the story, there is no Dark Archer or Overgirl orchestrating the events; that's a twist created for the TV event. Eventually, the Justice teams and the Freedom Fighters return to Earth-1 as victors. Later, the "Crisis On Infinite Earths" storyline killed off several members of the Freedom Fighters.
CW Seed on YouTube
The second night of the "Crisis On Earth-X" TV crossover will introduce Ray "The Ray" Terrill (Russell Tovey), who will subsequently be spun off into an animated series for CW Seed called Freedom Fighters: The Ray. According to executive producer Marc Guggenheim's interview with TV Insider, the animated version of the openly gay hero will also battle the "dark" versions of the Earth-1 heroes and champion justice and freedom for all marginalized people. Guggenheim also cited the "Multiversity" comic storyline for inspiring the new interpretations of this light-wielding character. He said:
“It’s called Freedom Fighters: The Ray for a very specific reason, which is we knew we wanted to establish the Freedom Fighters and Earth-X. In Multiversity, Grant Morrison came up with an idea we really responded to: The Freedom Fighters are made up of various minorities targeted by Nazis — women, gay men, Jews. We wanted to honor that idea. At the same time, it’s an origin story about the Earth-1 iteration of The Ray.”
So the big crossover is only the beginning for The Ray and the Freedom Fighters in the larger CW/DC universe. They'll be showing oppressors who's boss in animated form, once they help their new Earth-1 friends save their world.Show full PR text The Ultimate Supervette... "SV8.R"
We started designing the Concept which we have since named the "SV8.R" back in 2009. Our vision and goal was to create an entirely new body for the C6 Corvette that would capture the Supercar essence that the Corvette lacked, at least visually in the past few generations. There's no argument that its drive train is one if the best on the market, and THE very best bang for your buck available today.. but it still lacked something. So we went to the drawing board. We wanted to create what we thought GM should have designed, but can't due to a small box their design team must stay inside to meet profit margins and sales goals.
We decided to completely replace the entire exterior with a new 100% Carbon Fiber Supervette body. A super contemporary design, capturing some design cues from past generations like the C2 and C3... and of course the traditional round round lights. Ironically, keeping the round tail lights, but executing this idea in a very modern way, was our #1 focus when we first started sketching... and its been without a doubt the most controversial part of the new C7 design.
We started by 3D scanning a 2011 C6 with Matrix Cad Design Inc. out of Charlotte, NC. With the help of an excellent 3D model designer Thomas Granjard out of Paris, France, we designed the SV8.R on the C6 chassis with laser accuracy, assuring that our panels will fit 100% precision. With this process we were able to avoid making any structural changes to the vehicle. The end result, we can build this conversion on any 2005-2013 Corvette. We will be tweaking the files to fit the C7 chassis as well, which we already determined is extremely similsimilarar to the C6.
All of the body panels, are being manufactured with the very best materials and technology available today. Carbon Fiber, Kevlar-reinforced bumpers for extreme strength and lightweight.
We are accepting 5 preorders at $59,995, which as of now there are two spots open. After our preorder phase, packages will start at $65,000.00 for the exterior, which will also include forged wheels, 20x11.5" (F) and 21x13.5" (R), Pirelli Pzero tires, Custom exhaust, brake upgrade, all new lighting, paint, installation, and delivery. Additional options will include performance packages, custom interiors, sound systems, and even a fully exposed carbon fiber / clearcoated show car finish.
We expect the prototype to be complete by March, and the first 5 preorders to be built by third quarter of 2014. From this point we will be offering a limited amount of 20 per year for 5 years. All 100 will come with their own serial # and unique aluminum badges.
About Supervettes LLC...
As a kid, I was always sketching sports cars and like most young car lovers, day dreaming of Lambos & Ferrari's. My parents always had a new Corvette, as long as I can remember... so it was already encoded into my DNA so to speak. I had a 2008 Z06 Corvette, which I took delivery of in early 2008. I absolutely loved the car, but like most sports car enthusiasts, I was ready for "more" by 2009. Eagerly anticipating the release of the ZR1, I was preparing for the upgrade. However, I was expecting a wider, more aggressive Vette. Obviously that didn't happen. Of course the Supercharged LS9 was exciting, but Vette owners have been doing that for years already. I was more disappointed in the exterior design. I wanted a wider Supercar to keep up with the exotics as far as "artistic value" is concerned :) So, I designed what we call the ZR6X, which if you haven't seen it, is basically a ZR1 on steroids. It is 3" wider (1.5" in every corner). The first one was for my own pleasure. Then, after getting stopped and questioned by people at every stop light, gas station, etc, I quickly realized we had a business staring us in the face. Supervettes LLC was born in July of 2010.
We have had and continue to have great success with this conversion kit selling it globally, as it is a bolt on conversion kit.
Then, like an addiction, I wanted more! So, we started building the "GT6X" - Adding a new front nose fascia, new rear bumper, side pipe exhaust, retractable wing, and another 2", making it 5" wider than a ZR1... which makes it 80.6" wide. (Base Corvette is 72.6" and a Z06/ZR1 is 75.6" wide for reference)
Imagine, if you will, that you began living under a rock from January 13, 2013 on, and only emerged long enough to purchase a sixth-generation Chevrolet Corvette. You had no knowledge of the heavily redesigned, seventh-generation Corvette - it's shapely new body and enthusiast-infuriating rear taillights were as foreign as the Bhagavad Gita recited in Klingon. On one of your rare outings from your rocky dwelling and behind the wheel of your C6 Vette, though, you stumbled upon one of Chevy's new Stingrays and were completely taken by it.But, rather than going out and trying to buy one of the new cars, you'd rather keep your C6. What's a rock-dwelling Vette driver to do? Well, if you have about $60,000 handy, you pick up Supervettes' new SV8.R conversion. Designed to transform any 2005 to 2013 C6 into a sharper looking, more modern Corvette, it features a carbon-fiber body that's supposedly been inspired by older Corvettes, while still borrowing heavily from the C7. Unlike the new Stingray, though, the Supervettes SV8.R retains four round taillights, and it is said to be five inches wider than a C6 ZR1 Other changes that come with the kit include new 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels shod in Pirelli Pzero tires. A new exhaust, new brakes, new lighting and a fresh coat of paint for the car's new body are also included. Eventually, interior treatments will be available, as well as exposed carbon-fiber options. Five pre-orders are available, starting at $59,995, while future orders will cost an even $65K. We will say, as conversion kits go, we've certainly seen worse than what Supervettes has put together.We've got images of the Supervettes kit above and in a variety of different colors. There's also a full press release about the design process available below. As a final parting thought, we'd just like to take this opportunity to remind any reading this that a brand-new 2014 Corvette Stingray can be had for less than the price of this kit. Just sayin'...Supervettes got in touch with us to let us know that the carbon fiber bodywork of its SV8.R conversion can be built atop either a C6 or C7 chassis.Explore this Article Prepare to Bleed the Furnace Bleed the Furnace Questions & Answers Related Articles References
wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article has over 240,093 views and 86% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 11 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article has over 240,093 views and 86% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. Learn more...
If you’ve tried the furnace reset button, checked to make sure there is fuel oil and your furnace still won’t start, don’t fret. Before you call the repairman or start shopping for a new furnace, check the fuel source and make sure the line to the furnace is void of air. Running low on or being out of fuel can cause a furnace to not restart even after you replenish the fuel supply. You may simply need to bleed an oil furnace line and start it up again.Human rights activists have warned the government not to use next week's national symposium on the 1965-1966 mass killings as a way to force a one-sided reconciliation that upholds the impunity of the guilty.
"The symposium must not be used as a justification by the state to force a reconciliation," Ahmad Fanani Rosyidi, a researcher at the Setara Institute, said in a discussion in Jakarta on Friday.
"The coalition of civilians and victims believes that the reconciliation initiated by the government is misguided. Reconciliation can only be a result of the truth-revealing process. Hence, without revealing the truth, we will never understand who are the perpetrators and the victims who need to be rehabilitated," Ahmad noted.
The kidnapping and eventual murder of six Indonesian Army generals on Sept. 30, 1965, led to a purge by the military under the leadership of Soeharto of the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
The attack also led to mass killings, leaving at least 500,000 victims across the country; the perpetrators have enjoyed impunity since.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has launched its own investigation into the case, but its recommendations have |
of “what really happened” as the Philae probe landed on comet 67P did not take long to emerge.
According to an email published on the website UFOSightingsDaily.com – which does a regular trade in alien sightings – this mission is part of a European Space Agency and Nasa cover-up to disguise the comet’s true alien nature. The email, allegedly from a secret whistle-blowing employee of the ESA, accuses the agency of “blatant cover-ups” in wanting to land on the speeding comet and attaches photos which claim to reveal the “true inner workings of Comet 67P”.
It states: “Do not think for ONE MOMENT that a space agency would suddenly decide to spend billions of dollars to build and send a spacecraft on a 12-year journey to simply take some close-up images of a randomly picked out comet floating in space.”
“Comet 67P is NOT a comet,” the letter continues. “Some 20 years ago Nasa began detecting radio bursts from an unknown origin out in space. It would later be known that these had likely come from the direction of the now named comet 67P. It does show signs on its outside of machine like parts and unnatural terrain.”
Ending on an ominous note, it adds: “Whatever this object is, it did not ask to be found or scrutinised.”
Commenting on the article, contributor Scott Waring also said he believed the signals being emitted from the comet were a “greeting” to humans. “If it was a warning, they would not allow the ESA craft to have landed” he wrote. “I believe the landing of the ESA craft was the equivalent of a first handshake. They will make another move soon probably. Alien structures are on the comet. I don’t believe it’s natural. ”
Yet this is far from the only extra-terrestrial conspiracy theory put forward about 67P and the ESA mission. In September, BPEarthWatch published a video showing “brand new, hi-res” images. Taken from the Rosetta spacecraft, they appeared to show two UFOs flying over the comet and a transmission tower-like structure built on the surface, potentially emitting the mysterious radio signals which have been picked by the ESA. “These images are not normal,” says the video voiceover.
ESA’s confirmation that the comet had been emitting a “mystery song” has fuelled theories that it is in fact an alien ship and the warbling is an extra-terrestrial attempt at communication.
Writing on the website UFOSightingsDaily.com, Scott Waring professed that: “In my opinion this is not a code. It is how a species of aliens communicate to one another without speaking. A form of telepathy put into primitive radio signals. Its the only way this species can communicate to us. This is their thoughts. They don’t talk.”
Waring added: “Getting a copy of the full message and then translating it should be of utter importance. Is it a message of greetings? Or is it a warning of what’s to come? We, the people of the world, need to find out.”The 2nd Maccabiah (Hebrew: המכביה השנייה), aka the Aliyah Olympics, which was held in April 1935, was the second edition of the Maccabiah Games. The games were held despite official opposition by the British Mandatory government. A total of 28 countries were represented by 1,350 athletes.
History [ edit ]
The Austrian delegation on its way to the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2nd Maccabiah Games.
After the success of the 1st Maccabiah in 1933, the Maccabi World Union decided to host a second Maccabiah. In order to not make it look like they were imitating the Olympic Games, the 2nd Maccabiah took place 3 years after the first, in the spring of 1935. Eretz Yisrael enjoyed that year a relative economic boom. Tel Aviv has grown and main streets were paved. The stadium also has grown and added many new viewing locations. The second Maccabiah resulted in the settlement's first swimming pool (50 meters) in Bat Galim, Haifa. The pool was used throughout the games in the swimming competitions (during the 1st Maccabiah, the swimming competitions took place in the sea).
"If two years ago we had doubts about the success of the daring attempt to establish Olympics in Israel, now success is assured." Israel Rokach, Haaretz; 04/02/35; deputy mayor of Tel Aviv.
The Czechoslovakian delegation on its way to the stadium, 2nd Maccabiah Games opening ceremony.
The second Maccabiah was organized and held in the early years of Nazi rule in Germany and after Hitler came to power in 1933. Maccabi used the games as a way to illegally bring Jews to Eretz Yisrael and to effectively bypass the British White Paper. It was for that reason that the games were nicknamed the Aliyah Olympics. The games faced strong opposition by the British Mandatory government due to concern of mass illegal immigration. One of the most notable examples was the Bulgarian delegation, where all 350 of its members stayed in Palestine; even the entire Maccabi Bulgaria orchestra that came with them and performed at the opening and closing ceremonies stayed. Only their sports equipment and musical instruments were shipped back.[1] Additionally, the majority of the German and Polish team took the opportunity to stay in Palestine.
Gate 1 at the Maccabiah Stadium during the 2nd Maccabiah.
Unlike the first Maccabiah which was planned in just under three months, the second Maccabiah took just over a year, which significantly increased costs. As a result, the Maccabiah organizing committee faced severe budgetary problems. The Maccabi Eretz Yisrael Fund was so poor, quoting "The budget was barely enough for the postage-stamps". As such, it was decided that the Maccabiah be supported financially by the World Maccabi Union - with Maccabi Eretz Yisrael still responsible for the planning of the games.
Maccabi organized a large Maccabiah fund. Special Maccabiah offices were opened for this purpose in London, Alexandria, Berlin, Warsaw, Prague and Tel Aviv. A special office was also opened in South Africa. Tickets for the Maccabiah competitions were sold at various trade centers and across all drugstores in Tel Aviv.
Opening ceremony [ edit ]
Discus thrower at the 2nd Maccabiah.
Despite the opposition of the British Mandate Police, a large number of athletes participated in the parade that went through the streets of Tel Aviv. For the 2nd Maccabiah, Lord Melchett served as Honorary President of Maccabi and sponsored the games; "In defiance of the British government's strict limitations on aliyah [seeking permanent residence], many competitors took advantage of their being in the Holy Land and decided to stay."[2]
Among 15 anthems, the one by Yigal Caspi was chosen as the official Maccabiah Anthem; it was sung during the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Delegation from the disputed Free City of Danzig, marched under their city's flag to avoid identifying their community on either side in the international controversy between Germany and Poland. The German delegation of 134 Jews arrived at the games, surprising the Maccabiah organizers by receiving permission from the Nazi authorities to travel at the last minute.
Sports [ edit ]
Sprinters at the 2nd Maccabiah.
The 2nd Maccabiah introduced many new sports including: judo, cycling, weightlifting, rowing, volleyball and darts. The 2nd Maccabiah was the last time motorcycle racing took place. Handball and Basketball which were played during the 1st Maccabiah did not take place in this one; they were played in the 3rd Maccabiah.
Games that took place:
Athletics
Athletics Cycling
Cycling Darts
Darts Judo Motorcycle Racing
Motor Racing
Rowing
Rowing Swimming Volleyball
Volleyball Weightlifting
Games highlights [ edit ]
Sprinters; 2nd Maccabiah.
In boxing, Ben Bril, Olympian and eight-time national champion, won a gold medal for the Netherlands. From the American team, Lillian Copeland stood out, winning gold medals in the discus (37.38 meters), javelin (36.92 meters) and shot put (12.32 meters). In tennis, Karol Altschuler won a gold medal for Poland, previously winning Junior Champion of Poland in 1930. In chess, Abram Blass won a gold medal for Poland, followed by David Enoch, Eduard Glass, Heinz Josef Foerder, Yosef Dobkin, Victor Winz, Moshe Czerniak, and Siegmund Beutum.[3]
In the final scoring, Austria placed first with 399 points, followed by Germany on 375.3 points and Eretz Israel placed third on 360.5 points.[4]
Participating communities [ edit ]
Swimming competition
28 Delegations took park in the 3rd Maccabiah. The number in parentheses indicates the size of the delegation.
Debuting countries [ edit ]
10 countries made their Maccabiah debut at these games.
References [ edit ]Coyotes Sign O'Sullivan to One-Year Contract by Staff Writer / Arizona Coyotes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, August 5, 2011
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney announced today that the Coyotes have signed forward Patrick O’Sullivan to a one-year, two-way contract. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In parts of six NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild, the 6-foot-0, 190-pound O’Sullivan has recorded 56-101-157 and 114 penalty minutes in 311 games. O’Sullivan established career highs in goals (22), assists (31), points (53) and games (82) during the 2007-08 season with Los Angeles.
Last season, the 26-year-old native of Winston-Salem, N.C., appeared in 31 NHL games with Carolina and Minnesota registering 2-6-8. He also helped lead the Houston Aeros to the AHL Calder Cup Finals by posting a team best 18 points (4g, 14a) in 24 playoff games. He recorded 19-29-48 in 36 regular season contests with Houston.
O’Sullivan was originally drafted by Minnesota in the second round (56th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
View LessTwisted History: The Wily Mississippi Cuts New Paths
OK, let's you and I take a trip down the Mississippi, if we can find it. It's the white channel you see on this braid of ghostly Mississippis from years past. Just scroll for a bit. It's a long river.
The Mississippi, like all great rivers, is constantly rearranging itself, filling in where it used to be, cutting new watery paths through fields, creating islands. Back in 1944 a cartographer named Harold Fisk decided to draw a map of the Mississippi as it flowed in his day (click on this little map, so you get the full effect) The white channel is the 1944 river and working backwards from geological maps, he also drew the river as it had been in earlier decades (all those other colored ribbons) and produced a lovely fugue of multiple ghostly Mississippis for the Army Corps of Engineers — all of which allows me to tell you this story.
Enlarge this image toggle caption
In his new book Twain's Feast Andrew Beahrs writes that when Mark Twain was a boy, the river was always changing shape, especially when no one was looking. "It transformed under the stars and in pitch blackness, in gray mist and by the light of a multitude of moons... [it] had a new story to tell every day."
Twain learned to memorize the river, "steering by the constantly revised shape in his head; it was a job few could do at all, and fewer still could do it well." And it was glamorous.
The only men able to maneuver these fragile but imposing craft were the pilots. While his steamboat was underway, a river pilot had authority even over the captain who might set destination, cargo and schedule but was legally bound to defer to the pilot in matters of navigation. A river pilot, Twain thought, was "the only unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived the earth." Kings, by comparison, were underlings."
But then Twain grew up and moved East. He heard, of course, that engineers were trying to tame the river, but he never thought they could.
"One who knows the Mississippi," Twain said, "will promptly aver -- not aloud, but to himself -- that ten thousand River Commissions, with the mines of the world at their back cannot tame that lawless stream, cannot curb it or confine it, cannot say to it, Go here, or Go there, and make it obey; cannot save a shore which it has sentenced; cannot bar its path with an obstruction which it will not tear down, dance over, and laugh at."
toggle caption iStockphoto.com
But the engineers pushed and prodded and Twain's wild river began to calm. Returning for a look-see in the 1880's, Andrew Beahrs describes how Twain "felt the change in his blood.... He saw snag boats "pulling the river's teeth and government beacons that made the dark flow into a "two-thousand mile torch-light procession." To Twain's eyes so many navigational aids sterilized the river. "This thing," he reflected about the network of lights, "has knocked the romance out of piloting, to a large extent."
And the river too. "Alas," he wrote, "everything was changed...That world which I knew in its blossoming youth is old and bowed and melancholy now; its soft cheeks are leathery and wrinkled, the fire is gone out of its eyes and the spring from its step. It will be dust and ashes when I come again."
Well, the Mississippi is still there, of course, still making terrible mischief, but as Beahrs points out in his book, the mud that used to leach out of 28 states and travel all the way to Louisiana is no longer making the full journey.
"For seven thousand years, residue of Montanan turf, New York mud, Wisconsin sod, and Arkansan clay had built the swamps and wetlands; Illinois' and Iowa's losses were Louisiana's gain. The state was literally built from half of America," he wrote.
But engineering improvements, dams particularly, trapped so much mud and sand, deposits stopped reaching Louisiana.
And so the Delta is now disappearing, "melting away...almost fast enough to be visible to the naked eye -- a football field's worth of land vanishes every forty-five minutes".
The land that lies south of this survey is slowly but surely slipping under the sea. So the Mississippi journey our mapmaker Harold Fiske took in 1944 is getting shorter, and shorter and shorter.Microsoft has pushed a new update to the Windows 10 Maps for non Insiders today. The app has been bumped to version 5.1609. 2651.0, which is the same version that the company pushed to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring just two weeks ago. The latest bits brings dark theme options for both the app and the maps, and you can choose to enable them in the settings. Additionally, the changelog mentions a new feature to quickly check traffic for your commute. Here are the full release notes:
Enjoy dark or light app colors—they now change to match your system settings.
Quickly check traffic for your commute, including live cameras, where available.
The Windows 10 Maps was one of the few remaining native apps that didn’t have a dark theme option so it’s nice to finally get it. You can download the new update from the download link below, let us know in the comments what do you think of this new dark theme option.
Windows Maps Developer: Microsoft Corporation Price: Free
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Further reading: App updateSEATTLE — The Washington Supreme Court upheld Seattle's so-called "gun violence tax" against a challenge from gun rights groups Thursday, leaving the city as one of the only places in the country that taxes the sale of firearms and ammunition to raise money for gun-violence research.
In an 8-1 decision, the justices ruled that the levy fell within the city's taxing authority and its primary purpose was to raise revenue for "the public benefit."
The tax, which took effect in 2016, adds $25 to the price of each firearm sold in the city plus 2 cents or 5 cents per round of ammunition, depending on the type. It raised less than $200,000 in its first year, with the money earmarked for gun-violence research. One gun shop cited the tax in moving out of the city.
Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, is apparently the only other jurisdiction with such a measure, according to both gun rights groups and gun-control advocates. Seattle's City Council based its tax on that one, which took effect in 2013.
The National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups sued over Seattle's tax, along with gun stores and customers. They argued that under state law, the power to regulate firearms is by and large reserved to the state. Seattle's measure was properly viewed as a regulation designed to hinder gun sales, not a tax, they argued.
In her opinion for the majority, Justice Debra Stephens disagreed.
State law "grants Seattle broad authority to tax retailers for the privilege of doing business within city limits," she wrote.
In 2014, Seattle became the first city in the country to directly fund gun violence research, City Councilman Tim Burgess said, and the results showed that gun violence costs Seattle and King County $180 million per year. That prompted the council to impose the tax to help defray those costs; officials had estimated it could bring in up to $500,000 a year.
Between 2006 and 2010, there were on average 131 firearms deaths a year in King County, according to Public Health-Seattle and King County. An additional 536 people required hospitalization for shooting injuries during that time.
Officials say the direct medical costs of treating 253 gunshot victims at Harborview Medical Center in 2014 totalled more than $17 million. Taxpayers paid more than $12 million of that.
While it's only a tiny chunk of what gun violence costs society, the tax revenue is important in light of a congressional ban on using federal money to promote gun research, Burgess suggested.
"It's truly disappointing that the NRA and its allies always oppose these common sense steps to shine light on the gun violence epidemic," Burgess said in a written statement. "That makes today an especially huge win. I hope other cities in Washington now feel comfortable to follow suit."
Alan Gottlieb, founder of one of the groups that challenged the law, the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, said the decision shows that "gun owners must get more involved in Supreme Court races."
"The high court's decision to uphold what clearly appears to us as a violation of Washington's 34-year-old State Preemption Act is proof positive that the court places political correctness above the rule of law," he said.
In her dissent, Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud said she believed state law forbids cities from imposing taxes on gun sales.
___
This story has been clarified to show City Councilman Tim Burgess suggested the tax revenue is important in light of a congressional ban on using federal money to promote gun research, not gun control.
Gene Johnson, The Associated PressWe probably all know by now that LEDs use about 80 per cent less electricity than incandescents, but how much difference will it make to your personal carbon emissions?
To give you an idea, I'm going to look at the carbon emissions from my own Christmas tree. There's going to be a lot of numbers, and just as much math, here (but no calculus, I promise). But it will be worth it, because at the end we'll get to compare how switching up the lights on your tree compares to limiting the amount you drive your car.
OK, here's my tree. It has 450 lights on it.
This is what a tree with 450 lights looks like. (Kevin Yarr/CBC)
A single incandescent minilight uses about 0.408 watts.
A single LED bulb uses about 0.069 watts.
Now I need to multiply both those numbers by 450.
Total incandescent wattage: 0.408x450=183.6 watts
Total LED wattage: 0.069x450=31 watts
A bit of science next. We need to figure out how many kilowatt-hours I'm burning. A kilowatt is 1,000 watts, and a kilowatt-hour is a kilowatt burning for one hour.
Kilowatt-hours are what you are charged by the power company.
Unfortunately, I don't make a habit of measuring how many hours in the day the tree lights are on. I'm going to have to make a guess, and I'm going to say six hours a day. I'll multiply that by how long the tree is up, usually about three weeks.
6x21=126 hours
Next up, total energy use for the season. We multiply the kilowatts (remembering to divide the number of watts by 1,000) by the hours.
Total incandescent energy use: 0.1836x126=23.1 kWh
Total LED energy use: 0.031x126=3.9 kWh
To calculate what that means for carbon emissions we need to know how much carbon comes from producing a kW/h of electricity. We don't have numbers for P.E.I., but Environment Canada reports average carbon emissions for electricity generation in Canada in 2013 were 150 grams per kWh.
So:
Total carbon emissions for incandescents: 23.1x150=3,465
Total carbon emissions for LEDs: 3.9x150=585
That gives us a potential carbon saving of 2,880 grams, just under three kilograms, for the season.
What about the car?
Yes, yes, now, as promised, the comparison to driving the car.
Burning a litre of gas produces 2.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide, so we're talking about the equivalent saving of 1.25 litres of gas. How far that will get you will depend, of course, on what vehicle you're driving.
But that's just you. Remember, keeping carbon out of the atmosphere is a community effort. There are 62,000 households on P.E.I. If 30,000 Christmas trees are converted to LEDs, that saves more than 86 tonnes of carbon, the equivalent of not burning almost 40,000 litres of gasoline.
A reasonably energy-efficient car will take you 10 kilometres on a litre of gas, so that saving is roughly like not driving from one end of the Island to the other 1,460 times.
That's the thing about numbers. Even small ones can add up quickly.Share 0 SHARES
THE Taoiseach Enda Kenny has responded to groups irate at the news that the government has established a Kicking The Abortion Can Down The Road Commission, which will see any possibility of a referendum on the 8th amendment delayed by at least a year.
“Jesus Christ, calm yourselves. There’s like a million other amendments, could you not moan about those ones for a change,” the Taoiseach cautioned, in an effort to assure the public that the government takes the reality of women having to travel abroad to terminate pregnancies very seriously.
“The 4th amendment, go on have a look at that,” the Taoiseach added in the vain hope pro-choice groups would get worked up about the 1973 amendment to the constitution, which saw the voting age reduced from 21 to 18, “there’s like 30-odd amendments, change it up. Pick any other one to be annoyed about, what’s so special about the 8th?”
A spokesman for the Irish Commission of Things We Don’t Talk about defended the government’s decision to delay making a decision on things that adversely affects women.
“Oh, now, come on. You know we don’t like talking about this stuff,” the spokesman confirmed.
“But in the meantime, if any woman is planning on having a fatal foetal abnormality, we’d suggest putting that off for a about a year or so,” the spokesman added.
The government has denied that in the meantime a new State-run airline Export The Problemair will be set up.Bailiffs in England and Wales evicted more than 11,000 families in the first three months of 2015, 51% higher than in same period five years ago
The number of tenants evicted from their homes is at a six-year high, according to new figures, as rising rents and cuts to benefits make tenancies increasingly unaffordable.
County court bailiffs in England and Wales evicted more than 11,000 families in the first three months of 2015, an increase of 8% on the same period last year and 51% higher than five years ago.
Have you been evicted from rental housing in the UK? Read more
The increase in the number of tenants losing their homes means 2015 is on course to break last year’s record levels. Nearly 42,000 families were evicted from rental accommodation in 2014, the highest number since records began in 2000.
Rental prices have soared in many UK cities but wages failing to keep pace with rising costs and caps to benefits have left many poorer tenants unable to make payments.
Separate figures also published on Thursday showed almost 59,000 households have had their benefits capped in the past two years. Nearly half of those families were in London, where the the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom home is £2,216.
Housing charities said the figures were a glaring reminder that many tenants were struggling to maintain a roof over their heads, and they called on the new government to do more to tackle a housing crisis in the UK.
The latest repossession statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice, reveal the highest number of evictions in a single quarter since 2009, when comparable records began, with nearly 126 families forced out every day.
Between January and March, 11,307 tenants and their families were evicted by bailiffs, compared with a figure of 10,380 between October and December last year, and 10,482 in the first quarter of 2014.
This graph shows the number of evictions actually carried out by quarter since 2009.
The record figure comes as the number of landlord repossession claims – the first step of the legal process leading to an eviction – also rose. Claims were up 10% on the last quarter, but at 42,226 they remained below a six-year high of 47,208 in the first quarter of 2014.
Claims by both private and social landlords were up, the figures showed, although most of the rise was explained by claims by the latter. Social landlords were behind nearly five times as many attempts to recover properties than private landlords, the figures showed. These landlords are typically housing associations providing homes at lower rents than the market rate, often to tenants who receive housing benefit.
In the first three months of the year, 64% of possession claims were made by social landlords. These 27,204 court actions came alongside 5,551 made by private landlords and 9,741 accelerated claims, which could have been by either social or private landlords.
This graph shows the number of repossession claims granted by the courts by quarter since 2009.
In May 2014, when the threat of evictions reached its highest level for a decade, the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations across England, told the Guardian the bedroom tax was causing problems for social landlords. The policy cuts the amount of housing benefit paid to social housing tenants whose homes are deemed too large for their requirements. Benefit sanctions were also thought to be causing problems.
But many housing associations, particularly in London and the south-east, have turned out tenants as they have sought to redevelop generations-old estates to take advantage of the big rise in property values. This has in turn led to an increase in the number of grassroots campaigns to oppose evictions, such as the Focus E15 mothers.
In one case of eviction resistance last week, activists from Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth in London answered a call from a 14-year-old girl to successfully resist her family’s eviction from a flat in an estate that Southwark council had marked for demolition. Elsewhere in the capital, shorthold tenants in Brixton’s Loughborough Park estate, owned by the Guinness Partnership housing association, have defied eviction orders by occupying their flats.
HASL (@HousingActionSL) Rammed balcony for eviction resistance this morning in Camberwell! Bailiffs will have no chance! #NoEvictions pic.twitter.com/SIAVMf5SoG
The MoJ figures came on the same day as the Department for Work and Pensions revealed that 58,690 households across the UK had their benefits capped to a maximum of £26,000 a year since April 2013. Londoners were the worst affected, with 26,636 families facing a cut in benefits over the period to February 2015, followed by 5,953 in the rest of the south-east.
DWP proposals to meet the Conservatives’ pledge to cut £12bn from the welfare budget, in documents leaked to the Guardian last week, included barring under-25s from claiming housing benefit, increasing the bedroom tax on certain categories of tenants, limiting welfare payments by family size and freezing welfare benefits at current levels.
Responding to the eviction statistics, Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Today’s figures are a glaring reminder that sky-high housing costs and welfare cuts are leaving thousands of people battling to keep a roof over their heads.
“Every day at Shelter we see the devastating impact of a housing market at boiling point, with the cost of renting so high that many families are living in fear that just one thing like losing their job or becoming ill could leave them with the bailiffs knocking at the door.
“The new government must make sure people aren’t left to fall through the cracks and hurtling towards homelessness by preserving, if not strengthening, the frayed housing safety net to protect ordinary families desperately struggling to make ends meet.”
Betsy Dillner, director of the campaign group Generation Rent, said: “These record eviction figures and signs that they are accelerating are a stark reminder of the housing crisis that the government must urgently start taking seriously now they’re back in power.
“Whether it’s an inability to pay expensive rents or a landlord’s desire to take back their property, the fact that more than 40,000 families were forced out of their homes last year is a symptom of the government’s failure to create a sustainable housing market.”
The housing minister, Brandon Lewis, defended the government’s performance, pointing out that mortgage repossessions had fallen drastically, keeping owner-occupiers in their “hard-earned homes”.
He said: “Mortgage repossessions continue to fall at 56% lower than this time last year, and the lowest annual figure since the series began in 1987. Meanwhile, numbers of county court mortgage possession claims continue to fall to the lowest quarterly number since records began. This is thanks to our work to tackle the deficit and keep interest rates low, helping more families to stay in their hard earned homes.
“There are strong protections in place to guard families against the threat of homelessness. We increased spending to prevent homelessness, with over £500m made available to help the most vulnerable in society and ensure we don’t return to the bad old days when homelessness in England was nearly double what it is today.”Gotham star and the next Jim Gordon, Ben McKenzie, has had a little tumble on the set of Gotham that left him in stitches. McKenzie put a photo on Instagram of him with a sizable gash on his forehead.
McKenzie said “It was a little embarrassing to be honest with you. I’ve done this for a while. I’ve done a fair number of fight scenes so it was more like ‘Oh man, why did I do that?’”
The accident happened during a fight scene where McKenzie had to fight off a thug.
“We were doing a fight scene [and] I had to drive a guy back into a concrete pillar, it was a long distance by 20 or 30 feet. I did a take correctly and then decided I would bash my own head into the pillar the side of it. I just missed by three inches caught the edge of it and there is a lot of blood.” McKenzie said speaking to etonline.com.
McKenzie said he is fine and there is no sign of a concussion and is making a full recovery.
Gotham will hit our screens on September 22nd airing on Fox then Netflix.
Source: etonline.comJanuary 28, 2015 By Michael J. Gogulski
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If you enjoyed this book, check out these other fine titles from the same author:
Abby's Absolutely Abundant Abscess
Addie's Adorable Adenoma
Adelia's Addled Alzheimer's
Andys Amazing AIDS
Anne's Incandescent Anorexia
Annette's Astonishing Aneurysm
Annie's Awesome Asthma
Arnie's Artful Addiction
Barack's Baroque Barbiturate Overdose
Barry's Bitchin Beri Beri
Beatrice's Bawdy Bronchitis
Bella's Beloved Bell's Palsy
Bennett's Breathtaking Boil
Bertha's Blossoming Bulimia
Billy's Bodacious Botulism
Bobby's Bitchin Bubonic Plague
Bobby's Bubbling Buboes
Bob's Bodacious Bone Break
Boris's Big Blister
Bradley's Brilliant Bradycardia
Candy's Candid Candida
Carl's Chewy Cancer
Carl's Cool Cauliflower Ear
Carol's Calm Coma
Carol's Colorful Chlamydia
Carol's Copacetic Chlamydia
Carrie's Cavernous Caries
Carrie's Cordial Complications
Christian's Crazy Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome
Chuck's Champion Chickenpox
Clarissa's Classy Klippel-Trénaunay Syndrome
Cole Herb's Heavenly Herpes
Colin's Copacetic Common Cold
Connie's Conquering Conjunctivitis
Cyril's Crunchy Celiac
Danielle's Dainty Dahlberg Borer Newcomer Syndrome
Dan's Dandy Dandy-Walker Malformation with Mental Retardation, Macrocephaly, Myopia, and Brachytelephalangy
Daphne's delicate distention
Dave's Darling Deformity
Diana's Diaphanous Diaphragm Disorder
Dolly's Desirable Death
Dominic's Domineering Dementia
Dorothy's Dominating Discharge
Doug's Daring Dengue
Doug's Delightful Dysentery
Edward's Excellent Eczema
Ellen's Elegant Alopecia
Emma's Exalted Emphysema
Ephraim's Ebullient Ebola
Ferdinand's Fabulous Fractured Femur
Flo's Favorite Flu
Freddie's Fantastic Fibromyalgia
Fred's Fabulous Fracture
Freya's Fabulous Fainting
Freya's Far-out Farber's Lipogranulomatosis
Gary's Gallant Gangrene
Gary's Grand Granulomatosis
George's Gorgeous Gonorrhea
Gloria's Golden Goiter
Greg's Glorious Gout
Hank's Hearty Hemophilia
Hannah's Hysterical Hantavirus
Harlan's Harmonious H1N1
Harry's Handsome Halitosis
Harry's Happy Hernia
Harry's Haughty Hemorrhage
Hilary's Heavenly Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism
Hilary's hilarious hydrocelphallic-myocarinoma!
Hillary's Hilarious HIV
Homer's Humdinger Homicidal Ideation
Ida's Inscrutable Idiopathy
Iggy's Infamous Ischemia
Imogene's Inimitable Immunodeficiency
Inga's Incredible Ingrowth
Irene's Incredible Ichthyoallyeinotoxism
Iris's Irrestiable Itch
Isabel's Interesting Infarction
Jane's Genial Genetic Anomalies
Jayoh's Jumpin' Jaundice
Johnny's Jocular Jock Itch
Kyle's Copacetic Keratoacanthoma
Kyle's Crispy Keloids
Larry's Lordly Laryngitis
Larry's Lovely Lymphoma
Leroy's Lavish Leprosy
Lisa's Lovely Lassa Fever
Lucy's Lucious Lupus
Luke's Lucid Leukemia
Luther's Lucky Lupus
Mal's Mad Malaria
Mandie's Mega Mucus
Manuel's Magnificent Meningitis
Margie's Memorable Mononucleosis
Marie's Miraculous Marburg
Melanie's Mellifluous Malaria
Michael's Mighty Migraine
Mike's Magnificent Mumps
Milo's Marvelous Malignant Mass
Molly's Malignant Melanoma
Ned's Neato Nearsightedness
Nestor's Non-Stop Nystagmus
Nudge's Numinous Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Oprah's Opulant Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Orrin's Ornamented Ornithosis
Oscar's Awesome Osteoporosis
Pam's Panaroamic Pathology
Pauline's Prescient Parasites
Paul's Pumpin' Priapism
Percy's Perspicacious Pustule
Perry's Peerless Peritonitis
Perry's Precious Porphyria
Peters Perfect Polio
Polly's Polychromatic Polyuria
Polly's Pretty Polyps
Presley's Precious Presbyopia
Priscilla's Precocious Preeclampsia
Prunella's Practically Preventable Prion
Quentin's Quiescent Quarantine
Randy's Roaring Ringworm
Rhea's Really Remarkable Rheumatism
Rhonda's Racing Rheumatism
Ricky's Rockin' Rickets
Robbie's Rad Ass Rabies
Rocco's Raging Rash |
Restoration and Plant Propagation Program, $200,000
Left Hand Creek Restoration, $200,000
Estes Park Fish Creek Restoration Project: Brook Drive to Country Club Reach, $200,000
Boulder County Fourmile Creek Restoration Project, $80,000
Longmont Peschel-St. Vrain Creek Restoration, $110,000
Boulder County South St. Vrain Creek Restoration at Hall Ranch, $110,000
Greeley/Larimer County Lions Open Space Eastern Bank Restoration Project, $150,000
Coal Creek Canyon Restoration Project: Twin Spruce Junction, $94,400
Big Thompson River Restoration, $300,000
Sylvan Dale Ranch Fish Habitat Design and Debris Removal on Big Thompson River, $59,850
Little Thompson River Urgent Needs, $170,625
Riparian Habitation Restoration, Stream Bank Revegetation and Beaver Reintroduction on Highland Placer, South St. Vrain Watershed, Boulder County, $14,000
Lefthand Creek Streambed and Bank Stabilization, Riparian Corridor Restoration, $20,000
Logan Mill Ranch Tree Farm Sunbeam Gulch Stream Restoration Project, $20,000
Lyons Lower McConnell Hazard Mitigation Project, $56,250
Debris Removal from Left Hand Creek Water Intake, $9,030Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Ed Gainey knows he can’t be in two places at once.
That didn’t make a recent decision any easier for him.
Gainey’s girlfriend, Lashawndriea Cole, is set to deliver their first child — a boy they’re going to name Grayson Jagger Gainey. Cole was to be induced Monday, so Ed Gainey returned to his hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., on Sunday for his son’s birth.
But doctors decided not to induce Cole and she didn’t go into labour, leaving Gainey with a dilemma: Stay with her or return to Regina to prepare for Saturday’s CFL game against the visiting Montreal Alouettes.
He chose the latter.
“It’s very frustrating,” Gainey, who arrived in Regina on Wednesday morning, said after practice at Mosaic Stadium. “I really want to be there. I’m just trying to take it for what it is.
“(The baby) is just being stubborn right now. She said she got an ultrasound and he’s in there sucking his thumb. He’s pretty comfortable in there.”
Cole’s due date was Wednesday and Gainey — eagerly anticipating the day — has been writing the date on his towel, gloves and spats.
He expects his mother and Cole’s mother to be in the delivery room when Grayson arrives, and someone will be tasked with videotaping the event so Gainey can watch it.
“Everybody in the family understands,” said Gainey, who hopes to go home and meet his son as soon as possible after the baby’s arrival. “No one’s mad. No one’s giving me a hard time about it.
“I’m not trying to miss it. I know he’ll understand once he’s able to comprehend it all.”
If Gainey had stayed in Winston-Salem and didn’t return for Saturday’s game, he wouldn’t have received a game cheque. By returning, he’s eligible to be paid — and therefore can pay some bills back home.
Gainey smiled and laughed while chatting with the media Wednesday, but it was evident that the 26-year-old was affected by the situation. As he put it: “I’m here, but I’m there.”
He’ll have to refocus before Saturday’s game — and he believes he can.
“I’ve got to handle business,” Gainey said. “But everything I’m doing up here is for my son. I feel like as long as I come to work ready to play and make some plays, he’ll be happy for me when he’s able to understand it all.”
Roughriders defensive backs coach Jason Shivers also is confident that Gainey will be able to concentrate on the task at hand Saturday instead of thinking about events back home.
“I know he really wants to play this game,” Shivers said. “He wants to finish off this season. These are the tough decisions we make as football players and coaches, trying to balance our family life with our football life.”
Gainey has been a consistent performer for the Roughriders this season. He enters Saturday’s game with 41 tackles (second among Saskatchewan’s defensive backs), two interceptions (second) and 13 pass knockdowns (first) in 14 games.
Shivers sensed from the get-go this season that Gainey had a desire to prove himself, and that mindset impressed the coach.
“Initially talking to him, I asked him what motivated him and what he gained his energy from coming into this season,” Shivers said. “He talked about wanting to prove to the rest of the league that he can cover and that he can be a shutdown DB. He has been showing evidence of that over the last couple of weeks.”
Gainey spent two seasons with the Als and two with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before signing with the Roughriders in February. But this is his first season as a full-time starter, so he wants to make the most of it — for himself and for his growing family.
“I feel like a lot of things that I’ve done in my career have been overlooked,” Gainey said. “I just want to continue to get better every day and prove to people that I should be a household name.”
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twitter.com/IanHamiltonLPBitwala, Europe's bill payment service that facilitates paying bills with bitcoin, has introduced its new feature – Bitwala messenger that enables to interact and send money to each other.
According to the official blog, Bitwala messenger is a newly released web application messenger that allows users to send a friendly remainder to the person who owes money so that the person can send the money straight through the messenger. The messenger also allows users to write personal remainders or notes within the chat, which only the sender would be able to read.
“The chat messenger is definitely my favorite addition to the new and improved Bitwala. It’s like Whatsapp for money, and I absolutely love it,” Bitwala CEO Jörg von Minckwitz said.
The messenger is open for all users from all levels and does not require any level of verification. Bitwala messenger is swift, convenient and hassle-free and sends money a whole lot faster and easier. Senders can also check their transaction history conducted through the messenger.
In order to get started, new users have to sign up at Bitwala and click on the chat icon on the left of the dashboard. They can then start chatting with a fellow Bitwala user with the messenger.Last week, Edwin Templin and his wife, Deborah, visited the grave of grandson Lucas Templin, just as they try to do every week. They trimmed the grass around the headstone and thought of the young boy. Lucas was just 11 when his best friend accidentally shot and killed him with a loaded revolver found in the friend's Frazeysburg home on June 17, 2014. "It's hit pretty hard," Mr. Templin said.
Last week, Edwin Templin and his wife, Deborah, visited the grave of grandson Lucas Templin, just as they try to do every week. They trimmed the grass around the headstone and thought of the young boy.
Lucas was just 11 when his best friend accidentally shot and killed him with a loaded revolver found in the friend�s Frazeysburg home on June 17, 2014.
�It�s hit pretty hard,� Mr. Templin said.
Templin said the stepfather of Lucas� friend left the gun under the edge of the bed. �It wasn�t locked up as it should have been,� said Templin, 67, of Zanesville.
The tragedy was one of 74 accidental shootings involving juveniles in Ohio between Jan. 1, 2014, and June 30 of this year, including cases in which the shooter and victim were minors.
A joint project by The Associated Press and USA Today Network identified more than 1,000 cases nationwide over that time period. Ohio had the 11th-highest rate of incidents: 6.37 per 1 million people. Alaska�s rate was by far the highest, at 18.96 per 1 million people, followed by Louisiana at 9.42.
Thirteen of Ohio's accidental shootings were in Franklin County: 11 in Columbus, one in Reynoldsburg and one in Canal Winchester.
Nineteen of the accidental-shooting victims in Ohio died. That includes Shaquez Brunner, a 13-year-old from Columbus who died June 3, 2014. Shaquez was shot in an apartment in the 1100 block of Oaks Boulevard on the Far West Side. Jakairon Spikes, who was 16 at the time, told police he unintentionally shot Shaquez while passing a handgun back and forth with another friend.
A judge sent Spikes to a youth prison. He is out now after serving a little more than a year, said his mother, Sharon Settler.
�It�s very difficult. No mother wants to see her child go through this,� said Settler, 36, who lives in a Hilltop apartment. She said Shaquez was a close friend of the family who spent many nights with them.
Settler said she knew nothing about the gun, and she still doesn�t know how her son got it. �As parents, we�ve got to do a better job,� she said.
But she also said better gun laws might have prevented the shooting.
Ohio doesn�t have any child-access prevention law or safe-storage law, as do other states. California requires that locks accompany dealer and private sales.
�There should be a law where, I think, adults and parents are liable,� Templin said. �The state of Ohio does not have that.�
State Rep. Bill Patmon, D-Cleveland, introduced four bills last year involving firearms, including a safe-storage bill, one requiring universal background checks and another banning imitation firearms.
�We�re still laying.45-caliber handguns in the reach of children,� Patmon said. �There�s something wrong with that picture. You can no longer hide behind the Second Amendment.�
Universal background checks and safe-storage laws �just make sense,� he said. The safe-storage law he is proposing would make it a first-degree felony if a minor uses an unsecured gun to kill or injure someone other than in self-defense.
But the Republican-dominated legislature is unlikely to pass such measures. State Rep. John Becker, R-Cincinnati, said lives may depend on accessing guns quickly.
Becker also said that it�s up to parents to take responsible precautions to make sure guns don�t fall into the wrong hands.
�Each household and situation is going to be unique,� he said. �A law can�t be written to customize for each household.�
Jim Irvine, the board president of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said education works better than laws.
�The problem with all this legislation is it won�t solve the problem,� said Irvine, of suburban Cleveland. �I can�t write the law that makes us perfect. Parents are responsible for their kids. You can�t pass a law that makes an irresponsible parent responsible.�
Dean Rieck, the association�s executive director, wondered how safe-storage laws would be enforced in Ohio. �Are we going to be going into people�s homes inspecting firearms?� he said.
�What we need is more education than intrusive legislation.�
But education isn�t enough, Patmon said. According to information from Nationwide Children�s Hospital that his office provided, there are more than 22 million children living in homes with guns. One in three families with children has at least one gun in the house. And half of all unintentional shootings among children happen at home.
�I passed a dog bill,� Patmon said, referring to a pet cruelty law that went into effect this year. �I cannot pass a gun bill.�
Jennifer Thorne, the executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, said there are several ways to reduce incidents. One is securing guns.
�We all have a responsibility to protect our kids,� said Thorne, who supports safe-storage laws. �Every death from gun violence is a tragedy. No family should have to go through that pain.�
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@MarkFerenchikLike a lot of people I often think I'd love to write a book but when I'm honest with myself I know I'm just not disciplined enough to actually sit down and write one (yet). So I decided I'll make one instead and send it to a friend who I know will write a book one day to keep her notes in.
@Merej99 this one is for you lady! As well as the liquid proceeds of this post which I will be sending your way to help you get to steemfest.
To speed things up I've cheated a little, I had a beautiful little book that was a bit worse for wear. Well it had been well read over its 138 years on this earth, pages had been torn, ears had been dogged, but the cover was in a fairly good condition so I decided to honour it's Victorian roots with a steam punk make over.
( )
After gutting the book, I decoupaged the cover with scraps of antique papers, glued small piece of thick string to the spine then created the design using a chipboard frame, charms, beads, texture paste and several types of glue before adding a couple of coats of gesso to prime the cover for painting.
It was time to start adding colour, I know It looks pretty garish here but this was the first layer of acrylic and ink that will add depth and variation to the layers that follow.
I kept Layering mostly using Inks and a Gold stone ink spray. At one point I started to panic it looked more like someone had glitter bombed some troll vomit than the from depths of the ocean patina I was aiming for.
I didn't get pictures of the next few layers as my phone mysteriously vanished once the children got home from school.
Once I was happy with the cover I cut a piece of bronze faux leather from a tatty old handbag, darkened it with some brown paint and the gold stone ink spray. Then began gluing it to the spine, I quickly discovered I didn't have enough hands for this so grabbed some twine and another book to make it easier for myself.
Ok I haven't worked with faux leather before so I'm not sure if I cut this piece wrong or if the pulling and tugging when gluing the piece down has distorted it some how. So tomorrows crafting session will be spent fixing or hiding those wonky edges, before i cover the inside and sew in the signatures.
There is still quite a way to go to finish this project but a lot further to get @merej99 to steemfest, any sbd earned on this post will be passed to meredith so please upvote, resteem and pop over to show her the love on her posts.Thursday night’s clinching win for the Rangers is worth celebrating in Rangerstown for more reasons than one. Aside from the win over a scorching hot Senators team which coupled with the Bruins’ loss to the Ducks officially clinched the Rangers a berth into the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years, the Rangers also welcomed back star netminder Henrik Lundqvist following an almost two month absence from the lineup.
Although “The King” did not see any ice time during last night’s game as he backed up Cam “Goal-Buster” Talbot, just having Lundqvist back on the bench in any capacity is a win in and of itself, and to put it bluntly, the timing could not be better.
Beyond that, Chris Kreider netted two goals of his own, eclipsing the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his NHL career, Cam Talbot was once again terrific in net stopping 23 of 24 shots, and Andrew “Hamburglar” Hammond was chased after allowing five goals on 22 shots and was subsequently handed his first regulation loss in 17 games. But perhaps the most notable occurrence that took place in Ottawa on Thursday was the scoring of a goal by none other than Tanner Glass himself; his first as a New York Ranger.
If all of that put together isn’t downright sensational, then I don’t know what is.
Below are some more statistics to put on display for all to see. Just more reasons why last night was one worth celebrating for the Rangers and their fans.
During the absence of Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers (Thursday’s game included) have gone 18-4-3, with Talbot having won 16 of those contests.
The win in Ottawa was Talbot’s 20th of the season, improving his 2014-15 record to 20-8-4, with five shutouts, a 2.16 goals against average, and a 0.928 save percentage. That makes him the first Ranger goalie other than Henrik Lundqvist to record 20 wins in a season since Mike Richter did it in 2001-02.
#NYR Stats: This is the 5th time in franchise history that 2 goalies have won at least 20 games in the same season! @HLundqvist30@ctalbot33 — New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 27, 2015
Both Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes are currently riding four game point scoring streaks, over which time they have each accumulated six points.
The Rangers have clinched a playoff spot, and it’s still only March. Additionally, the 73 games it’s taken the Rangers to hit the 100 point mark is the second fastest in franchise history.
The Rangers are the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot this season, despite the fact that they are tied for having played the fewest amount of games thus far amongst all NHL teams.
The goal for Tanner Glass was his first since January 30th of 2014. Apparently Alain Vigneault found that humorous…
WATCH: Tanner Glass scores first goal in over a year, Alain Vigneault loves it a lot http://t.co/VJnDxCwrvppic.twitter.com/fbvnWwVk4n — Eye on Hockey (@EyeOnHockey) March 27, 2015
The bottom line is this, though. The Rangers are officially in. Henrik Lundqvist has all but returned. This team is hot, and one truly worth getting excited for.
There’s no more need to stress over clinching a spot in the postseason. Life is good and Dan Girardi’s “gash” doesn’t even appear to be all that serious. What more is there to life, really?
Aside from the Stanley Cup of course…WASHINGTON -- Is there a connection between Puerto Rico's upcoming statehood referendum and the District of Columbia's statehood movement?
D.C. Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss (D) thinks so.
Strauss, a long-time statehood advocate, has been making the case that D.C.'s statehood movement could be "emboldened" by Puerto Rico's upcoming "status" vote.
The feeling appears to be mutual -- in 2009, Puerto Rico's non-voting delegate to Congress, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (D), made a statement to the House Judiciary Committee in favor of D.C. voting rights legislation linking D.C.'s struggle for enfranchisement with the U.S. commonwealth.
Now it's Puerto Rico's turn.
In November, voters on the island will decide if they want to remain a self-governing U.S. commonwealth or if they want a change in status with regard to their relationship with the United States.
Previous status referendums are not auspicious for statehood advocates: In 1967 and 1993, voters approved continuing their commonwealth relationship with the U.S.
In 1998, voters in Puerto Rico chose "none of the above," preferring this option to statehood, independence, free association or maintaining a commonwealth status.
If the people of Puerto Rico were to choose statehood, becoming a state would take congressional action -- which, as the DIstrict of Columbia knows, presents its own political difficulties -- among them, there are those in Congress who believe that Puerto Rican statehood would be a massive drain on the U.S. budget.
So what about Puerto Rico's current statehood movement gives Strauss hope for D.C. residents? The Huffington Post spoke with the shadow senator recently to find out more about the relationship between Puerto Rico's and D.C.'s statehood movements.
Also we were curious to see if Strauss, who famously brought actress Hayden Panettiere into the statehood movement, will be traveling with the actress to Puerto Rico to lobby for a closer relationship between these two territories.
The Huffington Post: What's the connection between D.C. and Puerto Rico?
Paul Strauss: If you look most recently at Alaska and Hawaii, the last states to join the union, there are a lot of similarities between D.C. and Alaska and Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Starting with the arguments against statehood. Alaska, they were like, oh my god, the population is not so big -- it's actually roughly the size of D.C. I even got more more votes in the last election for D.C. senator than [Alaska Senator] Mark Begich did as Alaska senator. [Strauss won 183,519 votes in the 2008 election; Begich won 151,767 votes.]
And with Hawaii you've got the old 'it can't be a state, it doesn't look like a state, it's an island for god's sake.' A lot of the arguments against Hawaii and Alaska are made against D.C. and Puerto Rico.
HuffPost: It sounds like what you're trying to do is overcome some of the mental hurdles people have trying to think of D.C. as possibly being a state by pointing out that many of the objections have already been addressed other places, and have been dealt with.
Strauss: I think that's part of it. The other thing is that states traditionally come in a pair. The big balancing issue used to be slave versus free. We've thankfully evolved beyond that. Even with Alaska and Hawaii the difference was partisan, with Hawaii being perceived to be pro-Republican and Alaska being pro-Democratic. And then obviously for a long time Hawaii's senators have both been Democratic and Alaska's senators have been Republican. It just goes to show that you can't really predict.
And I'm sure one reason D.C. is so overwhelmingly Democratic is because the Republican Party is so overwhelmingly anti-District of Columbia. It's hard to get traction in a community where one of your platform points is denying them their fundamental rights. It's an interesting idea that in Puerto Rico, the statehood movement is actually a movement from their political right. Independence being seen as the extreme left.
HuffPost: Do you worry that by associating D.C. with the other territories, like Puerto Rico, that you're asking to be associated with the more problematic sides of the statehood debate.
Strauss: I don't necessarily think so. Because for a lot of us it's more about autonomy than federal representation. Like today's press silliness is restrictions on a woman's right to choose. Whatever your view on abortion, nobody rationally thinks that it should be based on ZIP code. I can respect a variety of points of view, but not one that says depending on which side of the Potomac you live on is how your rights should be.
So, no, it's not about silly stuff like getting your own quarter. Although that was a bizarre debate. There were coin collectors that were hostile toward us getting a quarter. I had to do op-eds in Coin Collectors Monthly. But it was important because I remember it was the first time someone gave my little girl a 50-state quarter set. And it was the very first time as a child she got a sense that D.C. was different. Here's the New York quarter, here's Virginia where your cousin lives. Where's ours? We didn't get one.
HuffPost: Have you spoken with Puerto Rico's resident commissioner Pedro R. Pierluisi?
Strauss: No, I haven't really gotten that close with him. I was pretty chummy with the last guy. [Puerto Rico's Secretary of State and pro-statehood advocate] Kenneth McClintock is really the point person that we use to coordinate stuff. And believe me we need to coordinate. The first couple of years it was just bad. I remember one year we went to the Democratic convention with red "51" stickers and they showed up with blue "51" stickers. We just cancelled each other out.
I don't think we should be competing. One of the things I want to avoid is D.C. statehood being used as a wedge against Puerto Rican statehood. Every time Puerto Ricans get a little bit of progress people bring up D.C. statehood. It sort of chills Republicans from supporting it. Any American that wants to join the union as a state, they ought to be allowed to do it.
HuffPost: Do you think D.C. should have a referendum?
Strauss: I suppose if the issue before Congress was a legitimate doubt -- nobody's been protesting or picketing or getting arrested because we don't want statehood. I don't think anyone's credibly making the argument that there's any reason to doubt the desire of D.C. residents to have statehood. But if we wanted to have another referendum, fine. The problem is that elections cost money. Our opponents would still be against us. Their opposition to D.C. statehood isn't based on interpretation of our will.
D.C. residents want statehood. I support statehood for the District of Columbia. Because there's more happening in terms of the Puerto Rican status issue, smart journalists ask me what I think about what's happening in Puerto Rico and I think it's up to the Puerto Rican people. The fact that people are talking about statehood for anybody else doesn't hurt the struggle in the District of Columbia. And I don't think the District of Columbia's aspirations for statehood hurt aspirations of the Puerto Rican people for statehood. If that's what in fact they want.
HuffPost: Are you and [D.C. statehood advocate] Hayden Panettiere planning any trips out to Puerto Rico?
Strauss: I've been in Puerto Rico a couple of times on trips. I can't speak to Ms. Panettiere's schedule. And I have no immediate plans to go to Puerto Rico. But if I do, it'll probably be a lot more fun than my last out of town trip, which was to New Hampshire -- in the middle of winter.
HuffPost: Are you feeling optimistic about how the movement along for D.C. statehood is going?
Strauss: I think it's tough to be optimistic about a lot of movements right now because we're in such gridlock. But every time a Rick Santorum supporter goes on TV to talk about aspirin as birth control, you're hopeful that there will be big change in this country. But you're also fearful that there will be big change in this country. It could go either way.
HuffPost: Are you hopeful that Puerto Rico will vote yes for statehood?
Strauss: I would respect them if they chose to become an independent country. It's their own choice. I think the status quo argument is losing some of the support it once had, because we are no longer interested nationally in subsidizing them the way we used to. We are not afraid of them going communist. All of the great benefits they got in the '50s, from the Cold War hysteria, they're not getting anymore. So I understand why they're looking to change the parameters of their relationship with the United States.
HuffPost: Would you make the argument that up until the point where D.C. has statehood, we should at least not be paying federal income taxes, like the other territories.
Strauss: We have made that argument. That's certainly popular here. It's $3 billion out of the federal treasury at a time when we're struggling to balance the budget now. They won't give us that exemption.The secret behind MSG's surprise 3D broadcast of last night's Rangers/Islanders hockey game? It came together in a two week turnaround which repurposed equipment laying around between stops at a recent Black Eyed Peas concert and next month's NAB show in Las Vegas. Judging by the reviews it was worth the effort with more than a few indicating an interest in buying 3DTVs to check things out at home next time -- while it aired on Cablevision, all the reports we found were based on the screens located at the arena itself. Not everyone agreed on the best aspects of the new production: Christopher Botta of Fanhouse preferred a lack of "reaching through the screen" gimmicks while the New York Times report asked for more opportunities to feel like the players are popping out at the viewer, even though they found the standard HDTV feed "flat, underlit and distant" in comparison. We couldn't find any complaints regarding those ever-present 3D glasses, though issues like someone walking in front of the camera or on screen graphics appearing to leap off the screen revealed there's still a few kinks to work out (camera placement may be further adjusted during an upcoming renovation.) The appeal of 3D sports for fans has already been established, we're wondering if playing in a more 3D-ready arena might be used to convince Lebron or other stars to play home games at MSG, in the meantime, check out all the reviews and a few behind the scenes videos embedded after the break.Propelled by rocket fuel, ego and tunnel vision, Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon. Now a new film tells his amazing story, from the crash that charred his helmet to the ‘spacewalk from hell’
Eugene Cernan has felt the white heat of re-entry three times. “The landing,” says the astronaut, understandably animated by the memory, “is like being immersed in a sheet of fire, a comet, a shooting star.” Cernan, alongside crewmates Thomas Stafford and John Young, has also travelled faster than any human being in history: Apollo 10 at one point reached 24,791mph, earning it a mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
Cernan is talking about The Last Man on the Moon, a new documentary that gives the naturally reticent astronaut, now 82, a chance to tell his story. The bare bones are thus: born in Chicago in 1934 to a Czech mother and Slovak father, he became a naval aviator before being selected by Nasa for astronaut training. He went on to pilot Gemini 9A in June 1966 and Apollo 10 in May 1969, before being selected as commander of Apollo 17, which carried out the most recent moon landing in December 1972. It was on this voyage that Cernan, the final astronaut to reboard the lunar module, became the 12th – and last – man to walk on the moon.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘If you think going to the moon is hard, try staying at home’ … Cernan with his family
He is, as Mark Craig’s film shows, a survivor of that great adventure: neither becoming capsized by it, as Buzz Aldrin was for a while, using alcohol; nor retreating from it, as the reclusive Neil Armstrong did. Like many astronauts, he retains a quiet authority, a military matter-of-factness that manifests itself in certain recurring phrases, not least: “We were there to do a job.”
Occasionally, though, this reticence gives way to a sense of wonder. Some of the best moments in the documentary come when the still-dramatic images of Cernan’s missions are merged with his evocative reflections. “You can hear yourself breathe inside the suit,” he says of the long moments of stillness and expectation just before the launch of Apollo 10. “Everything intensifies – but the clock keeps going.”
The ground rumbled and the fish jumped out of the lake
Cernan’s first words in The Last Man on the Moon are: “I am the luckiest human being in the world.” But as the film shows, he had his share of bad luck. His first spacewalk from Gemini 9, dogged by technical difficulties, was surely an inspiration for Gravity. Not given to overstatement, he later described it as “the spacewalk from hell”. And although he had successfully carried out more than 200 landings as a navy pilot, he crashed a helicopter in 1971, just two weeks before Apollo 14 was launched, a mission for which he had been chosen as back-up flight commander.
He still has the helmet, most of which is charcoal black. “How can anyone do something so dumb?” he says, still angry with himself. Cernan thought he had “screwed up” his chance of ever being considered for another lunar mission, but a few weeks later he got a call saying: “The job’s still yours if you want it.” The following year, Cernan led the final mission.
“The ground rumbled and all the fish jumped out of the lake,” remembers his then wife, Barbara, of the night launch of Apollo 17. She was one of 500,000 people who watched it from Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, while people as far away as Miami – 225 miles south – saw a red streak in the sky. “It was my personal moment of reckoning,” says Cernan. “This is what I had asked for.”
He and Harrison Schmitt spent three days on the moon’s surface. “People say, ‘What was it really like up there?’ Or they’ll ask, ‘Did you find God?’ What I remember was that I felt like I had shaped up.” Was he able to have a break and at least try to take in the wonder of it all? “Well, you couldn’t not. We saw some dazzling, extraordinary things, and you had to take time to appreciate them. I mean, not too many people get to see an Earth-rise.” He pauses for a long time. “When I was boarding the lunar module for the last time and I looked at my footprints, I knew I wouldn’t be coming back. That was the one moment when I wanted to stop time.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest One last fitting … Cernan in training
Unlike the first man to walk on the moon, the late Neil Armstrong, with whom he became friends, Cernan seems to have relished the celebrity the moon landing bestowed on him. He still makes public appearances. “I enjoy meeting people,” he tells me, his voice still strong. “I feel like I’m thanking them for that faith they had in me.”
Last Man on the Moon recalls US era of courage to do the impossible Read more
The documentary shows the human cost of that celebrity, however, particularly for his first wife, Barbara, who says: “If you think going to the moon is hard, try staying at home.” Their marriage did not survive. The Apollo astronauts were an elite group of alpha males, to which family often took second place. Bound by the discipline and dedication of their calling, but also by their shared sense of destiny, they developed egos to match. “We were so tunnel-vision about going to the moon,” says Cernan regretfully in the film, “that we never had time to get off that big white horse we were riding until it was too late. But sooner or later, you’ve got to come to grips with who you are and what’s important in life.”
Cernan now seems to have done that. Does he keep in touch with his fellow astronauts? “Well, you don’t become best friends for the rest of your life in the way you might expect,” he says. “That was certainly not the case with my flights anyway.” But there is one thing he is clear about: “All I ever wanted to do was fly. For a long time, there was nothing else.”
• The Last Man on the Moon is out now in the US and opens 8 April in the UK.Actress Tautou to host Cannes Film Festival
The event takes places between 15th -26th May and the actress will follow on from Bérénice Béjo who hosted the festival last year.
Audrey is known for her famous role in the film Amélie, in addition to major parts in The Da Vinci Code andCoco Before Chanel.
Proceedings will open at 7.15pm on 15th May and close at 7pm on 26th May.
Thierry Fremaux, the festival’s director, is keeping the list of festival contenders under wraps until 18th April. However, we do know that Baz Luhrmann’s film The Great Gatsby will feature as the opening movie bringing big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan to the event’s red carpet.
Meanwhile New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion will be presented with the Carrosse d’Or from the Society of Film Directors at the festival. The director won the coveted Palme d’Or – or best film prize – for her movie The Piano back in 1993, and remains the only woman to have won the award.
Last year’s winner of the award was Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan – whose film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia was selected as Turkey’s official entry for the best foreign language film at the Oscars.
To experience the very best of this year’s international film releases make your way down to the, 15-26 May. For the best in rented apartments, 5-star hotels, and even luxury yachts contact EAS, the local travel agent you can trust. We’ll make your stay as relaxing as possible, organising not only your accommodation needs, but transport and nightly entertainment too..
French actress Audrey Tautou, who starred in the hit film Amélie, will host this year’s Cannes Film Festival presenting both the opening and closing ceremonies.The event takes places between 15th -26th May and the actress will follow on from Bérénice Béjo who hosted the festival last year.Audrey is known for her famous role in the film Amélie, in addition to major parts in The Da Vinci Code andCoco Before Chanel.Proceedings will open at 7.15pm on 15th May and close at 7pm on 26th May.Thierry Fremaux, the festival’s director, is keeping the list of festival contenders under wraps until 18th April. However, we do know that Baz Luhrmann’s film The Great Gatsby will feature as the opening movie bringing big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan to the event’s red carpet.Meanwhile New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion will be presented with the Carrosse d’Or from the Society of |
isens insatsstyrka omhändertog sent på fredagskvällen en annan man i en lägenhet i Hjulsta i nordvästra Stockholm.
Boende uppger för Aftonbladet att mannen känner den 39-åring som misstänks för lastbilsattacken på Drottninggatan.
Om det finns ett samband med det misstänkta terrordådet vill polisen inte kommentera.
– Vi gör gripanden i olika ärenden hela tiden, säger Lars Byström.
Boende berättar att ett stort antal poliser slog till i Hjulsta.
– Det kom jättemycket poliser, jag såg att det var insatsstyrkan. Man gick in i en lägenhet i huset och jag hörde en kraftig smäll och barn som grät, säger person till Aftonbladet.
Poliserna kom sedan ut med en man som togs med från platsen och fördes i väg.
”Känner den misstänkte”
Grannen berättar för Aftonbladet att den omhändertagne mannen har kopplingar till den 39-årige man som greps i Märsta.
– I den här lägenheten bor det människor som känner den misstänkte, säger personen till Aftonbladet.
Uppgifterna bekräftas av tidningen Expressen, som har bilder från gripandet, och av poliskällor till SVT Nyheter. Poliskällan uppger dessutom för SVT att det finns en koppling mellan mannen i Hjulsta och den tidigare gripne 39-åringen.
Polisen har också under eftermiddagen hämtat två personer till förhör ”då polisen trodde att de hade uppgifter att lämna”, skriver polisen på sin hemsida. De två ska inledningsvis inte vara misstänkta för något brott.
Larmet om att en lastbil körde in i en folkmassa i hög hastighet på Drottninggatan inkom strax före klockan 15 på fredagen.
Fyra döda
Lars Byström bekräftar att fyra personer är döda. Enligt uppgifter från Stockholms läns landsting ska 15 vuxna och barn vårdas på sjukhus. Nio av dem är allvarligt skadade. Tre personer har avlidit på brottsplatsen och en person har dött på sjukhus.
Polisen utesluter inte att fler personer kan komma att avlida.
LIVE-RAPPORTERING: SENASTE NYTT OMM ATTACKEN
Foto: Paul Wallander
LÄS OCKSÅ Rakhmat Akilov åtalas - Detta vet viJustin Trudeau's gender-equal cabinet could soon be replicated in the United States, depending on the outcome of the current American election.
The poll-leading presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, appeared to indicate her intention to follow suit when asked about it in a televised event on the eve of Tuesday's five northeastern primaries.
A moderator had asked about the federal cabinet to the north: "Canada has a new prime minister, Justin Trudeau. He promised when he took office that he would have a cabinet that was 50 per cent women, and then he did it. He made good on his promise. Would you make that same pledge?"
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Clinton suggested she would: "I am going to have a cabinet that looks like America, and 50 per cent of America is women, right?" That prompted the MSNBC moderator, Rachel Maddow, to conclude, "So that's a yes?"
Canada's gender-balanced cabinet has gotten a fair bit of attention in the U.S., fuelled partly by how the prime minister responded to a question about it with a shoulder shrug and the sound bite: "Because it's 2015."
But in reality, Canada didn't blaze that particular trail.
Finland's cabinet is 62 per cent female; Cape Verde's is 53 per cent; Sweden's is 52 per cent; and France's is 50 per cent, according to last year's statistics from the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Even within Canada, the first gender-parity cabinet was created not by Trudeau – but by the former premier in Trudeau's home province of Quebec, Jean Charest.
Clinton remains the U.S. presidential front-runner, despite a tougher-than-expected primary challenge.
She retains a significant lead over her more progressive challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and is expected to add to it Tuesday in primaries in Maryland, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware.
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She has also consistently led general-election polls against the two Republican front-runners – Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz – although she has performed far more poorly against less-successful Republican candidates like Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the dropped-out Marco Rubio.
Trump has also been asked about the Canadian cabinet – and he won't commit to copying the Trudeau formula.Ended: Win a developer signed copy of 'Guild Wars 2: Collectors Edition'
So we've got this developer signed copy of the 'Guild Wars 2: Collectors Edition' boxset, and we want one of you fine people to own it instead. It's not a bad game at all, Philip Kollar scored it 8.5/10 in the Polygon review, stating "Guild Wars 2 isn't an MMO prophet leading its flock to a glorious future. But that doesn't stop it from being the best MMO in years."
As you can see from the image above there's a lot going on inside that box, including:
A copy of the Guild Wars 2 game (obviously)
A 10-inch Rytlock figurine
A 'Best of Guild Wars 2' Soundtrack CD
Making of Guild Wars 2 Hardback book
Custom art frame, portfolio, and five art prints
Collectible metal box
So here's how we want this to go down; simply send your answer to the question below via email (along with your Polygon username if you have one) to shaun(at)polygon.com, and I'll draw one winner at random on Friday 15th March at 12PM PDT.
Question: What is the name of the Polygon guild in Guild Wars 2?
I'm afraid this contest in particular is only open to all residents of the United States aged 13+, so apologies to any folks from international regions. In closing I'll just remind you all of the Polygon Ethics statement on both gifts and giveaways, specifically:
Giveaways of products are not, and should never be considered, endorsements of the companies involved or their products.
Good luck everyone.
Updated: Fri 15 March:
BreakingPoint0 wins! See below for details.Image caption The cannabis medication did not produce the "high" of the illegal street drug
Cannabis does not halt the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), a medical trial has concluded.
The research - the biggest study of its kind in the UK - was carried out by the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth.
It involved patients taking pills containing the main active chemical in cannabis - tetrahydrocannabinol or THC - for three years.
The £8m trial found THC did help to ease MS symptoms, but there was no evidence it slowed its progression.
Modern cannabis medications do not produce a "high" - the psychoactive ingredients are either missing or delivered in a much lower dose than in the illegal street drug.
Lead researcher, Professor John Zajicek, will present the preliminary results of the Cupid (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) trial to the Association of British Neurologists in Brighton later.
Trial patient's view Peter Atkey from Plymouth was diagnosed with MS in 2004 and took part in the Cupid trial. "I was taking two pills in the morning and four in the evening and that allowed me to function properly while I was on the trial," he said. "I think that over the three years I felt the MS didn't progress as it might have done if I wasn't taking the drug. "But it didn't get any better... I'm disappointed, but that's life." Mr Atkey said he would only consider taking the cannabis-based medication again if he was "convinced" it would help. "If somebody said to me it would stop the progression, then yes I'd go back to it," he added.
Prof Zajicek said he was "disappointed" the overall effect was not better.
"There's lots of evidence cannabis has a symptomatic effect - it makes people's pain, muscle stiffness and spasms better," he said.
"But what we were doing in this trial was to see if we could slow down the course of the disease.
"There are very, very few treatments for any neuro-degenerative disease, whether it's Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or progressive multiple sclerosis and we were very much hoping cannabinoid might slow down the progression of the disease as opposed to just ameliorating people's symptoms.
"I'm very disappointed - not for me - but for people with MS and I think it's desperately important that we try to find treatments that slow their progression down."
The study - involving 500 MS patients from 27 centres around the UK - was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and managed by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on behalf of the MRC-NIHR partnership, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust.
Prof Zajicek said the "holy grail" of neuroscience researchers was to try to find drugs that would actually slow the progression of neuro-degenerative diseases.
Further trials were necessary, he said, but with a cost of about £5m, they would need financial backing.
"If we spent more money on these trials then we'd have answers and treatments for these degenerative diseases that we haven't got at the moment," he said.
"Progression of MS is thought to be due to death of nerve cells, and researchers around the world are desperately searching for treatments that may be 'neuroprotective'.
"Laboratory experiments have suggested that certain cannabis derivatives may be neuroprotective."At last, we have hit on the solution to the global jihad onslaught: just be nicer to Muslims, you greasy Islamophobes. All those people in the Brussels airport — just think of how mean they were being to Muslims. Some of them may even have been drinking alcohol. Oh, the Islamophobia! And those people at that Christmas party in San Bernardino, California: if only they had dropped their radically Islamophobic stance of going about their business and getting together for a friendly party with their coworkers. How dare they provoke Muslims in that way!
Stop resisting jihad: if you really want to defeat it, don’t fight back. Let it happen, keep smiling, keep being nice. Anything you do to defend yourself and your country may provoke the poor dears and “poke them in the eye.” We can’t have that. It’s time to cut out all the Islamophobia and be nice for a change. Then when global peace ensues, we can sit down for a hearty lunch (no pork or beer, you Islamophobes) with the caliph al-Baghdadi and share a hearty laugh over the folly of all that conflict.
In the 1940s, did Bloomberg View run the headline, “Want to stop Nazism? Treat the Gestapo Better”?
“In other words, people don’t join the Islamic State because their countries are poor or in crisis or because bad economic conditions increase the pressure on outsider groups. They join when a wealthy society fails to integrate them so that they could share in the wealth. Resentment, a feeling of being left out appears to be a stronger motivation for the recruits than economic hardship.” In reality, the New York Times reported in March that “not long after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001…Alan B. Krueger, the Princeton economist, tested the widespread assumption that poverty was a key factor in the making of a terrorist. Mr. Krueger’s analysis of economic figures, polls, and data on suicide bombers and hate groups found no link between economic distress and terrorism.”
CNS News noted in September 2013 that “according to a Rand Corporation report on counterterrorism, prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2009, ‘Terrorists are not particularly impoverished, uneducated, or afflicted by mental disease. Demographically, their most important characteristic is normalcy (within their environment). Terrorist leaders actually tend to come from relatively privileged backgrounds.’ One of the authors of the RAND report, Darcy Noricks, also found that according to a number of academic studies, ‘Terrorists turn out to be more rather than less educated than the general population.’”
So they’re more integrated, rather than less — and yet they still turn to jihad. But the possibility that they could be motivated by the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah is one that Bloomberg is resolutely determined to ignore. Nor does Bloomberg’s Leonid Bershidsky see fit to mention that Muslims in Europe in particular have generally resisted integration: one Muslim leader, Dyab Abou Jahjah, said a few years ago that “assimilation is cultural rape.” But never mind: for the paternalistic Left, it’s always the West’s fault.
“To Defeat Islamic State, Treat Muslims Better,” by Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg View, April 25, 2016:Cat Story—Bloody Alfredo When my husband came home from work and walked in the door, he was dismayed... Blood ran on the floor and walls. It appeared to be a bloody crime scene. Worse than what he had ever experienced at work—the prison. He immediately called my name. I had arrived shortly before him and walked through, viewing the blood spread throughout much of our home. Our loving cat, Alfredo, had a bump on his forehead, which we assumed would go away. We were totally mistaken. It was a hematoma and it gave way the evening no one was home. He, no doubt, ran through our home shaking a large amount of blood from his head. Alan and I got on our knees and spent a great deal of time cleaning the carpet, furniture, walls, and flooring. Alfredo eventually recovered with the assistance of a nearby veterinarian. We were grateful to have a long period of time in which Alfredo remained unharmed. Our next ordeal with Alfredo arrived when he had some kind of encounter with another animal and he was having a hard time walking, but still could get around. We felt he had broken or split a bone, but it would mend. Cats usually do. Alfredo had healed previously from a broken leg (another encounter). His leg had been cast, but he wiggled out of it. The vet assured us, he should heal just fine without it. It set perfectly. Saturday, I was in the den with my dear husband, and I looked down on Alfredo and noticed a small pool of blood. I picked him up and we took him to a new clinic that never closes. He had a horrific abscess; the worst the vet had ever seen. Alfredo had to go through extensive surgery. The vet told us Alfredo amazed them. He experienced tremendous pain, endured surgery, bandaging and having an e-collar (elizabethan collar) placed around his head, but he still purred. We took him home that night around 7:00. He was so elated to be home! He joyously hummed continuously even though he had endured this extreme medical procedure and was hurting. Because he was still bleeding a bit, we placed him in the utility room with a blanket. In the middle of the night, he made lots of racket and yelled in pain. Yes, our poor Alfredo. Alfredo hated his head cone and bandages. He wanted them off. He was determined and he succeeded in removing the bandages. His bloody tail and hindquarters were completely exposed. We didn’t know what to do that Sunday—Easter. He is a very strong cat and we believed a re-bandage job would also be discarded. We attended church and relished a heart-touching service surrounding Jesus Christ’s resurrection. We let Alfredo be for the day, as he appeared to be doing somewhat better. When Monday arrived, Alan asked me to phone the vet. I did, right after Alfredo attempted to remove his exposed stitches. They scheduled a time in the afternoon, though stated I could come earlier, which I did. They could not believe he was able to remove his bandages while having the cone on. 🙃 What was also remarkable was the fact he was loudly purring even though I returned him to this building and to the people who had caused him significant torture. The assistant was surprised he purred loudly even as she examined him, putting him through more discomfort. The vet eventually joined us and decided he would sedate Alfredo a bit and cauterize his wounds. He also bandaged him in such a way that Alfredo could not remove it. He also placed a larger cone around Alfredo’s sweet head. Though Alfredo suffered, he did not desire to harm those who inflicted him with pain. Many people celebrate Easter. This is when Christians contemplate upon the fact, their great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, was pierced through for everyone’s transgressions. He, like a lamb, was taken to the slaughter. The Holy Savior was marred and crushed beyond any other man on humanity’s behalf. He never cried out in anger, but lovingly bore our every wrongdoing. He interceded for those who hated Him; forgiving those who placed him on that cruel, painful tree of crucifixion. He poured out Himself through death, being numbered with the transgressors and forsaken by all men. Following His death, he was placed in a tomb. After three days, He powerfully arose from death, revealing victory over the grave (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, John chapters 19-21, Isaiah chapter 53, etc—the Bible). God suffered and died for us because the human race follows it own path... producing its own drumbeat. Anyone who calls upon God in total sincerity and asks forgiveness of their wrongs, He forgives and renews. He places in those who believe, the Holy Spirit, who enables them to live godly. He provides eternal life in paradise when believers die. Christians still sin, but God always is willing to forgive those who sincerely ask the Father to forgive them in the name of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9). It is difficult for a believer to go through a day without requesting forgiveness for something. I request you please consider Christ and ask for faith to believe if you are not a Christian.
News Bits for You—October 2018 St Paul’s Cathedral © Val J. Lee A man was arrested outside of St Paul’s Cathedral, and Anglican Chapel, reading William Tyndale’s Bible. Under King Henry VIII, Tyndale’s rightly translated Bibles were confiscated and burned in front of St Paul’s. My husband and I walked through this elaborate, Anglican building when on vacation. God did work amazingly, however, Following King Henry VIII’s execution of William Tyndale, he published The Great Bible using Tyndale’s translation from the Hebrew. It was “decreed that a copy should be placed in every church in England. This became officially the Bible of the English people for the remainder of Henry VIII’s life.” He also made sure copies could be placed in peasants’ hands as was the desire of Tyndale expressed before his king had him executed. The Bible still is the best-selling book and no man nor satan can stop this. “The annual sales figures for the Bible are so high, averaging between $425m and $650m, repeatedly – year after year – that it dwarfs the sales of all other books.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Vila, Vanuatu, © Val J. Lee Volcano eruption in Vanuatu—July 2018 South Pacific News “State of emergency in Vanuatu as volcanic ash blacks out sun. Vanuatu has imposed a state of emergency and evacuated thousands of residents after a volcano on Ambae island erupt ed, blanketing much of the surrounding area in thick ash. On Twitter, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ralph Regenvanu said “cabinet has reimposed the state of emergency and ordered the compulsory evacuation of the entire population of Ambae.” “Ambae, which sits in the northerly cluster of islands which make up the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, is the visible portion of the massive Manaro Voui volcano, one of the most active in the world.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 China burning Bibles: “Campaign in China is to burn all Bibles, close churches and make the born again Chinese sign papers denying Christ. Last time burning Bibles campaign happened in late 1960s by dictator Chairman Mao’s wife Jiang Qing in Shanghai. She was arrested in 1976 but Christians grew to millions. In April, Bibles were reportedly pulled from being sold through online bookstores across China. Pastors have also been arrested. And congregational members are being questioned. One pastor has a 1500 member church and he and his members have been persecuted and demands made of him.” It is clear, China wants to become another North Korea since the communist party commands the Chinese to give homage to President Xi Jinping, alone. He is China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. He is to replace God or so they wrongly imagine this vain thing. They want his picture placed everywhere. When Hitler was Führer of Germany, a swastika was placed on pulpits in churches. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Christian baker exonerated! Happy tears story: https://www.westernjournal.com/l/slarson/911-dispatcher-saves-choking-baby-over-phone-in-tears-when-she-meets-him/ 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Praise God: “In a ceremony last week, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed a bill that allows public schools in the state to teach the Bible, WDBP reported.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Good news story from a few sources: An 81-year-old man in Texas is thankful to be alive after being stung by an estimated of a thousand bees. Thomas Mizell, a farmer who lives in Liberty County, was clearing land for a fence line on his property when he was suddenly attacked by a massive number of bees. No one was near. “He didn’t know where they came from, the bees just attacked him,” his daughter Tresh relayed. “I walk by faith and not by sight. I couldn’t see, hardly, the bees had done got in my eyes and ears,” said Mizell. He added: “I said, ‘LORD, help me.’ When I fell down trying to get out of the bees, He said, ‘Walk by faith,’ so I did. My heart was pounding as I went toward that pond. Still fighting the bees, I jumped into the pond but I could still hear the bees under the water.” “People need to be aware of these killer bees because number one is they can kill ya’, like they got me, but God was with me.” Mizell stumbled and ran toward a pond that was about 200 yards away as hundreds of bees continued to him. He had plans with his wife Mary and their son Joey for lunch that day at noon, but something prompted Mary to leave early. Praise God! “That day, it was something gnawing at me. It wasn’t just right,” Mary stated. Mizell was in severe pain and his family rushed him to the hospital, where nurses immediately began removing the stingers. He had more than 135 stings on his head alone, his daughter said. Mizell, was released from the hospital on his 81st birthday. He praised God by mouthing these words: “A miracle. It is. It’s a miracle. God spared my life and I’m thankful.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Unfortunately, a video of a woman’s testimony of being constantly, sexually abused due to the fact no one cared, including a judge, has been removed from YouTube. This was when she was raised in foster care homes. Unfortunately, vile, liberal, progressive judges do not care and glory in the wickedness. Sex traffickers are part of the foster care system. Good testimony and more information. I apologize for the fact the webpages will not link: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4470166/testimony-trafficking-survivor-withelma-t-ortiz-walker-pettigrew https://lacasacenter.org/why-child-abuse-victims-dont-tell/ “A study by John Hopkins University found that children who are in foster care are four times more likely to be sexually abused than other children not in this setting. Additionally, children who are in group homes are 28 times more likely to be abused than children not living in these homes.” I will add many more caring people are now getting involved and working to get these vile men prosecuted and there are now many who are serving in prison. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 On the first of July, My husband and I were on driving on a road in Boise, Idaho. We noted police vehicles passing us, one speeding at 100 mph or so it appeared. My husband turned to me and stated he thought possibly a policeman had been shot due to the number of police vehicles speeding down the road. And it was at the time of the shooting of an officer as we learned later. Praise God, he was not killed and is recovering from his gunshot wounds. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Children and adults stabbed at birthday party for three-year-old: Nine total were attacked. (This occurred a day before the shooting of a Boise, Idaho policeman.) Included was the 3-year-old who later perished. This involved Muslim families though the attack was unassociated with their belief system. The male, black man, was angry because he was removed from the same apartment complex where they all resided. The stabber is from California holds a long criminal rap sheet. He certainly should have been imprisoned long ago. Though this is a common tale in our deeply, pro-criminal rights society which usurps Marxism. https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/video/3892046-man-stabs-9-people-at-a-toddlers-birthday-party-idaho-police-say/ This is the first mass attack in Idaho. I know a lady who is witnessing to this Muslim family group. She was witnessing to them before the attack as well. She was one who immediately went to lend comfort as they view her as a friend. If you are a Christian, please pray for these Muslims to come to Christ the LORD. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Vatican news: “A Brazilian mother is accusing Pope Francis of directly covering up the sex abuse of her son by a pedophile priest 16 years ago when the pope, then known as Jorge Bergoglio, was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Beatriz Varela was employed in a diocesan school when the abuse of her son, Gabriel Ferrini, then 14, took place Aug. 15, 2002 – turning to Bishop Luis Stöcker. ‘Initially, he showed consternation, but, as the time went by, he did not take any action,’ Varela said. ‘Instead,’ she said, he ‘tried to minimize the case, saying that I had to be merciful with persons who chose celibacy as a vocation because they have moments of weakness. Bergoglio was aware of this situation [the sex-abuse of her son] because no one can be installed in the Vicar’s House without the authorization of the archbishop. This is Bergoglio’s compromise: He speaks against cases of pedophilia in the Church, but uses hypocrisy, lies and complicity to cover them.’ Varela reportedly told the bishop that she wanted ‘truth, justice and the guarantee that such a thing would not happen to anyone else.’ She says the Bishop then threatened to cut her employment. ‘I worked for a school in the diocese,’ she said, explaining her situation. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 What is so incredibly satanic is the number of people who justify child rape by the idolatrous Catholic Church, including the pope: “ROME, September 11, 2018 – As controversy continues to swirl around Pope Francis’ silence in the face of serious and far-reaching sexual abuse cover-up allegations, the pontiff said that Satan “tries to uncover” bishops’ sins in order to “scandalize” the faithful. “In these times, it seems like the ‘Great Accuser’ has been unchained and is attacking bishops,” said Pope Francis in a homily today as reported by Vatican News. “True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people,” he added. “Reaction came quickly to the Pope’s words, with many saying that it sounded as if the Pope was suggesting that uncovering the sins of a bishop, such as abuse, was somehow the work of the devil.” Of course, the Catholic Church has been involved in these sins, deserving of death, for decades if not longer. No pedophile deserves to live and no one who supports these sins. Pedophilia is also present in protestant churches as well and many church attendees are justifying it along with adulterous sins; plus, immodesty and pornography. And now in our society, young children are raping each other and siblings implementing great aggressive violence, including on babies. Family dogs are also being raped. Young children are even performing homosexual acts. “Children can find all kinds of pornography on their phones and other devices and they are living the activities out.” Sad times indeed! Child rape and bestiality should receive the sentence of stoning. Hospitals are overwhelmed with this as it continues to grow at alarming rates. Unfortunately, many hospital administrators see nothing wrong with these vile, debaucherous activities and classify all as normal behavior. Only a few will dare to speak out because they are marked as being prudish and of the old school. It is unspeakable the things hospitals are dealing with in this day and age. These types of things are increasing at an alarming rate and most of it is not being reported. Though the Bible warns evil will increase. I hope the rapture arrives shortly as this will eventually bring in Christ’s holy rule on this vile and wicked earth of anything goes. And few pastors hate and expose all sin anymore. Few command repentance from the sensual and many churches are overrun with licentiousness in the name of compliance—the “you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings” philosophy. You must tread softly, being careful. You certainly do not want to quote Bible verses which expose chastity for the unmarried and faithfulness of the married and modest dress. You certainly do not want to speak against pornography and not setting immodesty before your eyes through worldly entertainment. Some have been bold and persecuted for holding to the right path in our churches; while leaders, like Rick Warren, encourages silencing of the Bible-believing prudes who stand steadfastly on the Word of God. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Fornication evil keeps increasing with violence: “Indiana University conducted a national survey of teenagers, and around one-sixth of boys admitted to sex acts like choking a partner.” Today’s disturbing facts: “One out of every four girls born this year in the United States will be sexually molested by an adult male, sometimes a member of the family.” “One out of every ten boys will be sexually molested by an adult male before reaching puberty.” Job, in the Bible, never gazed upon a virgin, he moved his eyes to keep himself pure. Following the first disclosures of pedophilia by priests, a huge number of protestants joined Catholicism. It is arduous to understand why 150,000 people become Catholics every year, owning the religion is full of pedophilia and idolatry. It is an occult religion. This does expose the vileness that consumes man’s heart. Rick Warren refers to the Pope as “Holy Father.” Only Almighty God deserves this title. Rick Warren stands for all things evil and it should not surprise. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Sexual exploitation news: “This week a grand jury reported on documents from six Catholic Church dioceses in Pennsylvania that revealed 300 ‘predator priests’ have been accused of sexually abusing over 1,000 children. The Catholic Church is not alone. Across faiths, there has been an issue of people in authority using their power to abuse.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 New York Times: ROME — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, from the College of Cardinals, ordering him to a “life of prayer and penance” after allegations that the cardinal sexually abused minors and adult seminarians over the course of decades, the Vatican announced on Saturday. Acting swiftly to contain a widening sex abuse scandal at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church, the pope officially suspended the cardinal from the exercise of any public ministry after receiving his resignation letter Friday evening. Pope Francis also demanded in a statement that the prelate remain in seclusion “until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 A pedophile and one who attempted to murder former President Obama is running for congress by an act of a former democrat governor. A confessed pedophile who served prison time for threatening to assassinate the president of the United States is running for congress in Virginia. ‘The candidacy of Nathan Larson, an independent, was made possible by former Democratic Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who restored the rights of felons in 2016 to vote and run for office.” “Larson, a 37-year old accountant, acknowledged to the HuffPost he is a pedophile who has bragged in website posts about raping his late ex-wife (who later killed herself) and has a three-year-old daughter; whereby, he wrote an essay on father-daughter incest. He confirmed he created now-defunct chat rooms that, the HuffPost said, “served as gathering places for pedophiles and violence-minded misogynists like himself.” “McAuliffe was chairman of the Democratic National Committee, co-chairman of President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign and chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.” Liberals are pro-criminal and criminal rights including for pedophiles and rapists. They desire they all have the right to vote because they do vote mainly democrat. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Disney director, James Gunn, was fired for joking about raping children! Of course, Disney is not for the Christian viewer nor anything Hollywood produces. Wicked themes are continually inserted into children’s movies and television programs targeted to discard their innocence. However, we can be grateful for any ounce of concern located in secular America. Gunn sent tweets “joking about child rape and other off-color topics” brought before the American public. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, “Countless liberals jumped to James Gunn’s defense, claiming that the posts were over five years old and just poor attempts at humor.” It now appears “There may be a shocking trend of excusing pedophilia in the director’s life.” “Photos discovered on Gunn’s own website reveal that he attended a twisted pedophilia-themed party.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 “The Root reported an incident of simulated sexual assault by white boys against black boys at a Henrico County, Virginia, middle school. Black members of the Short Pump middle school football team were pinned down by white students simulating sodomy sex on them while making racial slurs in an incident which occurred in the school locker room. While racism is a key factor here, so too is pornography.” May justice be served. 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 This is why we can place all governing in the hands of the government, which I write jokingly, though sadly: (Fortune) “The Florida government did not conduct background checks on thousands of applicants for concealed weapons for a year because the state employee was unable to log into the system. According to a February 2016 investigative report from Florida’s Inspector General, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, a state Division of Licensing employee identified as Lisa Wilde was unable to log into the system to actually complete these background checks. She never mitigated this issue. When determining eligibility for purchasing a firearm, applicants must undergo a background check known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is administered by the FBI. In Florida, these background checks are used as indicators of eligibility for concealed weapon licenses.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 God’s gemstones fell in Hawaii after volcanic eruption: https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/06/13/hawaiis-volcano-is-literally-erupting-gems/#21e45ee925da Residents have been collecting the small green gems on streets and beaches and sharing photographs
Residents have been collecting the small green gems on streets and beaches and sharing photographs The magnesium-rich form of olivine is Peridot which is used in jewelry and can be worth up to $450 a carat God’s stunning blessings are beyond our comprehension! 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 European news: “The arrest of an Iraqi immigrant in the murder of a 14-year-old Jewish girl in Germany has stoked criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policy, including a call from an opposition party for her to resign. The Iraqi asylum seeker, Ali Bashar, had fled Germany with his family, due to a blunder by airport security officials, and was arrested by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq at the request of German police, BBC News reported. Bashar was wanted in the murder of 14-year old Suzanne Feldman of Mainz, Germany, the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia. Feldman’s body, bearing the marks of strangulation and multiple rapes, was found June 6 in a wooded area next to the Wiesbaden-Frankfurt highway. She had gone out for the evening in mid-May with her friends to downtown Wiesbaden and reported missing when she didn’t return home that night.” 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 Conservative news from Canada— Forcing homosexuality on innocent children: “In a video, Jessi Cruickshank, |
ery location wind is unpredictable.
Image caption SSE's John O'Sullivan says almost 90,000 homes will be powered by the wind farm
Too little and no energy, too much and the excess power will have to be exported via an inter-connector because wind energy cannot be stored at the moment.
James O'Hara, the project manager, said: "On completion the Galway Wind Park will be Ireland's largest wind farm with a capacity for 169MW of power.
"That will be enough energy to power 89,000 homes, which is about 80% of Galway's homes."
Solar panels are also being installed on 2,500 acres of other bog land in four counties in the Irish Midlands - another example of old energy forms being replaced by and new ones.
Pat O'Doherty, the chief executive of the Electricity Supply Board, recently said that keeping local communities happy with the new projects is very important.
"We're talking about remote locations that are tucked away and low-lying," he added.
"You're looking at something that isn't more than 2m off the ground and, obviously, facing towards the sky."
Image caption The project is expected to be officially completed at the end of September.
Denis Naughten, the Irish minister with responsibility for climate change and the environment, agrees.
"I think we have really learnt a lot from what has gone on in relation to the on-shore wind industry," he said.
"There needs to be a proper and full engagement with local communities and there needs to be a clear economic benefit to those communities as well."
Back in Connemara, those involved in the Galway Wind Park say they have fully engaged with local people.
The project is expected to be officially completed at the end of September.All items ship flat rate $6.00. Always.
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Absolutely. Just log into your customer portal using the Login link up top. Go to your account and choose to skip the upcoming month. Please do this prior to billing (15th of every month).It is often said that chivalry is dead, but why is that so and who is mourning? A recent article lamenting the rarity of the gentleman within the millennial male populace would seem to provide something of an answer to that question. The author of the piece, Hope Rodriguez, contends that millennial men are severely lacking in gentlemanly traits, and explains to us why they should “man up” and correct these errors.
1. Elevator etiquette
I don’t care how big of a hurry you’re in, or how slow she may walk, if there is a female or five on the elevator with you, you hold your arm in the door and let them off first. 2. R-E-S-P-E-C-T (sing it to the tune of Aretha Franklin)
If a female walks past you, for God’s sake, do not turn your head and stare at her behind. If she is talking to you, don’t stare down her shirt. If you’re driving down the road, don’t honk or yell “hey sexy!!!!” Gross. Undressing a girl with your eyes is one of the most disgusting and degrading things you could possibly do to her. Don’t worry about getting a date, you’ve already ruined it by being a pig. 3. Give up your seat.
Whether she is old, young, pregnant, active, fat, skinny, whatever; if the bus, classroom, etc. is full, get up from your chair and offer your seat to a female who is standing. If you chose to stay in your seat and force ladies to remain standing, make sure you remember to take off your maxi pad on the way out. (oops, did I just say that?!) 4. Pay attention to the fact that the world is more threatening for females
We are automatic targets everywhere we go, especially at night. I don’t need to get into the subject of rape. Walk your female coworkers to their cars at night. Just watch out for the women around you, they’ll definitely appreciate it. 5. Be polite.
Compliment a lady today. They aren’t going to automatically assume that you want to have babies with them just because you said they look nice today. You would be surprised by what can make a woman smile. Little things, men. Little things. 6. Hold the door.
If we are pretty far behind, we don’t expect you to hold the door open for us. It makes us feel like we need to hurry to the door. However, if there is a woman walking behind you or relatively close behind you, do NOT let a door shut on her. 7. Driveway etiquette
My son will know that he will NOT drive up to a female’s house and honk the horn or shoot her a text that says “I’m here, come get in the car.” If a guy comes to pick my future daughter up for a date, and he honks the horn or texts her to pick her up, I’m going to walk outside and tell him to go home. Walk up to the door, knock on the door, and then walk her to your car. At the end of the night, walk her back to her door. I don’t care if you’re just friends or you’re married. It’s what you’re supposed to do. Guys: man up. Bring back gentlemanly behaviors. It would definitely be appreciated.
Unfortunately for this author, her requests are simply incompatible with the notions of gender equality that our society has embraced wholeheartedly and integrated aggressively into its legal and social order.
For example, the modern man on an elevator with women has been raised and conditioned to respect those women as his equals. Equals do not receive special consideration over other equals on the basis of gender or any other marker. Equals are treated… equally. Providing the benefit of this etiquette to women simply because they are women would fundamentally contradict notions of equality that we’re heavily invested in as a society. A man who truly believes in equality and all of the values that it represents is going to practice that elevator etiquette with everyone he meets regardless of gender. He will be polite to everyone. He will respect everyone. He will practice driveway etiquette with everyone, and he will hold the door or give up a seat for anyone who actually needs it. He will not engage in these behaviors selectively on the basis of gender because he has been taught not to discriminate in that way.
A few of Ms. Rodriguez’s other statements betray outright ignorance, naiveté or both. Take these, for example:
…Walk your female coworkers to their cars at night… … Compliment a lady today. They aren’t going to automatically assume that you want to have babies with them just because you said they look nice today…
The first statement sounds like an excellent way to invite a sexual harassment suit or attract potential discipline for violations of workplace conduct. Your typical corporate millennial females are unlikely to tolerate this unsolicited “escort” on the part of their male coworkers, much less appreciate it. Unless they have already been deemed attractive by these females (most men won’t be in this category), the men attempting to provide this escort will be labeled “creepy” at best, and accused of stalking at worst. No good can come of this.
The second just sounds naive: any man who has interacted with modern millennial females for any period of time will understand that many of them will jump to precisely that conclusion, and will also sometimes react negatively upon doing so. Hope Rodriguez is not a man and so could possibly be forgiven for not understanding these things at the outset, but she needs to change that if she hopes to have any advice she writes for men taken seriously.
That brings me to my next point: Ms. Rodriguez seems not to grasp the true nature of the chivalrous ideals she yearns for or the environment in which she currently lives. The concept of chivalry required men to be perfect gentlemen in their conduct, but said behavior was not intended for every female they met. It was more specifically designed to govern male conduct with ladies. Chivalrous codes of conduct required a gentleman to execute them, and a lady to receive them..
Ladies had their own rules to follow, and it was only through the adherence to those rules that they could qualify for the receipt of chivalry from a gentleman. Chivalric codes of conduct traveled on a two way street: the gentleman cannot exist without the lady, and vice-versa. Both genders were required to adhere to certain standards in order to engage in the chivalric exchange. The gentleman and the lady are like the yin and the yang.
Ms. Rodriguez is probably right to note that an ideal chivalrous gentleman would be more measured and restrained in his observation of an attractive female that he had not yet been acquainted with. He probably wouldn’t be too forward with her to begin with, and would remain exceedingly polite during his first interactions with her while avoiding overt sexualization.
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In order to get that treatment, however, a woman would need to be the ideal lady. Ladies in the age of chivalry were modest in their conduct. They were not particularly sexually suggestive in their speech, dress or dance, and this made it relatively easy for a gentleman to approach and engage them in a more polite, less overtly sexual manner.
Most modern millennial women do not adhere to the codes of conduct inherent to the lady. Their dress is often highly sexually suggestive, designed to invite overtly sexual approaches and draw the very suggestive gazes that Ms. Rodriguez scolds millennial men for wielding. Their dance is often even more sexually suggestive, roughly approximating the act of intercourse itself.
Modern millenial females express their sexuality more openly and freely than any lady of a bygone age would have been expected to. A lady expecting to keep that label and thus benefit from the chivalrous conduct of a gentleman could not engage freely and openly in casual sexual relationships with multiple men while unmarried. She could not engage in simulated sex on dance floors with men she didn’t even know well (or even men she did know somewhat well). She could not walk around in clothing designed specifically to expose and draw attention to the more sexually alluring portions of her body. The modern woman can do all of this, however, and very often does. Why?
Because she wants to, and that’s alright. Women have spent generations fighting for the ability to remove social limitations on their sexuality, and they now enjoy the fruits of that effort. Don’t get anything twisted here: I have no problem with this and neither do most millennial men. Women are free to dress as they like, dance as they like and fuck as they like. I’m certainly not going to stop them, but there’s a price to pay for all of this.
As noted before, the gentleman and the lady come together. One cannot exist without the other—the code of chivalry was designed with this understanding in mind, and it dealt with that understanding by creating standards of conduct for each gender seeking to participate in the chivalric exchange. When we freed women from the obligation to adhere to those standards of conduct, we necessarily freed men as well.
How can we change this and bring back the missing gentleman Ms. Rodriguez so desperately desires to interact with? Well, gentlemen require ladies. If you want more gentlemen in the traditional sense, you’ll need to create more ladies in the traditional sense, and that would require a re-imposition of the same social and legal restrictions on female sexuality and expression that women have fought so hard to eliminate during the last few generations. There would need to be a rescission of the legal progress females in our society have made toward true equality.
To further illustrate just why this is, consider the way in Ms. Rodriguez’s suggestion that men give up seats and hold doors (among other preferential and somewhat deferential things) specifically for women solely because they are women. Such behavior was once common, but why was this?
Because women were seen as the weaker sex. This notion of the inherently “weak” female governed the discriminatory legal and social landscape in which the code of chivalry was born and practiced. Men did all they did for women because of the implicit understanding in society that women, by virtue of their being women, were not equal to them. They were weaker and needed assistance and men, by virtue of their being men, were stronger and therefore obligated to provide that assistance.
Men are no longer behaving this way because they have been raised to understand that their female counterparts are not weak, but strong. They’re not dependent, but independent. They’re not inferiors, they’re equals. Our modern legal system takes these statements as fundamental, unassailable truths and uses the force of law to ensure that they are treated accordingly. This will, in turn, prevent men from doing many of the things Ms. Rodriguez would like them to, as they have become increasingly unable to see women as their true inferiors.
If Ms. Rodriguez wants the chivalric code to make its way back into the mainstream, she’ll need to bring back the old view on gender relations that gave rise to it. Modern notions of gender equality will need to go out the window.
That is unlikely to happen, however. For all of her yearning for the “chivalry” of yesteryear, I doubt that Hope Rodriguez or any other modern woman would like to see the return of the social mores necessary to sustain it. Millennial women live in what is undoubtedly the best time to be a female in the history of humanity. At no point in human history have women been as wealthy, as free, as respected and as influential as they are today. The return of te social norms necessary to sustain chivalry in the traditional sense could only inhibit their enjoyment of all that, and they know it. Women have made their voices heard loudly and clearly: they will not tolerate this.
Hope Rodriguez seems like a nice girl and I’m sure she’ll find a man to treat her well sometime soon (if she hasn’t already), but she’ll not succeed in bringing back the ways of a bygone age. Chivalry is dead and, at the end of the day, that’s just the way that most millennial women want it.
Read Next: The Concept Of Chivalry Has Been Distorted To Create Subservient MenThe pricetag of having the highest-paid high school football coach at an Alabama public school has risen dramatically over the last 10 months. (Justin King/[email protected])
Ensuring the viability of any football program at any level starts with hiring an elite coach with a proven track record – and keeping him. For Alabama high-school football, that increasingly means paying a higher coaching salary than ever.
Hoover football coach Josh Niblett received a raise earlier this month from $114,471 to a state-best $125,000 per year, according to Hoover City Schools. That marked the fourth time over the last 10 months that one Alabama high-school coach’s salary leapfrogged another to become the state’s highest-paid public school coach.
“It has kind of been getting outrageous," Niblett said. "It started off with the money college coaches were making, but I think if you go to other states like Texas or Georgia you will find [high school] guys making a lot more than $125,000. The numbers those guys are making -- and not teaching -- are unbelievable.”
RELATED: See slideshow of Alabama coaches making $100,000 or more
Niblett is referring to another growing trend in high-school football – coaches being paid simply to coach, and not also teach an academic class, which has been common for generations.
Prior to Niblett’s raise, Auburn lured Adam Winegarden way from Fairhope in February with a $123,000 salary that made him the state’s top-paid public high school coach. Just two months prior Alabaster City Schools made Mark Freeman the new salary state champion, at $121,000 per year - exactly $1,000 more per year than Hewitt-Trussville’s Josh Floyd, a four-time state championship coach from Arkansas, who moved to the state in June and landed a $120,000 salary.
In 2004, a Birmingham News survey revealed Daphne coach Glenn Vickery was the highest-paid football coach among the state’s public schools -- at $86,180. That’s an increase of 45 percent over the last 11 years for the state’s highest-paid coach. During that same time, the American median household income rose just 14% -- from $44,684 in 2004 to $51,915 in 2013, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.
“Being the highest-paid coach in the state is not something you think about on a day-to-day basis,” Floyd said. “You don’t have any time. All you have the time to think about is just building the best football program you possibly can.”
According to figures obtained by AL.com, there are now nine high school football coaches in Alabama who make at least $100,000 per year. Conversely, more than 110 public high schools pay their head football coach less than $60,000 per year. Some of the salary figures obtained reflect 2013 numbers, some schools have changed coaches since the figures were obtained, and some schools declined to provide information requested.
Floyd played for Auburn coach Gus Malzahn at Shiloh Christian and runs the same innovative offense. The 34-year-old was approved by Trussville City Schools in June and received a stipend of $10,000 per month over the summer until his annual salary kicked in. His offensive and defensive coordinators also received more than $5,000 per month during the summer until the 2014-2015 fiscal year began.
Seven of the nine coaches who earn at least $100,000 per year work in Class 7A, which features the state’s 32 largest high school enrollments. The other two are Jamie Riggsat 3A T.R. Miller in Brewton and J.B. Wallace at 6A Florence, both of whom serve in a school system with a single high school. (Typically in high-school athletics, whatever is provided for the employees at one school in a system must also be done for employees at all other schools.)
Wingarden made $80,607 at Fairhope, but his salary soared $42,000 by heading to Auburn. He receives a $91,000 base salary as director of football operations to oversee the entire athletic program beginning in the middle school, plus a $32,000 supplement to be the varsity head football coach.
Unlike Floyd and Freeman, whose compensation includes at least some monies from teaching, Winegarden’s pay scale reflects no classroom duty. Traditionally, coaches teach at least one class and it is often a football-specific course like weight training. Niblett teaches four strength training classes at Hoover, including two periods designated for non-athletes.
Winegarden is a quality coach with a proven track record, but his teams have never reached the state championship game. Freeman won four AISA titles and two AHSAA Class 5A titles, but didn’t mind hearing the news that he was no longer the state’s highest-paid high school football coach.
“That was sure going to be OK with me, brother, to pass that highest-paid coach in the state stuff on,” Freeman said. “That brings a lot of pressure, but at the same time no coach I know got into coaching and working with kids to make more money than anybody else.”
The salary boom has also created a market in which Vestavia Hills coach Buddy Anderson – the state’s all-time leader with 311 wins – now seems like a value hire. Anderson, who has served as head coach for 37 years and won two state titles, earns $102,265 to be head coach and athletic director.
Niblett has won four state titles at Hoover and tied the AHSAA career record with five championships last December in Auburn. He also led Oneonta to the 2004 Class 3A title.
The Hoover coach adds to his income through summer football camps, something other coaches are also allowed to do. Some cities, including Foley, Daphne and Spanish Fort, also provide a stipend – through a separate consulting contact with the city’s recreation department – to their head football coach, that augments his salary.
Among the state’s 10 highest-paid public-school coaches, Niblett is the only one who won a state championship last season. The salary survey found that Jerry Hood earned $79,704 for leading Clay-Chalkville to the Class 6A state championship last season.
Class 5A St. Paul’s is a private school, so coach Steve Mask’s compensation is not available through a public records request. The same goes 3A state champion Madison Academy coach Eric Cohu.
Hoover City Schools Interim Superintendent Jim Reese said the system viewed Niblett’s salary as a “market driven” number. Hoover Athletic Director Andy Urban recommended the raise for what Niblett does -- working daily with nearly 200 varsity football players, along with his class schedule.
“He deserves this salary, but our goal when we started talking about his raise wasn’t to make him the highest-paid football coach in Alabama,” Urban said. “With what he does for as many athletes as we have he deserves it. I really believe that. But we wanted to make it to where he wouldn’t leave our school for another high school job in this state for financial reasons.”
Niblett and Raney also went from 208-day to 240-day teacher contracts with their recent raises. Teachers and administrators are paid on 10-, 11- or 12-month salaries. Adding days to the contact also gives the coaches a higher teaching salary.
Reese said he had no idea what Winegarden was being paid. “I can’t worry about what other schools do and if another school might offer more than that,” he said. “I was trying to come up with fair compensation. If another school offered him $130,000 and he wanted to go all I could say was ‘Good luck, Josh. I hope you do really well,’ and wish him my best.
“I promise you I didn’t go out and say that so-and-so is making $123,000 and let’s go make Josh Niblett the highest-paid coach in the state,” Reese added. “Put a stack of Bibles in front of me and I will swear on it about that and that means something to me. My daddy was a Baptist preacher.”
Jeff Sentell covers prep sports for AL.com and the Birmingham News. Follow him on Twitter for the latest high school cool across Alabama.
Follow @JeffSentell_Saturday Night Live is about to embark on its most significant cast overhaul in its nearly four-decade history. The show is starting the new season with a familiar face: veteran SNL performer and former head writer Tina Fey will open the 39th season of the late night franchise when it bows Sept. 28.
PHOTO: From Live TV to the Big Screen: 12 'SNL' Sketches Made Into Movies
Fey, who last season wrapped her NBC sitcom 30 Rock, will be joined by musical guest Arcade Fire. It is Fey's fourth appearance since she left the show.
Additional hosts include Miley Cyrus (Oct. 5) fresh from her controversial twerking performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, and Bruce Willis (Oct. 12) with musical guest Katy Perry.
The show, created by late night impresario Lorne Michaels, saw the exits of Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis last season. Additionally, head writer and "Weekend Update" anchor Seth Meyers will leave later this year as he takes over Michaels' Late Night franchise from Jimmy Fallon, who will go on to The Tonight Show.
PHOTOS: Jimmy Fallon: From Early 'SNL' to Movie Star to 'Late Night'
While no official announcements have been made yet, sources close to SNL tell The Hollywood Reporter that five new cast members will join season 39, including Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney of the sketch group Good Neighbor and Mike O'Brien, who has been a writer on the show for the past four seasons.Missing: The Civil ConFLiCT trophy
Last known whereabouts: Oct. 22, 2016, on the bench at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.
Terrible shot from press box but there on end of bench at 40 yd line, that's Civil ConFLiCT trophy 10 min after game... pic.twitter.com/qd7tZbNHKE — Mike Anthony (@ManthonyCourant) October 23, 2016
Approximate time it went missing: 5:24 p.m. ET
Witness statements: "I didn't even know there was a trophy to be taken," UCF nose guard Jamiyus Pittman said.
"I really don't know where that trophy is," UConn linebacker Junior Joseph said.
"We just want to compete for the trophy that matters, which is the championship trophy," UConn tight end Tommy Myers said.
Where could the trophy have gone?
Truth be told, there are many suspects who would have loved to see the Civil ConFLiCT Trophy smashed to bits, if only to officially end the (year) long national nightmare that unfolded after former UConn coach Bob Diaco officially unveiled his creation.
Background information: It all began in November 2014, after UConn beat UCF 37-29. Diaco, in Year 1 with the Huskies, told reporters after the game that he wanted to create a rivalry with the Knights.
Mind you, the teams had played twice.
Ever.
Also... UCF already has a rival that is, oh, 90 miles down the road. In the same state.
But, really, why let these details get in the way of the approximately 1,000th college football "trophy" game? Forget about the Little Brown Jug and The Shillelagh. Diaco had something better in mind. "We're excited about this North-South battle. You want to call it the Civil Conflict?" he told reporters without one hint of sarcasm.
Reporters chuckled.
"Maybe I'll win my money and make a trophy. I'll buy it myself. Put a big giant Husky and a big giant Knight on it. Make a stand. Put it in our hallway. The Civil Conflict. The loser, maybe they've got to put nutmeg on the stand when it's not there, and we'll put a sack of oranges."
More chuckles.
If only the laughter had ended there.
In the spring, Diaco showed up at the conference's spring meetings with ideas about how to create rivalries in the fledgling conference as a way to generate more buzz and attention. He says he ran his idea about the Civil Conflict past the group. He says he ran it past his athletic director at UConn and made calls to UCF.
He was doing this.
On June 1, 2015, the official UConn Twitter account unveiled the trophy in all its... glory? Complete with a countdown clock until the next UCF game!
First day back on campus for #UConnFootball! And just 130 days until the next Civil Conflict with @UCF_Football! pic.twitter.com/RgOkXiob0T — UConn Football (@UConnFootball) June 1, 2015
The ridicule that ensued was almost instantaneous. Tweets poured in:
What a joke!
Stop pretending you matter!
This might be the saddest thing I've seen in my life!
UCF disavowed any knowledge of the trophy, saying in a statement, "We have no involvement with the trophy or creating a rivalry game with UConn."
A week later, a defiant Diaco defended the "rivalry" to the New Haven Register: "They don't get to say whether they are our rival or not. We might not be their rival, but they don't get to say whether they are our rival -- that is for us to decide."
Um, OK.
"They said there was a trophy, and we kind of giggled and were like, 'Are they serious?'" UCF tight end Jordan Akins said. "We have no idea why. We have no idea where he was trying to go with it."
Myers tried to be diplomatic: "I think that rivalry was a good thought, but it wasn't executed very well."
UConn beat UCF in 2015, so the trophy got to stay in Connecticut.
Connecticut Huskies players hoist the ConFLiCT trophy after beating the UCF Knights in 2015. Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports
But Scott Frost took over as UCF coach for the 2016 season and soon became aware that there was a "rivalry" game that needed his attention.
Shortly before the teams played in October, Frost said UCF asked UConn not to bring the trophy on to the field. They were officially opting out of the rivalry game.
"We decided we wanted to treat every game the same, so we told them we weren't going to accept the trophy if we won," Frost said.
I think Regina George said it best pic.twitter.com/OTxNCVo9Mg — Knightro (@UCF_Knightro) October 10, 2015
UConn brought the trophy out, anyway. When UCF won, the trophy sat abandoned on a cold, metal bench. Later, a UConn staffer was seen covering the trophy with a towel.
"With a new coaching staff and a new regime coming into UCF there was really no knowledge of the trophy," UCF left tackle Aaron Evans said. "It wasn't personal. It wasn't meant to be offensive. They're fabricating a rivalry that -- what is the rivalry?"
"After we won that game and we got on the bus and everybody was saying that 'We left the trophy! We left the trophy!' And I was like, 'What?'" Pittman said. "There's no conflict here."
"I had no idea the trophy was on the sideline," Frost said. "We certainly didn't leave it there intentionally. We informed them beforehand we weren't going to take part in it, and I didn't know even that it was on the field until after I read all the tweets and media reports that it was left there."
"I treat every game the same, and I don't care if there's a trophy or not," Myers said. "If there's a trophy involved so be it, but it doesn't bother me that they left it."
The trophy was last seen being put back in its crate, but nobody can recall which staffer boxed up the trophy.
Nobody can recall whether the trophy ever made it back to campus.
The following week, a defeated Diaco announced at his weekly news conference that the trophy would no longer be a part of the UConn-UCF game, sounding part conspiracy theorist, part beaten-down mad scientist.
"I didn't create this thing out of nowhere," Diaco said. "Did I think of the idea? Yeah, I did. This wasn't one-sided until they decided that it should be, and you know why that happened. I'm sure everyone could connect the dots on that one.
"It was well-intended. I apparently failed."
A reporter asked what would become of the actual trophy.
"You want to make a coat rack out of it?" Diaco said, never divulging where, exactly, the trophy had been placed.
Investigation update: In late December, UConn fired Diaco. Athletic department officials had the entire football facility searched to find the trophy.
They came up empty.
Diaco, now defensive coordinator at Nebraska, declined an interview request about the trophy's whereabouts.
And so, what became of the Civil ConFLiCT Trophy remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of our time.
The final word: This week, in the run-up to the first UCF-UConn game in the post-Civil ConFLiCT era, Diaco and Frost both weighed in.
Frost, via AAC conference call: "Is that an honest question? No, we have no idea. In fact, we've wondered where it is. We told them before the game last year we weren't going to take the trophy if we won. It found its way to the sideline for some reason. The pictures on social media of it on the sideline were the last I'd seen of it."
Diaco, via the Omaha World-Herald: "I've eliminated it from my mind. I put the experience in a chest, locked it, dumped it into the ocean, and I threw away the key. That's the important thing. I've thrown the key away. I don't even know 'it" or what you're talking about because I've eliminated that whole painful part from my mind."
Tips line: If you have any information on the whereabouts of the Civil ConFLiCT trophy, drop us a line at [email protected] Nations: A top UN official has lauded India's first response and reconstruction assistance to Nepal following a devastating earthquake in April that killed nearly 9,000 people, saying the help has been welcomed by Kathmandu.
"India and China are very very present in the reconstruction effort. We have seen the Indian armed forces providing the first response," UN Development Programme Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support Magdy Martínez-Solimán told reporters during a briefing about his mission to areas of devastation in Nepal and "daunting challenges."
He said the Nepali airport was "literally occupied" by the Indian military aircraft and helicopters that provided support to the Nepalese armed forces after the April 25 temblor.
India's help has "been very welcome" by Nepal, he said.
The first flight from India was dispatched with relief material within four hours of the quake and there were nonstop sorties of aircraft carrying 550 tonnes of relief material.
The Indian Army operated 13 helicopters from Kathmandu and Pokhara and 16 teams of the National Disaster Reaction Force, comprising over 700 trained personnel, were deployed.
Additionaly, 18 army engineering team were deployed and the Indian Army had set up three field hospitals and the Air Force deployed a rapid action team.
The senior UN development official drew attention to the post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction needs of more than 500,000 homes and cultural heritage sites in the rural areas.
Martínez-Solimán said the "good news" is that large infrastructure structures such as the main airport, dams, communications and electricity networks had largely survived the twin earthquakes that hit Nepal.
He said an official assessment of the damage is underway and would be ready by early July.
He described "immense" damage to homes in rural areas, as well as to cultural and historical heritage such as temples, upon which Nepal's economy depends.
The UNDP official said his agency estimated that USD175 million was needed to reconstruct the homes, which reflected a solid case for "building back better."
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, about 2.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance with over 860,000 people in immediate need due to loss of shelter, limited road access and poverty.
The total number of casualties now stands at 8,669 with 384 people still missing, OCHA said.
The UNDP official said that the Chinese help in rescue and relief efforts has also been appreciated.
Martínez-Solimá's visit was part of UNDP's push to hash out a recovery and reconstruction plan for Nepal that protects and restores infrastructure, services and livelihoods, even as immediate efforts to meet people's most basic needs continue.
Meanwhile, a month after the first of the two earthquakes hit Nepal, the UN Children's Fund warned some 70,000 children are at risk of malnutrition and require urgent support, including 15,000 children in 14 of the worst-hit districts who need therapeutic foods –- like nutrient-rich peanut paste -– for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition.
UNICEF's Representative in Nepal Tomoo Hozumi said in a statement that the agency is working "double speed with our partners to provide urgent feeding and care to protect the lives of these children and to build their resistance against diseases, especially water-borne diseases, during the upcoming monsoon season."
UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal Jamie McGoldrick, said "substantial progress" to reach the survivors has been made and "considering the conditions and complexities, we are now well-positioned to assist all the affected communities."
The World Food Programme said nearly 2 million people have received food assistance and a new phase of response dubbed 'Operation Mountain Express' is underway to reach people in high-altitude villages.
The coming monsoon season in Nepal is adding further urgency to relief operations because heavy rains expected from June will curtail access to remote rural areas.
PTI
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occupy the capital of Wisconsin. I see you today as you occupy Wall Street. And I see a spark, a glimmer of the glorious new age that is yours. A changing of the guard, a guard that has stood for entirely too long and needs your young legs to take his place.
I watch you turn away from what is easy and stand up for what is right. I see you understand we as a society are only as strong as our weakest link. I see you wise beyond your years. And I am proud. Give ‘em hell, kids. You are beautiful.
Together we are strong.
– Courtesy of Mal Harrison and Logan Rudd
Finally America begins to revolt against the moneyed classes. But will the rebellion actually lead to any changes?
Occupy Wall St- Rebel with a cause; suddenly youth who don’t care about celebrity and fame, but will this consciousness have legs?
What do you think of this picture? Occupy wall st or bust? Day eleven…
In search of a revolution. The shifting tides of democracy.
So you say you want a Revolution…Both of them may be overstating the change.
It may be that, contra Hurley and Thorne, the new language will have no appreciable effect on academic governance at Pomona, that faculty members will cast votes for or against tenure based on their own judgment about whether it is deserved, regardless of new criteria added to the relevant part of faculty handbooks.
Still, the change is worthy of closer examination, because a great many students at the college chose this cause, for better or worse, as a focus of their social-justice activism.
Prior to the vote, roughly 400 Pomona students had signed a petition urging the change—this on a campus where there are only about 1,600 students total. They declared:
We are extremely encouraged and hopeful to hear that you are considering the incorporation of the ability of professors to foster "inclusive classrooms that support diversity and equity outcomes" into your criteria for promotion and tenure.
At the same time, an opponent of the change emailed me, knowing that I’m an alumnus, to solicit my opinion, writing, “I can tell right away that this will cause a freeze on intellectual curiosity and make it more difficult for young professors to do good work. The wording is far too vague, and it will probably be used ad hoc by aggrieved students as a way to depose professors. And this is coming from a student of color...”
He urged me to publicly oppose the proposal.
I needed more information before taking any side. On the one hand, Pomona is a residential teaching college with small classes where professors are deliberately chosen for their ability to excel in the classroom. As an undergraduate, I benefited tremendously from faculty members who were inclusive toward me despite not sharing my politics. Professors Brown, (Paul) Hurley, Creighton, Bok, Menefee-Libey, (Valerie) Thomas, and others ran intellectually generous classrooms and office hours where I could thrive even as (unbeknownst to them) my campus journalism drew a few threats from fellow students and ideological hostility from one administrator and a few faculty members. I know the value of inclusivity and the cost of its absence; I want my alma mater to strive for racial, religious, socio-economic, and intellectual diversity; and I believe that every undergraduate, regardless of identity, should be treated with respect and encouraged to participate in classes.
What’s more, everything I know about Pomona leads me to believe that tenure would already be denied to a professor known to single out members of a particular group for abusive treatment, and I can see why faculty members might have found it tempting to vote for the new language as a symbolic show of support for already-entrenched campus values.
On the other hand, the whole thing is rather vague. What were students who alleged “unsafe classroom environments” taking about? What exactly does it mean to be “attentive to diversity in the student body”? Beyond being a place where all students are encouraged to participate, what creates or spoils “an inclusive classroom”? What consequences, intended or not, might this new language have?The short 'Riley's First Date' will be included as a bonus feature in 'Inside Out's' digital HD and Blu-ray releases.
It's time for more Inside Out.
Although plans for Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness returning for a sequel have not been announced, the beloved emotions will be returning in a new animated short. ABC News reported that new short Riley's First Date will be included as a bonus feature in the digital HD and Blu-ray releases of Inside Out.
Good Morning America aired a preview of the clip Thursday morning, showing Riley's parents running through a range of emotions as they try and process if a boy has arrived at their house for a date with their daughter. Riley's father considers the situation a red alert, while her mother tries to take the cool approach, using what she thinks is hip tween lingo to discuss the boy with Riley.
Inside Out is slated for an Oct. 13 digital HD release and a Nov. 3 Blu-ray release. The film has grossed more than $90.4 million, making it the best opening for a Pixar original film and the second-best opening for any Pixar film after Toy Story 3.
Watch the preview clip below.
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When will driverless cars become a reality? That is, real driverless cars, where you just tell it where you want to go and then sit back and enjoy the ride?
My guess is seven or eight years. Maybe you think five. Or ten. Or fifteen.
But here’s a more interesting question: after driverless cars become widely available, how long will it be until human-driven cars are made illegal? I say ten years. It will vary state to state, of course, and there will likely be exceptions of various kinds (specific types of commercial vehicles, ATVs meant for fun, etc.). Still, without a special license they’ll become broadly illegal on streets in fairly short order. The proximate cause will be a chart something like the one on the right.Joomla! is constantly gaining popularity and success as an open source CMS, thanks to its rich features and extensions. Some developers find it better than WordPress and other platforms. It is easy to install and use so even the beginners can try their hands in installing their sites themselves. And it has an impressive list of templates to choose from which makes it even more viable.
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LinkedInFor other ships with the same name, see USS Samuel B. Roberts
USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy.
Samuel B. Roberts participated in the Battle off Samar, an unlikely victory in which a relatively small force of U.S. warships prevented a vastly superior Japanese force from attacking the amphibious invasion fleet off the large Philippine island of Leyte. This destroyer escort, along with the handful of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers of the unit called "Taffy 3", was inadvertently left alone to fend off a fleet of heavily armed Japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers in this crucial action off the Island of Samar, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf of October 1944. Steaming aggressively through a gauntlet of incoming shells, Samuel B. Roberts scored one torpedo hit and numerous gunfire hits as she slugged it out with larger enemy warships before finally being sunk. After the battle, Samuel B. Roberts received the appellation "the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship."[2]
The ship was named for Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts, Jr., a Navy Cross recipient, who had been commended for voluntarily steering a Higgins boat towards enemy forces, in order to divert fire from evacuation efforts being undertaken by other friendly vessels. Samuel B. Roberts was laid down on 6 December 1943, at the Brown Shipbuilding Company of Houston, Texas. She was launched on 20 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Roberts, and was commissioned on 28 April 1944, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland, USNR. She was the first of three U.S. Navy ships to bear his name.
Service history [ edit ]
Samuel B. Roberts had a shakedown cruise off Bermuda from 21 May – 19 June 1944. After spending time at Boston Navy Yard, Roberts departed for Norfolk, Virginia on July 11. Roberts departed Norfolk 22 July going through the Panama Canal 27 July. She joined the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on 10 August.
Samuel B. Roberts conducted training exercises around the Hawaiian Islands, and then steamed out on 21 August with a convoy that reached Eniwetok Atoll on 30 August. On 2 September, Roberts steamed back to Pearl Harbor, arriving there with a convoy on 10 September. Following further training, the destroyer escort got underway on 21 September, escorted a convoy to Eniwetok, and arrived on 30 September. Roberts next proceeded to Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands of the Southwest Pacific, and then joined Task Unit 77.4.3, nicknamed "Taffy 3". From there she steamed to the Leyte Gulf area off the eastern Philippines, and upon arrival, she commenced operations with the Northern Air Support Group off the Island of Samar.
The Battle off Samar [ edit ]
Shortly after dawn on 25 October, Samuel B. Roberts was protecting Taffy 3's small escort carriers. These were serving as bases for small bombers and fighters that were supporting the Army assault. These warships were steaming off the eastern coast of Samar when the Japanese Center Force — a 23-ship task force under the command of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita — suddenly appeared on the horizon and opened fire. At 07:35, Roberts turned and headed toward the battle. She charged toward the heavy cruiser Chōkai. The commanding officer, Copeland, announced "We're making a torpedo run. The outcome is doubtful, but we will do our duty." With smoke as cover, Roberts steamed to within 2.5 nmi (4.6 km; 2.9 mi) of Chōkai, coming under fire from the cruiser's forward 8 in (203 mm) guns.
Roberts had moved so close that the enemy guns could not depress enough to hit her and the shells simply passed overhead. Many hit the carrier Gambier Bay. Once within torpedo range, she launched her three Mark 15 torpedoes. One blew off Chōkai's stern. The American sailors cheered "that a way Whitey, we hit 'em" as if it were a ballgame, as shells were still incoming. Roberts then fought with the Japanese ships for a further hour, firing more than six hundred 5 in (127 mm) shells, and while maneuvering at very close range, mauling Chōkai's superstructure with her 40 mm (1.6 in) and 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft guns.[citation needed] At 08:51, the Japanese landed two hits, the second of which damaged the aft 5 in (127 mm) gun. This damaged gun suffered a breech explosion shortly thereafter which killed and wounded several crew members. With her remaining 5 in (127 mm) gun, Roberts set the bridge of the heavy cruiser Chikuma on fire and destroyed the Number Three gun turret, before being hit by three 14 in (356 mm) shells from the battleship Kongō. The shells tore a hole 40 ft (12 m) long and 10 ft (3 m) wide in the port side of her aft engine room.
Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Carr
Gunner's Mate Third Class Paul H. Carr was in charge of the aft 5 in (127 mm) gun mount, which had fired nearly all of its 325 stored rounds in 35 minutes before a breech explosion. Carr was found dying at his station from a severe intestinal wound, begging for help to load the last round he was holding into the breech. He had scored a great many hits on the heavy cruiser Chokai, also sunk that day. He was posthumously awarded a Silver Star, and a guided missile frigate was later named for him.[3] The guided missile frigates Samuel B. Roberts and Copeland were also named for the ship and its captain. At 09:35, the order was given to abandon ship. She sank 30 minutes later, with 90 of her sailors.
The 120 survivors of the crew clung to three life rafts for 50 hours before being rescued.
During the battle, Samuel B. Roberts—designed for 23–24 kn (43–44 km/h; 26–28 mph)—reached 28.7 kn (53.2 km/h; 33.0 mph) by raising pressure to 660 pounds per square inch (4,600 kPa) and diverting all available steam to the ship's twin turbines.[4]
Samuel B. Roberts was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 27 November 1944.
Awards [ edit ]
Samuel B. Roberts was included in the Presidential Unit Citation given to Task Unit 77.4.3 "for extraordinary heroism in action." Samuel B. Roberts earned one battle star for her World War II service.
Memorials [ edit ]
Successors [ edit ]
Three ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Samuel B. Roberts, in honor of Samuel B. Roberts.
In popular culture [ edit ]
The television show Star Trek Deep Space 9 featured a starship named "Samuel B. Roberts" in the 1999 episode "What You Leave Behind". The Miranda-class cruiser appears briefly as a background ship during the final battle of the Dominion War.[citation needed]
The ship has been subject of scale model kits:
1/700 scale plastic model kit, by PitRoad / Skywave. [5]
1/16" scale wood model kit by BlueJacket Shipcrafters, Inc.[6]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Coordinates:Muslims in West Bengal’s Kharagpur have decided to cancel Muharram procession this year and donate the money for the treatment of a Hindu neighbour, who is a cancer patient.
Samaj Sangha Club, which organises Muharram procession in Kharagpur’s Puratan Bazar, will raise Rs 50,000, the amount needed for the celebration, for Abir Bhunia (35), a mobile recharge shop owner who is suffering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. They have already given him Rs 6,000.
Bhunia is undergoing chemotherapy at Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre in the southern fringes of Kolkata and needs Rs 12 lakh for a treatment that includes bone marrow transplantation.
“Muharram processions can be organised every year. But we have to save the life first,” said Amjad Khan, secretary of Samaj Sangha.
“We have started raising money. On Friday, after the namaz we will ask the imam in the mosque to announce a donation drive for Abir. We hope to raise a bigger amount than the budget for our procession,” said Khan.
An overwhelmed Bhunia is full of gratitude for his neighbours. “I don’t know whether I will be cured finally. But what my neighbours did for me have touched my heart,” he said.
He lost his grandmother and both parents last year, and lives with his wife, a homemaker, and they are expecting their first child.
Bhunia’s neighbour Ranjan Ash pointed out that there were some community Durga Pujas in the locality, but none of them thought of “curtailing their expenditure and help the youth”. “We are overwhelmed.”
Mohammad Bilal, a member of the Muharram committee of Puratan Bazar, saidGod would be satisfied “if we serve the people”. “He is suffering from cancer and fighting with death. We should stand by him.”
As word spread of the Muslims’ gesture, assistance seems to be pouring in. Pradip Sarkar, chairman of Kharagpur municipality, said they would try to help Bhunia.
Tushar Chowdhury, local councillor from Trinamool Congress, saluted the gesture.
Chowdhury also pointed out that there is a temple for goddess Sitala (worshipped in Bengal as a protector against pox) nearby, for which the Muslim community had raised money to build a gate. He also said that food items offered to the goddess are distributed to Muslims.
First Published: Oct 05, 2017 17:38 ISTAnother week, another unboxing and first impressions! If this didn’t take so much work, we could get used to this many devices coming out (mostly from Nokia). This week is the low-cost but high-value Lumia 521, T-Mobile svelte variant of the Lumia 520. The phone ranges from just $30 on T-Mo’s “uncontract” to a still super cheap $150 with no strings attached. Do we really need to point out how crazy low that is for a brand spanking new Windows Phone 8 device in 2013? Head past the break for some luscious shots of the 521 (if I can brag about my camera work) and our unboxing/hands on with the device, along with my initial thoughts.
At $150 flat, the Lumia 521 obviously has to cut some corners, which it does. But it does it in a “smart” way and still delivers a great user experience. The specifications are: Dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU
4” IPS 800x480 Super-Sensitive Touch display
512MB of RAM
8GB of storage (4.61GB free)
microSD expansion
5MP rear camera
OS: Windows Phone 8, Build 10211 So what’s missing? There’s no NFC, no ClearBlack screen polarizer, the camera is not Carl Zeiss, there’s no flash and no front facing camera. You do still get the Super Sensitive Touch feature, allowing you to wear gloves and still operate the phone and let’s not kid ourselves, a really nicely designed phone that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with. Performance is quite solid, even at 1GHz. Actually, we feel almost like Nokia has tweaked the responsiveness a bit compared to our Lumia 520 as it performs quite well. Sure there’s a tad delay here and there, but it never gets frustrating. Check for that update!
Recently we reported that there is a firmware update for the Lumia 521, bumping it to 1030.6409.1316. That update enabled the coveted Wi-Fi calling feature, which you can see in our video tour towards the end. The thing is, in order to get Wi-Fi calling to show up you need to hard-reset the phone after the firmware update (something that is not explained to the end user). So the first thing you’ll want to do after setting up this phone for the first time, is to install the firmware update, hard-reset and re-set it up. It’s unfortunate that one has to do that but we imagine future devices coming off of the assembly line will have this pre-installed. Full review coming upPrison officials have named Son as the suspect, but officials said charges against him will await the completion of the investigation.
The cellmate was a parole violator who had been sentenced to two years in prison for failing to register as a sex offender, according to a prison report. A cause of death was pending.
Joseph Hyungmin Son, 40, allegedly killed his 50-year-old cellmate, who was found dead Monday afternoon at Wasco State Prison Reception Center in Kern County.
An "Austin Powers" actor convicted of torturing a woman in Orange County is suspected of killing his cellmate in a Central Valley prison, authorities said Tuesday.
Son, who played henchman Random Task in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," was also briefly a mixed martial arts fighter who used the name Joe Son.
He had arrived at the prison reception center Sept. 16 after having been convicted of torture and sentenced to life in prison without parole in connection with the 1990 Christmas Eve rape of a woman out walking her dog.
Prosecutors in the torture case said the woman was walking back to her apartment alone with her dog after going to look at Christmas lights with a relative and friend and was stopped by Son about 12:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve 1990.
Son asked her for directions and then, with another man, dragged her to a car, threw her in the back and drove away.
Son and the other man told her they were driving to Compton, pistol-whipped her and repeatedly threatened to kill her.
Son's cohort, Santiago Lopez Gaitan, 40, of San Antonio, raped the woman, prosecutors said.
Afterward, Son threatened to kill the victim and counted the bullets in the gun out loud as she pleaded for her life.
Son and Gaitan finally allowed the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, to leave, naked and with her pants tied around her eyes. The woman went to a nearby Huntington Beach home, where the residents called police.
While physical evidence was gathered in the case from the sexual assault, the case went cold. Son, however, was convicted in May 2008 of felony vandalism in an unrelated case and was forced to give a DNA sample.
That sample was then linked to DNA collected in the 1990 case, prosecutors said.
Gaitan pleaded guilty in January to kidnapping, sodomy, rape, forcible oral copulation and forcible rape with a sentencing enhancement for committing rape while armed with a firearm. He was sentenced to 17 years and four months in state prison.
ALSO:
Autopsy set for sex offender allegedly killed by 'Austin Powers' actor
Zsa Zsa Gabor suffers setback, may need more surgery
Simi Valley teacher accused of robbing convenience store
-- Sam Quinones
twitter.com/samquinones7
Photos: (left) Joseph Hyungmin Son. Credit: Orange County Sheriff's Department
(right) Son as henchman Random Task in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." Credit: New Line CinemaThroughout the 80’s and into the 90’s, there was a “Goth” movement in art, fashion, music, etc. I use quotations around Goth as that was the label affixed to the style of music that Bauhaus, Smiths, Cure, et. al. came out with. Loosely associated with pale face paint with black accents, high hair, etc. etc. yawn etc.
Besides, and most importantly, I wouldn’t know Goth if it bit me on the neck.
I have a hypothesis, I’m willing to proffer it here…
Bauhaus, with Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins and David J, fit well into the Goth moniker. If there was a chance the band could eschew that label, it was gone for good when they contributed the famed theme for the David Bowie movie The Hunger, that theme being “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (so enduring to this reviewer that not long after it hit U.S. radar due to the movie, I covered the song!).
Once again, the same old story of never being able to (or never wanting to) regurgitate the same formulaic music for the pleasure of the label (first) and the fans (second), they did what EVERY band seems to do. Split up.
Directly after the split, prolific guitarist, vocalist, saxophonist, hair stylist, artist (and it wouldn’t surprise me if he were a Magistrate in his spare time), Daniel Ash took some notions of songs he had for Bauhaus and worked on them with fellow ‘Hauser Haskins and bassist Glenn Campling under the name Tones On Tail. Many feel this band was the best of the three.
The band that came closest to success since “Lugosi” would be Love & Rockets. I know you have heard Love & Rockets. Even radio played “So Alive” and their version of the Temptations’ “Ball Of Confusion” is the best I’ve heard yet.
As of shortly before publication of this blog, the only band of the three not to have any activity in the new millennium? Tones On Tail. And it still isn’t happening. Well, not quite.
Instead, we are in the unique position to be able to see the band as close to possible, Poptone. Poptone is the result of Daniel Ash being lulled to sleep by his computer playlist and being jarred awake by a Motorhead song and having the realization wash over him that, yes, he needs to play live again!
But what would he play? Perhaps it is that most recent activity statistic that prompted his decision, maybe the fact that the band wasn’t together long enough to fulfill its potential. But a full-on Tones On Tail reunion was not to be had. Original bassist Glenn Campling is not in the fold. Prior commitments, retirement, little is known why he is absent. In his absence is Diva Dompe. While those familiar with the three bands, as well as the Bubblemen (a parody band where they came out in bubble costumes) may not be familiar with Ms Dompe, she is close to the camp trust me.
She is Kevin Haskins daughter. If you have to bring in an outsider, why not bring in someone from the inside? Wait, that could be taken wrong, look at Josh Klinghoffer of Red Hot Chili Peppers or Dave Navarro of Red Hot Chili Peppers (I see a pattern there). In order to see if she could fill for Campling, her audition was the notorious bass line for “GO”, a snappy little Tones On Tail ditty.
Not that Daniel Ash had been doing nothing during the downtime that lead to his epiphany… He scored music for video/movies, released solo music, rejoined Bauhaus on and off, rejoined Love And Rockets on and off. It was Tones On Tail that he thought was going to be the most widely received and got the least amount of attention, globally speaking.
From my personal perspective, I would rate the bands Tones first, then Bauhaus then Love And Rockets. I prefer Ash’s darker moods, his silent strange introspection.
Enjoy more of that dark strangeness:
For those of you not familiar with Tones music, or Bauhaus or Love And Rockets, it’s OK. This is a band that likes to flex its talent AND entertain. If you haven’t heard any of their unique, insane, talent-laden songs, they got you covered…
They have been tearing up the West Coast. Many of the dates have sold out, most likely many more will sell out closer to the dates of the show. Here is an overall tour schedule, check the dates and see where you can catch this most unique, once-in-a-lifetime act.
The more observant may note, that the tour schedule is fragmented. A leg then a break, a leg then a break. This was at the behest of Ash as the constant touring of Bauhaus and Love And Rockets became vampiric to Ash’s creativity and psychology. This way they perform a leg, go home, refresh, then go out again. This is an unorthodox method of touring, but, if it is what Ash and Co. need to do to stay fresh, so be it.
Your best bet is to find a local gig, get your tickets and catch a show. This is one of those bands that I have chosen to include in my “Year Of Impossible Concerts”. I am dedicating to seeing as many rare, off-kilter acts as I can. I have already seen the until recently defunct Miracle Legion, I am going to try my damnedest to bring you a review of at least one of these shows (tickets have yet to be purchased). In case I can’t, maybe you should check it out for yourselves!
You can head over to Ticketmaster to get your tickets:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/Poptone-tickets/artist/2350291
Also see Daniel’s site for all kinds of cool stuff!
http://www.danielashmusic.com
Here are some communities on Facebook you might enjoy…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1485004241718243/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/448816495475828/
Hopefully I’ll see you at one of the East Coast shows!
Thanks to Eli Kampero for his liberal permission to use his “GO” and “Christian Says” videos. His Youtube channel has many other severely interesting videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrAn6gnYHLDufpI_UwbVV_w
Thanks to Michael Davis for the liberal permission to use his “Heartbreak Hotel” video. You may want to check out his Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyJoBkTFHFZRsWwOn9w186g
Now for those of you who know me, know that I won’t be happy unless I end this post on something pithy. So to those who are looking to find a unique, off-the-beaten-path band, you should find a Poptone gig near you and… GO!
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Tags: Bauhaus, Bubblemen, Cure, Daniel Ash, Dave Navarro, David Bowie, David J, Diva Dompe, Glenn Campling, Josh Klinghoffer, Kevin Haskins, Love And Rockets, Miracle Legion, Peter Murphy, Smiths, Tones On TailA controversial personal development company criticized for employing high-pressure recruitment tactics, intense psychological methods and conformist ideology operated within an Alberta Health Services department for more than a year, despite several serious employee complaints. Alberta Health Services paid nearly $650 each for as many as 50 of its IT executives and directors to attend Landmark seminars.
Internal Alberta Health Services (AHS) documents obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request detail several complaints to human resources from information technology employees who felt pressured, even harassed, to attend Landmark Education Corp. seminars, and to reveal personal details of their lives at the seminars and at staff meetings.
Despite this, the documents appear to show AHS did little to investigate the complaints or the company, and instead facilitated Landmark’s operations within the department.
“They are manipulative, they are controlling, they involve coercive persuasion,” said Steve Kent, a University of Alberta sociology professor. Kent is an internationally recognized expert in deviant ideological and religious groups who has studied Landmark and similar organizations for decades.
“Somebody should have acted, because it is very clear that there are inherent risks to these kinds of programs,” Kent said, adding the problems are well-known. “People can find them easily on the internet.”
Kent said many people will say they benefited from Landmark training, or were not harmed by it.
“And then there are the others,” he said. “And it is the others that any workplace environment has to be concerned with. The people who are harmed, the people who do feel violated.”
Landmark’s director of public relations, Deb Beroset, told CBC News her organization does not employ psychology or ideology in its training.
She stressed that “customers” are free to reveal whatever they wish.
“There is absolutely no pressure for anyone to speak publicly,” Beroset said in a telephone interview from Chicago.
Union president Guy Smith says he was shocked to learn about the seminars.
“The course leaders always make it clear that not only is there no obligation to speak publicly, let alone share things about yourself or your life you are not comfortable sharing, but you can also completely get all the benefits of the course without ever getting up and saying anything to the group,” Beroset said.
Alberta Health Services paid nearly $650 each for as many as 50 of its IT “executives and directors” to attend Landmark seminars, some even after human resources staff identified serious potential problems.
“This could be seen as a form of harassment and a violation of their privacy,” an HR adviser wrote. “Employees may feel afraid to refuse to do this in fear of being ostracized, disciplined or even terminated.”
‘Self-improvement through self-awareness’
Landmark Education Corp. is a for-profit, employee-owned, private U.S. company with hundreds of paid employees and thousands of volunteers around the world, including Alberta.
Landmark is in the business of self-improvement through self-awareness, realized through transformative “breakthroughs” at large-group, introductory training seminars, known as Landmark Forums.
“In part, it is to teach people that the values they have held up until now have held them back; that indeed they need a new set of values and this group can provide those new sets of values,” Kent said.
“I don’t know of any academic research that verifies that kind of perspective,” he said, adding that some people do feel “cleansed” or “invigorated” by their Landmark training. But others may feel violated by having been pressured to reveal their most intimate secrets to office colleagues.
Kent said employee fears of being ostracized if they don’t embrace the Landmark ideology are valid.
“What you have to keep in mind is that the people who run these groups are absolutely ideologically committed to what they do,” he said.
“Their goal is to get as many businesses, corporations using their ideology and their techniques as possible.
“The way they start that process is one office at a time. Really, I guess, one person at a time. And then build. But in the process, when it runs up against |
. 2. Melvins – Dale Crover (1992) Each Melvin did a solo record in 1991, just like Kiss did in 1978. This one is Melvins’ drummer Dale Crover’s. It’s eerie. 1. Melvins – Lysol (1992) The heaviest album ever recorded, before Sleep recorded Dopesmoker. ‘Hung Bunny’ is nauseating.
If you like this list, you’ll enjoy our interview with GANG.
Pre-order ‘Dead / Enough Nothing’ via Ra-Ra Rok Records.
Follow Gang on Facebook.
Follow Overblown on Facebook, and Twitter.Joseph A. Stetson talks to a Harney County, Oregon sheriff's deputy before his arrest. (Harney County Sheriffs Office)
A 54-year-old Oregon man allegedly planning to join the militant group occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge can be seen threatening to kill sheriff’s deputies in footage posted on Monday by KATU-TV.
Body camera footage shows Joseph Arthur Stetson telling a Harney County deputy, “I’m planning to go out there and protect the Bundys, be their personal guard. If anybody wants to kill them, they have to kill me first.”
The encounter on Monday was filmed at a local market after deputies responded to a report of an armed man on the premises. Stetson was reportedly carrying a pellet gun.
“What concerns me right now, as I’m talking to you, I can smell some alcohol on your breath,” the deputy tells Stetson. Stetson responds by saying that he drank some NyQuil earlier in the day, then refuses to take a field sobriety test.
“I was a colonel in the United States armed forces,” he says. “Green Beret.”
He then reaches into his pocket, only for the deputy to stop him by grabbing his arm before telling him, “You’re making me a little bit nervous right now” and motioning for a colleague to assist in handcuffing Stetson.
As he’s being handcuffed, Stetson says, “I will kill all of you. Don’t believe me? If I go to jail, when I come out, I’ll kill you.”
As the arrest continues, Stetson can be heard speaking more angrily, saying, “I’m a Green Beret colonel, you damn sons of bitches. Freaking Nazi Germany, that’s all you are. I can’t be killed anyway.”
He then yells at a nearby state trooper that he is being subjected to an “illegal arrest” and vowing not to harm state troopers, unlike the deputies.
“I am the last hope,” Stetson yells. “I am a freakin’ colonel, Green Beret. My record is sealed by Ronald Reagan.”
Watch the body camera footage, as posted online, below.Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter
April 18, 2013, 11:46 AM GMT By Scott Stump and Eun Kyung Kim
A dad shooting video within 300 yards of the West, Texas fertilizer explosion late Wednesday night described a frightening aftermath of the deadly blast.
“It was a pretty horrific scene, some of the injuries we saw,’’ Derrick Hurtt told Matt Lauer on TODAY Thursday. “There was probably double-digit people standing in front of me videoing that were closer than I was, and after the blast, they were nowhere to be seen.”
At least 15 people were killed and more than 160 wounded in the explosion, according to local police. West Mayor Tommy Muska told NBC News that he feared as many as 40 could have died. Firefighters were battling the fire when the explosion caused a ground tremor equivalent to a magnitude-2.1 earthquake, according to the United States Geological Service. Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared it a disaster, asking for an emergency declaration from the federal government.
15 killed, 160 wounded in 'devastating' Texas chemical plant blast
Hurtt was shooting video of the fire from his truck alongside his 12-year-old daughter, Khloey. The plant exploded 33 seconds into their clip. Immediately after the blast, Derrick can be heard asking if Khloey is OK. “Please get out of here, please get out of here, dad please get out of here," she says. "I can’t hear anything.”
“I’m pretty sure it lifted the truck off the ground,’’ Hurtt said. “It just blew me over on top of her. It all happened so quick that things just kind of went black for a moment.”
Hurtt said his daughter’s inner ear is sore but she has her full hearing back. He estimated they were 250 to 300 yards away from the plant when they started filming.
Story: 'The whole street is gone': Bloodied eyewitnesses describe Texas explosion
“We drove over to check it out and saw that it was a fertilizer plant burning,’’ he said. “We were going to shoot a little video of it and get out of there, and we just didn’t make it out in time.’’
Crystal Jerigan, who lives 15 blocks away from the plant, rushed outside when she heard the emergency trucks drive by. After watching the fire grow out of control within minutes, she ran back inside her home to grab her two daughters.
“About the time that I got to the car, you could hear the boom and within seconds, it just sucked you in and just threw you to the ground,” she told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie.
Jill Jenkins, a triage nurse at a nearby nursing home, rushed to the scene and arrived minutes after the explosion to find a horrific scene.
“It actually looked like 9-11, what you saw on TV with 9-11. There were people laying in their yards that had been blown out of their homes,” she said. “The nursing home looked like it had just been blown kind of out.”
She said a nearby apartment structure remained standing but the interior had been destroyed.
“People were coming out bloody and injured,” she said. Most of the injuries she saw were lacerations and several head injuries.
“We had a lot of help, though,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of great nurses here in West.”
The area is being treated as a crime scene as a precautionary measure, Waco police Sgt. William Patrick Swanton told TODAY.
“There is no reason at this point that indicates that that is what happened, but we’re going down that road to make sure nothing gets missed,” he told TODAY.
Swanton also said authorities continue to go door-to-door to make sure they haven’t missed additional victims.
"We are not giving up on the search and rescue,” he said.
Although residents have expressed concern about potential chemicals released into the air by the blast, Swanton said experts believe the region is safe.
“There is not an environmental hazard at this point, from what I’ve been made aware of,” he said. “The rain obviously will help us a little bit to keep that down, but (this is) something we’re going to watch over the next few hours to make sure nothing gets rekindled.”(Picture: Deni Kirkova)
The UK’s first vegan free-from ice cream parlour has just opened in London.
Yorica! is based on Wardour Street and serves all sorts, from nut-free peanut butter ice cream to matcha green tea frozen yoghurt and tonnes of different shakes.
All products and toppings are free from wheat, gluten, dairy, lactose, eggs, nuts, GMO and artificial sweeteners – and everything is fully vegan, even their ‘Oreos’.
It’s perfect for people with an allergy or intolerance, or those who fancy a treat they can attempt to convince themselves is ‘healthier’.
The ice cream and froyo base recipe uses rice milk and coconut cream.
MORE: Rock star’s quest to inspire young offenders through vegan programme
Flavours include beetroot and dark chocolate, pumpkin spice and moringa (tastes like matcha powdered green tea) – plus cookies and cream, chocolate, wowbutter and more.
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They currently have 12 flavours but varieties change and grow constantly as the team experiment with the ice cream maker in the basement.
Choose from toppings like 100% vegan ‘Oreos’, called Keetoos, (imported from Canada) fresh raspberries or blueberries, and dried dates or goji berries.
Others include shaved coconut, vegan marshmallows, cacao nibs and bright sprinkles coloured using ingredients like turmeric and red pepper.
You can get your ice cream or froyo in a pot or free-from cone, or in a cute spherical bowl to go, and shakes can be served hot or cold.
The products are free from most of the 14 main allergens, allowing those with more complex dietary requirements to indulge without worry – though some contain soya and soy lecithin.
Yorica! shop manager Monica Jagielo says their all-natural ingredients are chosen from traceable, sustainable sources, making them as ethical and seasonal as possible.
They include rice milk (a replacement for natural dairy milk); seaweed (a natural thickener); vanilla bean paste (full of essential oils and vitamins); crystalline fructose (a nutritive sweetener); xanthan gum (a texture aid), guar gums (with stabilising properties) and natural fructose sugars derived from fruit.
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MORE: Vegan, dairy-free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has come out of our dreams and into our bowls
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One Light Portraits - part 1 of 1 2 3 4 5
by Dave Montizambert Published 01/11/2005
Earlier this year my mentor and friend Dean Collins of Finelight and Software Cinema died of cancer.
Dean was responsible for a huge chunk of my knowledge and success in photography as he was for many others.
As a tribute to Dean I would like to show you a fascinating lighting technique that he taught me in the first days of studying with him, back in the early 1980s. He gave me an exercise that seemed impossible - create a dramatic portrait of a person against a pure white background. A daunting task to a beginner, however it got worse, I had to do it with just one light! With that one light I was expected to create soft wrap-around light on the subject, use it to make a pure white background, use it to control shadow density, and use it to create a separation or hair light. This kind of image was typically done with 5 to 7 lights. I thought Dean was prejudiced against Canadians or that it was some kind of cruel initiation joke. Using my muse Sylvianne as a model, (she bounces light really nicely and she doesn't hit me up for modelling and usage fees), let's look at how we might accomplish this task.
Frame One
Sylvianne is lit by a relatively small light source set approximately 5 to 6 feet away. The light has a standard 7-inch parabolic reflector on it and it has a layer of frosted acetate such as Roscolux Tuff Frost over it to even out the hotspots created by this reflector. Lee Filters & Gels make a similar product. As you can see, the light quality is hard. Some of the light is spilling past Sylvianne on to the grey background. To even out the illumination between Sylvianne and the background the light head is feathered slightly away from her and onto the background.
With the camera aperture set to f8.5, both the background and the lit side of her face are illuminated to their proper tonal values, which both happen to be about one stop brighter than middle grey
1st Published 01/11/2005
last update 07/02/2018 11:57:34
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During RTX 2017, I had a chance to sit down with the cast and crew of Rooster Teeth’s international anime sensation, RWBY. For the uninitiated, RWBY (pronounced “Ruby”) centers on young men and women training to be Hunters and Huntresses, fighters tasked with protecting the world of Remnant from nightmarish creatures known as Grimms. Team RWBY includes Ruby Rose (Lindsay Jones), Weiss Schnee (Kara Eberle), Blake Belladona (Arryn Zech), and Yang Xiao Long (Barbara Dunkelman), a quartet of gifted fighters who overcome their differences in order to defend their friends and family.
Jones, Eberle, and Dunkelman graciously carved out some time for this interview between returning from Anime Expo and meeting and greeting RWBY fans during Rooster Teeth’s home-grown fan festival, RTX. I also got to sit down with the creative team of Kerry Shawcross, Miles Luna, and Gray G. Haddock, who wear quite a few hats behind the scenes. They all shared their favorite moments from RWBY while looking back on the journey so far and teasing what’s ahead for the show’s upcoming Volume 5. Look for the new episodes to premiere exclusively on Rooster Teeth FIRST this October 14th before rolling out to other digital platforms.
Since we have a little while until Volume 5 drops, this is the perfect time to catch up on RWBY if you haven’t just yet. If you’re already a super-fan, you might find some new bits of trivia here in the following interview; if you’re a newcomer, you’ll certainly find plenty of good reasons to tune in. (Keep in mind that spoilers follow.)
First of all, here’s how the creative minds (and voices) behind RWBY describe the show:
Gray G. Haddock: In a world where two brothers…
Kerry Shawcross: No.
Miles Luna: I think we’d say, it’s Harry Potter with magical, monster-fighting girls and amazing weapons.
Haddock: It’s a coming-of-age tale in a world where the remnant, if you will, of stories that people will find familiar—characters and concepts that embody those fairytales—are all running around in the same place in a conflict that will affect the destiny of the planet. It’s a fantasy-action story with charming characters and kick-ass action scenes.
Barbara Dunkelman: I just think it’s a show that everyone can relate to in some way, whether it be if you’re going through changes in your life, or relationship issues, or just coming of age, it’s a show that so many people can find a character that’s like them. It’s also just these badass people with amazing weapons and beautiful design and amazing music, so there are so many aspects of the show that are amazing and they all come together.
Kara Eberle: It’s almost like a Netflix binge-watcher. You can visually just see it and go, ‘Wow!’ from the outfits, to the backgrounds, to the animation.
Lindsay Jones: There’s a lot of vibrancy in the show … especially with the fight choreography, that’s something that really was kind of a highlight of Volumes 1 through 3 especially. We’ve been kicking it up in Volume 5 with the different things that we’re doing, but you can just watch it like a music video. I like meeting people who say, ‘Hey, I haven’t watched the show at all yet but I listen to the soundtrack and I love it.’ You can listen to RWBY all you want to.The formal offer was rejected by Tottenham Hotspur within two hours, but the Stamford Bridge side are expected to return with improved terms imminently.
Abramovich is desperate to add more creativity to Chelsea ’s midfield and reduce the average age of the club’s squad, leading the Russian and his coterie of advisers to identify the Croatian international as their priority transfer target.
Chelsea’s owner is determined to press ahead with the signing despite the fact that he is yet to appoint a replacement for manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Modric has confirmed in recent weeks that Spurs’ failure to retain their Champions League status came as a substantial blow to his ambitions and it is believed Harry Redknapp and Daniel Levy, White Hart Lane’s manager and chairman, now face a fierce battle to hold on to their prize asset.
Manchester United have also registered their interest in Modric but have turned their attentions to Alexis Sanchez — who is also on Chelsea’s target list — and Arsenal’s Samir Nasri.
Abramovich has decided against bidding for the French international after being offered the midfielder by intermediaries.
Redknapp has already stated that it is crucial for Spurs to retain Modric, describing the playmaker as “key” to his team’s fortunes. But he has also knows he has to generate funds to make changes to his side.
Spurs rejected an initial inquiry from Chelsea two weeks ago and, although no bid was made at that time, it is believed an offer close to £35m might tempt them into a deal.
Modric was in stunning form last season and has proved to be one of the most effective players in the Premier League.
He arrived at Spurs in 2008 — signing a six-year deal which he renewed in 2010 - for £16m from Dynamo Zagreb and given the progress he has made, Chelsea’s bid will be regarded as derisory by Levy.
However it is the opening salvo in Chelsea’s attempts to prise Modric away and much will depend on how the player reacts now an official bid has been made.
Chelsea targeted Modric, Sanchez and Neymar as their three bid signings this summer, as revealed by Telegraph Sport last week, but have dropped their interest in Sanchez, believing the Chilean winger will now become United’s big summer signing.
Chelsea are battling with Real Madrid to secure Neymar and have to decide whether to bid the 45m euros which will trigger a release clause in his contract.
Abramovich would prefer to pay around 30m euros, at most, for the 19-year-old but may be outbid by Real. No official offer has been made yet.
Securing Modric, though, is Chelsea’s priority. They will have been encouraged by his remarks that “if there is an offer which is good for Tottenham and for me also, then a transfer is of course possible,” though the Croat did add that he was not “bothered” or intent on leaving Spurs.
That may now change given Chelsea’s eagerness to secure him to provide the creativity to supply striker Fernando Torres. There is a long-held theory at the club that the team lack a player with Modric’s guile, though his arrival would break up a hugely settled area of Chelsea’s side.
There have been suggestions that Frank Lampard’s future is in some doubt after a comparatively disappointing campaign, though it is all but unthinkable that such a key player will be sold.
Modric’s presence and price, though, would suggest that it is the 25-year-old who will take over the England international’s role as the team’s creative hub.
Abramovich is also determined to add pace to his managerless side, and a winger will likely follow in Modric’s wake.
Chelsea are understood to be close to announcing the signing of Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku, widely regarded as a long-term replacement for Didier Drogba.
Spurs are interested in the original version, but Chelsea want him to stay for at least one more year. They may, though, be willing to sell Nicolas Anelka.
If Spurs did sell Modric to Chelsea it would cause an outcry from their supporters, given the animosity between the two clubs and may be a damaging statement about their ambitions.
Spurs would rather move on the likes of Robbie Keane, David Bentley and Sebastien Bassong with Redknapp accepting Levy’s argument that the squad needs to be “streamlined”.
It is understood that Abramovich has now stepped up his preparations for the new season and is close to deciding on appointing a new manager. An announcement is expected within the next 10 days and could come a lot sooner.
The expectation remains that Guus Hiddink will secure his release from his contract as Turkey’s coach and will be offered a 12-month deal with the option of a further year.
Abramovich has considered making a move for Jose Mourinho and the candidacy of Mark Hughes has also been discussed although the Russian billionaire is unlikely to choose the former Fulham manager.Authored by Tom Luongo,
The news broke yesterday morning that Litecoin developer and outspoken founder, Charlie Lee, sold or donated all of his liquid Litecoin holdings. This prompted a big sell-off in the cryptocurrency markets, putting on pause the bounce off of the previous night’s bottom below $16000 for Bitcoin.
This comes in the wake of Coinbase adding Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to its stable of coins available for purchase, which also sent shockwaves through the markets.
In his post on reddit, Lee explained that he felt his ownership stake was actually a burden on Litecoin’s development as a real-world medium of exchange:
And whenever I tweet about Litecoin price or even just good or bads news, I get accused of doing it for personal benefit. Some people even think I short LTC! So in a sense, it is conflict of interest for me to hold LTC and tweet about it because I have so much influence. I have always refrained from buying/selling LTC before or after my major tweets, but this is something only I know. And there will always be a doubt on whether any of my actions were to further my own personal wealth above the success of Litecoin and crypto-currency in general.
The market reacted negatively to the news but only for a short time. Litecoin under Lee’s direction has been setting itself up as the day-to-day cryptocurrency. One that is easy to use, cheap, fast and easy to pay with.
But, as a commenter on the Zerohedge article on this event pointed out, quite astutely:
It was requested from Facebook to do it so that he can’t be accused of personal interest, decision bias with regards to the LTC ecosystem development. Facebook is preparing the big announcement that they will introduce support for Litecoin as payment channel. “Digital currency exchange startup Coinbase has announced the appointment of a Facebook executive to its board of directors. In joining the board, David Marcus, vice president of messaging products at Facebook, will bring years of experience in building large-scale mobile products, according to a Coinbase statement posted yesterday.”
The article he quoted is this one from Coindesk.
And Litecoin, among the major cryptocurrencies, is uniquely positioned to be that currency for Facebook’s digital payment platform as it fills out its road-map into 2018.
It doesn’t hurt Litecoin either that with the start of trading of rival Bitcoin Cash on GDAX and buying through Coinbase that there is now potential insider trading (GASP! NO! REALLY!) around it and that trades may have to be reversed (somehow).
Market manipulation and fraud is going to be a big deal in this space going forward. The temptation to cash in and scam people is simply too high not to try and game the system to individuals’ advantage.
Lee selling his coins and publicly calling out Satoshi Nakamoto to do the same and end the potential for a whale dumping his stash and bombing the market is another sign that the Litecoin Foundation is looking to go mainstream and take cryptocurrencies out of the ‘hookers, drugs and guns’ market and into the ‘Coke and Starbucks” one.
Creating the Future
In a previous post I talked about the differentiation and segmentation occurring in the crypto-space. Bitcoin Cash with its big blocks, low fees and quick settlement times is a direct competitor to Litecoin as mediums of exchange.
Litecoin has the added payment processing layer to facilitate point-of-sale convenience while retaining proof-of-work security.
Neither, in my opinion are setting themselves up to be a reserve or foundation asset in the cryptocurrency monetary system. That’s Bitcoin’s roll. And as the money flowing into the space begins to see just how inadequate and illiquid Bitcoin is they will move into coins that are both good stores of value and retain their nimbleness and liquidity.
In fact, I expect to see at least a dozen of the current coins on the market rising to the occasion to keep the market liquid and flowing. Litecoin is just one of them.
But we are so far from that image above, the market in cryptos today is the exact opposite. Bitcoin sits at the bottom, as a massive, illiquid reserve asset. And it’s value will be converted into other coins that are capable of actually processing payments for services rendered.
In just the past four days since Bitcoin peaked near $20,000 its share of the total cryptocurrency market has plunged from over 67% to around 45% today.
Litecoin, for the first time has broken above 2% as are others, like DASH and Monero. It’s clear that the cryptocurrency market is undergoing a reorganization of capital during this phase of the bull market. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see it continue, even if there is a significant correction on the horizon.Scaffolded DNA origami, added to the structural DNA nanotechnology toolkit10 years ago, is a very powerful technique for folding DNA into complex nanostructures. We’ve cited its use to make make dynamic nanomachines (for example, here), and to make simple nanorobots for potential medical application (here). A recent news release from Ohio State University, written by Pam Frost Gorder, makes clear that even simple atomically precise DNA nanostructures hold great potential for solving a major problem, perhaps the major problem encountered during cancer chemotherapy: the evolution of drug resistance by the cancer. “DNA ‘Trojan horse’ smuggles drugs into resistant cancer cells“
Cells mistake DNA casing for food, consume drugs and die
Researchers at The Ohio State University are working on a new way to treat drug-resistant cancer that the ancient Greeks would approve of—only it’s not a Trojan horse, but DNA that hides the invading force.
In this case, the invading force is a common cancer drug.
In laboratory tests, leukemia cells that had become resistant to the drug absorbed it and died when the drug was hidden in a capsule made of folded up DNA.
Previously, other research groups have used the same packaging technique, known as “DNA origami,” to foil drug resistance in solid tumors. This is the first time researchers have shown that the same technique works on drug-resistant leukemia cells.
The researchers have since begun testing the capsule in mice, and hope to move on to human cancer trials within a few years. Their early results appear in the journalSmall [abstract].
The study involved a pre-clinical model of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that has developed resistance against the drug daunorubicin. Specifically, when molecules of daunorubicin enter an AML cell, the cell recognizes them and pumps them back out through openings in the cell wall. It’s a mechanism of resistance that study co-author John Byrd of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center compared to sump pumps that draw water from a basement.
He and Carlos Castro, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, lead a collaboration focused on hiding daunorubicin inside a kind of molecular Trojan horse that can bypass the pumps so they can’t eject the drug from the cell.
“Cancer cells have novel ways of resisting drugs, like these pumps, and the exciting part of packaging the drug this way is that we can circumvent those defenses so that the drug accumulates in the cancer cell and causes it to die,” said Byrd, a professor of internal medicine and director of the Division of Hematology. “Potentially, we can also tailor these structures to make them deliver drugs selectively to cancer cells and not to other parts of the body where they can cause side effects.”
“DNA origami nanostructures have a lot of potential for drug delivery, not just for making effective drug delivery vehicles, but enabling new ways to study drug delivery. For instance, we can vary the shape or mechanical stiffness of a structure very precisely and see how that affects entry into cells,” said Castro, director of the Laboratory for Nanoengineering and Biodesign.
In tests, the researchers found that AML cells, which had previously shown resistance to daunorubicin, effectively absorbed drug molecules when they were hidden inside tiny rod-shaped capsules made of DNA. Under the microscope, the researchers tracked the capsules inside the cells with fluorescent tags.
Each capsule measures about 15 nanometers wide and 100 nanometers long—about 100 times smaller than the cancer cells it’s designed to infiltrate. With four hollow, open-ended interior compartments, it looks less like a pill a human would swallow and more like an elongated cinder block.
Postdoctoral researcher Christopher Lucas said that the design maximizes the surface area available to carry the drug. “The way daunorubicin works is it tucks into the cancer cell’s DNA and prevents it from replicating. So we designed a capsule structure that would have lots of accessible DNA base-pairs for it to tuck into. When the capsule breaks down, the drug molecules are freed to flood the cell.”
Castro’s team designed the capsules to be strong and stable, so that they wouldn’t fully disintegrate and release the bulk of the drugs until it was too late for the cell to spit them back out.
And that’s what they saw with a fluorescence microscope—the cells drew the capsules into the organelles that would normally digest them, if they were food. When the capsules broke down, the drugs flooded the cells and caused them to disintegrate. Most cells died within the first 15 hours after consuming the capsules.
This work is the first effort for the engineers in Castro’s lab to develop a medical application for the DNA origami structures they have been building.
Though DNA is stereotypically called the “building blocks of life,” engineers today use natural and synthetic DNA as literal building blocks for mechanical devices. Previously, the Ohio State engineers created tiny hinges [described here] and pistons [describedhere] of DNA.
As Castro pointed out, DNA is a polymer—albeit a naturally occurring one—and he and his colleagues shape it into tiny devices, tools or containers by exploiting the physical interactions of the bases that make up the polymer chain. They build chains from DNA sequences that will naturally attract and bind with one another in certain ways, so that long the long polymers automatically fold up, or “self-assemble,” into useful shapes.
In the case of this DNA Trojan horse, the researchers used the genome of a common bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria, and synthetic strands that were designed to fold up the bacteriophage DNA. Although the folded-up shape performs a function, the DNA itself does not, explained Patrick Halley, an engineering graduate student who is doing this work to earn his master’s degree.
“One of the hardest things to get across when you’re introducing this technology to people is that the DNA capsule doesn’t do anything except hold a shape. It’s just a static, rigid structure that carries things. It doesn’t encode any proteins or do anything else that we normally think of DNA as doing,” Halley said.
In keeping with the idea of DNA origami manufacturing, Castro said he hopes to create a streamlined and economically viable process for building the capsules—and other shapes as well—as part of a modular drug delivery system.
Byrd said the technique should potentially work on most any form of drug-resistant cancer if further work shows it can be effectively translated to animal models, though he stopped short of suggesting that it would work against pathogens such as bacteria, where the mechanisms for drug resistance may be different.UPDATE (June 18, 2015): According to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, Emmanuel Mudiay will have his second workout for the Los Angeles Lakers today:
Emmanuel Mudiay is getting a second workout with Lakers today. — Bill Oram (@billoram) June 18, 2015
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The 2015 NBA Draft is quickly approaching as the Los Angeles Lakers have worked out Jahlil Okafor, Kristaps Porzingis, D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay for their second overall pick. Although Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to meet with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, the Lakers have not been able to schedule one with him yet.
— Have you seen the ‘Lakers Nation’ phone case? —
About two weeks ago, Mudiay had dinner with Lakers officials and worked out for the team the following day. According to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Mudiay plans to have another workout for the storied franchise before the draft:
I'm told Emmanuel Mudiay definitely plans to have a 2nd workout with the Lakers before the draft. The date is not ironed out yet — Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) June 17, 2015
While the Lakers are reportedly ‘locked’ on selecting Okafor if Towns is not available, the franchise could go away from their tradition of big men and select a guard instead. While Mudiay has been in the conversation, his draft stock has slightly slipped as he is projected to land with the Sacramento Kings (sixth) according to MyNBADraft.
With a week before the NBA Draft on June 25, the Lakers will explore all of their options and hopefully take the next step in this rebuilding process. Although the last two seasons have not resulted in playoff appearances, the Lakers are establishing their foundation for the post-Kobe Bryant era.
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Please enable Javascript to watch this videoA Follow-up to this story.
NORTON, Mass. – The husband of a Massachusetts woman shot by an off-duty state trooper hunting deer after dark is questioning the trooper’s target identification.
If you’re confusing a woman, or even a dog for a deer, you don’t have a clear shot and SHOULD NOT MAKE ONE. Of course being a cop, the “Only One” mentality is in full-gear.
Authorities say the shooting was accidental. A state police spokesman says Bergeron was properly licensed and faces no criminal charges. The investigation continues.
Ummm you shot a woman thinking she was a deer. If I mistake a loaded gun from an unloaded one and shoot somebody do you think no charges will be filed?
Nope I don’t have a badge so I’ll lose my rights. Really I’d deserve it, there isn’t much margin for error when shooting, that goes double for hunting which is sport. The cop isn’t going hungry because he didn’t fill his freezer that day. No he was shooting a deer for the sport of it and shot a woman walking her dogs.
Nope you don’t get a pass for that, buddy, and neither should I.Afghan security forces claimed to have beaten back a Taliban assault on several districts in the remote northeastern province of Kunar, while the Taliban said it launched “a full-scale operation” that was successful.
The Taliban began its assault on the districts on the evening of May 15. The Afghan military claimed it killed 22 Taliban fighters and wounded five more, while suffering no casualties of its own. The military also said it had repelled the jihadists’ attacks on “security posts located in Shegal, Watapur, Chapadara, Marwara district and several other areas,” Khaama Press reported.
In a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban boasted that it killed “as many as 22 puppets,” or Afghan security personnel, and wounded “a large number of them” during “a full-scale operation in eastern Kunar province.” The Taliban claimed that five of its fighters were killed and three more were wounded. According to the Taliban, it targeted “military units, bases as well as government facilities in the provincial capital of Kunar province and other district [sic].”
The Taliban maintains a significant presence in Kunar, and routinely overruns district centers such as Marawara and Dangam. As of late March, the Taliban did not claim full control of any of Kunar’s 15 districts, but did say it controlled 80 percent of Marawara, Khas Kunar, Sarkano, Shegal, Dangam, Asmar, Nari, Nurgul, Tsukai, Narang, Watapur and Chapa Dara, and 20 percent of the provincial capital of Asadabad. FDD’s Long War Journal has assessed the Taliban’s claim of territorial control to be credible.
Withdrawal from Kunar fed the Taliban insurgency
Kunar province has remained both a battleground and a haven for the Taliban and allied jihadist groups such as al Qaeda, Laskhar-e-Taiba, and Jamaat ul Dawa al Quran since US forces withdrew from the province in 2010. US government designations of Laskhar-e-Taiba and Jamaat ul Dawa al Quran operatives indicate that these two groups maintain training camps in Kunar to this day.
The US withdrawal from Kunar in 2010, which took place as US forces were surging in Afghanistan in an effort to defeat the Taliban, was influenced by a July 2009 report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), entitled “Kunar and Nuristan, Rethinking U.S. Counterinsurgency Operations.”
In the report, ISW claimed that the US presence in Kunar’s remote valleys, and not the jihadists based there, was driving the insurgency, which was being carried out by “locals.”
“The presence of US forces in the Korengal generates violence and undermines US efforts to bring stability and security,” according to the report’s summary. “The resistance in this area is confined to locals in the valley. It does not accelerate the insurgency beyond the valley.”
However, this premise was quickly disproved as US forces withdrew from remote areas such as the Korengal and Pech valleys. The Taliban and allied forces began to assault military bases and district centers throughout the province. Following the American withdrawal, the US killed numerous al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders and fighters in airstrikes throughout Kunar, including in areas where ISW claimed that the insurgency was driven by local Afghans.
Additionally, the ISW report gave weight to the idea that the remote districts in Afghanistan are not as important as the population centers.
“Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan requires less |
and sent to the department that it said failed to indicate the scale of the problem.
At least one of the men affected by the test errors said an inquiry was needed into the state health department.
Topics: cancer, diseases-and-disorders, health, health-policy, mens-health, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, adelaide-5000, sa
First postedNothing sums up this government’s unique fusion of cant and artifice as neatly as the ousting of Conservative MP Rachael Harder as chair of the status of women committee, voted out by the Liberals Tuesday on the grounds of her anti-abortion views.
In their first throne speech, the Liberals pledged to respect diversity and differences of opinion in Parliament.
“In this Parliament, all members will be honoured, respected and heard wherever they sit. For here, in these chambers, the voices of all Canadians matter,” said the speech, delivered by the Governor General, which outlined the government’s priorities.
In the event, David Johnston should have added a caveat: “Except if you disagree with the Prime Minister. Then you will be shamed, disdained and silenced.”
On Tuesday, the Liberals, aided and abetted by the New Democrats, imposed the committee chair’s role on a pro-choice Conservative MP, Karen Vecchio, who didn’t even want the job. She was nominated, but she asked to withdrawn from that nomination. Her withdrawal would have required the consent of the Liberal- and NDP-dominated committee. She didn’t get it. (The status of women committee chair is always a member of the official opposition, according to House standing orders).
This is the same NDP that one short month ago complained Justin Trudeau was trying to dictate which New Democrat would sit on the new committee on national security and intelligence. Tom Mulcair, the former NDP leader, wanted to appoint MP Murray Rankin. Instead, Trudeau insisted Mulcair submit four names for consideration, from which he would pick one that would best reflect Canada’s regions, gender and culture.
Mulcair told him to get stuffed, accusing the prime minister of abusing his position by choosing who could represent the NDP at committee. Now, his party is complicit in helping the Liberals do just that with the status of women committee.
With Harder in the chair, there would have been tensions when dealing with issues like reproductive rights. But the committee is there to give voice to all women in Canada, regardless of their beliefs. The very definition of pro-choice is the choice to disagree.
Trudeau has made it a condition that all Liberal MPs be pro-choice, even if there are grandfathered members of the caucus who are anti-abortion. That is his prerogative.
But he shouldn’t get to trample on the rights of opposition parties by choosing committees’ members and their roles.
It turns out in this case there are good business reasons for such blatant hypocrisy. No sooner had Liberal MPs walked out of committee last week to protest Harder’s nomination than the party’s fundraising machine was cranking out calls for cash.
“This is a very clear demonstration of what we mean when we say Andrew Scheer’s Conservative Party will take us backwards,” the fund-raising email said. “If you oppose Andrew Scheer’s out-of-touch agenda, then chip in what you can and help our movement keep fighting for real change we believe in.”
This is likely to be the Liberal line of attack as we head toward 2019.
It’s hard to paint Scheer as a malevolent figure, plotting to bring soldiers with guns into our cities, as the Liberals did with Stephen Harper in 2006.
But he goes to church, has five children and has been consistently anti-abortion, even while saying he would never legislate on the issue.
Thus, his agenda is “out of touch” and “backward,” if not hidden.
Contrary to the Prime Minister’s heart-felt soliloquies on the plight of beached jellyfish and other tragedies, the Liberal Party is a great, heartless electoral machine.
As we get closer to the 2019 election, we can expect to see more cynical episodes like the removal of the status of women committee chair, particularly if the party’s grip on power looks to be under threat.
They should make a red Liberal ball-cap: Making Canada Safe for Hypocrisy.
• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: IvisonJCourt to world: You can’t prevent students from peeing. Thinkstock
In a landmark ruling, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held on Tuesday that federal law bars public schools from denying trans students access to the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. The 2–1 decision afforded deference to the federal government’s interpretation of existing law to protect trans students from discrimination. Under that interpretation, the court held, public schools cannot exclude trans students from the bathroom. The ruling puts North Carolina’s new bathroom restrictions in direct conflict with federal law and clear judicial precedent.
At the heart of the 4th Circuit’s ruling is a single provision of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX bars sex discrimination, which the agency interprets to encompass gender identity discrimination. Federal courts must defer to “reasonable” agency interpretations of the law. So the 4th Circuit explored the concept of “sex,” noting that “a hard-and-fast binary division on the basis of reproductive organs” is “not universally descriptive.” Rather, dictionaries in use when Congress passed Title IX defined sex as “the sum of the morphological, physiological, and behavioral peculiarities of living beings … that is typically manifested as maleness and femaleness.” The complexity of sex, combined with this qualifier (“typically”), indicates that “sex” encompasses the gap between the binary, and the broader concept of gender identity.
This decision overturns a federal judge’s ruling to the contrary and effectively ensures that a trans Virginia student will win his case against the school that barred him from the bathroom. Perhaps more importantly, the ruling casts serious doubt on the validity of North Carolina’s new anti-LGBTQ law, which forbids all trans public school students from using the correct facilities. (North Carolina, like Virginia, falls within the 4th Circuit, along with Maryland, West Virginia, and South Carolina.) Although the University of North Carolina’s anti-gay president has declared that she will enforce the law against trans students, the 4th Circuit’s decision makes clear that such enforcement would be illegal. If UNC (and other North Carolina schools) move forward with their plan to discriminate against trans students, they stand to lose $4.5 billion in Title IX funding.
“Today’s ruling makes plain that the North Carolina legislature violated Title IX by discriminating against trans students and forcing them to use the wrong restroom at school,” Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina, told me. “The state should do what we’ve been calling on them to do for weeks now: Repeal HB2.”
Just a day before the 4th Circuit handed down its decision, a Tennessee lawmaker killed the state’s bathroom bill. This week is shaping up to be an unprecedentedly good one for trans students in America.
Update, April 19, 2016: This post has been updated with a comment by the ACLU of North Carolina’s legal director.On May 10 this year, a common drive will unite mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts all over the Philippines – a drive to clean up the country’s many mountains. Of course, regular cleanup climbs are organized throughout the year. However, starting this year and through the efforts of Mr. Gideon Lasco (of pinoymountaineer.com fame) and other like-minded hikers, the 10th of May will now be dedicated not only to the upkeep of Philippine mountains, but also to promoting the preservation and protection of our forests, camping grounds, and trails.
The event, a nationwide activity, will not be spearheaded by Mr. Lasco. He is the primal proponent of the cause, but it will be up to different groups and climb organizers to gather participants and facilitate the different cleanup climbs in different areas. This is one thing that makes the cause special. It will be of the whole community, for the whole community, and by the whole community.
Popular hiking spots like Mts. Batulao, Maculot, Gulugod Baboy, and Pico de Loro are some areas where the most number of groups will be conducting cleanups. Lesser known mountains will not be overlooked, though, as many in the Philippines are fond of hiking and most mountains will have a good tidy-up. So far, over 50 mountains and close to 70 groups are listed on Pinoy Mountaineer’s register – and these are only the ones that are known. Comes May 1oth, many more will definitely head to the trails armed with gloves, garbage bags and the desire to make a lasting impression and a positive change.
I, myself, will be joining a cleanup climb on this day. Some hiker friends and I will be going with a group to Mt. Ugo to have our cleanup there. It will be my first time to climb Mt. Ugo. Close to 7,000 feet and offering a challenging yet scenic trail, Mt. Ugo is one of the major destinations in the Cordilleras and I am eager to climb and clean it.
This is set to be another fun learning experience and I am excited not only to have it, but also to write about it! In the meantime, I leave you with this:
“Let us love the mountains. Let no one desecrate their beauty by leaving anything behind. Instead, let every climb be a clean-up climb.”
– Gideon Lasco, Pinoy Mountaineer
Related: Pinoy Mountaineer’s call for a National Mountain Cleanup Day
AdvertisementsWe tend to think of the 'break-up album' as being about either immersion in melodramatic love songs, a kind of flushing of our emotions by overexposure, or else kicking love to the curb with a kind of 'I don't need no man/woman' bravado. Both of these prescriptions are reductive and silly and ultimately not going to help with your overcast symptoms. I've been on The National for years now though and can highly recommend it, a third type of audial medication that involves looking, as though down the barrel of a gun, at what went wrong, allowing the regrets and the longings to reach every nerve ending in your body, finding some catharsis in this, and then, if you're lucky, moving on.
Sleep Well Beast, the band's seventh album, came to me in the middle of a break-up - more specifically, one of those 'lots of little tears that leave the thing beyond salvage' break-ups, and has been a fountain of solace to occasionally drink from in the past few weeks/months/I forget. "It’s about marriages falling apart," frontman Matt Berninger said of it. "I’m happily married, but marriage is hard and my wife and I are writing the lyrics together about our own struggles, and it’s difficult to write, but it’s saving my marriage." The album functions as kind of the inverse of a blueprint; a detailed schematic of what will befall you in your relationships if you don't act now. It is not a happy album.
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The National have honed a fairly consistent sound across their discography, but Sleep Well Beast is probably the biggest departure both in terms of genre and lyrics. Musically, electronic influences are creeping in and the songs are more richly, thoughtfully layered than ever, no doubt a result of guitarist Bryce Dessner's forays into film composing (he recently did the score for Iñárritu's The Revenant). Lyrically, meanwhile, Berninger opts for a more oblique, ambiguous, even pleasingly inscrutable style, putting aside the ornately poetic sentences of earlier albums for something more blunt that seems to take its cues from Iceberg Theory. Sometimes, this a shame and I miss the 'Out of my league I have birds in my sleeves and I want to rush in with the fools' lines of yesteryear, but, with others, it is completely devastating and his best lyrical work yet.
It's hard to rank the album alongside the band's six preceding LPs as they always take quite some time to seep into the bones; I've spent nearly three months with Sleep Well Beast now but it still feels like it's holding charms that will unfurl with more listens. It is an incredibly cohesive album though - it operates in its own defined space and has an intense frostiness to, which, for The National, is saying something. Here are some scattered thoughts on individual tracks.
'Nobody Else Will Be There' opens the album, a song which, if it were a town, would be twinned with Trouble Will Find Me's opener, 'I Should Live In Salt'. It sounds like wandering through a city park on a cold day in a big coat, absent-mindedly kicking stones, pondering the kind of the day the pigeons have had, and trying not think about her/him. It skewers those moments where there is nothing left to say to each other but still, there you are, both stood dumb and motionless:
'Why are we still out here holding our coats? We look like children.
Goodbyes always take us half an hour. Can't we just go home?'
'Day I Die' follows, a more uptempo but still very melancholic track that lyrically evokes the scattered jumble of denial, nostalgia, anger, sadness and thoughts of death that come with all severe break-ups.
'Walk It Back' is perhaps my favourite song on the album and the biggest departure for the band, slowly building around rubbery synth stabs, advancing on you and beginning to glow like a street lamp heating up.
Curiously, it includes a semi-famous quote from a George W. Bush aide about the world's departure from the'reality-based community', at once a nod to the situation the US currently finds itself in (The National are very engaged in politics) and seemingly also an analogy for the dissociative effect of losing a love.
A chorus of female voices rise like departing birds to announce lead single 'The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness', another track with political undertones that features the closest the band are apt to want to get to a 'catchy guitar riff'.
'Born to Beg' is a difficult and confrontational listen, exposing the tendencies and the reliances we're usually too ashamed to truly recognise in ourselves, as it declares:
'I was born to beg for you.
I'd cry, crawl. I'd do it all. Teakettle love, I'd do anything.'
There's usually at least one louder, more brash song on a National album and, in this case, it's 'Turtleneck'. I love to hear Matt cut loose to the point of almost screaming, but this one, for me, isn't as memorable as a 'Mr. November' or a 'Slipping Husband'.
'Empire Line' is next, and when it opens with the words 'You've been sleeping for miles', you can imagine these miles stretching out all around - a vista of void - as the melody rattles out into the ether. It all evokes the way a relationship falling apart can seem so claustrophobic during each falter, but in a macro sense it's all so sprawling and inexorable. A sort of slow motion mania builds, as Matt sings:
'I've been talking to about you to myself.'
Yep. We've all been there.
There's a sense of being lost and disorientated to 'I'll Still Destroy You', like trying to locate your boarding gate on half a Valium. Lyrical highlights include brutally succinct self-assessments like 'I have helpless friends and bad tastes in liquids' and 'I'm just trying to stay in touch with anything I'm still in touch with', and the imagist gem 'This one's like the wilderness without the world.'
Drummer Bryan Devendorf switches out his usual floor tom and hi-hat-heavy beats for a sample pad in the 'Guilty Party' intro, as an electronic sound comes to the fore again.
'I say your name, I say I'm sorry' Matt recounts, and I'm reminded how when we choose to call each other by name, it's usually bad news. 'It's nobody's fault, no guilty party,' he continues, 'I just got nothing, nothing left to say.' If there are Kübler-Ross model stages to break-ups like there are for grief, this track depicts the moment of despondency; things are beyond blame and anger, it's just about grim acceptance, exhaustion, maybe even boredom. These words are met with such a beautiful, fragile guitar line and the song contains, for me, the most poignant line on the album:
'Another year gets away, another summer of love.
I don't know why I care, We miss it every summer.'
We both want to get back on track so much but what are we actually doing about it? Time cheerfully marks our inability to grow up and reconcile.
'Carin at the Liquor Store' (presumably named after Matt's wife, Carin Besser) is a more straightforward piano ballad in the vein of TWFM's 'Pink Rabbits', centred around the kind of riff someone might clank out on a piano in an LA apartment about three hours after dinner when all the wine's been finished.
I became incredibly enamoured of 'Dark Side of the Gym' at live shows, and while the moreish guitar line, unfortunately, sits lower and more hidden in the mix on record, this is still a stand out track; a velveteen, vespertine waltz with a woozy, dreamlike quality. It conjures some mad, wonderful imagery, for instance:
'I have dreams of anonymous castrati, singing to us from the trees.'
Remembered that illuminated house Tony Soprano nearly enters during his coma dream? This song would be playing on a gramophone in the courtyard.
'Sleep Well Beast' closes the album and looks back at everything that's come to pass. It has that irresistible feel that qualifies it as a 'driving song', the hood of the car eating up the white stripes on the road in the night. Thlp thlp thlp thlp thlp.
After all the psychic and emotional confusion and toing and froing, everything suddenly becomes painfully clear to the protagonist and the lyrics are transparent:
'Go back to sleep, let me try, let me figure it out. How to get us back to the place where we were when we first went out.'
But then the stone is kicked down the road:
'I'll tell you about it sometime, the time we left.'
The album never makes it overt and explicit, but a sense of responsibility lurks, implores under its surface: Tell them now. Before it's too late.
This would be a lot easier if we didn't incessantly cannibalise our own thoughts and impulses. Conversations in our heads always have two sides, whether it's our warring good and bad impulses or the meta narratives and the way we think about things and then think about how we think about things. This dichotomy can drive a person insane, and this distracting, secondary cerebral faculty is perhaps impossible to kill; the best we can hope for is to keep it dormant. As Matt concludes:
'I'll still destroy you someday, sleep well beast. You as well beast.'
------
Sleep Well Beast is out 8 September.Hi all,
It’s snowing on Christmas eve here in Seattle! While normally that would be cause for celebration, there’s one small issue: I have a flight tomorrow morning at 6:20 AM down to California for a church conference there, and I won’t have much access to WiFi (or free time, for that matter). I originally planned on posting what little I have translated tonight, but given the snow situation we will have to wake up probably 1-2 hours earlier than planned to account for increased travel time. I will try and do a chapter dump when I get back on Monday, January 1st. I highly doubt it will be 7 chapters, since my schedule really is packed, but as many as I have I will dump!
Thank you for your patience. Have a wonderful holidays 🙂
-gandalfs_socksAside from Rihanna’s recent hit, Work is generally not a term associated with wide-eyed enthusiasm or smiles.
Considering we spend approximately 33% of our lives at work, this is a huge opportunity miss.
With 71% of employees reporting not being fully engaged and $11 Billion lost annually to employee turnover, management can no longer afford to ignore the problem.
So how can you make sure your company is a positive force in your employee’s lives?
Below are five no-cost tips to help increase employee engagement and create an environment that employees are happy to contribute to.
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the makers of Happster, the workplace happiness app.
1. Less isolation, More face time
Far too many C-Level executives lead the pack from behind. They’re hidden away on separate floors or hallways, completely separate from the rank and file. It’s near impossible to get a pulse on your workforce when you’re isolated from it.
70% of employees who lacked confidence in Senior Leadership were not fully engaged in their role.
Increasing face time and even simple interaction with all your employees will go a long way to restoring trust and understanding.
2. Taking action on employee feedback and surveys
Nearly every company conducts an annual employee survey. Did you know 80% of employees expect their managers to take absolutely no action on employee feedback? In addition to not taking action, failure to address employee concerns significantly increases the likelihood of them becoming disengaged and feeling insignificant.
In fact, employee surveys can actually have a negative effect if zero action is taken year after year. Show your employees you care about their thoughts and contribution to the business by publicly addressing their advice and displaying action plans for improvement.
3. Be genuine, be transparent
Relationships between employees and their direct managers matter a lot. 80% of employees dissatisfied with the direct manager reported being disengaged from the company as a whole. Managers should maintain great relationships not only with their direct reports but also the next level down the hierarchy.
Rather than starting your one-on-ones with business related matters, ask about personal lives and family. This will show you care and empathize with them, increasing the likelihood of them becoming more aligned with your goals. Environments where employees can openly discuss blockers, internal or external, are more successful at keeping teams empowered.
4. Facilitate friendships at work
Having social connections at work is immensely important in keeping people engaged. Employees with a best-friend at work are 7x more likely to be fully engaged and aligned with the company. Employees are often busy during normal work hours, so it’s up to the company to facilitate team members getting to know each other.
Activities that bring people together, including game nights, happy hours, bowling leagues, book clubs and idea incubators go a long way towards building connections. These events may cost some money, but think of it as an investment. The company Mindvalley found that close friendships at work boosted employee satisfaction by 50%.
5. Understand what matters to your employees and align with their growth path.
The two largest factors in creating an environment of engaged employees are enthusiasm and empowerment. Managers should continually reinforce to employees that they are valued as true contributors, which gives them an increased sense of empowerment.
When an employee is on-boarded or promoted, the very first one-on-one should be about growth – “where would you like to be in 12 months?”. Employees who feel a sense of professional growth are far less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere. An ongoing dialog with your employees about their goals will encourage them to exceed these benchmarks.
happster Check out our employee engagement app & find out why teams love it! Take a Product Tour
Subscribe to Aventr WeeklyA painful prick of the fingertip reveals a mountain of medical information for many diabetes patients. But health professionals have long struggled to find a reliable and painless way to gather blood sugar measurements. Just last year, Google announced that it was developing contact lenses that measure glucose levels in its user’s tears. But now, nanoengineers may have found an even easier way for diabetes patients to monitor their vital levels: temporary tattoos.
Amay Bandodkar, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, has created a flexible sensor that uses a mild electrical current to measure glucose levels in a person’s body. Measuring blood sugar levels multiple times a day is vital for diabetes patients because it shows how well their body is managing their disease as well as the dose of insulin they require, if they need any at all. But because many people find needles unpleasant, they tend to avoid measuring their levels, which puts them at risk of developing serious medical complications. The new device is painless—It contains electrodes printed on a thin tattoo paper that patients can even dispose after use. “Presently the tattoo sensor can easily survive for a day,” Bandodkar said in a statement. “These are extremely inexpensive—a few cents—and hence can be replaced without much financial burden on the patient.”Jabari Parker's rookie season was cut short due to a torn left ACL sustained on Dec. 15. Parker has worked hard during the rehab process and there is talk he might be cleared to play by the start of the 2015-16 regular season. From Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times:
"Just over two months ago, while the Bucks were conducting pre-draft workouts, Parker used a portion of the gym at the team’s training facility in St. Francis to go through a series of drills under the direction of Suki Hobson, the team’s personable and highly-energized trainer. Parker did virtually everything under the sun to test his surgically-repaired left knee. He made hard cuts. He jumped with force. He sprinted. And he looked great.... At this moment, there isn't any indication Parker won’t be ready for the Bucks’ regular-season opener Oct. 28 against the New York Knicks at the Bradley Center.... Bucks officials, contend Parker’s minutes will be'monitored' at the outset of the season, with some believing it’ll be about 20 minutes a game."
Once Parker returns to the starting lineup, he will play at power forward with Giannis Antetokounmpo at small forward. The rest of the first unit will include Michael Carter-Williams at point guard, Khris Middleton at shooting guard and Greg Monroe at center.Russell Street Report Salary Cap Ravens to receive 4 Compensatory Picks in 2013
The Ravens are expected to receive four Compensatory Draft Picks for the 2013 draft given their free agent losses. This would push the team’s total number of draft picks to 11 come April, 2013
Under NFL rules four is the maximum number of Compensatory Draft Picks permitted.
This offseason six of the Ravens’ unrestricted free agents signed by other clubs qualified. Those six players matched up against two unrestricted free agent signings by the Ravens (CB Corey Graham ~ Bears and Sean Considine ~ Arizona) net out to four picks.
It is possible that Considine may not qualify in the evaluation but that designation is a moot point anyway, since the maximum number of comp picks awarded to any individual team is four.
The Ravens lost G Ben Grubbs (Saints), LB Jarret Johnson (Chargers), S Tom Zbikowski (Colts), S Haruki Nakamura (Panthers), DE Cory Redding (Colts) and DT Brandon McKinney (Colts).
Players cut by the Ravens (Chris Carr) or signed after being cut by a player’s old team (G Bobbie Williams ~ Bengals, WR Jacoby Jones ~ Texans) do not count toward the compensatory pick calculation.Matt Yoka and Ty Segall have created some of the weirdest and most exciting pieces of music video since Spike Jonze and the Beastie Boys.
Many filmmakers break onto the scene with a music video. For directors with a unique vision, like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry, music videos are the perfect venue for expressing and testing out auteurship.
In this new series, we attempt to find the next class of auteurs through their work on music videos. First up: frequent Ty Segall collaborator and heir to the throne of David Cronenberg, Matt Yoka. Below, he explains the process, from concept to shoot, of making some of his most lauded music videos.
"Music videos have always been a source of experimentation."
Emotional Mugger
NFS: There are a lot of metaphors and recurring themes scattered throughout the album. How did you and Ty [Segall] collaborate to find a way to visually represent them?
Yoka: Emotional Mugger was the first album that he wrote since moving back to Los Angeles. The album itself is very much rooted in his interpretation of the city. He's from Orange County. I'm from LA. We're both generally Los Angeles kids. This place is a very personal place for us. We'd both been traveling around and living in other places and had moved back to the city around the same time. I think for both of us, this project was a fucked-up love song for our city.
So, we settled on the idea that he walks across the city. I felt like it was necessary for everything that he witnesses to physically manifest itself onto him. Every scene that he witnesses just adds another degree of deformation. It's all the idea that a city wears you down. Then we sat down with the producer of the album, F. Bermudez, listened to the album, and just kind of built out the scenes from there.
It was more collaborative than we had done in the past. He remixed some of the music that then informed the specific scenes. Then, after we shot it, we remixed more music to fill it out. It really was a back and forth process. For me, that's really exciting because it's a deeper collaboration with the musician.
Ty Segall in "Emotional Mugger"
NFS: There’s a lot in here that’s uncomfortable to watch—needles, blood, puss, hookers, weird sticky blue acid, boils. What is the value of forcing the viewer into this discomfort?
Yoka: That's a good question. I think about what I see on the street or what I see in the news—a cop killing a young black man, or somebody you know that overdoses, or watching a group of people sitting together and staring on their phones—all of those things sometimes feel as graphic as the way I interpreted them in this video. We're desensitized. How many times have we seen videos of people getting killed? The only way to make a comment about it is to show it in a way that's stranger. That's in service of saying how fucked up things are in reality.
"When bodies fit together, they create this weird abstraction. Sometimes it can be geometrically perfect."
NFS: Let's talk about Cronenberg a little bit. He has a famous distaste for humans intermingling with technology. He has this whole body horror aesthetic. How has Cronenberg inspired you in your work?
Yoka: Raise was my attempt to try and tap into a little bit of his aesthetic and his effects. I love Spielberg too; early Spielberg's amazing. I think they actually share some interests as far as special effects. I just love Cronenberg's effects. The scene where the television in Videodrome is getting all sensual and kind of like undulating— visually, it's so much fun to look at. He re-purposes something that's been used largely by the horror film community to say things that are a lot more substantial than just watching somebody get ripped apart for the sake of getting ripped apart. He has his cake and eats it too. He does this outrageous visual stuff but he's able to say deeper things.
I'm just starting out in my career. I'm still looking towards what Cronenberg's done and seeing where that can take me. He's the man.
Thank God For The Sinners
NFS: This is a different type of body horror. You used the body as the landscape.
Yoka: We all live in bodies and we interact with bodies. It's easy to kind of just let them normalize. Say you're laying next to somebody holding them, right? Let's say you're the big spoon. You look down at where your chest is meeting the shoulder of this person and then they start to almost look like a singular space, or start looking like a distorted version of a body, and you're like, "Now what I'm looking at doesn't make any sense anymore." My chest is disappearing into a back, or my arm is underneath another arm. You have no spatial reference.
When bodies fit together, they create this weird abstraction. Sometimes it can be geometrically perfect. I like making people look at things they see every day differently.
From the movie musical "42nd Street", directed by Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley for the musical numbers.
NFS: Were you the one who choreographed it? It's almost like a dance piece.
Yoka: Yeah, I did. The other person that I think about a lot is Busby Berkeley. He is the master of large-scale dance choreography. If you look at his work or the Rockettes or synchronized swimming, they're all just strange and beautiful.
NFS: I've got to ask about the tongue at the end.
Yoka: The tongue... that's where collaborating with Ty is so much fun. I kind of built up the whole concept, but I hadn't come up with a grand finale. Ty and I were actually driving down from San Francisco to LA and I hadn't talked to him about the idea. I was like, "I've got this idea for a video." I tell him the whole thing and he's like, "Okay, that sounds pretty cool, but it needs some sort of ending." I was like, "Yeah, you're right." I'm in the passenger seat. I start crawling my hands towards my face and then I grab my upper and lower jaw and start stretching it out a little bit. Ty's like, "Yeah, and then the tongue gets ripped out."
Goodbye Bread
NFS: How did you pull off the effect where everything moves in slow motion while Ty stays in real-time?
Yoka: Well, it’s a one-shot. I think I got it from Spike Jonze's music video for Undone (The Sweater Song). It's all in slow motion. I shot Goodbye Bread at ninety-six frames a second. You shoot things four times faster, so when you play it back in twenty-four frames, it's in slow motion. I essentially multiplied the speed of the film by four and then we multiplied the speed of the song by four. Then when you play it back, you return it to the actual speed in which the song plays out.
NFS: Did you give every single one of the extras direction?
Yoka: Do you know where we shot that? Death by Audio. I was living in New York at the time. I recruited twenty friends and then they all brought a few friends. I hired a costume and makeup person and I told them the basic concept that I wanted. They laid out all the costumes on the table. I got a keg of beer. Then somebody brought a bunch of weed. We hung out there all afternoon prepping for it, just drinking and playing dress-up.
I told anybody who came to just go to the table and pick out a costume that they liked. Once everybody was set up and we had figured out the camera movement, I started placing people as though they were little pieces of a puzzle. I remember specifically the ballerinas were hanging out and they looked bored. I was like, "Hey, do you guys want to choreograph a little thing?" They got super pumped on that idea. I got excited because in that kind of shoot, it's all about energy. You want to make sure people are enjoying themselves, so bringing them into the collaborative process was the most important thing.
By the time Ty showed up, everybody's partying and acting ridiculous and dressed up in these costumes. I'm saying, "Can the leopard girl, can you stand over there? You guys are going to do the keg stand." Then Ty taps me on the shoulder and was like, "What the fuck is going on?"
The Singer
NFS: The videos of Manipulator seem to be a little less dark and much more playful than the videos of songs from other albums. Why?
Yoka: In this case, I really wanted the video to be passive to the music. It's a pretty simple concept. We shot it once with just the band playing. We don't move the frame at all. Then, they act as a plate that we can lay over when Ty plays. Then, Ty's in a harness and it's just light choreography. It just lifts up during the guitar solo and then it drops him down at the end of it. What we do in post is I essentially superimpose the two images together and then I can drop the transparency of the performance of the band so they look kind of ghostly. They're semitransparent so you can see things behind them, which creates the Ghostbusters, Casper-type effect.
Ty Segall and Matt Yoka's video for "Goodbye Bread" was shot at Death By Audio in 2011.
NFS: Is there any kind of symbolism behind this ghostly effect?
Yoka: I was imagining it like a musician writing a song. You have a musician who's at his home or in his garage or in some piece of shit studio. He's writing a song with a guitar, not even plugged in, just kind of imagining how it sounds. Then, in your head you're kind of imagining, then I'll have the drums come in like this, or I'll add some violins at this part.
What I was really doing was more about the ghosts of the creative process. The elements of the song are like ghosts in your head that you're working through when you're putting a song together. Him getting lifted off of the ground is kind of this grandiose vision of how it's going to feel when the song's completed. It's going to be such a ripper that it's going to lift you off the ground.
Manipulator
NFS: Why interactive?
Yoka: I was actually struggling to come up with an idea. I started thinking, "What if I created a video where you could change things in the video?" Then I started going down an internet rabbit hole. I'd never really been interested in making interactive videos, but suddenly it seemed like all I wanted to do. Music videos have always been a source of experimentation.
NFS: What was your collaborative process with designer/coder Simon Wis |
has drawn flak from across the spectrum of human rights groups and sparked a renewed debate on censorship.
"By prosecuting Amos Yee for his comments, no matter how outrageous they may have been, Singapore has unfortunately doubled down on a strategy that clearly violates freedom of expression," Reuters reported Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Right Watch's Asia division, as saying.
Robertson added that as a country that takes pride in being efficient, Singapore needs to “re-examine its approach”.
(WION with inputs from Reuters)ES Football Newsletter Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account
Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko has earned the praise of France manager Didier Deschamps after reviving his career with Spurs this season.
Sissoko, a club record £30million signing from Newcastle in the summer of 2016, only stayed at Tottenham due to a lack of offers during the transfer window but has made the most of his shot at redemption over recent weeks.
The 28-year-old has started four of Spurs’ seven Premier League games and scored his first goal for the club in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Huddersfield.
His improved form has also earned Sissoko a return to the France squad after missing World Cup qualifiers against Netherlands and Luxembourg, with his France manager backing him to repay his trust.
Deschamps said: “Moussa is playing again – he is putting together a run of matches and he is playing well. He has experience and he had a really good Euros.
“He does not have a fixed position. He is a good soldier. When I use him, I know he is going to respond.”
France will be without Laurent Koscielny for their games against Bulgaria and Belarus, where only two wins will guarantee their qualification for the World Cup.
The Arsenal defender has been ruled out after a recurrence of his long-term Achilles injury, with Marseille’s Adil Rami called up in his place.That first day passed in a confused blur. There seemed to be no end to the tasks required of them, with work still continuing on the crawler even as it was under way. Jan lent his hand wherever he could. Finally as night fell all but a skeleton crew gathered in the improvised mess to celebrate. Flagons of cheaply distilled liquor were produced and somebody rigged music to play over the comms.
It was strange; even though Jan barely knew the crew he already felt a sense of camaraderie. What they were doing was insane, provocatory and dangerous, but while the tank drove on it was possible to feel invincible. He’d even joined in the cheer from the gantry when one of the guns opened up on the drone above, lighting up the night like an improvised fireworks display and blowing the small aircraft apart.
After a brief, perfunctory speech Christo had vanished, leaving Jan alone with the others. The man seemed preoccupied which had struck him as odd; Christo thrived in moments like these. But Jan dismissed the thought; Christo would be busy with the next stage of the plan – whatever that might be. Instead he resolved to enjoy himself, mixing with the off-duty revolutionaries. He’d heard a dozen stories of how each of them had come to Christo’s cause, every one different. They’d been disaffected Enforcers, engineers from the conurbations, plantation workers and more recruited by Christo from across the Americas. They in turn had listened enraptured as he told his own story, nodding sympathetically as he spoke of his daughter’s abduction and leaning in conspiratorially to hear of the mission to the reservation. The attention had made him uncomfortable at first, but as the moonshine flowed he’d found release in talking. He’d been on his own for far too long.
‘What’s the point of all this?’ Jan said, finally. ‘Stealing this machine, taking a Dyn hostage, heading north? I’ve tried asking Christo, but he’s a man who answers questions with more questions.’
There were a few knowing laughs at that.
‘It’s proof that we can fight back, that the human spirit will endure,’ a bright-eyed young man answered.
‘Christo knows what he’s doing. He always has. You just have to trust him,’ replied another. Some just shrugged jokingly or smiled as though trying to convey they knew more than the others. Jan didn’t know what to make of that, but he had a sense Christo hadn’t told the crew the whole story. This had to be more than a suicide pact, surely.
‘Christo tells you exactly what you need to know and nothing more,’ came Tuva’s slurred voice as she pushed her way clumsily through the huddle. She looked pointedly at Jan. ‘So that some… infiltrator can’t go blab to Arco.’
The group exchanged looks with one another and sniggered amongst themselves. Jan held her gaze impassively. Someone put their arm around her shoulders to lead her away but she shoved it aside.
‘Watch your back, wastelander!’ she called as she stalked off.
Sometime later, when the others had also stumbled back to their bunks and hammocks, Jan found himself standing alone out on the gantry with the wind whipping past his ears as the massive vehicle rumbled onwards. The Other Moon rose high enough to be visible over the horizon-hugging clouds while the lights of orbiting Dynic spacecraft and satellites glimmered, brighter than Jan had ever known them. They were descending, approaching closer to the Earth; he spotted the minute spikes of their rockets firing to bring them down. It couldn’t be a coincidence – the Dyn were descending because they wanted to keep a close eye on Christo and his revolution.
To flee would be the sensible, sane thing to do. He should be running as far as possible from the focus of that malevolent constellation. At any moment one of those lights in the sky might flare with sudden brightness, and they would all die in screaming fire. But Jan knew he wouldn’t leave. As ever, the culprit was curiosity; the same disease that had led him inadvertently to the revolution and in the end, taken Eva from him. She’d only wanted to learn about the world, and the world had punished her for that. He had to know what the plan was, even if it meant only the slightest chance that he might avenge his daughter.
Jan felt a little giddy; that crude liquor had unsettled his thoughts. He glanced at the ladder behind him, before looking side to side. He had often wondered just what the Dyn looked like, and might never get a better chance to find out. Before he lost his nerve, Jan walked over to the ladder and placed a hand on the cold metal, pulling himself upwards. The wind whistled harder as he rose.
He clambered onto the deck and turned up towards the projecting control room, eyes skating over the mostly empty platform. A few figures were clustered at the prow, spotting for dangerous lights in the sky, but otherwise he was alone. The night shift crew were all on the lower decks.
The Dyn lay in the exact centre, lower limbs secured to the deck by heavy pitons. Jan’s breath caught in his throat, the animal fear he felt at being so close to his oppressor rising again.
Jan’s first impression was of a bear. That impression quickly diminished as he drew closer. He got within a few metres of it, keeping to the shadows beyond the arc lights. The Dyn had a hunched, powerful torso, with four almost identical ropey limbs splayed in strange places. They were neither conventional limbs nor tentacles but some odd hybrid of the two. The forelimbs ended in grotesquely elongated claws while the hindlimbs could have almost been jointed tails, projecting seamlessly from the end of the torso. The pallid skin had the glistening texture of plastic where it was exposed but much of the creature was coated in some kind of mossy false life. The head was pointed and triangular with three thick plates for jawbones; more mechanical than animal. Two thin strakes of black jelly seemed to serve it for eyes. The head twisted in a queasy fashion that reminded Jan of a neck snapping, and it stared right at him. Those eyes seemed far too intelligent.
His jacket flapped about violently in the wind, and Jan lurched forward as a gust unsteadied him, tripping over a loose deckplate into the glare of the floodlights. A shadow loomed over. He looked up, confronted by the bottomless pit of an alien eye just inches from his own. As the Dyn regarded him a soft clicktrain bubbled up from deep within its throat. Jan’s courage failed entirely and he scrambled backwards, retreating down the ladder, head swimming. There couldn’t have been many people who’d come that close to a Dyn and lived. He stumbled below deck, navigating corridors and collapsing into his hammock.
As Jan fell into the bunk, he felt around in his pocket for the reassuring form of Eva’s photograph. With a lurch in his stomach, he realised it wasn’t there. He started and rolled off the hammock, to the muted complaint of the slumbering forms beside him, and began to feel frantically around on the floor.
‘The photograph! Where’s the photograph!’ he hissed.
‘What’re you on about? My shift’s in two hours.’
‘Shut up, I’m trying to get some sleep!’
Fighting back a rising headache, Jan dashed out of the bunk room and back onto the top deck, wondering if he’d somehow dropped it when he’d fallen. He hoped against hope that the photograph hadn’t been blown off the deck. As soon as he’d ascended the ladder Jan saw it, flapping in the wind, snagged on the deckplate. This time the Dyn didn’t stir as he approached, but that dark eye watched him all the while as he retrieved it. The figure of a smiling girl in a crumpled t-shirt, with a heart-shaped face, hazel eyes and long black hair was just visible on one side. Exhausted, he returned to the bunk and sank into a broken, restless sleep.
Not many hours later, a shrill klaxon woke Jan for the morning shift. His head pounding from the short night and illicit alcohol, Jan cleared away his hammock in the mess and helped unpack tables and benches.
The ‘mess hall’ was in fact several repurposed storage compartments, low-ceilinged and windowless. It was still the largest space in the crawler, aside from the rear compartment where cars and other bulky items were stored. The goodwill the others had shown Jan the night before had faded considerably; evidently his nighttime antics had not impressed. Jan was too exhausted and hungry to care; he knew there would be more backbreaking labour in the day ahead, and didn’t want to face any of it on an empty stomach.
Having readied the room Jan joined the queue for food. Today’s offering was grey gruel and potatoes, but at least he didn’t have to catch it himself. He had to admit that the knowledge he wouldn’t go hungry each night was a comfort. The regimented days and the cramped, foul-smelling rooms were the other side of that particular coin. Just as he reached the bowl-laden table, Tuva stepped in front of him, elbowing him out of the way.
‘Back of the line, wastelander,’ she hissed, pouring herself a huge bowl of the gruel. Someone behind Jan shoved him into Tuva, guffawing as he did – Pao. Of course it would be Pao. Jan jolted into her, spilling the gruel over her already stained overalls. Tuva turned around, features a mask of anger. She was thin, but Jan noticed the wiry muscles flexing under her clothes.
‘What do you say to me now?’ she smiled.
‘It wasn’t me,’ Jan said, trying to keep his voice level. He turned to see Pao grinning at him and Tuva, the others backing off. There was a hush in the room as everyone turned to watch the new entertainment.
‘You think you’re going to beat Arco with that attitude?’ she mocked, her voice turning high-pitched, mimicking his accent. ‘Oh, I’m sorry it wasn’t me. Oh please don’t hurt me. Please don’t take my lovely daughter.’
‘Yeah,’ said Pao from behind him. ‘Maybe if you weren’t such a pussy you could have stopped them from taking her.’
‘Drew quite the audience for your convenient little backstory last night Jan… and where did you go after everyone else went to sleep, huh? To go check in with Arco? Or up to the deck to plead with your masters directly?’
Jan made to leave, but Pao stopped him.
‘That’s if Eva even is who you say she is,’ he said, squaring up to Jan.
‘Don’t you dare say her name again,’ he said in a very low voice.
‘Eva’s probably just some Arco whore. Definitely pretty enough,’ Pao taunted.
The man might have built up muscle mass performing hard labour, but he’d never had to run exhausted for days on end. Jan’s fist caught his temple, collapsing him in a moment. Tuva’s foot smashed into Jan’s back. He folded over, spun and swung a fist at her jaw. There was a crunch and Tuva recoiled, spitting something onto the deckplate.
‘You’re a traitor.’
‘Hey, the wastelander’s alright -’ someone said, and there was the beginning of an argument around Jan. He groaned, trying to regain his breath, and rose to his knees. Tuva aimed another blow, grinning fiercely and egged on by the sudden crowd. He moved out of the way and stood, swaying. Pao was still on the ground, groaning and swearing, but Jan was in enough trouble as it was.
‘He’s an Arco spy!’ Tuva shouted over the crowd. ‘He’s working with the prisoner!’
She aimed another blow at Jan but he managed to lunge aside. Her knee swung up and doubled him over.
‘I say we throw him off the tank,’ said Tuva, stamping hard on Jan’s leg. ‘Won’t survive long, not this deep in the jungle.’ He bit back a yell and rolled away. There was an uncertain chorus which died away suddenly. Through his blurred vision Jan couldn’t quite see what was happening.
‘Step away from him,’ came Aurelie’s voice. ‘Everyone except Tuva. I want to speak to you.’
‘Don’t you care about the mission?’ someone said, their voice muffled. Jan thought it was Pao. ‘We can’t trust him!’
Aurelie made a sharp shushing noise, silencing Pao instantly. Jan glanced up as Tuva stepped over him and squared up to the smaller woman. Aurelie suddenly looked very slight, her delicate features contrasting with Tuva’s blunt face. Jan felt a sudden surge of worry and began staggering to his feet.
‘You don’t scare me-’ Tuva started to say. Jan thought he heard her voice falter.
She lunged forwards as if to punch Aurelie. The other woman didn’t move a centimeter, and Tuva never threw the punch. She seemed to deflate, as if afraid. Aurelie moved her face closer to Tuva’s, her whispery voice somehow audible over the groan of the machine.
‘You’re dispensable. Don’t forget that. Never imagine that you could matter. ’
Everyone was white-faced as Tuva took a step back and sat, though to Jan the smaller woman’s threat seemed faintly comical. He didn’t understand just what had passed between all of them.
Aurelie stood for a few more moments, surveying the hushed troops, as though daring one of them to speak. Nobody did. She turned to leave with an air of quiet satisfaction and Jan picked himself up dazedly, hurrying to follow.
He caught up with Aurelie just as she opened the doors to the mess and climbed up a gantry leading to the top deck. The air was humid, the smell of ozone and oil overpowering. Jan stepped away from the edge of the metal stairs upon seeing the sheer drop onto the rapidly scrolling land below.
‘Thanks,’ he said. They climbed together to the deck.
‘Don’t mention it,’ she said, proffering a handkerchief. ‘You’re bleeding,’ she explained, waving in the direction of Jan’s face.
He accepted the handkerchief, holding it up to his nose. He’d hardly noticed the dull pounding from Tuva’s punch.
‘I was in trouble there, and you -’
‘Really, don’t mention it. Stay out of trouble and keep your head above water.’
Aurelie’s lips twitched, as if aware of some vast irony. Jan followed her to the stairs, descending towards a part of the tank he hadn’t seen before.
‘I should not have left you alone with Pao and Tuva – they’re animals, but occasionally useful,’ she said after they’d walked a few more paces together. ‘You may as well follow me. Christo wants to have a word with you, and now’s as good a time as any.’
They both descended again into the hissing interior of the huge vehicle, moving towards the prow. They emerged inside a room he hadn’t seen before. Christo stood alone in the centre of a cramped, machine-filled space, dressed in heavy overalls and holding a large welding torch up to a strange machine. Aurelie led Jan down the gantry, stepping lightly over the uneven metal.
‘Is that a spaceship? It looks a bit… small,’ Jan mumbled, wondering if he ought to be more impressed. ‘Are you going to fight the Dyn with that?’
When there was no reply he turned to face Aurelie but she’d already vanished. He heard her retreating footsteps disappearing up the gantry.
‘She does tend to do that,’ Christo laughed, tapping his forehead. ‘Always focussed on the plan. So intense, like we’re all just shadows around her feet.’
‘Yeah,’ Jan said absently, descending the stairs and stepping towards Christo. ‘So, is it a spaceship?’
The craft was a four-metre shell of dull metal made of dozens of interlocking plates, with a few windows set into the sides and a complicated, thresher-like arrangement of rotors making up what he assumed was its back end. Gaps in the outer plating revealed a schizoid combination of primitive machinery and things Jan didn’t recognise at all.
Christo laughed, prising open a section of the hull with a crowbar as long as his arm. His muscles visibly strained with the effort.
‘This is a bathyscaphe.’
‘A bath escape?’
‘A submarine.’
Jan still stared, uncomprehending. Christo sighed in exasperation.
‘It’s a boat designed to go underwater, very deep underwater.’
‘So it’s a boat that sinks? It’s actually meant to sink? That doesn’t sound safe.’ Jan had never been very keen on boats.
‘It isn’t, but not for the reasons you’re thinking.’
‘What do you mean?’
Christo sighed, setting the heavy crowbar down on the deckplate with a clatter.
‘This,’ he rapped hard on the hull. ‘Is my great creation. Well… others helped. It’s the reason for all this circus, for taking this machine and chaining up the Dyn. It was all cover, protection. I needed a place to build this and deliver it safely to the ocean.’
‘And how will that help us defeat the Dyn?’
‘Could you give me a hand?’ asked Christo changing the subject. ‘Walk round to the tank and hand me the hose.’
When Jan had the pipe connected up, something thick and gloopy started to stream out and into the mesh of ducts underneath the skin of the submarine. Jan cursed as some of the substance spilled out onto the floor.
‘Biofuel,’ Christo explained. ‘Similar enough to oil – we need it to provide buoyancy control since it’s nearly incompressible even under enormous pressure and barely expands when you heat it. That way we can use it for temperature control as well. This stuff can be warmed like radiator oil, which we’ll need because down on the abyssal plain water can actually cool below freezing. We’ll attach the bags of lead ballast in a moment. They’ll control our descent.’
Jan tried to look as though he understood, but it was difficult. He’d never had the chance to discover such things for himself.
‘Then, we’ll attach the outboard floats and solid fuel rockets,’ Christo finished.
‘That’s a joke, right?’
‘Just shut off the hose,’ Christo laughed. ‘Some things are best left as surprises.’
Jan pulled hard on the lever and the flow subsided. He turned to see Christo manhandling a huge plate with the revolution’s logo emblazoned on it. A heavy steel mesh bag underneath was empty. Jan rushed forward to help heave the curved steel slab into its slot. When the plate thudded home, Christo snapped the dogs closed and it melded seamlessly with the hull.
‘When we met you told me that we were going to tear the Dyn out of the sky,’ Jan said. ‘It was crazy then, and I guess it still is. So what is going on?’
‘Look Jan, most of the crew doesn’t even know as much as you do. Compartmentalisation; Aurelie says that’s the key. The less anyone knows, the less they can tell Arco if this all goes south.’
‘But why dive under the sea when they’re in orbit; are you searching for something?’
‘Maybe,’ Christo laughed. He reached to the ground and grabbed a heavy lead ball, the size of a watermelon. He swung it into the steel bag on the hull with a grunt, then turned back to Jan. ‘You’re sharper than you look.’
‘Christo, are you compartmentalised too?’
‘Not as far as I know!’ Christo laughed, heaving another metal ball into the wire bag bolted to the hull. ‘We need to rely on each other. I trust you. Aurelie and I need you to trust me. I’m already working out the crew roster and you’ve proven more reliable than most, when you’re not getting into fights or sneaking upstairs to spy on our prisoner.’
‘You’re having me followed.’
‘Of course. Don’t give me that look; you haven’t failed me yet. Not unless you tried to untie the Dyn or threw the first punch in that fight.’
‘I did, but Pao started it. He insulted my daughter.’
‘Well, I suppose that’s forgivable. She’s no longer with you?’
On an odd impulse, Jan stepped away from the pipe and cleaned his hand on the jumpsuit, reaching inside his pocket to produce the photograph.
‘Sweet,’ Christo smiled weakly. ‘Don’t worry, there’s no need to say any more.’
Jan paused; the pain was like an old wound, easy enough to ignore but there all the same. He had to tell someone.
‘Eva was always smarter and faster to learn than anyone. She knew more than me or her teachers and she always loved machines most of all. In the end I took her to a conurbation to be tested for an engineering job. I had to help her escape the wasteland, any way I could.’
‘What happened?’
‘She got scared when they told her she wouldn’t be able to see me again. She found her way back, somehow. She told me they’d been taking all the kids that passed some test away from the conurbation. Arco wanted her back. It was so sudden; a whole army smashed our village to rubble. I lost her in the confusion; maybe she was kidnapped, maybe she got out.’
‘Really? Arco doesn’t commit massacres like that, not unless they’re utterly desperate.’
‘You haven’t lived in the wasteland – Arco may not do these things but their proxies don’t care,’ Jan said bitterly. ‘What could they possibly have wanted with her?’
‘I don’t know. We’ll probably never find out, all you can do now is avenge her.’
Jan nodded fiercely as Christo set down his wrench.
‘We’re done here. Go upstairs and make yourself useful. And please, stay out of trouble.’
Just as Jan turned to leave, something on the photograph caught his eye. He turned away from Christo, doing his best to smooth the oil and anonymous detritus off the now hopelessly faded sheet of paper. He turned it over and saw something scrawled on the back. It looked like a scribble, written in an unfamiliar kind of ink, but there seemed to be some hint of structure in it, like a complex glyph in some unknown language. It didn’t look like anything a human would write. He squinted and the writing seemed to pop out, stereographically. It was Americano, written in clumsy capitals, in a strange, drifting layout;
‘I KNOW HER’
AdvertisementsSurviving the World A Photocomic Education by Dante Shepherd
Lesson #1465 - Working Towards Equality
This was all just one giant long con, wasn't it? Very crafty.
Last week, I tried to comment briefly on the social networks about the Boy Scouts of America announcing that they were upholding their policy of discriminating against gay Scouts and Scout leaders. This is a big issue to me, since I've been involved with Scouting since I was 5 or 6, got my Eagle, worked at a Scout camp for 6 years, and still am involved today - heck, one of the two times I haven't worn the labcoat in STW, I wore my uniform. So the Boy Scouts matters a lot to me, and considering the repeated pounding the BSA has continued to get over the past week, I just wanted to repeat a bit of that here.
Basically, the policy has been stated by the overseeing body. But they do not speak for everyone, it does not reflect on work done by Scouts everywhere, nor is this policy followed everywhere within the BSA. Just like many members of political parties do not follow everything issued by the national chairpersons, or like Catholics do not agree or follow everything that comes from the Vatican. There's a long list (in desperate need of updating) of individual troops/councils that reject or protest the rule, that currently operate with their own non-discrimination policy. When you only hear about what comes from the national office, these other troops and councils are going to be completely ignored in comparison. Scouts returning their Eagle badges may make for sensational news - and may have some effect, considered in total - but isn't going to add up when the national office has taken two years to come to their latest conclusion. Pushing for change - and getting it, to some extent! - from within the BSA is working; it's just not very well-known and will be a slow, long process.
That's tough for some people to hear. Many people believe that separating and leaving the BSA would have far more effect, that's your absence would have more voice. I disagree. By leaving, you are making the group far more insular and less receptive to your voices - a good strategy if the group is small or likely going to fall apart in the immediate future, a poor strategy if it has sustained size. And our efforts within the Scouts is making serious headway. I worked alongside openly gay Scouts, many of whom reached high positions at the camp. The pattern of rejecting the national policy follows geographic patterns that are somewhat familiar, but there is change being made, and I do not expect the policy to last, even if it takes a while longer to correct nationally.
If you disagree with me, I understand. Even my brief comments last week outraged some people enough to the point I was accused by several people who'd never been affiliated in any way with the BSA of promoting a bad organization and of 'tilting at windmills', and when I tried to reason with them, was accused of attacking them. But I hope that in the four years I've been running STW, pushing for non-discrimination and for equality time and time and time again, that you are assured which side of the issue I am on, and that given the determination on the issue I hope I've repeatedly expressed, that you would accept that I would only pursue a path I believed had a good chance of succeeding.
You can change a group by leaving it, letting it die. Or you can change it by remaining with it, working from within. I think the latter will have far more success in achieving equality in the BSA. So don't let generalization cloud great work and tremendous achievements done by many Scouts across the country. That policy is not us.When a pre-season ankle injury forced Cordarro Law off the field in June, it seemed certain that the Calgary Stampeders defensive end’s season was over before it had even begun.
On Tuesday, though, Law was back on the sideline at McMahon Stadium, stretching and working to strengthen his ankle in anticipation of a possible comeback before the CFL playoffs even get going.
“I got back (to Calgary) yesterday around 2 o’clock,” Law said after Tuesday’s practice. “My rehab was going so well down there, and they were keeping in contact up here, and so they just told me to come on back up.
“When I injured it, the doctors predicted I was done for the year because I had a plate and four or five screws on both sides of the ankle, but I went home, and it started healing well, and I started running, and I’m blessed.”
The Stampeders won’t rush Law back into action, but both he and head coach Dickenson said they were targeting the team’s regular-season finale against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Nov. 3 for a potential return.
There’s no overstating how big a boost that could provide the Stampeders, even if the team’s current group of defensive linemen has been the CFL’s best this season – more on that in just a second.
Law finished third in the CFL in sacks in 2013 before trying his hand at the NFL and then made an immediate impact when he returned to the club last year, finishing 2016 with nine tackles, three sacks and one fumble recovery in only four regular-season games.
He seemed poised to be even better in 2017 and had two sacks in limited playing time during the Stampeders pre-season opener against the B.C. Lions, only for the ankle injury to derail his season.
The Stamps know what he brings to the table, though, and Dickenson seemed eager to have him back in the fold.
“I’ve always said Cordarro is my type of guy,” Dickenson said. “He works hard, he’s a leader, he produces … Not a big talker — he does his (talking) with his pads. I always enjoy having him back. He was a guy I really wanted to sign, and I really thought would have a really good year.”
If Law is available for the regular-season finale and then playoffs, the Stampeders will boast a totally terrifying defensive line.
The only team with more sacks than the Stamps’ 41 this year is the Toronto Argonauts, who have piled up 45 but have also played one more game than the Calgarians.
In Law’s absence, Ja’Gared Davis has proved himself to be one of the league’s top pass rushers and is one of three Stampeders d-linemen, along with Micah Johnson and Charleston Hughes, with eight sacks this season. Only the Argos’ Victor Butler, with nine, has more, and Stamps rookie James Vaughters isn’t far behind, with six.
Add Law into the rotation, and opposing offensive linemen won’t have a chance to catch their breath regardless of who is lining up on the d-line for the Stampeders.
For now, though, there’s still work to do. While Law’s recovery has gone well and he’s stayed focused on rehabbing his ankle, he’s nowhere near being in game shape and will need to put in plenty of practise time before he’s fully ready to step back on the field.
After a long summer, though, Law had a big smile on his face on Tuesday. There may be work to do, but he can’t wait to do it.
“(The injury) was devastating, but I’m feeling better now,” Law said. “Just seeing the guys practising there (Tuesday), it made me feel better on the inside. Just getting back here and getting around the team and going back to meetings and stuff, it’s going well.”
[email protected] YORK (Reuters Health) - Carbs activate brain regions that are not affected by artificial sweeteners, even when they’re only tasted but not swallowed, according to a small new study from New Zealand.
“The mouth is a more capable sensory organ than we currently appreciate, able to distinguish carbohydrates from artificial sweeteners when both taste identical,” said Dr. Nicholas Gant from the Sport and Exercise Science department at the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research.
“Carbohydrates are extremely powerful stimuli that have profound and immediate effects on the brain and the systems it controls,” said Gant, the study’s senior author, in an email.
A sixth sense in the mouth for carbohydrates could explain why athletes respond immediately to carbs, as well as some aspects of uncontrolled eating disorders, Gant’s team writes in the journal Appetite. It could also open avenues for food engineering Gant told Reuters Health.
Scientists already knew that carbohydrate mouth rinses increased activity in certain brain regions, and some studies have shown that swishing a carbohydrate solution in the mouth and spitting it out improves performance during strenuous exercise.
Gant and his team used special brain imaging, called functional MRI, to look at the effects of three different mouth rinses used before a simple exercise task performed by 10 study subjects.
They compared a sweet carbohydrate solution to a sweet solution that didn’t contain carbs and a third solution that was not sweet and did not contain carbs.
When the participants swished the sweet carbohydrate solution in their mouths, there was greater activation in brain regions associated with sensation and muscle performance than with either the sweet solution without carbs or the tasteless solution without carbs.
The sweet carbohydrate solution also produced greater activation in brain regions that control vision and in regions associated with reward.
The fact that the other solutions didn’t have the same effect indicates that we are able to detect carbohydrates in the mouth as a separate sense from sweetness, according to the researchers.
“This ‘sixth taste sense’ for carbohydrate is likely one of many additional food qualities that are detectable by receptors in the mouth,” Gant said. “It’s becoming evident that the brain knows far more about the foods we ingest that just our perception of taste.”
“Both test solutions used in our study were sweetened artificially, so the increased activation we observe is likely part of the ‘kick’ people complain is absent in diet beverages/products,” Dr. Gant said. “We may be able to use our experimental platform to help develop functional foods and artificial sweeteners that are almost as hedonistically rewarding as the real thing (sugar).”
It’s also been suggested, Gant pointed out, that a failure in signaling between the mouth and the brain is part of the problem in some eating disorders that cause frantic eating behavior.
Gant added that the study’s findings might have implications for athletes. They could explain why athletes suddenly “perk up” immediately after drinking a carbohydrate solution, even before the carbs have time to get absorbed by the body and converted to energy.
Whether carbohydrate mouth rinses can make better athletes remains to be seen. “For endurance exercise these findings should be applied cautiously,” Gant said. The signals from the mouth send a message to the brain and body that energy is coming, indicating “help is on the way,” which may allow a depleted body to keep going, he said.
“But if nutrients aren’t swallowed, and don’t arrive in the bloodstream,” Gant said, “the brain may be writing checks that the body can’t cash later in the race!”
SOURCE: bit.ly/1nNFLA0 Appetite, online May 21, 2014.The music video for GOT7‘s latest title track “Fly” has reached 7 million views on YouTube!
This impressive milestone was reached on March 30, around ten days after the music video release on March 21. At this rate, “Fly” is expected to hit 10 million within the next couple of days.
Soon after the counter hit 7 million, JYP Entertainment expressed their gratitude to fans via Twitter and revealed a new dance practice video for “Fly.”
Fans’ support for GOT7’s comebacks has been particularly intense over the past year. Last summer, the music video for “Just Right” broke 10 million views in three weeks and is now about to hit 50 million. Just a couple of months later, the video for “If You Do” surpassed five million views within the first week of its release.
Meanwhile, the boy group took their first music show win for “Fly” on this week’s “The Show.”
Check out the music video and the latest dance practice clip for “Fly” below!
Source (1)Description
This was a fun event to image, even if the eclipse itself was underwhelming. I was told there would be 98% coverage, so I definitely expected more shadow than what I saw, but maximum eclipse was only 45 minutes after local Moonrise, so being stuck nearer to the horizon undoubtedly complicated any clear view of the shadowed Moon (which is why this image starts about 17 minutes after that).
The weather was beautiful - in a shocking turn of events, Kansas winter turned to 60F during the day with little wind, and during the night it was in the high 50s F, quite pleasant as compared to the last few all-nighters imaging in the freezing cold. I enjoy this hobby considerably more when I don't have to worry about keeping the feeling in my toes.
Image sets were taken every 15 minutes starting at 6:45pm (2 minutes after maximum eclipse), as earlier attempts had been foiled by clouds. Each set contained 50 subs, and for each set the exposure was adjusted to ensure the histogram on all images stayed relatively close to the others, varying between 1/1000" and 1/500" depending on local cloud cover and increasing brightness of the Moon as it exited our shadow.
I had a lot of math prepared for this regarding how the eclipse magnitude relates to the exposure time at a given ISO but was quite a ways off - my expected 1/90" exposures for maximum eclipse translated to 1/500" in reality, but estimating magnitude by eye can be difficult since there is little opportunity to practice. Still, this was a greatly appreciated opportunity to practice for the upcoming Solar Eclipse over North America.
Images were then batch edited in Photoshop (edit one while recording an action set, then apply it to all other images) to increase Saturation and correct |
's lane configuration may stay as it is.
Not every city that tried right-sizing stuck with it.
In Gainesville, Fla., the contentious right-sizing of NW Eighth Avenue became an election issue, and a supporter of the lane conversions lost her seat on the city commission to a challenger who opposed it.
Bob Woods, a spokesman for the city, said the transportation department collected data on the impact of the lane changes, but each side saw the data as supporting its position. The question of whether the new lane configurations worked or not remained an ideological one.
In late 2014, the new city commission voted 4-3 to return NW Eighth Avenue to four lanes.
Erica Meltzer: 303-473-1355, [email protected] or twitter.com/meltzereWhere are the women Kerouacs? What male writers' dominance of the travel writing genre says about women's place in American society
In the November 2012 GQ I wrote an essay detailing some of my experiences as a teenage hitchhiker. The article, “The Truck Stop Killer,” focused on a ride I had hitched with a possible serial killer who, I believe, had murdered other girls and was going to murder me. The piece also described some of what it was like living in truck stops, sleeping in two-hour shifts, avoiding violence daily, and experiencing the country peripherally, through the lens of the interstate.
Much of my investigation for GQ hinged on finding some record of a girl left dead in a dumpster in the summer of 1985. She was a teenage hitchhiker, and I had been there when her body was found. Two days later, a truck driver picked me up hitchhiking and led me to believe that he had killed her. He then pulled over to the side of the road, took out a huge knife and told me to get into the back of the truck—he was going to kill me. I was able, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, to escape into the woods. But I did not go to the police. I did not go for help. These were also some of the questions I was exploring through my essay.
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My search for stories about the young woman in the dumpster led me back through many of the truck stops I’d known as a teenager. Covering a fourteen-county area, I asked every senior truck-stop employee I could find about a hitchhiker found in a dumpster, but no one had ever heard of her. I broadened the scope of my questions: Had they heard of any homicides in any area truck stops over the past thirty years? They didn’t remember a thing. But what I was learning from the FBI painted a landscape of extreme violence, one that matched the world of my memory. By 2004, so many women had been found dead along the interstates that the FBI started the Highway Serial Killers Initiative to keep track of them. There were girls found in dumpsters, behind truck stop diners, off the side of the road on truck turnarounds—the national database listed over five-hundred Jane Does in or near rest areas and truck stops alone. Some of these were the very truck stops I was now passing through, and yet I couldn’t uncover even rumors of past murders. The strangeness of this crystallized when I visited a Pennsylvania truck stop where I knew for a fact that two women had been killed, one found only yards from where the woman I was speaking to worked. Still, she “had never heard of anything like that.”
Now, it would be tempting to say that her reticence was rooted in a sense of company loyalty, or in a straight-out fear of getting fired. Another argument might be that people see what they want to see and look the other way when it serves them. Or, we could say that women in these truck stops—waitresses, sales clerks, bookkeepers—are functioning within a system of subliminal oppression, and didn’t “see” these murdered girls because they routinely shunned women on the margins in order to protect their own tenuous status in a violent, male-dominated world. It is not a particularly groundbreaking statement to say that brutal self-policing can be a resistance strategy.
But even if they had wanted to hide what was going on at their truck stop, they could have talked about what was happening at others, gossip ever a human pastime. And in a society as obsessed with celebrity as ours, where people claw their way to a camera or a microphone and serial killers breed fascination rather than disgust, someone should have remembered something. Who forgets the body of a murdered teenaged girl found at their place of employment while they worked there? There is no doubt that the social invisibility of these women contributed to their predation. But what exactly was that invisibility made from? These women weren’t remembered, it seemed, because they hadn’t been seen in the first place. And they hadn’t been seen partly because there was no cultural narrative for them beyond rape and death. As such, women on the road were already raped, already dead. Whereas a man on the road might be seen as potentially dangerous, potentially adventurous, or potentially hapless, in all cases the discourse is one of potential. When a man steps onto the road, his journey begins. When a woman steps onto that same road, hers ends.
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Siddhartha, Dante, and Frodo
Siddhartha wants liberation, Dante wants Beatrice, Frodo wants to get to Mount Doom—we all want something. Quest is elemental to the human experience. All road narratives are to some extent built on quest. If you’re a woman, though, this fundamental possibility of quest is denied. You can’t go anywhere if you can’t step out onto a road.
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To offer some context for my perspective, the year I was fifteen I hitchhiked 15,000 miles alone, mostly through truck stops. By the time I was nineteen I had hitchhiked another 5,000 miles through Turkey, Greece, and pre-war Yugoslavia, also alone. Those years were a time of misery and terror, but they were also transformative. Every day I bounced wildly between danger, high comedy, and extreme loneliness—which is to say that it was also an adventure, and that inside all the high stakes turmoil was a nascent self that was trying to become, to change, to step out into the world as an adult.
But there is no female counterpart in our culture to Ishmael or Huck Finn. There is no Dean Moriarty, Sal, or even a Fuckhead. It sounds like a doctoral crisis, but it’s not. As a fifteen-year-old hitchhiker, my survival depended upon other people’s ability to envision a possible future for me. Without a Melvillean or Kerouacian framework, or at least some kind of narrative to spell out a potential beyond death, none of my resourcefulness or curiosity was recognizable, and therefore I was unrecognizable.
True quest is about agency, and the capacity to be driven past one’s limits in pursuit of something greater. It’s about desire that extends beyond what we may know about who we are. It’s a test of mettle, a destiny. A man with a quest, internal or external, makes the choice at every stage about whether to endure the consequences or turn back, and that choice is imbued with heroism. Women, however, are restricted to a single tragic or fatal choice. We trace all of their failures, as well as the dangers that befall them, back to this foundational moment of sin or tragedy, instead of linking these encounters and moments in a narrative of exploration that allows for an outcome which can unite these individual choices in any heroic way. I will also admit that I think fixed narratives can be pretty dangerous. As vessels that shape our sense of self, they can be narcotic, limiting, and boring, and our development as humans is directly tied to our ability to cut across these simplistic story lines rather than be enslaved by them. Keystones in the arch under which we pass into a landscape of adolescent narcissism—that is what I think of fixed narratives. But they also keep us safe. They mark our place in society and make sure we’re seen. Therefore, the only thing more dangerous than having simplistic narratives is having no narrative at all, which is deadly.
The subject of why women don’t have quest narratives would require a work the length of the unabridged Pentagon Papers. The short answer is kind of a “duh.” Power and patriarchy can’t afford women the possibility of quest, because within these structures women are valued as agents of social preservation and not agents of social change. You can go on a quest to save your father, dress like a man and get discovered upon injury, get martyred and raped, but God forbid you go out the door just to see what’s out there. And these are the tales of rape and death that get handed down to us.
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I am not saying that rape and violence aren’t the predominant experiences of female hitchhikers; rather, I’m saying that our cultural imagination plays a role in why it is the predominant experience.[1] Without other narratives to inflect the ones we already possess, our relationship to the woman stranger we meet on the road is forestalled. We turn away. We don’t want to see. We sanction this invisibility, because her visibility forces a choice: whether or not to save her. Left with the pressure to rescue or run, it’s just easier not to see. This is the exact place where narrative poverty renders women on the road socially invisible.
So yes. One might argue that perhaps so few narratives exist because positive transformative experiences are rare. In other words, that for women hitchhikers, rape and death are pretty much all that is out there and, given time, they are what each woman will meet statistically. Setting aside death (which, statistically, we will all meet), it is fair to say that any woman who hitchhikes long enough might very well get raped. But it is also true that every guy who works on a crab boat might fall overboard or lose a finger, and that every chef will probably get badly burned. Over enough time, every guy on the street will probably get beaten up, soldiers in active combat duty will be shot at, and every racecar driver will crash—yet we view these statistical likelihoods differently.
During my travels I had literally thousands of interactions with people’s ideas about what I was doing with my life, but almost none of them allowed for the possibility of exploration, enlightenment, or destiny. Fate, yes. Destiny, no. I was either “lucky to be alive” or so abysmally stupid for hitchhiking in the first place that I deserved to be dead. And, while I may have been abysmally stupid, my choice to leave home and hitchhike was certainly no stupider or more dangerous than signing onto a whaling ship in the 1850s, “stealing” a slave and taking him across state lines, burning through relationships following some sketchy dude around the U.S., or accepting rides from drunk people while on hallucinogens. These tales are fictions, yes, but they deeply affect how we see people on the road. And the shadow cast by these narratives—one that valorizes existential curiosity, adventure, individuality, and surliness—does not fall over women. In a country with the richest road narratives in the modern world, women have none. Sure, there is the crazy she-murderer and the occasional Daisy Duke, but beyond that, zip.
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Even Fuckhead gets a book
The lack of female road narratives has long been a frustration of mine. I first became conscious of it about four months after I left home. I was in a truck stop outside of Albuquerque and saw a young man doing his laundry on the trucker’s side. Like me, he was travelling, though perhaps a bit better off because he had laundry. A college-aged kid with a backpack, he was (yes, it’s true) carrying a copy of On the Road. I remember it because I had never seen the book and asked him what it was about. He said it was about a guy who left all the bullshit behind and went out on the road. I immediately related.
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I sat down a chair away and tried to strike up a conversation, but failed. While I’ll admit I have a tendency to be puppy-like in my friendliness when it’s not wanted, his discomfort seemed extreme. Here we were, both teenagers, both waiting on rides and travelling the highways, both trying to figure ourselves out and become something—but he was armored with an idea, a narrative through which he could both shape himself and be recognized socially. He was visible. I was an unknown, a dangerous blank.
As I have said, lacking a variety of narratives is unsafe for anybody on the margins—ask any queer. Now, I can imagine someone saying, Wait a minute, narratives don’t kill people—people kill people. True. But a narrative that promises more than death leads to curiosity, which leads to interaction. When a narrative’s conclusion is limited in the public’s imagination to mortal beatings and rape, its tension resides exclusively within the onlooker, and is measured by the extent to which he or she is emotionally moved. The woman on the road then ceases to be human, as with many on the margins, and instead becomes a barometer, a tool by which the onlooker’s (or reader’s) humanity can be measured or determined. She is an object fetishized by their compassion (rather than, say, the “male gaze”) and the onlooker can choose to save her, choose to watch, or choose to ignore her as her fate plays out; these choices become the heart of the drama.
Three years later during a brief stint in college, I did read On the Road and was stunned by how tame and well-funded Sal’s journey seemed. I was in my thirties before I could appreciate Kerouac, but I do now. Still, the things that Ishmael, Huck, Sal, and Fuckhead fled from—restlessness, civilizing, suffocation by the mundane, and consciousness—were somehow not sufficient to justify my departure.
So what road-based narratives of possibility do women have? There is the Tom Robbins bestseller, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which has the famous hitchhiker Sissy—she’s not marked for rape or death. But then again, Sissy is protected by abnormally large…thumbs. Then there is Dorothy on the yellow brick road. That is certainly a road story…set in the land of Oz. There are some anthologies of women’s road stories coming up through indie presses, and Hollywood has made a few hitchhiker girls-gone-wild movies. But none of these share the element of quest or quality of restlessness that define the male road narrative. So while there may be stories out there, none leap to mind, and it is the very act of “leaping to mind” that makes such narratives relevant. I mean, my God, even Fuckhead gets a book.
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On the shoulder, on the edge, exile
Since our heroines “must” always be trying to escape the road (for a very narrow set of reasons), and since we have collectively decided that their stories should exist only in the shadow of a predator, or in the shadow of a fall from grace, narratives that move beyond these parameters present us with characters whose humanity we don’t recognize, and who are thereby doomed to literary silence. But why is this the case? We all love a good story. We love to be surprised by characters. Why should there be such narrative constriction regarding women on the road?
I would have written off my early experience with On-The-Road-Boy were it not so typical. It became more and more obvious as I travelled that I scared people. I was young and freckle-faced. I always washed my hair and combed it in bathroom sinks. I was cogent and approachable. But still, something set me apart from my male counterparts. I engendered a fear that seemed to arise from the gap between men and women regarding the social costs of hitchhiking. The pay-to-play price for a woman is just so much higher than for a man. We recognize that, in our world, a woman on the road is marked. She has been cut from the social fabric, excised at such an elemental level that when she steps onto the road, she steps into an abyss. And whatever leads up to that choice inspires in us a primal fear. A man on the road is solitary. A woman on the road is alone. This is not cute wordplay, but a radically different social experience. Often, I was asked why was I travelling. But over time, I came to understand that the question was not “why,” but “how.” As in, how could I have left? How bad was it? How could this have come to pass? These are very different questions from “why.” “How” is about events, as in “how did it happen?” Whereas “why” points to individuality and agency. Why did you go that way? Why do you like Gouda and hate Swiss? Why do you think that this is a good idea? The difference between “how” and “why” marks a fundamental divide between the male and female road experience.
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But does “how” versus “why” really affect visibility? Wouldn’t a single dramatic narrative like rape or death make someone (especially someone in the passenger seat of your car) all the more visible? It comes back to the anxiety of the onlooker or driver. In a crisis of orientation regarding the passenger, they try to see the passenger through different narratives so they know how to feel or react to them based on who they believe themselves to be from an ethical and social perspective. Above all else, narratives are mirrors, right? When the female traveler in the seat doesn’t conform to those narratives, though, their visibility breaks down. Like an orbital shaped by statistical probability, she seems to appear and disappear, coalescing as an electron might only where you expect to see one. And who wouldn’t be anxious with someone stuttering in and out of existence in front of them? So we pick a familiar storyline and pin her to our worldview.
Once the narrative is restricted to the familiar, though, we are back where we started and have to either run from or engage with the choice of whether to save or abandon the woman on the road. Under these limits the question, “So are you helpless, tragic, or stupid?” makes a lot of sense. Translated, it asks: “Tell me how to treat you.”
If we look once again at our gut response to a woman on the road we can see that its substrate is exile. A man on the road is caught in the act of a becoming. A woman on the road has something seriously wrong with her. She has not “struck out on her own.” She has been shunned. And once one person has shunned her, the next will as well. Simply the fact that she is out there says something about her is frightening.
Distilling it further, the prohibition against quests for women combines with traditional sexual prohibitions (when she transgresses, she falls) to create a road narrative with no possibility beyond rape and death. How do you like that for a Scylla and Charybdis? Have fun Odessa! In case I don’t make it, give my regards to Penelope.
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She has fallen by the wayside
She has gone beyond recall
Not a hand would stretch to save her
Not a friend that she could call
Every door has closed against her
Not a soul for her will mourn
She has fallen by the wayside
She has gone beyond recall
This song was popular back when ice was new. The basic gist, that once fallen by the wayside “she” is gone beyond recall, remains embedded in our culture. We can pretty much assume the woman’s fall here is sexual, but it is the “wayside” that makes the fall permanent. Unlike any number of Johnny Cash songs, she can’t be a murderer or a thief or a liar, find God and be redeemed, because she has no access to that abstract highway on which destiny occurs. There is no greater symbol for freedom or change than “the road.” And yet, fallen by its side, she has no access to its agency. Once on the edge of that road, her role is to watch people pass her by. Although we have a deeper reservoir of cultural pity for women like that today, the actual concept of “the road” as a pathway to female selfhood, or a new future, or a different America, is nowhere evident in our popular songs or stories. Women on the road are like figures on a green screen. We think we see them when what we are really seeing is the cutout lines, the shadow of their displacement. We’re seeing absence. We’re reading motion sensors. Once placed upon that screen, we can throw anything up behind them behind—a meth lab or a barn or a motel—and make them into whatever we want. We can do anything to them because they only achieve agency through context and context through our projected narrative, rape and death.
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I am not suggesting that women wrap themselves in male quest narratives and go penniless out onto the highway. But I am suggesting that women on the road deserve to be painted with a more complex palette, and that there is a profound difference between how we as onlookers respond to someone we perceive as motivated by a sense of adventure, versus someone we fear may have been shunned. Furthermore, we might want to consider that hidden inside the tale of Huck Finn poling down the river, like a stream within in a stream, is the story of female exile.
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Tangiers
There is no way to snap one’s fingers and make mythology. There is no way to pry open a national narrative and insert an entire population. But we do get glimpses. One day, in a book or a film, a new woman appears, and she feels real. Not contrived or reactionary, she transcends the page or the screen.
Perhaps the most powerful female road narrative I know of is the story of Kit, from Paul Bowles’s The Sheltering Sky. I read it during my years of hitchhiking and remember vividly her self-defining statement that they were not tourists, but travelers. That sentence thrilled me, because I was also a traveler interested in destiny not destination—the way back was an island in a sea, and I a sailor, not an intertidal clam; I imagined a thousand futures. Accustomed as I was then to following men through all the stories I loved, I was shocked when Port died and the book didn’t end. It didn’t end because Kit was alive: she was alive and she was travelling. She goes through the Sahara in a caravan, has an affair, gets confused in a marketplace, loses some of her marbles, gets “rescued” and returns to Tangiers, where she slips back into the city and goes off again.
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Goldenberry
The only other solo, female hitchhiker I ever met was a blonde eighteen-year-old who went by the CB handle of “Goldenberry.” We shared a ride through several southwest states. She said I should come stay with her in Ventura Beach and talked about all the cool things we could do. I was enthralled. When I showed up on her doorstep a few weeks later there was a party going on at her house. She came to the door but looked right through me like I didn’t exist. She didn’t invite me in. I think I said something stupid like, “Well anyway I was just in the neighborhood,” then cried all night on the beach.
This is a fine story. It’s a true story. It has extremely pathetic moments, fantasy, unrealistic expectations—everything. But if I tried to write it, I would be asked to explain so many things that the story would never get off the ground. Why I was out there in the first place? Why was Goldenberry out there? What drove us to the road? Why couldn’t we go back? What were we running from? This is what it means to have no narrative outside of victimization and violence: it means wasting time constructing your moral right to tell a story in the first place, it means watching it get choked in the crib…
If we have a shot it’s going to be because we stopped asking permission and just started in the middle.We’ve got the ultimate tech prize pack to give away just in time for Christmas!
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Need a quick top-up or in desperate need of rescue from a dead smartphone battery? Don’t be caught out with no battery this summer! Take charge with the Jetpak portable battery charger which delivers one full charge from the tiny pocket sized package.While the first season of HBO's crime thriller True Detective was one of the most acclaimed TV shows of recent years, Season 2 was widely considered to be a disappointment. To date, HBO has not announced a third season, but it has now been reported that creator Nic Pizzolatto is working on new scripts for the show.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Pizzolatto has written "at least the first two episodes" of a potential third season. The site also states that veteran TV producer David Milch (Deadwood, NYPD Blue) is working alongside Pizzolatto.
HBO has yet to formally greenlight True Detective Season 3 or comment on this story.
Last year Michael Lombardo, former president of programming at HBO, spoke about the negative reaction to Season 2. "When we tell somebody to hit an air date as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it's ready, when it's baked--we've failed," he admitted. "And I think in this particular case, the first season of True Detective was something that Nic Pizzolatto had been thinking about, gestating, for a long period of time. He's a soulful writer.
"I think what we did was go, 'Great.' And I take the blame. I became too much of a network executive at that point. We had huge success. 'Gee, I'd love to repeat that next year.'
"Well, you know what? I set him up. To deliver, in a very short time frame, something that became very challenging to deliver. That's not what that show is. He had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Find his muse. And so I think that's what I learned from it. Don't do that anymore."
True Detective Season 1 aired in 2014 and starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, while 2015's Season 2 featured Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams.
Even at its viewer peak, Season 2 fell short of what the first had achieved. The final episode was watched by an audience of 2.73 million in April 2015, a 22% drop from the season one finale a year earlier.THE AFL Commission will meet in a month’s time to decide whether Jobe Watson will keep his 2012 Brownlow Medal after 34 players lost their appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
The Commission will discuss and finalise Watson’s Brownlow fate when it meets on November 15 in Melbourne.
League headquarters was officially notified on Tuesday night that the appeal lodged by the 34 past and present Essendon players suspended for an anti-doping breach had been unsuccessful.
Watson’s Brownlow shapes as one of the last major issues in the case yet to be resolved. The players are also in negotiations with Essendon over compensation payments for their suspensions and related issues.
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“As stated earlier this year, it is the AFL’s view that the AFL Commission must determine this matter,” a league statement read.
“The next Commission meeting in November will provide the appropriate amount of time for all relevant parties to prepare.”
The lawyers for the players confirmed that the appeal was rejected, meaning the suspensions and guilty finding by the Court of Arbitration for Sport stand.
The players, through their legal representation, argued that if Australian law applied, then the charges against the players should be thrown out. But the Swiss court has found that Swiss law governed the CAS finding, not Australian.
The case was held in German with the judgement also given in German. The players had a lawyer arguing for them in Switzerland. If successful the appeal would not have helped the players who have already served their suspensions, which saw them miss the entirety of the 2016 season.
The players have already returned to train with some restrictions on what they are allowed to do at their clubs, their suspension technically ending in November.
Four senior retired judges, including one retired High Court judge, that gave opinions on behalf of the players. All four judges argued that Australian law should apply in this case — an argument that was rejected by the court.
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In effect, the arguments put forward by the players’ representation were not even considered by the court. Those arguments would only have relevance if the court was willing to use Australian law.
The appeal was effectively funded by Essendon’s insurers, who are also dealing with the ongoing compensation claims by the 34 past and present players, of whom 16 have remained in the AFL system.
Stewart Crameri (Western Bulldogs), Paddy Ryder and Angus Monfries (Port Adelaide), Jake Carlisle (St Kilda) and Jake Melksham (Melbourne) are all at other clubs with Michael Hibberd set to join Melksham at the Demons. The other 10 are back at Essendon.
Watson’s Brownlow is under review by the AFL because he won it in 2012, the season in which the CAS was ‘comfortably satisfied’ that the players had been administered the banned peptide thymosin beta-4.Robert Griffin III wants the Philadelphia Eagles to give him another shot at the NFL, believing that would be a perfect opportunity for the former first-round pick to revitalize his career.
Griffin has no plans to take the job of Nick Foles. He just wants to get back in the game.
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On ESPN's First Take, Griffin suggested to Stephen A. Smith the Eagles should give him a chance.
"I watched you banging the hammer for Colin Kaepernick to go there (to the Eagles)," Griffin said. "I think you should be banging the hammer for me to go there.
"I don’t think I’m in a position to come in right away and start for a playoff team next week, just because you need to get in, get used to the guys, get used to the offense. But as far as coming in and providing some stability at the backup position, so that if the starter does go down, I think I could definitely do that.
"I’m prepared, I’ve been throwing, I’ve been working out and kept my mind sharp and watching the game and studying film. So, from that standpoint, I think I can help."
RGIII suggesting the Eagles should bring him in. "Why not?" pic.twitter.com/jfuRANCxxy — Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) December 13, 2017
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Griffin has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 8,983 yards, 42 touchdowns, 26 interceptions, and a 88.4 passer rating in five NFL seasons (15-25 record). He has also rushed for 1,670 yards and 10 touchdowns, but lost the mobility that made him a dual-threat quarterback in his early seasons. Griffin suffered a torn ACL, dislocated ankle, and shoulder injury in his NFL career, leading to just 69 carries for 366 yards and there touchdowns over the last three seasons.
Griffin has claimed that he worked out for the Los Angeles Chargers over the summer, and was close to signing for the Baltimore Ravens. Griffin also confirmed he has received "interesting offers" from other teams throughout the league.
Griffin is hoping the Eagles give him a call as a backup quarterback. That would get him a foot in the door toward reviving a once-promising NFL career.
To follow Eagles reporter Jeff Kerr on Twitter: @JeffKerr247Spotify is moving, sort of. Until now, the company has maintained its own data servers, leasing space near listeners so that it can stream music as quickly as desired. Now the company is saying goodbye to that approach and saying hello to the Google Cloud Platform.
Spotify views this as an opportunity to cut costs and save effort. Google's data platform lets the music streaming company focus on what it likes doing and leaving the boring system administration to someone else's engineers.
This move is not unlike Netflix's own recent move. Little more than a week ago, the company announced that it had fully migrated its product to Amazon Web Services. Though, it's worth pointing out that Amazon's product has significantly more market share.
Consolidation is good for business, but this transition does come with risks. Now a Google outage has the possibility of taking Spotify down with it, much like how Netflix is one of many sites that may go down whenever Amazon has issues, something that has happened before.
The Google Cloud Platform offers hosting on the same infrastructure Google uses for its own products. The company has remarkable uptime, but even its services are unavailable every now and then. That also makes Spotify one more thing you have to count on Google to deliver.
Spotify hasn't completed the transition just yet. Given the size of the company's backend, this could take quite some time.Ginkgo biloba
from the 100 Herb Syllabus
Description
Ginkgo comes from the Chinese word Ginkyo, meaning silver apricot. Biloba is Latin, bi meaning double, loba meaning lobes. The leaf is fan-shaped, with a split in the middle. The seed has the size and appearance of a small apricot when mature, and has a silvery bloom on the fruit. You can tell a Ginkgo from other conifers by its fan-shaped leaves. The leaves can be between 5-8 centimeters wide. They are a leathery leaf and have a wax layer on both sides. The Ginkgo has a vascular system where the veins divide in two. This vein pattern is unique to the Ginkgo.
A Ginkgo tree can reach 100 feet in height, and 13 feet in diameter. When the tree reaches 100 years old, its canopy starts to spread. The male tree has a slim column form and is slightly longer, while the female tree had a wider crown and a more spread out form.
General
Ginkgo Biloba is one of the oldest living species on the earth. It is the only living representative of the order Ginkgoales, which is a group of gymnosperms composed of the family Ginkgoaceae, dating back about 270 million years.
It was one of the only plants to survive the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan during World Ward II. The tree budded after the blast with no deformities. The temple that was next to the tree was destroyed, but the tree remained. In 1994, the temple was rebuilt around the Ginkgo tree. There are a total of 4 Ginkgo trees that survived the nuclear bomb.
Medicinal Uses
Ginkgo has been shown to help improve memory, concentration, mental alertness and mild mood disorders. It has also been shown to help with Alzheimer’s disease. Ginkgo helps bring oxygen to the brain, and has a mild, blood thinning effect.
The seeds are used in Eastern medicine; the leaves are used in Western medicine. The seeds are said to help with asthma, coughs, irritability of the bladder, blenorrhoa and uterine fluxes. Eaten raw, they are said to be anti-cancer. Cooked, the seeds are said to be peptic and anthelmintic. In Japan, they are used for digestion.
Other Uses
In China, the nuts were served at weddings, feasts, and as a substitute for lotus seeds. In Japan, there were used at tea ceremonies for sweets and desserts, and were also pickled. In the 18th century, Ginkgo nuts became a side dish used when drinking sake. Today, they are served grilled or boiled as chawan-mushi (a pot steamed egg dish), or in nabe-ryori (Japanese fondue).
Cultivation, Collection, Preparation
Ginkgo is generally prepared in liquid extract, herbal capsules, or as tea. Western herbalists utilize the leaves. Eastern herbalists also utilize the fruit.
Toxicity
The fruit of the Ginkgo is mildly toxic. Caution is urged when using Ginkgo if on blood-thinning medication.
Dr. Christopher’s Combinations Containing Ginkgo
Memory Plus
MindTracFrom inside a Humvee, an Iraqi army soldier spots two men standing on a pickup truck with a mounted heavy machine gun by the side of the road in an abandoned area in the countryside of Makhmour, Iraq, on April 19. (Alice Martins/For The Washington Post)
American military advisers have begun working with Iraqi army battalions in forward positions, U.S. officials said, as the campaign against the Islamic State enters a new, more risky phase.
The first mission began on July 20, when a small team of combat engineers was tasked with |
criticizing Sony Pictures for its decision to pull The Interview, its CEO claims he " In an interview with CNN set to air tonight during Anderson Cooper 360, Michael Lynton tells Fareed Zakaria that "We have not caved. We have not given in." In the pieces CNN has teased, he even says the company would still like for people to see this movie. Lynton claims that he personally did speak to senior officials in the White House about the situation, and asked for help in dealing with it, although they did not speak with Obama directly. Specifically, Lynton said that while the December 25th release will not proceed because there is no movie theater in America that will show it, there is still a possibility of premiering it in the future. In response to the question about releasing the movie in another format like streaming or on cable, Lynton said "we have considered those, and we are considering them...there has not been one major distributor, one major e-commerce site that has stepped forward." Really? Not even Crackle?
[Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]Australian rules player Peter Filandia has been suspended for 10 matches after pleading guilty to biting an opponent's testicles during a game last week.
Filandia, 31, was playing for Port Melbourne against Springvale in the Australian Football League's feeder competition, the Victorian Football League (VFL).
St Kilda AFL player Chad Davis, playing for Springvale, suffered a perforated scrotum and lost a small amount of blood, a club doctor told the VFL tribunal in Melbourne. He also needed a tetanus injection.
Filandia told the tribunal he could not breathe when he became entangled with Davis and bit him as a reflex action.
However, Filandia did not know which part of his opponent's body he had bitten, he said.
"It was a split-second decision," Filandia told reporters after the hearing.
Tribunal chairman Eddie Power ordered Filandia to undergo player counselling before resuming playing.
In a similar case last year, former rugby league international John Hopoate was banned by the Australian National Rugby League for 12 weeks after poking a finger up the backside of an opponent.
Hopoate was sacked by his club Wests-Tigers but joined rival club Northern Eagles in June 2001.Nathan Becker writes,
At the Boom! Studios panel at Baltimore Comic Con, two big reveals were announced!
Grant Morrison will be reprising his Klaus series in December with Klaus and the Witch of Winter it’s Santa Klaus in space! More details to come in the future.
Boom! also announced that Kong of Skull Island is such a big hit that they have changed plans and made it an ongoing series. James Asmus, writer, tells fans that it is becoming more violent as Kong fights dinosaurs and coincides with the humans who escaped to Skull Island with him. The unofficial tag line is if you want to know what killed the dinosaurs, it was Kong!
Check more from Baltimore right here…
About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist.
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None foundObjective The main objective of this post is to understand Appointment Mechanics and how it can be used effectively to make a game sticky.
Step 1 Introduction to Appointment Mechanics
Most big numbers can be turned into business opportunities.
Consider, for example, the fact that an estimated that 70-80 million dogs and 74-96 million cats are owned in the United States. Put together, the population of these two pets is about half the human population of Canada.
Apart from vets, pet-shop owners, pet trainers, pet food companies and pharma companies, which other business you think benefits from these numbers?
Pet Feeding devices. From the times the earliest of such devices were patented in the forties, Pet Feeding devices have come a long way - estimate vary, but the figure is close to $1.5 billion of sales annually.
But what is a Pet Feeding device doing in a gaming blog?
A sophisticated Pet Feeding device can perform an important function - it keeps time. It can be set at certain times of the day so the pet is fed when the owner is not around.
Step 2 Set an Appointment with the player
Successful games are known to have used what is called the Appointment Mechanics to schedule when the gamer should come back to the game.
Farmville is, of course, one of the best known games to use the Appointment Mechanics ("Hey you! Your tomatoes need to be watered in the next 2 hours. If you aren’t back, your crop will die!") in its core gameplay. And it is fantastic.
There’s, however, a famous device that may not really fall under the game category, but uses Appointment Mechanics brilliantly. In fact, Appointment Mechanics is all there is to that game.
It’s Tamagotchi, in case you haven’t guessed already.
Step 3 Example: Tamagotchi
Technically, it is an Electronic Pet. The gamer (who is the owner of the ‘pet’) sees it go through the entire life-cycle, from hatching to childhood to adulthood to a possible death.
All through, the gamer gets the virtual experience of having a pet. A Tamagotchi must be taken care of, fed, toilet-trained, administered medicines if it falls sick, played with to keep it happy and so on.
It’s surroundings must be kept clean (a tamagotchi may leave droppings unless the owner toilet-trains it), or it can fall sick and possibly die.
And what do you think is the central theme here?
No prizes if you guessed Appointment Mechanics (also called Appointment Dynamic). It means a gamer is required to return after a certain period of time. This action of returning will earn him some rewards.
The game sets a sort of schedule for the gamer: when can you feed the pet (don’t overfeed, underfeed or feed it at random times or it can fall sick and possibly die), when the pet goes to sleep and when it will be up. The gamer must follow the schedule, or he runs the risk of potentially losing the pet.
The two ways in which Appointment Mechanics work:
The Appointment Mechanics in two different patterns.
It may force the gamer to come back to the game within or after a certain time It may allow the gamer to set a time-frame within which to return to the game.
One way, it can force the gamer to come back to the game within or after a certain time duration. In this case, the game leaves no choice to the gamer but to return on time.
Or else, there would be either a punishment or loss of reward and this idea is not restricted to the gaming world alone. Groupon nudges its visitors to its sites using this technique.
Amazon announces Deal-of-the-Day a few days in advance and lures customer on the said dates.
Even the notification that they send out in case you didn’t make it are worded intelligently to make you feel left out ("Oops! You missed it!").
There is another way too. The game may offer some choice to the gamer as regards the appointment.
Consider a housewife, someone who’s a serious Farmville gamer too. She wakes up at 6 am and drops kids to school, returns from the gym and is free by 8 am.
She knows she has upto 4pm, so she can choose planting African Gourmet Mushroom (grow time: 6 hrs) or Green Onion (grow time: 7 hrs 30 min) or something with similar grow time.
Once she chooses a crop, she has made an appointment with herself. In all likelihood, she may not need any external notification to remind her of the 4 pm 'Appointment'.
She will start playing at 4 pm, but it will be because she committed to herself and almost literally pushed “harvest crop at 4” into her to-do list of the day. That is the power of Appointment Mechanics.
Step 4 What happens when the Appointment is not honored?
The gamer has chosen a certain time at which to return to the game. Alternatively, she has been given a time by which she must return to the game.
But what happens if she doesn’t honor the appointment?
The crop will rot, Tamagotchi demanded to be fed at times or to be taken to the toilet at times, but in case of Farmville the housewife herself promised her own self.
Cityville appears urban when you look at the rural, farm-like setting of Farmville, but the underlying theme was almost identical.
Clash Royale gives out chests as rewards. You can open the chest in 3, 4, 8 or 24 hours depending on the chest type.
However, if you don’t open the chest on time - you are not punished like Farmville. Instead, you miss out an opportunity to open another chest (you can have only one chest open at any point in time).
So people try to minimize their losses (Loss aversion comes into play) by coming back to the game on time.
The game Cityville has a slightly different mode which helps you decide which building and property should be developed, considering a lot of factors.
Technically, all these tactics involve the same principle: Appointment Mechanics. Have the gamer back to the game at a certain time. That’s what makes the game sticky.
What do you think of the Appointment Mechanics? What have been your experiences? Let me know in your comments below.I clicked “Going” on your event’s Facebook page.
Not attending.
I clicked “Going” on your event’s Facebook page and left a comment about how excited I am for this event because you, girl, are finally coming into your own, and it’s about damn time!
Not attending.
I clicked “Interested” on your event’s Facebook page.
I have already forgotten that your event exists.
I did not respond to your event’s Facebook page in any way.
I have forgotten that you exist.
I recently posted an article on Facebook about what introversion really is.
Not attending, and, frankly, a little insulted that you asked.
I R.S.V.P.’d “Maybe” to your Evite.
Not attending but, apparently, afraid to say so.
I R.S.V.P.’d “Maybe” to your Evite and left a long note about how I’m hoping to be there, but only if the other event I have to attend before yours happens to—oh, please, God!—run a little short, so that I can dash over to yours, which is obviously the event I really want to go to!
Not attending, and the event before yours is watching old “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episodes, which I can stream literally anytime.
I R.S.V.P.’d “Yes, I’ll Be There” to your Evite.
Yes, I’ll be there, but it’s a good thing you didn’t hear how I said that out loud.
I’ve already texted you twice to see if you want any help setting up.
I need a favor.
I showed up early to help set up and brought a bottle of wine and a bowl of spiced almonds I roasted myself.
It’s a big favor.
I said I’d be there, but you see my mug shot on television just before you head out to your event.
I should have asked you for that big favor two days ago.
You sent a paper invitation and a request to R.S.V.P. by phone.
I am attending, but only because the idea of actually calling you is more alarming than showing up. Well played, you.
I retweeted a notice about your upcoming event.
If three people attend after they find out about the event from my tweet, well, isn’t that better than just one of me attending?
I told you in person that I was totally, definitely going to be there.
I might be there. Honestly, even I don’t know what I’ll decide. I’m incorrigible!
I quizzed you about the food you’ll serve at your event.
I will be there because your appetizers have piqued my interest. Just an idea: maybe put that information on the invitation next time?
You spotted me in the foyer of the building in which your event is just kicking off.
I’m scanning to make sure that Cynthia, your friend from work who spent fifteen minutes at your last event trying to get me to buy false eyelashes via her pyramid scheme, isn’t already inside. If I spot her, I’m gone.
I told you in person that, yes, I’ll be there, and that I’m looking forward to it.
I actually like you, and I will attend your event.
I told you that I would be there because “it’ll be good for me to get out of the house and try being in public without Nick for the first time!”
I will not be there, and you dodged a bullet.A new competition for B teams of Premier League and Championship clubs will be considered by the Football Association on Wednesday.
One proposal is for these second teams to play in a league sandwiched between League Two and the Conference.
Another option is to merge the B teams with League Two and the Conference to form two regional leagues.
The plans are part of FA chairman Greg Dyke's commission looking at ways to improve the national team's fortunes.
Who are the men that make up the FA's England Commission? Danny Mills - Former Leeds United, Manchester City and England defender
- Former Leeds United, Manchester City and England defender Dario Gradi - Crewe Alexandra's director of football
- Crewe Alexandra's director of football Glenn Hoddle - Former England manager
- Former England manager Greg Clarke - Football League chairman
- Football League chairman Greg Dyke - FA chairman
- FA chairman Howard Wilkinson - League Managers' Association chairman
- League Managers' Association chairman Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United and former England defender
- Manchester United and former England defender Ritchie Humphreys - Professional Footballers' Association chairman
- Professional Footballers' Association chairman Roger Burden - FA vice-chairman
- FA vice-chairman Roy Hodgson - England manager Find out more at the FA website
It is understood the Premier League and Football League clubs are broadly in favour of a new competition, which would give greater competitive opportunities for their young, home grown talent.
But they have deep reservations about how it might fit into the pyramid and the knock-on effects to other leagues and competitions.
The Football League Board has been regularly updated on the process and will met with Greg Dyke later this week.
Football League chairman Greg Clarke described the purpose of Dyke's England commission as "laudable".
"We recognise the benefits a successful England team brings to the game in this country at all levels," he said, adding that the meeting with Dyke will give the Football League board the chance to "ask some practical questions" about the likely impact of the proposals.
"After fully considering the relevant issues, the Board will then take a recommendation back to clubs who will determine the League's position on this matter," he concluded.
The Premier League would favour a beefed up academy league for players under the age of 23, modelled on the United States' college football system.
One question is whether current League Two clubs would be relegated into the Conference or the new B team league. The other difficult issue is how far B teams could be promoted.
Alan Algar, sponsorship manager for Conference sponsors Skrill, told BBC Radio 5 live he had deep reservations about the idea.
"I think it's a disgraceful proposal because it makes it very difficult for non-league clubs to feel part of the football pyramid," he said.
"People all over the world look towards England and are envious of our pyramid and the way things work here. To insert a number of teams that aren't competitive and won't have a fan base just makes it very difficult."
Gary Sweet, chief executive of new Conference champions Luton Town and a Conference board member, said: "These proposals would completely kill English football as we know it.
How do B Teams work in Europe? Spain Reserve teams play in the same league system as the senior sides but must operate at least one level below the first team, and they cannot be promoted to the top flight. A reserve team can still be relegated in the normal manner, and also if their senior team is relegated from the league above. B teams are ineligible for cup competitions. Netherlands The top reserve division, Beloften Eredivisie, and the second-highest football division, Eerste Divisie, run as separate league systems. However, reserve teams Jong Ajax, Jong PSV and Jong FC Twente broke away for the 2013-14 season and made their debut in the Eerste Divisie, but they cannot be promoted. The only period in which players with more than 15 appearances for the first team are able to move between senior and reserve squads are during the transfer windows. Until 2009-10 the Beloften Eredivisie champions were awarded a KNVB Cup place, but this is no longer the case. Germany Reserve teams are allowed to play within the league structure, but cannot operate above the third division - 3. Liga. Since 2008, reserve teams are no longer allowed to play in senior cup competitions in Germany.
"I think there is a serious political impact, particularly regarding the communities that are a part of the clubs that they represent.
"To my understanding there has been no consultation process with clubs or leagues at this level."
Despite such worries, one source told the BBC that, following more than 300 interviews with clubs and other stakeholders in the game, led by research consultant Peter Beverley, there was a universal acceptance that a major overhaul was needed to give reserve sides and young, English talent more regular, competitive football.
Commission members point to the fact that clubs in Spain, France and Germany all play B teams in competitive leagues - thought to be a big factor in those countries developing talent.
Dyke is believed to be keen to open the debate about the state of the national game ahead of the World Cup finals in Brazil, which kick off on 12 June.
There is a determination to get on the front foot ahead of the tournament to pre-empt the inevitable debate which will follow if Roy Hodgson's England team put in a disappointing performance in Brazil.
Ironically, the emergence of players like Raheem Sterling at Liverpool and Adam Lallana at Southampton has taken some of the heat out of that debate in recent months.
Some senior figures inside the FA are also urging Dyke to hold fire until after the competition and until all the finer details of the commission's proposals are ironed out.
The Dyke commission was set up last autumn to try to address ongoing concerns about the strength of the English national team and the lack of top-class English talent forcing its way through into Premier League first teams.
The commission, which includes former England manager Glenn Hoddle, former Leeds boss Howard Wilkinson and Crewe Alexandra director of football Dario Gradi, is aiming to deal with two major questions: the pathway for players aged between 17 and 21, and grassroots facilities.
While it is thought the commission has done extensive work on the first question, the issue of grassroots football is not yet complete.
Other proposals expected to go before the FA board include a shake-up of the loan system, improvements to coaching and changes to the homegrown player quotas operated by Premier League and Football League clubs.
But it is the B team proposal that promises to be the most controversial.0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
How far would you go to deny 300,000 citizens access for affordable health care?
For Virginia Republicans, the answer is simple: As far as you need to go.
The Republican Party in Virginia is a microcosm of the party as a whole. Much like the congressional delegation of Republicans who have voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act 54 times, Republicans at the state level in Virginia have been doing everything possible to ensure that Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe is not allowed to expand Medicaid to nearly 300,000 of his state’s poorest residents. McAuliffe ran on a platform of Medicaid expansion and ever since he took over the governorship in January of 2014; he has made it no secret that it is one of his top priorities as governor.
However, Virginia Republicans have conscientiously chosen to go to great lengths to ensure that their fellow Virginians are not receiving the improved health care that was made available through the Affordable Care Act. The reasons for this are simple: If a Democratic president, a Democratic governor, and a Democratically-controlled state senate approve and enact the Medicaid expansion, the state of Virginia is no longer a toss-up state. Instead, it moves into the solid blue category for the foreseeable future. Instead of working with Virginia Democrats to find ways to improve the lives of the state’s most vulnerable citizens, Virginia Republicans have instead opted to lie, cheat, and steal to ensure that nobody in the state has access to the improved access to health care.
This is nothing new. Already, we have seen the Virginia Republican Party bribe a state senator by offering him a cushy job for himself as well as giving his daughter a foot up in her efforts to attain a state judgeship. By doing this, Republicans shifted the balance of power in the state government and gave themselves the ability to block the Medicaid expansion, which the entire Republican Party of Virginia has vowed to do. However, Governor McAuliffe has been unswayed by these Republican shenanigans and has even begun exploring executive options as a way to circumvent Republican obstruction. In an effort to prevent this apt and just use of power, Republicans, led by House Speaker William J. Howell, have included two amendments in the recently proposed state budget that would limit McAuliffe’s authority to expand Medicaid unilaterally. McAuliffe has publicly stated that he will veto any state budget that includes those amendments.
And yet, Republicans refuse to allow McAuliffe this political victory, even if it means playing by a whole new set of rules.
In an article that came out this week by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, it was revealed that Speaker Howell had enlisted the help of two members of the Capitol Police to drop off the proposed state budget to McAuliffe’s offices on Sunday, June 15th when the office was closed and locked. These two members entered the governor’s unoccupied, secure suite of offices deposited the budget before leaving the suite. This was done as an attempt to give Governor McAuliffe less time to review the budget as according to Virginia law; the governor must act on a budget within seven days once it has been given to him or her by the clerk’s office. By presenting the budget on not only Sunday but Father’s Day as well, Howell and his Republican cohorts hoped to deny McAuliffe valuable time he could use to analyze the budget, especially the two proposed amendments he had already threatened to veto.
On June 18th, McAuliffe’s chief of staff Paul Reagan issued a seething letter to Col. Anthony Pike, chief of Capitol Police as well as other prominent state Republicans. The letter read:
“This letter is to inform you that under no circumstances are you or any of your officers authorized to allow employees of the General Assembly to enter the secure areas of the governor’s office without my express permission, or the express permission of Suzette Denslow, the governor’s deputy chief of staff. What occurred here Sunday is unacceptable. Two employees of the speaker of the House of Delegates were given access to an area of the governor’s office where sensitive files and materials are kept. For good reason, it is an area that is surrounded by three security perimeters. Even on a normal business day, very few people — including members of the governor’s Cabinet — can gain access to this suite of offices. We certainly do not expect to have agents and employees of the General Assembly roaming through these offices on weekends.”
No charges have been filed as of Friday evening and, of course, Howell insists he did nothing wrong in the matter and that the only reason the budget was dropped off when it was was because it just happened to be “completed earlier than expected.” However, nobody outside of Howell’s office believes this explanation. For Virginia Republicans, it is another pitiful example of the lengths they will go to to deny the Medicaid expansion. Governor McAuliffe has continued to fight for the health and well-being of his state’s citizens while state Republicans have shown their true colors by playing petty politics with people’s lives. It is a sad and disgusting display, but it comes as no surprise as to what the Republican Party is in the year 2014. The party has become one so vindictive that they will go to any length to ensure that Democrats don’t win elections, even if those lengths include the pain, suffering, and ultimate death of fellow American citizens.
Sarah Palin was right. There are death panels associated with the Affordable Care Act. And these death panels are administered by state Republicans who would rather make a political statement than keep their state’s citizens alive and healthy.MESA, Ariz. -- The Chicago Cubs released Carlos Silva on Sunday and team management didn't mince words when describing its feelings about Silva's verbal attack on pitching coach Mark Riggins and the Cubs organization.
"Obviously we're dealing with a man at this stage of his career who's not willing to face the facts," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "What he's done for the last few years in his career, except for a two-month period, is way below major league standards. And he seems to have the continual problem [of] blaming everybody but himself."
Cubs manager Mike Quade says it was his decision to release pitcher Carlos Silva. Jake Roth/US Presswire
After learning on Saturday that he wouldn't make the Cubs' 25-man roster, Silva blasted Riggins, saying the pitching coach wasn't honest with him about his potential role on the team. Silva also said that the competition for the fifth starter's job was always weighted against him.
"Riggs came to me and said, 'What a day, and now go out there and do your workout and continue pitching the way you're doing," Silva said Saturday. "A half-hour later, he called me into the hall and started talking to me.
"I'm like, if you have to say something, be straight. He has to learn he's in the big leagues now, know what I mean? There's no kids around here anymore."
That brought a sharp rebuke from Cubs general manager Jim Hendry on Sunday.
"Basically, he wasn't good enough to make the team," Hendry said. "You factor in not only spring training, but you try to go back and factor in the second half of last year, looking at a guy who had a 14-something ERA from July 11 and came to camp with a notion that he already had a spot in the rotation. Obviously, the first three, four outings, quite poor."
Hendry added: "His comments about Mark Riggins were totally inappropriate and unacceptable. Once again, it's a weakness for somebody that doesn't perform well and chooses to blame somebody else on the way out."
On Sunday morning, Cubs manager Mike Quade said it was his decision, and his decision alone, to drop Silva from the Cubs' 12-man pitching staff.
"People need to know, whether he was upset with Riggs or whatever, everyone needs to know that this was my call," Quade said. "It wasn't Jim Hendry's. If [Silva wants] to be irritated with somebody, this is on me, OK. It was my decision, complete and totally.
"I was really disappointed when I heard [Silva's comments]. First of all, he's dead f---ing wrong, OK, about my pitching coach. And I have no f---ing time for that."
Quade continued to admonish the former Cubs pitcher.
"Respect is a two-way street," he said. "I don't want to hear anything about respect. If you ain't giving it, you ain't getting it."
For his part, Riggins chose to take the high road in response to Silva's complaints.
"I've been through quite a few releases [of other players] at the minor league level," he said. "With everybody it's different. I wish him the best, and if I can help him in any way, the door is always open."
The Cubs tried all spring to trade Silva, but didn't get any interest from any of the other 29 major league teams. According to a major league source, the Cubs let it be known that they would be willing to eat a large portion of Silva's $11.5 million 2011 salary. The source also said the Cubs were not asking for any players in return. However, there were still no takers.
Silva has to wait 48 hours for release waivers to clear. After that, he'll receive his check from the Cubs and is free to make any deal that he wants with any other major league team.A HIGH-profile Jewish leader says he didn’t know it was illegal for adults to touch the genitals of children.
Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Rabbi Yosef Feldman said he was unfamiliar with child abuse laws.
He said even while director of the Yeshivah Gedola Rabbinical College he didn’t bother familiarising himself with the laws.
“Obviously I knew I had certain obligations. I didn’t know what they were. I relied on my father,” he said.
Rabbi Feldman’s father, Pinchus Feldman, has been Sydney’s top Rabbi since 1968.
Counsel assisting the commission Maria Gerace asked directly: “Did you understand that it was against the law for an adult to touch the genitals of another child?”
“I didn’t know that as a fact,” he said.
Rabbi Feldman said he was a director of the Yeshivah corporation, that ran a school, from the age of about 25.
But he said he didn’t consider child sexual abuse to be a common problem.
“There are many issues of life and child sexual abuse I didn’t believe was very common. Even now I don’t think its common. It happens,” he said.
“I haven’t seen the statistics, but I would believe it (the prevalence of child sexual abuse) is about five to 10 per cent.
“Based on things I’ve read about it,” he said.
Feldman shocked victims of sexual abuse in 2011 when he urged rabbis to deal with allegations themselves rather than report it to police.
He sparked widespread outrage after emailing other rabbis to say it should be up to them to decide whether a paedophile should be reported.
The rabbi also said that, where possible, allegations of abuse should be dealt with outside the legal system.
Rabbi Feldman admitted allegations should be reported to police, but only if there were no doubt over their truth.
He said if a child disclosed abuse but you doubted the truth of it, you should go to a rabbi first.
Rabbis could “threaten” the child abuser with publicity instead of reporting them.
“I really don’t understand why as soon as something of serious lashon hara (evil talk) is heard about someone of even child molestation should we immediately go to the secular authorities (sic),” Rabbi Feldman wrote.
“One must go to a Rov (rabbi) who should firstly investigate the veracity of the complaint and if thought to be serious, warn the culprit etc and act in a way that could scare him by threatening him with publicity by internet to the whole community.
“I feel that if we as a Jewish leadership can’t deal with this and other issues bifnim (internally) we are showing ourselves to be impotent.”
The hearing continues.
[email protected] DOWNES reports on how the Labour parliamentary candidate in Croydon South has been breaking party rules by supporting political rivals
Efforts by the Progress wing of the Lambeth South/Croydon Labour Party to de-stabilise Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership team could stumble over one of their common failings – blatant hypocrisy.
The Hon Emily Benn, the West Thornton councillor, has gone to the newspapers today with a letter she has sent to Labour officials in which she calls for the expulsion of Corbyn’s political adviser, fellow Croydon resident Andrew Fisher, after he sent a tweet 15 months ago apparently in support of a candidate from a rival party.
But Inside Croydon has found evidence on social media of Councillor Benn apparently encouraging people to join another political party, all in the past six weeks – in the time since Corbyn was overwhelmingly elected as her party leader.
The Hon Emily has three times been selected as a Labour election candidate largely, it has to be stated, on the strength of her being the granddaughter of Tony Benn. She describes herself as “a Benn, not a Bennite”, suggesting that she is quite content to play on her family name and reputation, but not to stand for her grandfather’s political principles.
Which may explain, despite Uncle Hilary being a member of Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, why The Hon Emily Benn, the daughter of a hereditary peer, appears to be so uncomfortable with one of her grandfather’s close political colleagues now heading the party.
Fisher’s somewhat frank opinions of some of his party colleagues, as expressed on Twitter, have seen him make the media big time this week, getting name checks from Tory toad Quentin Letts on the BBC’s This Week programme, and being the butt of a couple of gags on Have I Got News For You. Fisher’s come a long way since writing the occasional commentary piece for Inside Croydon…
In a free, democratic society, being able to express a view on your party’s front bench as “the most abject collection of complete shite”, as Fisher did in September last year, seems entirely reasonable.
Thus Fisher’s complete disdain for Emily Benn’s candidature at the General Election in Croydon South – sentiments which were hardly unique, after all – even prompted him to send one tweet in August 2014 which appeared to recommend voting for the Class War candidate, something which John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, this morning described on the Andrew Marr show as “satirical”.
Fisher had also previously used social media to question Jon Bigger, the Class War candidate, about the apparent contradiction of an anarchist standing in an election. Inside Croydon had described Bigger as “the oxymoronic anarchist”.
Although Fisher later deleted the tweet about voting Class War, someone logged a copy of it and has distributed it to the right-wing press. Presumably, that’s what party colleagues are for.
As the publication of the tweet failed to see Fisher summarily sacked by Corbyn, The Hon Emily – or perhaps the people goading her into taking such action – has gone a step further and written calling for his expulsion from the party. Not content to await the internal musings of her party, she has also made her letter public, saying that Fisher’s behaviour “contradicts Labour party rules”, which state that supporting a non-Labour candidate will lead to automatic expulsion.
The Observer, which ran the story this morning, stated: “It reflects deep dismay across much of the party at the Labour leader’s choice of a hard-left and notoriously outspoken individual to fill such a key role in his inner circle.”
In her letter to Ian McNicol, Labour’s general secretary, Benn writes: “I was the parliamentary candidate for Croydon South, having been democratically elected by the local party.” Of course, anyone attending that selection meeting will know that there was no other viable candidate willing to come forward for such an unwinnable seat.
Benn’s letter continues: “Actively advocating voting against the official Labour candidate, in favour of another party, contradicts Labour party rules.”
Calling on the National Executive to act against Fisher, she adds: “The Labour party is a broad church. I welcome lively debate and robust challenge. However, as I’m sure you will agree, there is a clear difference between this and the behaviour of Mr Fisher referenced above.”
But an investigation by Inside Croydon (ie. we had a look at The Hon Emily’s Twitter timeline) shows her to be an enthusiastic supporter of the Women’s Equality Party, which formally launched this month.
After Corbyn announced his key shadow cabinet appointments, The Hon Emily re-Tweeted a call to arms encouraging people to join the WEP:
Hmmm.
When gently chided by a fellow Labour councillor on this, Benn had to be reminded that anyone who claimed to be a member of the Women’s Equality Party was excluded from taking part in Labour’s leadership vote, in the same way that members of TUSC or Class War were blocked from voting.
Tony Benn was himself a great advocate of women’s rights and suffrage, and was part of the reforming Labour Governments of the 1960s and 1970s which introduced the Equal Pay Act and other anti-discriminatory legislation. He also, secretly and at his own expense, had a plaque made and installed in the Palace of Westminster in memory of suffragette Emily Wilding Davison. He did so within the Labour Party.
Despite the friendly warning about such overt support for a rival party, The Hon Emily has continued to enthusiastically re-publish messages from WEP founders, such as Catherine Mayer, criticising Corbyn’s appointments, and promoting WEP policies:
And this in the past few days:
Labour has its own policy positions on sexism at work and employment tribunals. Would a RT of Conservative or LibDem policies by a former Labour parliamentary candidate be indulged so readily and without sanction?
The Emily Benn letter comes at the end of another week of faux outrage about a Corbyn appointment, this time of Guardian journalist Seumas Milne as director of communications. The attempt to highlight division appears to be the work of the right wing of the party, which was so roundly defeated by the groundswell of the public who responded to Corbyn’s anti-austerity stance.
Despite various scare stories being circulated by figures of the right about “purges” and de-selections of MPs who do not buy-in to Corbyn and John McDonnell’s policies – it was suggested that Lambeth South MP and Progress poster boy Steve Reed OBE accepted a shadow cabinet position to reduce the threat of de-selection – the only pogrom going on within the Labour Party appears to be the anti-democratic rear-guard action against Corbyn and his team.
That’s Progress, I suppose.
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AdvertisementsThe line of questioning tipped off just how teams felt about him. On the week of the draft combine, the Windsor Spitfires' ultra-talented Joshua Ho-Sang went room to room, meeting with NHL teams and the questions were intense.
Why were you late for practice? Why weren't you on Hockey Canada's under-18 team? Are you more worried about entertaining than winning hockey games? Do you think you play defense?
They kept coming at him, because that's what teams do. They want to see how an 18-year-old kid reacts under the pressure. Even among those, one interaction stood out. The questioner stood up and started yelling. For two solid minutes, he was telling Ho-Sang exactly what he didn't know about hockey. Telling him that he was a blue-chip talent who didn't do the little things to win games.
When he |
could have easily halted the publication if it wished to do so, did not.
(8) We have been told that the SEALs themselves had been given the choice of whether to capture bin Laden or to kill him.
(9) Consider the incalculable intelligence value of an Osama captured alive.
(10) During the operation, one of two helicopters crashed into a wall in Osama’s compound and was essentially destroyed — yet we are told that every one of the inhabitants walked away without serious injury.
(11) A neighbor reportedly saw the crash and claimed no one emerged.
(12) Shortly after this debacle, another contingent of Navy SEALs perished in what we were told was an unrelated crash across the border in Afghanistan.
(13) We have heard no more of bin Laden’s wives and others who purportedly survived the raid. What happened to them? Were they punished? Were they interrogated? Were they remanded to Saudi custody?
(14) Consider what a tremendous publicity coup this was — for President Obama, who was preparing for his re-election bid, for the military and for the CIA. From the simple vantage point of wishful thinking, there was no reason for Obama or his ambitious Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to doubt or express doubts about this heroic achievement they were told had come on their watch.
Is it madness to exhibit skepticism, to ask that we be shown some kind of proof by a government that clearly cannot be trusted to level with us on matters of “national security?”
On this fifth anniversary of this extraordinary event, we pause to note how, as in so many situations, the great majority of the media — from the corporate, mainstream entities to the ideologically-driven organs of Left and Right — accept at face value the official story.
In the years since, the only significant voice to question the official story is Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
Hersh maintains another version, as told to him by a retired senior U.S. intelligence official who goes unnamed. As Hersh heard it, the Saudis were working with the Pakistanis to hide bin Laden, and were “financing (his) upkeep since his seizure by the Pakistanis.” Further, according to another anonymous Hersh source, the U.S. chose to execute bin Laden rather than capture him as a war criminal.
Hersh’s interpretation, for which he has faced harsh criticism, is an interesting one. Nonetheless, it does not adequately address the questions we have posed, primarily because it accepts that the person in the compound was indeed bin Laden, and that this person was indeed killed. We’ll withhold judgment on that until we see real evidence.
Why? Because there are two scenarios.
In one, Osama was the wayward child, a rebel against his parent country, a man whom the U.S. and Saudis wanted obliterated. In 1994, he was expelled from Saudi Arabia.
But in the other, Osama bin Laden played a valuable role for the Saudi royal family, keeping the war away from its own borders, focusing fundamentalist anger on the West. And because Osama bin Laden gave the always-hungry Western war machine the replacement villain for the Soviet “evil empire” — a casus belli that necessitates never-ending combat and never-ending and incalculable spending and riches for the military-industrial complex.
Obama’s counterterrorism advisor at the time of the raid, John Brennan, had been CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia just before 9/11 — and subsequent to the raid was made CIA director.
For so many, Osama seemed to be the gift that kept on giving.
Is it possible that he would not, in the end, be punished? That he would instead be protected, perhaps given a new identity like much lesser pawns in the games of power that nations and other entities play?
It may sound far-fetched. But in light of the unanswered questions about May 2, 2011, good journalism — indeed sound mental health — dictates that we not dismiss logical scenarios in favor of fundamentally illogical ones simply because we are told to do so.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story said the SEAL who wrote “No Easy Day” admitted that he did not see the body of bin Laden. That was incorrect. We would like to thank reader TomS for pointing this out to us and regret the error.
Related front page panorama photo credit: President Barack Obama walking through the Cross Hall and delivering a statement in the East Room. (White House 1, 2, 3)
Where else do you see journalism of this quality and value? Please help us do more. Make a tax-deductible contribution now.
Our Comment Policy Keep it civilized, keep it relevant, keep it clear, keep it short. Please do not post links or promotional material. We reserve the right to edit and to delete comments where necessary. Related printSEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is looking at making its own smartphone to kickstart sales of its Windows mobile software, according to a Wall Street analyst who has followed the company for many years.
A variety of logos hover above the Microsoft booth on the opening day of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 10, 2012. REUTERS/Rick Wilking
The talk - unconfirmed by Microsoft - comes a day after the company unveiled its latest Windows Phone 8 software, and the same week it announced an own-brand tablet, signaling a break with 37 years of focusing on software and leaving hardware manufacturing to its partners.
“Our industry sources tell us that Microsoft may be working with a contract manufacturer to develop their own handset for Windows Phone 8,” wrote Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund in a note to clients on Thursday.
“It is unclear to us whether this would be a reference platform or whether this may be a go-to market Microsoft-branded handset,” wrote Sherlund, who covered Microsoft for Goldman Sachs when the bank brought Microsoft public in 1986.
Microsoft did not confirm or deny the speculation. A spokesman said the company was a “big believer in our hardware partners and together we’re focused on bringing Windows Phone 8 to market this year.”
Windows Phone 8 is the latest version of Microsoft’s mobile software, set for release in autumn. So far, the software giant has struggled to make a mark, with Windows-powered smartphones taking only 2 percent of a worldwide market dominated by Apple Inc’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc’s Android system.
Microsoft built its business on creating software to be used on other companies’ hardware, but the success of Apple’s iPhone and iPad have demonstrated that making both and integrating the two smoothly has its benefits.
Microsoft charted a new course this week by announcing two own-branded tablet PCs, although doubts remain whether that was a move to invigorate hardware makers or a genuine attempt to compete with its partners.
A similar move in phones could make sense, and the company has little to lose by trying its own handset, said another analyst, considering the strategic importance of smartphones and poor sales of Windows phones.
“Microsoft can’t afford not to have phones sell. They have to find a way of selling it,” said Sid Parakh, an analyst at fund firm McAdams Wright Ragen. “It’s a significant piece of their long-term vision of integrated devices.”
If Microsoft did make its own phone, it would be a blow for struggling Finnish handset maker Nokia, which pledged to use Windows software in its smartphones under a multi-billion dollar pact last year. If Microsoft wanted to be in the handset business, it might even consider buying Nokia, suggested Parakh, although he said that was unlikely.
Such a move would also bring Microsoft into competition with Samsung Electronics, HTC Corp and Huawei, which are slated to bring out new Windows phones later this year.
Microsoft has experimented unsuccessfully with handsets before. It bought fashionable phone designer Danger and developed a phone in-house called Kin, which was pulled off the market months after launch in 2010.Court Oslo District Court Decided 24 August 2012 ( ) [1] Verdict Breivik found sane and guilty on terrorism charges Outcome Breivik sentenced to 21 years in preventive detention with a minimum term of 10 years. Court membership Judge(s) sitting Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen & Arne Lyng
The main entrance of Oslo Courthouse
The trial of Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, took place between 16 April and 22 June 2012 in Oslo District Court.[2][3][4] Breivik was sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention on 24 August 2012.[5] 170 media organisations were accredited to cover the proceedings,[6] involving some 800 individual journalists.[7]
The main question during the trial became the extent of the defendant's criminal responsibility for these attacks[8] and thereby whether he would be sentenced to imprisonment or committed to a psychiatric hospital. Two psychiatric reports with conflicting conclusions were submitted prior to the trial, leading to questions about the soundness and future role of forensic psychiatry in Norway.[9]
Background [ edit ]
On 25 July 2011, Breivik was charged with violating paragraph 147a of the Norwegian criminal code,[10][11] "destabilising or destroying basic functions of society" and "creating serious fear in the population",[12] both acts of terrorism under Norwegian law.
Forensic psychiatrists Torgeir Husby and Synne Sørheim, who conducted the psychiatric analysis of Breivik and released their report in December 2011, found that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, supporting a would-be insanity defence or criminal insanity ruling by the court. However, subject to massive criticism from legal and psychiatric experts, the court decided to appoint two new psychiatrists, Terje Tørrissen and Agnar Aspaas, who were to conduct another analysis. Breivik was initially uncooperative with the new psychiatrists because of the previous report having been leaked to the media, but he later changed his mind and decided to cooperate.[13] On 10 April 2012, psychiatrists found that Breivik was legally sane.[14] If that conclusion is upheld, Breivik can be sentenced to prison or containment.[15]
Parties [ edit ]
Breivik is represented by his defence counsel Geir Lippestad, Vibeke Hein Bæra, Tord Jordet and Odd Ivar Grøn.[16] Lippestad and Bæra are both in their late forties, whereas Jordet and Grøn who are both in their thirties and were in employment at Lippestad's law firm prior to 22 July 2011 as associates. Bæra, who has ten years of experience as public prosecutor, was hired as a partner following Lippestad's accepting the request from Breivik to defend him.[17] The prosecution is represented by state prosecutors Svein Holden and Inga Bejer Engh.[16]
The presiding judge is Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen. She is joined by judge Arne Lyng and lay judges Ernst Henning Eielsen, Anne Wisløff and Diana Patricia Fynbo. Wisløff came in as an alternate after Thomas Indrebø had to recuse on the second day of the trial when it came to light that he had advocated the death penalty on a Facebook page the day after the terror attacks.[18][19]
Witnesses [ edit ]
Breivik's list of witnesses includes far right activist Tore Tvedt, Labour Party politician Raymond Johansen, prominent Islamists Mullah Krekar and Arfan Qadeer Bhatti, and anti-Islamist blogger Fjordman.[21]
The purpose of calling Mullah Krekar is to help establish for the Defence that political and ideological extemism is not a psychiatric disorder and should not be treated legally with insanity.[22]
Start of trial [ edit ]
Day 1 (16 April) [ edit ]
Formal indictment against Anders Behring Breivik
On Monday 16 April 2012, when offered the opportunity to speak, Breivik said that he did not recognize the legitimacy of the Court because it derived its authority from parties supporting multi-culturalism. Breivik also claimed that presiding judge, Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen, was a close friend of Hanne Harlem, the sister of former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. To the question from Arntzen whether this constituted a formal assertion of conflict of interest, Breivik's main defence counsel Geir Lippestad, after cursorily conferring with Breivik, replied that it was not.[23][24][25][26]
The charges were read out to Breivik by prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh including the indictments of terrorism and premeditated murder. Descriptions were provided of how each victim was killed.[27]
When asked to plead after hearing the charge-sheet, Breivik responded that he acknowledged that he had committed the offences, but pleaded not guilty because he was acting out of "necessity" (Norwegian: nødrett).[28] A court translator incorrectly rendered this as "self-defence" (Norwegian: nødverge), but court officials corrected the error on the second day.[29]
Prosecutor Svein Holden then outlined Breivik's life in the preceding decade, including lists of failed business ventures, and a year living off savings and playing World of Warcraft, at which mention Breivik apparently broke into a broad grin. At one point when the court was shown his 12-minute YouTube video, he started crying.[30]
An unidentified woman, a German national, was apprehended by the police as she tried to force herself into the court building, asserting herself as Breivik's girlfriend and displaying the photo of Breivik in military gear on her cell phone. According to the police she had a criminal record in Germany for several instances of disturbing the peace. She had arrived in Oslo from Stuttgart on the preceding day and rented a hotel room, expecting to stay for 14 days. Following an expulsion decision from Oslo Police District she was escorted out of Norway on 17 April.[31]
Defendant's testimony [ edit ]
Day 2 (17 April) [ edit ]
The second day was the opening day of Breivik's testimony, which was expected to last for a week, including cross-examination.[32]
The court was told that a lay judge, Thomas Indrebø, had posted remarks in the immediate aftermath of the defendant's acts on 22 July 2011, that the perpetrator ought to be given the death penalty, and proceedings were adjourned to consider the implications of this,[33] which consequently led to the dismissal of that judge.[34]
Breivik often spoke with the collective "we" with reference to supposed association with others sharing his ideology. He focused on his purported fight against "multiculturalism" and compared it with the struggle of Tibet for "self-rule" and "cultural protection" from China. When asked about the greatest influence on his ideology and the biggest source of his worldview, Breivik said, "Wikipedia".[32][35]
Breivik has claimed he would repeat the attacks given the chance. He claims he acted out of a desire to fight "communism" and to defend Norway and Europe against Muslims and multiculturalists. He maintained that he cannot be insane and was acting out of "goodness", and that he was part of an organization called "Knights Templar" (KT).[36]
Before starting his testimony the defendant had requested that he be allowed to begin by reading a document which he had written in the weeks leading up to the trial. Much of Breivik's speech could be seen as a summation of his previous 1,500-page manifesto published online just prior to the attacks. On several occasions during the day judges asked the defendant to keep his statements brief, and some of the aggrieved through their counsels voiced concerns that he may be going too far in using his defence statement as a platform for his ideological views. Breivik claims he would have preferred to target a group of journalists instead of the island camp, and that he had envisaged being killed in the course of his actions.[8]
In his prepared speech Breivik gave a major focus to a statement by Norwegian social anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen. The quote which originates in a January 2008 interview with Eriksen, and which was later in that year the focal point of an article by Fjordman,[37] is:
"Our most important task ahead is to deconstruct the majority, and we must deconstruct them so thoroughly that they will never be able to call themselves the majority again."[38][39]
Breivik explained how he interpreted Eriksen's statement to mean that Eriksen, and the rest of the multiculturalists, want to deconstruct the Norwegian ethnic group so that they will never again constitute a majority.[39] Eriksen has been called as a witness for the defence and will appear before the court later in the trial.[40]
When asked by prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh why he had broken into tears the opening day, Breivik responded that he had been weeping for Norway and his perception of its deconstruction: "I thought, 'My country and my ethnic group are dying.'"[41] Breivik also claims he does acknowledge the pain he has caused to people and families in Norway but did not apologize at that time.[42]
Day 3 (18 April) [ edit ]
The defendant greeted the court with his same fist-salute as he did the first day.[43] Breivik had been asked to not greet the court in such a manner, at the request of lawyers for the victims.[44]
Breivik was cross-examined about the contacts that he had made in his preparation. All he wanted at first to reveal was that he had travelled to both London and Liberia, and also had spoken with Norwegians online. The contact in Liberia happened to be a Serb, but he insisted on saying no more ostensibly because he wanted no more arrests.[45] The Norwegian police had suspected the Serb may be Milorad Ulemek which was denied both by the defendant and by lawyers for Ulemek.[46] On the 5th day of the trial the Bosnian investigative weekly newspaper Slobodna Bosna reported that Milorad Pelemiš, a participant in the Srebrenica massacre of 1995, was Breivik's Serb contact. This was relayed to the trial parties and the Norwegian police by the news media.[47][48][49][50] As of 27 April 2012, follow-up investigations by the media had come up with conflicting information on this possibility.[51]
Breivik claimed to have been inspired by Serb nationalism, and was angered by the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. He said that he had founded The Knights Templar in London in 2002, and if the police dispute that to the depth as described by the defendant, it was because they had not done a sufficiently thorough job in investigating. He reaffirmed a lack of desire to give any information that could contribute to further arrests.[52]
The defendant went on to claim that, KT as he calls it, does not exist as an organization in its "conventional" understanding, but rather is "leaderless" and clustered around "independent cells".[53]
Allegedly there had been meetings with four individual nationalists, including "Richard", being the defendant's "mentor", and described as a "perfect knight", in a "founding" session. The prosecution attacked Breivik's version and alleged that he was making it all up. By some accounts the defendant would get vexed at the repeated suggestion that there is no such network, and he insisted there are 15–20 members in the Knights Templar.[54]
Breivik talked about martyrdom and his actions making him a role model, and he emphasized that this could not be achieved as "keyboard warriors". He also used the term "sofa generals" when he asserted that one cannot be afraid to die if one wants to promote martyrdom.[55]
Breivik himself commented on the trial this day that there ought to be one of only two possible outcomes in the case, that of death penalty, or an acquittal. He said of the maximum sentence of 21 years imprisonment prescribed by Norwegian law that this is "pathetic".[56]
Day 4 (19 April) [ edit ]
Conceding to complaints from the counsels for the aggrieved, the defendant did not start the session with a salute to the court.[57]
Breivik was questioned about his reasons for moving back in with his mother in 2006. He disputed that it had been because he had been made bankrupt, he said he had been working hard from 2002–2006 and needed a break, and that he could save money that way whilst also preparing his manifesto. Also he revealed he kept liquid finances in that house, as cash in a safe.
Breivik was also questioned about his year playing World of Warcraft. He denies this could be linked with his actions. It was for him simply a game of "strategy" not "violence".[58] He also testified that he played another computer game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, for 16 months as practice before using his actual rifle. He emphasized that he didn't really like playing but it was necessary to gain the required practical skills.[59]
Breivik testified that the guns he used at Utøya were inscribed with rune names. His rifle had the name Gungnir, which is the name of Odin's spear, which returns to its owner upon use. His Glock pistol bore the name Mjölnir, the name of Thor the warrior god's hammer.[59]
In response to questioning about his motivations, Breivik said that he had tried more peaceful methods to convey his ideology, and had been resisted by the press. He decided to use violent means. This would have involved targeting the actual Labor Party's conference, or a Norwegian journalists' annual conference. In the event he had no time, neither to detonate more bombs. It was then that he claims to have conceded to an idea to launch the shooting spree on the island, and due to human limitations did not manage to shoot everyone there.[60]
The courtroom was visibly shaken and many people, including journalists, were weeping when Breivik told that his goal at Utøya had not been to kill 69 people, but to kill everybody. He wanted to frighten the youth there enough so that everybody would get into the water to escape. The water would then function as a weapon of mass destruction since, he reasoned, the people would be unable to swim out of fear.[59]
Detailed planning was talked about. Breivik's original plans involved three car bombs and shooting sprees across Oslo, and Breivik called it a "very large operation". Breivik said he thought about placing a bomb near the Labor Party headquarters; the Parliament of Norway Building; the Aftenposten offices; Oslo City Hall; and the Norwegian Royal Palace, though for the latter he claimed he would have forewarned the Royals.[61]
The Defendant explained how he hoped for the killings of all members of the Norwegian government cabinet in his bombing, and how he also would have beheaded the former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland, if things had gone to plan.[62] He added that he envisaged handcuffing her and then beheading her using the bayonet on his rifle, whilst recording the killing on an iPhone, and then posting it online.[63]
Day 5 (20 April) [ edit ]
In advocating his own sanity, Breivik on this day asked the court to distinguish "clinical insanity" from what he alleged is his own "political extremism", and conceded that what he did caused huge suffering. Breivik said how he potentially could comprehend the human suffering resulting from his actions but that he deliberately blocked this from his immediate consciousness to cope.[64]
The defendant went into great detail about his shooting spree on the island. The technicalities and level of description used was difficult for the victims' families and survivors to listen to. Breivik claimed that he had hesitated and did not feel entirely at ease as he set out on his operation. He described how his victims reacted and said that it sometimes came as a surprise to him, saying that he had never seen for example on television how people in such circumstances might become effectively immobilized. Breivik would find some of the teenagers lying on the ground pretending to be dead and he shot them too. Breivik said that there are gaps in his memory of some of the 90 or so minutes he spent killing on the island. The defendant also said that he had considered wearing a Swastika for the operation for its scaring effect but chose not to because he did not want to appear a Nazi.[65]
Breivik mentioned that he was ordinarily a nice person. He said that he very nearly backed out of doing the operation on the island, and whilst he was carrying it out, was in a state of what he described as shock, and he was just about functioning. He also claimed that there were a few people on the island whom he spared because he perceived them to be very young.[citation needed]
Day 6 (23 April) [ edit ]
This had been scheduled to be Breivik's last day of testimony, being a day longer than originally listed, but the prosecution had applied to the court for more time to cross-examine the defendant.[66]
Breivik apologized for the deaths of "innocent" passers-by in Oslo caught in the bombings; Breivik did not apologize for deaths on the island, which he considered political. He has commented that what he did was "a small barbarian act to prevent a larger barbarian act".[67]
Breivik wanted the court to believe that he himself had lost his family, friends, and "everything" on the day he carried out the attacks. He believed however that whoever was on the island was a "legitimate target" through being the "political activists" that sought the "deconstruction of Norwegian society" using "multiculturalism". Also he described what he did as being "cruel but necessary". Breivik says he felt repulsion at what he was doing but at the same time a compulsion because he feels it would avoid something worse in future.[68]
The defendant alleged that he was the victim of a "racist plot" in the prosecution's efforts to find him legally insane, and his behavior irrational. Breivik argued that no "bearded jihadist" would have been subjected to investigations of sanity, and as a "militant nationalist" the prosecution were out to delegitimize his ideology.[69]
Prosecution witnesses [ edit ]
Day 7 (24 April) [ edit ]
The prosecution opened by calling their first witness, Tor Inge Kristoffersen, a government security guard. This witness's job on the day of the attacks involved security monitoring, from the basement of government headquarters. The witness was asked to describe what he saw on the day; he had seen a car being parked, and then someone emerge wearing what "looked like a guard's uniform". Just as Krisoffersen was zooming in on that car's number plate, it exploded. About half of the screens used in the monitoring went blank. The security staff radio network also went down.[66]
Bomb scientist Svein Olav Christensen was then called to the stand. Christensen led the investigation into the technical aspects of the bomb. His testimony included photos of the reconstructed bomb exploding as well as surveillance photos of the actual blast.
Then, Oslo police sergeant Thor Langli took the stand. Langli testified about the Oslo Police's actions in the immediate aftermath of the bombing. Langli commented how at first there had been reports that there were two suspects behind the attacks.[70]
The next witnesses will be forensics specialist Ragde who will testify about the findings on the crime scene in Regjeringskvartalet, and coroners Stray-Pedersen and Størseth, who will present the autopsy reports.[71]
Day 8 (25 April) [ edit ]
Coroner's reports on the eight bombing victims were heard by the court, and described "immense violence" for all of them.
The first bomb survivor to give evidence was 26-year-old Eivind Dahl Thoresen. Thoresen described how he had been talking on his mobile, when the bomb exploded. He had been standing only metres away, and was thrown backwards by the blast. Thoresen saw another survivor just down the road, and began to approach him to assist, because he noticed he had horrific injuries. Thoresen went on to say how he also was badly injured and heavily bleeding.
Vidar Vestli also survived the blast, and his consequent condition had not allowed him to give live evidence. His witness statement was read to the court, where it was told how he had lost a leg in the blast, had a chest "full of shrapnel", and poor mental health.
Another survivor, Tone Maria With, claimed she is now too afraid to venture into central Oslo. She recounted how amid the confusion of the bomb blast, she realized she had a hole in her chest and thought she was going to die. She also suffered hearing loss as a consequence.[72]
Second testimony for the defence [ edit ]
Breivik took the stand for the second time to give evidence for the defence. He conceded that it had been hard to hear live evidence from witnesses for the prosecution but he also said that the Labour government should apologize for their immigration policies.[72]
Breivik spoke about his views on the respective psychiatric reports, the earlier deeming him insane and the latter saying he was not insane. Breivik said that the report concluding his insanity was made of "evil fabrications" and insisted the ulterior motive behind such conclusions were "meant to portray him as irrational and unintelligent".[73]
Breivik contested the damning psychiatric report and alleged that 80% of it was false. Specifically his allegations were:
The purported quoting of himself omitted pronouns e.g. "I" which according to the defendant was deliberately done to make him look "retarded";
It claimed he had a fear of radiation, which the defendant alleged is untrue as he has no such fear;
The report alleged that Breivik's mask which he wore during his attacks was intended as an attempted defence to bacteria, being an irrational fear of his, and Breivik claimed this was untrue as it was meant for a different purpose, namely filtering particulates;
Breivik cites that none of his interviews featuring in the substance of the report were tape-recorded;
He also alleged in general that the assessors started with a conclusion and worked back towards what they wanted to find.
In questioning, Breivik challenged the prosecution's view that he could not look after himself, and said he does cook and clean, and that he had been bearing up in prison well.[72]
Day 9 (26 April) [ edit ]
More survivors of the Oslo bombings testified in court. Harald Føsker was one of them. He needed surgery on his face as a consequence of being caught in the blasts. Føsker was employed at the Ministry of Justice at the time. He described how he was so badly injured that he did not feel the physical pain until the next day. His teeth were knocked out. He needed surgery to reconstruct his face, and also for his vision and hearing.
Another victim, female, testified that she could not remember the events of the day because she has suffered head trauma.[74]
At noon, 40,000 protesters met in Oslo and marched to the courthouse singing a children's song which Breivik had testified earlier was part of the brainwashing of Norwegian children. Similar protests were held in other cities.[75]
Day 10 (27 April) [ edit ]
Tore Raasok testified on the injuries he sustained as a result of the bombings. Raasok worked for the Ministry of Transport in Oslo, and on 22 July 2011 when he had been leaving the office he was caught in a blast. Shards of glass had flown into his eyes and his legs had been crushed. Since then he has had a leg amputated, undergone 10 surgical operations, and has lost use of one of his arms.
Another prosecution witness, Kristian Rasmussen, described how he had been in his office sending an email when "everything went black" and he went into a coma for 12 days. He sustained head injuries, bleeding on the brain, a broken neck, and abdominal wounds.[76]
Day 17 (11 May) [ edit ]
The presentation of autopsy reports was concluded on this day.
An incident took place when a spectator shouted "Go to hell, go to hell, you killed my brother", then threw a shoe towards Breivik, but hit the defense attorney Vibeke Hein Bæra. The incident initiated some spontaneous applause, while the thrower was taken out of the courtroom and handed over to medical personnel. The thrower was Hayder Mustafa Qasim, an Iraqi who was the brother of Karar Mustafa Qasim, one of the victims who had been killed at Utøya. Shoe throwing is a mark of extreme contempt in Arab culture, signifying that the target is worth no more than the dirt that one steps in. Footage of the incident was not permitted to be released.[77]
Day 23 (23 May) [ edit ]
Survivors of the attacks on the island continued to give testimony, including a number of teenaged girls. Fifteen-year-old Ylva Helene Schwenke was aged 14 when the attacks occurred and took four bullets. She is physically scarred and showed this to the courtroom at large. She commented on this saying her scars were "the price for democracy" because she feels democracy has prevailed. Apparently this commentary caused Breivik to grin.
Breivik also smiled when he was described by another prosecution witness, an 18-year-old girl who remained anonymous, as being "an idiot".
17-year-old Andrine Johansen testified as to how she believes one of her friends took a bullet that would have killed her, and thus sacrificed his own life to save hers. She had witnessed Breivik killing 14 people, several of whom were her personal friends. Johansen described the defendant actually holding his gun to a victim's head and pulling the trigger.
Johansen told how she had already been shot in the chest, and had fallen into the lake. Once the others had been killed, Breivik returned his attention to her, allegedly smiling. A victim named Henrik Rasmussen is said to have jumped into the line of fire, thus sacrificing his life for Johansen, whilst "Breivik had laughed with joy as he continued with the bloodbath...[during which narrative]...the accused shook his head at the description".[78]
Day 24 (24 May) [ edit ]
More prosecution witnesses testified. Mathias Eckhoff aged 21 had been shot in the thighs and his scrotum. Eckhoff and others had met at the cafe/pumphouse on the island to discuss the bombings in Oslo, and that is when Breivik arrived. When the group encountered Breivik outside, Eckhoff says he had demanded to see Breivik's ID as he was dressed as a police officer and was informing them the bomber had yet been apprehended.
Breivik is said to have opened fire, and then Eckhoff was shot, and escaped by jumping into the water. Eckhoff said he could not use his legs which had been shot, only his arms.
Mohamad Hadi Hamed also aged 21 was the second witness of the day. He had asked if Breivik could be removed from the courtroom whilst he was testifying. He was wheelchair-bound. He had been in the group that were opened fire upon by Breivik at the pumphouse along with Eckhoff.
Hamed had been shot in the abdomen, shoulder and thigh, and had an arm and a leg amputated as a result of his injuries.[79]
Day 25 (25 May) [ edit ]
When Adrian Pracon testified about his meeting with Breivik at Utøya, he looked steadfastly at the defendant, even when answering questions from the prosecutor. Breivik was visibly uncomfortable and only looked back at the witness in brief glimpses. "Breivik made an error when he decided to spare me, seen from his perspective. Now I really understand how fragile our society is," Pracon testified. "I see how much it is worth and the importance of politics. I will continue with politics, and the Labour Party remains closer to my heart." Pracon is the only witness who has looked at the defendant in this way. He was first shot in the shoulder, then the attacker decided not to shoot him.[80] Breivik has testified earlier about why he decided not to kill Pracon.
Day 36 (5 June) [ edit ]
Defence lawyers for Breivik, trying to portray him as not insane, invited right-wing extremists to testify at the trial. Among the witnesses were Tore Tvedt, founder of the group Vigrid, and Arne Tumyr of the organization Stop Islamisation of Norway (SIAN). They argued that there are people who share Breivik's political views, yet are not insane. Many of the extremists called echoed Breivik's political views; one said that "Islam is an evil political ideology disguised as a religion." However, they distanced themselves from Breivik's alleged violent actions.[81]
Court-appointed psychiatrists [ edit ]
Day 37–38 (14–15 June) [ edit ]
Court-appointed psychiatrists Husby and Sørheim acknowledge no competence on terrorism and explain that they have evaluated Breivik without putting him into a political context. Without this context, the language he uses becomes incomprehensible (neologisms), his lack of remorse towards the victims becomes lack of empathy, his long period of isolation and preparation becomes inadequate functioning, and his explanations of why he carried out the operation become delusions and fantasies about violence. In this manner, his political ideology and the way he sees himself in the context of this ideology becomes evidence of paranoid schizophrenia.
The defense says that they would understand the psychotic evaluation if Breivik had been talking about invaders from Mars, but find it difficult to understand how thoughts about a possible future Muslim invasion of Europe should be seen as a strong indication of schizophrenia. When asked what makes Breivik different from a "normal" terrorist, Husby and Sørheim say that they have no knowledge of how terrorists think, and find such comparative analysis not relevant to the mandate for their evaluation[citation needed].
Day 39–40 (18–19 June) [ edit ]
Court-appointed psychiatrists Aspaas and Tørrissen acknowledge the political context of Breivik's thoughts and actions, and thus see no sign of psychosis. As they see the defendant, he is not clinically insane but a political terrorist with a psychological profile that makes it possible to understand how he was capable of carrying out the terror operation.[citation needed]
Closing speeches [ edit ]
The central theme of the defence closing speech was that Breivik, who never denied the facts of the case, is sane and should therefore not be committed to psychiatric care. The prosecutor, Svein Holden, had argued that since the first psychiatric report was written |
start of a campaign, players will be dropped into the world with limited items (or none at all, depending on the ruleset), and are left to find their own way in a completely new world. In a move reminiscient of the game’s strategy inspirations, until they have explored it, the campaign world’s map will initially be covered in the fog of war. At the start of the game, players will want to seek out strategically valuable areas such as defensible fortresses or resource nodes to set up shop.
These campaigns will be measured in months, not days or weeks. Though the ultimate length will vary by campaign, expect to see durations ranging between a month and a year.
Voxel Farm
That’s right, it’s another voxel MMO – but before the collective groaning begins, let me assure you that Crowfall has no Minecraftian aspirations; while Voxel Farm’s technology will be used to allow players to permanently alter their world with the construction of forts and cities, this feature will be limited to plopping down and combining pre-made building elements.
The real benefit of voxels in Crowfall comes not from its power for creation, but from its darker half – the potential for destruction. Through this technology, players will be able to employ a new level of strategy, with the option to permanently destroy or tunnel beneath an enemy’s walls when looking to conquer a settlement. Interestingly, the fact that the world will eventually end greatly opens up the ability for players to permanently change the game world in this way – it’s all going away eventually anyway, after all.
The Hunger
Now this is where it really gets interesting. In the Crowfall lore, The Hunger is an unknown force at the center of the game’s universe slowly consuming the worlds, corrupting and twisting the creatures surviving on those the worlds as it goes. As the campaign marches towards its end, the hunger strengthens, increasing mob difficulty and decreasing resource availability. Visually, this is represented as the transition of seasons in the game; all campaigns are a progression from a bountiful spring to a cold winter, bringing with it the end of the world.
Speaking of hunger, the other kind of hunger is a factor as well, as Crowfall will feature survival mechanics in some form. Plan to stockpile food reserves in the spring, or by winter, you’ll find your character weakened, or worse.
Rulesets and the Ability to Experiment
Crowfall is planning to launch with a variety of campaign rulesets, all with differences in duration, what you’re allowed to enter with, death penalties, and how much you’ll be rewarded for participating (generally, higher risk and difficulty leads to higher reward). These have all been shown visually using a series of concentric circles, increasing in difficulty as they narrow, growing in proximity to the hunger-infested center of the universe.
In summary, there are four major categories of campaign world, as listed below. Check the two linked images for examples of how rules could vary across different campaigns. Note that these are just examples, and correlations between the specific rules and which tier they’re in now really shouldn’t be read into (God’s Reach having a more punishing looting ruleset than The Shadow probably isn’t going to be the standard).
God’s Reach – 3 Faction PvP (2 factions fight for dominance, 1 faction fights to keep the others in balance)
– 3 Faction PvP (2 factions fight for dominance, 1 faction fights to keep the others in balance) The Infected – 12 Faction PvP
– 12 Faction PvP The Shadow – Guild vs Guild PvP
– Guild vs Guild PvP The Dregs – Guild vs Guild PvP with friendly fire
That said, one of the greatest strengths of temporary campaigns is the ability to experiment with varying rulesets; if it doesn’t work, they just won’t run that ruleset again. The folks at ArtCraft have expressed an interest in a great deal of experimentation with these, even suggesting unique rules like a campaign where gunpowder has been invented, or where magic doesn’t exist.
Taking the Loot Home
In Crowfall, the players assume the role of immortal champions of gods who, faced with a new potentially universe ending threat, did the logical thing and went to war with each other instead of trying to stop it. These champions are essentially scavengers, picking over the remains of falling worlds to salvage what resources they can before all is overtaken by the hunger (this is the source of their eponymous nickname – the Crows).
So the real question here is, after we’ve earned our loot, how do we get it out of the dying world? Fortunately, this was explained in some detail in a Kickstarter update:
Players can place items, resources, and materials into Embargo – basically, this is a way of “uploading” items to your Account Bank inside a Campaign. This can only be done at certain specific locations inside a Campaign, and items placed there are basically “in quarantine” until the Campaign is over. When the world is destroyed at the end of a Campaign, some portion of the player’s winnings (i.e. the contents they have placed inside their Embargo vault) will be transferred into that player’s Account Bank. The number of items transferred depends on how well that player fared within the Campaign.
Once the campaign has ended, you’ll be able to make use of your retained resources back in the Eternal Kingdoms, an area of player-run maps that we’ll cover later on.
Caravans
Worthy of note is one relevant stretch goal, through which caravans were unlocked as a feature. Though specifics aren’t yet available, it appears that these will be used to transport large quantities of goods in the world, and may be needed to interact with embargo vaults. Suffice it to say, transporting resources and goods via caravan will be a risky endeavor, essentially advertising the quantity of items being carried to any would be gankers who happen to see it. Traveling with guards would seem advisable.
Eternal Heroes
Although the worlds themselves are temporary, the concept of character permanence is still preserved. Build customization in Crowfall is incredibly deep, drawing heavily on Shadowbane, Star Wars Galaxies, EVE Online, and pen & paper RPGs.
Archetypes
As in so many other games, your character begins with your class choice. In Crowfall, these are called archetypes, and are a combination of class, race, and in a few controversial instances, gender (note: this is said to generally only apply monster races, or in instances where it is supported by the lore). At the time of this writing, there are currently 12 archetypes listed on the archetype page, with more (minotaurs were one of the stretch goals) confirmed to be on the way.
The decision to race-lock classes into archetypes brings with it two major benefits. The first is that it allows for much higher quality work to be done on animations and armor skins (if determined by class ala Warhammer: Online – which could be the case, though this is speculation), as they will only have to be used on one similar model instead of tweaked to fit many different ones. Second, it signals that classes will be much more quickly recognizable on visual appearance alone, adding greatly to the strategy of PvP encounters by allowing players to know more about their opponent prior to beginning to fight.
Crowfall‘s characters are designed on a point-based system in the style of many pen & paper RPGs. Each character starts off with a set number of points to allocate, some of which are consumed when selecting your archetypes. Some archetypes come with more attributes pre-distributed, and these will have a higher point cost; for example, the Centaur Legionnaire will have a high starting strength, so the point cost for choosing that archetype will be higher than when choosing a different archetype with less points already assigned.
Advantages & Disadvantages
After selecting an archetype, it’s time to distribute your remaining points. You’ll be able to select of a series of advantages and disadvantages to apply to your character; advantages will consume points and disadvantages will give you points – but at a cost. The example given is that “Eagle Eye” might give you an increase to accuracy with ranged weapons, while “Dim-witted” might lower your Intellect, but give you points that you can spend to further increase your Strength. There is a limit to how many advantages and disadvantages you’ll be able to start with, so you won’t be able to get too crazy here.
No Character Levels
As you may have guessed already, Crowfall will feature a level-less progression system. I think we can all agree that a level-based system for a PvP based game where players are dumped randomly into procedurally generated campaign worlds would make absolutely zero sense.
Skill Training
However, there are skill levels aplenty, which will be the first way you’ll begin to grow your character. After unlocking a skill for training (by using them), you’ll be able to queue them for advancement similarly to EVE Online‘s training system, where selected skills advance in real-time, regardless of whether or not the player is actually logged in.
In Crowfall‘s system, you’ll be able to train three skills simultaneously, at three separate priority rates (secondary and tertiary functioning at essentially 2x and 3x the primary training rate). Tentatively, the team is planning for it to take one month of training on the primary track to max out a skill. Notably, the maximum attainable skill rating will be determined by other factors in your character build; not all class combinations will be able to reach the same proficiency with skills.
Training is affected by two forms of diminishing returns that we know of so far. First, the marginal bonuses granted by skill training will decrease as the skill advances, with the initial levels giving much greater boosts in power than the last ones. Second, training time per level will increase as the skill is advanced, resulting in a much higher time investment to finish a skill off than it took to start it up. Similarly to EVE Online, this will result in a system where (contrary to popular opinion from players who don’t actually play EVE) players will be able to quickly get into the action, as the minimum skill investment to become competitive will be relatively quick to obtain.
Check out the skill training Kickstarter update for more info.
Promotion Classes
After meeting certain (likely skill-level related) requirements, players will be able to permanently promote their character into a new, specialized promotion class for their archetype.
Promotion classes offer a wide and impactful array of bonuses to the character’s build, including raised skill maximums, new powers / upgrades to existing ones, and sometimes access to entirely new weapons. Promotion also offers one chance to adjust your character’s advantages and disadvantages, after which those choices will be finalized.
Disciplines
Disciplines seem to be a system copy and pasted directly out of Shadowbane – one of the few areas of Shadowbane qualifying for the old if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it adage.
Disciplines are a type of subclass for your character, and are unlocked by applying Runestones to your character. Not all disciplines will be available to every archetype, but there will be a wealth of options to choose from for every archetype. Here’s how the character progression Kickstarter update describes disciplines:
Disciplines allow you to further customize your characters skills and powers. Want to focus that Knight on more sword damage? Or increasing his Strength attribute? Or turning into a Werebear? These are the types of customization effects that can be added by using Disciplines. Discipline runes can increase your skill max with certain skills, grant access to new skills and powers, grant you new crafting recipes, or give you the ability to master weapon types that are normally restricted. The skills, powers and recipes granted by Disciplines are typically very thematic. For example, we wouldn’t have a generic “Weapon Master” discipline that gives you a bonus to swords, spears and shields – but we might have a “Gladiator” discipline that does exactly that, because it makes sense that a Gladiator might have that particular collection of skills.
The exact method for obtaining a Runestone varies; they can be found hidden in ruins or when tunneling underground, some can be crafted, and others can be obtained as rewards from victories in the campaign worlds. Like all items in Crowfall, Runestones can be traded, but as there is no way for them to be removed from a character without their destruction, the item is effectively destroyed once slotted.
The Opportunity for Failure
With all of these opportunities for customization available, how will they all possibly be balanced? They won’t be. ArtCraft has confirmed that not all builds will be good (obviously), signalling that they won’t be attempting to make every build a valid one. In every MMO, balance is a bit of a zero sum game between homogeneity and the dominance of cookie-cutter builds; with any luck, Crowfall will find the right spot.
Roles
If you hadn’t gathered yet, Crowfall is a PvP game, with very little available in terms of PvE content. Mobs in the game are described as being akin to the zombies in The Walking Dead – they add flavor to the world and tune up the risk factor, but other players are the real challenge. As such, a PvE system like the trinity just doesn’t make sense as a design choice.
Crowfall does have roles, however. Tanks, Damage Dealers, Support, Scouts, Control, and Crafters will all play important roles in the game’s meta. Notably, Crowfall will not feature traditional healers; while players will be able to assume important support roles and healing can absolutely be a part of that, do not expect to funnel “fire-hose style” healing into targets to keep them alive indefinitely. Crowfall wants to keep the combat deadly, and as the game isn’t designed around players fighting bosses with enormous HP pools, there just isn’t any need for the sustained healers we find in many games with a PvE focus.
Eternal Kingdoms
Beyond their aforementioned function as loot repositories, Crowfall‘s Eternal Kingdoms are the game’s take on permanent worldspace and player cities all rolled into one. Each player is granted an account-wide EK to expand upon and develop as they wish.
Each kingdom is essentially a smaller, permanent, low-difficulty version of a campaign world, where players will be able to build, explore, and even fight monsters if they wish. However, growth in the Eternal Kingdoms will require resources from the campaign worlds, forcing players to either compete in the campaigns or trade with others to get the materials needed for expansion. Players with developed kingdoms will be able to rent out portions to other players, allowing them to edit the features in their domain, and even sublet to other players.
Structures in the Eternal Kingdoms will serve a variety of purposes, the following of which have been enumerated upon by the ArtCraft so far:
Hold Artifacts and Relics, which grant minor buffs to players in the form of blessings
Act as crafting stations
Provide marketplaces in the form of player-run shops
Hold trainer thralls, who work in much the same manner as relics, providing buffs to types of passive training speeds
Act as personal housing and social hubs
We will undoubtedly see the rise of prominent Eternal Kingdoms as the primary method for trade and socialization within the game’s Eternal Kingdoms. Given that there is no auction house, player-run shops (manned by NPCs) will be essential to the trade economy, similarly to their function in Star Wars Galaxies. Notably, there also seems to be a way for kingdoms to go to war with each other, though the details on that remain hazy.
Controversially, the sale of structures and parcels for use in Eternal Kingdoms looks to be a major facet in ArtCraft’s crowdfunding strategy, similar to the sale of ships in Star Citizen. For many, this toes the line of the what’s acceptable to sell and what isn’t, and has some worried that success in establishing a prominent kingdom will be heavily weighted in favor of backers that invested large amounts of money prior to the game’s launch (and potentially after, if such sales are continued). While success in the Eternal Kingdoms will not directly affect progress in campaigns (remember – what you can bring into a campaign will be extremely limited), some still fear that this treads closely to becoming pay-to-win.
For more information on Eternal Kingdoms, check out the Eternal Kingdoms Kickstarter Update.
Crafting and the Gear Economy
Crowfall‘s crafting and economy are based heavily on EVE Online and Star Wars Galaxies. If that didn’t get your attention – it should have. Crafting will be a central part of Crowfall‘s gameplay, with teams of players relying on crafters to provide them with gear, city building, siege weapons, and even food (remember that starvation mechanic?). That said, many of the specifics on Crowfall‘s crafting system are still under wraps.
Back in January, Thomas Blair, Crowfall‘s design lead, gave a telling interview on the game’s crafting to MMORPG. The interview is worth the read, but here are two highlights that I feel shed the most light on the game’s crafting system.
What do you think happened to the crafting scene in MMORPGs? It really came out of the need to make sure that every player could be an island, and not have to rely on other players for his or her progress. If every player can play the game completely independently, then it stands that crafting should be a “secondary activity” for everyone, not a primary profession for anyone. If you wanted to be a master crafter, you had to do that in addition to gaining combat levels through PvE. Since it was an optional secondary profession, the endgame “evolved” from dealing with other players (or beating on them and taking their stuff) to forming large groups and killing raid bosses for phat loot. Thus began an eternal struggle between loot drops and crafted items. There can only be one! Crafted items better than dragon loot?! Preposterous! Take a boss drop to a crafter to craft it for you? No way! Of course, loot drops won out, because it’s easier to control the player experience by setting drop percent chance. In fact, loot drops won out so convincingly that crafting is mostly used to fill in equipment gaps while waiting for raid boss loot drops. How sad is that? To relegate a primary game profession to a sad time-filling activity? As designers in our desire to make killing big monsters worthwhile we killed the concept of having a crafting class as “the thing you do.” We have replaced depth and community interaction with clever and in some cases very good mini games. How you craft is where we have been focusing all our efforts, not why you craft. Speaking as a player who made virtual fortunes in UO as a Blacksmith and in SWG as an Armorer, I’m bummed I can’t find an experience like that in the current marketplace of games. No one knows who the crafters in the community are, there is no debate on how to produce masterpieces in the forums. People think of the exploration game as “looking for new zones”, but it used to be so much more than that! As a result, the crafting community has largely gone by the wayside. I’d like to see what Crowfall can do to change that.
This is spot on. So long as games are focused on rewarding players with the best gear through developer-created content and not player interaction, crafting will never have an important place as it had in past games. If crafted gear is better or equal to that dropped from bosses, then why kill the bosses? If crafted gear is worse, then why use it?
These two systems have been at odds since their inception, and it’s incredibly promising to see a developer looking to bring crafting back as a viable primary activity.
What do you propose to “bring back” crafting? I’m not claiming to have a silver bullet on this one, just some ideas based on years of playing and observation. There are a ton of lessons to be learned looking at games like Star Wars Galaxies and EVE Online which had and still have success with their crafting and economic loops. From a very high altitude, crafters need to be able to: craft unique items, explore new recipes and profit from the results of this exploration, and create customized items for all styles of play. Crafters must have an audience to buy their goods. The loop between crafter and combatant has to exist! And, ideally, crafters need to be able to “mark” their product so that they can build a social reputation and a following. The very concept that players can and will lose their items at some point is required, otherwise the game loop breaks. It is a very controversial topic for those who don’t like the potential of losing their items, and we understand that. But sometimes you have to embrace ideas that may not be popular at first glance, because they open up amazing areas of gameplay that are otherwise not accessible. On Crowfall, we’re willing to take some of these risks, because we know that the payoff will be worth the effort.
You may have noticed earlier that the examples given for campaign rulesets included differing decay rules; well, this is where that comes back.
Item Removal as a Necessary Part of Sandbox Economies
Item loss on death or permanent decay are a staple mechanic in sandbox MMOs, where gear is used as a tool to advance gameplay and is not the ultimate goal of the endgame experience itself. While item loss may seem unthinkable to those coming from a background in gear-progression driven themepark environments, it can do well in a sandbox MMO, and is essential in keeping the economy alive.
Flatter Power Curve
Another consideration is the effect of the sandbox economy on gear utility. As continual progression is not a focus of the game, the need for drastic increases in power with gear is not as important. While more difficult to obtain gear should provide noticeable statistical benefits as a risk vs reward component, it’s unlikely that a step up in item level in Crowfall will yield the severe benefits a step up in tier would yield in a PvE themepark like World of Warcraft.
Barter Economy – No Enforced Currency
One of the more unique elements of Crowfall‘s economy is that they will not be shipping the game with a default currency. While the option will exist for players to create coins from ore and for the market to assign value to them, this system will remain entirely in the hands of the players. Presumably, this means that player shops will have the capability to set sell amounts in exchange for any in-game item. I’m on team Chickencoin.
Combat
Crowfall‘s combat is unabashedly action-oriented, with its inspirations described as a mix of TERA’s targeting mechanics and Wildstar‘s movement. Active dodging and blocking (with shields only) have both been confirmed as well, and can be seen in the extremely early-alpha footage shown below:
It’s worth noting that although telegraphs are featured prominently (way, way too prominently) in the video, that their appearance, and even their existence, are far from finalized. Though we know nothing of what their final form will be, their current eye-bleeding inducing form will likely not be around for long. The team knows the importance of getting combat right, and I’m sure we’ll see lots of changes as it moves forward from its current early-prototype phase.
The Wrap-Up
Crowfall is still very early in its development cycle, and it’s extremely easy to get swept up in the hype this early in a game’s development due to how much wiggle room we have to fill the gaps of our knowledge with assumptions and desires that likely won’t pan out. Still, Crowfall is looking extremely promising, and I’m finding what little we do know has been effective at sweeping me up on its merit alone.
I believe in the concepts and objectives this game has, and I don’t believe games like this are going to be made by established companies who are looking to simply create products with as much market appeal as possible. Crowfall is undeniably a passion project – just check out this post by J. Todd Coleman if you need convincing – and this gives me confidence that the game’s current vision will survive the development process.
The game has a long road ahead of it, but with a veteran team of developers who really believe in the game they’re trying to create, and, thanks to the wonders of crowdfunding, are unbeholden to a disengaged board of directors calling the shots, there’s a really good chance that Crowfall will make it down that road.
Crowfall is currently targeting a December 2016 release date and will launch with a buy-to-play model of monetization; beta is currently estimated for mid-2016. There will be no NDA for its testing phases, so be sure to pay attention when they fire them up!
#Crowfall #MMO #GamingLongstanding was the battle between designer and front end engineer in regards to having fonts render perfectly as per the design, and consistently between different browsers and operating systems. In even darker days, designers were lucky to get a custom font face.
Thankfully those days are behind us. This is largely because browser vendors (Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, and Opera) have started implementing the working draft of CSS Level 3 (CSS3). This, in turn, has lead to the release of a number of great JavaScript plugins that can enable us to create the right typographic layouts; there is a new hope for pixel perfect web typography.
So what exactly are the these new features? Chances are you've already been using them, albeit unknowingly, but in this article I'll cover some of these new features, how to implement them, what impact they can have, and I'll maybe even share a rendering fix for Internet Explorer (because, Spoiler Alert, there is one).
In addition to the new CSS3 features we'll also look at some existing CSS2 attributes which, when used in the correct manner, can also be just what you need.
The CSS
Font weight synthesis AKA "Mystery Emboldening"
The font-face rule is now quite commonplace, but have you ever noticed that in some browsers – such as Chrome – if you don't have a matching font-weight (e.g. bold) for your webfont, the browser will help you out by artificially emboldening your regular type face, usually with varying degrees of success? Well, this is the browser synthesising the missing typeface. You'll see the difference below in these examples.
Missing typeface:
Typeface present:
Some might see this as desirable behaviour, as it's better to have a bold weight than none at all. However, I am of the opinion that this font rendering isn't correct, and we as developers should stop this from happening. The addition of the font-synthesis attribute at a global level will suffice in solving this rendering quirk. Which means you'll notice when you've not selected the right weight.
* { font-synthesis: none; }
Font synthesis off (Firefox only):
Tracking
Often we are handed a design where the designer has tweaked the tracking – or letter spacing as it's referred to in CSS – of the font, in order to "tighten up" the design. As long as this change is across the whole body of text, it is quite straight forward to match the letter-spacing.
In the past I've used this mixin to convert the PSD tracking value to ems. It's always best to specify letter spacing in ems – especially for responsive layouts – as it means you can redefine the font size and the letter-spacing will scale.
@mixin tracking($spacing) { letter-spacing: ($spacing / 1000) * 1em; }
Differently tracked text:
However if the design does require more in-depth and accurate kerning, as opposed to tracking (the difference between the two is explained here) then you'll need to employ some JavaScript, but I'll cover more on that later.
Leading and line height
Leading isn't the same as line-height in CSS. Leading is in fact the half difference between the font-size and line-height.
Line-height isn't something new, but worth briefly mentioning for an accessibility reason. For big blocks of text (e.g. an article or a blog post) line-height should be at least 1.5 times the font size according to WCAG rule 1.4.8.4, which is easily achieved using ems.
Em based line heights:
Font features
One of the biggest typography features to arrive with CSS3 is the ability to enable OpenType font (OTF) features, of which there are a lot. Typekit have an awesome article explaining them all in great detail, which I'll refrain from repeating here.
I will, however, demonstrate how to use a common font feature: enabling ligatures.
Ligatures in Lato:
Typically OTF WebFonts with font features are a bigger download for a user, so this might put you off using them. However, using them generally makes your long form copy look a lot nicer, and will deliver a better aesthetic.
It's worth noting that specifying text-rendering: optimizeLegibility will also add ligatures to your text. As a side note, this is one reason why you should only add this property in areas where you definitely want ligatures.
Kerning
Kerning is defined as "the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result" by Wikipedia, which is pretty accurate.
In CSS there are a couple of ways to enable kerning, the first being text-rendering which can have mixed results, and the second being font-kerning. Due to browser support it's probably worth specifying both, and (as noted above) you'll get the added bonus of enabling ligatures too!
Un-kerned and kerned text:
And also like ligatures, text kerning can be enabled using font-features.
Font smoothing
There are a lot of articles in support of using font-smoothing in your CSS and quite a few against it, with the arguments centering, respectively, around making the text more attractive, and usability.
Personally, I always specify it in my CSS, as it does make the fonts look a lot crisper, especially at low font weights.
Font smoothing at low font weight:
However, this is a Mac only feature. To get your fonts rendering nicely on Windows you'll need to employ ClearType. ClearType is enabled using a meta tag in the head of your html.
Also, while we're on on the subject of font rendering and Internet Explorer, there is another meta tag that could make your life easier if you are having issues with the appearance of your font on older versions of the browser we love to hate.
This meta tag will turn off the inter-pixel spacing in IE9+ and uses GDI metrics instead.
JavaScript Solutions
We can't talk about web typography and not mention a few of the JavaScript solutions available on the Internet.
Two such solutions are letteringjs and kerningjs, and both achieve their tweaks in a similar way, with the former being a touch more manual than the latter
The method they both use to achieve this is to wrap each character of the string in a. This will make your generated markup look ugly, but it allows you to fine tune the kerning and vertical positioning.
It's worth noting that if accessibility is a priority for your site, screen readers will pause on each span, which isn't ideal. This can be overcome by adding aria-* attributes on the spans, which is something letteringjs does do.
Useful LinksThe number of hedge funds with investments in cryptocurrencies has jumped massively in recent months. Reports of as many as 70 new hedge funds with cryptocurrency positions has led to an investor rush.
This number has continued to grow, increasing the availability for institutional-level investment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. A recent report by Quartz.com indicates that this trend is continuing, as investors seek better returns from hedge funds, as the recent returns from these funds have been lower than the indexed S&P 500.
Hedge fund = price growth
The increase in hedge fund participation has coincided with a substantial increase in Bitcoin price, edging close to $5,000 in recent trading. This jump, predicted by many industry insiders, has been led by increasing mainstream participation in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The article made it clear that the increasing investor participation will fuel greater price increase, stating:
“It’s this wall of money that’s about to hit the markets,” says Kelly of BKCM. “That makes me think we are in the early innings of this rally.”
The move from growth to acceptance to greater growth (termed a ‘Satoshi cycle’) has led many to see Bitcoin driving to new heights in the coming year.Last week, upon launching a cruise missile strike against Syria, Donald Trump “became president.” That’s the narrative that emerged from mainstream opinion-makers in the United States, at least, and proof positive that it remains the case that no man in America becomes president before he blows something up.
Perhaps that’s unfair. Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has played the part of global hegemon—the world’s leading power. In this century and a significant part of the last one, this job has included ensuring global security, stabilizing the world economic system, and setting trends in the arts, culture, sport, and so on. That’s the tl;dr version of the story, at any rate. Of course, there are important exceptions to that, but let’s set those aside for now.
Part of the hegemon’s job is to manage threats to global security. It’s not by accident that the United States has hundreds of military bases around the world and has engaged in routine military intervention all over the planet since the 1940s, including operations that have been acknowledged and (surely) plenty of clandestine affairs. Technically, America hasn’t declared war since 1942, as part of a series of declarations between 1941-1942 during the Second World War, but they’ve engaged in plenty of combat nonetheless.
It’s no surprise, then, that President Trump has approved military strikes and raids as commander-in-chief, including one in Yemen in January. The question isn’t if Trump will have to use U.S. military force around the world, but where will he use it? And how much of it will he use? With the hopelessly sanguinary conflict in Syria continuing with no end in sight, nuclear threats from North Korea, an increasingly assertive Russia, a civil war in Yemen, chronic instability in Iraq and Afghanistan, and several other global security challenges, one can be forgiven for worrying that the answers to these questions might be: “all over the place” and “plenty.”
For context, recall that under President Obama, the Central Intelligence Agency launched 100 strikes by the end of 2009 and the numbers climbed from there, with plenty of so-called “collateral damage”. And yet, Obama resisted deep intervention into the civil war in Syria despite mass suffering and the humanitarian crisis that has accompanied Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sustained assault on his own people. Trump’s intervention in response to a gas attack—which in a born-again moment changed the president’s mind about attacking the Russian-backed dictator—was measured, as far as these things go. In essence, he fired off some expensive fireworks, dented a shed, and “proved” to the world that he is no Russian puppet.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Syrian war planes left the base hours after the attack to conduct an airstrike on the same town Assad had earlier gassed. If the Trump strike was meant to send Assad a message, it’s possible he didn’t receive it—or didn’t care. Meanwhile, the U.S. military messaging continues: a naval strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson sailed near the Korean peninsula following North Korean missile tests, which prompted a perfunctory if unsettling warning from Pyongyang.
Americans live as if they’re constantly at war. The rise of the surveillance state, domestic and global security threats, and vulnerable U.S. interests overseas have brought about a kind of security homeostasis in which the body politic is constantly under some degree of threat and therefore always at the ready to defend itself. David Byrne was right: “This ain’t no party/ this ain’t no disco/this ain’t no foolin’ around“—and this is the environment into which Donald Trump has entered as both president and commander-in-chief.
Consequently, Americans and individuals around the world, affected as we are “by every twitch and grunt” of the United States, have reason to be concerned. Trump’s mercurial personality and obvious lack of preparation for the job he’s found himself in are threats to U.S. and global security—again, this ain’t no foolin’ around. Lives are at risk. The fate of nations are at risk. The global order is at risk. And while there are plenty of reasons why international relations might beg for a re-ordering in the 21st century, Donald Trump is not the leader who ought to be leading the effort.
READ MORE: Donald Trump imagines America is under siege
It appears that Trump is deferential to men in uniform (and to his daughter?). In January, Trump changed his mind on the use of torture, saying he would leave the decision to General James Mattis.So far, Trump has shown restraint—and even prudence—when it comes to military activity, which suggests that he’s listening to more level-headed folks than when it comes to domestic policy. But it’s early days as his administration approaches the arbitrarily significant 100-day mark, and global security is only going to become more complicated as time goes on—at the very least, there’s no evidence that suggests matters are improving—at a time when Trump and his team have done little to signal that they have a grand strategy for dealing with current challenges (especially Syria).
We are also left with the question of who’s in charge when it comes to military affairs. Who has the ear of the president? To whom is he ultimately going to defer in the long run? These questions reveal a kind of catch-22: while one might prefer to have a civilian ultimately in charge of the military, one might also prefer that it not be Trump. Yet the alternative is to have the generals calling their own shots, or else either noted military strategist Ivanka Trump or lunatic millenarian conspiracy theorist Steve Bannon.
None of these options are particularly appealing, of course. While folks can protest, write or call their representatives, or engage in other forms of resistance, there is little that can be done while the major players make their decisions and shape the future, while the rest of us hope that some wisdom will emerge from the chaos. That’s life during wartime.
David Moscrop is a political scientist and a writer. He’s currently working on a book about why we make bad political decisions and how we can make better ones. He’s at @david_moscrop on Twitter. He lives in Vancouver.Final Fantasy VII and XV writer; Final Fantasy Tactics and XII composer
French developer Kobojo has announced a new game, Zodiac, made in collaboration with frequent Final Fantasy composer Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII), series scenario writer Kazushige Nojima (Final Fantasy VII) and sound designer Masaaki Kaneko.
The team describes the completely hand drawn turn-based RPG as, "Final Fantasy meets Valkyrie Profile and Dragon's Crown in a new online multiplayer experience."
Kobojo, which has Paris and Scotland-based studios, started as a social game developer, but has since shifted focus to developing high quality role-playing games for mobile devices. It is showing Zodiac at |
“White House Down” and the comedy “This is the End.”
Last night “After Earth” played for the press at 5pm and at a premiere at 7 (really 7:45pm) at the Ziegfeld. Bruce Willis showed up to support M. Night Shyamalan, who keeps getting to make big budget movies despite no feel for them whatsoever. I did get to meet Will Smith’s dad, who is a very nice, older gentleman, also named Will, lanky and tall like Will, with members of the extended Smith family from Philadelphia.Late last year, when Pope Francis issued his first apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium,” much more was made of his utterances on economics and what he branded a globalization of indifference than his vision of evangelism for the Catholic faithful. Sarah Palin, a conservative evangelical, told CNN that the Pope surprised her, that his statements sounded “kind of liberal.” Rush Limbaugh said he was “befuddled” at the Pontiff’s remarks and then added, “This is pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the Pope.” R.R. Reno pointed out in First Things that these knee-jerk reactions from the right were as inaccurate as the knee-jerk reaction from the left: The Pope is one of us—thank God!
In the midst of their scramble to claim the new Pope, many on the left missed what the Pontiff said was a nonsolution. The problems of the poor, he said, could not be solved by a “simple welfare mentality.” Well, by what then? The document is clear: “a better distribution of income.” And how might this be achieved? Through the “right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good,” to exercise some control against an “absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation.”
The Pope called for a kinder and gentler capitalism. Admittedly, he did not provide many policy details other than, “We can no longer trust the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market … it requires decisions, programmes, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income.” It is that phrase, “distribution of income,” that struck fear into Palin and Limbaugh, and perhaps even Reno. It smacks of socialism—what Reno called the only and obvious alternative to capitalism. Reno briskly passed over any notion of a third solution, one many sons and daughters of Rome have rallied to for over a century.
The word distributism does not appear in the treatise, and nowhere does Francis fall back on his predecessors or Catholic intellectuals who have supported a third way of economic ordering. Nevertheless, policies that allow for the flourishing of smaller economic units while at the same time valuing work and broader property ownership are consistent with Catholic social teaching.
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Francis, after all, is only one of several modern Popes to have criticized capitalism. At the apex of the Industrial Revolution Pope Leo XIII addressed the disparity between the rich and the poor in his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, setting forth the proper duties between worker and employer. Workers were to faithfully perform their duties and refrain from acts of violence and destruction of property. Employers were to pay a living wage, provide time off for religious days and holidays, and respect workers according to ability, age, and gender. In addition to promoting the dignity of the worker, the encyclical asserted that owning property was a basic human right according to natural law. The employer has a right to property, but the laborer should be able to advance so that he too could own property.
To mark the 40-year anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope Pius XI reasserted the foundational necessity of private property ownership for a free society. Quadragesimo Anno (1931) re-emphasized the importance of fair wages and ethical relations between worker and employer. Pius XI placed special emphasis on the functionality of small- and medium-sized enterprises to maintain a balance in the social order against the threat of monopolizing powers. Both Pope Pius XII and John Paul II spoke expressively of solidarity, the idea that we need associations to survive and thrive economically.
These Popes are only the beginning of thoughtful Catholic critiques of capitalism’s ill effects. British writer and historian Hilaire Belloc said that if pure capitalism reigned there would be constant unemployment, starvation in the streets, and perpetual turmoil. Belloc believed modern capitalism was an unstable force and in conflict with the moral theories of liberty. Belloc’s contemporary, G.K. Chesterton, couldn’t have agreed more, and they both directed much of their energies into disparaging what they deemed to be the “Servile State,” an economic system whereby an unfree majority of nonowners work for the pleasure of a free minority of owners.
Belloc and Chesterton were supporters of distributism. Distributism is not a form of socialism or communism. Rather, it envisions an economy with the widest use of private productive property. Distributism is best viewed as a humane microcapitalism. While the American version of it is found in Jefferson’s agrarian society, the Russian version of it is found in Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “democracy of small places.” Belloc and Chesterton were not opposed to capitalism per se, but they saw unrestrained capitalism to tend toward state-sustained monopolies. When Chesterton quipped, “Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists,” he had in mind a robust economy of small businesses and family farms.
The pastoral ideal of village and farm runs through the writings of many prominent Catholic literary figures. What does one think J.R.R. Tolkien was up to when he gave us those ecoguardians of the forest, the Ents, in his Lord of the Rings trilogy? The smokestack, assembly line, and A-Bomb nauseated Tolkien. What was the Ring itself but greed and power and audacity all rolled up into one formidable symbol? The only industrial power in Middle Earth is Mordor, that vast wasteland, where “nothing lived, not even the leprous growths that feed on rottenness.” When Frodo and Sam return from their quest they are taken back at the changes brought to the Shire, their home. Thugs were now in charge, hobbits were displaced, gardens were ransacked, and the new buildings were ugly. “This is worse than Mordor!” says Sam. “Much worse in a way. It comes home to you, as they say; because it is home, and you remember it before it was all ruined.”
Middle Earth fans may not recognize it, but Tolkien was providing a critique of modernity. More specifically, he was critiquing industrial capitalism with its all-encompassing eye, its pursuit of greed, and its black fisted arm towering up from the hollowed plains of Isengard. The Shire motif, replete with village, orchards, and farm plots, underpins the Ring trilogy, for Tolkien was himself a hobbit at heart, and preferred above all else, “peace and quiet and good tilled earth.”
Across the ocean, Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement, responded to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal by writing that her organization believed in the security of the worker, not the ownership of the worker. At the height of the Depression (1936) The Catholic Worker reached a circulation of 100,000, providing an alternative between no-holds-barred capitalism and the lures of communism. “[W]e favor the establishment of a Distributist economy,” said one of the organization’s position papers, “wherein those who have a vocation to the land will work on the farms surrounding the village and those who have other vocations will work in the village itself.”
Day was extending the principles articulated by Popes and the values of Belloc and Chesterton. In her autobiography The Long Loneliness (1952) she lamented, “The state had entered to solve [unemployment] by dole and work relief, by setting up so many bureaus that we were swamped with initials … Labor was siding with the creation of the Welfare State, the Servile State, instead of aiming for the ownership of the means of production and acceptance of the responsibility that it entailed.”
Allen Tate, an admirer of Day, was busy down South with his own crusade. The poet was one of the architects of I’ll Take My Stand, a collection of essays published in 1930 by a group of professors at Vanderbilt University desirous of rearticulating Jefferson’s agrarian vision. The twelve Southerners responsible for the document were defending their region against the onslaughts of the Industrial Machine that had appeared out of the North a generation earlier to crush their customs, landscape, and philosophy of life.
It is more natural to love a spot of ground than to love a pile of money, explained John Crowe Ransom in the opening salvo. Although not a Catholic at the time, Tate’s essay in the compilation addressed the differences between the religious and scientific mind. True religion, said Tate, directs its attention to the “whole horse”—its grace, beauty, and power—but the scientific mind is more concerned with the utility of the horse. The scientist wants to perfect the horse by making it faster, by substituting it with “horse power.” The grace of a horse can be easily be disposed of with the efficiency of an automobile. Horse, be gone, says the scientist.
The “whole horse” metaphor captures the Catholic sensibility exceptionally well. It reveals a sacramental view of life, not unrelated to the Catholic imagination, which sees the earth as good because it springs from the brow and hands of God. Created things are a means to the Creator because they reflect Him. There is a created order, which must be listened to and respected. In contrast, moderns want to wage war with the Creation, exploit it, manipulate it, and dissect it for power and profit. The impulse to unduly molest the earth and its inhabitants is what Catholics like Tate abhor.
We know from his Essays of Four Decades that Tate moved slowly toward Catholicism, but the “sensibility” was already there, even in 1930, when he admitted that the medieval church had provided the only spiritual unity possible in the Western mind. Tate told his wife at his baptism in 1950 that he had been such a fool as to wait this long to join the church. His wife, novelist Caroline Gordon, had joined the church three years earlier, as had other acquaintances over the years: Dorothy Day, Robert Lowell, and Marshall McLuhan.
These sons and daughters of Rome were not slouches. Their vision is consistent with Aristotle, Edmund Burke, Richard Weaver, Wilhem Röpke, Christopher Lasch, Russell Kirk, Robert Nisbet, and E.F. Schumacher. Third way proponents still walk the earth today and include Alasdair MacIntyre, Wendell Berry, Rod Dreher, Mark T. Mitchell, Bill Kauffman, Joseph Pearce, and Allan Carlson.
Judging from the popularity of Amish novels among evangelical women, it is not an isolated sensibility. The resurgence of community-supported agriculture demonstrates how the sensibility has strengthened, at least in our outlook on food. Who knows, Sarah Palin, that Alaskan huntress politician, probably carries the sensibility somewhere in her bosom. Certainly the young want more for themselves than what the current market forces are holding out for them. Who wants to work for Wal-Mart at minimum wage?
The best hope for America is the possibility for it to remake itself. The past failure of socialism and the current growing sense that something is amiss in our current economic system should spur us on to consider possibilities associated with a third way—that old alternative that has sparked the imagination of so many Catholic minds.
Arthur W. Hunt III is associate professor of communications at The University of Tennessee at Martin. His new book is Surviving Technopolis: Essays on Finding Balance in Our New Man-made Environments.It’s been a while since Daniel Day Lewis gave the Academy something to gush about. The actor was last seen in 2012’s Lincoln, for which he won an expected Best Actor Oscar—his third, after 1989’s My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown, and 2007’s There Will Be Blood. But the perennial winner’s break from the big screen could be ending: he’s in talks to re-unite with There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson to make a movie about the fashion industry.
Plot details are still scarce and the project remains untitled, Variety reports, but the film will be set in New York in the 1950s. Lewis “has been loosely attached to the project for some time,” according to Variety—and while Anderson’s reps declined to comment, he’s reportedly still working on the script and interviewing actresses of Eastern European descent.
The project is still in its infancy, but it’s hard not to bask in its Oscar potential. Lewis and Anderson have already proven themselves to be an actor-director dream team—but while Lewis has several statuettes, Anderson has yet to win one. His most recent nomination came last year, when 2014’s Inherent Vice was up for Best Adapted Screenplay. Before that, There Will Be Blood earned him three nominations—all three of which he lost to the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men. Perhaps this project could usher in his turn.
Speaking of Oscars and the fashion industry, just one suggestion: could we please, if at all possible, get Meryl Streep folded in somehow? As we all know, Streep already has some experience acting as a fashion industry bigwig. A movie co-starring these two would be a seismic Oscar magnet—although it would be interesting to see whether she or Lewis got top billing.
Get Vanity Fair’s HWD Newsletter Sign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood. E-mail Address Subscribe- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Callers have reported receiving robocalls telling them that Election Day is November 5th.
- Ohio: Voters have been falsely told that they can send in absentee ballots as late as November 14th.
- North Carolina: Fliers were left on cars at a shopping mall instructing Republicans to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4th (actual Election Day) and Democrats to vote on Wednesday Nov. 5th.
- Louisiana: People who moved out of their damaged homes after Hurricane Katrina are reporting confusion about their registration status and voting precinct.
- New Jersey: The state registration database is operating too slowly to update with the names of recent registrants.
- Maryland and Virginia: Voters report receiving calls from the purportedly from the Obama campaign with inaccurate polling place location.
- Indiana: Early voting centers are closing at noon and many people left standing in line have been sent away without getting to vote. Election law is unclear about this situation.
- Michigan: Many registered voters' names are not appearing on the state web site that verifies registration status. This also means that people can't find their polling location on the site.
- Kansas City, Missouri: Reports are coming in from voters at a largely African American polling location, who are being warned of a 6-8 hour wait to vote (despite the line being short) and forced to put their names on a list while in line to vote.CHICAGO — A man with a Concealed Carry License fired shots at two people trying to rob him Downtown on Wednesday, police said.
At 2:19 p.m., the man was driving in the first block of Lower Wacker Drive when two boys or men came up to the sides of his car and tried to get money from the man, police said.
One of the thieves reached into the car and tried to take something from the man, so the man took out his gun and fired a shot at one of the robbers, police said. The man was "fearing for his safety," police said.
The thieves ran away, police said, and no one was in custody.
The man has a Concealed Carry License and was "cooperative" with officers, police said.A new tiny, tech-savvy kind of seniors' housing could be coming to Calgary.
The 400-square-foot laneway homes are meant to help seniors age in their communities by incorporating built-in medical technology, such as heart rate monitors and dialysis machines.
The project was designed by local university students and will be presented to city council Monday.
"The house is being designed the same way that you'd design a wheelchair or any other medical apparatus," said Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, who is proposing the idea.
Because it's fully customizable, Carra said the possibilities are endless.
"And the dream, for the deep future, is that your doctor writes you a prescription for it," he said.
Just 'drop' it in your yard
University of Calgary environmental design students have been working with researchers from the faculty of medicine to develop a prototype.
Carra said the module is designed to "drop" into the backyard of your "typical" Calgary lot, like Acadia or Fairview.
"They can crane it over a two-story house, 150 feet back, and drop it against a back property line if you don't have a lane. They can put it against the lane next to a garage."
The prototype was designed with senior residents in mind. (Junette Huynh/University of Calgary)
Carra foresees several scenarios where this type of housing would work:
Where a senior can no longer live independently in their home. "You move into your backyard and maybe your house becomes a source of rental income for you," said Carra
Instead of putting their parents in a home, adult children put laneway homes in their own yards.
Adult children move into their parents' home and their parents move into a laneway house on the same property so that the "family is all together, and yet separate," said Carra.
Ward 9 Alderman Gian-Carlo Carra says laneway homes are part of a good seniors strategy and Calgary should give them a try. (CBC)
Carra said it's too early to say how much such a laneway home would cost.
"We do know it's a lot cheaper to prevent than it is to react. It's a lot more expensive to put people into the hospital and then to find them extended care. These are major drags on the system."
Carra would like the city to set up and test a couple of the mini homes. Willing seniors and communities would be needed for a pilot.
"Understanding what kind of seniors and what stages of life would be the most beneficial to collecting data, and then finding those seniors, I believe, connected to a community that's willing to be part of that as well," he said.
This is an example of a laneway house completed by Smallworks in Greater Vancouver. It sits just beyond that backyard of the established property in front. (Smallworks)
Regina is asking residents for feedback on laneway suites. (CBC)
Carra will table a motion Monday asking the city to look into the idea. If council approves, he wants a study completed by fall, and the project to move ahead next year.One of the most revealing and least examined aspects of the Department of Justice’s recent report on the Baltimore Police Department was evidence that officers coerced sexual favors from sex workers, sometimes in exchange for immunity from arrest. These revelations confirm what sex workers themselves have long maintained: that law enforcement often does not protect, but rather victimizes their community. (In a 2010 study, the Cato Institute found that sexual misconduct committed by law enforcement was the second most common form of misconduct.) “For every sex worker ‘rescued’ by LE [law enforcement],” wrote a commenter in June on Tits and Sass, a group blog run by sex workers, “another one is arrested by LE, or trapped in an LE-sponsored diversion program, or coerced by LE, or literally pimped out by LE.”
This same dynamic played out this summer in a scandal involving the Oakland Police Department; a teenage sex worker known as Celeste Guap claimed that at least three Oakland police officers sexually exploited her when she was underage, and that she traded sex for protection and information from the police. Guap told CNN that she had relationships with as many as 28 officers from law enforcement agencies ranging from the Oakland to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (her claims are currently being investigated). In an unrelated controversy, an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy, who has also been connected to Guap, faces termination for violating a restraining order filed by his wife after he allegedly warned her that he would “have her killed and fed to pigs if she ever did or said anything to hurt his job as a deputy.”
Beyond the allegations themselves, what’s also striking is that the abuse is taking place in a police department already mired in deep misconduct. The Baltimore Police Department is entering into a consent decree with the Department of Justice because of its pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing, and the Oakland Police Department has been under a consent decree since 2003 after a lawsuit was brought on behalf of African-American residents who said that the police systematically violated their rights.
For the past five years, I have been investigating a 2005 case involving eight murdered sex workers in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. In late 2008, a task force, comprised of local, state, and federal agencies, was created to investigate these unsolved murders — known as the “Jeff Davis 8.” In interviews with the task force, several witnesses said that members of law enforcement paid for sex with the victims; that sex workers negotiated their release from the parish jail by engaging in sexual activity with at least one high-ranking jail official; and that one sheriff’s deputy (now deceased) drove through an area in the parish seat (Jennings) to hire sex workers. That same deputy was even seen picking up some of the Jeff 8 victims. He was named as a suspect in the killings by at least nine of the task force’s own witnesses. Relatives of the Jeff Davis 8, meanwhile, told me that the slain women often provided information about criminal activity in exchange for protection or drugs from cops.
Life Inside Essays by people in prison and others who have experience with the criminal justice system
These allegations of sexual misconduct in Jefferson Davis Parish have gone largely unpunished, just as they have in Baltimore. In the early 2000s, before the Jeff Davis 8 murders began, a culture of impunity was so pervasive in Jennings that several female officers sued the police department in federal court. One officer claimed that the police chief at the time forced her to videotape her nipples getting pierced and then played the footage for others. A police captain allegedly told a female cop, “You know I like to lick pussy, I can numb it all night,” and then demonstrated the sexual act with his mouth. The same captain was alleged to have driven a young female officer to a dead-end road in his patrol car where he threatened to rape her. “You know what I want,” he said, “it’s time to prove yourself.” A female prisoner, meanwhile, said that she performed oral sex on this captain to get the position of cook in the jail. The case was settled in 2007, and the terms of the settlement have not been made public.
What the scandals in Baltimore, Oakland, and Jefferson Davis Parish demonstrate is that sexual misconduct and abuse of sex workers can be indicative of a culture of corruption, and is just as persistent as the more widely publicized issue of racially biased policing. It should come as no surprise that the same police department that abuses sex workers does not take crimes, in which women are victims, seriously. According to the DOJ report on Baltimore, fewer than one in four rape investigations result in the arrest of a suspect, a rate about half of the national average. “In homicide, there are real victims,” one Baltimore sex crimes investigator told the DOJ. “All our cases are bullshit.”
Ethan Brown is a New Orleans-based private investigator and author of four books including, "Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?" (Scribner/Simon, September).Whether you’re a recent transplant from BB10 or a curious convert from another Android phone, odds are you’re facing a steep learning curve if you’ve just bought a BlackBerry Priv. Whether you’re bowled-over or underwhelmed by BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone, the sliding monster with the full QWERTY keyboard is one of the most feature-laden devices on the market today. With so many facets vying for your attention, its easy to get overwhelmed and miss out on the minutiae that make moving into a new phone so enjoyable. After three days with a review device, here’s eight of our favorite little features from the BlackBerry Priv.
Lift to wake
Settings > Display > Lift to Wake
Lots of smartphones offer intelligent lock screens. From the Ambient Display of the Nexus to the Glance Screen of Microsoft’s Lumia line to the Moto Display of the Moto X, those who want their phones to wake up when removed from a pocket have plenty of options. The Priv takes things to the next level, though; when you enable “Lift to Wake” in the settings menu, picking the phone up from a tabletop will unlock the phone completely, delivering you right to the homescreen by the time you get the phone to chest level. (Keep in mind that this requires you to bypass the PIN or use a Smart Lock device like a smartwatch.)
Unlock with the space bar
(Enabled by default when using Smart Lock / no PIN)
Let’s assume you’re not hip to the previous option and decide to leave Lift to Wake disabled. If you bought the Priv to relive the glory days of smartphone hardware that flipped, spun and slid, you may find yourself wanting to unlock your BlackBerry the satisfying way – by sliding the screen up. While this will indeed wake the phone, it won’t get you past the lock screen. The Priv being a tall device, it’s a pretty cumbersome affair to reach all the way up to the display to swipe past the lock screen. So don’t. Instead, just press the space bar while the lock screen is displayed, and (again, assuming you’re using Smart Lock) it’ll slide up and out of your way like magic.
Just start typing to do almost anything
(Enabled by default)
BlackBerry took a lot of inspiration from Palm’s webOS when building its BB10 OS. Probably the most useful feature to make the jump was Universal Search, which the company has also included on the Priv. With the keyboard deployed and any home screen showing, just start typing to open a list of contextual search results in a scrolling list. Typing the word “Trek” on my Priv, for example, returns several browser history entries to Star Trek websites, several recent emails from the startrek.com online store, and a calendar reminder to play Beer Trek next week. Type the first few letters of any app installed on the phone for a shortcut to open it. Do the same for the name of a contact and get a link right to that person’s phone book entry. No matter what you type, you always get an Extended Search window with options to look for the entered term within any search-enabled app installed on the device, or jump right into a Google search.
Set a custom swipe shortcut
Settings > Swipe shortcuts
Pressing and holding on the Priv’s home button grants access to Google Now and the BlackBerry Hub, and it also offers a shortcut to the very search functionality covered in the point above. This is handy if you mainly use the Priv while closed, but if you’re going to be doing most of your universal searches from the physical keyboard, you can replace this shortcut with something less redundant. Just tap the left-hand pop-up orb in the Swipe shortcuts section of the settings menu, and you can assign any app, shortcut, or contact to that slot.
Make your Productivity Tab invisible
Productivity Tab > Settings
Look at any picture of the BlackBerry Priv in normal operation and you’ll likely see a small virtual tab sticking out from the edge of its curved display. This is the Productivity Tab, which contains useful shortcuts to the task list, calendar, email hub and more. While it’s handy to have, it’s not the most attractive part of the Priv’s software – so it’s fortunate that you can get rid of it. Just open the tab, tap the settings hamburger, and drag the transparency slider to the furthest-right position. It’ll fade to an almost invisible shadow of its former self, while still preserving all of its functionality.
Use keyboard shortcuts to save time
Long-press on home screen > Settings
As mentioned above, the Priv is a pretty tall device in its deployed state, so it’s not always easy to reach an app icon with a thumb. Fortunately, there’s a solution to that: just long-press any letter key to bring up the Shortcuts menu, which lets you assign that key to an app or contact. A long-press on my unit’s S key opens up Spotify, for example, while a long-press of the A key opens the contact card for Anton D. Nagy. You can even get more specific if you want by linking to actions within apps: a long press of my C key opens the Clock app and jumps right to the “Set New Alarm” dialog. (If you decide to disable universal search, you can set short-press shortcuts in addition to the long-press options, making for a total of 52 available shortcut slots.) A host of other options exist within the BlackBerry Hub as well; while viewing the message list, you can press C to compose a new message, U to skip to the next unread message, S to search the list and so on.
Shortcuts are also available in some third-party apps. In addition to the keyboard acting as one giant trackpad to scroll slowly through lists, you can use the T and B keys to jump directly to the top or bottom, respectively. (Note that because this relies upon Android’s standard lists framework, apps like Facebook that use custom lists will ignore these inputs.)
Use the keyboard for fine cursor control
(Enabled by default)
The BlackBerry Priv’s trackpad functionality also offers an opportunity for precise cursor placement, but it’s not immediately obvious. To reposition the cursor in a text field while the keyboard is deployed, first double-tap on any part of the physical keyboard. When the blue cursor handle appears, drag your finger across the keys to scroll the cursor to the desired position, then resume typing.
Create a custom alert
BlackBerry Hub > Settings > Custom Alerts
Not all notifications are equal, so the Priv follows earlier BlackBerries in allowing you to set custom alerts for each type. This isn’t just a matter of choosing specific ringtones so you can tell when it’s your boss calling versus your mom, either; the BlackBerry Hub offers truly ridiculous levels of customization when it comes to email. When a particular co-worker emails you with a subject line containing the keyword “podcast” and has copied your boss, for example, you can set a rule that says you want to be alerted with 5 vibration cycles, a flashing red LED, and a particular notification sound (and if it’s super-important, you can make it a “Level 1 alert” so it’ll keep repeating until you dismiss it). Sure, it might be overkill for 99% of buyers … but the one-percenters out there who live and die by mobile email spent years buying BlackBerrys for crazy-specific features just like this, and I’m glad to see that many of them made the leap to the Priv.
•
We’ve got a lot more BlackBerry Priv coverage slated for our full review coming soon! Until then, catch up on our first- and second-impressions passes, check out the most recent Pocketnow Weekly podcast to see how our feeling match up with some of our colleagues at other sites, and tell us what you want to know about the Priv in the comments below!So an NFL stadium in Los Angeles will not open on time because of... rain?
There's a joke in there somewhere, though your sense of humor would probably hinge on your set of circumstances.
For the Los Angeles Rams, who were gearing everything toward that 2019 season, it's a major disappointment. For the NFL, which was planning to stage Super Bowl LV in L.A., it's a confusing development. For season-ticket holders in the city, who eyed first dibs on what promises to be the most opulent and extravagant facility on this planet, having to now wait until 2020 might test some patience.
But, as Rams COO Kevin Demoff said during a conference call on Thursday afternoon, "The biggest thing that fans care about is that we play better football."
Whether that occurs at a 94-year-old Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum or a $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, California, doesn't really matter all that much. The new stadium is guaranteed to be there eventually. The fans are not. And waiting one additional year seems trivial when considering the long-term, large-scale significance of this 300-acre site. From the Rams' perspective, here's the worst of it...
They will play another year at the Coliseum, which provided a 2019 option in the initial lease agreement. The venue is in the early stages of a $270 million renovation, one that will include new video boards for the 2017 season and should be completed in its entirety by 2019. As Demoff said, "The fan experience in 2019 should be better than it was in 2018, and the fan experience in 2018 should be better than it was in 2017."
The Rams planned to unveil new uniforms and a new stadium simultaneously, and now that might not happen. The organization has been working continually with the NFL and Nike and will have the option of either rolling out their uniforms in 2019, as scheduled, or pushing them back a year in order to fall in line with the stadium's new target date. They will decide that "in the coming months," Demoff said.
Per ESPN's Darren Rovell, the Rams could lose an estimated $80 million in future revenue by moving into their new stadium in 2020 instead of 2019, including more than $40 million in sponsorship sales. But Rams owner Stan Kroenke has plenty of money, and the financial boon that will eventually come from the new stadium will more than make up for that.
The NFL could decide to play Super Bowl LV elsewhere. It will be up to the owners, who must approve a waiver that would offset a league rule that keeps its championship game from being played at a stadium that just finished its inaugural season. But the Inglewood site is unique in this sense. By opening in the summer of 2020, it is expected to host several non-football events before the start of its first season. And by housing two teams, it will host double the games that year, provided with enough of a test run for football's grandest stage. Even if that Super Bowl is ultimately taken away, the facility would be in the running for one soon thereafter, not to mention several others down the road.
The Rams will probably play a fourth consecutive international game in 2019, because NFL rules mandate them for teams playing out of a temporary stadium. So in four years, Rams fans in L.A. will have seen their team up close for 28 regular-season games instead of 32.
You can really only blame Mother Nature for this. The initial timeline was "super aggressive," according to construction project manager Dale Koger. But it estimated that L.A. would get 30 days of rainfall in about 36 months, which could've actually been deemed ultra conservative at the time.
A wheelbarrow sits on the Inglewood stadium site on Jan. 13, 2016. Heavy rain hindered the excavation process in recent months, causing a construction delay. Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo
“And we encountered almost double that in two months, which came at the most critical time," Koger explained. "As you’re digging this hole, and you’re 70 feet into the ground, on the way to 90, and it rains, there’s literally nowhere for the water to go. So if it rains on a Monday and Tuesday, you really end up missing Monday, Tuesday, probably Wednesday, probably Thursday. And there was a time, at the peak of it, that we had 12 to 15 feet of water in the hole."
The stadium needed to be built on a 90-foot hole -- now fully excavated -- to avoid radar issues for planes flying into nearby Los Angeles International Airport. The poor weather, the tight schedule and the fact that two teams will play out of the facility -- which means it had to be ready from the start and can't count on the cushion of early road games -- pretty much made the timeline impossible. Give the Rams and Chargers credit for making this decision early.
"This is important to get right," Demoff said. "Los Angeles has waited a long time for the NFL to return; they’ve waited a long time for a world-class stadium, a long time for a sports and entertainment district, and we have talked throughout, from the beginning of this process, about what Stan’s vision for these 300 acres at Inglewood was. That it would be world class, it would be of the highest quality, and it would be a game-changer in terms of the way stadiums and sports districts interact. What would be a bigger disappointment than pushing back a year is failing to deliver on that vision."
When the Rams move into their new stadium, head coach Sean McVay will be in the fourth year of a five-year contract, Todd Gurley will have already completed his rookie deal, Jared Goff will be heading into his fifth season and Aaron Donald -- slated for free agency after the 2018 season -- may or may not be signed to an extension.
The Rams' primary hope is that they aren't coming off their 13th consecutive losing season by then, because nothing saps the joy out of a multi-billion-dollar facility like perpetual ineptitude.
It isn't about being a playoff contender by the time they move into the new stadium.
It's about being a playoff contender as soon as possible, regardless of the venue.The world economy is disturbingly close to stall speed. The United Nations has cut its global growth forecast for this year to 2.8pc, the latest of the multinational bodies to retreat.
We are not yet in the danger zone but this pace is only slightly above the 2.5pc rate that used to be regarded as a recession for the international system as a whole.
It leaves a thin safety buffer against any economic shock - most potently if China abandons its crawling dollar peg and resorts to 'beggar-thy-neighbour' policies, transmitting a further deflationary shock across the global economy.
The longer this soggy patch drags on, the greater the risk that the six-year old global recovery will sputter out. While expansions do not die of old age, they do become more vulnerable to all kinds of pathologies.
A sweep of historic data by Warwick University found compelling evidence that economies are more likely to stall as they age, what is known as "positive duration dependence". The business cycle becomes stretched. Inventories build up and companies defer spending, tipping over at a certain point into a self-feeding downturn.
Stephen King from HSBC warns that the global authorities have alarmingly few tools to combat the next crunch, given that interest rates are already zero across most of the developed |
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